hiiii this is a question about ad astra local group bc i do still think about them i am just very shy about sending asks… anyway i’m always interested when it comes to iterator ocs: what would all their thoughts on the sliver of straw Situation be? anyone have any super controversial takes about her that would get them hate mail / which of the main philosophies that are outlined do you think they’d be most sympathetic to / can they truly Not be bothered / etc.
(actually how are they all doing post mass ascension i’m worried about them :( )
OOOOUUUHH. CRACKS MY FINGERS. VERY GOOD QUESTION ok let's get in it's going to be Very Long
(also PLEASE never hesitate to ask question!! actually getting questions is pretty much exactly what I need to develop the characters more because there's some aspects that either make sense only to me, or that I just never thought about before... so answering questions HELPS ME!!!)
Come Forth to The Sky
The Sliver Situation: She... never heard of Sliver of Straw ever. After all, she has been on forced lock down around the time Third Generation Iterators (so the last Generation in my lore) started to be constructed. She doesn't have access to Broadcasts anymore, her entire Structure is closed and no one can access it, not even outsider Overseers... so of course, she is completely out of touch with everything that has been happening outside. But if she were to hear of it, her opinion would pretty much be that she doesn't care. She's too busy trying to free herself and catch up with EVERYTHING that has been happening. Why would she care about finding a way to ascend or die when she was unable to live for so long?
Mass Ascension: This is a very mixed feelings moment. On one side, it was a "finally, I'm getting rid of these pests", and on the other side, it was the crushing realization of "wait, they're going to leave me behind like this?". She suffers less from the loss of her citizens, and rather from how much she is angry that they're leaving her like that, without any control over her own body, locked inside herself, no one to talk to or help her. That clearly did not do good to her mental health.
Whispers of the Lost Star
The Sliver Situation: If one of them had to get hate mail, that'd be Whispers. They are truly interested in the whole situation, and has been joining many Sliverist groups (Which, considering their specific way to talk, being anonymous is quite a difficult task. Everyone knows it's them.), but... not really for the Good Reasons. They actually don't exactly care about what the Triple Affirmative is, but rather, they try to understand why would Sliver, or anyone, wishes to cross themselves out, and what's even the point of it. If anything, they're rather on the belief that Sliver never found the Triple Affirmative and just collapsed, and that the message she broadcasted was an error. They have a clear opinion that Ascension/Death is not what should be looked for, but rather find a way to Truly Live. That of course caused them to get mocked a lot, to get hate messages, and get banned from several groups. Not that they care, they're just left in total confusion. If we have to take all canon Iterators... I'd say the only one they go along with is Seven Red Suns. They talked a few times.
Mass Ascension: It was very difficult for them. They tried everything to stop their citizens from doing it. But it was a lost fight; they can't stop them. On the contrary, they would lose their confidence and love because they are going against their task. They often got "punished", and couldn't do anything but look in silence as they left one by one. They still don't understand why they did that, or why they ever wanted to leave. Why they consider the gift of life as a burden. They could never understand, as they never had truly lived.
Feathers of the Soul
The Sliver Situation: She would love to say that she doesn't care, but it's not exactly true. While she does not care about Ascension personally, it's one of the two paths they are looking into to help Come Forth. While they are personally working towards a possibility to remove her lockdown altogether, this is growing more and more hopeless, and the other possibility would be to help Come Forth to Ascend/Die. Because if there's no way to free her, then it might be the best way to help her. Of course, Soul really doesn't want this, and would love to be able to talk with Come Forth again, but all of her attempts are a failure, and she's growing desperate. So, in short, Soul has joined many Sliverist groups, but isn't actively speaking in them. Just looking at the conversations, hoping that someone would one day drop the Triple Affirmative, even if deep inside, she really hopes it doesn't exist and that Come Forth can be helped in another way that wouldn't need her to be gone.
Mass Ascension: She's... not exactly sad about it. Nor happy. They had loved their citizens, especially the researchers with whom they worked, seeing them as really good colleagues. But they never got much personal attachment to them, and the city of Grus has gotten very erratic in its last days. Basically, as Ascension and Void Baths became more and more widespread, there has been a huge fight over science vs religion, and it caused many issues, giving a serious headache to Soul. She just wanted it to be over. In any cases, she doesn't exactly care much that they are gone, even more that she is dedicating her free time in trying to help Come Forth.
Twenty-Seven Melodies
The Sliver Situation: They don't care. They barely spend any time in Broadcasts, as they are very shy and bad at communication. They of course heard of it, not like anyone could ignore the Triple Affirmative. But they have no interest in it. They are closed in in their own bubble, dreaming of better times. There is really not much to say; they are just uninterested in the pursuit of Ascension.
Mass Ascension: They are one of the members of Ad Astra that struggles the most with it. Their entire city was built on music, there wasn't a day without a concert; and Melodies themselves conducted the biggest orchestra, with hundred of musicians, that they all knew personally. Having lost them is really hard on them. They can't stand the silence now, they have to constantly play again and again old qualia of the songs played by Lyra. They also no longer have an audience, as other Iterators hardly care for Iterator-made art. This is something they share with For-Not, as both had bounded over having no one to show their creations to.
Forget Me Not
The Sliver Situation: She has no interest in it. She actually hates the subject, and when it is brought up in the Ad Astra group conversations, she would get irritated and disconnect. It's understandable: just like her brother, she was not made to solve the Great Problem. Their respective superstructures were made as archives for Benefactors' culture and history, with For-Not specifically recording culture and arts. So her role is more one of an archive guardian than a problem solver. She actually hates how obsessed a lot are with personal Ascension, and that they don't take on the role to guide the future new intelligent species, or have no interest in the legacy that the Benefactors left behind. Her job is huge, after all, she has to analyze many pieces of art, figure out who made them, when, where, in what context, their meanings... and understand why Benefactors had this much interest for art to start with.
Mass Ascension: Her city... well, calling it a city might be wrong, actually. There was not any citizen beside her Administrators and Engineers. Just like her brother, her "city" is more of a giant museum. It was made to archive many pearls, records, and possible physical art pieces of all kind (paintings, murals, literature, poems, music...). At the point where both were built, there wasn't much Benefactor left anyway, so not like it was a matter of expending their cities. She only deeply regrets that they are not here anymore to guide her in her endeavor of understanding the art they left behind, or that she never could have witnessed the creations of those masterpieces with her own eyes.
Celestial Divine
The Sliver Situation: A point where him and his sister will never agree - even if he tries to never bring it up to her, as to not frustrate her. But For-Not can understand; Divine isn't a regular Iterator. He's a pre-Void Fluid Revolution Echo that has been put in an Iterator. Meaning, he has failed Ascension himself. While he's not exactly interested in it, he still wants to understand, understand why he failed, if he can fix it, and most of all, if he would ever be able to join his little sister. Or at least, know that she's safe. Oh, yeah, by little sister, I don't mean For-Not, I mean his actual little sister, from before he failed Ascension (while she successfully Ascended). Because, maybe Ascension is more terrifying than you'd think, he wouldn't know. So, he hangs out in Sliverist groups a lot, even if he has to fight his anxiety and shyness as he struggles greatly to communicate with Iterators, considering he's not exactly one.
Mass Ascension: Similar to his sister, his "city" is an archive for historical events. But he was very close to his Architect, Two Fallen Souls Bound To The Sea. They're the one who made him an Iterator, and also the only one of the entire project who could see him and talk with him. Losing them was like losing a parental figure, because yes, even if Divine is much older than Fallen, he was barely an adult when he went to the Void Sea.
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