We are star stuff (image post)

With the exception of the decon round up I just finished nothing I planned to do today, including sleep, has gotten done.

So I decided to let my computer do work for me.  Fred linked to this.

And we're star stuff, right?  So why not, you know:

Attempt 1:

Not really that impressive but then I did switch over to 100% when standard is 50:

And you might see why I went to 100 straight away, the constellation of Lonespark is disappearing.

But then it occured to me that maybe the problem was a massive difference in the relative sizes of the things.  Eventually (after computer got pissed off because it didn't have the memory to do what I attempted) I went for a more intermediate size and got this at 50:

You can see the problem of not insisting it stay close to the original image.  Orange and blue are ok because stars come in those colors, but flesh, what is this thing you speak of.  Looking for a middle ground I tried 75:

A couple of things worthy of note, one is that it helps to view them at full size, another is that I have a star in the center of my forehead.

Anyway, that at 100:

And in the end I am not convinced that this project is doomed to failure.  Switch to a computer with more memory, use larger versions of the pictures, there might be hope for a star stuff picture.

Someone please remind me that the world is not devoid of all hope and good things

All things considered Thanksgiving went pretty well.  I saw my family without any massive fallout, I saw my dog for the first time in ages (he's moved out of the house along with the rest of my family) and my nephew for an extended period.

The only significant down side was being trapped in a car on the way there with someone who I'd say thought every random thing she saw out the window was totally more important than what I was doing (writing, if it matters) but that assumes she cared about me as a person enough to consider what I was doing and that it might have value.  That wasn't the bad thing, the bad thing was that apparently my lack of enthusiasm for random largely unremarkable things out the window was apparently unacceptable, "Fake it until you make it," was preached at me as a valid philosophy of life for everyone, notably in this case: me, and (don't remember exact words, so paraphrase) "It doesn't work for everyone," just ratcheted pushy evangelism while trapped in a car from which you cannot escape to infinity squared on a scale of one to ten.

So, basically, nothing out of the ordinary and better than sometimes.

Still, I'm left feeling bereft of things like hope and purpose and whatnot.

You all already know I have money problems.  I got donations to help.  And they did (seriously, thank you), not enough, but enough so that I could pay the bill that was due first in full and then use a short period between when I get paid for the month and when most bills are due for the month to kick the other problems a bit down the road, at which point they will join the far larger problems of next month and then the sky will fall.

Money is a serious, serious problem.  Unfortunately I have no solution to it.  Even what should be simple things I seem to lack the impetus to accomplish.  For example I mentioned before that some of the money I owe right now is because to buy [thing I need] I had to buy [set of things I mostly don't need because it includes [thing I need]] and some of that money can be recouped by selling [things I don't need].  It's a simple process, really.  But to sell them I need to know what they cost to ship, and to do that I need to know, at the very least, what size box they'll fit in (if it's the right box then weight doesn't matter) and to do that I need to measure them.  I have rulers.  Note the plural.  I have tape measures.  In theory getting measurements should be as simple as pushing the keys needed to type this post.  In practice I haven't been able to make myself do it.

It's the only part of my depression that we've never been able to put a dent in: I'm shit when it comes to initiating things.  Self motivation and I go together like water and highly concentrated antimatter in just the right quantities to annihilate every proton neutron and electron in the water.  It's the invisible staircase

Oh, and forget about smaller debts.  If I can't come up with one thousand two hundred nineteen dollars by the end of the semester for university (that includes the late fee since I was supposed to pay it at the beginning of the semester) then I'll be out of a psychologist and a psychiatrist.  The good news: I now have insurance and can presumably get new ones.  The bad news: I'd have to start with new people from scratch.  Also abruptly stopping being a student means that all student loans come due (I never had that many, but probably fair to say I can't afford to pay them.)

But even non-money related things, non health related things, seem utterly hopeless too.  No one is paying me to make .hack//Sign or Deus Ex posts, that's something I do simply because I want to.  In theory that should mean motivation, thus initiation, thus getting shit done.  Right?  In practice it seems that nothing I try to do, whether for myself or for others, ever gets the slightest forward progress.

Which leaves me without hope.  Because hope is the idea that somehow things will be better in the future than current conditions would indicate.  And that means that current conditions must change.  And in order for current conditions to change shit must get done.  And in order for shit to get done shit must be started.  And I can't start shit.

-

The topic of fundraising was brought up in another thread, and by me more than once.  I'd love to be able to do a fundraising drive where I say, "If you give $X, I'll write a Y for you," where Y could be... whatever.  I honestly don't know what people would want.  (Story where the main character has your name?  A time traveling dragon's story?  A guide to how to deal with an interdimensional lifestyle?  Seriously, I have no idea what people would want.)  The thing is, I can't even consistently write for myself, there's no way in Hell I could promise to write something for someone else.  If I said, "Pay me and I'll write Y," I'd be, basically, lying for money.  I have no desire to do that.

I suppose I could say, "Pay me and I'll move the story of your choice to the top of the list of things to write a new installment to," but that amorphous non-written list isn't exactly followed.  If it were there would be one .hack and one Deus Ex post a week, I'd have gone back and brought Edith and Ben and Snarky Twilight up to the points where I started writing them so there isn't just this gap where the beginning of those stories should be, Skewed Slightly to the Left would have finished World War III by now, Not Even The Angels in Heaven would have never stopped being updated, A World Without God wouldn't have stalled, and so on.

Which is sort of the problem in a nutshell.  There are things that I want to do.  There are things that I need to do.  There are things that I can do.  The third group doesn't include many members of the first two groups.

-

So, someone please remind me that the world is not devoid of all hope and good things.

Narnia: If the Heroes did their jobs: Meeting the invisible people

[Originally posted at Ana Mardoll's Ramblings.]

[More If the heroes did their job (Iisha is from a footnote here, even though the post itself isn't in this canon.) This also has the thing where stuff was supposed to go with different people but since it's established that Eustace was the Dragon that just means Lucy freed the slaves and Caspian gets this one. Anyway, story time:]

"So we're just going to walk into an ambush?" Adah asked.

"We don't have much choice," Drinian said. "We need the boat to get to the ship."

"Besides," Caspian said, "we don't know their intentions. We did land on their island with an armed force without so much as a, 'Hello.'" He paused. "I think we had cause, I remember the last time we came ashore without armed guard, and if we could have seen them we would have made diplomatic contact, but I know that if an armed force came onto Narnian shores without making their intentions clear I'd have a call to arms too." Another pause. "Hopefully we can parlay."

Adah sighed. "Some things were easier as a Serpent. So we just walk into a place where we could have knifes to our throats without even knowing it."

"If they were that close," Reepicheep said, trying to be reassuring, "I'd smell them."

"I'd try to find a position I could cover you from," Iisha said, "but I can't shoot what I can't see."

"I'm sorry," Restimar said to Caspian, "that I used your title."

