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fraylin · 9 months ago

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An Aeka Fictive's Guide to Watching "Tenchi Muyo!", part 1: the OVA continuity

Greetings, friends, mutuals, partners, metamours, and perfect strangers! Perhaps you are wondering what this anime franchise is in which I seem to be deeply invested? Well, worry not! I am here to rant at you about it.

Beginning in 1992, the Tenchi Muyo! franchise is one of the more sprawling and complex canons of anime. It was one of the first anime to make it big in the west among self-identified anime fans, while the market was stll struggling with popular appeal. It eventually aired on the Cartoon Network's Toonami block and became a nostalgic hit for viewers who were too removed from affordable rentals of the VHS cassettes and later DVD releases; a generation or two of fans now fondly remember the characters with adaptations for the American market like adding in a "Y" to the character Aeka's name under the assumption English speakers would read the "ae" as singular sound, instead of two distinct vowels.

From the OAVs (Original Animated Videos) that started it all, through the multiple TV shows, theatrical releases, spin-offs, video games, novels, and two distinct continuities of prose fiction, it can be a little overwhelming.

That, in a very literal sense, is why I am here. My name is Aidel Rayarvol-Spillbaum, and I am a fictive of Masaki Aeka Jurai. As someone whose identity is founded on the Tenchi Muyo! franchise (and a princess in particular) as a source, you can be assured that I have strong opinions that are rooted in being well-informed about the franchise's history and diverse incarnations.

The first thing you should know:

The majority of the Tenchi franchise as it stands at present is utter rubbish that I would only recommend as an example of "what not to do". The problem, you see, is rooted in that sprawling nature. Thus, here is your guide to what to watch and read, and what to avoid.

(For consistency's sake, all character and creators names will be given in the format of their country of origin; Family Name and then Given Name for the characters and Japanese crew, Given Name and then Family Name for the Canadian/American crew)

Tenchi Muyo: Ryo-Ohki

The series that started it all—unless you count a single-frame glimpse of a prototype design of Ryoko to be found in the midst of an episode of Ranma ½ Nettōhen.

Ah yes, that legendary Ranma fandom favorite, Ryoko from Tenchi Muyo!

But first, some wordplay: "Tenchi Muyo!" as a title is written 天地無用, more often seen on packaging as the Japanese equivalent of "This Side Up". It roughly means "Do Not Switch Top And Bottom", and is written with characters more often interpreted as "Heaven and Earth" and "Useless", with the switch/reversal part being implied. It suggests the upheaval of the main character's lifestyle...while also giving us a secondary meaning: "Tenchi is Useless", or in the more canonized English translation No Need for Tenchi.

(via characterdesignreferences.com)

That, in four kanji, is the plot: a boy named Tenchi has his life flipped upside down and I'd like to take a minute just sit right there by the arrival of a seemingly ever-growing collection of beautiful alien women who squabble over him to the point that he might as well not even be present. It is what western anime fans think of as the standard of the "harem" genre: a seemingly unremarkable boy attracts improbable numbers of unusually attractive (and often just unusual) women who for some reason think he's the greatest thing to come out of Japan since miso paste.

Spoiling the plot beyond that is no more necessary than Tenchi himself, since the OAV series began as a mere six episodes, going from Ryoko Resurrected to We Need Tenchi, followed by the bonus The Night Before the Carnival. Featuring concepts by ThunderCats animator Hayashi Hiroki and the Okayama-born Kajishima Masaki , this first batch of canon had scripts written by Hasegawa Naoko and are highly recommended as an introduction to the franchise.

This is where things become immediately complicated.

Kajishima lent his given name to the series's protagonist Masaki Tenchi as a family name, and pushed for the action that didn't take in space to be set in a quiet rural part of the Okayama Prefecture. Kajishima claims that the ideas that came out of him working with Hayashi were based on ideas he'd been working on since he was a teenager...while Hayashi's account suggests that the concepts were more the result of his and Kajishima's original pitch having been a Bubblegum Crisis spin-off as a slice-of-life comedy.

What's evident is that Kajishima had some big ideas for the series that he wasn't clearly communicating to others; Hasegawa would later recount how often details of the vision he shared with her during her writing of the scripts for the first six episodes (and a later series of Tenchi Muyo! light novels she authored) were after-the-fact, shocking her with major character reveals that probably could have better informed characterization in those first few episodes.

The thing was, the fans wanted more. Tenchi Muyo! was a hit, and spun off into the aforementioned novels by Hasegawa. An author's note from the first novel (One Visitor After Another: Hexagram of Love) reveals just how complicated this became:

Well, y��see I’ve kinda just about finished my first novel. Are you absolutely sure...

(via Tenchi Muyo! FAQ)

Released starting in May of '93 when the fandom was still waiting for more, Hasegawa's light novel series offered development for which the fans were desperate, and established the first divergent reality, the "Hasegawa Canon" that was for a time considered by the Japanese fandom to be part of the official OAV continuity. The first novel introduced concepts like the connection between Tsunami and Washu...as well as a fan-favorite character that many western fans don't know got her start in this branch of the OAVs, Mihoshi's partner Makibi Kiyone.

(image via No Need to Review Tenchi)

The light novels have yet to get an official English translation of any sort, but for a time, these (and an assortment of audio-only CD dramas introducing new characters and plots) were enough for the Japanese fandom....

But only for a time. At the onset of 1994, a manga began to be released, with art and stories by a little-known mangaka, Okuda Hitoshi. Okuda's characteristic style (further developed in his original series Detatoko Princess) shines through in his interpretations of the character designs.

The writing and art has a much more "gag manga" feel to it, even when the story turns serious. Still, it was some of the earliest Tenchi content this system's previous host had available to her, and so I have a certain fondness for it and the new characters it introduced, like the nervous shipwright Asahi, and Ryoko's much more meek and kindly clone Minagi.

The official translation also dates back to when English language publishers would flip the art for an American audience. Check which version you've picked up: left to right, or right to left?

The different tone carries into jokes like the characters debating who would be who among the characters in a Mito Komon parody, pointing out sound effects as if they were physical objects, or referencing the relative density of the screentone used to render Mihoshi's comparatively darker skin.

The later run of the manga was able to take advantage of details communicated in the light novels (perhaps as well as Kajishima's self-published dōjinshi full of sketches and concepts), such as Aeka's hair being naturally a curly blue-green.

The manga assumes you watched the first six episodes of the OAV, and marks a second branching continuity from them...soon followed by a third:

The little-known Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki game for the PC Engine (and later remade with bonus material for the PC-FX) split off into its own short-lived continuity. The game borrowed Kiyone and introduced another Galaxy Police officer, the high-strung and intense Hakua, voiced by Suzuki Masami in a performance so identicaly to her portrayal of Amelia wil Tesla Saillune in the Slayers anime that you can effectively know everything you need to know about Hakua by thinking of her as "Amelia from Slayers, as a space cop".

Other characters made minor appearances in both the original and remake, including the little-known Earthling Makura from the drama CDs showing up here as a pizza delivery girl and martial artist...are we certain that Ranma 1/2 is not part of the Tenchi Muyo! franchise?

(Makura defends Aeka, via Legendaryanimefanjp1's playthrough)

But such a high degree of popularity meant that the OAV's creators could not leave well enough alone. Come the Fall of 1994, the next batch of six OAV episodes began, focused on a storyline about Ryoko being replaced by a duplicate...and then visits from the adults of the royal throuple family of Jurai.

The start of the second batch of episodes marks the departure of Hasegawa and Hayashi from the franchise; Hayashi expressed both a dissatisfaction with how the characters turned out compared to his vision, and a disinterest in getting involved in Tenchi as such a large-scale project. It is in these episodes and the following light novels more directly co-written by Kajishima that we start to see Kajishima's ideal for the franchise starting to take shape, with a deeply complicated family tree that unfortunately means every major cast member is somehow related to another.

For almost a decade, that was it for the OAV continuity. And, in my opinion...that's the limit of what you need to worry about.

2003 brought a third OAV series that introduced yet another member of the harem and Mihoshi's weird little brother, 2016 saw a fourth series that focused on Tenchi's father remarrying and the development of relationships and expectations placed on Tenchi and his multiple love interests, and ing 2020 a fifth series developed plot points from the spinoffs and Japan-only novels and firmly established that Tenchi would marry all of the girls. 2002 brought us Tenchi Muyo! GXP, a spin-off focused on a luckless childhood friend of Tenchi being effectively press-ganged into joining the Galaxy Police and given his own harem, while 2009 gave us War on Geminar, a spin-off focused on Tenchi's half-brother getting isekai'ed and becoming the protagonist of his own harem.

Are you noticing a pattern, there? Well, don't worry about it too much: it's all garbage. GXP is almost watchable, but Kajishima considered it a failure of his vision due to directorial interference, and wrote another series of light novels focused on making sure that protagonist Seina's harem got even bigger and more complicated—a plan eventually realized in last year's Paradise Starting OAV.

Don't recognize any of these characters? Well, you see, you'd need to have read the spinoff novels that were never translated into English...and be familiar with the prose-only untranslated alternate canon of another spinoff...and possibly a bit drunk because by that point I cannot imagine you wanting to be sober....

As I said, the OAV continuity beyond the second series is not recommended. The shift to digipaint weathered a lot of the charm of the visuals, while an excessive use of badly-integrated CG for vehicles (including poor Ryo-Ohki) took that weathered charm and tossed it in the garbage. Both the original Japanese and the English dub are affected by the death or departure of the original voice actors for major characters.

In summary: the only parts of the OAV continuity that I can really recommend to an audience that is not fluent in Japanese are the first two series, and the Okuda manga.

Join us next time, when I tackle the multiple TV series continuities...or at least, the only one worth watching.

#tenchi muyo!#tenchi muyo #An Aeka Fictive's Guide to Watching

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seeseamonkey · 10 months ago

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I'm super curious about your OC! Could you tell me more about him? I hope I'm using the right pronouns. Sorry if not.

i would love to!!!! (yes, he/him is right! thank u for asking :3)

this is a lot, sorry 😭😭

his name is Alfie, short for Alfalfa. he was born in Ireland in 1899 to a family of 7 (later 10). his parents carried the weight of very recent generational trauma, i.e. the potato famine. the lesson learned is to have as many kids as you can; not to love them, but to guarantee the continuation of the bloodline. anyway you can imagine the kind of shenanigans Alfie got up to with zero supervision LOL

said shenanigans included getting his tail amputated after a big gnarly wound gets infected. that leaves him with an autoimmune disease and a whole charcuterie board of psychological problems (PANDAS). he's about 9 when that happens, and he's about 11 or 12 when he starts getting odd jobs to save up for a ferry ride to New York.

he gets to start over as a weird little boy instead of a weird little girl. he basically lives off of the kindness of strangers, mostly being fellow Irish immigrants. the poor fool barely speaks English so living with those who speak both English and Irish is a big relief for him.

he train hops around the country til he meets some fucked up looking cat (mordecai) that ends up teaching him most of the English he knows in the present day. Alfie ends up following him around and they become dependent on each other and inconveniently inseparable.

im still working out the kinks of his story, but somehow maybe he ends up getting close with Nina McMurray and subsequently Freckle. not Rocky though. he doesn't like Rocky.

Alfie is weird, like.. weird. he doesnt understand nor care to understand societal expectations. he says shit that's weird, or that doesn't make sense to anyone but him. he uses words in the wrong context because they sound right. he disregards the laws of the land, the laws of language, the laws of unspoken etiquette, etc. he's just insufferably neurodivergent LOL he's like a little alien. Mordecai is the only person on the planet that understands him, mostly because Alfie also taught him a lot of Irish, so when he mumbles incoherently Mordecai has to translate it. their stories are intertwined but Alfie is his own little sausage.

there's a lot more about him i have yet to write/draw/think up and there's a lot more that ill be sharing eventually!

im actually super super excited that you asked. i read a lot of Silver's big book and im super inspired by the amount of work and love and care you've put into him. im really really grateful to have people interested in my bizarre boy!!!! im so super excited to interact with you and the rest of the lackadaisy fandom 🥹❤️

#alfalfadaisytag

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bsd-fan · 2 years ago

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Dazai Osamu

I really think that Dazai’s main problem with humanity comes from a distorted perspective of himself and that this distortion comes from the alienation and isolation that the character experiments. Let’s start going deeper with this.

