#the post is burakhovsky in nature

[meirimerens]

what 4 years do to a fucker (the image is burakhovsky in nature)

[permian-tropos]

Rather than directly copying tags, which you can view through the link, I’ll describe this fic in more conversational terms because I’m really proud of it and also by god is it longer than I expected it to be so...

It’s an (exactly? how did that happen) 17k burakhovsky E-rated fic about Artemy’s experiences from the outbreak manifesting as intrusive thoughts that turn bodies into gore in his mind. Much as he wants to sleep with Daniil, he is unexpectedly thrown into a panic by it and they have to work through his angst together. They stay up all night talking about feelings. Artemy finally eats some strawberry. Time is made for discussing steppe linguistics. And plenty of sex. 

But I have more to say about this fic than all that; a while ago I engaged with a post by @modlisznik about the Kin’s taboo about cutting and how that may have interacted with their exploitation at the slaughterhouses, and I mentioned how working at a slaughterhouse can literally cause trauma, and this might be even worse for people who believe that cutting a body is sinful. 

This led me to wonder how different the “modern” Kin might be from their ancient counterparts and how it might be difficult for them to know for sure what their cultural identity is, whether it’s steeped in blood because blood is natural and good and sates the Earth, or if that’s the stain of the Bull Project. 

I consulted with some folks about how to portray a sense of cultural identity angst, where Artemy feels he’s been traumatized by his role as a menkhu but feels an incredible sense of responsibility about it, and recognizes how brutally oppressed the Kin have been; it’s not clear what the right path forward is for the Kin and he’s afraid of making any missteps going forwards but he’s also trying to make his own way in the world -- including falling in love with an outsider and a man, against what’s expected of him. 

So especially thank you so much to those consultants, you really gave me a lot to think about! Hope this fic does our conversations justice!

[sammoonwatcher]

I for one would really love to read stories where you have burakhovsky versus an *extremely* homophobic society and I know fandom is kind of scared of delving into that bc someone could do it very clumsily but I think they're uhhh wrong that it's too heavy to tackle. I assume a lot of people imagine T-o-G can have unusual cultural norms and I like that interpretation but... angsty/suspenseful content yes pls

The hardest part would be them over coming their own biases, the town might make an exception for them post plague, but how could Daniil ever forget the very simple laid out text reminding him that what he is feeling is not scientifically (at the time) considered natural. Artemy has already broken so much tradition, but now he is worried to bring the bachelor into the kin's view of hatred. He has been forgiven for his past crimes, why would he risk the comfortable life he had fought tooth, scalpel and nail to carve out for him and his children? All for what? A fleeting fancy he buries deep? It wouldn't be fair to the children.

They have so much longing for each other, but they keep denying themselves, to the point where to an outsider's perspective they seem to hate each other. Avoiding one another on purpose. Refusing to acknowledge any positive aspect of each other.

A slow and painful self starvation is what I'm aiming at.

[phantomjack]

Post game burakhovsky family+ Shrew who is a part of it, in true termite fashion taking after the three healers with Artemy and Daniil taking on the roles that would have belonged to Simon and Isador-but it’s different. They’re falling into the traps of those who came before them but they’re different! maybe better maybe worse. Like obviously Shrew is the more scientifically/utopian minded one, but in this post diurnal ending that’s def turned into more straight up science rather than boundary breaking-but then you get across sticky and murky and murky is going to be a future mistress and she’s very much into the earth and nature meanwhile sticky just wants to learn as much as possible. They are siblings, they fight-ideological, they balance the town.

[meirimerens]

to piggyback off of your latest anon(☝️🤓), would they call each other by their diminutives more as they grow older together?

yessirRE they do. generally their nicknaming of the other to me comes in times of mellowing (typically in a tender way, but sometimes eepytired or exhausted) and as they grow older they 1) grow more tender towards each other 2) grow more tired as age and The Weight Of It All catches upon them 3) in general they do mellow as people because they have neither the fire of youth nor the feeling of running against the clock no more.

they don't call each other by nicknames in front of friends or family unless it slips up, that's still a form of PDA so they're like. let's not push it too far. i know this town is kinda gayland homocity but it's still [date redacted] so keep it easy. but the longer they live together the more they do call each other nicknames Yes. yessire!!!!

[permian-tropos]

kind of an incoherent post but I’ve been thinking ever so much about the song Origin of Love from Hedwig and the Angry Inch and fitting it to Dankovsky... you could interpret the meaning of the Aristophanes myth retold by the song in three ways for him and popular fanon about him, a story about trans identity (esp since I’m intrigued by the idea of him being nonbinary but preferring male pronouns and male presentation and battling nature to change his body to prove that it’s possible), a story about being punished by the gods for the hubris of being human (which is already peak dankovsky), and a story about validating queer love (which is of course where you get to the love-as-two-parts-of-one-body notion that alludes to the most delicious burakhovsky line in canon)

it’s three distinct themes that all work for various danko headcanons ;A; I weep

[permian-tropos]

I have never seen anyone who wants "canon" burakhovsky or acknowledges that due to the laws in Russia and the fact that it is a horror game that is very abstract and weird that it will never happen lol

UM SORRY ANON I think you misunderstood my post big time bc I would love canon burakhovksy

the post wasn’t about how the ship isn’t “serious” it’s about the fact that the best things in fiction to take seriously are a little bit absurd, because they evoke catharsis 

edit I misunderstood the nature of this ask actually