The Once-ler (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
thneedifestdestiny) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
entranceway2014-04-14 02:41 am
thneedifestdestiny) wrote in entranceway2014-04-14 02:41 am
Video
[Eventually, the Once-ler makes it into the mansion (though he spends a considerable amount of time outside where he first arrived in the garden, marveling at everything around him). He finds his old room and all of his stuff inside, but it feels too crowded to him now. So, the first thing he does is gets rid of all the clutter and all the things he doesn't need until more than half the room has been emptied out.
He sets up the camera on one end of the room and stands kind of awkwardly in front of it to film his message. Instead of his usual attire, he's wearing an over-sized green suit - which is old and tattered now, as though he's been wearing it for a couple of years.]
So, uh. I'm back. I guess.
[Well, this is going swell already.]
Look, I'm going to make this quick. I just want know if someone's here. He's orange and furry, about yay tall- [He has to bend down to gesture how tall, which is apparently not very tall at all] -and he's got this mustache. He's the Lorax, and he used to be here once. I just...
[He frowns a little, trying to find the words. His shoulders fall, and it takes considerable effort to shrug them.]
...I was just hoping maybe he turned up again, that's all. If anyone's seen him around, let me know.
[He quickly moves to shut off the camera after that, as if he's a little sick of the spotlight already.]
He sets up the camera on one end of the room and stands kind of awkwardly in front of it to film his message. Instead of his usual attire, he's wearing an over-sized green suit - which is old and tattered now, as though he's been wearing it for a couple of years.]
So, uh. I'm back. I guess.
[Well, this is going swell already.]
Look, I'm going to make this quick. I just want know if someone's here. He's orange and furry, about yay tall- [He has to bend down to gesture how tall, which is apparently not very tall at all] -and he's got this mustache. He's the Lorax, and he used to be here once. I just...
[He frowns a little, trying to find the words. His shoulders fall, and it takes considerable effort to shrug them.]
...I was just hoping maybe he turned up again, that's all. If anyone's seen him around, let me know.
[He quickly moves to shut off the camera after that, as if he's a little sick of the spotlight already.]
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Wait, all? Of the things you needed for your freaky sweaters? That wasn't smart.
[He's also curious about how much pollution knitting can actually create, but one thing at a time.]
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[Yes, thank you Greed. He's well aware he's a screw-up and your sass isn't really making this any easier.]
We were harvesting the tufts, but it took too long and we couldn't keep up with the demand for Thneeds. So we started cutting them down, and I built an Super-Axe-Hacker to chop them even faster and a ginormous factory to speed up production. Like, easily half the size of this mansion.
[So with a huge industrial factory involved, knitting can produce a lot of pollution, actually.]
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[But he sounds annoyed anyway, like he really means "yes". He kind of knows deep down that logically, Greed couldn't have anything to do with it. They're not from the same world, and he's been in Wonderland all this time, but it's still too weird for the Once-ler to handle. Of course he was drawn to Greed. He's Greed. It's so obvious and he feels so stupid for it.]
Look. I ignored everything the last time around. All the stuff about you not being human. I didn't want to think about it so I just kind of...tuned it out, I guess.
[It feels weird to actually admit he did that though. It's kind of rude, but it's not like he can change how he acted before and he needs to know about this now. His arms are crossed loosely in front of him, defensively.]
...What are you, exactly?
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I'm a homunculus. Which means I am human, just with some handy upgrades from being made with alchemy instead of the usual way.
But what you actually want to know is why I'm Greed, right?
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But, he's very obviously listening now. He still has this silent, wary look to him, but he is listening. He thinks about the question, biting at his lip for a moment and thinking it over. Then, he nods.]
...Right. I think so. So, uh. ...Why are you Greed?
[He sounds a little uncertain though, as if he's worried about what the answer will be.]
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Because Father thinks there's such a thing as too greedy and he's got a bug up his ass about becoming a perfect being, so he stripped me out of his soul. Nothing to do with anyone else's avarice. I just approve of it.
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[The Once-ler's genuinely shocked. Whatever he was expecting, it wasn't that. He comes from a world where it isn't even possible to muck around with soul that way, so naturally the idea of taking your soul apart and making other...souls(?) with it is incredibly unsettling. That is, if he's understanding all of this correctly. He might not be.