Dazai is brilliant, he is a genius, he is incredibly good at reading situations and people and even better at predicting and controlling them, but this also leads him to lose interest easily. It’s also important to aknowlege Dazai’s deep distrust to the people, his natural apathy and how good he is at manipulating people, put all of this together and you will get a strong disconnection between him and the rest of the world. This also explains why Dazai often sees people as chess pieces to use and discard instead of actual individuals. This is not exclussive to Dazai though, most of the most intelligent characters also have this problem to a certain extent. Ranpo also deals with the feeling of being an stranger thanks to his intelligence, and Fyodor also deals with this alienation but I want to say that nobody suffers it like Dazai does because thanks to external and internal factors Dazai is in a worse position than those two.

Now before going on, I think it’s important to highlight that Dazai seems to make an important association between “humanity” and “reason for living” and be for his intelligence, personality or environment (maybe because of all three) Dazai has an almost pathological need to be in control all the time. He needs logic, he needs logical answers, when he can’t find them he gets frustrated. Dazai can’t find sense to the world but most importantly he doesn’t find sense in life, so he ends in a existencial depression and falling into a frank nihilism. All of these are factors that increase the feeling of alienation and isolation because no one can see as much as him, and no one can understand him. This feeling goes both ways because Dazai also can’t understand why the rest of the people go on with their lives when there’s no reason for that. This ends up in a deep loneliness and increases the emotional distance that he already has with people. To summarize: Dazai feels like an outcast compared with the rest of the people which translates into a prevalent feeling of inhumanity.

“He is a man of few words. And his voice has the sound of severance that rejects mutual understanding from the very beginning. No one could understand him. No one ever will. And he himself knows that”- Odasaku about Dazai, The day I picked up Dazai Osamu (translated by popopretty)

This leads to some of the biggest paradoxes of his character:

1. He basically predicts every situation, that’s why he loses interest so easily and why he lives perpetually bored BUT at the same time, he can’t find a reason to keep existing in this world.

2. He feels detached from his humanity and he is convinced that the rest of the people notices how inhuman he is too (this is encouraged by the way people refer to him and how the act around him, a good example is “The demon prodigy” and how is shown that most people avoid him because they were scared of him) so we end in this weird situation in which Dazai craves his own humanity but at the same time it seems like he purposefully avoid it (this is important with his relationship with chuuya)

Now I feel is important to say that not all of this isolation comes from external factors. A lot of his problems are self inflicted.

“I always lose the things I don’t want to lose the most. That’s why I don’t feel anything anymore. The moment you get your hands on something worth going after, you lose it. That’s just how things are. There is nothing worth pursuing at the cost of prolonging a life of suffering”-Dazai Osamu, Dark era.

This is important, it seems like Dazai had a past experience that convinced him that is simply not worth it to stablish bonds with people because he will end up losing them anyway. This is far worse than just him having problems with relationships, he /purposefully/ avoids them. And when he comes close to something, he self sabotages himself. This aggravates the isolation and ends up in a bigger deshumanization.

This also leads to one of Dazai biggest problems, he doesn´t fucking make sense. He craves contact, he craves the relationships because to a certain extent he /knows/ they make him closer to his humanity but at the same time he rejects them, he keeps making barriers between others and himself because he actually can´t stand the idea of vulnerability. When Dazai feels exposed his first reaction is to put distance, with manipulation, cruel words, distractions, etc. because at the end what´s the point is he is going to lose them anyway but also because as much as he wants someone to understand him, he also hates the idea of being known. Dazai doesn´t only have problems with others, his biggest problem is with himself. He has zero self awareness, his real problem at this point isn´t his dificulty at understanding the world. His real problem is he doesn´t even understand himself, and he doesn´t want to. He refuses to see himself because he is scared of the emptiness there. So what does he do? He creates a rol to play, he convinces himself that his emotions are not real (even when they are), he loses the ability to distinguish between the real and fake emotions, and because he is so sure of his inhumanity he creates a personality that seems a little bit more human but at the end of the day this only represents another barrier and another way to avoid facing himself. He doesn´t even realize about his real problem and instead of trying to understand himself, he projects trying to understand life, but it´s futile because there are no logical answers for that, so he gets increasingly depressed and more and more frustrated. I´m not saying that Dazai doesn´t experiment some real anguish for the lack of logic in the world, but I don´t think that´s the root of his problem. He just centers around that. Dazai in a lot of ways is the prime example of a self destructive character and this extends far more than his suicidal attempts.

And I love dead apple because I do think that it shows the problem:

So, I´m not going deep because I don´t have the time to do a whole Dead apple analysis but the main point of DA is that the characters need to proof that they can perseverate against themselves. In a way, their abilities represents a "shadow" something they don´t want to recognize about themselves. But at the end they need to face it if they want their abilities back. For atsushi was the memory of killing shibusawa. People will complain about him crying but it´s so much deeper than that. What Atsushi did was the bravest thing in the world.

Lets contextualize: Atsushi experimented intense abuse when he was a kid but more than that he was conditioned to think that if he didn´t save people then he simply doesn´t deserve to exist. Atsushi´s hero complex doesn´t come from nowhere. He was taught that he needed to be a good person because if he wasn´t then he was less than nothing. That was ingrained in his brain. So, the idea of killing someone? even in self defense go against everything he was pushed to believe in. That´s why it was so difficult for him to accept it. For him to get his ability back, he needs to recognize the tiger as part of himself, he needed to face the memory, he needed to open the gate.

Dead apple in that way is full of simbolisms:

This three? They are above everything. Everyone else is fighting for their lives down there but they are high in the tower with white suits, analyzing everything for above. Have you ever wondered why none of them have to go against their abilities? I can´t completely answer that question but I think asagiri´s interview helps. He said that he wanted the characters to be associated with gates and the whole thing is that the alien trio can´t open or at the very least they are extremely hesitant about oppening their gates. There is a symbolism in it. This means that they probably can´t win against themselves. And I love this because it brings light to the fact that even though Fyodor is one of Dazai´s most important foils and his main antagonist. Dazai´s real enemy will always be himself. He still can´t win against his mind. He can´t see at the ugliest part of himself and face it. (Not talking about fyodor scene because it´s hella confusing and I have my own thousand word essay about that part, also not talking about chuuya being their main contrast because it will lead to incongruent fangirling)

So, as we have talked Dazai is specially good at avoiding things that are emotionally uncomfortable for him and this we can also see it in his coping mechanisms. Now, I’m not psychologist but I’m pretty sure Dazai has a strong tendency to intellectualization.

Intellectualization is a coping mechanism, this means a psychological automatical response that protects a person from internal or external stressors. Intellectualization is pretty interesting because the person keeps emotional distance with the stressor while still being conscious of it. So Dazai basically transforms emotions and feelings into thoughts because it’s easier to process that way, the problem here is that Dazai does it /all the time/. The problem with this is, Dazai has “impostor emotions” because he doesn’t experiment them, he rationalize them, it ends up with him thinking about them as fake emotions, even when they are not. Dazai also has a really poor ability of instrospection (you can’t correct what’s wrong if you don’t recognize your own emotions), and again it aggravates the isolation because in order to stablish bonds with people you need emotional vulnerability. I would also add that this explains Dazai’s anxiety, he centers around finding answers that doesn’t exist, he gets frustrated, keeps arguing with himself and ends up with cannibalizing thoughts and without a real answer because it’s a distraction of the real problem. Here some examples:

“Even if I try to argue with him, he has already prepared a counterargument to that counterargument. That is, again, a debate that is already discussed exhaustedly inside him. And the counterargument for that counterargument of a counterargument has already been prepared. Just like an infinite staircase. Descending to hell, Dazai’s dark reason has no bottom”- Oda about Daza, the day I picked up Dazai osamu.

This is not a direct view of Dazai’s brain, that’s the truth but this is /exactly/ the way he thinks. He /wants/ to find a reason for living but objectively speaking there is /none/ so he goes thinking about this all the time, from every angle, without finding a convincing answer because it doesn’t exist.

Another good example? Oda’s death

I’ve talked about it before, odasaku’s death is one of the few instances in which Dazai actually shows genuine emotion but even there to a certain extent he is intellectualizating (I think I just invented that word, ups) the situation. Why do I think so? Here:

“Dazai knew. He knew ougai’s calculations, his mentality and the rationale behind the plan. That was just the kind of organization the port mafia was. Logically speaking, Ougai was right and Dazai was wrong”

The first thing Dazai does is go to Mori and explain what he did. This is not a normal response, a normal reaction would’ve been panic, anger, and pure pain but when you read the novel is pretty clear that Dazai’s first instinct is find sense in the things that are happening and to find a reason for Mori’s acting. Even when he realized what Mori did, his brain still thinks in terms of rational and irrational. And thing is, that even though he loved odasaku with all his soul he still can’t but agree with Mori to a certain extent, even when he doesn’t want to because he still understands that what Mori did was /logical/. This is a way of deal with emotion. He can’t experiment pure anger and hurt because he still is trying his best to process the situation rationally. Before running to oda he stopped to wonder why he needed to go, yes at the end he decided that is because he was his friend and that was enough but even when his first instinct was to go, he didn’t, he needed to stop to think about it. And that’s Dazai, every single thing he says and does goes through an intense thought process. Because in that way he kind of protects himself but at the same time it ends up being a problem because it isolates him even more.

Now after talking about his personality, intelligence, and coping mechanisms we should be talking about the enviroment but we won´t because the mafia is as important for chuuya´s characterization as it is for Dazai. I have a whole analysis about soukoku and the mafia. But the only thing you need to know is: THE MAFIA IS THE WORST PLACE IN THE WORLD FOR SOUKOKU (and yes, I´m including chuuya in it)

Now, lets finally start talking about my favorite part of Dazai´s character: HIS EVOLUTION.

#dazai bsd #dazaianalysis #bsd dazai #bsd analysis

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twilightmalachite · 1 year ago

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Raison d’être - A Premature Burial 5

Author: Akira

Characters: Shu, Mika

Translator: Mika Enstars

"(…Ah, Nazuna-nii sent me a message sayin’ somethin’ like, “you haven’t replied, what’s happening?” Sorry to worry ya…)"

[Read on my blog for the best viewing experience with Oi~ssu ♪]

Season: Winter

Location: The Itsuki's House Cellar

Several hours later. In the storage cellar of the Itsuki household villa…

Mika: Zzz, zzz…♪

(…Nnah? Oh shoot, I fell asleep!)

(I’m a bit jet-lagged from travelin’ back and forth between Japan and France, huh… It’s also strangely dim an’ quiet here, so I got sleepy.)

(Ummm, ahh, looks like several hours have passed already. Anyone other than family was too much in the end, so I had t’stay back.)

(Are ya doin’ okay alone, Oshi-san?)

(But well, I am nothin’ more than jus’ a freeloader, I honestly don’t have any right to meddle into family affairs…)

(I remember this, this feelin’ slightly alienated.)

(Nothin’ I can do about that, though. I’m not Oshi-san’s family.)

Mika: (… …)

(…Ah, Nazuna-nii sent me a message sayin’ somethin’ like, “you haven’t replied, what’s happening?” Sorry to worry ya…)

(I’ll reply sayin’, “All is good~, I’m a lil’ jet-lagged and slept”.)

(“Right now, Oshi-san’s talkin’ to his family about what actually happened with his Grandfather.”)

(“From what Oshi-san’s sayin’, it doesn’t seem his Grandfather’s actually passed away, or anythin’ that serious.”)

(“Simply another of his lies, so t’speak.”)

(“But, it’s been a while and he’s still not back yet, I wonder if there’s trouble. I’m kinda worried…” …Hm, writin’ somethin’ like this will have Nazuna-nii worryin’ too.)

(“Seems like everythin’s all good here, so don’t worry too much.” …There. ♪)

(“Thank ya fer carin’ about me. Even though you have nothin’ to do with us anymore, Nazuna-nii.”)

(…Wait, treatin’ Nazuna-nii like a stranger like this might get him depressed.)

(Nnah~… I’m no good at this no matter how hard I try at it. I just wanna give a normal reply.)

(Well, that’s good, I’ll send… There. ♪)

(…I have nothin’ left to do.)

(Oshi-san told me to pass the time by rummaging through the things here as I wish…)

(But what kinda place is this? A storage room? Though I heard that when Oshi-san was a child, he sorta made it into his own room at his convenience.)

(Originally, the cellar was made for his madman Grandfather to toss any junk he collected elsewhere into. There really are quite a lotta strange things in here.)

