redshiftrp | video ; @aa (backdated sometime before the Goop Festival)

Entry tags:

video ; @aa (backdated sometime before the Goop Festival)

[ Ami looks a little different in today's video - her usual pigtails have been swapped out for twin braids, draped over her shoulders like Wednesday Addams, and although she's still got the black lipstick and eyeshadow going on, there's also a smudge of black dirt across her nose. She's vlogging, holding the camera in one hand while she waves to it with the other. ]

Hi, Anchor! It's ya girl Ami, coming to you live from the Agricultural Zone! Which, as you probably already know, has become -

[ She turns the camera around to show off an area that hasn't been harvested yet. It's bursting with colorful fruits and veggies and produce of undefined gender. One bright pinkish-purple shape, though, turns out to be Elleru - or at least her hair, since she's doing her bipedal thing.

Ami finishes her declaration in a goofy voice that probably signifies she's referencing something. ]

- a ROYAL RAINBOW! Haha. Hey Elleru, say hi to everybody!

[ Elleru waves and says something back - the mic is too far away to pick up what, but apparently it's funny, since Ami laughs as she turns the camera back to her own face. ]

Okay, but the thing is - we have no idea what any of these weird fruits are called. So clearly, we're just going to have to make up our own names for them! We've already gotten started.

[ She reaches offscreen and retrieves an oblong, speckled yellow fruit that's almost pyramidal in shape. Since it's ripe, the bottom has flared open to drop its seeds, leaving behind only the juicy, golden flesh. ]

For instance, this one is a hanging trumpet! And this one -

[ Next up: a smooth fist-sized fruit that's such a deep blue it's almost black, but as the light moves across it, it has an iridescent sheen. ]

- is a midnight puncher! Elleru came up with that one.

[ She pauses for a sec before holding up a third specimen, side-eyeing it like she's trying to think of something nice to say. At a glance, though, it looks like a regular ol' Red Delicious apple. ]

This one, uh... well, let me show you.

[ She sets the apple down on a blanket, where it immediately starts jittering around like a four-frame animated gif. Also, as it dances, viewers will soon see its other side, where there's a cartoonish but unmistakable face, wearing a big, stupid grin. ]

This one's just a seizure apple.

[ She keeps the camera on it in silence for several increasingly uncomfortable seconds. It's so... hypnotic. Gaze upon its juicy redness. Observe how it jitters. Witness its doofy-looking majesty.

Okay that's enough witnessing! We're moving on!!!! ]

Anyway! We don't want to unilaterally name all these bad boys by ourselves, and not just because we would definitely forget most of them! So let's make this a community effort.

[ One last camera pan (sorry about all this, by the way, if any of you get motion sickness) reveals a wide assortment of exotic fruits, neatly laid out on the same blanket as before. A smaller rainbow, but still eminently monarchical. 🌈 ]

Pick a fruit, any fruit, and give it a name! And be creative, there are no wrong answers!*

[ * There are some wrong answers. ]

[[ ooc: Ami and Elleru will both be responding below! How this'll work is, you can either have us make up a weird fruit visual, or you can invent your own! THE WORLD IS YOUR OYSTERFRUIT. ]]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

We are kaulahren.

[Kah-ool-ah-hRen, Qubit, with a harsh R in that last syllable.]

Many of us are hunters. I am not, and would not do the courting. I am to be courted.

Ah. How's that divided up, then? By gender? What's your role in the, uh...?

[ ... tribe? clan? town? He's not sure which one to go with, but with hunting playing such an integral role in their society, his inclination is to think smaller and on the less technological side (though of course either of those could easily be false). ]

Colony.

[Oh no wait, she should have said town! Uprights live in towns, right? No taking it back now without looking suspicious, but Elleru kicks herself internally for letting that slip. To be fair, she did just admit she's kaulahren, but she's figured out by now that her kind aren't native to this world -- or others -- so people aren't likely to recognize the term and what it truly means.

So... she's probably safe speaking a little more of her home, she decides.]

I am a priestess, if the translation is correct.

[ Well, Qubit has no objection to the term - it turns out uprights also live in colonies sometimes. ]

Hm! We're developing quite the diverse religious landscape here, aren't we? [ You've got Carlisle, and Reynir, and now Elleru. Which makes him wonder - ] Are you a magic-user as well?

