#the sundial

[megairea]

It is a longing so intense that it creates what it desires, it cannot endure any touch of correction; it is, as I say, unspeakable.

Shirley Jackson, The Sundial, 1958

[actionkitty]

i left out the road through the wall because it doesn't really have any single main protagonist. and i know orianna isn't really the only female protag in the sundial but she is my favorite of its main women and this is my poll lol

[theloverstomb]

burying dolls

THE SUNDIAL by Shirley Jackson

WE HAVE ALWAYS LIVED IN THE CASTLE by Shirley Jackson

DREAMS OF CLYTEMNESTRA by Dacia Maraini

[midnights-wish]

''The sight of one's own heart is degrading; people are not meant to look inward -- that's why they've been given bodies, to hide their souls.''

Shirley Jackson, 'The Sundial'.

[the-final-sentence]

'The first thing I will do,' Essex said to Gloria, 'is make you a crown of flowers.'

Shirley Jackson, from The Sundial

[hangsawoman]

in the sundial by shirley jackson there is a cult of people dressed in purple btw if you rven care everything in the whole world is connected to shirley jackson

[mote-historie]

George Barbier, Le Cadran Solaire (The Sundial), Falbalas et Fanfreluches: almanach des modes présentes, passées & futures, 1922

[querentiaa]

The Sundial - Shirley Jackson

[virgin-martyr]

It is unholy because it is heretic. It is foul. It is abominable to need something so badly that you cannot picture living without it. It is a contradiction to the condition of mankind.

Shirley Jackson, excerpt from The Sundial

[disgruntleddemon]

I've started listening to The Sundial by Shirley Jackson, I'm only on chapter 3, but honestly obsessed with Essex. He's more like a purse dog than a man. He's like a villain in a cartoon's silly animal sidekick. Love him already

[sasomienspegel]

Shirley Jackson, The Sundial

[megairea]

The sight of one’s own heart is degrading; people are not meant to look inward— that’s why they’ve been given bodies, to hide their souls.

Shirley Jackson, The Sundial, 1958

[actionkitty]

this book is so funny actually

[sixofravens-reads]

Next read! (feat. my baby chamomile)

[midnights-wish]

''Now, she thought; I may go mad, but at least I look like a lady.''

Shirley Jackson, 'The Sundial'.

[speaker-of-the-void-cats]

A strange device shimmered into existence around them. They looked up the length of an enormous, golden spire. “It whispers,” said Tazaroc. “Then block your ears,” said Ozletc. “Do you see the potential in this?” “Chaos,” said Niruul. “No,” said Ozletc. “Opportunity. See how it tugs at the fabric of our time? Can you see the seams?” The seams were sewn tightly shut, but a skilled hand could find them. A skilled hand could rip every stitch. All three sisters could feel it.

Drifter walked to the central spire and put his ear up against it. “This core…” he said, leaning close. His eyes darted back to Osiris. “It’s whispering.” Osiris’s expression didn’t change; his arms didn’t uncross. “We’ll seal the core away. I understand the ramifications.” “Good luck keeping that contained. Not something I would bargain with, hotshot.”

Do you know the OXA Machine, Guardian? Psions are adept at overcoming the restraints of linear time. The Sundial is a dangerous tool in their gnarled hands. Take it back.

“It is so clear,” said Niruul, reverent. “An unobstructed glimpse into what was and what will be.” “Not the troubled ramblings of a mad thing, like the OXA,” said Tazaroc. They shared the feeling of unbounded possibility, and tasted the potential for success, and then for failure. Together, they drank the feelings in and steeled themselves against them. “The past and future are at our fingertips, sisters,” said Ozletc. “Let us see what prospects they hold.”

Hmm, there's only one data artifact here, labeled "OXA," and it's seriously corrupted. Metadata says it was last accessed by an "Otzot" centuries ago. What is "OXA," and who is "Otzot"?

