#or at the least a core cultural practice | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

zahraaziza · 3 months

Text

a call to action for everyone who is passionate about palestine:

i have no idea who this message is going to reach, but for the little time i am on this platform, i will amplify the importance of partaking in raising awareness for the palestinian cause.

since i haven't been on here for a long time, i was honestly shocked to return to a ton of informative posts, reblogged in high numbers by my mutuals, on what is happening in palestine.

this current movement on social media, the fact that people across generations are, slowly but surely, waking up to the 76 years of torment, land theft, occupation and genocide the palestinian people are subjected to, has never happened before.

it was about damn time.

everyone, let it be a die heart zionist, a willingly ignorant person or the "people" that are in charge and have all the buttons below their fingertips that could get them to put an end to all of this-

they are never ever going to stop at making you feel insignificant. they are going to downplay your efforts as an activist. they are going to make you question your integrity. they are going to bring up seemingly unrelated issues, in a deplorable effort to make you feel like the "load" that we, as activists and people that are trying to raise awareness about palestine, carry is too much of a burden, to keep going.

they'll tell you things like:

"what is my contribution going to change? we're all doomed to die anyways with how things are going"

"what could a singular dollar/ euro, that i spend, possibly do to support israel? i don't wanna miss out on (xyz item)"

"well if you're so adamant about saving the world, then why don't you go to gaza yourself?"

"yeah right, if that's the case then i would have to also care about (xyz historically oppressed group of people) and i would have to do this, this and that to raise awareness on (xyz historically oppressed group)"

never ever let these individuals in. never ever let them see you doubting your own self or your efforts as an activist.

when i tell you that standing on business has never been more crucial, you can take my word for it.

as someone who, due to the communities i belong to, has practically grown up defending this cause, i can tell you that the tides have not once started to turn the slightest bit in favor for the palestinian cause in the publics perception. most especially in the west.

now is the time to get up on our feet and make room for palestinian voices, not the seeds of doubt planted by zionists.

anyone that still genuinely believes that one, they can't do anything to bring about any change

two, believes there is any legitimacy in the existence of an "israeli state",

or three, denounces and dares to critique the forms of resistance coming from the oppressed palestinians, after five whole months of the ongoing israeli operation to annihilate them to move closer to the achievement of the "greater israel" project, is immediately disqualified in any discussions on the palestinian fight for freedom.

don't ever give your time to zionist apologists or people that try to infiltrate the pro watermelon movement, in order to gain an outlet, in which they can voice their sympathy for core ideas of the zionist movement (a right to israels existence, pseudo self defense argument, pseudo the people are not the state argument, pseudo not all israelis are settlers argument) without further notice.

now is the time of focus. partake in all the activities you can. do your part. do what is achievable.

palestinians, whether it be in the diaspora or on the ground in gaza and the west bank, don't have time for our inconsistencies.

try to control your spending habits as much as you can, try to control the pop culture (tv, music, film) you consume as much as you can. that is the very least we can do.

also, a teeny tiny, but crucial note, we all need to internalize is the fact that we need to decenter ourselves from the end goal, which is the liberation of palestine and land back to the palestinian people.

the people that are going to free palestine aren't us.

palestinians are going to free palestine. the palestinian resistance is going to free palestine.

our obligation is to facilitate that to happen. we partake in the bds boycott, put pressure on representatives of our countries and take to the streets and social media to make the voices of palestine heard.

looking inward and coming to that realization is utmost important for us as non palestinians to know our place in the bigger picture, so we can move on, organize and operate from there.

by no means am i a representative of this cause. but i am human. so i hope that you could all take something from my message.

from the river to the see, palestine will be free!!!

#free palestine #save palestine #from the river to the sea palestine will be free #activism #free sudan #free congo #free haiti #free tigray #free uyghurs #important #[♡ᵎ] 𝐳𝐚𝐡𝐫𝐚 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐬

111 notes · View notes

esamastation · 7 months

Text

Shizuroth, part ten.

(previous parts: one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine)

So much for his day off! Well, maybe expecting to get a day off so soon into a new transmigration was a bit of a big ask, but still - he'd been geared up for a day on the couch, catching up with his emails and reading through the whole tutorial section on his phone!

Which, it turns out, was actually useful once you got past the glaringly obvious and downright condescending parts. It actually explained to him where to pick up the orders he'd been making - and he'd learned a whole bunch about the SOLDIER program and the Wutai war and stuff like Materia. Very useful, and he was only halfway through it - he'd gotten distracted by the mailing lists, which were actually really interesting! Very informative in the terms of lore!

There was so much to catch up on, and he'd been looking forward to a whole day of reading and meditating, now that the Feng Shui wasn't quite so rancid. If he'd known he'd end up having guests, he would've put on some actual clothes too!

Ugh, he would really miss the convenience of having disciples. Having a barrier between himself and guests let him make himself presentable, whenever his me-time got distributed. Never mind he could just tell them, no, this master isn't accepting visitors at this time, and they'd politely sent them away without him having to do anything! So useful!

And now he's here, inhabiting a Big Bad - reduced to making his own tea and everything.

"What are you doing?" Genesis asks, watching him dubiously.

Isn't it obvious? "I am making tea," as you should be able to tell, from the tea pot!

His guests share a pointed look, and he suppresses the urge to roll Sephiroth's eyes. Like he can't see them.

"Here, let me help you with that -" the big beefy one, Angeal, begins to say, only to stop at his scoff.

"If your tea making abilities are on par with Genesis, no thank you," he says in a tone that probably has too much Qing Jing Peak Lord and not enough One-Winged Angel in it. "I got it."

"What's wrong with my tea making?" Genesis asks. "It's tea. You dunk it in hot water until it becomes brown, and then you drink it."

Genesis-bro, you're lucky it's not Shen Jiu you're facing - you'd be wearing the tea. "Hm," the version of Shen Qingqiu that is there answers wryly and pours the first cup into the sink before carrying the pot and cups to the kitchen table.

Note to self - trays, he needs at least one tea tray.

There's an awkward, confused silence as he serves the tea. "Apologies for the lack of snacks," he says and adds, pointedly, "I wasn't expecting company."

"You never are," Genesis mutters, giving his teacup an aggravated look.

"Thank you, Sephiroth," Angeal says and accepts the cup. It looks tiny in his hands, and he doesn't seem to know what to do with it. "Is this… a Wutai practice?"

Hell if he knows, though seeing as Wutai was a sort of mishmash of Chinese and Japanese aesthetic, they probably had some kind of tea culture.

"Perhaps," he says and sips his tea. "So, what can I do for you two?"

Another look shared between them. They sip their tea and then look insultingly surprised when it's not awful.

"...I heard about what happened in the labs," Angeal says, turning the cup in his hand. "Genesis told me. Are you… alright?"

Well, his core is still a puddle of cement, and by his estimation it will be weeks of cultivation before he can work on something useful. He's stuck in the body of another villain doomed to die - and resurrect, and die, and resurrect, and die… but at least it comes with a built-in excuse for inconvenient amnesia plots! This world still doesn't have the internet - but it has fast food and online shopping! He still has a wallet full of hefty, big numbers! And, one can't forget, he's an incredibly hot beefcake of a man, strongest in the setting… at least until Cloud Strife would come along!

Compared to Shen Qingqiu, Sephiroth doesn't have much to complain about. At least he doesn't have to look forward to being torn limb from limb and tortured to slow and agonising death!

He thinks briefly of Binghe and then shakes his head.

"I'm fine," he says.

Another shared, pointed, knowing look.

"You know that's not going to cut it, right?" Genesis says, setting his cup down. "Have you figured out how much you've forgotten?"

Everything and nothing. Once more.

Awkward.

"Sephiroth," Angeal says, looking at him seriously. "We're here to help you. Please, trust us - it's our duty, as your friends, to help you."

The man looks and sounds a lot like Yue Qingyuan in that moment. Sans the guilt and indulgence, but the vibes are very familiar. And, like with Yue Qingyuan, they kind of rub him the wrong way.

"Pretty sure friendship isn't supposed to be based on duty," he says, giving the man a look.

"Well, it's quicker and easier to say - and a little less likely to give you hives than the actual truth," Angeal points out.

"... Which is?"

Angeal dons on a very serious and very sincere expression. "Sephiroth," he says. "You're our friend, we're your friends, and we care about you. We're worried about you. Please believe us, we're here for you."

He instantly recoils away from that utter anime bullshit, and then glares as Genesis laughs at him. It's just so - ugh! "Next you will be telling me with the power of friendship I will regain my lost self," Sephiroth mutters. "Or that the first step to healing is accepting I have a problem. What is this, a damn intervention?" Oh, shit, maybe this is the Kingdom Hearts version after all!

"Goddess, don't give him ideas!" Genesis snorts. "His lectures are bad enough already!"

Angeal looks a little relieved, for some reason, and leans back. "And so my point is made," he says, satisfied, and folds his arms. "And my question still stands. Are you, really, alright?"

Ugh. "I feel fine."

"But are you? Are you fit for duty? If they send you to Wutai, will you be alright?"

Oh. Oh, that would be convenient, if he could use this whole thing as an excuse not to go! "If I say no, they won't send me to Wutai?"

Angeal frowns, hesitant.

"Oh, they'll still send you. But maybe not alone," Genesis says. "Probably one of us, or a bunch of Seconds, will be sent as your backup. But we'll still need to know what we might be covering you for."

He's not sure what that means, and it must show on his face, because Angeal explains. "If you, for example, have forgotten certain protocols… whoever goes in as your second will need to know when to step in."

Oh. "That seems…" he's not actually sure. Kinda bad? "If I don't know the protocols, then I shouldn't go, surely?"

"Oh, to see the day when reason and logic will find footing in Shinra military," Genesis sighs and shakes his head. "You could've had your brain completely fried, and they'll still send you, so long as you can still fight. Hell, they'll send you just to look pretty, even if you can't!"

… well, great, that's just great.

Angeal looks worried. "Can you still fight?"

Fight? Yes, probably. Fight like Sephiroth? Hmm…

He looks at the sword in the stand, now placed strategically so that it directs the room's energy properly. It has at least half a metre on Xiu Ya, and it's curved besides. And, obviously, it's not a spiritual sword.

"Perhaps we should find out," Genesis suggests, a gleam in his eyes. "Right. Who's up for sneaking into the company training room?

SY of the Wife Beam: oh no, Anime Friendship Speeches, this is so unrealistic.

#Fanfiction #ffvii #ff7 #Svsss #Shen Qingqiu #Shen Yuan #Sephiroth #genesis rhapsodos #angeal hewley

332 notes · View notes

dat-physics-boi · 8 months

Text

A leap of faith and physics

We thought for a civilization to form, one needed liquid water, a stable planet with a hot core, and tardium crystals. Apparently, this is not so.

Because we just received a vibromessage over the tachyon network from an unknown source.

Which in itself would not be too unusual. Plenty of newly realized civilizations figure out how to configure tardium to send tachyon messages across isospace. Hoping someone will answer. We always do. It always takes some time to go from simple repeating messages to understanding one another. Most civilizations don't come up with the galactic standard modulation on their own. Nor do we know their form of communication all that well, language, culture, all of that.

First contact is always a lengthy affair, until the new species is integrated into the intergalactic community. Then follows the exchange of knowledge and culture, the setting up of historical archives and sharing of starcharts. Since light travels only at luxionic speed, the charts provide a valuable look at the past. Once the new civilization has been caught up to date, things tend to settle. Updates are fewer and far in between, and culture tends to somewhat homogenize. Not completely, of course, as everyone has different living circumstances, but with all the exchange between us, some settling is bound to happen.

But we know where tardium reserves are, have felt the reverb of our scans, we know where civilizations could potentially pop up. The message we received was unusual not because its source was unknown, but because it came from a sector without any sufficient tardium deposits.

That... shouldn't even be possible!

The signal is also a bit noisy. Strange. Usually, the bigger the tardium array, the more self-stabilization should occurr. And for interstellar communication, you tend to need quite large arrays. So then why was there so much noise?

It was clearly a signal, and according to the triangulators, it came from the outer third of a dark spiral galaxy. We call them that, since they were never really observed, at least not with any isocartography. We only know they're there due to shared star charts. No idea what's going on with them at the current isotime. We can't know, without any tardium resonance to pick up.

Anyway, of course we answered. Their signal had been prime numbers, if we demodulated it correctly, followed by things we couldn't really make sense of. It was standard practice to begin communications with mathematics, and fundamental harmonics. It's strange that they did that right away, but not unheard of. We sent back primes, and then a couple of playful harmonics. Music. What we received back was weird, because we thought it was music, but it wasn't.

It turned out to be a starchart, and not just any kind. Pulsars. We sent back a chart of their galaxy, as reconstructed from several older starcharts. Then, we waited for their answer. And waited. And waited. An entire solar cycle (of our species) later, we finally got another answer.

And it just would not stop. We recognized it was a series of images, or rather, rapid successions of images, together with harmonics on a different band as well. This was video! The footage depicted a bipedal species, with symbolics next to different features. The images cycled through different body parts, with different descryptions. We had a really hard time catching and saving all the data, a task which had to be offloaded to the communal computation grid, as our own planet simply did not have the capacity to do it alone. This should have tipped us off to what we were going to be dealing with, but it didn't.

