eachdraidh | second spell ☥ voice ☥ open to both courts.

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second spell ☥ voice ☥ open to both courts.

Um -- hi. Drabwurld. I'm Cassie, if you don't know me. I know everyone's busy with the hunt right now, and everything like that, but I was kind of wanting to ask a few questions to the general population about some stuff. Cultural stuff, mostly. I'm just curious. I saw someone doing a basic Christmas Q&A, where people who don't recognize it, or even know it, in their worlds could ask about it. But there are a lot of different holidays that people celebrate in the winter. So... How many of you have Christmas where you're from, and how many of you have different holidays, and what are they? What are they about, how are they celebrated? What kind of traditions do you guys have? I remember -- when I was little, it was just me and my mom, and one of our favorite things to do was drive around and play a game where you yelled "house on fire" if people had fake candles in their windows... We even wrote down points, to see who won. A tally.

( she laughs fondly, though there is a note of melancholy to her voice. it's going to be her first christmas without her mom, even though she doesn't think christmas is technically a thing here. she's not even at home, in chance harbor. as far as she knows, she has no family here. so... she's happy to reminisce, but sad to realize that she's probably going to be spending it on her own.

the holidays, however, are not the only things cassie wants to discuss. after the incident with the dogs last month, she's been uneasy. her dark magic tempts her more often than not, something that calls to her from the inside. )

And I wanted to ask people about magic. Natives, too, if they want to talk to me - what kind of magic do you have, if you have any? Does magic even exist in your world? What's it like? How do you control it?

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[ She's got the locket kind of playing in the background as she's kind of messing around her room in Caer Glaem. She's been here two weeks and she's still unsettled and not sure what to do with herself. She can barely feel her magic (including the dark magic, and she's not sure if she's happy that that's gone or if she's sad because her actual magic is also gone.

Diana stills, though, when she finally registers that someone is talking because she recognizes that voice, and she scrambles over to where she's left the locket on her bed, fumbles to pick it up and answer. ] Cassie!?

( cassie couldn't possibly spaz out any faster than she is currently spazzing out right in this moment because that voice is as familiar to her as her own skin. she responds insantly, because she wasn't expecting this, and now... well. ) Diana? Is that actually you?

Yeah. Is it you? Where are you? Why are you here?

Yeah, it's me. I'm -- at Caer Scima, and if I could actually tell you why I'm here outside of having a Shard, I would. But I can't. And I've... been here for awhile, actually. When did you show up? Are we in the same castle?

[ And Diana's face falls. ] I'm at Caer Glaem. I just got here, like, a week ago.

I should've figured they'd do that - ( cassie sighs. of COURSE diana's Seelie. they're all... rigid lines and making lists and control of what's around them and that's diana's M.O. ) They suck. But, we can meet at the station. Has anyone told you about the travel time between places without using the rings? Wait - more importantly, are you doing okay?

[ Diana shakes her head at the first question, and Cassie's probably noticed by now that Diana's doing her best to hide her left hand from the video feed. ] I'm fine. I didn't expect to end up here when I left, but... I'm okay.

Diana... ( she frowns. ) About everything -- I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.

We started doing the Christmas Fete again, back home. Just before I came here. The whole village gets together and we do a fair.

[A beat. ] They had to cancel it for a few years, what with the undead eating people and such.

I'm still not 100% on the whole re-aliving of the zombies where you're from. But, you know, it's good to get back into old habits after hiding for your life.

Yeah, it is a bit complicated. When I figure it out, I'll let you know. I was never really into the fete, even before I died. Me and my best mate, we used to go sometimes and drink all the mulled cider.

What's fete anyway? Is it like... British for Carnival or something?

It is a bit, yeah. We do stalls and carnival games. There used to be a lot of toffee apples when I was a kid.

Toffee apples is a new one. Ours are usually caramel or this red candy stuff.

I think toffee apples and caramel ones are actually the same thing, probably.

( she laughs. ) Sticky tannish sugary stuff?

That's the stuff! I think they were good? The red ones used to chip teeth.

Ugh - I never liked the candy ones anyway. They reminded me too much of plastic.

Ah, I've just got Christmas back home, which may be a bit disappointing given that there are probably untold other winter solstice celebrations here... it really is a good time for a festival, though, isn't it? But I suppose Christmas has a large amount of variety among different cultures to begin with. I... really just remember my family getting the most absolute rubbish crackers for God knows what reason, since we certainly had the means to get decent ones.

[was it a practical joke...?????]

And that last question of yours is really a bit dangerous, given that it's very complicated business. Admittedly, I'm not terribly used to explaining it to people who don't have a foundation already...

Me and mom always got chips and dip and a lot of popcorn. Crackers were too boring for us, I guess. And it's not disappointing! I'm basically taking a poll, so all answers are totally valid.

( probably not probably cardboard was delicious )

Well, I have a foundation, you know? Just... Trying to figure out differences.

...Ah! I forgot that they don't really have those across the pond. Christmas crackers aren't food, they're a sort of party favor that's passed around during dinner. They're called "crackers" because when you pull them apart, they've got a small amount gunpowder in them, so they make a loud, popping noise.

Ah, well, a foundation in our specific version. Magic is practically woven into our bodies through what we call magic circuits, which... effectively function as a secondary nervous system, I suppose.

Oh -- we call those confetti poppers. ( she snorts. ) And we usually use them on the Fourth of July, not around Christmas. New Years' Eve, maybe.

I'm not sure what a magic circuit is, but magic happens by blood where I'm from.

Ah, no, we have those, actually. They don't have bad jokes, crowns, or cheap favors in them, so they're actually preferable.

