update from sparkleup
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Madison Scott-Clary
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<p>Ey frowned, shrugged. “That’s part of it. More, I just feel helpless. I’m not worried about you going sideways any time soon, honestly, and certainly hope you don’t at all, but should that happen, watching helplessly would be…well, it’s a big fear of mine.”</p>
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<p>May hugged herself closer to em, snout once again ducking beneath eir chin. “I understand. I am stuck with the related fear of losing control. I do not like the feeling of not being in control of my emotions, even for these brief periods, but if that were to just become my life…”</p>
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<p>After she trailed off, ey tightened eir arms around her, brushing fingertips through fur.</p>
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<p>They lay like that in the quiet and the dark. Eir fork apparently finished up with eir notes and quit, but given the topics of conversation, ey declined to accept the merge. Ey did not want to be distracted from the simple task of petting May, of enjoying the feeling of having her back.</p>
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<p>They lay like that in the quiet and the dark. Eir fork apparently finished up with eir notes and quit, but given the topics of conversation and lack of any insistence on behalf of eir instance, ey declined to accept the merge. Ey did not want to be distracted from the simple task of petting May, of enjoying the feeling of having her back.</p>
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<p>“May?”</p>
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<p>The skunk poked her nose against eir collarbone. “Mm?” She sounded half asleep.</p>
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<p>“I really can’t lose you. You know that right?” Ey felt her stiffen in eir arms, continued, “I said ages ago that I’m not built for a life with death in it. That’s why I’m here. That’s why I uploaded in the first place, to get away from that.”</p>
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@ -66,8 +66,8 @@
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<p>“Ioan Bălan, if you make me cry again, I will smother you in your sleep.”</p>
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<p>Ey laughed. “It sounds like it’s already too late.”</p>
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<p>“Thin fucking ice, buddy.” May sniffled and squirmed around until she could tuck back against eir front. “I love you too, my dear, top to bottom and front to back.”</p>
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<p>As ey settled in for sleep, kissing the backs of the skunk’s ears, ey marveled that ey could only <em>remember</em> the Ioan who never thought to form attachments, who could never remember to ask May if they were in a relationship, who continually wondered how she wound up in eir life as some other person. Ey could only remember em as though from a distance. That Ioan was gone. Ey had slipped out while the Ioan ey was now wasn’t looking, and had never come back. Ey wished em luck, this younger version of emself. Ey wished em happiness and fulfillment. And, should that Ioan ever find emself struck by the wonder of love, ey wished em courage in the face of it.</p>
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<p>This Ioan, the one ey was now, understood the value in attachments, and yet ey could still marvel, twenty years on, at just how much more complete ey was with May in eir life, and for that, ey’d be forever thankful.</p>
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<p>As ey settled in for sleep, kissing the backs of the skunk’s ears, ey marveled that ey could only <em>remember</em> the Ioan who never thought to form attachments, who could never remember to ask May if they were in a relationship, who continually wondered how she wound up in eir life as some other person, could only remember em. Ey could only remember em as though from a distance. That Ioan was gone. Ey had slipped out while the Ioan ey was now wasn’t looking, and had never come back. Ey wished em luck, this younger version of emself. Ey wished em happiness and fulfillment. And, should that Ioan ever find emself struck by the wonder of love, ey wished em courage in the face of it.</p>
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<p>This Ioan, the one ey was now, understood the value in attachments, and yet ey could still marvel, twenty years on, at just how much more complete ey was with May in eir life.</p>
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</article>
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<footer>
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<p>Page generated on 2022-01-16</p>
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@ -12,18 +12,18 @@
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<h1>Zk | 003</h1>
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</header>
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<article class="content">
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<h1 id="codrin-balanemissary-2346">Codrin Bălan#Emissary — 2346</h1>
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<h1 id="codrin-balanartemis-2346">Codrin Bălan#Artemis — 2346</h1>
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<blockquote>
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<p>Codrin#Emissary</p>
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<p>Codrin#Artemis</p>
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<p>I am finding myself overwhelmed by the strangeness of the goings on during this whole venture. I know that you have it worse, given the fact that you are having to deal with meeting four alien races as well as experiencing an entirely new system, complete with an entirely new take on reality.</p>
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<p>Still, this remains strange for me. I’m curious to hear what sort of information you are getting from the social and political side of the talks, as I think it will help me form a more coherent picture of the Artemisians so that I may ask better questions when I’m so very, very out of my league, here on the science side. I asked True Name about this, and she just shrugged, saying, “So long as you do not forget what we are here for in the DMZ, I see no reason to prevent knowledge sharing.”</p>
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<p>First, here is what we are finding, seen through the eyes of the scientifically inept:</p>
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<ul>
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<li>Iska is quite upset about the lack of “time skew”, as they call it, and has stated that they refuse the single fork they’re permitted in their rest area. They have not elaborated on this, but I find it interesting that some scientific feat that they have accomplished is so thoroughly engrained in their society (remember, secondrace has been on Artemis for nigh on four millennia by now). I know that forking is integral to our society, but it does make me wonder if it has reached that point yet. Dear would be furious without it, of course, but would that sentiment be universal after only 231 years? Are you missing it? Are the other Odists?</li>
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<li>Stolon and Tycho are so happy to meet each other that both parties have had to shush them on several occasions. I would prefer to let them have at it, but I do also understand the desire to talk about sciences <em>other</em> than astronomy and spaceflight. Why Ask Questions is our biologist and linguist here, and she has been the other primary participant, speaking mostly with Iska and Turun Ka.</li>
