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[starsails-and-slugcats]

[LIVE BROADCAST] - PUBLIC GROUP [SHIFTINGTIDES] LCDN (Subset) - Engineering Guild

TSCE: Behold our newest Honorary Member of the Guild! TSCE: Little River was an Excellent Assistant today for those of us at the Communications Array! After delivering a pearl from our Iterator, Looks to the Moon, and taking an Interest in our work, Little River made Excellent Time in passing along Tools and Materials between us. ASVFS: You made sure that Looks to the Moon had no more errands for her Messenger this cycle, I hope? TSCE: Of Course! Her overseer was quick to transmit to us Her Blessing after one of Little River’s famous Songs! DCDT: Quite the set of pipes on that one. GSES: And who could say no to that face~? EBGSD: That’s what I said! RCSR: Should the little Wet Beast not be kept Far Away from the Divine Inner Machinery of our Iterator? Such Delicate Procedures have no place for such Lowly Creatures! DCDT: Oh come now, do not be so rude. GSES: That’s divine little wet beast to you, Chimes~! RCSR: Oh, Spare Me... EBGSD: It’s not as if we gave Little River a power drill and let her at it. Though Void knows Umber tried... TUSSA: You can’t say that you were not Curious~ EBGSD: Certainly not that curious! ASVFS: I’m afraid I must agree with Chimes, though more out of concern for Little River. I shudder to think of the retribution we’d face if the Messenger of Luna came to harm under the Guild’s care.  TSCE: We kept Careful Watch over Little River, Sparks, not to worry.  EBGSD: And she knows her way around! She’s quick as a jetfish through those pipes, and knows what to look out for.  DCDT: It is not like the Communications Array is all that dangerous besides. TUSSA: Yes, and I would like to see you try and cut through the pipe system in two minutes flat to thread new cabling through three vertical layers, Chimes!  TUSSA: One might say Little River was quite literally a Godsend~

[starsails-and-slugcats]

Hello hi Im so happy to finally meet you!!

LttM: Hello! It is nice to meet you as well! LttM: This is your first time using a citizen ID drone’s direct line, I take it? Allow me to give you an introduction, if you haven’t seen one already. LttM: If you ever have any questions for your iterator— that is, for myself, Looks to the Moon— you can use the direct line to ask me, well, directly! Some common subjects I receive questions about include internal weather forecasts, status updates on certain sectors and procedures, or directories for historical data. Of course, you can also get much of this information from the public network. LttM: Others send me prayers or offerings, ask for my opinion on city matters or those of other iterators, or just tell me about their day. There are few restrictions, and those messages that violate them get filtered out. LttM: I hope that was helpful. Thank you for using the direct line!

[LIVE BROADCAST] - PRIVATE  Seven Red Suns, Big Sis Moon

BSM: I see... well, it’s not the first time Sig’s gotten bored and wanted to push his systems a bit! It’s a good thing his acceleration dampeners are some of the best. BSM: I’ll just need to make sure he’s not getting ahead of himself. The last thing we need is a repeat of last time... SRS: Hah, really, Sig is very lucky that Chasing Wind’s startle response didn’t pierce a hole through his superstructure! I would hate to be on the receiving end of one of their harpoons... BSM: Same here, I would be nowhere near nimble enough to dodge as well as Sig did. BSM: But! BSM: Now that I have some warning, let’s see if I can’t put a little more caution into our friend~ SRS: Oh? That sounds ominous. BSM: Nothing for you to worry about~ BSM: Many thanks again for keeping an eye on things for me, Suns.  SRS: Of course, Moon. Good luck!

[starsails-and-slugcats]

Looks to the Moon, did anything unusual happen during this scheduled maintenance?

LttM: Maintenance was completed without any issues.  LttM: The only thing I would count as “unusual” would be my messenger deciding to help out with the communications array. I hear she was a great help in ferrying tools around!

[ARCHIVED BROADCAST : XXXX.XXX] - PUBLIC GROUP [LOCALGROUP] Big Sis Moon (unavailable), No Significant Harassment, Chasing Wind, Seven Red Suns, Unparalleled Innocence, Five Pebbles

NSH: Okay, I think I have the calculations right this time! NSH: Any volunteers? I think I see one... CW: Harassment, I see you over there. CW: Don’t you wave your sails at me, if you try and do this without a warning again, I will actually skewer you this time and I won’t even feel bad about it. NSH: Aw come on, Wind, it’s so much easier taking your specs into account than anyone else’s! You know, similar templates and all. CW: Just go over Innocence, she’d probably enjoy it. NSH: Enjoy putting me in a tailspin, maybe. Actually that could be kind of fun... FP: What are you two even talking about? SRS: Ill-advised acrobatics, I believe. FP: Ah. UI: Nish, you've got my attention~

[starsails-and-slugcats]

Hello moon, i have a small query. Why do you have to cut off communication during maintenance? Is it a safety measure of some kind?

