Slipped in while nobody noticed: Journal Entry 284/03261, <a href="http://www.drizzle.com/~elf/journ

[elfs]

While nobody was looking, and without proceeding fanfare, another story has escaped into the wild: the sequel to the August 31st, 2002 (auuughh! Has it really been so long?) Honest Desires is now available: Journal Entry 284/03261, Honest Response (14,040 words), is now available. It's got robots, it's got lesbians, it's got lesbian robots!

The Journal Entries: Any resemblence to the actual future would be cool!

Comments

[pollen-w.livejournal.com]

Good stuff! I liked these characters and I was hoping for a continuation. And in general, I love these post-Fall stories. Everything's so mixed up in the best sort of way.

This was good:
"Thank you, Santu. You're almost human."
"There's no need to be insulting."

And this was GREAT:
"Kinn? No way. Strictly heterosexual. Very archaic." Misuko was glad neither one of them followed up with "not that there's anything wrong with that."

If the future doesn't turn out like the Journal Entries I'm turning around and coming back.

[elfs.livejournal.com]

Heh. It just seemed so... obvious. I'm so happy when other people smile reading my stuff. That's the sign I've gotten it right.

Another wonderful Journal Entry...

[(Anonymous)]

And time for me to transmit my usual rescue message:

"HELP! I am requesting offworld transport by any Culture vessel, Burroughs continua craft, or Pendoran ship receiving this message. The inhabitants of this planet are violent, and prone to irrational bouts of anti-intellectualism, personal greed, and power lust. Current location is approximately 38.553856 N, 121.738095 W (please consult the local data nets for translation parameters to appropriate coordinates).

REPEAT: HELP! Requesting transport to civilized locale."

Re: Another wonderful Journal Entry...

[acelightning.livejournal.com]

Bravo, Elf!

[wookie-cd.livejournal.com]

Nice one, Anonymous :) I was raised on Heinlein, his stuff is intellectually stimulating and great to settle down with for the nth time.

I hold Elf's work in similarly high regard, which in accordance with the "settling down" factor mentioned above would be higher if I didnt read it while seated at a computer.

Re: Bravo, Elf!

[(Anonymous)]

Right there with ya... if the Journal Entries were bound, I'd have them on my shelves right there with Heinlein, Egan, Bujold, Stross, MacLeod, Vinge, Banks, and all my other favorites.

Given the choice of a fictional world to live in, I'd be a tough call between Pendor and The Culture (leaning toward Pendor)... but, if I pick Tertius Colony, I can visit all three via Gay Deceiver, or similarly equipped craft. :)

And yes, I want to go home, too... I've wanted to go home for about 25 years, now... which was about the time I discovered where home was.

[lucky-otter.livejournal.com]

Rereading Honest Desires just now, I noticed that, in addition to the usual miscellaneous typos (migma for magma, etc.), there are inconsistencies in the references to time. They speak of now being both the 33rd and 51st centuries. "To me, 2496 was just three days ago. Now I wake up to be told it's 5145". "I need to know what houses are like in the 33rd century." "housewives that made the 51st century seem downright boring."

There's also one reference to the "sixth century". And some to both the 25th and 26th centuries.

I think that may be it. Figured you'd want it pointed out.

[elfs.livejournal.com]

That's mostly deliberate. To Linia, it is the "51st" century (actually, that's a typo; it should be the 52nd) since she's still using a Terran/Western calendar. Characters who use the Pendorian calendar would say "The 33rd century" (the Pendorian calendar starts around 1884 Terran/Western and deliberately tracks one-to-one, although both Pendor and Terra drift and by this time there's an 18 month difference between the two). Misuko would refer to Linia's manufacture time as "The 6th" century, and Linia would refer to it as "the 26th century."

To Linia, she was deactivated in 2496 CE; but in Misuko's calendar that would be about 612 PSC (Pendorian Standard Calendar).

[lucky-otter.livejournal.com]

Ahh, I see. I didn't pick that up, but it does make sense. I was not reading thoroughly, since it was a reread just to get the context for the new story, so I could have missed things that would have made it clear. Thanks for the explanation.

[elfs.livejournal.com]

Oh, I just noticed. "Migma" isn't a typo. It's actually a proposed design for a fusion reactor, one in which the plasma is suspended in a figure-eight toroid and moved at high speed such that the intersecting beams provide opportunity for fusion events. In theory, one should be able to make it work on a tabletop (or smaller) but the computational and sensor needs necessary to make the plasma move without intercepting the toroid walls is currently beyond available resources. Nobody knows if the physics actually works, and the guy who developed the theory is something of a loon in the physics community because he has this habit of suing his detractors. It's solid theory, but not currently praticable.