wiedzminka: (fifty-four.)
ℭ𝔦𝔯𝔦𝔩𝔩𝔞 𝔬𝔣 ℭ𝔦𝔫𝔱𝔯𝔞 ([personal profile] wiedzminka) wrote2021-03-26 06:25 pm
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❧ IC INBOX: Abraxas

MESSAGES
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princessvegas: (073. and i'm proud of it)

[personal profile] princessvegas 2021-10-27 01:53 am (UTC)(link)
[ Julie's domain is probably one of the easier ones to find in the Horizon, even without the knowledge of what a modern Earth nightclub is. There's always muffled music audible from outside, bass throbbing for a hundred yards in any direction. Neon lines the door, inviting people in, where, exactly as Julie had said, close to a hundred manifested partygoers occupy the booths and dance floor. They don't react unless directly disturbed, but they make a nice, dull background noise. The music is always the perfect volume; loud enough to dance to, but never so loud that you can't have a conversation. A pleasant, attentive man tends the bar. He always knows your favorite drink.

The further in one ventures, however, the more all the sound and flash fades away, until you're standing in an empty warehouse. An industrial fan set in the wall makes a slow, repetitive whooshing noise, and every step echoes. The feeling is oppressively lonely if you stay still too long. Not too far in, there's a structure that Julie added later, a lofted apartment closed off from the rest of it. Inside the loft, it's bright and bohemian, all jewel tones and wall murals, every spare inch cluttered with decor and just stuff -- designer clothes and shoes hung on walls, sparkling necklaces hanging from doorknobs, seemingly endless amounts of cosmetics on tables and counters. It's not messy, but it's very full.

Julie waits near the entrance, a pink and gold ball of smiles, waiting. She glitters from head to toe, the large Wheel of Fortune pendant on her sternum catching light and throwing it around. Her voice is syrupy sweet, with an American Southern drawl laced through it. ]


Hey, hon! Ciri, right?
Edited 2021-10-27 01:53 (UTC)
princessvegas: (010. they're monaco and hamptons bound)

[personal profile] princessvegas 2021-10-28 04:36 pm (UTC)(link)
That? It's my club! I ain't named it yet, I need to figure that out. But then again, it's the only one, so maybe it doesn't need a name. The bartender is Steven, he can make you anythin' you want. Usually you don't even need to ask, he just makes whatever you like.

[ By this point, Julie is aware that people from anywhere other than modern Earths are very discomforted by her domain. It doesn't upset her that it's so -- she knows that they just aren't used to it, and their worlds are all dark and dull as dirt, and most of them seem to have no idea what fun is. She never thought she'd be thankful to be from the end of the world, but at least it meant she got TV and actual music before the apocalypse happened.

Whereas Julie sticks out like a sore thumb anywhere but in the Horizon, Ciri looks like she belongs in the world outside. Only that wolf pendant marks her as different from any native walking the streets of Nott; Julie has seen Geralt's up close and so she can recognize that it's not from this world.

Effortlessly used to ignoring the hesitation and boundaries of others, she wraps her arm around Ciri's without asking and guides her through the entrance of the loft and then up the stairs. Chandeliers of all different styles hang down and light the way, opening into one of the bright, colorful (but less garish than the club) sitting rooms. The air is a pleasant mix of scents that manage to not be overwhelming, different candles lit all around the room, their flames flickering off golden knickknacks and mirrors and any variety of jewel-covered objects. Julie lets go of Ciri and opens a door, dragging out a rolling rack that bears a wide assortment of costumes on hangers that she begins to flip through for Ciri.

It's possible she already had them and did not need to manifest them specifically for this meeting. ]


So these are some costumes! Like I said before, a costume can be really anything, but these are some real common ones. It can be a job, like nurse or here's a maid. Animals are popular, 'specially like cats or tigers and leopards. And then some are more about a time period, like this one here is called a flapper. It's what women wore in my world in about a hundred years before my time.

Does this help it make sense a little?
princessvegas: (048. i'm a bitch)

[personal profile] princessvegas 2021-10-31 10:12 pm (UTC)(link)
[ And Julie, on the other hand, does not see anything off about these costumes or what they claim to be at all. As far as she's concerned, costumes that cover everything are for kids, men, and losers. Unless you have a really good joke costume, non-loser women can also wear those. This is largely a cultural issue with many thinkpieces written about it.

Wrinkling her nose, Julie shakes her head slowly. She's not sure exactly what the ancient origins of Halloween are, maybe they were about fertility or something, but nowadays? ]


Nah, I think it was originally about the harvest? Like 2000 years ago or somethin'. Now it's just about fun. [ And really, is there anything more fun than the activities that might evoke the image of a fertility goddess? ] Anyway, these are just some that I had lyin' around. If you tell me what you think you wanna be, I can help make you one! Oh, or I could pick for you. You would look so hot as a fairy. Or a pirate! I'm sure I got both of those around here somewhere.
princessvegas: (011. but we don't feel like outsiders)

[personal profile] princessvegas 2021-10-31 11:41 pm (UTC)(link)
[ They absolutely are not incorrect, at least not the way Julie celebrates. Sure, she knows all about the family-friendly ways to do Halloween, but until she is cursed with children, she is not here for them.

