abraxaslogs | ( open — august catchall )

Fuzzy, green, hard. That's about it. It's not...I think when I tried to conjure it, I missed the white lines on the ball and it was too fuzzy. But I never really paid attention to tennis balls when I could see so —

( matt shrugs. there are some things that he'd taken for granted when he'd had his sight, things that not that he couldn't see, he couldn't really remember or he found what he did remember had faded with time. )

The person I was with told me what I'd missed but it was close enough to a tennis ball. But even things like orange juice taste different to me so when I make then, they're just kind of...different. It'll be something to keep in mind for me.

Why is it somethin' to keep in mind? Unless you're tryin' specifically to give whatever you make away, it's in your domain. It should make sense to you, even if it don't make sense to everyone else. And if you're givin' it away, they can shut up. They shouldn't be nitpickin' presents.

[ This is sound logic to Julie, actually. The Horizon is a space for their own needs and desires -- making things to the standards a seeing person would expect is outside of the point. All that matters is that the space functions for Matt, right?

The whole conversation has given her food for thought. She has never really considered trying to work around handicaps like blindness, but she's sure there must be a way to do it, to make the two different sets of needs compatible. For Wanda's sake, she's sure she can figure it out. God, she hopes it doesn't necessitate learning braille. ]

What does orange juice taste like, for you? I mean, I know that smell and taste are linked together, but I didn't know stuff would taste different if you can't see it. I guess I understand if you couldn't see and didn't know what it is, but if you can't see and still know what it should look like, it's still different?

Just in case someone else is there and wants to have a drink. Orange juice would taste different to me so if I created it, it'd be more acidic and probably stronger than what other people are used to. I wouldn't want to make their mouths shrivel up in pain and distaste.

( he rubs a hand at the back of his head, trying to think of the best way to describe what he tastes and feels and smells without giving too much away. )

I'm sure you've heard that when you lose a sense, the others kind of pick up the slack? That's what mine do. So, things might taste stronger to me in some aspects so if I try and create them, they're going to go by what I remember. Imagine how a lemon tastes? And then probably multiply that by about ten or so and that's what it'd taste like to me. Just stronger.

[ She considers this quietly for a moment. In the given example, the orange juice shouldn't taste different to them, right? Everything on the Horizon is based on the individual's thoughts and ideas, but that should mean each person is drinking their own perception of orange juice, not necessarily the perception of the creator. But again, it's something she needs to experiment with on her own. ]

Like superpowers. [ It's not something she throws out in a specific way, pointed at him -- it's more in the casual way she's heard it spoken about across television and movies for her whole life. She's never lost a sense, she only has the narrative that media's dictated. ] 'Least that's how I always heard it. That blind folk can basically hear movements and shit. There were blind people in my world who would learn to do that bat click-y thing. With echoes.

[ There is a brief pause before she hastily tacks on, ] Not that blind people are bats. Just... I know that I saw it on the news before.

Echolocation, yeah.

( matt actually snickers because this wasn't the first time someone had mentioned echolocation and bats around him. it wasn't a bad comparison considering what he could do and how he did it. )

It's funny, you're not the first person to compare me to a bat. I don't know if I'm that good — ( heh. ) but I can get by.

Definitely no superpowers though. I just wanna be able to not walk off of curbs and into walls. I have big goals and even bigger ambitions.

I reckon it probably makes for a handy back-pocket Halloween costume. Ooh, wait -- I just thought of a better way to do it. Come October, you come find me before the party.

[ The way she says the party is some indication of how highly she thinks of her own hostessing skills. The Summoned have only been in Abraxas for about a year, but by God, she will make her Halloween party the annual event to speak of. Last year was a smashing success. ]

To be fair, I can see perfectly fine, and I have definitely walked off curbs and into walls. But aim for the moon and you'll land in the stars, right?

Party, huh? It might be a surprising because I know I give off the aura of a party animal but I don't think I've been invited to a Halloween party in a long time.

( maybe in school, foggy would have dragged him to one but he's always stayed away from them since then. no real need, no real motivation to go so he'd just...stayed home.

and it wasn't like anyone came to his door for candy. didn't have a very inviting vibe to it. )

That's a good way to think of it. I'd say a day where I don't walk into anything is a day well spent. But, this place is unfamiliar so I've kind of — found myself turned around and lost a few times. Thankfully not too badly.

Then you're in for a hell of a treat, 'cause I am the queen of Halloween. [ Which sounds like big talk, but she truly does throw an amazing Halloween party. It's one of the things she is most gifted at. ] Everyone's invited. Well, almost everyone.

[ She does not explain that one. While she rarely hesitates to bring up their resident warmonger, she doesn't see the need at this exact moment. Matt can get that lesson later on. ]

Well, that's just part of bein' somewhere new. I'm pretty sure this city is smaller than New York, at least. Plus, you'll never walk off a dock. Silver linin's.

