TO EVERYONE

[princessvegas]

[ In her domain, Julie sits in a booth, bent over the table with a stack of paper and pen. She bites the tip of her tongue in concentration, then starts writing invitations. She intends to leave them all over the Horizon, fliers more than proper addressed invites.

Soon, all of the off-worlders are able to see writing in their vision. This writing appears to simply be written on any nearby surface: a tabletop, on the page of a book in place of the text, in a pool of water. It sparkles to summon attention to itself, just enough of a twinkle to earn a glance. ]



[ It's signed at the bottom, Julie Lawry.

Soon, other thoughts may begin appearing in your vision, sparkling until they catch your eye. Your own thoughts can be broadcast too. If you put in a little effort, you can even send them directly to a specific person, or a group.

And most of you are welcome to the party. ]

Comments

[princessvegas]

They can definitely be annoying, but there's way more positives to phones than negatives. Plus we can do all kinds of other useful stuff on them too.

They can be! That's the fun thing, you can dress up as anything you want. So you can be something scary, or pretty, or your costume can be a pun. But part of Halloween is spooky stuff. Like scary movies and haunted houses and monsters. And just like, general mischief, I guess? People go out and throw eggs or toilet paper at the houses of folks they don't like.

But see, my domain has this real big empty part. So I'm gonna set up the best haunted house ever.

[wiedzminka]

How can your costume be a pun?

[ There is. So much to unpack here. Ciri can figure out from context what most of it means, and experiencing the television in Sam's house and some supplementary knowledge from other worlds she's traveled to helps, but overall it's... hm. She's getting the impression their definitions of monsters and haunted houses might be a smidge different.

At least 'general mischief' is a concept she's familiar with. ]

Will there be real ghosts and monsters, or are those costumes too?

[princessvegas]

[ It actually takes quite a while before Julie responds. It's not that she can't think of punny costumes -- she can think of dozens, actually -- but that basically every punny costumes also requires a shared cultural knowledge that Ciri clearly does not have. How can she explain that, if you dress up as Gene Simmons in a beret, you're a french kiss, when she knows that Ciri would not know what literally any of those things are? It's difficult, but she finally comes up with something that she can at least explain succinctly. ]

Okay, so in my world, we have these women who devote their whole life to God. They're called nuns, and they all wear basically the same black and white outfit that comes with a veil thing called a habit. And prisoners always have their picture taken holding a numbered sign, for records. So, if you dress as a nun holding a numbered sign, you're a "bad habit".

[ Look, she can do better, but only with a proper frame of reference. ]

Well, usually they would be costumes. But I'm not exactly sure what the Horizon is capable of making. So we'll see.

[wiedzminka]

[ Ciri knows what a priestess is, so a nun isn't too difficult to comprehend. And she appreciates Julie going through all the effort to give context and explain... it's kind of funny, but also sweet. ]

Ha! I see what you mean. How whimsical.

The Horizon is capable of making whatever you wish it to make, as far as I'm aware.

I believe you could even construct realistic monsters without the aggressive and more deadly properties, if you put your mind to it. Like a basilisk without venom. The claws might still be a problem, though.

I don't know if you can make ghosts.

[princessvegas]

[ Look, if there is anything that Julie has gotten good at in Abraxas, it's explaining modern Earth concepts to people who have never even heard of lightbulbs. ]

Yeah! So people do stuff like that a lot. Lots of places even have competitions for who has the best costume.

I feel kind of weird about making living stuff in the Horizon. Like, when it's time for it to go away, are you killing it? And what does that mean for the Singularity, you know? But luckily, a lot of scariness is more about the feeling than what's giving it to you. Plus, I got a whole mess of fake magic people here, so I'm gonna try to get some of them to help.

[ Does this mean that Julie is going to somehow try to convince humanized background noise to pop out of doors and scare people? Yes, it does. ]

[wiedzminka]

Will you have a competition?

Fair enough. I did not consider that, but I see your point. I have a horse, but I haven't wanted to unmake her. I'm not sure what she gets up to while I'm not there, whether she is always around or simply appears when I need her.

What do you mean by "fake magic people"?

[princessvegas]

I don't think I'm going to have a costume contest, just because who would judge? And it's not real fair when only some of us have even heard of Halloween. There are other Halloween games, though! Bobbing for apples is probably the most common, but I gotta figure out something better to bob for.

[ It will ultimately end up being "bobbing for baggies of drugs and mini-bottles of Fireball". ]

Ugh, so like, there's always a bunch of people in my domain. I thought it was just part of the Horizon or something, but then someone told me that I was making them, even if I didn't mean to. But they're people, so I can't really just get rid of them. Feels wrong.

