I've actually had the Internet back for a few days now, but I've been so distracted that I haven't had a chance to come back and say so. Anyways, I'm back now; I have two segments in the works with collaborators, and another that I'm still working on. (At least I'm caught up on the story! )

I just wanted to say a couple things before I disappear back into getting caught up in writing ( ): first of all, just in case anyone's confused, the EMP Masked Rider referred to in his last post was before the interdimensional snafu, as Silvan_Haven called it. This is part of an arc he's been writing for a little while. (This was the brother I've mentioned earlier in the Library. ) So, don't worry; we don't have to deal with an EMP at the same time.

Secondly, when I come back to posting segments, I've come up with my own "code" for the different universes. The actual names I'm using are, for the most part, inside jokes; I think they make some amount of sense, but they don't actually play into any overarching plots I have. Anyways, here they are:

And my first London segment is finally up.
No gargoyles. But there might be some later.

My goodness! Ara wasn't kidding about the hopping tempo around here! 'Gazer, you nearly gave me a heart attack- I thought you'd pulled a double Whedon on Erik and Abby! I was thankful to discover this wasn't exactly the case. Colour me impressed with what you've all been up to!

I've been working on other projects for awhile now, hence my total departure from Dittopia, but I've been feeling the need to write more consistently, in whatever project appeals to me, just to keep my skills up. So you may see something from me, although I don't think I have the energy to keep up with more than one timeline, ha! I will at least keep reading along.

ST, Ditto Town has a river, but not a lake or ocean. A marina's not out of the question, but the size of boats might be limited.

Also, Varna, imagining what would happen if your segment were true was SUPER WEIRD. This is a compliment!

Also, Varna, imagining what would happen if your segment were true was SUPER WEIRD. This is a compliment!

Thank you!

I try to describe London as I remember it. I was studying in England thirty years ago, and travelled through London a lot then, and I've been back quite a few times since, to visit uni friends.

I've bought books in the second-hand bookshops in Charing Cross Road.
I've been to Westminster Abbey at a time when the Stone of Destiny was still on display in the Coronation Chair ...

I've also read No Stone Unturned in Readers' Digest, and I might look at Amazon for a copy of the reprint with a new name that was published a few years ago.

I decided to mention here (Edit: I'll now put them in spoilers) the main discrepancies from the Prime universe / real world to my "green universe" (where Erik and Abby have a son, btw ).

(The details of the coronation ceremony, though, should be as expected - I checked with the details from the 1953 coronation.
)

shows that this universe comes with a different past as well, not just with a recent universe split - or perhaps somehow the split changed even the past?

Great to see you back, JillPole! Sorry about that 'double Whedon' - it was done on impulse, intended to be a one-off - but some of our wonderful writers ran with it, and it's been a lot of fun since then. Hope you have a chance to join us.

I loved your segment, Varna! It really felt like she was in London. And the surprises in your green section really caught me off guard. Well-done!

Trivia note: the Stone of Destiny appears in a couple of the original Gargoyles episodes, both in 10th/11th-century coronation flashbacks and once in modern-day London (when it was still in the Abbey). It even speaks in the latter episode; I didn't realize until I read your segment that this is part of its mythology.

Hey everyone, just want to let you know that I'm doing a fairly inclusive internet fast through August (, but since I don't want the story to grind to a halt and I'm collaborating this several of you, I'll try to check in once a week to catch up on the story and PMs. But don't expect to see me very often.

Great segments, stargazer!

And in a different universe, you withdrew your one-off joke on 2nd April, and nothing of all this was ever written

Touche, Varnafinde, touche.

Glad you liked my segments. I have to admit I've enjoyed this multiple universe stuff more than I expected when I first started writing it. I'm beginning to get ideas on how to spice up this year's NaNo story.

