Most Likely A Refuge

[whatamithinking]

It was probably safe.

The bar was...unusually reticent, in the lower layers of her mind (and she hadn't pried further; she wasn't sure if she'd be noticed; she wasn't sure if offending would get her kicked out, and regardless of whether it was actually safe it was safer than anywhere else she'd been for the past...three years?) so she couldn't be sure this place wasn't really a trap of some kind, but the higher layers gave a plausible explanation that didn't involve being a trap, and whatever else it was warm and dry and had food. Her guard was probably a full 25% down. Positively trusting, these days.

Comments

[mindovermagic]

"For some reason being a magical girl is significantly harder to fuck up than either of the other kinds of magic; I'm pretty sure I didn't fail to warn you about anything on that front, at least."

[onceandforall]

"I haven't run into any problems with it."

[mindovermagic]

"It's pretty unambiguously great!"

[onceandforall]

"No evil fluffs or anything!"

[mindovermagic]

"None whatsoever."

[onceandforall]

"Just a tacky aesthetic and a personal milestone quota."

[mindovermagic]

"I blame Naoko Takeuchi, myself."

[onceandforall]

"Huh?"

[mindovermagic]

"She wrote Sailor Moon. The magical girl genre predates the appearance of actual magical girls, which some people have suggested means that magical girl anime is somehow at fault for the kitschy designs."

[onceandforall]

"Ah. Well, at least it's not restricted to sailor suits per se. Although I guess mine could pass for one."

[mindovermagic]

"No, they all had white bodysuits to go with their colorful skirts."

[onceandforall]

"Did they? I'm not up on my reading, I guess."

[mindovermagic]

"Well, it's been more relevant to me for longer!"

[onceandforall]

"What, really? I've been looping for a few years, when did you get your magic?"

[mindovermagic]

"Well, I only got it a few years ago, but I always suspected I would. You didn't know magical girls existed until not too long before you became one!"

[onceandforall]

"Okay, that's true. Is Sailor Moon basically required reading in your world?"

[mindovermagic]

"Not usually, I don't think, but I was always a very extracurricular sort of kid. My parents would probably have homeschooled my sister and I if I didn't insist on sticking around to, well, try and fix the system from inside. And Emily insisted on sticking with me."

[onceandforall]

"Did you get anywhere on fixing the system from the inside? I'd think that's the sort of thing you'd need a non-student vantage point to accomplish."

[mindovermagic]

"Yeah, but five year old me didn't get that. I didn't get any institutional problems fixed, but I did put the fear of me into a lot of bullies, so I at least made the experience less unpleasant for some other kids."

[onceandforall]

"I would have taken my parents up on it if they'd suggested homeschooling, probably. At any point. I might have been able to push Renée into it but it never seemed urgent given she wasn't into the idea."

[mindovermagic]

"I don't really regret it; I won't deny that in general homeschooling is probably better, but at least I had a little leverage to make the world a better place, and none of my classes stomped on my desire to learn anything I had been attached to."

[onceandforall]

"Yeah. I mourn the lost efficiency at school's ostensible purpose, sometimes, but yeah."

[mindovermagic]

"It helped that my parents had zero qualms taking me out of school for a day or two when there was something they thought would be better. I've been to so many museums."

[onceandforall]

"Museums are great. What's your favorite?"

[mindovermagic]

"Oh, um...good question. Off the top of my head, I think I'd have to say either the Ithaca Sciencenter or the Corning Museum of Glass, since those are nearby and we visit them more frequently than any of the others."