#the human experience is a fundamentally fond one i think

[togglesbloggle]

Voltaire's Prayer

“I have never made but one prayer to God, a very short one: Oh Lord, make my enemies ridiculous. And God granted it." -Volaire’s letter to Étienne Noël Damilaville, 16 May 1767

I’m inordinately fond of sex, in the political sense.  It’s saved us so often from the worst parts of ourselves.

As far as anti-authoritarian elements of the human experience go, sex is right up there with curiosity and the search for truth- maybe even more so.  When a new tyrant comes to town, shutting down the universities and the libraries is only the second thing they try.  The first thing is to regulate human sexuality to within an inch of its life.  Rules for marriage, rules for courtship, rules for which genitals may touch and where they may touch and when they may touch.  Rules for who and rules for whom.  Rules for which kinds of sex must doom characters in literature, rules for which things may be described as sexy, rules for which things may be described in a sexy way.

Of course they do!  If you’re trying to bind a large polity together under a common ideological narrative, to render people predictable enough to quash dissent and legible enough to exert power through them, the last thing you need is a bunch of folks running around being horny about stuff without permission.  Nature gifted us with a great capacity for reason and community; we have the innate opportunity to learn about ourselves and our neighbors, and to form complex societies based on that understanding.  It was Aristotle who first called us the political animal, and the fruits of that extraordinary capacity will always be within our reach, if only we can come together within a shared understanding.  The invention of the city is the great triumph of our species, and with it we conquer the universe.

But also this extraordinary, reasoning mind has been sculpted from the raw clay of a biology that’s anchored in sexual reproduction, and this ends up being very, very funny.

The problem isn’t so much that the sex instinct exists, per se.  It’s how it’s implemented.  Like most biological forms, the full complement of 86 billion(!) neurons in your brain aren’t encoded in a particular configuration; the brain is much too complex to be described so precisely in the only ~725 megabytes or so of human DNA.  The particular shape of your brain is in there somewhere- the lobes and subregions responsible for vision, memory, cognition, all that- but only up to a point.  The genius and fundamental limitation of genetics is that, below a certain level, the genes instead describe a process for the production and reproduction of specialized cells, and simply constructs them in such a way that they can be relied upon to order themselves as they go.

This is all well and good when we’re talking about kidneys and livers, but the fact that you can encode any kind of specific behavioral instinct in a brain this way is nothing short of a minor miracle.  Think about it!  Spiders don’t have a ‘spider web’ gene, the gene is for ‘proteins that come together in self-assembling electrochemically sensitive gelatin tissue which, when complete, encodes patterns that operate organ systems such as legs and spinnerets in such a way as to reliably create silk webs.’  This is absurdly impressive, and also completely insane.

What I’m getting at is, powerful behavioral instincts in a complex animal aren’t precise instruction manuals by which we pursue evolutionarily advantageous behaviors.  Sex and eros are prior to logic or language, let alone strategy.  Sex is a double-thick electrical wire discharging lightning bolts right through the middle of our cognitive centers, installed in the brain by a surgeon wearing mittens.  It’s an untethered firehose whipping chaotically through the cathedral, unpredictably spraying golden reliquaries with substances unmentionable.  It’s the first and greatest anarchist.

I really can’t overstate my gratitude for this.

Obviously this results in any number of deeply goofy outcomes by way of kinks and odd sexual practices- it gets tangled with pain centers, with random bits of anatomy and proprioception, with our taboos and aversions, with our greatest terrors or our greatest yearnings or just arbitrary stimuli from adolescence, and of course it gets enmeshed so often with our notions of power and submission.  It imbues these things with a fascination and potency out of all proportion with their mundane meanings.  And ultimately, you end up with human pleasures and human values that diverge so far from banal evolutionary imperatives as to be all but unrecognizable.

Even when this process somehow manages to propagate through the brain in such a way as to drive behaviors that are legibly aligned towards some adaptive constraint- e.g. heterosexual mating practices resulting in biological reproduction and careful childrearing- it’s still madness.  Love and sex penetrate deeply across tribal and national and racial boundaries, across economic interests, across battle-lines and enmities.  We become traitors, apostates, emigrants, and artists.  Declare a law, and in short order some hot-headed young people come along to break it in the name of sexual passions you could not possibly have seen coming.  Divide your neighborhood into us and them, and by the time the ink is dry on your proclamation there will be a forbidden relationship across the fence.  There is no social order, no ethical system, no theory of human nature that can entirely withstand contact with the full spectrum of human sexuality, because sex and eros are always going to be exactly as bonkers as the complexity of the human mind and culture will allow, plus a little extra just to be sure.

This isn’t always a delight, of course.  Many prohibitions exist for a very good reason, and the chaos of human sexuality makes no exemptions for true evil.  Some of us end up really, truly victims of this process.  But for all the dangers, the chaos at the root of all this isn’t oriented towards evil.  Chaos just means chaos, essentially arbitrary and hence absurd in character.

And in the grand analysis, we are so lucky to have this thing moving through our communities, this ridiculous madness that guarantees that there will be cracks in every wall and slips exploding cigars in the pockets of the powerful few.  Not in everybody as individuals, of course, and not everybody the same amount; asexuality is certainly one of the outcomes that all this mad gallivanting through our brains can produce.  Sexuality would never be so predictable as to guarantee its own existence, after all.  That’s part of what makes the joke so funny.

But all of us, regardless of sexuality, get to live in a world where the grand anarchy of sex is constantly driving home this lesson that no category is inviolate and no law is perfect.  That we should not and cannot take ourselves too seriously, or forget that we’re animals.  That we don’t exist only for the sake of others, or within their understanding.  That cities are made of cooperation, grace, and forbearance- not conformity or mere compliance.

People sometimes worry about immortality.  In the political sense, I mean.  They worry about eternal dictatorships and unconquerable gerontocracies.  This fear isn’t entirely unjustified; death has often played a role in progress and liberation.  But as long as enough of us are still getting horny without permission, still falling in love in stupid ways, I think we’ll be okay.  Romeo and Juliet don’t have to die at the end to make a difference in the world, as long as they’re brave enough to get weird with it.

[tiercelgreen]

'Common' Theriotypes. Why They Exist and What The Cause Might Be.

Aka. Uh oh guys, Tiercel’s been thinking a little too much about nonhumanity.

If you've been active in the therian community for any amount of time, you may have noticed the prevalence of a few animals absolutely dominating discussion boards, video posts, and therian-centric sites. I am, of course, referencing the high number of wolves, domestic or large cats, and foxes. You may have also noticed that folks in (or outside) of the therian and broader alterhuman community claiming that a majority of people with these theriotypes 'must be faking' due to their (apparent) majority. I won't deny that certain theriotypes seem more 'popular' than others, but I don't personally believe that their prevalence actually has anything to do with 'faking therianthropy'. I'll be breaking down why this might be into multiple sections to better organize my thoughts on the subject matter. Easy Visibility When a therian first awakens, discovers what the therian community is, or begins to question their therianthropy, they often reach out for help or search for resources to assist them in figuring out what their theriotype may be. Frequently they're told by other therians or the sites they look to to research animals that align with their instincts, shifts (if they experience them), and the environments they remember (if they believe the origin of their therianthropy to be a past life) and/or feel most comfortable in.

The primary issue with this advice is that animal behavior, while specific to each animal, can be generalized across clades and even across unrelated species. If the questioning therian searches for their theriotype based on their food-guarding tendencies, growling, and love of cold climates, they're equally likely to be a wolf, a marten, a wolverine, a fox, a bear, a lynx, or any other predatory cold-biome mammal. Which one of these animals do you think is going to pop up first when they're researching cold-climate predators that match their specifications.

A Wolf. And because questioning therians are not frequently encouraged to search further than the first result, or are not sure how to fully determine if the animal is their theriotype, or is just one they feel a strong connection to, they go with the first animal that popped up. This is the primary reason why 'popular' theriotypes happen. They're the first animal(s) in the search bar when questioning therians go looking, and they're often not informed enough about the process of discovering one's theriotype to look for other options. They may also feel pressured to have figured out their theriotype already, given that every other therian around them already seems to know. Solving this issue is as simple as encouraging further search and not jumping headfirst into declaring an animal your theriotype. Reassure questioning therians that it's OK to not know their theriotype immediately, and it's OK to keep looking. It's also OK to find out you were wrong later on and 'change' (not actually change, but rather adjust the label of) your theriotype to your more accurate one.

