un: abnormalitylover, video

[abnormalizes]

So, um, hi!

[Evangeline seems more anxious than she normally does, but she's smiling, at least.]

Apparently, when you start dating someone, you're supposed to make some sort of announcement on the internet so all your friends know? At least that's what I hear. And I, definitely didn't do that! Three times over! So, um, oops?

I'm dating three people now! Fajra, Barghest, and Chipp. Um, things are going... well? They're going well.

[Honestly still not sure what she's doing but she's trying her best!!]

So, uh, yeah, that's it. ...Do you, like, open the floor to questions here or what...?

Comments

[castaside]

[ Laughs ]

You can start while you're eating I guess. Sort of. Pay attention to where the light source is in your room, or sources, and the shadows you make from them. Notice how when you're holding the bao, it and your hand make one shadow, not two. You've been around shadows your whole life, you instinctively know them. This is just taking your awareness of them to a different level.

[abnormalizes]

[No one has ever eaten a bao with this intense a look of focus before. She turns it over in her hand and watches the shape of the shadow cast change. Be Aware of the shadows, Evangeline.

It probably looks pretty silly to watch her eat with this expression.]

[castaside]

Let me know when you're done and I'll portal you over for a real lesson. No rush. [ It's better for her to take her time and really look. ]

[abnormalizes]

[Munch munch munch munch munch-]

Alright, done. Thank you for the meal.

> action

[castaside]

No problem.

[ He opens a portal that leads to his room at the birdtile house. ]

[abnormalizes]

[Here she is! Empty plate in hand, she's not going to just steal their tableware.]

Ready to learn!

[castaside]

He will portal that plate to the kitchen sink directly from her hand.

"Before we start, please don't teach this to anyone else. Shadows are my friends, and I only teach people I trust to use them. Okay?"

[abnormalizes]

"Oh - of course. Thank you, I'm honored?"

Every so often she gets critically hit by people liking and trusting her, as a person.

[castaside]

"You should be, it's not an easy feat. But you being there for Choco multiple times and helping kill those Humane Society guys slowly hit me right."

He will make a light source that casts their shadows on the wall.

"Hold you hand up."

[abnormalizes]

The torture being part of what impressed him just makes her more embarrassed. Usually would consider it a bad thing.

Thankfully, there’s Learning to distract her. She holds her hand up and focuses intently on the shadow it casts.

[castaside]

Macaque stands behind her and holds his hand up so they're two distinct hands. His bigger than hers because it's closer to the light.

"See how the proximity to the light makes a difference?" He makes another light source, still behind them but from a different angle. "And two changes it. You get instinctively good at knowing what a light will do to your shadow, and the shadows around it."

He goes back to just one light source, then walks slowly towards her, watching as their hands start merging. Eventually he's right at her back and he presses the palm of his hand to the back of hers. Their hands sort of look like one hand, but you can see the imperfections in the silhouette. He moves his hand back and forth to show her how that works, then he stops moving his hand, but the shadow keeps moving.

"That's basic shadow manipulation. You sense and see the shadow on whatever it's projected on, and you make it move. It's the most basic."

He steps back. And on the wall he projects a set of shadows that look like they're woven together, with small spaces between.

"Move your hand like you're prying the threads apart. Don't worry about what your hand is doing, worry only about what the shadow is doing. And how you move your hand differently in shadow then you would to do this with physical threads."

[abnormalizes]

She focuses intently, moving her hand into different shapes to try to get a better feel for what that does to the shape of its shadow. The shape of the hand itself isn’t important, only the shadow…

It takes a bit of experimenting, but she’s able to find a way to make her shadow look like it’s prying the threads apart.

[castaside]

"Not bad. Now, put your hand down and try to move the threads inside your mind. Feel the light that makes them, the connection between the light and the object," even if Macaque is just making the shadows, she can approximate where they would be to make this shadow, "and focus on moving them. If you focus enough, some of the threads will twitch, but sometimes it takes more practice."

"Shadows are friendly, they want to play with you."

[abnormalizes]

"Shadows are friendly, they want to play with me." If she repeats it she'll internalize it.