We continued, almost business as usual, just a fair bit faster. Then objects were being shown, often together with the bipedals, and their corresponding glyphics were depicted right next to them. Also, each image was accompanied by a sound file. They really made learning their language easy for us. We learned that they called themselves Humans, and their home was Earth, a planet orbiting a yellow star. They were a surface dwelling species! Those are pretty rare, as most can not survive the exposure to open space for some reason. We then sent back images and glyphics of our own, matching them in their intent. We sent images of life forms, images of our own body parts, images of objects and always accompanied by isostandard glyphics.

Usually, once communication has come to a basic understanding, the exchange of culture would begin.

But the Humans had started out with primes and starcharts, so of course, their next communication wasn't about culture. We... honestly didn't know what exactly it was, for a while. Until some of the mathematicians from across the network found patterns. They were sharing mathematics with us!

Eager to help, we sent back entire databases full of insights. They requested more soon. So we sent more. And more. And more. We wondered how they could even store all that we sent them. We asked. They sent back something we didn't understand. We hoped the mathematicians could figure it out, but nope.

Eventually, we sent steam engine configurations, as well as the corresponding heating and shunting tardion-arrays used to power them. They sent back their own designs for steam engines. And other engines that seemed similar, but shoudn't work with steam. The machine configurations, piston layouts and such, were fairly primitive. As was to be expected from a new species. But they never sent us schematics of their heating or shunting arrays. When we asked how they kept things cool without shunting arrays, they sent back another steam engine. But, when we called it that, they corrected us. What they had shown us was a heat pump. They used the opposite effect, instead of creating movement from a temperature difference, they created a temperature difference from movement. We asked them why they wouldn't just use shunting arrays. They asked what those were.

And this is how we found out why they were in dark space. Why their signal was so noisy. And why they had never depicted heating or shunting arrays in their schematics.

They had practically no tardium. They simply did not have enough of it to make arrays, as we thought all civilizations do. The largest piece of tardium they had was the centerpiece of a gigantic machine. It was about the size of a human "nail", which is a vestigial claw originally used for superior grip on one of the native plant species of their planet.

We did not know how to respond. We could not comprehend how a civilization could form without tardium crystals. They asked us if we knew where more could be found, preferably near them. We didn't understand what they meant. Then they asked us how to locate reserves. We gave them the modulations that we use to scan for the crystals' tachyon resonance.

They thanked us, and ceased their questions. Then, communication became choppy. Only occasionally would we receive an exchange of culture. Their questions about mathematics and tardium crystals ceased.

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

When we first received back an answer from the deep space tachyon dish, we were extatic. And shocked. And kind of in disbelief. Nobody had really known if it would work. Still, everyone in the control room agreed that we should make sure it was really a signal, before we dropped that bombshell to the public.

We focused a couple more dyson collectors onto the dish, and changed the signal. Instead of primes and harmonics, this time, we encoded the pulsar chart, multiple times, in every encoding we could think of, and sent them all.

Only a few hours later, we received another signal from the previous location. The encoding was our own, easily recognized. With shaky hands, i pressed the 'open image file' button.

When i was greeted by a picture of the Milky Way, everyone in the room lost their collective shit.

"Holy Fuck!" "Oh my god." Someone fainted. Multiple people cried. Nobody minded any of that.

~~~

The prime administrator creased her brow. The direct line was ringing. This better be important. "Hello? Prime administrator here." From the other end, she could hear someone suppressing tears, and whimpering: "Tachyon dish project operator here. We... we."

"Everything ok over there?", she asked. What could possibly have happened that had the scientist crying? Was there an accident with the dyson swarm or something? Did people die? No, she trusted the operator of that experiment to not call unless it mattered to the entire human race.

A wet chuckle. "Better than ok. Maam? We... We're not alone."

Not alone? What does that...? Oh. OH! oh

"Are.. you sure?" Dammit. Now even her own voice was shaking.

"We sent a pulsar chart and got a beautiful image of the Milky Way back, in the same image file type. Pretty sure at this point."

~~~

The following year was downright insane. The mere confirmation that we weren't alone in the universe spurred us all on. Artists did their best to show all sides of us, scientists got together to determine what questions we should ask, even the long obsolete military awakened from its slumber, churning out tactical analyses of possible tachyon based weaponry, and how to defend against it.

Some people were panicking, others in denial, but most relished the opportunities that might open up.

Policies were made, on how to handle aliens that would come to the solar system. Tachyon mechanics, an until now unproven theory, made leaps and bounds, scientists working as hard as they could to understand it better.

The dyson collectors were turned to multiple new research projects, powering large machines that channeled vibrations into the tiny crystals we had found to pick up on tachyon vibrations. The largest one that we had discovered while asteroid mining was still in the communication dish, but the smaller shrapnel, a couple millimeters in size at the most, were being utilized.

Eventually, after a year was up, communications resumed. The linguists sent data, and worked closely with the astronomers that had made the initial transmissions. We also received back data, and the scientific community devoured every piece of information. We learned their language as fast as we could.

But our requests for the sharing of scientific knowledge appeared to fall on deaf ears. Whenever we sent natural constants, or physical laws, we got nothing back. Well, almost. Our prodding did yield one answer: How to locate the crystals. Which were apparently common? Though our scans painted a different picture. We did have some scattered about the asteroid belt, yes. But the largest one we detected was only 3cm in diameter. A little bigger than the one in the communication dish, sure, but not that much.

We came to accept this, figuring that maybe there was some kind of prime directive that forbade the sharing of further technology. Actually, perhaps we leaned a bit too far into our Star Trek analogy. Because most of us would not get it out of our heads to try to build a warp drive. Well, not really a spacetime bending drive, but something that could go faster than light. Because, obviously, thanks to our discovery, we now knew that while the speed of light may be finite, the speed of information was not.

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

After ten cycles of cultural exchange, the humans sent a request for isocoordinates of the nearest known civilization to their own. This request kind of drowned in the noise, we didn't really think about it much, we just transmitted our coordinates. Turns out, the nearest ones were us, in what the Humans call the Andromeda Galaxy.

Shortly after the request, they went totally vibrosilent. We tried and tried to contact them, but to no avail. This, while tragic, was a reality of civilization, though. Extinction events could always happen. Sometimes the affected civilization would realize in advance and send a couple warnings, but nobody could help them from afar, of course. So that's what we figured happened to Humanity. Maybe their sun blew up, or they got knocked away from it by a passing object, anything could have happened.

Many cycles passed. I had aged, my once young and springy exoskeleton now wobbly and soft, though my mind was still sharp enough to crew a communications array.

None of us were prepared for the schockwave resonating through our sensor grids. Multiple arrays straight up shattered. Luckily, as big as they were, there was nobody close to them, so no deaths. What the rest of them picked up though made no sense. We could determine there was a pulse, but no normal communication had that level of power, nor resonance.

Then, half a planetary rotation later, there was a new luminance in the sky. We were about to renew our arrays and update our starchart, when the light source moved. Toward the planet.

What?

And then, my assigned communications array resonated.

"This is the Human vessel Enterprise, calling anyone on the planet. Can you read us?" the crystal sang in choppy English, the language of the Humans. The ones we thought were extinct.

I scuttled to my post at the resonator, tuning it to reply:

"This is communications, we read you, but i don't understand? We are recovering from an unprecedented resonance pulse that shattered multiple arrays, sorry if the modulation is a bit off."

The answer was swift: "Sorry about that, our engines are a bit out of tune at this point. That pulse might have been us. Glad to hear you all down there, is anyone injured?"

"Your engines? And uh. No, nobody injured."

"Yes our engines, again, we apologize for that. But glad to know everyone is alright.

Requesting permission to land on the surface."

This was a momentous occasion, which i didn't realize until later on. The entire tachyon network would eventually refer to this exact communication as a reference time. This exact moment would come to be known as 0:0 PFJ

0 Cycles and 0 rotations Past First Jump.

The only thing i remember is absently giving permission, not quite understanding what exactly they were requesting here. If i had, i would have convened with the councils beforehand.

