Letter to the Editor

[librarygeek]

This article appeared in the New Orleans Clarion-Picayune, the evening edition after the poem by [personal profile] ysabetwordsmith entitled, “Berettaflies” found here, http://ysabetwordsmith.dreamwidth.org/10348733.html

Letter to the Editor and Public Announcement:

The Monroe Library at Loyola University will host a round table discussion on the appropriate taxonomic classification of the insects called "Berettaflies" by their creator. Announcements and flyers are being posted in the usual media and public spaces, and here for the initial discussion of the newly identified organism's possible identification. This discussion is open to all students, faculty, and the general public.

Cautions for those with concerns:

1) The students who are in the hospital have the option of joining by vidchat. Screens will be set up if they choose to send images. These may be graphic shots of injuries.

2) The soup first responder is being invited to attend, either by vidchat or in person, and does not have a fully humanoid appearance. Offensive nicknames or descriptions will not be tolerated and is grounds for immediate dismissal from the discussion. If this is a hardship for you, please avail yourself of the live audio feed alone which will be a separate link.

3) The creator of these "Berettaflies" is invited as thon may have important information towards how to properly identify these creatures and their relevant characteristics. Cooperation and full disclosure is being considered by the authorities in all discussions of official charges pertaining to the release of the Berettaflies.

4) The group known as The Spectrum is NOT invited as members have shown no relevant knowledge of the creatures or of the consequences of their actions.

Comments

Thank you!

[ysabetwordsmith]

This is awesome. I have linked and boosted the signal. Please tell dialecticdreamer about this too, and whether it's okay to include in the collection she's making.

>> The Loyola University Library will host a round table discussion on the appropriate taxonomic classification of the insects called "Berettaflies" by their creator. <<

This is a brilliant idea.

>> Announcements and flyers are being posted in the usual media and public spaces, and here for the initial discussion of the newly identified organism's possible identification. This discussion is open to all students, faculty, and the general public. <<

That's an excellent example of how Terramagne-America tends to handle challenges: polite, public discussion with an eye toward science and damage mitigation. I'm sure some people will still melt down, but that's something the planners can account for with meeting space near a quiet room and a crisis counselor on hand.

>> 1) The students who are in the hospital have the option of joining by vidchat. Screens will be setup if they choose to send images. These may be graphic shots of injuries. <<

That should say "set up" above.

Certainly the one(s) already involved in proposing names will be interested in joining the discussion. Manón Raquera is another possibility, another student who got stung during the field trip and stars in a poem I wrote for the Creative Jam this weekend. So yeah, some of the injuries are ugly.

>> 2) The soup first responder is being invited to attend, either by vidchat or in person, and does not have a fully humanoid appearance. Offensive nicknames or descriptions will not be tolerated and is grounds for immediate dismissal from the discussion. If this is a hardship for you, please avail yourself of the live audio feed alone which will be a separate link. <<

Aww! That's so sweet. I'm sure Facet will be interested, just on the strength of not being called "Bugeye" all afternoon. It's hard for him to make friends. But if there are entomologists in the group, they might like his handsome compound eyes. Somebody must have noticed him flinching and made a point of telegraphing the soup-friendly environment. :D

>> 3) The creator of these "Berettaflies" is invited as may have <<

That should probably say "they may" above, although "thon" is a T-American gender-neutral pronoun already in use.

>> important information towards how to properly identify these creatures and their relevant characteristics. Cooperation and full disclosure is being considered by the authorities in all discussions of official charges pertaining to the release of the Berettaflies. <<

Now this is fascinating. Yes, the authorities have parameters in place for situations like this to encourage that kind of assistance by rewarding it.

Stylet isn't ready to come in from the cold yet. His early response was to bolt and hide. The earlier letter to the editor, realizing that he lost the first right of naming, that's really going to hurt. But this will hit him from a totally different angle, letting him know that all doors aren't necessarily closed. It will help set up for later developments. I think once he realizes how bad the situation is -- due to the berettaflies being taken out of their intended context -- he will eventually feel horrible and turn himself in.

>> 4) The group known as The Spectrum is not invited as members have shown no relevant knowledge of the creatures or of the consequences of their actions. <<

I suggest emphasizing the "not" with allcaps or italics to distinguish it from earlier invitations.

I am also deeply amused by this brisk smack on the nose. The mad scientist gets invited, but the so-called superheroes do not, for explicit and valid reasons. :D

Re: Thank you!