Evangeline lowers her hand, and does her very best to move the threads in her mind. The good news is, she has a good amount of practice moving things with her mind! The bad news is, this amounts to her unconsciously attempting to use her summer telekinesis, which obviously doesn't work.

She realizes what she's doing when the light source itself twitches.

"Oh - that's not right. I need to do it differently than telekinesis."

[castaside]

"You're fine. It takes some practice. Set up a light and a net if you want to try on your own."

Hm, how to explain in a better way?

"You're thinking of it as something physical, that's the telekinesis. It's not physical. So you have to adjust your thinking a little bit. A gentle left turn. Imagine your hand's shadow still there, moving the threads."

[abnormalizes]

Evangeline nods and tries again, this time picturing her hand's shadow there. That keeps her from doing any accidental telekinesis again, at least,

She briefly imagines it like switching from red to white damage, the effects of her weapon (her mind) differing even if her (mental) movements are the same. That feels Bad, though. She doesn't actually want to think of it like using a weapon, even if it might work. Shadows are Macaque's friends. She stops almost as soon as she starts with that.

...After a couple of minutes, she manages a minute twitch of one of the threads, small enough that she isn't sure if she just imagined it.

[castaside]

He would have very much objected to the thought of damage for his shadows. (They are ALL his shadows as far as he's concerned.)

"You managed a little twitch already, that's good. Like anything, it just takes practice and the right mindset. You'll learn to notice which shadows happen with which kinds of lights and which color, and whenever you have time to focus, try to move them a little. Sometimes it helps if you ask for their help." A little corny, he knows, but polite and effective.

[abnormalizes]

"Oh! I did!"

It's not much, but she's immediately excited about accomplishing it, eyes lighting up full force.

"Ask nicely, okay, understood. I'll work on it whenever I have the time."

[castaside]

"Perfect. How you get it to work will need to be adjusted depending on the darkness of the shadow, whether it's sunlight or a fluorescent bulb or colored light or whatever. If you want a real challenge, use firelight. The flames make the shadows dance which makes moving them more complicated."

"After that you'll get to use them to do shit like make impressive shadow plays. The next step is making them tangible so you can use one to grab your opponent's feet during a fight, things like that." He picks up a textbook and throws it at the wall, and the shadow threads catch it.

"Once you can do that, I'll teach you portals."

[abnormalizes]

"Moving, then tangible, then portals. I'll work hard!"

She's absolutely delighted, and she expresses it by smooching Macaque's cheek briefly.

[castaside]

He closes one eye at the cheek-kiss, his smile quirking just a bit.

"Yeah yeah, you're welcome. We'll have you portaling all over this place in no time. It's a lot more efficient than those crystal things. When we get to those, I'll ask you to only work on them with me or Choco around until you get the hang of them. Getting stuck is preferable to avoid."

"Would you want to meet every few days, check your progress, get some more tips? Our house has a big training room."

[abnormalizes]

"I'd love to! I'll have to schedule it around my job at the Research Center and my questing and other stuff, but I'm sure I can find a time that works."

Busy busy busy.

[castaside]

"Makes sense. We could also use quests as training when you're at the tangible stage. It won't take long, maybe a few weeks depending on how much you practice and how good you are at focus."

"Plus, it'll be good for you to watch me work. See my avatar. I have a shadow-me that's many stories high, it's when I need to really kick ass. Choco's is a round pigeon, ask her to see it sometime. You'll be able to get one yourself eventually, though that's more advanced. You've seen me use shadows to get clothes on and off, also advanced. When you get to the really advanced stages you can become a shadow yourself, or hide within them, great for stealth. And you can reach inside people like I did with the criminal assholes. It's handy for health emergencies. Just a preview of coming attractions. I can do almost anything with my shadows."

[abnormalizes]

Macaque mentions the shadow avatar that's several stories high and Evangeline gets visibly preoccupied with this thought for a moment. Not so much that she doesn't listen to the rest of what he's saying! But that's definitely a blush.

"-Looking forward to it! Thank you, I'm excited to learn."

[castaside]

"What, you're into avatars too?" No judgment, but definitely light teasing.