Then, the cave began to shake. It wasn't coming from any of the arrays. It was coming from the surface.

~~~

They. They were here. The Humans were here. On the surface. Of. Of our planet. What? How?!

Most importantly, why?!

Then i remembered the stories about their exploration of the surface of their own planet. How they had sent people to their poles, despite their biology not being fit to survive there. And several did die! How they climed mountains. Made pressurized vessels to dive below the surface of their open ocean. We asked them why. They told us.

I realized at that moment, not how they were here. But why.

"Because we could, and no human had been there before," they had answered back then.

#humans are space orcs #haso #fanfic #long post #my writing

365 notes · View notes

vibeshiftsurvivor · 1 month

Note

in your opinion, what are some pros and cons of arranged marriage

arranged marriage is unethical—there are no pros. it is a violation of fundamental and core autonomy that is the right of every human. i can hear some of you about to say “there’s a difference between arranged marriage and forced marriage. if they both consent, it can work!” and i think that’s absolute bullshit.

to believe that consent changes the entire nature of a marriage to somebody that you did not choose to build with and marry on your own is naive at best, dangerous at worst. the “arranged marriage vs forced marriage” division-through-consent can only exist if you project western standards onto a practice that’s deeply rooted in cultural behaviours, expectations, and norms. it works on the assumption that the people within these cultures have a similar understanding of and capacity for marital consent as westerners do, which they do not always have.

even as a first-generation canadian with desi and persian heritage, i grew up with obedience towards my parents as an intrinsic way of life — i did not know how to individuate myself and what i wanted for myself from what my desi mother wanted for me. you have to cultivate the ability to individuate yourself and your wants from your parents and that is not something that’s easy or even possible to do when your culture has a “what will people say?” mentality and encourages sacrificing your needs in the service of “what’s good for the family.”

i can tell you with absolute certainty that my mother wants to marry my brother to a beautiful, polite, smart woman because my mother is embarrassed to have a lesbian daughter while all my cousins have gotten married with at least two kids each and she needs to prove to herself / our desi community that she hasn’t failed as a parent. at least one kid turned out normal. it is not in honour of my brother's wants and dreams out of life—it’s just to maintain status and avoid ostracism.

let's go beyond it—you do the damn thing, you're married to somebody your family or community chose. how many women have privilege of living within a westernized territory where, if you absolutely needed to, you could escape your family or community and gain the support and protection of outsiders? even in canada, my mother was belittled for leaving my father and their arranged marriage—my father was deported for taking part in gang initiations and arms trafficking, but my mother STILL did not have support from the community to leave my father because divorce is stigmatized and you’re expected to work through it.

#i feel v strongly abt this.

55 notes · View notes

dduane · 1 month

Note

I've been enjoying the recent Middle Kingdoms works, and was especially taken by the ritual hospitality in "The Landlady". It seemed reminiscent of traditional Irish phrases I've encountered translated into English. If there any influence? To what degree has Ireland leaked into your understanding of the Middle Kingdoms and their cultures?

Re: the Irish influence: there's occasionally some effect on casual idiomatic usages in characters' general conversation, yes. In fact, while doing some editing work on TOTF3: The Librarian just a day or three ago, I caught Freelorn's edgy friend-who-killed-him-that-one-time, Sem, using phrases that unquestionably were not just Irish-originated, but Ulster-originated. :) (And plainly this is @petermorwood's fault. But since the character seems comfortable with the usage, and from where I'm sitting it sounds right for him, I'm not going to mess with it.)

As regards Irish influence on the Kingdoms' formal hospitality-language and culture, though, I'm not seeing much evidence of that. Not that I haven't done a fair amount of reading about Brehon law and other adjacent matters over time as a matter of casual research. But none of that seems to be reflected in any of the notes I made on the Kingdoms' cultures while developing them.

The connection I am pretty sure of is to translations of stock epithets and phrases (and the presence of various general concepts and actions) associated with the practice of formal xenia in ancient Greece, particularly as described in the Odyssey.

In particular, the Kingdoms' worldview seems to share a core concept with the ancient Greek one as regards xenia. This is the idea that personified Deity is walking around in the world, making itself responsible for the protection of people who call on others' hospitality. Both cultures have the idea that people's behavior may be tested by the gods—or God(dess)—to see how well they're obeying the rules set out regarding the welcome properly due to strangers and those in need.*

In the Kingdoms, the concept has had what seemed to me like a more or less logical expansion into the relationship between the heads of organized Houses—what we could equate with local familial lordships, though the actuality in the Realms is a lot less patriarchially hierarchical and more complex—and the people who come to hold land of/from the Houses' heads.

So it made sense to me that there would be basic gestures and phrases that express agreement to various aspects of the contract between a House's head and their holders. Since both writing and literacy died off during that alternate Earth's domination by the Dark, and had to be revived and relearned after its destruction, this contract was for a long time always verbal. Over the centuries, ritualized concrete practices—the exchange of bread and water between Holders and head of House, for example—grew up alongside the spoken content to make it plain that everybody understood the nature and intention of the contract. These, too, I derived from material in the Odyssey and other works of that period: situations, for example, where simply eating something that someone else has given you is itself confirmation that the contract between host and guest is in place and working.

Anyway: thanks for the question. Hope this helps!

*But then readers of the MK books will of course recognize this as the kind of thing the Goddess already does in Her world—not being one of those lurking-and-skulking sorts of deity who leaves you wondering all your life about whether they're real or not. Her basic contract with Her creation already contains the concept that everybody gets to meet Her personally at least once; and—either in Her proper person, or in the form of other people—sometimes more than once. Because yeah, She's busy... but what's the point of being a deity if you don't have the time to sit down with your creation for drinks every now and then...?

#Middle Kingdoms #Middle Kingdoms meta #cultural issues #linguistic issues

51 notes · View notes

highfantasy-soul · 2 months

Text

Ok, here's my breakdown of Jessie Gender's video on NATLA. I decided not to post this as a comment on the video because I just don't feel like it would be productive, but I needed to refute the points she was making as she's a quite respected (at least, I really respect her opinions on things) video essayist and I felt like this video was...wild.

So, I guess it's best to just watch along with her video and read my commentary side-by-side because I don't give much context for my points, this is just a stream-of-consciousness style response.

To be perfectly clear - this is not intended to be a 'hate post' about her, this is just me feeling very strongly that the interpretations of things she had in her video needed to be talked about and another perspective given.

I shift from saying 'you' to 'Jessie' like halfway through (when I decided not to post this as a comment) but I don't feel like going through and changing all those, so yeah, just ignore it.

1) you insulted a martial arts kata as 'a mildly choreographed dance' - it shows a complete lack of understanding of other cultures and a desire to take a quick dig at something you didn't like in a way that insults a cultural practice. I really didn't expect to hear that sort of comment from you so it was pretty jarring when you said it. Ironically, you say that Sokka was wrong to assume the Kyoshi warrior's kata was a 'dance' because that's 'a girl's place' when...you literally made the same insult with not a hint of recognition just a few minutes earlier about a movie you didn't like…

2) I felt that the live-action really deepened a lot of the themes from the OG - take Iroh's storyline for example, fleshing out Suki's character so she's...you know, her own character and not just there to teach Sokka a lesson, and delving into how hard of decisions you have to make during a century long war. Idk, I'm just really curious as to how you felt quite literally the polar opposite of me

3) Sokka's sexism: the animated show handled it one way, but Sokka's treating women as 'less than' wasn't a core part of his character - in all honesty, it doesn't actually make any sense as he was raised by Hakoda (who we never see being sexist), Gran Gran (who left the NWT due to its sexism), and was surrounded mostly by older women. The sexism storyline in the cartoon was to teach a very blatant lesson to kids "don't be sexist, boys!" while the live-action made Sokka's struggles much more realistic and in line with the world building: he struggled with non-traditional masculinity and if he was 'allowed' to be that way while they were at war. For me, it's a much more important message for young men today than the very dated 'women can fight, too!' message that was needed in the early 2000s. It's very odd to me how you claim that Sokka always taking charge isn't ever challenged when...in literally the scene you're showing when you say that, Katara challenges him.

4) I'm sorry, but I cannot possibly see how Suki is her own person more in the animated version than in the live-action. She was literally created solely to teach Sokka a lesson and have no character traits other than 'I'm a strong woman warrior' where 'woman' means 'I like romance' rather than...I'm a whole person with my own wants and desires and fears that have nothing to do with a love interest as is shown in the live-action. You keep comparing the animated and live action as though they were trying to tell the same story about Sokka's journey with his role in the world, but they weren't. Of course Suki's attitude toward him is going to be different, of course he's not going to need to tell her 'you're right, I'm a dumb, terrible man, pretty please could you teach me', because it's a different dynamic they're going for in the live-action.

5) When Sokka pinned her in their lesson in the live-action idk how you got that she was 'demuring herself' to Sokka? Just as in the cartoon, he managed to get the upper hand - which she promptly took back, teaching a lesson along the way. She didn't make herself less so Sokka could feel secure in his masculinity - it's a bit odd you feel that showing respect to someone and helping them learn is 'demuring yourself'. I much prefer them respecting each other than the animated version of them seeing each other as less than and then...her giving him a kiss to prove 'see, I'm a romance-loving girl, too'.

5) To me, Suki beating Sokka in the live-action when the first sparred wasn't her being mean, it was her not understanding how much less experience Sokka had fighting - she genuinely thought he would be able to hold his own against her because he had told her he was the best warrior in his tribe. Her face clearly shows 'I have no idea what I did wrong - I thought that type of sparring is what everyone did for fun, why was he uncomfortable with it?' Not really sure why you made the connection that us seeing Sokka's abs was meant to indicate that his insecurities are unfounded when...literally the whole season shows us that Sokka's struggles aren't "end goal = big strong warrior" but rather "you don't have to be a big strong warrior to help, you are allowed to delve into other aspects of who you are and those are just as important". Just because he has muscles, also doesn't mean he's a competent fighter - those two things aren't the same.

6) It feels like you took certain scenes and made wildly left-field interpretations of them and then claimed that that's what the show was intending you to take from it. It's like saying that the scene that cuts from Sokka saying he bets Momo tastes like chicken and cutting to the scene that shows people cooking meat actually means the showrunners are saying Sokka is going to cook and eat Momo this season and that will then give him the powers of the Avatar. It's very clearly not what the showrunners were saying, but if you interpret it in the least forgiving way and then make a wild leap off that, then yeah, you might get upset with that made-up interpretation. Same with the reasons they didn't put Sokka in the Kyoshi outfit - there is 0 evidence of them nixing that part due to transphobia. I didn't see it as any malicious intent, just a streamline of the plot so Sokka doesn't have to go change before running away on Appa.

7) I feel that the live-action DOES challenge the Fire Bender's colonialist rhetoric in the Kyoshi Island episode, but the animated...doesn't? At all? It's solely about girl power - and as we see with Azula and all the women fire nation soldiers, the fire nation doesn't seem too caught up in sexism. You know what they are caught up in? Which you mention? Bender supremacy. And that's what the live-action directly addresses with Sokka being so surprised that Suki is able to hold her own so well even though she isn't a bender. He's seen just how powerful benders are (they destroyed his home, killed his mom, and beat his ass last episode) and it's in line with the worldbuilding that he feels like he's already several steps behind in being a good enough warrior because he doesn't have bending (a storyline that isn't brought up until an episode in season 3 of the animated show). To me, the live-action Kyoshi storyline refutes the Fire Nation's imperialistic themes much better than the animated show does.

8) The live-action's lesson wasn't that might makes right - Suki never did any strength training exercises with Sokka, she taught him how to control his body and use his opponent's strength against them. Fight smarter, not harder. Know what you're fighting for, not just that you want to fight. Even if you don't have the resources of your opponent, it doesn't mean you're doomed from the start. That last one is particularly poignant when we look at how much stronger the Fire Nation is than the other nations they're subjugating: it's the classic 'oppressed rising up against their oppressors and not winning because they just punched harder, but because they used what they had to fight for a righteous cause and didn't just give up because the other side was more powerful'. That's quite directly what the live-action was saying - the exact lesson you thought it should be saying. You have to do some serious extrapolating from the animated episode to get to those themes while the live-action drew that concept up to the forefront immediately.

9) Aang's journey to accept his Avatar responsibility and the previous Avatar's enforcing this is directly from the animated series. Like, directly. It's not the live-action show saying 'colonialism good'. Showing the Avatar power wasn't the showrunners saying 'see, this OP is good and cool', it was to show the magnitude of it - something the animated show does too. The live-action does talk about how terrifying and damaging that power is - literally the previous episode has Aang almost toss Katara and Sokka off the mountain and they mention it. Just earlier in that episode, Sokka talks about Aang almost killing them and Aangs major hang up about embracing it is that he might hurt someone. Kyoshi argues that not learning to control it will hurt more people and - y'all, individuals are allowed to have their own views of the power that everyone doesn't have to agree with. What happened to 'make strong characters with flaws in their world view?' did you all of a sudden decide that's NOT actually good writing? So having the Avatar who used her powers liberally, and as the video states, used them maybe too much, telling Aang that he needs to use his own powers a lot is…consistent characterization? Which is then challenged by Roku later as he tells Aang that all the Avatars are different and have different views on the power of the Avatar. Why is Kyoshi's opinions suddenly taken as wholly accurate in representing what the show overall is trying to say? She's giving her opinion to Aang - an opinion that has some truth to it, but also some flaws that Aang will need to navigate on his own journey. Kyoshi and Roku's stories are not compressed all into Kyoshi - only the aspect of Roku taking control of Aang and using his body to fuck shit up in the Avatar state is compressed - not the ideological aspects of it

10) Sokka supporting Katara's fight against Pakku is a culmination of his arc to let go of obsessively protecting her and actually letting her decide her course of action herself - because his arc was different in the show than in the animated series. Trying to say that the reason he told her to kick Pakku's ass didn't fit because he was never sexist wasn't the reason - it WAS a culmination of his arc, you just refused to see it by clinging to the old one.

11) The whole argument as to 'why show genocide' I already made a post about, but to condemn the depiction based on the way you interpret the showrunner's quote is disingenuous. Again, it's taking something and making up a narrative around it so you can feel justified in hating it. It's important to show a culture before they are killed because they deserve to be seen as people, not just martyrs. They had lives. They lived and were happy and had a rich culture. They were not just 'fated to die and be told of in history books'. Genocide is disgusting and hard to watch - it's calculated and brutal. Showing that drives home just how awful the actions of the fire nation are in practice rather than just theory. Yes, the airbenders fighting was 'cool' to see - in the way that all action is 'cool' to see. But no, the genocide wasn't played as 'look at neat fighting!' in the live-action. It was shown as brutal and terrible, horrifying and surprising, and the airbenders didn't deserve what happened to them. It also gives you a direct view of what the fire nation is capable of when they come to the south pole and the northern water tribe: you've SEEN the devastation first hand and you DON'T want to see it again. The threat isn't theoretical, it's very real.

11.5) To take a CHILD'S quote about the sequence being 'so cool' is absolutely WILD to me. GORDON IS A CHILD! No, he's not going to have the most sophisticated and politically nuanced sound bite to say about the action sequence in an interview. HE'S A CHILD! Holy mother of god. To use that to bolster your point that 'that's the way it was intended to be viewed and how everyone is going to view it!' is just…..holy shit. You're taking media interpretation from A CHILD??????? Do you think, if we interviewed a child about the OG show, they'd talk about the fucking colonialism??? How Azula was abused too and didn't deserve her fate?? Or do you think they'd say "The fight between the Fire Lord and Aang at the end was so cool!" Honestly thought Jessie Gender wouldn't try to bolster her interpretation with a quote from A CHILD, but I guess here we are…

12) It's wild that she makes the point that conservatives are incapable of reading deeper than just the surface-level visuals of a story while…she's doing literally the same thing just in the opposite way. The live-action depicted the genocide, therefore they MUST just want to 'cool' visual of firebenders fighting airbenders! There can't be any other things at play here! No story being told whatsoever because all it is is spectacle! That's all I see! Ironically, she's falling into the same trap of not looking deeper at why one might depict the horrors of genocide and the battle against people with no army.

13) Aang actually treats the genocide as more immediate in the live-action than he does the animated show. Most animated episodes, you can forget that it even happened, while in the animated show, it pops up a lot in some unexpected ways like when he's uncomfortable waterbending because Gyatzo had always been his teacher, when he yells at Bumi for making light of the genocide, his desire to get to the north to keep it from happening again, when Zhao proclaims that he can wipe out an entire race of benders and Aang says he knows exactly what that's like, when he constantly stays to help people because 'I couldn’t help my own people, but I can help them'. Not only through Aang, but also through every child in the series - like with the animated show, the live-action shows how kids are shaped by the generational trauma of the war plus the immediate effects of it: Teo ready to fight, Jet making compromises to fight back, Sokka shouldering too much responsibility so young, Katara's trauma around her mother's death and her waterbending, Bumi losing his faith, Zuko and Azula being shaped by their father to be the perfect weapons to continue the war.

14) Interpreting Zuko's comment of 'sometimes the weak can become strong' right after his father mutilated him for showing compassion is not meant to be taken as a thesis that 'Zuko just needs to get better at fighting, this is what the story is saying, I am very smart'. It's showing HIS CURRENT view of the world - the idea that his father has taught him that he needs to be strong and Zuko has bought that and wants desperately to earn his father's love. Zuko's story through the series is showing that 'strength' isn't what his father defines it as (or what Jessie defines it as in her video) but rather it's strength of character - compassion is not weakness, it's strength, and no, that doesn't mean if you have compassion you punch harder.

15) The live-action show makes the Fire Nation MUCH more nuanced than the animated show - we see how Ozai and Azula aren't just maniacal villains, but we see the pain and torment their upbringings deal out to them, and in turn, deal to others. It shows the cycle much more clearly and showing fire nation citizens who disagree fleshes out the culture even more.

16) Jet was much more nuanced in the live-action as he's RIGHT about the mechanist being a spy and the king being lax in his duties. He's created a community of people to try to heal from the harm the fire nation has caused them and he gives actual good advice to Katara, helping her emotionally heal and remember the good aspects of her mother.

17) The argument that 'the live action is trying to ignore the past' is a massively simplified narrative. The live-action is showing Aang stuck in the past, unable to take large steps into the future. Pain, trauma and loss can anchor us in the past - it's HEALTHY to keep moving forward rather than only thinking about the pain in the past (ie Jet's advice to Katara). Aang was continually trying to avoid the genocide happening again while simultaneously trying to get past Avatars to do the big hard work for him. His lesson is not to 'forget the past just live in the now' but rather, don't let fear of what has happened in the past stop you from making a difference in the future. Yes, war is loss and suffering, but if you get paralyzed by not being able to prevent that, the fire nation will just keep marching across the world. It's about not letting the past immobilize you to the point where you stop fighting back against oppression - or getting together with a community to help you fight for fear they'll die just like those in the past did.

17.5) Letting go of the past is a buddhist philosophy that is a lot more complicated than Jessie is making it out to be here. Just as in the animated series, characters can come to realizations about lessons they need to learn while still taking seasons to fully learn the lesson - just because Aang said he's ready to let go of the past doesn't mean he's now ignoring it and all will be smooth sailing. It means he's ready to start taking steps to do that and approach life in a healthier way. It's wild that Jessie took the direct quote "I need to let go of the past to focus on my future" and then states that the show is saying "the character's aren't seeing future possibilities and hope, they're focused on the now" when, quite literally, the quote she just referenced….is talking about building a better future.

18) Then, she references later seasons (Aang in the fire nation school) a lot to indicate that the live-action is ignoring those concepts from the OG when….we're talking about season 1 here - not season 3. Why is the world not allowed to organically grow? Why would you make the argument that 'season 1 didn’t explicitly deal with these concepts that aren't brought up until season 3, so therefore they are ignoring them'?

19) Jessie uses a lot of clips from a Daily Wire (conservative talkshow) guy as if that has anything at all to do with the live-action ATLA. She's trying to draw a line between that ideology and the ideology of the show and I feel like she had to bastardize the NATLA show in order to do that so horribly, her interpretation of the story and themes is completely unrecognizable to what is actually shown on screen.

I usually agree with her takes on media, but this video was not it. Every interpretation she had, I interpreted the scenes/lessons in the exact opposite way and, I believe, I interpreted it closer to what the showrunners intended.

Oh no, i just had a thought: this is The Last Jedi all over again! I saw so many negative interpretations of that movie that I just sat and scratched my head over like "How in the WORLD did you get to that conclusion??" when I thought my own interpretation was just...the obvious way to view the movie. I had no idea my views on it would be so controversial. Here we are again. Time is a flat circle. Life is a meaningless cycle of disappointment and confusion, neverending.

#natla #natla positivity #netflix avatar #netflix atla #this isn't intended as hate to Jessie Gender - only a response to her publicly posted video

47 notes · View notes

waitmyturtles · 11 months

Text

Pain, Suffering, and Narratives in Some Asian Dramas/BLs (An Utterly Un-Scholastic, Highly Personal Big Meta)

I’ve been meditating on the topic of pain and suffering in dramas over the last few weeks, as conversations across Tumblr have been taking place regarding the success (or not) of the Our Skyy 2 x Bad Buddy x A Tale of Thousand Stars episodes. I can’t help but connect these thoughts to some of the fabulous older shows I’ve been watching in my Old GMMTV Challenge watchlist project, where I’m catching up on older Thai BLs in order to better understand the fabulous works that we’re seeing airing now. This Big Meta in part comes out of my having just watched He’s Coming To Me and Dark Blue Kiss, but I was also very deeply inspired by a Japanese BL that many of us here have fallen in love with, Our Dining Table, that features a poignant moment recognizing that feeling pain is a necessity in feeling love for another person -- that accepting pain and suffering is a part of the life we decide to live, from an Asian cultural perspective.

I’m using some big generalities here, so let me explain where I’m coming from. During certain large portions of my life, I’ve explored either becoming a Buddhist, or at least practiced Buddhism, particularly Zen Buddhism. While the world of Western capitalism has unfortunately taken up the majority of my current time/life, I do still have a desire to learn more about the history of Buddhism and try to incorporate some kind of practice in my daily life.

The reason why I offer that caveat is that a core of teaching in at least the spaces of Buddhism that I’ve been privy to, is the recognition of pain and suffering in one’s life. Suffering is a core tenet of Buddhism, one of the Four Noble Truths, and one that a human being does good deeds or makes merit in light of (as we see quite often in our beloved BLs) in order to receive “good” karma for a happy existence in this life or the next. (Again, mad generalizations here, but you get the point.)

I’ve been thinking about this because I often wonder if us Western viewers (I count myself as one, as an Asian-American) are too demanding for linear, clean, direct, and/or happy communication, narratives, and endings, particularly in the realm of Asian BLs, in regards to either romantic love and/or love from one’s nuclear parents/family. I think about this very much in the context of the Asian BL genre, where queerness -- as accepted, OR NOT, in Asian societies, friend groups, and families -- may indicate an existence that is not necessarily a happy one.

There are other issues by way of demands from fans that often determine the outcome of a BL script, such as shipper demands for overtly sexual content. What I’m proposing here is that, in my opinion, some of the best dramas/BLs from Asia are rooted in a reflection and acceptance of the tenets of suffering as a natural part of Asian life and, subsequently, Asian art. I further propose that because of that acceptance of suffering, that we — Western viewers — are often left potentially feeling unsatisfied or unfulfilled by a particular ending of a drama. I posit that the linear/binary/clear outcomes that Western audiences so often demand are limiting in comparison to the non-binary, non-linear journeys and conclusions of art that Asian filmmakers can reach in their work, vis à vis à general cultural understanding that pain and suffering are a part of daily life.

Before I give a drama example, let me use one from real life, that is so very often reflected in art: filial piety. I wrote about filial piety quite a bit in my reviews of Double Savage, a non-BL from Thailand that focused on the plight of a discarded son who was judged by his father as a jinx.

When I try to explain to Western friends that Asian parental love is very often conditional (I myself have experienced it, and my experiences mirror those of my friends), I experience a lot of denial.

“There is NO WAY your parents don’t love you.” “There is NO WAY your parents will ever give up on you. Even if they treat you badly, they love you.” “In the West, we ALWAYS end up loving our children. That’s what society demands of PARENTS. We’re CONDITIONED to be like that.”

A major cultural competency issue that Western therapists face with Asian clients is when Western therapists say to Asian clients who are having family issues, “why don’t you just talk to your parents about what you’re feeling?” Talking to Asian parents about a child’s feelings, in MANY instances, is not realistic. The language of that kind of emotion may not even exist. AND, there are unspoken social boundaries AGAINST children having those conversations with their parents in the first place. To have those conversations would very well ROCK the foundation on which Asian families are structured.

My parents may love me — the dad in Double Savage mayyyy have loved his son? — but an Asian parent like that, so rooted in their JUDGEMENT AGAINST an offspring, will often not budge. Time and time again, my Asian friends and family will talk about how they felt unloved as a child -- especially if their skin was darker, if their siblings were more successful in school, if they were a middle child, etc. VERY often, our Asian parents don’t know what us children do by way of work -- my parents don’t know anything about my work, for instance.

The Western perspective and social demands for a STYLE of loving one’s children in a very particular, involved, and empathic way -- those cultural expectations don’t necessarily exist in Asia. So we see parents like, say, Non’s father in Dark Blue Kiss; or Korn’s father in Double Savage; or ESPECIALLY Uea’s mom in Bed Friend, a fantastic example of an Asian parent who takes PERSONALLY every aspect of her son’s social and sexual “differences,” blames him for those differences, and accuses him of ruining HER life vis à vis how he was born to be the way that he is.

And yet, at least for Korn and Uea -- we see those children, for the majority of their dramas, continuing to devote themselves to their parents. Because filial piety -- the Asian cultural and social demand for RESPECTING one’s parents above all else -- is existent and EXPECTED of almost EVERY living Asian, no matter where you live on the continent or your various diasporas.

The equation is: even if you suffer at the hands of your parents, even if you don’t receive unconditional love and empathy from your parents, you must sacrifice in order to respect and serve your parents. You can imagine how much therapy even one individual would need to process that -- if that individual even ALLOWED themselves to think about what was happening, which oftentimes doesn’t even happen.

I’m not saying that filial piety EQUALS suffering. What I’m saying is that the practice of filial piety will almost always ASSUME a level of suffering that one must undertake to participate in the practice of honoring one’s parents.

Where I felt this *assumption* most strongly and recently was in my viewings of three Aof Noppharnach shows: He’s Coming To Me, Dark Blue Kiss, and Our Skyy 2 x Bad Buddy x A Tale of Thousand Stars, but I think Double Savage and Bed Friend also fall into this category as well. Very quickly:

1) HCTM was rooted in storytelling around the practice of Thai-Chinese Buddhism. Thun’s suffering was apparent: he was fatherless, he was gay, and could see ghosts. AS WELL, Med’s suffering was that he didn’t know how he had died, and why he was being held in purgatory before moving on to his next life.

2) Dark Blue Kiss was rooted in internalized homophobia. My big review of DBK is coming next week, but quickly, between the two main couples (PeteKao and SunMork), you had internalized homophobia playing various roles of emotional INTERPLAY, that AFFECTED the external emotional demonstrations of the character -- particularly in Pete, who was viscerally working on becoming a calmer person, but was triggered by Kao’s internalized homophobia to not be open about their relationship, and Pete’s jealousy subsumed him. DBK is the only show I’m mentioning here that has a clean happy ending for all couples involved, but more on that in a second.

3) OS2 x BBS x ATOTS, on the Pat and Pran side, was rooted in a clear but indirect conflict between Pat and Pran about openness and independence. If Pat and Pran had been open about their relationship (à la Pete and Kao) -- would Pat have needed to sound tough to his engineering friends that Pran *depended* on Pat to close loops? And on the Tian and Phupha side -- there is plenty we don’t know about Phupha’s past to make judgements, but I think it’s safe to say that he grew up in such a rural environment in Thailand as to make him assume that coming out and meeting his partner’s parents was an non-reality for the majority of their relationship, until the end of the OS2 series. The journey to get to the point of the ring was a tough one, particularly for Tian, who wanted more openness.

