POKEGO GROUP CHAT [POKEGO MEMBERS ONLY] v.3

[kaisoumods]

P.O.K.E.G.O
Only with Knowledge can One Grow


POKEGO Playlist
(Compiled by Professor Oak)


MEMBERS:

Zelkova	Maple	Olive	Larch	Blackthorn

Lotus	Ginkgo	Aralia	Koyamaki	Carambola

Arbutus	Acacia	Grandiflora	Bristlecone	Bauhinia

APPRENTICES:

Previous Chats: 2023 | 2024


[OOC: this is a catch-all group chat for the POKEGO members to use however they'd like. This chat is open ONLY to POKEGO members and is not actually part of the Libra app (but their own separate network). It should also be noted that while full members have the ability to create private filters, the apprentices do not. ]

Comments

text: un: larch

[droptheious]

I can definitely help look for the Everstone. I can sense the mineral composition of any dirty I'm touching, so that might narrow it down a little. I can see what other rocks with magical properties I can find, too. I've worked with... magical rocks in the past. I'll do what I can.

[anyprice]

Appreciated. I can either pay you at the Aides rate or separate through POKEGO, just let me know your preference.

If you have any knowledge to share with Blade, he's the main set of hands working on the forging of the... whatever the hell it is that can fix this. Touch base with him, if you please.

[droptheious]

I'm not going to ask for payment for this.

[ Varian has an endless bleeding heart, he can't ask for money for helping someone out like this. Taking advantage of the billionaire doth not cross his mind.]

Of course. We can connect and try and put our heads together on this. It won't be the first time we worked on something together and it won't be the last, either. We'll figure this out.

[anyprice]

I'm going to pay you anyway.

[ you cannot take advantage of the billionaire equivalent of grandma trying to load you up with just one more plate of food. ]

I have faith that something will happen, one way or another.

[droptheious]

I'll send the money back to you. And I'll keep doing it. I promise I'm more stubborn than you are.

[ He will not!! ]

Me too. We've faced impossible odds together as a group before. We've got this.

Private

[whiteshroud]

Var.

This man atomized one of the Unyielding.

Don't push it and take the money.

Private

[droptheious]

Oh.

But I'd feel bad if I took money for this. I can't accept money to save someone's life.

Private

[whiteshroud]

Yes, you can. Doctors do it every day.

You are not taking advantage of a man who can't afford payment. By offering cash, it is now an equivalent exchange. That way once this is over, he won't feel like he owes you later.

Private

[droptheious]

...

I guess if you put it that way.

Can I just give it to charity or something? Or... put it into POKEGO? I know he funds POKEGO so he'd probably notice but still...

Re: Private

[whiteshroud]

That depends.

How much money do you have saved?

Private

[droptheious]

I mean, not a ton? You helped with the student debt thing, so it means I can put a little more aside than just worrying about it all the time.

Private

[whiteshroud]

Alright...

How about this? Give half of it to charity, and the other half can go in a savings account for our future. Maybe for the wedding, or a house, or whatever we decide to invest in for the future.

Does that sound fair?

Private

[droptheious]

[Ugggggh, here comes Jun with good, solid common sense and a plan for their future. He's pretty bad at thinking about things for himself, but adding Jun to the mix? That's definitely hit him right where it needs to. ]

...Okay. That sounds more than fair. I do want us to have something solid to look forward to for the future. I think it'd be okay if it was for us.

Private

[whiteshroud]

[That was his hope. He knows doing things for himself is a really hard ask for Varian, and it's not like they don't need this money]

I'm glad to hear that.

Honestly if our dads want us to have proper weddings, it's going to be EXPENSIVE. Better to prepare for that.

[anyprice]

Is that what you think~?

It'll be fun to see how that plays out for you long term. I'm certainly not who I am by being a man who's easily dissuaded.

[ the feel good stuff rings a little hollow, so he focuses on the most important thing: his pride. he can work with butting heads with someone. ]

[droptheious]

My partner talked to me and told me I should probably take the money.

[You can't hear the sigh over the text, but you sure can SENSE it. ]

Morally, I don't like doing this at all, but our fathers are gonna want a big, expensive wedding one day, and we should probably start prepping for that.

[Morality is all well and good until your dad wants to bring an elephant to your wedding. ]

[anyprice]

Ah, it's always lovely to have a sensible better half. Were that I so blessed.

[ he's still very mad at Sampo, despite all of this fuss and hullabaloo being for the man--he can't kill him if the rock kills him, now can he? ]

Your father does seem the type who'd want only the best and the most extravagant for his pride and joy--though his shining heart never kept him from being quite happy to see my money.

