paradoxcase (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
paradoxcase) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
rainbowfic2025-07-08 04:01 pm
paradoxcase) wrote in rainbowfic2025-07-08 04:01 pm
Dogwood Rose #6, Light Black #20 [The Fulcrum]
Name: A Return to Research
Story: The Fulcrum
Colors: Dogwood Rose #6: orange: enthusiasm, Light Black #20: Heal
Styles and Supplies: Panorama, Calendar Page (July 8: SCUD Day), Stickers ("There is a “Gospel of Judas” not found in the Bible that speaks of Judas as the only one of Jesus’ disciples who fully understood his teachings. He turned Jesus over to the Romans because Jesus asked him to."), Tempera (I used dailytarotdraw and got the Eight of Swords. Using the reversed meaning: "The 8 of Swords Reversed represents a release from the entrapment and self-imposed limitations that once plagued us. When this card appears reversed, it signifies newfound clarity, liberation, and the ability to break free from mental barriers. The negative thoughts and fears that once held us captive are now dissipating, giving way to a renewed sense of empowerment and freedom. The reversed 8 of Swords reminds us that we have the power to overcome our self-imposed restrictions and embrace a life filled with possibilities and growth. It encourages us to step out of our comfort zones and explore new horizons, knowing that we can navigate any challenges that come our way."), Novelty Bead (this image, given here)
Word Count: 1161
Rating: G
Warnings: None
Characters: Setsiana, Qhoroali
In-Universe Date: 1912.1.4.5
Summary: Setsiana finds something to do with herself.
The long third week of the month passed uneventfully. Setsiana had been going out more, and trying to talk to local shopkeepers to get a better grasp of the 20th century language, which was already starting to sound less absurd to her ears. If she was going to be stuck in this time period, she’d at least prefer to not be regarded as an actor, or as someone putting on an accent.
One day, she returned earlier than usual and happened to glance over at where Qhoroali sat, engrossed in some paper or other. It had been so long since she’d read a paper. A hopeless, wistful feeling compelled her to ask what it was about.
“Oh, this?” Qhoroali asked. “This is about Sapfita’s relationship to the fabric of Time itself, some theories about what Time is actually made of, fundamentally, and whether Sapfita might be made of the same stuff. This kind of materialist approach is actually pretty interesting. Have you ever read any of it?”
“I think I read a little once,” Setsiana said. “One or two papers, but that’s it. The priestesses at Taleinyo didn’t like those ideas very much. They liked to focus on Sapfita as a person, and think about what She wanted in the same terms as what a person wants, and not so much on Her, I guess, physical being, if She truly has such a thing.” She hesitated a moment, and then added, “I don’t know, maybe if you are right and my dreams of Her aren’t real, that’s partly why I see Her that way, as a human-shaped person, although I’ve been having those dreams since I was a child.”
“Maybe,” said Qhoroali. “This materialist stuff was popular for only a brief period of time, but I think they may actually have some very good points. Since She is Time, there should be some material connection, assuming we can talk about Time as a material thing, of course. But it also kind of raises the question of why She does seem to have some degree of personhood, instead of just being some kind of elemental or abstraction or force of nature. Why is Time a woman? Why does She have opinions and desires? Everyone agrees that She does — they don’t always agree on what Her opinions are, but they do agree that She has them, and that She has been attempting to communicate them to us for as long as the priesthood has existed, and possibly even for thousands of years before that. I’ve never had a dream of Her, but I think it’s unlikely that every priestess in two millennia were all wrong about that.”
“Well, there are the human origin theories,” Setsiana said.
“Oh, yeah. Mureiyo and all the rest of them. Individuals who can’t agree on anything, all writing about their own extremely detailed theories about how Sapfita was a human on Celyira at some point. I don’t think any two people have ever agreed on the same theory. At least with the Personalists, they mostly seem to agree on some shared ideas, but everyone in the main branch who writes about Sapfita being a human at some point seems like a lone loony tune.”
“Well, it’s not like anyone ever accused the priesthood of being in agreement on anything.” Setsiana poured herself some tea from the teapot sitting on the desk and sat on a couch. “Whatever else you want to say about those theories, they are kind of fun to read, at least.”
“Yeah.” Qhoroali smiled. “I actually have some here, if you’re interested. After you reminded me of Mureiyo, I had Li pick up some others of that ilk, mostly just for amusement’s sake.” She rooted through some papers and separated a few stapled copies out, pushing them towards where Setsiana sat.