...ah. Well, how do they put this? They're sort of like a secondary nervous system that allows you to use magic, I suppose... except how many you have determines how much you really can use. If you're from a strong magical bloodline, you'd generally have more than, say, someone who just lucked out with genetics.

You can also add to them via material inheritance, but the process is more like a risky organ transplant with more technicalities to it than anything else.

[ even though zuko can't keep up with all the questions she's asking, he does note she laughs fondly about her mother. he may not know what christmas is — and he may have missed the q&a she speaks of — but he understands it must be a holiday where one spends it with their family. all he can recall are the nights they went to see the ember island players and the days he spent hours out by the turtleduck pond with ursa. is that christmas? ]

[ either way, he knows it isn't much of a celebration without his bending. after taking to the road with sokka, zuko's been incredibly unbalanced — without his ability to bend, he's been feeling … empty. off. and while sokka's done his best to cheer him up, teaching him the ways to be normal, zuko finds being a bender is his normal. he doesn't know how sokka does it. despite all the unfamiliarity he's faced, as it's caused him to slink back into the shadows, at least cassie is familiar and upbeat. ]

[ he considers not responding, given sokka's a leech and might butt his head in, but cassie's a friend, and zuko needs to learn how to friendbend a little better. ]

Is that it? Is that the game? [ if he and azula were to play it, he's certain she'd light the house on fire. perhaps it's a game one doesn't play with a firebender. they tend to have poor senses of humour. ]

( she's happy to hear his voice after the time that's passed, especially knowing the ordeal he's been living through. zuko without his bending... well. cassie cares about him all the same. but he's... splintered. a part of him is missing. and she can tell that it bogs him down in ways she can't even begin to understand. )

That's it. You just yell out the house you see with the candles flickering in the window, you get a point. Whoever has the most at the end of the Christmas season wins.

[ so far, this is all zuko knows: you spot a house, you spot a candle, you're the first to yell out, and you win a point. but where's the bending? where's the fun in that? considering he's the type to just not understand how others operate, especially functioning families, he finds himself a little lost on how that can be fun — given he's never really participated in anything like that where the enjoyment is found within the company, it's difficult for him to comprehend. ]

… But why? Is that really it?

( there's so much fun in that, because you're driving!! and in cars it's harder to look!! it's about speed and glee ow, rude, zuko!! )

For fun? Jeez, Zuko, you'd think you'd never played a game just for the hell of it before.

[ seriously, and without missing a beat,: ] I play kuai ball. That's fun.

[ play, he says, when he truly means i set the entire field on fire. ]

What in the hell is kuai ball?

( things zuko talks about are weird and make little or no sense to her. )

It's a game.

[ that much is obvious, of course. but it's a game zuko likes. ]

You play it on the beach. There's a net and a ball. There's two teams on either side. You try and hit the ball into a space where there's no one there to win a point.

We call that volleyball where I'm from. ( weird. )

[ a part of zuko thinks to remain silent, as though it's a dismissal of him. he's found a few similarities between his world and other's, but too often do they differ in a rule or a simple thought to be considered the very exact same thing. kuai ball has always been one of his favourite games to play — it's the only thing he likes to do with azula when she opts to put a pause on dominating the world and focusing her energy onto conquering a court. ]

[ he's quiet for a moment, contemplating remaining silent on his end of the line. but kuai ball is the one thing — if one of the very rare few things — he gets excited about. ]

Do you play it with firebenders?

[Just...ignores the Christmas bit ~~for now~~. Unsurprisingly, Lucifer isn't a big fan.]

Hi Cassie! I'm Hikaru. We have plenty of magic back home, but it's all demon stuff...a human can only learn it if they form a contract with one and have it taught to them.

But some of the more powerful magic can do anything. It's incredible.

( that moment when lucifer is a precious adorable sunshiny ball of haippiness W O T. not that cassie knows this. )

We have demons, too... But they're seriously bad news. They seem to make whoever they're possessing more powerful, but they're not the source of all magic.

Anything like what?

Some of them do that too, but only the most powerful ones...they have a hard time manifesting on Earth, so they borrow a physical form to manifest through. The lack of magnetite makes them unstable.

Although it'd be rare for something that powerful to take interest in Earth in the first place. Only the weaker demons find it interesting.

Ah, but...when I say anything, I mean anything. Now, weaker magic, specific magic...it's all got a purpose. Fire magic controls fire, that basic stuff. But let's say...like, a demon lord? Or an Archangel? They could move a planet if they wanted to. Sometimes certain rituals only work when the planets are in alignment, so they force that by their own power. That's just one example.

[A ball of sunshine and super chatty too, whoops. It's a sure strategy for making people lower their guard though.]

Edited 2015-01-05 23:29 (UTC)

Magnetite? Is that some sort of stone?

I'm not sure if I could move a planet... But I'm definitely not limited to one element, or one ability. I wouldn't call myself a demon lord or an Archangel. So that's a pretty big difference.

( this is really awkward for her actually because this person sounds insane to her, even though her entire life would probably be considered pretty damn insane to the average joe. )

Only in the demon world. On Earth, it's just energy - it's mostly used to give demons a stable form, especially if they're summoned by humans. Humans naturally have magnetite in their bodies, so they can sustain demons with that. The stronger they are, the more magnetite they take, and if they're too powerful then a human can't summon them.

Oh, and if a place is filled with a high concentration of magnetite, it's inevitable you'll find a lot of demons there.

[See, she's so helpful.]

So what does that make you? A witch?

[Or something, whatever the humans are calling themselves these days.]

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second spell ☥ voice ☥ open to both courts.

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audio; it's been 84 years... 8( i'm sorry, holidays just. ate me. feel free to drop this.

GOSH NO ive been on hiatus too. i feel your pain

life is a bitch why do we rp god

to suffer