"There's nothing to be sorry about," Caspian said. Letting a potential hostile force know they could capture royalty was potentially catastrophic, but who could be blamed for not seeing that an invisible enemy might be listening?

"Let's face this," Caspian said to everyone. "Lucy, Iisha, nocks on strings--"

"Susan used a bow," Lucy said. "I've always faced combat up close with a dagger." After a pause she added, "Learn your history."

Caspian said, "Iisha, ready your bow, everyone else draw your weapons or be prepared to." Caspian then led the way making a point of not drawing his sword. Only Reepicheep joined him ahead of the others.

Even though Reepicheep was actively sniffing hard he wasn't picking up much. A breeze that would be pleasant if not for its infuriating scattering of scents was blowing steadily seaward. The Mouse could tell that something dwarf-like had passed this way, but his knowledge ended there. He never picked up a scent strong enough to be coming from something that was still around and so was as surprised as the others when a voice said, "No further, masters, no further now.”

Lucy noted the use of, "Masters." Deferential words from people who clearly had the advantage over them. Slaves or servants was her guess. That meant that whatever these people's disposition, there was almost certainly a problem on this island in need of fixing.

The voice continued, “We’ve got to talk with you first. There’s fifty and more of us here with weapons. Talk would be in your best interest, it would.”

“Hear him, hear him,” came a chorus of voices. “That’s our Chief. You can depend on what he says. He’s telling you the truth, he is.”

Reepicheep hopped to Caspian's shoulder and whispered in his ear, "They're downwind of us, there could be 15 or 500. We've got only their word."

Caspian spoke in the direction of the voice, "We wish to talk as well. It was not our intention to invade your island and we would have greeted you and explained that had we been able to see you." Caspian motioned for weapons to be put away.

Iisha removed the arrow from her bowstring and returned it to her quiver, but kept in mind the direction of the Chief's voice. The other's sheathed their weapons, though likewise kept in mind the location of any voice they had been able to locate.

The Chief spoke again, "We have a request. Something your king can do for us."

Restimar swore.

"If it is truly a request, not a demand, then you have no need of weapons," Edmund said.

"We have put ours away as well," the Chief responded, to a chorus of affirmations.

"Meaning no disrespect," Reepicheep said, "but we can't see that."

Weapons appeared as they were dropped on the beach before them.

"They trust us, apparently," Eustace said.

"Or they're very desperate," Adah said.

"What is your request?" Caspian asked.

"Well,” said the Chief's voice. “It’s a long story. Suppose we all sit down?”

"If it's all the same to you," said Eustace, "we'd prefer the short version."

“Well, then, to put it in a nutshell,” said the Chief's voice, "we want your king to go into a place protected by magic spells that only royalty and the magician who made the spells can penetrate, find a magic book, and read the spell that will make us visible again, so we do."

"I may have been wrong," Eustace said. "Perhaps we should have the long version."

[And then explanation about how, while royalty can penetrate the spells certain people can be kept out via spells specifically directed at them which is why the chief couldn't read the invisible making spell (magician assumed that the daughter was useless and thus not making a special spell for) but since then there's been an anti-her spell added so none of the locals can penetrate the spells to get to the book and stuff.]

About commenting

So I really do crave comments and wish there were more of them -- in fact, let's break that sentence there.

It's basically impossible to read this blog without knowing that I have money troubles and could really use donations.  My boring asking for donations post was a mere nine days ago and a few people were able to step up and donate and of the three looming not-good things on the near horizon one is effectively dealt with so "Yay!"  (And thanks.)  But for everyone who couldn't/can't donate, which I totally get (I intimately understand having no money to spare), if you're wishing for a way you could help: comment.

Seriously.  I crave feedback.  Without it there's just a void.  It's like no one read the thing or no one cared.  It's complete emptiness.  Comment on new things, comment on old things.  Say, "I liked this part," or, "I didn't like that part," or, "This turn of phrase was neat," or, "This feels like it was influenced by [X]," or, "Was that a [Y] reference?" or, "I think [this] should happen next," or, "I don't understand [Z]," or, "I don't know why this makes me think this but: Lobster," or whatever the hell comes into your mind.

I will appreciate it.

That being said, let me return to the first sentence and actually finish it this time:

So I really do crave comments and wish there were more of them, which makes me wary of saying anything that might discourage them.  However, if you're saying something that is contingent on certain details that you don't know I'd appreciate if you didn't just pull random assumptions of of your ass.  Yes, I'm talking about the Avengers plot hole thread, yes it is entirely possible that this entire post has only one person to whom it applies and that person will not read it anyway.

But for general consumption, there are things you can do when you don't have all the details.  It is a mistake to think that you need to have all the details to respond, you can totally respond it just needs some precautions.

Consider all of the people who have never read Left Behind but follow and comment on Fred Clark's deconstruction of it over on Slacktivist.  They bring valuable insights and have created a vibrant community, this in spite of the fact that most of them have no idea what's said in the sections Fred doesn't excerpt and could thus be missing critical details.

Just because you don't know doesn't mean you shouldn't comment.  What it does mean is that if what you're saying depends on something you don't know you should take that into account in your comment.  Absolute simplest way, which requires almost no effort: "If [thing I don't know] then [comment]."

You've made your comment and contributed to the conversation without asserting that a potentially false thing is true.  If the thing is true, then we can move on from there, if the thing is false perhaps it will start a brilliant tangent about an alternate universe in which it is true, if it's unclear then you've provided your opinion on one of the possible cases.

Very, very easy.  Of course it also means that you might make a comment that adds little.

For example, using the above the comment that got me to write would have started, "If Jane Foster's usefulness is dependent upon direct access to the tesseract..." and since Foster's usefulness is not dependent on access to the tesseract (direct or indirect) it would still be the case that nothing in the post applied to the movie as it exists in real life.

Of course, maybe phrasing it that way would kickstart a discussion on the difference between characters that are useful in themselves and characters that are useful only in relation to a certain thing and who knows where things might go from there.

But the point is, maybe you don't want to go the, "If ... then ... " route but you still have a comment or argument whose truth value is dependent upon information you don't have.  In that case one thing you can do is to look it up.

This is not always as easy or as reliable as it may seem.  I remember at one point I had to look at every reference to the word "hair" in Twilight (using searchable version of the book online, cross referenced with a physical copy of the book where I could actually READ ALL THE WORDS for context, which had inexplicably mashed the text with that of a completely different novel) just to see if my comment would apply.  I definitely should have just If-Thened there.  Way too much work for the pay off.

On the topic of reliability, recently --this month I think-- Ana Mardoll pointed to a Wikipedia description of an event in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader that was wrong in every important respect.  Someone using Wikipedia to look that up would thus be led astray.

But, in general, looking up details you're not sure on is either pretty fast and not that unreliable (any even marginally accurate description of the movie Thor would have revealed that Jane Foster's usefulness was not dependent on access to the tesseract, for example), or quick to let you know that the information you want isn't easy to get to.  So it's a relatively safe route.  Safer still if you point out, "Wikipedia tells me [X] so [comment]."

