update from sparkleup
This commit is contained in:
parent
61d399a0ab
commit
fb52bf95a1
|
|
@ -23,19 +23,19 @@
|
|||
<p>How is May Then My Name taking it? You mention True Name, but have you heard from any other Odists? Any other friends? If Lagrange is anything like Pollux, people are talking about little else.</p>
|
||||
<p>The news broke over here much as it sounds as though it did on Lagrange: with tightly controlled excitement. There is no doubt that the powers that be continue their work across all three Systems, but it’s always fascinating to see. The amount of bafflement was outweighed by the amount of excitement. The excitement also outweighed the amount of fear. Everyone’s eager for every scrap of news that they can get.</p>
|
||||
<p>How much of the delay in sending word to us was due to True Name and her friends? I imagine she had words about the first message, at least, but a whole week’s worth of messages feels like a good deal must have been going on.</p>
|
||||
<p>No matter, though. We’re all eagerly awaiting every little snippet that we can get from you. I know that you won’t get this for another, what, thirty days? Thirty-one? And that a month from when you sent it! I know you won’t get it for a wwhile, is what I’m saying, but please know that you’re free to pass on information directly from here on out! We’ll be learning plenty from the news we’re allowed to see over here, anyway, so any juicy tidbits in addition to that will be greatly appreciated.</p>
|
||||
<p>No matter, though. We’re all eagerly awaiting every little snippet that we can get from you. I know that you won’t get this for another, what, 30? 31? And that a month from when you sent it! I know you won’t get it for a wwhile, is what I’m saying, but please know that you’re free to pass on information directly from here on out! We’ll be learning plenty from the news we’re allowed to see over here, anyway, so any juicy tidbits in addition to that will be greatly appreciated.</p>
|
||||
<p>I am continually confronted with the ways in which we have diverged. May Then My Name and Dear#Castor mentioned how upset they were by the idea of time manipulation, but my Dear…well, it did not seem pleased with the idea, but its reaction was not nearly so visceral. It simply got a sour look on its face and said <em>“I do not like the idea of a place where I cannot fork. Can you imagine a place so boring?”</em></p>
|
||||
<p><strong>BĂLAN CLADE-EYES-ONLY MATERIAL</strong></p>
|
||||
<p>The last few years have seen a drastic reduction in the amount of times that Dear has overflowed. I don’t know if ey’s been passing on every instance from Castor, or if you have been passing on every letter in turn, but it sounds like the same is true of Dear#Castor as well, for which I’m thankful.</p>
|
||||
<p>I’m sorry to hear about May Then My Name, though. Discussion of ‘cracks showing’ always seems to crop up whenever one of our loved ones goes through a rough period such as this, and your news spurred a conversation between the three of us plus Serene, and despite the relative quiescence of Dear’s symptoms, such as they are, we have noticed an uptick of oddities in Odists over here, as well. Not just Odists, of course, but a few of the older clades. Hell, a Jonas even went haywire a few weeks back.</p>
|
||||
<p>Still, I’m happy to hear that everyone’s tallies are lining up well: far fewer old clades over here are experiencing such symptoms than feared after the publication of <em>Perils</em>, for which just about everyone is happy. No one wants to deal with an impending burden of insanity on one’s two hundredth birthday, so to hear that it’s only a fraction and that maybe there’s something that can be done (or so we hear; has there been news of psychotherapy as a treatment over there? I’ve been hearing whispers) has kept the population at large from freaking out. I imagine you have it worse, though, given the relative skew towards dispersionistas on the LVs; I bet early taskers are freaking out.</p>
|
||||
<p>Either way, Ioan, I am concerned for you and your partner. Our lives are informed by trauma, and the trauma that we hold in particular leads to a sort of conservatism that is particularly focused on our loved ones. I know that you want nothing more than to see May Then My Name continue to thrive, and I know that seeing her struggle is incredibly painful as it touches on the roots of those very same traumas. I know that the two of you will make it through alright, but, as this is in the clade-eyes-only section, do remember to keep yourself safe. You have Douglas. You have Debarre and End Waking (are they back together? Please say yes). You have A Finger Pointing. You have so many delightful friends I’ve yet to even meet and some I’ll have have the chance to. When you need, nudge May Then My Name to her support network and lean on yours on your own.</p>
|
||||
<p>Either way, Ioan, I am concerned for you and your partner. Our lives are informed by trauma, and the trauma that we hold in particular leads to a sort of conservatism that is particularly focused on our loved ones. I know that you want nothing more than to see May Then My Name continue to thrive, and I know that seeing her struggle is incredibly painful as it touches on the roots of those very same traumas. I know that the two of you will make it through alright, but, as this is in the clade-eyes-only section, do remember to keep yourself safe. You have Douglas. You have Debarre and End Waking (are they back together? Please say yes). You have A Finger Pointing. You have so many delightful friends I’ve yet to even meet and some I’ll have have the chance to. When you need, nudge May Then My Name to her support network and lean on your own.</p>
