dear_mun | Voice testing - canon is Welcome to Night Vale, currently planning on apping at Tu Shanshu

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Voice testing - canon is Welcome to Night Vale, currently planning on apping at Tu Shanshu

Mun. I am communicating to you now for personal reasons.

Of course, scientifically speaking 'communicating' is not the correct term, as according to the laws of the universe I do not actually exist. I am merely a figment of your imagination, or more accurately a figment of someone else's imagination who you have decided to appropriate for your own entertainment. I am not sure if I should be insulted at being brought into existence for your entertainment, or flattered that I was at least chosen in the first place. And scientifically this existence of mine is very curious. My every action and word is dictated by you, and yet the fact that you are ultimately limited by the actions and words that would be in character for a person of my personality and background mean that you cannot simply make me do whatever you wish. Does this mean that, on some level, I still retain some level of free will? Do I thus have choice, how ever limited that is, in this choiceless existence?

I'm sorry, I've digressed. Fascinating as the nature of my own existence is, as is the fact that technically you are currently making up both sides of this conversation, that is not what I am here to talk to you about today. What I need to talk to you about is your plans to bring me to a universe in which an entire civilisation exists on the back of a giant turtle, as I understand it. Of course a gigantic turtle capable of having an entire city built upon it's back and still having the buoyancy to float is incredibly interesting! And there are so many tests I could run...

...But as happy as I would be, running those tests, being transported to this world by forces unknown would also make me unhappy. I am already trapped in a desert that does not exist, but I do at least still have a functioning cell phone. I can still call my boyfriend. In this other world, I won't be able to do even that. I miss Cecil enough already. For this reason I would like to request that you instead have me kidnapped to a world that that has access to transdimensional wifi. Thank you.

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Being plucked out of one story and into another?

Yes, although as yet I have been unable to determine the scientific processes which allow such an event to occur. I am attempting to run tests, however this is proving difficult. It is impossible to know how much my results will be affected by the fact that my mun controls my every action, and there are of course several issues that arise when you are your own test subject.

[Scientific processes are an interesting angle, likely one Autor would want to explore. But Carlos is stuck with Fakir, who is admittedly curious.]

What sort of tests?

My scientific equipment does not appear to exist with me in this space, so my tests so far have been limited. However I have had some amount of success in testing the scope of how my mun dictates my behaviour. In this way I have discovered that it is not possible to act in a way that is outside my normal behaviour without explanation.

For example, I am unable to suddenly and without warning start clucking like a chicken while also attempting to dance the macarena. No matter how much I try it's just not possible. However, if I make it clear that I will be clucking like a chicken and dancing the macarena in the name of science, I am then able to to so.

I believe that this test demonstrates that my mun dictates my actions according to which actions she thinks are 'in character' for me, although of course further testing is needed.

Edited 2014-07-13 02:56 (UTC)

Dance the what? No, never mind, I probably don't want to know.

Though that is something to consider. Acting 'in character' leaves you in the confines of the story you were in. Have you established what your 'character' is?

Of course I know what my character is! I am a scientist. A scientist has to know who he is. Although strictly speaking my character is also who my mun thinks I am, so I will have to hope that who she thinks I am is the same as who I think I am...

So the more important matter is determining what to do if those thoughts diverge. It's not an easy task.

....'A scientist has to know who he is.' That...that's nagging at me.

On a personal level, yes. On a scientific level it would mostly just serve as further confirmation of my hypothesis.

Why? Self knowledge is important, so that your biases don't influence your work.

Self knowledge is important for everyone. But you said it as, 'A scientist has to know who he is,' rather than, 'I have to know who I am.'

Because I am a scientist.

[and apparently to Carlos, this is all that needs to be said. He's a scientist, therefore statements describing scientists must therefore apply to him.]

[It's familiar in all the wrong ways.]

All right. And what else?

[What else? There's plenty else, but Carlos has always rejected every label other than 'scientist'. Well. There is one other he accepts.]

Well, I'm also Cecil's boyfriend.

[That is less worrying. In the sense that Carlos seems to be completely fine with this while otherwise outside the world of the story, that is. Just as long as there's something else, something more substantial than the role by itself.

Scientists usually don't have boyfriends, right? Maybe Fakir needs to read more science fiction.

And this has gone how long without introductions? It's when Carlos mentions Cecil's name that he realizes he should have asked long ago.]

Ah, sorry. That does help, in its way. But we've talked about self knowledge this long, and I've neglected to ask your name until now.

Help? Help with what? [...was there some kind of mysterious danger that required boyfriends to solve? A while ago Carlos would never have even entertained the possibility, but after living in Night Vale, well. Who knows?]

Ah, I'm Carlos. And you are...?

[Wow, there really is no way to say this without being insensitive, is there? There's a path Fakir didn't exactly want to go down again, but let's see how soft he can make it.]