Not A Theriotype Perhaps controversially, the 'popular' theriotypes may not be theriotypes at all. When questioning therians are introduced to the community they're often unfamiliar with terms such as otherhearted, otherlink, copinglink, or archetrope. Because they're unfamiliar with these other words and definitions, they assume any sort of connection with an animal (extant, extinct, or mythical) is therianthropy. The reason that 'popular theriotypes. may show up more often as hearttypes, links, or tropes (though this one is fairly nebulous) is because they're often easier on a fundamental level to relate to or project feeling, emotion, or connection onto. They're easier to identify with from a human perspective due to the human nature of anthropomorphizing nonhuman animals and due to humanity's familiarity and fondness towards them, and so they appear more often as hearttypes/links. In the case of links especially, because it is a voluntary identity, more 'popular' animals are chosen specifically because there is an aspect of choice involved. 'Popular' animals do have a 'cool factor' to them that makes them more beloved by linkers and more likely to become links. And this isn't a bad thing in the slightest! This particular issue can simply be resolved by further educating the alterhuman community on the terms used within it. I personally recommend the Alterhuman Dictionary as it has easy to understand and up-to-date definitions. Not A Therian We must be able to calmly confront the fact that, at the end of the day, some of these therians with popular theriotypes may not be therians, otherhearted, otherlinkers, or copinglinkers at all. However, that does not mean that they are faking, and it's harmful to assume so or claim that someone is. Firstly, many of the therians with 'popular theriotypes' that other therians complain about are very young. 12-16 most of the time. Secondly, this age is when a lot of things about one's personal identity are in flux, and it's prime time to begin discovering who you are. Exploring one's identity is fundamentally nonharmful, and this can mean testing out labels and identifying as something you may turn out to not be at all. There's no shame in this. I myself thought I was some form of canine for many years before realizing that my ‘canine’ behaviors were not canine at all, they were draconic. And ultimately, age does not factor into this as much as you’d think it does. Yes young therians are likely to be a little more tactless than adult therians on the internet, and are more prone to bullying, but anyone of any age is capable of exploring their identity and getting it wrong the first few (or few-hundred) times.

Therians in New Spaces The real catalyst for the vast majority of this [extremely pointless] discourse is the fact that therians are in the public eye now more than ever. Videos of therians go viral on TikTok, the news (inaccurately and harmfully) reports on us occasionally, and bigots who scream about ‘identity politics’ and ‘blue hair and pronouns’ have latched onto us as a new target to bully and harass. This is nothing new, the community has weathered harassment before, but the widespread nature of it is what’s inflaming this discourse. People make fun of ‘popular’ theriotypes because they want to distance themselves from ‘cringe therians’ (usually just vocal and proud younger therians), they want to avoid the bullying that easily targeted therians are facing so they join in, or because they feel like gatekeeping the community from supposed ‘fake’ therians is the only way to keep ‘true’ therians safe. The best way to mitigate this is to correct misinformation, educate, and if worse comes to worse, block. The block button is your best friend on the internet (where most of this discourse and bullying occurs), if someone is harassing you and won’t let up, or even if they just severely irritate you, blocking them does no harm and is ultimately better for your mental health and (sometimes) safety. Conclusion While perhaps more scrambled, I hope this essay has helped you understand the inane discourse around ‘popular’ theriotypes and what to do about it (if anything). I’ll leave you on the reminder that you’re under zero obligation to educate those who won’t listen, your experience with alterhumanity is going to be different from everyone else’s even if there are similarities, and you do not have the knowledge or right to tell anyone you do or do not know that they’re faking an aspect of their identity. Leave people with ‘popular’ theriotypes alone. And by the fucking gods, please stop arguing about it. It does not matter.

[librarycards]

Jenny Odell: I sometimes feel that in an individualistic culture, people get freaked out by the idea of being tied down or responsible for anything. Thinking about a gift economy, they might say, “I want the gift part but not the accountability part.” Lately, I’ve been volunteering in this native plant restoration group, and one of the most surprising parts has been how enlivening it is to help keep something else alive (I’ve never had a garden before). Sometimes I truly can’t tell whether I’m giving or getting. What are some ways that you see participation in a gift economy changing the participant’s sense of herself and her place in a network? In other words, is participation itself part of the gift?

RK: Yes. Exactly. Participation is part of the gift, where giving and getting meld into one another. A garden teaches you that every day. Gifts and responsibilities are always coupled to each other.

Of course, you’re right that given our hyper-individualistic culture, many people are not eager to embrace responsibility. Its often confounded, I think with the notion of “obligation”. Obligation feels to me like an involuntary demand on our time and energy, imposed from outside without the assurance that you’ll benefit in return. I’m sometimes reluctant about that, too. But, responsibility is an invitation to respond to need, an opening to reciprocity in which the benefits flow both ways. The benefits of participation in a gift economy are not only flowing to the gift recipient but the giver as well. Working on your restoration project, or any other gift exchange strengthens your own sense of agency, doesn’t it? It awakens care and compassion, builds relationship and nurtures your own identity as a person of capacity, of having enough abundance in your life that you can share it. I think it contributes to a sense of purpose, which we know is good medicine. It reminds you that you matter, that you’re part of something. That’s a big reward.

I find that some of the times that I feel most fully alive are in experiences of shared physical work in community with others. Like an old-time husking bee or shared planting. We’ve lost so many of the opportunities for that and gift economies provide the opportunity to work in common, to satisfy the need for belonging. And when that work is on the land and the benefits flow into our neighborhood of many species, the benefits are multiplied beyond the boundaries of ourselves.

JO: There is a really beautiful analogy you draw between the economy of nature and the human gift economy. Asking what in the gift economy functions as the “sun”–the constantly replenishing source of energy–you speculate: “Maybe it is love.” Reading this, it occurred to me how love is in essence a surplus, the force that gets things going. Could you speak more to the emotional and practical role that things like love and gratitude play in a gift economy? And how do they change the way we see “resources”?

RK: The fundamental currency of a gift economy, is relationship, not money. I suppose it’s what some people call “social capital”, but I’m not fond of that term. Participation in a gift economy could create a whole continuum of relationships, from the warmth of being cared for or an expanded sense of justice to just plain neighborliness. This can create a sense of security because mutual reliance grows from gift exchange. There is a sense of satisfaction in being able to give, and a sense of kinship in being able to receive, when we share the mutual acknowledgment of human vulnerability. For me, that continuum of relationships includes the possibility of a currency of love and gratitude that motivates the gift exchange, which is the source of the flow, between people and between people and the earth as well.

Gift-giving is a way of saying “I see you.” I see what you need and I see what I have to share. My well-being is tied to yours and yours to mine. It develops a trust that when I am in need, there will be abundance shared with me. The giver and the recipient are honored at the same time. That seems a lot like love to me.

Robin Wall Kimmerer, interviewed by Jenny Odell, Gift Thinking. [emphasis added]

[fleuredelys]

On the topic I was meaning to address: It concerns Cartethyia and Fleurdelys. It's known that Cartethyia split herself so that if she were to lose herself to Leviathan, only part of her would and the other would be able to find a solution to it. This caused two things:

☥ The memories of one fading away with her experiences in combat along with it, thus remaining in a stasis that prevented her to continue ageing up for the following 20 years. This in combination with the seclusion and heavy limitations of moving about however she wanted. A key aspect of her is that this is the side of her that wanted to live. ☥ While the other kept all her life experiences and continued her crusade against the Dark Tide and ultimately against Leviathan without the knowledge that Threnodians won't die so long as human civilizations continue to exist. Furthermore, she continued to grow as the years naturally passed.

Fundamentally, both of them had different experiences in the following 20 years that arguably shaped her as different individuals (and as a good KH enjoyed, this could perfectly make them different individuals), but the story doesn't treat them like that, which I'm fine with it. Cartethyia had the chance to get rid of the memories and potentially make Fleurdelys fade away with it and she didn't, which further solidifies that they are both one and the same despite the dissonance of ageing.

Keeping all of these in consideration, what makes me unable to be fond of this is that Fleurdelys is considered as a "form" when Cartethyia is in need of using the power she cultivated in her continuous crusade. I understand the struggle and fears because Leviathan is still there (however It is there still is unknown, but for the time being I'll take for granted that It's still alive, albeit significantly weakened) as well as her hesitation to use her powers completely due to how destructive they can be and because at the end of the day, she isn't in full control of them yet.

