☮ ᴠɪᴅᴇᴏ

[delincuente]

[Alex sets up the camera to face her and her small room, which seems to have been filled to the brim with art supplies. There are canvases, small containers of her magically-multiplied paints, and a couple of dismantled easels she found in a junk shop, all piled on and against the vacant side of her large captain's bed.

She clears her throat, looking a little awkward, and gives a wave.] Hey. So - I've been thinking of setting up sort of an art studio, over on the Iskaulit. Like, a place where people can just chill out and paint, or whatever. Get their relaxation on. Art therapy, whatever you want to call it.

I don't really talk about this or anything, but I used to live in this really shitty castle with a bunch of our other pals here, and it did some awful stuff to me. So I got all messed up, and depressed, and I got through it there by just literally painting all the time. And maybe there are some other people here who need to do the same thing, just to keep sane and everything.

I got all the supplies I need on the station, and I can use magic to multiply and restock them. Just let me know if you think it sounds like a cool idea. I mean, I'll be doing it anyway probs, but... Yeah. Hit me up.

[She's never been good at normal, earnest broadcasts, and that's about all she can manage for the moment. She throws up a peace sign before leaning up to turn off the camera.]

Comments

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[experiencepoints]

... Coming from a different shitty castle that did awful stuff... It sounds like a good idea to me. Probably the best coping method I've heard yet.

[delincuente]

[Alex gives a sympathetic smile, still a bit awkward with the earnest emotions, but at least trying.]

I painted New York City all over my walls there. Kind of a piece of myself that it couldn't take.

[experiencepoints]

[She feels you, Alex. Emotions are hard and should be ignored whenever possible.]

New York City... That's Earth, right?

[delincuente]

Yep. My quaint little hometown of eight million people.

[experiencepoints]

One of my teammates was from that city, too. But I never really found out much about it. Something about a statue?

[delincuente]

Yeah, the Statue of Liberty. Huge tourist trap, I've never been. But I guess it's pretty cool. [If you like dumb ferries and cramped staircases.] The best parts of the city are the ones you don't see on postcards.

[experiencepoints]

Which parts are those?

[delincuente]

The parts where there are real people just living their lives, with all their different cultures. None of the Midtown WASP bullshit. I'd rather spend my time in Queens or up in the Bronx, with people who don't make "Maid in Manhattan" jokes.

[A small pause.]

... That was probably just a lot of gibberish. But basically, all the places tourists see are just full of rich white people, and that's not the New York I'm proud of.

[experiencepoints]

... Yeah, I understood none of that. But... Not sure I'm going to understand, either, I don't have much reference for that sort of thing.

You just like people, then?

[delincuente]

[She's actually a little surprised by that remark.]

Some of them, I guess? I like the ones that aren't snotty assholes. But New York has all sorts, so you don't have to look too far for someone who gets you.

[experiencepoints]

Huh... I guess that place does sound kind of all right after all, then.

[That's the closest she's going to get to complimenting anything about Earth.]

[delincuente]

It is, especially compared to the rest of America.

[experiencepoints]

Is America that bad? Most of what I know about Earth is that... "Japan", I think? That place.

[delincuente]

Yeah, Japan's across the ocean from us. And every country's got its high and low points. Like, at least it's not war-torn or something. But there's all kinds of racism and corruption and poverty and that jazz. For a lot of people the whole "land of the free" bullshit is a total lie.

[experiencepoints]

Yeah, that... doesn't sound like a good place at all. Do people not leave if it's that bad?

[delincuente]

Leaving's too expensive. Moving to another country is basically just for the rich.

[experiencepoints]

And the rich are probably the ones who need to the least.

[She's a (former) rich girl, she understands how that works.]

[delincuente]

Yeah, basically. I miss the hell out of Earth, but it's got a lot of issues.

[experiencepoints]

Yeah, I've... seen quite a few problems with Earth.

[Her teammates' worlds were fucked up.]

But I've found the only worlds that don't have problems are the worlds that aren't around anymore.

[delincuente]

... Well, that sounds ominous.

[She's almost afraid to ask what happened to them, but the question is implied.]

[experiencepoints]

... Ominous? What do you mean?

[She seems confused as to what could possibly have been ominous in that, because she is not the brightest sometimes.]

sorry this is so late, i didn't realize my inbox had a second page alksjdh

[delincuente]

Just sort of wondering what happened to them to make them "not around anymore".

No worries!

[experiencepoints]

It's... sort of a long story.

[delincuente]

We're floating pointlessly in space - there's time, believe me.

[experiencepoints]

Okay, let me rephrase:

It's a long story that I don't like to tell sober.