(I also have a habit of pickin’ up and collectin’ junk too, so I feel like I understand his Grandfather a bit more…)

(Or maybe, that’s why Oshi-san told me to wait here.)

(Heheh. Allow me t’appreciate the collection of a “like-minded” fellow!)

(Ahaha, all the junk here’s is splendid… At the Antique Market, I heard somethin’ about how they often sell off valuables here.)

(Hm? Whats this, a book with a lock? Is this somethin’ like a diary?)

(What an unusual dial lock… It’s inscribed with letters instead of numbers. So it’ll open if ya spell out a certain word?)

(It’s like solvin’ a riddle! That’s interestin’. I’ll use my spare time tryin’ t’solve it.)

(Though it’s someone else’s diary, so I shouldn’t look at it. Even if I do unlock it, I won’t be able t’see what’s inside, but… Hmmm, I wonder if I can find any hints anywhere.)

(Hm~… There’s ain’t anythin’ written on the cover.)

(Oh, but there’s a book over there with the same type of bindin’ as this (alleged) diary!)

(Let’s see, this one has a title of sorts written on it… “The Taming of the Shrew”[1]?)

(I wish I were more educated, I can’t get a hint from this at all.)

Shu: —What are you messing around with?

Mika: Nnaaah!?

Y-y, ya scared meee! Don’t suddenly talk from behind me like that, I thought my heart would jump outta my mouuuth!

Shu: Hmph. If you don’t want to lose your vital organs, you better sew your mouth shut, then.

More importantly, Kagehira, things have gotten a bit troublesome… I’d like to ask for your assistance, if you don’t mind.

Mika: Nnah? Of course I don’t! I’ll always be of use to ya, Oshi-san~♪

Hm, huh? I just realized yer holdin’ Mado-nee in yer arms.

Don’t ya keep her somewhere safe whenever you gotta hurry back home like this, so ya don’t scratch her when movin’ about? Usually?

Shu: Hmph. I thought you had grown, but you’re still lacking when it comes to aesthetics.

This child here is not Mademoiselle. Although, she does look quite similar, doesn’t she?

I’d like to discuss some things with you, including that, so let’s move elsewhere. It’s unbearably dusty here.

It reminds me of when I was a child, when I was foolish and helpless, you see.

Mika: … …

[ ☆ ]

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1. A comedy written by Shakespeare. The plot depicts the story of Petruchio, the male lead, and the female lead Katherina, a stubborn "shrew" who is unwilling to respond to his courtship. The plot involves the "taming" of her through various methods to try to turn her into an obedient bride. I recommend reading a more detailed synopsis if you want to catch the small hints/references throughout the story!

#raison d’être #raison d'etre #shu itsuki #mika kagehira #event #translation

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violetfaust · 1 year ago

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The Broken Destiel Seals: A Semicomprehensive Unillustrated List

(So far)

I didn't complete my (self-appointed) assignment for Destiel Day, which was to compile a complete list of every time Destiel went canon (thus breaking one of the Sixty-Six Seals: when they all fall, the pale coconuts will collide), with nice gifs. To me, Destiel is "canonized" by persons/entities who officially create and distribute the show: producers, writers, actors, directors, other crew, translators, and networks.

Have, instead, this work in progress.

November 5, 2020, 15x18, “Despair”: Cas declares his love.

Then:

Nov. 11, 2020: Misha Collins at DCLOnline: “It was a long time in the making. It was really important to [Robert Berens] and really important to me. When he pitched me the storyline it gave me chills. I thought - this is awesome. This vindication and this expression of love - at the end - it makes it all worth it. I was really happy about it. You know, it’s interesting, there are some fans who are asexual who have taken solace in the fact that Cas hasn’t made this kind of declaration [before] so I feel bad that those fans might get a little bit alienated. However, I’m sure that a lot of them are also okay with this. There’s a trope in Hollywood of “kill the gays” and so Cas meeting with his demise only seconds after making this homosexual declaration of love fits into that fairly insidious trope, however, for some reason, that is, in my mind, not really as important as the declaration itself.”

Nov. 12, 2020, 15x19, “Inherit the Earth”: Lucifer, whose signature move is pretending to be a dead lover to get someone to let him in (done to Sam, Nick, and Vince Vincente), pretends to be Cas when calling Dean.

November 19, 2020, 15x20, “Carry On”: Bobby’s knowing eyebrow waggle when telling Dean that Cass "helped"--was safe in heaven.

November 25, 2020, the Latin American dub: “Te amo.” “Y yo a ti, Cas.” https://teamironmanforever.tumblr.com/post/637355024027090944/highlight-translation-of-the-spanish-dub-actor

Those are the first five seals, taking us to the end of November 2020.

But they were just the beginning.

December 6, 2020, 5x4 “The End” script: “I think the only thing we have left, me and Dean, is each other.”

December 6, 2020: confirmation that Dean was scripted to say “I love you�� in the crypt scene.

December 11, 2020, 15x18 script direction: “Still beautiful. Still Dean Winchester.”

December 28, 2020, 7x1 script direction: “Dean looks down, away, quietly emotional—believe it or not, the following is a loving, heart-wrenched eulogy.”

January 8, 2021: Sky Deutschland describes Cas’s closest relationship as “Dean <3”

March 3, 2021, 15x18 German dub

March 10, 2021, 15x18 French dub

March 25, 2021: Before airing the SPN finale, Sky Deutschland shares Destiel reunion fanart. https://www.instagram.com/p/CM2hL42CQbO/

April 4, 2021: cameo with Misha reciting deleted bit from 05x04 The End gets published

April 10, 2021, Misha at Paris DarkLight Conline: The mix tape contained rock love songs.

April 18, 2021, 13x6 second draft script: Dean spread Cas’s ashes in a beautiful meadow near a windmill.

Note: from November 2020 to the beginning of May 2021, Destiel was going canon an average of once a week.

6/18/21, 15x18 Russian dub: “From our very first meeting, ever since I pulled you out of hell, I’ve been changing beside you. I learned love from you.” “Don’t even think about it, Cas.”

6/30/21, original script for 8x17, “Good-bye Stranger”: “I forgive you, Cas…I love you.”

9/4/21, Misha Collins at Memento Con 21: “Cas saw love in Dean’s eyes.”

9/9/21: the Italian dub’s “I love you” is platonic (unlike all other translations); Misha retorts with a “Ti amo” tweet.

10/15/21, DenCon 21:

April 2022, SPN Indy: Misha confirms that Jensen/Radio Company song “Watching Over Me” is about Cas

9/5/22, 13x20 “Unfinished Business” production script: “I lost Cas and it damn near broke me.”

10/23/22, Jensen Ackles at VanCon 22: “I had an answer for that in the next set up--camera set up after Castiel is taken and Dean's on the floor and puts his--I put my--my head in my hands--um--in that moment I did that not because I just lost--well because I--I-- he--because I lost Cas, but also because I didn't-- I didn't say anything--I didn't give him anything. And--what I had in my head was, I should have said 'I love you too' and hugged him."

Note: Someone in the future will earn their doctorate in psychology studying Jensen Ackles's tangled pronouns when he talks about Dean.

11/16/22, 14x10 “Prophet and Loss” blue pages: “The world loses you, and me—I—I lose you too. And that is unacceptable to me, Dean. Unacceptable. Totally.”

2/25/23, JA at JIB 2023: “Well, I mean hopefully we get to see that at some point but I'm sure it would go how we all think it would go, it would probably be a big embrace and then Dean would say ‘Can we talk about that goodbye a little bit?’"

February 2023, JIB: Jensen and Misha write a Destiel song onstage

8/23/23: News breaks that the Latin American translator “doesn’t add stuff” and while he doesn’t remember specifically, he thinks Dean’s reciprocation must have been in the script he worked from. https://www.tumblr.com/blanketforcas/726452424930410496/context-for-those-who-missed-it

Those are the roughly 28 Destiel Seals through 11/5/23.

And counting...

#destiel #spn #nov 5th #dean winchester #castiel #the destiel seals #to date #remember remember the fifth of november #to repeat:#in late 2020/early 2021 destiel was going canon an average of once a week #op

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skydigiblogs · 7 months ago

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okay i'm gonna try really hard not to keep pausing every five to ten minutes (i just continued loss) but some little chewy thoughts:

i think the amnesia plot could have been a lot more interesting not just if they hadn't undone it by killing a cat, but also if there was more diversity to the way the digimon acted. i do actually like that yokomon acts very different--- as a system, we like seeing amnesia plots that acknowledge that our memories are a large part of how we act

will also note that i think the amnesia plot could have been interesting if we saw a bit more to it along the lines of what we know about partner bonds from kizuna and 02TB. like, are those unnatural bonds that ukkomon helped found still in existence? if so or if not, how are the partner digimon even alive? kizuna and 02TB both imply that the partnership is what sustains a partner, and 02TB even takes it a step further by elaborating that the mutuality of it is key to its health. i know they probably weren't thinking about kizuna and 02TB when they were working on tri, and the adventure canon is kind of an all around mess, but i do think it would be interesting to consider what the ramifications of the digimon partner completely forgetting their human partner would be on such a bond, if it could even be maintained. by kizuna we see tai and matt growing further from their partners, and that alienation being a huge part of what severs their bond; but is that mechanic part of rui's wish in 02TB? again, i still gotta read some meta on 02TB to see what other folks got from it and what might have been lost in translation, but. idk.

izzy's characterization is phenomenal in this movie so far, but either izzy doesn't know as much about tea as he lets on, or he really likes mint teas (he mentioned mint, spearmint, peppermint, and mint again in his infodump). izzy could have talked about the different categories of tea, including green, black, tisane, roobois, etc.. missed opportunity (this is me being silly about tea, but i genuinely do like his characterization in this movie, because you can tell that he's had a little bit of growth regarding his people skills. he's using his knowledge to be friendly in a way that's charismatic and nonthreatening to the digimon that see him as a stranger.)

i also have things to say about the characterization in these movies in general. i'm trying to save it for the most part but i do like that sora is showing really good emotional intelligence (in the last movie, she's the one that went out of her way to visit meiko instead of just texting her endlessly, for example). in this movie, i think her reaction (alongside izzy's) to the amnesia is the most realistic, especially since the connection between her and yokomon isn't instantly rekindled in some way. unlike mimi she isn't smothering yokomon, and you can see that she's visibly hurt by giving yokomon that distance. but like, sora is also a character with pre-established issues with being smothered! so her being keen enough to know that pushing yokomon isn't going to help is just!!! god!!! rare tri w here (/hj) but i think the portrayal of sora in tri really helps bridge the gap between 02 and kizuna where her bond breaks with biyomon. it implies something i don't think kizuna stated, where her distance seems to be part of her internalized fear of being overbearing with how she cares for other people. like, yes, part of it is not spending time with and considering your partner digimon a wholly-realized person, but also in this case sora's own crest is what does her bond in! and i didn't realize tri set that up!! sora fans idk how you feel about this but i would love to see some analysis on this if any of y'all have opinions on how your blorbo was handled.

and of course, as always, i am turning meicoomon into a purrito and removing her from these movies that want nothing but her suffering. i continue to stand by the statement that meiko and meicoomon deserved way better than they got. meiko not being in the digital world (while it does make sense narratively) being used only to hurt her and meicoomon is. really fucking frustrating. it's cheap that we're given so many moments of pure fluff with meicoomon and meiko in the first few movies just because the writers want us to feel bad about them suffering. it's especially cheap because i don't think the writers really thought about how either of them would be effected by their experiences in the past. meicoomon a little more than meiko--- meiko's behavior still makes sense knowing all that's happened, but you're telling me meicoomon doesn't have any behavioral hints towards the trauma she's gone through? she doesn't recoil from anything until she's entered corruption mode?

(actually saying it like that makes me realize that meicoomon's whole writing arc really is 90% just "superpowered evil side" trope which explains why i, a member of a system, fucking hate how dirty she was done. i do actually think that an interrogation of meicoomon's behavior that made her more explicitly plural-coded, like gammamon in ghost game, might have made her "switching" between childish and violent a bit more interesting, but i also. do not trust tri to have handled that with any kind of nuance it would deserve. i might have to make a whole post just about meicoomon/meicrackmon, but like. ough. again, scooping meicoomon and meiko out of tri. come with me girls, let's get you another spa day and some better writing.)

