BACKSTORY: ANOTHER BORDER

[returnjourney]

BACKSTORY: ANOTHER BORDER

"Slowly, painfully, I realized what I had been reading from the very first words of his journal. My husband had had an inner life that went beyond his gregarious exterior, and if I had known enough to let him inside my guard, I might have understood this fact. Except I hadn't, of course. I had let tidal pools and fungi that could devour plastic inside my guard, but not him. Of all the aspects of the journal, this ate at me the most. He had created his share of our problems―by pushing me too hard, by wanting too much, by trying to see something in me that didn’t exist. But I could have met him partway and retained my sovereignty. And now it was too late."

― Jeff VanderMeer, Annihilation

Introduction

March 23rd – March 31st, 2022
Welcome to the backstory log for the "Another Border" simulation! Here, we play out big moments in our characters' AU histories. We've included a list of ideas below; feel free to experiment and figure out what feels right for your character's past and motivations. Consider what specific moments might have prompted them to venture into Area X!

This log is set before a simulation begins, to give players a head start on ironing out the specifics of their AUs. During this time, Peregrine life will continue as normal.

If you have any questions about the event, please ask here. You can familiarize yourself with simulation basics on our events page.

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Ideas

1. Your first meeting with an important or influential person.
2. Doing something important for someone.
3. A time you really screwed someone else over.
4. A personal loss in your life.
5. An injury, illness, or similar struggle.
6. Domestic events: falling in love, getting married, building a home, having a child, navigating a change in a relationship, divorce.
7. Getting a new job or a promotion.
8. Discovering a passion.
9. An important religious or philosophical moment, a moral challenge.
10. An event that changed how you see the world for the better.
11. An event that changed how you see the world for the worse.
12. A sight you saw or place you visited that made you consider your place in the world.
13. A dark night of the soul.
14. Learning about the discovery of Area X.
15. Getting your Area X assignment.

Comments

for aki.

[goty]

The thistles that grow between their houses are the same color as yesterday. Ellie has been told via Aki, who learned through unverified reports on some cryptic subreddit, that they are different colors in the Shimmer. Everything is different in the Shimmer, according to him. The air will smell different, the sun will shine brighter, and the sky will be blocked out in iridescent ooze.

It makes her notice everything, the color and the shape of the real world. Joel approves of her new bent for observation. He thinks she's taking an interest in survival, says it's time they moved out farther, beyond the boundaries of cell phone towers and surveillance. When you only have to rely on yourself, then you're truly free.

She can't argue with that, but she thinks she'll miss Aki. Even after she was adopted, they kept in touch. Ellie tells Joel she needs some alone time in the woods, and walks to their old neighborhood. He respects that, though he doesn't know her real reasoning. It doesn't really matter, in the end.

They used to play pretend, when they were younger. Now they pretend they aren't pretending. Her questions are the same, anyway. Sitting by a rusted swingset, Ellie makes a grass whistle and listens. "How long does food last in the Shimmer?"

She expects the answer will be mundane, but there's always the chance he'll say something fantastical with complete conviction. Maybe the tuna sandwiches she packed would have spouted winds and flown away.

[spanning]

It hasn't really been the same since Ellie was adopted. Sure, he could say that about any of the other kids (if he wanted). Could say that about himself, aware he's about to get shuffled off to another family. But—he doesn't. He won't.

So, when Ellie tells him she's taking a break from her weird cabin-in-the-woods, pretty sus educational rite, Aki skips school. He doesn't feel bad about it; it's not like it matters. And when she showed, he tossed a book at her, filled with those dumb puns she likes so much, and some crappy candy he swept off the desk of the asshole who sits in front of him in bio.

"Depends." He rocks on the swingset, seat creaking and feet still on the ground. The end of a dum-dum sucker sticks out of his mouth. "You know they say time moves differently in there?"

[goty]

Ellie sets the book on her lap, letting anticipation mount before she reads it. Instead, she hands Aki half of the sandwich. Joel caught it in a river-- she's not really sure it's tuna. But it tastes fine with that much mayo, so who really cares.

"It does?" Ellie, always with her nose in a sci-fi book, feels her imagination begin to light. "Does it move backwards?"