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<li>Artante and Sarah are almost as perfectly aligned as Tycho and Stolon; they are both psychologists, though it sounds like the Artemisians’ approach to such bears some striking differences. Notably, there are some time-related disorders that have largely gone over my head (something about “lacking a feel for common time” and “unison rooms”? Perhaps you can enlighten me), and there are some approaches that Sarah has found interesting, including forms of proactive therapy using, you guessed it, time. Something about practicing.</li>
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<li>Artante and Sarah are almost as perfectly aligned as Tycho and Stolon; they are both psychologists, though it sounds like the Artemisians’ approach to such bears some striking differences. Notably, there are some time-related disorders that have largely gone over my head (something about “lacking a feel for common time” and “unison rooms”? Perhaps you can enlighten me), and there are some approaches that Sarah has found interesting, including forms of proactive therapy using, you guessed it, time. Something about practicing through skew.</li>
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<li>It is almost impossible to get a read on the firstracers. It’s not just that they do not have facial expressions, so much as their penchant for absolute stillness unless a gesture is required (I’ve begun cataloguing those: uplifted head = nod; head tilt = shrug; chin tilted far down, exposed neck = bow; turning head far to the side = frustration, maybe?). This has led to some frustration, primarily on True Name’s part. Ioan’s mentioned in the past that May Then My Name calls the root of her manipulation a sort of ‘registering’, as though she’s gotten very good at figuring out what her ‘target’ needs in order to be convinced. Sounds like she’s struggling to use that to her full abilities, here.</li>
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<li>Turun Ko and I have been getting on quite well. I asked it about its speaking style (which, in case the same is not true over there, includes lots of synonyms strung together throughout its speech. At first, I thought this was a way to find a more exact wording for a concept, but the more I listen, the less I think that’s the case. Why Ask Questions suggested that it might be trying to fit the ambiguities of their <em>lingua franca</em> to ours. When asked, though, it said that it was a deliberate effort on its part to remain in the mindset of an Artemisian (they’ve adopted that word quite readily) in order to better record from an Artemisian point of view. I don’t think we’ll be struggling with this much, as we haven’t learned their language well enough to think like them.a It says that it will complete the learning process after the convergence “depending-relying on outcomes”, on which it would not elaborate.</li>
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<li>Turun Ko and I have been getting on quite well. I asked it about its speaking style (which, in case the same is not true over there, includes lots of synonyms strung together throughout its speech. At first, I thought this was a way to find a more exact wording for a concept, but the more I listen, the less I think that’s the case. Why Ask Questions suggested that it might be trying to fit the ambiguities of their <em>lingua franca</em> to ours. When asked, though, it said that it was a deliberate effort on its part to remain in the mindset of an Artemisian (they’ve adopted that word quite readily) in order to better record from an Artemisian point of view. I don’t think we’ll be struggling with this much, as we haven’t learned their language well enough to think like them. It says that it will complete the learning process after the convergence “depending-relying on outcomes”, on which it would not elaborate. I’ve read that it was speculated that most cases involving contact from an extraterrestrial species will take part on their terms, so at least we’ve confirmed that.</li>
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<li>On that note, everyone seems to have learned our common tongue quite well <em>except</em> Stolon. Don’t tell Tycho, but I think the similarities between them run quite deep. Neither of them seem particularly interested in language except inasmuch as it allows them to better talk about astronomy.</li>
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</ul>
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<p>Now, for my questions:</p>
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<li>How are you liking it? Other than the inability to fork, I’m taken by the relatively prosaic nature of the talks, incomprehensibility aside. Do you like it there?</li>
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</ul>
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<p>Codrin#Assist, pass on my love back home.</p>
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<p>— Codrin#Artemis</p>
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<p>— Codrin#Castor</p>
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</blockquote>
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<hr />
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<blockquote>
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<p>Codrin#Artemis</p>
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<p>Codrin#Castor</p>
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<p>When I first got your note, I was worried that I’d not have time to squeeze in a response, until I remembered the tools at my disposal. This keeps happening over here. I’ll find myself feeling rushed to complete something, then remember “oh, wait, I’ll just move to fast-time, and then I can do whatever I want.” I’ve even got some writing done during our rests. As such, you’ll probably get this seconds after you sent your letter, modulo transmission time.</p>
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<p>For reasons I’ll get into momentarily, talks are going somewhat slower here than I think anyone expected. The Artemisians are incredibly patient with all of us, though, for which we’re grateful.</p>
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<p>The reasons for this are almost entirely up to the Odists. True Name and Why Ask Questions are both struggling with the time skew, WAQ more so than TN. Michelle quit forty years ago, and since then, I’ve not seen the shifting of form that she struggled with.</p>
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<p>Anyway, I should head back to common time and catch up with Sarah before we head back to it. I want to make sure we talk more about the reasons why they picked ‘recorder’ as a required profession for this meeting. If it’s about telling stories, I’m all for it.</p>
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<p><strong>BĂLAN CLADE-EYES-ONLY MATERIAL</strong></p>
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<p>Codrin#Assist, pass on my love. Can you also check my work with Dear? I think I remember that Why Ask Questions Here At The End Of All Things was initially forked to shape sentiment sys-side during Secession, and that Why Ask Questions When The Answers Will Not Help was forked to shape sentiment outside the System. Is this correct? I’ve only met the two of them recently, so I’m unsure how that plays out in their social interactions.</p>
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<p>Thanks for acting as go-between for us. It’d be nice to be able to send a message directly to #Artemis, but alas, DMZ.</p>
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<p>Thanks for acting as go-between for us. It’d be nice to be able to send a message directly to #Castor, but alas, DMZ.</p>
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<p><strong>END BĂLAN CLADE-EYES-ONLY MATERIAL</strong></p>
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</blockquote>
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</article>
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<footer>
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<p>Page generated on 2022-01-11</p>
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<p>Page generated on 2022-01-16</p>
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</footer>
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