sunderedandundone

[sunderedandundone]

In which UrSkeks are actually very dramatic

So fam, I’ve been working really hard on the Twice-Nine, and it’s winding up being less of a survey of their crimes against UrSkekdom than it is a survey of UrSkekdom’s crimes against them. XD

SoSu the Philosopher: Was an incredibly psychically-strong and headstrong (probably not unrelated) young UrSkek whose passions often got the better of them, and while this was generally more disruptive than harmful, as we know, UrSkek society tends to consider disruption itself a form of harm. So at an unconscionably young age, they were forced to choose between Exile and Purgation (the editing of their personality and erasure of ‘problem’ memories), and while the therapy certainly seemed to have took, it must not’ve took that well, because they continued over their career (which was in all other aspects illustrious) to maintain a suspect interest in the reconciliation of their society with its discontents, which theories eventually developed into their infamous Heresy…and the Heresy itself committed the incredibly awful crime of proving attractive to a number of UrSkeks, particularly the young ones. Whom SoSu was accused of deliberately corrupting. Oops.

ZokZah the Presbyter: Their ‘crime’ was coming out of the Chorion (the UrSkek-spawning chamber, basically) with a natural tendency toward sadism [with a touch of masochism included] -- which a more tolerant society might have been able to help them better sublimate into their spiritual work, and/or channel into safe/sane/consensual activities; but Homeworld was not that society. As a result, their entire life story was one of ice-cold self-repression and flawless hypocrisy. They thought the Heresy might be their compassionate answer at long last. And it might have been, but obviously we can’t have that.

SilSol the Musician: Wasn’t spawned with anything especially wrong with them, except for being astonishingly talented which arguably is a bit of a flaw; but somewhere along the way they twigged to the fact that their perfect classless harmonious society that totally didn’t have power relations, totally DID have them. So they started studying this interestingly contradictory phenomenon the way most very intelligent people would have, with comparative sociology, which unfortunately involved a lot of consumption of ::whispers:: foreign cultural material from more primitive societies. And while yes we do study primitive societies, we’re not supposed to do it like THAT, and we’re definitely not supposed to put stuff we’re learning from them about how to influence and persuade other people into PRACTICE. And Crystal itself help you if you turn out to be good at it…even when you’re doing it for what you consider the best cause ever, like OH SAY A REVOLUTIONARY HERESY. (SilSol also had quite a fan base as a composer and performing artist, which did kind of the opposite of helping their case when trial time rolled around.)

GraGoh the Explorer: Was an unfortunate case of incorrigible juvenile delinquency, and Crystal knows the Eldest did what they could. When the young former Rigger from the outer colonies proved to be too rough-hewn and jostling for the refined precincts of Homeworld (they thought practical jokes were actually funny, for one thing), the Council decided to spare the rod and try to educate them in the graces by sending them to the Academy, where they were supposed to finally learn to be a proper UrSkek. And what did they learn instead? Heresy! Honestly. They didn’t even try to resist the slide into depravity; indeed, quite the contrary, they decided to become one of SoSu’s most prominent and enthusiastic disciples. So really, what else was there to do?

AyukAmaj and EktUtt: Fell in love. This may seem fearfully pedestrian to the savage likes of the Gelfling (and let’s not even talk humans), but in UrSkek society this is both an incredibly alien, hard-to-imagine aberration, and a crime against the ironclad obligation to love all one’s fellow UrSkeks fairly and equally. Like…absolutely fairly and equally. No matter what. No playing favorites. Yes OF COURSE love and friendship are high virtues among UrSkek, but again -- just not like -- that. What do you two think you’re doing, seriously, you don’t even have physical bodies to conventionally sin with but I guess where there’s a will, etc?

NaNol the Botanist: Was a spy. Not that they knew they were a spy, mind: UrSkeks don’t have spies, and if they did have them, what they were doing would not be spying. In fact the Botanist’s whole problem was they didn’t have any actual name or conceptual box to put the thing in that a few naughty Eldest were making them do -- especially to the plant-stored planetary-memory records they were supposed to be nurturing and protecting. I mean, it must be all right somehow, because it was Eldest asking; but then why did it have to be such a secret; but then why was it even their business, since it was records about stuff that happened eons before anyone they knew was spawned; but then if it didn’t really matter because it was all so long ago, why were they still being asked to -- **melts into quiet gibbering noises** But in any case…such a pity that it was their fellow Heretics that they eventually decided to confess their nameless burning sins to. More normal UrSkeks would have known enough to just shut up and do what they were told.