[spanning]

"It's not a time travel machine," he says, a little haughty. "Maybe it's more like a black hole? The closer you get to...whatever, the more unstable it gets."

His nose wrinkles when he looks down at the sandwich. "Why's there so much mayo?" Like saying it alone offends his sensibilities...and yet that doesn't stop him from popping the sucker out of his mouth to take a bite.

[goty]

Mentioning space phenomena is a great way to get Ellie to pay attention. She considers her answer as she chews her food, speaking as soon as the idea rises to the surface-- around sliced tomato and spinach. "Then it'd have to be moving at a different orbit than the rest of earth. Or it's... super dense."

Which might explain it, but- "Joel-" she swallows her food. "Joel says when we go into the woods, there won't be any mayo anymore. He's trying to get rid of 'perishables'." She makes a single scare quote with her free hand.

[spanning]

He frowns at his mystery fish, ready to chase that idea; it couldn't be that simple when it doesn't affect matter the same way, but—

The swing squeaks to a halt.

"You're going?" He's known that's the plan. He just thought...well, he hadn't really thought about it.

"How soon?"

[goty]

She looks up, a bit of haughty pride catching in the angle of her shoulder, the slant of her spine. "I can handle it."

Self-sufficiency is what Joel prioritizes, and she'll rise to meet that. He's shown her a lot of stuff.

"If I don't like it, I can bail. He, uh, he hasn't told me when, yet. But I think it's soon, or he wouldn't be getting rid of stuff."

[spanning]

"That's not why I was asking." He rolls his eyes and goes back to his sandwich, rotating it in a sorry attempt to keep its innards from spilling on him.

"How long are you gonna be gone? Months?" A pause. "Years?"

[goty]

A fried onion hangs limply from Ellie's mouth, like the tentacle of some devoured thing. She slurps it up loudly, trying, as ever, to get a rise out of Aki.

When she's finished, she answers- "I dunno. Did you read that book I loaned you, about that guy who died in the woods?" A very thoughtful description of Into The Wild. "Maybe you'll never see me again."

She wiggles her greasy fingers. Ooh, spooky.

[spanning]

He makes a face back at her, but when she says that, he bristles.

"Don't say shit like that." Sometimes people really do leave and never come back, no matter how many promises they make. "That book was stupid, anyway. Did you read anything else about that guy? He had no idea what he was doing."

He chucks a wrapper at her head.

[goty]

Sometimes, Ellie thinks about going out into the woods and finding a place to die. That's not why Joel wants to wander out there, she knows. And that's not what she'll do, she just thinks about it.

She catches the wrapper with one hand and grins.

"Yeah, he was an idiot." She tosses it back. "I'll be fine. I'll try'n find a way back when I'm done. I don't wanna be out there forever."

She doesn't say back to you. Neither of their teenage egos could handle it.

[spanning]

Aki ducks. The wrapper lands on the other side of the swing, bright against the dirt, and the look he shoots her from behind the chain is sullen. But it's quick to crumple into a sigh and he turns, cramming the last bit of his sandwich into his mouth.

"They're sending me to another family, anyway," he says, muffled and hanging backwards over the swing. The litter's just an excuse. "Different city."

[goty]

The paper lands, and Ellie thinks it's okay to leave it; it's biodegradable. She also thinks Joel wouldn't like her to; it's evidence of where they are. He's convinced someone might hunt them down, one day, might try to find them. The government could fall any day.

And if things like the Shimmer exist, maybe it could.

"Which one?" She might be able to find him. It's not like the 70s, when nobody had fucking emails.

"Is it..." She opens her pun book. "Dublin? I hear it grows twice in size every day." A slight groan; that was terrible.

[spanning]

He echoes the groan, sitting back up, paper in hand and sucker in his mouth. "Dude, that sucked. Pick another one."

Which is his way of saying, Well, you gotta guess, first.

[goty]

She pages through the book once more, before a shit-eating grin spreads across her face. "Taipei?" She says, "everyone there has the same blood type."

[spanning]

"No way. That one's even worse."

He leans against the swing chain, making the seat slide sideways, and ignores the rust.

"D'you even know your blood type? I bet they'd ban you."