#sky talks #digimon tri #tri liveblog #digimon 02 the beginning #tagging that only because i'm talking some mega spoilers here #me pausing 15 minutes into loss: “oh these are just a few quick bullet points i want to write down”#me 50 minutes later: “son of a bitch”

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mayalaen · 11 months ago

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20 questions for fic writers

@whataboutthefish tagged me - thanks Fishie!!

First, my AO3

How many works do you have on AO3?

191

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

2,150,989

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Supernatural, Stranger Things, Fargo, Stargate, Dickensian, The Blacklist, The X-Files, Angel the Series & Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and I'm probably gonna pick up a few more soon.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

CONventional Psychopathy 'Verse - SPN AU Tumblr Ask Box Requests - SPN 40 ficlet challenge Alpha House 'Verse - SPN AU Resonance 'Verse - SPN canon verse with angel sounds Best Brother Ever - SPN with a technique that has gotten me the most questions from readers saying "does that really work?" Yes it does.

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I do, but sometimes it takes me a while to respond because I get weird and shy about it at times. I love comments and read them over again when I need a boost!

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I don't usually have angsty endings, but with CH challenge fics I go ahead and do shit I don't normally do - so Inside (SPN) would be the angstiest ending.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Probably Splintered - ST fic where I throw a lot of shit at the guys but they all get a happy ending.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Yup. I delete comments and asks immediately though so readers and followers hopefully never see any of it. I don't play that game.

9. Do you write smut?

SO MUCH. SOOOOO much.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

Open Sesame Street Walker has to be the wildest one I've done. It was a challenge fic. A choose your own adventure style thing, and I wanted to make every outcome disturbing. I did it, but at the cost of ruining Sesame Street for myself and others 😂

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Yup. CON 'verse is still being sold on a bunch of sites and the "author" is continuing to add more books to the series. I've tried a few times to get them taken down but only succeeded in getting things taken down for a few months. Out of all the fics that could've been stolen, that's the one that's the WORST because I'm also writing it as original fic and have been for years. I've got proof of that, but if retailers fight me on it when I try to publish, it's gonna suck.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes. A few.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I wrote a few years ago but haven't in a while. I'd like to do it again!

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

No way I can answer that. I'm definitely a multshipper at heart, and I can't even decide on favorite characters, let alone a favorite ship!

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

Rewritten in the Stars is something I'd love to finish, but I don't know if I'll ever be able to get in the headspace again. It's complicated and rewrites aspects of the characters while sticking closely to canon with a lot of moving parts over a 30-year time frame. The first part of the series feels complete if you read it, but I have 30k written of part 2 and a full outline for part 3.

16. What are your writing strengths?

The thing I get complimented on the most is my worldbuilding. I also think I'm good at natural dialogue - making it sound like actual speech instead of written word.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I have trouble condensing things and it gets wordy 😭

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I've kinda sorta done it with alien language and angel language, a few words here and there of other languages - most of it just English in italics to show that it's not being said in English. I don't think I'd ever try and use an actual language I didn't know for more than a word or two.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Stargate SG1

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

CON 'verse is and probably always will be my favorite. 💜

Tagging from my activity list with no obligation to do it: @actualalligator @medusapelagia @wheels-of-despair @kallisto-k @ltleflrt @peachonified @underwater-ninja-13

If anybody else wants to play, please tag me so I can see your stuff!

#writing is hard #about me #long post #myfic

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k00292136 · 9 months ago

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Artist research: Carl Hickey

Carl was born and raised in Dublin City and it’s suburbs, his work reflects his experience there, documenting through painting, photography, and film.

In an article in the Irish Arts Review Hickey states “Surveillance runs through my work, using my phone to document the familiar and unfamiliar situations that occur throughout my daily routines. My work, that is then translated to paintings sets in stone events from friends to strangers.”

His work depicts the loneliness and alienation that can prevail in big cities. He says these themes of loneliness happen without intent, that the city just provides them and his work thus cradling that.

Carl Hickeys practise is familiar to me in that he is capturing the Irish experience through his young lens. How closely he works with photography and using his phone camera as a source for his paintings, which I think has a distinctive quality when translated with paint, also relates to my practise. His work inspires me to paint fuller, more realistic scenes instead of collage being the heart and soul of a painting and instead used to adorn a piece.

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frost-felon · 1 year ago

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Including your tags:

No need to apologize--I suspected that you weren't trying to change my mind, but wanted to make my understanding clear. Thank you for keeping mind of your demeanor, though. I'm no stranger to dealing with people who are genuinely combative, lmao.

Oh, absolutely. In a way, Megumi being his natural vessel is perfect, because they both have a tendency to think they know better than everyone else around them; but Megumi is a kid growing into his place in the world and discovering who he is, surrounded by people that care about him (Tsumiki, Gojo, Yuji, and Nobara, among others). Sukuna, meanwhile, acts like he's a twenty-something who hasn't had his worldview shaken, and because of his power, hasn't had to do any real soul-searching/self-evaluation. For the first time in a millennia, at least, someone he can't (or won't¹) be rid of so easily is holding him accountable.

Also, as for Uraume...they definitely come off as an enabler, and while Sukuna does seem genuinely glad to have them in his life, it's unclear how much Uraume has impacted Sukuna's psyche. Going over the dialogue in 245, it looks like Uraume does genuinely believe in Sukuna's Right of the Strong ideology, though. Particularly, Uraume notes that "Sorcerers today" are different, valuing their "humanity" over strength, or at least letting their "fear of alienation" decide how they fight. This directly contrasts them against 'Sorcerers of the past', and is a small hint towards what Sukuna and Uraume may have been used to. Personally, I'd love to get more elaboration on what Jujutsu society was like back then, during the "Golden Age of Curses". Did Sorcerers of the Past fight with less restraint due to choice, or due to circumstance? Both Sukuna and Uraume may not be used to people who have either that choice, or that compassion. Certainly, Yuji pisses them both off, lmao.

I absolutely agree that Sukuna being so powerful has meant that he's never been appropriately challenged--unlike Megumi, he hasn't yet (given what we know as of 248) been forced to face the repercussions of his actions (Megumi lost his autonomy and failed to stop his sister and his legal guardian's murders because he didn't trust Yuji's perspective)...except for Yuji's continued existence, which has caused him to have foes who won't leave him alone, and especially, to start finally examining his sense of self and philosophies. It's not necessarily that he deluded himself into thinking he was right in choosing power's solitude, but that he's never given real weight to opposing viewpoints and the values of others. Still waiting to read the officially-translated version of 248, so I can't reference exact dialogue, but Sukuna notes that he'd never considered the dying words of other Sorcerers as more than fearful babbling. Until Yuji, he hasn't been forced to consider that someone may not only have ideals worth living and dying for, but also that someone he considers 'weak' could foster a reality of their ideals.

I've written about Kashimo and 238 before, and definitely, I don't think Kashimo truly believed in what Sukuna told him. I think he died dissatisfied, but having realized the source of his dissatisfaction, whereas Sukuna dismissed his dissatisfaction with a much more self-centered outlook. Sukuna seems to correctly peg that Kashimo wanted to treat others with care, but fails to really engage with why Kashimo would want that. Hell, when Kashimo asks Sukuna if he's satisfied, and why he would bother "...divid[ing] his soul and cross[ing] the ages as Cursed Objects...", Sukuna dodges the question. We know now that he sees life as time to kill before his death, which he may not even have as a Curse (except by an opponent able to kill him), but doesn't answer for that part, and instead chooses to focus on how he doesn't need to be satisfied by anyone else. Unlike Kashimo. But then, I don't think Sukuna espousing his beliefs there really has anything to do with Kashimo at all--it's another form of self-justification. In all of his fights, Sukuna seeks to belittle his opponents' beliefs and ideals, and impress upon them that His Way Is The Real Way. That's true for Yorozu, who he believes to be little more than a useful annoyance²; Gojo, whom Sukuna treated as a waste for caring for his students; Kashimo, treated like some 'poor, silly bastard' who just doesn't get that you don't need others to be happy; and so on, with Higuruma and now Yuji. Yuji unsettles him like no other, because none of Sukuna's usual bullshit makes a difference in how Yuji regards him.

Constantly, Sukuna acts as if he'll break if he doesn't re-affirm himself; whereas Yuji refuses to break, and adapts to whatever life throws at him. Yuji won't give up his 'heart'³, and will re-evaluate his beliefs when challenged, like in the interview with Principal Yaga and directly after Sukuna used him to commit mass-murder. Note how he talks about being a "cog" against Mahito and then Hakari. It's not a healthy philosophy. But what Yuji is doing is confronting the realities of what he wishes to achieve and his role in making his ideals reality. He is lessening his own self-importance and actively working with others. Sukuna is ultimately too self-absorbed and without purpose for him to consider doing this. Really, he struggles with comprehending not just the how, but the why of Yuji doing this. That's why Sukuna is so put-off when trying to figure out why he's getting so bothered by Yuji existing.

In a weird way, Mahito had a better understanding of himself than Sukuna ever has after the story's start. He knew what he wanted from Yuji, and why he was obsessed. What he didn't understand was Yuji: Yuji's steadfast nature, the people whose support Yuji has gained, and that Yuji had the will to pick himself back up, with said support. Mahito knew that he could put Yuji under enough pressure to nearly shatter, but he underestimated--or simply didn't understand--the devotion and support that Yuji receives from others could help him keep going. And to that end, Mahito failed to consider the monster he was creating.

Sukuna, too, has failed to consider that he's made his own worst enemy. Though whether that's Yuji or Sukuna himself has yet to be seen.

¹Sukuna absolutely COULD have killed Yuji earlier, but keeps pushing this off, for whatever reason. Most notably, when Uraume offers to kill Yuji after 212 (like 213 or 214). It might actually be a really bad idea for him to do so, given as their souls used to be "combined" and no one's quite sure what the ramifications are for that yet, but Sukuna hasn't given any indication that he was even thinking of that until 248. Even then, he hasn't fully thought through it. There's a real sense that Sukuna is keeping Yuji around for reasons even he isn't sure of.

²And as I've joked to my friends, got mad that she practically called him an incel. He's still bothered by her supposed misunderstanding of him, well after her death, and seeks to prove...a dead woman he didn't care about wrong? So much for Mister "I've never needed anyone to satisfy me."

³I'm specifically referencing the discussions of 'heart' that Mahito had with Junpei, and Junpei's breakdown to Yuji over how he can't accept that humans have 'heart', given how that would mean that someone with 'heart' hurt him and killed his mother.

I'm gonna be waiting for the full translation of 248 with a fake calm. Inside, there will be bite and kill energy.

Looking at the preliminary info, Sukuna straight-up admits he has no ambitions, which was all but outright-stated in 238. More than anything, this is why he's become so lame to me. How the fuck can you criticize someone else's choices for what they strive for (Yuji wanting to protect people, for instance), when you have nothing to work towards? Mans has no upward momentum, since he only cares about the present.

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random-thought-depository · 2 years ago

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Oh, one important feature of old vampire I forgot to mention earlier!

I imagine old vampire as a language engineered to minimize ambiguity. In my Blindsight elsewhere fic I think I'll try to indicate this by having my vampire characters do something a lot like the rattumb convention of giving thoughts tags like "epistemic status: tentative." Examples of what my "translations" of old vampire dialogue might read like:

"Deduction-testing question: is Magpie feeling guilt?"

"Prediction with low confidence: this year the rains are heavy."

"Suggestion: cut them off at the next bend."

"Question: is Stargazer having trouble sleeping?"

"Incentive promise: Fratricide does that again and Fratricide dies."

But I think I'll put in a note saying that I'm actually stripping down the old vampire a lot to make dialogue that roughly follows the conventions of English speech and English literature; a more "authentic" translation of what my vampire characters are saying to each other would include more information and look more alien.

Old vampire might be structurally and conceptually similar to Ladaan, but with no grammatical tense particle (perpetual present tense, remember!), a more extensive collection of speech-act particles and evidence particles, and the evidence particle placed directly after the speech-act particle instead of at the end of the sentence.

Oh, one possible intersection of the vampire umwelt and old vampire that I thought of: vampires might be able to hear each other's heartbeats and keep a long running count of their own heartbeats, and I think old vampires might have often used that as an improvised stopwatch or clock. That has some interesting possible implications for hunting tactics and how they might think of time!

