Cetashwayo
Lord of Ten Thousand Years
- Location
- Across the Horizon
You're getting there, yes.
This Most Familiar Chain: Tale of Spirit and Magician
- Thread starter Cetashwayo
- Start date
- Original Fantasy
InterstellarHobo
Cosmic Vagrant
- Location
- No Fixed Planetary System
[X] We need to talk. Tell Ariela as much as possible as soon as possible. You know the two of you haven't made up yet, and you know that this is a lot to dump on her, but if you don't bring this up with her soon you might well explode. You don't want to offload everything at once, but you need to work things out between the two of you as quickly as possible.
Ariela must have been so very lonely, exiled from her peers like that. I wonder what her third wish could have been, that it brought her such a friendly spirit?
Ariela must have been so very lonely, exiled from her peers like that. I wonder what her third wish could have been, that it brought her such a friendly spirit?
Frosty the snowman
Cetashwayo
Lord of Ten Thousand Years
- Location
- Across the Horizon
Oh, it was absolutely an idea. It wasn't just done for fun
Now whose idea and why? Well, that will be evident soon!
Last edited:
- Location
- Russia
Let me guess, someone hoped that she´d serve as the proverbial bull in the ceramics shop and blow up this whole magician/familiar thing to smitheroons (mostly by accident) so that it can be rebuilt a bit better/a bit more spirit-friendly afterwards?Oh, it was absolutely an idea. It wasn't just done for fun
Raiseth
I Find Your Lack of Memes Disturbing
- Location
- Russia
Oh, it was absolutely an idea. It wasn't just done for fun
Yeah, I think I have a few ideas for why and who
Buuut considering the overall insanity of Starfall's family
It could just as well be all of them together deciding this millennium is kinda boring so instead of giving their all-powerful daughter a proper upbringing they'd rather lock her up in a tower for fifty years with only a voice in her head and a lot of potatoes to keep her company and then loose her at the world to watch shit explode.
So yeah, I'm probably going to abstain from any speculation on that topic.
I'll only reiterate that it was "inspired".
pantherasapiens
you were always my best friend
- Location
- somewhere over your shoulder
I mean my current working theory is that Starfall is the ultimate scam being run by Maugus on the entire line of magicians, Kreska is happy to help darling hubby, and Frost absolutely can't resist getting in on the action.
The Sun, Moon, and Stars being mostly homicidal doesn't hurt their scheme in the slightest.
The Sun, Moon, and Stars being mostly homicidal doesn't hurt their scheme in the slightest.
Crawkid
Lover of quests and community
- Location
- holed up in my room
I have an amusing thought.
Starfall complains about the hardness of a carrot and how it fights back instead of submitting like a potato...and then she goes and ransacks a sack (ha) of raw potatoes which are you know...pretty hard...
So now its my headcanon that Starfall has figured out her star power to bake potaoes in her hand...and hasn't used that power for anything else because it gives her soft potatoes, why would she need anything else? XD
Starfall complains about the hardness of a carrot and how it fights back instead of submitting like a potato...and then she goes and ransacks a sack (ha) of raw potatoes which are you know...pretty hard...
So now its my headcanon that Starfall has figured out her star power to bake potaoes in her hand...and hasn't used that power for anything else because it gives her soft potatoes, why would she need anything else? XD
Raiseth
I Find Your Lack of Memes Disturbing
- Location
- Russia
That's actually really plausible. I'm officially subscribing to your headcanon.
I mean, if you think about it, Starfall is literally an Anthropomorphic Personification of a star. A fallen star, but eh.
Stars are rather hot.
Which is why I find her disliking Fire so very amusing, actually.
Mmmmmmm.
Can Starfall make French Fries?
Cetashwayo
Lord of Ten Thousand Years
- Location
- Across the Horizon
She is actually a pretty enormously skilled cook, just only with potatoes and nothing else.
Raiseth
I Find Your Lack of Memes Disturbing
- Location
- Russia
Render unto potatoes all that is affined to potatoes?
I mean, making dishes from different ways of cooking potatoes and then putting them together in one deliciously nutritious meal.
Like
Purée with a serving of baked potatoes!
Deep-fried potatoes ornamented with boiled potatoes!
THE POSSIBILITIES ARE ENDLESS I SEE THE WISDOM OF POTATOES NOW
Er.
Nevermind.
18. Everything is Fine and I am Calm
Cetashwayo
Lord of Ten Thousand Years
- Location
- Across the Horizon
18. Everything is Fine and I am Calm
You have to go to Ariela (you haven't even made up yet). Well, maybe this will make things up! (Wow, Ariela, I know about that whole thing when I suggested you were useless and you called me a bird, but did you know the entire system is institutionally stacked against us, can we be friends). Exactly, just like that! (One of these days I need to figure out how to make sarcasm come through in an internal dialogue, it would solve so many problems).
