InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "You're so obvious"

Arcturus Black (arcturusfirst) wrote in compass_network,
@ 2021-12-28 10:59:00

Entry tags:

!open, aphrodite, fitzwilliam darcy, sookie sully, ~arcturus black

[Backdated to a few days after portal opening]

Now that there are reports of an epidemic I hope people here will better understand why I do not drink the water. The cholera is a very unpleasant way to die.

I write, however, to ask for the advice of those who have lived here much longer than I. I understand that there is a doorway through which I can reach Paris. If I did this, and I took passage to Britain, and went to my parents, would I be able to stay there? I could not tell them who I am, because in 1832 I was not yet born, but I know enough to pass myself off as some distant cousin.

If I did all this, would I be left in peace, or would the doorway cruelly pull me back when it closes?

ADDED LATER:

After consideration I would like to ask if anyone would make the journey with me. I will pay for the cost of your travel, and for your time and inconvenience should you wish it. It is necessary that you are a fellow who possesses magical ability of some sort, and both knowledge of the customs and etiquette of Britain at this time, and a willingness to follow them. Please do write if you are willing. - A.C. Black

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sookie_sully
2021-12-28 07:52 pm UTC (link)

They would only be your parents if you're from the same world as Enjolras. This world may have a version of your parents, but they wouldn't be the same as the parents you knew. Or they may not exist at all through the door.

The door would pull you back when it closes. It does that to everyone. I'm sorry.

If you do go through the door, you should take someone with you and have your phone on you.

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arcturusfirst
2021-12-28 09:40 pm UTC (link)

Thank you, I appreciate that you explained it, even if the answer is not quite what I hoped. They will be there, though. Mr Enjolras is a Frenchman, and I am an Englishman, but we are from the same planet, and not so terribly far apart in time from each other as the two of us are from most others I have met here.

I think I shall go. I would like to see my family, even if I cannot stay. Your concern is very kind but the phone would cause all manner of trouble were I to be seen with it at home, not to mention that it would not work in 1832. I shall be quite alright. Paris cannot be more dangerous than London, and I know how to defend myself should any of the lower orders try to rob me.

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sookie_sully
2021-12-29 07:21 pm UTC (link)

You're both from a version of Earth. It doesn't mean they're the same Earth. I've seen many doors to different Earths that were similar, and yet not completely the same. The smallest difference can change many things.

I've used my phone through the door before. Others have too. It's a good way to keep in touch with the station. Depending on how long you stay, you may be returning to cold weather here, or other circumstances that you'll want to know about.

There's no harm in an extra hand if you do need to defend yourself, and you may appreciate having someone else there as company. If you ask around, I'm sure you'd find volunteers.

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arcturusfirst
2021-12-29 07:39 pm UTC (link)

I expect you mean people tampering with the timeline. That can have some...dramatic effects. Yet if it were altered so that my parents were no longer where they should be, they would no longer be my parents, and I would cease to exist. That is the danger of meddling with time. As I am still here, it stands to reason that they are still there.

~~Then you clearly have not been to a time before the invention of~~ Let us say that there are cultural reasons why it is far better that I do not bring it.

The journey would be more enjoyable with company, it is true. Very well. You are not the only lady to have advised me of it. I will set out an advertisement, and if someone with the necessary qualities steps forward, I will be glad of his company, but if not, you will understand why I go alone.

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sookie_sully
2021-12-29 11:06 pm UTC (link)

I mean parallel worlds and universes. There are a number of alternative planet Earths, that are similar but not identical. I've visited a few. You are from an Earth. Others are from different Earths. 1832 on one Earth might be very different from 1832 on another Earth.

You can keep it hidden if you're concerned about affecting the culture. That's what I do when I visit versions of Earth that don't have smartphones or that don't have them yet.

No one has to be alone on this station, even when they're through the doors.

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arcturusfirst
2021-12-29 11:30 pm UTC (link)

There is only one universe. It is right there to be seen, in the Latin. It includes all the planets and even strange realms out of time. Finding other planets and calling them Earth is perhaps something that people might do in their travels, or it might be a...translation problem. If we discovered men living on Mars and learnt that in their language they called it 'earth' we would not be surprised when we visited that it was not the Earth we knew!

It is more that I would be breaking a custom of my people to bring it, and I am not the dishonorable sort who would do that covertly.

Perhaps not, but sometimes a fellow would prefer to be alone, and there is no harm in that.

