[network]

[romelle]

Who: Romelle
Username: blomblossom
Warnings: Linked image is of a weird animal statue with a transparent womb, so... that's a thing. Otherwise none!

[ MotherAndChild.jpg is embedded here. ]

Do you have any idea how long I have to keep this on my desk for 'observation'? I know the child isn't moving (I checked the security cameras!) but it's making me imagine things when it's in the corner of my eye.

... does anybody who bought something cuter from Things of Beauty want to swap?

[ And then another new post after a few minutes, because Romelle has not yet gotten the hang of post editing: ]

Also can someone please explain what "pogge" (I think) means? I thought I had adjusted to Earth language well enough, but these videos might as well be speaking Snakurlan.

Comments

[romelle]

These videos are so showy that I can certainly imagine them all shouting "me! me!" as they go.

These clips could be such an interesting window into the world of Earth, but instead they are just repetitive. It seems wasteful to me.

[ Once she discovers travel vlogs, she'll be hooked for a few weeks... ]

[aelwyn_aberration]

Haha. Well, I do think they somewhat reflect the society itself in a lot of ways. They have a few websites similar to TikTok or Instagram back home and it's about the same level of performative narcissism.

But you should be able to find something to your fancy. There's a lot of more educational or intelligent content on YouTube (I believe that's the name, back home it was SpellTube) and such. But I think you'll struggle with finding anything remotely worthwhile with such short videos. Most of this TikTok site seems to be reserved for people mouthing words at the camera as if they're saying them, but it's just the audio playing over the video. It's a bit hilarious in a deeply sad way.

[romelle]

Youtube is right, I just looked it up!

... I think that was not allowed on work time. Oops.

I will look at it when I am home, it seems like I can find information in a much more targeted way than by watching TV.

How fascinating though that your world was so similar in these regards? I had not heard of such networks at all before!

[aelwyn_aberration]

I thought it fascinating too. In a lot of ways this world is so far behind my own, and in many others, it's so far ahead.

It feels like the way that the general populace has been kept ignorant about the existence of magic and these entities has held them back from a considerable amount of development. They don't even have space travel, or unlimited backpacks, or time travel. It's quite sad.

But then, they have completely open and instanteneous communication with almost the entire world, rather than just one specific nation that has access to that kind of technology. It's a shame they use it for such meaningless purposes, but impressive none-the-less.

[romelle]

Time travel, too?!

I have heard of theories of different realities being proposed in my world and space travel is certainly commonplace, but that one seems new to me! Does it not cause trouble with keeping history intact? Or do you simply already remember all the times you encountered your future self helping you out of some embarrassment and thus know you have to go do that later on?

[aelwyn_aberration]

We just keep record of the one timeline, any changes are made retroactively. But it's less of a problem as you might expect. It's extremely rare and powerful magic.

I only know of about two wizards that are actually skilled enough to be specialized in such a practice. I am not one of them. Yet.

[She did steal one of their magical time travelling artifacts, though.]

[romelle]

Ah, so it is a matter of power. I should have thought of that.

What are you aiming to gain that power for?

[aelwyn_aberration]

Emergencies, primarily. Escaping the certain destruction of reality seems like a worthy use.

But mostly it just interests me on a theoretical arcana level, the sheer level of power required to not just manipulate the fabric of reality in the smallest ways, but the building blocks of all of existence?

I can't be the only one who thinks that's impressive. Stupid and ill-advised, yes, but deeply impressive.

[romelle]

Impressive indeed.

If I am honest, I don't know what to make of it. For one, such a power could completely change the make-up of the world for the better, but that might lead to the disappearance of everyone who is currently alive...

It makes me contemplate questions I've never asked myself before and I am a little glad I won't have to actually consider them either.

[aelwyn_aberration]

Some people find it comforting to know that no matter what happens, they'll be none the wiser.

[She doesn't, but you guys do you.]

Still, time isn't quite so linear. It's more likely that altering the past will simply cause time to diverge, rather than retroactively editing a pre-existing timeline. But there's room for debate. The only Theodore Talk I've watched on the subject was written by a now dead madman, so.

It's certainly terrifying, existentially. But I think that's what makes it interesting, at least for me.

[romelle]

It just makes me think in the sense that... There was a catastrophic event in the past of my world and objectively, preventing it from happening would seem like the correct choice.

Even if it just creates an offshoot world where it didn't happen. An offshoot world where my whole community does not exist is objectively the better reality.

"If only this had never happened" is an easier thought when it is purely expression of a hopeless wish, I guess.