Also, I think a major bedrock of ancient vampire sociality might be 1) an instinctive tendency to be better disposed to people who smelled more like you (which usually meant relatives), 2) a sort of scent-mark that mothers would imprint on their children during gestation, which would cause near matrilineal relatives to be particularly well-disposed to each other. I think old vampire might talk about this kind of like, "Swift and Heron have a strong relationship because they are matriline-scented to each other, if Magpie produced a child with Quiet that child would be family-scented but not matriline-scented to Swift and Heron." A secondary component of divide and conquer might be that modern vampires are not family-scented to each other; they are not relatives and do not receive this maternal scent-marker imprinting!

-------------

I was going to have a little fun with looking at the difficulties you might have with translating "I'm a transbian" into old vampire, but it got really long! So I'll just offer the quick bullet point summary version:

- The closest literal translation of "I" in old vampire roughly translates as "the person speaking these words," but if you want to emphatically connect something to your identity that is not the word you should use. In old vampire, using that word would suggest anonymity and possibly suspicion or even hostility. It's how you'd talk to a complete stranger when you only expect to exchange three sentences with them in your entire life and using your own name would be somehow conversationally awkward. It's also how you talk when you want to conceal your name from a potential enemy. If you want to strongly attach something to your identity in old vampire, you attach it to your name.

- The ancient vampire gender system was 1) very different from ours, 2) very rudimentary. This would make it hard to translate most LGBT identity words into old vampire ("intersex" would be the easiest, and "asexual" maybe the second easiest). On the other side of the coin, "straight" and "allosexual" would not translate straightforwardly into old vampire either and emphatically should not be translated as the old vampire word for "normal vampire trait" (by old vampire standards they are weird!), and similarly, "manly" and "feminine" would be difficult to translate into old vampire (as would queerphobic insults like the f-slur). I think the best bet for translating "trans woman" into old vampire would be a loan word from one of the human cultures ancient vampires shared their world with, which would have entered old vampire through vampire "humanology" (learning about humans to better hunt them). Even then, you might only be able to produce a very approximate and awkward translation, cause Pleistocene and early Holocene humans were probably pretty culturally different from modern English-speaking humans!

#Blindsight #Echopraxia #project Blampire fanfic #linguistics #conlangs

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ignisnocturnalia · 4 years ago

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Variks x Reader Relationship HC's

Gonna write you as a new light, apologies my God-slaying siblings

News of the Pyramids over Europa reaches far and wide, as does stasis

With this discovery, relayed by a veteran guardian, also reveals news of the Eliksni who instigated the riot at the Prison of Elders

Being freshly revived, there's not much you can make out of the hostility the other Guardians offer the alien

Curious about him, you make a bold request to be stationed on Europa to "monitor" him

Of course, Zavala denies your request and speaks of how important your guns would be here at home

While you say you understand, you're secretly trying to find your way around it

The Drifter

You heard about his escapades to the frozen planet, reasons unknown, but still able to slip through Vanguard sanctions

As usual, a Guardian siding with the Vanguard approaching you with a purpose usually isn't a good thing

"Somethin' you want, kid?"

His tone is carefully jovial, bordering neutral, but you're not foolish enough to think he actually trusts you

"I need to get to Europa."

He stares at you for a solid minute before sizing you up, an inquisitive glare settling on his face

"What's in it for me?"

Having been on Strike detail for months on end, you've got a sweet heap of glimmer and nothing to use it on; you know he doesn't care a lot for the currency, so you offer up your weapons alongside it

He gives you a lopsided grin as he takes the arsenal, waving off the glimmer and taking you to his ramshackle ship

Unsurprisingly, it's a quiet ride, your own Ghost unsure of your actions

Drifter gives you little warning before transmitting you off the ship, leaving you to fall flat on your ass in the deep snow

Despite being a little upset about this, you finally see your goal, the very Eliskni that brought new questions to the ice planet

Every step you take lands your foot in a fluffy sheet of snow, sounding out with a crunch you had never heard before

Soon enough, you've completely deviated from the reason you came to the planet, completely obsessed with the snow under you

The entire time, Variks has been watching you from the window of his base making a fool of yourself

Distantly, he realizes that he thinks you're cute like that

"Here to help, yes?"

You are COMPLETELY caught off guard, turning quickly on your heel before slipping on the ice and landing flat on your ass

A shadow falls over you as you look up to see the well spoken Eliksni towering over you, and you're immensely thankful for the helmet hiding your blush

He offers you one of his real hands, helping you up and you can't help but notice how his hunched form is hiding a solid 8" from his height

Bringing you inside, you slowly decompress from the outside chill and Variks formally introduces himself

You quickly take note of how each of his sentences are punctuated by insect noises, which are quite fun to hear

You explain your circumstances and even though you can only see his eyes, you can feel the confusion in the air

"You left the Tower.. to see me? Variks does not know who you are; you do not know Variks, yes?"

You're slightly disappointed but not surprised by his suspicious behavior, after seeing how other Guardians harped about him

You then remember something very important

"I don't have a ship to get back."

Your ship still sat in the Hangar, locked down until it was needed for use

Variks stood in front of you quietly before also noticing something unusual about you; your weapons were missing

"Stay. I will contact your Commander."

You immediately spring from your seated position, grabbing at his shoulder before he can reach the comms

He seems to understand your plead

You spend the next few days eating freeze dried food, along with MRE's supplied by another curious party on Europa

Variks doesn't join you until he's finished eating in another room, and the conversations you can strike up are limited

You ask him to teach you Eliksni

He appears shocked at first but eagerly obliges, now showing up to eat with you

It's been a good couple of weeks, and you've got a few phrases and words under your belt

Nothing translates directly, everything is interpreted based on the small word choice

Variks didn't know, but you had spent the last 3 days trying to figure out what the closest thing to "I love you" was in Eliksni

That night, when you both settle down to eat, you eye Variks with a renewed purpose

The fuzz in your brain dissipates as, astoundingly, he moves to take off his mouth cover

You can't help but stare at his revealed face not noticing how he fidgets a bit under your intense stare

"Apologies, (y/n). I did not mean to ruin your appetite."

It was now or never

Moving over to sit next to him, you shyly looked up to see he had yet to put the mask back on, instead looking at you with uncertainty

"Yu ne ze." You are my gift. I love you.

The Eliksni's eyes widen and his body stiffens and you worry for a second that you've made a mistake before he turns fully and leans into your face

"Ma yun ne."

His mandibles are often used to caress your face

You find yourself with gifts and trinkets waiting in your small room in the base

He has you spot check his weapons, testing them out and generally having a blast with them

Other Guardians have seen you on occasion, but very few have approached you to ask questions about the mysterious Eliksni

Variks loves it when you hold his hands, even more so when you pet his face

When you find out he can purr, it's one of the most sought after sounds during your intimate moments, and sometimes he will purr simply to indulge you

Even if you're an undead warrior, Variks still piles furs on to your shoulders to make sure you don't get cold during outings

You have had to fend off assassins, often at the cost of your life

This pushes you to accept the deceptive whispers of the Pyramid, carrying you all the way to the Exo Stranger's den

She reluctantly agrees to teach you because of your inexperience, and although neither of you say anything, you and Drifter make quick eye contact

Variks can smell the Darkness on you and is very disappointed, but he doesn't tip off that he knows

Instead, he uses it as an excuse to put you under house arrest

He catalogues every single symptom you have that could barely begin to resemble a sickness, encouraging you to stay inside until you're better

During the nights, you notice he holds you much more tightly against his body

You apologize for your zealousness regarding his safety

Your lessons in Eliksni continue, and soon enough you can hold your own in small conversations with him

Whenever you or Variks look at each other trying to figure something out, you both always ask about the question in your mind

Whoever is asked ends up sitting in the other's lap, but you've found that it's much more convenient to sit in his own

This exploration leads to daily petting or grooming sessions, giving way for more risque activity to take place

Nsfw 👁👄👁

Variks orients himself as a switch, but you can tell he enjoys being on the bottom a little more if his rapid breaths are anything to go by

Brushing and lightly scratching segments on his exoskeleton are immense green lights for him, especially adding just enough force to push into the seams between his limbs

He's very gentle with his teeth, but the red marks he leaves on your body are generous from the amount of fondling he carries out

He's perfectly fine with both of you being bare, so long as a heat source is nearby

This level of exposure allows you to feel every rumble, trill, and moan straight from his chest and you can't deny just how hot it is to have an entire alien making these noises because of you

He delivers plenty of foreplay, always giving you the option to back out of it

With your size difference, you have to work to move up and down his body when you're both laying down

One of his favorite things is when you drag your teeth along his neck or chest, no real threat of harm but an undeniable thrill for him

He may start slow, but towards the end? You're better off simply letting him take care of you the next day

Fluff

After particularly tedious days, you will pull him into your shared room and pepper his face with kisses

Whenever he wants to nap, he selectively chooses your lap so you can massage his back or his forehead

Following the official announcement of your relationship, Zavala finally submits and gives you full permission to stay stationed on Europa, at the price of lengthy field reports at the beginning of every month

Variks, of course, teases you while writing these papers

He'll correct a mistake you made way back in the paper, laughing quietly in the back of his throat as you fume at the obvious inaccuracy

Besides Vanguard papers, you've taken it upon yourself to make him a new arm

You decide to gift it to him once the Dawning starts

Note: I leave some of my handcanons open ended for more ideas, and yes, I am aware they are more like one shot/hc hybrids, but hey, take it as an invitation to ask me to actually write out the whole thing. I will not write out explicit nsfw unless asked, and if I am asked, it will always be gratuitous and extremely detailed ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) Finals are eating my timbs tho, so I'm currently attempting to study for these hellspawn

#variks #destiny 2 #relationship headcanon #zavala #commander zavala #the drifter #exo stranger #elsie bray #variks the loyal #Variks x Reader

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just-a-real-human · 4 years ago

Text

Stress

(heya! this is my first story and i’m still not that good, so keep that in mind as you read ‘^^ please give any constructive critisism you can give to help me improve! i’ll write in mostly metric to make it easier on myself, let’s chalk it up to the translator being extra nice today) (extra note, i’m Dutch and English is actually my second language, so keep that in mind as well)

The classroom was filled to the brim with all kinds of aliens, from the wonderful to the weird, speaking in all their exotic languages. all the conversations differed and the translators they had really started to prove their worth! the only thing that truly stayed constant was the subject of their conversations...Humans. That was because this was a special class all about Humans, given by the head of research on humans, or ‘anthropology’ as the humans call it, an alien called Kr’kn. Kr’kn was one of the first to spend an extended amount of time in the company of humans, going on to become a famous figure in the galaxy.

After a couple minutes of this exitement in the classroom, it all suddenly went silent as two figures walked onto the speaking platform. the first being Dr. Kr’kn himself, a Molusk-like creature having some resemblance to an earth octopus, but with about 12 tentacles, 4 for locomotion, which are place under his body, giving him an upright gait and making him stand about 1.4M tall and 8 tentacles for manipulating the environment. But perhaps even more exiting, behind him followed a Human! The human followed Kr’kn closely, fidgeting with something grey in his hands. when they reached the speaking platform, The human promptly took seat in a chair next to the speaking platform, continuing to play with the thing it was holding, yet hiding it from view, looking around the room, but never looking directly at any of the students. Dr. Kr’Kn looked over the room and took a deep breath before saying.

“Humans, strange creatures aren’t they? Very, very complicated ones as well, there is much more to them then any sensory organ could perceive. They are loud, but can be almost entirely silent. They are social, but they need privacy and alone time frequently. They are tall, yet can blend with many environments, even without technology. I could go on for HOURS about the uniqueness of humans, and i probably will sometime! But not now, because over the course of these months i will teach you all i know of humans, starting not with the very basics, but the more advanced things as through (their equivalent of internet), reading and lessons you’ve learned the basics of them. So let us start with a subject not often touched on in education, stress and, unavoidably, rage.”

The students sat, watching the doctor, and occasionally the human, with wide eyes. they had indeed learned the basics of human biology. they had briefly touched on hysterical strength and subjects like that, yet they still didn’t have a very good understanding of humans, simply because nobody had. Except of course them one teaching them.

Dr Kr’kn continued. “We all know stress, most species have it. But in humans it can be especially prevalent. Stress in humans can drastically affect their mood, emotion, sexual interest, concentration and even lifespan. It can induce depression and loss of interest and a whole managerie of different effect on humans, nearly none being benificial. Often stress quickly can lead to anger, and is oftened compared to a rubber band, each thing that stresses them out tightening the band and if they are too stressed, they get angry. Humans have dubbed this stress-overload as ‘snapping’, and it can range from shouting at someone to assault and even death, both for the human and the one who made them ‘snap’. Humans can be quite easily stressed, for instance my dear friend here gets stressed by crowds, eye contact and meeting strangers, as well as a looong list of other things. this is partially due to mental disorders, but mostly due to personal differences.”