HakHom the Architect and YiYa the Builder: Didn’t know that the technical term for what they were was frenemies; they thought they were just friends. Who competed for the same non-virtual architectural gigs, which HakHom just happened to win more often than YiYa, which was also why HakHom ended up outranking YiYa. But of course there was never any trouble putting that behind them when it came time for them to work together hand-in-glove on the winning projects; Homeworld is a place of harmony after all, with architecture being one of a very, very few fields where there even was still anything resembling competition. Nor did YiYa carry any grudges against HakHom for dragging them out to these crazy salons and forums this weird Professor SoSu kept holding. As a friend, they were simply looking out for their friend’s mental and spiritual cultivation, and after all these were merely dialogues about how everyone, even the most erring UrSkek, could better be brought back to the bosom of the Crystal and the collective soul of their people through the transforming power of compassion and honesty. What was there to object to? And later, when the Eldest were investigating because apparently there was something to object to -- and they needed someone to infiltrate and report on the increasingly worryingly Heretical gatherings -- who would blame YiYa for assisting them with that high-minded work? Certainly not HakHom, who understood and deeply regretted their grievous sin in doing…well, there must have been something terribly wrong with the whole thing. Even if Professor SoSu did have both a sterling reputation and the high permissions as a Councilmember needed to access the Crystal for experimental rites if they deemed fit! And just because even after giving the Council all that help, YiYa still found themselves exiled right alongside all the unrepentant criminals, that was no reason to take out any frustrations on their old partner, who hadn’t exactly been in control of the proceedings either after all. Surely the Eldest had their good reasons…so…yeah. Definitely nothing there for either the Architect or the Builder to hold against one another in the immediate aftermath of their souls being torn asunder to set all the Twice-Nine’s ids free.

LachSen the Gnostic: Was an ex-cultist. No, I’m not joking. Although they’re scattered and vanishingly few, there are places even yet on Homeworld where some UrSkeks practice Heresies in the much more old-fashioned sense -- that is to say, disapproved spiritual rites and disciplines, which are generally holdovers from pre-Ascension cultures. Young LachSen’s group was no exception: indeed, it dated from that supremely turbulent era just pre-Ascension, when some UrSkeks fervently believed that through the practice of radical enough asceticism and self-lessness, their kind could attain a permanent ecstatic group consciousness, such as they had heard group minds from other worlds speak of with such reverence and serenity. (No wonder SkekLach wasn’t so keen on the Ascendancy…) This belief turned out to be more a denial of the UrSkeks’ own nature than even the ancestors of the Council of Eldest could tolerate. But LachSen’s group still stubbornly clung to this more-or-less impossible ideal, and to an ancient sub-Crystal of their own which gave barely enough energy for them to subsist on; but since privation was what they craved, that was fine. As they matured, LachSen found themselves questioning the group’s ways and eventually ran far away to Crystalgate City on the great peninsula, blending in with the other UrSkeks as best they could. But it was more difficult than they could ever have imagined, blending in with people from so different a worldview -- and they remained always torn in their feelings toward their old kin, their penitent, self-denying monkish side and their newly-discovered love of plenty and peace among the Crystalgaters. Thus, they were prime and easy ‘prey’ for a new Heresy, particularly one that claimed to embrace the lost and lonely, even the strangest of Deviancies…

ShodYod the Mathematician: TBD

SaSan the Marine Biologist: TBD. I’m not sure that Heresy was something she came into in the course of her work. She’s just such a strong personality at base. I expect her to be tricky.

VarMa the Seal-Bearer: TBD, but however they came to it, they definitely they would have been SoSu’s #1 fan and most loyal acolyte.

MalVa the Guide: TBD, although they would have been exposed to a lot of ‘foreign ideas’ in the course of their work, so that may be how they first got into trouble. :-) I have a tiny inkling they may even have been a bit of an anti-colonialist, which would be a problem for other UrSkeks even though other UrSkeks will swear up and down that they’re not even sort of colonialists. ;oP

TekTih the Inventor: TBD. TekTih was an Inventor, which kind of by definition meant they were a bit more ‘interferey’ than the average UrSkek, but that in itself isn’t quite enough to push a sib into Heresy, so I’m going to have to think about it some more.

UngIm the Restorer: TBD. However, there wouldn’t be much call for actual restoring work on other UrSkeks on Homeworld, the species having long since left death, disease and war behind. Therefore, they were likely either more of a veterinarian, or else had a history of traveling around on colony worlds, where again as noted, an UrSkek can run not only into disturbing concepts, but into disturbing events of the sort that flesh-and-blood beings are all too easily prey to. Which provides restoring work, of course, but not only that.

OkAc the Scholar: TBD, though it’s harder to think of places a Scholar couldn’t get themselves into doctrinal trouble than places they could. XD

LiLii: TBD. But ��� yanno – I mean, it’s LiLii. I have a feeling that like GraGoh, they may just have an unfortunate habit of annoying others, particularly with blurted-out inconvenient truths, and certainly they had a mischievous turn for an UrSkek.

