folkmeme | texts from "last night" or whenever

All technology is weaponized eventually. Best to have a handle on its creation otherwise it will be taken from you.

Appealing to my ego? The rumours about you do not lie.

I have considered that thought, but one does not change the world by accepting every maxim as true.

It's also what I respect most about you, so I thought it only best that should be the side of you I buy a drink for.

So you work against tradition yet remain an opportunist. Alright, I'll bite. A drink then. Name the time and place.

I am both an idealist and a realist. Pragmatism need not be the enemy of change.

Cutting Edge in Wintermute. Tomorrow at 8 pm.

The most dangerous type of politician. So eager to meet me. I'm flattered. I will see you then.

Such a compliment.

I see no reason to delay. We never know how much time we have.

[ The next evening, Mel arrives at Cutting Edge five minutes til eight, dressed in her typical fashion despite the cold of Wintermute, with only a warm cloak added to her attire. She removes it immediately and offers it to the staff to hang up while they get drinks. ]

[Still gathering his bearings with the new environment and unwilling to allow himself to be caught unaware in a new drinking establishment, Silco had arrived an hour early. He wanted to watch the patrons and know where all the exits were in case he had to slip away for a quick escape; it was such a common behaviour in the undercity that he thought nothing about it.

He was in a seat in one corner of the room, an empty tumbler with melting ice in front of him and casually smoking one of his few remaining cigars. The ambience was dark enough that his red eye provided a soft glow as he observed everyone coming and going from the watering hole. He wore his regular clothing including coat.

Of course, he had a description of everyone from the Council thanks to the late Sheriff. He would have known her based on her normal finery even if he never had a description, and he lifted a hand to advertise his presence. After all, he doubted anyone from Piltover knew who their 'friend from downtown' was, as he liked to keep it. The less on their radar he was, the easier to operate as he pleased.]

Would you prefer I call you Miss Medarda or some other title?

[ Mel's not surprised that Silco arrived before her. She's been here before and is familiar with the establishment and everything she wants to know about it. Further, in the unlikely and she believes out of character situation that Silco chooses to escalate their first meeting to violence (there's little he gains from that), her magic is a card he doesn't know about, one she's used against a version of him Thirteen created in a trial. Mel, Jayce, and Viktor defeated him together as a team then, but this Silco is Silco through and through, not some monstrous version from a trial.

Thanks to that trial, Mel knows what Silco looks like, and she recognizes him when he raises his hand. She comes over to his corner, his safe spot with no one behind him out of view, and sits at an angle from him, not directly across. They aren't enemies. They don't need to be. ]

Silco, good to meet you after all this time. Miss Medarda is fine.

[ It's the title both she and her mother use by default, warlord and politician. Titles can matter, but in this situation, it's about developing a relationship. ]

[He eased back into the chair that he was occupying as she came over to the table, observing the way that she moved and the position that she took when she eventually seated herself. She was well put together, as one would expect given her station and what he assumed to be part of her upbringing.

That she sat at an angle to him allowed them both a view of the room. She didn't fight the position that he put her in where he had his back safe, and she also gave the appearance being comfortable doing so. He brought his cigar to his lips and took a long drag, tapping off ash into the tray near his elbow.]

Is it? That is not a welcome I am used to by any stretch.

[People, once they knew him and had a measure of what he was capable of, did not enjoy meetings with him generally. Business was business though. He blew smoke from his nostrils.]

It appears that we are here at the whimsy of a fox god. It is interesting how it always turns out to be someone or something claiming to be a god.

[ Mel and Jayce's first fight was over the fact that he went to Silco to make a deal behind her back. Jayce thought it was too dangerous for her to meet Silco. Mel thought it was foolish he went alone when she was the stronger negotiator. His deal was not the one Mel would have negotiated, were it up to her, but once it was on the table, it was the only viable option for peace. They worked it out, but it only demonstrates how seriously everyone takes meeting him. Mel takes it seriously, but she's truthful when she says it's good to meet. The connections need to be built between Piltover and Zaun. She must meet the leaders of Zaun as they are, not the leaders she wishes they would be or would choose. ]

Perhaps the people you meet need to gain more confidence in themselves.

[ And the ability to back it up. The follow through is important. It hardly hurts that they are outside Piltover and Zaun. If anything, being the one longer in Folkmore, Mel has the advantage, but it is not a strong enough advantage to set things terribly on edge. ]

Thirteen does not claim to be a god herself, though some of the spirits here worship her as one and many people have assigned the label. It's become common place to discuss her as a god, though I personally wouldn't use that term.

