A thought on Liiran art

[HiigaranPilot]

Hey everyone. We know the Liir have a weaker visual sense than humans, and it's been implied that it's the weakest of any of the races. They do clearly understand the concept of music (fleetsong, anyone?), and I'd be surprised if they couldn't take comfort from a sense of touch, as well. Most human art (and indeed, the majority of our cultural expression) is based on our dominant sense of sight, and I recall someone asking eons ago how the Liir would react to a gift of sculpture or a painting or what-have-you.

Arrin's response was, as best I can recall, that "the Liir will appreciate the sentiment of a gift, even if they cannot enjoy the gift itself as well as the giver might hope", this being due to their telempathic nature. Since they can understand the feelings someone has in the giving, they can understand the intent, although they may not understand what Michelangelo's David is, or why we think it so amazing.

So, my thought was, might they not consider thoughts to have their own beauty? Elegant (note that I did not say _simple_, but _elegant_) mathematical equations are what jumped instantly to mind, especially those involving fractals, since they appear so often in nature. In that same vein, doubtless emotions would carry what humans would call a sense of 'beauty' to them-- a Liir present at a human wedding, for instance, would probably find the feelings in the bride and groom when vows are said to be a wonderful thing...just as we know they are revolted by the mind of a serial killer, with its hideous thoughts and twisted emotions. In that sense, perhaps hate would be the epitome of ugliness to them.

Thoughts, anyone?

[That Schmuck]

Sounds fairly accurate to me. Heck, artistic appreciation of math would tie in with their crazy fast research rate. As for a wedding it could probably fit... but I'm stuck with the image of a Liir at a wedding overwhelmed by everyone's gripes and frustrations and overall dysfunction that is never spoken, but colors all interaction and thought between various family and friends. Liir do hear the thoughts of the deaf, largely because the deaf don't realize that they're constantly shouting said thoughts.

I get the impression their focus in the arts is ultimately performance based given their psychic nature. Can't really record it for later viewings/listens, but it is likewise far more deeply moving and profound. The closest they probably come to recording it is sharing the memory.

All I would nitpick is that hate, in their case, isn't distasteful because it is ugly but instead inherently (and self-evidently) evil and is thus ugly. For the Liir, the Devil is incapable of wearing a pretty face.

[HiigaranPilot]

Schmuck, your final statement is what I had intended, though may have been a bit unclear.

As for your comment about the wedding, probably true. I was isolating just one set of thoughts and emotions at that wedding for a reason ....

[That Schmuck]

Fair enough, I was being more silly than anything else. I wasn't sure if that was the angle you were going for with the ugliness, but hey, no harm done in clarification.