With making sure you're not a flat 'character'. It helps with holding on to your free will.

[Sometimes.]

I'm Fakir.

Flat? I...you think I might be flat?!

[the thought that Carlos might not, in fact, have a three-dimensional personality is not something that had never occurred to him, but now suddenly the question looms large. What if he is not only being controlled by his mun, but being controlled badly? He didn't think he was, but then, if he were would he even know? Were there some tests he could run to find out?!]

Ah, yes, um. Nice to meet you, Fakir.

...am I flat?

Not necessarily. We've only just met, Carlos. Which is a pleasure, by the by.

I was concerned that you might be overly, perhaps unnaturally, focused on an assigned role, that of the scientist.

If I may ask, how did you come to be a scientist?

I'm not unnaturally focused. [although notably, Carlos doesn't deny the suggestion that he's overly focused. Because let's face it, he's already heard it from Cecil.]

How did I...how did I...aha! I've discovered something else! I actually can't tell you, because my mun doesn't know. Apparently it hasn't been 'revealed in canon'. I could tell you something anyway, of course, but that would be the result of my mun inventing part of my history for me. This would then become a definite point of different between both the original version of myself, and any other alternate versions of me who are being controlled by different muns.

What all of this means is that the nature of our existence is much more fluid than I thought. I'm going to have to research this further...

So you're in a story that's still being spun and have a Spinner who's going with the flow of that.

Here's a thought: Could you tell me how you became a scientist if the mun wrote that you told me without elaborating on how it occurred?

My mundane, like yours, lacks information that I should logically know. Like, for example, that my parents are-

[Fakir gives Carlos the names of his mother and father.]

Edited 2014-07-13 05:48 (UTC)

[Aha, an experiment! Carlos is always interested in experiments, so he follows Fakir's example and explains how he because a scientist.]

Interesting...even though I've just told you how I became a scientist, I can't actually recall how, exactly, I did that. I remembering doing so, but I can't actually recall the specific words I used to tell you. And, come to think of it, I can't recall the names of your parents even though I know you just told me.

Likewise, since my mundane isn't aware of what you've told me, she can't exactly write out my reaction. It tends to work better with smaller bits of information.

But you know it and can communicate it, even if the mundane situation makes accessing it for game's sake difficult.

Some of that might lead to alternate versions, as you said before. This isn't necessarily a bad thing. I'm an alternate version myself.

It may not always work effectively, but it does show us more about the limits of our mun's abilities. I will need to experiment more on this, I still don't have nearly enough data.

Scientifically speaking, alternates are not just possible but inevitable. After all, the simple fact that each version is controlled by a different person in different situations means that if nothing else each version's experiences will be different. But I'm curious as to what you know about how you are alternate. With your permission, I'd like to take down some data on your own experiences.

Hm. I'm not sure there's anything remotely scientific about what happened, even with observation. My mundane might actually be helpful in some of this.

From her perspective, I'm from what is known as a postmodern canon. Specifically, the main conflict of the story is directly between the author and his characters. This author, this Spinner, was writing a story with the intention of making it a tragedy and forcing us in roles suited to that. That's what I have in common with most other Fakirs.

Where we diverge is after we successfully ended the Spinner's plot and separated the story from reality. I found out his story was made up of characters from other stories. When his influence ended, those variations took over. I was put in the same role I was fated for before and lost control of myself for a time. Once I regained my free will, I discarded the things tied to that fate and chose a new path.

[And after the mun prompts him for further specifics after that wall of text...]

As for occupational differences, most Fakirs are danseurs or writers. I apprentice in my foster father's smithy. And while most are in the role of Knight, I might be the only one who was actually knighted.

Maybe your presence there would bring Cecil, as well? Or a Cecil, at least, since one arriving there wouldn't be precisely the Cecil you currently speak to from the desert, any more than you would be the Carlos who remains in that place. [ The relative reality of duplicates is always a pressing philosophical concern for Dana. ] But that doesn't mean he wouldn't be real, or that you're not, just because you're currently existing in the mind of another person. Does it? Lots of things that exist primarily in the minds of human beings affect the world: justice, truth, love, that one song that gets stuck in everyone's head from 3:47 to 4:21 every second Tuesday afternoon. And each of these is different for every person. Except maybe that song, I'm not sure.

Anyway, it seems like a gamble when it comes to your time and place matching with Cecil's again. If you go, you might be reunited with him before you are in the story that's our source. Or you might be separated even longer, without the wifi connection to count on. I can see why you're concerned.

Dana! You know you are very smart. Have you ever thought of becoming a scientist?

You are right, of course, that things can be real and yet not exist. Time does not exist, the House That Does Not Exist does not exist. And the I that I am is not the I that is trapped in the desert. Already our experiences are different - all he knows is the desert, but I know the desert and here as well. And he will keep walking the desert, while I will instead be walking on the back of a very large turtle. We are both real, but do either of us really exist? I don't know. I'll try to find out, if I can.

