#exodans

[limnrix]

So this was inspired by the Exodan ships in Becky Chambers' Record of a Spaceborn Few and how they're laid out in recursive hexagons. I kind of just did it to see if I could, and started thinking architecturally / city planner style, so things aren't necessarily how they're described in the book, but how I would want a utopian nested hex city. I put in actual doors in the residential areas which was maybe unnecessary. It doesn't include manufacturing really, and I'm not totally sure where education goes, but there's some flexibility for a lot of things under the "retail" category. I preferred to make it all symmetrical rather than making district centers different. There could maybe be a bigger park around the Center, for composting, instead of "administration", which a society with internet may not need actual rooms for. Instead of handwaving that there's a transport level above this, I specifically tried to lay out a way to walk/ride through from any place to another, with some consideration for privacy, although sometimes traffic will go through your yard. Arguably there could be a 7th scale level, but I'm not going to torture InDesign any more.

The smallest unit is the hexagonal room. Homes are 5 rooms (sometimes 1 or 4 depending on throughway placement) and a half bath around a living room, which has a hallway going to the center of each hex. Hexes are made up of 6 homes around a yard and eating area with a kitchen in the middle, with households taking turns making one big 30 person meal a day. There are six hexes in a neighborhood around each park, and each park has a gym, pool, and public bath center servicing about 180 people. Six neighborhoods surround each district with shops, public spaces, services, and a clinic in the center for around 1080 people. The districts surround an administrative center, and death services in the middle. The whole ship houses around 6500 people.

[katatonicimpression]

idk why but there's some situation where the avengers are fighting exodus, or a group that includes exodus, or maybe fighting a third party and exodus is a secondary obstacle

and dane is the one to confront him because ofc

bennet is all "you think you can talk me down? because you think you're special to me? fuck you you're not my dead ex not really. you just have his memories fuck off"

and dane is like "am too!". he's momentarily completely distracted from the mission as the memories he's absorbed from eobar (or the aspect of him that is eobar) come to the surface. he feels like he's being accused, like he's being delegitimised and slandered.

but bennet of course feels that dane's claim over these memories, over eobar's personhood, is a slight against him. that dane's taking something away from him, complicating a purer kind of love.

(not that the love he and eobar had was all that simple and pure; it had its own mess but grief smoothed all that over in his mind)

and then they fight. a sword fight that turns into a messy physical fight.

harsh words flung around, angst abound

This weird situation where dane is trying to convince bennet that he loves him, but it's not like he wants to love him. he wants to stop him. he wants to defeat the villain/obstacle and go on with his life, but he needs to be heard, he needs to be understood. and the more he argues his case, the more he is arguing for love.

then, idk like, some kind of climax? a catharsis?

bennet is faced with change, imperfect, complication. a real human being who's existence complicated his own narrative. a confrontation with the fact that he's never lived his life, never been a man who loved but rather always a soldier in a holy war.

i'm telling you there's something here

[ikdlin]

ABLA EXODAN DA UTANMAZSIN EXO DİYORUZ EXO

[the-ocean-is-trans]

i love almost everything about the world building in the wayfarers universe but the decision to have almost all humans be different variations of mixed brown people with no specific cultural heritage is aggravating as hell actually. it's great that becky chambers wanted to make the majority of humans in her universe people of color, and that does in fact reflect the global majority of humans now!! but it does add to the whole nat geo "in the future everyone is mixed race!" cultural erasure messaging. there have, in fact, been mixed race people as long as humans have existed. we exist now, and we will in the future. but we are NOT all the same, and for once i would love a sci fi story that includes people of color in a way that doesn't also strip us of our cultures. aesthetically the wayfarers universe is full of brown bodies, but we don't see any vestiges of their heritages blending into exodan culture. are any exodan foods related to any of the foods one might have eaten on earth prior to the creation of the fleet? what cultural artifacts would have survived and which ones wouldn't have? what root languages was ensk formed from?

[professionalnooneatall]

“From the ground, we stand; From our ships, we live; By the stars, we hope. —Exodan proverb”

― Becky Chambers, The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet

[chuthulhu-reads]

