10/12 - forward-dated

[strangeandunusual]

[Lydia turns on the video feed while she's sitting in the middle of the garden outside the Graven Image Gallery. She's wearing a black and red dress that looks like Dracula turned a medieval court lady, and holding a notebook shaped like a coffin, her pen topped with a big fuzzy spider with google eyes.]

Hey, everyone! There might be a couple of you I haven't talked to a lot yet, but I'm Lydia Deetz ... one of me, anyway, the one who's been here the longest. There's another version of me, but her hair's shorter and she wears a lot more safety pins on her clothes.

Anyway. I was one of the first Apprentices through the mirror, and I've noticed that trainings have had fewer and fewer people show up. This isn't good, you guys. If the Corroded come by again, or if something else happens? We might not be prepared.

I'm not trying to take charge, and I don't want to. But I was hoping I could at least get people thinking about their powers, and the skills you have that aren't tied to magic. If we put it all here on the network, that way, if anyone does need help for any reason, they know who to ask. And how to find them.

I'll get it started: I'm a Princess, which means I can heal if anyone gets hurt. I can also purify Corroded things, and if anyone's magic needs a boost, I've recently learned how to do that, too. My problem is that if I keep it up for too long, I get dizzy, and if I really push it, I faint ... so I like to have someone around who can help me with that just in case. I can also sew, and bake, and I've been told I give a really good pep talk. So if you're feeling down, don't hesitate to give me a call!

I don't want any of you to think you don't have anything to contribute. Just because you think someone might not find your love of, I don't know, building models? useful, doesn't mean we can't use that for something else. You could help rebuild broken things. Bigger scale, but still applicable, right? I feel like some of us have been living in our boxes for a while, since the last time we had to bring Dreamfinder back. We had a lot of people come and go, and it's ... it's been hard, I know. But we're still here. And I know each and every one of you is here for a reason, and that you can do great things.

So if we can do all those great things separately ... think about what we can do together.. I know we only had one new person show up a few days ago, so training might not officially get set up. If it doesn't? Please consider finding some way to train anyway. The Blue Bayou missions are all done, which means we've got some heavy lifting coming to purify something, the same way it happened at the temple. We need to be ready. And we will. I believe in all of you.

Also: this is less important, but I still wanted to tell you ... the Graven Image is having an anniversary party on Halloween Day! I scheduled it so it wouldn't cut into any parties that might happen at night, but costumes are welcome! I'm remodeling the Gallery to add a new wing, and I think you're all gonna be really excited when you see the surprise. No meeting, no bringing presents necessary, none of that. Just come by and get some cider or cocoa and have fun!

((OOC: She has a top-level in her log post for anyone who wants to meet in person after this, too.))

Comments

[connie_maheswaran]

"I just try and take the situation in a little at a time. It helps that I've seen a LOT, and that I've started to become a little more unflappable as things got more extreme. Also, nothing beats a good scare!"

[strangeandunusual]

"Just a thought," Lydia grinned at her. "But yeah, I know what you mean. After helping clear the temple in the jungle, the Corroded aren't scary to me anymore. All you have to do with most things is just face them, right?"

[connie_maheswaran]

"I just want to help the Corroded now even if it's supposedly easier to just kill them. I'd rather face the unknown of the Corroded than this idea that I have the power to decide who gets to live and who doesn't, you know?"

(canon movie spoilers I guess?)

[strangeandunusual]

"Yeah, I do," Lydia nodded. "The thought of actually killing or destroying something or someone is ... awful."

She shook her head and glanced around. Most people would have closed their eyes when trying to avoid thinking about something, but if she did that, she'd just see Adam and Barbara floating above the dining room table during Otho's botched exorcism(canon , decaying in their wedding clothes ... a sight she'd already had her fair share of nightmares about.

I have seen this movie since I was probably 7 and its a favorite so nahhh

[connie_maheswaran]

"People here are from different worlds, so they tend to not see it as so abnormal, but I can't think of it in so casual terms. Back home, it's a pretty heavy thing, and my boyfriend had a meltdown over the possibility he did that to someone on purpose so...I don't think it'll ever be a simple thing for me."

And if there was ever a thing that was in her nightmares, it was Steven during his breakdown.

it is quite the fine movie. and oh gosh how did I miss that awful typo.

[strangeandunusual]

"That's a good thing, though," Lydia reassured her. "The fact that people like you and I are here ... it means we can convince the other Apprentices that there are ways to be merciful and solve the Corruption without killing anything. The Doctor, he believes in that, too, you know. He's really good at figuring out peaceful solutions."

Re: it is quite the fine movie. and oh gosh how did I miss that awful typo.

[connie_maheswaran]

"That does sound exactly like the Doctor, now that you mention it. I can't imagine he would be openly malicious about anything. I think we should at least try to not have to destroy anyone while we're getting rid of the Corroded. If we were only meant to destroy them, I don't think this place would have needed to specifically choose us. They could have just drafted military people or something like that."

[strangeandunusual]

"Exactly! It takes imagination to come up with solutions that benefit everyone." She smiled. "I know that sometimes things have to be destroyed because there's no other option, but ... I really hope that's a rarity here."

[connie_maheswaran]

"There will definitely be times things have to be destroyed. Even I know that: in a perfect world it wouldn't happen, but we're obviously not in a world like that. I guess we'll just have to deal when the time comes, and know when it has to happen."

For Connie it'd have to be when one of the other apprentices lives were at stake.

[strangeandunusual]

Lydia nodded in agreement. "Yeah, only if someone else is in trouble and there's no other way to save them, right?"

Given how well they'd gotten along and seen eye-to-eye thus far, it was probably not surprising to Connie at all that they thought along the same lines.

[connie_maheswaran]

"Exactly! You have to know when that happens, and act accordingly. Otherwise, you'll put that person in danger."

Connie hadn't been in a situation where she had to use deadly force, but she was trained to know what to do when it happened, and was prepared to do it. Connie was, after all, sensible to a fault.

[strangeandunusual]

"See, and that's the sort of thing training should cover, too," Lydia said, bringing it all back around to square one.

"Have you met Harry yet? He's helping me figure out ways to get more people involved in training: we're meeting at the Carnation Cafe tomorrow to do some brainstorming. Want me to keep you in the loop on what we come up with?"

[connie_maheswaran]

Connie nodded. "We've met, and talked a bit. He'd definitely seen some of that fighting in his world, and its involved magic. That would be a good idea! I wouldn't mind being kept in the loop, of course! The more we cooperate, the better!"