#post-self cycle

[elizabethlazuli]

Thoughts regarding/plot synopsis of Post-Self: Qoheleth

[This is just a copy of my ramblings on Discord so apologies if there's some missing context or whatever, I didn't feel like reformatting this for the five people following my Tumblr.]

Okay. So. I'm going to be completely honest, it is hard to know where to begin with this.

So, for a few months I've known about this four-book series called the Post-Self Cycle. I don't remember where I first heard about it, it was probably on Cohost back when I still used to use that site. And after a cursory scan of the series' overall themes, I decided that despite fascinating me, I didn't feel like it was the right time to actually dive into it. And in retrospect that was absolutely the right call.

It's very philosophically heavy, tackling topics regarding identity and the future which I already struggle with a lot in my personal life. But the knowledge of this series continued to live in my head rent-free between then and a few days ago when I felt I was ready to explore what Post-Self had to offer. I literally remember talking to Sable [my girlfriend] one day having a breakdown(?) regarding identity and my fear of ego death, and the thing I remember most about that moment was how I actually brought this series up to Sable at one point. Without ever even reading it. Like it revealed to me fears I've been harboring my whole life.

I don't really know if there was anything specific that caused me to feel I was mentally ready to start reading it, because I knew that once I did it would change me in some significant way. And it's really fucking funny on the surface to be feeling this way about some furry book series. I think there's something particularly uncanny about combining furry with deep philosophical themes. I felt similarly with Slime Time. It's been so far ingrained in me that furry is just some nerdy hobby that doesn't really matter at the end of the day, that when it's used as a vessel to expose very serious things that I'm trying to ignore, it almost feels like an invasion of a safe space.

I guess that's why Post-Self latched on to me so intensely after just simply learning about it. Because it's the starkest I've ever experienced that sort of uncanniness. It seemed almost scary. And it is rare for me to feel that way about fiction anymore. But, I don't know. I've been thinking a lot about transhumanism lately, especially after having personally adopted the label "alterhuman". And I guess that's why the time felt right to finally check out Post-Self and hear what it has to say. For the past few days, I've been reading the first book in the series, Qoheleth. This is where I'm running into difficulty figuring out how to even talk about this. Because this isn't like any piece of media I've consumed before.

[1/3]

[phoenixcatch7]

Okay but it's super interesting how

Din = Power = Ganondorf

Naryu = Wisdom = Zelda

Farore = Courage = Link.

Because Din, in the hylian creation myth, created the physical world. Naryu then created the laws - gravity, time, etc. And Farore finally created life - plants and people.

Din created the body, naryu the mind, Farore the soul.

And the triforce and its wielders so perfectly reflect that.

Ganon is physical power, he is big and intimidating and he breaks things. He is cunning and determined, but that's not what he focuses on. He is might makes right.

Zelda is wisdom and cleverness. She is stall tactics and information and team work. She is a powerful mage with a spine of steel, but that's not how she'll win. She is the pen being mightier than the sword.

Link is courage and persistence. He is the wild card sneaking behind enemy ranks, always moving, plunging into terrifying situations head first. He's a phenomenal fighter with a keen wit, but that's not what will get him through his challenges. He is bravery not being the absence of fear but the triumph over it.

They sit in perfect parallels to each other.

And ganon is reborn through his body - his resurrection is immortality. No matter how low he is cast, as long as he has a body he can claw his way back. He can cling to his power, build it ever higher.

Zelda is reborn through the magic of her bloodline. It's the accumulated knowledge handed down for generations, the unique power she must master, the skills she must develop to survive and get her kingdom out the other side intact. Even her name, the knowledge of herself, is handed down from all the way from the very first. Her ancestors knowledge of her future presence, her stability, is what gives her the edge.

Link is reborn in spirit. He is not bound by flesh or blood. Just like his wanderlust soul he can reappear in any time or place. His variation, his unpredictability, is exactly how he fights. It's what makes him so hard to pin down.

Ganons need to build strength means he can't chase after link. Links impulsiveness means zelda can outwit him. Zeldas stationary predictability means she's an easy target for ganon.

But the other direction?

Fire melts ice, ice redirects lightning, lightning burns fire.

And that's the very essence of the triforce.

[draw-your-self-ship]

Another assortment of images to draw your self ship(s) as.

Do NOT Interact: Pro//Ship + Neutral, adults who ship with minors, and real people shippers

[meagancandraw]

You ever think about how neither of them got to say goodbye?

[lucky-fy]

Please enjoy :)

Two more with spoilers below

[ninesugars]

Someone has to leave first. This is a very old story. There is no other version of this story.

richard siken, the worm king’s lullaby // maggie stiefvater, the raven king // the mcelroys, taz: balance // eiichiro oda, one piece // yasuhiro nightow, trigun maximum // tamsyn muir, gideon the ninth // intelligent systems, fire emblem: awakening // nora sakavic, the king’s men

[cabeswaterdrowned]

Declan is described as looking like a combination of Ronan and a polished tailored guy like Gansey or Greenmantle, which in theory makes him like the pinnacle of the type of guys Adam is attracted too. Just don’t tell that to Adam Declan Ronan or Gansey it won’t go over well.