[sunderedandundone]

In which UrSkeks are actually very dramatic

So fam, I’ve been working really hard on the Twice-Nine, and it’s winding up being less of a survey of their crimes against UrSkekdom than it is a survey of UrSkekdom’s crimes against them. XD

SoSu the Philosopher: Was an incredibly psychically-strong and headstrong (probably not unrelated) young UrSkek whose passions often got the better of them, and while this was generally more disruptive than harmful, as we know, UrSkek society tends to consider disruption itself a form of harm. So at an unconscionably young age, they were forced to choose between Exile and Purgation (the editing of their personality and erasure of ‘problem’ memories), and while the therapy certainly seemed to have took, it must not’ve took that well, because they continued over their career (which was in all other aspects illustrious) to maintain a suspect interest in the reconciliation of their society with its discontents, which theories eventually developed into their infamous Heresy…and the Heresy itself committed the incredibly awful crime of proving attractive to a number of UrSkeks, particularly the young ones. Whom SoSu was accused of deliberately corrupting. Oops.

ZokZah the Presbyter: Their ‘crime’ was coming out of the Chorion (the UrSkek-spawning chamber, basically) with a natural tendency toward sadism [with a touch of masochism included] -- which a more tolerant society might have been able to help them better sublimate into their spiritual work, and/or channel into safe/sane/consensual activities; but Homeworld was not that society. As a result, their entire life story was one of ice-cold self-repression and flawless hypocrisy. They thought the Heresy might be their compassionate answer at long last. And it might have been, but obviously we can’t have that.

SilSol the Musician: Wasn’t spawned with anything especially wrong with them, except for being astonishingly talented which arguably is a bit of a flaw; but somewhere along the way they twigged to the fact that their perfect classless harmonious society that totally didn’t have power relations, totally DID have them. So they started studying this interestingly contradictory phenomenon the way most very intelligent people would have, with comparative sociology, which unfortunately involved a lot of consumption of ::whispers:: foreign cultural material from more primitive societies. And while yes we do study primitive societies, we’re not supposed to do it like THAT, and we’re definitely not supposed to put stuff we’re learning from them about how to influence and persuade other people into PRACTICE. And Crystal itself help you if you turn out to be good at it…even when you’re doing it for what you consider the best cause ever, like OH SAY A REVOLUTIONARY HERESY. (SilSol also had quite a fan base as a composer and performing artist, which did kind of the opposite of helping their case when trial time rolled around.)

GraGoh the Explorer: Was an unfortunate case of incorrigible juvenile delinquency, and Crystal knows the Eldest did what they could. When the young former Rigger from the outer colonies proved to be too rough-hewn and jostling for the refined precincts of Homeworld (they thought practical jokes were actually funny, for one thing), the Council decided to spare the rod and try to educate them in the graces by sending them to the Academy, where they were supposed to finally learn to be a proper UrSkek. And what did they learn instead? Heresy! Honestly. They didn’t even try to resist the slide into depravity; indeed, quite the contrary, they decided to become one of SoSu’s most prominent and enthusiastic disciples. So really, what else was there to do?

AyukAmaj and EktUtt: Fell in love. This may seem fearfully pedestrian to the savage likes of the Gelfling (and let’s not even talk humans), but in UrSkek society this is both an incredibly alien, hard-to-imagine aberration, and a crime against the ironclad obligation to love all one’s fellow UrSkeks fairly and equally. Like…absolutely fairly and equally. No matter what. No playing favorites. Yes OF COURSE love and friendship are high virtues among UrSkek, but again -- just not like -- that. What do you two think you’re doing, seriously, you don’t even have physical bodies to conventionally sin with but I guess where there’s a will, etc?

NaNol the Botanist: Was a spy. Not that they knew they were a spy, mind: UrSkeks don’t have spies, and if they did have them, what they were doing would not be spying. In fact the Botanist’s whole problem was they didn’t have any actual name or conceptual box to put the thing in that a few naughty Eldest were making them do -- especially to the plant-stored planetary-memory records they were supposed to be nurturing and protecting. I mean, it must be all right somehow, because it was Eldest asking; but then why did it have to be such a secret; but then why was it even their business, since it was records about stuff that happened eons before anyone they knew was spawned; but then if it didn’t really matter because it was all so long ago, why were they still being asked to -- **melts into quiet gibbering noises** But in any case…such a pity that it was their fellow Heretics that they eventually decided to confess their nameless burning sins to. More normal UrSkeks would have known enough to just shut up and do what they were told.

