Okay, I know I implied I was going to replace WDaMO with Dreamcraft, but this one deserves it.
We begin in the past, on the desert island where our entire social system came into being. According to the history we know, time-travelling Thomas Jefferson[1] arrived and taught the islanders all about How To Be Western Civilisation. That still happens - for half of the islanders. But in this alternate universe, his wife shows up as well.
While Thomas is off teaching men all about being in charge, Mrs Jefferson[2] went and found some women. Being on a desert island, they were obviously (obviously!) scantily-clad free-love types. Anyway, these were the people she taught her social system to.
Fast-forward to the present, some 200 years later. The city (dunno what city) is split between the two systems. On one side we have the Cathedral of the God, where they have basically our 'traditional' society. On the other side, the Cathedral of the Goddess, where they...
... well, frankly, where it's not much different, but they insisted it was. It isn't a men/women split, in case you're thinking that. Both are present on both sides of the divide.
I got to see this first-hand, by being one of the people present when possibly-Martha Jefferson finally died. Yeah, I know, 200 years old; she was in a wheelchair, at least. Anyway, as the last person she talked to, I had to be the one to take her body and put it in a coffin in my office.
Then I went outside and talked to![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
celebestel about what we would do now that she was dead. We discussed lying about it, or leaving, but then we decided on option 3: get married.[3] So we went into the side room and had a wedding:
Celebestel and I stood on the front of Thomas the Tank Engine[4], and people sang to us. But then, war! An invasion started, up from the south, and the invaders cut a giant gap through an isthmus to break into the inland sea. We could see all this on the interactive wall map.
I got angry, with angry eyes, and demanded that the singers make me laugh (I assume because it's required for the wedding). They failed at first, but did eventually pull it off. So I guess we were married?
The invasion was getting closer, and we had to escape - but the exit (from what was now a fenced garden) was towards the invaders! And we were at the north end of the railway, so there was no escape behind us.
Except... HMM. I looked through the fence, and realised that the old mining track beyond[5] was in suspiciously good repair. I asked the Fat Controller where we were, and after trying to fob me off with 'at the south... the north end of the line', he admitted that yes, they'd got it running again.
Then, alas, I woke up.
[1] I assume Jefferson is involved becausecelebestel is still listening to Hamilton. Also: I just got to write the phrase 'time-travelling Thomas Jefferson'. :D
[2] Mrs Jefferson's name began with M... something like Maura, though that's Frodo's name. Actually, checking, his wife really was named Martha, and it may well have been that - though I'd swear I never knew that before. Spooky!
[3] Yes, we did realise that this only postponed the decision, rather than actually answering it. But hey! Marriage!
[4] Free association from the name 'Thomas'? Or it could be because the kids' TTTE set is visible in the drawer downstairs.
[5] This is drawn from the Talyllyn narrow-gauge railway in Wales, which does indeed have a disused mine railway extending from its upper end. It doesn't look a thing like this, though.
tl;dr version: sadly, I woke up before I got to ride Thomas the Tank Engine up into the mines with my new wife to lead the resistance against the invasion of Mrs Jefferson's cathedral. :(
We begin in the past, on the desert island where our entire social system came into being. According to the history we know, time-travelling Thomas Jefferson[1] arrived and taught the islanders all about How To Be Western Civilisation. That still happens - for half of the islanders. But in this alternate universe, his wife shows up as well.
While Thomas is off teaching men all about being in charge, Mrs Jefferson[2] went and found some women. Being on a desert island, they were obviously (obviously!) scantily-clad free-love types. Anyway, these were the people she taught her social system to.
Fast-forward to the present, some 200 years later. The city (dunno what city) is split between the two systems. On one side we have the Cathedral of the God, where they have basically our 'traditional' society. On the other side, the Cathedral of the Goddess, where they...
... well, frankly, where it's not much different, but they insisted it was. It isn't a men/women split, in case you're thinking that. Both are present on both sides of the divide.
I got to see this first-hand, by being one of the people present when possibly-Martha Jefferson finally died. Yeah, I know, 200 years old; she was in a wheelchair, at least. Anyway, as the last person she talked to, I had to be the one to take her body and put it in a coffin in my office.
Then I went outside and talked to
celebestel about what we would do now that she was dead. We discussed lying about it, or leaving, but then we decided on option 3: get married.[3] So we went into the side room and had a wedding:Celebestel and I stood on the front of Thomas the Tank Engine[4], and people sang to us. But then, war! An invasion started, up from the south, and the invaders cut a giant gap through an isthmus to break into the inland sea. We could see all this on the interactive wall map.
I got angry, with angry eyes, and demanded that the singers make me laugh (I assume because it's required for the wedding). They failed at first, but did eventually pull it off. So I guess we were married?
The invasion was getting closer, and we had to escape - but the exit (from what was now a fenced garden) was towards the invaders! And we were at the north end of the railway, so there was no escape behind us.
Except... HMM. I looked through the fence, and realised that the old mining track beyond[5] was in suspiciously good repair. I asked the Fat Controller where we were, and after trying to fob me off with 'at the south... the north end of the line', he admitted that yes, they'd got it running again.
Then, alas, I woke up.
[1] I assume Jefferson is involved because
celebestel is still listening to Hamilton. Also: I just got to write the phrase 'time-travelling Thomas Jefferson'. :D[2] Mrs Jefferson's name began with M... something like Maura, though that's Frodo's name. Actually, checking, his wife really was named Martha, and it may well have been that - though I'd swear I never knew that before. Spooky!
[3] Yes, we did realise that this only postponed the decision, rather than actually answering it. But hey! Marriage!
[4] Free association from the name 'Thomas'? Or it could be because the kids' TTTE set is visible in the drawer downstairs.
[5] This is drawn from the Talyllyn narrow-gauge railway in Wales, which does indeed have a disused mine railway extending from its upper end. It doesn't look a thing like this, though.
tl;dr version: sadly, I woke up before I got to ride Thomas the Tank Engine up into the mines with my new wife to lead the resistance against the invasion of Mrs Jefferson's cathedral. :(
no subject
Date: 2017-02-06 04:39 pm (UTC)From:I find it interesting that your wife and my husband have been/are both on a Hamilton kick. Phobos has been watching a lot of animatics on YouTube. I imagine that'll make for some interesting moments if we're able to Gather this summer. ^_^
(We should, er, probably talk more about that soonish.)
no subject
Date: 2017-02-06 06:51 pm (UTC)From:Oh yeah, that's supposed to be this summer! We were figuring it had been brushed under the rug; it's a pleasant surprise to find out it's still at least possible. :) Email me any time to talk about it.