LttM: Cutting off communications is not usually part of maintenance procedures unless certain large-scale systems are involved. LttM: However, given that it was the communications array itself that needed to undergo repairs, it was necessary in this instance. LttM: Everything should be working now, though! Apologies for the inconvenience.

[LIVE BROADCAST] - PRIVATE  Seven Red Suns, Big Sis Moon

SRS: Looks to the Moon, are we still following the same course? I’m just making sure since you would have been unable to tell us of a new heading for the past few cycles. BSM: Yes, our destination is the same. With any luck, we’ll be getting new resources in a few decacycles and I can get a more permanent fix for comms. BSM: Here, I’ll make sure everyone in the fleet’s on the same page about our approach. BSM: How was looking after group communications while mine were down, by the way? Sorry it took so long! SRS: No need to apologize! It wasn’t that difficult, really, just slightly hectic sometimes. I suppose I never truly noticed the amount of... inadvisable ideas being tossed around before I had to be the one to curb them. SRS: Many of them were just jokes, I’ll admit, but you might still have to deal with this one in the future.  SRS: [RECORDED BROADCAST : XXXX.XXX : LOCALGROUP]

[starsails-and-slugcats]

Looks to the Moon’s puppet is suspended by her umbilical arm in zero-gravity, parsing through holographic screens as her robes and fins and pearls float around her. Her can sails smoothly through vacuum, subconsciously aware of her fleet following her at a distance.

A new display pops up with an alert. Swiping away the status of her refineries, she brings the new screen closer, going through the displayed report at the same time that she turns her attention to her communications array. Her eyes smile as she starts messaging her local fleet.

[LIVE BROADCAST] - PUBLIC GROUP [LOCALGROUP] Big Sis Moon, No Significant Harassment, Chasing Wind, Seven Red Suns, Unparalleled Innocence, Five Pebbles

BSM: Communications are back online! BSM: I hope you all behaved yourselves? NSH: Moon’s back! SRS: Oh thank the stars... UI: Hi Moon! CW: Welcome back, Moon.  FP: Define “behave.” NSH: Finally, some moderation in here! SRS: I was trying my best! SRS: And you say that like you weren’t also riling everyone up at times, Sig.  NSH: No comment~ BSM: Hm. BSM: Do I have to go through the backlogs? CW: Not unless you want everyone’s swear tally, really.  CW: And I think those were being compiled as blackmail anyways by certain someones.  UI: WIND. FP: Congratulations on calling yourself out, Innocence.  UI: Like you weren’t keeping track of Nish yourself, Pebbs. FP: … FP: No comment. And stop calling me Pebbs. NSH: He’s learning everybody!  NSH: Wish it wasn’t at my expense, but you know what, I’ll take it.  SRS: ...I have a new respect for your authority, Moon. 

Looks to the Moon laughs to herself, shaking her head at their antics. As she continues the conversation, she briefly focuses on a different system.

[LIVE BROADCAST] - (CITYWIDE ANNOUNCEMENT) Looks to the Moon, Luna Citizen Drone Network

LttM: Maintenance has concluded and communications have been restored.  LttM: The direct line will be re-established momentarily.  LCDN: Automated Reply: Iterator Direct Line Re-Established.

[Looks to the Moon is open to asks]

[starsails-and-slugcats]

Summary Post

Hello! I’m Four Stars over Clouded Shores and welcome to @starsails-and-slugcats, home of the Stellarator AU!

The basic premise goes like this:

Several generations have passed since the Ancients fled their home planet before it was entirely consumed by the Void Sea, escaping from the eldritch creatures within that had shackled them to the Cycle for their harvest of souls. 

The remainder of their species and their planet’s surviving flora and fauna live aboard their Iterators: once static superstructures tasked with solving the Great Problem, now turned space-faring vessels that navigate between the stars and watch over their inhabitants.

This blog follows Looks to the Moon and the rest of her Local Fleet as they travel and deal with all sorts of things, from questions sent by their Ancients to the shenanigans of their messenger slugcats and everything within and without.

Ask Guidelines: 

Asks will generally be framed as being asked from an Ancient to their Iterator via citizen drone, or from an otherwise in-universe character. (No characters from canon though! Those are all accounted for here. OCs welcome!)

While there’s some room for interpretation, like for sending pearls and other such offerings, magic anons and other universe-breaking asks will not be used.

Answers will be in plain text most of the time, for time and motivation’s sake. I’ll try to add art for important events or visual aids though!

While I’d prefer most asks to be addressed to the characters, I would also love to be asked about the AU if you have any questions! If you want to ask me something directly, just address it to “Mod” or “Stars.”

Updates may be sporadic for a while as I figure out how I want this to go. Thanks for your patience!