Orb post - morning on the 10th (intro)

[fridgetothefire]

[Her hair is frazzled – enough to suggest that she’s lost, stressed, vulnerable; not enough to make her ugly, unsympathetically bedraggled. She wants to look innocent, harmless, deserving of good will. She ducks her head, smiles shyly. The view behind her is lovely, a wide blue sky and a distant view from the river. She's outside on one of the castle towers, perched nimbly on the edge of the wall.]

I can barely believe all this is happening. I mean – last thing I knew my brother was off to college, and now I’m in some kind of magic kingdom?

[Her disbelief isn’t too strident, just a little shaken, good-naturedly self-deprecating about her own adjustment.]

It’s probably not as different as it seems right now. I mean, human nature is the same everywhere, right?

[A smile, as though that's a good thing. There. She’s established herself as sensible and open-minded. People from a world similar to hers will think she's normal enough, thanks to the lie about college. Even better, if there's anyone here who looks down on humans like mutants do, maybe some of them will be arrogant enough and offended enough at being lumped together with them to reveal themselves by correcting her assumption.]

Comments

[give_kitty_cake]

I haven't seen one, but if there are giants and magical plants they could exist here as well.

Who are you?

[fridgetothefire]

Looks like there's all kinds of new possibilities.

Have you met a giant?

[Not afraid - excited.]

I'm Anya. I'm, uh, pretty new, I guess you can tell.

[give_kitty_cake]

I did. She made very good cupcakes. If the beanstalk is still there you might be able to visit her too.

[I don't know how long beanstalks last in this place. ]

I haven't seen you before, so you must be new. I'm Koma.

[fridgetothefire]

Nice to meet you! How long have you been here?

[give_kitty_cake]

I have been here for about a week.

[Give or take a day. ]

Where did you come from? It must have been very different than this place given what you said.

[fridgetothefire]

Yeah. I'm from modern times. Well - I guess everyone thinks that, don't they? But we had electric lights and stuff. We kind of lived in the middle of nowhere, though.

[give_kitty_cake]

I would say I was from modern times also. Electric lights are normal in the time I come from also.

What is the year?

[fridgetothefire]

It's 1968. And I'm from Switzerland, if we have the same calendar and countries.

[give_kitty_cake]

You are from the past then. I have already lived through the 1960's.

I come from Miyoshi, Hiroshima in Japan.

[fridgetothefire]

What year is it for you, then?

[give_kitty_cake]

2002. There have been a lot of changes since the 1960s.

[fridgetothefire]

Oh my gosh, I bet! What's happened?

[give_kitty_cake]

The trains are faster and the computers are smaller. I don't really pay it much attention anymore.

[fridgetothefire]

So, so the Soviet Union and America...?

[give_kitty_cake]

The soviet Union is gone. It fell some time ago. America is still there though.
There was no war about it if that is what you are thinking.

[fridgetothefire]

Wha -

It's like a quarter of the planet, what do you mean gone?

[give_kitty_cake]

The government collapsed. They call it Russia again and it has a new government.

[fridgetothefire]

What about the other republics?

[give_kitty_cake]

They have changed. Old soviet states have become republics and some republics have turned to other governments. I don't really keep up with politics much either. That is for the humans to play with.

[fridgetothefire]

Yeah. They do that a lot, I guess.

What are you, if you don't mind my asking? I don't want to get things wrong.

[give_kitty_cake]

I am a cat.

[However, she is in human form right now with no real trace of anything feline. ]

Are you familiar with Japanese 'mythology'?

[fridgetothefire]

Not really. Is it a shapeshifting thing?