[wiedzminka]

[ Julie seems like a nice person. She's surprisingly easy to talk to, despite the strange method. Whatever this new type of magic that's affecting them is, this is as good a way to practice it as any. ]

I've heard of apple bobbing! Apples are placed in a barrel and maidens attempt to bite them to dream of their future lover. I've never played, myself, but I've read it's popular on many parts of the Continent as a Saovine tradition. I suppose it's not too surprising that an autumn harvest of apples results in a similar game across spheres.

What other things can one go bobbing for on Halloween?

How strange, that you didn't know you'd made the people. I know that we all become unmoored from our memories the first time in the Horizon, so perhaps it was a side effect of that? Nothing says you must unmake them if you wouldn't like to. If they can carry plates and pour ale, you may as well put them to work, right?

[princessvegas]

[ Julie is... capable of being nice. That's probably the best way to say it. But in Abraxas, she usually feels less of a need to be a heinous bitch for no reason. Plus, in a world that's not down to the very last humans, it's much easier to let it out on unsuspecting natives than on the others like herself. ]

I guess you can bob for anything that will float, really. Saovine? My friend says that's what Halloween is in his world, do you know Geralt? He's like tall and has white hair and is super hot. It's fucking crazy how hot he is. If y'all are from the same place, is that normal? Are people just that good-looking there? 'Cause where I'm from, there aren't too many hot people left.

[ There are some "so you agree, you think you're really pretty?" vibes here. Julie does not have an issue telling people what she thinks about how they look. ]

I mean, they were there from the first time I ever came here, and they just never went away. I thought maybe the Singularity just thought it was weird to have a club with no people in it. They don't usually pay me any mind, but I think I could probably figure out how to get them to do something. Anything.

[wiedzminka]

[ ...well. That is certainly unexpected. Ciri just sort of blinks at the new writing that has appeared to replace the previous message on the table, and bursts out laughing. Not that Julie can hear it but. Wow, so that's how it is.

She can't blame the woman. Geralt is far from unattractive, just objectively speaking and all. Thinking about it, Yennefer is obviously breathtakingly beautiful. Jaskier is a looker, himself. Maybe Julie's onto something. except Ciri; she doesn't consider herself particularly attractive, but that's okay ]

Yes, I know Geralt. We come from the same place. Didn't realise you were acquainted.

He's your friend? Really?

[ Forget about the random Horizon people. This is hilarious. ]

I'll gladly pass along the message. I don't imagine he's been called "hot" before.

[ Mostly because this is the first time she's ever heard the word used to mean anything other than relating to temperature or spice. Which in itself is also pretty funny. ]

[princessvegas]

[ It also cannot be emphasized enough that Julie comes from a world where more than 99% of humanity has died. Hot people are now a precious resource, as far as she's concerned. ]

I think so. I know he's kind of... I guess stoic is the right word? But he was one of the first people to talk to me when I got here. He explained a lot of stuff to me. And then once I got him talking at the party, I think we made some stuff make sense to each other.

Place like this, I figure we need to make friends where we can. We're all the odd ones out, and they want to use us to get at the Singularity. So we have to have each other's backs.

Except for the assholes. There are some real fucking assholes here. They can all go hang.

[wiedzminka]

[ Aww... That gives Ciri warm fuzzy feelings. Thanks, Julie. ]

He'll deny it, but he's got a good heart. Glad to know he's making friends.

[ Inasmuch as Geralt makes... friends. He'd probably make an amusing face at the accusation of having such a thing. ]

Better to have a Witcher as your ally than your enemy.

I'm Ciri. I saw your name on the invitation, Julie Lawry. Unusual way to make one's acquaintance, but we are in unusual times.

[princessvegas]

I knew he was okay from the jump. I told him that we don't have monsters for real back home, and he acted like it was the craziest thing he ever heard. He said he'd bring me a monster tooth to wear, haha. But yeah, I wouldn't want to go up against anyone who fights shit like that for a job.

Nice to meet you, Ciri. Don't worry, we would have met anyway. There's only about sixty of us can get into the Horizon. It's only a matter of time.

[wiedzminka]

[ A friend, and he promised to bring her gifts at that? Geralt... ]

Doesn't sound like the sort of place a Witcher could make much coin, then. Luckily, there are monsters here, or we'd both be out of work.

Where are you now, physically?

[princessvegas]

Maybe not killing monsters, but we got lots of other big stuff that people hunt and kill. Or we did, anyway. I don't know how much of it actually survived. Maybe stuff that lives far from all the people. Like polar bears.