HakHom the Architect and YiYa the Builder: Didn’t know that the technical term for what they were was frenemies; they thought they were just friends. Who competed for the same non-virtual architectural gigs, which HakHom just happened to win more often than YiYa, which was also why HakHom ended up outranking YiYa. But of course there was never any trouble putting that behind them when it came time for them to work together hand-in-glove on the winning projects; Homeworld is a place of harmony after all, with architecture being one of a very, very few fields where there even was still anything resembling competition. Nor did YiYa carry any grudges against HakHom for dragging them out to these crazy salons and forums this weird Professor SoSu kept holding. As a friend, they were simply looking out for their friend’s mental and spiritual cultivation, and after all these were merely dialogues about how everyone, even the most erring UrSkek, could better be brought back to the bosom of the Crystal and the collective soul of their people through the transforming power of compassion and honesty. What was there to object to? And later, when the Eldest were investigating because apparently there was something to object to -- and they needed someone to infiltrate and report on the increasingly worryingly Heretical gatherings -- who would blame YiYa for assisting them with that high-minded work? Certainly not HakHom, who understood and deeply regretted their grievous sin in doing…well, there must have been something terribly wrong with the whole thing. Even if Professor SoSu did have both a sterling reputation and the high permissions as a Councilmember needed to access the Crystal for experimental rites if they deemed fit! And just because even after giving the Council all that help, YiYa still found themselves exiled right alongside all the unrepentant criminals, that was no reason to take out any frustrations on their old partner, who hadn’t exactly been in control of the proceedings either after all. Surely the Eldest had their good reasons…so…yeah. Definitely nothing there for either the Architect or the Builder to hold against one another in the immediate aftermath of their souls being torn asunder to set all the Twice-Nine’s ids free.

LachSen the Gnostic: Was an ex-cultist. No, I’m not joking. Although they’re scattered and vanishingly few, there are places even yet on Homeworld where some UrSkeks practice Heresies in the much more old-fashioned sense -- that is to say, disapproved spiritual rites and disciplines, which are generally holdovers from pre-Ascension cultures. Young LachSen’s group was no exception: indeed, it dated from that supremely turbulent era just pre-Ascension, when some UrSkeks fervently believed that through the practice of radical enough asceticism and self-lessness, their kind could attain a permanent ecstatic group consciousness, such as they had heard group minds from other worlds speak of with such reverence and serenity. (No wonder SkekLach wasn’t so keen on the Ascendancy…) This belief turned out to be more a denial of the UrSkeks’ own nature than even the ancestors of the Council of Eldest could tolerate. But LachSen’s group still stubbornly clung to this more-or-less impossible ideal, and to an ancient sub-Crystal of their own which gave barely enough energy for them to subsist on; but since privation was what they craved, that was fine. As they matured, LachSen found themselves questioning the group’s ways and eventually ran far away to Crystalgate City on the great peninsula, blending in with the other UrSkeks as best they could. But it was more difficult than they could ever have imagined, blending in with people from so different a worldview -- and they remained always torn in their feelings toward their old kin, their penitent, self-denying monkish side and their newly-discovered love of plenty and peace among the Crystalgaters. Thus, they were prime and easy ‘prey’ for a new Heresy, particularly one that claimed to embrace the lost and lonely, even the strangest of Deviancies…

ShodYod the Mathematician: TBD

SaSan the Marine Biologist: TBD. I’m not sure that Heresy was something she came into in the course of her work. She’s just such a strong personality at base. I expect her to be tricky.

VarMa the Seal-Bearer: TBD, but however they came to it, they definitely they would have been SoSu’s #1 fan and most loyal acolyte.

MalVa the Guide: TBD, although they would have been exposed to a lot of ‘foreign ideas’ in the course of their work, so that may be how they first got into trouble. :-) I have a tiny inkling they may even have been a bit of an anti-colonialist, which would be a problem for other UrSkeks even though other UrSkeks will swear up and down that they’re not even sort of colonialists. ;oP

TekTih the Inventor: TBD. TekTih was an Inventor, which kind of by definition meant they were a bit more ‘interferey’ than the average UrSkek, but that in itself isn’t quite enough to push a sib into Heresy, so I’m going to have to think about it some more.

UngIm the Restorer: TBD. However, there wouldn’t be much call for actual restoring work on other UrSkeks on Homeworld, the species having long since left death, disease and war behind. Therefore, they were likely either more of a veterinarian, or else had a history of traveling around on colony worlds, where again as noted, an UrSkek can run not only into disturbing concepts, but into disturbing events of the sort that flesh-and-blood beings are all too easily prey to. Which provides restoring work, of course, but not only that.

OkAc the Scholar: TBD, though it’s harder to think of places a Scholar couldn’t get themselves into doctrinal trouble than places they could. XD

LiLii: TBD. But – yanno – I mean, it’s LiLii. I have a feeling that like GraGoh, they may just have an unfortunate habit of annoying others, particularly with blurted-out inconvenient truths, and certainly they had a mischievous turn for an UrSkek.

