#cycle 8

Dajana Bogojevic for Pageone Magazine

~ Australia (8) ~

May as well call this post Habitual Overthinking: Episode 2...

The popular interpretation of “Three days straight seeing monochrome”  is a literal one: That the Patrolmen’s goggles render the wearer’s vision in greyscale.

If the line is meant literally, then what is the (perceived) advantage of monochromatic vision? Why bother forcing the Patrolmen to see that way?

--- Their goggles are confirmed to require power (POWEEEER)...

(If the image doesn’t load: Cave and Canary’s official YouTube account commented under Cycle 8, saying “...the people of this region live off of less energy, generally, than it takes to power one of the Patrolmen’s goggles.”)

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Requiring power as they do, evidently, monochrome vision would have to be a very deliberate choice by the creators of the goggles. (I assume Ring 7′s Industry workers are tasked with the production of the Patrol’s tools and weapons, under orders from much higher up.)

At least when it comes to monitors and cameras, monochrome doesn’t use less power and they aren’t any easier to make than full-color. I assume the same would be said of a visor. So why?

I couldn’t find any real-world studies claiming any benefit to black-and-white vision (such as altering one’s psyche/worldview, making one feel disconnected from the world, or anything like that which might benefit their brutality). In fact, monochrome would only be a detriment in low-light settings -- such as Ring 8, where they presumably frequent for Retrievals.

I’ll just say, the most credence is in the metaphorical interpretation that conveys a lack of nuance; black-and-white mental perception.

However, for the fun of theorizing... there is one thing that monochromatic displays are better for: Medical imaging. What if, to further dehumanize the subjects that the Patrolmen are forced to terrorize, they see in a type of X-ray vision? (C’mon: It’s sci-fi! That can exist, right??)

Surely that, in itself, would be haunting enough to cause deep unrest and ill psychological effects. There’s nothing more unnatural, to see everyone as their bare essentials, where every face is that of death itself. And like a mirror, each person would be a constant reminder of the Patrolmen’s own mortality and promise of execution (if they ever “try to disobey”). Anyone would lose days of sleep...

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Alternatively, maybe the Patrolmen undergo “integration” like the Industry workers/Meka-Niks. (Remember, when the Patrolmen in Cycle 8 speak, their voices are altered. And there’s no external indication of voice-altering technology.)

The lyric, “I can’t tell when I last slept” might support this notion: That they are, in some sense, cyborgs whose bodies and minds are pushed to their limits by invasive, corrupting hardware, and they see in monochrome to avoid mental overload (or for the sake of X-ray vision! No? Still not catching on? :c)

And if the cyborg theory tracks, then I wonder if they mean to say that the Patrolmen can have their memory wiped at will? (“And though my conscience is a bit unkempt / Well, it's no bother, I can just forget / And never bother with a bit of it again”)

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It really could be as a simple as B&W “lacking emotion” or “seeming less real”, though (which are both things that are routinely said of historical photographs).

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EDIT: Confirmation from Casey himself! The lyric is a double entendre; the goggles are literally in monochrome and the Patrol are encouraged to view situations as black-and-white. (Still no word on *why* they’re monochrome, though.)

I’d give the edge to Jaslene, but Dionne did great too!

Chemo ...

*deep breath*

8th cycle, that's now 188 days since our very first donation. If that first donation stuck, if that first faint positive stuck back on our very first cycle I'd be near enough full term now, I'd be a month away. Instead I'm here still testing opk's, taking temps, checking obs, recording symptoms and hoping and praying. The stats have risen to an 85% chance of falling now we're over the 6 month mark but knowing there's still only a 30% chance every ovulation is what worries me. I always sit and wondering if me not eating properly when I was younger is what's effected my fertility or if there's something else wrong and maybe I can't ever carry, or maybe our timing has just been off and we need more donations or maybe we do just need our new donor?

Being 21 and still not haven fallen is soul destroying. I'm part of 3/4 ttc groups on fb and about 60-70% of all the members fell on their 1st cycle... And that just makes me worry because it should be easier for me to fall because I'm younger. I had to unfollow the groups, seeing so many positive tests and scan photos was just breaking my heart even more.

But I'm trying to go into this cycle with a positive outlook, trying to stay level headed and not overthink things, to just let this month go the way its meant to go. What will be will be I guess. Anyone reading this please cross your fingers for us this month🤞🏻