lostnetwork | 001 . video . psa

[The video clicks on to reveal a small, slender, nervous-looking redhead. She has a frilly white blouse on covered with a leather bomber jacket, more stylish than functional, and she's fidgeting in her seat.

She takes a visible breath and says, somewhat stilted,] Hi. Willow. --That's me, Willow, my name, and. You should call me that. And you should email me?

Wait, sorry, I'm doing this in the wrong order. [She looks embarrassed, but then shakes her head and starts over, calmer now that she's getting into the rhythm.]

I'm Willow Rosenberg and I'm the official Darstone liaison to the newcomers. That means you, cause, if you're on this network, you're a newcomer-- a dimensional kidnap-ee. It's probably not government approved to say kidnap-ee, but that's okay because I work for them so I'm allowed to be especially disgruntled. Actually, even though I work for them, I'm in more or less the same position as you, I just got here earlier. When they needed someone for the job about a month ago I said yes.

Anyway... [Pause as she tries to recover her conversational thread.] Being the liaison means you should come to me if you have problems settling into the city, or if you need to talk to someone official and don't know how to reach them. I can get you in touch. I'm not responsible for deciding who gets to go home, so don't bug me about that or you'll make me cranky and mildly disapproving, and I don't like to be cranky.

But you really should email me if you need something. That's what I'm here for. I also do emergency response sometimes if something goes wrong with one of us, and trust me, I can handle it. So don't cause problems or you'll have to deal with me. [This is half bluffing and half honest confidence.] That means whoever sent those shadow things around during the festival, I better not see that happen again or I'm going to track you down, and there will be consequences.

[Her eyebrows go up in open evaluation.] Got it? Oh, and whoever's sending out the spying snakes, that's just creepy, but not illegal. So keep it not illegal or I'll sic the police chief on you, and she's scary.

... Any questions? About me or about what's going on? It's really mostly answered in the guide on your mirror, but I am answer girl if you have something else.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

That's fine. I'd just as soon you didn't. [She exhales, relieved she won't have to A, deal with a magic-using Nazi Germany, and B, be responsible for someone else getting involved in it. Willow had strongly mixed feelings about magic.] But there's plenty of spell theory that will at least give you some base to understand its limits.

I don't mind being corrected, I just-- semantics are annoying, okay? [Which is a total lie, Willow has always minded being corrected, but she has a hard time admitting that.] If what I got wrong is aside the point, it's better to just go along with the conversation. It's polite.

Hnn. I will look into it. Danke. [He nods. No. The last thing Germany will try is using the same little tricks as England does. He can do much more with his bare hands anyway. Especially damage. But understanding your enemy's weapons is part of understanding your enemy. And that's important.

And then there's this moment when he really just considers her words in silence. Germany isn't quite sure if this is better or worse than having a discussion with Austria...]

Very well. Even though I dislike having to lie to someone merely because it's polite. You humans seem to do it a lot, however, so I may at least try.

[Because nations lie for different reasons most of the time. More often than not to not appear polite even.]

[She can't really fault anyone for wanting to understand magic when it's such a major part of this world.] You're welcome, [she answers by rote.

But she wrinkles her nose at the other part, not enjoying being referenced as "you humans". She's heard that way too many times in her life.] It's not a lie, it's just like, letting something go because the other thing is more important to you. Picking your battles. Does that analogy work better?

[She might be surprised if she knew that he doesn't use the term human in a condescending way but actually values them highly and sometimes even envies them for their uncomplicated lives and simple achievements.]

It gets difficult if both things are equally important, however. [And he pauses, lookng a little uncomfortable actually.] I have to admit that I dislike this particular analogy.

[It just has bad associations for her. In the back of her mind it always has the happy meals with legs undercurrent, but she knows enough aliens now to realize that's not always justified.]

Pick whatever analogy you want, but you might want to be a little less blunt, [she says with a sigh.] Just, um, a helpful suggestion.

That's not exactly precise... But I may try.

[Protip: He will fail. Because being less blunt equals being flexible. And that's all but one of Germany's strong points. He needs strict rules and exact manuals to follow.]

I wish you a good day.

[And the connection gets cut off there.]

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