The Lonely Galaxy Megathread (comments encouraged)

[lurker]

All excellent prompts!

What do trains look like on the inside? Perches and hooks to hang from from your tail?

Trains are automated, but there are attendants at the doors to make sure nothing stupid happens. Much like other indoor areas, there's a rough floor mat inside each doorway that you're expected to wipe your paws on. There's a central aisle with a long bench on either side meant for perching. There are vertical rails at intervals to wrap the tail around for stability. On higher capacity trains there are two levels of perches but no second floor, so you have to climb up to the higher perches. Even ignoring the crush of passengers, Humans find the interior cramped and ill suited to the human form. They end up having to sit on the floor since the perches aren't designed for the human rear end. Lighting may be outside the human visible range.

So the spring feast symbolizes rebirth? What else? Any other customs? (Gosh, how each season reminds me of the holidays...)

I'd probably say just "birth" rather than "rebirth", but it certainly scratches a lot of the same cultural itches you'd expect from a human holiday related to or occurring in spring. Perhaps even more so for the yinrih given Yih's ring and larger tilt resulting in increased seasonality. There's probably a seasonal greeting like the one for the winter feast, but I haven't come up with one yet.

Also, do they have holiday songs? Music? Prayers? Things they play on radio until you wish you could stuff your ears? Mariah Carreys?

They certainly have special prayers and hymns. Not sure about more secular songs, as I can't think of a custom that could be commercially exploited a la Christmas presents. Maybe you see sales on things like fermented steadtree fruit juice around those times similar to the uptick in seafood sales during Lent. I don't think yinrih retail workers have to suffer the same ten songs remixed forty different ways over and over again. Certainly not for the seasonal feasts. Maybe for the feast of the kindling of the fire of understanding since that's the really big holiday before First Contact. ("Yay aren't introspection and symbolic thought just the greatest!" or something along those lines.)

So on earth, will Yinrih end up taking on these roles that may require longer amounts of time?

I've given that a lot of thought. If a yinrih were born on Earth in the middle of the 14th century he could still be alive today. I could see yinrih being a boon to human historians in the future. The social dynamics surrounding the vast difference in lifespan are fascinating, but I haven't explored them fully. I imagine that would make politically integrating the two species difficult. The yinrih might have a hard time coping with how fast human culture shifts and cycles. On the other hand, the yinrih think nothing of starting projects that would take an entire human lifetime. It's possible the two species stay largely separate, only engaging on a personal level after the initial massive cultural exchange following First Contact. I think there will be human enclaves in the Spacer Confederacy, and Hearthside will bend over backwards to get human settlers, but otherwise I don't know.

One of the reasons for having human enclaves at Focus is that Earth governments scrupulously regulate the introduction of monkey fox tech into Earth society. The economic impact of a K2 civilization just showing up and handing over all their stuff would be earth shattering, causing a lot of harm in the short term even if we benefit overall.

[lurker]

This forum thread is the only thing that comes up when you google the yinrih's species name

[lurker]

The Bright Way's approach to epistemology can be summed up as follows:

1. All animals' intelligence is limited.
2. We are animals.
3. Therefore, our intelligence is limited.

An example often cited is how pet Forest Flyers are afraid of thunder. They'll cower in a corner trembling as a storm rolls through even though they're safe inside. No attempt by their owner to explain to them where the sounds come from, what lightning is, or why they shouldn't worry about it will get them to understand the meteorological phenomenon they're so afraid of. It is utterly beyond their understanding. Yet they're able to hear the thunder all the same.

The innermost circle of the diagram represents the set of all things that are known. It fades gradually into the second circle, representing more and more nuanced and complex topics that can only be grasped by sharper and sharper minds, and gradually expands outward over time as philosophy and science advance. The second circle is the realm of the knowable. It represents all things that can possibly be grasped by mortal minds. Its outer edge is the theoretical limit of yinrih intelligence. They don't know where that boundary lies, but they do know it exists, and that there are things outside that boundary. These are things "Like thunder to a forest flyer" as the saying goes.