4) Both Double Savage and Bed Friend seem to end happily, especially for Uea and King in Bed Friend. But: Uea loses his parent. Yes -- he NEEDED to lose his mom, because of how toxic she was. But from an Asian family structure perspective -- he only has his sister by the end of that traumatic journey, which is not necessarily an IDEAL or complete ending. The bonds among Korn, Win, and Rung are permanently affected by the behavior of Korn and Win’s dad in Double Savage. The ending is a copacetic one -- they have survived, and will learn to survive together, after all the trauma they have lived through. But it’s not necessarily a HAPPY one. Both of these endings do not necessarily reflect the holistic ideal of the Asian family structure.

I emphasize all of this because, as I said earlier: I think a Western demand to CLOSE LOOPS in Asian dramas is unrealistic.

In Asian life (big generalization, but let me roll with it): you are angry at your parents, and you process it internally, very often without any help, and after a couple days, things go back to the way they were. The children do not demand change from their parents.

In OS2 x BBS, what I DIDN’T SEE -- and, from this framework, what I argue that I DIDN’T *NEED* TO SEE -- were any clarifying conversations between Pat and Pran about how either of them would CHANGE for their relationship. The biggest confession we got was Pat telling Pran, “without you, there is no me,” and Pran quietly agreeing (thank you to @lurkingteapot and @dimplesandfierceeyes for the incredible post on the improved translation of “I can’t live without you”).

But throughout the episodes, we saw their existence together, and arguably, their conditions -- how each of them has organized himself to comport to the other’s immediate needs. How Pran’s larger burden of keeping in the closet to keep his nuclear family structure stable kept them from being totally out, and how Pran designed fibs to be able to have at least one public demonstration of love between him and Pat on stage. They know they cannot solve intergenerational trauma in the span of a series. They’re still closeted two years later. And throughout all of this: how Pat digests Pran’s needs, and keeps his (Pat’s) own needs for openness at bay. We know he feels pain, too, when he makes his confession to Pran in Pha Pun Dao. We know he’s watching Pran as Pran hesitates to put on the bruise cream.

I feel that Pat’s acceptance of this existence is both heart-rending and utterly beautiful from the perspective of seeing Aof’s work as *Asian* art. I feel like, as an Asian, that I KNOW, that PAT KNOWS, what Pran has to lose. Pran has A LOT to lose. And so, Pat -- instead of demanding for outing and openness -- will hold what Pran needs him to hold. He knows when Pran is grumpy, and needs to be grumpy. And Pran’s got a lot to deal with. He’s got so much that he’ll need to go to Singapore, likely to get separation from his mother -- and that will result in him and Pat being separated (and I’m intentionally not analyzing Pran’s need for space from Pat here, but I think we can safely argue that, too, as Pat’s helpful attitude may smother Pran at times) (and there’s also the issue of the nuclear pain that Pat himself may feel at losing trust in his father for his father’s past foibles).

After the OS2 episodes, I didn’t need to know THE REASONS, the stark REASONING for why Pran needed to go to Singapore -- because, indirectly, it was already very clear to me that these young men were already holding tremendous burdens. Singapore, for Pran AND for Pat, could have ultimately been a motivator for growth. But I don’t need to know this. All I know is that they continue to have various levels of pain that they will be dealing with in their nascent adult lives.

While Dark Blue Kiss ULTIMATELY had happy endings -- how it got there was PAINFUL. Kao was ROOTED in fear that he would upend his family’s stability, while being the breadwinner. He was held back by extremely traditional role expectations of an older son. And he had no communication with his mother about straying from those roles. Pete’s dad served as the first -- and, I’d argue, maybe BL’s first -- paradigm-breaker as a parent, being SO open about his son’s queerness as to encourage healthy sex practices. But what I argue in this thesis is that up until the very last, bitter end, Kao was relegated to ASSUME that he would live in pain. His expectation was that Pete would ride with him. Pete couldn’t take it anymore and bubbled over. And Kao was forced to make a decision, for Pete’s sake, literally, to BE open, and to save the relationship. That shit ain’t easy.

Lots of folks who have read my posts on this site know that I appreciate a good Asian drama rooted in family and/or community trauma, like 10 Years Ticket. It’s the way in which Asian filmmakers depict this trauma that speaks very much to my life, my culture, and my viewpoint on what’s realistic in this world, and how that reality can be depicted in art. What I’ve found in watching Asian dramas is... I don’t always want clean endings. I don’t always want loops closed.

Sometimes, Asian kids can’t talk to their parents (Pran, Kao). If you grow up like that, you don’t immediately learn the language of intimacy for your family members, your friends, your lovers (Pran’s struggles after BBS/ep5, Thun’s coming out and not knowing the words for it). It might be EASY, or culturally UNQUESTIONABLE, to not argue with your parents about the ways in which they engage with their children (Korn, Win, Pran). Sometimes, to make a break in order to survive, you need to leave a toxic family member behind, which is NOT an ideal scenario (Uea).

Sometimes, you lose the love of your life (Ueda-san in Our Dining Table). Sometimes, you fall in love with someone — and you find that you can’t *exist* without them (Pat to Pran). And you have to live with the pain. I might even posit that the risk of that pain makes the love you have, either for the person living or the person passed, that much more meaningful to you.

I watch Asian dramas because I don’t feel like Asian filmmakers are subject to the Western demand to clean up all emotionally questionable loose ends. This is not When Harry Met Sally. Harry and Sally should have only remained friends, and not gotten married -- even Nora Ephron and Rob Reiner knew that -- but they also realized that Western audiences would not accept such an ending.

“The script initially ended with Harry and Sally remaining friends and not pursuing a romantic relationship because she felt that was "the true ending", as did Reiner. Eventually, Ephron and Reiner realized that it would be a more appropriate ending for them to marry, though they admit that this was generally not a realistic outcome.”

If I don’t get clean clarity in Asian dramas, I’m okay with it. My mind switches to the pain POV, that relativity mindset. Everyday life in Asian cultures can handle the weight of the painful and sufferable unknown. And that’s why I love these shows.

And, OF COURSE, not ALL Asian dramas are like this! Cherry Magic ended wonderfully. Old Fashion Cupcake ended beautifully. KinnPorsche ended sexily, if not a little confusedly (are they related? kinda? or not? whatever?). Minato’s Laundromat ended happily -- although we’ll see their relationship pain points in the upcoming second season. And we see relationship pain points in the ongoing drama of Shiro and Kenji’s relationship in What Did You Eat Yesterday -- all while they share their happy nightly meals together at their kitchen table.

Life is complicated. I posit that Asian dramas, for my taste, satisfaction, and cultural relativity, do a much better job at depicting that complicatedness than the West can ever do, and that’s why I stand so often on my soapbox to encourage Western viewers to understand these Asian cultural touchpoints more -- to learn about how we’ve accepted pain and suffering as an automatic given in our Asian lives, from our cultures, our spiritual practices, and from living amongst each other.

178 notes · View notes

mageofseven · 1 year

Text

The Boys and Therapy

Let's face it; there's not a single man in Obey Me who couldn't benefit from therapy. At least three of them have daddy issues, about six of them still grieve Lilith's exit from their life (since Satan wasn't a physical person yet, I don't think he hurts over it as much as the others) at least three of them have issues non parent family issues, three of them at minimum are constantly under stress, and almost ALL of them have been through some sort of trauma.

Honestly, this list could go farther, but Imma just jump into the post~

Please enjoy 🥰

•▪︎▪︎◇°●♡●°◇▪︎▪︎•

Therapy In the Devildom

First off, I would like to explain how I see therapy in the Devildom. It's a relatively new practice in the realm, brought in by the cultural exchange program started in the first game (I cannot imagine therapy being a thing here during the time of Nightbringer since things are so chaotic and the people were still so closed-minded).

Devildom is a place where secrets are treasured more than grimm. Even a greed demon, when given the choice between a vault near-bursting with grimm or a single secret about some demonic duke, would choose the secret every time because it's intrinsic value is so much more in this realm.

So when therapy was beginning to become a practice here in the Devildom, they simply could not afford to go about it the same ways humans did; laws simply were not enough to keep the client's secrets safe.

The job of a therapist is considered a prestigious one in the Devildom, carrying with it the status of being a staunch member of the Aldatu faction (a political party in the Devildom dedicated to change and the chaos that comes with it, the 'true demon way'; they oppose the Traditionalist faction and are backed by Diavolo himself).

Such prestige made it easier for the demons pursuing these jobs to accept the innumerable amount of curses placed on them so they couldn't reveal their clients' secrets. Of course, there were checks and balances to this though. If any secret involved a severe law being broken or if the client revealed plans to hurt themself or others, they had assigned curse breakers to help them through the process.

This process helped a lot of demons feel comfortable enough to seek their services.

This is how the Boys found themselves seeking such services as well.

Lucifer:

This man was pushed into it by Diavolo.

The Avatar of Pride was more stressed at this time than the prince had ever seen and that is saying something.

Honestly, Dia was worried his friend was on the verge of popping out another Satan so attending therapy was non-negotiable.

His brothers were so weirded out by this turn of events. I mean, Lucifer? Talking about his feelings? To a complete stranger??? In what realm could this actually work out?

The pride demon spent most of the first couple sessions in silence; he told Lord Diavolo that he would attend such meetings, not that he would truly participate in such unnecessary--

Ok, this demon was good. Too good. The therapist had somehow tricked him into talking about some basic stressors. Nothing from the core of the oldest's pain, but some surface level things like dealing with piles of paperwork taller than himself and his brothers' usual hijinks.

Lucifer found himself looking forward to the weekly sessions, but would adamantly deny it if anyone asked.

Diavolo could tell that it was doing his friend some good though and for that, he was grateful.

I don't know if Lucifer would ever talk about anything important to the therapist and if he did, it would probably take decades a least to bring up topics like his Father and Lilith.

Still, therapy ended up being a good experience for this pride demon.

Main issue he works on in therapy: Seeing his brothers as grown ass men who need to make their own mistakes in order to learn.

This is something the pride demon struggles with. Sometimes, he has no issue letting his brothers handle their own issues; others, he hovers over them and lectures them profusely like a concerned and angry mother.

Realizes that, on some level, he doesn't actually want his brothers growing up. He's been raising them since he himself was a child after all so for them to grow up and not need him anymore...what would he do then? His life has been surrounded around them all this time. A life where they don't need him...it sounds empty and not a life he'd know how to live.

Mammon:

Was dragged there by Lucifer, who was honestly done with him after the 1200th time he tried to steal from the castle.

That was the surface reason anyway, the 'straw that broke the camel's back' so to speak

But the older brother had been thinking about sending the second brother there for a while now.

Behavioral issues aside, Lucifer knows his brother suffers from some self esteem issues and wants him to address them.

Mammon complained and treated it like a pain, but in truth, he had been thinking about going for a while, but was too embarrassed and didn't want his younger brothers giving him crap for it.

When he went to his first session, the greed demon was awkward as all hell

But his therapist really had a way of making him comfortable.

Unlike his older brother, there really wasn't a lot that was off the table for him to talk about, though the deeper topics took some cajoling from the professional.

He talked about a variety of things, from the crap he gets from his brothers and their 'scummy' comments, Lilith, memories from the Celestial realm...

Lucifer himself.

Main issue he works on in therapy: his relationship with his older brother.

As much as he cared about Lilith, this man never fought in the Celestial War for her; he fought for Lucifer. There is nothing his brother could do that he himself wouldn't jump in and help him with.

Mammon fucks up a lot and while some of those fuck ups are genuine...

Some are on purpose. For Lucifer.

I think Mammon is the only brother who truly understands the oldest and to a level that even Lucifer might not fully be aware of.

He knows, or maybe just senses, his older brother's need to be needed and gets in trouble so Lucifer will have to punish him, have to feel like Mammon still needs direction in life.

Not only that but...the second brother has come to realize just how much he needs his big brother's attention, even when it's negative.

When you boil it all down, Mammon and Lucifer's relationship has never really been that healthy.

The two depend on each other more than they are willing to admit and a lot of it isn't in a healthy way.

This was an incredibly painful realization for this man, but an important one

And one he still isn't sure if he wants to change.

Leviathan:

One of the brothers whose asses got put in therapy as soon as the practice became stable enough to be safe in the Devildom.

Agoraphophic, socially anxious, extremely low self esteem? This man needs it.

Fortunately, he was allowed to attend therapy virtually in the beginning.

He was still pretty quiet during the first session, but managed to open up a bit towards the end and had an easier time as he attended more sessions.

Levi grew to really like going to therapy because his therapist would let him talk about the things he enjoyed; he wasn't just restricted to talking about the bad and that made him feel really comfortable with the other demon.

He could start by talking about TSL and Ruri-chan before sliding into topics like his insecurities and things his brothers do on a regular day that make him feel bad about himself.

He talked about The Fall and the life he lived before it; what he missed, what he hated, what he desperately wished he had back...

And came to the conclusion that he didn't so much miss or even care about the Celestial realm. It was nothing more than a controlling, hypocritical place after all.

What he did miss was his childhood, where being his awkward, silly self was encouraged instead of judged.

Main issue he works on in therapy: Loving himself despite whatever other think or however he perceives their opinion of him to be.

Leviathan is great how he is and the main person who needs to understand that is himself.

Satan:

Oh boy, this man was difficult to drag there 😅

Anything Satan thinks might insinuate that he is 'broken' is too big of an insult to tolerate.

It took some real encouragements and long talks with MC to even humor the idea of going

But he did, eventually.

Was very adamant about not speaking to the therapist during the first session, but his anger got the better of him and he said a lot, some actually being productive and not just name calling and threats slewed at the poor therapist.

Another brother whose first sessions were online, though more so for the therapist's safety than Satan's own comfort.

Eventually, Satan realized the sessions were actually beneficial for him and liked how much lighter they made him feel

So the threats towards the other demon diminished and the sessions became calmer.

Occasionally he would snap at the poor therapist again and would actually feel bad about

But the therapist would forgive him because look! Progress!

Avoids talking about Lucifer for the longest time, but eventually brings up his issues about his...father with the other demon.

His existential issues and his feelings about his father where all twisted together, making him so very sensitive about it all.

By being born the way he was, Satan was brought into this world as a complete mess. Emotions so strong that even a grown man couldn't deal with suddenly forced upon a small and helpless babe.

Satan grew up tortured by anger and pain that wasn't even his and it formed him into the man he was today; it wasn't fair, but he grew to accept that Lucifer truly didn't do it on purpose

But those thoughts just led to him feeling unwanted, a burden thrusted upon Lucifer and his brothers that they had to deal with.

