voice

[projected]

[When the feed clicks on, there is only a faint static sound with what sounds like the microphone being covered a couple times. From the turn of the sound, one can surmise the device is being moved in the hand of the person who turned on the feed.]

This crude device is quite deceptive. At first it looked like an antiquated smart phone of sort, but inspection shows a different story. I'm a bit more impressed to learn it connects to a network that everyone is on. A means of communication is interesting... I'm curious as to why it even exists actually. Maybe that question is intentionally open-ended?

[He huffs a quiet breath of laughter out, the number of possible answers already sprouting to mind.]

If I'm being honest, I never really liked Alice in Wonderland. I can acknowledge it's historical value, and it's why I read it, but Alice herself was... fake. Designed as the perfect image of childhood innocence. She went around this new world so new to her without fear, wondered by all around her. Any flaw with her was never designed, but created by those who read the story. The world, much like this one, was of far more interest.

...What do you think of Alice though? Was she foolish for being too trusting of Wonderland, or can she be absolved for her curious nature? I think the answer you would pick, even if you don't say it aloud, reveals what kind of person you are.

If you don't want to share your answer that's fine. However I am curious about what kind of people are here. A melting pot of universes isn't exactly commonplace. I do hope this place won't be as tedious as reading Alice's adventures.

Comments

video; Book Club of Doom

[catchacold]

Clearly you didn't follow the instructions while reading.

Eat me. It's not a sober book.

permavoice

[projected]

[Ah... how interesting to see this face here.]

Hah. Probably not, given the allusions to opium use that have been gleamed at in text. Though I was a young man, and not tempted to take any sort of drug or drink alcohol.

[Even if he wanted to now, getting inebriated isn't possible for him anymore. A small downside of his powers.]

[catchacold]

You were a young man and not tempted?

Novel.

[Sticking with the book allusions.]

Then what's your poison now?

[projected]

I was... eleven I'd say. My lack of temptation had nothing to do with innocence, but with disinterest. Drugs aren't easy to procure where I'm from.

[His time is a far healthier place than the 21st century. Vices like these exist, but they're far less available.]

A glass of whiskey on the rocks. A glass or two is enough per day. I never give myself more than what I need. Indulgence can be its own vice when you don't keep sight of things.

voice }

[deathlessness]

I'm sure Alice herself would beg to differ. Though she's been in Wonderland a long time at this point.

[And yes, she does mean the Alice.]

text

[postictal]

it's just a fucking book dude

[Eloquent. But not exactly indicative of Tim's...personal views. He tends to keep those to himself.]

[video]

[wriggedywrecked]

Literally who fucking cares.

[voice]

[testcase]

I don't think the Alice here would like being called fake.

[She doesn't sound too sure of that though. She's never met the girl.]

I'd like to think she can be forgiven for being curious though. Everybody's curious sometimes.

[projected]

Alice doesn't get a say. The readers are the ones who make these determinations. She's just the one the tale follows.

[projected]

Can you honestly say that considering where we are?

permavoice

[projected]

[That just gets a small laugh out of him.]

Not you, obviously!

[postictal]

it's not like it's been all that consistent with the book
like at all

[projected]

Then she should blame Carroll. No one is so pure.

[And to believe that... well, it can be damaging to the truth.]

But even curiosity has its limits when treading from the possibility in your mind to reality. That is where Alice made her mistakes.

[projected]

And yet I wonder why. Maybe Carroll just wasn't a very good storyteller. Or he just couldn't predict where the tale would go.

[postictal]

or maybe it's just that fiction isn't the same as reality

video;

[beatupgrass]

Well, gee whiz. It looks like we got a hardass here.

[he doesn't even know what alice in wonderland is and still thinks this is some bullshit prison, so basically he's being a prick.]

video;

[powerofmabel]

Hey! Leave Alice alone, you jerk.

[thisismadfreaky]

[There's the slightest nudge in the back of his mind as he listens, something vaguely familiar about the flow of the words or the lilt in the voice in a way he can't quite place. But he shakes the thought from his mind because he's probably just being paranoid.]

Little of column A, little of column B? She probably was too trusting of something so new, but kids are that way. Bluntly honest and wildly trusting as long as there's something a little nice to go along with whatever they're doing. And where would the world be without curiosity fueling new ideas? It's the center of learning, after all.

[wriggedywrecked]

Y-You're literally in Wonderland and all you can think to say is "haha fuck that dumb bitch five-year-old," well you know what I say, I say fuck those goddamn flowers, who the fuck wants a singing pretentious haughty-ass goddamn flower, fuck that noise.

[chocolatepudding]

[ This guy says a lot of words when what he needs to say can be condensed into like, three-by-three boxes. It's familiar in a way Dustin can't quite place, so he focuses on the next bit. If he mentions childhood, he's going to get a childhood expert: Dustin Henderson, professional child.

Okay maybe not professional. No one pays him to ride his bike around the halls and help fight Demogorgons. ]

What's the answer say about you if you say yes, and what's it say if you say no? Also, I know she has no eyes here, but she definitely has ears, and she might get really mad if you say that stuff.

[projected]

Carroll could have based his book on this real world, is my proposition.

[projected]

Maybe my sense of wonder is too diluted to be shocked by any of this. I would say the damn Cheshire cat is the worst. All it ever does is laugh at the misery of others, without contributing.

[postictal]

if he did he has a lot of explaining to do

[deathlessness]

Alice may be blind but she does have ears and a device of her own. I'm sure she'll have something to say about all this, even if you don't think it relevant.

[She's not trying to discourage your discourse, Eobard, she's just making a point about the very real person that he could catch the attention of.]

[projected]

And I invite her to do so. But there is a distinction to be made here. Alice, the girl in the Carroll stories, and Alice, the real girl here. They can't be judged as the same in my opinion.

If the real Alice wants to defend the fake one, then I'd be interested to hear her point of view.