But first, you have to go over it in your head. You can't just go down there! You have very little understanding of human social norms or how to properly break important news to them. Among spirits, such news is generally broken over bread, in a tower, sitting in bed. Wait, no, that's just you. Hmm. You have very little understanding of spirit social norms either, come to think of it, but you have always used your extreme charm to break through such barriers. Great birds swoon for you, doves pine for you, and parents bend to you when you make that really convincing face, as if to say, mama, papa, if you do not, at this instant, give me a pony, I will utterly destroy you and scatter your bones to the four corners. That always does the trick.
Right, so you imagine it. Ariela is still in her seat, utterly dejected. You imagine the guilt that courses through her veins as soon as the insult against you left her body. You imagine just how broken she was after that, how utterly unhappy with herself she was. "How Could I?" She'd ask herself, replaying the conversation over and over, imagining how it would go differently. How if only she had listened to Starfall, if only she had agreed, she could have avoided everything. But she has a good heart, in the end. Ariela knows that her enormous disrespect to you was nothing more than the hysteria of the mortal races, who in their short lifespan do not fully understand the vagaries of spirit life (this is the worst thing you've ever imagined). You imagine her getting to your feet, gripping your spectacularly white boots, and kneeling before you, begging for forgiveness. And then you'd kneel down to her level, this poor, sad, broken girl, and you'd breath hope back into her, tell her to rise up and remember that you are magician and familiar, that her apology is accepted and that she can take a fantastic place at your side as you both blow up all the magicians, or something of that nature. You haven't gotten that far, but you are terribly mad on that score and will not let the behavior of those ruffians go unpunished.
As you walk back to the table where you left her, you beam, knowing that this must be the truth. After all, what else could Ariela be thinking about, except on how best to apologize to you?
But first, you have to go over it in your head. You can't just go down there! You have very little understanding of human social norms or how to properly break important news to them. Among spirits, such news is generally broken over bread, in a tower, sitting in bed. Wait, no, that's just you. Hmm. You have very little understanding of spirit social norms either, come to think of it, but you have always used your extreme charm to break through such barriers. Great birds swoon for you, doves pine for you, and parents bend to you when you make that really convincing face, as if to say, mama, papa, if you do not, at this instant, give me a pony, I will utterly destroy you and scatter your bones to the four corners. That always does the trick.
Right, so you imagine it. Ariela is still in her seat, utterly dejected. You imagine the guilt that courses through her veins as soon as the insult against you left her body. You imagine just how broken she was after that, how utterly unhappy with herself she was. "How Could I?" She'd ask herself, replaying the conversation over and over, imagining how it would go differently. How if only she had listened to Starfall, if only she had agreed, she could have avoided everything. But she has a good heart, in the end. Ariela knows that her enormous disrespect to you was nothing more than the hysteria of the mortal races, who in their short lifespan do not fully understand the vagaries of spirit life (this is the worst thing you've ever imagined). You imagine her getting to your feet, gripping your spectacularly white boots, and kneeling before you, begging for forgiveness. And then you'd kneel down to her level, this poor, sad, broken girl, and you'd breath hope back into her, tell her to rise up and remember that you are magician and familiar, that her apology is accepted and that she can take a fantastic place at your side as you both blow up all the magicians, or something of that nature. You haven't gotten that far, but you are terribly mad on that score and will not let the behavior of those ruffians go unpunished.
As you walk back to the table where you left her, you beam, knowing that this must be the truth. After all, what else could Ariela be thinking about, except on how best to apologize to you?
---
Your name is Ariela and your evening is ruined.
Well, to be entirely fair, you really ought to stop prefacing everything with that line. You shouldn't be overly dramatic. No, no. Instead, you should just contemplate with absolute neutrality how absolutely terrible the quarters you have been provided are. You would have raised the issue with Pariya directly, but your dear professor and master is perpetually drunk on fermented tea and has decided to up her dosage to 'celebrate your victory', a transparent excuse for her to prevent herself from slipping back into sobriety and an avenue to obtain access to the tremendous liquor supply which spirit barges are known for, given that the poor souls crewing these self-guiding ships are not only deprived of all the ordinary human comforts that sailors can expect to be deprived of when they are volunteered by a press ganger, but also the pride of actually being a sailor. Instead they sit on deck, dance, play cards, sleep, and so on in that fashion, with their only comfort the terrific knowledge that their boredom will soon be broken along with their backs when they have to haul all that barley off the ship.
So you can understand, on an intellectual level, why the little box that you have been given, a little to the side of the main crew's quarters, stinks like fish oil mixed with a kind of unholy dampness best left undescribed in scent. You can understand, on an intellectual level, why there appears to be a drip of water from the ceiling despite the fact that the only thing above it is the main deck and it has not rained for two weeks. You can understand, on an intellectual level, why your bed appears to be a poor man's cot, which is a stupendous feat already given that a cot is a poor man's bed. You can understand, on an intellectual level, why the clothes you have been given are of roughspun linen and were designed for a man about three times your width and two times your height, who is by the iron law of probability likely called Igor, who speaks mostly in grunts and toothless smiles, given that he lost all of his teeth in some incident he refuses to fully describe about ten years prior, but will be happy to tell you about if only you give him a kopeck for the trouble. Of course, the kopeck is gone, and then so is Igor, and all you are left with is a very poor excuse for a pajama and the faint stench of alcohol on the tunic even after repeated washings.
