video

[resnipstance]

Who: Ahsoka + You
Broadcast: Yep!
Action: Not really (though if you want to find her, she'll be in her room on the Starstruck)
When: idk today

Hey! Soooooo since we're all stuck here, and going outside on this planet kinda sucks bigtime right now, I've been making it a project of mine to try and learn as much as I can about the different cultures of the other worlds people here are from! Particularly Earth, because there's so many of you! Someone told me the collective noun is "Earthlings"? Anyway.

I've been trawling through the media library, but to be honest, I'm not very good at sitting and reading for long periods of time. So I figured, why not just ask you guys instead?

Tell me one (or more!) thing about your home world that you think is culturally significant. It can be traditional, religious, social, or pop culture is fair game too! After all, it's no fun when people are making pop culture references that fly over my head.

The only rule is that you can't say the same thing as someone else. You ready? Go!

Comments

[experiencepoints]

You'd think relocation would be possible, with the technology around here.

[resnipstance]

It's not so easy to move an entire planet. First of all, where do you put them? We don't even know if there are any habitable planets nearby, let alone if they're willing to take them. Refugees aren't popular no matter what era you live in.

[experiencepoints]

Well, we know we're at least only a couple weeks out from the Starlight. And if the pattern holds true, a couple weeks out from our next destination, too. It's definitely not feasible all at once, but...

[resnipstance]

Yes, but you're assuming that these people have access to the same level of technology that the Atroma do. And also that travel between planets is only taking us a few weeks.

[Ahsoka doesn't believe that it is.]

[experiencepoints]

If they have ports for spaceships, they must have spaceships, too.

... Why would it be taking more than a few weeks?

[resnipstance]

Arslae didn't have one. And this moon only has the one.

But more importantly-- we're not travelling in hyperspace. At least, not that I can see. Do you know how far away most planets typically are from each other, when you're not travelling at hyperspace speeds? Months, at best. Years, sometimes.

[experiencepoints]

My world didn't have space travel. You're going to have to explain hyperspace.

1/2

[resnipstance]

Oh-- right. [She has the decency to look a little sheepish.] Sorry.

this is a shitty explanation and i'm sorry

[resnipstance]

Okay. So-- how long does it take your eyes to spot a light of a campfire on a dark night? Pretty much instantaneously, right? That's what we call "the speed of light." It's generally considered to be the benchmark for the "fastest" speed that stuff can travel at. I mean-- there's a bunch of stuff that can travel faster, but then you start getting into wonky messed up time shenanigans, and it's generally pretty difficult anyway. For the purposes of this explanation, let's just say it can't typically be done.

Except, without faster-than-light-speed travel, far-reaching space-travel is impossible. You remember my example with the campfire a moment ago? Well, the light you see from the stars in the sky is also travelling at light speed. And you know what? At a minimum, most of them are going to be a couple of light years away at best. More likely, a good lot of them are going to be hundreds, if not thousands of light years away.

That's where hyperspace comes in. Hyperspace is a pocket dimension that runs parallel to ours, where the laws of physics don't work in the same way. Using hyperspace, it's possible to chart a course from point A to point B at much faster than light speeds. You chart your course, jump in, fly through it, and them jump out at your destination a few days or weeks later. That's what makes galaxy-wide travel possible.

pets

[experiencepoints]

Okay, I know what the speed of light is, just not hyperspace.

But, are you sure we're not traveling through something similar? For example, we've all been plucked here from our separate universes. I mean, I was pulled here from what should have been a totally inaccessible void demiplane. Isn't it possible they're just jumping to another universe and back, rather than hyperspace?

[resnipstance]

Well-- yeah. That's what I think they're doing.

Except none of us notice it. Doesn't that seem a little odd to you?

[experiencepoints]

Not at all. We already know the implants can be used to alter and control our perceptions.

[resnipstance]

Right. So it seems like we're only travelling a few weeks away, but I'm willing to bet that in reality, it's much longer.

[experiencepoints]

... No.

I do know about the cryobeds that were found on the Marsiva, but I don't agree. There are other explanations still, using what we know the Atroma are capable of.

[resnipstance]

I'm not talking about cryosleeping. I'm talking about-- going to sleep one night, and while we're all asleep, the Atroma making the jump to hyperspace-- or whatever it is they use-- and when we wake up, we're in a different star system. It would be a good way to thwart any attempts to map where we are.

[experiencepoints]

Oh. I guess... That would be possible. But there are a few flaws in that theory, too. I don't know if there's a time when everyone in the Fleet is asleep.

[resnipstance]

They didn't seem to have any trouble doing it when we were undergoing "calibrations."

[You can practically hear the quotation marks in her voice.]

But what's your theory, then?

[experiencepoints]

That was knocking everyone out. I don't think anyone's noticed that happening since.

I'm not sure. Does hyperspace look visually different if you look outside?

[resnipstance]

[Ahsoka nods.] Totally different.

[experiencepoints]

If they can make a door look like a wall for however long we were on the Marsiva, isn't it possible we're going through your hyperspace thing normally, but we're just having our perceptions controlled to make it look otherwise?

1/2

[resnipstance]

[Ahsoka blinks for a second.]

[resnipstance]

[Then she swears viscerally in another language that the translator doesn't deign to translate. The meaning is conveyed well enough, though.]

I didn't even think of that!

[experiencepoints]

[... it is so hard not to laugh right now. in fact, there is a little giggle escaping her.]

Well, even if it is the case, it means you're still right about the people here not being able to relocate so easily.

[resnipstance]

Well-- there's got to be some explanation, right? Even if it's not that one... people usually don't just stay in a shitty situation if there's a better option available, right?

[experiencepoints]

... It depends on if they know a better option is available.

I suppose the way to start investigating here would be with the normal people. See what they think about the situation here, and with the people in power.