[sunderedandundone]

Redrew of a favourite scene of mine because I could write an essay about this and why I love this entire interaction. Also needed to practice gelfling because gghwhwsjsksishs

Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, Ep.5 ‘She Knows all the Secrets’

[sunderedandundone]

Oh, SoSu. Oh, poor SoSu.

So just to back up and provide some context: if you ask me, the great sin of UrSkek culture isn' so much that it's 'collectivist' but that it's just...*so* collectivist that the society can't countenance any person within it needing more than their 'fair share.' And before you say that sounds reasonable, by 'fair share' they really mean it. No UrSkek is supposed to really need more of any resource than any other.

Hold on! What I'm saying is that In other words, *disability is fundamentally not okay.*

Yeah. How you like them apples?

Part of the problem, of course, in their defense, is that they haven't had to think about disability for literal eons. Not on a societal level. Disease, war, and poverty have after all been eliminated, and the species is a product of extensive self-administered genomic engineering. (We are talking here about non-physical/informational 'genetics', of course, given the UrSkek's being Ascended all. But the point is, whatever malformations or birth syndromes the original bio-species might once have been prey to are long gone.) Trauma? Is something that happens very occasionally to off-planet UrSkeks, and off-planet UrSkeks don't really ever count quite as much as Homeworld UrSkeks do. If you are by some wild chance traumatized off-planet UrSkek, you're best advised just not to attempt a homecoming. (I'm sorry nobody mentioned that, GraGoh.)

I knew I had it in my head that SoSu was a Homeworld native, and that they also had a bit of a 'rough patch' in their youth that they had by sheer dint of geological time lived down, to eventually become one of the most respected academics on-world. I knew they had genuinely spent all the intervening eons working to be the very bestest, most unselfish, most not-needing-extra-love UrSkek they could possibly be.

But it wasn't till today that I realized, *they got put through Purgation as well.*

Purgation is the other sentence you can get that's not exile, and when UrSkeks choose exile over Purgation, it's because they're not keen on the idea of having the problematic bits of their body-mind 'genome' copy-pasted over with fresh acceptable code. The idea, in short, of being partly mind-wiped and re-educated. In a sequestered environment. As many times as it takes for them to start behaving rightly again.

It dawned on me today with horror that the first time round, SoSu chose Purgation.

It happened when they were very young. They were an immense psychic talent who -- again in what fairness to the UrSkek I can muster -- had to watch their emotions, which at that time easily escaped control and could manifest in, you know, stuff that could hurt people or the environment.

Or at least, stuff that if it went further, which they worried that it might, could conceivably potentially hurt somebody.

They underwent the psychic surgery to be made better, and again, worked for actual billions of Earth years to become a paragon. (And as NaNol's also-tragic story recounts, probably even benefitted from some of the extremely subtle and slow-moving erasure of history that is a phenomenon among certain UrSkek elders, so that in time, between that and the other UrSkeks that had actually been there voyaging off to other worlds or higher planes and never coming back, as the Eldest of the Eldest do...they could in time enjoy a spotless reputation on Homeworld.)

The second time they were convicted of a crime, all those long Ages later, they......................did *not* choose Purgation.

[sunderedandundone]

Oh, SoSu. Oh, poor SoSu.

So just to back up and provide some context: if you ask me, the great sin of UrSkek culture isn' so much that it's 'collectivist' but that it's just...*so* collectivist that the society can't countenance any person within it needing more than their 'fair share.' And before you say that sounds reasonable, by 'fair share' they really mean it. No UrSkek is supposed to really need more of any resource than any other.

Hold on! What I'm saying is that In other words, *disability is fundamentally not okay.*

Yeah. How you like them apples?

Part of the problem, of course, in their defense, is that they haven't had to think about disability for literal eons. Not on a societal level. Disease, war, and poverty have after all been eliminated, and the species is a product of extensive self-administered genomic engineering. (We are talking here about non-physical/informational 'genetics', of course, given the UrSkek's being Ascended all. But the point is, whatever malformations or birth syndromes the original bio-species might once have been prey to are long gone.) Trauma? Is something that happens very occasionally to off-planet UrSkeks, and off-planet UrSkeks don't really ever count quite as much as Homeworld UrSkeks do. If you are by some wild chance traumatized off-planet UrSkek, you're best advised just not to attempt a homecoming. (I'm sorry nobody mentioned that, GraGoh.)

I knew I had it in my head that SoSu was a Homeworld native, and that they also had a bit of a 'rough patch' in their youth that they had by sheer dint of geological time lived down, to eventually become one of the most respected academics on-world. I knew they had genuinely spent all the intervening eons working to be the very bestest, most unselfish, most not-needing-extra-love UrSkek they could possibly be.