-

The point here is that not having all the details of the source material is not a barrier to commenting on something here, but if you don't know please don't pretend you do know.  Comment, but either If-Then your comment, or try to look it up, or do something else so that you're not asserting as facts things which may or may not be true.

-

Also, it's perfectly valid to disagree with me, but if you disagree with me by basing your argument on things that are not actually true I'm going to have a hard time taking you seriously.

Astral Plane story, some description and interlude

I don't think I've ever committed to writing, even more sure (but not totally) to the blog, stuff about the Astral Plane Story.

The idea is that, for at least some people, it is possible to leave their individual dreams and go to a shared dream world with its own inhabitants and battles and whatnot.  There are... probably not demons because that would raise the question of where the angels are, but nasty things there that need to be constantly opposed to be kept at bay.  It's a wondrous place, but also a place that's always in conflict.

And so a fair number of the people who do end up going there when they sleep end up involved in the conflict.

And then things become complicated.  Because on said plane your soul isn't mediated by a brain so one's brain doesn't need to be fully developed in order for them to be operating at a completely mature level, likewise I've always thought of there being a character with Alzheimer's who relishes the clear thinking and memory when no longer having to deal with the disease.

I said it becomes complicated because relationships.  I have in mind a respected general in the Astral Plane who is a little girl in waking life.  It comes to pass that someone ranking well below her on the Astral Plane adopts her.  Parent and underling is very screwed up when it comes to power differentials.  That relationship works because the two people can keep waking life and dreaming life separate.

The main characters, friends in waking and dreaming life, aren't necessarily as good at it which is complicated for them because they are high school students and their Assistant Principle is someone who is in their military unit on the Astral Plane.  They run the unit.  They don't just outrank him, they directly on a night to night basis have contact with him in the context of outranking him.

Which generally isn't a problem but then we come to this interlude.

It would be in the second story I have roughly mapped out in my head.  I don't know exactly what kicked this off.  I mean I know it follows directly from Kristycat saying, "You could have been talking about my high school English teacher," in this thread at Ana Mardoll's what I don't know is how that ended up going to how the characters from the Astral Plane story would respond to that.

But eventually this is the scene that ended up taking shape: A student, not in any way a main character, has been the subject of subtle sexism to her breaking point and an argument with her teacher ends in her being in tears (also in the comment "try as I might I've never quite been able to convince the people around me that my brain does not shut off just because water is coming from my eyes. But nope - you show emotion, you've lost the argument.")

And then we have interaction between the two main characters and the Assistant Principle.  So:
Student Male (SM)
Student Female (SF)
Assistant Principle (AP)

Both SM and SF barge into AP's office, SM gets there first because he had a smaller distance to drop off his stuff at the next class, tell the teacher he was going to the AP's office, and get to the AP's office.  (They have different classes next.)  He's also the more emotional of the two because he's just awakening to sexism as a thing in the real world and this is the most flagrant example he's ever noticed.  SF is also awakening, but it's to the fact that there is a pattern here and this is sexism (and that she's been on the receiving end of it without realizing that was what it was) and so it's a completely different experience for her.  For her it's more of the same but she didn't realize what it was before.  She doesn't have the outrage of, "This evil thing has invaded our wonderful egalitarian world," because she knows that that isn't the world.

That difference makes it so that the conversation is very much:
SM: [Heated words that aren't necessarily easy to follow]
SF: [interrupts with well reasoned cogent argument on why action should be taken]
SM: What she said.

Other than emotion levels they're very much on the same wavelength (for example, neither one tried to make a difference in the class itself, and both decided to go around the rules to use their relationship with the AP to get something done.)

I haven't figured out exactly how the conversation goes, or even the generalities.  The AP opens up with the barging into his office had better be due to something major, SM says it is but not on the Astral Plane, AP has a staffing problem and then gets into the sexism.  Beyond that I don't really know.

Oh, except that I do know that when AP points out that they're exploiting their relationship with him the response (probably from SM because it's something you'd say when you're too upset to consider the vastness of "any") is that any tool at their disposal will be used.

I figure that the classes are on a rotating schedule.  So the class isn't repeated the next day but instead the day after.  Just before they wake up that day SM asks AP if he's done anything about sexist teacher and AP says no then wakes up leaving SM and SF thinking that nothing is getting done.

At class AP shows up and addresses the entire class.  Again, only fragments of this are worked out yet.  I do know that he's particularly blunt with his language ("Multiple students have come to me, both male and female, and told me about an incident that happened last class.  Apparently people with vaginas don't get listened to or have what they say taken seriously.  I have a penis so that shouldn't be a problem, now...")  But I'm not sure if he's trying to be sensitive to the fact that, while everyone in that particular class is presenting as their assigned-on-the-basis-of-genitalia gender, there could be trans* students there who simply aren't transitioned, or he's going for shock value (how often are those words heard from high school administration?), or he's trying to be as direct and unsubtle as possible about sexism which generally shows up in seemingly indirect and subtle ways.

But he takes the time to talk about sexism, how it shows up, how it's not cool, how it's not accepted (this part being directed straight at the teacher) and so forth.

This is the sort of thing that has train wreck potential in high degree and serious possibility of backfiring but in the story goes well to the surprise of SM and SF who tend to view waking life AP as bumbling (though respect him as a part of their unit on the Astral Plane.)

Then he leaves, it is assumed to be over, class starts, the teacher grumbles about lost time, and things move on.  (Note well that SM and SF will be on the lookout for any reprisal and, as he will point out at the next staff meeting, so will AP.)

After class AP gets SM and SF and they have a conversation in an empty classroom.  Something like this:

AP: NEVER use our friendship or our connection on the astral plane to pressure me again.

SM: Then what the fuck can we do?

AP: No swearing in school.

SM: I think technically it was profanity.

SF: Obscenity.

SM: Nuance.

AP: The point: you are missing it.

SF: Obscenity retracted the question stands.

AP: Go through channels, the school has--

SM: (loudly but not quite a shout) I thought your door was open to all students.

*AP is visibly on the defensive, and preparing to respond at equal volume.*

SF: (Calmly) Of which we are two.

*pause*

AP: (Calmly, having collected himself) Yes. *short pause* And you should come to me. But don't come barging in, don't use our relationship as leverage, and don't... there is a time and a place for things. School things happen in school. Not on a mission outside of A'nuk Ril.
SM: (quiet, somewhat mater of fact, somewhat defensive) I waited until the mission was over.

SF: And if we do –if we talk to your secretary, wait our turns, and come as students like we would if we had no connection to you– can we count on you to deliver the same kind of results as you did today?
AP: That's my job.

SM: And if you'd been doing it this would have--

SF: (sharply) Future. (calm level tones) Not the same as the present or the past. Don't dwell on what should have been.