[It was a shame that Marcus had died before being able to report to him about how the sister and the Councilor's daughter had presented the facts of Zaun. It was even more of a shame that he hadn't heard how he had been presented because he would have agreed with the pair's assessment. However, he had not fought his way to his position to squander opportunities regardless of his personal feelings on someone else. Everyone had their use. His interest in the Council of Piltover extended as far as amnesty, free trade, and the ability for Zaun to govern itself.]

No doubt, but it's difficult to find people that are truly comfortable in their own skin and abilities. I'm not here to coddle anyone if they can't straighten their own spines.

[Silco rarely made a promise that he wasn't willing to keep, which had made him very effective and allowed people under him to know where they stood with him. His enemies were given less freedom of movements, and he was more content to bury them. Still, information was a valuable currency, and she was in the position to pay in it. What she might haggle in return remained to be seen.]

Neither did Janna, but she remained a patron goddess of Zaun. However, anyone or anything with the power to drag people from different places, times and versions has the power for considerable damage as well.

[ Mel remembers the=-0 first-hand description of Silco, a violent crime lord who hates the Council, its members, and everything they stand for. He can loath her all he likes. He still agreed to sit down and talk with her. The night may even prove him willing to do so peacefully. The very fact she represents the powers that be that have choked Zaun is why he would meet with her.

Mel will do what it takes to forge peace and a better future. Silco's far from her first violent leader to deal with. ]

Coddling can be as much a disfavor to someone as brutal honesty.

[ Nearly anything can be weaponized. That's part of the problem and what's led them both to where they are. ]

We do not know the limits of her abilities, but they are vast. As much as the magical power to complete those acts is the less flashy amalgamation of knowledge that Thirteen has of each and every one of us here. Only someone who's dead, such as yourself, knows as much about his own life as she does.

[ That's a little misleading, given Thirteen knows far more about everyone in Silco's life than he does, which leads to her understanding more about him. About all of them. ]

[It could be suicide not to meet with someone who had as much political clout as she did whether she was employing those skills in wherever here was to begin with or not. Anyone that knew anything of his reputation was potentially dangerous to him, and he would prefer to assess the playing field before he made his move to establish himself. He would establish himself, but it was a matter of direction and discretion.

After all, what did he have to lose? Nothing.]

Brutality is far more effective, but it has the side effect of rebellious thoughts. Coddling makes people soft and gluttonous.

[He leaned back in his chair, lifting a hand towards the bartender for another single malt whiskey. He expected that she could make a request for herself if she was interested in a drink of her own. She didn't seem the type to risk sharing.]

Hmpt, knowledge is power. [As much as flashy powers and brute strength could awe, he did not enjoy the idea of his secrets - and there were many - were known. It automatically moved this Thirteen up his list.] No doubt such power is used for an opportunity to allow us to find our potential, hmm?

Yet our choices are no simple binary. We can choose to what degree we are brutal and to what degree we coddle. Even when people are brutal about where people stand with them, there is plenty of political maneuvering and battles.

[ Her mother and Silco have some characteristics in common, ones Mel doesn't agree with. Their brutal honesty isn't the problem. The violence and its use as the supposed most efficient and effective means to their ends. That's the problem. Mel understands that as powerful as Silco is, he lacked the power of Piltover, and violence from below is a sign of problems that need to be addressed. They'd festered longer than either of them have been alive before they came into their respective positions. It makes it that much harder to truly cure. ]

Exactly. It is entirely to help us, as she sees we need it. A push. A nudge. Nearly always with other people. You cannot expect all your secrets to remain in your possession.

[ It's a piece of friendly advice. How Silco decides to use it is at his discretion. Sometimes sharing a smaller secret can stave off being forced to share larger ones. Sometimes, it's a matter of choosing whom to entrust a secret with before the choice is made for you. Mel does not expect to be high on the list of people with which to share any of his secrets because she is one of the few people here with the context to understand them, though perhaps less than Viktor or Vi. ]

There's not need to preach to me about degrees of brutality and coddling. One doesn't rise to our positions without being aware of when to apply one or both when necessary.

[They were products of their upbringing as much as they wished to distance themselves from that fact. His own upbringing had brought him to this point, the rise of his empire after toppling the defensive stagnancy of Vander's one. He would do whatever it took to free Zaun, regardless of the people he had to sacrifice for that cause...

...or so he thought. In the end, he had been as weak as his brother. Brutality had brought him far, but love was where duty died. It was where he faltered.

