genessia | [Action/Video]

Entry tags:

[Action/Video]

(Video)

[The image of a young girl appears on the screen. She is looking quite refreshed after subjecting herself to negative thoughts a number of days earlier. Her increased mood shows in this broadcast from just what she wanted to talk about. If not from the fact she is holding a book of fairy tales.]

"Hello, everyone. I just wanted to say In have a birthday coming up in a few short days. I don't plan to have a party this year, but I extend an invitation to all my friends anyway. But, onto what I really wanted to talk about.

What is a popular fairy tale from your home world?"

(Action)

[It was still acceptably cold in Genessia, so Anastasia can safely be outside and not be harmed by the heat from the sun. She was sitting on a swing at a playground near Ayame's apartment where she's temporarily staying while Satsuki is away. She had a book of fairy tales open in her lap, reading as she gently sways on the swing. She wasn't alone, as she has Sylveon beside her, paws up on the other swing.

What better companion to read fairy tales with than a Fairy-type pokemon? Maybe that and someone to talk fairy tales wit?]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Telsen looked so excited! This was his thing! No one ever asked about it either! He really wished he had one of his books with him, he could go on for hours.]

Oh it's hard to say what's a pop-popular "fairy tale". A lot of the tales are real! But um- well, you might like this one!

There was a story of a mad king, who ruled over Kryta- er, a human nation. Mad King Thorn was known for his incredably cruelty to his subjects, playing awful "pranks", dismemberment, killing his wives and children, it's a long list.

Eventually his subjects rebelled during an awful famine. He was pulled apart and bits of him sealed away so he wouldn't return. Centuries ago he was said to return on Halloween, thanks to his lunatic court. His court petered out, in time, and he was silent, though Halloween was still greatly affected by his influence!

Thing is- [He laughed nervously.] -'bout four years ago he showed up again, in the middle of a city and he, uh, pretty much harasses the city for several weeks around Halloween now. I saw him appear from my apartment, it was, yeah, pretty scary.

He's like, uh, twenty feet tall. Pumpkin for a head. You'd think he was just a story but no. A lot of stories from Tyria are like that.

Edited 2017-02-19 23:17 (UTC)

"So Tyria is abundant with stories that turn out to be true? And if this Mad King is still, "alive" for lack of a better word, and is 20 feet tall, how do your people deal with him?"

[She can't imagine the suffering that must be going on for several weeks.]

Stories that are true or could be true. Around the time he was last active, there are hundreds of tales of fantastical things that have a surprising amount of his-historical evidence to them. [He shook his head. Being a historian himself, it was a bit of a headache.]

Mad King Thorn is, uh, alive-ish. The dead don't always stay that dead when there's a lot of magic involved. We don't really er, deal with him. The town is decorated, a lot of people play along, some willingly go play in his "realm". Who knows how many don't come back.

He goes away after a while. People that want to be heros keep the lunatic courtiers in check. It's all very strange. It makes buying groceries a pain in the ass.

[Language.]

"People of Tyria actually go into a alternate reality despite the chance they may not come back?"

[They're either thrill-seekers, or not very bright.]

"And Tyria is also abundant in magic? So much, even, that...it can raise the dead?"

[Oops.]

Uh, a lot, really. I'm not really sure this isn't, um, part of the Mists. Alternate bits of reality that connect to Tyria are pretty c-common.

It's dangerous but so is living there. [Shrug.]

I mean, raising the dead isn't that hard. Er, well, raising it so it thinks and is super powerful like Mad King Thorn is, I don't-don't know how that works. But-but there's ghosts, some of them are real nasty. A lot of them. Um, that's not the point, no, there are lots of dead that come back and cause trouble, yeah.

Oh, but yes, it's very magical. At least compared to this place, it's kinda strange without it all.

Edited 2017-02-20 03:10 (UTC)

"I lost everything to the undead in my world. If I had a way to help Tyria with its undead problem, I would use every bit of magical power I have.

...Now I'm really curious about Tyria itself. But I was told I tend to drift from topic-to-topic a bit too much."

Oh. Sorry. I uh- No, nevermind. I wish the undead was the only problem, but uh, it's appreciated, I guess?

Uh, how about this? You tell me a story from your world and I'll tell you more about Tyria. I collect stories like that.