All of this understanding does not make the silent scream you emit when the captain shows you your room any less pained. He sees your discomfort, but his sympathy is cut short by a hiccup, and he bursts into a fit of laughter, red-faced and rosy-cheeked from his choice of liquid happiness. As for you, you would never have the stuff. Mother said of alcohol only that those who drink are those who sink, and you never found an example that contradicted that particular nursery rhyme. Nor would you, given that when Boas attempted to contradict one of her nursery rhymes, he was forced to do forty push-ups at the age of four at an accelerating tempo tuned to the selfsame rhyme. You took an excellent lesson from his suffering: Do not question Mother, and it's served you fantastically, given you are an utterly and stupendously well-adjusted girl.
Now then, time to scrub the floor until your hands bleed.
...
You do think you're forgetting something important, but the horrific sight of your quarters has suppressed all other troubling thoughts in your mind, and you think nothing of the sound of boots shuffling outside until a distraught Starfall breaks down your door and begins rapidly babbling before you've even registered she broke the door down without even trying.
As she goes into more detail and the diligent little note-takers in your head begin to collapse from exhaustion, their steel pens snapping from the pressure in keeping up with what she's saying, you idly wonder why the universe decided you were to be singled out for such a cruel and unusual punishment.
Well, to be entirely fair, you really ought to stop prefacing everything with that line. You shouldn't be overly dramatic. No, no. Instead, you should just contemplate with absolute neutrality how absolutely terrible the quarters you have been provided are. You would have raised the issue with Pariya directly, but your dear professor and master is perpetually drunk on fermented tea and has decided to up her dosage to 'celebrate your victory', a transparent excuse for her to prevent herself from slipping back into sobriety and an avenue to obtain access to the tremendous liquor supply which spirit barges are known for, given that the poor souls crewing these self-guiding ships are not only deprived of all the ordinary human comforts that sailors can expect to be deprived of when they are volunteered by a press ganger, but also the pride of actually being a sailor. Instead they sit on deck, dance, play cards, sleep, and so on in that fashion, with their only comfort the terrific knowledge that their boredom will soon be broken along with their backs when they have to haul all that barley off the ship.
So you can understand, on an intellectual level, why the little box that you have been given, a little to the side of the main crew's quarters, stinks like fish oil mixed with a kind of unholy dampness best left undescribed in scent. You can understand, on an intellectual level, why there appears to be a drip of water from the ceiling despite the fact that the only thing above it is the main deck and it has not rained for two weeks. You can understand, on an intellectual level, why your bed appears to be a poor man's cot, which is a stupendous feat already given that a cot is a poor man's bed. You can understand, on an intellectual level, why the clothes you have been given are of roughspun linen and were designed for a man about three times your width and two times your height, who is by the iron law of probability likely called Igor, who speaks mostly in grunts and toothless smiles, given that he lost all of his teeth in some incident he refuses to fully describe about ten years prior, but will be happy to tell you about if only you give him a kopeck for the trouble. Of course, the kopeck is gone, and then so is Igor, and all you are left with is a very poor excuse for a pajama and the faint stench of alcohol on the tunic even after repeated washings.
All of this understanding does not make the silent scream you emit when the captain shows you your room any less pained. He sees your discomfort, but his sympathy is cut short by a hiccup, and he bursts into a fit of laughter, red-faced and rosy-cheeked from his choice of liquid happiness. As for you, you would never have the stuff. Mother said of alcohol only that those who drink are those who sink, and you never found an example that contradicted that particular nursery rhyme. Nor would you, given that when Boas attempted to contradict one of her nursery rhymes, he was forced to do forty push-ups at the age of four at an accelerating tempo tuned to the selfsame rhyme. You took an excellent lesson from his suffering: Do not question Mother, and it's served you fantastically, given you are an utterly and stupendously well-adjusted girl.
Now then, time to scrub the floor until your hands bleed.
...
You do think you're forgetting something important, but the horrific sight of your quarters has suppressed all other troubling thoughts in your mind, and you think nothing of the sound of boots shuffling outside until a distraught Starfall breaks down your door and begins rapidly babbling before you've even registered she broke the door down without even trying.
As she goes into more detail and the diligent little note-takers in your head begin to collapse from exhaustion, their steel pens snapping from the pressure in keeping up with what she's saying, you idly wonder why the universe decided you were to be singled out for such a cruel and unusual punishment.
---
You tell Ariela everything, though not necessarily in chronological or logical order.
"AND THEN, Ursa, who by the way was at the time a little bear-cub about..." you make a frantic hand motion, "about this tall, and I need you to understand that, because it is very important for you to understand that my aunties were about two feet tall at the time at which this news was broken to me, so you can imagine the scene-" you stop talking as you spot Ariela's blank expression and make a frustrated sigh, saying "I feel like you're not fully internalizing the non-enormity of my aunts as opposed to the enormity of the situation. I honestly thought the contrast was really almost too much to bear."
