ioduanlogs | (no subject)

Characters: A miniaturised 10-year-old X and you!
Date: August 8-14
Location: Various places in and around Aifaran
Situation: Miniaturised 10-year-old X is very confused, and adorably gullible. But he's also very resilient, and much more capable and self-reliant than any 10-year-old has any right to be. He gets around, and gets into some trouble.
Warnings/Rating: X is trans and at 10 years old he wasn't aware of that yet. If anything becomes an issue, please let me know!

A | AUGUST 8 | THE BEGINNING: THE DREAMING BRIDGE
He still sleeps, even if he doesn't need to. It's a routine. Everyone does. You have nice dreams, and sometimes you wake up with the answers to questions that have been bothering you for ages.

But he's pretty sure he wasn't sleeping right before he woke up in this unfamiliar bed, in this unfamiliar room.

Aifaran, his mind supplies, cutting off panic at the pass. The Dreaming Bridge. It's safe. The only thing his mind doesn't mysteriously supply is his own name, something he only realises when he ventures tentatively outside and asks the first person he sees where he is.

Are you lost? What's your name?

"It's --"

-- blank.

That, he feels, is an acceptable reason to panic, and so he does. He spends the next several minutes running through the Bridge and addressing total strangers, asking if they know what his name is, because whenever he tries to guess it hurts and he doesn't know why and he doesn't understand what's happening --

B | MARKETS | COMMERCE - 3 | BOGO!
It's a hot, muggy afternoon while X walks around the market carrying a bright silver 'kitchen appliance' he bought, even though he's never seen it before in his life. But it was a fantastic deal! The seller said... a lot of things X can't quite remember anymore, but they sounded good! He can't wait to get back to the Dreaming Bridge and try it out!

... Except he's not sure what it does.

X stops in the middle of the street, frowning in intense concentration, and turns to the nearest bystander. "Excuse me," he says, polite and earnest as anything. "Do you know what this is for?"

C | NEAR THE BRIDGE | ARTS - 3 | IGHEERI EYE
The loud construction noises of the Bridge don't quite manage to drown out X's cries of objection as a large group of extremely tall bird-like creatures drag him off somewhere he's clearly very hesitant about going. To the casual observer, it doesn't look dangerous, especially since the Igheeri are more haughty and arrogant than they are criminal; but it sure does look like a case of a child saying no and the tall adults pretending not to hear.

X, for his part, has no idea how to handle the situation, other than to keep digging his heels in and pulling back. He's never before met an adult who didn't listen to him. It's weird.

"No!" he tries again. "I don't want new clothes, please --!"

D | THE TURTLE HEAD | TEARS OF THE OCEAN HEART - GUILTY PLEASURES
The head of the giant turtle the city rests on is the most peaceful place X has ever been. He can't put his finger on why, other than the view and the quiet, and he got plenty of both of those back in the Forest. But, whatever the reason, he spends several hours one day sitting cross-legged right on top of the turtle's head, watching something on his yimo intently.

The experienced soap opera fan might recognise the faint dramatic sounds of Tears of the Ocean Heart, a production very few people admit to enjoying and rarely watch in public. X, however, has no idea, and he has a teary smile on his face as he watches it. It's amazing. He never knew love could be forbidden, and the characters' fight against that cultural taboo to stay together anyway is so moving that he doesn't know if he wants to scream at the villains or stand up and proclaim that this is the most beautiful art he's ever witnessed.

After a moment, he chooses the second option, and does exactly that. Standing tall, with the yimo over his head, he announces: "This is beautiful! Everyone needs to see it!"

E | CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE!
X can be anywhere, and will be fascinated by the smallest things, so please feel free to create your own scenario and he'll jump right in!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Meira tipped her head, shifting her weight to one side in a relaxed sit, considering his enthusiasm.

I'm not sure what other kinds of angel there is she admitted, We don't have wings, that's a human art decision. I supposed we are kind of immortal. Unless we are killed. I...don't think I have the power to change the entire universe. Our leader does, and all the archangels and principalities and such have great power, but not me.

X had the strange idea that he and Meira were talking about the exact same thing, but somehow in completely different ways. He had no idea what archangels or principalities were. He frowned, deciding where to start, and then asked: "Which universe?"

Were angels assigned just one universe to look after? That seemed a little strange, but then again, X had no idea how many angels there were. Maybe they had to spread out the workload.

He couldn't resist asking the second question, his eyes wide and his voice a conspiratorial whisper. "Is your leader Asri?"