( almost everyone. matt picks up on that but is wise enough to not ask. it's not his business considering they've just met but it's something he files away to remember for later. instead, he focuses on the rest of what she says. )

Yeah, this place is much smaller than New York and I've never lived anywhere but so it's — a change. Something to get used to. I don't know if I'm there yet but soon.

( hopefully. he smiles at her. )

You sound like you've been here for awhile.

I came to Cadens in... mm, February? Yeah, February. [ Not to Abraxas -- to Cadens. ] But I had friends here, so it was easier for me to adjust than for most people, I think. It was still a pain in the ass learnin' where everythin' was, though.

[ Julie's journey through Abraxas has been substantially different than almost anyone else's, save the one person left who she actually made the trip with. Technically, she's pretty sure she's still considered an illegal immigrant, if this world has such a concept. The Cities' government seems to be aware of her presence in Cadens, and they aren't pursuing her (as far as she knows), but to her knowledge, she's supposed to still be in Nott.

She wonders if Thorne has realized their absence yet. ]

But I was in the second group of Summoned ever.

You weren't originally in Cadens?

( he hadn't really looked into going from one region to another but he'd just assumed it was impossible or close to it for one reason or another. to hear that it's not is interesting. )

Where were you when you first got here?

Everyone from the first two groups was in Thorne. In the beginnin', they were the only ones who knew how. Solvunn and the Cities didn't work it out until people escaped here and blabbed all the details they could remember. Then they started grabbin' people too.

[ It's a much longer and more complex story than she lays out, but every time she drops it on someone without them asking for it first, they get overwhelmed and confused. Particularly because she doesn't hesitate to add all of her own opinions to the tale. She also doesn't elaborate on where she was between the escape and February. ]

There's a lot more to this world than any of the people in charge want us to know about or see. It's like fuckin' North Korea. Sure, you can visit, but God help you if they find out you wandered away from the tour group.

And they haven't found out about you?

( not that he was going to say anything, of course. it was just good to know that maybe he could get to a place he'd otherwise thought out of reach. if he needed to or wanted to.

but, that's for the future. )

Has something happened to other people that try and go from one region to another?

Which "they"?

[ She says it with a snort. The Cities' government? She's positive they know -- despite going out of her way to never interact with them or draw attention to herself, she has received addressed documents from them, same as the other Summoned. Her guess is that they figure it's better to have a fugitive who keeps a low profile than to possibly trigger a political event attempting to give her back. Cadens seems to want as many bodies as they can get.

Thorne, on the other hand... she can't say. All she knows is that they definitely hadn't known what she's actually capable of, or they never would have let her remain outside the castle walls. Whatever they saw that made them throw her in the dungeon, they clearly didn't see it all. ]

Things were a clusterfuck after the first two groups. Like, big time. Thorne treats theirs like gold now, but back then, it wasn't the case. At least not for everyone. Someone finally called their bluff and set everyone loose, gave us all the choice of where we wanted to go, here or Solvunn, or stay in Thorne. Most folks didn't need much more incentive to go through the portals.

Huh.

( he hadn't heard a lot about this but he'd been more focused on the here and now, learning what was going on right in front of him than what went on in the past because that hadn't been important outright.

but it's interesting to know that it seems like this place hadn't really had a handle on things at first. he wonders what changed and how it changed. )

You happier here than you were in Thorne?

Yeah, but I wouldn't say it's a fair comparision. I'd be happier anywhere than I was in the castle, even Solvunn. [ And while Matt can't see her, she also doesn't exactly sound like the kind of person who would enjoy living in a small farming ~~cult~~ community. ] But Thorne ain't just the castle, it's the whole kingdom too. And the town I lived in before I came to Cadens, I really loved.

[ Nott is a medium-sized city on the edge of Lake Circinus, and they may fall within Thorne's jurisdiction, but they function more or less independently. When a handful of Summoned, nearly all from the same world, showed up on their doorstep, the Lord of the city told them he would not allow the royal guard access to them unless they broke the laws. Sentiment toward the crown is mostly negative in Nott, and they prefer to be left to their own devices. They practice their own style of magic, and have their own special customs. They'd welcomed the Summoned, employed them and housed them. Julie loves Nott, and is willing to go out of her way to protect the people there. ]

But there were only a few of us there, Summoned. Just three, by the time we left. Most of our friends, the people we knew through the Horizon, or even before we left the castle, they were here. The isolation started gettin' to us, we were fightin', so we came here to be with the others. [ She sighs a bit. ] So, it's apples to oranges. If the people who're important to me weren't here, I wouldn't be either. But I'm happier with them than I was when I was practically all alone.

