piper90 | 001: Multiverse Theory

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001: Multiverse Theory - Video

Hey pals, Doreen here. I noticed a little confusion about some parts of the situation? Don't get me wrong, there's a lot of confusion to go around, but in this case, I think at least a few of us know what's going on? We just thought everyone else had figured it out by this point.

Sorry about that, but I'm going to try to make up for it.

[She picks up one of the paper plates.]

Pretend this is the world we're on.

[She puts the plate on the table, moving the camera around so it's facing it.]

Now, if anything we've told about this place is true, this is probably Earth.

Robbie and I? We're from Earth. [Another plate on the table.]

Sticky Ben? Yep, Earth. [Third plate on the table.]

Phosphophyllite, Armstrong, Kevin, Gadget? Earth, Earth, Earth, Earth. And another bunch of Earths for most of the rest of us, too. <[Plates just go all over the table.]

I know some of you are from other worlds. They're important, they're where you live, after all, but they're not super-relevant to my point right now. You might want to pay attention just in case, though.

Now, you're thinking, dang, Doreen, that's a lot of people from Earth. You might be wondering why I used so many plates if we're all from the same place.

The thing is while we might all be from Earth, we're not all from the same Earth. Hence all the plates.

See, everything, Earth, the sun, the stars, and other planets? They occupy a thing called the universe. But? There's more than one universe. Universes where life didn't develop, where it developed differently, where the laws of physics have ceased to make any sort of sense, where none of us have powers, where all of us have powers, where our moralities have been entirely flipped, where you decided not to have that donut last week...etcetera.

And in each of them, Earth, or whatever planet you're from, does or doesn't exist. This is what we call a multiverse. And in some cases, it's possible to visit or even be stuck in one of these alternate universes. Which is pretty much what happened here.

I hoped that cleared some things up. If it didn't, I'll try to answer any questions you have. Can't promise I'll be able to answer all of them, though. I'm not an expert in multiverse theory or anything, this is basically just stuff you pick up when you become a superhero.

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[Well, the lady is already streaming, so Setsuna presses the button to let her start streaming in response, because she's had a bit of time to adjust, so she'll try it. She smiles at where she is certain the front-facing camera is, like she's trying the expression on at first and then genuinely, because she's made herself laugh.]

While that's an ... interesting explanation of the multiple universe phenomenon, I have to tell you, ... I would very much eat that donut.

Oh, yeah. So would I. Especially if I'd known what kind of donuts I'd be getting next.

[Setsuna does her best to maintain a cheerful exterior but the memory of those donuts fills her with a not insignificant amount of dread and embarrassment. She rubs a fingertip against the underside of her jaw, in a nervous tic.]

Yes, I ... I've ... certainly had better donuts ...

And that's just the material worlds. If Jorgmund is going to send us home over the course of our employment, [Be real, they won't, but it's best to play safe for now.]they're probably going to have to open gates to the imaginal realms or to the Qliphotic.

Not...necessarily? I know someone who can kick open holes in reality to travel to alternate universes without any problems.

Also I was trying to keep things a little simpler. Higher dimensions, pocket dimensions, and parasitic universes are a little much for a first lesson, and honestly would probably just confuse people more at this point.

If people can do that independently that's fine, but if we're talking an organization trying to do things through purely contemporary technology, then I'd expect using the imaginals as a hub to be the simplest route.

You did a good job. I wasn't meaning to imply an inadequacy on that front.

I appreciate you spelling it out for the rest of us. Good onya.

No problem. I'm just happy to help out.

A solid explanation for those unfamiliar with multiversal theory.

[Somewhat simplistic, but...well. There are people here that probably don't even have space travel yet, where the concept of alien worlds in the same universe is new. Brainy can appreciate when people dumb things down for others. Teaching is a skill like any other. All those classes teaching tech to the displacee Legionnaires had made it clear he's bad at it.]

