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This story marks another appearance of "Vem". In this case, The Kid (Zeke Rilvergaile) tells The Man (Toland Ouse) that he was sent by Vem to show him the original "Clip 4" which portrays the drowning/death of Toland's daughter.
Other discussion of Vem/VEM/VEM TM can be found in these threads:
AtLoM
HoL
OR
Does this "Vem" serve a different purpose than those found in the other works? Or is this an extension/adaptation of their function in the world of MZD (or his writing)?
In "Clip 4", there are blue
s, along with green/gold Os. It seems that the events described within the story occur the world of HoL (or at least TNR and AtLoM) and OR, a claim that is supported, I think, by yet another appearance of "Vem" (I loved HB's notion of a "Vem diagram", or how Vem can be used to talk about the nested realities/worlds of MZD's works).
If the notion of "Source material without the Source" is key to this story, and Vem is somehow responsible (or at least in possession of such source material, having given it[?] to Zeke to show to Toland), then Vem operates in this story in a similar, though abstract way, to the reader of the text. The reader is the missing observer, the camera zoom and mic boom in the corner that sees and hears but is not "present". Audra/Willow Rue doesn't reach out for the camera crew because, like the reader, there is no crew present at the time of her drowning but the reader has the record of the event, and creates the multi-angled images of her death in his/her mind.
Similarly, "Vem TM" is credited for "Cultural Resonance" in OR. If we read that resonance as related to the History Gutters in OR (as a few suggested in the above threads), that further identifies Vem with the readers of MZD's work. If I remember correctly, much of the data of the History Gutters was collected from "THAT", an appeal by MZD to his reader community. In this reading, Vem [THEM] supplied the data of THAT, and the tie that binds all of MZD's work together are his readers. Or, at least those readers who, through their interaction with the texts, inspire/motivate/give agency to MZD in his writing process.
These are just causal thoughts (re-reading this post makes the idea feel trite and underdeveloped), still a development, trying to wrap things up, need a few more takes, to be sure.
Originally posted by Clip 4
AtLoM
HoL
OR
Does this "Vem" serve a different purpose than those found in the other works? Or is this an extension/adaptation of their function in the world of MZD (or his writing)?
In "Clip 4", there are blue
s, along with green/gold Os. It seems that the events described within the story occur the world of HoL (or at least TNR and AtLoM) and OR, a claim that is supported, I think, by yet another appearance of "Vem" (I loved HB's notion of a "Vem diagram", or how Vem can be used to talk about the nested realities/worlds of MZD's works). If the notion of "Source material without the Source" is key to this story, and Vem is somehow responsible (or at least in possession of such source material, having given it[?] to Zeke to show to Toland), then Vem operates in this story in a similar, though abstract way, to the reader of the text. The reader is the missing observer, the camera zoom and mic boom in the corner that sees and hears but is not "present". Audra/Willow Rue doesn't reach out for the camera crew because, like the reader, there is no crew present at the time of her drowning but the reader has the record of the event, and creates the multi-angled images of her death in his/her mind.
Similarly, "Vem TM" is credited for "Cultural Resonance" in OR. If we read that resonance as related to the History Gutters in OR (as a few suggested in the above threads), that further identifies Vem with the readers of MZD's work. If I remember correctly, much of the data of the History Gutters was collected from "THAT", an appeal by MZD to his reader community. In this reading, Vem [THEM] supplied the data of THAT, and the tie that binds all of MZD's work together are his readers. Or, at least those readers who, through their interaction with the texts, inspire/motivate/give agency to MZD in his writing process.
These are just causal thoughts (re-reading this post makes the idea feel trite and underdeveloped), still a development, trying to wrap things up, need a few more takes, to be sure.
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