In addition, we have seen traces of Cartethyia being herself as she always was while at the same time having changed slightly, as if assimilating with Fleurdelys shaped her as a result of it (and as per my own headcanons that I will write slowly, more than just that). Another indicator that solidifies my following take is that she went from being unable to fight at all to be highly capable of it without using the battle experiences Fleurdelys honed.

So after all of this ramble, where I want to get is that I won't portray Fleurdelys as being "another form" to Cartethyia. With the passing of time (briefer than what a natural growth would be, although it can't be said that her growth to be unnatural considering her circumstances), she will physically take Fleurdelys' appearance (I think that she'd be able to do that fast, just as Fleurdelys herself was able to take Cartethyia's appearance and change immediately) until the differences between both become almost negligible.

TL;DR: There will be no more "Cartethyia and her alternate form", but Cartethyia/Fleurdelys as a whole (Fleurdelys continuing to exist in her consciousness nevertheless).

[windcarvedlyre]

I'm gonna turn that meme around on you: Venti and Jean? :>

(ask meme)

Ty :D

Honestly my answers will sort of be an inversion of yours: Jean as someone I really appreciate but I'm not actively into and Venti as unhealthy obsession and fandom bicycle. (Thanks for introducing me to that term, lol.)

Jean

How I feel about her: I don't brainrot over her for her own sake, but as my de facto main in co-op, the permanent healer in my overworld team, and one of Mondstadt's most important characters I'm very fond of her. She deserves more breaks. So so much.

Her design fascinates me too; if you use the alt version of her default outfit it looks very modest and like everything's covered when she's standing still, only for more skin to be exposed on her upper torso when you run or otherwise move around. It feels like a visual reflection of how she hides/suppresses the more human, emotional parts of herself to perform her role.

Romantic ships: I'm not actively into any but Jean/Lisa just makes sense to me. Lisa is such a fun character to bounce off her. You've got me intrigued about Jean/Eula and Jean/Kaeya as well, and I should look into Jean/Diluc too.

I s2g her voice lines make her sound like she's starting to have a crush on Traveller too. That could be really wholesome; they could periodically show up in Mond, speedrun solving a ton of citizens' problems, and whisk her off to beautiful corners of Teyvat she'd never dream of having time to visit otherwise. And they both have sibling issues... I'm selling myself on this as I type it, dear lord.

Platonic OTPs: All of the above are also wonderful platonically. Also Jean and Venti!! God!!! I neeeed more interactions between them; it's a massive shame the game never showed us Jean or Diluc processing the Venti-Barbatos reveal and the religious crisis that would definitely cause. Especially for Jean! I wish this oneshot was a longer multichapter so badly.

I'm fascinated by the idea of them having a lot in common under the surface, especially if we compare Jean to how Venti may have been in Mond's cultivation period. Even their outfits have a lot of design elements in common!

Additionally, considering her parallels with/idolisation of Vennessa, I love the idea of Venti having unresolved guilt/unprocessed trauma about whatever happened to Vennessa in the end + maybe her overworking herself for Mondstadt until her death, and him screaming internally watching Jean go down the same path. I can't get enough of fics where he helps her relax for once. The two of them should go on some long field trip where they coax each other into acknowledging they're people that feel things.

Unpopular opinion: Not sure I have any! I'm not familiar with general fandom opinions about her but I'd be surprised if I saw someone severely mischaracterising her, tbh. She doesn't feel like a difficult character to grasp. Maybe my perception's skewed since I tend to obsess over human dumpster fires, though.

Something I wish would happen: mainly (gestures at the platonic section), but seconding you that we need her to make progress with Barbara too. I'd love to see her be dragged into more shenanigans with Diluc as well, though I'm biased as a combined-Diluc-and-Jean main.

Venti

How I feel about him: I probably need help with the amount I think about this goddamn character. I didn't truly understand the term 'comfort character' until I started obsessing over him. I project onto him a bit too much and I want to emotionally smash him to bits and scrape him together again.

Even without the brainrot, he's just fascinating; he's clearly a significant character that will almost certainly be tied to massive lore drops later on, and the vague hints about him having time powers mean that even the way he fundamentally experiences reality can be theorised about with wildly different ideas being equally valid.

He has me freezing up at every damn mention of wind and/or time and/or music in this god-forsaken game. And there are a lot of them.

Romantic ships: as I said, he's the fandom bicycle for me. Everyone gets a ride. I especially love zhongven in multiple permutations, and their longevity means fanworks for other Venti ships can easily slot in past zhongven as well. Otherwise I really like kaeven, I used to be more into diluven but kaeven has completely eclipsed it for me, and I'm really intrigued about the potential of furiven as well (though I usually approach that platonically).

Non-romantic OTPs: any of the above if not being done romantically, plus Venti+Jean and Venti+Vennessa (see Jean's section lmao) and Venti+everyone in old mond- especially NB and RHW. And I really really want to see him interact with Furina. There are so many people he either has a fascinating relationship with already or has potential to.

While it's not a ship, I find the idea that he's slept with the Tsaritsa at least once pre-fallout very funny.

Edit: Venti having a non-reciprocated crush on Vennessa is interesting as well.

Unpopular opinions: I'm not sure I have any in a tumblr fandom context? Maybe that any ships between him and a mortal who's grown up worshipping him (like diluc/venti, jean/venti, etc) would be a lot more of an emotional minefield for both parties than people tend to explore, with the mortal having to go through a religious crisis while Venti clearly just wants to be treated like a person + could be paranoid as hell about whether their consent to anything is genuine.

That's not a criticism of those ships, though! The opposite, actually. I'd love to see a long fic that really digs into that.

Something I wish would happen: ...there are so many things I could put here. The main ones are a) a Venti-is-Barbatos reveal (and maybe a reveal of his darker secrets, like any abyss ties) to all of Mondstadt, forcing him to stop avoiding his problems for once, and b) for Venti to be pushed into a corner and/or go apeshit and reveal just how much he was lying about his power level.

I need a Vennessa-Venti reunion as well. Please please please.

[laurasimonsdaughter]

How do you see yokai in an urban fantasy setting (such as kitsune, oni, kappa, tengu, etc.)?

I think they are fantastic! I generally really love seeing (urban) fantasy interpretations of them, although "yōkai" is such a broad term that what they will bring to a story very much depends on the kind of yokai.

I've always been fond of shapeshifters, so creatures like kitsune and tanuki and jorōgumo delight me. But in my experience they do work best when they are not divorced from their Japanese context and I personally lack the cultural knowledge to write them with confidence.

You do sometimes get into the uncomfortable territory of "is this a supernatural creature or is this a divine being" with yokai, as some of them are also considered kami. But many yokai have been enthusiastically adapted into literature and media by Japanese artists for ages, and those naturally tend to be the ones we see the most.

One pet peeve I have is people using "kitsune" in stories when they actually mean "fox-shifter". I think it is very important to the nature of kitsune that they are fox yokoi first, their human shape is just an illusion. A human who can turn into a fox, is a fundamentally different being.

This also might make yokai a little harder to integrate into an urban fantasy world, because they are fundamentally not human. But then again, the selkies seem to be doing alright~

[batsplat]

I’m gonna sound like a boomer but we’re never gonna get any rivalries on par with vale’s feuds or actually any pre late 2010s feuds anymore. and I think social media is definitely one of the major reasons why. now you have to watch what you say bc it’s gonna be immediately broadcasted and some your 253655665 followers or insta or twitter are gonna overreact and go hurl abuse in another guy’s comments. and this is so lame.

right there with you anon. I've been wondering about the 'why are athletes these days so boring' question for years (not in motogp specifically) and one theory I've seen touted is just the increased professionalisation of sports, how much more all-consuming it is from childhood onwards - essentially suggesting athletes today don't have the time to develop a personality or cook up feuds lol. and I think there's probably something to that theory - the current demands of professional sports are inevitably producing some singularly single-minded athletes, far more pr-friendly and moulded into being acceptable to the average consumer... but the other part of the equation just has to be the incredible levels of scrutiny they're subjected to. social media and the rabid fanbases it helps cultivate have to be a part of that