Okay, I finally just posted my segment. I was going to post it along with another segment, but now all my other ones are waiting on collaborators. Anyways, to be honest... I have nothing specific that Ryana's going to do when she gets there, so I'm thinking we can just timeskip to after they've gotten to the Mansion and sorted things out. (And yes, I forgot about Shadow as much as Ryana did. Hopefully, he didn't tear anything up while he was confused. )

Wow, so much has been happening lately! To start with... Welcome back, JP! I've missed having your characters around here. Sorry about the nasty surprise when you got back. (It's still stargazer's fault, though, 'cuz he started it. )

Varna, really interesting segments! It's really interesting to see how this split has affected our real world, too. Makes me wonder, though, which one's which. And, at the moment, I think the assumption (at least, what I understand ) is that these alternate realities basically are completely parallel--so all of their histories are distinct from each other. That does, of course, raise some questions on its own.... (Also, your last post here made me laugh. )

stargazer--man, you're being so mean to poor Abby in that universe. (I suppose, y'know, she could've been dead, instead.... )

Ok... I finally figured out why on earth I've been having so much trouble making myself sit down and read so I can catch up...

I've been reading crime/cop/military drama books. :"> I've not touched a fantasy novel in months. That has since been corrected. I'm off to the ditto story thread to catch up. That's my goal by Wednesday of next week.

If not, I may go ahead and consider letting someone slap me upside the head with a wet noodle until I do get caught up. Once again, my apologies. *goes to open a pm draft so she can make notes to keep herself on track*

Edit: Up to May 6th. Stargazer, I may send you this pm when I get through to see if I have all the facts straight with what's going on where if that's ok.

A PM would be fine, kat! I'll be glad to try to help explain all this...if I can.

Nice segment, Ryadian...glad to see Shadow taken care of.

This spoiler box contains a few notes on my latest segment. Please read the segment before reading these comments as there be spoilers here.

*sneaks in sheepishly* I'm making progress! I really am! I'm on page 10. Thing is... I got a book in I have to read because it's an advanced reader copy and I need to post a review on it. So I'm going to have to bump my getting caught up date by a couple of days. I'd do less, but my Fridays are usually afk as well as my Saturdays. So hopefully by Sunday night at the latest.

I am loving what I'm reading. I'm having to read it in chunks though to let my brain follow all the twists and turns.

Thanks stargazer! As soon as I get caught up, I'll send you my scribblings and you can correct where I'm off.

I imagine it is kind of "fun" trying to catch up right now. (Though it has slowed back down a little. ) Looking forward to seeing what you come up with when you're done!

Okay, now that I don't have anything to post until I hear from collaborators, I've found a new way to channel all this Ditto Story writing--I've started working on the Index again. Right now, I'm working on a "species" index, since we have a lot of them running around, and some of them aren't typical (like, for example, our vampires being rather different ). The thing is, I'm having trouble thinking of all the species we have running around at the moment.

Basically, at the moment, this is what I have:

Dray
Dwarves
Elves
Enigma
Fairy dragons
Gargoyles
Merfolk
Phoenix
Talking animals
Unicorns
Vampires[/list3eoxq6to]

If anyone remembers any more, please remind me. These are basically the ones I could think of off the top of my head....

N-Web sis of stardf, _Rillian_, & jerenda
Proud to be Sirya the Madcap Siren

Any humans at all?

Wasn't there a star person of some sort at one point as well? I think she was introduced to Abby at about the same time as Varna, back in book 6 - I don't know whether she has been around later, though.

Don't forget humans and hobbits.

We also have a variety of sentient animals like Emily the Raccoon and Bob Saget as well as leuth's birds. His leuthilalda plant as well.

You're right, Varna, a character named Chava met the gargoyles back in Story 6. She was from a star and was written by Violet Vale.

Jints had a pixie character named Chica at about the same time, and she made a cameo appearance at Molly's hatching.

GreenLady76 had a fairy named Lark.

Here's a link to the old Census Bureau opened by MissPole back in 2004. Sure brings back a few memories!