I absolutely INHALED this series over about three days, and good god it was fun. Becky Chambers has such a flair for sci-fi worldbuilding and continually tantalizes you with distinctive, fully realized worlds and societies that, with few exceptions, you only ever scrape the surface of. This is because Chambers, with her clearly towering worldbuilding skill, is putting all of that towards telling rich character dramas, easing you further and further into her universe with each one. The first book follows a ragtag crew of space miners becoming a found family, with four of them being humans of different backgrounds learning to live with the different alien species that inhabit the GCC. The second follows an AI in an illegal "bodykit", learning to be a person and what that means for her--in a refreshing twist on "AI being a person" stories, she's not trying to be more like humans or other sapients, but simply wants her personhood recognized for what she is, without forcing herself into a bodyshape that's uncomfortable or a way of living that doesn't suit her. My autistic ass is LIVING for it. The third dives deep into the Human culture of the Exodans, nomadic humans who still live on the ancient spaceships that once carried them away from the dying Earth, even though they no longer need to be nomadic now that they've found the GCC; it's a lovely exploration of the value of different ways of life, tradition, connection, and, ultimately, choice. And then, after three books of immersing you in her galaxy, the fourth book features no humans at all; instead, five members of four species are trapped at effectively the space gas station due to a satellite crash. They learn more about each other and each others' species, overcome prejudices, form bonds, and share their disgust and horror when learning about the bizarre human delicacy of cheese. (3/5 of those present aren't even mammals and find the concept of milk at all pretty gross; the other two are just "if it's made of milk, it's a children's treat, right? Wait, they put WHAT in the milk???" It's a DELIGHT of a scene, has me howling.)

The character drama is first and foremost, always. There's a war going on in the background of most of the books, but we are spending no more than a few pages there, we have an interspecies romance to explore the intricacies of. A ship explosively decompressed, killing thousands? Yeah that's not the plot, it's a thing that's gonna happen when you're still flying a 200+year-old ship. There's no dramatic plot there, what we're focusing on is the grief, shock, and terror of Exodan society. Spoiler, but the satellite crash in the fourth book is no diabolical plot, it's just a space infrastructure issue, and there's no bad guys to fight except for our own racial prejudices and clashing political opinions. It's great, and I want five hundred more books of it, and WHAT DO YOU MEAN THE FOURTH BOOK IS THE LAST Q_Q

[b-plot-butch]

Fancasting for the Wayfarers Series

I honestly don’t think Wayfarers needs a screen adaptation nor do I want one, but I have had a lot of fun imagining actors who I think could hypothetically fit the roles! Here are the actors I’ve thought of for a few out of the many Wayfarers characters. In no particular order:

Nabiyah Be as Rosemary — there’s a part in the book where Sissix describes Rosemary as issik: a Reskitkish word meaning inexperienced (like a hatchling) but with the implication that you’ll toughen up with time. I think Nabiyah could portray that as well as Rosemary’s warmth and earnestness very well!

Vivienne Acheampong as Tak — Vivienne is most well-known for her role as the immortal librarian Lucienne in The Sandman, and for that character she does this voice that is very precise but never clinical or detached, and I think that would suit Tak super well.

Amber Gray as Sissix — I imagine Sissix as having a slightly raspy/throaty voice, which Amber Gray has. Amber Gray also makes really great choices about physicality for her characters and I’d love to see how she’d approach embodying an Aandrisk in mocap.

Liv Hewson as Pepper — To be honest, I haven’t seen any of Liv Hewson’s work outside of gifsets of Yellowjackets. But from the limited bits I’ve seen, I think Liv could absolutely portray all of Pepper’s grit and tenacity. Not to typecast them, but we know they can play a survivor, and I’d love to see them take a shot at another similar role.

Delainey Hayles as Sidra — This is probably the fancasting I feel most strongly about!! I am so captivated by Delainey’s work in Interview with the Vampire, and I believe she could portray Sidra’s contained intensity BEAUTIFULLY. Delainey has these big beautiful super-expressive eyes which imo is essential for Sidra!

Karen Gillan as Pei — so I watched Gunpowder Milkshake recently, which was the only non-Doctor-Who thing I’ve seen Karen in, and now I’m sold on her as Pei. We know she can do brave, we know she can do earnest and thoughtful, and now I know she can convincingly kick utter ASS.

Jacob Anderson as Ashby — I think Jacob could perfectly balance the different aspects of Ashby the captain and Ashby the friend and uncle and lover. He’s also a wizard with dialects, and in the books there’s some mention of the distinct Exodan/Martian/etc accents. If anyone could breathe life into the Exodan accent, it’d be him.

[sumiblue]

To have our intro to Sawyer feeling he was an outsider hearing the Exodan Litany for the Dead, yet feeling it would be a nice thing to be part of...then to be very much part of it...with Exodans...naming his homesteader...fuck

[necromycologist]

kind of a hot take but tbh despite his horrible cringefail racist nature corbin is SO interesting to me as a character. maybe the most interesting out of the wayfarers. he's just VERY, VERY angry in a way that the rest of the crew (and perhaps most of his own people considering what we hear abt Exodans culturally) just really aren't. he's a prideful git, he's overconfident, he's exacting to the point of obsession: he doesn't like other people, and they don't like him. he's very sure of where he stands, until he's not. he is abused and belittled for his origins, something completely out of his control, the same way he has belittled sissix and others and he doesn't change. he's still angry! he still doesn't understand the crew of the wayfarer, and he says as much. he's still not pleasant, he still has all the morals of an algae vat, but he's absolutely dedicated to helping the crew. and you can argue whether or not corbin injecting ohan is defensible or moral or fair until your face goes blue, but i dont think that's the point. he injects ohan and he sleeps soundly. he knows ashby is angry and he doesn't argue back. it doesn't matter to him whether or not they like him. he's content to be hated! he's absolutely certain in his actions! he is absolutely the same reprehensible git, the same egotistical control freak we meet in the first pages of the book. but even more, he is absolutely a member of the wayfarer family. perhaps not a wanted one or even a beloved one, but by god, he is there.