[Welp, there's a term she takes offense to. There's an audible growl in her words, a rattle that is less ladylike and more bestial than it ought to be.]

Such foul tricks are beneath me. Do not insult me so.

[ Whoops. Qubit's not the biggest fan of magic, either, but he didn't expect her to be openly hostile to it. ]

Sorry, sorry - didn't mean to offend. I wasn't aware it was taboo.

[ But how far does that taboo extend? Just to actual magic, or to any supernatural ability, or even to sufficiently advanced technology? Any of those miiight cause her some tension around here. ]

[Yeah, she went from casual to cold in .01 seconds. She seems to dial it back at his apology, though.]

Your apology is accepted. Are you from a world with such abilities?

... That's correct.

[ His tone's a bit more cautious now. The last thing he wants is to spark a literal witch hunt. ]

Although I'd like to make the distinction that not all supernatural effects are derived from magic.

[She's quiet for a second, though if Qubit listens carefully, he may hear her murmur supernatural to herself, going through every syllable briefly as she parses out the different parts of the word to determine its meaning.]

What other effects do you mean?

Any phenomenon that defies physical or natural laws as you understand them. [ beat. ] No, perhaps that's a bit too broad. In particular, I'm talking about such phenomena as produced by individuals. "Powers," for short.

For instance - let's say you met someone who can summon fireballs from his hands. Would that be something you'd consider "magic"?

Yes, that is magic. Is what magicians do.

[But shifting from her natural form to her upright guise? Absolutely not. That doesn't defy any natural laws, obviously.]

All right. Now let's say that, upon closer examination, you discover a mechanism hidden in his gloves. When he snaps his fingers, the machine activates and produces flame. Without the gloves, he can't make so much as a spark.

Is it still magic?

[Ahhh, she gets where he's going.]

No. Is a weapon if they cannot do it on their own. Magic is... internal? Birthright.

[She's not 100% sure on what word she's looking for here.]

"Innate" is the word you're after.

[ Hey, he's more than happy to help bridge that ESL gap. ]

But it still seemed like magic, until you understood the mechanism behind it. That understanding is what separates magic from science.

I believe I understand. It is technology. Is science something you do?

[Because if you do magic, she's no longer interested in talking to you.]

Science is practically everything I do.

[ Translation: this man could not magic his way out of a paper bag. ]

You will have to show me your science sometime. You have a... [what is the word?] Lavatory?

[No, that is not it.]

[ I mean he does have one of those too, but ]

"Laboratory." Yes, of course. It's in R&D with the others.

[ Qubit, is that really all the effort it takes to get your home address? ]

[Just making a mental note to figure out where this Arandy(? Or is it R and D?) is, don't mind her.]

Ah, laboratory, of course. I am still learning. [Obviously.] What is the difference?

One's for experimentation, the other's for elimination.

[ pause ]

... Lavatory's another word for washroom.

Oh. Oh! Oh my.

[WELL THAT'S NOT EMBARRASSING, except that it absolutely is. Getting words so wrong like that, especially when they could have a far less favorable meaning, is always just a hair mortifying, as she feels it puts just how nonhuman she is on full display.]

You will have to forgive me, Qubit [key-U-beet]. I am learning, and common is a complicated language.

Edited 2019-12-01 06:47 (UTC)

[ It's okay, Elleru, he's been there! Ask him how long it took to master the word "squirrel." ]

Don't worry, we'll call it even. [ She embarrassed him, he embarrassed her. That's fair. ]

However - listen closely for a moment. Am I speaking "common" right now? [ Here, some test patter. ] Testing. One, two, three. Un, deux, trois. Eins, zwei, drei.

[ All three mean the same thing, and all will translate to the same thing - but do they sound the same? ]

[As they all translate, they do all sound approximately the same to her, save for some slightly different inflection.]

Yes? They all sound the same.

All right. Now listen once more, I'm going to repeat exactly what I said.

[ And he does - but this time with a subtle mental shift, trying not to be understood. ]

One, two, three. Un, deux, trois. Eins, zwei, drei.