Letters from Benares / Discussion

This is the discussion related to the wiki page Letters from Benares.

psul 24 Jan 2016 10:12

Originally drafted for a Christmas Exchange gift for MrWrong, and added here with his kind permission.

Many thanks for your review and assistance to MrWrong, Metaphysician, sirpudding, Dora, minmin and others who I may have forgotten.

Sarkic yoga is the next big thing, you know. Can't you just imagine what marvellous shape Violet and the family are in?

MrWrong 24 Jan 2016 10:51

I saw a man who looked like he had a long elephant's trunk, and I asked Guru if it was Ganesha, but he just laughed at me and told me that they didn't worship Ganesha in this temple.

A Sarkicist with an elephant trunk, I'm calling it that!

Anyway, my headcanon of this is that Guru is exceptionally smart for an SCP-2833 instance, and tries to target the ruling British to expand its influence (a la Dracula).

EDIT: psul, since this is cast as "additional materials" on SCP-2833, may I link this from my article?

Last edited on 24 Jan 2016 17:00 by MrWrong Show more

Metaphysician 24 Jan 2016 17:43

It makes sense:) One of the many influences Sarkicism had was House Dagoth of Elder Scrolls: Morrowind. Which includes some rather severe facial augmentations http://img13.deviantart.net/ca70/i/2014/001/f/b/ash_ghoul_dagoth_by_victoriadaedra-d70drsz.jpg

psul 25 Jan 2016 17:40

psul, since this is cast as "additional materials" on SCP-2833, may I link this from my article?

Absolutely - you're welcome to put a link and/or make that the parent page of this one.

MrWrong 27 Jan 2016 15:08

Link will suffice. I always feel parent pages to be best reserved for supplements.

TL333s 25 Jan 2016 00:13

I barely remember 2833, but it doesn't matter, because this is just excellently written. :D

A Blessed Feline 28 Mar 2016 17:21

I really like this, but I feel it ended a bit abruptly. It would have been fun to read about more sarkic yoga.

+1

psul 10 Oct 2016 13:06

I really like this, but I feel it ended a bit abruptly.

Tragic housefires tend to be a bit abrupt, I guess. Presumably Miss Cavanagh didn't want this to grow too much longer.

(account deleted) 19 Dec 2016 09:24

Translator from the Korean Wiki. What does the word "M-F" stand for?

MrWrong 19 Dec 2016 09:29

Not the author here. But if I recall correctly, "M-F" stands for Militant-Faithful (the self-defence group for Cogwork Orthodox Church). For more information: http://www.scp-wiki.net/church-of-the-broken-god-hub

psul 19 Dec 2016 10:44

Author here. MrWrong is entirely correct - M-F stands for "Militant-Faithful". Cousin Emily turns out to be part of the CotBG, and the most badass character I've ever written!

I'm very excited about a Korean translation - thanks for your interest. Let me know when it's done, so I can link to it from my author page.

(account deleted) 02 Jan 2017 11:28

My, I almost forgot.

Here is the translation! Thank you for your well-written story.

Salamander724 02 Jan 2017 11:03

"British Raj" means "regime of Britain" in Hindis language. It is strange for person of 1909 to use that expression in English. I think it should be modified into "Indian Empire".

GreenWolf 02 Jan 2017 11:34

British Raj is the correct English term to refer to the British Empire in India.

Edit: In fact, "Indian Empire" means something completely different from "British Empire in India" and would never be a correct way to refer to such.

Last edited on 02 Jan 2017 11:41 by GreenWolf Show more

psul 04 Jan 2017 13:49

I haven't done a lot of research into the point, but I suspect that "Raj" was one of the Hindi words that was incorporated very quickly into English as part of the British rule in India (there are lots of others). Violet is generally very enthusiastic about the adventure of living in Benares, and you'll notice that even in her first letter, she has adopted a number of other local words (lassi, Maharajah, sadhu, guru), so I don't think it's out of the question for her to use Raj.

Fulaxi 01 Mar 2018 00:33

Have studied Hindi for quite some time now, and you're correct in your assumptions. :)

Also, not entirely unrelated: I like your writing! Good job!

Inkary 09 Jul 2019 04:26

Really enjoyed the story-telling here.

GreenRaven 30 Jul 2021 11:01

I'm impressed by the way you nailed the tone of the superiority complex of the English writings of the time. Violet is open to India's culture, but in a "we're still better" way. Well done.

Gee, I wonder why "Guru" was so sure it'd be a boy? /sarcasm

Vinod and the father likely 2833-controlled instances, and the mother and Violet likely next on the incubator list… it gives me chills. Emily probably set the fire because of the more general Sarkist presence, but knowing her family were as good as dead anyway… creepy. Incredibly creepy.

This is good horror. +1

Last edited on 30 Jul 2021 11:02 by GreenRaven Show more

Lo-Rez 25 Nov 2022 01:28

I'm echoing most of the above praise, and (hopefully) adding this little bit:

With the prominence of "church" in the average British lifestyle of the era, at no point until the very end did I expect a Mechanite Cousin. I suspected the Nalkan aspects (lookit me, being considerate of their feels), but figured the conflicting ideals would just be "Flesh Church vs Normal Church".

+1 turducken for you.