Ariela doesn't cry. She doesn't say much of anything, really, despite the fact you told her everything. Instead, she clasps her hands together, and puts them to her face, fingers just below her nose, and she closes her eyes, breathes in, and then out. And then she says, "I understand. Really. On a deep, intellectual level." You swear you see her twitch a little, but in a moment, it's gone, and her shoulders roll downwards, and there is a shocking kind of peace that comes over her (the peace of the dead, maybe). She lets her hands down, and then she gives you a broad smile, her eyes shining. You blush reflexively as she walks over and pats you on the head.
"It's okay, Starfall. I understand. On an intellectual level," she whispers in a strange tone (I'm pretty sure that was a hiss) before withdrawing, and backing up. In fact, she keeps backing up until she's against the opposite wall, and then she lets out a shudder as she hits it, and shakes her head, frayed strands of hair marring her otherwise perfect composure (well besides the fact she is wearing an oversized shirt and pants that keep slipping which she has tied using ripped up pieces of that shirt and pants so they don't sag anymore), eyes gazing past you towards some faraway point. She quickly fixes that small act of hairline rebellion and straightens up, pushing herself up.
She is a cipher to you; you have no idea how she can take these extraordinary revelations quite so easily. Even when you told her about how the magicians had done all those terrible things to her, and you asked her what her final wish she had been, she told you simply that she understood it all intellectually. How intelligent must she be to know everything you're saying as you say it, to understand it, so easily? It really is extraordinary. Even though there are still pangs of anger, they have been soothed by the deadly calm with which she takes these revelations.
You start to cry, and then she rushes over, draping a blanket over you and handing you a handkerchief. Oh, Ariela. How could you ever have doubted her?
"I'm sorry," you mutter, as she rubs your back, effortless in calming you, in attending to your needs. "I shouldn't have called you useless."
"Don't worry," she says softly, "Just relax, calm down. I'm sorry for calling you a bird."
You smile and then let out a breathe of relief. Ariela really does know what to say at the right time. You only wish you could be as restrained as her, able to so effortlessly and easily take any news without nervousness, to accept your summaries without complaint or confusion, just to internalize everything without a hint of hesitation. You barely even remember now why you were mad at her as she guides you to the emptied kitchen in the stern of the ship, a lamp illuminating the whole room in dim but homely yellow warmth, windows revealing the black-blue night sky and the speckles of stars. You see Polaris, up high, and you give her a wink. Ariela is behind you, making something with a kettle, and you take the time to just appreciate how well everything has gone. Polaris really was right; Ariela is the perfect magician for you, so serene.
"AND THEN, Ursa, who by the way was at the time a little bear-cub about..." you make a frantic hand motion, "about this tall, and I need you to understand that, because it is very important for you to understand that my aunties were about two feet tall at the time at which this news was broken to me, so you can imagine the scene-" you stop talking as you spot Ariela's blank expression and make a frustrated sigh, saying "I feel like you're not fully internalizing the non-enormity of my aunts as opposed to the enormity of the situation. I honestly thought the contrast was really almost too much to bear."
Ariela doesn't cry. She doesn't say much of anything, really, despite the fact you told her everything. Instead, she clasps her hands together, and puts them to her face, fingers just below her nose, and she closes her eyes, breathes in, and then out. And then she says, "I understand. Really. On a deep, intellectual level." You swear you see her twitch a little, but in a moment, it's gone, and her shoulders roll downwards, and there is a shocking kind of peace that comes over her (the peace of the dead, maybe). She lets her hands down, and then she gives you a broad smile, her eyes shining. You blush reflexively as she walks over and pats you on the head.
"It's okay, Starfall. I understand. On an intellectual level," she whispers in a strange tone (I'm pretty sure that was a hiss) before withdrawing, and backing up. In fact, she keeps backing up until she's against the opposite wall, and then she lets out a shudder as she hits it, and shakes her head, frayed strands of hair marring her otherwise perfect composure (well besides the fact she is wearing an oversized shirt and pants that keep slipping which she has tied using ripped up pieces of that shirt and pants so they don't sag anymore), eyes gazing past you towards some faraway point. She quickly fixes that small act of hairline rebellion and straightens up, pushing herself up.
She is a cipher to you; you have no idea how she can take these extraordinary revelations quite so easily. Even when you told her about how the magicians had done all those terrible things to her, and you asked her what her final wish she had been, she told you simply that she understood it all intellectually. How intelligent must she be to know everything you're saying as you say it, to understand it, so easily? It really is extraordinary. Even though there are still pangs of anger, they have been soothed by the deadly calm with which she takes these revelations.
You start to cry, and then she rushes over, draping a blanket over you and handing you a handkerchief. Oh, Ariela. How could you ever have doubted her?
"I'm sorry," you mutter, as she rubs your back, effortless in calming you, in attending to your needs. "I shouldn't have called you useless."
"Don't worry," she says softly, "Just relax, calm down. I'm sorry for calling you a bird."