Many of the class nervously eyed the human after he said this, the human did seem a bit uncomfortable, what if he ‘snapped’ here? This seemed to be a stressfull environment, why would he be here? Was he forced?

The Doctor looked around, noticing the nervous glances and chuckled. “No worries, my friend here is calm as can be. This actually leads very well into the next part, how do humans relieve stress? Well, there’s some ways, that you’ve probably already learnt, and seeing as that’d be a little embaressing to go over for my friend, i’ll go to the less well known ones. A very popular one, maybe even more popular then any other, is music. An immense amount of emotion can be transferred into music, ranging from happiness to sadness, even anger can be put into music! The best example of ‘angry’ music is probaly a kind of music humans dub ‘metal’. Anyone sensitive to rythms, loud noises or things like that, please cover your ears.” He said, swiping a few times on the tablet infont of him, a large hologram raising infont of them before saying once more “I repeat again, if you are sensitive to fast rythms or loud noises, please cover your ears!”

He then pressed the play button and the music started playing, and indeed, as he said, the pure rage put in that music was so overwhelming some students actually seemed afraid, as if the humans on the hologram could jump out and attack at any moment! The human accompanying Kr’kn seemed to enjoy it, moving his head up and down in the rythm of the music a little.

Dr. Kr’kn paused the music, swiping it away. “Well, i suppose you get what i mean about anger being conveyed in the music? And despite its seemingly simple nature, metal often has deep symbolism, especially compared to the simple first impression. It also happens to be one of the most difficult forms of music to play. Another good way to relieve stress for humans are video games, especially either calm and cute ones, or the most violent ones they can create!”

The class laughed a little, assuming the doctor was making a joke. As a reaction the doctor pulled up another hologram, showing the class a cute, calm game about finding many orb like creatures with (human) smiles on their faces. It seemed to be a good example of what the doctor meant.

“now, if you are bad with blood, violence or dismemberment, please look away, and if you are sensitive to rythms and loud noises, cover your ears again.”

He then pulled up a video as one specific game, one set in a red, fleshy cityscape, destroyed and overrun with the most disturbing creatures you could imagine. But worst of all, a human was running through! With more of that ‘metal’ in the background the man was running through the creatures, shooting them with ballistic weapons, energy weapons and cutting them apart! It even ripped them apart with its bare hands! Many students looked at it, horrified, some even needing to look away. Kr’kn laughed, swiping away the hologram. “that there is a favorite game among many humans, including my friend here, he is quite skilled at it, in fact, the footage there is my friend playing that game!”

The students looked at the human, terrified. Humans ENJOYED murder and destruction!? They liked such violence and that music?

Dr. Kr’kn laughed again. “Anyways, yet another way of relieving stress, or more accurately, prevent stress, is in the form of a mental support thing. Often that is an object, like in the case of my friend here! If you would please look to him, he will show what his emotional support object is.”

The human seemed a bit aprehensive before revealing the grey thing he was holding and had been playing with...it was a small, grey teddybear with a white scarf. it was clearly quite old, it was clear it used to be coloured something else then grey, but due to years of hugging and washing, it had lost it’s colour, only it’s snout being a little brighter grey with a brown nose.

“Yes, that little thing is one of the most important things in my friends life, so important, in fact, that he has once killed someone for taking it.“

The students gasped, looking at the human, who looked away a bit, now holding the bear closely, clearly regretting what happened back there, and speaking for the first time. “Not JUST for taking teddy...he was a pirate”

Kr’kn laughed, shaking his head “True, true, the fact remains that it is an incredibly important object to him, anything else and he would have waited to sneak up on him, but he instead took the pirate on without bothering to sneak, he shouted so loud the pirate was stunned for a moment before my friend here beat him with a glass and stabbed him to death with the shards! none of us would dare approach him for hours after that...well, the humans kept their distance claiming he needed time alone, but we all noticed even the humans were fearfull. He only truly calmed down when his chosen mate, or ‘girlfriend’ went to speak to him. And that brings me to the most important and effective ways for a human to relieve stress.

Kr’kn let the students stare at the human for a little bit, he knew how they must have felt, humans were terrifying when you learn such stories, and even more if you experience them!

“there are 4 most important ways for a humans to release stress. And they are: Screaming, crying, talking and love. Screaming lets them simply release all the rage in their system in a simple roar, it can be one scream or many, but they are almost always effective. Talking means to simply share their troubles with someone, be it human or not, even talking to a pet, friendly wild animal or book(by writing it down) will help them as they aren’t the only ones stuck with it anymore, and the other might be able to help in some way. And now the two most important ones, Crying and love. Crying is a strange thing, humans will leak water out of their eyes and make a repeating sound, often accompanying screaming, but even more often it is silent, and they usually cry when safe. It releases all their stress and sadness over a period of time and is a very clear way for others to see how they feel, and Love is often a result of it, or what causes it, which is good. For instance the previous story, my friend here told his Girlfriend everything, and a human often gets repetitive when telling something, which you should deal with if you truly care for them. He then simply got a hug, which is one of the most primally loving and caring things a human can do. You all know kissing is something that human mates do, but a hug can be done by any human they care about. Physical contact is important for a human, and a good hug will often make a human cry their worries away, which is an important part of bonding and caring. Now do not go about hugging humans every chance you get, it’s something special, and not every human likes it. For instance my friend is a bit sensitive, so there are few people he allows to hug him, and i just so happen to be one of them.” He said the last part with a certain pride, having his race’s version of a smile as he looked at the human.

“Anyways, this is where my job ends for today, and yours starts. I want you to write a simple list of stress-relieving things for a human, write it as accurately as you can. And even if it isn’t very accurate, as long as your tried, it’ll be good enough for me. Next time i will go over the dangers of a human and what you should do to avoid it. I hope you have a good day and enjoy your time, goodbye!”

The students wished him farewell and Kr’kn walked away, the human joining him, still holding the bear closely. The students exitedly started talking to one another, having learned many things about humans that they didn’t know before. After many minutes of conversation, they slowly started to leave, and after about an hour or so the classroom was entirely empty.

WELL! that was my first story, i hope you enjoy it! again, give your opinions and constructive critisism down there, any ideas and suggestions are welcome as well! have a nice day c:

Good news! I fixed the comments (i think). :D

#humans are space orcs #humans are space australians #humans are terrifying #aliens

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doctenwho · 4 years ago

Text

Should Be Me

Hello! Thank you for the prompt, and all the kind things you said! It means a lot that you like what I make :)

I wasn’t sure what to do with the someone who likes/ flirts with reader, so I just went with Jack Harkness. It adds a bit more because the Doctor isn’t really Jack’s biggest fan, and I thought it added more of a blow to the sitaution! Hopefully you don’t mind, and I got Jack’s character decently right.

Warnings: None

Word Count: 4,505

Summary: Read the prompt above!

(Gif is not mine! Credit to creator!)

You’d met very few of the Doctor’s friends. Well, you weren’t even sure you could call them friends, the Doctor never really seemed too happy to see any of them. So... acquaintances maybe? People who knew of the Doctor, but had never really seen the man as much more than a savior, or a guardian of sorts. There was usually at least one where ever you went, the Doctor had really made a name for himself.

You’d asked before, of friends he had around the universe, or of people who stood out to him in his years of travels, and even people who he thought about from time to time. He of course mentioned his past companions—Rose, and Martha and Donna too, as well as a few others from before he’d regenerated, but you weren’t really sure that was the same as a friend.

Companions were really on a field of their own when it came to the Doctor.

He tended to avoid the question whenever you brought it up, or whenever you talked about some of your own friends back on earth. You knew he didn’t really like talking about himself—nothing too personal because he didn’t like getting attached, but that didn’t mean you weren’t curious.

Few people ever called out to the Doctor, and never in friendly tones. If the Doctor was being called out in a crowd, he was usually ushering you along and insisting that the two of you run from whoever was calling.

And on earth, whenever he was noticed (which did occasionally happened) it was never someone who really knew him, and instead fans, or people obsessed with the aspect of aliens, who’d heard stories of the Doctor.

So... you’d never really met anyone the Doctor had told you about. Not really past companions, or creature on other planets, or just anyone who knew the Doctor more than occasional conversation.

Well, until one evening in an alien bar not so different from any of the ones back on earth.

The day had been long, you and the Doctor escaping danger, but just barely. The Doctor had come out of the event chipper and energized, but you, well, you were a bit tired. It turned out threats on your like tended to wear you out.

The Doctor had perked you up with the promise of a nice bar within the galaxy that he was happy to take you to, since you were a bit down. You’d agreed only because you could do with a drink right now. The Doctor didn’t have any liquor in the TARDIS, and you wouldn’t even really trust anything you found in the kitchen, even if you did happen across something.

There was always that thought in the back of your head that you were in a space-time ship, even if looked very much like a house down the twists and turns of the TARDIS. You couldn’t just trust everything you found, as safe as the Doctor tended to be.

The Doctor promised it was a popular bar among the aliens and human space travelers alike, and that nothing truly harmful for you to ingest could be found (and at your raised eyebrow, the Doctor promised to taste everything before you, just in case).

It hadn’t taken long to arrive at said bar, the Doctor managed to land the TARDIS in a broom closet in the bar, and then the two of you were stepping out the TARDIS doors, and then the broom closet doors, and greeted by a lively bar.

True to the Doctor’s word, the bar wasn’t just filled with aliens, but many humans too. The bar tender was a creature you’d never seen before, but looked friendly enough as he took people’s orders and served drinks. The atmosphere was great, there was music that was noticeable, but not overwhelming, as well as some sort of sport playing on a weird looking television above the alcohol lining the shelves behind the bar.

There was friendly chatter, that faded off into multiple different languages that probably would’ve overwhelmed the TARDIS if she would’ve tried to translate everything for you. A lot of the patrons were speaking English, and the bar tender seemed to be switching to whichever language he was spoken to in.

Over all, it wasn’t much different than any of the bars you’d been to on earth. The same energy. The same scene. Alcohol. Patrons. The only noticeable difference was, of course, the aliens sitting on stools around the small but crowded bar.

“Fantastic, isn’t it?” the Doctor asked at your side, leaning into you so he wasn’t shouting over the music, or whatever game was on the space TV. “I told you there would be humans here too.”

“Yeah, yeah,” you laughed, leaning towards him so he could hear you as well, “you were right.”

“Of course I was,” the Doctor grinned, prideful and playful, “let’s get us a drink, shall we?”

“Sounds like a plan,” you agreed. You followed close behind the Doctor, who was sparing greetings at some of the patrons who looked your way. Everyone seemed nice enough, which was all you could really ask for as a human in a space bar.

You were just happy you weren’t the only human for the first time in what felt like forever.

You could thankfully read some of the alcohols lining the shelves, a couple from your earth. There was a bunch of alcohols that you had no idea where they’d even come from, and a couple drinks on patron's hands had you confused.

You were curious about them, but not curious enough to try anything. You’d stick to drinks you knew this time. You just weren’t sure which drink you should go with. There were quite a few to choose from, and you really didn’t know what the bar actually had for making drinks.

“Order for me?” you asked the Doctor, sliding into one of the empty seats at the bar while the Doctor stood beside you for a second. The Doctor studied you for a second before bowing his head in an easy nod and looking back towards the bartender. He moved swiftly to an opening at the bar a few feet away, waiting to be noticed so he could order the drinks.

The Doctor knew a few drinks you liked. You had been traveling with him for a few years now, and you had dragged him to a human bar a couple times on your many trips to earth ever few months. Plus, this way, you didn’t accidently order something wrong. The bartender spoke English, as far as you knew, but that didn’t mean things couldn’t get lost in translation.

The Doctor was ordering drinks as soon as the man tending the bar came around to him, both leaned towards each other on either side of the counter to hear the other over the noise of the bar.

“Well, hello there,” a voice beside you called. You turned fast, looking away from the Doctor and coming face to face with a human looking gentleman. “You’re not from around here.”

It wasn’t a question, but you being a human was fairly obvious. And humans were greatly lacking in space travel, where most other planets were not. There were far fewer humans than any other creature in this specific bar, even if there were more than what you were expecting.

