video: un; an.observer

[thisislife]

[Lexi looks dreamy and uncertain and a little sad, but she's trying to smile]

I, um. Has anyone else talked to people from home through one of those portal things and, uh, gotten spoilers for their own life? Because I have and it's weird? I'm glad for some of it, sad for some of it and I kinda need to talk this out. If that's okay?

[there's a long pause as Lexi looks off to the side, and arranges Orville so he's sitting on her shoulder, Orville immediately moving in to comfort Lexi by snuffling at her neck. she reaches up idly to pet him]

Also. I'd kinda like a roommate? I live in Gaze in a Lemon Cake house. My room's the one with blue and yellow wallpaper. [a long pause] I've never lived on my own before and I don't think I like it.

((OOC: there will be spoilers for Season 2 of Euphoria, event log to follow later on because the boss' wife is in today, woe!))

Comments

(text) | un: wrench

[wwrench]

You saw someone from home through a portal? And they were living in the future?

[thisislife]

Yeah? Maybe they're not in the future, maybe time is passing for them there just like it is for me here? That's what I'd put my money on, anyway?

[seeing Rue looking well-rested, clear-eyed, and almost happy had been a relief. seeing her sister...had been anything but]

[wwrench]

I didn't think that happened. I thought everything that happens here is just like the blink of an eye back there. [Or maybe that's changed. Wrench realizes that he isn't actually sure anymore. That somewhere along the way, it's simply stopped mattering to him. There's no one to miss him, so there's no good reason to be concerned.]

Did they act like you were missing? Did it seem like they could see into this place?

[thisislife]

Honestly, your guess is probably better than mine. I've only been here...this is my second month?

They acted like I had called them on Facetime. One of the conversations was nice and lasted a long time. The other was pretty short.

[wwrench]

Anything I say would only be a guess. Maybe better to talk to a scholar if you want something beyond speculation. The place some of us were before this one, that's what it was like there. It worked both ways. I went back home for years once, but when I got back only days had passed.

Do you think your mind might've just made it up? You said it was the future. Is it the kind of future you would've wanted?

video; un: jk21a

[hearuthinking]

Can't say that's happened to me with the portals, but two of my people from home were here for a while and told me about shit that hasn't happened to me yet.

[thisislife]

[Lexi looks visibly shaken]

...seriously? So it's not just me. It's not just me this is happening to. Thank fuck. [a pause] Even though I'm sorry it happened to you, uh...?

[hearuthinking]

Jason. Mine was good news; I'm guessing yours wasn't.

[thisislife]

Hi, I'm Lexi. And, um, part of it was. The other part was what I was afraid was going to happen.

[hearuthinking]

I wouldn't dwell on it. Nothin' you can do about it while you're here.

private, text; un: Oracle

[adaine]

[She has Thoughts about the portals, and she does not trust them even remotely, but Lexi is clearly having a time and she's not going to smash a hammer into that with all her trauma based skepticism.]

I'm here if you want to talk, Lexi.

And um... I don't really have a house. I mostly live at the school or the orphanage. So, if it's okay with you, I can come stay for a bit?

private (CW: drug addiction, toxic relationships)

[thisislife]

Really? Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you.

And you absolutely can stay for as long as you want! I have two free bedrooms, one with a twin bed and one with a queen. And I like to cook, so no worries there!

As for what I found out...It wasn't all bad. My best friend, Rue? She looked and sounded like she was doing good. Like she was staying clean because SHE wanted to, not because she wanted to for someone else.

But my sister, Cassie? That was ALL bad. She's furious with me, blames me for her toxic piece of shit boyfriend dumping her, and refuses to let me back into our shared room. So I'm apparently couch-surfing back home with mom getting my clothes for me out of the room.

[adaine]

I've never slept in a queen sized bed...

I can also cook sometimes, but I'll only take over when you want me to if it's something you enjoy doing! [Her cooking involves magic. Lots of healthy ingredients that taste like whatever you want them to.

Her response to Lexi's other concerns takes a while for her to type, mostly because she's stuck between wanting to believe that life continued on with her in it and cynically dismissing these as yet more illusions.

Maybe she doesn't have to dismiss them. She glances out the window at her omni, itself only an illusion born of her fears.]

Huh.

Well... honestly breaking up with her toxic boyfriend sounds like a positive in the long run. It sounds like she's just... scrambling for someone to blame her problems on. And that's just... unbelievably toxic, you know? So it's just a matter of her figuring out her own problems.