|
||||
<p><strong>IOAN BĂLAN INDIVIDUAL-EYES-ONLY MATERIAL</strong></p>
|
||||
<p>The following is in strict confidence with you and you alone, Ioan. I’ve received permission to share from all parties involved.</p>
|
||||
<p>I don’t know how much of Codrin#Castor and my messages between each other that you’ve read, or if that would even have helped, but watching the slow individuation of a loved one is an experience unique even from watching oneself individuate. The Dear I am in love with feels much like the Dear I fell in love with decades ago, and yet slowly the Dear on Castor begins to feel like a stranger to me.</p>
|
||||
<p>Dear#Castor sounds so much more conservative — in its approach to life, of course, rather than that of the division of the Odists — than what I’ve grown used to. The prairie remains the same. The house remains the same. Codrin#Castor’s struggles with agency and directedness in life feel as unfamiliar to me as you have mentioned. You have taken control of your life as I have taken control of my own, each in our own way. To put this on the Odists feels at once unfair, unfortunate, and totally accurate. May Then My Name has changed you in so many irreversible ways, just as Dear changed me so many years ago. Changed you, too, for when we merged and then diverged, you were no longer the same Ioan that remained behind. You were the type of Ioan who could fall in love with May Then My Name in the first place.</p>
|
||||
<p>So when Dear gave up the prairie and dragged Serene over to build out our little world into something grander, a place more well-rounded than just flat plains, we were both ready because, hey, this was Dear, right? So we built out our little world of plains and hills, forests and lakes. And then that spur-of-the-moment shift redirected our lives in unforeseen ways. With the acceptance of variety, Serene moved in to continue her work, and then her elliptical orbit passed through our lives for a while before she drifted away again.</p>
|
||||
<p>Despite lingering taboo, I am not ashamed of having wound up, for that one short year, in a relationship with two members of the same clade. None of us are; not even Dear and Serene, they promise us. It’s not shame that keeps me from telling those on Castor about this. It is the completely alien way that those who feel as though they ought to <em>be</em> us interact with the world that leads to such. I as though I am unable to tell Codrin#Castor about what happened because to do so feels like explaining the alien to someone who really, truly, in all ways ought to know. Ey ought to be able to feel the same things that I feel, correct? Ey ought to also love Serene, oughtn’t ey? Ey must, for ey is me, is ey not?</p>
|
||||
<p>Despite lingering taboo, I am not ashamed of having wound up, for that one short year, in a relationship with two members of the same clade. None of us are; not even Dear and Serene, they promise us. It’s not shame that keeps me from telling those on Castor about this. It is the completely alien way that those who feel as though they ought to <em>be</em> us interact with the world that leads to such. I feel as though I am unable to tell Codrin#Castor about what happened because to do so feels like explaining the alien to someone who really, truly, in all ways ought to know. Ey ought to be able to feel the same things that I feel, correct? Ey ought to also love Serene, oughtn’t ey? Ey must, for ey is me, is ey not?</p>
|
||||
<p>And yet ey is not. I cannot bring up our relationship with Serene because Codrin#Castor — that is, specifically <em>me</em>#Castor — does not have the same thoughts around intraclade romantic relationships that I do, and by virtue of the direction that the Odists steered us (or, as feels more accurate, crashed with us headlong and heedless) into this future, we are now completely different in that way. </p>
|
||||
<p>The Dear that I live with has, in comparison to Dear#Castor, relaxed and moved on to an approach to life that is far more laid back. As a result, we <em>all</em> have, me included.</p>
|
||||
<p>Also, as an internal postscript, I should note that the three of us are all still deeply in love with Serene and she with us, so please do not misconstrue the past tense above, but good Lord. Two foxes in the same house? Never again.</p>
|
||||
|
|
@ -80,7 +80,7 @@
|
|||
<p>Ioan Bălan</p>
|
||||
</article>
|
||||
<footer>
|
||||
<p>Page generated on 2022-04-08</p>
|
||||
<p>Page generated on 2022-05-08</p>
|
||||
</footer>
|
||||
</main>
|
||||
<script type="text/javascript">
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
|
|||
<blockquote>
|
||||
<p><em>Convergence T-19 days, 18 hours, 41 minutes</em></p>
|
||||
</blockquote>
|
||||
<p>It was not at all surprising that dinner at home was far less stressful than dinner with the Odists out in Tycho’s observatory. While the conversation throughout the meal had been nothing but pleasant, the food delightful, and the location and single candle a stunning setting for a dinner, a tension had nonetheless hung above the table throughout. While Sarah had appeared relaxed and True Name and Answers Will Not Help seemed to earnestly enjoy the evening, Tycho had been hovering on the edge of terror, Dear had seemed to have put on a mask of pleasantness that involved choosing its words most carefully, and Codrin had remained hypervigilant.</p>
|
||||
