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[asaqueenshould]

As I believe we should all be more capable of thinking clearly now, I'd like to pose a couple of questions that have been on my mind for a while.

First is the matter of language barriers - or rather, the complete lack of them. Quite aside from meeting an American who admitted to no knowledge of Japanese (and my English certainly isn't good enough to fill in the gaps), I've had perfectly comprehensible conversations with people who aren't from Earth at all. Is it more likely that something about this world is translating for us on an individual basis, or somehow taught us all a common language without us noticing? Either way, can the translation effect be chalked up to Chroma, or is something else at play?

My second question circles back to Chroma itself, building off its local importance as both currency and energy source. We've been told that the locals see Chroma as the solution to their clean-energy woes (if only breaking oil dependency were this simple...). Our hosts believe that higher rates of Chroma generation will permit faster development of their technological capabilities, possibly including a means to return us to our worlds of origin.

How, exactly, do they intend to sustain that technological capability if all of us return to our homes?

I'll grant that that's a rather large assumption; there's a very real chance that this world is preferable to where some of us came from. However, a substantial majority of us refusing to stay here, once the means is in place, could still decimate Chroma production to the point where little to nothing that we help them make can be powered. That could potentially impact the ability to return everyone who wants to leave. If nothing else, it's something those of us who intend to get hands-on with the local technology should keep in mind.

Comments

[princessascended]

No kidding. A whole bunch of people from different worlds shoved in this one? That's just asking for a mess or two.

[asaqueenshould]

All things considered, they're adjusting to our presence quite well.

[princessascended]

They really are. Then again, in a place like this they'd probably have to learn to be adaptable.

[asaqueenshould]

That they would. If this sort of thing is going to happen every month...

[princessascended]

Right. Kinda the sort of thing that makes you a little more flexible.

In more ways than one.

[Ah, tentacles.]

[asaqueenshould]

So it does, though I didn't experience anything particularly drastic.

[But given Ren's wing difficulties... well, she can appreciate the sentiment.]

[princessascended]

Well, my changes weren't as... difficult to deal with as the ones one of my boys went through. But I did need to find new skirts.

Tails are cute, but they're a bit of a pain like that.

[asaqueenshould]

I can imagine. If the pattern holds, I won't be faced with that difficulty, but one month is hardly enough to judge things by.



...One of your boys? [Guess who hasn't really encountered polyamory as a thing!]

[princessascended]

Yeah. He woke up with a whole bunch of jellyfish parts-

Or was the "one of" part what confused you? You're not the first, but I don't know how to explain it to someone who hasn't seen the three of us together.

[asaqueenshould]

That would be the sticking point, yes. The implication I grew up with was that if someone had more than one partner at a time, they were going behind someone's back to do it.

[princessascended]

Well that definitely isn't the case. We've been together as long as I remember... it's just recently that we've gone from friendly to romantic.

[asaqueenshould]

I see. I'd already suspected the disparagement of same-sex relationships, or expectation that if it's two girls they'll grow out of it eventually, was off-base, but this... hadn't even crossed my mind. [She also hasn't gotten as far as her own possible interest in girls as well as guys, but. One thing at a time. That can come later.]

It seems like it would take considerably more work to make sure everyone's on the same page. Have you found the effort worthwhile so far?

[princessascended]

Wait, same-sex relationships are considered wrong in your world? I'm not saying they're common in mine, but... that sounds so weird. [No one in the islands had never felt the need to police other people's feelings like that, as far as she remembered. As for a relationship like hers, well, she's never heard of one before.]

I definitely have. We're... okay, imagine a three-legged stool. Take a leg away, and it falls over, right? But with all three in properly and solidly in place, it's perfectly solid. That's what we're like.

[asaqueenshould]

More frowned upon than flat-out considered wrong, and most of the active frowning is when it's men - as I said, there's a tendency not to take attraction between women seriously. How acceptable it is varies between countries.

I can see that. You've found you balance each other better as a unit than you would if any two of you tried to pair off alone.

[princessascended]

Exactly. I love them both, and they love each other, but I'm not sure how well things would really work with just one of us and the other. This seems... so much more stable.

Granted, it does mean you need to be really good at communicating so there aren't any misunderstandings, but we've always been pretty good at letting each other know how we're feeling.

[asaqueenshould]

I can see where it would take more communication. After all, if you care about everyone involved, you don't want any of them to be hurt by a misunderstanding.

[She's half wondering how well this works when not everyone in a given group is dating each other.]

[princessascended]

If you don't care about everyone involved at least to the level of being good friends, I'm not so sure you should be in this kind of relationship.

That just seems like a recipe for jealousy.

[asaqueenshould]

That it does. I suspect that's where the unfavorable reputation larger relationships have at home came from - that and people using it as an excuse to enact unfair power imbalances. Even in cultures where same-sex relationships have gained more acceptance, the expectation of being content with one partner at a time is pretty pervasive.

[And if the expectation of heterosexuality bringing contentment isn't necessarily true, why make the same assumption about monogamy?]

[princessascended]

Well our relationship has always been... unique. Really, I've never compared it to any other relationship I've ever encountered anyway, so I'm just not sure how well the way we work would work for anyone else.

[asaqueenshould]

Any person is going to need different things out of their relationships than anyone else will. What works and what doesn't, once you get past trust and communication, is bound to vary.

It's certainly something to think about, in any case.

[princessascended]

It's all a matter of how you think about it. For a long time it was "why am I so weird?"

Or... well, sometimes my thoughts were more impolite than that.

But that wasn't really helpful.

[asaqueenshould]

No, it really wouldn't be. I'm glad you've found some equilibrium.

[princessascended]

It took a while. I think most people in my position would probably feel that way, if only because of what they were told they should feel.

Hmm... That seems important to think about. I wish I could tell everyone that it's okay to be in love with more than one person, as long as you're honest about it.

[asaqueenshould]

Why couldn't you? We have a means of communicating with everyone else here, at least, and I'd imagine I'm not the only one who's never considered this before.

[princessascended]

I guess that's true. I just have to think of the best way to bring up the topic... and make sure I'm not advocating philandering or womanizing.