That only made the blonde even more compelled to find himself an identity outside of Lucifer, outside of being the a life who was forced from his body with all of the former trauma he carried.

Just who was he? For years, he collected knowledge and hoped it'd bring him purpose, bring him respect from others and be seen as his own person, but it never made him feel more complete.

He still didn't understand most emotions that he wasn't born with, even when they overwhelmed him.

Main issue he works on in therapy: Understanding his emotions, both what he's feeling and why, and also becoming more comfortable with himself.

Asmodeus:

Told his brothers he was going to therapy to keep himself "just as beautiful on the inside as he was on the outside"

But in truth, he started going because he wanted to be a good influence on his brothers and show them that therapy really isn't all that scary and it could help them too.

In truth, Asmo didn't realize just how vulnerable it would make him feel though.

When he got too uncomfortable, he'd change the topic or try flirting with them to distract them, but his therapist always kept him on track.

He spoke a lot about the Celestial realm, all of the great times that he had there, but grew to understand that it wasn't truly the place he missed, but the time.

After all, it was a lot easier to keep smiles on his on his siblings' faces back when they were all kids and Asmo himself was the Jewel of the Heavens.

Since moving to the Devildom and losing Lilith...it's become so much harder to make his brothers happy and even he himself has to force himself to be positive for their sakes.

That's always been his job, raising his brothers' spirits and he took it just as seriously as Lucifer took his job of protecting them and Mammon and Beel took supporting Lucifer.

Main issue he works on in therapy: Learning that its okay to not be okay sometimes, both in regards to himself and his brothers, and that he's not responsible for his brothers' emotional states.

Sometimes people just need to be sad and that's okay! No one can be happy all the time and if his brothers are going through a tough time, he can support them without taking responsiblity for the rough time they're in.

Beelzebub:

Joined a couple days after Asmo did; he understood his other man's message and signed up for therapy himself in order to be a good influence on their other brothers.

Their family was a mess; Beel knew this all too well.

If going to therapy and talking about the mess from his perspective could help his brothers in any way, especially with encouraging Belphie to do the same, then this man will go with no hesitation.

This demon is naturally the quiet sort so it's a bit difficult to truly start the process despite his willingness, but he eventually gets into the flow of all of it.

Mostly talks about The Fall, how he lost his sister and the guilt he feels towards both her and Belphie.

Sometimes he wonders if he made the right choice in saving Belphie despite knowing he never truly made one; when he saw what that Celestial archer was about to do and Belphie's eyes met his own...he just ran to his brother without thinking, causing the archer to choose to shoot Lilith instead.

That moment changed everything for his family and so much suffering followed...

He's grateful that event led to MC's eventual birth, but the guilt he carries from pain he caused his brothers is immeasurable.

If only he could have saved both, if only MC could have still been born if he did...

There was so much he wished.

Main issue he works on in therapy: Trying not to carry the past with him every second of the present. Though tragic, the past is the past and he has so many reasons to be happy in the present.

It will take a long time working on this issue to make some good progress with it, but what matters is that he is trying just like he hopes his other brothers will.

Belphegor:

Another brother who was forced into therapy by Lucifer.

This man has been extremely depressed in the most obvious way possible for centuries so of course he needs therapy.

Really, really fought it to the point where he was escaping the therapy sessions out the bathroom window and Lucifer would have to track him down at a shop or sleeping on bench in a random park.

It made things easier when Beel started to go therapy though. Seeing Beel take the time to work on his issues made the younger twin feel like he should be trying too...

But he still didn't like it.

He was very, very slow in opening up. Like, I'm talking months of just talking about trivial shit till finally he grew more comfortable to truly speak his mind about what he's gone through.

His survivor's guilt was strong and he truly believes he shouldn't be alive, not when his little sister was gone...

Therapy really cut open some old wounds and for awhile, it seemed like this man was more depressed than ever.

Slowly though, he became stronger from it all and the past started to hurt just a little less.

He loved Lilith with every ounce of his being, but carrying this guilt was not going to bring her back nor would she have wanted him to feel guilty.

Main issue he works on in therapy: Letting the dead rest and himself truly rest as well. Yes, Lilith is gone, but she lived a happy life as a human with the person she loved. His loss was her gain and if you have to lose at all, isn't this the best scenario? That someone you love was happy and free and had their dreams come true?

This issue might take a demonic lifetime to work through, but little bits of progress are made every day and his brothers grow to see that in him

And for now, that's enough.

Diavolo:

Attending therapy was something stuck on this prince's mind for some time now.

It stayed that was for a long time without even speaking it aloud.

Eventually, he did bring it up to Barbatos and his friend heard him out so patiently.

Barb has always sought to be a comfort to the prince, but recognized that he was not a professional so there was very little he could do in the long term for him.

The butler told him that therapy sounds like a good idea and that believes Dia could get a lot out of it.

Though Diavolo is usually a pretty expressive guy, that really didn't extend to strangers who he was paying to listen to him.

He went slow with the therapist, first only speaking about his workload and how almost every moment of his life was planned out for him because of said workload

Then it lead to his father's deep slumber, the very cause of all the responsibility that was dropped on him

And eventually led to him talking about the strict childhood that his father gave him and how he grew up without his mother

And just how incredibly lonely he has always been.

The arrival of Lucifer definitely helped with that last part, but the prince still wished he wasn't so sheltered and alone while growing up.

Main issue he works on in therapy: time management and how to make the most out of the present.

There was so much of life he missed out on when he was younger, but it didn't have to be like that forever.

With the help of both his therapist and Barb, he was able to manage his time a lot better and make the most of his time off by trying new experiences.

It was easier to handle his past when his present became so much more fulfilling.

Barbatos:

Only really went at Diavolo's request.

In truth, the butler felt that therapy was unnecessary for himself, but wanted to give the prince some peace of mine so he agreed.

His opinion of therapy doesn't change no matter how long he goes.

He starts going once a week at Diavolo's insistence

And mostly talks about the stress he feels with looking out for the man.

He looks young so even other demons assume he is either about Diavolo's age or younger.

In truth, he is older than the prince and has been looking out for him since Dia was a small child.

Barbatos has essentially filled the roll of second parent since Dia's mother died in childbirth.

Though a butler, his role used to be more of a nanny; he cared greatly for the man who was currently drowning in the responsiblity and has spent so long just trying to make life easier for him

Resulting in Barbatos neglecting himself over the years for the sake of the prince.

Main issue he works on in therapy: setting some time aside for himself.

Because of his job, Dia will always need Barbatos to some degree

But the prince is also a grown man now and can function as such without Barb being there 24/7

Starts taking one day off a week and attends therapy once a month, something that makes both Barb and Dia feel better.

Solomon:

Honestly, most people don't know he attends therapy and that's how he prefers it.

He never really thought much of therapy, not in regards to himself anyway.

For other people? It was a useful tool. For him? He simply believed he's been around too long for it to help.

I mean, he was literally born in 990 B.C.E.

He was older than even some of the demons he interacted with.

He was unique, but that didn't feel as much of a good thing as he pretended it was.

His existence was a lonely one, but he hid such thoughts away.

He started going to therapy because of Simeon, because of his angel friend's gentle nudges to do so, and eventually he caved.

He went to weekly sessions and was honestly more uncomfortable than he directly expressed to his therapist.

The sorcerer always kept a light smile on his face, even when he talked about the immortality that he never wanted

Because he didn't want it.

In truth, he doesn't really remember much before he became immortal. A side effect the experiment gone wrong, he assumed, because surely he didn't purposely do this to himself.

He vaguely remembers being a king in the Human realm, a job he never wanted but was thrusted upon him buy the angels' Father, who Solomon himself worshipped at the time.

Other than that...his memory of that time is very fuzzy and it's always bothered him.

He just carries around this feeling that...that he's forgetting something important

While also carrying another, even greater feeling, that he doesn't want to know

But at the same time, he does! It's been driving him mad for thousands of years.

It felt like he had lost part of himself when he became immortal and it hurt just as much as the pain he felt from loosing others in his life from time.

Main issue he talks about in therapy: Stressing himself out about the past won't help him now or in the future. Yes, his life is long and he is tired, but the best way to cope is by seeking new experiences that make life worth living

Which he tries hard at...but can't help the tug at his brain that seems to want him to remember the past

And whoever 'Naamah' was.

Simeon:

Decided to go after convincing Soli to do so.

Simeon as his own problems, same as his human friend, and worried he might be perceived as a hippocrite if he didn't try to work on his own as well.

Very much wanted to be seen as a person who takes his own advice, so to speak

But therapy wasn't an easy thing for him.

I mean, he's an angel. It's his job to help others, guide them into making safe and healthy choices for themselves

So to be the one being helped instead of the helper was really new to him and felt very unangelic of him.

Main issue he talked about: growing so attached to the Devildom.

I mean, this place was as different from the Celestial realm as anything could be and he was taught that it was such a bad place because of it

But that didn't match his own experience here and that caused him to feel so conflicted.

The Devildom was a place of freedom while the Celestial realm was a place of order

And though, like most angels, he found comfort in that order, he also saw beauty in the chaos of the Devildom

Simeon has to grow to understand that life isn't in black and white, that things don't have to be only one or the other.

Both the Devildom and the Celestial realm can be good places despite being opposites

And it's a lesson he was so grateful for learning, feeling like he was really helping himself grow as a person and as an angel too.

Luke:

After being in the Devildom for a while, the small angel had become more quiet, distracted even

And it worried his guardian, especially when the child wouldn't talk about it with him.

Simeon eventually enrolled Luke in therapy, something that was so new to the child that his curiosity made him open to trying it.

Since he was still just a child, his sessions weren't the same as it was for the men on this list.

Instead, Luke was brought into a room full of different toys and told he could play with whatever he wanted as long as he answered the therapist's questions as he did so.

The angel was a bit apprehensive at first, but so grew to enjoy his visits to the therapist.

He often chose to make fake sweets out of play dough or draw while the therapist talked to him

And would often bring the drawings home to PH as gifts for Simeon and Solomon.

Simeon always hung the pictures on the fridge with a proud smile on his face

While Soli would hang them up in his room on the wall to the point where he was taking down the expensive paintings that came with the room in favor of giving the child more space to fill with his art.

Main issue he talked about: growing to like the demons around him while also worrying Michael won't like him anymore if he knew Lukey was friends with them.

The child tried so hard to keep to the belief that demons are bad just like Michael taught him. He really, really tried

But he had a lot of fun here in the Devildom, especially baking with Barbatos, who the small angel started to see as his best friend, but was too scared to admit it.

Would Michael not like him if he found out Luke is friends with the demon butler?

His therapist ends up helping him see that it's always good to make friends and often the bad reactions we think those around us would give about something is often just our brain scaring us.

Ends up talking about this Simeon when he gets home after this session.

The older angel held him close and told him that the therapist is right, that it's always good to make friends and that he has nothing to worry about.

The next time he bakes with Barbatos, he tells the demon how he feels, how he sees him as his very best friend and how he looks up to him.

Barb smiled at the child and patted his head, telling Luke that he sees him as a good friend as well

And the child spent the rest of the baking session blushing and hanging off the older man.

#obey me #obey me otome #obey me lucifer #obey me mammon #obey me leviathan #obey me satan #obey me asmodeus #obey me beelzebub #obey me belphegor #obey me diavolo #obey me barbatos #obey me solomon #obey me simeon #obey me luke #obey me boys

236 notes · View notes

emmettkane · 10 days

Text

Fallout New Vegas represented a subtle evolution from FO1 and 2, from a world where people did whatever they needed to do to survive, to one where they tried to rebuild according to their resources and needs. It explored how, under the gun, people would hold onto their traditions, how the old ways that destroyed the world would attempt to insidiously weave their way into the new one.

It also explored how, despite that insidious instinct, things would change for the better, or that, at the very least, they could change for the better. New traditions would arise, new practices, and eventually, the old ways would either fade or mutate into something unrecognizably different.

The fallout show chose to erase those ideas, set things back to zero, undo the growth that had already happened and replace it with a civilization that was neither stuck in their traditions nor willing to advance, a hopeless tale justified by a shadow-government of hyper-competent, hyper-intelligent billionaires who cannot be reasoned with or overcome, and who apparently do not make meaningful mistakes.

---

The intense narrative regression that takes place between Fallout: New Vegas and the show is frustrating, but what's even more frustrating are the people who so gladly embrace it.

In a recent interview, Todd Howard asserted that Fallout games would never be set outside of America, and noted that "It’s okay to leave mystery or questions..." and that 'Americana naivete' was core to the identity of the game franchise.

I'll try to ignore the fact that they felt the need to 'answer the mystery' of 'who dropped the bombs' in the show, a mystery that, given the miserable, myopic answer (evil billionaires oh nooooooo) would have been better left unanswered.

The more egregious idea is that Americana has a deep relevance to the themes of any of the official stories in the setting. Even in Bethesda produced titles, it is, at most an aesthetic element.

Anticommunism, consumer culture, American exceptionalism, rugged individualism, western chauvinism, and other ideas that could be explored through the lenses of retrofuturism and Americana are roundly ignored in Bethesda titles, where those lenses are used entirely to generate advertising and nostalgia-bating appeal instead.

In earlier titles, those subjects are expressed, but are either not the main focus of the games or are simplified. The intro cinematic to the original Fallout includes a shot of an American soldier executing a soldier of annexed Canadian and then waving to the camera, followed by a power-armored head placed proudly before an American flag. The opinion here is not clarified further because it doesn't need to be: American imperialism is bad, and was likely a contributing factor to the apocalypse.

---

Some people think that Liberty Prime from fallout 3 and 4 constitutes a commentary on something, or espouses some value or philosophical ideal.

If it does, and if you agree with it, congratulations, you are the commentary.

#emmett's mind #fallout tv series #fallout #fallout new vegas #opinion #essay #criticism #fallout tv series critical

25 notes · View notes

thynisia-pac-readings · 8 months

Text

