altria "just keep smiling" caster (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
excaliburden) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
citylogs2023-11-12 05:20 pm
excaliburden) wrote in citylogs2023-11-12 05:20 pm
[open] welcome to the city
WHO: Altria Caster (excaliburden) & perhaps you!
WHAT: Help out a gal who just got here and is still getting used to magical city things like powdered sugar
WHERE: Across the city! Namely: a convenience store, park, subway, etc.......
WHEN: Early November
WARNINGS: N/A! Will update if necessary
a. local victorian orphan discovers convenience stores
[You're probably popping into the local convenience store for sensible reasons, like to buy a soda or to grab a few things you're missing for your dinner. Maybe for one of those hot dogs. No judgment.
Either way, you're getting interrupted by a gremlin in young woman form, who comes right up to you as soon as she makes eye contact, holding up... one of those small little packs of powdered sugar donuts.]
Have you ever tried one of these?
[She sounds awed.
There is powdered sugar around her mouth and on her fingers. She seems to have already eaten three of the five in the pack. It's a little bit like a religious experience, honestly.]
b. park break
[There's only so much walking around the city she can do before she gets tired. Even a few days in, it's still a pretty overwhelming place, and despite making many plans with many helpful people upon first arriving, she... has not acted on any of them.
So it is that even though it's either very early in the morning or very late at night, Altria can be found seated on one of the benches in the park, shoulders hunched and hands in her lap. She doesn't seem to be asleep, just... thinking very, very intently.
Of course, if she notices that someone's near, she'll immediately straighten, lifting a hand to wave--but with how deep in thought she is, it isn't hard to sneak up on her, either.]
c. subway
[Using the subway today to get across the city? That's a perfectly normal thing to do.
There's a young woman there as well, nose pressed to the window as she stares out as the train moves, even though it's, you know, underground and there's nothing to see. It's fine--she still seems amazed.
Also, if you hop back on the train a few hours later to go elsewhere, she's... still there. She might be leaning back in the seat, staring at the ceiling, or moving from seat to seat idly, or, in particularly empty times of day, sprawled along two seats at once.
Don't worry about it. Everything's fine here!]
d. wildcard
(Wanna tag in but these prompts don't work? Totally fine, hit me with whatever--or poke me over here to plot something out!)
excaliburden) & perhaps you!WHAT: Help out a gal who just got here and is still getting used to magical city things like powdered sugar
WHERE: Across the city! Namely: a convenience store, park, subway, etc.......
WHEN: Early November
WARNINGS: N/A! Will update if necessary
a. local victorian orphan discovers convenience stores
[You're probably popping into the local convenience store for sensible reasons, like to buy a soda or to grab a few things you're missing for your dinner. Maybe for one of those hot dogs. No judgment.
Either way, you're getting interrupted by a gremlin in young woman form, who comes right up to you as soon as she makes eye contact, holding up... one of those small little packs of powdered sugar donuts.]
Have you ever tried one of these?
[She sounds awed.
There is powdered sugar around her mouth and on her fingers. She seems to have already eaten three of the five in the pack. It's a little bit like a religious experience, honestly.]
b. park break
[There's only so much walking around the city she can do before she gets tired. Even a few days in, it's still a pretty overwhelming place, and despite making many plans with many helpful people upon first arriving, she... has not acted on any of them.
So it is that even though it's either very early in the morning or very late at night, Altria can be found seated on one of the benches in the park, shoulders hunched and hands in her lap. She doesn't seem to be asleep, just... thinking very, very intently.
Of course, if she notices that someone's near, she'll immediately straighten, lifting a hand to wave--but with how deep in thought she is, it isn't hard to sneak up on her, either.]
c. subway
[Using the subway today to get across the city? That's a perfectly normal thing to do.
There's a young woman there as well, nose pressed to the window as she stares out as the train moves, even though it's, you know, underground and there's nothing to see. It's fine--she still seems amazed.
Also, if you hop back on the train a few hours later to go elsewhere, she's... still there. She might be leaning back in the seat, staring at the ceiling, or moving from seat to seat idly, or, in particularly empty times of day, sprawled along two seats at once.
Don't worry about it. Everything's fine here!]
d. wildcard
(Wanna tag in but these prompts don't work? Totally fine, hit me with whatever--or poke me over here to plot something out!)
no subject
Yi Sang nods and jots down Altria's assigned name at the base of the anvil-shaped constellation. ]
Were you familiar with a blacksmith from your realm?
[ Perhaps it's the same as the cow he'd spotted in the stars. Just as he'd spotted Dongrang's grown-up yellow calf in the sky, Altria could have noticed someone else's anvil suspended in the night sky. ]
no subject
Yes, I was! I just think blacksmiths are amazing...!
[She kicks her legs a little, almost idly.]