( he nods because that makes sense. despite the fact that some people he knows are off in solvunn, he doesn't know how good he'd do being there permanently. he's always lived around a city, always been around people and places so to move suddenly to a farm or something else so...quiet?

he doesn't know if he could do it. but if he needed to visit, it was good to know that he could. )

Honestly haven't heard much about Thorne. If I haven't been talking to people here, it's been people in Solvunn. Thorne's kind of this...unknown. I know people are there but I haven't really had much contact with them.

( so, he knows more about the free cities and solvunn than anything else. )

Sounds like it might be a good thing if you didn't like it as much as you say.

There's a couple decent folks there. They seem to pull people who got a background in magic, or at least people who do a lot of... studyin', I guess? Academic type stuff. They're the ones who focus most on the Singularity.

[ Julie only knows two people there, at least in terms of more than just acquaintances. Both of them have been helping her with magic. But issue lies far more with the people in charge. ]

I dunno. I'm kinda of the mind that there just ain't really a "good" option. All of these factions are dangerous. Some just more than others.

[ And the truth is, she fully believes the Free Cities to be the most dangerous. There are so many things about how they operate that strongly remind her of home, and that sends a chill up her spine. Thorne may be shitty, but she's convinced that their evil comes from being misguided, rather than actual deviousness. They wouldn't secretly create a humanity-ending plague, as far as Julie can tell.

Geralt and Sam have already found where the Cities did their experiments. ]

Yeah, I don't disagree.

( it doesn't make him nervous because he knows he can take care of and defend himself but that doesn't mean he wants something like a war or anything aggressive to happen. even if he can't shake the feeling that something might happen.

he sighs and sits back, tapping his fingers lightly on the table in front of them. )

Everyone faction is dangerous and we're just caught in the middle. Rock and a hard place. Not a very good spot to be in.

That's why the Singularity is important. Not just the magic, not just the Horizon, not even that it might be, like, the center of the whole universe or whatever. But the actual crater, the real one. For us, that's the safest place in this world.

[ There's a weight to her voice. This is something she is absolutely convinced of, despite the fact that she's never been to the real Singularity. She'd like to go, but it's almost impossible, especially without permission. The closest she's gotten outside of the Horizon was at the summit (as the area surrounding the Singularity's crater is neutral territory). ]

See, the crater is kinda like a -- I guess forcefield is a word for it? Not the best one, but. People from Abraxas, if they try and go in the crater, they just sorta... disintegrate? Evaporate? Somethin' like that. Pretty much instantly, except durin' the Dimming, when they can get further in before they die. That's like, a whole 'nother mess, this world is crazy as fuck.

[ She dismisses that for now, takes a drink from her mug. The Dimming is a legitimately insane tradition and she will not hear otherwise. ]

Anyway, that's what happens to them. But us, the Summoned? We just get kicked to the Horizon. That's how the very first group went there. They all got pushed into the crater and then fished back out a few weeks later. Their bodies were totally fine, like they just slept the whole time. If things get bad, that's how we stay safe. We go to the only place they can't.

That's good to know,

( if there's a space to go where other people can't be, then matt knows that there's going to be a reason for it. there'd been a reason for it the first time before the discover of the horizon so there'd probably be a reason in the future. )

Note to self, if things get bad, go to the giant hole and just get comfortable.

( despite his joking, it's good advice. he nods at her. )

Been through a lot of shit since you've been here, huh? Still sound like you're in good spirits.

You could put it that way. But compared to my world, anythin' they can throw at me here is a cakewalk, so.

[ But the way she says this suggests that she is not open to elaboration. Julie's version of Earth only barely exists now, and the end was not something easily recounted or spoken of. In her experience, trying to casually explain only leads to awkwardness and insincere apologies said automatically. ]

I mean, the stuff that's happened here sucks, don't get me wrong. I don't know many folks who are just rarin' to have to relive their worst memories and nightmares and shit. But it's manageable, I guess. Better'n the dungeon, at least.

This definitely wasn't on my agenda of places to visit before I kicked the bucket but —

( he doesn't really have much of a choice. he's here and he's resigned himself to the fact that he's going to be here. he sighs and sits back. )

There's a few people that are from the same place as I am which is...strange. That we'd all be in one place like this. I was aware of them but they didn't know me.

( and he uses that to his advantage. )

Yeah, that happens sometimes. Best we can figure is, maybe some stuff in certain worlds makes us better for them to pick? There were originally four of us from my world. [ Well, three, plus one... it's complicated and she's not going to clarify. ] It's just me and one other now.

[ Which is another very touchy subject. She has her theories on why the other two are gone, what made the Singularity toss them back into the void, but it's nothing she can say definitively. ]

Who's here from your world?

A lot of people from New York. Uh, Sam Wilson, Steve Rogers, Tony Stark —

( people with one thing in common: the whole avengers schtick. he knows it's not a schtick but matt continues to not be their biggest fan. they do their thing, he does his. )

A lot of them are here in Cadens.

( a few in solvunn, a few in thorne. )

They don't know me and I only know of most of them in name.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject