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halfseoulco · 2 years

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Exploring MINOR FEELINGS: A review

Published Sunday, August 7th, 2022 — About halfway through Cathy Park Hong’s Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning, I felt a brief embarrassment at how I was almost desperately picking out passages that mirrored my own thoughts and experiences, quickly followed by a bout of indignation that I should feel embarrassed at all for being excited to find something I could relate to in someone else’s writing. After almost an entire lifetime of reading “classics” and bestsellers written by predominantly white authors, could I not enjoy this triumph in which both the author and reader could share? Is Cathy Park Hong going to appear in my bedroom and accuse me of grasping at straws for similarities between her life and mine?

Introduction

While confined to my home for about three months at the beginning of 2020, I swept through a long list of books but found myself unable to keep up the habit into 2021 and 2022—even though I was still buying books whenever I saw a title and plot synopsis that sparked my interest. Although I have always been close to my culture and have kept my Koreanness hugged tightly to my identity and sense of self, I decided that I would put my money where my mouth is and actively support Asian and Asian American authors by buying their books. At the beginning of July, discovering a new supply of spare time after starting to work from home, I gathered all of the books by Asian and Asian American authors that I had received as gifts or purchased over the past year and made a commitment to myself to read all of them. Gifted to me for my 27th birthday by a friend, Minor Feelings was among the nine books I had yet to read—and one of the shortest—so I started reading.

How Minor Feelings Sparks Some Not-So-Minor Feelings

The book follows what Hong calls an “episodic form, with its exit routes that permit me to stray” (page 104), which means that there is no glue holding a timeline together, only individual vignettes whose order in the fabric of Hong’s experiences may elude everyone but Hong herself. I often found myself nodding in agreement unconsciously at certain things Hong said or anecdotes she shared. She has a sense of humor that I quite like, a brash-bordering-on-inappropriate kind of funny that I myself don’t indulge in but like to hear in other people. Not too far into the book, on page 31, however, Hong includes a passage on how during the Korean War, her grandfather had been dragged out of his home by U.S. soldiers for being a suspected Communist collaborator—and I cried. I cried and I cried and I cried. My mother had been born the year following the Korean War’s end, which means that my grandmother and my mother’s older siblings had all lived during that time. It was hard not to imagine my grandmother in Hong’s grandfather’s place and it was some time before I was able to pick the book back up and keep reading.

“Minor feelings” are, as Hong says, “the emotions we are accused of having when we decide to be difficult—in other words, when we decide to be honest. When minor feelings are finally externalized, they are interpreted as hostile, ungrateful, jealous, depressing, and belligerent, affects ascribed to racialized behavior that whites consider out of line” (page 57). Racial oppression is, to put quite bluntly, not a competition; and all people of color acutely feel the experience of being told that they are too much when they speak up against a system that seeks to only benefit those who created it. But the truth—or at least my truth—is that Asians are the only ones deemed still safe to mock, still safe to harass, still safe to attack in public and get away with it. Being Asian in America means being cast to the side because our supposed white adjacency affords us a protection that other minority groups don’t have, when the truth is that we are working far too hard to please white people who don’t care about us at all. The same way that many Asians align themselves with whites for the benefit of their nonexistent protection, the result of that misplaced trust is that now we are being targeted and blamed by other groups eager to no longer be the most hated people, not realizing that their behavior is not earning them protection from whites either. And I think that there are people—quite a lot of people, in fact—that may find it distasteful for me or anyone else to say so out loud. “Why do you hate white people, Liz?” is a question I get often—and all I have to say is “Why aren’t you more upset about the fact that the system created by white people makes it difficult for the rest of us to succeed?” White people, particularly white men, can pass off mediocrity as the standard and thrive—but people of color, we will always be fighting tooth and nail for the chance to have our work recognized. (For the record, I feel it’s important to state that I don’t “hate white people”, but I find that the question is also a reaction to me sharing my minor feelings because the other person is uncomfortable with how comfortable I am in refusing to stay put in the boxes that the system created by white people would love to keep me in.)

Minor Feelings and the Current Sociopolitical Climate

With the shared trauma of being the scapegoat for the COVID-19 pandemic, Asian Americans and other Asians living outside of their home countries are experiencing a reclamation of their cultures, their identities, their Asianness. We’re showing a renewed interest in our parents’ language, food, and customs—a desire to travel to our home countries, immerse ourselves in the culture that we may have taken for granted in our youth. But Hong brings up an excellent point: As artists, as filmmakers, as writers, does all of our work have to be framed as “the Asian experience”? Can my stories simply be stories and not “stories about the Asian experience”? Can I write without having to worry about whether white people understand where I’m coming from or whether I’ve hurt their feelings with my criticisms? Can my value as a writer come from the quality of my writing and not how well I can translate “the Asian experience” into something that is palatable and inoffensive enough to be popular?

The last two chapters of Minor Feelings were particularly difficult to read, opening up space for discourse on topics that people would rather avoid. Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, a thirty-one-year-old artist and poet, was raped and murdered in New York on November 5, 1982. And while her work was celebrated and continues to be celebrated, her homicide received minimal media coverage and neglects to also be labeled as rape. I’ve been told that Asians don’t suffer as much as other minority groups in the United States, that we have good lives here—but that’s just what the majority wants people to believe. Sexual assault among Asian women is severely underreported and therefore statistics, let alone accurate statistics, are hard to come by. Internalized shame as a result of trauma is so culturally rooted that we refuse to speak up and then in turn, the rest of the world turns a blind eye. “She was just another Asian woman,” Cha’s close friend said when asked why there was no media coverage of her rape and homicide. “If she were a young white artist from the Upper West Side, it would have been all over the news” (page 176). To this day, no one wants to talk about Cha’s death for fear of overshadowing the impact of her work, but in doing so, we are making it easier to pretend that these things don’t happen—that they don’t exist—and therein does the rest of society make it acceptable for us to be targeted without repercussions. “From invisible girlhood, the Asian American woman will blossom into a fetish object. When she is at last visible—at last desired—she realizes much to her chagrin that this desire for her is treated like a perversion. [...] [But] the Asian woman is reminded every day that her attractiveness is a perversion, in instances ranging from skin-crawling Tinder messages (”I’d like to try my first Asian woman”) to microaggressions from white friends” (page 174-175).

Hard Pills to Swallow

Hong’s work can be taken for what it is: a series of written episodes about exploring what it means to be Asian American and how it can differ from person to person. It talks about the negative truths that we must acknowledge and the silly things we later learn caused us more stress than they were worth, the sadness we carry as a result of our feeling like outsiders and the joy we savor when we make progress in this messed up universe. We’re all still carving out our identities and our places in this world, in this society. “Even if we’ve been here for four generations, our status here remains conditional; belonging is always promised and just out of reach so that we behave, whether it’s the insatiable acquisition of material belongings or belonging as a peace of mind where we are absorbed into mainstream society” (page 202). In the end, neither she nor any other Asian American writing about similar topics is trying to convince you of anything. You either get it or you don’t. Contrary to what racial fetishization and general ignorance might have you believe, being Asian in America is not so much an enigma as it is one of those things that gets swept under the rug because our minor feelings have been internalized for so long. I didn’t need to read Minor Feelings to know this, but reading it made me more tangibly aware of it. Being Asian in America means being treated poorly and then being told to be grateful because we could be getting treated much worse somewhere else—and by the way, if you don’t like it, then why don’t you go back to where you came from?

“Then be grateful that you live here. [...] I bring up Korea to collapse the proximity between here and there. Or as activists used to say, ‘I am here because you were there.’ I am here because you vivisected my ancestral country in two. In 1945, two fumbling mid-ranking American officers who knew nothing about the country used a National Geographic map as reference to arbitrarily cut a border to make North and South Korea, a division that eventually separated millions of families, including my own grandmother from her family. Later, under the flag of liberation, the United States dropped more bombs and napalm in our tiny country than during the entire Pacific campaign against Japan during World War II. [...] My ancestral country is just one small example of the millions of lives and resources you have sucked from the Philippines, Cambodia, Honduras, Mexico, Iraq, Afghanistan, Nigeria, El Salvador, and many, many other nations through your forever wars and transnational capitalism that have mostly enriched shareholders in the States. Don’t talk to me about gratitude” (page 193, 195).

Conclusion

Hong writes about a former friend, “This was the most Korean trait about her, her intense desire to die and survive at the same time” (page 146). In that line, I found solidarity. In Hong’s writing, I found solidarity—and if there is anything that I think should be taken away from Minor Feelings, it’s that we are going through a shared experience, a collective trauma but also a collective movement towards loving ourselves for who we are and recognizing that we deserve to exist wherever and however we choose to exist. I shed more tears during the reading of this book than I expected to, but shared trauma brings people together in many ways. I think that Minor Feelings is meant to both comfort and discomfort, to hit you in all the right places and all the wrong places. For every Asian person out in the world who felt that they couldn’t be someone, that they couldn’t do something—for every Cathy Park Hong who felt like they shouldn’t write a book just like this, though our experiences may differ, there are some things we all share; and we must be our greatest allies.

#GeniusLabReads #Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning #Minor Feelings #Cathy Park Hong #AAPI Literature #AAPI #Asian American Literature #Asian American #Book Reviews #TW: Rape #TW: Homicide #TW: Violence

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aerensalinger · 11 months

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[MUN SPEAKS] Split Siren: World Building

The character of Aeren Salinger belongs to an original work of fiction concept god when will I ever get to writing this story, it's been SIXTEEN YEARS++ called Split Siren.

Split Siren refers to the same song -- a siren -- playing through the universe, and split into two: symbolizing the two parallel universes of Terdis (Aeren's home universe) and Calorca.

Split Siren

Prologue

There was once a myth about a sun brother and a moon sister who lived with each other and loved each other very much. The sun called himself Calor and the moon called herself Tedes. Despite the insistence of the elder gods, Calor incestuously fell in love with his sister and tried to claim her. However, Tedes who wished for another life, refused. Out of anger, Calor killed his sister. But unable to live with the pain of losing her, he killed himself as well. Their bodies became the twin universes that ran parallel to each other: Terdis, a universe that ran on science. And Calorca, a universe that ran on alchemy/magic.

Now, although these two universes are called "twins", there are many more "fraternal" universes that run in between them. Such universes are called the "in betweens" by Terdis' scientists. But, these universes are yet to be discovered.

Plot

Aeren is a 15-year-old student living in Terdis with her scientist father working for Augham Industries take note of the name and her mother, a housewife. A relatively decent student, Aeren plays for her school's soccer team and is part of a junior orchestra at times, playing the violin. Despite being a normal teenager, it's Aeren's undyed, scarlet-red hair (that she shares with her mother) that makes her stand out. There's another subplot going on where she's supposed to meet a "benefactor" who loves to listen to her play the violin, but maybe I won't go into detail about that now.

One day, after she received a weird note from her "sponsor" asking to meet up regarding a new violin of some sort, she was asked by her mother to bring lunch and important documents to her father's office after school. After delivering her package and spending some time with her father, the institute was suddenly held hostage by a group of terrorists for some unknown reason, and with her father trapped in an elevator, Aeren's attempt to rescue him led her to the rooftop with a mysterious girl (who is part of the terrorist party) about to jump. About to confront her, Aeren pulls away her hood only to reveal that the girl has the same face as hers -- but with black hair and blue eyes. The girl slips from Aeren's finger and jumps -- and then an explosion detonates on top of the Institute's building.

Aeren wakes up to an unoccupied rooftop. What seems to be an established Institute run by one of the richest and most influential families in her country, now stands as an unfinished building with scaffolding still on. She wakes up to a world that is so familiar yet so different -- her friends don't know her, her school doesn't have her name on the student roster, her mother is dead, and her father is married to another woman. It feels much like Back to the Future II, I know.

With her "brother", a boy she never knew before named Liam Dreyser hot on her tail -- Aeren crashes into an old friend named Rhieon Argisburg who seems to remember their life before the "explosion" and recognizes who she is. And what was weird was, Rhieon has some weird control over the element of water, protecting her from soldiers from another universe who seem to be after them.

These people who remember their previous life before the event (of the "explosion") called the Regeneration which took place to reset and remold their universe into something they can't recognize for sinister reasons and motives become Aeren's allies -- and the strongest of them become the Gifted who are able to control specific elements like Rhieon.

These individuals who remember become part of an elite rebel group who discover that their universe -- which they find out is called Terdis in the old texts -- was taken over by a parallel universe called Calorca. The "invasion" was brought about by the event where Calorca's Royal Emperor Loche McGrescall claims that the "Terdisians murdered his Royal Empress named Myrriderion Satche" -- who was actually found dead during the Regeneration event. Spoilers: Myrriderion, or Myrr, is the girl Aeren saw on the rooftop with her face. In this case, as its parallel universes -- Myrr is Aeren's parallel. Or variant, in Marvel's terms.

Determined to fix the system, go against the Calorcan Royal Empire , and restore their universe to its original state-- Aeren and the Gifted prepare to discover everything behind the Regeneration event and eventually find a way to cross over to Callorca from their universe. But in the process, Aeren realizes that she was also one of the Gifted -- as the Chrystheum, the bloodline energy source of the twin universes that Myrr brought with her into Terdisia, Aeren's universe -- has latched itself on her. And she suddenly can control time.

Story Arcs

[⚠️⚠️Spoilers ahead!⚠️⚠️ Look at your own risk! ⚠️ ⚠️]

Act 1: Split Siren

Aeren starts this arc as a fifteen-year-old and ends it at almost seventeen.

Regeneration Arc - This is the start of the story, and most of it has been explained in the plot. Trapped in an altered universe, Aeren is painfully and literally branded as a Gifted and is among the oppressed Terdisians by the conquering Callorcan Empire. Working with her estranged friend Rhieon, her best friend Aoki, and sisters Azamariel and Azalea, Aeren joins a revolution of "remembering" Terdisians led by the "Informant" into trying to take their universe back. Aeren also encounters Aerhart, an ancestor who retained his youth -- who teaches her about Callorca and the role she will play in the war.

Gitano Arc - With her father's sacrifice, Aerhart paves the way for a now-Chrystheum carrying Aeren and her team of Pursuers (Gifted members of her team that includes Rhieon, Aoki, and co. -- their opponents on Emperor Loche's team are called Defenders) to cross over to Callorca. However, this deed marks the end for Aerhart, who begins to age and succumb to his mortality following the prophecy of the first Salingris (the Callorcan equivalent of Aeren's last name -- Salinger, which is Aerhart's bloodline) to return home to Callorca. Upon arriving in Callorca, Aeren's team encounters an enemy called the Mesidran Gitanos who are able to mimic Aeren's gift of speed, deeming them as powerful enemies.

Phoenix Arc - Following their alliance with the Mesidran King Isidro, Aeren's team attempt to make their way to the capital of Cielo to retrieve her best friend Aoki from forced servitude to Emperor Loche. Aeren on the other hand gains control of a Flame Spyre -- a loyal phoenix creature that is able to transmit coded messages between individuals. Aeren discovers that this specific Flame Spyre used to belong to Myrr, the late Empress of Callorca, Loche's consort.

Silver Masc Arc - Aeren encounters the treacherous Alyx, a clone of Myrr who serves under the mutinous Haydne -- Emperor Loche's older brother who was forced to abdicate and was banished. Alyx, who has been eternally jealous of Myrr and is furious about Aeren's existence, plants a Regeneration Masc on the latter, distorting her face. This ruins the hopes of negotiation that they wish to hold with Emperor Loche -- considering that Aeren does hold the same face as his late wife.

Chrystheum Arc - After being declared an enemy of the empire and following the tragic sacrifice of Rhieon, Aeren and Loche come to blows after they meet each other for the first time and the former was accused of murdering Myrriderion Satche. However, the Emperor and Terdisia's "wild card" (Aeren) are forced to put aside their differences to stop Haydne's diabolic plan of destroying both universes to create a new one.

Act 2: Siren Spliced

Siren Spliced -- refers to a single siren that has been split into two. The siren refers to the two halves of the Chrystheum that Aeren carries. And she is forced to give up the other one to the new Bearer -- Tristan.

The story jumps several years into the future when Aeren is nineteen. Following Loche's sacrifice to give the other half of the Chrystheum to Aeren in order to defeat his older brother, with its power, Aeren was able to restore Terdis to original state and bring back everyone who died in the Regeneration war -- except for Loche. She comes home to a universe where her parents (Mother alive) are aware of the Regeneration and what their daughter has done. However, the reset has a few drawbacks -- Rhieon has been restored but he has no memory of everything he has done with Aeren and his friends. Aeren carries Loche's death deeply -- and this interferes with her fate when she crashes into Tristan Augham, Loche's parallel in her universe.

Spoilers: Tristan is the Informant who led the revolution in Split Siren. He was killed during the revolution because Aeren -- who was inexperienced with her new powers -- was too late to save him. He is also an Augham, the family who funds Aeren's father's research. He is also the "sponsor" who used to play violin with a younger Aeren, and adores her secretly from the sidelines.

Pursuers Arc - Despite being offered the Crown of the Callorcan Empire, Aeren chose to return home to Terdis and live out her life as she should have. However, as she grew older, she and the Pursuers (Liam, Azalea, Azamariel, and Aoki except for Rhieon who lost his memories) started doing mercenary work to set things straight in their universe. When news of a CEO's son was kidnapped by revolutionaries, Aeren -- who was sick of being a mercenary -- was supposed to turn the assignment down till she found out the victim was Tristan Augham, her father's boss' son. And what bothers her is that he looks exactly like the late Emperor Loche. Using the Chrystheum as a full set is also taking a toll on Aeren, giving her more nightmares of Loche dying in her arms.

Red Queen Arc - Aeren is forced by the combined council of Pursuers and Defenders, along with the Royal Council of Callorca, to give up the other half of the Chrystheum. The stone chose Tristan as the bearer of the other half. Aeren is also requested to return to Callorca and assume her rightful place as Empress Consort -- as Chrystheum bearers, as chosen by its previous masters, are considered heirs in Callorca. On the other hand, Tristan tries to deal with his newfound power, as well as Aeren's cold shoulder.

Black Orb Arc - Aeren discovers that the curse that Haydne put on the Chrystheum at the end of Split Siren -- the one that eventually killed Loche -- has also started growing on her. It was implied that Loche was not strong enough to handle it, but Aeren's status as a Terdisian allowed the Black Orb parasite to live within her without taking her life. The Black Orb parasite has taken on its own personality that appears and takes over Aeren at times -- a cruel version of her named Nerae the Black Star. In an attempt to save Callorca from the Black Orb virus, Aeren works against time to stop Nerae from taking over her. Tristan, on the other hand, has arrived in Callorca to try and help her.

Act 3: Siren Syndrome

Siren Syndrome -- The siren is a symptom that cannot be eradicated.

The end of Siren Spliced almost forced Aeren to kill herself in hopes of eradicating the Black Orb. Desperate to save her, Tristan provides a compromise -- he allows her to kill the part of herself that carries the pain of the black orb (which focuses on her grief over Loche's loss). However, this consists of her memories -- erasing them in the process. To keep her safe, Tristan took a large part of the Chrystheum to help her heal, only leaving with her 5% of the energy to ensure that she lives. (Bearers should not be parted with the Chrystheum or else they die. This is how Loche completely sealed his fate -- by giving the Chrystheum completely to Aeren.)

Aeren returns to Terdis with no memory of the Regeneration, or Loche, or even Tristan. But he prays that she will live a happy life.

Siren Spliced jumps forward almost a decade, when Aeren and the Pursuers are in their mid-late twenties.

Crystal Project Arc - Upon the death of her father, Aeren takes up his mantle and becomes Dr. Havish Augham's apprentice. Aeren also takes over the Crystal Project -- her father's research regarding the twin universes. Becoming the sole breadwinner for her mother and her younger brother, Aeren becomes the supposed heir to the Augham Industries, following Dr. Augham disowning his son -- whom Aeren never met. Still in touch with her friends Aoki, Azamariel, and Azalea, Aeren has reverted to nursing her unrequited feelings for Rhieon -- who has started a relationship with Azalea. However, there are nights when she finds herself falling for a stranger -- an informant who provides her with the important missing data to help complete her research.

Black Star Arc - Unable to stay away from Aeren, Tristan -- who is now Emperor of Callorca -- blows his cover and declares his feelings for her. Despite the Pursuers trying to prevent this to protect Aeren, they are facing a threat from worshippers of the Black Orb and Nerae -- who wish to bring their Black Star Queen back.

Eternity Arc - Trying to understand her growing feelings for Tristan -- someone who she doesn't remember meeting but was able to incite so many feelings from her, Aeren goes back to Callorca to find the Aged Tree where they claimed to have stored her memories. Tristan follows her there and reveals that only the two of them working together can open up the archives of the Aged Tree. However, the moment they succeed -- the Black Star Cult kidnaps Aeren and plans to submerge her into a well of the Black Orb in order to awaken Nerae. Will Tristan and Aeren ever get their happy ending?

Major Characters

Aeren Eislynn Salinger

Rhieon Argisburg - Rhieon is Aeren's childhood friend. Having been in the same elementary school with Aoki and Aeren growing up, Rhieon eventually changed schools before they reached high school. Having an incident where he almost drowned -- the Chrystheum gave him the power of Water. He is the first person whom Aeren runs into after the Regeneration event. Cool, collected, and intelligent (though a bit bookish), Rhieon has been the apple of young Aeren's eyes. However, Rhieon eventually falls for the older Gainsborough sister -- Azalea. In order to seal a deal with Loche in Split Siren, Rhieon had to subvert an ambush on the Emperor -- which cost his life. Rhieon's life was restored when Aeren reset both universes, but he initially has no memories of the Regeneration. When Aeren (who initially kept the Gift of Water after his death) returned the Gift to him, his memories also returned.

Aoki Harukara - Aoki is Aeren's best friend who stayed with her throughout her high school years. Aoki is the second Gifted that Aeren encounters after the Regeneration event. Aoki was given the power of the Mind -- allowing her to perform telekinesis and telepathy. During the Mesidran Gitano arc, having been captured by King Isidro, he separates Aoki from the group by sending her to Cielo as a "gift" to Emperor Loche. Despite this treachery, Aoki becomes one of Loche's closest confidants and counselors. Aoki is also the first person who figures out that Aeren is Empress Myrr's parallel/variant. It is also said that Aoki has unrequited feelings for Aeren, but she barely acts on it.

Azalea Gainsborough - The older Gainsborough sister that Aeren and Rhieon rescued during the Regeneration era. Azalea eventually is gifted the power of Fire. Usually going by the nickname "Lea", Aza is a reserved yet fiercely loyal character who would do anything for her younger sister Azamariel. She also eventually falls in love with Rhieon.

Azamariel Gainsborough - The younger Gainsborough sister. Aeren and Rhieon initially encounter Azamariel due to a rescue mission requested by her older sister, Azalea. Azamariel gets gifted the power of "Earth". She starts out with chrysopoeia -- the power to control paper. Going by the nickname "Aza", she is headstrong and slightly more immature than her sister. However, as she ages, she is also as fiercely loyal as Lea and becomes Aeren's confidant especially after she loses her memories.

Liam Dreyser - Liam starts out as an antagonist to Aeren during the Regeneration era. She is the son of Evangeline Augham and Aaron Augham (Aeren's father) in the alternate universe. It turns out that he is only protective of Aeren as she is his "blood-sister" in the alternate universe, and they were being bullied by Evangeline's older children from another marriage. Liam begins to lose his mind when he starts regaining his memories of his real father from before the Regeneration event. He eventually runs away with Aeren's team during the revolution. One of the last Gifted to receive his power -- Liam receives the power of Weather. He is able to control storms and hurricanes. After Aeren restores the original universe, the lonely, only-child Liam discovers that Aeren is his full-blooded cousin on his mother's side. (Evangeline Dreyser and Bianca Salinger turned out to be estranged full-blooded sisters.) It is implied that there is an attraction between Aza and Liam.

Loche McGrescall - Loche McGrescall is the second son of the House of McGrescall in Ciello. Upon the banishment of his older brother Haydne, he became Emperor of Ciello and of the whole universe of Callorca. Proud and ambitious, the handsome Loche is a known womanizer in court, breaking his wife Myrriderion's heart. Myrr's death completely transforms him into a man out for vengeance, blaming the Pursuer group of Terdis to be the culprits. Despite being blinded by revenge, Loche is loyal to his subjects, still somewhat listens to reason, and is a keen inventor. He created the Apollo Suit in hopes of battling the Black Orb curse created by his older brother to destroy both universes.

Haydne McGrescall - Poisoned by the teachings of a previous master, Crown Prince of Ciello Haydne McGrescall was inducted into the Anti-Universe belief -- that there is only one Universe, and that Calor has rightfully murdered his sister out of love. Poisoning his parents, Haydne planned to take over the throne until he was caught, forced to abdicate, and banished. The throne then passed on to his unsuspecting, innocent younger brother Loche who was very young at the time. Believing his master's teachings to be right, he was the mastermind behind the Regeneration bomb planted in Terdis. Capitalizing on her heartbreak over her husband's infidenlity, Haydne poisoned Myrr's mind and recruited her to be his lieutenant.

Myrrriderion Satche - Originally a Mesidran Royal, Myrriderion (or simply called Myrr), was selected among a long line of princesses to become Loche's Empress. It is implied that she was originally bethrothed to then Prince Isidro of Mesidra who was deeply infatuated with her even after her marriage to Loche. However, Myrr then discovers that her husband will never be faithful to her. Blinded by her pain, she submerged herself in the teachings of Haydne's anti-universe cult and went on a dangerous mission to "reshape reality". However, upon seeing her parallel Aeren gave her hope -- as she entrusted her half of the Chrystheum to the girl at the last minute before her doom.

Tristan Augham - Tristan is the son of the most powerful man in Terdis. Despite the coldness of his father, Tristan buried himself in the arts and took notice of a fellow young musician who turned out to be the daughter of his father's most valuable researcher. Tristan, despite the loneliness and cruelty of his family, found kinship in the young girl. Although Aeren doesn't completely remember playing in the orchestra with him, he continues to watch her performances, write her letters about her performance, and would eventually sponsor her -- much to her father (and Dr. Salinger's) amusement. However, the moment Aeren declared she would like to stop playing -- Tristan writes her a letter to meet with him and discuss other ways of helping her pursue her interests, such as her soccer endeavor, her future studies, etc. However, this letter was sent on the same day Aeren was to deliver her package to her father -- the same day of the Regeneration event. During the Regeneration era, Tristan served as a valuable informant who supplied data to the Terdisian rebels during the war. However, he was assassinated due to his status as the Emperor Loche's parallel/variant. (Aeren who was supposed to save him was too late.) Following Aeren's restoration of Terdis, Tristan is chosen by the Chrystheum to be the second bearer -- apart from Aeren. The poor girl is confused on how to treat him as he bears the exact likeness of Loche -- who has showed feelings for her towards his death. Tristan also has one more ability up his sleeve -- he was born clairvoyant. He was able to predict his mother's death and blames himself for being unable to stop it. This capability is amplified by the Chrystheum, making him almost unbeatable during battle. Tristan loves Aeren dearly even if she refuses to look in his direction at first, and despite making bad decisions at the start, eventually wins her heart.

#aeren salinger #mun speaks #rp blog #oc blog #ofc rp #split siren #tw: incest #tw: suicide #tw: homicide

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