The Light resides in this outermost realm of the unknowable, even though its effects on Creation can be seen by mortal eyes.

[lurker]

Yinrih don't separate the concepts of science and philosophy. They see science as depending on philosophy as it rests on what are ultimately axiomatic assertions, above all that the senses accurately reflect reality. For them this is even more of a leap of faith given that they can fake sensory input while in suspension to a degree that would make René Descartes shudder.

They have a single word that denotes a body of knowledge regardless of how that knowledge was obtained, by direct observation, indirect inference, introspection, or divine revelation: <rNg> /chuff, long high strong grunt, short low weak growl/, which is often translated as "lore" in English.

[lurker]

Academic childermoots are moots set up as schools, where the sires and dams are educators who conceive their own students. Ideally, the future parents receive pedagogical training in preparation for forming such a moot, and seek out potential mates with similar skills.

There is a controversial practice among some very orthodox academic childermoots whereby dams will only communicate to their daughters during religious instruction. The idea is that by only imparting virtue to the pups, at least one of them will grow up and enter into the seminary or pursue a religious vocation. The practice is regarded by many, including other traditionalists, as psychologically abusive, and even detrimental to the pups' spiritual growth, as one can impart virtue in ways additional to direct religious instruction.

[lurker]

As a Farspeaker, Stormlight sees it as his duty to connect the human Internet with the monkey fox ansible network. In order to do this he has to figure out how the human Internet works. So he audits some net admin classes at the local college and attempts to get some networking certifications. He doesn't need the certs to accomplish his goal, but he figures he'll be on Earth for a long while (having started this little adventure before learning about the mass router) and maybe needs to start pulling his weight by getting a job.

Auditing the classes works out fine. He uses his keyer and HUD specs to take notes the same way a human student would with a laptop. As an auditor he can't actually take the course exams or submit homework, but he does the labs and such anyway by modding a keyer to work as an input device for a normal human computer. Having claws makes it awkward to use a normal keyboard.

Trouble starts brewing when it comes time to apply to take the certification. He can't sit in a normal human chair, and can't use a normal human keyboard. You would think that this is an easy fix. He already has the modified tools he needs, but getting both the testing organization and the people proctoring the exams to approve his accommodations is a nightmare.

[lurker]

It's said that converts are the most zealous, and Firefly was certainly no exception. When he returned to Focus, he began a campaign of extermination against, not only Wayfarers, but anyone not sufficiently godless. Of particular note was his treatment of the Misotheists, whom he pursued with as much hatred as his former coreligionists. To despise The Light was to acknowledge its existence, and Firefly would brook no compromise in that regard.

So ruthless was his persecution that many of his own advisors entreated him to stop. Some were genuinely disgusted by his actions, while others simply realized that the Traditionalists could be a valuable ally against the ruling hierarchy and knew that slaughtering their fellow Wayfarers was unlikely to convince them to render aid. Reluctantly, Firefly took their advice, but not without quietly noting which of these advisors was the quickest to gainsay him.

Meanwhile, the disparate traditionalist movements on Hearthside were beginning to gain momentum, helped considerably by the new influx of refugees on Hearthside fleeing the secular warlord states in the Outer Belt. Two individuals are credited with finally bringing these disorganized movements together, both of whom were moved to act by the scandal of Firefly's apostasy and subsequent rise to power among the secularists.

Iris the Hearthsider was a traditionalist hearthkeeper known for her fiery sermons condemning the hierarchy's acedia and greed. She was the first cleric to call the faithful to take up arms to overthrow the ruling clergy. Many heeded her call, but the war had yet to begin in earnest.

The other figure responsible for lighting this powder keg was Greenleaf the steadtree hermit. Steadtree hermits were mystics who dwelt in the trees along the banks of The River on Yih. Some hermits would gain enough fame to collect a few disciples, who would sit at the base of their tree to hear their wisdom, but most kept to themselves. Greenleaf, moved by righteous anger, descended from his steadtree and confronted the High Hearthkeeper in person, going so far as to call her a heretic, accusing her of abandoning the Great Commandment in the pursuit of worldly power. His show of defiance was the crack that finally caused the dam to burst.