[thefiresontheheight]

I think part of what makes the Monk and Robot books so twee and unbearable to me when I love the Wayfarer’s series and A Closed and Common Orbit is one of my favorite books ever is because there is legit apparently NO conflict in Pangean society.

Like, in the Galaxy and the Ground within everything is as nice as ever with Becky Chambers but then Speaker accuses the entire Galactic Commons of being an entirely neoliberal project that will doom them all and has kept her species transient through their engrained power structures, and we’ve only had that peace between all the characters because she’s kept quiet. We have the conflict between the Exodans pacificism and the wars other species fight. We have conflict.

On Pangea as far as I can tell everyone is pretty much onboard with how their anarchist solarpunk society ought to be organized and all conflict is strictly internal. It’s nice. But it’s hardly anything that rings true.

[queerbookgeek]

Record of a Spaceborn Few & The Galaxy and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers

Record of a Spaceborn Few

 Hundreds of years ago, the last humans left Earth. After centuries wandering empty space, humanity was welcomed – mostly – by the species that govern the Milky Way, and their generational journey came to an end. 

 But this is old history. Today, the Exodus Fleet is a living relic, a place many are from but few outsiders have seen. When a disaster rocks this already fragile community, those Exodans who have not yet left for alien cities struggle to find their way in an uncertain future. Among them are a mother, a young apprentice, an alien academic, a caretaker for the dead, a man searching for a place to belong, and an archivist, who ensures no one’s story is forgotten. Each has their own voice, but all seek answers to inescapable questions: 

 Why remain among the stars when there are habitable worlds within reach? And what is the purpose of a ship that has reached its destination?

I have previously read, The long way to a small and angry planet, and A closed and common orbit, I am a big Becky Chambers fan and have been meaning to read this for a long time. 

What's interesting about Record of a space born few is that where the previous two books need to be read consecutively to each other Record of a space born few could be read as the 3rd installment, as a standalone read or if you are the type of person who can get overwhelmed by all the alien terminology of sci fi as the introduction to the Wayfarers series due to it predominantly taking place in the human Fleet. 

In a similar vein as The Long way to a small and angry planet, Record of a space born few is far more character driven then plot, which is something I really enjoy, give me a good character study any day. 

I seriously enjoyed this, a beautiful and comprehensive look at day to day life within the Exodus Fleet and humanity's ever evolving place within the universe of the Wayfarers.   

[hedonicghost]

Okay okay okay aandrisk rosemary sure but aeluon ashby STILL simping over human pei

everyone be quiet i'm thinking about ashby and pei again

i imagine that keeping their relationship a secret doesn't come to ashby immediately so pei's like "hey we should uh... not tell people we're together. you know. because..." "c:? because of what? c:???" "... ... ...oh stars..."

[nimium-amatrix-ingenii-sui]

As much as I enjoy The Long Way To A Small Angry Planet, the fact that apparently All Of Future Humanity (TM) has a contemporary Northern American approach to nudity, sex and just plain talking about sex is starting to seeeeeriously get on my nerves

[leeoliver]

for all of ur lesbian oc's here's an ask they can get gay with what are their ideal dates like

cheras would want to go to like an open air market where they sell a little of everything like some food some clothes some jewelry some generalized knickknacks and just sort of browse and try on stuff and shop and if her girl saw something she REALLY wanted but neither of them had enough money cheras would just. snatch it right off the display when she got a chance to slip away and present it later as the date was ending. but u cant ask her where she got the money to buy it or she fades into the night.

verónica’s ideal date would combine the 2 things she loves most in the world: her dog and her daughter. so that’s a trip to the dog park with verónica, ainsley, and abilio, and probably going out for ice cream or another smallish sweet treat afterwards. date is allowed and STRONGLY encouraged to bring her own dog(s). 

ive def said this before but decima’s ideal date is a run or challenge course or something else super physical bcos a) she can impress u w her impeccable physique and athletic ability and b) she’s absolutely terrified of saying something dumb or awkward and screwing everything up so she’s banking on the fact that u’ll be too winded to engage her in conversation.

seeing as how frost Despises the outside world, i’d have to say her ideal “date” is her and a girl chilling in her basement playing video games. eating chips, talking, and listening to music. i also feel like she’d like escape rooms.

