(Untitled)

[mind_your_elder]

*The Nexus is, among other things, an architectural cornucopia, a polyglot of materials and styles. It encompasses the pieces of worlds that have bled over or fallen wholly from their original plane, as well as all that has been built by residents and travelers. Towering skyscrapers abut crumbling slums, which stand poised between treetop houses

Comments

[vicioussweetie]

"Yes."

What? He's not her elder, she doesn't have to behave. 'Sides, she's hurt, he should be nice to her.

"Yours?"

[mind_your_elder]

*Those dark eyes sparkle in amusement, and that may be a chuckle.*

Mm, I would say that lean times have shown us what is most important, while more plentiful eras have granted us the leisure to fully explore our arts.

[vicioussweetie]

"So if you know both are equally good, why do you ask people to choose one?"

She's got him there!

[mind_your_elder]

To learn of how they value and order their perceptions.

*Has she?*

[rurounitriv]

An alternation of the two, actually. Too much prosperity leads to decadence, too little leads to barbarism and a loss of the arts and philosophic advances developed in milder times.

[mind_your_elder]

Very true. Do you find one, on the whole, to be a greater benefit than the other?

[rurounitriv]

Peace, as a general rule, needs more time, because the arts and philosophy take longer to develop. Times of war and famine strip away the useless and frivolous quite rapidly, and if such times continue over-long, then the civilization will lose the useful and even essential as well. It's all in the timing, but both are essential to ensure that a civilization endures.

*Triv may not know all about the rise and fall of civilizations, but she's certainly seen a few do it.*

[mind_your_elder]

*The bird nods thoughtfully.*

So I have found, as well. Are your people thriving, at present?

[random_xtras]

"Easy living does no one any good," opines a deep but feminine voice as a very large mechanical being walks past toward the sign. Her armor is crisscrossed with scars, and her gait, though rapid because of length of stride, is nonetheless careful and shows traces of a stubbornly concealed limp.

[mind_your_elder]

Why not?

[random_xtras]

"It makes one weak." She stops at the sign and plugs a cable into it, then settles back to lean against the wall as she siphons electricity and looks down at the bird being with wary but non hostile red optics.

[mind_your_elder]

Is strength the only measure of value in a culture?

*He looks up at her, seemingly unperturbed by the disparity in size, with evident curiosity.*

[allthestrings]

"There's benefits to each."

[mind_your_elder]

Of course. But do consider the question in full.

[victormakesart]

"Prosperity, but not necessarily easy living," said another bird-person. This one wasn't actually a bird-person, just a woman in a mask who was trying to hide her identity.

She shoved her hands into the pockets of her labcoat. "It's a societal fact that goes back to the time of the hunter-gatherers. If they stayed in near-famine, they wouldn't be able to support large numbers and we'd still be picking berries in a tribes of less than fifty. Similarly if we were just farming for sustenance, we'd be preindustrialized. Industrialization can only occur when the thinkers and changers of the world have enough. Prosperity fathers change, and I now live in a postindustrial nation. None of this would be possible in near-famine conditions."

[mind_your_elder]

Indeed. Would you tell me of your nation?

[victormakesart]

"It's changing technologically and scientifically everyday. Computers, cell phones, cures for many diseases, awesome art. We have cloned animals and pigs that can glow in the dark, though both are still in the realms of science labs."

[mind_your_elder]

I see. Do, please, continue.