AP: And in the future I need to know that what goes on while dream-walking on the astral plane won't be used against me here. In this school I'm the assistant principle and you're both students. If you can't abide by that here because we have a connection there then I'm going to have to sever that connection.

SM: (angry) You'd quit over--

AP: Yes, yes I would. There are any number of people who will take my place there, I have a job to do here.

SF: We saved the world.
AP: I know.
SM: (closer to calm) More than once.

AP: I know.

SF: Last year...

AP: If something like that happens again then of course forget all protocol. But I need you to promise me that you'll only step outside the bounds of your role as students in emergencies.

SM: And you'll deal with your staffing problems?
AP: I can only deal with them if people let me know about them, insofar as they do: yes.

SF: Then we can keep what goes on on the two planes separate. (Looking at SM) We can.

AP: Then we're all agreed?

SF,SM: Yes.

AP: Good.

*AP pulls out pen and paper to give them notes saying not to be punished if they're late for the next class*

And I'm not sure if AP should comment on SM's ... tone.

On the one hand, AP knows better than to make a tone argument.  On the other hand he knows himself and part of that is that he's bad at keeping relationships separate too.  If another student came in upset and started shouting he wasn't doing his job right because [problem] then he could keep himself from going on the defensive and evaluate whether the student had a valid point.  If SM or SF did that he couldn't stay as detached, would go on the defensive, and wouldn't be able to rationally evaluate their points.

It's only because SF didn't do that that he was able to see, "Yes, something does need to be done about respected teacher we've had here more than thirty years because that is unacceptable," and afterward, "Yes, you should come to me, just not the way you did last time."

And sometime after that, it has to be sometime after that because that conversation is what got him thinking about "door's always open" vs. "you can't just barge in", he makes a comment that students should come to him if they see any group of students being treated differently than any other group of students and, "While my door isn't always open, my waiting room is.  And there's a comfy couch."

-

[Original Work Index]

Anybody got a Pyrix?

Ok, so a Pyrix (follow the link and you'll see pictures) is a puzzle from the '90s that was produced by Enpros Novelty Products.  It was a very simple kind of puzzle (shapes on a string) and back when Rubik's cube like puzzles were made by hand certain people, of which I am one, used theirs for parts of other things (thus destroying the puzzle in the process.)  For quite a while now I've wished I hadn't and wanted to get my hands on one to not-mistreat.

Finding one is the problem.

I doubt that anyone here does, but I figured I'd ask.  Anyone have one they're willing to part with?

Can you search pages by their code?

The question is general, the reason I'm wondering is specific.

-

I was at a page, saw something interesting, wanted to come back to it (in the same session), and set the page aside in a different tab because the thing I wanted to come back to was in no way related to what I was looking for (coming across it was entirely accidental.)

Then crashing happened.  The page is not in my history because I was in a mode that doesn't track that, I can't remember the exact search terms used to run across it, so on, so forth.  Perhaps it is lost to me forever.  but here's something I do remember: the background color of the lost page was black, the background color of almost every page I find when looking for it is white.  If I could look for pages with black background color only (something that would be in the code for the page, not the text of the page) then my odds of finding the page seem to go up a lot because I can rule out most of the results I'm currently being flooded with.

But in general it seems like it would be useful for any number of reasons to be able to search for pages in a way that included their code.

The Great Octopus Wars

Lonespark: "You should be typing this right now because everyone enjoys stories that include the phrase, 'During the Second Great Octopus War'.  Everyone."

So, it started with broken arms.  And from there it went to noting that in two divergent cases cast times were uniform, speculating that this was due to our Cylon programming, noting the way nature rebels against rules imposed upon it, debate about whether Cylon programming is part of nature or not because...

Because a beaver dam is generally agreed to be natural but a human dam is more tricky.  They Cylons were created by man.  Man was created by nature.  Is our Cylon heritage natural?

Of course this went into the discussion of beaver tech, and the possibility they would take over the world.

And then I brought up my repeated theory that it will in fact be the octopodes who take over the world.

This was countered with the fact that they probably don't have much use for dry land.

So I amended that they'd take over the oceans and just charge us tribute for safe passage and whatnot.  Which would in turn cause us to move to air shipping as much as possible.

This in turn would lead to an increase in the CO2, which, yes, greenhouse gas but more importantly to the new cephalopodic overlords of 70ish percent of the earth's surface it causes the oceans to become more acidic which would lead to the Second Great Octopus War, in which they basically make the demand, "Hey, cut that shit out."

-

Not that I have any clear ideas on what actually happens during the Second Great Octopus War.

-

[Original]

Good News: My arm is (probably) not broken.

It is my understanding that the only way to know for sure that an arm is not broken is to take an X-ray and then get it read correctly.  (Getting X-ray's read correctly is a crapshoot.)

We do not do that every time we bang are arms because there are ways to know for almost sure.  A doctor has done those things to me and concluded that an X-ray shouldn't be necessary because my arm is for almost sure not broken.

So: yay!  In theory my arm should be better in a week to ten days.  Also I've learned additional diagnostic tests to check if an arm is broken that they didn't teach in wilderness first aid or lifeguard certification.

On what a book called "Loki's Daughters" should be like

[Before I get to the actual post, thank you person to donate number three. You are much appreciated as is your help.  It's beginning to look like all will not come to ruin.]
[Originally posted at Ana Mardoll's Ramblings.]

A book called "Loki's Daughters" that was actually about Loki's daughters would, potentially, be awesome.

"But," you say, "Loki has only one attested daughter. The others are all sons or half mortal people born during Loki's eight years as a milkmaid whose names and genders are not given."

Well, one could always make shit up. Set it in the present day if you like.

For but one possible example:

The protagonists are three young women, twins and their younger sister. As they grow older things get weird and their mother eventually has to sit them down and explain:

Ok, so, my original name was Loki and I happen to be a frost giant though the blood of the all-father flows through my, and thus your, veins. That could mean that growing up for you will be a little... different than it is for most girls.

Also, since I'm coming clean, you have siblings. The mortal ones are long since gone but you've still got half brothers and a half sister. Your brothers are an eight legged horse, a giant wolf, and a serpent that encircles the earth. Your sister is in charge of the underworld.

I didn't tell you this before because I wanted you to have a chance at a normal life. That obviously failed.

Now, I have to go. The cows won't milk themselves.

(But better written and less exposition dumpy.)

-

[Original Work Index]

ASL Class and damaged arms

My ASL class has a strict no-makeup policy regarding tests.  But what if-- NO MAKEUPS.

The reasoning behind this is that the test is given by the teacher actually signing to the class, not video or whatnot, so to duplicate it you'd need either the teacher to show up for each person needing a makeup or a video of the test and someone to watch to make sure that the one taking it didn't rewind or anything.

But it's still a problem come illness or injury.