But it wasn't till today that I realized, *they got put through Purgation as well.*

Purgation is the other sentence you can get that's not exile, and when UrSkeks choose exile over Purgation, it's because they're not keen on the idea of having the problematic bits of their body-mind 'genome' copy-pasted over with fresh acceptable code. The idea, in short, of being partly mind-wiped and re-educated. In a sequestered environment. As many times as it takes for them to start behaving rightly again.

It dawned on me today with horror that the first time round, SoSu chose Purgation.

It happened when they were very young. They were an immense psychic talent who -- again in what fairness to the UrSkek I can muster -- had to watch their emotions, which at that time easily escaped control and could manifest in, you know, stuff that could hurt people or the environment.

Or at least, stuff that if it went further, which they worried that it might, could conceivably potentially hurt somebody.

They underwent the psychic surgery to be made better, and again, worked for actual billions of Earth years to become a paragon. (And as NaNol's also-tragic story recounts, probably even benefitted from some of the extremely subtle and slow-moving erasure of history that is a phenomenon among certain UrSkek elders, so that in time, between that and the other UrSkeks that had actually been there voyaging off to other worlds or higher planes and never coming back, as the Eldest of the Eldest do...they could in time enjoy a spotless reputation on Homeworld.)

The second time they were convicted of a crime, all those long Ages later, they......................did *not* choose Purgation.

[sunderedandundone]

UrGoh and SkekGra have a dream about their former self and companions:

It’s not hard to find the Academy hall; all GraGoh has to do is hurry in the direction of glory. The sounds radiating and echoing down the corridor are rapturous, almost ravishing, and so multifaceted — whenever they turn their head even slightly, notes glance off the walls at different angles like shafts of reflected light, forming ever-renewed counterpoints and harmonies. It rotates like an orrery graphing the heavens. It is the work of masters…or rather (as they allow themselves to think very, very quietly), *a* master.

The fact that UrSkeks float means that the Explorer has no need to worry about making too much noise as they glide up the ground-crystal aisle that terminates at the first curved row of the Academy Choir. The choristers are exerting themselves almost as hard as Homeworlders ever exert themselves, but they show no signs of fatigue. All eyes and ears are trained on what at first appears to be an unassuming figure placed not quite halfway along the first row. Conductors are an exotic concept to UrSkek society; only the very youngest of their kind have any trouble keeping the collective momentum within their spirit, following the almost-invisible visual cues from those who have been assigned to serve as leaders (supposedly always temporarily — though in practice, GraGoh has noticed that there are *certain* wells their fellow UrSkeks tend to go back to by a silent common consent).

The music swells at last to its climax, bursting upon them all and then hanging in ringing echoes for quite some time after. This is a rehearsal, so there is no murmur of approval or answer of appreciative audience improvisations. All allow themselves for just a brief space to exult in it, even as their heads modestly bow.

Then the leaderly figure looks up and spots the Explorer, and delight suffuses their features. SilSol the Musician, as they were back in the old days before everything went so hideously wrong: a softly-incandescent churn of enchained chakras running the length of their form; an immediate smile that always seems somehow *particular*, as though whoever it graces is the one person in Crystalgate City they have been waiting all unum to see. GraGoh feels their own chakras rise in sympathetic resonance. All is beauty. Everything is good and right.

“So kind of you to come and sample the incomplete product,” the vision says. *Product* is an odd, foreign word, but GraGoh cannot but let it pass as they fall into a twosome leaving the choir behind. None of the others *seem* to mind.

“It was *magnificent*,” GraGoh gushes, in a somewhat shamefaced whisper.

“‘Magnificent,’ really?” The Musician's head cocks in genuine if pleasant surprise. “Well, don’t let anyone else catch you saying that.”

“But it’s true.” GraGoh is still too overwhelmed by the talent of this UrSkek — so much their elder and (let’s face it) superior, who nonetheless deigns to treat them as a good friend — to be rebuked. “I only speak the truth.”

Another brilliant smile, quickly submerged like the glow of fading coals. At such moments, their mutual love and devotion for Master SoSu notwithstanding, the Explorer feels as though they would do anything to earn another of those lip-crooks. They are suddenly reminded of the forum last unum, when a good-natured debate between the Master and the Musician had begun to flow very deep and a tad rapid, and the Master had gently said “SilSol. Let the others catch up a little,” and GraGoh had heard themselves blurting, as though from afar, “No, don’t, SilSol.”

A shocked silence and many stares greeted this — not least, that of the Master themselves. What happened to GraGoh then was a thing they couldn’t seem to stop from happening again and again, many times for an Age and an Age afterward: having rashly thrown their lot in, they were now determined to act as though they had meant it all along. This was a circle of heretics, after all, the most trusted of SoSu’s followers and intimates, so they let their chin lift just the tiniest amount. “I want to learn,” they went on earnestly. “As you do, as all my fellows here do. I have so much catching up to do, I don’t want anyone to have to slow down for me. I would the Musician were allowed to be *themselves*. I would far rather fly to keep up with their genius than slink after like a…like a…well, a Rigger of low education.”