Iris, buoyed by Greenleaf's actions, was able to convince nearly half of the Knights of the Sun to join the Traditionalists against their former brothers in arms defending the Bright Way's worldly possessions. Thus were born the Pious Dissolutionists, who formed a second battle front at Hearthside working outwards, just as the secularists pushed inwards from the Outer Belt. The knights, considerably weakened thanks to the internal schism, were unable to hold the line against the secularists, who were finally able to break through the border of Moonlitter. The War of Dissolution had begun.

[Visions1]

I was wondering where you were. It was worth the wait.

Thus were born the Pious Dissolutionists, who formed a second battle front at Hearthside working outwards, just as the secularists pushed inwards from the Outer Belt. The knights, considerably weakened thanks to the internal schism

Namely, that they had only half the manpower, resources, networks, etc?

[lurker]

I was wondering where you were. It was worth the wait.

I've been around. I even posted earlier yesterday about Stormlight's problems with tech certifications, which are not at all inspired by my own issues with Pearson VUE's ADA accommodations process.

I may have to actually step away from the forum for a few weeks since I once again failed the second part of the CCNP cert and I think I need to devote more time to studying. This forum has been a replacement for my Reddit addiction, and this project was a bit of escapism to cope with the stress of my first attempt at the above exam as well as a family member being hospitalized, so I think I need to dial it back a bit. I may just avoid coming on here during the day, but knowing how terrible my willpower is I may have to implement some technical controls as we say in network security to keep myself off of here and YouTube and other massive time sinks.

Namely, that they had only half the manpower, resources, networks, etc?

The loss of manpower is the biggest issue. Most of the Knights' monasteries are inside the orbit of Hearthside, which becomes "enemy territory" from the Preservationists' perspective after Iris rallies the Traditionalists on Hearthside against the hierarchy.

Fun fact, the faction of Knights who stay loyal to the hierarchy refer to Iris's mutiny as (*looks around furtively to see if Games Workshop's lawyers are around*) The Iris Heresy. The Pious Dissolutionists view the hierarchy as the heretics since they largely abandoned the Great Commandment, only parading the Missionaries around to remind the public that they are in fact religious authorities and not just a system-spanning megacorp. Said parading is what pushed Firefly to apostatize, which in tern scandalized the Traditionalists into action.

The reason why the loyalist knights stay loyal is that they have a "my master, right or wrong" mentality. The mutineers, on the other hand, realize that they are ultimately loyal to The Light, so can only submit to the hierarchy's authority insofar as the hierarchy reflects The Light. Firefly's apostasy and Greenleaf's condemnation of the High Hearthkeeper are what help Iris persuade the knights that the hierarchy no longer reflects The Light.

[lurker]

I think a good derogatory epithet for Firefly might be Litchlord, where litch is used in the more prosaic sense of corpse rather than undead sorcerer. It fits my Anglish translation convention nicely, and it alliterates.

Speaking of Firefly, one concept I may use is mechs that are piloted by people in suspension. Being in suspension allows the pilot to seamlessly integrate their nervous system into the mech's controls, and the slowing of time perception achievable with neurogel allows the pilot to react more quickly.

Firefly himself may have such a mech, and it may be named something suitably edgy like Star-eater or something. Then again, I already think its a bit of a stretch for him to go from faithful well-adjusted pup to genocidal tyrant, so I'll probably leave this idea out.

I also need to mull over the ramifications of recreational suspension. Neurogel does 3 thihgs of note here: halts metabolism while keeping the brain active, interrupts the flow of sensory input from the nervous system to the brain in order to present a simulated reality to the suspended person (an artificial Cartesian Demon), and it alters the subject's time perception vs the real world, making time appear to pass either slower or faster.

The big question the above points raise is, other than religious taboo, what prevents people from just living forever in suspension? I know there's a satisfying answer, I just have to find it. The risk of terminal dependence is a good reason, but not enough on its own I think. Some people may become so integrated neurologically to the amnion and the system its attached to that they can't leave without going unconscious, which is deadly for yinrih. Firefly is in such a state, which is why he's permanently encapsulated in the Eternal Womb. Doesn't hurt that he has a massive case of thanatophobia, which is why he slowed down his time perception, so he can subjectively live for millions of years even if he'll eventually die regardless of his suspended metabolism.