Only she can stop fucking up her life. It sucks that she kicked you out but you're smart enough that you'll probably figure something out, and you, or well, future/alternate you won't be stuck catching shrapnel while she figures her shit out.

I can come over if you want to talk about this in person? I don't really have a lot to bring.

(CW: drug abuse/addiction, dysfunctional family)

[thisislife]

I'd only shared one on family vacations and Cassie kicks. Having one to myself is weird, so I kind of wind up starfishing myself on the bed.

No it's okay, I'm used to cooking! [the Howard family would eat only Chinese delivery or everything stews if it wasn't for Lexi.

and Lexi often figures that if all else fails, it'll be great in the memoirs. everybody loved a socially awkward overachiever, right? Oprah would totally feature that book, wouldn't she?]

I guess. Cassie's always based herself on how guys see her, starting with our dad. And he wound up really not being someone to base yourself on considering that he robbed our house for drug money after getting addicted to heroin. But that's a long story. Every guy Cassie has ever dated, she's fallen for. I'd always know when it went bad because either she'd lock me out of our room and cry on her phone for hours or she'd go to the backyard where no one could hear her and cry. I honestly think she needs help, like professional help. She's not listening to me and I doubt she's listening to mom. So it is a pretty toxic environment.

I hope I can. Some of what she had to say was pretty stunning in a really, REALLY bad way. 'Cause the most recent guy she based herself on and went crazy over was her best friend's boyfriend. At least according to Cassie of the likely future, which boggles my mind because ever since we were all little kids, he'd pick on her for being dumb and for our family being trashy compared to his.

You can? That would be great. I'm at [insert directions here] in Gaze. I really appreciate this.

->action

[adaine]

Yikes. That's... a lot. I can't really say I have much experience with any of that kind of thing. Well, my dad also sucks. That much I can relate to.

I'll come over and make you hot cocoa. That's what my foster father did for me whenever I was sad.

[And about five minutes later, she arrives.]

video; UN: TripleJ

[kyley_b]

So I don't know shit about portals, and I haven't talked to anybody from home or even seen them, so I probably shouldn't say anything but...

Is that little dude your omen?

[thisislife]

[Lexi beams] Yeah! His name is Orville. I keep seeing people with wolves and dragons and stuff, but that's not really me? I'm pretty much harmless and so is this little guy.

What's your Omen?

[kyley_b]

Orville. Dude, that's the cutest thing I've seen in weeks.

Oh, a big stupid orca named Willzyx. He's a dumbass.

And, like, don't be embarrassed about living on your own the first time being scary. The first time I lived alone I totally cried about it.

[thisislife]

Really? That's great, I'm so glad!

Wait, how did you pronounce the last part of his name? And an Orca! Do you have one of those huge aquarium things at home for him?

At least I'm not alone, then. I'm just so used to having my mom and my sister around. Mom watching on of her awful reality TV shows and Cassie...being Cassie. [she says with a rueful laugh]

[kyley_b]

Really.

Will-zee-axe. Stupid, right? And nah he just floats through the air. He changes size,too. Usually he's only about as big as a Saint Bernard.

I know a few people who have crabs for omens, that's pretty unimpressive.

Oh god, yeah, I get that. I went away to university and suddenly I missed my family so much even though they bugged the shit out of me. You the oldest sibling?

video | un: furuderika

[miiraculous]

[This is something that has been on Rika's mind, actually. She hesitates before connecting to the network.]

Not through the portals, no... But someone came from the future of my world. A future I am uncertain if I can believe. So if you need an ear to listen, I may be able to understand how you feel, mm.

[thisislife]

I'd really appreciate that, thank you. [a pause] But, did something bad happen in your world's future?

[miiraculous]

It is not that it is bad, no.

[Rather, the fact that the future is so happy. Rika can't imagine it.]

Is your world's future bad, in your opinion?

[thisislife]

Oh. So, it was like a good surprise?

Maybe. It depends on what a lot of douchebags do or don't do. Whatever it is, it's not something I can have any real impact on. Marches may look good on TV, but that's about it.

[miiraculous]

... Yes. I suppose that it was a nice surprise.

[She nods slowly,] Is your home in trouble? Are you marching against the government?

[Rika knows a thing or two about that, even if she was very small when Hinamizawa rallied against the government's dam project.]