purl four | bbs

[thorny]

My apologies for neglecting you for so long, Garden. I'm sure that you've longed after the soothing sight of my lavender text splattered across the forums for quite some time now. I'll attempt to make amends by diligently hounding our communal online space for the next week or so, leaving no subthread untouched by my conversation. Hopefully this should prove to be balm enough to heal your emotional wounds.

The cause of my distraction was none other than a few trinkets from home dropped my way during the holiday season. Let it not be said that my opinion of Time Compression is one purely composed of blind hatred - it seems that the phenomena can be quite magnanimous when the proverbial mood strikes it. Perhaps not for you, given the nature of my gift, but I'm certainly enjoying myself to the utmost. Even if more than a few objects were martyred by fire in the name of gaining experience.

Speaking of sacrifices, I don't believe that I've ever mentioned my vested interest in the field of psychology. I bring this up solely as in the past few days I've managed to acquire my first patient here and thought that perhaps some others would benefit from similar services. I promise to keep things confidential and not trigger any waterworks during the first session, which is more than most counselors have any right to claim. We can work out the details of a schedule at your discretion.

Comments

[vestigiaflammae]

so hey, are you a troll?

you guys are the ones who use the colored text right?

what happened to your symbol thingy? i mean, whatever one you use.

[thorny]

While I believe that some of my cohorts would label pieces of my behaviors as trollish, I'm afraid that I'm simply a bland human with a taste for colorful font. So sorry to dash your hopes at making the acquaintance of another gray-skinned alien.

[vestigiaflammae]

oh. gotcha. sorry!

i was just wondering because nepeta's pretty cool. nice to meet you! i'm lea. ...what was that you were saying about christmas presents and fire?

[thorny]

I'll freely admit that Nepeta is one of the more tolerable members of her species, but I can assure you that individuals with a temperament similar to hers are few and far between with trolls. You're best off approaching them as one would a particularly stupid but equally dangerous feral beast. Small words and a calm demeanor would serve you best.

Rose Lalonde. A pleasure, I'm sure. As to my initial reference to the gift giving season, I received certain items that would likely be classified as highly destructive by the rest of the populace. In testing out their abilities I may have set one or two things on fire, among other property damage.

[vestigiaflammae]

equius seemed pretty nice too. i mean, i didn't talk to him as much, but he's okay!

i haven't met any others. are there a lot of them here?

nice to meet you too rose. so, like. this fire thing.

... can i talk you into showing them off? because that is totally awesome.

[thorny]

There were at one time, but I believe that we've whittled the stock down to a more manageable number. Some of them are ornery enough to make up for the diminished presence here, or so they would like to believe.

I could possibly be goaded into a vain display of my newfound powers. It seems that once one comes into the ability to bend dark magic to one's will it becomes difficult to say no to exhibitions.

[vestigiaflammae]

haha, really? see i think it would be funny to meet somebody like that... i guess it could get annoying if you were stuck with them all the time though.

[Of course, everybody calls him annoying.]

and i bet you'd want to show off! because that seriously is the coolest thing i've heard today. so whatever you got it was some kind of magic thing? does it work the same way as the magic here or is it different?

[thorny]

It's certainly enjoyable to drive the person I'm referencing into an apoplexy solely through verbal ping pong, but I must admit that not everyone enjoys the same pastimes as myself.

Thank you for the compliment, although I don't imagine that my competition was particularly stiff. The items in question are called the Thorns of Oglogoth, and they have the distinct advantage of requiring nothing more from its user than some concentration and an innate ability to not run into fixed objects once airborne. I vastly prefer them to the magic of this universe.

[vestigiaflammae]

it's more fun if you're talking to them face to face when you do that though. you can't see what color people turn over the bbs!

thorns of what? how do you even say that?

...that's pretty awesome though. i didn't know magic from other places worked here too! i wonder if that means this magic will still work back home?

[thorny]

Quite true. Reducing them to incoherent banging on the keyboard is almost as rewarding, however, and less likely to result in an attempted assault.

Very carefully. They're technically in another language, so I don't believe that Oglogoth will fault you very much for stumbling over his name.

I haven't the slightest idea. You'd do much better seeking the guidance of one of the people who've been shuttled back and forth from their own universe and this one several times. Likely they'd have greater insight then myself.

