Recognition World
Nov. 6th, 2006 11:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jamesqI used to be a huge ElfQuest fan. I still like the original story, but after seriously overdosing on it, I find I can only read the original "classic" story.
One of the concepts I always liked from EQ was that of recognition. Recognition (to quote the Wikipedia article above) was "a kind of psionic 'matchmaking' effect that forces the elves to mate, in hopes of breeding children, and often results in a lifelong pair-bonding known as 'life-mating' if the elves are compatible with one another in temperament."
I recently thought that this would make a good speculative fiction story. The following is the rather detailed premise:
1) Aside from the addition of recognition, it is the real world, not the ElfQuest World of Two Moons.
2) On one day in the very recent past, every human who is able gains perfect knowledge of their life-mate. If it's someone they know or knew, they will remember or otherwise have the detailed knowledge necessary to find them. If they don't, they will simply have an image of what the person looks like, as well as a very general sense of where to find them.
3) The people who gain this insight are those that are sufficiently mature to maintain such a relationship and for whom a compatible partner exists.
4) Each pair would be most compatible with each other in as many ways as possible - intellectually, emotionally and sexually. Therefore there could be life-mates who were gay or asexual, as well as heterosexual. Other, rarer possibilities exist so long as the couple were mature and compatible.
5) Despite this, recognition is not a "free pass" and people would still have to work at their relationships. They would have a terrific head start though as well as not having to second-guess their choices.
6) This is a pair-bonding - there are no poly relationships of this nature. Presumably people who identify as poly-amorous would pair with others like themselves, allowing for non-recognition secondary relationships.
7) People who subsequently "qualify" would recognize, presumably because both halves of the pair-bond age sufficiently. This is a permanent change to human nature rather then a one-time thing.
8) When one half of the pair dies, the other half knows it.
Nothing else should be read-into recognition. The relationship is not blessed in any way - you could literally recognize your mate seconds before they die in a plane crash.
My intent for the story is to have the protagonist, who is searching for his life-mate, explore this radically changed world. To that end I would like feedback - what are some logical implications of this world's base assumptions.
One of the concepts I always liked from EQ was that of recognition. Recognition (to quote the Wikipedia article above) was "a kind of psionic 'matchmaking' effect that forces the elves to mate, in hopes of breeding children, and often results in a lifelong pair-bonding known as 'life-mating' if the elves are compatible with one another in temperament."
I recently thought that this would make a good speculative fiction story. The following is the rather detailed premise:
1) Aside from the addition of recognition, it is the real world, not the ElfQuest World of Two Moons.
2) On one day in the very recent past, every human who is able gains perfect knowledge of their life-mate. If it's someone they know or knew, they will remember or otherwise have the detailed knowledge necessary to find them. If they don't, they will simply have an image of what the person looks like, as well as a very general sense of where to find them.
3) The people who gain this insight are those that are sufficiently mature to maintain such a relationship and for whom a compatible partner exists.
4) Each pair would be most compatible with each other in as many ways as possible - intellectually, emotionally and sexually. Therefore there could be life-mates who were gay or asexual, as well as heterosexual. Other, rarer possibilities exist so long as the couple were mature and compatible.
5) Despite this, recognition is not a "free pass" and people would still have to work at their relationships. They would have a terrific head start though as well as not having to second-guess their choices.
6) This is a pair-bonding - there are no poly relationships of this nature. Presumably people who identify as poly-amorous would pair with others like themselves, allowing for non-recognition secondary relationships.
7) People who subsequently "qualify" would recognize, presumably because both halves of the pair-bond age sufficiently. This is a permanent change to human nature rather then a one-time thing.
8) When one half of the pair dies, the other half knows it.
Nothing else should be read-into recognition. The relationship is not blessed in any way - you could literally recognize your mate seconds before they die in a plane crash.
My intent for the story is to have the protagonist, who is searching for his life-mate, explore this radically changed world. To that end I would like feedback - what are some logical implications of this world's base assumptions.
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no subject
Date: 2006-11-07 08:37 am (UTC)Does recognizing your life mate mean that you're instantly in love with them? What is the force that drives you to find him or her? Do some people know that their life mate is out there and not give a hoot?
no subject
Date: 2006-11-07 02:03 pm (UTC)Yeah there would be major social upheavels, which I plan on exploring. The simplist case would be a couple who both recognize other people and decide to let each other go to pursue their lifemates. Less simple would be when only one half of a couple gets this impulse. If the other half doesn't recognize anyone they will simply not understand why the other person is leaving. Expect a lot of violence and misunderstanding as humanity learns to cope with the only change to human nature in history. And that's just in the liberal countries like Canada. Imaine how bad it could get in, say, Saudi Arabia.
Is it love? No, though love would bloom quickly. Think of it as certain knowledge that this person will become your love.
no subject
Date: 2006-11-07 02:15 pm (UTC)