[u.2:11] We live too long for regrets. You taught me that. Don’t forget the House of Light. [u.1:12] If I can find the time, yes. Not all of us conjure Echoes. [u.2:12] Reflections, Saint. I have no need for Echoes anymore. [u.1:13] What do you mean? What’s the difference? [u.2:13] One is a manifestation of Light. The other… reserved for Taken Kings. Better suited for traversing the Sundial because of what lies at its core. [u.1:14] One day you’ll have to tell me exactly what you and the Guardian did to bring me back. [u.2:14] We did what we had to. Trust me. [u.1:15] Now you sound like the rat. [u.2:15] No. The Drifter sounds like me.

I don't even know where to start. When we landed on Neptune there was something.... waiting for us. An alien structure. It's an electromagnetic anomaly. No mass, but a tangible surface area. It's like a thesis statement to the von-Neumann Wigner hypothesis. Its definitely paracuasal, like the Traveler. Maya calls it the Veil. She says she heard the name in a whisper when she looked at it.

There's an almost unreadable data artifact here, labeled "OXA." It's heavily corrupted, but I'm able to make out "MSund12" from the access log. What is "OXA," and who was "MSund12"?

The Red Legion have run amok in timelines across the past, present, and future of this planet. If you're willing to help, I'll arm you to smash the Legion and collapse the timelines they've created. You'll need my Sundial to do it.

The von Neumann–Wigner interpretation, also described as "consciousness causes collapse", is an interpretation of quantum mechanics in which consciousness is postulated to be necessary for the completion of the process of quantum measurement.

What constitutes an observer or an observation is not directly specified by the theory, and the behavior of a system under measurement and observation is completely different from its usual behavior: the wavefunction that describes a system spreads out into an ever-larger superposition of different possible situations. However, during observation, the wavefunction describing the system collapses to one of several options. If there is no observation, this collapse does not occur, and none of the options ever becomes less likely.

"The Odyle Xenotaph Anarchive. Sometimes OXTA, depending on how you construct the acronym. The alien oracle that led us to the graves of Aark." Must be wary, now. OXA is a Psion myth, and the Psions are a sensitive topic. My father wants to free them from bondage. "It claimed to record the story of the galaxy, and to prophesize what may yet come."

"A black box for galactic civilizations, if you prefer it in pilot's terms." The Evocate-General nods to the pin on my right pauldron. I am conscious of my shaved-down tusks, of the sores left by the fighter's interface. "The doomed and the damned left the record of their downfall in the OXA."

I must be calm. I must record my thoughts. Now I think of the OXA Machine, eternally lost and eternally rebuilt, passed down from civilization to civilization like a ship's black box. I think of the legends of the Hive King Oryx and his quest to pass into the Deep. I took that story as an allegory. I think I was wrong.

"It's stronger… the Veil's signature." Ikora's voice carries a hint of learned suspicion. "Ever since we recovered Titan." "That is to be expected," Osiris retorts, now within the weave of droning Strand surrounding the Veil. The room around them trembles. "When Titan was torn back, the Veil took notice. It seemed to recognize Titan's arrival." Ikora tightens her grip on the Strand thread. "We have the Veil, our Ghosts… what are we missing? If we decipher the connection between Titan and the Veil, that connection might be what we need to follow the Witness." "What of the worm?" Osiris asks skeptically. "Sloane believes she is our best chance." "You taught me the value of a backup plan." Ikora gives him a stern look. "Titan, Savathûn's throne world, every place we've found egregore… I haven't found the exact threads yet but pull one and they all seem to spin back to Neomuna. To the Veil." "You're getting ahead of yourself. Following some of my… less favorable tendencies. Nimbus says we must 'flow' to understand Strand; perhaps it is the same with the Veil." Osiris moves beside Ikora and reaches up, palm parallel to the threads drawn taut from Ikora's braid of Strand. "Sol remembered Titan, in a way. The Veil's signal spiked when Titan returned from memory to reality, when the rhythm of the solar system had been restored to order." Osiris drops his hand and looks to Ikora. "Perhaps we must simply find that rhythm before we are able to interpret the beats within it."