Just more thinking out loud.

[lurker]

Here's a left front paw print (female). The writing claw is straight, so it doesn't leave a mark on the ground. I might have to redesign the male forepaw pads, as a single large pad would make it hard to flex the thumbs.

[lurker]

Human culture is far more varied compared to Yinrih culture thanks to the fact that we scattered into isolated communities long before inventing writing, and longer still before eventually rediscovering each other and initiating the process of globalization.

Sure, there are Yinrih myths, legends, and stories, but they're nowhere near as diverse. Human culture also changes more rapidly compared to Yinrih culture, meaning we're churning out epics, ballads, lays, and sagas by the dozen at a rate that monkey foxes could only dream of.

Scary obsessive fandoms are just as likely to crop up among yinrih as humans, and human culture has its scary obsessive fans among monkey foxes. Yinrih refer to these people as HrBqMqmg, from HrBqg (nerd) + qMqmg (human) i.e. one who is a nerd regarding humans. The word has a neutral connotation among yinrih, but its most common English translation, terraboo, has all the negative associations you'd expect from such a word.

Terraboos are infamous among humans for a number of things:

- Trying to _speak_ English or other human languages. No, I don't mean learn the language and use a keyer to synthesize it, I mean actually try to utter human speech sounds. The result sounds a lot like a husky trying to have a mid-checkup conversation with his dentist.
- Wearing human clothes, or at least trying to. Our clothing isn't really designed for quadrupeds with tails. Savvy humans can make a killing selling suitably sized pet clothes and passing them off as modified human garments, which they kind of are, but still.
- The truly obsessed will even try to walk on their hind feet for extended periods. This is horrible for their back. Terraboos will even buy Partisan military surplus powered armor because it has a bipedal locomotion mode, originally to free up the forepaws to hold more guns. It doesn't work very well, by the way, and looks just as creepy and uncanny as you'd expect.
- Using the term "cynoid" to refer to themselves when speaking English, this is especially common among fans of human Sci-Fi.

There are also straight-up weebs among yinrih. The misotheists in particular are fans of JRPGs for obvious reasons.

[Visions1]

Now I want to know some Yinrih lit.
Also, I would have thought they would start wearing t-shirts or something minor like that at some point. Are smaller things more common? Bracelets, bangles? Collars?

Also, what do YYinrih rooms look like, and the things inside of them? Kitchens, bathrooms, living rooms, closets, bedrooms, offices, chapels (as opposed to large hearths, like something you'd have in your home or an airport or that you'd use on regular days when the turnout's lower), nurseries, bathrooms (the other kind), coatrooms, foyers, sunrooms, laundry rooms, craft rooms, attics, basements, garages, greenhouses, side rooms, hallways, etc.?

[lurker]

Now I want to know some Yinrih lit.
Also, I would have thought they would start wearing t-shirts or something minor like that at some point. Are smaller things more common? Bracelets, bangles? Collars?

Also, what do YYinrih rooms look like, and the things inside of them? Kitchens, bathrooms, living rooms, closets, bedrooms, offices, chapels (as opposed to large hearths, like something you'd have in your home or an airport or that you'd use on regular days when the turnout's lower), nurseries, bathrooms (the other kind), coatrooms, foyers, sunrooms, laundry rooms, craft rooms, attics, basements, garages, greenhouses, side rooms, hallways, etc.?

The Bright Way has a long history of liturgical drama in the same vein as medieval morality plays and passion plays. They're mostly about potential First Contact scenarios. The traditional plays always end well, with the yinrih and their newly discovered friends uniting as one culture. More secular dramas evolve out of this tradition, but these are more subversive, which makes them appear more like human alien invasion stories, with either the yinrih or the aliens as the aggressors.