You wanted to say the same to him, but you just didn’t know. He honestly could be from around here, despite him looking so very human. He looked pretty human, just as human as you looked. But then again, the Doctor also looked pretty human, and he was a Time-Lord many, many years older than you.

You couldn’t help but notice just how familiar (in the human sense) the man was. The little quirks and traits of the man. He had a nice, flirty smile, and bright eyes that were watching you closely, but not in a creepy way.

Like ninety percent human, you were sure.

“I’m not,” you cleared your throat before agreeing easily, “and what about you? From around here?”

“I’m from everywhere, been here and there, you know,” the man gave you a dazzling grin before leaning a bit closer, “Jack,” he introduced, holding his hand out for you to shake—a familiar and very human gesture, “Jack Harkness.”

You hesitated for a moment before deciding to be bold and taking his hand into you own, “(Y/N).”

“(Y/N),” he repeated with that grin, “a beautiful name for a beautiful gal.”

You could barely stop your cheeks from heating up at the compliment. You could already tell this guy was a flirt, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t friendly. And... well, you kinda liked the attention from the man. It was nice, considering the Doctor was always so guarded whenever he was around you.

You knew the Doctor liked you, but sometimes it really didn’t feel like it. He was always guarded, and watching himself—holding himself back for whatever reason.

“You must be from earth,” Jack continued on, “someone as pretty as you would have to be from earth. Gems like you are always from earth.”

“I am,” you told him, before briefly wondering if that was like telling a random guy in an earth bar your street address. Would you be easy to find if he knew your planet? “Are you from earth too?”

“I am,” he flashed another grin, “I was an earth time traveler turned space traveler. Different points in time on earth was great and all, but I was shown a world far greater than ours, and I just fell in love with it, which,” he lulled his head in your direction as he took a sip of his drink, “I’m sure is not far off from you, am I right?”

It sounded a lot like you. The Doctor had really shown you a world greater than you own, and now you weren’t sure you could ever be content living on earth again—not when you knew there was so much out there. “You could say that,” you agreed.

He gave you another grin, “so, can I buy you a drink?”

You opened your mouth to reply, but before you could, someone was brushing up beside you, and a drink was set right beside your hand. You turned, smiling up at the Doctor, who was giving the stranger a hesitant, guarded look.

You looked back at Jack, just as his eyes trailed up from the cup still int the Doctor’s hand, up to the Doctor’s face. He stared for a second, before he broke into a grin brighter than anything, he’d given you since sitting down beside you, “Doctor! It’s been a while!”

“Captain,” the Doctor frowned.

And then you were confused. “You two know each other?”

“We do,” Jack turned his attention back to you, eyes warm, “he’s the one who introduced me to space travel. I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for the Doctor.”

You looked between the two of them for a second, from Jack’s gleeful look at finding the Doctor again, to the Doctor’s look of masked disdain, before it finally clicked, “Jack was one of you companions?” you turned swiftly, jaw dropping in surprise.

You’d never met a companion—and definitely not one the Doctor had never breathed a word of. This was a huge surprise, and you weren’t sure if it was a good one, or a bad one. You’d never really thought of the Doctor having any male companions, not when all he talked about was the female ones.

The Doctor furrowed his eyebrows in the way he did while he was trying to figure out how to explain something to you, before frowning at Jack, “for a while, yeah.”

“Well, a bit longer than a while--” Jack paused, now looking between you and the Doctor, “wait, if she’s here with you, that must mean (Y/N) is your companion, right? We were just getting to know each other, small universe.”

“Clearly,” the Doctor frowned distastefully. “What’re you doing here?”

“The same as everyone else,” Jack informed with a grin, taking another sip of his drink, “having a drink, and talking with the pretty patrons.” The man all but fluttered his eyelashes at you, and you had to glance away before your face flushed brightly at the compliment.

“Some lovely ladies here tonight,” he slid a bit closer, and you couldn’t find it in yourself to be mad at it. The Doctor however, looked as if he was barely containing himself. And that in itself was a sight to see, since the man was usually so well put together.

The Doctor scowled at Jack, then dropped his attention to you, frowning at your flushed cheeks before returning his scowl back onto Jack. “No,” the Doctor’s expression hardened, “stop that.”

“Stop what?” Jack raised his hands in mock surrender, but his smile was teasing and he was clearly trying to rile the Doctor up in a way you couldn’t understand. “I’m not doing anything.”

The Doctor glowered at Jack, who simply lifted his drink to his lip and took a sip, “we were just talking, weren’t we? No harm there, Doc.”

“Just talking,” you agreed, looking back at the Doctor with a raised eyebrow. “Is there something going on between the two of you that I don’t know about?”

“No,” the Doctor said with a sigh as he finally withdrew his hand from your drink, “it’s not important. Nor the time, or the place to get into that. He’s just a companion who could no longer travel with me.”

Jack was frowning at the Doctor as he spoke, but he didn’t say anything to refute it. They were tense, the both of them. You desperately wanted to know what had happened for the Doctor to not want Jack as a companion anymore—just to know what not to do.

You lifted your drink up to sniff as a way out of the stiff atmosphere the men had created, frowning at it hesitantly, before holding it out to the Doctor. The man looked at you for a moment before he was taking the glass and taking the promised taste test sip. “It’s completely fine, I promise,” he told you with a fond smile that had wiped away the glare he’d had locked on Jack.

As soon as he glanced away from you though, the grim expression was back.

“So,” Jack cleared his throat, tension disappearing and flirty smile returning as he rested his chin in his hand, and looked towards you. “Where were we?”

“You were offering to buy me a drink,” you gave a laugh as you lifted the drink the Doctor had brought you to your lips. It was not something you’d ever had on earth, but it was delicious. “Someone beat you to it. Tough competition around here.”

“Right,” Jack laughed as well, “maybe I can buy the next one?”

“Maybe you could,” you couldn’t resist the tease in your voice. You didn’t bother looking back at the Doctor who was sitting himself on the seat on your other side. The other patron must’ve left.

The Doctor didn’t say anything, which was slightly worrying. But if he wasn’t going to give you a solid reason as to why you shouldn’t be talking to Jack, you were going to go off your own experience with him, which was pretty good.

Conversation with Jack was easy. He liked to talk, and he was very intriguing. Everything he told you, had you on the edge of your seat. He threw in compliments that had you blushing, and talking in a sultry tone that had the Doctor scoffing beside you.

Jack told you stories of his time at war, and his travel stories—which you shared a few of you own. He told you about his adventures with Rose and Martha, as well as his meeting with Donna. You were a bit jealous of that, since you’d never met any of them, but you supposed you’d met Jack now, who still counted as one of the Doctor’s companions.

Jack told you stories of his time with the Doctor, to which the Doctor jumped in and steered the stories away from himself and onto Jack. Some kind of rivalry between the two of them?

You talked with Jack for ages, the Doctor sitting near silently beside you, listening as well, but also completely dismissive of everything Jack was saying. It was weird to see the Doctor like this. He was usually so chipper and happy. And by the way he talked about his other companions, and the few run ins he’d had with them after their travels, you’d expected the man to be a bit happier about seeing Jack.

You did have a second drink, which Jack insisted you try one of his favorites and then bought for you. You thought about asking the Doctor to test it, like the first one, but Jack had ordered the same thing for himself, and had taken a sip of his first, so you decided it was probably okay.

That drink was good too, but you liked the one the Doctor ordered for you more.

It was nice to be talking to another human who’s seen the things you’d seen, as well as who’d travelled with the Doctor. And Jack seemed like a really nice guy, and had you not been completely enthralled by the Doctor, you might’ve even been interested in really getting to know him.

He was a bit too... friendly for you currently though, especially when you had no interest in any man besides the Doctor, not that he’d ever looked at you in that way.

“Well,” Jack smiled widely, “it’s been great meeting you, (Y/N). I’m sure it’ll be ages before I meet someone as lovely as you again.”

You bit your lip to stop yourself from blushing again, watching as Jack drained what was left of his drink. You saw the Doctor roll his eyes out of the corner of your eye as he muttered a ‘stop it’ under his breath.

“I’ve gotta get going,” Jack finally said, “but I hope I’ll see you again sometime, (Y/N). It really was a pleasure.”

“Maybe,” you smiled with shrug. You weren’t really flirting back, just playing a bit, “if you’re lucky.”

“Well, I sure hope I am then,” Jack gave you a wink before giving a small laugh. He stood from his seat, and grabbed his coat from the back of his chair before he looked towards the Doctor, “it was nice seeing you as well, Doctor.”

“Yeah,” the Doctor sigh, finally looking at Jack with something that wasn’t a scowl. He didn’t look happy by any means, but it was a step up from scowling, “I’m sure we’ll meet again. You’re pretty hard to get rid of.”

“You know it,” Jack gave another bright smile, but this one was more knowing than the others. Some secret you probably couldn’t crack even if you tried, “you know better than anyone, Doc.”

The Doctor huffed what could almost be a laugh, as he gave Jack a small smile. With that, Jack threw a wave over his shoulder and disappeared into the crowd. You watched the way he’d gone for a second before looking back at the Doctor, who was frowning as he stared off into space.

“Doctor?” you questioned hesitantly. He looked towards you with a blank expression before he gave you a small smile as well. This one was a bit bigger than the one he shot Jack though. “Are you alright?”

“Fine,” he answered quickly, “let’s get back to the TARDIS. Places to be, things to see.”

He stood up, staying in place as you quickly finished off your glass and stood to follow him. Like coming in, you stayed close to the Doctor on the way out. He pulled the door to the broom closet open, letting you in before following suit and shutting the door behind himself.

The two of you stepped into the TARDIS, and as usual, the Doctor was quick to leave.

You sat silently on the chair, as the Doctor did circles around the control console, flying the TARDIS as he usually did. But something was different. Something was different with the Doctor. He was quiet. Quieter than you’d ever seen him, and the only thing that could’ve caused that was Jack.

“What’s the matter?” you asked quietly from where you were sitting. The Doctor gave a hum of acknowledgment, but didn’t bother looking at you.

“I’m fine,” he told you, but his voice gave him away. He didn’t sound fine.

“No,” you huffed, “really, what’s the matter?”

When he finally looked at you, his eyes were sad, and he was trying not to frown, “why do you think something’s wrong?”

“Why won’t you tell me what’s wrong?” you asked, a bit hurt he wasn’t saying what was bothering him. You’d been with his for years now, and he still told you nothing. He still refused to let himself be sad or vulnerable around you. “Did Jack do something wrong?”

“No,” the Doctor sighed, running a hand through his hair, “not really. It’s... it’s nothing. Don’t worry about it.”

“I am worried about it though,” you told him honestly. “Please tell me what’s wrong.”

The Doctor looked at you with a kicked puppy look before he dropped his attention to the floor. He didn’t say anything for a moment, like he was trying to figure out how to say something, “I... well, I didn’t like that.”

“Didn’t like what?” You raised a confused eyebrow, unsure of what the Doctor was talking about. You’d thought the even was nice.

“Jack and... and you. The, uh, flirting.”

“The flirting?” You blinked, “what was wrong with it?”

“I just didn’t like it,” the Doctor frowned, “Not with.... not Jack. He shouldn’t be flirting with you. Honestly, he’s far too friendly with everyone he meets, and I don’t think he’s good for.... for you.”

You scrunched your nose up as your eyebrows furrowed. You didn’t know what that meant, but it didn’t answer any questions. It actually annoyed you a bit, that the Doctor would be mad you were flirting with someone else when he didn’t give you the time of day.

“I liked Jack,” you told the Doctor, crossing your arms across your chest. “He was nice, and I have no reason not to like Jack, Doctor. And I can flirt with whoever I want too, why would that upset you?”

“Of course,” the man agreed quickly, looking spooked and apologetic, “I didn’t mean anything by that, you’re free to do as you please, I just... never mind, it’s not important. Anywhere you’d like to go?”

“Stop doing that,” you told him annoyed. “You always do that, just tell me it's not important and change the subject. Why don’t you tell me anything?”

The Doctor frowned, dropping his attention from you once more. You narrowed your eyes at him, debating between continuing the conversation and leaving to your room for the night.

“I didn’t like him flirting with you because I don’t like anyone flirting with you,” the Doctor spoke into the room, “I don’t like anyone flirting with you, not while I’m around... Well, not at all, but certainly not while I’m around. It should be me, I should be the one making you laugh like that and flirting with you. And it irks me when people do so anyways, because you’re not mine. I have no say, it truly is your choice, (Y/N). You could leave me tomorrow—back to earth, or to join Jack or someone else, and there’s nothing I can do about it because you’re not mine.”

