text - absence makes the heart grow until it explodes

[h2no]

YO.

I KNOW THERE'S ONE THING A LOT OF PEOPLE DON'T REALLY WANT TO ACKNOWLEDGE BECAUSE WE ALL GET IT: HOMESICKNESS.
I KNOW EVERYONE IS MISSING THEIR HOME AND THEIR FRIENDS. I'D BE SURPRISED IF THERE'S PEOPLE HERE WHO AREN'T.
NOT TO SAY IF YOU AREN'T THAT YOU'RE A WEIRDO, OF COURSE, I SUPPOSE YOU'RE JUST A BIT LUCKIER.
NOW, I'M NOT GONNA ASK YOU TO TELL ME ABOUT THE PEOPLE YOU MISS OR THE PLACES YOU MISS. THAT WON'T HELP, IT'LL PROBABLY JUST MAKE YOU FEEL EVEN WORSE.
I AIN'T EVEN GONNA GIVE A BIG SPEECH ABOUT HOW WE'RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER AND WE GOTTA TAKE CARE OF EACH OTHER, BECAUSE WE ALL KNOW THAT CRAP AIN'T GONNA HOLD UP.
BACK HOME I HAD A LARGE TEAM OF PEOPLE WHO VARIED IN AGES. A LOT OF THEM GOT HOMESICK AND WHEN IT OVERWHELMED THEM THEY WENT ON A DOWNWARD SPIRAL.
THING IS, IT'S REAL EASY TO LET IT OVERWHELM YOU.
MAKE A LIST OF EVERYTHING YOU MISS. EVEN IF IT'S SOMETHING YOU THINK IS SILLY, LIKE THE TREE THAT WAS NEAR WHERE YOU LIVED, OR A CAFE THAT DID THE BEST VERSION OF A FLAT WHITE COFFEE YOU'VE EVER TASTED.
ANYTHING YOU CAN THINK OF. EVEN IF YOU'RE NOT FROM EARTH. I GUARANTEE YOU THERE WILL BE SOMETHING HERE THAT IS SIMILAR ENOUGH IT'LL BE LIKE BEING AT HOME. EVEN IF IT'S JUST A GIANT ROCK THAT'S THE SAME SHAPE.
NOT TO MENTION GETTING OUT AND GETTING FRESH AIR ALWAYS HELPS.
DO STUFF YOU DID AT HOME. DON'T GET WRAPPED UP IN THE FACT THAT IT'S NOT THE SAME. YOU HAVE TO ADAPT TO HELP YOURSELF, THAT'S LIFE.
BUT THAT THE SAME TIME... DON'T SINK INTO IT. DON'T THINK OF NOTHING BUT WHAT YOU MISS.
IGNORING IT WON'T WORK, BUT NEITHER WILL DIVING INTO IT.
FIND A BALANCE.
DON'T LET IT OVERWHELM YOU.

Comments

[oceanthief]

I don't mean actual walls.

[and that's it, the moment's gone.]

[h2no]

NO SHIT.
I MEAN, DON'T DISTANCE YOURSELF FROM PEOPLE.
DON'T BECOME SOMEONE THAT CAN'T ASSIMILATE ANYMORE.
THAT WOULD BE BAD.

[oceanthief]

It's fine. I never really understood humans in the first place.

[h2no]

DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT. WE'RE A STUPID, WEIRD BUNCH.
HOW MUCH DO YOU INTERACT WITH THEM?
MAYBE LEARNING ABOUT HUMANS WOULD BE FUN.
IT'S BEEN PRETTY COOL TO LEARN ABOUT THE ALIENS HERE, FOR ME.

[oceanthief]

I'm on a planet full of them. I see them every day.

[have you...not noticed, Archie...]

[h2no]

[HE HAS A POINT HE'S GETTING TO LISTEN]

I KNOW. THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEAN.
I'M TALKING ABOUT THE FACT EVERY TIME WE'VE HAD A CONVERSATION ALL MY HUMAN...ISMS HAVE FIZZLED OUT.
NOW, I KNOW THIS IS EXTREMELY ETHNOCENTRIC OF ME, BUT.
SURPRISINGLY.
I AM NOT THE ONLY HUMAN LIKE THIS. I'M LIKE THIS FOR A REASON.

[that's right. there's more.]

[oceanthief]

I know, you're not far enough along on your evolutionary path to get past all that weird stuff yet.

[that's what she figures, anyway. organics are w e i r d.]

[h2no]

THE WEIRD STUFF IS AN INTEGRAL PART OF HUMANITY, ACTUALLY.

[oceanthief]

No, I'm pretty sure you'll grow out of most of it.

[h2no]

WHY DO YOU THINK WE HAVE TO?

[oceanthief]

You're never going to get anywhere if you can't communicate outside your own species.

[h2no]

I'VE DONE FINE WITH THE OTHER SPECIES HERE.

[oceanthief]

Not all of them.

[h2no]

JUST YOU.

[oceanthief]

Exactly, so not all of them.

[plus she's fairly certain that some of those others are just more capable of being polite about this whole thing than she is...]

[h2no]

TOUCHE.
*MOST OF THEM.

[oceanthief]

That's still not a really great track record.

[h2no]

YOU KNOW, THAT DOESN'T BOTHER ME AS MUCH AS IT SEEMS TO BOTHER YOU.

[oceanthief]

It just doesn't seem like a very good argument, that's all.

[h2no]

PROBABLY BECAUSE IT ISN'T AN ARGUMENT.

[oceanthief]

I know, but you keep trying to make it one.

[LAPIS THAT'S NOT WHAT HE MEANS]

[h2no]

NO, I DON'T.

[oceanthief]

Yes you do.

[h2no]

I DON'T.

[oceanthief]

You do.