Well, except candy. Candy is great no matter who you are.

Beaming, Julie heads into another jewel-toned room, this one a dark purple, and it turns out to be an enormous closet. Every wall is absolutely stuffed full of outfits on hangers, in every color of the rainbow and much of it heavily covered in crystals or glitter. Shoes line the walls underneath the racks, and a large table in the center, drawers on either side, displays various accessories. She moves toward a section that appears to have another variety of costumes, and begins pushing them to the side, flipping through them like pages of a book. ]


Okay, no... no... oh, that's where that went... no... 'kay, here's a fairy, but I got other colors for that too. [ She pulls down a costume with wings, and bends to add a pair of sparkling stilettos; she places the whole costume on the outside of the rack before pushing through it more. ] Aaaaand a pirate, here, it's got the shoe covers too. Mm, I think you could pull off this vampire one, too. You're taller than me, so it'd look real good on you.
Edited 2021-10-31 23:41 (UTC)
princessvegas: (021. football team)

[personal profile] princessvegas 2021-11-01 12:34 am (UTC)(link)
[ Honestly, she's free to touch or ask about anything. At this point, Julie is just creating anything she's ever even wanted in passing; there is a stack of Barbies in one corner, all still in their boxes, because her parents could never afford the real ones, so as soon as she could, Julie gave them to herself.

There's probably a veritable psychology textbook to be written about her magpie-like tendency to collect and hoard all these things, but Julie figures it's no harm done when it's not even real.

Snorting and rolling her eyes, Julie shakes her head before selecting a pair of very high black stilettos to go with the vampire costume. ]


Oh yeah, I forgot. Vampires ain't real where I come from. We only have them in movies and TV shows, they're almost all real sexy. That's like, their thing. They're all real beautiful and they can put people in a trance and get 'em to do stuff. We don't have any monsters that I know about. Most of the things we call monsters were just animals that people thousands of years ago didn't understand.
princessvegas: (037. when summer starts)

[personal profile] princessvegas 2021-11-01 11:44 pm (UTC)(link)
[ It is, in some ways, a blessing that at least the concept of many of these monsters seemed to stay the same across the worlds. As far as Julie knows, Sam comes from a world mostly the same as her own, at least to a certain point in time, with the biggest difference being the whole "hero" thing. Another fiction for her, although at least it's one that she doesn't see as too impossible.

But while such things as vampires and werewolves might be universally defined, Ciri is now throwing out beasts that Julie hasn't heard of; they might be mythical creatures, but they're minor enough that most people wouldn't know the names. Julie does recognize griffins and sirens, though she twists her mouth with thought. ]


So, I don't know what a wyvern or a lamia are, I ain't ever heard of those. I know what griffins and sirens are, and I don't think I ever saw a griffin costume before. But I know I got a mermaid costume! Mermaids and sirens are... kind of the same? At least they are the way I always heard of 'em.

[ She pushes through the rack until she finds a long dress with hand loops attached to the hem, and a crown made of shells around the neck of the hanger. ] Like this? Mermaids are real popular back home. There's all kinds of stories about 'em.
princessvegas: (040. what kind of bubblegum)

[personal profile] princessvegas 2021-11-02 12:07 am (UTC)(link)
Ain't a big flyin' lizard just a dragon? We got dragons. There's two kinds, fairytale ones and then the Chinese ones, they look like big ol' snakes with itty bitty legs. [ Look, Julie is not a monster expert. She's frankly above her pay grade just remembering the difference between European and Asian-style dragons. ] I feel like I heard about somethin' that has a snake bottom but human top before, but not wings. And it wasn't called lamia, it was somethin' else. Nagini, maybe?

[ Julie, that is Voldemort's pet. She's thinking of nagas, she just can't put a name to it. ]

Yeah, this one is real pretty. I have a costume, though! I was gettin' it ready before everythin' happened back home, so I can make it look even better now. [ She moves to a different section of the closet, then pulls out a hanger bearing way more accessories than the others, a signal of her already-done planning. ] It's a deer! I learned the makeup and everythin'.
princessvegas: lbr no one else is playing this minor character (Default)

[personal profile] princessvegas 2021-11-02 03:18 am (UTC)(link)
Sounds like splittin' hairs, if you ask me. [ Not that anyone did or ever should, particularly when the subject is dragons. She will eventually show Ciri a Chinese dragon though, because they're cool.