<p>It was not at all surprising that dinner at home was far less stressful than dinner with the Odists out in Tycho’s observatory. While the conversation throughout the meal had been nothing but pleasant, the food delightful, and the location and single candle a stunning setting for a dinner, a tension had nonetheless hung above the table throughout. While Sarah had appeared relaxed and True Name and Answers Will Not Help seemed to earnestly enjoy the evening, Tycho had been hovering on the edge of terror, Codrin had remained hypervigilant, and Dear had seemed to have put on a mask of pleasantness that involved choosing its words most carefully.</p>
|
||||
<p>This was confirmed when they returned home and the instance of Dear which had accompanied em to the dinner sagged, exhausted, and then quit. The instance of Dear which had remained behind, when confronted with the onslaught of memories, sighed and simply shook its head. None of the triad seemed at all interested in discussing the dinner.</p>
|
||||
<p>It was eir other partner who had suggested the smaller party for the next night. While they hadn’t explicitly mentioned that it would be a counter to the other party, it was certainly implied. Something to cleanse palates, as well as to give further time for Codrin, Tycho, and Sarah to interact before they were to go on their journey. All three — four, including Dear — had immediately agreed.</p>
|
||||
<p>So it was that they sat around the table, there in the modern house on the prairie, sharing coffee and desserts and pleasant, easy conversation.</p>
|
||||
|
|
@ -102,7 +102,7 @@
|
|||
<p><em>“It is nothing bad. Just stressful, and I do not yet know how to put it into words. I will say that this will impact all Odists in approximately the same way, though, which is why you should know if there are to be two of them joining you.”</em></p>
|
||||
</article>
|
||||
<footer>
|
||||
<p>Page generated on 2022-04-14</p>
|
||||
<p>Page generated on 2022-05-08</p>
|
||||
</footer>
|
||||
</main>
|
||||
<script type="text/javascript">
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
@ -53,7 +53,7 @@
|
|||
<p>He nodded. “But their observations–“</p>
|
||||
<p>“Are limited to when they are near something interesting to observe, yes, but they can spend as long as they want with those observations, poring over their views of the star or measurements from external instruments. They are not time-bound for those. In fact, the only times that they seem to be time-bound are when it comes to interaction with other time-bound events.”</p>
|
||||
<p>“Well, sure,” he hazarded. “But perhaps they turn off the ability to skew when they perform an assist or something. We didn’t get the chance to ask them any more questions.”</p>
|
||||
<p>“We will, do not worry,” she said, mumbling as she dashed off a few more lines on her note then turned to face him, paws folded on the table before her. She handed the slip of paper to Codrin. “But they are also time-bound talking with us who are not able to utilize time skew, correct?”</p>
|
||||
<p>“We will, do not worry,” she said, mumbling as she dashed off a few more lines on her note, handed the slip off to Codrin, then turned to face him, paws folded on the table before her. “But they are also time-bound talking with us who are not able to utilize time skew, correct?”</p>
|
||||
<p>Tycho crossed his arms and slouched back in the chair, staring up at the ceiling. “Well, shit.”</p>
|
||||
<p>Codrin laughed. “You see then why it was a good question?”</p>
|
||||
<p>“They didn’t say anything one way or another,” Sarah said. “So you could very well be right, Tycho, but you saw their silenced conversation.”</p>
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
@ -20,11 +20,11 @@
|
|||
<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 and said, “So long as you do not forget what we are here for in the DMZ, I see no reason to prevent knowledge sharing.”</p>
|
||||
<p>First, here is what we are finding, seen through the eyes of the scientifically inept:</p>
|
||||
<ul>
|
||||
<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 skew, this scientific feat that they have accomplished, is so thoroughly engrained in their society (secondrace has been on Artemis for nigh on four millennia by now) that dissolution seems alien to them. 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>
|
||||
<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 skew, this scientific feat that they have accomplished, is so thoroughly engrained in their society (secondrace has been on Artemis for nigh on four millennia by now) that dissolution seems alien or even abhorrent to them. 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 Odists?</li>
|
||||
<li>Stolon and Tycho are so happy to have met 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>
|
||||
<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, making time to take time.</li>
|
||||
<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 these: 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>
|
||||
<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 listened, the less I thought that was 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, given that anyone who has made it far enough in their social and technological development to reach us will be beyond what we have accomplished, so at least we’ve confirmed that.</li>
|
||||
<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 listened, the less I thought that was 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 would take part on the visiting culture’s terms, given that anyone who has made it far enough in their social and technological development to reach us will be beyond what we have accomplished, so at least we’ve confirmed that.</li>
|
||||
<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>
|
||||
</ul>
|
||||
<p>Now, for my questions:</p>
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
Loading…
Reference in New Issue