OH amélie would like like a picnic or hot air balloon or something outdoors w nice scenery. honestly anywhere if the girl’s into and willing to talk to her and doesn’t mind that she’s still wearing her fucking work overalls and completely coated in engine grease.

tancy’s literally the fucking WORST at dating. like she’s gay and everything and she’s always like “wow girls :’)” but. going on dates? interacting with people? romance? just can’t deal. she’d probably want to go see like a museum exhibit or dance show or something like that so they’ve got a really obvious and laid out thing to discuss afterwards bcos otherwise. making conversation’s super hard for her. oh and food’s a big factor. she’s gotta have something good to eat.

enid would want to go to a concert!! punk or metal or just like regular hardcore rock. u have to stay in the pit the whole time its how she decides whether or not you’re a fucking weakling and she can’t associate with you. afterwards u either make out w her in an alley or watch her pick a fight w a guy three times her size and cheer for her as she whoops his ass.

del would go with either a hike (if she can be in like. Wolf Form) or some sort of volunteering in a soup kitchen or similar setting and a cup of coffee or tea and a chat afterwards. she also likes roadtrips but it’d have to be with a specific woman she likes a lot not just a generic date for any girl

[eelhound]

"The young couple stood before her, smiling, proud, perhaps a little shy. Their infant daughter wriggled in the woman's arms, more interested in the glint of her mother's necklace than anything else.

Isabel raised her head to the room as the song reached its end. Faces looked back at her, smiling, waiting. Everyone there knew exactly what would come next. She'd said the words hundreds of times. Thousands, maybe. Every archivist knew how to say them, and every Exodan knew their sound by heart. But still, they needed to be said.

Isabel's body was old — a fact it constantly reminded her of — but her voice remained strong and clear. 'We destroyed our world,' she said, 'and left it for the skies. Our numbers were few. Our species had scattered. We were the last to leave. We left the ground behind. We left the oceans. We left the air. We watched these things grow small. We watched them shrink into a point of light. As we watched, we understood. We understood what we were. We understood what we had lost. We understood what we would need to do to survive. We abandoned more than our ancestors' world. We abandoned our short sight. We abandoned our bloody ways. We made ourselves anew.'

She spread her hands, encompassing the gathered. Mouths in the crowd silently mirrored her words. 'We are the Exodus Fleet. We are those that wandered, that wander still. We are the homesteaders that shelter our families. We are the miners and foragers in the open. We are the ships that ferry between. We are the explorers who carry our names. We are the parents who lead the way. We are the children who continue on.' She picked up her scrib and addressed the couple.

'What is her name?'

'Robin,' the man said.

'And what name does your home carry?'

'Garcia,' said the woman.

'Robin Garcia,' Isabel spoke to the scrib. The scrib chirped in response, and retrieved the citizen registry file she had created that morning. A blue square appeared on screen. Isabel gestured for the mother to step forward. The baby frowned as they manoeuvred one of her bare feet onto the square, pressing tiny toes and heel against it. The scrib chirped again, indicating that a new file had been added to the mighty towers of data nodes that stood vigil a deck below.

Isabel read the record to the room. 'Robin Garcia,' she said. 'Born aboard the Asteria. Forty Solar days of age as of GC standard day 158/307. She is now, and always, a member of our Fleet. By our laws, she is assured shelter and passage here. If we have food, she will eat. If we have air, she will breathe. If we have fuel, she will fly. She is daughter to all grown, sister to all still growing. We will care for her, protect her, guide her. We welcome you, Robin, to the decks of the Asteria, and to the journey we take together.'

She cupped the baby's head with her palm, weathered skin cradling new. She spoke the final words now, and the room spoke with her. 'From the ground, we stand. From our ships, we live. By the stars, we hope.'"

- Becky Chambers, from Record of a Spaceborn Few, 2018.

[ittybittytatertot]

I’m also thinking about the divide between the first Martians and the first Exodans.

Those who left for Mars were

1. The ultra rich and their families

2. The families just wealthy enough to buy a few of them tickets to Mars.

But having money doesn’t mean you have any real skills people on Mars would need.

So the rich would also “hire” (read: indenture) people to do the jobs they didn’t want/didn’t know how to do.

They would’ve needed farmers and ranchers, carpenters, smiths, cooks, electricians, plumbers, computer scientists, atmospheric scientists, sanitation engineers, textile engineers, miners, etc.

Anything that would’ve required any amount of “grunt work” would’ve been outsourced to a poor person willing to sell themselves and their offspring into Martian service because that still had better odds of survival than staying on Earth.