Julie beams at her and nods, lying the costume out before she slides the antlers on her head. She then does not hesitate at all to just strip out of her dress (which, in fairness, revealed basically everything anyway) and let it fall to the floor with a soft clink. She answers as she begins to wiggle her way into her bodysuit. ]


Oh definitely, you're gonna look amazin'. And you gotta let me do your makeup!
princessvegas: (019. but he could never love)

[personal profile] princessvegas 2021-11-02 04:11 am (UTC)(link)
Do I think so? Girl, look at yourself in the mirror. If you lived where I come from, you'd be rich just from postin' selfies. That's when you take a picture of yourself.

[ Julie pulls on spike-heeled black ankle boots, which she then goes to look at in the mirror, still trying to decide if she want to wear them with this costume. She goes over to help Ciri after a moment, adjusting the collar and helping her find the right holes for the arms. ]

This is called pleather. It's like an artificial version of leather. It's cheaper and a lotta people care about not killing animals for their skin. I ain't one of them, but pleather has some other good stuff. It's usually shinier, which is good for a look like this.
princessvegas: (036. so we hold it down)

[personal profile] princessvegas 2021-11-02 04:55 am (UTC)(link)
It's the truth. I don't lie about who looks good, you know.

[ Just say the word, and Julie will manifest Instagram for you, Ciri. Think of the filters!

Straightening out the cape, Julie plunks the shoes down in front of Ciri, reaching her hand out to help balance if needed. She's starting to get the vibe that heels might be pretty new for Ciri too. But she will learn. Oh, she will learn. ]


The "p"'s for plastic. You can make basically anything out of plastic, and it doesn't cost a lot, so it's used in pretty much everything. And you don't have to keep thousands of cows to get the skins. Besides, it's thinner so it's easier to dance in.

What do you think?
princessvegas: (010. they're monaco and hamptons bound)

[personal profile] princessvegas 2021-11-02 05:51 am (UTC)(link)
[ Julie is, underneath it all, eager to make connections with people. Oh, sure, she's a heinous bitch to people she deems beneath herself, but she's finding those people fewer and further between now. Life gets a little more bearable when you find yourself resurrected from the dead. Besides, she really has been longing for a real girlfriend since she got to hang out with that spy Dayna. All the lying and blasphemous subterfuge aside, it had been nice to hang out and connect with another woman.

It reminds her of the friends she had before the world fell apart, how they used to get ready to go out on Saturday nights together, how they would go out to late night diners while still drunk and 80 miles from home. The only part of her old life that she ever really enjoyed.

Giggling, Julie releases Ciri's hand and goes to the table filled with jewelry; she looks over the drawers for a moment before having a thought and manifesting something totally different. Thanks, Pinterest, for creating an endless repository of covetable items in Julie's brain. Coming back, she drapes a pearl necklace around Ciri's neck, reaching up to fasten it -- even in her own heels, she's nearly half a foot shorter than Ciri. ]


Of course it does. Honey, even if you didn't look like a supermodel on your own, I wouldn't let you put on anythin' that would look bad. But this is it, if I do say so myself.
princessvegas: (015. raised on biggie and nirvana)

[personal profile] princessvegas 2021-11-02 04:30 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Julie doesn't really register any confusion from those so far behind herself, culturally. She has learned to quickly explain technological things, or very specific references, but it's difficult to change the way you've always expressed yourself, and Julie is a pop culture fiend. Frankly, everyone is lucky that she hasn't forced them into learning TikTok dances.

Smiling at Ciri in the mirror, Julie pats her elbow as if to say See, look at you. Then Ciri shows her the fangs, and she laughs and claps, delighted. ]
Oh, doll, you don't hafta thank me! I love doin' makeovers.

Now hold on a minute. [ She holds up one finger, then jogs off, only to return a few moments later with arms and hands full -- palettes and lipsticks and brushes, all manner of cosmetics. Sitting crossed-legged in front of the mirror, she puts it all down and pats the floor, signaling for Ciri to sit too. ] You need the makeup too, or you'll only look half-done.
princessvegas: (035. who we are)

[personal profile] princessvegas 2021-11-03 02:41 am (UTC)(link)
[ She has never much been a woman who understood the need to do a weird dance of gradual closeness -- what's the point? If you want to be friends with someone, be friends. If you want to fuck them, fuck them. And if their first impression made you want to fight them, well, then break their fucking nose. Arbitrary timelines and artificial distance in the name of taking it slow is just nonsense dictated by people who are more afraid of being hurt than caring of what they might gain by connecting.

Julie sets everything in an array between them, opening several of the palettes before coating a brush in crimson shadow and leaning forward to begin sweeping it over Ciri's eyelids. ]


Oh, sure, but learning how to do it is the part that's best. It's like art, and it's somethin' you're doin' just for yourself. It's like the Horizon except real, makin' the thing in your head come true.

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