It was why her information - like a warning - caused a small narrowing of his blue eye. He sat back in his chair, considering the implications; he was a very, very secretive man and was not keen to have those secrets dragged out of him. He would resist, which likely would cause her warning to become dire in his case.]

Not all, but the important ones will remain where they are. No one parts with their secrets willingly. [Silco did not, as a rule, have friends; he had allies and acquaintances.] Though, are you suggesting that the fox's idea of potential hinges on us humiliating ourselves to someone else at the very least?

[ Mel raises a hand to place an order and inclines her head. It still benefits someone to see multiple political playgrounds and styles, various means to success in those around them. There's some variety in Zaun. What she knows of it before Silco's rise speaks to that. Yet there's more to the world than Piltover and Zaun. What has life in some other dimensional prison been like for him? Another brutal place? ]

They wouldn't be secrets if someone did not hoard them, at least for a time. [ Mel sees his point. Though her largest secret in Runeterra, the one she most closely guarded from her own mother, from the other councilors, from even her own lover has become no secret at all in Folkmore. It cannot be used against her the way it could back home. Her mother cannot try to make her a weapon, and people do not hate magic here the way they do in Piltover. It won't see her exiled. Not again. In time, Silco will learn it too should he stay. It's common enough knowledge. Mel doesn't part with it, however, because it still has value between them so long as he doesn't know. ]

However we feel about it, I believe she sees it differently—more like our potential lurks within us with our secrets, so only by bringing them to light can we bloom and grow. More selfishly for her, this place exists on Lore, something generated whenever we interact, and the deeper the interaction, the more Lore it creates.

[Her information caused him to ponder quietly on his side of the table, taking a drag from his cigar as he considered the implications. Secrets were difficult to keep in Zaun; everyone knew someone that knew something about someone else. Rumours spread like oil in water there, yet they were all generally protective of information about each other from their 'betters'. It helped those of Zaun were overlooked, but Enforcers simply loved to beat secrets out of mid-range actors in Zaun's politics.

That he might be forced by a powerful spirit animal did not sit well with him. Secrets were precious, and he wouldn't give them up willingly or easily. His potential did not lay in his secrets but his ruthless ambition and drive to see a goal to the end regardless of the bodies he left in his own wake. Except one, he mentally reminded himself.

He tapped ash into the tray and blew smoke away from her. Reward for the information, if nothing else.] I've been told hoarding is one of the few characteristics that binds my people. Always looking for opportunities.

[He made a low hum noise to acknowledge Mel's claim. She was being far more forthright than she should with him, though he also had no doubt this information was easy to come by if he talked with anyone else who had been here a time.]

Then the fox is going to be sorely mistaken with me. [He prove them all wrong and keep what secrets he could at the same time.] Yes, I see I heard rumblings of such things. Social interaction binds people together, I suppose. Uniting people with common purpose and interests.

Every people hoards something and everyone within those peoples. [ Zaun is not unique in people hoarding information, resources, and more. Why, Silco could as easily have spoken about the houses in Piltover and the members of the council. They hoard wealth, knowledge, and connections. It's the reason Jayce's first attempts to protect the ports went so far awry. Everyone on the council, save Jayce and Mel, were hurt by his crackdown on the usual flow of bribes and illicit trade. Mel knows of their interests and uses it to her advantage, to making things better in a practical manner, not the idealistic sledgehammer Jayce initially represented. Fitting, given his house.

As wealthy as Mel is, as keen as her business senses are, knowledge is the true currency of power. It informs little things as well as large. It enriches her relationships, and it allows her to sit at this table with Silco and hold her own. She's generous today. She's generous with this cheap information. He'll have to do more later if he expects more. ]

I look forward to you proving her wrong. So many people here will enjoy her getting her comeuppance. The natural consequences of making so many people spill their secrets. It provides one common purpose, though naturally some of the people saved from death are grateful to be here, rather than dead. For all her interference, Folkmore isn't a prison.

And there will always be those that will fight for what others have. [Anyone worth their salt in the undercity knew to follow the money; normally, the Chem-Barons were too focus below to see the opportunity above them. Zaun's chaotic 'political' scene was a messy affair with petty squabbles, bruised egos and gang wars over people, territory and resources. It made it all seem like there was no local politics compared to the crisp order of Piltover with its Great and Lesser Houses and Council of seven. In the end, where the money pooled was where they power lay and that was true in both cities.

Disruptions to the illicit trades had proven how vulnerable that pooling was and it made people nervous on both sides of the border. Silco claimed to be a realist, but he was perfectly willing to lose vast amounts of money to politically gain the upper hand. It was nothing more than a game of understanding the wins and loses. He didn't have to explain it to her, he knew, so he wouldn't waste both of their time, least of all when their drinks arrived at the table.]

