scentbombed | Entry 15: Video

Current Mood: thoughtful

Entry tags:

we're not in ankh-morpork anymore

Entry 15: Video

I know some of you have been in this place for a very long time, and there are some of you who've gone and come back again, so I thought I might ask: was going home really, really strange for any of you?

It's only, well, chatting with some of the lot from my world, I realized it was a bit difficult to explain a lot of what's gone on here.

I mean, it's definitely a bit of a puzzler, trying to start a conversation with, "Well, there was the time I died," or "once I turned into my brother." And that was only once we'd gotten past things like electrics and undergarments.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Let's see... I've been my brother, a man, a dog, my own younger self, something called a television actress, and Nobby Nobbs. Don't ask about the last one. [She grimaces.]

So yes, they can get pretty hairy. It happens off-ship, sometimes, too. We all went pirates a couple of months ago.

Goddamn. And I thought life back home was strange. [Though now she's very curious what a Nobby Nobbs is.] The pirates I'd heard about. Maybe it shouldn't be but that's a lot easier to swallow than shape-shifting.

[Oh, B, you don't want to know.]

Is it? It's all a bit mucking about with magic to me. I mean, you have to understand, some of us changed shape a bit, too. I had filed teeth, and several of the lads grew tattoos overnight.

[She shrugs and smiles. It's pretty clear that she'd be terrifying with filed teeth: as it is, hers are just a little too white and a little too big and a little too many. Between that and the just-a-hint-of-German accent, it's a shade of creepy.]

Of course, shapeshifting's not always unnatural, either.

Magic. Of course. [That smile is just a little bit unnerving.] And the changes creep up on you unnoticed?

Shapeshifting and magic don't to the best of my knowledge exist where I'm from. It's a lot to take in.

I wouldn't say creep. It really is like going to bed one thing and waking up another... and we do notice, sometimes. But not always. When I was Wolfgang -- my brother -- [She grimaces again, because she hates remembering that.] He knew where he was and why, but it really was him, not me.

That makes it clearer, thank you. [Why all this happens is still muddy as she was coming in though, and no one seems to know the answer to that.] How often does that sort of thing happen? Are we likely to all wake up tomorrow morning with different bodies?

Actually, my inmate's been trying to analyze it... she said that on average, we get flooded about twice a month. And ports are about once a month, but we just had one, so it should be a few more weeks.

I'll be holding my breath in that case. Thanks, Angua, you've been really helpful.

Right, Miss... I didn't catch your name, actually?

Call me Beth.

Oh, right. Of course. Hi. [She's totally been distracted lately, too, that was an in-character moment. Really.]

And you're an... inmate, is it?

If I was a warden, wouldn't I be better informed?

Not always... but probably, yes. [She flashes another smile, slightly sheepish.] The thing about magic...

[And while she has nothing against the inmates, that does mean she's just quietly not going to explain the finer points of her views on shapeshifting. Not just yet, at least.]

...Is that it exists here? I'm sure I'll get used to it, it's just weird.

I think it's just easier to swallow when you've already met the Admiral. Not that I remember meeting the Admiral, of course... He's like that.

The Admiral keeps his distance from the wardens? ...Hm.

He keeps his distance from everyone.

Yet we trust him. We give him authority over every aspect of our lives. Why?

Well... [Her mouth quirks.] The sort of people who ask that question are usually the sort of people who don't like my answer, but I'm actually here on orders. I'm police. So... really, I'm just trusting my Commander, in the end.

[Which is true: the Admiral, she doesn't trust as far as she could throw him, if she could find him to do so. But Sam Vimes sent her here, and even if she's pretty sure he had no idea what he was getting her into, the chances of her going back to him a failure are zero.]

Whatever your answer, it's what I asked you for and that's enough. [Doing what your commander orders you and doing it without question or complaint – now that's familiar. She could have accepted that, if it were her case. Four years ago, if Bill had asked her to –

Well. Four years ago was a different time.]

You're military, then? What country?

Police. Not military. [On the Disc, the difference could not be more... er, different.] Captain of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch.

Oh, well sorry. [B looks a little puzzled; she's pretty sure this is in some world she wouldn't know about but there's a chance her sense of geography is out of whack. If it's not, though, no one's told her anything about where they're from yet, and there have to be stories.] Where is that? Captain.

It's a planet called the Disc... I'm the only one here from there, for the moment.

[For which she's honestly grateful, because the other Barge Discworlder inhabitant used to be Ardent.]

I think I'm safe in guessing you're not, at least, based on the fact that you didn't say anything like, "bloody Ankh-Morpork," or, more likely, "bloody Watch."

The Disc? Is it flat? That kind of planet exists?

[Shaking the thought from her head, she shrugs.]

Definitely not. I'm American, I don't say "bloody" unless something's actually covered in blood.

Yes, it's flat and carried on the backs of four elephants and a turtle.

[Either she's not joking, or she's got the driest sense of humor in the world. It actually is pretty dry, but nevertheless: she's not joking.]

I'm actually Uberwaldian... not that it makes a difference to anyone here. [Shrug! She's used to this now.] I know a bit about America, though, we've stopped there once. It was very... flat.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Entry 15: Video

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video] HAHA she said that and I'm an idiot

[video] That's cool, she was just about to ask Angua's name a second time. XD

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]