34 | In which there is reflection [Dictated]

[strangewonders]

It's more than a little disconcerting to look back and find oneself rambling on about nonsense--I suppose the castle likes tricks like that. But our little bout of mass amnesia, mercifully short though it was, has piqued my curiosity.

Now, I like to think that, despite the interminably long time I've been here, I haven't let a castle with a mind of its own change who I am. But does everyone feel that way? Can we really even be certain how we feel about these things when they could just as easily be conjured up by this pile of stone and tricky magic? I'm not so sure I like that thought...

Comments

[radiantwingedone]

[ Wow, that's deep and awkward to think about. ]

There are reactions that I find myself open to now, due to the castle's ... situation. More, I am not certain.

[strangewonders]

[It is, isn't it? That's why he's sharing.]

But you would say it's just a matter of adapting to the situation? If you were still at home, and these things happened, do you think you'd react the same way?

[radiantwingedone]

[ Silence for a bit, because now he has to think on that. ]

... Someway similar, but still different, I think. Less options.

[strangewonders]

But not to the point where you'd think the differences were due to the Castle purposely changing your reactions?

[Pardon the persistent questioning, Duke. He's curious now.]

[radiantwingedone]

[ You keep asking questions that make him examine how he thinks. So yet another pause before he replies. ]

The castle itself? I think the only hand it has in altering reactions is those it brought here, and I have interacted with.

[strangewonders]

Hmm. Being exposed to different people does let a person change, that's true...

[Which he knows from experience, and not just from Paradisa, either. He just hadn't thought of it that way before.]

dictated;

[freeslider]

I know what you mean. I'm pretty sure I'm me, but then I'd say that if castle had made me think otherwise...

dictated;

[strangewonders]

Exactly! I suppose were someone else from your world, or mine, here there'd be a way to tell. ...perhaps that's why there are so few groups of people from the same place?

dictated;

[freeslider]

Could be, but then that's not always a guarantee. I've met other versions of me. I'm not always me. Heck, there might even be a me out there with a mustache.

[She's seen some shit]

dictated;

[strangewonders]

Different versions? That's interesting...

[He'd never had that happen, but then, he'd only ever skipped over into one different world, and it wasn't even an alternate Earth.]

dictated;

[freeslider]

[She's spun that particular roulette wheel more times that she'd really like to try to count]

Yeah. It's funny how one little thing can make a huge difference in how history turns out. Same way it can affect your life. I can't imagine all the things that had to go just right for my parents to meet so I'd even exist.

dictated;

[strangewonders]

That sounds fascinating.

[No, it really does. Did that mean there was some version of him that had stayed behind in Wales and become... respectable? What a horrible thought.]

That said, I'm very glad this version of you does not have a mustache.

[Because he can't not flirt, at least a little]

dictated;

[freeslider]

[She laughs a little, not really minding it from him]

Well, I think that makes two of us.