[She hates the undead most of all. But she is a big girl above lingering on what she lost.

Anastasia has no problems with this exchange of stories. She smiled and thought about the first story she remembers.]

"One story I remember is called "Alice." It's about a brilliant inventor and his wife. His inventions brought him unimaginable wealth and prestige, but both he and his wife really wanted a child. So the inventor built themselves a manatech doll, designed to look like and behave like a real girl. They named her Alice, which stands for...Umm... Artificial lifeform of...something science-y."

[Brilliant.]

"The townspeople thought Alice was a real girl, but there were certain errors that revealed she wasn't really. This scared the people and accused the inventor of playing God and defying nature. A mob later came to destroy Alice, but her parents protected her. They were both killed, and then Alice came forth to protect her parents.

The mob finally relented and simply left, leaving Alice alone and lost. Legends say Alice existed and may be somewhere in the world, tending to her parents' final resting place."

[Telsen is so not above lingering on what he's lost or simmering in resentment against who he thinks is to blame. Some stories are still less fun to tell than others.

He listens intently as she speaks, looking away here and there to scribble something down.]

That sounds like something that's real on Tyria. But knowing the types that would make a golem like that, it wouldn't look very life like... [It's probably be big, clunky, and still talk like a little girl. Asura were weird.]

Alright, I've got another for you. There's a small town by a large lake, or is it a sea? Can't remember. But there's a floating castle that overlooks it. Inside is sa-said to be a wizard of incredible power with a massive library of magical books and all sorts of rare artifacts.

The village is protected by elementals and the villagers say that's the wizard's doing. Can't say for sure, elementals will pop up on their own. But the floating castle is there and no one knows what's inside.

Stories out of the way, what did you want to ask about?

[Anastasia listens in fascination about the talk of magical artifacts. At the very least, she would like to see what's inside that castle. Too bad that's not possible.

Upon being asked what she wants to ask, she struggled for a brief moment.]

"Um... Tell me about any countries that exist?"

[Telsen would love to see inside the thing too! Sadly, he couldn't fly, despite all his attempts otherwise. He got pretty close sometimes.]

Countries? Huh okay, hm. Well there's more like, hrm, regions. There's Elona and Cantha, they're distinct nations, but they've been cut off from Tyria for decades.

Uh, oh, Tyria is the world and the biggest lived in area. It's confusing, even there. Trust me.

But yeah! There's Elona, Cantha, those are human nations, there's Ascalon, that used to be human and now it belongs to charr. Well it was charr and then human and then charr again. It's covered in g-ghosts. I don't know how they can stand it.

Kryta, that's the only human nation left really, that isn't cut off. Uh, there's the Shiverpeaks! Far up north, it's where the norn live. As it sounds, it's fuc- it's really cold. [Yeah, she was a child. She was older than Telsen but still a kid.]

There's Orr, it was a human nation that was sunk to stop the invasion of the charr centuries ago. It was brought back up by the dragon Zhaitan and, um. It's- that's uh, actually my field of study. It's a dead land, I mean, Tra- someone uh, really important worked to cleanse it but it still struggles. I've been there. It's awful.

That doesn't matter. Then there's the Magumma Jungle, that's where I'm from, actually. It's, well. A jungle. The asura live there too. It's... kind of a messed up place, really.

Er, yeah, there's a lot to talk about really, if you want to know about regions and stuff.

"It must be really cold if it's named the Shiverpeaks..."

[And the cold is her element. The colder it is, the better for her. Upon listening to the summaries, there was one name she heard often.]

"Who are the Charr?"

Very. The norn are hardier than humans. Look like 'em but aren't the same. Lot tougher.

But yeah, the charr. I guess it's kinda fitting there's so many humans here and no charr, they don't get along. I don't know if anyone knows what they are, uh, they're pretty tall, up to um, ten feet I guess? Big! Very big. They're huge cats, well, more like lions or leopards, but on two feet. With horns and way too many teeth.

They basically live in a warzone all the time, I don't know why they bother with it. They have a huge fortress all for this place crawling with hostile ghosts. S'weird.

"Huge, ten foot tall cats?"

[They are just a little over twice her height. That's one massive kitty.]

"If it is their home, surely they will defend it to their last breath. I can sympathize with them. I think I would like to meet a Charr."

