6th Short - [Voice] + [Action]
[Oswald is lounging outside Community Building six and lost in thought. A bit bored, as well. That's why he flips open his journal for a general query.]
So... That experiment we had a couple weeks ago got me thinkin'. How many of you folks actually have kids? Either in here or back home. And would you want 'm to be here ( Read more... )
So... That experiment we had a couple weeks ago got me thinkin'. How many of you folks actually have kids? Either in here or back home. And would you want 'm to be here ( Read more... )
Well, there are essentially two major levels of government - the planetwide global Council, which elects a single representative for each major continent and Oceania - that is, there are eight Council members on the global Council - and the municipal Councils, which work within the context of each city. Generally, the two levels of government have correspondance with each other, though municipal governments are more likely to contact each other than the global Council.
It is a democractic system; the ability to make one's own decisions is a strongly-emphasized part of Terran ethical and humanitarian codes. [His voice holds an almost-pedantic hint of pride, here.] Autonomy of choice, so to speak.
[Oswald's words do make Robert pause for a moment.] Ah, no, he is not. Not that it matters at all to me; his mind is the most important part of him, after all, and it is the part that I cherish and love above all else... Not to say that the rest of him is of no concern, but the part that really defines him for who he is is his mind. [This is the sound of a scientist in love, Oswald.]
... I certainly hope his father will eventually learn to see things that way, but the world that my partner and his family comes from is one where there are many barbaric humans that see them as undeserving of basic sapient rights - there are a few that accepted them, apparently, but overall the vast majority of humans they interacted with were foolish and violent towards them. [Luckily that usually isn't the case in Luceti.]
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[A guy who is in love with another guy who is not human. ... Huh. It's a new concept for Oswald, but not one he's opposed to. He's just very used to the "boy meets girl, they fall in love and live happily ever after" pattern that Disney followed.]
That doesn't sound like the kinda world I'd wanna live in. Guess that means it's a good thing you two were sent to Luceti, right? And the family, too! Now you can all live here without bein' pestered by those weird humans from their world. I'll be rooting for ya, too! [Another thing that Disney movies taught him is that love can transcend all boundaries and overcome all obstacles. He's a rabbit who's in love with a cat, after all!]
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[Robert is so used to the idea being comfortably acceptable that he's been honestly surprised to find homophobic or other forms of discrimination here. But he isn't entirely unused to the idea, now... Still, it's good that Oswald is accepting. It probably helps that, as a cartoon character, he's not aware of many of the societal taboos or other such things generally associated with it...]
It would not be the kind of world I would wish to live in, either. All sapients have rights under the Terran penal codes, and to do less than that is to systemically deny the inherent personhood of them...
... Though, I see that you yourself are a non-human sapient... a sort of Leporid, perhaps? I hope that your world treats those of your species well.
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Leporid? I dunno what that is. I'm a rabbit! A lucky one, at that. And yeah, we get treated pretty nicely! The benefit of bein' a cartoon character is that all the species are capable of living in harmony if they want.
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Leporids are species belonging to the Leporidae family, which includes rabbits and hares...
[The next part throws Robert off somewhat.] ... Wait a moment. You are a... cartoon rabbit?
... As in, you are a living cartoon? If I may ask, are you some sort of non-organic sapient? [Because the idea of an actual cartoon being a biological organism is just... well. It's almost as crazy as the idea of an anthropomorphic country.]
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Living cartoon? That's a weird thing to ask. All cartoons are alive, just not the same as humans or... non-cartoon animals. And we're definitely not organic. We're made up out of paint and ink.
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... [Sorry, Oswald. Robert's going to bluescreen a little bit at that part.]
... Cartoons in your world are alive... [Incredulously, and mostly to himself:] W-Well, alright, I suppose that would be fairly self-evident, since I am speaking to you...
But. I can assure you fairly safely that cartoons in my own multiverse are not alive, by any standard definition...
... Are all things that are typed, drawn or written in your world alive, then, or is it restricted to those made of paint and ink? And... how do you sustain your form, if you are made of those components? [He has a million questions about Oswald's biology forming in the back of his completely-skeptical mind: What's his body temperature? How does he feed, if he does at all? What about respiration? Are his organs made of paint and ink, too? And he'll probably want to ask them all if given the opportunity, but this is really knocking him for a loop.]
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In Wasteland, it's really anything that was drawn that's alive. Sometimes even things like flowers and telephones. It's just that we can't draw things and make 'm lively. The only living cartoon characters in Wasteland are the ones who were drawn by humans in the Disney studio and then forgotten. Living cartoon characters outside Wasteland are the ones that're still popular.
Geddit?
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So Wasteland is a sort of... repository for those who were drawn by this particular studio [- which the mun figures Robert doesn't recognize -] and then somehow entered obsolescence...? Is there some property that this studio has that no other studio does, when it creates drawings?
I am afraid that this concept is... difficult. I must confess, I never thought it even remotely possible that what was a drawing in one world could be an organism in its own right in another... And those two worlds are directly related, in your case, correct? Did humans often interact with you there?
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Humans never interacted with us. I don't think they even know Wasteland exists. Them knowin' about us would kinda defeat the point, because you can't be forgotten if people know where you've gone. I knew about them, of course. But not the other way 'round.
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... And I suppose that makes sense. But... how does one forget a cartoon entirely? Is there a certain threshold of popularity before one becomes "forgotten"? I am certain information about you would still exist in databases and the like...
[This is such a jarring conversation.]
... I apologize for being so... engrossed in this, but your biology seems... well, beyond fascinating...
... Would you know if you happen to have organ systems? [Would a cartoon even need organ systems?]
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As for organs, it depends on the context. If there's a visual gag involvin' organs, like someone rippin' a character's heart out of their chest or their brain fallin' asleep or whatever, then sure. But we don't really need organs like humans do. The popular toons still have their own hearts and those are pretty important, but they're... symbolical, ya know?
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Okay, the organs thing is... admittedly both kind of disturbing and fascinating all at once. But it does simultaneously answer some questions.] So you technically do not need to respire or eat, then, unless a scene would call for it I suppose...
... Well. That must certainly be an interesting existence.
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And ya know what? If you're interested in seein' some of my old cartoons, you can always come over to my apartment! I got a projector and a DVD collection from that Catherine guy. I've got other Disney stuff too!
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[It must be strange to be the only cartoon in a world of humans, yes. Robert ponders that for a second.] There are a disproportionate amount of hominids here... I wonder if that might be something deliberate?
And I may very well have to take you up on that offer... I do not think that I have ever seen them, but of course I am relatively far in the future by the perspective of most people here. [Don't worry, Oswald, Robert didn't forget you on purpose! ... If it's any consolation, he doesn't recognize Mickey Mouse, either.]
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Let me know when you stop by, okay? I'll set everything up for ya.
[He pauses for a moment, then can't help but ask.] ... So how much fancy technology does your future have?
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