You smile and then let out a breathe of relief. Ariela really does know what to say at the right time. You only wish you could be as restrained as her, able to so effortlessly and easily take any news without nervousness, to accept your summaries without complaint or confusion, just to internalize everything without a hint of hesitation. You barely even remember now why you were mad at her as she guides you to the emptied kitchen in the stern of the ship, a lamp illuminating the whole room in dim but homely yellow warmth, windows revealing the black-blue night sky and the speckles of stars. You see Polaris, up high, and you give her a wink. Ariela is behind you, making something with a kettle, and you take the time to just appreciate how well everything has gone. Polaris really was right; Ariela is the perfect magician for you, so serene.
---
Your name is Ariela and- bloody hell, enough with the mental introductions. Tea. Tea. Find the tea so she feels better so she doesn't use the moon parasol to blow everything up that's a moon parasol it actually is she spoke to the wish-star YOU CALLED HER A BIRD-
Breathe. Time for elementary tutor calming exercise. Who knows five, I know five! Five are the chains of the magicians' path! Four are the titles of the Grand Duke, three are the armies of the Tilers, two are the keys of the Treasurers, and one is our empress, one is our empress, one is our empress, on heaven and on earth!
Breathe. Time for elementary tutor calming exercise. Who knows five, I know five! Five are the chains of the magicians' path! Four are the titles of the Grand Duke, three are the armies of the Tilers, two are the keys of the Treasurers, and one is our empress, one is our empress, one is our empress, on heaven and on earth!
Ah, Arakcheev. Always a better musician than a tutor. You feel much better now.
So your theory was wrong. When Starfall first arrived to you, you believed her heritage, but over time things did not add up. You had taken the time, when she was asleep, to have Pariya fill in the blanks of the woefully inadequate magicial literature, and the rest you had Boas copy down so you could review it privately. Nothing that you read or heard lined up with Starfall the familiar.She was meant to be a distinguished polymath, with knowledge across both the mundane and magical world, an extraordinary eye towards diplomacy and statecraft, and that it had all apparently been promised to the state by her guardians (whose identity remains unknown to you). The first thing Starfall did after arriving in the human world was 'accidentally' suggest she would eat you. Then she drank an entire jar of pickle brine and proclaimed she had freed the pickles. You came to the conclusion that Starfall was some kind of advanced demon mimic toying with you, only to withdraw it in favor of assuming that perhaps Starfall had convinced herself that she was Starfall, but she actually was not, and was in fact an advanced demon mimic. You admit, you were attracted to the 'advanced demon mimic' theory, and not just because you did a paper on the matter in your third year.
But it still made no sense. Starfall acted like an overly excitable child. She wanted to be your 'partner', despite the fact that the very idea of partnership is mocked in the magical community; you only accepted it because you were frankly a little terrified. And yes, you may have liked flying in the sky with her. Yes, it may have been nice. But despite these distractions!!! You still made sure that you would be on your guard. At any moment she could strike. She never did, though, and she fell asleep for four days after poking your master in the nose, which Pariya theorized was because if Starfall was made out of concentrated stardust, she would need time to recharge. But Pariya was extraordinarily intoxicated at the time after her embarrassing defeat to a spirit's equivalent of "I've got your nose", so you told her that more study is needed and then held her hair while she knelt over the privy.
Her proficiency in the dream scared you, and you don't scare easily. You don't think she was even fully conscious while she was doing it. You were frankly afraid, given the way she acted, that she might decide you were an enemy too and split you in half. Admittedly, you may have panicked and become over-excited. When Starfall began to act like a bird, you assumed that she was, perhaps, attempting to assimilate with the dream and consume you. A stupid theory now, to be sure, but at the time you were attempting to build an entire schematic framework from nothing...
The horrible truth is that your theory was wrong. And that's horrible in and of itself, even if the conclusion wasn't also horrible: That this is the real Starfall. That everything that has happened is precisely as you had originally assumed. There's no other way that she could have found that story about you out. That she knew about your wishes to Polaris. Only the real Starfall could receive an audience from a constellation, because she was family. And yet, the real Starfall, had about 2 minutes earlier, been crying in your room in a way not dissimilar to your reaction when you were told you could not use explosives until you were at least nine. Something is up. Either way, you need to keep her calm. Since this is the real Starfall, you know that she is inordinately powerful. But since this is also Starfall the familiar, you know she is quite earnest when she says she does not know what she is doing, and you have no idea that if she gets too sad, or too angry, or something, that she might accidentally kill everything in a five mile radius.
So now, you are making a nice black tea for your familiar, who is also a walking star, so that she doesn't cry too much or get too cranky and kill everyone. Oh, right, and you suppose that the magicians fabricated your exam results every single year. Right. Well, that should be a kicker, and your hand is trembling a little as you lift the kettle and prepare two mugs, but it's not as if you didn't already know that you didn't matter to them. It's just one more exhibit for the museum.
Tea. Tea will help take your mind off things.
---
You stare extremely cautiously at the strange liquid substance.