[Why is she timid around strangers in person and yet she wants to meet a giant bi-pedal cat?]

Like I said, humans and them don't always get along. Most I've known are pleasant enough about it, have to be when you work together. Ha, yeah, one of my closest friends was a charr, I wish you could meet him. I've never seen a charr with so much fur before him.

[Giant, bi-pedal cats are awesome, that's why. Telsen was pretty fond of them when they weren't snarling in his direction.]

Any charr you meet might call you a mouse but yeah. Yeah they do know a lot about defending their homeland. I've not been to Ascalon much, just heard a lot of stories. I studied it too, well, it's past. It's surprising anything can live there at all.

Charr are the toughest things I've ever met.

Well, that's not easy because there really are a lot. [Blake looks thoughful.] Or maybe I'm just a bookworm.

The Man With Two Souls is one of my favorites. But I also liked The Girl in the Tower.

"Nothing wrong with being a bookworm."

[Wait until someone has a topic that catches her interest, then it's question after question.]

"May I hear the stories? If you have the time, of course."

[Blake looks surprised. It's rare to meet someone like this. It almost reminds her of herself in her younger days.]

Now? Over video?

[Anastasia blinks two inquisitive blinks.]

"...Not if you don't want to. We can meet in person and exchange stories, if you prefer."

[Blake is not the most social person, but there are times when even she feels like just fitting face to face with someone.]

Whatever is most comfortable for you. We can talk this way or we can have tea somewhere. I'm sure you have some interesting stories to tell as well.

"I'm okay with anything, as long as my guardian knows. You can come to the playground I'm at, if you want. I have a Pokemon we can also play with after sharing stories."

[Then, a pink and white ribbon floats up behind Anastasia and gently pays her on the head.]

As long as it's okay with your parents. [Blake supposes she could stop by there on one of her book hunts.]

What's behind your head? [She would act more surprised if she had not been living in Genessia for months and had literally seen just about anything. Blake was pretty spoiled for most surprises.]

~~The irony is that she's about to own a library.~~

"My parents aren't here..." [Being a pendant-holding captive as many others.] "But I'm sure my guardian will be okay with it."

[Anastasia smiled on being asked about what was with her.]

"My Pokemon, Sylveon." [She panned the camera to her cutie companion, which also gives a fang-filled smile.]

"Sylvie~"

Hmm. I'm sorry. Neither are mine. Make sure that they are so you don't get in trouble.

I see. Hello, Sylveon. [Blake has seen a few since arriving in this world, but she's still not sure she understands them. They almost seem too smart to be pets.]

"Vie~"

[The Sylveon swayed a ribbon-like feeler in a customary greeting. The camera then pans back to Anastasia.]

"My guardian already knows where I am, so it's all of a matter if you want to meet me at the park today, or meet up another day to share stories."

All right then. I can drop by sometime in the early noon.

"Okay, I'll be looking out for you."

[Before she makes her goodbyes and shuts off the device, she comes up with something else.]

"Oh, by the way... I have a birthday coming up on the 3rd. You're more than welcome to stop by my sub-archway and visit our libraries. If you choose to do so, bring a coat. It's always cold there."

All right. I'll try to clear my schedule then. I have a good idea where you might be, but just to be sure: what sub archway?

[The most popular fairy tales on Earth are the ones that got made into Disney movies. He prefers the other ones if only for novelty's sake.]

Ah, you've a taste for fairy tails too? I love them. Have you heard the one about King Thrushbeard?

[Even now after being exposed to movies, Anastasia pretty much doesn't watch them. Maybe because no one bothered to tell her they can be bought and viewed at home. So she is completely unaware of fairy tales made into movies.]

"King Thrushbeard? Never heard that one."

[Sounds like an invitation to tell it!]

Ah, it's very fine! Ahem:

Once upon a time there lived a king and his princess, who was spoiled and haughty. She had a reputation for saying rude and mocking things to everyone, especially her suitors, which had assembled on that day to offer their hands in marriage. One by one she insulted them and rebuked their aims. Last and tallest of these was a good king with, alas, a crooked chin. "Look!" she laughed, "why, his chin is like a thrush's beak!" It caught on so readily that the king was known forever as "King Thrushbeard."