So what I'n reading is that I should start a wedding fund for you since you're too noble to accept a flat payment.

[ like a cat slapping a coffee cup off the table just to see it fall. ]

[droptheious]

I'm really lucky to have him. Plus he's better with finances.

[ As in, Jun isn't afraid to charge people for all the hard work he does, because he doesn't have a terminal case of Being A Disney Princess Sidekick. ]

My dad's a good man. That doesn't surprise me. He likes helping people.

[...Wait. No. ]

No??? That's not what you're reading at all. Please don't do that. It's a long way away, and I very expressly did not ask for that.

[anyprice]

Clearly, since he doesn't seem like the type who'd demure away from someone offering to pay for services rendered unlike certain people I'm conversing with.

[ Jun's the smart one of the two of you. Gil doesn't have enough context clues to pick up that the man who asked for Healthcare Money is also behind this particular venture, but game respects game even in quiet.

also yes c: ]

See, and that's the most foolish thing you've said yet. 'A long way away' is the best time to set up a savings account, as everything has a chance to grow through additional deposits and interest. Are you stubborn or are you purposefully obtuse?

Also, Sampo gave me this little picture to send you, and he's pathetic enough that I'll acquiesce to his pouting this once.

not here

[pranas]

[ Sampo what have you done. ]

Re: not here

[anyprice]

[ nothing he's innocent and lying in bed and trying to get warm he's blind to the chaos gil is causing with his phone check back later ]

[droptheious]

I already explained my reasonings, and they still stand.

[He doesn't want this. He wants to curl under a rock and die. He's earth element. He can pull that off. Say goodbye to Jun for him. ]

Both usually, if you ask anyone who knows me.

But that's besides the point! It's okay, the one payment is fine. Please don't make this a thing.

I don't understand the memes. Is that Japan??????

text -> private

[anyprice]

You can tell a lion why gazelle fears being devoured all you like, but it will still be a lion at the end of the day.

[ fortify, little forgemaster. fortify! ]

To speak plainly to you, my young idealist:

[ and here's where the private filter slips on. ]

I could pay for ten destination weddings for you and every person you hold dear in ten different countries with ten different sets of luxury accommodations, and I would still feel no financial strain from the sacrifice.

I have money.

The goodness of Kaisou's heart failed to rally for Sampo when he asked for help, so you'll indulge me if I've decided to deal with things on my terms and in my way. Money brings more people to account than kindness does.

[ private filter back off. ]

Yes, it's Japan. I have no idea how that's significant to the expression in the picture.

text -> private

[droptheious]

...Are?? Are you the lion in this scenario?

[And then the private filter comes on and Varian stops typing for a while. He reads what Gil has to say, he feels the bloom of guilt for not answering the call - hell, he hadn't even noticed it with everything going on. But not seeing the problem doesn't take the pain out of the result of everyone doing that even slightly.

This is something he knows about only too well. An old would stirs in his heart, one that's never fully healed - one he doubts will ever be, really. And with it comes an understanding he was missing before.]

There are other ways that work too. At least this one is relatively harmless.

Sorry that he was failed. That doesn't do anything, I know. It doesn't change that he was, and it won't make you feel any better regardless. But I'm sorry all the same. I'll do what I can to make that right. And you do whatever you need to do, too.

[He's not even gonna provide any more comentary on the meme.]

private

[anyprice]

I'm certainly not a gazelle.

[ it's fun to text people so that you can dress your pain up as anger and hope that nobody picks up on the underpinnings of the distress you're feeling--especially when you're a man who's not used to distress. or pain. or feeling.

one wound lances another, and Gilgamesh is steadfast in wielding the blade. sometimes it has to hurt before it can begin to knit. ]

And perhaps you're right. Perhaps the good nature of the city will come together and save Sam and it'll all be something we can laugh about in the twilight of a job well done.

But if he dies because I didn't try everything--if he leaves me for a second time in this lifetime--I cannot promise there will be anything rational left in me.

Sampo carries some blame in the matter. He's suffered alone and downplayed what's been happening. People do not take him seriously because he's a conman and a trickster. The lives of others are insignificant to me, but mean everything to them; thus our worlds turn in opposite spheres and it makes sense that things slip into the cracks.

If I must burn the world down to see him restored, than he and I will reckon with that aftermath in the flames.

I'd prefer to see cute photos from your wedding in three or four years while Sampo whines at me because I still won't call him my boyfriend in public.

[ he hates this feeling of being so human and having it escape but what's he supposed to do--tell people who see him regularly how he's feeling so that they can be aware he's got cracks in his armor? no thank you. ]