Setsiana took them and began reading through them. Some of them were very interesting, or at least very imaginative, short-form stories of Sapfita’s supposed life as a human on Celyira. Completely tragic as pieces of research, of course, but they were fun to read. She remembered doing actual research back at Taleinyo — sometimes the papers were dry and uninteresting, but as she’d focused more on her areas of interest the process had become easier and more enjoyable. She thought sadly that she would miss that; then she realized suddenly that she didn’t have to. She was here, in a room full of papers about her particular interests, being invited to read them. She could still do that without necessarily helping Qhoroali kill Sapfita, she thought.
“Can I see the materialist papers when you’re done with them, too?” she asked.
“Sure,” Qhoroali said. “I wouldn’t mind hearing your thoughts, either, if you wanted to share them.”
“Yeah,” said Setsiana. “I’d actually be pretty interested to talk about them with someone, to tell you the truth.”
“You actually would help me, then?” Qhoroali asked. “I thought you were adamantly against it. Or do you agree with me now, after everything that’s happened, and whatever your recent conversation with Her was, that we should be working to kill Her?”
“No,” said Setsiana. “I just enjoy this, to be honest. It was why I wanted to join the temple in the first place. And… you seem to actually appreciate my ideas, or at least, the work I produced in the timelines where I stayed, and you’re interested in the same subject that I am, which wasn’t common at the temple. I don’t believe that you can kill Her, no matter how much research you do, so I suppose I don’t really feel like it matters that much even if I do give you some useful ideas. I never got the kind of appreciation you showed for my work at the temple. It’s… nice.”
Qhoroali was looking at her with a kind of cautious smile on her face, now. “Well, I don’t much care that you’re not a true believer in our mission here, to tell you the truth,” she said. “If you’re going to help out for your own reasons, I’ll accept it. I’m not an ideological purist. And you know,” she added, in a softer tone of voice, “it is nice to have someone to hash ideas out with. I love Li and everything, but she is not a researcher. To be honest, I was never all that popular at my mother’s temple, either — when you’re sort of the heir apparent of the whole thing people tend to resent you a bit, and I was never very good at making friends just in general. So I feel you there. It’s nice.”
They read in silence for a while, swapped papers, and talked for a bit about what they’d read. Setsiana felt like some light and some happiness was coming back into her life, after two and a half months of struggle and misery. She almost felt that she could maybe get used to her new situation. Almost.
Story: The Fulcrum
Colors: Dogwood Rose #6: orange: enthusiasm, Light Black #20: Heal
Styles and Supplies: Panorama, Calendar Page (July 8: SCUD Day), Stickers ("There is a “Gospel of Judas” not found in the Bible that speaks of Judas as the only one of Jesus’ disciples who fully understood his teachings. He turned Jesus over to the Romans because Jesus asked him to."), Tempera (I used dailytarotdraw and got the Eight of Swords. Using the reversed meaning: "The 8 of Swords Reversed represents a release from the entrapment and self-imposed limitations that once plagued us. When this card appears reversed, it signifies newfound clarity, liberation, and the ability to break free from mental barriers. The negative thoughts and fears that once held us captive are now dissipating, giving way to a renewed sense of empowerment and freedom. The reversed 8 of Swords reminds us that we have the power to overcome our self-imposed restrictions and embrace a life filled with possibilities and growth. It encourages us to step out of our comfort zones and explore new horizons, knowing that we can navigate any challenges that come our way."), Novelty Bead (this image, given here)
Word Count: 1161
Rating: G
Warnings: None
Characters: Setsiana, Qhoroali
In-Universe Date: 1912.1.4.5
Summary: Setsiana finds something to do with herself.
The long third week of the month passed uneventfully. Setsiana had been going out more, and trying to talk to local shopkeepers to get a better grasp of the 20th century language, which was already starting to sound less absurd to her ears. If she was going to be stuck in this time period, she’d at least prefer to not be regarded as an actor, or as someone putting on an accent.
One day, she returned earlier than usual and happened to glance over at where Qhoroali sat, engrossed in some paper or other. It had been so long since she’d read a paper. A hopeless, wistful feeling compelled her to ask what it was about.
“Oh, this?” Qhoroali asked. “This is about Sapfita’s relationship to the fabric of Time itself, some theories about what Time is actually made of, fundamentally, and whether Sapfita might be made of the same stuff. This kind of materialist approach is actually pretty interesting. Have you ever read any of it?”