I'm in Nott, there's a couple of us here. You're in the Free Cities with Geralt?

[wiedzminka]

I am with Geralt, yes.

[ If Geralt has seen fit to tell this Julie where he is, generally, then Ciri can agree to that much. She doesn't elaborate, of course. If asked without being told that Geralt had already given her an approximation, Ciri would have simply said the same thing. Let her ask Geralt for details if they really are close; Ciri isn't about to give anything actually sensitive away. ]

Were the beasts hunted to extinction?

[princessvegas]

Oh, no. In my world, there's not much of anything left. Most humans are dead. Same thing took out most of the animals, at least the mammals.

[wiedzminka]

What kind of "thing"?

[princessvegas]

It's called Captain Trips. It's a sickness that kills nearly everything that breathes. People swell up and choke until they suffocate to death on their own mucus. There's not even one percent of humans left alive.

[wiedzminka]

Some sort of plague? Sounds nasty.

[ Weird name for it, but she's not about to inquire after that in particular. It sounds like the world Julie's from is pretty awful. No wonder she's so keen on throwing a party and trying to celebrate being alive as much as they can given the situation. ]

Didn't mean to darken the mood of the conversation. I'll look forward to your Halloween festival.

I suppose I'll have to think of a costume.

And so will Geralt, I presume. That will be a feat.

[princessvegas]

Yeah, except we've had plagues before and none of them were that bad. Trips was made by scientists and the military. It did what they made it to do, they just didn't mean for it to get loose on its own.

[ Is Julie saying that her world was overmilitarized to the point that they turned an already deadly sickness into something much worse on purpose? Absolutely. She doesn't know how they ever expected to contain it even if it weren't released on accident. There was never going to be another outcome. ]

I already got him to say good enough that he'd come. You just gotta get him into a costume. Don't let him get away with just some shitty little eye mask. I want to see some effort!

[wiedzminka]

[ Ciri is, unfortunately, not entirely surprised by the idea of mages (scientists, but really, that's what her minds jumps to as science and magic are closely linked in her world) and the military working together to weaponize disease. Wiping out a majority of the world's population of humans. (Are there nonhumans? She doesn't ask.) Sounds pretty damn believable to her. And too fucked up to discuss at length right now.

She's had a rough time of it lately. If they're going to have a weird thoughts-to-words-on-random-objects conversation, she'd rather talk about the festival. It actually sounds kind of fun. She could really use some fun, dammit. ]

I'll make sure he keeps his word.

I thought it was a masquerade? What kind of costume is an acceptable level of effort? Please don't tell me the pun-centered aspect is required.

[princessvegas]

Haha no the pun part is optional! Okay, so like, really anything you can think of, you can dress up as! People go as animals, or characters from books and shows or movies, or like, jobs? Occupations, I guess, that would have a uniform.

Masquerades aren't super common where I'm from, but I think the point is specifically to hide your face, right? [ Julie has seen many period-piece movies. ] So Halloween, the mask is optional. Depends on your costume. But it isn't enough to JUST wear a mask, if that makes any sense.

[wiedzminka]

It does not.

[ Well, at least she's distracted from darker thoughts again. Now she's just... confused as fuck. ]

An occupation is not a costume.

Masquerades can have different themes, but generally, one wears formal wear and a mask, usually of an animal but sometimes of a mythological creature or a monster of some sort. Hair ornaments and accessories are also employed to achieve the desired thematic look.

As for characters from books or plays...

[ She considers this. From Sam, she has a vague idea of what movies are, so she doesn't even touch that. Books, poems, and theatrical performances (shows) she can understand, though. ]

Geralt himself is the subject of some poetry on the Continent. I imagine dressing as himself is not in the spirit of the festival, though, so don't tell him that's allowed.

[princessvegas]

An occupation can definitely be a costume. Like, the army where you're from, they all wear the same thing, right? So they know who's on each side? Uniform. You dress up in their clothes, it doesn't make you a soldier, but you're still dressed as one. Costume. My world has lots of jobs that have pretty universal look to them. I guess we kind of take one specific idea of a uniform and keep using it until that's just what people understand as that job.

Ugh, I wish I could show you a picture, it would help a lot.

[ She concentrates very hard on the visual of firefighter, but predictably, that does nothing, and she can sort of feel the difference in a thought that goes out versus one that doesn't. ]

People write poems about him? I know he's real old so he must have a reputation, but like, I only ever heard of poems being written for lovers. Women, usually, most of the real famous poets wrote about women. Are the poems about how beautiful he is? Hair like snow, eyes like... lemons. [ If a snicker can be translated into written thought, that's what's there. ]