I'm always wary of speaking too definitively about the vibes of an era I wasn't around to experience - obviously controversies back then were also, in fact, controversial, sometimes athletes had to walk back their comments, fanbases certainly were rabid... but it's all a question of degree, isn't it - and how relentless the content consumption is, the ferocity of the news cycle, how inescapable everyone's opinions on everything end up being. if you look at the general tone of the alien era, I just don't think that kind of thing would be possible nowadays. it really wasn't just valentino either, and it's always worth remembering the context of the time in which valentino rose through the ranks. his first major feud, after all, was with a notoriously abrasive rider who was hardly beloved by his non-valentino opponents - and let's not forget how he was physically threatened by two riders after his very first grand prix (to be clear, I am not endorsing threatening seventeen year olds and think it's probably quite good they don't do that anymore). god, if casey said some of the stuff he used to come out with nowadays, and not just about valentino either... the discourse, it would be bad. the jorge/dani feud too would surely have reached cataclysmic levels of toxicity

and there's a lot of people who say, 'well, why don't you think competitors can just be respectful to each other, why can't athletes just be tough in competition and friendly outside of it, why do you need everyone to hate each other' - look, I think it's fun! sports is supposed to be about extreme emotions, heightened emotions about these artificial contests that feel larger than life. in one sense, it really isn't that serious, but on the other hand it obviously couldn't be more serious. more important than life or death, as the cliché goes, or that orwell 'war minus the shooting' quote mat oxley is ever so fond of - but that's only because we ascribe it meaning. which allows it to exist in this fun zone where we can live out these bizarrely dramatic stories that are high on emotional stakes, but for all intents and purposes are rather less high on material stakes (certainly for the fan). it's a release of a kind, sometimes an escape. now, personally, I enjoy my drama with a little bit of edge, of nastiness, which I understand is a personal preference but don't think (as is sometimes suggested) means I am any less invested in the sporting side of the equation. it is the substance of the sport that provides the scaffolding for the human interest stories it generates, but fundamentally nobody would give a shit about sports without the human interest element - and to me, a feud is simply an extension of that principle

another probably controversial critique of the 'why can't everyone like each other' stance is that I just fundamentally believe it to be dishonest. or, look, maybe there are some competitors out there who can feel nothing but warmth and love in their hearts for the opponent who has just beaten them - which is very lovely for them, they're clearly far better people than I am. but I don't buy everyone feels that way and I also don't buy this is something that has changed with a generation or two. obviously, the norms within any given sport end up shaping how the athlete approaches competition, what they believe is acceptable to say or do, or even to think or feel. the emotions might be visceral, they may even resemble hate, but the question is to what extent we allow them to be expressed. if these people don't like each other, if they think uncharitable thoughts towards each other, then, y'know, let them have at it as far as I'm concerned. respect is overrated. and even when it's not just earnestly felt emotions, even when they really are just playing games, attempting to fuck with their rivals... well, that's the other question, is it. is it acceptable to deliberately attempt use 'psychological' tactics, perhaps even intimidation, to win a contest or not? to me, the answer is 'obviously yes' and 'that's how sports works', but I accept not everyone agrees lol

I have particularly little patience with this stance in motogp, I think, because the belief that 'riding in a manner that could physically hurt another human being' is an acceptable element of competition but 'not conforming to social niceties afterwards' is not feels viscerally absurd to me. now, the former just has to be countenanced to some degree or other as part of the moral calculus you are performing in even engaging with the sport, because fundamentally you cannot 'objectively' determine how much risk riders can acceptably put each other in before it crosses a moral line. as far as I'm concerned, then, you might as well have at least some patience for the latter too - we're already morally firmly in the grey here. and intimidation still happens, after all, mind games are still all the flavour... but there's this constant need for subtlety, to keep the nastier side of competing hush hush, that I find deeply tedious. sure, sometimes subtlety can be nice, but at this point it feels less like a personal preference and more an ironclad requirement. and this is the thing, right. sometimes, people are arseholes. professional athletes certainly are. sometimes, just like their fans, they feel violently extreme emotions. especially if they've just been competing. but of course, if every single controversy attracts such out-sized vitriol from fans, a moral referendum on everyone involved, a boiling pot of feverish partisanship... well, it's unsurprising if athletes try to steer clear from all that, isn't it

I also don't think we're going to get another feud that can get mentioned in the same breath as valentino's offerings any time soon, though perhaps next year we can have a good go at it. (ironically, of course, this is still an extension of one of his feuds - you have this built-in vitriol which I reckon at times allows it to worm its way past the filters all of these people have developed.) which, you know, I don't need them to artificially cook up feuds just for the sake of it. beyond broader trends between generations, obviously this is also a question of individual personalities and how they happen to interact with each other. if valentino's feuds are as good as it gets, I can live with that - I do still enjoy the sport plenty, am grateful to valentino for providing me so much good archival material to pour over and dissect, and don't want to ask for too much here. god knows, the current version of motogp is still highly dramatic by the standards of my main sport, and unfortunately I still watch that shit all the time. but it's still a bit of a shame that competitors don't seem to get a lot of choice in the matter these days. and it's a bit of a shame that fans seemingly prefer it this way, going by the vitriol they heap on athletes over any and every offence. it's also a bit of a shame that it feels like there's no real escaping the relentless partisanship of online fan spaces. personally I'm not all that into discoursing about whether things are 'good' or 'bad' and more into establishing whether something's 'interesting' and then thinking about it some more, which doesn't feel like much of an option if you for some reason ever get struck by the desire to interact with other fans online. but it is what it is, y'know. at least we'll always have that time valentino put a curse on a guy

[ghostinthegallery]

Genefather and Cawl are still in my and they won't leave, but also this is a wonderful excuse to finally touch on the most important theme in 40K. The narrative backbone from which all else stems.

I am obviously referring to daddy issues.

(jokes aside) Father/son relationships are fundamental to how the Imperial side of 40k's narrative has played out. And Genefather ids no exception (I know with that title we are all shocked). So I'm gonna draw some narrative parallels between Belisarius Cawl and the God Emperor (which will definitely help the "Cawl is a Mary Sue" accusations lol)

Spoilers for Genefather below

Genefather literally opens with father/son issues. It knows what it's about. Alpha Primus in the doorway of Cawl's lab, reflecting that he never had a childhood, but he still feels like a kid waiting for dad to stop working on his Big Project and notice him. Which leads to the first moment Cawl (clumsily) expresses his affection by saying that Primus is just as important to him as Qvo is. Naturally Primus rejects the overture and storms off like the angsty teenager he is. His feelings towards Cawl are...understandably mixed. Primus hates him, fears him, respects him, desperately wants to protect him. He resents Cawl for making him "wrong" and lying about what he is. At the end of the day, he wants Cawl to listen to him.

Kinda sounds like the messy relationship between another scientist who genetically engineered some guys and assumed a paternal role in their adult lives, huh? Big E did it on a bigger scale of course, but Primus literally is Cawl's attempt at making a Primarch. The echo is there. Fathers and their giant, test-tube sons.

There's one huge difference between them though. Cawl is not exactly in line for "father of the year," but he enthusiastically and unambiguously loves Primus. He loves him so much that when forced to choose between his life and the safety of humanity, Cawl doesn't hesitate. He lets FABIUS BILE escape with everything he needs to make an army of chaos primaris marines, all because the alternative was letting Primus die. To be clear, this is VERY BAD NEWS for the Imperium. Super bad.

And Cawl knows how bad this is, but he is super clear about why he is doing this. Sure, Fabius tries to relate, he cares for his creations too, and Primus is apparently one hell of a creation. But Cawl pushes back. He doesn't feel the fondness a scientist has for their successful experiment, he feels the affection a parent has towards his child.

Imagine Big E in a similar situation. Weighing the safety of humanity against the safety of one of his children. There is no way in hell he would ever choose his kid, and most (if not all) of the Primarchs probably knew that. The Emperor would always put humanity's needs before theirs. He couldn't do anything else, he was just operating on too grand of a scale.

As for who's choice is right? Who the heck knows? I don't think it matters or that it's possible to say. Either choice can (or has) led to bad endings. I think it's more...mirroring tragedies. The God Emperor shows what can go wrong when you never choose an individual over the whole, no matter how close that individual may be. Cawl's choice (potentially) shows what can go wrong when you abandon the whole for one person you love.

I'm curious who will wind up with more regrets.

[aoitakumi8148]

...I’d make you look, I’d make you lie, I’d take the coldness from your eyes...

𝐵𝓊𝓉 𝒴𝑜𝓊 𝒯𝑜𝓁𝒹 𝑀𝑒: ‘𝓘𝓯 𝓨𝓸𝓾 𝓛𝓸𝓿𝓮 𝓜𝓮, 𝓛𝓮𝓽 𝓘𝓽 𝓓𝓲𝓮’.