It was at once clear that the Explorer had made the Musician very, very happy with their words. Happy, and once again surprised, and perhaps even…touched. GraGoh certainly knew why. To find the ‘overindividuated,’ mysteriously scandalous traits that everyone else seemed to disapprove of — traits SilSol hid so well in public with their mask of humility, appropriate to a celebrated musician — not only accepted but seemingly even *approved*…that moment could be overwhelming in its beauty. GraGoh had come to love that feeling supremely, here among their fellow transgressors, the UrSkeks they adored most in all Homeworld, where so many things were at long last *permitted*. Where they didn’t have to agonize about throwing shadows upon anyone else by the fullness of their own light, or drowning out the music of others with too passionate a solo.

(Indeed, the Explorer had come to suspect that part of SilSol’s success lay in their music’s ability to subtly, gently evoke a sense of that forbidden uniqueness. Always within the unvoiced societal bounds, but often *just barely* within them.)

SoSu, though greatly taken aback, had at last nodded and bowed to let SilSol continue, saying to GraGoh as they did, “Very well, young one. If you aspire to fly so fast, it is not my place to fetter you.”

It was a joyous day, a Wonderful day, one of the best of their entire miserable existence.

[sunderedandundone]

UrGoh and SkekGra have a dream about their former self and companions:

It’s not hard to find the Academy hall; all GraGoh has to do is hurry in the direction of glory. The sounds radiating and echoing down the corridor are rapturous, almost ravishing, and so multifaceted — whenever they turn their head even slightly, notes glance off the walls at different angles like shafts of reflected light, forming ever-renewed counterpoints and harmonies. It rotates like an orrery graphing the heavens. It is the work of masters…or rather (as they allow themselves to think very, very quietly), *a* master.

The fact that UrSkeks float means that the Explorer has no need to worry about making too much noise as they glide up the ground-crystal aisle that terminates at the first curved row of the Academy Choir. The choristers are exerting themselves almost as hard as Homeworlders ever exert themselves, but they show no signs of fatigue. All eyes and ears are trained on what at first appears to be an unassuming figure placed not quite halfway along the first row. Conductors are an exotic concept to UrSkek society; only the very youngest of their kind have any trouble keeping the collective momentum within their spirit, following the almost-invisible visual cues from those who have been assigned to serve as leaders (supposedly always temporarily — though in practice, GraGoh has noticed that there are *certain* wells their fellow UrSkeks tend to go back to by a silent common consent).

The music swells at last to its climax, bursting upon them all and then hanging in ringing echoes for quite some time after. This is a rehearsal, so there is no murmur of approval or answer of appreciative audience improvisations. All allow themselves for just a brief space to exult in it, even as their heads modestly bow.

Then the leaderly figure looks up and spots the Explorer, and delight suffuses their features. SilSol the Musician, as they were back in the old days before everything went so hideously wrong: a softly-incandescent churn of enchained chakras running the length of their form; an immediate smile that always seems somehow *particular*, as though whoever it graces is the one person in Crystalgate City they have been waiting all unum to see. GraGoh feels their own chakras rise in sympathetic resonance. All is beauty. Everything is good and right.

“So kind of you to come and sample the incomplete product,” the vision says. *Product* is an odd, foreign word, but GraGoh cannot but let it pass as they fall into a twosome leaving the choir behind. None of the others *seem* to mind.

“It was *magnificent*,” GraGoh gushes, in a somewhat shamefaced whisper.

“‘Magnificent,’ really?” The Musician's head cocks in genuine if pleasant surprise. “Well, don’t let anyone else catch you saying that.”

“But it’s true.” GraGoh is still too overwhelmed by the talent of this UrSkek — so much their elder and (let’s face it) superior, who nonetheless deigns to treat them as a good friend — to be rebuked. “I only speak the truth.”

Another brilliant smile, quickly submerged like the glow of fading coals. At such moments, their mutual love and devotion for Master SoSu notwithstanding, the Explorer feels as though they would do anything to earn another of those lip-crooks. They are suddenly reminded of the forum last unum, when a good-natured debate between the Master and the Musician had begun to flow very deep and a tad rapid, and the Master had gently said “SilSol. Let the others catch up a little,” and GraGoh had heard themselves blurting, as though from afar, “No, don’t, SilSol.”

A shocked silence and many stares greeted this — not least, that of the Master themselves. What happened to GraGoh then was a thing they couldn’t seem to stop from happening again and again, many times for an Age and an Age afterward: having rashly thrown their lot in, they were now determined to act as though they had meant it all along. This was a circle of heretics, after all, the most trusted of SoSu’s followers and intimates, so they let their chin lift just the tiniest amount. “I want to learn,” they went on earnestly. “As you do, as all my fellows here do. I have so much catching up to do, I don’t want anyone to have to slow down for me. I would the Musician were allowed to be *themselves*. I would far rather fly to keep up with their genius than slink after like a…like a…well, a Rigger of low education.”

