deernet | video; un: quibbler | forward-dated to 13/02

cw: minor mentions of war, discussions of possible character death

So, it seems that my Blessed Day is in fact the same day as my birthday.

[ Luna speaks off camera, busy trying to put her Omni in the right place. It takes a couple of moments, but the initial view of Luna's room: all soft lighting, bright but peaceful tones across the space, is finally obscured as Luna steps into the frame to sit at her desk, something in her hand. She waves to the camera with a cheerful smile in greeting before she continues with what she's addressing. With a soft sound, she lugs the item in her hand onto her desk and then carefully holds it up to the camera of her Omni to show it.

It's a sword: the Blade of Agency, to be precise. Luna gazes down at it with faint bemusement; of course Doorway would gift a sword, considering they appear with one at all times. But Luna's... not quite sure what to do with it. She's a Witch, not a sword-swinger. Not that she's ungrateful, and she certainly doesn't mean to come across as that as she stares at the sword. ]

I found this propped up against the wall of my room this morning. A gift from Doorway, my Patron. [ Her head twists one way in thought, brow pinching. It's a fine looking blade, she thinks. Although she's not very knowledgeable in that department. ] It... feels special. I don't think it's just a regular sword.

[ She can't really tell how, though. She should really find some way to find that out before she goes about using it. Ravenclaws err on the side of caution in the face of magic swords. ]

... Although if I'm meant to use it, I've never actually swung a sword before. [ ... ] I believe I shall need some help with that.

[ Should anyone be interested in that. There's a long pause; Luna smiles faintly. She would turn the feed off at that but something else is on her mind. She's quiet for a little while, putting the sword down carefully down on her desk once more. It's... something difficult, the way her expression shifts. Not something necessarily bad, but— ]

... I turned twenty today. [ She lets that settle for a moment before she continues. Her voice is hushed, a little sombre in some way. She fiddles with her hands as she goes on: ] It's quite funny, you know. Not being a teenager anymore. Well, not just that part, really.

I suppose— I guess I never expected to live past seventeen. [ A short pause, there's a sudden realisation. She smiles weakly. ] Although I realise that doesn't quite funny at all when you say it out loud, does it?

[ More like horrifying, than anything else. Sometimes Luna has that uncanny knack for making people uncomfortable with the things she says; but it's a truth of her home. She was headed to battle before Trench, before Deerington. It was quite possible she'd never make out to the other side of that battle. Even people as young as she was die in war, she understands that. But now, here, she's made it out of her teens and into the first steps of adulthood. It's given her a great deal of cause for ruminating. ]

I've learned a lot about different things; different magic, and ways people live. Especially Muggles. ... I've met a lot of people, made friends. I've gotten to experience a lot of new things in those friendships I didn't have the chance to get to at home. I even met someone who I love very much. [ Her weak smile turns to something fonder, there's warmth there. Perhaps it's quite fitting that Doorway is her Patron, after all. Her relationships are important to her. But don't worry, she's not going to get too mushy over her boyfriend over the network. ]

I know for as difficult life here can be, for as hard Deerington was... this place is a kind of opportunity. It's let me have a great deal of things I didn't think I could have. Things I would have likely never had the chance to experience if I had never come here and stayed in my own world. It's a chance at living. One I didn't think I would get.

[ ... ]

I think that's quite important to remember. When things are difficult. Or when I do miss home sometimes. [ She goes quiet again, lost in her thoughts for a little bit. Even now, trying to pull the positives here in a world that has much stacked against them. Her expression turning to a serene dreaminess as she props her elbows on her desk, chin in her hands. So: ] ... What are you glad for the opportunity for, Sleepers?

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That's a feeling that never quite goes away, I think. After all, in every moment of every day, you're the oldest you've ever been, right?

[Probably. Outside of shenanigans. Anyway, Break's point is that he thought he was plenty adult himself at her age, and now he sees anything under the age of twenty-five as a wee young'n for him to babysit and spoil. Meanwhile, probably there are people twice his age who think of him as a strapping young thing still, and if he lives that long here himself the grizzled old middle-aged veterans will likewise be brats in his perspective. It is what it is.]

Mm...my own kids here are living that sort of backwards life, now. Getting to just be kids after a bout of world-saving they had no choice but to participate in. That his place seems to provide that for so many of the young people here has been a great comfort to me. I'm always glad to hear of it.

That's very true, yes. Quite a good point. [ Merlin, even if Luna manages to live for a good few centuries it'll certainly be something to look back on these years. It really is quite just the bare beginnings of her life, from that perspective. ]

It seems to be quite the running theme. [ There's a thoughtful hum, a little sad. Children having to be the ones to help save the world. Merlin knows Ruby's had her hands full as a Huntress back home. ]

Funny how a place that appears so awful as this one does, and has plenty horror and danger within it to be a place where we can all live a little normally, isn't it?

It certainly doesn't give a good impression of the situations people are leaving behind, does it?

[Break pulls a face.]

Although, I imagine the community here has something to do with it, as well. I'm one who missed the Deerington town entirely, but arriving here, I couldn't turn in a circle without hitting three other "Sleepers" from that place entirely pleased to help a perfect stranger sort himself out. It was terribly striking.

No, I suppose not. I don't believe I've met someone who didn't have a terrible homeworld, if I recall correctly. [ She pauses for a moment, thoughtful. ] And there were even people who went back to those places, too.

[ Like her friend Louis, for example. ]

Deerington could be very difficult, especially considering the power Sodder had over the dreamscape. I'm sure you've heard stories. [ There are... plenty. ] We learned very quickly we would have to lean on one another, it's a way of existence that's been extended to here.

It's something I found myself grateful for multiple times, when I arrived.

[And something he's paying forward where he can, these days. Break fancies himself retired from overarching world-ending plots and is apathetic at best to whatever Trench has going on behind its curtains, but one thing that has truly struck him is that corruption makes life difficult for everyone, and something so simple as caring enough to make life easier for someone else in one moment can bloom into life being a lot easier for a great many others down the line. That's worth bothering about.]

Then, I should hope you've a good set of companions coming together to see to it that you can celebrate as you like, today.

It does make things a bit easier for newer Sleepers, yes. [ Certainly it does. And then even over time, she imagines the Sleepers that come to Trench turn into people who will have the experience to pass on to newer ones. People do come and go so easily; experience of the events here is vital.

Her smile is polite, but well— of course she's honest. She's on a bit of a self-imposed lockdown considering everything that's gone on with Maul over the last few days. ]

Oh, it's likely going to be a bit of a quiet one. [ She does have Peter, though. And that's more than enough, she's happy with that. ] Things have a terrible habit of getting in the way of my birthdays, I'm afraid. I'm under a bit of a lockdown, but that's alright.

Oh dear. Nothing too creepy, I hope.

[Break is on the very outer fringes of Maul's drama, incidentally. While he hasn't encountered the guy himself, or even really the people he's targeting, Willow lives in the same house as Qrow Branwen, Break's favorite person in Trench. When Qrow and the rest of his household are up in arms, Break places himself on standby immediately, just in case. It's just how he is.

He doesn't have a reason to connect this girl to that mess, however, and won't be bothered if she elects not to explain the matter at all. After all, it's not as though they know one another. Just as she's smiling politely, Break is showing well-mannered concern.]

video; un: quibbler | forward-dated to 13/02

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sorry, I lost the notif for this!

No worries, DW do be like that these days

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