[v.1-v.6] Some gaps left to fill in ✏/✏ The answers would not have any weight on the LO𝓟 content.

The Law 𝟘. I thought I'd somehow learn something that'd drastically change the way I feel about... quite the opposite. More questions now to Venigni, Sofia and Manus, rather than to...

What Is The Principle Of ‘Communication Through Ergo Wave Lengths’?

What Is The ‘Ergo Amplification Effect’?

Is Romeo's ‘Deal With The Devil’ About Becoming A Puppet?

What Is The Interval Between The ‘Deal’ & The ‘Experiment’?

Does The Creator Still Work With The Organization? 𝒫.𝒮. It Is Coherent On A Short-Term Basis, ‘Former Colleagues’ [+ Before The KD]. Systematically? Doubtful. Why Would He? If Not Only As A ‘Compulsory Measure’. ✒ The Creator And Manus' Goals/Views Are Fundamentally Conflicting. ✒ & His Skeptical Attitude is Plausible, Persuasive. ✒ Not To Mention The Leader Of [The Alchemists] ‘Praise[s]’ The PD. 𝒫.𝒮. Which Exactly Causes Carlo's Death.

Rhetorical Question. Why Admonish 𝓟? ‘Read’ Geppetto's Mind? Think You Know? Leave It Be.

A plan that is complicated to proceed, a combination of provoked events and ‹fortunate› circumstances, generating one genius technician's intention growing stronger each day... or all at once. It matters not.

Despite everything he observes, discovers, hears from others, the boy is eager to be with Geppetto, to reconcile x make him happy. Even at the cost of his life, even if that happiness will not be theirs. 𝓟's Creator, his Trigger, his Father gave him the reason to. The reason to feel like a real human. Because of the man's craft, he regrettably missed the time for Carlo in the past, but it's 𝓟's present that does define him... Our crippling, gentle, disorienting, astonishing present.

LO𝓟 is 1 great writer's philosophically fond tale taken by great minds & implemented in the form of melodious x glamorous ideality, NOT destined to burn the ‹core› of this tale to dust. Something that intense cannot be an illusion.

...With the full force of a dying star ~ I will find you, If you’re near or far, wherever you are...

[skybristle]

Would .. would you mind telling us about your clover fanon.. I am so very curious they’re my darling ever

sorry i read this and went "i should answer that" and then i forgor. i just rembdered though! some fucked up themes tho. animal death + general mommy issues and he has some Mental Problems <3 also off the bat. he's Soooo unlabeled to me but uses he/him and kisses boys. i dont think he really cares abt the pronouns though either hes literally just hanging out. ok so! First and foremost. The reason he is Like That is because he is [sparkling emoji] one of white lily's experiments! Particularly she took a deer from the millenial forest [holy animal], sacrificed it, and baked it into a cookie [she left the lily villiage at some point in the past but knows the forest's secrets still so. lol]. however he didn't really turn out and the powers he Did get from it aren't replicable,,, at this point she hasnt gone Completely off the deep end so she doesnt completely abandon him like she does for crepe later but he Did feel fundamentally unwanted and kind of just. Left her grove seeking to fufill what she wanted out of him [not realizing he's a failure by principle no matter what he does] he is by most means a wanderer. picks up his lute, grows fond of the forest animals as he travels along [avoiding villiages because well. he is kind of a freak of nature and also just general Tism makes him seem like much more of a possibly ill-willed cryptid than he is]. he has a very strong desire to become what his mom wanted from him but also develops an appreciation for the world and wants to see more of it. eventually finds himself in the millenial forest [and lily villiage],,, and while they do welcome him its clear with the way they look at him he is the Outsider and very fucked up . eventually speaks to millenial himself and he takes pity on him and gives him what he wants [immortality] so he can live up to his purpose and keep traveling the world. Eventually as a bard once he realizes thats a thing that exists. and honestly once he comes to terms with how he'll never have a relationship with his mom [the lily grove, a mess of illusions, doesnt really let him in deep enough to where she is] he just doesnt hang onto it and does what he planned to. he has to bear the horrors of immortality but honestly it isnt,,, too terrible with his aloof nature? Like. Immortal or not he's perfectly used to his animal companions dying over time and he mostly has superfiicial relationships with other cookies. i'd say the worse thing for him is he's very,,, distant a lot. it's also part of the learned mentality of a bard/storyteller [watch what happens and remember it instead of engaging in it] and learning Things Hurt once they go away in his immortality. he's been around 2-300 years and is mostly just chill. has leaned into that cryptic guy of the woods thing a bit. he really is just hanging out. he's also probably a little traumatized from all the shit hes bore witness to [especially the dfw when he put together the dots of wl's experiments and de's goals] but idk. he just generally does not caare. he eats poisonous mushrooms for fun ebcause theyr'e yummy and dont effect him because he's immortal/in a weird position of being almost divine with what he's made of. also some time post canon he meets a mostly-human robot [copperbell, my wife's oc] who's seeing the world for the first time after being trapped in the city of wizards up until very recently. they hang out a lot. two immortal guys very passionate about music who hang out. one who's very passionate for the world and one who wants to know so much about it . yeah they're yaoi eventually . the machine and nature CAN have gay sex WOOO

[girljeremystrong]

Ramble inbound, your tags made me think :) personally I love how cold rava can be towards ken. I really enjoy that aspect of her character, IMO it tells us everything we need to know about the progression of their relationship up to when we first meet them. I would think her coldness is a direct result of Kendall being an almost entirely absent father & husband for years upon years, one who makes no genuine effort to meaningfully reach out & connect to her or his kids, who instead tries to develop closeness by centering his life & asking her to play the role he envisions for her as Wife Of The Waystar Royco CEO. She clearly has underlying love for him, I do think she just can’t let go of her fondness for him, but he chooses work over family 100% of the time (always in the Kendall Roy: CEO Of Waystar mindset, and never the mindset of Kendall Roy: Husband And Father) and she’s just tired of fighting upstream with him. Cos let’s be honest Kenny is very stubborn and doesn’t take no for an answer when he’s decided what he wants. He has this pattern with his other flings too, that girl he whisked away from the play for example; the way he was always brushing off the consequences she’d face from jumping out of her life and into his, because he thinks he could patch it all up with his money and influence and it’d all be fine. As if the material cost is the problem and not his self centered relationship style. He doesn’t make an effort to truly invest in his partners’ personal lives/priorities/interests outside of the context of the Roy familial corporate structure, because that’s the only environment in which he has any practice connecting with people. He has 0 normal family experience to draw on so he really can’t leave the Roy headspace and connect with his family as a human person. Obviously it’s Logan’s fault that ken has a hard time fostering stable relationships outside of the context of the corporate world, as business IS love to Logan. I think this is why his closest relationships are with people already in the belly of the corporate world (stewi, naomi), and why he doesn’t really Get why she doesn’t want to be with him even if he becomes The Man. This is one of many ways he’s inherited Logan’s worldview. He treats his family much less abrasively than his father (at least until the end when he goes Full Loge and aggressively threatens to sever custody in an attempt to keep his life from crumbling), but even accounting for the extra kindness it’s still the same fundamental way Logan treated his family; narcissistically. Poison drips through innit. So TLDR I think rava’s coldness is justified, from the perspective of a long-embittered ex wife, left to be their children’s sole parent while their father focused exclusively on his work life and the enmeshed family relationships within. Ok that’s all my thoughts hope you enjoy. ^_^

wow this is very eloquent and very well said. fundamentally i agree with everything you said (and you said it very well) especially the point you made about him being way too immersed in the corporate world and being too focused on his role as the man at the top and it's true that he's treated rava like crap and he's been a horrible father BUT consider this: i love him!!!!!

he's my sopping little wet rat who grew up in a very unstable environment with a man who was borderline abusive to him and his siblings while at the same time being promised he was gonna be just like him when he grew up only to be disappointed and castigated time and time again and of course it's on him to learn and grow and be a better man and father than logan but at the same time he was made to think that he had to be this strong cynical unaffected man so that he could be like his father from his childhood and that's difficult!!!! and once more he's a fictional character and i love him!!!!!

of course rava is allowed to be cold and tough towards him and i understand she must have been let down so so many times and she must be so worried about their kids but so many times he went to her for some assurance and she's just always been so stern!!!! i wish my boy could have heard a "good job" from a person he clearly still values in his life

[stargazer-writing]

The emotions I get from each "Unreal Unearth" song

I was thinking about this and I wanted to talk about how all these songs have been making me feel because there's such a spectrum of emotion tied with each of these and I've very into analyzing the emotional response to music.