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	aphrodiseum 2021-12-29 12:44 am UTC (link)
	Arcturus, dearest, sweetest boy, don't do this to yourself. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	arcturusfirst 2021-12-29 02:13 pm UTC (link)
	Don't fret. Now that I know I cannot stay, I shan't expect it, and I shan't be downhearted when the inevitable happens. I have never seen Paris before, or sailed across the sea, and very few people can say they have seen what their parents were like before their own birth! It will be an adventure. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	aphrodiseum 2021-12-29 02:43 pm UTC (link)
	And if your parents/family/magical society doesn't exist? (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	arcturusfirst 2021-12-29 02:48 pm UTC (link)
	Of course they exist. France exists, Britain exists, it is Earth and not some faraway realm in the depths of space. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	aphrodiseum 2021-12-29 03:04 pm UTC (link)
	Just because a version of them exists in this place doesn't mean it will be the same you know, dear. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

arcturusfirst
2021-12-29 03:14 pm UTC (link)

I don't mean to offend, but I don't really believe in that sort of thing. There is only one man who is my father. It is perhaps possible that some person travelling in time could meddle with things and change his fate, but if it were to change so far that he were no longer my father, then I would no longer exist. That I do exist means that the timeline, as they say, holds true as I know it.

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	aphrodiseum 2021-12-29 04:01 pm UTC (link)
	You're still as stubborn as ever, huh? Fine, the word of god isn't enough for you, I get it. You're not planning on going alone, I hope. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	arcturusfirst 2021-12-29 04:10 pm UTC (link)
	Well, at least you know by it that I am myself, and not some other fellow pretending to be me. I do appreciate your advice. I see the kindness in it even when I disagree. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	aphrodiseum 2021-12-29 10:29 pm UTC (link)
	I'm surpringly good at the loving yet disapproving maternal figure. Just don't do yourself any fresh trauma, sweets. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	arcturusfirst 2021-12-29 11:17 pm UTC (link)
	~~My mother doesn't care much about~~ It's always a good thing, having someone familiar in a place like this. I shall be as careful as I can. Don't fret. I am looking for a travelling companion, so perhaps I will not be alone. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	mrdarcy_ 2021-12-29 03:01 pm UTC (link)
	It is a voyage I have made in this era before, and I’m sorry to tell you that I’m you wouldn’t make it in time. The journey is at least a month long, and the door would close before we reach England. (Reply to this) (Thread)

arcturusfirst
2021-12-29 03:09 pm UTC (link)

I do not doubt that you found it to be so, sir, but magical transportation shortens at least the portion of the journey that is over land. If you are flying, you need not worry about the condition of the roads or of your horse. I have flown from London to Scotland in a matter of days. Perhaps the weather will be against me for the crossing, and I can do little about that, but I must try.

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	mrdarcy_ 2021-12-29 08:49 pm UTC (link)
	I see, well that changes things considerably. If I possessed any magical ability, I would be glad to accompany you. As I do not, I will simply wish you well on your travels. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	arcturusfirst 2021-12-29 09:01 pm UTC (link)
	Thank you, I appreciate the well-wishes. I daresay you would be fine enough company, but you might find travel by broomstick somewhat alarming, and as the magical and muggle worlds of Britain are quite separate, I could not promise you hospitality in London. My family would never understand the matter. May I ask what year it was when you were last in Britain? (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	mrdarcy_ 2021-12-30 09:25 pm UTC (link)
	Between the station, and the portals, I have become accustomed to a number of unusual modes of transport. Broomstick, however, is not one of them, so I fear you may be right. In my own world, it was 1813. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

arcturusfirst
2021-12-30 09:50 pm UTC (link)

In the realm I was trapped in before this, people who couldn't use magical means of transportation got about in these horrid contraptions called automobiles. Terribly dangerous things. You haven't seen them, have you? I think broomsticks are splendid, but I was barely out of infancy when I flew my first, and I'm told that makes a difference.

I say! That's remarkable. It was 1849 for me. I don't suppose you ever heard of a gentleman named Corvus Black, did you? In London, or perhaps in Cornwall?

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mrdarcy_
2022-01-03 11:07 pm UTC (link)

Yes, quite, I have seen them through some of the portals. I have heard of the broomsticks, but I have yet to see one in flight.

Ah, then we are closer together in time than most here. Enjolras and Commander Crawley are century-mates, too. I'm not sure who else, to be perfectly honest. There used to be a gentleman named Rochester, but he is no longer with us here.

I'm sorry, I can't say that I have. I am a Northerner, from Derbyshire.

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arcturusfirst
2022-01-05 02:57 pm UTC (link)

If you do see a broomstick in flight, after the doorway has closed, I expect it will be mine. I shall give a wave if I spot you.

They seem like decent sorts, even if Mr Enjolras is rather too much like the radicals on the continent that my father used to speak of than I would like. But we are, all of us, very far from home. Perhaps we could all meet together ~~for a drink~~ someday.

It's quite alright; I knew that it was unlikely. He was my grandfather.

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