One idea for an in-universe drama I had was a Twilight Zone inspired tale about a team of missionaries discovering a race of sapient insects about the size of large wasps. The bugs were originally eusocial but eventually evolve individuality and sapience, forming a more familiar society. The bugs are roughly at a late Victorian level of technology, having just started practically applying radio communication. Initial contact does not go well, as the yinrih are Godzilla-sized compared to the bugs and end up causing some inadvertent property damage before retreating to their womb ship. The healer on the missionary team gets the idea to use micro mechs to interact with the bugs. From the bugs' point of view, they were just attacked out of the blue by a group of giant predators, only for a group of weird looking bugs preaching a strange new religion to show up immediately after.

The micro mech missionaries are regarded with suspicion by some of the natives given the timing of their arrival just after the attack, but others are hospitable. These new strange visitors even offer to pay for the property damage caused by the previous monster attack, reimbursement for the damage they themselves caused, but their insect hosts don't know this. One thing leads to another, and the micro mech missionaries are accused of being in control of the monsters and get run out of town along with some of their native sympathizers. The missionaries have to reveal to their friends that the angry mob had it backwards. What the bugs thought were the masters holding the giants in thrall are actually puppets controlled by the giant predators.

I'll probably never get around to writing it, but I think it's a fun scenario.

Anyway, the (yet to be realized) Commonthroat word for what we would call movies and TV translates to something like canned drama.

I already have a writeup about yinrih hygiene and bathroom etiquette, but I'm torn on whether to present it as a story or a more straightforward explanation. It's different enough from human propriety as to cause some friction between the species. Bathing/showering is not considered a private activity. Yinrih are already naked, after all. Public restrooms typically include showers which, combined with the lack of need for clothing, has a huge positive impact on the homeless population, as there's no visible or olfactory indicator that a person is homeless, with no clothes to get tattered, and with ample access to personal hygiene in any public restroom.

I mentioned in another thread that jewelry is extremely rare but does exist. The High Hearthkeeper wears a tiara which looks like a glowing halo encircling the left ear.

Yinrih buildings are both more vertical and more compact compared to human buildings. They use ladders where we would use stairs, though elevators are just as common as on Earth. Ceilings are lower, and public places subject to health regulations have paw washing stations at the entrance.

Lighthouses of any size are built such that the congregation and hearthkeeper face the star hearth, which is in turn placed near the spinward wall of the room, meaning the liturgy is ad orientem. A sheer curtain covers the hearth when liturgy is not being conducted.

There's a great deal of popular piety among Wayfarers, with varying degrees of magisterial acceptance. Private homes may have a star lantern set up as a quasi home altar. In spite of the Bright Way's apophatic theology, there's a rich tradition of iconography (so long as it does not attempt to depict The Light itself), and icons of holy Wayfarers are a common sight in pious homes.

[lurker]

Here's a left rear paw print (both genders). It's not too different from the forepaw, although the palm (sole) is slightly longer and there's a regular claw on the index finger analog. When walking bipedally the thumbs are perpendicular to the rest of the foot, and the four middle digits are spread further apart. If the ground is soft, the claws will be dug into the earth like cleats to maintain balance. The tail is also held pressed against the ground to act as a third contact point

---

This reminds me of identifying animal tracks when I was in Boy Scouts.

[Khemehekis]

Scary obsessive fandoms are just as likely to crop up among yinrih as humans, and human culture has its scary obsessive fans among monkey foxes. Yinrih refer to these people as HrBqMqmg, from HrBqg (nerd) + qMqmg (human) i.e. one who is a nerd regarding humans. The word has a neutral connotation among yinrih, but its most common English translation, terraboo, has all the negative associations you'd expect from such a word.

So HrBqg would be applied to yinrih like Pascal?

[lurker]

Scary obsessive fandoms are just as likely to crop up among yinrih as humans, and human culture has its scary obsessive fans among monkey foxes. Yinrih refer to these people as HrBqMqmg, from HrBqg (nerd) + qMqmg (human) i.e. one who is a nerd regarding humans. The word has a neutral connotation among yinrih, but its most common English translation, terraboo, has all the negative associations you'd expect from such a word.

