Mal, in his comments on kentmagus' latest story, wrote:
Hmmmmm... That makes me wonder about this scene from Chapter Four of Legend of Galactic Girls. (What? "Write lineally?" But then I'd still be stuck on the longer fight scene in Chapter Three...) I thought the scene was complete, but now I'm not sure... Are there any problems from a Fenspace point of view with what I'm almost-saying near the end, remembering that Skuld is working from a different set of assumptions than everyone else in the scene?
The scene's context? LoGG as presented so far, except that Bob Is There Too.
"Skuld, I've been wondering about something ever since I met all of you, and you'd probably know the answer."
"What's on your mind, Kohran?"
"Well ... according to the photos I've seen of my construction, I didn't look exactly like the Kohran you met a few worlds ago until after Noah handwaved my skin layer. Did I become her lookalike, or her avatar?"
"That's an intriguing question," Bob commented as he sat down across from the women.
"It may be intriguing, but it's not the right question," Skuld replied. "An avatar is a manifestation of a god and doesn't need to have the same appearance or personality as that god. You both know I'm an avatar of the Child, right?" The others nodded. "What Kohran's wondering is whether she's an analogue of the Kohran I met a while ago." She turned to the android. "I'm not sure. You look and act almost exactly like her, but that's usually a sign that somebody's a lookalike."
"How so?" Bob asked.
"Nature and nuture both play important parts in a person's development. If two people grow up with different nuturing but still end up the same, then they must have started from different natural bases. In this case, one Kohran grew up in China and Japan in the early 20th century, while the other Kohran was built in space in the early 21st century, but they have almost identical personalities. That's most likely if you," Skuld pointed at Kohran, "are a lookalike of the other Kohran."
"I don't know whether I'm happy about that or not."
"Mr. Scott obviously loved you enough to make you 'real' in this world." Skuld smiled. "You weren't an unwanted child; that's more than some people can say."
"I guess. So what are the signs of somebody being an analogue of someone in anouther universe?"
The goddess thought for a moment. "A close physical similarity is a good but not completely reliable clue, and there's usually a few defining personality traits that the two analogues have in common. Common metahuman abilities are another sign, but some analogues don't have those."
Bob nodded. "Because some worlds don't have metahumans."
Kohran dropped her styrofoam coffee cup. She didn't say anything; she just looked at two women sitting at another table.
Skuld nodded, once. "Please don't tell them. Ms. Swansen should live her own life, not Ms. Kino's. And vice versa"
"Don't they have a right to know?" asked Bob.
Skuld looked past Kohran and Bob for a moment, then answered, "I think it's better if Ms. Swansen doesn't find out."
"And if one of us decides to tell her anyway?"
"Let me put it this way, Ms. Li: The story archive Mr. Schroeck gave us says you people know I'm bad at memory-deletion magic. But I'm still better at it than Luna."
"I'll keep my mouth shut," Bob volunteered quickly.
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
Quote:Also, you can stop pestering Cobalt about A.C. and her amazing Sailor Mars impression while you're at it.
Hmmmmm... That makes me wonder about this scene from Chapter Four of Legend of Galactic Girls. (What? "Write lineally?" But then I'd still be stuck on the longer fight scene in Chapter Three...) I thought the scene was complete, but now I'm not sure... Are there any problems from a Fenspace point of view with what I'm almost-saying near the end, remembering that Skuld is working from a different set of assumptions than everyone else in the scene?
The scene's context? LoGG as presented so far, except that Bob Is There Too.
"Skuld, I've been wondering about something ever since I met all of you, and you'd probably know the answer."
"What's on your mind, Kohran?"
"Well ... according to the photos I've seen of my construction, I didn't look exactly like the Kohran you met a few worlds ago until after Noah handwaved my skin layer. Did I become her lookalike, or her avatar?"
"That's an intriguing question," Bob commented as he sat down across from the women.
"It may be intriguing, but it's not the right question," Skuld replied. "An avatar is a manifestation of a god and doesn't need to have the same appearance or personality as that god. You both know I'm an avatar of the Child, right?" The others nodded. "What Kohran's wondering is whether she's an analogue of the Kohran I met a while ago." She turned to the android. "I'm not sure. You look and act almost exactly like her, but that's usually a sign that somebody's a lookalike."
"How so?" Bob asked.
"Nature and nuture both play important parts in a person's development. If two people grow up with different nuturing but still end up the same, then they must have started from different natural bases. In this case, one Kohran grew up in China and Japan in the early 20th century, while the other Kohran was built in space in the early 21st century, but they have almost identical personalities. That's most likely if you," Skuld pointed at Kohran, "are a lookalike of the other Kohran."
"I don't know whether I'm happy about that or not."
"Mr. Scott obviously loved you enough to make you 'real' in this world." Skuld smiled. "You weren't an unwanted child; that's more than some people can say."
"I guess. So what are the signs of somebody being an analogue of someone in anouther universe?"
The goddess thought for a moment. "A close physical similarity is a good but not completely reliable clue, and there's usually a few defining personality traits that the two analogues have in common. Common metahuman abilities are another sign, but some analogues don't have those."
Bob nodded. "Because some worlds don't have metahumans."
Kohran dropped her styrofoam coffee cup. She didn't say anything; she just looked at two women sitting at another table.
Skuld nodded, once. "Please don't tell them. Ms. Swansen should live her own life, not Ms. Kino's. And vice versa"
"Don't they have a right to know?" asked Bob.
Skuld looked past Kohran and Bob for a moment, then answered, "I think it's better if Ms. Swansen doesn't find out."
"And if one of us decides to tell her anyway?"
"Let me put it this way, Ms. Li: The story archive Mr. Schroeck gave us says you people know I'm bad at memory-deletion magic. But I'm still better at it than Luna."
"I'll keep my mouth shut," Bob volunteered quickly.
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012