TSiaSoS Spork, Appendix III: Terminology (The True End Part 2)

[mara_dienne459]

          I

IDEALIS: as the Seed is able to change shape/form at will, the Wranaui consider it the Platonic “ideal” of physical embodiment. What the hell is a “platonic ideal of physical embodiment” anyway? And why is platonic capitalized? Seriously, this came across in the book as the Wranaui title for Kira, not for the Limp Dick itself. Also, no, the Seed can’t change shape/form at all on its own. Kira makes that happen. It reacts to her fear and anxiety and anger, and lashes out in response, but so do porcupine quills. Kira is the one who makes her little passenger change shape and form. The thing has no agency for itself.

INARË: [[Invalid Input: Entry Not Found]] Unsurprising, considering who she really is.

IPD: interplanetary diploma. Only educational degree accepted throughout all of settled space. Accreditation is overseen by Bao University on Stewart’s World in cooperation with several schools in Sol. IPDs cover most relevant subjects, including law, medicine, and all the major sciences. So screw all of you who don’t get such a diploma because you went to technical school or whatever else. This doesn’t even sound like it’s the equivalent of a GED. And why would it cover law, medicine, and all major sciences? Those things are far more specialized than can be covered in a simple diploma. Those subjects take years of study in. This is like... a simple catch-all, even though the subjects it covers shouldn’t be covered by it.

ITC: Interstellar Trade Commission. A department of the League tasked with overseeing interstellar commerce. Its remit includes enforcing standards, collecting tariffs, and fraud prevention, as well as providing loans and resources to spur economic growth throughout settled space. You know, like the FTC, only for spaaaaaaaaaaace.

J

JELLIES: see Wranaui. I swear, Wranaui is used more times here in this glossary than in the actual story. And why can’t we also put here that “jellies” is a DEROGATORY TERM for them created by the humans? Oh, right, because they’re aliens and so it doesn’t matter if we treat them poorly.

K 

KNOT OF MINDS: in general, any group of Wranaui bound and dedicated to a singular purpose. A solemn and sacred joining. Traditionally sealed by winding one’s tentacles/limbs around those of the other bondees. As such, a Knot often only has seven members (that being the number of primary tentacles the main Wranaui form has), but the concept is often expanded to include more. In the modern era, a Knot can be formed over lowsound nearscent, but there is a bias against those Knots as being less binding than those formed in person. But aren’t all the Wranaui genetically modified to be slaves to Ctein and therefore they can’t go against him or his wants? They are genetically modified to protect him? So how can they still form these things? Or do they form these things with him knowing about it because they can form it for any reason? Like they make a Knot to win this year’s water polo tournament or something? Maybe that’s it. Yeah, we’ll form a Knot the likes of which will blow Snharl’s Knot’s mind and we’ll kick his ass at water polo this year! 

Specifically: the Knot founded by Shoal Leader Nmarhl and its compatriots with the purpose of opposing Ctein’s leadership and safeguarding the Idealis later bonded with Kira Navárez. Pretty sure this is an example and not specific, but yeah, that was what happened. But they were basically protecting it so that they could get Kira to kill Ctein and free them from their genetic slavery to him.

L 

LAMP LINES: seaweed-like growths that provide illumination in the depths of the Plaintive Verge. Because calling them something like bioluminescent strands would be too plebian, I guess.

LAPSANG TRADING CORPORATION: interstellar conglomerate that began as a mercantile venture before shifting into founding, funding, and running colonies such as Highstone on Weyland. Headquartered on Stewart’s World. Slogan: “Forging the future together.” Why did someone name something “Stewart’s World”? That sounds like a name for a strange coming of age tv drama about a teenage boy trying to navigate the milestones in his life. Also I’m not surprised that some merchant group got enough money and power to start dictating people’s lives. That seems to be typical in stories like these.

LEAGUE OF ALLIED WORLDS: (LAW) interstellar government formed after the discovery of the Great Beacon on Talos VII. Consists of the settlements in and around Sol, Alpha Centauri, Epsilon Indi, Epsilon Eridani, and 61 Cygni. Why was it formed after finding the Beacon? Why wasn’t it formed after some epic galactic war or some disaster where everyone needed to come together to survive? It sounds so benign that I really have to wonder what the thought process was to this. Oh, we found some mysterious object that’s literally barfing energy and sound into the universe but otherwise doing absolutely nothing! Let’s form a league! For... reasons.

LION CLAM: animal native to Eidolon. Noted for its amber shell. Used in the manufacture of a sepia-colored ink. Apparently not one of the creatures that want to kill you and/or is very poisonous.

LOADER BOT: semi-autonomous robots used for manual labor. Because calling them “labor bots” would mean we’d have to give them regular breaks and lunches.

LOWSOUND: vocal emanations used by Wranaui for communication over long distances in their oceans. Similar to whale song. I thought the Wranaui didn’t communicate by sound? That they communicated by scent? I mean, that’s how they talk, so why would they also need to use sound? That doesn’t make sense.

LOWSOUND FARSCENT: traditionally a combination of the two methods Wranaui use for long-distance communication in water. More commonly, a term for STL or FTL transmissions, such as radio. Um... you.. scent over radio transmissions? Seriously? This is where I could see the sound coming into play, with perhaps a receiver on the other end translating vibrations into scents, but... it’s like a mishmash of two ideas and neither seem to really work the way they should.

LUTSENKO DEFENSE INDUSTRIES: a Ruslan-based munitions company. So basically, Fantasy-Russian company that makes bombs and other ordinance. In Mother Ruslan, bomb make you.

Comments

[ttt]

I like the name 'lamp lines'. That's a creative name.