The way that they go clang and bam and then tap, tap, tap, and they've made something brand new and beautiful... isn't it wonderful?
no subject
[ Yi Sang is no blacksmith, but Altria's question stirs old memories of his peers. He'd always enjoyed observing their work during his own breaks, watching as they fine tuned their inventions and pieced things together to create devices anew. ]
...with each creation, the creator imbues a part of themselves within their work. Perhaps one might conclude that an item is not only given shape by a blacksmith's hands, but they are also given their very own soul.
[ He misses those days sometimes. Things had been simpler then.
Yi Sang follows Altria's gaze to the skies, nostalgia shimmering in his own eyes. ]
Sometime in the future, I shall teach you how to make paper birds too.
no subject
I think so too.
[Peacefully and confidently. She wouldn't be surprised if Ector was talented enough to imbue his creations with that sort of soul.
... Anyway, then he continues, and she looks at him suddenly, startled.]
Really? You really don't mind teaching me?
no subject
Yi Sang adds another well-meaning blond kiddo to his collection. ]
Not at all. I would be happy to do so. In the future, you may find someone whom you would also gift one of these birds.
[ There's a pensive look in his eyes as he considers the paper bird in Altria's hands. ]
It is said that folding a thousand of these birds will grant the one who made them a single wish.
no subject
[... A thousand birds for a wish. Maybe that's a little too cheap, she can't help but think. Folding a thousand of these birds would certainly take weeks, especially for her, who would not be able to fold them near as beautifully as he did.
But...
... A wish is such an expensive thing.]
... That sounds nice. If you folded a thousand of them... what would you wish for?
no subject
Technically, he's forbidden from sharing details like that with others. Although the Golden Boughs do not seem to exist within the City, Yi Sang nevertheless feels obligated to continue abiding by the terms of his employment contract.
After all, that had been part of the company's offer: joining their cause would grant him the thing his heart most desired. ]
...I cannot disclose those details to you, as I am bound by a contract. But... perhaps it is sufficient to say I would wish to find my wings again.
[ How nice it would be to find something to reach for, to find something where he could apply his talents without feeling as though he were merely being used for others' ends again. ]
Is there something that your heart desires, Altria?
no subject
Maybe one day she'll find out. But until then...
He asks her, and she smiles, and because she's not as good of a person as he is, her answer is a simple:]
No. I don't have anything like that. [A star--a hope, a dream, a wish...]
Ha ha... that must sound a little silly, huh?
Anyway... even if you can't say what your wish really means, I think it sounds beautiful. Trying to find your wings again, I mean. I hope someday you are able to soar again.
no subject
It is never too late to discover or rediscover one. Perhaps there was one in the past, now obscured after being buried by time.
[ He can't exactly pass judgment on Altria, not when it hadn't been so long ago when he would have answered the same as her. Hopes, dreams, wishes -- when they felt so out of reach, it was pointless to even dare to think about them. ]
I believe we all have wings. Those who disagree may be unable to see their own, just as one cannot view their own face without a reflective surface. But a person's inability to see the pair -- it does not necessarily mean they do not exist.
1/2
But...
It's still a really nice thought. It's really, really nice to think that perhaps, they could all find a way to soar one day.
And then, suddenly:]
Ah--! I thought of one! [A wish, that is.]
2/2
I'd want to wish to be a little bit taller! I deserve at least a few more inches!
no subject
Wishes, dreams, hopes, desires -- those are the kinds of things that keep people alive. ]
Then I shall, most definitely, teach you how to fold paper cranes. Once you have made a thousand, perhaps you will wake up one day finding yourself slightly taller.
no subject
[Well, now she's fired up, at least? Sometimes it truly is the little things.]
I'll fold on thousand of them, so please teach me how to make so many paper birds!
no subject
I shall show you in the future. It is... rather late in the day, and you may be better served by receiving some rest.
[ Or at least, she looks to be a kid to him. Kids need their sleep. They need their sleep to grow
taller. ]no subject
[Yeah, no, that's a good point. It was late when he first showed up to keep her company, and it's only later now.]
I'm sorry for keeping you up so long! But I'm very glad you came to speak with me.
no subject
[ He offers Altria a polite dip of the head. ]
Perhaps you shall return to one of the apartments you spotted earlier in the day? It will make an appropriate home for Gareth.
[ Yi Sang closes his notebook, sliding it back into his coat pocket with his pen. ]
I will meet you the following evening here, where we shall search for the sky's anvil and calf yet again.
no subject
[Isn't that reassuring.
It's okay, Tsuruno will find her eventually and drag her into the warmth.
For now, she just waves brightly.]
I'll see you tomorrow, Yi Sang!
no subject
Yi Sang rises from the bench and offers Altria his own wave. ]
Until next time, Altria.
[ And then he's gone, footfall by footfall, silently retreating back into the night. ]