audio; un: alucard

[reposing]

Well, considering the unusual flow of time, I thought it was relevant to speak of this now.

I was wondering how many of you are familiar with the concept of alternative timelines and realities. Merely for a pure discussion standpoint, or if you had a curiosity without really any understanding of it.

I suppose in my way, it's to clear my mind. Sort it out and such.

Comments

Audio; un: Demi

[demifin]

Does the world getting destroyed and rebuilt after count?

[Since he's' not familiar with said concept, he might as well figure if that actually counts or not.]

« video » un: matriarch

[menphina]

What's brought this on, Adrian? Not that I couldn't discuss it— but did anything happen?

[ Gotta make sure her friends are alright! ]

[reposing]

I suppose so? I've not encountered it myself. Could you clarify?

private;

[reposing]

There's someone I've grown especially close to here. As wonderful as it is, I've been considering the future as well.

I suppose I shouldn't be that concerned. I have time to figure out how to bridge things, if I so choose.

private;

[menphina]

Talk to me, then. Because I may be in a similar position.

[ She's curious though. ]

Is this someone from your world, or someone from another?

private;

[reposing]

I would appreciate your counsel.

Either the future or another world entirely. It's difficult to tell, really. It'd be easier if it was the former. Difficult but not impossible if the latter.

[demifin]

[Oh boy. How to TLDR this.]

Hard to explain, but I'll do what I can. There's a way to bring about the ruin of world and start 'Conception' where an entity will allow one to reshape it into a new world. What few humans who are inside of it must survive the demons and form a pact with a patron so that their Reason wins out and becomes the new law of the world.

I ended up winning, but I rejected all the reasons. This meant that the world to be returned to what it was, good and bad. He called it 'World of Suffering'...but he also didn't have much of a choice.

Audio; un: atsushi

[scarsnstripes]

Um... there's another person here who's technically 'me' from another reality... and another with the same name who is definitely connected to me, somehow. Does that count?

[Technically three people, but... he doesn't want anyone to get weird ideas.]

private;

[menphina]

I'll do my best, love. You are a vampire, though... a future you have yet to see would still be something you'd have to wait to reach, but—

Anyroad... what is troubling you about your situation with this person, then?

un: undyingsoul

[necroyalty]

My closest advisor in my own world happened to be a cleric of the Weaver, so I'm at least somewhat familiar. She could probably provide more insight than I could, however.

All I really know for sure is that the Weaver does not take kindly to those who try to alter the events of the past.

[ Yes, there is one religion in the multiverse where time travel is actually discussed and considered a sin. ]

Which, well.

It's not hard to see how the consequences could be vast.

Either way, there's a bit of a running discussion as to whether the timelines are truly parallel, or whether it's more like a tree.

[reposing]

I suppose I understood a sliver of that. It sounds as if it could have been an alternative timeline but instead you set it back to what it was?

private;

[reposing]

I've heard of claims that people who leave here will retain no memories. I think it is possible to retain them, and would do anything I could to ensure I would never forget.

[reposing]

I would say that very much counts. How interesting.

I did meet someone who was another version of my father.

audio; un: alucard

[reposing]

Fortunately, I've no interest in changing the past, even if it would potentially benefit many -- but it is impossible to determine how it would impact others. My past, as difficult as it is, is not one I would change.

Mm, the way it was taught to me is that it is more like a web in many directions. Infinite in possibilities and timelines, branching. The only certain thing is that it is uncertain, as I was told.

[scarsnstripes]

They're really wonderful people. I like them a lot, honestly.

[It's said with a tinge of fondness, but then Alucard says that and there's a hint of confusion.]

Your father?

[...Oh wow.]

...Does he know you...? Or another version of you, I mean?

[That sounds like it might get a little awkward to Atsushi, but he doesn't really know well enough to say for sure.]

Re: audio; un: alucard

[necroyalty]

Probably the model that shows the most promise, if you want my opinion.

Back to religious matters for a bit - It's been posited that the gods themselves view time in a much more abstract notion than mortals do. More like pages in a book than anything set into motion.

Yes, you're supposed to read the whole damned thing from start to finish, but you can skip ahead, or look at the pages in any order, or go back and look over something twice if there was a sentence you weren't sure about.

So even if I were to move from the living room I'm in now and talk to you somewhere else, there would still, on one page in the great cosmic tome, be one version of myself sitting in that chair.

Not sure if that really counts as an alternate timeline or not, once you view all of the points of someone's life in isolation to one another.

[reposing]

No. The man I met... he never had children. He found it interesting that another version of him did.

[demifin]

Not exactly the best at explaining.

[He shrugs, but it's not like Alucard can see it.]

Yeah. Think it more like hitting the reset button? [Does that help?] It could have been a world where the strong survive and rule over the weak, or a world where everyone is stuck in their own world by themselves.

[reposing]

Much in the way that there's one version of myself that tripped over a raccoon this morning as opposed to the one that did not. Minor differences, but still alternative to count toward the idea nonetheless.

As far as religious matters, there is not one I really follow, admittedly. There are no gods that take kindly to a vampire.

[scarsnstripes]

Oh...

[unseen by Adrian, he's tapping his chin. Less awkward then... but it might be sad, too.]

...Well, at least you got to get to know him on your own terms then, right?

[reposing]

It's all right. Sounds like quite the story to summarize, honestly.

That's a way to summarize it. Do you suppose it's possible another version where someone else won and made a new world?

[reposing]

A bit. He was an interesting man. I saw pieces of my father in him. And I saw so much that wasn't him.

private audio, un: nevercrywolf

[starmark]

This shit is starting to fuck with my head. All the — slowing down, and speeding up. Shit.

[demifin]

Probably. There are worlds that died out because they didn't do Conception and their energy ran out. Something about becoming Vortex worlds and the gods there become false gods that have no power.

[Honestly, even he didn't get half of it during Lucifer's showtime explanations.]

What about you?

[necroyalty]

Fair enough. I'm not a particularly strong follower of any myself, but coming from a world where there was concrete proof of their existence rather than pure theory, you do have to take these sorts of things into account.

Then again, my mother was a scholar herself with a particular bent towards theology and metaphysics, so I suppose this was inevitable.

[ Ambro's religious beliefs can basically be summed up with a Terry Pratchett quote about tables. ]