[librarygeek]

Edits made. :-)

>>Aww! That's so sweet. I'm sure Facet will be interested, just on the strength of not being called "Bugeye" all afternoon. It's hard for him to make friends. But if there are entomologists in the group, they might like his handsome compound eyes. Somebody must have noticed him flinching and made a point of telegraphing the soup-friendly environment. :D<<

Some of that is my irritation at Pointer not using Facet's chosen name. It's Bullying Education Week in our cyber school, and friendly fire ISN'T. :-/ Some of that is MY irrational response to compound eyes, especially on spiders, but I won't let an irrational fear dictate my learning. I might not be able to keep my eyes open, or stay in the room, but that's my problem, and Facet should get the respect he deserves. Audio feed is available. ;-)

>>But this will hit him from a totally different angle, letting him know that all doors aren't necessarily closed. It will help set up for later developments. I think once he realizes how bad the situation is -- due to the berettaflies being taken out of their intended context -- he will eventually feel horrible and turn himself in.<<

Species have been renamed, when it's determined that other characteristics are more important. For trying to catch his creatures when containment was broken, I feel he gets a voice in the debate.

*SMACK* Bad soups, better double check YOUR cape colors!

Re: Thank you!

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> Some of that is my irritation at Pointer not using Facet's chosen name. <<

Since Pointer is both an outreach volunteer and a decent guy, I suspect that he doesn't know "Bugeye" is the wrong name. The problem is that so many people use it, Facet has all but given up on correcting anyone. He just expects to be mistreated because it happens so often. :(

Soup names can come about in different ways. One is that the person chooses their own, like Facet. But another is description that other people choose and if there's an obvious handle -- like Bugeye -- then it tends to get used. So if he introduces himself, he'll say Facet; but if someone else does, they usually say Bugeye.

Presumably the librarian will introduce him as Facet for once, which will turn heads. It's the equivalent people realizing that they've been mispronouncing an immigrant friend's name for months.

>> It's Bullying Education Week in our cyber school, <<

Go you!

>> and friendly fire ISN'T. :-/ <<

Agreed.

>> Some of that is MY irrational response to compound eyes, especially on spiders, but I won't let an irrational fear dictate my learning. I might not be able to keep my eyes open, or stay in the room, but that's my problem, and Facet should get the respect he deserves. Audio feed is available. ;-) <<

That is very kind of you.

>> Species have been renamed, when it's determined that other characteristics are more important. <<

That's true. So if he turns himself in later, some of the people arguing against Stylus may change their stance.

>> For trying to catch his creatures when containment was broken, I feel he gets a voice in the debate. <<

That's a good point.

I think he panicked when he started to get a real inkling that the situation was worse than expected, and that's why he split instead of staying to render aid. But I also suspect that he called an ambulance for Facet.

>> *SMACK* Bad soups, better double check YOUR cape colors! <<

Heh, yeah. I imagine there are a lot of rude jokes right now about fact that their jumpsuits are black and the capes are colored -- the implication being that the tailor screwed up the order, and it should've been colored jumpsuits with black capes.

Interestingly, the charges are likely to be worse on the Spectrum and possibly Mr. Pernicious than on Stylet himself. T-America tends to make causing harm illegal, rather than having or doing things which are only potentially harmful. You're allowed to have a knife, but not to stab people with it. So making monstrous insects is inadvisable but probably not illegal, whereas setting them on people would be illegal. (Gengineering is another place where efforts to pass laws have often got fought to a standstill, which means it is neither banned nor has controls that might be advisable.) Mostly what he'll get hit with is for running a lab inside city limits that probably does not have all the paperwork it should have, because nobody would approve that kind of zetetics there for exactly this kind of reason.

I do know that nobody worth working with wants to deal with the Spectrum anymore. SPOON won't give them assignments because too many people have called and specified not to send them. I'm not sure if the authorities have actually issued warrants yet; they may still be sorting through the debris and the complicated tangle of PR issues. But it's not something the Spectrum is likely to get off scot-free with this time.

Mr. Pernicious is, of course, already a supervillain and wanted for all sorts of things. This case can take a number and get in line. Since he's just seriously pissed off a bunch of other supervillains, however, he may find it harder to get past this hurdle.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

I loved this!

[dialecticdreamer]

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

My own demifictions have focused on other elements, and everyone is adding more depth and variety, making this FAR more like a real community reacting to an event!

Dis-inviting Spectrum is just beautiful.

Re: I loved this!

[librarygeek]

My husband has noted that in my personal vernacular, stupid or rude gets used when others might say evil.

I have a personal crusade against ignorance and lack of courtesy, and certain parts of the stereotype of librarian suit me very well. ;-)

Re: I loved this!

[dialecticdreamer]

Agreed!

When my boys were small, the S-word in our house was "stupid."

Which led to the six-year old telling me he didn't want to watch Labyrinth again because it was "derivative."

Seriously. Of what? "Theseus and the Minotaur."


Mission accomplished!

Re: I loved this!

[thnidu]

FTW!!!!!

[helgatwb]

4) The group known as The Spectrum is NOT invited as members have shown no relevant knowledge of the creatures or of the consequences of their actions.

*snickers*

I like it.

[librarygeek]

This is meant as an intelligent and congenial discussion. The Spectrum shows NO evidence of being able to participate on either level. ;-)

Bwhaahahhahha

[dialecticdreamer]

Pre-CISE-ly!

[redsixwing]

Oh, snap.

I like the callout that Facet may be surprising to some people, and that it is NOT okay to mistreat him because of that.