I just - You know, I grew up in a city, one a lot bigger and a lot smellier than this one. And I miss it a lot. So I guess I was trying to defend it. Silly, I know.
[ There's just a slight moment, because that question was mostly rhetorical and Kitty hadn't really expected an answer. But, well - ]
It's really big. Much bigger than any city in Thedas - even Minrathous and even Val Royeaux. There've been wars through the city, so it's still scarred in places with these - these spots where magic cut into the earth. There are people from all over there, from across the world, coming to sell their wares, or just coming to live there, so no two people look the same, and you can walk down a single street and hear forty different tongues - and the city's streets are impossibly dense, and impossible to navigate, so you can wander and get lost with no difficulty at all. And there are some who say that the people are wicked, that they're criminal, that they're lazy, that they can't stand on their own legs, but there's no greater lie, 'cause you can sit out on the street for just half an hour and see two hundred different ways of life.
I don't really exist there, see. As best anyone can tell, I'm just a dream of the real Kathleen Jones, who's still in London. So I can't go back, because I was never there to begin with.
[She's skeptical, longing to ask more questions. This isn't the Fade, so you cannot be a dream. Why does the real person not wake up? How did you get here? Can people touch you, if you are a dream? Do you know what is happening to her? How--
But Laura has lived in Kirkwall for nearly half a year now. She has spent hours observing others' conversations for shadows, as well as having her own. And she does not think Kitty will want to answer these questions.]
I am sorry. [A pause, while she looks for something else to say. Something that will not make her cry.] Why do they call you Kitty?
Well, Kitty's a nickname for Kathleen, or Catherine, sometimes. So it works out. One of my schoolmates started calling me that - can't even remember why. But I liked it, and stuck with it, 'cause - you know - claws.
[ Maybe miraculously, Kitty's voice is practical and judgment-free. ]
That's true. But there's absolutely no harm in asking if they run into something new, right? I mean, if we all want to decide to get rid of the word purr and swap out vibrate in its place, then that's okay. But if they're going to run into it other places, it's probably worth learning. - It really is maddening when people act like you're a bad person for not knowing something, isn't it?
[This is something worth thinking about, longer than she has in the course of talking to someone else. She tucks a thorny mess of ideas--how much do others know that I do not, what do I know that they don't, how do people decide to say purr instead of vibrate, how do these things change--away for later consideration. For now, she hazards an answer to Kitty's question.]
Yeah. Especially since it's the ones who get judgmental who are the ones who decide what information is worth knowing. Even though there's plenty of stuff worth knowing that they don't know.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2020-02-11 03:07 am (UTC)[ A little sigh. ]
I just - You know, I grew up in a city, one a lot bigger and a lot smellier than this one. And I miss it a lot. So I guess I was trying to defend it. Silly, I know.
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Date: 2020-02-11 03:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-02-11 03:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-02-11 03:46 am (UTC)What was it like?
no subject
Date: 2020-02-12 02:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-02-12 02:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-02-15 03:57 pm (UTC)It's really big. Much bigger than any city in Thedas - even Minrathous and even Val Royeaux. There've been wars through the city, so it's still scarred in places with these - these spots where magic cut into the earth. There are people from all over there, from across the world, coming to sell their wares, or just coming to live there, so no two people look the same, and you can walk down a single street and hear forty different tongues - and the city's streets are impossibly dense, and impossible to navigate, so you can wander and get lost with no difficulty at all. And there are some who say that the people are wicked, that they're criminal, that they're lazy, that they can't stand on their own legs, but there's no greater lie, 'cause you can sit out on the street for just half an hour and see two hundred different ways of life.
no subject
Date: 2020-02-15 04:32 pm (UTC)Like the Gallows. But bigger.
[Kirkwall as a whole, perhaps--there are people from all over the place, not only the Marches--but Riftwatch holds something of everywhere in Thedas.]
Do you wish to go back?
no subject
Date: 2020-02-15 04:39 pm (UTC)[ She tries to make her voice sound light. ]
I don't really exist there, see. As best anyone can tell, I'm just a dream of the real Kathleen Jones, who's still in London. So I can't go back, because I was never there to begin with.
no subject
Date: 2020-02-15 04:48 pm (UTC)[She's skeptical, longing to ask more questions. This isn't the Fade, so you cannot be a dream. Why does the real person not wake up? How did you get here? Can people touch you, if you are a dream? Do you know what is happening to her? How--
But Laura has lived in Kirkwall for nearly half a year now. She has spent hours observing others' conversations for shadows, as well as having her own. And she does not think Kitty will want to answer these questions.]
I am sorry. [A pause, while she looks for something else to say. Something that will not make her cry.] Why do they call you Kitty?
no subject
Date: 2020-02-15 05:06 pm (UTC)[ That's an easier question. ]
Well, Kitty's a nickname for Kathleen, or Catherine, sometimes. So it works out. One of my schoolmates started calling me that - can't even remember why. But I liked it, and stuck with it, 'cause - you know - claws.
no subject
Date: 2020-02-15 05:10 pm (UTC)[Another pause.]
You should have one of the kittens.
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Date: 2020-02-15 05:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-02-15 05:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-02-15 05:21 pm (UTC)I'm - I don't know about that last bit. I'm not a nice person.
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Date: 2020-02-15 05:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-02-15 05:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-02-15 05:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-02-15 05:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-02-15 05:33 pm (UTC)But other people might not.
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Date: 2020-02-15 05:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-02-15 05:37 pm (UTC)Everyone does not know these things.
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Date: 2020-02-15 05:44 pm (UTC)That's true. But there's absolutely no harm in asking if they run into something new, right? I mean, if we all want to decide to get rid of the word purr and swap out vibrate in its place, then that's okay. But if they're going to run into it other places, it's probably worth learning. - It really is maddening when people act like you're a bad person for not knowing something, isn't it?
no subject
Date: 2020-02-15 09:43 pm (UTC)...Yes.
no subject
Date: 2020-02-15 11:02 pm (UTC)Yeah. Especially since it's the ones who get judgmental who are the ones who decide what information is worth knowing. Even though there's plenty of stuff worth knowing that they don't know.
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