farawayplace | thou art my riches

Entry tags:

pc: alice (domeinion)

thou art my riches

[Turnbloom City]

[Alice had come into town for a supply run, so you can see her with DJ and Hyperbug at her sides, all carrying grocery bags. But there's something stuck in a bush that catches her eye...

Wait, it's a foil balloon? That says "Happy Anniversary" on it, tied to a bouquet that's been dumped in the bush?]

I believe this is what they call "environmental storytelling"... We can't just leave it there.

[And so Alice will be carrying the balloon with her all around town today. Feel free to bump into her watching a show, hanging around at the beach, eating in a restaurant, or anything else!]

---

(Happy 10th anniversary of Alice's run, Twitch Plays Pokémon Randomized FireRed!)

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[Evie watches Alice carry the balloon around town.]

Oh, it's so pretty! Is it your anniversary of something?

I don't know! I don't think so, but time is as mixed up in my head as everything else. But I found it, and litter is litter, so I couldn't leave it.

It's too pretty to be litter! Maybe you could put it in your house!

I suppose I could, and just hang it up when the helium runs out. Have you found anything interesting or fun lately, Evie?

Yeah!

It's been pretty quiet lately, but I love seeing all the nice scenery and all the people!

You're right. I'm starting to wonder if my theories weren't right after all... or if something's happened with the flow of the stream.

You mean maybe bad things aren't coming through any more?

It's a possibility, but there haven't been as many good things, either. Something may have happened on a higher level that we just don't have evidence for.

Oh....

[Evie tilts her head.]

Maybe the portal is closing?

[She looks worried at this. She loves it here, but she has to get home to Radley sometime! If the portal closes, they might never be together....]

I certainly hope not. If it's been going on for decades, something's got to have gone wrong. As much as I would be happy to go back where I came from, Ultern deserves a better outcome.

Yeah.... I want things to be happy for everyone! How will we find out?

That's what I don't know. But keep track of anything off you might see. I'm going to keep on searching the island in case something happens. Tomorrow is the beginning of Dome-tide. I'm still keeping an eye out around holidays.

Okay! I'll watch really closely!

Is Dome-tide a holiday here?

It's one back home, anyway. That's why I ran that tournament last year.

I remember that! But would something happen even on a holiday that's not celebrated here? Every day is probably a holiday somewhere!

We have local equivalents to Helixmas and Feast of the Sail on the same days, I wanted to be safe.

It's good to be safe! I hope nothing bad happens. I wish something good would happen!

That's true. What's been your favourite, Evie?

My favorite good thing? I love that Mr. Attila is nice now!

That sounds like it's got a story behind it. I think I've seen the person you're referring to around.

Yeah! He's in Team Rocket and he started out trying to be mean here and take Pokemon, so we fought back! But then I started seeing him more and more and we talked and he started changing. He got really nice and I went on adventures with him and his friend!

That makes sense. This place does seem to have that effect on people... some of them.

Yeah, I think it's hard to be mean here. Did you see people stay mean?

I'm not certain. I can't prove nobody does, but most I've seen certainly have gotten better over time. Perhaps it's the high level of societal support that would preclude the usual reasons to take up crime, combined with being cut off from any roots that would lead towards it. But some people do bad things because they have something they desperately want, and this may not stop them.

Yeah.... I saw somebody who liked taking things.... But I think even she stopped! I like seeing people start being nice.

I wonder if... [She shakes her head.] Well, he's not here anyway, so I won't dwell on it. Besides. I've seen ways he turned out better before.

[Evie looks confused.]

Who's that?

...My dad. Sorry, it's a very long story.

Oh. I hope he's being nice, wherever he is!

...

[No. Yes. It's complicated. She shakes her head and looks off. DJ and Hyperbug react similarly, Hyperbug's wings drooping a little.]

Sorry, Evie. It's all right. It was a long time ago now.

Oh.... I'm sorry if I said something wrong....

[Evie's ears droop a bit too.]

Don't worry.

[She crouches down to get closer to Evie's level.]

It's a long story, but my dad did some really bad things for my sake. That's why my team and I are the way we are. It'll be all right. You couldn't have known. I don't talk about that much.

Oh....

[Evie isn't sure what to say to that.]

He must have loved you a lot....

...I think so.

[She touches her neck, shakes her head, and pets Evie. DJ frowns and puts a hand on Alice's shoulder, and she stands up.]

It's okay. Like I said, it was complicated. I don't want to ruin your day for something like this.

[Evie finally nods.]

Okay. We should think about happy things again! Like ... all the yummy food Aunt Eadie is making!

Oh, is something big happening soon? Or are you just looking forward to it in general?

She makes it every day! She finally got her cafe and it's really nice! I go and help her a lot.

Oh... you're terribly young to be married, aren't you? It's not unheard of, but...

[Cue James misunderstanding and looking wary, frowning.]

Is, uh, your spouse also young? I had no idea you were even married!

Oh! I'm not -- well, to tell you the truth, when you add temporal flux, resets, and the like into the conversation, not to mention the debate over whether one counts time in a void that doesn't have a concept of time in the final total, I don't actually know how old I am? But no, it's not mine. I just found this. Somebody probably threw it out.

[The wind whistled in the desert of James' brain as he listened to... all of that. He had to take a long moment to try and make sense of the multiple concepts Alice tossed out there and how they might apply to her.

A moment later:]

Wait, resets? H-how could your age be reset? Do you mean by a day or two, a year, or... all the way down to zero?

What a relief, though... [He's happy it's not hers, at any rate! But then, he frowns.]

That's so... that's so sad! [Ever sensitive, James was already on the verge of tears!] They must have been so happy to celebrate... but threw it out, perhaps their love wasn't faithful! What a terrible thing to discover on your anniversary...

Oh, but, maybe they simply got into a fight, instead... do you think they made up by now?

That's a whole lot of possibilities. I couldn't say which one might be true without knowing or at least having more evidence. Are you doing all right? I feel your imagination is running away with itself.

... ah!

... is it?

Well, I mean, why else would someone buy a balloon and flowers, only to throw them out without a care?

It's probable, yes, but you came up with a lot of different scenarios just from that. And I should probably mention it wasn't my age resetting. I've just stayed the same through a lot of things due to various circumstances. It's very complicated, I apologize.

Oh... I suppose that's true...

Then, what... oh, you don't have to tell me, it's probably private, right?

[He felt sorry for prying! He didn't mean to, it was just... confusing, like she said.]

Do you plan to carry it until you find who it belongs to?

I thought so, though that might be a little difficult. Besides, they clearly didn't want it. What do you think?

Well... there's nothing sadder than parting ways on a sour note, I think. I think if someone bothered to get such beautiful flowers for someone else... they probably cared a great deal about them.

If they regret it, wouldn't it be a lovely thing to return it to them?

Oh, if it were something like the movies, they'd see it in your arms and come rushing to take it! You'd be showered with thanks and tears, and might even be rewarded financially!

[It seemed James had a very hard time staying firmly rooted to reality, he was sighing blissfully at yet another dramatic, imaginary scenario...]

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thou art my riches

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[no, James, not that kind of anniversary...]

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[very belated rping]

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