“I think I read a little once,” Setsiana said. “One or two papers, but that’s it. The priestesses at Taleinyo didn’t like those ideas very much. They liked to focus on Sapfita as a person, and think about what She wanted in the same terms as what a person wants, and not so much on Her, I guess, physical being, if She truly has such a thing.” She hesitated a moment, and then added, “I don’t know, maybe if you are right and my dreams of Her aren’t real, that’s partly why I see Her that way, as a human-shaped person, although I’ve been having those dreams since I was a child.”
“Maybe,” said Qhoroali. “This materialist stuff was popular for only a brief period of time, but I think they may actually have some very good points. Since She is Time, there should be some material connection, assuming we can talk about Time as a material thing, of course. But it also kind of raises the question of why She does seem to have some degree of personhood, instead of just being some kind of elemental or abstraction or force of nature. Why is Time a woman? Why does She have opinions and desires? Everyone agrees that She does — they don’t always agree on what Her opinions are, but they do agree that She has them, and that She has been attempting to communicate them to us for as long as the priesthood has existed, and possibly even for thousands of years before that. I’ve never had a dream of Her, but I think it’s unlikely that every priestess in two millennia were all wrong about that.”
“Well, there are the human origin theories,” Setsiana said.
“Oh, yeah. Mureiyo and all the rest of them. Individuals who can’t agree on anything, all writing about their own extremely detailed theories about how Sapfita was a human on Celyira at some point. I don’t think any two people have ever agreed on the same theory. At least with the Personalists, they mostly seem to agree on some shared ideas, but everyone in the main branch who writes about Sapfita being a human at some point seems like a lone loony tune.”
“Well, it’s not like anyone ever accused the priesthood of being in agreement on anything.” Setsiana poured herself some tea from the teapot sitting on the desk and sat on a couch. “Whatever else you want to say about those theories, they are kind of fun to read, at least.”
“Yeah.” Qhoroali smiled. “I actually have some here, if you’re interested. After you reminded me of Mureiyo, I had Li pick up some others of that ilk, mostly just for amusement’s sake.” She rooted through some papers and separated a few stapled copies out, pushing them towards where Setsiana sat.
Setsiana took them and began reading through them. Some of them were very interesting, or at least very imaginative, short-form stories of Sapfita’s supposed life as a human on Celyira. Completely tragic as pieces of research, of course, but they were fun to read. She remembered doing actual research back at Taleinyo — sometimes the papers were dry and uninteresting, but as she’d focused more on her areas of interest the process had become easier and more enjoyable. She thought sadly that she would miss that; then she realized suddenly that she didn’t have to. She was here, in a room full of papers about her particular interests, being invited to read them. She could still do that without necessarily helping Qhoroali kill Sapfita, she thought.
“Can I see the materialist papers when you’re done with them, too?” she asked.
“Sure,” Qhoroali said. “I wouldn’t mind hearing your thoughts, either, if you wanted to share them.”
“Yeah,” said Setsiana. “I’d actually be pretty interested to talk about them with someone, to tell you the truth.”
“You actually would help me, then?” Qhoroali asked. “I thought you were adamantly against it. Or do you agree with me now, after everything that’s happened, and whatever your recent conversation with Her was, that we should be working to kill Her?”
“No,” said Setsiana. “I just enjoy this, to be honest. It was why I wanted to join the temple in the first place. And… you seem to actually appreciate my ideas, or at least, the work I produced in the timelines where I stayed, and you’re interested in the same subject that I am, which wasn’t common at the temple. I don’t believe that you can kill Her, no matter how much research you do, so I suppose I don’t really feel like it matters that much even if I do give you some useful ideas. I never got the kind of appreciation you showed for my work at the temple. It’s… nice.”
Qhoroali was looking at her with a kind of cautious smile on her face, now. “Well, I don’t much care that you’re not a true believer in our mission here, to tell you the truth,” she said. “If you’re going to help out for your own reasons, I’ll accept it. I’m not an ideological purist. And you know,” she added, in a softer tone of voice, “it is nice to have someone to hash ideas out with. I love Li and everything, but she is not a researcher. To be honest, I was never all that popular at my mother’s temple, either — when you’re sort of the heir apparent of the whole thing people tend to resent you a bit, and I was never very good at making friends just in general. So I feel you there. It’s nice.”
They read in silence for a while, swapped papers, and talked for a bit about what they’d read. Setsiana felt like some light and some happiness was coming back into her life, after two and a half months of struggle and misery. She almost felt that she could maybe get used to her new situation. Almost.
no subject
no subject
Thank you!