#me trying to explain sci fi and fantasy with actual science

[annamariehamilton-unofficial]

Random Ghoulposting: When Reddit Folks Say the Premise Of TG Is Unrealistic and Stupid, I'm Like...

Me: It's a METAPHOR for alienation and prejudice, people! It was never MEANT to be realistic! Stop judging it for not being something it was never meant to be in the first place!

Also me: gets out corkboard and string and explains a ridiculous amount of biology and Japanese historical/cultural context to convince you that, yes, Tokyo Ghoul absolutely can be explained with logic and is *totally* plausible and self-consistent.

[moonlit-imagines]

Preferences: the Avengers visiting you, the owner of the local bookstore

Avengers x reader

warnings:

a/n: i hope it ok i turned into prefs!! i think it made more sense with the interaction part <3

prompt: @groovy-lady: “May I please request headcanons of being the owner of a bookshop the Avengers all go to and how they all interact with you?”

Bruce is there quite often, frequently in the scientific section. He buys stacks of books at a time and is quiet and polite when checking out. You always comment on how smart he must be and he awkwardly laughs it off. After a while, you start pulling certain books you’d think would interest him, which melted his heart when he realized you thought of him. “I added a science fiction novel in there, too. I don’t know if that’s your thing, but it’s one of my favorites.” You told him and he smiled. “Thank you for thinking of me.” He said.

Clint bought a lot of kids books. “How many?” You asked. “Three. Two boys and a girl.” He told you. You admired his choice of books for his kids. Teen fiction, sci-fi, graphic novels, fantasy, and a few children’s books. “Lots of variety.” You commented. “Yeah, trying to get them into reading.” He explained. “Any recommendations? The older ones are preteens, a boy and a girl. The little one is just learning how to read.” You smirked and started heading towards some classics like Percy Jackson, Harry Potter, and The Hunger Games. “These are the most popular for their age group, and I love them, too. As far as your little guy, you’ve already got the right idea.” Clint was grateful and took the first book of each popular series, promising to come back if they loved them as much you you did.

Nat was a fantasy reader. She had no shame in it. “What do you have for me today, y/n?” She’d approach the counter and have a small stack waiting for her. You’d go down the list with a little synopsis of each. “I hope you like them.” You told her. “You haven’t let me down yet.” She said back. She also donates her books when she’s done with them, saying she wants someone else to enjoy them as much as she did.

Steve nearly picked your history section clean. “Catching up, Captain?” You joked, recognizing the Super Soldier as soon as he walked in. “I don’t even know where to start.” He admitted. You gladly slimmed down his pile of history books and replaced quite a few with some fantastic works that came out while he was on ice. “As much as I enjoy reading, you won’t learn everything from these. Make sure you aren’t missing out by trying to catch up.” You warmly told him. “That’s good advice.” You told him you try and rung him up, warning him not to go reading those all at once.

Tony was more interested in comics and graphic novels, you’d laugh when you saw him pick up the more risque comics and he’d give you a playful wink. “They’re not for me, they’re for Clint’s son, the three-year-old.” He always knew how to make you laugh. “Yes, Elvira is the perfect choice for Clint’s small child.” He said he knew you’d understand. He also admitted he likes comics because they give him a little break from thinking all day and some of the characters remind him of his own life. You told him he was like Batman, he disagrees.

Thor checks out Norse Mythology more often than not. He likes to see what is written about him and his family in the eyes of Midgardians. “Are you sure you don’t want to try something different this time, Thor?” You motioned to a different section. “There’s so much more to choose from, I’d love to give you some recommendations.” Thor declined, placing another Norse book on the counter. “Have you ever read about me? Or my brother, Loki?” You nodded, telling him you’ve read a book or two that had them featured. “Wel”l, maybe next time I’ll buy something with a little less…me in it. We’ll see. Thank you, y/n!”

Before the Darkhold, Wanda was actually quite the enjoyer of teen fiction. She begged you not to tell the others what she read, and you promised you’d never share her secret. Most of the time, she’d cozy up in your reading corner with a coffee and read her “secret” books away from the Avengers. “Wanda, this one just came in. I think you’d love it.”

taglist: @locke-writes // @captainshazamerica // @summersimmerus // @prettysbliss // @simp-legend // @wild-rose-35 // @nekoannie-chan // @beth-gallagher22 // @mymelodymia // @deanzboyfriend // @mr-mxyzptlk-1940 //

[leaf17gaming]

I'll be honest. I think Ineffa is a step in the right direction.

If you don't look at leaks, then feel free to skip over this post, but I wanted to talk about Ineffa for a minute. (the picture is unrelated)

WARNING: Long post and leaks ahead!!

Image: Eurogamer

I've seen some really mixed reactions to Ineffa since her design was leaked. For me, as soon as I heard we were getting a mech girl, I was stoked, and when I actually saw her for myself, I wasn't disappointed. I think she's different from any genshin character we've seen and I LOVE that about her. Natlan was starting to feel redundant and samey and I was ready for something new.

I disagree with those saying she's too modern for genshin, too.

Yes, she is a bit more modern than the mech in Fontaine for example, but I still think she resembles them quite a lot. And we've had Katheryne since the beginning of the game, who is also a robot, so it's not as if Ineffa is the first. I read one comment that very intelligently summed it up more or less like this: it isn't weird to have a character whose design is a step between the Fontaine mech and Katheryne. I couldn't agree more.

Images: genshin wiki

People keep bringing up the Natlan character designs in the discussion about Ineffa (including me lol). Some say she's as modern as they are, and some even say she's worse. I COMPLETELY disagree. Ineffa is still distinctly fantasy and does bear a resemblance to technology we have already seen in Genshin, whereas Mavuika's bike, Xilonen's DJ mixer, Kinich/Ajaw's pixels... these don't resemble ANYTHING we've seen before or since in Genshin. No one else has ever had a DJ mixer or a ultra modern looking motorcycle. Pixels are something we have never seen before in genshin iirc, see nowhere in the open world/environment, and have never seen since.

So I feel it's undeniable that Ineffa meshes better with Teyvat as of now than these other characters. Even if you wanted to say she gives HSR/sci-fi, I feel that even this works better for genshin than urban contemporary (so ZZZ style, more like Kinich or Xilonen), because science fiction and fantasy have a LOT of overlap as genres.

Now. To be fair, someone pointed out Kinich's pixels resemble mesoamerican mosaics and I think that's a really cool take, however they also gave him literal arcade game SFX and a trailer that was entirely centered around the arcade game theme, so we cannot erase the ultra modern vibe they gave Kinich and Ajaw. We also can't erase that literally no one and nothing else in ALL of teyvat resembles them.

And actually one of my few issues with Ineffa is probably that she does have pixels incorporated into her shield. Doesn't match her slightly steampunk aesthetic at all to me. However it isn't part of her actual character design and is a small detail that's easily overlooked, as opposed to Kinich whose entire design, playstyle and animations incorporate pixels.

To be clear: I'm not hating on Natlan characters. I have and LOVE Xilonen and Kinich, I find them very fun to play and have come to love their designs. That doesn't mean I can't be objective about how at odds they are with their own environment. At odds with other nations? That's fine. Inazuma characters looked TOTALLY different from Mondstadt characters, for example. That's not the issue and never has been.

The issue is that we have a rollerblading DJ and a biker girlboss living in a country of huts and mud dwellings. The technology is not explained well, nor is it meshed well with the worldbuilding and environment. The devs could have easily made Mavuika's bike feel as at home in Teyvat as Fontaine's mecha, but they simply did not try. And okay, maybe they wanted it to stand out and feel odd and goofy, but if that's the case we needed the story to be self aware of that fact. But, in my opinion, it was not.

Image: Genshin wiki

Basically, I love Ineffa's design and I strongly disagree with the narrative currently surrounding her in the engish speaking community. I even love her colors. I love that they're earthy and muted and she's not the 13829382th bright pink and purple girl character in 5.x. I love that she's a robot and that she's more modestly dressed than a lot of the 5.x roster. I love that, at least to me, she does in fact mesh better with Teyvat, and probably will even more when we get to see the place she's from in Nod Krai, because I'm guessing it'll be similar to her in tech and aesthetic.

I feel like Ineffa is taking Genshin back in a direction I've been hoping for. It makes me more hyped and hopeful for 6.x. People calling her a 4 star design and saying she looks like crap or saying she's way too modern for genshin... I feel like we are looking at two different characters. I actually agreed with quite a bit of the criticism for designs like Emilie or Escoffier, etc, but not this time around. And that's understandable, this is a subjective thing, but I do hope people will stop being hateful towards those of us that really like her. I was downvoted and got some ugly comments on reddit for praising her design and that seems ridiculous to me (I know, toxic people with bad takes on reddit, big surprise lol).

As of now, I'm really hoping to at least try my 50/50 on Ineffa. I'm mostly out of primos and 5.7 and 5.8 aren't looking like very generous patches so I might not be able to get her, especially if anyone comes in 6.0 that I want just as much or more. So I'm already sad about the thought of not getting her, but I'm definitely going to try.

I love her, I do not think we lost Capitano for her, I am hyped, I respect those who are not, just don't try to kill my hype. End of story. Incels and femcels can go have a fistfight on reddit, meanwhile I am going to enjoy my male and female characters in peace and not care about what's politically correct (in this case, disliking Ineffa and thinking she doesn't belong in genshin lol).

[maythedreadwolftakeyou]

Following you was the best decision I've ever made. Where else am I going to learn things like the types of cacti shown in the Anderfels in game are not ecologically accurate? I am being 100% genuine here I love it when you contribute random knowledge in lore discussions, best parts of my day when it happens

LMAO thank you anon this is very kind. the truth is I am simply an ecologist who cannot turn that part of my brain off even when i know better. like i KNOW the reason why there's cacti there is because someone just picked them from a list of vegetation assets to populate the region with but also 😭 😭 😭 ITS TOO WET THEY WOULD DIE

but yeah specifically i double majored in biology and geology in undergrad, then worked in a plant genetics lab during undergrad & the first year after I graduated, then I moved out west to do desert based fieldwork and started adding in a lot of soil science. now i have a masters in soil microbiology and am currently weeping my way through a PhD (dont ask about that one grad school is Hell).

but YEAH MAN specifically i've been living in and researching deserts for the last decade of my life so i'm always extra excited about those in games lmao. I'm the Hissing Waste's number 1 stan they RULE everyone else is just a COWARD who HATES RUNNING ACROSS HUGE MAPS FOR HOURS. have you instead considered taking a job in Death Valley so when you run through the dunes for 10 hours a day in 110º weather you can console yourself with the thought "at least there isn't a phoenix attacking me right now. the worst thing that's happened to me today is falling into a rodent burrow"????? o those were the days. i used to write all my fanfic by headlamp in my sleeping bag while listening to coyotes get alarmingly close, and cursing the moon for how bright everything gets with light colored sand. If there were two moons in real life i WOULD be mad enough to condemn one to the otherside of the earth for 100 years so i could get some sleep too actually.

here have some drylands ive worked in while i'm being nostalgic

worldbuilding is my favorite favorite favorite part of fantasy/sci fi and i know not everyone has my background in how the actual "world" part works. so i don't condemn people who have gone into writing and arts fields for not understanding these things when they build maps but i really cannot turn off the part of my brain that opens a book or game map and instantly sees they have made the rivers 1. go uphill 2. diverge midway through (not a thing) and 3. in places that would make no sense given topography, mountains, etc that would impact weather & rainfall. only my TRUEST AND MOST WIZENED OG FOLLOWERS will remember how much i wept trying to map out the plate tectonics of Thedas in order to explain what the fuck the mountain ranges are doing what they are.

anyway lots of people have followed me in the last couple months so thanks for this excuse to make an intro post with a lil more about me :)

[starscribes]

StarScribes Introduction

About Me

Star (she/her)

Married

Middle School Teacher

I have a lot of responsibilities and don't get much time to myself but when I do I spend that time watching TV, writing, reading, playing D&D, playing video games (the Sims 4), and spending casual time with my family

US located

I used to be @houndsofcorduff but then I disappeared and started a simblr blog and now it's time to get on writeblr again

Writing

Mostly fantasy of varying levels, although I have dabbled in science fiction (I like to watch sci-fi more than write it - that's where my name came from actually, the Stargate franchise)

My favorite author is Brandon Sanderson

No, I don't think I'll ever publish anything, just scribe vibing

I love worldbuilding, magic system building, monster building, etc

Warning: I rarely finish anything I start

Blog

Ask game, tag game, ask, etc friendly

Reblogging stuff I like about writing

Posting snippets of my own writing

Participating in Nanowrimo (buddy me: stargatetribe)

Main/Simblr: @starandsims

Thanks for visiting and learning about me!

WIPs under the cut

Current WIP

Crescent Unbound - A stand-alone fantasy novel following Astrid Vale, a girl left orphaned by the last battle between good and evil. 20 years later she awakens an artifact with great power, it whispers of the return of evil. She must return it to the Chosen One so that it can be used to banish evil once again, but the quest is not as easy as it may seem.

Main Series: The Destiny Chronicles

Overall Synopsis: A generational series that follows a variety of supernatural beings: The Devlins (monster hunters); Seers (see the future), Sandmen (travel/control dreams), Mages (control a variety of magics), Cruth (control elements), and hybrids. Follows certain individuals chosen by Destiny to stop a great evil, and involves a lot of crossover until the end when everyone meets up for the big bad battle.

Book One: Retrospection - 1976 Earth - Russell Walker is a 16-year-old Seer dating Alexis Devlin a 16-year-old monster hunter. When she reveals his identity as a Seer and subsequently explains he's being hunted by a Seer-eating monster, they run away together - unfortunately not to fall in love but rather to save his life.

Book Two: Otherworld - 2007 Otherworld - Maxine Devlin was born into a family of monster hunters, but after 17 years she still hasn’t been allowed to fulfill that role. She has read every journal her ancestors have written and knows everything there is to know about monsters…or so she thinks. After her uncle and cousin go missing, she takes it upon herself to investigate and find them. Very quickly she finds herself in over her head as she travels to a dimension called Otherworld, where she discovers there is much more to magic than she once assumed.

Book Three: Shades of Night - 2010 Shadow - Sebastian Devlin has been to other dimensions before - technically just the one other than the one he was born in. That doesn't make it any easier though when he's dragged through a portal by the monster he's hunting. On his own this time, he'll have to find a way home, if that's even possible. Before he can do that though, he'll have to solve this new dimensions monster problem.

Book Four: Lost in Atlantis - 2011 Atlantis - The Devlin family is back together on a special mission to search the dimension of Atlantis for a particularly dangerous monster - the one that's been hunting Sebastian. The dimension of Atlantis has been abandoned for centuries, but almost immediately they find a single survivor, an impossible face from the past.

Book Five: Vengeance at the Door - 2013 Earth - Sebastian Devlin the monster hunter has become the hunted, chased across multiple states and dimensions by a horrifying visage either of his imagination or reality. Now in Boston, he's just trying to live off the radar of any monster or creature. As the patients at the mental hospital where he works begin to see the same visages he's been seeing, does he run again? Or get himself slaughtered?

Book Six: Heartwood - 2015 Shadow - Janina Heartwood is a good little sister, she picks food off of her brother's plate, puts leaves in his hair, sticks up for him, and trusts him to the edge of the world. After a mysterious man reveals that her brother, Jake, is adopted and descended from a line of monster hunters called the Devlins, she follows him to another dimension to protect him. Now she, Jake, and her boyfriend, Ethan, find themselves trying to destroy an evil entity known as the Sluagh. Janina fights shapeshifters, gremlins, pirates, and more to protect her brother, but will it be enough?

Book Seven: Bring Me a Dream - 2015 Earth - Reynolds McNeil is a Sandman slowly turning into a Nightmare just trying to live out his final few months keeping his friends out of trouble and protecting his little sister from his scary world. Instead, he gets kidnapped and taken to an underground fight ring for augmented humans like himself.

Book Eight: Dream Treader - 2016 Unnamed Dimension - Rescued at the last second by their thought-to-be dead brother, Reynolds and Louie discover there's a lot more to their strange powers than they thought. Things continue to get complicated as they are hunted by a different kind of enemy determined to rid the world of Destiny's chosen - them and their friends.

Book Nine: Moonlight Dreams - 2017 multiple dimensions - Still on the run but now without their leader, Reynolds and his friends try to learn everything they can about why they're being hunted. In the process they rescue their leader, who now must accept that it's time to start the endgame and bring together all of Destiny's chosen before they're hunted down.

Book Ten: Among Infinities - 2017 Isfyd - Carson has lived his entire life in the middle of a Civil War, and most of that was on the wrong side. Although he's on the right side now there are few who believe he's anything other than a spy. When Carson discovers there is a real spy out there he must discover the spy's identity before he's found guilty himself.

Book Eleven: Diplopia - 2018 Isfyd - Carson, now a prisoner of his mother and in the process of resisting her brainwashing, discovers this isn't the first time she's brainwashed him or erased his memories. Exploring his memories and his old home reveals answers and more questions.

Book Twelve: Splintered Crown - 2019 Earth- Freshly rescued, Carson and his friends flee to Earth to find the one thing that can stop his mother and her army - a girl with no idea who she is or how to use her powers, and absolutely no interest in joining their rebellion.

Book Thirteen: Destiny - 2020 Earth - Earth is invaded by soldiers from Isfyd, it will take all of Destiny's chosen to defeat the great evil they've been waiting for. The Devlins, the McNeils, the Moons, and Carson and his friends are the only chance this dimension has. It's looking increasingly like it won't be enough.

Other WIPs

Hounds of Corduff - 1800s Isfyd - A four-book series following the three Cruth apprentices of Corduff as they battle with and against each other in the middle of propaganda and other lies forcing them each further away from the truth.

The Elder Mage - 1976 - 2015 Various dimensions - a series of short stories following Denham Moon, who some would call Earth's most powerful mage. He's been entrusted with bringing together Destiny's chosen at the appropriate time, but he's mostly just procrastinating since he's pretty sure he won't make it through that appropriate time.

Old Gods - a 9-book series following Em'het, a curious and multi-talented boy with great magics who fights the gods to save his family, but after several years of doing the same thing over and over again he wonders if there's a point to any of it if the gods he faces just keep getting stronger and smarter.

Prince of Fireflies - a TV series that follows teenage twins Charlie and Riley as they attempt to keep their younger brother Liam out of trouble with his mysterious light powers. They're mostly unsuccessful.

The Peculiar Adventures of Michael Mallory - an unnumbered book series that follows 9-year-old Michael Mallory after he sneaks aboard his older brother's spaceship. While in the process of trying to return Michael, Nicholas Mallory and his crew are attacked and forced to hyperjump without their navigation machines online. Now they're lost in space, who knows how far from home, and somehow raising a 9-year-old.

The Disappearing Place - just one book - 12-year-old Martin Ramsey has a bad habit of disappearing, blinking in and out of existence seemingly at random. His brother Bartholomew tries to help but ends up making things worse when he starts disappearing too. In a wacky time-traveling dilemma the brothers have to figure out what is happening and why to try and get back home, while continually randomly jumping in and out of time and space.

[moghedien]

I've seen you say a few times that a lot of modern magic systems aren't really magic and are basically science or math (or sci-fi), and specifically mention Brandon Sanderson's systems. Maybe it's just because I'm not very familiar with his work (I've only read mistborn era 1 and the first 3 books of the stormlight archive) but it seems to me his magic systems are god-given, explained to death, video-gamey magic with basically an energy bar, and I don't really understand how that'd be science, math or sci-fi. Would you mind explaining that to me? (I also don't really understand the whole hard magic vs soft magic thing. E.g., to me classic spells and wot weaving seem functionally the same yet the former is generally considered soft and the latter hard)

Describing it as video gamey is actually exactly it, because video games and even table top games that use magic are basically the same thing, because they have to be. They have very specific rules that are always going to the constant. Once you know the rules, you can minmax and manipulate scenarios around those rules, but the rules are still very much in place and very constant.

Video games are like that because they have to be, they’re programs. Table top games are like that also because they have to be to be useable for a general audience, but a GM can in theory decide to throw out said rules and decide something else happens based on vibes. That’s the simplest example I can give on the difference between hard and soft magic. Magic that follows rules is hard magic. Magic that follows vibes is soft magic.

When it comes to Sanderson, I call his magic systems math because they’re so intentionally formulaic. Doing X thing will always cause Y action. You may be able to manipulate situations around that formula in unexpected way. You may be able to throw in unexpected variables or you may unexpectedly encounter something you didn’t account for that throws off the expected outcome, but the formula is always going to be the same. No matter how many times you do it. No matter who is doing it (as long as they have the basic ability to use the magic), x+y will always equal z

The reason why I say that isn’t magic is because it’s extremely orderly and predictable. If you look at like, most magical representations in antiquity, it’s very much a chaotic force. You can try to harness it and do things with it, but you can’t control chaos and you’ll probably end up with some unexpected outcomes even if you’re skilled and careful. Also it’s largely used in like stories just to like, deliver some moral or cause some problem so it’s literally just a tool to add chaos that can’t otherwise be accounted for.

People can write “hard” magic all they want and I like Cosmere and all, but Branderson specifically as well as a lot of other fantasy writers have a problem with thinking that any magic that isn’t clearly defined for readers is bad. Branderson specifically seems to think that it’s poor writing and a mistake on the writers part if they somehow forgot to come up with never changing magic rules for the readers to obsess over.

If that’s the case though then the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit were the worst fantasy books every written because Tolkien is like THE best example of soft magic in fantasy. No one knows what the fuck the rules of magic are in those books, but somehow it still isn’t bad writing when Gandalf comes back from the dead or dropping a ring in some lava kills Satan. Like even when we get explanations it’s just like “accept this is the case for this one situation but apply it to nothing else.” A more recent example of soft magic is in the Poppy War, which is a book I would love to hear Branderson or his fans try to say is poorly written because of the magic

Wheel of Time has a sort of combination of hard and soft magic though, which is where a lot of the criticism toward Branderson came up because he seems to ignore this when discussing the books/show. Weaves and channeling and such are on the harder side and have rules that do largely remain constant (except when they don’t), but then there’s things like Tel’aran’rhiod and the Ogier and ter’angreal in general and the horn of Valere and the heroes attached to it and taveren where it’s just largely like “yeah this is how it is don’t worry about it”

Anyway, all this to say I really do actually hate the terms hard and soft magic but they’re the most useful terms we have

[stitching-in-time]

Voyager rewatch s6 ep3: Barge of the Dead

Ugh another experimental episode, when will they ever end?? (They will not, there's still more!) 'It was all a dream' is a frustrating story device in any genre, but all the more so here, because it lacked any sci-fi element, and made it veer off into straight up fantasy, which Star Trek isn't, and shouldn't try to be.

While I like the idea of exploring some Klingon lore and B'Elanna's relationship with her mom, the execution here just didn't really make it work. There have been plenty of Star Trek eps where characters have near death experiences, but they've always had some sort of sci-fi reason for it. You can't just give a character that with no explanation, because then that's canonically saying that an afterlife exists, and as a sci-fi show, they can't do that. If this was Xena or Buffy or whatever, fine, those are fantasies, but Star Trek needs to be rooted in some sort of actual science, even if it's extremely far fetched and not actually feasible in reality. You have to at least be able to say 'well, science figured this out at some point, just go with it'. B'Elanna almost dying once and seeing the Klingon Barge of the Dead is one thing, but recreating the conditions that almost killed her and seeing the same thing with a continuing story arc, without explaining how she's able to magically do this, was like, what?? Directed dreaming is one thing, but she was technically dead, so that's not what's going on. Obviously they'd have to make it a dream or something like that for her to talk to her mom while they're in the Delta Quadrant, but a better framing device would have really helped sell it for me more. As it is, having something take place totally inside a character's mind for most of the episode makes me disinvest in the story quite a bit. And I love B'Elanna, but I really need something real to anchor to amidst all the psychobabble mumbo jumbo, most of which didn't really ring true or make sense.

For one thing, B'Elanna suddenly being willing to die to maybe save her mom's soul, when she's resented her parents for most of her life, and her own life is finally getting better, seems like a pretty extreme shift that would take more than one near death dream to bring about. Her suddenly believing in Klingon religion after a lifetime of not doing so, and believing in it strongly enough that she's willing to die for it, and turn her back on her whole Voyager family, is definitely way too big a leap from just one dream. I think she would be more likely to look at it analytically and examine the metaphors like Chakotay suggested. But then I don't believe in the sort of reward and punishment based notion of an afterlife that's going on here, so I'm never really gonna be on board with any story focusing on judging someone's fitness for eternal damnation or eternal reward. Honestly the Christian overtones of the supposedly Klingon mythology were probably a big part of why I can't really like this one. Having cultures and religions that are supposed to be alien be basically carbon copies of current human cultures and ideologies does make the Star Trek universe seem, well, pretend. It takes the magic out of it to be reminded time and again that it's basically been made by a group of American straight white guys who can't truly conceive of ways of life that are substantially different from our own.

I honestly don't remember if I ever watched this one all the way through before, since I distinctly remember the first time this aired- 12 year old me was very annoyed that they messed with established Klingon lore to say that dishonor passes for child to parent, when it had always been from parent to child. I remember saying to my mom, 'if they're just gonna change it for no reason, then I don't care what happens because they're not doing it right' and I messed around with something else and didn't pay attention to the rest of the ep. Pedantic though I may have been, 12 year old me was kinda right. While I don't think there's nothing worthwhile here, it does muddy the waters when they mess around with established lore for the sake of convenience. World building is critical in sci-fi and fantasy, and keeping the rules consistent is the the key. Changing or ignoring rules of the genre, or the franchise, compromises the story they're trying to tell. You can't focus on the story when you're wondering what the writers were thinking and wanting an explanation.

And all of these things are barriers I have to get through to even get to discussing the story itself, which is the deeply frustrating notion that B'Elanna is somehow not honorable enough or warrior enough to be a good Klingon, which in itself, deeply pisses me off. In what universe is B'Elanna Torres not badass enough to get into Sto'vo'kor?! She was a Maquis for goodness sake! Freedom fighter was literally her job description- even if she doesn't go for Klingon ritual, she absolutely has been a brave warrior, and Klingons seem like they would care about how you fight your battles more than what rituals you observe. She's literally actually a warrior, how is that not Klingon enough?! It sexism, pure and simple, because Worf never actually was a Klingon warrior either, but neither Worf as a character nor any of the writers ever consider him to be anything other than an honorable Klingon warrior. And Worf has only ever been in Starfleet, he's never actually been a freedom fighter like B'Elanna has, but yet somehow, because he does all the Klingon rituals and practices with his bat'leth regularly, he's somehow more of a warrior than she is?? That's stupid. She's just as brave as he is, don't tell me being an engineer is somehow less honorable than being a tactical officer. They're both Starfleet in the end.

And why is this a recurring theme in her episodes? I totally get that B'Elanna doesn't ever think that she's good enough, but why does the show take that perspective? Why do they constantly have B'Elanna down on herself without anyone ever pointing out to her that she's worthy? Why do they never let her have a moment where she herself realizes that she's worthy? I mean, I get it, actually believing in yourself when you've been taught your whole life that you're not good enough is hard- but you have to at least try to start somewhere. Giving a character trauma just to let them suffer with it forever sucks, and isn't in the spirit of Star Trek. Healing and getting better isn't easy, but it's possible, and Star Trek's whole deal is that getting better is possible, both as a society and as individuals.

I'm just frustrated that B'Elanna is constantly getting slammed by the writers for being too Klingon AND not Klingon enough at the same time. I hate to quote the Barbie movie, but it really feels like a case of women always getting seen as too much and not enough simultaneously. There's no way to win. B'Elanna deserves the fucking world, okay? She's out there holding that ship together with a hyperspanner and a prayer, with less training than a Starfleet engineer, and none of the resources, all while battling with her own childhood trauma just to stay afloat, and still manages to be a kind and caring person underneath her defense mechanism of dry humor and withering sarcasm, and her completely understandable anger at an unjust world that's dealt her some seriously shitty hands. I love her, and everyone should love and appreciate her, and I'm still upset that both the characters on the show and the show itself often don't. I really do think it's the double whammy of white guys not understanding that a) there's no inherent conflict in having a mixed heritage in itself, it's the poor treatment people get from racists because of it that makes it a problem, and b) women can and do have very legitimate reasons for being angry, and expressing it doesn't make them unreasonable or 'too much', nor is it a problem that can be solved by telling them they're too sensitive and should just get over it, which was basically what this ep said in the end. The idea that B'Elanna has always been miserable on Voyager is just straight up untrue, and the idea that she's solely to blame for whatever unhappiness she experiences, considering the way she often gets treated by people around her, is also a really bad faith take. If they want her to be happier and/or nicer, they should treat her better, not just tell her to be nicer or happier.

Anyway, all of this is to say, this ep didn't work for me. She looks cool in the Klingon gear, and they apparently spent a lot of money building a whole barge set, but all I could think about were the many, many issues with how B'Elanna gets treated on the show. Whatever actually happend in this ep (I still don't really even know tbh) did not impact me even half as much as all the other issues I sat churning over in my mind while watching it.

Tl;dr: Another experimental ep that offered no sci-fi storyline whatsoever, instead giving us fantasy dream sequences that were meant to be psychologically illuminating, but ultimately, were muddied by the fact that we were never given any explanation for what B'Elanna experienced beyond 'she died and went to the afterlife for a while', which doesn't work on a sci-fi show.

[frostmoths]

Dreams I want to write down real quick before I pass out, meant to post this all day

Yesterday morning I dreamed this entire movie. It started out Ratatouille but Remy and Emile got separated from their new puppet, a teen girl. Then it turned into this bizarre urban fantasy musical that quickly turned dark, still following the girl. A relative of hers, an actual musician whose tracks were part of the soundtrack, turned out to be a backstabber. She escaped a tight crowd which may have wanted a street orgy. Then I was her trying to hide in this house, and the Animaniacs came over. Like the Warner Bros and sister. I was so relieved and begged for their help, and knew hijinks would ensue.

The weird part (as if that all wasn't weird enough) is that this morning's dream was me telling someone about that dream. I described the girl, villain, and some random old lady/family member as characters from certain 00s cartoons. And whomever I explained it all to told me I should write it, since I dreamed it for a reason. And that it should be sci-fi. I was like "I've never written sky-fi before, idk" but they said I could make up whatever science rules I wanted. Which was an actual thing brought up in the weekly comedy podcast I listen to, their book club read a sci-fi novel (and disliked it). So I was imagining very old fantasy-based characters of mine navigating a new sky-fi setting. And it worked, I could totally make them work.

?? What is this?? A sign? A message? It's so bizarre that it picked up the next morning. What does it mean. I'm nodding off now, goodnight

[brongusthearcanist]

Sci-fi and Fantasy are linked in a strange way. Both deal with impossible premises and both typically have what we call "magic" but we don't normally call Sci-fi shenanigans magic, unless they are strictly spiritual. Sci-fi approaches the impossible as if it's simply not possible yet, and that this world has made a break through, allowing them to make this possible. Sci-fi also tends to spend a lot more time explaining how something works with science, or a modified version, while Fantasy explains it through the supernatural and mysticism.

Obviously no series in either category perfectly follows these rules. The cosmere explains that the supernatural is actually natural and measurable, therefore spiritualism is just another part of science. Star wars in my opinion does the opposite. It takes place in a society with future technology and all the trappings of Sci-fi, but it does it in a very fantasy way. Lightsabers are I think the best example, why would you ever need a sword when everyone else has laser guns, because cool fantasy that's why, it's a laser sword. The futuristic elements are portrayed with a mystic elements. And of course there is magic, they try to make is sciency later by explaining that the force is medicorians or whatever, but it still operates on a spiritual and mystical level, and truly isn't completely comprehensible. Which is in contrast to the Cosmere where all the mystical elements just feel like science that hasn't been explained yet.

Dune is where it gets a little weird to me. I think most people would put this in the hard Sci-fi camp, but I disagree. Yes this series is to Sci-fi what Lord of the Rings is to Fantasy, but I think there's a lot of Fantasy in there. I mean the voice? That's magic, Bene Gesseret being able to transmute substances in their body including poison? Magic. Prescience? It comes from a magic drug, made by magic worms! Yes the books do try to approach this from a very sciency way, but a lot of it just feels like magic, no matter how much Herbert tries to make it scientific. (Btw Sanderson's favorite book series other than the Wheel of Time is Dune, so you can definitely see a lot of his inspirations in this, in fact Taldain, the setting of white sands, is definitely just Cosmere Arrakis, like it even has its own version of sand trout.) There's also a shit ton of mysticism in Dune, and yes much of it is discussing the manufactured nature of religion and aspects of spirituality to control the masses, but there is also a sense that not all of it is made up, that the people in power are manipulating truth without really knowing what it is, just so they can get ahead and stay that way.

Obviously genre, especially in books are really just marketing terms designed to help find the right audience for a particular story. This is the same with YA. YA is an even less concrete genre as it requires very little. Mistborn was not originally marked as YA, it's an epic high fantasy, but after a couple years the boys at TOR figured out that it has a lot of the trappings of YA. It's fast paced, has a young strong female protagonist, a dark dystopian setting, and is written in pros that don't require an incredibly dense knowledge of vocabulary, making it easy to comprehend for all ages. It was a no-brainer for Tor to start printing a YA version(just a paperback with a different cover that is stylized in a way that is very common for YA). YA really just means a teenager could read this without feeling like it's homework. That's really it. There are a lot of people who hate YA for incredibly weird reasons. I personally am weary of YA, simply because I enjoy a slower plot with more room for nuance and sitting in the moment. YA tends to be more fast paced, which I enjoy, but it often comes at the cost of depth. There are a lot of YA books that I enjoy and a lot that I would enjoy if they were written to be a little more "boring". But some of y'all really just don't wanna read anything that is labeled as YA, and I'm positive it is just misogyny. Like y'all just don't wanna read books that are popular and "primarily" marketed towards women, and it's really, really pathetic.

I don't know how this turned into what it is, and I don't have a final point to end this on that will tie it all together. Enjoy this ADHD clusterfuck of a post where none of my points are truly taken to completion

I do not know how to end this, I just wanted to talk about it

[disgruntled-writer]

By now, we’ve probably all seen that one post about wizards understanding technology as magic and magic as technology. I humbly disagree. In fact, I think that by equating the two your loose nuance and the reason both are awesome.

First, I’d like to set up what I suspect to be the source of that idea. Arthur C. Clarke came up with three “laws,” that describe his chosen genre of science fiction. The third is what we are concerned with: “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” All three of these laws are more writing advice or trope than fact, but this one caught on, keep that in mind.

So, as for the post, which I will try and find and reblog to this blog ASAP, it irks me in two ways. The first is that it fundamentally misunderstands the idea of arcane knowledge. Specifically, it implies the premise of wizards knowing why magic works. Arcane knowledge is arcane knowledge because you know that if you do X, Y happens, but you don’t know the underlying mechanisms or why that input delivers that output. That’s what makes magic magic.

Without that level of obfuscation, it just becomes science. A known fundamental law of the universe. That isn’t to say that it can’t be in the process of being explored or even understood in the broad strokes, but if you can extremely accurately predict future interactions, you’ve made scientific theory. You can also have a lot of understanding of what inputs lead to what outputs; everyone on your block can know mage hand without knowing why it works.

Now, specifically I am referring to on a societal level, not a personal perspective. As at that level most modern technology is arcane to most of us. You know that when you perform a series of inputs, you get an output. Which is to say, this technology, which is sufficiently advanced, is, to the individual a matter of magic, of the arcane. But, it’s obviously not magic; the sum of human knowledge entirely contains how a phone works.

This brings us back to Arthur C. Clarke. The reason his third law exists as writing advice, at least to me is that it’s simply good advice. When writing science fiction, you’re not trying to predict or justify some future technology, you’re trying to explore its consequences and ramifications. To quote Frederik Pohl, “A good science fiction story should be able to predict not the automobile but the traffic jam.” The tech and its functionality is pre-supposed.

But, it’s importantly, just a good observation. From a personal perspective, which is what most stories are built for, you don’t need to know how a Time Machine, a Smartphone, or a Fireball works to understand what actually matters. How do you control the Time Machine? How do you use a Smartphone? How do you cast Fireball? What do they do?

TLDR: a Wizard shouldn’t be able to precisely and accurately explain how a set of motions and noises makes a fireball, but an Electrical Engineer could explain how clap-on clap-off lights work, down to the molecular level.

Now, the section where I give obligatory writing advice.

The first is that magic is as good a tool for Sci-Fi as the warp drive is. Too few fantasy settings really sit down and think about the consequences of there being a non-insignificant portion of the population capable of blowing your house up. Going into that can make an interesting story in of itself.

To those who want to write Sci-Fi, don’t try to waste your words and your reader’s attention on explaining the mechanics any more than you have to. We don’t care about WHY the FTL engine works, we care about what it does. I’ll probably have more when I inevitably talk about Technobabble.

Regardless, thank you for reading this far, have a good day, and may you write at the speed (but not quality) of a coked-up Steven King.

[castlebyersafterdark]

"I guess the aspect that always throws me is the powers and where is the line between magic and science. And the existence of experimentation and the lab explain away most of that, but then we're up against this alternate dimension, which could be a sci-fi concept, or not, depending on your lens. Blending genres. Breaking rules."

Was it ever really in contention that the UD is going to be scientific-related? If it turns out to be magic, that will be such a cop out when the whole show has been setting up that human intervention caused all this mess, and the moral quandary that poses seems like one of the core messages of the story of stranger things.

Maybe this relates to our lovely boy Will. I think the byler fandom sometimes takes Will Byers' wizard alter ego a little too far. I mean, wiseheart is cute af, and i love the idea of getting to see mike and will in actual fantasy garb, but Will's wizard alter ego is just that - an alter ego. Like the rest of the dnd game, it's an allegory for his role in the story and doesn't come into reality. Everything happening in real life for the party and Hawkins is caused by scientific intervention. Will doesn't actually have 'magical' powers - his supernatural senses are a result of being in contact with the lab-adjacent stuff, the sci fi stuff. The story has set this up, and a reveal where Will is part of the dealings with the lab is much more powerful than some kind of deus-ex-machina where he is suddenly revealed to be a magic boy who was born with inexplicable magical powers. That would break down the investment we've all had in trying to figure out what the fook is going on through science. So Will being a wizard is a way to symbolically show what he can do through his gameplay, much like the boys called the monster vecna when of course he isn't actually vecna, that's a fictional character from a game. This is also so so important for mike's romance narrative, because if will was also magical that would place him on the same pedestal as mike puts el the superhero on and mean Mike would have to go through a whole lot of psychological shit to deal with the fact that OH! Will is ALSO 'better' than him, rather than his equal. Will needs to be normal, and through his humanity and normality, becomes a herooooooooooo

**Cue the Bonnie Tyler**

More sci-fi vs fantasy talk!

Well, maybe it was the dimensional / what really is the Upside Down, etc. that veered it into fantasy elements for me. Especially with the homages and thematic references to The Neverending Story which is pure fantasy. I think having heard those theorkes and references, my mind goes there for certain elements.

I do think straight up magic is definitely odd in the world they've created within the show, so I tread skeptically with a lot of the Will with Powers agenda. Even with a lot of the "builder Will" or "Will shaped the Upside Down" theories I tend to like, there's gotta be believable limits.

Good points!!

[minici]

hey I saw your tags on the airy vs grounded worldbuilding post, and I'm just here as a big fan of both sci fi and fantasy to say: screw the haters, write the story you want to tell, your story will ALWAYS be better if you lavish attention on the bits you find interesting and put just enough work into the rest of it that it's a solid scaffolding for the true heart of the story. star trek is a bastion of sci fi and it is FAMED for its technobabble! you can do that too!

that very post is dragging grrm through the mud NOT for failing to write proper grounded worldbuilding, but rather for being dishonest about what he was doing. he's really good at political machinations, fascinating character dynamics, and playing with genre tropes; he doesn't need to be any good at calculating army logistics, he can just make that up. his failing isn't in making stuff up, it's in constantly drawing our attention to stuff that doesn't hold water and saying, "look how good this is at holding water!"

also, one of the major joys of setting things in the space future and/or just some made-up solar system is that you don't have to worry about realism any more than you want to. how does the spaceship engine run? magic rocks from the moon, don't worry about it. it's not your job to completely flesh out every detail of your world, it's your job to explain exactly as much as the reader needs to know to understand the nuances of your plot. everything else is unnecessary. just signpost in your writing which bits are important for the reader to focus on, and let the rest be lightly sketched out.

it's your story! write the bits that are most interesting to you (and most important to your plot), be consistent and thorough in those things, and the story will be strong enough to withstand any amount of weak worldbuilding in other areas. all worldbuilding is at least somewhat handwavey anyway; your worldbuilding will be stronger, not weaker, if you know when to say "this part just works because I said so" instead of trying to prop it up with flimsy scaffolding. besides, if the heart of the story is compelling enough, readers can overlook anything up to and including complete retcons. focus on the bits that matter for the story and leave the rest to the readers' imaginations.

