Blush: You know they love long-runners in Getsun? Kids don’t even get real names until they’re three. When Romarin’s “parents” realized she was a “little ancestor,” they would’ve called it an honor.
But me — there’s no way I could be an ancestor of the folks I ended up reborn to. Couldn’t even be some distant cousin. It turns out . . . when that happens . . . Getsunese parents give you some cash, buy you a one-way ticket to Central, and try again.
I don’t just need a book deal or a history lesson. I need . . . everything! Has the Center ever seen a case like that?
Violet: Ma’am, I promise . . .
. . . no matter what you’re going through, the Center has seen it, dealt with it, and printed up a how-to pamphlet about it.
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“So You’re Not Someone’s Ancestor: A Reference Guide”
“The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Long-Running”
“Marathon of Life: Cognizant Reincarnation and You”
‘What to do when your new family turn out to be tools. 5th edition’
“What to expect when you weren’t expected”
Did Violet just literally stop talking, walk the rest of the way with Blush to the center, and then finish her thought there?
Maybe the restaurant they were in is actually the Long-Runner Center’s coffeeshop?
I think it’s more funny to picture a situation like the one in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yV98UjGkLQ
Please tell me there is some sort of support group for Long Runners like her. Maybe even families with other Long Runners that will include those with cases like Blush’s so they aren’t all alone?
I could see that being a very thorny issue. on the one hand, we’re talking about an adult mind who should have autonomy. on the other, I’m not sure, in their situation, I’d want to go it alone in a land where everything is strange and new and everyone I knew is likely dead.
I’m picturing two primary avenues of aid: One, a foster-family program, giving the family a stipend for any assistance needed in addition to counselling. Two, for those who want to try and dive in to being as adult as they can, an assisted living facility designed with challenges that a young Long-runner would face, such access to the sink, food prep surfaces, “here’s what’s new” classes.
Then again, government money isn’t infinite, so who knows!
I meant more of a family in the sense of “People who love you and are there when you need them.”
Well, one of those is literally the place the characters are standing in right now….
Oh, neat!
I was interpreting The Center as just information and counselling, rather than also a living facility.
It’s a little bit of everything. It has dorms that are specially laid out for child-size people with adult faculties, and for employees it prioritizes long-runners who aren’t yet tall/strong/mature-looking enough to get back to the careers they prefer.
Is it weird that I’m a little bit relieved that Blush’s distress at being Getsunese for this go-around seems to be mostly ‘they turned me out as part of the culture’ rather than any sort of enmity on her part?
We don’t know that for sure though. We only know this life so far, there’s a whole lifetime we haven’t yet learned about.
I’d expect more venom from her if that were the case.
Gah… hit submit too soon.
I would have expected Blush to phrase things more aggressively if she had negative prejudices from her past life, rather than the painfully neutral “I was dropped off with a ticket to Central and some cash” she went with.
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