#Cheleni

[afrofunk]

Shadrack Ndlovu - Cheleni Cheleni (1989) [FLAC]

- Contact me for exchange!

[legends-of-direbear]

what was your first ship, and what fandom is it from? what's a ship you like, but most people don't? what is the most overrated ship in your opinion? :)

oooh– look at all of the shiny questions!

What was your first ship, and what fandom is it from?

My first was probably Bangel (Buffy x Angel) from the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Universe.  Still love that show, even if certain characters now make me cringe (Xander).

What’s a ship you like, but most people don’t?

This question is kind of hard for me, since I’m not really active in most fandoms and therefore couldn’t tell you what people like/don’t like.  I guess the easiest copout is listing my ot3s, which include Legends of Tomorrow coldatomwave (Leonard Snart/Ray Palmer/Mick Rory), Agents of Shield fitz-skimmons (Fitz/Daisy/Jemma), Leverage ot3 (Parker/Hardison/Eliot), The Good Place Cheleni (Chidi/Eleanor/Tahini), etc.

What is the most overrated ship in your opinion?

Hmmm– again, not 100% on what the fandom is churning out, but personally, I think Olicity (Oliver Queen/Felicity Smoak) from Arrow is more annoying than endearing, along with Rumbelle (Rumplestiltskin/Belle) on OUaT, and Klaine (Kurt/Blaine) from Glee.

Ask me about my ships!

[maidenofsophia]

Are you Chelourayan? Also what are your thoughts on a Matriarchal society?

I’ll answer this in two parts.

1. My views on Chelouranya

I greatly respect their beliefs and values. In a world as cold and cynical as ours can be, where we are told to ‘put away childish things and toughen up’, I think there is value in having a belief system that appreciates and honours the innocent, the beautiful and the child-like.  I’m also rather fascinated by the fictional novels based on their culture - I’m a fantasy nerd and it’s been a while since I actually read a decent book so I do plan to look into them more.

That being said, what little I know and understand so far, I do not feel I could identify as Chelouranyan. A post recently compared both them and Aristasia to an ideal ‘separatist lesbian colony’. Now if such a thing existed then, yes, sign me up! But it’s the intermorphic sexes, the melini (brunette) and cheleni (blond), that raise another set of issues for me, personally. Firstly, I have no idea which one I would be! I know that, put simply, chelani are incredibly femme while melini are what Tellurian society would consider more ‘masculine’. In my opinion this is just replacing one problematic binary with another. Human personalities are so vast and varied that I don’t think they can ever be separated into two categories - whether we call them masculine and feminine or something else. 

You’ve probably seen that High Femme - Low Femme spectrum ever used on Tumblr for sorting fandom characters; if I were on that spectrum I would fall slap bang in the middle. I’m not Non Binary, I am cisgendered and comfortable identifying as a female, but I have many traits of which people have told me I am behaving too much ‘like a boy’ and I never understood why liking a certain thing or having a certain personality makes you like ‘something else’ in regards to gender - unless you personally feel uncomfortable in the gender you are currently in. I know a lot of people do find it easy to identify themselves as melini or cheleni but I don’t think I would feel comfortable as either, and as far as I’m aware there is no non-binary or third-gender in Chelouranya. 

If I could choose to be a part of an all-female alien race then I would prefer something like the Asari from the Mass Effect series. They are monogendered but female in appearance and their use of language. The personality of each Asari is as varied as the personality of any human, male or female or otherwise. There is also no ‘child-bearing sex’, every asari is capable of being a ‘mother’ in that they are the birthing parent, but can also be ‘fathers’ where they are the parent who passes their genes onto the ‘mother’. An Asari can be a father to one child and a mother to another, but they are both her daughters. An Asari is free to grow up to be whatever profession they wish depending on what they are best skilled at; a dancer, an artist, a soldier, a secret agent etc. Because there are no binaries, there is no issue of ‘you were born as this, so you are expected to be like this, or to do that’. 

But again, this is just my opinion. I know quite a few of my Deanist/Filianist sisters are Chelouranyan and I respect that. I don’t see anything necessarily wrong about it, it’s an interesting culture to read into. While I don’t identify with them, I can’t say I feel comfortable as a Tellurian either. Perhaps I’m just from the Void. :P

2. Matriarchy

This probably another issue I might disagree with my sisters. Just as I did as a Gnostic Christian, I still strongly support the separation of the Church and State. I believe that religion should be a personal and private comfort. By private I don’t necessarily mean shut away or kept off the streets, I just mean not pushed upon others who believe differently. I think religion should inspire politics but never dictate them. I will forever be a supporter of Humanist values, none of which are in conflict with the values of Deanism as far as I can tell, but the point of Humanism is that it’s for the healthy benefit of all society regardless of religious views.

I don’t believe that Deanism is necessarily linked to Matriarchy either. We value femininity (which is basically any quality that is considered good or ‘Godlike’ and not harmful to others) but do not necessarily believe that women are superior to men or vise versa, as all living beings share the same soul that goes beyond ideas about gender. I reject the idea often accused at us that women are made in the image of Dea and all men are some sort of deviant from that. I’ve seen nothing about that mentioned in the Scriptures. When the Daughter sacrificed Herself, She did so for all of creation. Her Soul was shattered into every living spirit, male and female. 

I know there are Deanists who support the idea of a theocracy or all-female monarchy, if it ever happened that Deanism became the dominant religion of the world. I would have to admit to being in disagreement. Get rid of the Patriarchy, yes, but not democracy. Democracy is not perfect and needs major sorting out, in fact now is the best example as any of how far it can fail, but I believe if nothing else it gives the people a voice where theocracy doesn’t. Where there is power there will always be corruption and giving power to one person by supposed ‘divine right’ who gets to dictate what is best ‘for the people’ never leads to anything good. Even if Dea was to appear to us all and directly intervene to choose who She wanted to rule in Her name, then those who had doubt would deserve to be shown why this person should rule rather than just be told to accept at face value. Given how this has never happened, at least not in recorded history, I don’t put too high a hope of it happening in the future. And given the history of monarchy rule in my country alone…well, let’s say it’s rarely been a pretty sight. I’m a fan of the Queen and the royal family but I would never wish to go back to handing her all the keys and saying ‘Right, you tell us what to do and we’ll obey without question - and if anyone disagrees, they get burned’. 

To quote Barbie (yep) from Toy Story 3; “Authority should derive from the consent of the governed, never from the threat of force.” I’m not saying that is how a Deanic Queen would rule. But early Christianity began as a tiny religion of love and forgiveness that became corrupted when placed in the hands of kings and politicians who could use their power to say ‘God chose me for this, so my word is law, live with it’. 

I don’t think having a woman instead of a man in charge automatically guarantees better leadership either. We’ve had Queens in the past with reputations as harsh and bloody as the male rulers. Hell, I grew up in a house with a controlling, abusive mother and a kind but submissive father. To a child, that was my whole kingdom. It was not good. This does mean I support men alone being in charge at all, as I know there are just as many victims of abusive men - just that the system of power can always be corrupted and use to exploit or hurt the weak, no matter what gender the leader is. 

I would’t go as far to want a complete Matriarchal society; but I think there does need to be more women involved in politics. Way more. But only when they are wise and strong and kind, the same reasons that we should also consider when putting men in positions of power (but often don’t).