My, my, thinking I will arrive to be the revolutionary already? No doubt others have tried, but we both know that people who arrived here did so willingly for opportunity. If those opportunities die up, that's when the pitchforks come out. [As he had no where else to go and in the haze of a fading consciousness, perhaps he had mistaken the fox for the wolf or lamb. Who knew. He was here, and that was an opportunity.] I expect if we're oh so unhappy here, we can leave at any time, yes?

[ Mel inclines her head to signify her agreement with what Silco says. Some people might call that fighting for what is theirs (in the future). Some level of competition and fighting is natural in business, but too much conflict only impoverishes everyone. Better, certainly, to help everyone grow wealthier together. Shimmer has its proper uses, Mel is sure, but the reports she's read is that it's ruined far more lives in Zaun than its helped. Her business workings aren't tied to Zaun, something most helped along by her avoidance of illicit trade. Unnecessary for her profits. Everyone else was too scared of hextech, the largest source of profits of all.

Mel will work to gain more information about Silco, little as it is written down and thus readily accessible. The fact he's here will present more opportunities along with the danger. Her drink is a fancy cocktail, as might be expected, and dangerously delicious. It doesn't taste like there's liquor at all. ]

Some people believe they were tricked into coming here. Willingly, yes, but they either cannot or will not face the truth or were unable to see what was happening before them when they came. [ Mel shrugs. Silco can decide for himself if that makes them fools, and people speak openly enough of it all around her it is no secret. ] I would suspect so, but no one has stated that plainly as their intention then gone to meet her and left. Those least happy here seem least willing to accept her help, even if only to return home.

[ Though some like Silco and possibly Mel are dead back home. It becomes a terrible choice then. People usually prefer to persist over certain death. ]

[Silco made a point to stay off the grid as much as possible when it came to Piltover; it was better that they focused their attentions on other power players so that he could operate in the shadows where he was best served. It would have been a better uprising without the invention of hextech, but his frustrations about Zaun being left behind were short and often spontaneous. When Jinx had kicked the hornet's nest, there had been opportunity that had lead to his demise, but it didn't matter. He was little more than the push for freedom; it would continue long after he was dead and rotten.

His loss would create a power vacuum that would leave many warring with each other, but he had left the future in his daughter's hands. Piltover had thankfully never seemed to make the association of the two of them as being family; it didn't matter anymore anyway.

He picked up his tumbler of whiskey and gently swirled the ice in the amber liquid. He eyed her drink, though it was what he would expect he supposed. Alcohol was an acquired taste and those that needed it to cope with life didn't care about the taste over the effect. Those that could afford to be affronted by the taste covered it.]

There are always some that will blame their regrets on someone or something else. It is easier to bay at the empty sky than take ownership of one's lack of insight.

[Even if it wasn't as what one promised, it was still an opportunity. Fools let opportunities pass them by. Idiots accused the opportunities for their problems.]

[ Piltover and Zaun are both ever present on Mel's mind and incredibly far away. After more than a year, a year and a half even, in this place, she's changed, and her relationship with herself has changed so much that she could not be the same person on return to Piltover. Oh, she could act it plenty well, however well as the situation calls for, but the player behind the moves differs. Her options have changed, though the expansion would undoubtedly be unpopular with her peers and draw a different kind of attention to Piltover. Best to operate in Piltover with that part of her identity and ability still in the shadows, yes, but no longer off the board.

She sips her drink, enjoying the mix of flavors and the impression Silco might get from it. It fits the image he has of her, and Mel sees no reason to dissuade him of it. These drinks and fine wines are at plenty a party in Piltover, and Mel is as used to them as conversation, gifts, and more to smooth things over in politics. Fortunately, it also tastes good, so she's sacrificing nothing by playing into expectations. ]

I've heard talk of people wanting to take her down, but it is hard to imagine anyone getting the better of her. We certainly haven't seen the full extent of her capabilities.

[ Mel opts not to share that she's seen Thirteen dampen people's abilities. It made for an ... interesting tournament a couple months into Mel's tenure in Folkmore. Everyone evened out in each match, so that no one had an inherent advantage. It let other traits shine through, ones frequently hidden. Yet Mel didn't participate herself, having no interest in violence. She only went to support Viktor. Who... won depending how one looks at it since he lost every fight. ]

texts from "last night" or whenever

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omg your mel is so goooooooooddddddd

eeeee thank you, love your silco

<3 <3

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oops my dog got in on my last tag

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