it's not your act of creation

[beautifullies]

Who: Claire and closed starters + opens
When: September + October
Where: her house in Solvunn, the Horizon, will add more locations as needed
What: An open where Clarie discovers she can control bees (up to 30 ft), an option to bake bread or garden with her, eventual questing, a handful of closed starters and more!
Warnings: Will update as needed
Notes: Please feel free to match the brackets or switch to prose, tag with your heart. Assume wildcarding is on the table, just message me first or hmu on plurk @ babybananas w/any ideas!




look how cute, how adorable, how perfect

Comments

[suplexer]

[ While Tifa doesn't like the idea that Claire would ever be put into a situation so desperate that she had to make use of that last resort, she understands that there are dangers here. There isn't usually much time for her to catch her breath before something else is going on, and while she hasn't ever felt as if her life was threatened, it's something to keep in mind.

So while she appears uncertain at first, she does give Claire a firm nod. ] Better safe than sorry, that's for sure.

[ When it's clear that she's being invited to sit, Tifa follows Claire over to the patio and settles into a chair across from her. ]

Why did you avoid it? Just because you didn't have any experience with it?

[ That's a fair enough reason, honestly. Magic must seem intimidating to someone who's never used it before. ]

Materia is pretty expensive and you have to have some sort of weapon to slot it into, so that's one way that its use is limited. It's also a finite resource. [ There's also the question of how it's produced, but she won't get into all that. Tifa shoots Claire a smile. ] And oh, some tea would be great. Thank you so much!

[beautifullies]

[ Claire pours for both of them. It's fragrant, with a light ginger taste, blackberry leaves and lemon balm, rosehip seeds, and white tea. ] Help yourself to anything here. [ The tray has honey for sweetener, a bowl of complimentary blackberries, soft cheese and crackers. Almost as if she'd known eventually there would be company.

Only once they're settled does she explain, but first she acknowledges the Materia. ]

It makes sense then, that you wouldn't necessarily know how to perform magic inherently. As for avoiding it, in the time I'm from, magic is feared. Women are persecuted for it the most, and typically for reasons that involve challenging something a man said. Knowing too much, healing someone a little too well for the church's liking meant you must be in-cahoots with the devil for such knowledge.

[ She speaks from experience, from nearly burning at the stake, but that's a depressing tale she keeps tucked way for now. ]

I didn't trust how...freely it was used at first. I thought it must be for a certain type of person, surely not everyone. But slowly I realized no one would arrest me for grinding herbs for salves and teas.

[ Claire regards Tifa with a tilt of her head. ]

How do you feel about it? Being able to so freely learn?

[suplexer]

[ It's impressive how Claire simply had this all ready, almost as if she had been expecting company. It does give Tifa a moment of pause as she casts a glance around them, wondering if she's accidentally put Claire into some sort of awkward situation. Maybe she'd been waiting for someone else, but then Tifa came by and she'd invited her into her garden out of politeness.

Before Tifa can say anything about that possibility, Claire begins to explain why the use of magic had given her pause. There does end up being a reason beyond it being something foreign, and a frown takes over Tifa's expression as the explanation continues.

It didn't take much for society to find a reason to blame women for something, and Tifa doesn't hold back on a sigh as she takes a sip of tea, then adds a spoonful of honey to it. ]

It sounds like the whole magic thing was just an excuse to target people. I'm sorry you had to live through something like that.

[ Tifa makes a soft humming noise in response to Claire's question. ]

To be honest, I was also pretty surprised when I realized that just about everyone here can use magic. It didn't take me too long to realize that it would be helpful to relearn how to cast a few spells, though, and I was lucky enough to have people offering to teach me almost right away.

[ Other women, funnily enough. It's good to know that they can all look out for each other here, and Claire is just another example of that. ]

[beautifullies]

[ What Claire doesn't know, what she can't know unless or until she goes home, is that the magic is there inside of her, waiting to be used for the first time while acting as midwife. Traveling the through the stones has changed her, given her the ability, but back home, she hadn't learned how to tap into it. ]

You're not wrong. Most of those people just so happened to be women with strong opinions.

[ Claire listens, nodding along as Tifa speaks, then she gives a soft chuckle. ]

You know, you've made me realize that I started building my little circle around magic; Himeka and Wanda led to meeting so many others, and now that little circle feels like an entire community.

[ She doesn't mean to sound so sentimental, but she can't help it. And the longer she's here, the more it means to her that those people are still here with her. ]

I only wish I could get to those who aren't here in Solvunn.

[ A frown touches her lips before raising her cup to take a sip of tea. ]

I've never lived anywhere with borders quite like this.

[suplexer]

[ Tifa rolls her eyes, because of course they just so happened to be women with strong opinions. It's unfortunate to realize that a prejudice like that extends beyond the borders of worlds, but she can hope it's not a universal thing.

The fact that they have a whole community of magically-inclined women here in Solvunn is a nice realization to have, though. Back home it was really just Tifa and Jessie surrounded by a bunch of guys (and Merle, but that was different), and it's only recently that Tifa's had people like Aerith and Yuffie to commiserate with, so Solvunn has been a fresh breath of air in that sense. ]

I really like that we're all so eager to support each other, too. Wanda and Himeka were so nice and welcoming to me when I first got here and that's only continued.

[ She doesn't mind the sentimentality at all.

As for the comment about borders, Tifa chews at her bottom lip and takes a sip of her tea, eventually nodding. ]

Where I'm from it isn't always the easiest thing to get around, but there definitely aren't borders that are this strict. Shinra keeps an eye on things, I guess, and you might need paperwork to enter or leave certain cities, but here it's a lot harder. At least we have Nocwich...?