video; un: youradhere

[buildingcastles]

Hi, guys.

[The man on the other end of the network smiles awkwardly. He's gearing up for a conversation, but drawing attention to himself is a new experience. The way he draws a breath and fidgets makes it obvious that he's still feeling out the network.]

So, this is definitely on the list of moments that make you think you might be dreaming. It sounds like we have people from just about everywhere here. Someone tell me this isn't the weirdest thing you've ever had happen to you. It'll make me feel better.

Before you got here, did any of you have strange things happen? You know, things out of fantasy movies or fever dreams for everyone else? What's the weirdest thing that you've ever seen?

[He laughs, mixing an exhale into it as he ducks his head.]

Sorry, I'm trying out the whole coaching thing. My name's Christian. Apparently I'm working with the Gramarye Magic Research people as a life coach, so if anyone wants to get a drink sometime and discuss tragic life choices, I have a really open schedule. I'd say we can do lunch too, but is that weird? I don't want to be weird.

Comments

@dodger/audio/private

[smokedout]

I saw god once. That was pretty fucked up.

[Wow, is that an actual honest answer out of Dodger? Well, he trusts Christian in some odd sort of way. And he does love dropping bombs about his past.

Or he might have just gotten stung by one of his pet fireflies again, who knows.]

private

[buildingcastles]

You saw a god?

[Because that's how he automatically interprets things now. After staring down demon after demon, he takes the word god as another term for one of the myriad of spirits out there.]

What was it like?

[smokedout]

[There's a bit of a pause as Dodger decides exactly how to word it.]

When I was... Iunno, 21 or 22, I tripped massive balls on this shit called Saturn's Blood. Think like... LSD's ugly cousin. Spent seven years falling through different layers of hell, coming to understand all the different faces of the universe, the fact that we're all just made of the same stuff as stars, all that sort of shit. Finally hit the ground, watched my body melt off, saw this giant skull with ram horns and stars for eyes.

Then I woke up and found out I'd just been screaming bloody murder in an abandoned church for two hours.

[Dodger is a satanist, effectively a more cynical version of an athiest. So of course he brings stories like this to the table.]

video, un: j.k.

[aeturnus]

Life coach for magical research? Huh.

[ See something new every day. Even when you're nearing 2800. ]

Do you mean relative to peoples' home lives or what's "normal" here?

video,

[buildingcastles]

Apparently. I mean, they offered it to me, so I thought I might as well try. It's probably better than my other option of sitting on the street corner hoping to get lucky.

Home lives. You know, how does this stack up? Weird? Not so weird?

[aeturnus]

If there's one thing this place doesn't care for, it's statistical improbabilities. You might be better off on the street corner with those chances.

Astronomically weird compared to home.

text; un: elsa

[atms]

Weirdest thing I've ever seen? Two people merging into one nuclear-powered burning man. Maybe.

text;

[buildingcastles]

Really?

Were they human before they became a human pillar of fire?

text;

[atms]

I think the technical term is metahuman.

video; un: username.here

[song_of_ice]

Fantasy movies? What do you mean by that?

video;

[buildingcastles]

You know, like dragons and epic quests to unseen realms. Fictional stuff.

@2b; video

[howlongiwonder]

I saw a machine ponder the meaning of life and its own existence, even though it should not be physically capable of doing so.

[2B glances to the side, not that Christian can see it because the blindfold is on the way.]

I must admit, the strangest things I have experienced happened after I found myself here.

"Magic" being one of them.

video

[buildingcastles]

But a machine wondering about life and existence is kind of magic, right?

Sort of. I mean, it's more than just programming.

[As if he knows that much about machines.]

@outis; text

[prisonking]

Sorry, but this is definitely the weirdest thing that's ever happened to me.

text

[buildingcastles]

That's okay. Honestly, that makes me feel better.

@zacharie/text

[catdits]

It is nice to meet you dear Christian. I'm Zacharie, the traditional items merchant.

As my world is a video game, I believe there are a number of strange things there for others. Perhaps I would say the strangest thing is the whale enemy due to the sudden appearance of it.

[Although that's likely not the weirdest thing in that sentence, isn't it?]

text

[buildingcastles]

Nice to meet you, Zacharie.

[Wow, does that come off like a spirit's response. The direct, almost matter-of-fact pleasantries remind him of so many different demons he's met. It gives him a chill.

And of course he can't pull away from it.]

You're from a video game. Like a real cartridge and controllers, load and save video game?

video; stark

[inebriety]

I got turned down for a scrawny looking nerd once.

[This is what Tony finds weird in his life.]

video;

[buildingcastles]

Well, I mean... was he a cute nerd?

text | @ciscodelamancha

[franciscoramon]

[ Damn he was gonna do the "my friend merged bodies with this other guy and now they can fly and catch on fire" but he sees that Snart already mentioned Firestorm and now he's really gotta one-up him. ]

i built a time machine.

[ Hey, it doesn't get much weirder than that, after all. Or, at least, doesn't get any weirder without being personal enough that Cisco's not about to share with a random stranger. ]

and i think the whole concept of life coaching is weird enough that lunch isn't gonna make it any weirder.

[buildingcastles]

[ Why is literally everyone he talks to here so cool? It's unfair! He's never met so many humans--that he assumes are humans, anyway--that have such colorful stories to tell. It's living in a science fiction world, and he feels like a novice all over again. ]

You made a time machine. A real one? Like, it travels through time and isn't just called a time machine because it sounds cool?

I would love to see it. Uh. If you have it with you.

Or we could do lunch.

[ He smiles brightly. ]

It's kind of my first time with the coaching thing? So I didn't know if that was unprofessional or, yeah.

video, @damen

[goldcuffed]

Sorry, this is definitely the strangest thing that has ever happened to me. This, and the microwave. [It heats food really strangely. He doesn't like it. It was hot and cold in different spots at the same time.]

What's a life coach? Do you give advice for your job?

video;

[buildingcastles]

The microwave, huh? Well, the microwave is pretty incredible.

[He grew up depending on the microwave for a lot of his meals. His grin says that he is well-acquainted with that mysterious box.]

Um, yeah, apparently now I do. At least as far as magical things go.

un: kara » text

[ex_clobbers559]

I saw an alien parasite that possessed a person and turned them into something like one of those ogre-like bosses in fantasy video games.

It attacked me one night one the street before... a, uh, vigilante (I guess?) saved me.

video;

[buildingcastles]

[ Even though he's reading a text, Christian is so taken by the response that he remains on video, staring into the camera with wide eyes. ]

Alien parasite? You mean you've met aliens? Like from outer space?