video | un: mooncents

[longblack]

[ the video opens on our hero a very tired looking woman, clearly laying on her assigned bed in the communal housing area, biting her lower lip and fiddling with her phone. once she realizes she's got it recording, she starts speaking. ]

So somebody decided to combine forums, vlogging, and FaceTime all in one neat social media package. [ cat pulls a face. ] Yeah, I don't feel any less awkward just talking to a phone camera than I did when my brother decided he wanted to start vlogging and I absolutely had to be in his first video.

[ she sighs and pushes some stray hairs off her forehead. ]

Alright, so. If I'm going to be here for a while, and it looks like I am, there's a couple things I want to know. The first is why there are so many goddamn foxes in this city? It's like catdog central here. Second, just how dangerous does stuff get outside the inhabited part of the city? Is exploring past the first fences more like taking a hike in a forest in Wyoming where no one can hear you scream or walking through, I don't know, the Serengeti or Amazon? I'm not really inclined to go there either way, but just in case one of the outdoorsy nuts I know from home gets pulled here, I want to be able to sit them down and tell them why going there is a bad idea and why they shouldn't drag me along.

[ there's a pause, and cat looks up and to the side, away from the camera, clearly thinking. ]

I think that's it. Wait, no. Just in case one of my new roomies snores, is there somewhere I can get good but cheap earplugs around? I've got my headphones from home with me but I can't really sleep with those on.

Comments

voice | un: d.wayne

[bestrobin]

It depends. If you're a coward, it might feel dangerous and intimidating. It's not.

( Says the murder child. )

There's a store near the movie theater that sells different kinds of ear plugs and wireless earbuds, if you want an alternative to your headphones.

voice.

[longblack]

Am I seriously being called a coward by a kid whose voice hasn't even cracked yet?

[ where are your parents, child?? ]

[bestrobin]

I said it depends. You're admitting to being one in this instance.

( Excuse you, he's thirteen. He's practically an adult. )

My voice has no impact on whether or not the statement is true.

[longblack]

It certainly damages your credibility as a reliable source.

[bestrobin]

My voice has nothing to do with my reliability.

[longblack]

It's less your voice and more your age. Kids tend to have a certain kind of fearlessness--especially when it comes to exploring and the great outdoors--that goes right over into recklessness.

[bestrobin]

​I've taken care of myself and teams of men since I was seven. It's not being fearless, it's being confident in my abilities.

[longblack]

[ there's a long, long pause. ]

What kind of fucked up world are you from?

[bestrobin]

I didn't have a standard childhood.

Most people my age are still crying over middle school crushes.

[longblack]

Yeah, no shit. Sucks for you.

video; @fromTV

[spellslots]

Unless they've got magic or a gun, it's kinda dangerous.

[Or a magic gun! you never know.]

I mean, half the time I don't run into anything out there, but there's definitely more than just cool birds or whatever. Shit can and will try to eat you.

video

[longblack]

What kind of shit are we talking? Like alien bears or moose or what?

video

[spellslots]

All of the above? I did mention being eaten, right? I don't think moose eat people.

[that is actually a horrifying thought]

video

[longblack]

No, but I hear they're pretty damn deadly.

[spellslots]

Afraid I can't say what they're like in the world, only moose...s? I ever met were pretty nice. Told kinda boring stories, but not everyone can be a great conversationalist.

[Is he fucking with her?

No, he's met talking moose before.]

[longblack]

[ give her a moment to just stare. ]

You have talking moose in your world. And they're chill. [ ... ] What.

[spellslots]

Technically not my world, just one I've been to before, you know? This whole alternate reality thing isn't new to me.

[There are perks to working for Fantasy NASA]

[longblack]

Really? Where all have you been?

[spellslots]

About a hundred different worlds, a lot of 'em didn't have names cause they didn't have people until we rocked up. This the first one that's had like... non-natives, you know? The portal is one thing I hadn't seen before.

[it's Weird]

[longblack]

That's pretty cool. Some people back home know about other universes--had their ancestors come from other universes, even--but nobody's traveled between dimensions in hundreds of years at least.

[spellslots]

You know, I think you're one of the first people I've met who's heard about hopping universes before.

[Most other people are pretty shocked by the whole portal thing]

[longblack]

It's not a real well-known thing back home, but I was kind of a nerd and looked into it a lot.

[spellslots]

That's pretty fucking cool. I wasn't like, the science guy on our ship so I have no idea how the whole thing worked aside from "we used divine magic to make a cool engine for travelling between realities".

[Which isn't that useful. If only Barry or Davenport were around, they knew how it all worked.]

[longblack]

Wait, wait. You have a dimension-travelling ship? That's dope.

[spellslots]

Ehhhh, had might be more accurate. It's currently kinda missing in action.

[Where is the ship, Lucretia!!!]

[longblack]

As in you don't have it here or it's missing back home too?

[spellslots]

Back home, if I started listing the shit I'm missing here it'd take a week. I mean, the pocket spa, for one, I am fucking devastated about.

[If he wants to go to a spa he has to go to one that OTHER PEOPLE GO TO

Like some sort of animal]

[longblack]

Pocket spa?

[spellslots]

What it says on the tin, bubbale. Pocket dimension with a spa in it, real handy for taking a little break mid-adventure.

[Or for stashing stolen gold!!]

[longblack]

That sounds fucking amazing. Does it have a hot tub?

[spellslots]

Hot tub, endless cucumber sandwiches, those weird face masks that are like a sheet of paper. It was well worth the gold I paid for it.

[longblack]

You can just buy a pocket universe like rich dicks buy private islands? Dude.

[spellslots]

Magic.

[Jazz hands.]

slides in here with starbucks | un: d.grayson | voice

[fingerstripes]

I'd call it the Amazon if you know what you're walking into. Toss in a side of Mount Doom if you need to ask.

voice | <3

[longblack]

Tolkien fan, huh? Good taste.

video, @chronicler

[scholiast]

(Wyoming, Serengeti, Amazon? Lucretia props her chin on her hand, both elbows on the table.)

Sorry, but I haven't– uh, I'm not familiar with any of those places? I think it's less... Wyoming and more the other two, if the other two are also full of large monsters that would absolutely hear you if you screamed.