“Not yours?” you repeated before you froze, blinking at the Doctor, “you... you were jealous? Of Jack?”

The Doctor made a face of embarrassment before giving an approving dip of his head. “I’m sorry. I have no right to be jealous, I know. But I can’t help it, you’re my companion, and I’ve never... felt like this with any of my other companions.”

“You like me?” You asked softly, because you thought he didn’t. He’d never said anything.

“More than anything,” he breathed with a frown, “I tried not to get attached, like I always do with companions,” he told you, “I really did. But you’re just... you’re you, and it was a lost cause. I was destined to fail at keeping you at arm's length from the moment you first smiled at me.”

You’d never imagined the Doctor could say anything like that. That the Doctor would ever be jealous of a man flirting with you, because he never showed any interest in you.

“I can’t stand seeing you with someone else,” the Doctor told you, “it breaks my heart, because I want so badly for it to be me you like--”

“It is you I like.”

The Doctor stopped, blinking repeatedly at you. He looked like his brain had just short-circuited. Like he couldn’t believe what you’d just said.

“What?”

“I like you too,” you replied in a soft, fond voice, “I have from the start. I just... didn’t think you liked me in return. And I didn’t want to ruin this, Doctor. I couldn’t ruin our friendship if you didn’t feel the same way.”

“Really?” the man looked completely overjoyed by the news. “I... never noticed. You-- you’re serious?”

“Completely,” you gave a laugh, “I thought you just didn’t want to mention it. I didn’t know you really didn’t know.”

“I didn’t,” he assured with a surprised expression, “I didn’t think you’d ever like me like I like you, so I... never said anything. I suppose I just couldn’t handle seeing Jack flirt with you.”

“You really don’t like the guy, do you?”

“It’s not that I don’t like him,” the Doctor huffed, “it’s just that—you know what? We can get into that later. Right now, though... I’d really like to kiss you, if that’s alright with you?”

“Fine with me,” you grinned, watching as the Doctor returned the smile and made his way towards you. He’d stabilized the TARDIS right after you’d gotten angry at him, so he didn’t have to worry about it.

“You’ve no idea how long I’ve wanted to do this for,” he muttered as he leaned towards you. His eyes were locked with yours, warm and adoring.

The Doctor settled one of his knees beside you, his other supported him on the floor, pressing against your knees as he leaned into your space. His arm curled around your waist as he brushed his nose against yours.

You tilted your head for a better angle, as your arm wrapped around the back of his neck. You smiled as you pulled him just a bit closer by your hold on him, fluttering your lashes at him.

“Well,” you teased, “get on with it then, Doctor.”

<><><><>

Don’t mind me trying to write Jack because I couldn’t come up with a whole character with a personality (which I’m truly terrible at) for this prompt. Hopefully no one minds, and I didn’t butcher his personality to badly. What I know about him is just from seasons 2-4 of Doctor Who, and a bit of research, so sorry if anything’s wrong!

Anywho, as always, feel free to prompt again if this wasn’t what you were looking for! Thanks once more for sending a prompt, and I hope I did it justice!

#Tenth Doctor #tenth doctor x reader #tenth doctor x you #10th doctor #10th doctor x reader #10th doctor x you #doctor who #doctor who 2005 #reader insert #jack harkness #writing prompt #TARDIS

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terramythos · 3 years ago

Text

TerraMythos 2021 Reading Challenge - Book 21 of 26

Title: The Galaxy, and the Ground Within (Wayfarers #4) (2021)

Author: Becky Chambers

Genre/Tags: Science Fiction, Third-Person, Female Protagonists

Rating: 9/10

Date Began: 8/15/2021

Date Finished: 8/22/2021

Gora is an unremarkable planet. It has no natural life and few resources to speak of. In fact, its only use is its proximity to more interesting places. Over the years, it’s become a waystation, notable only as a temporary stop for travelers as they wait for their spot in the wormhole queue.

The Five-Hop One-Stop is a small, family-owned rest stop on Gora. Three travelers— a marginalized nomad, a military contractor, and an exiled artist-- lay over at the Five-Hop awaiting the next stage of their journeys. But everything goes horribly wrong when repair work on an orbital satellite causes a cascade event, destroying the planet’s communications. Now stranded on Gora with debris raining down from the sky, the travelers and hosts must live with each other while cut off from the rest of the galaxy. As they learn more about one another, each is forced to confront their personal struggles… and challenge their perspective on life.

Speaker had a word for how she felt right then: errekere. A moment of vulnerable understanding between strangers. It did not translate into Klip, but it was a feeling she knew well from gatherings among her people. There was no need being expressed here, no barter or haggling or problems that required the assistance of a Speaker, but errekere was what she felt all the same. She’d never felt it with an alien before. She embraced the new experience.

Content warnings and spoilers below the cut.

Content warnings for the book: Non-graphic sexual content, child endangerment, ableism (if you squint; it’s not malicious), references to warfare, discussions of intergenerational trauma re: colonization (not the scifi kind), prejudice and xenophobia, recreational drug use.

I’ve had a mixed experience with Wayfarers, which is unusual for me. I can’t remember the last series I read that fluctuated so much in terms of personal enjoyment and (in my opinion) quality. People as a whole seem to enjoy this series more than me, hence the multitude of awards and glowing reviews. I liked book two, A Closed and Common Orbit, because of the focused narrative and dedicated development of two lead characters. But the first and third books suffered from an overly large cast and reliance on generic archetypes. When a series is built on character development and plot is a secondary concern at best, those characters have to be outstanding. And to me, they usually weren’t.

But in this fourth and final book, I felt that Chambers finally hit her stride. On a surface level, The Galaxy, and the Ground Within has striking similarity to book three, Record of a Spaceborn Few. Both are virtually plotless novels which do deep dives into a cast of characters. What sets The Galaxy apart is its execution. All three leads have unique and compelling personal conflicts. An underutilized strength of the series is its creative aliens; something Chambers takes advantage of here with a fully alien cast. Finally, this book hinges upon interaction between the three leads, something sorely missing from the previous book.

In these reviews I often seem critical of ensemble casts. But when done well, I actually prefer them to singular narratives. The main hurdle is having consistently interesting characters across the board. When there’s one or two characters I prefer over the others, I usually struggle with the novel. There’s an inherent sense of disappointment when leaving a favored character’s POV. For me this affects my overall enjoyment of the story. But when I like all of the characters or they all have something interesting going on, ensemble casts are great. The Galaxy, and the Ground Within is successful in this regard because I thoroughly enjoyed all three perspective characters. In no particular order…

Speaker is an Akarak, a birdlike scavenger species introduced as sympathetic antagonists in the first book. Going in, we know their home planet was colonized by the Harmagians, which has caused irreparable harm to their culture. Robbed of their homeworld and forced into the margins of GC society, the Akarak are nomadic, and many of them rely on banditry in order to survive. We have seen very little of them besides that. The Galaxy expands their lore a lot; their short lifespans, their incompatible biology with other sapients, and the resulting generational trauma from centuries of colonial exploitation. Speaker’s arc in particular is about dealing with the prejudice she encounters daily, adjusting to acceptance after being othered for so long, seeing things from a new perspective, and persistent worry for her twin sister Tracker, who she’s been separated from due to the events on Gora.

The Aeluon Pei is actually a recurring character; she’s Ashby’s love interest from the first book. Here we get a more intimate view of her as a person. In particular, she struggles with living a double life. She works a prestigious yet dangerous job among her people, running cargo into critical warzones. But her affair with Ashby (a Human) is a huge cultural taboo among the Aeluons. If her colleagues discovered her romantic relationship, her life as a cargo runner would be over. The double life is wearing on her, because she loves both aspects of her life, but knows that it can’t go on like this forever. To make matters worse, she goes into “shimmer”, a once-in-a-lifetime fertility period, during the events on Gora. This adds a layer to her struggle; does she do her duty to her species and produce a child, or does she pursue what she really wants?

Finally, there’s Roveg, a Quelin. Like the Akarak, Quelin haven’t received a whole lot of development in the series. In the first book, they’re portrayed as a xenophobic insectoid race, and their role is unambiguously antagonistic. Roveg is the polar opposite of that. He’s something of a renaissance man; an appreciator of fine art and dining, who designs artistic sims by profession. He delights in meeting aliens, befriending them, and learning everything there is to know about them. His arc centers around his exile from Quelin society and all the hidden pains associated with that. Chief among these is a mysterious meeting he has to make— which the Gora disaster obviously complicates.

Complementing the three leads are the Five-Hop’s hosts; a Laru mother and child named Ouloo and Tupo. Similar to the Akarak and Quelin, we haven’t seen many of the Laru (who I always picture as fuzzy dog-giraffe hybrids). Ouloo struggles to be a kind and accommodating host in the wake of disaster. She’s also forced to confront her own prejudices, especially regarding Speaker, the first Akarak she’s ever met. The two initially have a lot of tension, but grow to be great friends over the course of the novel. Her child Tupo is a nonbinary character using xe/xyr pronouns throughout the novel. Xe’s basically a Laru teenager, and super endearing. I love xyr natural curiosity and naiveté. Definitely the “heart” of the group.

Interaction between these characters is the bread and butter of this novel. There’s very little action; instead it focuses on their differing perspectives and life experiences. It’s a gradual build as the characters grow more familiar with one another. The epilogue is brilliant, because we see the long-term effect of these characters meeting. Despite interpersonal conflict in the story, Speaker inspires Pei to make a specific decision. From this decision, Pei realizes she can help Roveg with his meeting. As a result of this, Roveg is inspired to help Speaker based on one of their earlier conversations. His help fundamentally alters Speaker’s perspective on life— and there’s an implication it will reach beyond that, to the Akarak as a whole. It’s a cascade effect, but rather than the disastrous version that happened on Gora, it’s a positive social change for the leads. That’s the kind of literary parallel that really fires me up.

I do have a few criticisms of this novel, minor and otherwise. The first is, I wish the tension between Speaker and Pei was more strongly built throughout. While I’m glad the novel isn’t all sunshine and rainbows when it comes to the character interactions, their conflict goes from an idea in the back of one’s mind to an explosive event. This is something of a nitpick because it’s otherwise well executed. I especially like that despite their interpersonal problems, they work together in the climactic events of the novel without sacrificing their respective principles.

My other criticism is a series-wide observation. Wayfarers is optimistic to a fault. As such, it’s pretty rare that we see true evil or even bad behavior in this series. On one hand, it’s nice to read something where the characters are people who want the best for everyone. But there’s a lot of dissonance here, because there are MASSIVE social problems with the GC at large. For example, we see the effects of xenophobia, war, slavery, and colonialism, but the ones who perpetuate these issues are faceless. If Chambers wants to portray good characters, that’s fine, but it strikes me as odd to build complex social issues into your society, yet exclusively portray groups of morally good people. Why would a society full of such nice, helpful groups also marginalize the Akarak, or create an entire caste of slave clones to sort through their junk? This approach comes off as a desire for nuance without committing to it.

This trend continues through the final book. The Galaxy, and the Ground Within is clearly a COVID-19 response novel (“we’re all in this together”!)— but everyone is blameless, and the government response is reasonable and timely. That’s just not how it worked in real life. So many people were (and still are!) selfish in response to COVID, often outright endangering others. Practically every government botched their response for the sake of money, leading to mass death worldwide. If Wayfarers has similar social issues to the real world, why would the response to a disaster be any different? It’s an ongoing contradiction; the Wayfarers society is simultaneously utopian and flawed, and it’s hard for me to suspend my disbelief.

As an individual novel, though, I really enjoyed The Galaxy, and the Ground Within. Like all the other books in the Wayfarers series, it’s a standalone and can be read on its own. My experience with this series has been up and down; I recommend the second and fourth books, but I’d skip one and three if I ever do a reread. There are things to like about Wayfarers in terms of worldbuilding and the creative ideas behind all the different aliens. Characterization is hit or miss, but the hits are great, and this book in particular knocked it out of the park. Chambers’ prose improves a lot over the series, and it’s nice to see how she develops as a writer. As I’ve mentioned, Wayfarers has gotten lots of positive feedback, so it’s possible you will enjoy it more than I did. But I’m looking forward to reading something new.

#taylor reads #2021 reading challenge #9/10

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