"I don't know if I want to drink a letter of the alphabet. Don't humans need those to spell?" You point out most altruistically. T is af--er all a very impor-an- le--er (stop please we get it you know basic vocabulary and the alphabet, do you want a prize?) Yes (well the only prize you'll get is my earnest appreciation~). That's enough for you.
Ariela leans over, inspecting the drink carefully, seriously. You are very glad for this new and improved Ariela. She is terribly considerate (I'm a little skeptical). "It seems fine. It's not T the letter, after all, but Tea as in a...hot leaf juice. Not fermented. Wouldn't want you to get drunk," She says with a smile, and then freezes. "Oh, no no no no no no, we really wouldn't want that. Seriously. Please don't try to get drunk. Please."
"I don't know what being drunk is," you admit as you lift the cup up, sniffing. It's...surprisingly aromatic! You open your mouth wide and pour the entire cup of steaming tea down at once while Ariela makes a surprised noise. "Careful it's still-"
"...hot," she finishes as you put the empty cup down and wipe your mouth with your ornate glove, and then wipe the glove on your dress, before letting out a loud 'ahhhh', the most traditional and powerful of all your sounds of post-food approval. Tea is definitely your most favorite hot leaf beverage (are there others). Well, if there are, they better prove themselves better than tea, or else!
"Manners," she mutters as she sits down and drinks her own tea, "manners are a work in progress."
"So, um," you say, quite eloquently, "Um."
You freeze up as she just kind of stares at you.
"Um?" She repeats, confused. "Did you mean to say something?"
You breathe in deeply. You wonder if you could jump out the window but you would like some more tea, so that'll have to wait. At least until you've finished off the kettle, you may have to prepare for it. Prepare for the dreaded thing (oh no, is it a code black). It is. Parentheses sounds the alarm. All the little Starfalls inside your mind push themselves out of the way of the others, rushing to their battle stations. Ariela is sipping her tea across from you, occasionally exchanging glances between you and the window, but you know her glances are becoming more perturbed the more you stare at her without really saying anything, mouth half-open.
Code black. A conversation. How should you start? Maybe, no, you already know she's human- what about (no, you already know she's a girl). You already know the color of her hair, and her eyes, and her...cheeks. Maybe her ears? Hey, what color are the inside of your ears? (NO).
Okay, okay. Fine, fine. Fine. You'll have to ask her actually appropriate questions. Fine.
---
Article: The conversation with Ariela went surprisingly well, with her taking the news with noble serenity. Now you have an opportunity for some conversation. The trouble is you've never really had a conversation with most anyone outside your family, and frankly you are beginning to realize by how terribly normal Ariela seems. You do want to make something of a good impression here, but the trouble is that your only experience of impressions is the ones your face makes in snow when you fall down.
What should you ask Ariela about to get to know her a little better? Keep in mind that each question will provoke a reciprocal response from Ariela asking you the same thing.
[] [Question] Ask her more about her family. What is her father like? Why does her brother keep trying to sign you up for revolutionary committees? You've met a painting of her mother- is that how she actually was? Not the painting part, but the extreme composure and great advice.
[] [Question] Ask her more about her ambitions. Sure, Ariela is your magician, but what does that mean, especially now? Does she have any specific plans? Is there anything she really wants to achieve as a magician? What kind of things will you do together?!
[] [Question] Ask her more about her past. When you first met Ariela she had a very nice house, and even after you blew a hole in the top it remained very nice. Is she some kind of Grand Human? Do humans have an equivalent to major spirits?
However, you are Starfall, and are extremely inexperienced in any kind of social interaction with humans. As a result, you have been allotted 2 awkwardness points. You must choose two out of four strange things that you do during the course of the conversation, unprompted. They may elicit comment or questions from Ariela.
This works as a task; the top task and the runner-up will win. No plan voting, though you are free to coordinate which awkward moment you want to win. Vote for two of the options.
[] [Awkward moment] In the middle of the conversation, blurt out that you find her eyes "delightful", only to think of food at the same time and blurt out you "find her eyes delicious".
[] [Awkward moment] In order to quell your social anxiety, you quaff an entire potato incredibly quickly, and then try to deny that it happened when Ariela points it out.
[] [Awkward moment] You lose attention at some point during your discussion, and then recall and narrate a fairy tale micro-drama from memory, all out loud.
[] [Awkward moment] While concentrating very heavily on the conversation, you notice a floating specter behind Ariela, and accidentally hit her in the head to chase it off.
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Official Discord
Cetashwayo
Lord of Ten Thousand Years
- Location
- Across the Horizon
Familiar Chain now has an official discord, if you do want to join. Check it out at this link:
Discord - Free voice and text chat for gamers
Discord - Free voice and text chat for gamers
Last edited:
Argidoll
And hast thou slain the Jabberwocky?
- Location
- Dreamland
[X] [Question] Ask her more about her family. What is her father like? Why does her brother keep trying to sign you up for revolutionary committees? You've met a painting of her mother- is that how she actually was? Not the painting part, but the extreme composure and great advice.
