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@ elidy
2024-08-05 18:19:09A freedom weaver behind-the-story
When thinking of a story, nothing allows us as deep an association as giving a name to a character or setting. We recognize it, relate to it, associate it with our very lives and the choices we make. Rarely, however, do we know why the writer chose them. Here's the story behind the first three names:
Xileh
Scouring through hundreds of names and their meanings, the first name selection did not come from known names.
Xileh is Helix backward.
A grandfather figure, Xileh has an association to DNA as a reminder of how we can trace our history back across time. The past carries many contrasts and lessons. Our genetics give us a foundation with which to discover the world. Our experiences and actions add to our knowledge base. Humanity itself carries information across time through genes, stories, books, technology, architecture, and anything that we build or help preserve...
Xileh represents the past that gave us today. In not knowing the past, however, we always run the risk of repeating the same patterns. Xileh represents the memory of the past, and he will challenge the storyline to break those negative pattern loops.
What will we do with our todays to help shape future generations’ tomorrows?
Toril
To select a main character's name carries more weight than others, as if it should embody what we’re hoping from the entire storyline.
The name Skylar was almost chosen instead of Toril. Depending on the source, its meaning varies from student to noble scholar. At first, it seemed like a good choice, because it has an association to learning, and tech is about diving into many rabbit holes. However, I did not like the association to a more structured way of learning, as some of the best learning is flexible, practical, adaptable, outside of rigor. It doesn't require any nobility.
Toril's literal meaning in Old Norse is Thor’s battle. Yet, it was chosen for all of its associations to tech.
Most people may not derive a technical meaning from Toril, but we can associate it in multiple ways. Thor is often seen as the God of thunder, lightning and strength. If we look at technology, it is a strength put together by many human lifetimes of knowledge blocks built upon knowledge blocks. It is larger than any of us.
Nostr + Zaps
Lightning itself is a force of nature, yet Thor carries it in a hammer, which can be seen as a tool. Technology is a tool empowering the individual. Lightning, the tech, is a tool anyone could learn to wield, and so is something else: Zaps. They carry the same symbolism.
Thunder is sometimes associated with a voice from the sky. Not the same, but in today's world, we can communicate across the vast cyberspace. We may see that as normal, but it is a gift many generations before us never had. Thunder might be seen as unstoppable in nature, protocols like nostr carry similar qualities. Nostr can give us a voice, one that cannot be censored.
If we look at nostr and bitcoin, it’s as if this name could marry both ideas. We can have a voice in nostr, but we also carry it and support it through micropayments in zaps.
Personal battles
Toril itself is a reference to battle. Although it is often difficult to understand what is happening at a tech level, much like it is difficult to understand what happens at a cellular level, if we learn enough about tech, we can see a battle to protect and empower the individual against transgressions on human rights and freedoms. Many of these can happen in the digital realm, hidden under the surface, and we will see some of their negative effects within freedom weaver.
The principle of privacy within its associations to the Tor project, although unrelated, is a principle that will be part of the story as well.
Also, Toril points to a personal battle within ourselves to be responsible for the choices we make, and the book will have many choices that will trouble Toril, needing for her to dig deeper and to ask more questions.
Barriers and Education
In a few ancient stories like Thor or King Arthur, only the "chosen" ones can wield a tool or weapon. In our everyday lives, it is education and access to technology that opens our world to the possibilities in cyberspace. Anyone with the knowledge could wield or help build those tools.
Like in any story, technology faces barriers of adoption. We may not hop unto more principled hardware or software because our networks are using the most popular products, even when they may not be ethical. If we lack the education and fail to dig deeper, we can be using tech to our detriment out of misinformation or disinformation.
Once we know how something works, it is difficult to continue using those services if they go against our principles. At the same time, it can make us feel divided to have to choose between the products that carry principle and those which still carry our networks of people. Yet, someone must begin the change, the choice is in the hands of those who HODL the knowledge.
Rigmor
Great power, mind ruler
Every story has a setting. This one begins within a city in a state of control. Power is in the hands of a few individuals misusing technology and information to try to control the minds and actions of its inhabitants, shaping a state of fear for those who dare to think outside of the norm.
We may also associate it with the word Rig, as if Rigmor's way of life was indeed so: Rigged.
However, the story will turn the idea of power of the few into the possibility of empowering the individual through personal choice and responsibility. Instead of a rigged system to benefit the few, it opens the path to a creative innovative society making unique life choices and shaping solutions to the many issues we face.
Future names
Love interest
Nemesis character
AI assistant
Warehouse
An open journey
You can read the story in progress: