A Prayer for the Crown-Shy

You don’t have to have a reason to be tired. You don’t have to earn rest or comfort. You’re allowed to just be.

How am I supposed to tell people they’re good enough as they are when I don’t think I am?

The thing about fucking off to the woods is that unless you are a very particular, very rare sort of person, it does not take long to understand why people left said woods in the first place.

And to that end, welcome comfort, for without it, you cannot stay strong.

You know how it is; sometimes you just want to have a moment between yourself and a turtle and no one else.

was always a strange thing, coming home. Coming home meant that you had, at one point, left it and, in doing so, irreversibly changed. How odd, then, to be able to return to a place that would always be anchored in your notion of the past. How could this place still be there, if the you that once lived there no longer existed?

Well, that's the nice thing about trees," Mosscap put its hands on its hips as it looked around. "They're not going anywhere. You can take all the time you need to get to know them.

They just … don’t understand what you are. Or maybe they can’t fit you into their beliefs, and that scares them. The unknown makes us stupid sometimes.

What if that is enough, for now? What if we're both trying to answer something much too big before we've answered the small thing we should have started with? What if it's enough to just be...Us.

You understand. I wish you didn't, because I know it means you're as tangled up as I am, but...I'm grateful that you do.

What kind of books does Ms. Amelia collect?” “Oh, entirely pornography,” Mosscap said. “It was very educational.

I read a book while you were sleeping,” Mosscap said, holding up its pocket computer. “And I would really like to discuss it with you.” Dex blinked twice. “You woke me up to talk about a book?

Nobody should be barred from necessities or comforts just because they don’t have the right number next to their name.

Crown shyness is so striking, don’t you think?

The shrine’s not for Bosh,” Sibling Dex said. “It’s for us. People, I mean. Bosh exists and does their work regardless of whether we pay attention. But if we do pay attention, we can connect to them. And when we do, we feel … well, you know. Whole.

Do you have any idea how much energy it takes to power thought?

It was always a strange thing, coming home. Coming home meant that you had, at one point, left it and, in doing so, irreversibly changed. How odd, then, to be able to return to a place that would always be anchored in your notion of the past. How could this place still be there, if the you that once lived there no longer existed?

If they have an issue with you, that’s on them. And it’s not even about you, personally. They just … don’t understand what you are. Or maybe they can’t fit you into their beliefs, and that scares them. The unknown makes us stupid sometimes.

If you’re focused on moving from sign to sign, there’s no opportunity for happy accidents.

You’re saying that instead of a system of currency that tracks individual trade, you have one that facilitates exchange through the community. Because … all exchange benefits the community as a whole?

If you have everything you need around you," Dex said, "there's no reason to leave. It takes a lot of time and effort to go someplace else.

You are the weirdest, most inexplicable thing that’s ever happened to me. You make me crazy, most days. You say so much shit I don’t understand.” Their voice cracked, and grew almost inaudibly quiet. “But whatever it is we’re doing, it’s the first thing in a long time I’ve been sure about.” They swallowed. “Most days, you’re the only thing that makes sense.

It's one thing to be told about the world that was. It's another to see a piece of it.

.” “Neither do we, if we remember to stop and look,” Dex said. “But that’s the point of a shrine, or an idol, or a festival. The gods don’t care. Those things remind us to stop getting lost in everyday bullshit. We have to take a sec to tap into the bigger picture. That’s easier said than done for a lot of folks

You don't have to have a reason to be tired. You don't have to earn rest or comfort. You're allowed to just be.

the Factory Age, a time in which not much thought was given to spending twenty minutes on killing something that had taken a thousand years to grow.

Have you ever been charged by an elk, Sibling Dex?” “I … have not.” “Mmm,” Mosscap replied. It looked out at the sea. “I don’t recommend it.

Of how any sighted individual’s perception of the world is entirely based on the way the structures in their eyes receive light.” Mosscap smiled at Dex. “I wish I could borrow your eyes for a day, see what that’s like.” “Please find a less creepy way to phrase that.

It’s not my place to debate different flavors of belief in the places I visit,” they said.