video; un: rosseland

[hatinacat]

Greetings and salutations, my esteemed captive audience!

[TODAY. . . your video feed is taken up by the face of a young man with a teardrop painted on his cheek and a top hat adorning the crown of his head. he presses a hand against his chest and gives the camera a polite and tiny bow, though it's clear from the angle that he's holding said camera with his other one]

Ahaha! Was that joke a bit too gauche? My apologies, I couldn't quite help myself.

[he does not actually look apologetic at all. look at him he made a funny]

All humor aside, I'm a relatively new resident of this. . . [a beat] Lovely city. ["lovely"] I haven't been here long, but already I'm learning much about worlds other than my own. Which brings me to the purpose of this communication.

[it's brief, but the astute may see Lyney flick his wrist subtly and suddenly, until a small red rose blossoms to life between his fingers. he twists the flower idly in his hand as he speaks]

I have a particular interest in magic, you see. Stage magic, to be more precise. After all, I am a great magician, and being brought to this strange land won't change this fact!

[another flick of his wrist, and he closes his flingers around the rose, which seems to just. . . vanish into thin air. where did it go??]

But I am now aware that magic can vary from world to world. In addition to stage magic, my world has Visions, and I've further learned about the existence of something called "magecraft."

If you're feeling a little bored, won't you share with me the nature of magic in your world? It's for research! I promise.

[HE'S JUST A CURIOUS MAGICIAN, THAT'S ALL]

Comments

Text @Alhaitham

[justscribing]

You mentioned Visions. You're from Teyvat?

[Just completely breezing by the rest of the message.]

[hatinacat]

[fortunately, he's already been told that several people from Teyvat are here! as such, he isn't surprised to get that reply]

[. . .]

[give him a moment as he figures out how to send a text message on this phone-- OH OKAY THAT'S HOW YOU DO IT, OKAY, HE CAN REPLY NOW]

As sure as the sun shines in the sky! And I have been informed I'm not the only one, either.

[justscribing]

You would be the seventh I know of. [Because he hasn't properly met Hu Tao yet.] And so far, every one of us has been a Vision holder.

[hatinacat]

My, now that's rather curious.

[considering the Vision-holder population is much, much smaller than the general one, the odds of that happening are pretty damn small]

Do you think there is a reason for that?

[justscribing]

That depends if the pattern still holds with you. Do you have a Vision?

video, un: caster

[excaliburden]

[She does not see how he makes the flower appear but she seems thrilled by it. As per usual.]

Wow, wow... your magic is still so flashy and exciting!

[hatinacat]

[tipping his hat to her in the video, because of course!]

I'm sure it's more fascinating in person, but I'm delighted to know you can enjoy it this way as well.

[excaliburden]

Yeah!!

[IT'S COOL, OKAY.]

Besides, I don't want to just invite myself over just to ask you to do more magic. That would be rude and weird. [ha ha... ha.]

[hatinacat]

[omg. . . Altria. . .]

In that case, you're always welcome to come over and clean for me in exchange for a small performance.

[does that make it less rude and weird]

[excaliburden]

Oh! I can do that!

[Altria "cleaning" Lyney's apartment.gif]

That seems like a fair trade! It's a deal, then!

video | un: nikolai

[korol_rezni_nikolai]

[ Ah, good. Nikolai has been more or less waiting for someone to pose a question like this. He'd thought about asking, himself, but hadn't quite been able to figure out how to frame it to make it sound completely casual and not at ALL as if he's looking for anyone here with a particular set of magical abilities.

What good fortune, then, that this young man came along! ]

Welcome! That's quite the trick.

I share your interest in magic, though I'm afraid I can do none myself - stage or otherwise.

[ The best way to get information, Nikolai thinks, is to offer some up first. ]

In my world, what you might think of as magic is called the Small Science. Those who practice it, Grisha, are born with the ability to manipulate matter. How they do that depends on the person. Some Grisha can use their power to heal, or to change a person's appearance, or summon lightning or wind, or to alter the molecular structure of metals. Different individuals have different aptitudes.

[ ...of course, it's not all quite so orderly as that. The Small Science follows the basic laws of nature. It is predictable and limited. That's not the only kind of magic in his world. But Nikolai isn't about to go talking about merzost on the public network. For one thing, it'll probably make his world look bad. For another, it's just... too much. Too dangerous and too personal. ]

Tell me: are you actually researching something? Like I said, I have an academic interest in magic as well and can't help but be curious.

[hatinacat]

[Lyney's smile is bright, but contemplative, as Nikolai speaks]

Fascinating. . .! The part about manipulating elements is very similar to how Visions work in my world.

[the rest. . . he wouldn't call it impossible, considering the wide variety of abilities in existence back in Teyvat. but that sort of magic isn't something he is personally familiar with]

[at the question, he rubs the back of his head, a bit sheepish]

Calling it "research" is, perhaps, a bit glamorous when it's merely a personal interest. I wouldn't call myself the academic type.

[but he is sure someone from the Fontaine Research Institute would be losing their mind (in a good way) right about now]

[korol_rezni_nikolai]

I would love to hear more about these Visions. What elements can they control? Summoners - that's the term for Grisha who manipulate elements - usually focus on fire, or air, or water, but there are some who can control darkness or light as well.

[ He delivers this information so casually, as if he has no particular interest in people with those particular abilities. Which, of course, couldn't be further from the truth. ]

You needn't be so humble! What you're doing doesn't have to be some official project for a university for it to be research. So long as you're open-minded and accurate in how you record what you find, that's just as good if you ask me.

[ Nikolai beams, confident, radiating approval. ]

Tell me: the people in your world who use magecraft, do they ever grow ill if they don't use their abilities?

[hatinacat]

[being open-minded, huh. . . that's a good way to put it, even if he's asking more for curiosity than anything else. this guy must be a true academic-type, through and through]

"Magecraft" doesn't exist on my world, so I can't answer that question. But people who have Visions don't grow ill if they don't use their abilities. I purposefully give my Vision away when I'm performing my magic shows, just so people know I'm not cheating.

[his pride as a magician calls for it!]

As for the elements, there are seven-- Pyro, Hydro, Dendro, Cryo, Anemo, Geo and Electro.

[korol_rezni_nikolai]

Let me get this straight - you can give away your Vision, perform a show, and then get it back again afterwards?

[ All of that sounds extremely strange, to Nikolai. Alina had lost her powers, yes, but those had been extreme extenuating circumstances, and she certainly had never gotten them back afterwards. ]

Fascinating. And so if someone were to control fire, does that mean their Vision never allows them to control electricity? Or is there some overlap?

[ He leans in closer to the camera, head tilting to the side. ]

I am curious as well what would lead someone with genuine magic powers to a career as a stage magician. You don't have to answer if that's too nosy, of course.

Text; un: pantsonpyre

[localweirdo]

It seems that this world likes to bring people from Teyvat here. Greetings from a funeral director oh lovely magician!

[hatinacat]

[PANTSONPYRE. . .]

[heh]

Pardon me while I commend you on the clever wordplay of your. . . username, is that it?

[localweirdo]

Why, thank you, I certainly do try my best to ensure that I stay memorable to those who encounter me!

What about yourself? Mind if I ask what your username is supposed to be?

[hatinacat]

Hm. . . while it may not be as memorable, you can call it. . . a sentimental homage to a friend back home.

[Rosseland would be proud!!]

[localweirdo]

Is that so? If he were to ever show up here, I think he would be rather proud to see his magician friend taking after his name!

Especially one that is a Vision user like myself.

video. @kaveh, SLIDES IN HERE LATE...

[fussiest]

[ oh, kaveh thinks, that's lovely. the rose blooms flit in and out of vision like magic itself. kaveh is suddenly reminded of his own childhood dreams. while being an architect has always been his goal, perhaps there had been a few times where he thought about it, what it'd be like to be a magician of a sorts, to incorporate magic and tricks into his designs.

kaveh is clapping as he smiles. ]

Ah, well, perhaps the joke was a little too on the nose - but I'm glad that there's some cheer around these parts. We can all use it. It's lovely to meet you. I'm Kaveh, and I'm also from Teyvat, which means I hardly have anything new to share with you. But you've shared with us something lovely, and for that, you have my gratitude.

OPENS ARMS. . .!

[hatinacat]

[that smile and applause is enough to draw a look of satisfaction to Lyney's features, and he makes a show of bowing at the camera again, one arm swept in front of him]

That's quite all right! I'm happy to talk more about both Visions and stage magic, if you'd like.

JUMPS INTO ARMS...!

[fussiest]

[ kaveh brightens. ]

Oh, I hope not to have you regret that open invitation, because I've a thousand questions regarding your stage magic - starting with this: do you find there's a difference between doing stage magic for this camera-like device or doing so in-person? Are there fundamental challenges to redirecting someone's attention when they're staring into this screen, or is it easier?

[hatinacat]

[oh wow, those are both good questions. fortunately, Lyney has nothing but answers and zero regrets]

I haven't performed in front of a kamera before now, so I'm afraid my responses may be a bit lacking in detail. The trick I just performed is simple enough that there wasn't much difference in execution between a live audience and the video.

But I imagine for something much larger, performing for a kamera would be easier. One can use trick shots and clever filming to hide that which a real audience would easily see.

[fussiest]

Ah, like playing around with perspective for various forms of art. Originally, I was considering the pros and cons of it because putting it all before a kamera also puts it under a new form of scrutiny. But being able to play around with it gives the artform new depth.

[ kaveh pulls out a pen from the crow's nest of his hair. he shifts his sketchbook on his lap, and begins to draw. ] What of your tools for your trade? Did all of your tools of performance come to this world intact, or were a lot of them left behind?