There are three tests in the class, the first I missed due to a week long illness probably due to changing medications.  On the first school day of the week I was still able to attend classes, by test day I wasn't able to leave the house.

This morning, moments after getting out of the shower, I had a terrible fall.  I hurt all sorts of parts of me, but the only one that still hurts is my left arm which hit the counter as I went down in such a way that it might very well have gotten broken.  Am I at a hospital awaiting X-rays?  No.  Because today is test day number two.  If I miss two out of three tests that may very well put me in instant failure territory.

Today wasn't supposed to be test day number 2 by the way, the day was moved.  If it had been held as scheduled the obvious answer would be to go to the hospital and miss classes.

My point here, basically, is that a no-makeups policy, no matter how well intentioned or reasonable seeming, is utter bullshit.  Things happen.  I've had illness and now injury.  Put enough students in enough classes with this policy statistics says that there will be some who miss all three tests, or at least should, for completely legitimate reasons.

Narnia: 16 things in response to Ana's latest deconstruction

[Originally posted at Ana Mardoll's Ramblings, but click here if you want to go to the post without having it skip down to the comment.]

---Thing the First:

On a flat world islands do not appear from over the horizon. If there is nothing that is higher than thing between you and thing that means you can see thing. (Unless light crashes to the ground and can only reach a certain distance away but then... that would likely lead to things more interesting than Lewis had ever dreamed of.)

---Thing the Second:

I think, in this context, lion girding would be done to protect it from us.

Lewis: Ana's at it again, I'd better gird my Lion.

---Thing the Third:

And stores began to get low again, and it crept into their hearts that perhaps they might have come to a sea which went on forever. But when the very last day on which they thought they could risk continuing their eastward voyage dawned, it revealed, right ahead between them and the sunrise, a low land lying like a cloud.

No. Things had begun to get medium again. If things were actually low then they'd be passed the point of safe return.

Granted rationing when things are getting lower would change the equation somewhat, but the direction the wind is blowing would too. More. So whatever we might say about, "Well they might have consumed more than half their supplies because they weren't rationing when they started eating," is immediately cancelled out by, "To get back they'd have to go straight into the wind which means a metric fuckton on tacking which means that to travel back they'll actually have to go a farther distance."

In other words, if we look at this in a simple way then they have used half their supplies, if we look at it in a more realistic way then they've used less than half.

Supplies are not running low. Supplies will only be running low if they get stuck (say there's no wind), get lost, or decide to take it on faith that another island will appear before they run out of provisions and go well beyond the point of being able to turn back.

---Thing the Fourth

Almost as soon as they entered this path Lucy noticed that she had a little stone in her shoe.

I'll put a pebble in my shoe.
(almost certainly not the best version)

---Thing the Fifth

In that unknown place it might have been wiser for her to ask the others to wait while she took it out.

But then again it might not and in this strange and uncanny place Lucy thought it better to risk only herself than announce their position by breaking their silence. She was not known as Lucy the Destroys All Plans Because of Little Stones, after all.

---Thing the Sixth

“Right again, Chief,” said the others. “Couldn’t have a better order. Just what we were going to say ourselves. Off we go.”

"You know I can hear you, right?" Lucy asked.

The invisible chief dropped his dumb Irish act and said, "Yeah... that's kind of the point. Get the plot moving and all that."

After a pause one of the others added, "It'd be just silly if we didn't know you were there."

"Yeah, we're the invisible ones."

"It's not like we can't see women. Didn't you hear us use the term 'mother's son'? Unlike some people we could name--"

Lucy asked, "How is it that even though I can't see you I know you're looking right at the author?"

"It's a talent. Anyway, unlike some people we could name we are fully cognizant of the fact that female people exist on an ongoing basis and not just when we care to notice them."

---Thing the Seventh

As soon as the thumping noise had died away she got up and ran along the path after the others as quickly as her legs would carry her.

Ha, ha, she has legs.

---Thing the Eighth

And it was here that they had their first indication that there was something odd about this island.

I mean, except for all the other indications that there was something about this island which I, the narrator, have described to you already and will not reiterate here.

---Thing the Ninth

“There’s some magic at work here,” said Caspian.
“Machinery!” said Eustace. “I do believe we’ve come to a civilized country at last.”

To which the pump replied, in a very civilized fashion, "We are the Borg. Lower your weapons and surrender your bodies. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Your culture will adapt to service us. Resistance is futile."

---Thing the Tenth

In a low voice she tried to make them understand what she had overheard. And when they had partly understood it even the bravest of them did not look very happy.

I'm afraid I don't understand something here. Is this indicating that Lucy is bad at explaining or that they are bad at understanding? Also, why would bravery be correlated with being happy to learn of an upcoming ambush?

---Thing the Eleventh

“Invisible enemies,” muttered Caspian. “And cutting us off from the boat. This is an ugly furrow to plow.”

"You plow?"

"Well I have to do something when I'm completely failing to run my country and not on a sea voyage."

"You just never seemed the plowing type to me."

"What? I can totally plow. I can plow like you wouldn't believe."

---Thing the Twelfth

You’ve no idea what sort of creatures they are, Lu?” asked Edmund.

"No more than you Ed."

"I... don't follow."

"Well... well they're invisible, you can't smell them, they don't leave footprints, they can be completely silent when they want to be, and all that stuff. Other than that, no. No idea at all. They are, after all, invisible."

--- Thing the Thirteenth

“I wonder,” said Reepicheep, “do they become visible when you drive a sword into them?”

"Now, now, Reep," Edmund the Just said, "For all we know they just think we're invaders--"

"We are," said Lucy the Valiant. "Have you not noticed the pillaging we've been doing?"

"I've... I've tried not to. Because if I did notice, and I wanted to keep my title, then the only thing to do would be to arrest Caspian, and the last thing Narnia needs so soon into reconstruction after an occupation and a war is a battle between kings."

--- Thing the Fourteenth

“It looks as if we shall find out,” said Caspian.

"OR WE COULD TRY NEGOTIATION!" Lucy, Edmund, Eustace, Drinian, and Reepicheep shouted in unison.

"Just because I wonder what would happen if I did something violent doesn't mean that violence is my actual plan," Reepicheep added.

--- Thing the Fifteenth

“Not depth for her, Sire,” said Drinian.

"You see, while you were doing all your kingly things I had an entire team of experts sounding the entire bay as well as the rest of the shoreline of the island." Drinian paused. "Because I totally do these things all the damn time."

--- Thing the Sixteenth

“But they won’t see us fighting if they can’t see any enemy,” said Eustace miserably. “They’ll think we’re just swinging our swords in the air for fun.”

"I told you those LARP sessions would come back to bite us." Edmund said.

"I regret nothing," Lucy replied. "Besides, we needed a way to keep up morale."

Donations: Thank you

Since I made the post saying that I needed money, I've gotten a couple of donations.  I still am not unscrewed over (I really should have read more carefully) but I am so much closer to being unscrewed over, so to the people who donated, thank you very much.

