1st roll, 2nd exposure | Video

[strangeandunusual]

[the feed shows a sunny spot in an alley, just outside the Gibson Girl. Lydia has borrowed one of their tables and set it with an assortment of snacks, fruit, a pile of napkins, a stack of glasses, and a pitcher of their amazing lemonade... but the clear focus of the shot is propped against the alley wall: a giant book that anyone from the Temple party of the Jungle mission will recognize as a retired but unusual tent. She's wearing black jeans with splatters of maroon spray paint, courtesy of her roommate's creativity, and a matching brocade top, with a large, full envelope in her hands. The envelope is 8x10, yellow slashed with red diagonal lines.]

Hi, everybody. I've met most of you, I think, but my name is Lydia Deetz, and I work at the camera shop when I'm not training. I take pictures when I'm out exploring, and when we have parties, and meetings ... pretty much all the time. My friend Fenton made this giant book with his magic as a mistake, but... I want to turn it into a big photo album for all of us, as a record of everything that happens. I have a lot of pictures already, from the first two months I've been here... And some of them are from the other night, so you're all here.

[she pats the envelope]

One of my favorite myths about photography is some people think it steals your soul. Not really, but... It helps keep a memory. And memories are part of our soul, so ... Maybe what it really does is make our souls stronger. If we're going to be doing a lot of fighting and exploring and repairing... We're going to need to be strong. So. Maybe this will help. I'm in the alley by the Gibson Girl, if you want to come and help... Or even if you want to just look at the pictures. Once all the pictures are in, I'll keep it in the lobby of the apartments until I get more.

[an awkward pause as she realizes she has no clue how to end this]

Um. Hope to see some of you?

Comments

[enhancomancer]

That's a weird name! Is it like the non-screaming non-seeing frozen treat?

Yes, I need directions, please.

[strangeandunusual]

That's exactly what it's like, because they sell it there. Hang on ...

[she proceeds to send directions as their own text. a moment after she's sent it]

Oh. That was kind of dumb of me, I forgot to ask first: can you read?

[enhancomancer]

[LULZ!] Of course I can! I'm 10, not 3!

[strangeandunusual]

Okay! Sorry, I just - I wasn't sure if people read things in your world ... or even if they used the same alphabet. It can be kind of tricky with people from all different places. But those should be good directions. I'll see you soon!

[enhancomancer]

[A gasp of horror she reserves for people breaking the Adult Conspiracy usually.] That's right! I forgot! Mundania turns everything into nonsense!!

[A beat.] But it's fine, there's magic here. If we can speak the same language, then I must be able to read the same.

[And basically skips along... lalalalala.]

[strangeandunusual]

[and one set of directions later]

Hi, Ivy! Here, want some lemonade?

[she pours her a cup and offers it, then starts looking through her photos for any she thinks Ivy might particularly enjoy]

[enhancomancer]

Yes, please! Thank you!

[And... Ivy looks around for the lemons - aid...]

[But drinks the yellow drink with a shrug and then oohs over the pictures!]

[strangeandunusual]

[she wonders briefly what Ivy's looking for, but leaves it alone]

That's the view from the plateau where we had to go and rescue my friend, Dreamfinder. It was a really long trip, and at that point all I wanted to do was get home, but the view was so pretty that even though I was tired, I knew if I didn't take a picture, I'd regret it.

[enhancomancer]

Neat! How long was it? Why did Dreamfinder need rescuing?

[strangeandunusual]

Well, it was the longest one I've been on here. It took a few days. I know a lot of people here have probably been on longer adventures - especially my friend Sylvando, he's a traveling swordsman.

As for Dreamfinder ... his best friend, Figment, got in trouble, and he had to go save him - only once he got to him, they were separated, and each of them got lost. We had to go bring them back safely to Main Street before the Corroded attacked them. Have you met Dreamfinder, yet?

[enhancomancer]

I see! A few days is pretty long!

I have! And Figment! And I wanted to go find Stanley when he got lost, but my parents wouldn't let me, so I was going to send Dolph as a bird, but Grundy promised he and Grandpa Bink would find him instead for me.

I still don't think it's fair that Dreamfinder gets Figment, but I don't have Stanley. Figment is nice, but Stanley is stronger!!

[strangeandunusual]

Well... Figment was already here. And Dreamfinder is a Kingdom Spirit, which means he's really strong. Maybe once you practice hard, you might be able to summon Stanley? I don't know, but either way, I'm sorry you miss him. I have friends I miss, too.

[enhancomancer]

You think so? Okay then I'll practice really hard!!!

Who do you miss? We can keep each other company until we find them!

[strangeandunusual]

I think that's a great idea. ... I miss my ghost friends, Adam and Barbara. I miss my Dad too, but I don't think he'd be happy here. He really needs to relax, and ... uh. He wouldn't be able to do that here.

[enhancomancer]

Mmn! Mine neither. But Grandpa Trent said a good King can never relax until all his people are thriving.

Why does your Dad need to relax?

[strangeandunusual]

He used to work for someone who set really high goals for people. Like ... say, a knight would have to have victory in a certain amount of battles every month, or he couldn't be a knight anymore. Think of it like that. Only, the number my dad's boss set was really, really high. My Dad was good at what he did, so he was able to do it, but ... it made him really tired, and really stressed out, and one day his heart decided it couldn't keep running his body if he was going to work that hard, so he got really sick.

[it was very close to how her own mother had explained it to her, really. only Emily Deetz had actually explained it in real estate terms, since Lydia had known what a mortgage was since she was five. she'd asked her Dad to play dolls with her and Charles Deetz had Ken draw up one for the cardboard Dream House she'd made out of shoeboxes.]

[enhancomancer]

That's stupid, and really sad. I'm sorry. Is he okay? Just needs to relax?

[strangeandunusual]

He is, now, yeah. But his doctor told him he couldn't get that stressed out anymore, so we moved to a quieter place with less people. That's how I met the ghosts I told you about.

[enhancomancer]

Are ghosts really that relaxing? I know zombies are, but even then, not always. Grandma Iris doesn't like zombies as much as mother. And even Millie doesn't like them in the castle all the time.

[strangeandunusual]

Well, probably not most of the time, but Adam and Barbara are really nice. And Dad couldn't even see them at first, so he wasn't worried. It's kind of a long story, but ... they're friends, now.