001; Voice; and I don't see too many rivals now

[hedgebitch]

[Julia has found her way up to the roof where she's nursing a cigarette, not that anyone can see that as she speaks over the network. she's been to other worlds, but it's always been intentional, in her control (well, except for a few times when penny has grabbed her, but this wasn't penny's doing) and this? this is out of her control and she does not like the things she cannot control.

and yet not everything about this place is bad. it has magic. it feels more alive than her own world has been in a long time.]

Hello, my name is Julia Wicker

I found the pamphlet when I arrived, so I'll spare you the part where I demand where I am or how I got here, and I'll try to accept that there isn't a way home yet, but I've never been one to be good at taking no for answer, so there's no promises there.

For those of you who are familiar with the Wonderland books, how does this compare to the Wonderland in Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There? Are there any similarities to be found or is it completely different. I've been to a world that was in a book series I loved as a kid before and it was interesting to note what the author got right and what was completely off, what details were left out or changed.

Adaptations of any sort are an interesting case study, if nothing else. What gets kept in the narrative and what gets changed and manipulated by those telling the stories.

Thank you for indulging my curiosity. You can answer me here, or if you prefer to talk in person, I can be found up on the roof.

[and with that she cuts off the feed. for anyone who comes to talk to her in person when they come up to the roof they'll find her still smoking and making shapes in the smoke, mostly stars, mostly just because she can, because she's not the only thing with magic here, and she doesn't have to feel the burden of that quite as heavily here.]

Comments

[voice]

[scoutsniper]

[Frank's on the roof, but he's just feeling especially standoffish today. He always is when the new arrival looks 'normal'. Normal means they might recognize his name. ]

I don't remember any goddam invisible hell hounds or zombies you had to sing at in the book.

[voice]

[hedgebitch]

[she wouldn't, and she's far from normal, she just hides it well.]

It's true, the closest the books had to a hell hound was probably the Jabberwocky.

Re: [voice]

[scoutsniper]

The way it seems to work here is it pulls some fucked up shit from where you come from, and makes all of us deal with it.

Don't remember that in the book.

voice }

[emojis]

Little to none. There's Alice and the Queens and those Tweedle-whatever twins, but that's about all the similarities I've seen.

[Then again, Drizella is used to a very different Wonderland from the books to begin with, but she's not sharing that yet.]

voice }

[hedgebitch]

And I imagine the versions here might be very different than they were in the books.

[at least it feels like a safe assumption to make. that had often been the case with things in the Fillory books vs how they actually were in Fillory.]

voice }

[emojis]

Probably. They talk in the same amount of riddles, though.

[Which is totally fun.]

You'll see them pop in eventually. They tend to show up to "warn" us when events are coming, and I use the term "warn" very loosely.

[Voice]

[shslliar]

[Hm... How is he gonna troll the noobs today?]

You might wanna be careful about what snacks you put in your mouth. The size-shifting cookies are a thing here.

[Yeah... Last December that is.]

But, wait, you said you were in your favorite book before?

[Voice]

[hedgebitch]

[she's discerning enough that she'll probably test to see the effects for herself at some point.]

And I was -- I grew up reading the Fillory novels, and it turned out Fillory was a real place I could go to, though I didn't live out the events of the books themselves.

[well, she did get to relive one scene but that involved time travel and it's kinda complicated.]

[Voice]

[shslliar]

Huh? Fillory novels?

What are those?

[Seriously, he has never heard of that series in his life.]

[action]

[punful]

[There's a skeleton on the roof. He's up here a lot, mostly at night to look at the stars, or in the daytime to just kinda doze. It's been...weird lately. People have been disappearing. It makes him feel like they're all on the brink of something.]

[Sans knows exactly what they're on the brink of. He just doesn't want to admit it to himself, not yet. Roofs are good for thinking, and also for not thinking.]

[Eventually he becomes aware of someone else on the roof and he spots someone he doesn't recognize. He drags himself to his feet and goes over to investigate, since people he doesn't recognize tend to be newcomers. He prefers to meet people for the first time over the network but, well, she's probably going to notice him on her own eventually. Might as well nip this in the bud, find out if she's the type to freak out and assume he's some kind of really weird and slow-moving zombie.]

heya. neat trick.