This post is part of a Pick-a-number aesthetic reading. To choose your group, please check this post.

Group 5

You guys are the mystics, the psychics, the witches. Some of you have psychic abilities, some of you practice magic to manifest an intention. Some of you delve deep into the occult arts. Some of you could practice astrology or do readings. Some of you like to learn about the psyche. Many a mix of all of the above.

You're an analyser and an observer.

Physically, you could appreciate wearing gold and jewelleries in general. Your aesthetic could be around witchcore and any other core related to the mystic and occult. 🌠

Group 6

For your group, I'm not entirely sure which aesthetic it is, so I can only describe it.

You're definitely very thorough and perhaps a perfectionist. You see things through to the end. Very patient, very resilient. You're like a flower blooming between two rocks.

You're very powerful people, group 6. So won't give up and perhaps it is a sign that you value yourself very much. Or at least, you aim to do so.

In terms of appearance, you could opt for more comfortable and convenient clothing.

Group 7

Well this is strange. I'm confused. Your aesthetic is...different to who you are? But at the same time it IS you?

You could be cosplaying a lot, or dressing up differently to your gender. For example you could be a ladyboy or trans? You've accepted that you're different and so is your aesthetic.

Apart from that, I had a sense that you could be on the more grounded and mature side, like more chill and earth energy. At least some of you are.

Group 8

This is the romantics group! Light academia, and any other aesthetic core that romanticises life.

This group strives to walk towards the future, the new, and never look back. The promise of a beautiful future. Loving every single details in life. Every happening is beautiful. Finding meaning everywhere.

This is also a cultured and wise group. Always on look out for new things to learn and discover, but not afraid to tie themselves to something that is worth doing so. There is a lot of grace in this group. You're always trying to improve yourself and expand your mind. No self limiting beliefs.

In terms of looks, you could be wearing romantic types of garnements and colours. Embracing the romantic within. I.e. pink, salmon, silk, dresses and skirts, gold&silver items, laces, robes, taking care of your hair and styling it, perfumes that smell feminine and gracious.

Perhaps you're one to always be reading literature or watching romance dramas.

#oracle #tarot #card reading #divination #tarot reading #oracle reading #pick a card #psychic reading #pac #pick a pile #pick a group #pick a number #aesthetic #free readings

85 notes · View notes

antianakin · 2 months

Text

@theneutralmime

Just to start off with, I would avoid using the word "dogmas" to describe what I think you're talking about regarding the Jedi here. You obviously don't have to personally share the Jedi's belief system or anything, you don't even have to enjoy the Jedi as characters, but the word "dogma" comes with a very specific connotation that is decidedly negative. The word "beliefs" or "philosophies" or even "traditions" or "practices" might better encompass what you're trying to say without placing an unnecessary judgment on a fictional culture that is pulling from a lot of REAL cultures and THEIR beliefs and practices. It's not dogma to live a lifestyle you wouldn't choose for yourself.

I would also argue that you probably like their philosophies and beliefs more than you think you do if you enjoy some of the Jedi characters. Obviously not every character needs to be to your taste, it'd be incredibly unrealistic for that to be true, but if you enjoy characters like Obi-Wan, or Mace, or Kit Fisto, or Shaak Ti, who are all very consummate Jedi and whose choices and stories almost always reflect their Jedi beliefs and philosophies, then you might actually be more chill with the Jedi than you think you are.

And this doesn't necessarily mean that you need to be invested in exploring Jedi culture as part of your fan experience or anything, but you don't NEED to feel the desire to explore Jedi culture in order to enjoy the Jedi. I don't think you need to separate out your enjoyment of specific Jedi characters from an enjoyment of the Jedi as a whole just because you maybe don't feel the need to dig into day-to-day life as a Jedi. But if you enjoy individual Jedi characters, you DO enjoy the Jedi, that's... sort-of involved in liking the Jedi characters even if not everyone is willing to admit it.

But honestly, I also think it's fine to have a somewhat complicated or more neutral relationship with certain characters. You don't have to love or hate everybody in the story. You can be neutral on characters like Jar Jar or Anakin if you want, or you can find Anakin a fascinating character while recognizing that he is in general an awful person who you would obviously hate in real life. You can find Jar Jar occasionally fun or funny without needing to adore him or think he's the best character in Star Wars or even appreciate every joke he's involved in.

For the Jedi, I think you can sit in a place where maybe what you enjoy about them most is the lightsabers and action scenes, and even though the culture itself isn't something you feel like exploring you can recognize that it's still an intrinsic part of what makes some of your favorite individual Jedi so likable. That sense of honor and compassion, their dedication to doing the right thing no matter what, THAT'S JEDI STUFF. If Obi-Wan's kindness towards everyone and his tenacity towards hardship in his life are some of the traits you like about him, THOSE ARE JEDI TRAITS.

The Jedi are, in many ways, the moral compass of the story and its beating heart, its emotional core. There's a reason that the climactic victorious ending of the entire original trilogy is named "The Return of the Jedi." The triumph comes from Luke truly embodying the Jedi, truly BECOMING a Jedi by acting with selflessness and compassion. Luke saving the Jedi from disappearing forever is the victory, almost more than Luke saving Anakin, because the Jedi are the symbol of hope in the galaxy. Saving Anakin wouldn't be possible and wouldn't really MEAN anything if Luke weren't a Jedi.

This is why I find it so ridiculous that so many people don't like the Jedi or their way of life when the Jedi's philosophies are literally baked into the entire thematic storyline right up to its triumphant ending. If you like Star Wars at all, you probably DO like the Jedi and their beliefs, whether you realize it or not, at least to some degree. Some of the individual Jedi characters may not be to your taste, fine, but the Jedi's belief system are literally the entire thematic message of Lucas's Skywalker Saga.

#star wars #jedi #pro jedi

34 notes · View notes

bluegraywilde · 4 months

Note

The Irish Famine was absolutely not a genocide please read a book.

You’re talking to a former history major & current librarian…

In 1948 the United Nations Genocide Convention defines genocide as "acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group." Acts that can be considered genocidal include: 1. killing members of the group 2. causing them serious bodily or mental harm 3. imposing living conditions intended to destroy the group 4. preventing births 5. forcibly transferring children out of the group. Of course the intent part is difficult to establish, there rarely is a smoking gun of mustache-twirling men writing in official documents they want to induce mass-death just because that typically is frowned upon in polite society and these are good Christian, civilized men running the 19th century's divinely-appointed global hegemon.

But let's run through the definition shall we...

The Irish do constitute a unique ethnic and religious minority within the British Empire. By the mid-19th century they are of course a de jure part of the core British metropole (the 1801 act of union abolished the independent Irish parliament and established the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland). But by dint of their ethnic and religious status they did not enjoy legal equality with Protestant British settlers, a population which starting displacing the native population en-masse with the settlement of the so-called Ulster Plantations in the early 17th century. The Irish language, culture, and religion were all actively suppressed.

So the destruction bit... the famine has long-been characterized as man-made because the policies of the British government actively exacerbated and prolonged the crisis. Even contemporary critics famously apportioned the blame accordingly: "The Almighty, indeed, sent the potato blight, but the English created the Famine" (John Mitchel, Irish nationalist, 1861). During the initial phase of the famine in 1845, the British government under Prime Minister Robert Peel did supply some aid that ultimately proved inadequate. In 1846 the newly incoming Whig government of Prime Minister John Russell ceased any aid activities due to a commitment to laissez faire economic policy, assuming the free market would solve the issue, spoiler alert it didn't. They refused to limit the exporting of food, actively supporting the economic interests of the British-aligned landowners. Between 1845-1852 approximately a million people (~11.7% of the pre-famine population) die and another 1-2 million flee. In summary you have a government that doesn't care for the mass death, impoverishment, and displacement of a native population of the wrong ethnic stock and religious allegiance... not great! As I referred to earlier, intent is difficult to establish but given the British government's refusal to follow its own past procedures and contemporary practices, it's at the very least guilty of gross negligence and disregard for human life that specifically targeted an oppressed ethnic minority. I think its fair to characterize that as genocide. Just because the term genocide didn't exist in the 1840s/1850s doesn't mean it's not appropriate or applicable.

#asks #anon #fuck off

41 notes · View notes

stumbling-towards-the-light · 6 months

Text

Free Folk & Their Adaptive Strategy

Adaptive strategy was a term first coined in 1974 by anthropologist Yehudi Cohen to describe a society's means of economic production. Cohen also further postulated that certain means of economic production adopted by a society also led said society to adopt certain social features, by which I mean shared political organization, and similar ways of choosing leadership, if they had any.

Now, in most anthropological circles, it's generally agreed there are five adaptive strategies to be linked to five types of political organization. This is a general pattern across a majority of human societies, but not a written-in-stone rule; some societies do not land in these neat, categorized boxes. However, this is a fictional culture, so for the sake of mine and the dear reader's sanity, we are going to assume the Free Folk fall into these categories.

It is largely implied that the Free Folk's main adaptive strategy is foraging, employing “traditional” hunter-gatherer means of survival. Now we see some Free Folk use pastoralist means of survival, with mentions of sheepfolds and pigstys found in various Free Folk villages, as well as a mention of a reindeer herding, however, baseline the Free Folk are foragers. Usually, in forager societies, the main type of political organization are bands, relatively small groups of people all tied together by some form of kinship. This seems to be supported in the text itself, where Jon refers to Rattleshirts’ group as a “band” several times.

This type of society does not lend itself well to permanent homes, usually moving seasonally in accordance with where herds of wild animals have moved. The idea of private property is virtually nonexistent. However, there are reports of forager societies all coming together in one place, usually when there is a surplus of food. This occasion is usually treated like a holiday, with lots of celebrating, dancing, singing, and trading being done.

Leadership: Fascinatingly enough, forager leadership structure is usually based around who can give the most, rather than who is the strongest or the toughest. This is due to the tendency of forager societies to develop social mores involving hospitality and shared social responsibility.

Social Values: We already know the Free Folk hold proper hospitality to be absolutely sacred, with even Crastor, the worst of the worst, following it like gospel. (He is not the one to break hospitality during the Night’s Watch coup, after all.) The shared social responsibility part is simply an expansion of this core idea. If you can’t even take care of your own, why should your hospitality, your word be trusted? Societies like this one, also will ostracize any hoarders who take more than they need. We see this pattern with Crastor, with every other Free Folk we meet despising him. Granted, this is probably due to his practice of marrying his daughters, but he is also the only Free Folk to have a designated “keep”, where his family lives, with it’s own pigsty and sheepfold. Every other pigsty and/or sheepfold we see north of the Wall, appears to be shared. Some of that disgust could also be due to his hoarding tendencies.

Gender Roles: White there is the traditional idea of men doing the hunting and fishing and women doing the majority of the foraging, these roles are not set in stone by any means. Again, this is supported by the text, where both men and women are raiders and accepted leaders of their groups. This is even supported in the Free Folks’ concept of marriage, which doesn’t seem to be set in stone. They do have a concept of one man and one woman being tied together, but it doesn;t seem that the two are bound by marriage; there is no expectation of fidelity for either party, or at least there are no social consequences for sleeping with someone who isn’t your spouse. This kind of openness is usually found in societies that give their women a lot more freedom.

Religion: Due to their heavy reliance on the land, almost all foraging societies are animistic, worshiping the spirits found in and around nature, rather than a specific, titled entity. Again seen in the Free Folk, who worship the Old Gods, nameless spirits inhabiting the world around them.

Inheritance Customs: As there is no concept of private property, there is no concept of someone inheriting that private property. Further support the Free Folks’ lax gender roles. When there is nothing to inherit, why should there be a huge fuss over whose child is whose child? Why should a husband need to control who his wife sleeps with, when he has nothing to pass down?

Descent Customs: Forager societies are often bilineal, children are considered to be descended from both parents and thus kin to both parents’ extended families. This is a way to ensure that there will always be someone to rely on in hard times. I see no reason why the Free Folk would not adopt a similar strategy.

This is just some of the things, affected by the Free Folks’ larger adaptive strategy, there are probably a hundred more different ways this idea could be expressed. But anyway, let me know what you think!

#asoiaf #free folk #worldbuilding #anthropology #customs #the wall #jon snow #religion #culture #archaeology #ill be writing a similar post on the dothraki and their adaptive strategy #because i am incensed at how little canon gave us #otherwise friendly reminder: no culture is a monolith #there are exceptions to every rule

53 notes · View notes

majorasnightmare · 9 months

Text

Inevitable Gerudo Headcanon Posting

i spend too much time thinking about the gerudo like genuinely theyre one of my favorite recurring tribes in the zelda series, which as we all know is a form of suffering because god forbid nintendo stop relying on racist tropes and caricatures.

keeping in line with this nintendos portrayal of the gerudo tends to either be 1) why theyre bad, and/or 2) how a culture of all women has kids. like thats an oversimplification of ALLL the problems present in the gerudos portrayal but thats a different post for another time. in general i bring this up because it means, for me as well as any others interested and invested un the gerudo, that there is a kind of generalized lack of pre botw characterization or cultural concepts to work with, esp when compared to the other tribes of hyrule. (looks pointedly at how theres no gerudo in the gerudo desert but there is a prison slash execution site where their king was held. LOOKS AT WHO SURVIVED THE PROLOGUE CUTSCENE IN WINDWAKER)

ANYWAYS. botw was really fun because, while it had plenty of its own issues with the gerudo, they were at least non hostile! so with that in mind, the headcanons and worldbuilding i write primarily apply to the wilds era gerudo, which spans the timeframe between ganondorfs reign as king to totk (suspending disbelief because that timeframe is. by all accounts. longer than recorded human history. friendly reminder ganondorf does All That before we even get sheikah wifi towers. christ.)

anyways. second verse same as the first, core assumptions and then a readmore

Some core assumptions:

The BotW branch of the timeline is chronologically set AFTER the previous timeline, ie the events of ToTKs ancient past is set AFTER the last event of the Hyrule Historia timeline. essentially they all come back together to form one line that makes up ToTKs ancient era

The biggest effect on Hyrules topography was the flooding in Wind Waker. after an unknown point, the flooding ocean receded leaving behind the ruins of ancient Hyrule. at some point after that, the zonai settled parts of it and made the buildings wed see as ruins by the time of BotW. slowly the various tribes of hyrule immigrated back