But I'd like for Cecil to come where I'm going too. Even if he's not really the same Cecil, just like I'm not the same Carlos. I just don't know how to make that happen.

Oh! Thank you, Carlos. [ very honored, as "scientist" means "hero" to her ] I don't know if I have it in me to be a scientist. Right now, I'm not sure I have it in me to be Mayor of Night Vale, and I never expected to be that, either. I suppose I can only live my life, and find out that way what I can become.

My mun says that it can be difficult, being a character who's part of an...OTP?...in a game, because of course you want your partner to be with you, but even if they do arrive their continued existence and involvement with you depends both on them and on their mun, and it's hard enough having a steady relationship with one other person on a single plane of reality. But that doesn't mean it can't happen.

Right, you're Mayor now! Cecil did mention something about that. Now I know that no one's votes matter when it comes to electing a Mayor, but I don't really understand how you managed to become Mayor without even running in the first place...

Yes, when you think about it it would mean being in a relationship where there are technically four people involved. Which is two people too many. But if it's a choice between having Cecil plus two other people who are controlling everything that we do, and not having Cecil at all, I...I think I'd rather have Cecil.

It was pretty surprising to me, too! Of course, I do see that if our leaders were only those people ambitious to lead, that could be dangerous. And I do trust that the pulses coming from Hidden Gorge know what's best. But it's not anything I ever expected, and I am a little worried about what the previous candidates will do. But you've got enough to worry about without me bringing in my problems.

Please do give my love to the masked army!

I don't know about it being two people too many - that would condemn polyamory between sets of individuals, as well as any kind of relationship you could have with multi-headed entities, wouldn't it? But I see what you're saying. And I'm sure Cecil wouldn't want you - any version of you! - to be without him. My mun says she wouldn't either, so if yours is interested she'd be willing to talk about it - she's been looking at the turtle-city game for other characters.

Actually I am rather surprised that the pulses - I really need to research them further when I get back to Night Vale - picked so well at all. Considering your predecessor, well, I'd assumed that actual competence wasn't one of the prerequisites for becoming Mayor.

I will, although I'm not sure when I'll be seeing them next. It could be a while.

Ah, well...not that polyamory and relationships with multi-headed beings are bad, scientifically speaking there is no inherent worth or lack or worth those relationships other than the meanings that we assign to them. But um. Well. I would personally prefer my relationships to be with one person who has only one head. Generally speaking.

You mun controls not only you, but a version of Cecil as well? So muns are able to manipulate multiple people from a shared world and universe? I wonder if there are any limitations to the number of people that they...uh...I mean. Um. Yes. My mun would be interested in talking about it. And I would very much appreciate it, even though I know that ultimately I have no choice or input in this matter at all.

Oh, um, thank you! It's true that Mayor Winchell hasn't always had the best relationship with the press - or, well, with Cecil - and at times she's been controversial. But I wouldn't doubt her competence or her dedication, and not only because expressing such doubts was until recently punishable by law. It's not an easy job, being Mayor of Night Vale. To tell the truth, I'm kind of overwhelmed by the prospect.

To my understanding, it's not unusual at all for muns to have multiple people from shared worlds. Mine has me, and - well, a Carlos, actually! [ Is that weird? Dana's not sure if that makes it weird. ] She says she doesn't have a journal for Cecil, because...something to do with deciding on "icons" and "headcanon" for what he looks like?...but she's intended to make one for a while now. Anyway, if your mun wants she can message mine at my journal.

I'm sure you've got some input, though. More than you'd have in, say, deciding whether or not you'd be chosen in the yearly Lottery to have your flesh devoured by wolves. Most of daily existence is outside of our control, but that doesn't mean we have no choices. Just the fact that you want to have Cecil with you probably affects your mun's desire to bring one in.

I think that perhaps we're used to...different standards of competence when it comes to local politicians.

Your mun also has a version of me? [Rather than looking weirded out, Carlos looks positively delighted. Think of the scientific implications! If had something to write with and writing implements weren't illegal, he'd been getting out a pen and paper right now] Have you noticed any significant differences between me and your mun's version of myself? Do we share the same appearance and personality? And considering that he and I have been controlled by two completely different people, how would you say that has affected differences in our history?

I have been attempting to run tests on the the limits of my ability to make my own choices and influence the decisions my mun takes in regards to my own actions, but so far my data is still insufficient. I'll need to run many more experiments before I can tell whether or not my own desires affect hers. But...I hope so. At the very least, she has promised to message yours.

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Voice testing - canon is Welcome to Night Vale, currently planning on apping at Tu Shanshu

the muses who talk the meta draw him out (also mun has theories)

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