Okay you've got me all fired up now! I need to forget the haters and do my nice, airy light scifi that's heavy on the concepts and characters and light on the actual science. I've got a whole crew fleshed out after all, and people like the bisexual space pirates.

"If the heart of the story is compelling enough" very true, I can and have overlooked all kinds of things if I loved the characters, themes, and aesthetic of something. I have, for instance, had people tell me repeatedly they love the dialogue and flow of my story so much they kindly overlooked my lack of descriptions of certain moments.

@aethersea thanks :D

[kayla-kai]

Spec fic scales

I hate the way that fantasy seems to have one scale and sci-fi has another and they’re always treated like two entirely different scales. I get that the high fantasy—low fantasy scale and the hard sci-fi—low sci-fi have different  purposes and intentions as far as grouping and identifying media goes but I just. I feel like only having one scale is limiting. Thus, I propose we start using a cardinal graph to describe speculative fiction. 

For clarity, the high-low scale refers to how entrenched a world is in fantasy elements. High fantasy will have a unique world, races that aren’t human, and lots and lots of magic. The hard-soft scale refers to how well fantastical elements are grounded in reality, how plausible they are, and how well they’re explained. 

To this end I’ve tried including some examples of where I would put certain media on this scale. I wanted to include LotR and Frankenstein, since they’re often cited as the creators of the fantasy and sci-fi genres as we know them today. Funnily enough, Frankenstein in particular doesn’t actually EXPLAIN shit, to the point where it became understood that ol’ Vicky used electricity, when if you read the book it’s almost more implied that he used chemicals and potions. Meanwhile LotR goes into ample detail about how the races work, the society, the implications of magic and monsters, etc. it may not be grounded in reality, but it is an otherwise incredibly hard piece of media. Fantasy gets the association of being soft and unexplainable while sci-fi is more associated with realism. So it’s funny to me that the creators of the genres weren’t bound by those kinds of assumptions. 

I included my favorite webcomic ever, Sluggy Freelance, to show that a given series isn’t necessarily beholden to one spot on the scale. Sluggy uses both fantasy and sci-fi elements, and the level of realism or detail given changes element to element or arc to arc. Magic is almost given more rules than some of the science, and both can interact with each other in unexpected ways (there’s a system of fate that can only be tampered with using magic…and sometimes unexpected science, too.). The comic has like, six different types of zombies, ranging from ‘kids in makeup’ to ‘brainwashing’ to ‘magic curse’ to ‘demonic plant infesting people’ and more. Each version has its own level of realism and explanation. Meanwhile some arcs are set in realistic New Jersey, and others are set in other dimensions full of demons or time travel with deities or both with an evil corporation that can keep people alive forever and try to brainwash them to prevent uprising. This turned into me gushing about my favorite comic, I’m sorry, I digress

Anyway the last thing I found interesting was how most of my examples follow a line going from soft-low to hard-high. Is this the nature of modern media? Or is it just my preferences when I consume media? The two outliers seem to be Star Wars, a series I watched but didn’t particularly enjoy (it’s fine, just not my thing), and the Martian, which I have actually never read or watched but had to look up for something to put in that corner (other than a meme)

Anyway, if anyone wants to use this or add examples, please do! I’m interested if other media shows the pattern I’ve started or if it’s just me. I might make one for my wips as well, so if you’re a writer, put your wips on the graph too!

[clueingforbeggs]

Sci fi, and let me break down my response to your teacher's points:

1: It has magic, mythical creatures: Yes, and they almost always have a science fiction explanation. Medusa? Well, that's drawn from the mind of a man who has been plugged into a machine. Demons? They're actually just an alien species that travelled to Earth. Gods? Aliens from outside this dimension. Or possibly Time Lords that survived the collapse of the previous universe.

Reversing the polarity isn't the only part of the show's technobabble, and the issue with having a character from a five-dimensional species which has technology so advanced from ours is that advanced technology does blur the lines between magic and reality, at least from our perspective. Try to imagine explaining the computer (or phone, or tablet) you're reading this on to a medieval peasant.

2: It's about a central character's journey and doesn't parallel problems in our society: Not true, and not true.

The Doctor may be the title character and the first one in the credits, but we see the show through the companions eyes in almost all episodes. The Doctor isn't even the first character we're introduced to. In 1963 that was Barbara and Ian, in 2005 that was Rose. Especially in the Hartnell era, the Doctor doesn't even fully seem like a protagonist. He starts to become more of one during Troughton's era, but this isn't finalised until Pertwee's.

There are several episodes during Hartnerll's era which are not only Doctor-lite, but Doctor-absent. Only in one serial was that due to Hartnell's health issues. There are very few episodes I can think of which are companion-absent. One of them is also Doctor-absent. (those episodes are Mission to the Unknown/Dalek Cutaway (Hartnell, Doctor-absent), The Deadly Assassin pt 1-4 (Tom Baker), and Heaven Sent (Capaldi)). Also, by this logic, if sci-fi focuses on a character it's not sci-fi. Are you saying that Star Trek: Picard is fantasy, just because it focuses on Picard's journey and not a whole crew?

As for the second point, this is just laughably false. Doctor who frequently parallels problems in our society. There are episodes about climate change in the seventies. The Daleks are space-Nazis after a nuclear war mutated them. The Cybermen were created to criticise communism. There's a whole episode about Margaret Thatcher. Time Lord society is basically what you get if you take all the worst parts of British high society, mix in a huge dollop of alien technology, and top it off with a Caste system, some robes, and large collars. I mean, they refer to other species as 'lesser species' for fuck's sake, how close to 'lesser races' can you get?

Fantasy propaganda below

I had a discussion in school on whether Doctor Who was considered sci-fi or fantasy. It’s always been called sci-fi, but my English teacher was hard pressed about it being fantasy.

I think it could be a combo of both, but he was very sure it was just fantasy.

Everyone seems to have different opinions on how to define the two. My teacher was arguing for fantasy because there’s magic, mythical creatures and it’s an about one central character’s journey (often the basis of fantasy adventures) whereas sci-fi is typically used as a vessel to parallel problems in our society.

Although Doctor Who has been known as sci-fi to me, I did understand his argument and have been a bit hyper focused when watching it since then, trying to figure out which one it leans towards. Although they attempt to explain everything through “reversing the polarity” that science doesn’t sound like it could be real- but could be considered fantasy.

[horse-girl-anthy]

Ikuhara and Saito on shoujo and how it informed RGU, from episode 38 commentary

KI: The thing is when I was making it, the thing that bothered me most was, when you make something like this, the most well-known anime that're similar to this is, in Japan, Mr. Osamu Tezuka's Ribon no Kishi [Princess Knight] and Rose of Versailles. I think these two are the ones that come to mind. They both have a girl dressing as a boy and using swords. I figured I wouldn't be able to avoid it being said that it was taken from Ribon no Kishi or Rose of Versailles. What was bothering me the most at the time was it being called a parody. I had this immense fear about that. I kept thinking that it mustn't be called a parody. 