The princess had driven away all her suitors, and her father's patience along with them. "That's it!" he cried, "I swear that the first beggar to come upon these steps will be your husband."

Lo and behold, the next day a wandering minstrel came and performed a tune, then asked for alms. The king, keeping his word, handed him his daughter's hand on the spot, performing the wedding in due haste. There was nothing his daughter could say; the oath was maid, and now her lot was with the poor. The king sent her away from the castle to live in the minstrel's home.

He led her away through a lovely forest, meadow, and town, and each time they passed, she asked, "to whom do these beautiful things belong?" "King Thrushbeard", replied the beggar. "And they'd have been yours too, had you accepted him." The princess bemoaned her fate, deeply regretting that she'd refused one so wealthy, and now had a hard life ahead of her.

"It doesn't please me to hear you pine for another; am I not a good enough husband for you?" So she was lead to an unsavory life of hard labor, for she had to work, a pursuit she knew not at all, having grown up so spoiled. Her hands were too soft for practically every endeavor; she tried to weave, and her fingers bled.

"That will never do", said the beggar. "Are you good for nothing? In that case, sell my pots at market, for we cannot go on without earning your keep." Dejected, she was sent to the corner of the market, laying out crockery in a surrounding spread. Her misfortune grew, however. A drunken knight wandered through the area, and trod all the beggar's pots underfoot. "Oh no!", she cried, "what will happen to me now that I've failed in this too?"

"I see that you are fit for no ordinary work," remarked the beggar. "Well, I frequent palaces to beg often. There will be a place for you as a kitchen-maid; see to it."

Thus, the girl who was once so high and proud became low and humble, doing the dirtiest work. She was so destitute that she would fill her pockets with the scraps of the other servants to take home. What's more, the surroundings were as regal as ever, forever reminding her of what she'd lost through her own nastiness. She cursed her poor judgment and the lowly life it made for her.

Later, the palace she worked in held a grand ball, with pomp and beauty everywhere, full of gold and silk and splendor. The smell of delicious dishes wafted through the ballroom, and the princess filled her pockets with the generosity of the others. Despite her hard days, she was still as beautiful a princess as she ever was. One of the king's sons saw this, and took her hand, bidding her dance. She recognized him at once as King Thrushbeard, the man she'd scorned. In terror, she tried to refuse, only to trip and spill the food she'd collected out of her pockets and onto the floor. This invited the derision of all and sundry, bringing her shame to a pitch. She wished to be a thousand feet underground. As that would've taken some doing, she sprang to the door to flee.

King Thrushbeard arrested her flight, and spoke kindly. "Do not be afraid," he said, "I am the minstrel who took your hand and made you work. I was the knight who smashed the pottery. For love of you I disguised myself, so that you would be humbled and pay for your proud spirit."

The princess wept bitterly. "I have done great wrong, and am not worthy to be your wife."

The good king comforted her. "The evil days are past; now we will celebrate our wedding."

The maids-in-waiting were summoned at once, who dressed them in splendid clothing. The entirety of the royal court came to wish them happiness in her proper marriage with King Thrushbeard, and all lived happily ever after.

"Your birthday is coming up? When was it and where? Is there any present you would like?

As for fairy tales, most of them can be found in the books at the library where I worked, so it's pretty much the same. Though my favorite one is Beauty and the Beast."

"My birthday is March 3rd, and I don't know where it's going to be yet. Probably somewhere private. And I don't really have anything on my birthday wish list. So, surprise me if you wish.

The Beauty and the Beast? That sounds a little scary."

"Still, I'll bring you something nice. It's the least I could do.

Well, it's a love story about a faery who turned a wicked prince into a beast, and she puts a curse on him because he is cruel to her. Depending on which version of the tale, he did find a beautiful maiden to fall in love with him and break the curse to help him change back into human, but during that time they're together, the beastly prince has to display honor and kindness as her host."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Action/Video]

[video]

[video]

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

video

video

Re: video

Re: video

Re: video

Re: video

sorry for this fail/late tag

It's okay~

Re: It's okay~

no subject

did you want to thread or handwave this?

I think we can hand wave it. I have something else planned~

no subject

[Video]

[Video]

Re: [Video]

[Video]

[Video]

[Video]