Something of note is that interdimensional travel is more common in some universes than others. This is even the second incident I've been involved in where individuals were displaced en masse to another universe. My universe was the world they were drawn into in that instance, by a powerful being trying to bring us individuals that could help us defeat a terrible threat to the multiverse. No one had a choice in the matter so we had to make the best of it and ally together to stop the monstrous being we were fighting.

Robbie Baldwin was one of those individuals. Though we have a history together, we're actually native to different universes and times. I've lived primarily in space or on Earth for the last several years, but in another dimension with a different history, 1000 years in his future. Unfortunately, for unknown reasons, the ability that was allowing him continued interdimensional travel between other universes no longer works here.

This time I seem to also be one of the displacees. [A pause]. I much preferred when the situation was in my dimension. We were considerably more gracious hosts.

[Another pause.]

Though I have lived on a version of Earth, I am originally native to another world in the same universe, a planet called Colu.

Edited 2020-04-24 04:26 (UTC)

Legion World was definitely a softer landing, but nobody’s been talking up how bad vegan pizza and plooberry are, so that’s a win.

So is Colu a colander or a pasta bowl, in the unifying multiverse tableware theory? For that matter, where do pocket dimensions fit in?

I think it's pretty obvious that pocket dimensions are Hot Pockets. It's even in the name.

[ He’s laughing doesn’t hard at this. ]

Are you calling me a hot pocket? I don’t know if I’m flattered or insulted.

You're more like a cup of Dippin' Dots.

And I'm gonna be honest: that would've been a way better codename than Speedball.

Edited 2020-04-26 21:49 (UTC)

Dippin' Dots.

I concur. More whimsy, less accidental 21st century drug connotations - whether they were made by the press or not.

[He tilts his head.]

Then again, the USA in the 21st century is fairly litigious so offending a corporation might be unwise. [sarcasm] Who knows how possessive such a prestigious, dot-themed ice cream maker might be over their trademark.

[Interestingly, his 21st century references trend closer to the commercial than the cultural. His friends had been fascinated with the different products that could be found and different stores that existed. Talk about that happened when they were out searching for things they needed - often on mall trips where Cos desperately herded cats, or around the dinner table. His exposure to media had been spottier.]

[Which is why he knows what Doritos cool ranch is - and what it takes like (horrible) but has no idea why Superboy so often called him 'Spock.']

Edited 2020-05-02 06:59 (UTC)

It’s not like I picked it. That’s what the newspaper called me, and I was a 15-year-old from Connecticut. I didn’t know how bad an idea it was.

That explains a lot.

[So that's what's going on...it makes complete sense, when put like that. He had heard inklings of such theories before, but they were mostly theoretical things, nothing confirmed. Now, they're all here, in another Earth and what not. The multiverse theory seems to have been proven true!

That's amazing, he has to admit]

The theories I once heard said the multiverse theory existed because at some point some factors divert and create new possibilities, but all our Earths seem too different for that to be true.

[Like...magic doesn't pop up because of a difference in the atmosphere or something]

Only if you don't take into account that the multiverse is functionally infinite. There's room for all sorts of crazy stuff to happen.

...because the truth is stranger than fiction?

[Lately all sorts of things keep trying to hammer that home, at least. First, stuff at home. Now, the Jorgmund and its inhabitants.

The truth is stranger than fiction indeed!]

In my universe, there's a sapient planet that's basically just a planet-sized and shaped head. He has a beard.

[Also she beat him up that one time.]

So, yeah, The truth is way, way stranger than fiction.

...you all come from such bizarre worlds. Mine is as normal as it can get.

[Which it turns not to be so normal, but hey, all he has is secondhand accounts. He believes them, but it's hard to understand unless you see it yourself, anyway]

As far as you know. I thought magic and werewolves and all that stuff was just fantasy stories until I found out that I was a werewolf myself.

[Oh, a text message. Better respond in kind. Dojima types with a wry smile]

As far as I know, people tend to keep magic and fantasy as a secret. I guess you may be right.

[Skepticism is...hard to overcome]

Of course, all the rules for your magic nonsense could be completely different than ours. So don't rely on anything you learn from us too much.