[vestigiaflammae]

oh yeah i forgot, i was totally going to ask espio about that.

next time i talk to him! he said he's been back and forth like twice or something, i guess time compression really likes him. or hates him, whatever. but he got a flying car from it so it's at least kind of on his side!

also if you can't kick their butt what are those thorns of whatever even for? heh.

[thorny]

An automobile gifted with flight seems to be a fair trade for being tugged between worlds a few more times than is absolutely necessary. Unless of course one is taking the cynical approach, in which case the large gift is likely an attempt to lull him into a false sense of security before a tragedy is sprung upon him.

Perish the thought that I can't handle myself in the heat of an impromptu battle. I merely enjoy keeping my conversations and fights compartmentalized so as to avoid either bleeding over.

[vestigiaflammae]

maybe he'll get stuck with one of those enemies from home visiting or something. are they gone, anyway? i haven't heard anything about them in a while.

oh come on it's fun to get into fights every once in a while. i mean, like sparring. friendly fights.

or not so friendly if the other guy gets pissed off i guess. but that's his problem!

[thorny]

If they haven't been vanquished by now then they're likely finally opting for the more prudent choice of action and laying low until they can get their bearings.

While it's always worthwhile participating in events that can keep one's martial abilities honed, I don't seek out conflicts of the physical sort. Enough find me on their own that to do so would be exceedingly foolhardy.

[vestigiaflammae]

i guess with all these seeds around it'd be pretty dumb to risk it unless you were incredibly strong. and i hope nobody like that came along... we'll see though, right?

it's fun though! and it keeps you on your toes.

bet you don't get as many fights here even if you got into a ton of them back home.

[thorny]

Only time will tell. That or a sudden assault on the Garden by unknown forces wielding strange powers. But who am I to speculate on such things?

This locale isn't exactly a hotbed of seedy physical altercations, no. The monsters corralled into the training room are an adequate substitute in the meantime, however.

[vestigiaflammae]

c'mon, that's not funny. i'd rather not get stuck dealing with something like that! at least i hope they give me some time to take intermediate and advanced magic first.

so you hang out over at the training center a lot, huh? i've been by there once or twice! it's pretty cool.

this whole thing beats school back home by a mile though.

[thorny]

Foes are rarely considerate enough to allow you an opportunity to arm yourself with the best materials available. Hopefully you're skilled at improvisation.

When the mood strikes me. I'm typically in pursuit of more intellectual activities, but the need to mutilate dumb beasts rears its ugly head every now and then just the same. I'd prefer this place to my previous one if the courses were a touch more challenging, but that's a gripe for another day.

[vestigiaflammae]

i guess hitting them in the face works, i mean, if i don't have a choice. but magic is more fun!

what, you don't think they're HARD enough? with all the homework we get?? are you kidding?

any harder and i'd have dropped out and started scrubbing the floors for my keep or something!

[thorny]

Personally I find that creativity in battle trumps any particular style for enjoyment.

I don't find them very challenging at all, no. Perhaps if they'd allow me to expand my repertoire outside of two majors, but as it stands I'm rather bored with the work as a whole. I've been toying with an idea to net myself a peek into the other classes, but things seem to keep coming up before I can finalize anything.

[vestigiaflammae]

yeah, i guess. so magic is cooler, anyway.

man.

why is everybody here some kind of genius? you guys are making me feel dumb.

[thorny]

It certainly allows for more flexibility when dishing out punishment.

I'm nothing close to a genius level of intellect. I simply have high personal standards as to where I ought to be currently in my education that not even universal displacement can halt.

[vestigiaflammae]

there you go. it sounds like you mostly use magic too!

oh come on if you think these classes are boring, you're way too smart, just admit it. not like that's a bad thing or anything!

[thorny]

I've been told that I will. Up until Christmastime I'd contented myself with the needles I'm more familiar with.

I'd love to acknowledge my staggering intellect for a girl my age, but given that I've already acquiesced to a display of arrogance via my new wands I believe that adding that on top of the pile would create a cascade of hubris that paradox space couldn't leave unanswered. Perhaps another time.

[vestigiaflammae]

like, non magic needles? you'd have to get pretty close to someone to stick them with those, huh?

[And that whole paragraph makes his head spin to read. Paradox what? Moving on, quick, before it's too obvious that he doesn't get it.]

yeah yeah, whatever, i'll hold you to that. you've gotta admit it one of these days!

but you can show me the wand tricks first.