tushanshu | For your kindness I'm in debt to you

[Clark has hardly used the network to make posts as Clark lately, not since he got the radio started... but it wasn't really that he was avoiding it, not really. Investigating about the murders, then the disappearances had simply taken most of his free time, and he hadn't had much to say.

When he turns on the feed he's playing around with what looks like a calligraphy brush between his fingers, tapping the shaft against a very basic notebook.]

The new arrivals made me think of something. [And judging by the notebook, he's trying to make sense of it by himself. Those who actually know him know how fast his brain actually is... but he's always had the Kryptonian technology to back him down, and now he finds it missing.]

We're assigned living space when we get here, right? And we don't really choose it, we're simply given directions to it when we arrive. And we know there are 5 districts, and different kind of suites on each. Some of them are obvious [Hi, Arthur, of course you live in Water] but others aren't. I live in Water, while my wife was given a suite in the Earth sector.

[She didn't spend a single day there but that's beyond the point. You might actually see her on the background, she likes doing that.] And I thought maybe there could be some kind of pattern, something in the way the Kedan organize us in each district and place. It might not be relevant at all but I'd like to give it a try.

So I guess, what I'm asking is: where do you live? Have you noticed something similar between you and your neighbors? I don't know- age? Gender? Abilities? Hobbies? [A shrug] I don't really know what could be relevant. Also, feel free to answer anonymously if you'd rather- or in my inbox, to keep it private? Whichever way you feel comfortable.

And with that done... something completely different. If I'm right, Thanksgiving should be just around the corner... [The sheepish grin of someone who's completely aware that he's indulging himself] So, what are your favorite Thanksgiving day recipes?

[Later: Supercrypted to JLA MEMBERS - From Jor-El's console]

Yes, we are doing something for thanksgiving, in case you were wondering. My question is: where? And how many of you will have to be dragged there?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

There are lots of cultures that use elemental determination to find common traits.

[There are some people he will never get used to seeing younger than they were in his world. Raven is one of them.]

Do you think that's what they are using to decide where we will live?

[ Raven wonders if that's why she talks to so few of them... ]

I think it's an odd coincidence, if it doesn't have anything to do with the method.

I think if it were indeed an odd coincidence there wouldn't be so many people on the sector that's more beneficial for their powers, but I'm hardly an expert in magic of that kind.

What do you know about this elemental determination?

A lot.

[ It's not a brag, she simply needs him to narrow down the inquiry a little. ]

[That startles a chuckle out of him] Alright then, what do you know what could be useful in this particular situation? Is there a way to know if people in one sector are compatible with that particular element?

There are certain types of elemental spells that have different reactions based on whether people are more aligned with a certain element, but there are more than the five elements that the city seems to have adopted. The easiest would be to say it's based on Chinese elemental theory: wŭ xíng or wu xing as wu de: the Five Virtues. Was that what you were trying to establish?

[Chinese. Five elements. Really? It couldn't be that easy and obvious, could it? And yet Clark hadn't even consider it until now.]

Shen and Ke, yet no sector seems to nourish or restrain the other. I have to admit I only know about the Five Phases in passing, and because a doctor I knew in China taught me about the Zang Fu.

Can you tell me more about it, from a more... I guess magical point of view?

Each element has a different energy signature when working with magic. If you think of magic like any other kind of power, even electricity, it will for example conduct better through Metal or Water than it will through Earth or Wood. In many cases, magic is just a transference of that energy. Spells, incantations, they're just the method.

If we somehow found a way to prove that we'd have a little idea of what we're facing. Is there a way to test if said power does travel between sectors the way it should?

You could put a spell into effect and put another spell on it, like a tracer.

Given the last round of spells turned loose, it hasn't been priority on my list of things to experiment with.

Understandable. Would you be willing to try in a couple weeks, after people don't have it so fresh in their minds?

Yes, I think that would be a good idea.

I'll wait for whenever you think it's a good time to try it, then. Thank you for your help, I really appreciate it.

[ A muted note of surprise: ] You're welcome.

For your kindness I'm in debt to you

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