all peoples within the setting of hyrule are loosely grouped into categories called tribes. in this sense, tribe refers a collection of peoples with shared traits, without anything concretely set in stone (for example, hyrule includes the tribe of hylians, the tribe of gorons, the tribe of koroks, etc etc). the main six who show up repeatedly can be considered the sage tribes (gerudo, hylian, sheikah, rito, goron, zora), and the various types of enemies can be considered the monster tribes (the blin tribe of bokoblin, moblin, bulblin, etc)

so. starting at the beginning. near entirely headcanons

in ocarina of time, we see the spirit temple, where Nabooru awakens as a sage. this temple features a MASSIVE statue of a woman adorned with a snake and its primary mechanic centers around mirrors and reflected light. while the mirrors return, we dont really get that same kind of implied spiritual/religious focus again. so instead im going to make a mountain out of a molehill and position her as the primary spiritual figure here. im running low on name ideas tho so suggestions are much appreciated. for right now ill refer to her as the serpent goddess

the gerudo are culturally a people of function over form, practicality over whimsy, but when circumstances allow for it, are drawn like any other to arts and music and decoration. they have a long history of bloody, brutal battle, and while the war has long since ended, its kings buried and its warriors naught but ghosts, the desert remembers. its sands haunted by the bloodstains of conflict past, and echoes of ancient tragedies. the gerudo here in the era of wilds may have lost their records of their ancient history of conflict, but some aspects, preserved by the sands, have managed to survive the onslaught of time

surviving all this time is the ancient creation myth of the gerudo people. as legend tells it, long ago in the time before myth, there existed a goddess whos power was transformation. she was possessed of two forms, one a proud humanoid figure, the other a striking serpentine form twisting through the heavens with ease, her scales glittering with mirror sheen. to shift from serpent to human, she would shed her skin, and grow it back again to embrace her serpentine form anew

seven times she shed her skin, and from these shed skins rose the first gerudo, each embodying a key aspect of their sacred mother. the serpent goddess's scales are each a nascent soul of a gerudo, and when those scales are shed and fall to the land below, a new gerudo is born. likewise, when a gerudo dies, their soul returns to the scales of the serpent goddess, to await until they would descend again and reincarnate once more. the seven daughters of the serpent goddess led these gerudo as their guardians, leaders, and protectors. but, away from the seven heroines and their new people, the goddess shed her skin an eighth time. this daughter was born alone, and while her sisters embodies the strengths of spirit, flight, endurance, knowledge, motion, skill, and gentleness, the eighth was born with insatiable wanderlust. learning of this, the seven sisters cursed her name for leaving them and their people behind, and despite their shared ancestry, the eighth was forbidden to be spoken of. this suited her just fine, and the eighth was free to walk the land and learn all of its hidden paths

in time, war came to the gerudo, as it often does. though they were united, and strong, they were a small collection of people, and thus despite their proficiency were threatened nonetheless. it became clear at last that they could not stand and fight, and that to survive, they could not remain in place for long. but the enemy had pushed them deep into their home, and knew all the paths back. as hope seemed lost, as if summoned by call, the eighth sister at last wandered home. calling her seven sisters to her, she proclaimed that every hidden step was known to her, and while she lacked the power to guide them on her own, together they would escape unseen into the night, their enemy none the wiser. thus, skillfully guiding the skills of her sisters, the eighth heroine led the gerudo into safety, and the seven were humbled from their pettiness. seeking to apologize to the sister they had banished and forgotten, the seven sought to make amends, but the eighth was content merely to have a place of remembrance among them. to wander is not a sin, as long as one remembers where their home lies.

the eight heroines have long since passed and returned to their mothers scales, but the virtues they embody are cherished by the gerudo family they left behind, seeking to hold their memory close even as the years wear on

to the gerudo was bestowed the blessing of the element of Spirit, embodied by their iron wills and manifesting as crackling lightning. this spirit lightning is the gerudo's will made tangible, arcing out towards their target as an extension of their focus and sheer determination. to a gerudo, nothing is impossible until one has devoted themselves entirely to it, giving it their all, and only then may it be conceded

a long history of persecution has resulted in the gerudo being increasingly insular and isolationist. their admiration of the art of combat and how it can bring forth an individuals talents, achieving a perfect harmony between body and will as the weapon became an extension of ones limbs, was often perceived as aggression by outsiders, who would react as if to defend their own interests. the gerudo have suffered much at the hands of hyrule at large, and have pulled further and further away.

as the gerudo pulled away from hyrule, and hyrule from them, they devoted most of their attention to themselves. cooperation amongst themselves is seen as paramount to their survival, and familial affection often extends well past ones blood relations.

the gerudo value family, and loyalty, alongside independence and cooperation. everyone should have the opportunity to pursue their goals, but if someone is struggling, it is the responsibility of everyone to help. children are raised by as many people as are available, and even in the times of monarchy, the palace was less a formal dwelling place belonging to the gerudo ruler and more a public forum that the ruler simply happened to live in

most of the palaces amenities are fully public, a tradition that has carried on to riju's time. meals are communal and the kitchens open to all, and the palace has no strictly dedicated servants, merely a collection of amenities the gerudo people are free to use at will and often do so together. what this means is that there is no servant, for example, dedicated to preparing riju's meals but instead a collection of people willing to cook and willing to eat making meals riju partakes in, and this applies to most other menial tasks as well. the throne room is where the leader of the gerudo engages in their job as public servant, attending to the needs of the gerudo at large and responding to crises as they arise.

as nintendo is keen to point out, the gerudo are a people that are predominantly "all women", and thus spends plenty of time going over dialogue wherein people wonder how they have children and including a plethora of sidequests in the wilds era about acquiring partners. im ignoring all of that and instead going by lizard rules, in part because here theyre descended from a serpent dragon goddess, wherein a population of all female lizards were able to successfully maintain a stable population and have children without major issue. gerudo like ganondorf are the equivalent of a rare genetic mutation that flips some other genes on and has a different result, that really doesnt affect anything besides this one kid and doesnt have any major effects or differences in their life. two gerudo are perfectly capable of having kids together, having relationships as usual, and on the topic of "how do the gerudo have kids", thats all i really feel like exploring that topic

with an insular, isolationist culture that appeared for all intents and purposes to be all women, the gerudo were often a source of major culture shock when interacting with the other tribes of hyrule, most notably hylians

bonus hylian lore: hylians experience an even greater lack of sexual dimorphism than irl humans do, so gender presentation is near exclusively presentation based, with a heavy emphasis on clothing. showing skin is considered an act of emotional intimacy, and most hylians opt to cover as much as they can. the intensity of presentation scales upwards with their role in society, with the royal family having the most extreme form of gender presentation. gender is presented through clothing style and hair length, with ornamentation, jewelry, and piercings serving as a kind of intensifier, and hylian culture at large tends to operate on a sliding scale of masculine to feminine, with the middle androgynous zone being a weird gender spot for them

the gerudo, by contrast, never really developed a concept of masculinity versus femininity. gender pronouns in gerudo are based on personal proximity, occupation in society, and familiarity. these barely translate at all into hyrulean.

as the gerudo, by circumstance or by choice, interacted with hylians and the tribes of hyrule more and more often, some kind of understanding had to be reached with regards to translation. as relations were already terse, making an attempt to fully translate the gerudos understanding of gender to your average hylian was considered a fools errand, and thus translation was done in broad strokes, giving hylians the simplest root form of gender pronouns (and none of the increasingly specific declensions). loosely, the term vai is closer in concept to "us" and voe is closer to "not us" "foreigner" "outsider", and has taken on a connotation of " forbidden" or "taboo" (leading to wilds era gerudo secret clubs often imploying translatable Adult Puns regarding their catering to voe and the overall titillating atmosphere they tend to put on for customers). with regards to hylians, the feminine princesses and queens had more in common with the gerudo and were thus "vai", but the masculine kings and soldiers, who were often the main figures pushing aggressive efforts into conquering or otherwise absorbing the gerudo into hyrule, were "voe". this was then distributed in various guides to understanding the gerudo language as " vai" meaning "woman" and "voe" meaning man

gerudo town, as the capital of their people and general hub, has a law banning the entrance of voe. at the time if its writing, this was a fairly obvious law, because most "people who are forbidden" are forbidden from entering. as time has passed, hostilities cooled, and relations warmed, this law has been the subject of a long struggle of interpretation. it doesnt translate well into nearly any other language, and thus who counts as "voe" and "vai" is subject to endless debate. the differences in gender perception are most clearly on display with the admittance of the gorons. one might assume that the gorons, being a monogendered people who typically use masculine terms of identity and endearment in hyrulean, to thus qualify as voe, but the gorons cooperative nature, near uniform monogendered culture, and emphasis on hard work and independence has enough in common with your average gerudo that considering them as vai is a no brainer

ganondorf thus is also, clearly, considered vai. the specific pronouns he uses in his native gerudo include declensions regarding his position as royalty (one that has since gone out of use and is fairly archaic now, only really being used as a kind of neo-pronoun by current era gerudo as a rebellious self identification thing), his relation as the only child of koume and kotake, and are conjugated based on relation between the speaker and him. in the ancient era, calling ganondorf voe would be so confusing as to not even read as an insult. if one really wanted to refer to ganondorf with a tone of insult, theyd substitute the declension of familiarity with one used for strangers

ganondorf achieved his position as king the old fashioned way: a gift from his moms. ancient era gerudo practiced typical monarchy with a line of succession, and koume and kotake named him as the next royal of the gerudo as their heir. the hyruleans, seeing a masculine gerudo of royal birth, referred to him as "king", and correcting a culture of people he had little respect for was just a waste of ganondorfs time. after ganondorfs sealing, the gerudo changed to the current system of chiefs, wherein the current chief names a successor, or by default passes it onto their living heir. a system is in place to democratically install a new chief if the current one passes without naming a child their heir, or naming a successor in their place, a system drafted and then used in ganondorfs absence. riju thus inherited the mantle from her mother, but could opt instead to force a vote, or have such a vote forced on her due to her age, leading to much of her insecurity seen in BotW. this system has proven to be relatively stable, especially coupled with the continued tradition of keeping the palace an open public forum

the first chief of the gerudo was nabooru, advised by the sage of lightning we see in totk, following ganondorfs sealing

the gerudo are very familiar with the souls of the dead. poes, souls lost and aimless, wander the desert after millennia of bloodshed. thus their funerary customs have persisted, even as the folklore behind them fades in and out of memory.

a person perceives reality through their body. they know the sky is above them both by craning their neck up, and by the sensation of ground beneath them. in death, one is bodiless, and sensation becomes a confusing, directionless onslaught. it is so easy for a spirit to become lost, unable to orient themselves. the gerudos funerary rites seeks to aid these souls in their journey towards returning to the serpent goddess, as without guidance they are liable to become poes. the body after death is merely an empty receptacle, and on a practical level is a potential draw for dangerous desert scavengers seeking an easy meal. the shifting sands and hard soil makes burial difficult to impossible, so instead the gerudo burn their dead. smoke is ephemeral and thus able to be seen by spirits, and even as the wind rushes, smoke will still travel upwards towards the heavens. a spirit will linger by its body for a time, and thus cremation helps provide guidance to the dead. unable to feel the earth beneath them, the dead can follow the trails of smoke to orient themselves upwards, and dispel lingering confusion

as the body is burned both to guide the departed's soul and to ward away scavengers, the gerudo inter their belongings into gravesites instead, usually one or a small collection of items that the deceased valued or were considered emblematic of them. having a proud history of warriors, many gerudo consider their weapons extensions of themselves, and thus many gravesites will consist of a single weapon.

the sage of lightnings temple served as the primary gravesite for many gerudo, and in its heyday was decorated with love and care as befitting its role. torches burned bright in its sconces and the walls painted with care in massive sweeping murals. here in the temple, a foreigners idea of the gerudo as austere and practical would fall away, as the halls shone with warmth and color, taken from their desert home

lost souls that become poes often end up becoming consumed by their regrets and despair at their inability to find their way back to reincarnation through the serpent goddess's scales, and from there turn to rage and aggression. the sunlight glinting off of the goddess's mirror scales will blind and disorient the dead who have lost their way, as they try in vain to rely on their half forgotten senses, and thus poes eschew the day in favor of the cover of night. though incorporeal, poes move as fast as the desert winds, and try all they can to cause mischief and havoc. usually the end result of their shenanigans is light injuries and scratches, but it isn't uncommon for a waylaid traveller or adrenaline seeking youngster to suffer fatal consequences. despite this, poe hunting tends to be the go-to act of rebellion for antsy teenagers with a taste for danger. in general, one of the only things fast enough to strike a poe is a fired arrow

as the sands grew and the desert expanded, it grew more and more difficult for the steeds of the gerudo to gallop across the dunes, and they were driven further and further back until the gerudo phased out their horseback traditions entirely

and as an AU specific trivia tidbit

after ganondorf's sealing, nabooru grieved the loss of her childhood friend by constructing a dedicated tomb to house ganondorf's gravesite. even though he wouldn't die, nabooru would never live to see him again, and in traditional gerudo fashion, his gravesite is marked by his signature trident, further imbued by nabooru's blessing of lighting (in a similar fashion to urbosa's fury, despite urbosa not being a sage).

#totk headcanons #totk spoilers #loz gerudo #gerudo #ganondorf #totk au #loz headcanons #i THINK thats all the relevant ones #god i hope the readmore works. guess ill find out #BUT ALSO. GANONDORF NEOPRONOUNS REAL IN MY HEART. HES VAI. HES AN INCREDIBLY NICHE AND ARCHAIC FORM OF VAI #THAT HIGHKEY ISNT EVEN RELEVANT ANYMORE. biographies about him confuse+anger gerudo scholars because translating his pronouns is a BITCH #it also makes riju removing the voe restriction more impactful imo because its a symbol of how far the gerudo have come-#-in their relations to hyrule. because the voe rule is almost entirely like. a no hyrule thing snfnsndhdbf #so hyrule finally like! not being so much of a threat that the gerudo feel they have to stay closed off! going from oppressor to ally!#LET IT MEAN SOMETHING NINTENDO G O D #anyways. ganondorfs so gender.#nvm got the readmore to work c:#loz totk

73 notes · View notes