[X] [Awkward moment] While concentrating very heavily on the conversation, you notice a floating specter behind Ariela, and accidentally hit her in the head to chase it off.
[X] [Awkward moment] In the middle of the conversation, blurt out that you find her eyes "delightful", only to think of food at the same time and blurt out you "find her eyes delicious".
[X] [Awkward moment] While concentrating very heavily on the conversation, you notice a floating specter behind Ariela, and accidentally hit her in the head to chase it off.
[X] [Awkward moment] In the middle of the conversation, blurt out that you find her eyes "delightful", only to think of food at the same time and blurt out you "find her eyes delicious".
BungieONI
Seven gremlins in a trench coat
- Location
- Lickwidget
- Pronouns
- She/Her
[X] [Question] Ask her more about her ambitions. Sure, Ariela is your magician, but what does that mean, especially now? Does she have any specific plans? Is there anything she really wants to achieve as a magician? What kind of things will you do together?!
[X] [Awkward moment] In the middle of the conversation, blurt out that you find her eyes "delightful", only to think of food at the same time and blurt out you "find her eyes delicious".
[X] [Awkward moment] In order to quell your social anxiety, you quaff an entire potato incredibly quickly, and then try to deny that it happened when Ariela points it out.
I MUST KNOW! What does Starfall think her ambitions are?! What does Parentheses think they are!?
How will Ariela react to the one two sucker punch of "I find your eyes delicious!" and "Oh god what did I say, POTATO NOM ACTIVATE!"
[X] [Awkward moment] In the middle of the conversation, blurt out that you find her eyes "delightful", only to think of food at the same time and blurt out you "find her eyes delicious".
[X] [Awkward moment] In order to quell your social anxiety, you quaff an entire potato incredibly quickly, and then try to deny that it happened when Ariela points it out.
I MUST KNOW! What does Starfall think her ambitions are?! What does Parentheses think they are!?
How will Ariela react to the one two sucker punch of "I find your eyes delicious!" and "Oh god what did I say, POTATO NOM ACTIVATE!"
- Location
- Sleeping Somewhere
[X] [Question] Ask her more about her family. What is her father like? Why does her brother keep trying to sign you up for revolutionary committees? You've met a painting of her mother- is that how she actually was? Not the painting part, but the extreme composure and great advice.
[X] [Awkward moment] In order to quell your social anxiety, you quaff an entire potato incredibly quickly, and then try to deny that it happened when Ariela points it out.
[X] [Awkward moment] You lose attention at some point during your discussion, and then recall and narrate a fairy tale micro-drama from memory, all out loud.
As tempting as it is to call her eyes delicious I just can't pass up on the chance to see her react to the fairy tale micro-drama.
[X] [Awkward moment] In order to quell your social anxiety, you quaff an entire potato incredibly quickly, and then try to deny that it happened when Ariela points it out.
[X] [Awkward moment] You lose attention at some point during your discussion, and then recall and narrate a fairy tale micro-drama from memory, all out loud.
As tempting as it is to call her eyes delicious I just can't pass up on the chance to see her react to the fairy tale micro-drama.
- Location
- United States
[X] [Question] Ask her more about her family.What is her father like? Why does her brother keep trying to sign you up for revolutionary committees? You've met a painting of her mother- is that how she actually was? Not the painting part, but the extreme composure and great advice.
[X] [Awkward moment] While concentrating very heavily on the conversation, you notice a floating specter behind Ariela, and accidentally hit her in the head to chase it off.
[X] [Awkward moment] In the middle of the conversation, blurt out that you find her eyes "delightful", only to think of food at the same time and blurt out you "find her eyes delicious".
[X] [Awkward moment] While concentrating very heavily on the conversation, you notice a floating specter behind Ariela, and accidentally hit her in the head to chase it off.
[X] [Awkward moment] In the middle of the conversation, blurt out that you find her eyes "delightful", only to think of food at the same time and blurt out you "find her eyes delicious".
- Location
- U S of A
[X] [Question] Ask her more about her family. What is her father like? Why does her brother keep trying to sign you up for revolutionary committees? You've met a painting of her mother- is that how she actually was? Not the painting part, but the extreme composure and great advice.
[X] [Awkward moment] In order to quell your social anxiety, you quaff an entire potato incredibly quickly, and then try to deny that it happened when Ariela points it out.
[X] [Awkward moment] You lose attention at some point during your discussion, and then recall and narrate a fairy tale micro-drama from memory, all out loud.
[X] [Awkward moment] In order to quell your social anxiety, you quaff an entire potato incredibly quickly, and then try to deny that it happened when Ariela points it out.
[X] [Awkward moment] You lose attention at some point during your discussion, and then recall and narrate a fairy tale micro-drama from memory, all out loud.
- Location
- United States
[X] [Question] Ask her more about her ambitions. Sure, Ariela is your magician, but what does that mean, especially now? Does she have any specific plans? Is there anything she really wants to achieve as a magician? What kind of things will you do together?!
[X] [Awkward moment] In order to quell your social anxiety, you quaff an entire potato incredibly quickly, and then try to deny that it happened when Ariela points it out.