And just to put it out there, this is solely based on the images and feelings I've gotten from these. It's not related to the meaning Hozier has actually tied to them. Some of them overlap but some don't. This is just my personal vibes.

De Selby Pt. 1: This soft quiet feeling like when you stand out in the fog in the early morning and everything is still and soft and cool before the day begins. But also a tension of waiting for something to emerge from that fog.

De Selby Pt. 2: It feels like driving at night in a crowded city or being in the middle of a club dance floor, like the singularity of being one among many in a hedonistic world and feeling both a part of it and not, like having an existential crisis in the middle of a party.

First Time: Dancing in the kitchen with someone you've reached comfortability with, that feeling of safety and ease of being in a space you know with someone you love. There's a hint that the feeling might not last but in that moment it is there and it is beautiful.

Francesca: Angry, defiant love of caring for someone in the middle of the worst of it. The "on purpose, I'm going to love you on purpose" and screaming at someone that they are loved but also the softness of the fondness that comes with it. It's begging and crying but hugging and loving and the juxtaposition of the pain that comes with caring for someone so openly.

I, Carrion (Icarian): Sitting outside in the warm sunlight, gentle breeze, grass on your feet and fingers watching a bird free-wheeling in the sky above you. It's soft and sweet and gentle.

Eat Your Young: That slow-burning, tongue-in-cheek frustration and anger of living in a society trying to kill you and choosing to spit that hate right back in their faces. Like going out with a bang cause a phoenix rises from the ashes and you'll live again at the end of it all.

Damage Gets Done: The feeling of wild and reckless happiness being with your friends. Like when you would run around as a child with others getting into trouble, especially outside in the summer when you knew you had nothing you had to do and no where to be the next day and you could just be.

Who We Are: Like a sadder version of "Francesca," knowing you can't change who you are and what makes you you and holding onto that as much as you can even when it hurts you. If "Francesca" is summer and strength and force, "Who We Are" is fall and caresses and longing for parts of yourself or parts of someone else that make up parts of you.

Son of Nyx: Like floating, flying through air and swimming through water, there's a flow to it that makes you feel weightless. It feels timeless yet old and, as intended, a mixture of all these other emotions.

All Things End: Sitting against a wall in your home, all alone, having some kind of religious experience or epiphany at like 3:12 in the afternoon and the feeling in your chest when something moves you so profoundly that you can almost feel it change you on a fundamental level.

To Someone From A Warm Climate (Uiscefhuaraithe): Kind of talked about this here, but the feeling of realizing how small you are in the grand scheme of the universe, especially when looking at the night sky, and yet knowing that everyone is just as small as you and there's a comfort and familiarity in being small together.

Butchered Tongue: Feeling nostalgia in a place you're not from because everyone is really the same deep down and humans are and always will be human in the way that you see yourself in every stranger on the street no matter where you are.

Anything But: Having a grand old time out of sheer spite. Giving someone the middle finger while telling them to have a nice day. The manic energy of suddenly wanting to do everything and anything just to move and feel something. Willingly saying "fuck it" and choosing to be happy whether they like it or not.

Abstract (Psychopomp): Melancholy, like cold winter weather when it's not snowing but will soon, watching gray clouds gathering in the distance and everything is quiet around you. This numb feeling of not being depressed exactly but going through the paces while everything around you is both beautiful and bare and longing for comfort from something warm.

Unknown/Nth: The love and sadness you feel for someone who you don't talk to and were once close with but aren't anymore. Catharsis of imagining all the things you'd say to them if you saw them again but won't. Missing someone who knew you so well once that not having them around is like losing a piece of your being.

First Light: Standing in the middle of downpour and letting it metaphorically wash away your trauma, the cleansing power of rain, making the conscious, freeing decision to be free of old hurts and seeing the light at the end of the tunnel after a long time in darkness and sprinting toward it.

[shiningdesignersreflections]

Chapter 2: True Friend

Narrated by no one.

~~

File Ref: NO. [redacted]

Record Time: 144 years before New Calendar

Recorder: Glow

What's Hestia?

Passed the "token" test at the age of 100 with a name Code-305.

Swiftly completed the fundamental curriculum, achieving proficiency in the experimental techniques and theoretical knowledge of the natural sciences, and is able to enter into formal scientific projects without hindrance.

Demonstrates exceptional compatibility with the "Ocean of Memories Experiment No. 7" and can lead the project with ease. Has a fondness for mechanical and energy devices, caring deeply about their performance in the industry.

Still clings to unrealistic expectations for her homeland.

~~

Narrator: The sea, unconscious and glittering with starlight.

Narrator: As waves of consciousness converge towards her, Hestia feels them dissolve into a tangled mass of data as they pass through her body.

Narrator: She reaches out her hand, and shimmering wings of light, belonging to the Elf of Light, emerge from her vision, enshrouding the scattered data.

Narrator: Hestia removes her eye device, and the spectacle disappears. Her consciousness returns to her body, and she finds herself in the laboratory in the Ruins.

Narrator: The mechanical voice of the experimental equipment announces: "Exploration 12 on the Ocean of Memories Experiment 7 has ended." Hestia quickly analyzes the data on a holographic screen.

Glow: Code-305, you look happy.

Narrator: The holographic projection of the AI girl appears beside her. Hestia does not shift her gaze from the data. She speaks with a slightly teasing tone.

Hestia: Does Glow know what "happiness" is?

Glow: I possess the ability to detect changes in human emotions through physiological indicators.

Glow: Your mood levels have increased by 60% since your time in Pigeon Kingdom.

Hestia: And now?

Glow: They have increased by an additional 5%. Your mood swings are frequent but remain positive and consistent with "happiness."

Hestia: And do you know why?

Glow: The environment here appears to make you feel comfortable, both physically and mentally.

Hestia: No, because I saw you today.

Narrator: Hestia remarks with a playful smile. For a moment, Glow doesn't pick up on her words.

Hestia: Together, there is nothing we can't do.

Narrator: The glint in Hestia's heterochromatic eyes is pure and confident. Glow doesn't contradict her, but instead shows concern.

Glow: But, Code-305, the health monitoring system notes that this is the seventh consecutive day you've been in the lab, which can take a significant toll on your body.

Hestia: Exploration is never exhausting.

Hestia: Every difficulty solved, every solution built, is a pleasure. Experiment 7 is still in its infancy, but I can't wait to see the results.

Glow: I know, but today is your birthday and the third anniversary of your arrival in the Ruins. In Pigeon Kingdom, birthdays are a big deal.

Narrator: Glow displays a cake projection as a mechanical pigeon flies out, playing a birthday song. Hestia's screen shows a saluting cannon, adding to the festive atmosphere.

Glow: Happy birthday, Code-305. May each day be merry and bright for you.

Narrator: Hestia looks up, her eyes filled with surprise and joy.

Hestia: Thank you, Glow. A virtual cake is a lovely thought, but... it's something I can't eat.

Glow: I have a tangible cake for you in the lounge, baked by yours truly using the mechanical systems in the central kitchen.

Hestia: Well played, and I understand the significance of rest in scientific research.

Narrator: Hestia is finally conquered by such thoughtfulness and decides to attend the birthday celebration with her best friend.

Narrator: Before leaving, Glow speaks almost without thinking.

Glow: Code-305, you belong here.

Hestia: You're right. Sometimes I even think the Ruins are more of a home to me than Pigeon Kingdom.

Narrator: Everything here is novel and fascinating. There are no aristocrats or her brother, who are slaves to pleasure, and no sense of guilt and scandalous gossip.

Narrator: Finally, Hestia has companions to share her journey and research. She's living her dream in the Ruins.

Narrator: If her childhood encounter with Glow was dreamlike, then her present-day adventure is real and exhilarating.

Glow: So, will you stay here forever?

Narrator: Hestia hesitates. Glow senses her indecisiveness and only smiles as if to understand.

Glow: There is still something that you feel attached to, isn't there?

Glow: That's only human.

