sirenspull | 007; Video; Backdated to Mother's Day

[Heeere's Washu, beaming at everyone.] So I think by now, we should start to see a downswing in Newcomer arrival. Hopefully, everyone's getting settled riiight in. Now, for those of you who just got here or just came back, hi! My name is Washu- professor Washu if you're one of my students and Little Washu if you're anyone else- and I'm one of the local geniuses here in Siren's Port, if not the most brilliant one. Which is relevant, because I'm hosting the first 'meeting of the minds' at the Newcomer Community Center at the end of the month. Anyone who thinks they have a few ideas to toss around or discuss with a bunch of likeminded individuals can feel free to attend- and I especially extend this invitation to any new arrivals. You might just learn something, y'know? [Grin. There's movement offscreen and Washu looks in that direction, frowning and then lowering her voice.] Hold that thought.

[A woman with a baby sits down next to her on the bench she's currently sitting on. The baby goes wide-eyed at the sight of Washu and Washu uncomfortably tries to scoot to the edge of the bench, but too late. The baby has already grabbed a large wad of her rather impressive hair and yanked. Hard. Washu lets out a squeal and the mother gasps, prying her child's fingers away from its stranglehold on Washu's head.]

Oh, I'm so sorry. He didn't hurt you, did he?

[Washu's voice goes up a few notches higher than normal, doing a perfect imitation of an embarrassed young girl.] Oh no, it's all right. He didn't hurt me at all.

Good. [The woman gasps again, attention diverted elsewhere.] Oh, look. There's Daddy. Hey, sweetie. We're over here.

[Washu seems to have completely forgotten her NV is still recording, so for a moment, everyone gets to see just the slightest look of vulnerability and pain on her face, before she shakes it off and turns back to the computer, all annoyance.] Good riddance. The nerve of that kid...

[Oh right. She was saying something. Funny how that can distract you, especially today of all days. It's a human custom- a whole day to honoring moms. And more than that, it dredges up a lot of grown-up feelings Washu doesn't want to deal with. Stupid holiday.

.... She stares at the NV for awhile, her train of thought very clearly derailed. She covers it up sheepishly and rubs the back of her head.] Uh. Right. So yeah, think tank meeting at the end of the month. Don't miss it, 'kay?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

But what conditions on your planet would call for a human's vulnerable, soft skin, if it needed unnatural invulnerability as backup? Wouldn't a different elemental basis be more viable?

The same shape evolving over many planets makes no sense. It strikes me as a trademark of human fiction.

Edited 2012-06-08 04:05 (UTC)

[DON'T POKE HOLES IN ANIME, VISSER ONE.]

It does, doesn't it? [Cackle] Well, I can't say, really. Maybe our ancestors just really liked that shape and adapted it. I will tell you that humans might be vulnerable, but since everyone in the Space Academy solved debates with melee fighting, we have to be a lot tougher to damage. Otherwise half the staff would be dead before we could decide anything. And that's only one example. Even a princess of Jurai can take a beating better than a standard human.

[Which... brings her to another point.] You're using a human form right now, right?

[Snort.]

Your Space Academy sounds like Yeerk internal politics. They had to pass a law against pointless killing of subordinates.

[P a u s e.]

Yes, I am.

[MOAR CACKLING. She does this a lot.] We never went that far. It's too hard to find decent academics without killin' 'em all.

[Yep. She's going somewhere with this.] It's because you're wanting to blend in, right? Or is it because you can't survive in this atmosphere without a human host? I'm only saying because if you dislike that form so much, no one'll probably say much if you just got rid of it.

Oh, I don't hate them.

[She sits forward a little, an odd gleam in her eye.]

They're incredible. The senses, the intensity of feeling- a Taxxon brain doesn't have apophenia, a Hork-Bajir's won't understand poetry. Human forms are incredible.

But. [Sitting back matter-of-factly.] They're small and biologically weak.

Edited 2012-06-09 07:04 (UTC)

[She smiles, a little wistfully.] They are that. They make war with themselves, not with other races, so they only have to be as strong as the strongest human. It's sad, but war's not exactly new and there's no sense in getting out of shape about it.

Plus their technology might be a sham compared to what's out there, but the fact that they've come so far on a backwoods planet with no outside help says something about their tenacity to learn. I do have to sit back and admire it sometimes.

Anyone with the slightest intelligence would. From the first powered flight to manned space-crafts in six decades. The pace alone is terrifying.

Yeah, but what can you do? They're smart, but they don't have a whole lot of vision, considering imagination and science don't always seem to go hand in hand. And the ones that thing like that are the first to be branded fools by the community.

Humans aren't alone in that respect. Visionaries are always questioned, either at first or later down the road. Rulers and politicians are short-sighted fools.

The problem with humanity is the same as every other race: they're motivated by competition. With nobody to help, tempt, or goad them into the stars, they'll be sitting targets forever.

[Almost wistful and in the tone of a mother who loves her child very much, but also seems to believe they're a bit daft...] But that's also what makes them dangerous. You scare someone bad enough with things they don't understand and don't want to understand, they'll fight you, whether you mean to help or not.

That indomitability serves them well until someone with planet-destroying weapons happens along.

Which is precisely why I don't make planet-destroying weapons anymore.

[There's something entirely untrustworthy in her smile.]

Me neither.

[Washu smiles back and then...

She starts chuckling and then slowly builds up to a rather villainous cackle.

Yeah, that just happened.]

'Course not.

007; Video; Backdated to Mother's Day

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