i read this as āyou are in the desert, you see a tortoise, and you want it to control the filter cutoff in the feedback loop of your delay lineā 
which is to say, why not. which brings it toā¦
the trajectory, if you look at it this way: max->aleph->teletype, is to minimize the distance between a concept of an instrument and its execution. distance here is 2 fold - learning curve for the tech stack required, and the ease of using that tech stack. which is what makes teletype so unique - it handles both really well.
an instrument is also about interaction. grid/arc but also other things. norns seems to fulfill this aspect too - i mentioned the idea of it being a hub for other things, i think aleph was also intended that way (with i2c / expression pedal / CV / USB). not just connect, but make it easy to connect unconnectable things. this remains the most interesting question about norns for me, how does it interact/connect with other things?
[an aside: tt/grid integration to me is very much about this too. make it easy to make new instruments by making it easy to connect a concept to controller]
which brings it back to the tortoiseā¦ this is how i imagine norns to be, not just shorten the distance between a concept and its execution, but break barriers between concept/play. look around. grab sounds. make loops out of them. see a tortoise, let it be a controller. record sequences, grab a handful, weave them. everything connected. hub of things, hub of sounds, hub of ideas.