[welcometogrouchland]

I'm going to be so real I do not understand tim & steph shippers who feel that Steph dating Tim again would save her character. You can make an argument that giving Tim a more compelling love interest would be beneficial for him! And you can at least make an argument that the fujo mischaracterization of Steph would stop. However she'd still, inevitably, be treated as a prop character/extension for someone more popular 😭 it also wouldn't make her appear in more books! Tim doesn't have many frequent appearances at the moment either! You can just say you like the couple and want them back together without acting like you have some kind of moral stance

[urloveangel]

[slamrink]

Nothing to see here just steph stealing glances of klay like he’s afraid he’s going to get caught 😃😃 (via namxsj on twitter )

[shummthechumm]

ommgg fallen leaves being possessive and slightly unhinged is so good. like, over the course of holly's stay in the tunnels there are signs--but holly also refusing to move on and be with her loved ones.

then hollyleaf realizes: "wait he's a little crazy, actually" . like, an omen of what could happen to her if she doesn't leave the tunnels and confront her past mistakes.

so in the end, fallen leaves' own self-destructive behavior further pushes the first friend he's had in decades away--and hollyleaf's decision to amend for what she's done/learning to live with her identity directly contrast's fallen's.

living in denial for what, a century? just exacerbates fallen leaves' fixation on isolating himself. he refuses to move on because doing so would mean he has to acknowledge that he made a mistake in his own ambition to become a sharpclaw. him impatiently going into the tunnels for his assessment ultimately resulted in a world of pain for his mother and groupmates--which also led to them leaving the lake and going to the mountains. (you could also rewrite his backstory and he still serves as a decent parallel to holly.)

plus it's deliciously dark to have fallen want to keep holly in the tunnels so she can die (and stay dead in the eyes of her loved ones) so he doesn't have to be alone anymore. alone with your mistakes for possibly eternity OR project yourself onto the next living thing within a 5 mile radius so you can BOTH live with your mistakes. TOGETHER.

[dustykneed]

Hello! Random whipper snipper! Share a WIP of your work!

ooh, with pleasure. six the musical araleyn fanart? in the year 2k24? more likely than you think xDD

i realize this looks finished, but technically i'm still deciding whether to add a background or not lol. still, for the sake of sharing a proper WIP, here's a line or two from an araleyn brainworm WIP that i started reworking yesterday (mild tw for religious guilt and period-typical internalized homophobia from aragon's pov):

She remembers sharing her bed with Anne at Henry's behest, remembers the nights of tossing and turning and trying not to think about Anne asleep next to her-- remembers waking up to dark hair spilling across her pillow and the press of blood-warm bosoms against her own, softer than sin, as hot as the Devil, remembers lying still as death, mouthing prayers into the heat of Anne's neck like an act of penance.

[bustedxblue]

Hey- want some old and current doodles while I ramble about Oz au bs?

No? Aight... Too bad...

I've played around with a vest and jeans outfit but it felt too fancy. My main and previous posts showed an attempt with a gingham jacket but, in the end, I really like a simple top with some overall straps so that's the look he's gonna have. Zombee/StrawBee cameo here as well. @coffinwoodd was sweet and colored the first doodle of Zombee and Stu when I first showed her. I'm in the [overdue] process of redrawing it.

A color test to see what works for this au but also 'cos I'm unhinged and like the design of the movie dress, threw Stu in it for the giggles. The pink and blue is a reference to The Now Now, when this au was supposed to take place. [Kansas was motivation] Now it doesn't take a particular place in the lore- it's just whenever. [Poorly drawn dog not included]

The amount of times I redrew this image is ridiculous, yeah, but I like to try and push expression and poses the further I practice and come back to old art. But, fuck me, the first one might as well be suffering from rigor mortis with how stiff and lifeless it looks. How the fuck do people draw Murdoc??? Do I gotta sell my ass to Satan to draw this guy on model? I did it once and now can't do it again.

End it on 3 second doodles of the sonas involved. Cowardly puss and Empty-headed strawgirl. Again, Zombee is coffinwoodd's oc.

[heliosynchronisity]

Self Destruction

[iheartbookbran]

Also ngl I kinda love the concept of Debling courting Penelope and Colin getting jealous because of it, not because I ship it (he’s barely a character) or because I’m part of the crowd that wants to see Colin ~suffer (though I’m not opposed to seeing him dramatically yearn), but because the reason Penelope specifically is going after this vegan man is so fascinating to me. Like, she obviously doesn’t love him. But she will marry him to protect LW… she’ll marry him to please Portia, that’s so funny.

Girl’s so desperate to escape her awful family life while at the same time keeping her secret, but she also wants her mother’s approval. And she’s so caught up in that toxic mindset that she completely misses the guy she’s been in love with since childhood making heart eyes at her from across the ballroom.

Pen only has her parents’ terrible marriage as a frame of reference, so she probably thinks it’s a bonus if her future husband is much older than her because that could make her a young widow. He’ll leave the country for the majority of the year to fuck off to Antarctica? Oh to be left alone by your own life partner!!!

Meanwhile Portia is enthusiastically nodding behind Penelope like yes, perhaps he’ll die at sea, and neither of them think there’s anything wrong with this outlook in life.

Hilarious.

[disco-asphodel]

the thing about me is that i will ship kimharry harrydora and jeanharry with equal levels of pounding the floor and screaming and sobbing. like they’re all the love of his life but in different ways and it makes me wanna chew through the hull of a battleship