[X] [Awkward moment] You lose attention at some point during your discussion, and then recall and narrate a fairy tale micro-drama from memory, all out loud.
[X] [Awkward moment] In order to quell your social anxiety, you quaff an entire potato incredibly quickly, and then try to deny that it happened when Ariela points it out.
[X] [Awkward moment] You lose attention at some point during your discussion, and then recall and narrate a fairy tale micro-drama from memory, all out loud.
- Location
- Russia
[X] [Question] Ask her more about her ambitions. Sure, Ariela is your magician, but what does that mean, especially now? Does she have any specific plans? Is there anything she really wants to achieve as a magician? What kind of things will you do together?!
[X] [Awkward moment] In order to quell your social anxiety, you quaff an entire potato incredibly quickly, and then try to deny that it happened when Ariela points it out.
[X] [Awkward moment] You lose attention at some point during your discussion, and then recall and narrate a fairy tale micro-drama from memory, all out loud.
"And so the evil princess was slain, the knight married the dragon and they lived happily ever after!" nom
[X] [Awkward moment] In order to quell your social anxiety, you quaff an entire potato incredibly quickly, and then try to deny that it happened when Ariela points it out.
[X] [Awkward moment] You lose attention at some point during your discussion, and then recall and narrate a fairy tale micro-drama from memory, all out loud.
"And so the evil princess was slain, the knight married the dragon and they lived happily ever after!" nom
- Location
- Earth
[X] [Question] Ask her more about her family. What is her father like? Why does her brother keep trying to sign you up for revolutionary committees? You've met a painting of her mother- is that how she actually was? Not the painting part, but the extreme composure and great advice.
[X] [Awkward moment] In the middle of the conversation, blurt out that you find her eyes "delightful", only to think of food at the same time and blurt out you "find her eyes delicious".
[X] [Awkward moment] You lose attention at some point during your discussion, and then recall and narrate a fairy tale micro-drama from memory, all out loud.
[X] [Awkward moment] In the middle of the conversation, blurt out that you find her eyes "delightful", only to think of food at the same time and blurt out you "find her eyes delicious".
[X] [Awkward moment] You lose attention at some point during your discussion, and then recall and narrate a fairy tale micro-drama from memory, all out loud.
Jhin Lemon
Lawful Cute
- Location
- Trapped in the interwebs, please send help
[X] [Question] Ask her more about her ambitions. Sure, Ariela is your magician, but what does that mean, especially now? Does she have any specific plans? Is there anything she really wants to achieve as a magician? What kind of things will you do together?!
[X] [Awkward moment] In the middle of the conversation, blurt out that you find her eyes "delightful", only to think of food at the same time and blurt out you "find her eyes delicious".
[X] [Awkward moment] In order to quell your social anxiety, you quaff an entire potato incredibly quickly, and then try to deny that it happened when Ariela points it out.
[X] [Awkward moment] In the middle of the conversation, blurt out that you find her eyes "delightful", only to think of food at the same time and blurt out you "find her eyes delicious".
[X] [Awkward moment] In order to quell your social anxiety, you quaff an entire potato incredibly quickly, and then try to deny that it happened when Ariela points it out.
UmbraofChaos
Freedom Lets Go
- Pronouns
- They/Them
[X] [Question] Ask her more about her ambitions. Sure, Ariela is your magician, but what does that mean, especially now? Does she have any specific plans? Is there anything she really wants to achieve as a magician? What kind of things will you do together?!
[X] [Awkward moment] In the middle of the conversation, blurt out that you find her eyes "delightful", only to think of food at the same time and blurt out you "find her eyes delicious".
[X] [Awkward moment] In order to quell your social anxiety, you quaff an entire potato incredibly quickly, and then try to deny that it happened when Ariela points it out.
[X] [Awkward moment] In the middle of the conversation, blurt out that you find her eyes "delightful", only to think of food at the same time and blurt out you "find her eyes delicious".
[X] [Awkward moment] In order to quell your social anxiety, you quaff an entire potato incredibly quickly, and then try to deny that it happened when Ariela points it out.
- Location
- Canada
[X] [Question] Ask her more about her ambitions. Sure, Ariela is your magician, but what does that mean, especially now? Does she have any specific plans? Is there anything she really wants to achieve as a magician? What kind of things will you do together?!
[X] [Awkward moment] In order to quell your social anxiety, you quaff an entire potato incredibly quickly, and then try to deny that it happened when Ariela points it out.
[X] [Awkward moment] While concentrating very heavily on the conversation, you notice a floating specter behind Ariela, and accidentally hit her in the head to chase it off.
Starfall could use some ambitions, even if what she really needs is to attend elementary school.
[X] [Awkward moment] In order to quell your social anxiety, you quaff an entire potato incredibly quickly, and then try to deny that it happened when Ariela points it out.
[X] [Awkward moment] While concentrating very heavily on the conversation, you notice a floating specter behind Ariela, and accidentally hit her in the head to chase it off.
Starfall could use some ambitions, even if what she really needs is to attend elementary school.