[ So the movies and young adult fiction novels were right all along about mysterious other dimensions. Steven has done a great job of not even considering this before now. He's just kind of been like, how many extremely weird planets can be out there? ]

That does put things into perspective. And not just because I like to think I'd know if my world had any superheroes on it.

Yeah, if we existed in your universe you would definitely know. Possibly not for the best reasons, but you'd know.

It's all about protecting people, right? That's at least gotta be in the top three reasons to know about anyone existing.

Yeah, but the disagreements about how to do that can get pretty intense.

Like two friggin' Civil Wars intense, because a lot of the superheroes where I'm from prefer punching each other instead of talking to each other and finding reasonable compromise.

[ He sighs. It's a sigh of pure solidarity. ]

Of course they do. If I got money every time I saw that happen... [ He could probably buy a sensible used car or something. ] I guess you can't just expect other universes to do it all differently, huh?

Thank you. That was very helpful.

So no matter how far I travel on this plate, it's not possible to reach my home unless I can get to the plate Arendelle is on?

How hard is it to get from one plate to another?

Not easy? There's ways to do it, certain kinds of tech and magic and people whose powers let them, but they're kinda rare and not exactly something we have on hand right now.

Basically? It's not impossible, just highly improbable. And not something we're gonna be able to do anytime soon.

I understand. It makes sense. If that kind of power were more common, there'd be more communication between different worlds.

[ Catra just looks bored as she joins the video call/stream/whatever this is. ]

It took you this long to figure that out?

No, I've known we were in an alternate universe since day one. I just wanted to clear things up for people that didn't know alternate universes even existed or that traveling between them is possible.

Why are there so many Earths anyway?

It's a dumb name, too. Like naming a planet 'Soil' or something.

Nobody knows. Or at least anybody who does know isn't talking.

[And Doreen's just going to ignore that other comment. She could point out that Catra's name isn't exactly inspired either, considering her feline features, but that would be a jerk move.]

As far as I know there's only one Etheria, but it was like... shunted into another dimension or something? I think @ Adora might know more?

[ The magic of technology does not, sadly, automatically tag Adora when Catra says her name, so instead she has to actually just ping her using the device's system. ]

Edited 2020-04-27 18:52 (UTC)

[ Beep! Adora joins the call. ]

Uh, yeah, I know a little bit more. Less about how it worked, more about how it happened...

you forgot about the astral or maybe you don't know about it

[saturday is posting this as a text comment]

between all the plates and stuff is what we call the astral plane where i come from, which is kind of a spirit realm that reflects and is shaped by the world and can shape it back under the right conditions. spirits and magic live there, sort of? i'm not an expert i just hang out with them.

anyway the astral is something i wanna note because one of its whole dealios is that its very malleable, that's what makes it not a metaplane. a metaplane is one of the plates, it's a place where the rules are stable enough that some kind of "reality" can exist. like... islands in a sea, except the sea is a non-place where the rules are whatever the strongest will around thinks they should be.

im bringing this up mostly because i wonder if anyone else thinks the Stuff is related to it? since it brought us here, and it kinda acts like the astral, responding to people's minds and stuff.

Granted, I don't have a lot of experience in the astral planes myself. Most dimensional travels I've dealt with have used magic to get from point A to point B, except when dealing with V'han's forces. I'm not even sure what she used.

In any case, whenever I have to deal with alternate realities, I don't have to put up with the astral planes, so I don't have anything to really go off of.

But Stuff doesn't act like the astral planes that've been described to me. Something that weakens us or destroys our stuff before we can be weakened sounds more Qliphothic to me, but you don't usually hear about the big Q giving life to things like folding chairs.

don't recognize any of those names. but the astral can pretty much do whatever it or the person with the biggest magical dick in the vicinity thinks it should do. if the Stuff is astral whatevers leaking through, then it animates furniture and the like bc people here think that's the kind of thing it can do. it's very chicken and egg.

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001: Multiverse Theory - Video

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oh right yes do i need to note this is video let's note it anyway just in case whoops

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