So HrBqg would be applied to yinrih like Pascal?

I'd say that's a fair description, although he's certainly not a terraboo. He's seen humanity up close, warts and all.

[lurker]

I think this is the new arrangement of palmar pads for male forepaws.

On another note, after doing tons of research into apes and monkeys (by which I mean reading Wikipedia articles and watching bunches of YouTube videos) I realize that comparing yinrih to possums is redundant as the features of possums I was borrowing (prehensile tail, furless digits, and carrying young on the back) are already present in monkeys, hence why I've settled on "monkey fox" as their nickname.

[lurker]

Yih has a ring. It has had some effect on yinrih culture. Winter days are darker and summer nights are brighter. The phrase "To chase the end of the ring" means to go on a fool's errand. Pascal's Commonthroat name translates to "ring light" which refers to light reflected off of the ring on summer nights.

This ring has inspired Claravian iconography, which uses a golden arch behind the head of the saint depicted in the icon in a similar way to the use of the halo in Terran religious art. The arch spans the width of the picture, with the apex behind the saint's head.

Some common attributes seen in icons:

- Preachers are shown holding a large steadtree leaf with scripture written on it.

- Steadtree hermits are shown perching in a tree.

- Hearthkeepers are shown with an aspergillium wrapped in their tail, symbolizing their role as spiritual dam to their congregation. They will also be holding a wrench, symbolizing their duty to tend the star hearth. If they were a spacer, the wrench is held in the left rear paw. If not, it is held in the left forepaw.

- Knights of the Sun will be wearing powered armor.

- Missionaries will be pictured standing before a womb ship, encapsulated in an amnion, or holding a miniature model of a womb ship in the forepaws.

- Mystics will have their eyes wide open, staring intensely up at the sky.

- Farspeakers are shown holding a raw tailstone crystal.

- Martyrs are shown with whatever killed them. Martyrdom in odium fidei is relatively rare, only really showing up after the War of Dissolution thanks to Firefly and the Partisans, so most well known martyr saints were killed while furthering the Bright Way's goal of fulfilling the Great Commandment. This includes the many, many deaths while trying to achieve spaceflight, as well as deaths related to other attempts at scientific advancement in the name of the Great Commandment, so expect to see lots of exploding rockets.

- Saints known for their hospitality will be shown holding a steadtree fruit.

- Rememberers of the Forgotten Dead (name WIP) are people who try to provide company for those who would otherwise die alone. They pay for their funeral expenses and see to it that their bones are displayed properly. They recite a litany of the names of the people they have so served on a regular basis, and encourage others around them to pray for the souls of the deceased. They also try to learn about the lives of the people they help, and act as "living obituaries", relating the deeds of the forgotten dead to any who will listen. Icons depicting such saints show them holding a skull or standing before a skull displayed in a reliquary.

[Visions1]

- Mystics will have their eyes wide open, staring intensely up at the sky.

Now I would like to know what's up with this.

Is this also a good time to ask about Claravian scripture? I imagine it has a long, complicated history, what with its age.

- Rememberers of the Forgotten Dead (name WIP) are people who try to provide company for those who would otherwise die alone. They pay for their funeral expenses and see to it that their bones are displayed properly. They recite a litany of the names of the people they have so served on a regular basis, and encourage others around them to pray for the souls of the deceased. They also try to learn about the lives of the people they help, and act as "living obituaries", relating the deeds of the forgotten dead to any who will listen. Icons depicting such saints show them holding a skull or standing before a skull displayed in a reliquary.

This hits hard. I know someone who does exactly this - attend to the elderly, the ill, the dying, the only one who prays for them once they die, who remember them, one of the few who buries them.
There have been times were I've attended funerals where if not for a few others, the funeral chapel would be empty.

Maybe in Yinrih, it should be bone-keeper. Or bone-rememberer (I like this one) (Maybe it could have something to do with those who are alive though.). Or bone-liturgist. Or bone-placer. Or comforter. Maybe just rememberer.

Actually, what are all these positions - preacher, hermit, etc. called in Yinrih?