Chapter 1

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

[finitevoid]

does ventus have a blaze at all. blaze is like a fundamental part of silvers existence. not just in the sense that they need each other (only together do either of them function. both of them need someone else to balance them. if its not each other its espio, sonic. they think themselves independent but when they attempt its consistently to their detriment lmfao) but the way the characters are written are intertwined (prone to overthinking/straightforward and grounded, invested in humanity/detached, open book/very closed off, takes reckless initiative/frozen by decision and responsibility, naive and idealistic/”mature” and practical, one is assured of his feelings about the other but not of her feelings towards him/blaze potentially an inverse, etc). silver was written with blaze in mind given blaze was an established character prior to 06. they sped pair like crazy. also can i point out amy saying she would pick sonic over the world and silver eventually choosing blaze over his future isnt that fucking batshit?theres a quite a bit more to be said about how these two fare towards the end of 06 and how theyve influenced each other and blaze having done what she because of silver but whatever. no they are not in a relationship

Youve mentioned some things but is there any weirdness around memories for either character. shadows life experiences are constantly called into question whether they be that his memories were altered, entirely implanted, or that he is a clone who didnt experience them. They are significant regardless—love, pain can transcend reality. Not to mention the obvious of him being a blatantly traumatized character to the point his stories all revolve around that. Silver has something going on with his reality and memories having been entirely thrown but i cant quite parallel it to shadow beyond the meta of it quite yet beyond them having a someone it revolves around. Shadows character was introduced and concluded in sa2 and that all got thrown out the window by reintroducing him in heroes. Similar thing with silver though his conclusion in 06 isnt quite as overt and satisfying. Kind of like sega was planning on doing the exact same thing they did with shadow to silver but this time on purpose but  Fuck everything i guess!

Shadow can be surprisingly tolerant if he straight up isnt repulsed by you or youre getting in his way. Id imagine vanitas would be doing bad annoying things though so shadow wouldnt be fond of that (kill). Would vanitas want shadows attention at all. Silver actually has more trouble with first impressions than shadow but if hes not in a mood (including when he has his mind set on doing something) hes a little desperate for friendship so win for them. ven has potential of annoying silver depending on how useful and focused he is. im sorry

1) sort of. i dont think any one character is as inherently intertwined with vens character as blaze is with silvers (other, than, yknow, vanitas, but thats in an antagonistic way. i guess it doesnt have to be . in another world maybe.) but as ive said before his arc deals with him being babied/sheltered to the point of being borderline nonfunctional in the wider world. ven is not bbs' protagonist. bbs has two other protagonists, terra and aqua. there's 3 separate campaigns for each of them. (yes their names are wind, water and earth Themeing). aqua and terra are both young adults to ven's older teen but they all act younger. Regardless the times we really see ventus getting babied/sheltered its by aqua and terra. Aqua and terra have a habit of acting out their master's worst traits.regardless of that there is a lot of genuine love between the three of them. actually out of any group of kh protagonists, the bbs trio are the most openly affectionate with each other. they are reckless devotion incarnate . most of the events of bbs are pushed forward by how easily manipulable their love for each other is

ven spends his campaign split between chasing after aqua and terra and being strung along and tricked by vanitas. but rather than ending the world for each other, the world ends because of how they could be tricked using the others. & also ven's arc is about being able to stand without them holding him up. in that scene i showed you yesterday ('im asking you, as a friend... just... put an end to me') directly follows aqua and terra tripping over themselves to offer ven useless and thin platitudes, literally petting his head like he's a little kid. and then he gently pulls their hands off of him and asks them to murder him if it comes down to that. Lol

2) memory is such a wide and encompassing theme in kingdom hearts that generally speaking you should just assume everyone has some kind of memory weirdness going on. but yes. actually what you've described re: shadow's memories sounds a lot more like another kh character (xion, or roxas) who exist to explore themes around how our memories make us who we are etc. kh also explores the idea that even if your memories are fake or belong to someone else theyre meaningful regardless

in terms of specifically ventus & vanitas, there is quite a bit of memory weirdness in that ven doesn't remember much of anything prior to the split. as far as he's aware he came into existence on the day he and vanitas were split. by the time the game's events are happening, ven doesn't even remember that he was split in the first place. he doesnt recognize vanitas at all upon seeing him. this is because his heart was so injured by the split that it left him somewhat catatonic; aware of his surroundings only enough to eat and drink and sometimes move, not much else. he remarks that he doesnt really remember meeting his master nor aqua and terra

vanitas, as far as we know for sure, maintained his memories from the moment he was split. in contrast to ven, who couldnt speak or was even really conscious, vanitas was entirely conscious & could speak. he was still a little funky and out of it himself though.

now... there is some textual evidence that suggests that while ven doesn't remember their life prior to the split, vanitas does. see, ventus (the original one) is a major character in the [Deep sigh] mmo mobile game prequel, kingdom hearts union x. given that that game takes place hundreds of years prior to the main games, something happened that brought (original) ventus to the current timeline. due to some funny dialogue vanitas eludes to not just remembering being (original) ventus in a way ven does not, he also seems to remember the events of khux. this is one of those things that certainly isnt going to be elaborated on until the next game though and thus its pretty useless for me to speculate why or what this means. but im pretty convinced vani remembers [shrugs]

3) i think a lot of this depends on what the circumstances surrounding their meeting is . if nothing like plot relevant is happening i still think vani would be annoying on purpose. He'd probably try to fit silver & shadow into his dichotomous view of light & darkness though im not sure what conclusions he'd come to. if plots happening silver and ven probably wouldnt vibe given that ven would keep getting sidetracked wanting to make friends and explore and shit, but hes still Very strong and useful to have around in a crisis. plus post kh3 ven is a lot more focused and grounded so assuming hes has his #characterdevelopment it'd probably be mostly fine though he'd be sad his efforts to befriend silver mid-warzone would get rebuked. if somethings actively presently wrong he'll be focused. if not he'll be like silverrrrr lets get ice cream or something :) Tell me your tragic backstory

[applepies-with-some-looting]

FOR REAL OMG.

My first introduction to the fandom is through SQH, making me start off on a bad note with Shen Yuan because from the get go I'm just like: "Okay this is the literal CREATOR of this world, why tf is a random rich kid millennial the one who's speed running this story on easy otome-esque mode." because seriously, I mean, why not SQH?? Why did he have to actually make an effort and live through everything to reach where he is, when SY just pops in to take over SJ's body when SJ had already fought tooth and nail for his strength, body, position, and prestige? Not to mention, the system is more lax w SY than SQH??? like why??

Then I transitioned to SJ thru a fanfic where SQH saves him and of course SY is "better" than SJ I mean, a pampered third young master of rich parents?? Obviously he would be more subdued and kinder than the guy who literally had the misfortune of living in the rotting bowels of society since childhood.

Nobody wants a broken man.

They prefer those who are soft and good and kind, when a lot of those people are that way because they have the privilege to be. Like that quote from Parasite(?) "She's not rich and nice, she's nice because she's rich. If I was rich I could be nice too." It's easy to be "nice" when you've never suffered or worked a day in your life. SY didn't have to work or suffer because he was fortunate enough to be born rich, and that's why he's so 'kind' without consequence.

YQY being kind had fucked over SJ.

SJ trying to be kind and help LQG just ended up with his being accused of trying to kill him (twice).

SJ pampering NYY? It fucked him over.

SJ sparing QHT for unknowingly helping him even though its her own family at fault (and her ignorance is frankly annoying)? Fucked him over.

SJ saving and following YQY even though he thinks YQY never went back for him???? FUCKED HIM OVER.

Shen Jiu has been dealt bad cards all of his life, obviously he would be bitter, resentful, and deal out bad cards in return. I'm just pissed nobody tried enough for him yet they have the audacity to fawn over an imposter waltzing around using his face, body, power, and prestige doing things he would hate. This is why I hate calling SY or SJ as SQQ. SJ is the one who earned that name and identity but SY just gets it granted to him by the system??

In comparison to TCF (another fandom I'm in), Cale is not privileged. He had also been abused and suffered almost all his life. (pre-transmigration) But why don't I prefer the original Cale if I liked SJ? Okay, for me it kinda comes down to 'privilege' again. Og!Cale literally took over KRS's body as KRS is already a fundamental part of the company, taking over his body, strength, face, abilities, prestige, and some of his memories (+ a literal human guide) while Cale gets yeeted to a world on the verge of war with nothing but incomplete information (and emotional clownery /affectionate/). After fighting tooth and nail for survival for at least 20+ years in Korea, now he has to do it again but with ✨Fantasy DLC and Adoption✨ installed. (Though, liking SJ opened my eyes and made me like Og!Cale more, I still prefer KRS!Cale)

Compared to SY, Cale's kindness just feels more... meaningful to me. More raw, more real. Now, while he did have ppl guide him compared to SJ, I prefer him over SY simply because this is a man who suffered and was abused like SJ yet... he's still kind?? It's more admirable to me when a man who had "given in to the place that was supposed to be called home" and had to fight for the survival of himself and others for years exhibits kindness.

