Video;

[notdreaming]

[ Kara faces the screen all but completely relaxed. It’s a huge change from her last post. She bites her thumbnail nervously, but apart from that she looks practically happy. Once she realizes she’s doing it she puts her hand down and addresses the camera. ]

I’ve been thinking, and I’d like to know more about Earth. Not just the places and the food, but the culture and history. There are plenty of other interesting planets I’d like to learn about, but most of the people here seem to be from Earth, so it’s probably the best place to start.

[ York said rebuild. Maybe now she’s building something new. It’s hard to say really, but her curiosity is what’s driving her now. That and the awkward social conundrums that arise from not knowing what any of this Earth stuff means, translation or not. The anonymous texter said to start with what she knew and work her way out. ]

I have a friend who’s from Ireland. She showed me around New York a little bit. I was wondering if anyone could tell me more about her home?

[ There. That’s a good start, right? ]

Comments

[notdreaming]

You talk about them like you were good friends.

[depicted]

[Dorian laughs.] Oh, not at all. That group hit London mostly while I was abroad.

[notdreaming]

[ This would probably be more surprising if she had any context for it. As it is it's only interesting. ]

You know so much about them, they must have made a huge impact.

[depicted]

[One of the nice things about talking to Kara is that Dorian doesn't have to deal with the reactions of people who do have context.]

They were pretty influential, in their own ways. Yeats's nationalism makes "Easter, 1916" something of a touchstone in learning the history and culture, these days.

[notdreaming]

Is that something he wrote?

[depicted]

Yeah, uh... [Dorian tries to conjure it up from memory]

I have met them at close of day
Coming with vivid faces
From counter or desk among grey
Eighteenth-century houses.
I have passed with a nod of the head
Or polite meaningless words,
Or have lingered awhile and said
Polite meaningless words,
And thought before I had done
Of a mocking tale or a gibe
To please a companion
Around the fire at the club,
Being certain that they and I
But lived where motley is worn:
All changed, changed utterly:
A terrible beauty is born.

[a pause] That's the first bit of it.

[notdreaming]

[ Kara listens with rapt attention. Even in Kryptonian it sounds very pretty. ]

That's beautiful.

[depicted]

Evoking a terrible beauty was, to some degree, Yeats's particular gift. He later called his the "Tragic Generation" and not without justification. They frequently met unhappy and early ends.

[notdreaming]

What happened to him?

[depicted]

Mr. Yeats died of old age. The friends and associates he describes in "Easter 1916" were executed for treason. His friend Lionel Johnson died young of a stroke, and Ernest Dowson died penniless of alcoholism. A lot of the Decadents survived past the fin de siècle, of course, but Yeats's apocalyptic view of the world was not surprising, given the turmoil Ireland was in.

[notdreaming]

I've been told a little about that. I wonder if it's still in so much turmoil in my time.

[depicted]

It was early 21st century, wasn't it? It should be much more settled than it was in the early 20th, if your Earth is much like mine.

[notdreaming]

I don't really know. Maybe?

[depicted]

For the sake of Irish republicans, I hope so.

[notdreaming]

And what do they do?

[depicted]

The republicans? Oh, more of that politics. They wanted Ireland to be an independent republic, free of British rule.

[notdreaming]

Oh, I see. International politics on Earth is so strange.

[depicted]

[He has to laugh.] No kidding. Don't they have anything like it where you're from?

[notdreaming]

Krypton isn't nearly so... divided. There are disagreements but nothing that would cause this level of trouble.

[depicted]

No countries? Language, religion?

[notdreaming]

Just the one. Kryptonian, and Raoism. Of course, people have different takes on it, but that's their own choice.

[depicted]

And you don't have problems with resources?

[notdreaming]

Not anything significant, no. [ It was a utopia until it exploded. ]

[depicted]

Sounds positively idyllic. It's a little difficult to imagine, to be frank. Humanity is so good at conflict.

[notdreaming]

So I've noticed. You would like Krypton, I think.