In my world, it was the archeological find of a femur.
( clarke can accept that they might be working from two different ends of reality, but doesn't discredit mizuki's intelligence enough to feel the need to gesture at either of their thighs to explain what a femur is. )
A very, very old femur. That showed signs of a long-healed break in the bone. The idea behind that being that, in the animal kingdom, you break your leg and you die. That sort of injury takes at least six weeks of immobilization to heal from, and you can't feed or defend yourself during this time. So someone else stopped, and stayed with this injured person; fed them, brought them water, tended their wound, carried them if needed, cleaned them, and protected them from any outward threat until they were well enough to walk again.
I've always heard that that was the first sign of a functional civilization. Of a sense of community. Things that met basic needs like gardens, arrowheads, and bowls — those could have just been selfish, and self serving tools. But this proof that one person put another's need over their own convenience or wellbeing for an extended period of time is...
( honestly, kind of beautiful. the standard of human morality that clarke still holds herself against to this day; tries and tries again to emulate, even after one failure or another. she pauses for a moment here, long enough to drop her gaze to the battery again before handing it back across the table top. )
The point I was trying to get to — it is important. And it's defining, and says a lot about you if your first instinct is to help the sick instead of demonize them.
( super fucking round about way of saying oh hey, you sound like a good person compared to the rest of your world but here we are, finally on the other side of it. )
no subject
( clarke can accept that they might be working from two different ends of reality, but doesn't discredit mizuki's intelligence enough to feel the need to gesture at either of their thighs to explain what a femur is. )
A very, very old femur. That showed signs of a long-healed break in the bone. The idea behind that being that, in the animal kingdom, you break your leg and you die. That sort of injury takes at least six weeks of immobilization to heal from, and you can't feed or defend yourself during this time. So someone else stopped, and stayed with this injured person; fed them, brought them water, tended their wound, carried them if needed, cleaned them, and protected them from any outward threat until they were well enough to walk again.
I've always heard that that was the first sign of a functional civilization. Of a sense of community. Things that met basic needs like gardens, arrowheads, and bowls — those could have just been selfish, and self serving tools. But this proof that one person put another's need over their own convenience or wellbeing for an extended period of time is...
( honestly, kind of beautiful. the standard of human morality that clarke still holds herself against to this day; tries and tries again to emulate, even after one failure or another. she pauses for a moment here, long enough to drop her gaze to the battery again before handing it back across the table top. )
The point I was trying to get to — it is important. And it's defining, and says a lot about you if your first instinct is to help the sick instead of demonize them.
( super fucking round about way of saying oh hey, you sound like a good person compared to the rest of your world but here we are, finally on the other side of it. )