It was at once clear that the Explorer had made the Musician very, very happy with their words. Happy, and once again surprised, and perhaps even…touched. GraGoh certainly knew why. To find the ‘overindividuated,’ mysteriously scandalous traits that everyone else seemed to disapprove of — traits SilSol hid so well in public with their mask of humility, appropriate to a celebrated musician — not only accepted but seemingly even *approved*…that moment could be overwhelming in its beauty. GraGoh had come to love that feeling supremely, here among their fellow transgressors, the UrSkeks they adored most in all Homeworld, where so many things were at long last *permitted*. Where they didn’t have to agonize about throwing shadows upon anyone else by the fullness of their own light, or drowning out the music of others with too passionate a solo.

(Indeed, the Explorer had come to suspect that part of SilSol’s success lay in their music’s ability to subtly, gently evoke a sense of that forbidden uniqueness. Always within the unvoiced societal bounds, but often *just barely* within them.)

SoSu, though greatly taken aback, had at last nodded and bowed to let SilSol continue, saying to GraGoh as they did, “Very well, young one. If you aspire to fly so fast, it is not my place to fetter you.”

It was a joyous day, a Wonderful day, one of the best of their entire miserable existence.

[sunderedandundone]

Commission of some dark crystal characters! love how they came out tbh, these little creatures are soo cute

[sunderedandundone]

#darkcrystal #fanart #lol

Skekso holding a frying pan cuz he got scared by Skekmal

No one wants your rabies, skekMal.

[sunderedandundone]

Lovely!

Since the response was so overwhelmingly positive (for which, thank you!!) I decided to color them. The idea i had was a clan that had skekUng as their patron who would act as their medic. Many of these gelflings were either hurt in battle or born in a clan they didn’t feel like they belong so they went out into the world to seek for companionship and peers they could relate to.

Many of these gelfling have a physical disabilities and many would use prosthetics, though absolutely not all and all bodies are celebrated for what they are. The masks at first were symbols of anonymity but many shed them later on, becoming a clan of their own right.

Anyway, as someone who recently became handicapped this was very pleasing to draw and your response made it so worth it!

[sunderedandundone]

....guilty.

uh oh! you misunderstood a social cue and said something mildly awkward. you will think about this and cringe everyday for the next 20 years

[sunderedandundone]

These are panels from a comic idea that I had a few months ago. I honestly had no idea where I was going with it and I kinda lost motivation to continue making it. But I also didn't want to just leave it in my wip folder.

I think I was planning for it to be a two-parter that took place near the end of the garthim war and the Finale being everyone that didn't get drained reunites together in a sort of bittersweet way.

Most of these sketches are just a "life flashing before your eyes" moment.

[sunderedandundone]

Finished my attempt to translate all the funky shapes of the Psychic 7 into my style for fun

Now in “classic” and “everyone has human skin tones” variants

ID: Two nearly identical images showing illustrated bust portraits of the following characters (top row, left to right): Ford Cruller, Otto Mentallis, Lucrecia Mux, Bob Zanotto. (bottom row, left to right): Cassie O’Pia, Compton Boole, Helmut Fullbear. All seven characters are rendered in a more realistic art style than their in game counterparts. In the second image Ford, Otto, and Compton have had their skin colors adjusted to tones that are possible for human skin. Ford and Otto are light skinned/white while Compton is light brown. End ID.

[sunderedandundone]

So get off your low, let's dance like we used to

ID: A sketch of Lucrecia Mux and Ford Cruller dancing together, and then leaning in for a kiss. End ID.

[sunderedandundone]

The Runaway is a z-pinch fusion torchship with a habitat module that experiences approximately 1g during engine burns, and microgravity when the ship is docked or maneuvering. The living space adapts between these two conditions, though cooking is definitely more challenging without “gravity”… The crew run The Runaway as a rapid transit vessel, taking passengers and goods in between wormhole gates throughout local space. Talita is the lead engineer, Idrisah and Gillie handle port paperwork and translation for avian and bug ferret languages, and Sirawit handles food and supplies acquisition. Bip, the ship A.I., handles the very important task of being a pest (and driving the ship around without killing everyone inside). PATREON | STORE | Runaway to the Stars

[sunderedandundone]

Reblog if it's OK for other artists to draw your OCs

Sometimes I get too timid to send asks to ask. I want to see how many people are ok with artists drawing their OCs!

[sunderedandundone]

Holy moly.

A snippet from the new Lackadaisy animated film trailer!

Catch the full trailer here!

Film coming to YouTube March 2023!