[He gestures at the smoke stars.]

who knew you could see stars during the daytime? heh.

[action]

[hedgebitch]

[....there's a skeleton talking to her. it's not the weirdest thing she's seen. she's seen a dragon who cursed out millenials before, and she's been to the underworld but she didn't see any actual skeletons here. so that's new. and weird. but she's used to weird.

her life has been weird since magic entered it.

and at least he seems like a friendly skeleton??? in any case she's new here, and she doesn't feel like making any enemies just yet give her time though, she's good at that

she smiles.]

Thanks. It's pretty simple, as far as magic goes, but always a crowd pleaser.

[action]

[punful]

[Nice. No screaming, no running, no immediate demands that he explain what he is. It's refreshing.]

[He nods a little, watching the smoke stars.]

yeah? you mean real magic, or that like, uh...sleight of hand sorta stuff?

[Or maybe it's just regular old human stuff. Smoke rings, vape tricks.]

voice;

[eatsyourscience]

The similarities to the books are mostly cosmetic. A few of the characters exist here, but they're not exactly like the ones in the books.

voice;

[hedgebitch]

I'm not surprised to hear that, somehow. What are they like?

voice;

[eatsyourscience]

[He takes a second to think of how to describe them.]

There's more to them, I guess. They're more like real people, who react differently depending on how you approach them. It's not like in the books, where they're just there to frustrate you.

[video]

[softspokenlandlord]

[Predisposed to being the helpful sort, Ryou does his level best to address this unfortunate new person, even waving into the feed awkwardly.]

It's nice to meet you, Miss Julia. My name's Ryou Bakura.

Um, I believe that the idea of Wonderland here is somewhat removed from what it actually is in the book. The names of characters in the book correspond with people here, but...it seems rather abstracted.

I'm afraid I haven't really caught onto much, but if you have any questions, I can try and help.

[video]

[hedgebitch]

I appreciate even that much -- it gives me an idea of what we're looking for, it seems like this place is more loosely inspired or related to the story than a direct representation.

[it's not a lot to work with, but it's something. She gives a small wave in return.]

Thank you.

action;

[thevulnerability]

[ Chloe rarely seeks out the newbies, but there are some things Julia said that have piqued her interest enough to meet her in person. She watches her play around in the smoke a little, head tilted to the side, decidedly impressed although it isn't betrayed on her face. ]

There's some crossover with the books, but not a lot. Who knows what this place was like before we all came along, though. [ Chloe finally moves up next to her. ] This kind of thing normal for you?

action;

[hedgebitch]

Kinda? [Julia gives a small shrug of her shoulders, taking another drag from her cigarette before responding..] I've traveled to other worlds before, at least, though usually by choice. [and even when Penny took her by force she was always able to return home -- not like now.]

(action)

[rightcall]

( clementine likes the roof. it lets her survey the whole world in front of her as if she can see any danger coming. it's not how it works in wonderland. they get hints to danger coming, but they don't get to see it ahead of time and get advantage over it.

she doesn't expect anyone else to be here, but she also does not expect the shapes- her mouth parts as she stares at the shapes of smoke being made. there's a gun holstered at clementine's side. she does not have magic. she only has force and violence, but god, she would love to have magic. )

...holy shit. That's cool.

(action)

[hedgebitch]

[julia is lucky to have magic, it is something she loves deep down in her soul, even if the source of her current magic is something she's still struggling with. she's fought to keep magic in her life, and she would fight to bring it back to other people too.

she smiles at the younger girl's reaction, turning to face clementine more properly.]

Isn't it? It's just a party trick, but it's one I've always enjoyed.

Video

[suspense_kills_me]

There's a chessboard, and Alice does make an appearance from time to time. Though I haven't found the caterpillar yet.

Video

[hedgebitch]

It sounds like the other characters have taken up his habit of speaking in riddles, though.

video hehehe

[255000255000255]

[ Monika gasps and clasps her hands together. This is so cool! ]

Hermione Granger! I love your work!

[ She's always wanted to meet someone from Hogwarts! ]

video

[hedgebitch]

...I suppose I shouldn't be surprised someone might make that comparison.

[not that she outwardly talked about magic, but she didn't hide away from it either.]