The massively boring "I need money" post that I warned you was coming

About a half a month ago I was extremely worried that I had miscalculated and was going to have to beg for money STAT lest there be no heating oil and I freeze.  Turned out I calculated just fine and all was well.

This time... this time it's not so much of a miscalcuation as a misreading (damn terms and conditions) and most of the fallout will happen next month for which I have plans* --that hopefully will not fail-- but right here right now...

It would be nice if I could somehow get $84.16 in the next day or two but I think I can survive that by moving money as if it were a savvy player in musical chairs and such.

It is absolutely vital that I have $274.58 by the end of the month.  That is much harder to come by.

Also there's an outstanding charge of over a thousand dollars where I thought it better to accept a one time only late fee than pay for it via an interest bearing loan (so far that seems the right choice) but things are approaching the point where I'm going to have to find a way to pay for it or face negative consequences.

But, for the moment, the big thing is 274 US dollars and 58 US cents by the end of the month otherwise the excrement will hit the air moving device with such force as you have not known.

-

And I hate making posts asking for monetary help because I don't feel I deserve it.  There are people who should be paid for their blogging work.  Ana Mardoll deserves to be paid.  Fred Clark deserves to be be paid.  So on.

I am not one of those people.  I have a donate button (top right) not because I feel I deserve to be paid but because sometimes I need to be.  Remember the root canal thing?  Still haven't fucking paid that off, but I'd be nowhere near as close if not for the fact that some people donated and donated so much more than anything I do is worth.

And that's part of why I hate making posts like this.  I've already gotten more than I deserve and here I am asking for even more than that.

And yet, that's exactly what I'm doing.  With a note of: every little bit counts (see, just made that note) and puppy-dog eyes. *makes puppy-dog eyes*

-

* It's sort of like this, you need a doohickey, but the only way to get one is to buy a set that's up for auction, which contains a doohickey but also a gadget, a widget, a doodad, a thingamabob, a thingamajig, a whatsit, a whachamacallit, a gizmo, a thingy, an indeterminate object, and another thingy that may or may not be a Pakistani knock off.

Since it's an auction the people who want two or more of the things involved are driving the price up high (screw them, you're only supposed to want one item) and everyone who wants even one of the things in the lot has to bid.

BUT since not everyone wanted the doohickey you can turn around and sell the the other things that were being auctioned with it off to recoup at least some of your costs in getting the doohicky you needed.

However, until such time as you have weighed and measured the various things you didn't want, calculated shipping, listed them for sale, and actually sold them it is the case that you've recouped none of your money and are in debt the full price of the auction.

When I was younger I used to think that lots were awesome.  Get a bunch of stuff at once.  Wahoo!  Now I'm of the mind that things should just be sold individually.  The sellers make more money, the buyers don't get stuck with stuff they don't want.

Well, maybe not.  Lots do have advantages.  I know a man --I guess I should say knew since he has left this world for realms more metaphysical but his death hasn't really sunk in yet so "know" it is-- who once wanted a summer camp to call his own.

He borrowed a lot of money from his college roommate (one of the Heinz-heirs) to buy up all of the land around a certain lake, the summer camp was included in "all the land" then he sold everything but the summer camp for the exact same amount and paid back his college roommate.

So if you are a buyer getting stuff you don't want can be an advantage, but only if you can afford to wait until the people who want the stuff you don't are ready to buy.  Waiting isn't always an option.

I dropped my hat.

So, at some point in the near future I'm going to be making one of those begging for money (if you've got a couple hundred dollars you don't need, there's a donate button which you might want to use because...) but those are boring and make me feel kind of bad because I'm pretty sure nothing I do here is really worth being paid for and stuff sooo... Yesterday I dropped my hat.

It was, you see, The Return.  I had been gone for a while, I was coming home.  I knew I shouldn't be wearing my hat because it was too windy and I have yet to make strap thingys for it which would hold it on in the wind (and also allow it to be pushed back so it was not worn but neither did it need to be held in one's hand because that would be super useful.)  But the thing is, it was cold.  Really, really fucking cold.

So I tried to wear it but be careful.

And then, on the bridge, it blew off.  So I sprinted back, ditched my bags behind the nearest bench, sprinted to the crosswalk at the end of the bridge, crossed it, climbed over a fence, went down a hill, and reached the seafloor.  The tide was largely, but not totally, out.

And this is when I discovered something that I had not known, because I had no cause to know, before: the parts that are solid ground you can step on look exactly like the parts where you sink right in.

This was my fucking Nostos for fucks sake.  (Fuck.)  And here I was getting my shoes covered in sea mud, mollusk shells, runoff, and whatever else was in that squishy sludge.

[Fun fact: days earlier, on the way to the journey I was returning from, I stepped in wet cement with those same shoes.]

And I continued until I reached the prize:

You see, it was at about this point that I realized that:

• I could make a post about this, perhaps even including the word "nostos" (which I did, see above)
• Pictures might be useful in such a post
• While I had ditched my bags I still had my camera

You may notice a conspicuous lack of bridge  Have no fear.  I had to combine two images to get it because no amount of zooming out would do, but here is the hat with the bridge:

Now that sort of semi-circular sticking out area is where I stowed my bags but the part that I stowed them on isn't actually in the picture (it would be slightly to the left) not that you could see them from ground level even if the part were in the picture.

And if anyone was wondering how far I had to go to get from point A to point B:

I have no idea.  I was farther from the bridge end in the picture than the observation area (the semi-circle with useless bars sticking up), but I have no idea how much farther.  I can set an upper and lower bound, but no specifics.

And if anyone is wondering just how squishy things were, here is a picture (zoomed in of course) from the bridge:

You could see where I was walking.  (Otherwise I wouldn't have known to zoom in for a better shot.)  Zoomed in more:

And these are my feet:

So, yeah.

Princess Story, Part 3

[Previously parts One and Two.]

The entry into the city and approach to the palace had been carried out perfectly.  The gates were opened and closed with such precision that the foreign caravan had not needed to slow until it stopped within the palace itself.

While supply carts regularly journeyed into the palatial complex it was unusual for carriages to enter the complex instead of stopping at the entrance and depositing their guests there.

The princess of the sea kingdom watched the carriages come and reflected on what it meant.  She sighed.  It meant that even within the city walls they could not trust that their guests would be safe.  It meant that even here, at home, in a place she had known all her life amoung the people she had grown up mingling with, no one could be trusted.  It meant that only the walls of the palace, her family home, and the guards of the same, could protect people who should need no protecting in the first place.  It meant that she had to fear her own people, lest they murder what should be honored guests and plunge the world into devastating war.

It had been a weary sigh.

She watched as various people emerged from the carriages.  A priestess, the other kingdom's own guards, lawyers, assorted people who wore various uniforms and insignias she didn't recognize but assumed to be advisors --and the guests themselves.

