text; un: beatrix [2]

[fiendennor]

I dearly hope everyone is safe after the turmoil in Olympia.
Wyver too, I've heard, though I was fortunate enough to not to experience it myself.

Does anyone else find it odd? That tensions were suddenly inflamed in such a way. Normal people turning violent.
Or the refugees ourselves having our own aggressive tendencies reinforced and heightened.

It's hard to believe that all of this is entirely natural, or the result of simple historical tensions.
Has anyone ever experienced anything like this before? Something that has this sort of aggressive effect on the populace?

Comments

[fiendennor]

I suppose. It's hardly unusual, where I'm from.

[gekkajuu]

Magic in general doesn't exist where I'm from. But then, abilities are not so different.

[fiendennor]

That's hard for me to imagine.
There are nonmagical communities, of course, and much of the world thinks of magic and those who practice it as archaic in many ways.

But a world without magic is hard to conceive of, to be honest.

[gekkajuu]

Magic is nothing but fairy tales, in my world.
That, or it's a considerably big secret. Even abilities are just becoming common knowledge, so I don't think that's too much of a stretch.

[He's not even going to mention what witches are supposedly like.]

[fiendennor]

I've identified three typical types of worlds that we refugees come from, insofar as magic is concerned.

1, worlds where magic is a known quantity, perhaps even common. A world like mine, for instance.
2, worlds where magic exists, but only in secret. It is not commonly known outside of select circles.
3, worlds where there is no magic.

The trouble is that a 2 and 3 look identical, from the perspective of one who isn't in on the secret.

[gekkajuu]

That's true. You can never be sure, can you?

Still, I think I would have heard something about magic if it existed in my world, probably.

[fiendennor]

What makes you think that?
If it is a secret, presumably it would be one that's very well kept.

[gekkajuu]

At least the government would know, surely? And while where I worked wasn't anything so official, they were fairly well-connected.

Some people in particular would know if it existed, I feel. And I don't see why they would have kept it secret from me.

[fiendennor]

Perhaps that's true. If you had governmental contacts, I suppose you'd be in as good a position to know as any.

But there's no being completely 100% sure, either way.

[gekkajuu]

You're right, there's definitely no being sure.

Maybe it doesn't matter, anyway. Magic or no magic, that place doesn't exist anymore.

[fiendennor]

I suppose. You're right. I'm just kind of curious, if I'm to be perfectly honest.

[gekkajuu]

It's hard to let go of the past, isn't it?

Or rather: it's hard to know how much to let go of without simply losing everything.

[fiendennor]

Exactly.
It's one thing if we're attached to physical objects or places that no longer exist.
But what about things like philosophies, or traditions?

[gekkajuu]

In a lot of ways, people are people, wherever you go. Knowing that has really reassured me.

But now I can't help but wonder if sometimes the important things are in the details.

I'm still glad to have met everyone I know now that I would never have met before! But I'm also glad to have people here I know from before. From physical places to traditions, they've witnessed more or less the same things I did.