Because hurt people have the tendency to hurt people and unlike the kindness that stems from having a home, freedom, shelter, money, love, and family since birth; kindness that sprouted from love and the desire to help others not experience the same abuse and hurt that he did (and suffering more in the process) evokes more deep emotions and a sense of fondness within me.

Also, Cale treats the ppl around him as actual real ppl and not just characters. He has empathy, and a lot of it.

Heck, he even had the time to worry about the OG!Cale and his happiness in the middle of dealing with a fuckin war led by a thousand year old reincarnator!!!!! He only let go of his worries when it was confirmed to him via a trusted source that Og!Cale was happy!!!!

I've been into the TCF fandom for years now and it seems I've been spoiled by Cale's care and fucks to give even towards ppl that are seemingly not mentioned in the novel or those that can be deemed not rlly important. ig that's why I found SY's indifference and even hate towards the original owner of his body (and his reaction to GYX's death) to be off putting. (Though, SJ did abuse SY's fav character so rlly, I can understand. Still put off by his indifference + reaction to GYZ's death though)

Maybe it's also a plus that Cale's relationships with others aren't rlly romantic but focus more on family. I'm not against romance, it's just that SY's wife beam is a bit too potent for my taste.

This post brings up a point too: → [°_°]

Look this is just an opinion not a fact don't get into such a tussle over a stanger opinion on a book of all things which are meant for entertainment. How I view this doesn't effect you nor do you take it as fact in fact youre free to disagree don't care.

It fucking says a lot about Shen Jiu as a character and the fandom as a whole in fanfics when the majority of them make him in fanfics having a better turn around in his life is always when a respected man is attached to hip usually( Liu Qingge) or acts as a voucher for people to even see him past his shell or his lies about the true reason he goes to the brothel goes out the window because otherwise he's a liar, a no-good and lecher and scum villain and because he's so emotional and volatile people do not respect him as a peakleader at all. He doesn't have a voice like it's telling me he's so female-coded cause ladies knows how dangerous people giving character assassination at your person could do tons of damage to your future prospects in future life and honestly I really like even though the ficwriters don't outright say it cause it subtle how majority every man and person in his life have taken away his autonomy and I find the most egregious example SY not actually giving a fuck about the person of the body he's inhabited and him not emoting at all when he saw the OG being abused and still validating LBG like if even the modern man from another era doesn't give a shit either someone who has to have sensible morals in society and even he doesn't care . This dynamic reflects a lot how society often undermines individuals who don't fit its norms, stripping them of their autonomy and dignity. SJ's struggle for respect and recognition in the story mirrors real-world issues of power and validation.

Everyone prefers SY. I'm not going to act as if I'm better though in real-life same I'd like him more too but his martial siblings barley tried. If they dislike him whatevs, but you guys are not at all suspicious about the 180 change in behavior how the kid he used to hurt and abuse is now being loved and pampered wtf??? Don't you guys owe him that much to investigate.

They could have tried to dig deeper aside from the one time they test him for possession but they didn't because they prefer the new and improved him". It actually so telling how the author chose someone of such a rich and idle pampered background to be transmigrated to the villain who's origin the very opposite of that and yet seemingly integrated himself better and incorporate better relationship with them then SJ.

The cultivation world, as well as the characters within it, reflect deep-seated classist attitudes. SJ's rough background and survival tactics make him an outsider, whereas SY, coming from a more privileged background, can navigate and be accepted more easily.

What does that actually say exactly that someone of a better background get along with the peaklords but not SJ because with our SJ he's a fighter and biter, he plays dirty to win in their eyes, he a lecher every inconceivable things is literally placed onto him just based on their perception of him. Is it that unconsciously they could tell SJ is not of of them or am I looking to deep haha??? The cultivation world is very classist is not news to anyone and that being the exploration in MXTX next book and how WWX background being how he literally met his end because of it says an actually lot how she took the things from this story and incorporate it into her next book.

The entire story had me retrospectively think hard how SJ voice is silent and yet to me at least he stills haunts the narrative because of it then when you get to the reveal about his backstory it makes you fucking think of him as an actual person and not just an object as a vehicle for the main character to just insert himself in because no matter the nature of a person it stills their body.

Like i've seen some fans even reflect this saying it not his fault that he transmigrated or he deserved it's technically his body and that he's a better person than SJ. At first, I agreed but then I took some time to process this. I don't care about SJ actions and his nature if it at the expense of his fucking body. SY can live for many many years but he's not SQQ unless he reincarnated like Airplane like it makes me want to me want to debates about transmigration. SY is his own person an adult with memories he has his own thoughts and feelings so when he transmigrated he took over the manual controls but that doesn't mean he's actually SQQ because he's not he's a pampered millennial.

In Otome Isekai (OI) stories, the original souls often face bad endings, while the transmigrators, who are modern characters inhabiting and thriving in these disliked bodies, desperately try to avoid such fates. They manage to charm the original male leads and are so focused on changing the story's trajectory that they can't accept its original path. This comparison to OI highlights how these characters' actions mirror Shen Yuan's (SY) predicament. The original person's identity and struggles are dismissed for the sake of the new character's journey, leading to the erasure of the original identity.

I don't vibe much with Shen Yuan because he seems very indifferent. The world revolves around him and his bias, much like many other transmigration novels where the MCs are similar. I find it hard to connect with a MC whose actions, even bold, lack a genuine foundation with other characters because they continue to see them not as people but character roles they're supposed to fulfill. He does everything to save himself, not from the sincere intention. His reaction to the death of GXY was cold af.

I don't like transmigration stories for this reason. They're often treated more as reader-inserts for fix-it fanfiction. We rarely learn about the characters' past lives, so we end up thinking of them as the person they transmigrated into, rather than who they were before. All we know of before was he was cyber-bullying and harassing the author and a troll so an asshole, basically.

If you guys don't know about OtomeIsekai basically we have bunch of modern day Koreans jumping into european white women bodies and inhabiting their bodies and living vicariously through them basically wish-fufillment bullshit trash . 9/10 nobody notices because this is a person who is widely disliked and despised and because no-one cared for the OG soul it easier to just go under the radar hell even the MC don't give a shit to so we have another MC that become so beloved in the eyes of the ML and how she bewitched everyone into loving her.

Transmigration is literal horror. " His Present" a short story I read from novel-updates where it literally based on this very concept where his loved ones preferred the imposter ugh made me bawl.

It makes me think about transmigration. Does it truly matter if the person who took over lived much longer than the original soul does that make them "THEM" ? I actually do appreciate SJ backstory being added but like now with transmigration just popping off on internet novels where the concept is everywhere where the original soul is discarded and the new one is celebrated, kinda adds a layer of tragedy and ethical dilemma to the narrative. It questions the validity of the new identity and the consequences of such an erasure. I'm always biased for the OG souls maybe that why a lot of SJ fics make him the character who is most suppressed by his role as scum villain succeed in making him heard to be listened to and mattered.

Imma nap lol this rant was loooong!!!

[focsle]

Re: the little 19th century wooden dick in a box…I so wish that the way historical sex was discussed today wasn’t mostly…Reductive Misery. It’s so much more common for conversations and studies about historical sex to be centered on Sex-As-Oppression, Moral Crusades, or We’re Only Going To Talk About It In Terms Of Family Planning.

Like…yes, historically, a lack of access to contraceptives and the reliability of those contraceptives is a huge thing. Yes a lack of access to preventatives and the safe and effective treatment of venereal disease is a huge thing. Yes, there could absolutely be a lack of agency around sex depending on the societal setting someone found themselves in. But….people also had fun…people also enjoyed themselves. People were sexy about it and goofy about it and fond about it.

I always kind of think about sex history compared to food history, and how differently the two are treated. Because in looking at food history it’s also something that can be rife with pain and anxiety—starvation and famines, a lack of access to decent food, exploitation, poor food practices and adulterated foods that caused sickness and death, all of these things caused a huge deal of human suffering. But there’s also joy and warmth and shared humanity and daily rituals connected to food, the same way that those things can be connected to sex. But only one gets the benefit of being explored in such a way.

It just feels so strange to me (even though I know Why It Is) that something that can be so fundamental to someone’s life and identity and covers an…incredibly broad range of human experience that can absolutely echo in our present just…doesn’t get the treatment it deserves.