1. [anon text]

[coldhardy]

When I got here, someone told me that it might be better if I kept my powers hidden.

Since then, I've seen people who have powers talking about them here. It's nice that I'm not alone anymore, but it's not nice to be afraid of what might happen if everyone knows what I can do.

I might have been able to help a few days ago if I had known what was going on. For example, I haven't tried it before, but I think I might be able to put out fires. I just want to be sure that it's safe for everyone if I make the attempt. I don't want to hurt anyone.

So, what do you think? Do you have powers? Were you born with them? What can you do? Do you hide your powers here? Is there a reason why I should, or why I shouldn't?

Also, can you do the same things that you could do at home? I've been practicing alone, and I can't. I'd like to understand that, too.

If you don't have powers, are you afraid of people who have them?

If you're trying to keep any of this a secret, you don't have to tell me who you are.

Thank you.

Comments

text;;

[outliver]

If you've got it, flaunt it. There's a lot of weird going on, and you might be surprised to find you're not the oddest one out.

And I'm pretty sure we have a few dedicated types willing to teach others how not to break everything.

As for the other question, the answer varies with the world. You're hardly getting a simple explanation there.

permanon until further notice!

[coldhardy]

I think I can control it now, but it's more controlled here than it ever was at home, without me trying. It used to be very hard to conceal.

Which other question do you mean... the one about people being afraid?

[outliver]

I think overly powerful people get some of that extra power cut out from them. Nobody likes an overpowered person.

No, the one about the ones about powers. It's normal in some words and not to normal in others.

[favouring]

By both mortal standards and those of my own kind, I do possess the sort of gifts to which you refer and I make no secret of it. When I'm up and about, I'm part of a division of the ship's crew that focuses on understanding the way that we relate to ourselves and our present reality in that context, in point of fact, as I find most of us are altered in the way you've found and it's something well worth understanding.

I would be glad to assist you in seeking that understanding. If you wish to contact me privately, my name is Princess Nuala and you can reach me at the number provided by this missive.

permanon until further notice!

[coldhardy]

Thank you.

You're not mortal?

[Elsa may be powerful, but she expects to die sometime or other. In Arendelle, maybe of old age, or natural causes, or in bad moments, of her own despair. Here, she's not sure how it could happen; she only hopes that it won't be too soon.]

woop woop

[favouring]

You're quite welcome.

No, indeed. Functionally immortal by the standards of humans, though it isn't impossible for me to die. Merely a happening on a very different scale.

Text

[acapriciousthing]

There are a lot of things I can't do here that I could at home. Or I wouldn't still be here. My abilities are part of who I am, and I've never seen any sense of hiding them.

Whatever you can do, I can almost guarantee that most people are more scared of me than you.

permanon until further notice!

[coldhardy]

You should be able to leave here?

Why are people afraid of you?

[acapriciousthing]

I'm Death.

[She figures that answers both questions]

text;

[doggedly]

who the hell told you to keep your powers hidden here



i mean its all right if you dont want to tell us who you are but we ought to know whos going around saying things like that

permanon until further notice!

[coldhardy]

Oh, I'd rather not say. I don't think he meant any harm. I had to hide them at home, for most of my life. It's not a bad idea, but it's hard for me, and if I hide them, I can't help in the same way that I might if I didn't have to.

Why do you think you should know?

[doggedly]

that first bit reads like a do you know that i know that you know that i know sort of thing
in a word: confusing
but i think i more or less understand what you mean

but speaking of knowing i think we ought to know whos going around telling people to pretend like they havent got any magic (or whatever) because like you said
leaves them at a disadvantage
anyway its stupid to pretend around here when everyone else isnt pretending

same question in reverse: why is it not a bad idea to hide them

voice;

[askedtobe]

Don't see any reason to keeping your powers a secret. I might not tell everyone I meet about mine, but i'm not keeping them hidden, either.

I was born with mine but it didn't develop until- about a year and a half ago. Maybe two years. And I can't do everything here that I could at home. Probably something to do with the ship, but I don't understand what it is, either. Ship protecting itself, maybe. I'm not sure.

