With Thanks to S&G: The Sounds of Silence

[CRBWildcat]

*shrug* I guess. Though it was that sort of heads-first behavior that got me turned into a quadruped to start with. I jump through a portal to Earth, and all of a sudden I don't have arms anymore, just another set of legs. Not unpleasant, just... weird.

[KonokoHasano]

.... wait. You originally weren't quadrupedal in your 'ambush cat' state?

[CRBWildcat]

Nope. Barring some physical deficiency or other, Kittenoans are bipedal. Our skeletons are flexible enough that we can switch from bipedal to quadrupedal on the fly if we have to, like say if one of our legs is hurt and we need to get someplace quickly, but otherwise we just have the two. The portal never did that for anyone else that crossed between worlds, so I haven't the foggiest what its deal was.

[KonokoHasano]

I guess it was just luck of the draw, huh? You ended up with a one in a million condition.

[CRBWildcat]

Yeah... that was fun. Pretty much gave me a whole new avenue of attack to work with.

Those portals have been popping up off and on for half a century, and they're still not fully understood. It's not always a given that they're safe, either. I mean, the one I took to Earth landed me in a sandlot in Romulus, Michigan, but the chew toy---

"Aldonza."

Whoever. The one she took dropped her on the Garden Route in South Africa. If she hadn't been able to locate civilization, she'd probably still be there today.

[KonokoHasano]

So basically just playing a weird game of Russian Roulette with portals then.

[CRBWildcat]

Yes, for the lack of anything witty to say.

The reverse is true where technology and media are concerned, too. We had comics, TV and radio programs back when the portals started appearing, but nothing like Superman, Peanuts, Alfred Hitchcock, The Navy Lark... it was a bit of an eye-opener.

[KonokoHasano]

So once you got here, your very world opened up to a lot of new experiences and a bunch of cultural aspects

[CRBWildcat]

Beyond all doubt. Aldonza was named after the character from "Man of La Mancha", just to name one example. Her parents saw the play while her mother was pregnant and thought it was a nice name.

"And she turned out to be the complete opposite of her namesake. Go figure. "

*waves off the marquee* And don't forget the geographical aspects, too. We have the same amount of land, but no real "continents" per se. Just a whole lot of islands. The largest of 'em is about the size of Oregon, give or take. We do have a few oceans, but most of the islands are close enough to each other to make suspension bridges and ferry services feasible.

[KonokoHasano]

So you're basically saying that because of the land is mostly islands, you live in a... Waterworld?

[CRBWildcat]

*laughs* Interesting way of looking at it. We've got some mountains but no true ranges, and the bulk of our land isn't any higher than 300 feet above sea level. Plenty of beaches for vacations, fishing and commerce, plus plains for stable living. Hurricanes, typhoons and tremendous downpours are regular threats, but between mutants manipulating weather and developments in Kittenoan engineering, we've done a pretty good job keeping damages to an absolute minimum.

Makes me glad that the neighborhood I live in here in this universe is Florida-esque, since it's familiar territory to me.

[KonokoHasano]

Florida-esque doesn't sound too grate considering certain... insanity aspects though.

[CRBWildcat]

*Amber's laughter is harder to contain this time, and it takes a few moments for her to calm down*

Ehhh... yeah, some things are universal. On the plus side, the kids have built up a high tolerance for that stuff, so it's going to take something big to phase them. ...And I might be partially to blame for that, but eh. If they can deal with me, they can deal with anyone.

[KonokoHasano]

I think being able to handle weird stuff in general is a good skill. Less likely to get mentally slapped upside the head and unsure how to react to things.

[CRBWildcat]

That would be a point in Ricky's favor, I think. Back when he and I got that love potion in our veins... *mutters something disparaging about Himitsu-plushie* ...ahem. Back when that happened and the potion wore off, he was willing to talk things out, and he was understanding of why things happened the way they did. Plus side of already living in a world that saw chaos on a daily basis.