They had been two of the first out of the carriages but amoung the last she got a good look at.  They wore the markings of their royalty.  Every kingdom the princess knew of had its own method of distinguishing royalty, this kingdom --whose legends said they came from the eastern desert before settling the farmlands that occupied the majority of their holdings-- marked royalty with intricate designs of jewelry made chiefly from copper and mica extracted from the same desert.

They were both about her age --that was good, she supposed-- the girl was wide-eyed, looking everywhere and taking in every detail as if she were afraid the things she didn't notice would disappear before she got a chance.  The boy, the one the princess was to marry, looked joyless.  His feet barely cleared the ground as he walked.  Eyes stayed downcast.  His expression never seemed to change, regardless of what he was looking at.

This was who she was to marry?

When the entourage had assembled the prince finally looked up, his eyes met those of the princess and he spoke in formal tones, "I am Prince Apobammos of the Eraymobatai, this is my sister--" he stopped as he noticed his sister was no longer with him.

For a moment he frantically looked around then he saw her.  The foreigner was looking over a wall by the sea.

The princess followed as he ran to his sister.  She heard them speaking:

"Have you ever even imagined anything like this?" the foreign princess asked.  "It's as big as the eastern desert but it's ... blue."  Her brother didn't reply.  "And look, it's got it's own dunes.  But they're tiny and move fast."

Finally the prince spoke, "It's amazing."

His sister responded, "But what is it?"

The princess tried not to laugh at their ignorance, doubtless she would find many things in their kingdom strange.  She, trying not to sound condescending, said, "It's the ocean."

"It can't be," the foreign prince said.  "The ocean is made of water."

"And water is clear," his sister added.

This time she couldn't stifle the small laugh that came.  She quickly explained, "Shallow water is clear."

They didn't exactly say it in unison, but it was close enough that the princess wasn't sure which started speaking first when they asked, "That's water?"

The three spoke a bit more about the ocean, but the foreign prince soon tired of it and asked if he could visit the local library.  The princess gave her his permission and sent her lady in waiting to lead him to it.  The various members of the courts had scattered to begin the the work of integrating in preparation for, and defense of, the wedding.

That left the local princess and the foreign one to have a conversation that ranged all over and ended with the foreign one saying, "I still don't know your name."

"Lara."

"Melitta."

"You're named 'Honey Bee'?" Lara said, not even thinking to keep the laughter from her voice.

"You're named 'Seagull'," Melitta replied defensively.

"It... it might mean 'Mew'."

"Which is another word for 'Seagull'."

A staring contest began, and soon ended when both princesses broke into laughter.

-

[Previous][Princess Story Index][Next]
[Original Work]

---

[Ok, seriously, how boring is it to decide to name a character "Seagull in Latin" and find out the word is Larus, which would have a feminine form of Lara which is a pretty standard name?  I mean I could call her Merga (loon) or make up a word: Avimare (bird-sea, to mean seabird) or Maravis (sea-bird to mean seabird) but I wanted "Seagull" damn it.  Arabic and Persian have been suggested to me as other possible languages to mine, but when I decided to make the ancient languages of the two kingdoms from which names were drawn be real world languages I picked Latin and Greek.]

Something to think about

Ok, so, remember this post?  It was suggested that it be made into a Slacktiverse post, something that I think would be a good idea, but I also think that if that's going to happen it needs more ... stuff.  Polish, structure, not-just-something-I-banged-out-ness.  Also it would be good to incorporate it with the clarification and sideways expansion of ideas described in this post.

To do these things (combine the post into one coherent well structured post that meets my standards for what is Slacktiverse worthy) you know what I could use?  Help.

Advice, examples (oh god could I use more real life examples instead of "there are like five thousand but I've forgotten all of them"), criticism, whatever.  Input.

Input that I can then use to make better output.

I mean, I thought this not-yet-made post would probably be on the Slacktiverse in mid October.  I sent out an email to multiple people asking for this sort of help and... nothing much came of it.  So, screw emails asking a few people for help.  Here's a blog post asking everyone for help.

It's not like the value of someone's input is tied to whether I know, and think to use, their email address.

I think that there are the makings of a pretty decent social justicy post in the posts here and here but to actually make that post some things have to happen:
1 The two need to be merged in a coherent non-clunky fashion.
2 Someone, someone not me because I'm too close to my own writing, has to speak up on what parts worked and what parts didn't.
3 Blind spots in the original posts need to pointed out to me.
4 Examples from real life, I needs them.  On my own I can probably grab a couple of examples of toys for children and girls, figurines of people and ethnic people, and that sort of thing.  With the help of others I hope to have a lot more examples because in some cases I know they're out there I just can't remember them (or in one case am unwilling to wade into the cesspool that is the behind the curtain parts of wikipedia to grab it) and I do not for one second believe that the ones I've encountered are the only ones.
5 I know there was more stuff but I spent too much time on four and there are very strange sounds coming from outside.

Two and three I definitely cannot do alone.  Four I can do but not nearly as well as I would with outside help.  One I can probably do on my own but I'd feel better if I had other people's input.

So, please, think about this.  And then: Respond.

If you don't want to reply in public my email is cpw at maine dot rr dot com.

Twilight: Bella getting married to who she wants while Charlie negotiates the dowry

[Originally posted at Ana Mardoll's Ramblings.]

We've reached full-on patriarchy: Edward was clearly worried that Bella would marry Mike simply because her dad told her to. And supplied some sheep as a dowry.

Charlie: I know it's hard to admit this to yourself, he is your only child, but Mike isn't worth more than three sheep.
Mike's dad: I am not accepting a dowry of less than five sheep. Five sheep, a goat and two pigs (full grown; no piglets), or a full fledged milk cow and a chicken. Nothing less.
Charlie: Look, I might be able to go up to four sheep but the fourth one is going to have to be a lamb. There is no way I'm going to pay out a cow for such a poor husband as Mike.
Mike's dad: Poor? He's the best in the town!
Charlie: But everyone else has a reasonable idea of what their kid is worth. I could get Eric to take her for one sheep. Tyler for a lamb and a kid.
Mike's dad: Maybe I can go down to four sheep but they had better all be full grown.
Charlie: That's pushing it.
Mike's dad: One ram and three ewes, all in their primes.
...

-

Meanwhile back at the reservation:
Bella: Leah, my dad is out negotiating and you know how long that takes. This is the best chance we'll ever get to run away together.
Leah: Are you sure Bell? We'll have to go right through his jurisdiction.
Bella: I'm telling you: we can do it.
Leah: And then what Bell? I mean, I want to be with you but-
Bella: Will you marry me?
Leah: (Complete Shock) What?!
Bella: I'm not 18 yet but if we took a nice languorous road trip to Massachusetts by the time we got there we could get married.
Leah: British Colombia is closer.
Bella: The age requirement there is 19.
*pause*
Bella: Was that a yes?
*Leah hugs Bella*
Leah: Yes.
Bella: (sheepishly*) I didn't get you a ring.
Leah: We can deal with that later. Let's go.
*they hop in the truck and drive toward their happy future together*

-

*I've been debating whether or not to point out that I spent enough time figuring out where marriage was legal when that I completely forgot this was inspired by sheep when I wrote the word "sheepishly". Obviously I landed on the side of pointing it out

-

[Twilight Index]

.hack//Sign: Sora's Plan

.hack recap: Subaru and the Silver Knight just had a conversation about what should be done and what can be done regarding Tsukasa.