[anon text forever!]

[coldhardy]

I was born with mine, too. They didn't develop all at once, they just kept growing stronger.

[She doesn't know if they would have stopped developing, at home... but surely there must be a limit to them? The only time they've ever decreased in strength or scope without her willful control of them was when she arrived on the Tranquility. Now they just seem stalled and contained.]

What can you do? We can talk in person somewhere if you would rather not say here.

Another thing. You think the ship can protect itself?

[What if someone like her is in charge of all of this? Someone who can make things happen to protect themselves, maybe without trying? The possibility interests her, and she wonders, between responses, what she would do if she met that person.]

[askedtobe]

I don't mind saying what I do here but I'd sound kind of ridiculous- the list is pretty long. And I don't usually go around rattling off everything I can do, makes it sound a little bit like bragging. Which is the last thing I want to be doing.

[ why brag; it'd just cause that many more problems if he did. but it's not like he intentionally acquired everything he can do, either. it sort of just glommed onto him and he only asked for one thing. from the start, he only ever really wanted to fly. it wasn't his fault it turned into a hell of a lot more than that. ]

We can talk in person if you'd like. But you should know that my ability- what I can do. My power. I sort of duplicate the abilities of the people around me. And I hold on to everything I can do.

But about the ship? I'm not sure. It'd make sense if it could. It'd make sense if it could do a lot more than just that.

[text]

[circumitus]

can start fires, if you need one to put out. not a big one.

never kept mine secret, though. just never felt the need for full disclosure. plus wasn't fully aware i had them before i arrived here.

permanon until further notice!

[coldhardy]

That's a wonderful idea. Can you control the size of the fire?

How did you learn that you could do it at all?

text;

[redhotsummers]

I--

I don't hide my powers, anymore. But mine are dangerous. It's hard, to know you can be proud about them--but I am, now.

But I've done things with them that I'm not proud of. I've hurt people I loved. You can't undo that.

permanon until further notice!

[coldhardy]

[Well, not technically.

She pauses before responding. The reversal of Anna's death had come from Anna, not through Elsa's own will; she was lucky that it had even been possible, that it had been part of the magic all along, and that everyone who'd thought that the magic dictated that Elsa should spend her life alone had been wrong.]

No, you can't.

Did they forgive you?

[Text]

[hadninelives]

My possibly unhelpful answer is that it's up to you if you want to hide your powers or not. There are always going to be people who fear anyone who is different, so keeping abilities hidden or at least being discreet about what you can do can make things easier sometimes.

My family has always had magic, and back home we hid that from everyone. Things seem to be different here, probably because there are so many others who have abilities. I've told several people here about my magic and no one has run away screaming or tried to burn me at the stake. At least not yet.

[permanon]

[coldhardy]

It's not unhelpful. It's good advice. I'm not sure I can think of a time when discretion wouldn't be wise.

They would have burned you at the stake back home?

[She remembers the vision that the wise old troll had presented when she was eight: monstrous figures leaping on her to devour her, not unlike flames licking up. And there had been a portrait of Joan of Arc in the gallery to remind her of it.

But she had never been afraid of fire for its own sake, even if she hadn't really needed it to be comfortable. She'd never felt that it was her enemy. It was a part of her original home, fires in the great castle fireplaces keeping her family and their servants warm, and while she'd felt out of place there for many years, that was no longer the case. She'd learned since then that, while a fire might be able to kill her if she wasn't careful, while it might just be possible for someone to burn her at the stake if they could capture her and knock her unconscious, weapons were the bigger threat.]

text; also anon

[born_this_way]

Where I come from magic is considered illegal. I've been told by someone more experienced with this place that this is not the case here, but someone I am very close with back home is here as well.

permanon until further notice!

[coldhardy]

That makes sense.

Are they important to you, or are they an enemy?

permanon.

[skjalf]

I was born with the ability to do magic. And I do hide it, yes.

No one will ever know. They cannot know.

permanon.

[coldhardy]

That's what happened to me.

Why can't they know? Will they think you're a sorcerer or sorceress?