Meira looked at him, a frown evident in her demeanor. I...don't understand the question. I only know of one universe.

But this place was certainly a fun dream. She tipped her head, Our Leader goes by many names, but that is not one I know of.

She itched her chin with one foot, better balanced than she had started. Four legs was getting easier.

I suppose it could be one, but...

She didn't think their worlds were the same, at all.

"Only one universe?" X asked, head tilted with a frown.

Their worlds clearly weren't the same at all.

But that didn't mean they couldn't learn from each other, and so X shifted to make himself more comfortable on the ground and put his chin in his hands. "I'll tell you what I think universes are if you tell me what you think they are," he said, in the general manner of a child suggesting a piece of subterfuge he thinks they can sneakily get away with. "For me, a universe is a -- a person. It's everything about a person. It's past, present, fate, and future. It's silly for there to be only one."

Meira tipped her head the other direction as she listened to the boy's explanation. It was a truly curious definition of 'Universe'. Her tail waved through the grass.

A universe in a grain of sand. She replied, That's fascinating!

She hummed happily.

Mind? Body? Soul?

Aww, he was making her happy! X couldn't have contained the grin on his face even if he wanted to.

"Yeah!" he agreed, nodding enthusiastically. "Mind, body, soul, music, friends, family, um... actions, and deeds..." What else did Grandmother always say? "... wisdom, and inaction, and choices, and feelings -- personhood, humanity. Everything."

There, he thought. That explanation would definitely make Grandmother proud.

"What about you?" he asked. "What's a universe for you?"

So everything that makes up a single person is a Universe?

Amazing. Meira started humming again. Some song that she had learned from Marta about light and how the universe was born. She tipped her head at his question, her tail pausing as she thought how best to explain it.

A universe is the collective off all life. Humans, angels, animals, plants...demons. Yet it was also so much more. It's culture, and history, and movement through time.

She shrugged. I suppose it's similar to yours, but on a much grander scale.

X watched her as she explained, his eyes wide and twinkling with curiosity. "We have a word for that too," he said. "Multiverse. It's every single universe all together. Time and space and... and... and people. Every people. Even people people don't want to admit are people."

He sighed and shook his head, frustrated with himself. "Grandmother says it better, I just don't remember it. But... why do you call that a universe?"

Meira giggled at the boy's enthusiasm, flopping to her belly and rolling over to her back so she could look at him, tucking her tail like a lady.

Why do you call an individual a 'universe'? she returned as her reply.

X kept referencing his grandmother, as if all his knowledge came from her. There was nothing wrong with that, after all, Meira's knowledge came from books and tutors. Yet she had no basis for her definition aside from what she had been told. The sky was only blue due to the name given the color.

"Because --" X had to stop and think, because it was a very good point Meira had, and he didn't know if there was a rebuttal for it. "Because -- because a universe means one, and multiverse means many."

Did that make sense? He didn't know. He'd never had to explain to anyone what a universe was before.

He blew out his breath and settled back down. "But I like the idea of all life, too," he said with a smile. "It's like -- it's like building a universe, but with everything in it first."

That definition doesn't alter my world's view of what a Universe is, Meira pointed out, Neither does it invalidate yours.

Her tail wagged, So it seems we are an an impasse. They are both correct under their own circumstances.

She sounded rather pleased with herself and the conversation had been enjoyable so far.

Is this forbidden love any more beautiful than normal love?

It was weird, was what it was. X had to agree with Meira because he didn't know how not to agree with her when she had to be right. But he'd never had a breakdown in understanding like that before. He'd met a lot of people who had words for things he'd never heard of before, but this was the first time someone had a word that just meant something completely different.

X's yimo had been lounging forgotten in his lap during the tangent; now he remembered it and thumbed it back on eagerly to show Meira the screen.

"Of course not," he said. "Love is always love, no matter what. But their families and their friends don't want them to love each other, so they have to fight just to see each other, so whenever they succeed, it's beautiful."

I suppose that's true, Meira poked the screen with her nose. There are many kinds of love, this one is clearly romantic, but not all of them are.

More humming as she tried to remember what Marta had told her about love. Love between family, love between friends, love for self, romantic love, godly love. There were probably more kinds as well, like subcategories.

It is beautiful in all forms, I don't know why anyone would want to forbid it.

Such a foreign concept. Meira tipped her head, Their families and friends must not be very good ones if they are trying to stop it.