.hack//Sign, Episode 4: Wanted, 10:02-12:02

Sora jumps from a boat into the path of Subaru and the Silver Knight

Sora really, really likes jumping.

Silver Knight: You're being rude.
Sora: Hey.  Looks like we need to talk to little Tsukasa.  *beat*  Don't you think so?

The question is one that Subaru seems to at least entertain, if not endorse.  The beat of pause is on her and her expression is neutral.  The Silver Knight has other ideas:

Silver Knight: We eliminate all characters who violate our regulations.  There is no need to listen to their excuses.

Self appointed executioner.
Judge and jury need not apply.

Ok, this is just... whoa.

First off: OUR regulations.  The Crimson Knights are not a police force, they are not a part of some government elected or otherwise.  They are a private paramilitary group who has taken it upon themselves to try to impose some level of order on a basically chaotic system: a game with no rules.

But since when do they get to impose regulations?  The system administration gets to say, "There are no rules within the game but don't hack the game itself," which aligns with the Crimson Knights' ideals of fair play and being nice, but since when do the Crimson Knights get to have regulations?

They're a player group like any other group of players, and they have banded together for common cause and that cause is more or less good and such, but they're no different from other citizens of The World.  They're players pushing their own agenda, not administrators handing down rules for all to follow.

Second, there's no need to listen to their excuses?  Really?  What if there excuse is, "I didn't illegally edit my character, someone else did it to me and I'm the fracking victim here"?  Because, if true, that's a pretty good excuse.

Third, eliminate?  Sora kills other characters (as with BT), the Guardian kills characters (he did it to the Silver Knight), but to eliminate someone is something beyond execution in this game.  This is a place where physical pain does not exist (except for Tsukasa) and dying just sends you to your last save point.  To eliminate someone...

And to go back to the "no need to listen to their excuses" bit, that's not setting yourself up as judge jury and executioner, that's taking the courtroom out of the equation and skipping straight to the execution.

Moving on.

Sora: Can you?  Can you eliminate him?

Good question Sora.  And the answer is no.  The Silver Knight can't.  He's overstepping his bounds, or at least overstating them.

Subaru: The Sys Admin has the power to do so.

This is not stated as a correction, but it is in fact a rather big one.  For Silver Knight it was, "We eliminate all characters who violate our regulations," now we're being told that it's someone else entirely who can.  No "we" no "our".  The system administrators who, just last post, we were told are having their minds boggled.

That's a major difference.  The Crimson Knights are in contact with the system administration, the work with the system administration, but they are not the system administration.  They do not have the powers or authority that go with being a Sys Admin, no matter how much Silver night might tell others and himself that they do.

But Sora isn't concerned about that aspect of things.

Sora: That is, if he can go ahead and use those powers.
Silver Knight: What is it you want to say?
Sora: That's what I'm telling you.  You need to talk to little Tsukasa.  Let's capture him.

And now we've gone from "eliminating" the character to kidnapping the character.  Wonderful.  Except there is nothing really new about this.  To capture him they need to find him, and they can't find him.  Fortunately (for a given value of that word) Sora has a plan.

I considered a picture of Sora playing with his hair while
outlining his nefarious plan, but went with this instead.

Sora: Tsukasa's not on his guard right now.  He's seen around everywhere, yet still does what he pleases.  He seems to be going around with the monster that defeated you, Sir Knight.  Maybe it's going to his head.
Subaru: Please continue.
Sora: Well first, make it harder for Tsukasa to move around.
Silver Knight: How so?
Sora: A wanted notice.  Yeah, you could put a bounty on his head and turn it into an event.

This is something that the Knights have not done.  This is something the Knights have never done.  They've been the de facto police force of The World for some time now, as far as the Silver Knight is concerned they are second only to the System Administration (the actual rulers of The World, even if for them the whole of the law is, "Do what thou wilt, but don't fuck with the code.")  They have responded to countless crimes and oddities that they have identified for themselves as well as calls for help.  In that time they have never, not once, put out a wanted notice.  They have never singled out someone for the general population to go after.

When they've felt the need to deal with someone they've done it themselves within the confines, and thus oversight, of their own organization.


Subaru: But that's...
Sora: You don't want to do it?!
Subaru: I can't do that.
Sora: You can, you can.  Then, eyewitness reports will come flocking in which will allow you to determine his behavior pattern.  You'd then be able to come up with a strategy against him.  I'm sure you can do it.
*Subaru makes a "hmm" sound*

And then Sora talks about himself, because he's Sora.

But before we get to that, Subaru is opposed to this plan, and makes that opposition explicit, and yet eventually comes to consider it.  Subaru is not an especially pliable character, and Sora is not particularly persuasive, so this can't be viewed as like when Achilles comes on strong and then crumbles because that's what Achilles does (I'm leaving and taking my men with me.  Fine, I'll stay but I won't fight or let my men fight.  Well, ok, if the Trojans reach the ships then I'll authorize fighting.  Ok, fine, the men can fight.)  This is instead more a thing about the situation.  Subaru will elaborate on that more, albeit in the form of a statement that trails off before you can quite tell where it's going, but first Sora:

This is what happens when he stops letting you talk.

Sora: I want to talk to little Tsukasa.
Silver Knight: What good will it do to talk to someone like him?
Sora: You're too hard-headed.
Silver Knight: (while reaching for his sword) And here I was letting you talk--

Ok, Silver Knight first.  "Letting".  He was letting Sora talk.  Because other people need his permission.  And if he doesn't like what the people have to say the sword comes out.

A lot of the characters really could be from anywhere, but the characters are all Japanese and I can't help but wonder if Silver Knight sees himself as a Samurai in the game.  Specifically from the time when it was legal for Samurai to simply behead anyone they felt was being disrespectful toward them.

Subaru: Silver Knight.  You want to talk to the wave master because of the Key of the Twilight.  Isn't that so?
Sora: Yeah
Subaru: I don't believe in its existence.

And that, right there, is Sora's motivation.  He wants to start an unprecedented system-wide manhunt for Tsukasa --using Subaru's organization-- so he can have a chat with Tsukasa about something Subaru doesn't even think exists.

Closer than you ever wanted to be to Subaru's eyes.

Subaru: However, how he can exist in the way that he does...
Sora: You want to know.  And if you eliminate little Tsukasa, that answer will be lost forever.
Subaru: It makes me worry so.

-

[Previous][Index]