After a moment, he forces himself to stop staring horrified. Instead he looks down, and then away. He's not really sure what to think, really. None of it's Greed's fault (or is that another lie the Once-ler's telling himself? He got awfully good at those over the years) but...it all sinks in, slowly.]
I don't think anyone can be a "perfect being" or whatever, but...there is such a thing as "too greedy". I lived it for years. I did terrible, horrible things just to earn another $3.98. I...I ruined myself with it, and I destroyed everything around me to get the things I wanted. So uh...there definitely is such a thing.
[He was uncomfortable with the idea at first, but...if it was an option available to him, the Once-ler would happily rip any greed left in him out of his own soul. He would do it in a heartbeat, with no regrets.]
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[Maybe it's like knowing just enough to be dangerous? Maybe for people who only want some things, it could be a problem? Greed is not one of those people, he can't really imagine being one of those people, so the Once-ler's argument isn't making a whole lot of sense to him.
Also, DO NOT try stripping out your sins, it only makes you a shittier person. This public service announcement brought to you by Hiromu Arakawa.]
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I...I thought I did! I could have anything I wanted! I had tons of money and tons of stuff, but I was so caught up in all the stuff and all the money that I didn't care what I was doing to anything else. The trees and the valley and everything I was horrible to...
[He shrugs, like it isn't a big deal, but he still looks absolutely wrecked over it. He's been beating himself up about it for years now.]
They just...they weren't part of everything at the time.
[The forest was nothing to him, so he let it become polluted until it couldn't be called a forest anymore. The animals were nothing to him, so he let them starve. All the people he lied to, all the charities he swore he donated to, none of them were anything to him at all. And the Lorax was just a nagging, annoying voice at his feet telling him to stop.
And he didn't, because back then the Lorax was nothing to him too.]
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[There is no question in Greed's mind, and so not in his tone either, that it is therefore the best way to do things and what everyone should do.]
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No, I don't! I'm done biggering. I don't care if I ever have anything again!
[And he means it. He doesn't care if he ever earns another dollar or ever has anything extravagant again. Why should he want everything from the world when he deserves none of it, after the things he's done? He glares hard at Greed, though he's not entirely exactly where he should be directing this anger.]
I don't want to be that kind of person anymore. I'm done with it! I'm done with all of it! I don't want anything!
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You know what I mean! Obviously I want things like food, water, air. A roof over my head, maybe. Everyone needs things like that. But I don't want everything anymore. When I did, I was a total monster.
[He's extremely hard on himself, but he feels he has to be. If he leans too far he's going to be falling over in the wrong direction again, rapidly. He can't let that happen again.]
There isn't much left to ruin at home, but I'm not taking the chance - and especially not now, when I'm somewhere where there's actually still grass and air to breathe.
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So you're going to, what, sit around and be sad and not do anything about it?
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[Or at least, he hasn't managed to find a single seed so far. Give him another forty years of isolation and he might have something by then.]
Now that I'm back in Wonderland...[He sighs.] I don't know what I'm gonna do. I shouldn't even be here! I should be back in the valley...
[But when he says it, he doesn't sound like the usual new arrival to Wonderland. It isn't because he has anything important to be doing at home -- it's because he sincerely feels he doesn't deserve to be in Wonderland anymore. Even if they're not the same multicolored trees he's used to at home, there are still trees here and why would anyone or anything willingly bring him back here of all people? Doesn't Wonderland know what he's done?]
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[It's harsh, but Greed can't take much more of this self-loathing resignation. Come on, Once-ler. Swear you'll find a way to bring back Wonderland transplants or comb the world for that one last sapling in someone's backyard or do something. Don't just lie down and give up.]
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You wouldn't get it, Greed. I'm pretty sure you can't get it, by definition or whatever.
[You know, since he's greed ripped from someone else's soul. As far as the Once-ler is concerned, he has every right to hate himself for what he's done. There's nothing to be done about it. He doesn't have any faith or hope that anything can be done. There are no seeds left, and he'd probably kill any plants he tried to bring back from Wonderland. And he has to live with that, knowing he wrecked things beyond repair.
He sighs.]
...Just leave me alone.