The thing was, the more I kept thinking about it and the more I kept concentrating on the story, the more it ended up being like a parody. How do I explain this... for example, in Rose of Versailles, they used the French Revolution that actually happened as a factor. It's not about whether or not we used a factor from reality in Utena. It's that in a genre like shoujo manga... in Japan there's a manga genre known as shoujo manga. I don't know if Americans would know, but shoujo manga is a story where a girl is the main character. How do I explain this part... when you make something where the plot is about a girl that fights like a boy and with a sword, in Japan everyone would say, "It's like Rose of Versailles." Or "It's like Ribon no Kishi." There's no doubt that's what they'd say. 

I was really struggling with that. I kept thinking that I have to make it so no one would be able to call it a parody, but I got a lot of requests from the people around me. "Why don't you make it more like Rose of Versailles?" or "Why don't you make it more like Ribon no Kishi?" I was told that numerous times. I had to keep telling them, "No, I don't want to do that." A lot of people around me never understood that. They'd just say there are other storylines I could do. It doesn't have to be like Rose of Versailles. Just make it more normal, is what they said. But in my mind if I made this anime a normal anime, it'd become a parody. I had this enormous negative reaction to it being a parody. I'm often told that there are a lot of parts where expressionism is used. I think the reason why it ended up being like that is because I strongly felt that I wanted to avoid it being called a parody. CS [during the planetarium discussion between Utena and Akio]: But the visuals totally look like a parody to me... KI (laughing): Yes, the visuals are a parody. I figured there's no way around that. CS: So on the surface it's supposed to look like a parody. The visuals may remind you of something like Rose of Versailles, but what you actually intended was that if you paid attention, you'd realize it's nothing like it, right? KI: It's not that I was intending it. In the beginning I was trying to avoid it. I was trying to avoid the visuals looking like parody too. I told Ms. Saito this and she talked about this earlier, but I told her not to give it a sci-fi look. "Don't make it look like it's sci-fi," and "don't make it look like a fantasy genre." The reason why I kept badgering her about that is because... how do I say this?... I think it's because I realized you can't draw something you've never seen before. How do I explain this? Something you've never seen is... what do you call it? Hmm, I don't know how to explain this. CS: Are you saying, in your mind? KI: In my mind... CS: Because there're a lot of authors and manga artists who write fantasy and science fiction all the time, even in the anime industry. KI: Yes, there are. CS: So are you saying it was different for you? KI: For me it was different. CS: Was creating an entirely fictitious world kind of... KI: It's not that. In the beginning I was planning to do it all in a fictitious world. CS: Yes! that was the initial concept. KI: Was it? -- CS: It was when you first explained it. KI: Right, right, right. But as I was doing it, I realized it wasn't the same as what I envisioned, so... CS (seriously): You wanted to make it yours, didn't you? The anime, I mean... KI: No, not exactly... that's not exactly what it was... CS: I had the impression that you were forcibly trying to make Utena your own while you were making it. (laughs) KI: Well, yeah, that's true -- no, that's not what it was! I'm fluffing this up a bit, but I wanted to make it into an anime that rounded up all the shoujo manga into one ["soukatsu shite"]. Can you translate "soukatsu" into English? INTERVIEWER: Collecting it all into one? KI: Yes, like it was all included. And then... how do I explain this? CS: So you... go ahead. KI: A shoujo manga is a story where a girl is the main character. I wanted to define the meaning of shoujo manga. Do you understand? Can you translate that into English? (laughs) CS: You wanted to define a girl's dreams and admiration and such? KI [over various black-on-red scenes of Anthy and swords]: I wanted to round up all the animated stories made with girls as the main characters up till then into one story. Meaning, make it a story where all those themes were included. I wanted to express everything that they were trying to express in all those shoujo manga and animations that had a girl as the main character, in this one story. That was the type of anime I was trying to make. I had this radical turning point inside my head. Now that the channels had turned in my head, I thought that I could allow the visuals to be parodies. Or rather, the visuals must be parodies. If this was going to be a round-up of everything up until now, the visuals should be parodies. That's why it suddenly went the Rose of Versailles sort of route. CS: I see. KI: Up until that point I had a huge adverse reaction towards Rose of Versailles. I was absolutely against that idea. The reason why is because at the time... how do I say this... I was thinking of doing a story that was more sci-fi or fantasy, but that didn't sit with me too well. As I was doing it I realized what I actually wanted was to do a project where I could compile the shoujo manga or animations with a girl as a main character into one. What they're trying to express in animations where a girl is the main character is, and this is my personal opinion, I'm not just talking about Ribon no Kishi and Rose of Versailles -- there are tons of other animations where a girl is the main character -- how do I say this? -- the core of the basic theme is generally self-revelation. CS: (Surprised, agreeing noise.) KI: A story where a girl is the main character is about self-revelation. By putting the theme of self-revelation at the core and by wondering why you have to have this self-revelation... how do I say this... I think the meaning of your relationship to the world is always made apparent, per se? CS: (Surprised, agreeing noise.) KI: They express that indirectly, by using "love," for example, as a theme. In this series, love I guess also plays a big part, but, how do I say this, I thought I should express that in a more grandiose scale. No, rather, that's what I wanted to do. CS: I see. I never knew there was such a significant meaning behind it. KI: Why, yes, it's a significant piece. I started to -- CS: I had no idea you meant to compile all of shoujo culture when you made this. KI: I didn't know that at the start either! (laughter) While in the making I was like, "That's it! I got it!" At this point in the story it's obvious I had complete certainty. CS: Definitely. INTERVIEWER: At what point were you like, "I got it!"? KI: That was... I thought that was when the first film was done. I had no idea during the planning stage. I started to think that when we were making it, which was around the time the film was almost finished. The thing is, it took a while until the first film was made. It took almost a year from planning to until the first film was made. We kept bickering and arguing during that time, but when the first film was made -- I'm referring to when the film for the first episode was made -- I thought, this is it. CS: There're a lot of people who don't like Utena, and... KI: Bold people like that exist? (laughter) CS: And I think the reason why they don't like it is because -- KI: There's not a lot! It's only a few! There are only a few people who are like that! CS: -- I think it's that they're immersed in the Japanese shoujo culture. But in Utena there's this feeling of rejecting that. I think by watching this anime they can sense Mr. Ikuhara's intentions that he wanted to compile all of that. KI: That's exactly it. CS: I think their dislike comes from them not wanting it to be summed up into one. KI: I'm sure that's true. CS: "This is what we like! Don't burst our bubble! Don't try to sum it up like that!" is maybe how they're feeling. KI: Yes, exactly. There are parts in this anime where nuances like that are expressed. CS: Yes, and there's also this message saying, "That's not a place where you should be putting yourself, so hurry up and have a self-revelation and get the hell out of there!" at the end. (laughter) So some girls were like, "It's none of your business!" Remember they used to have this adverse reaction to it? There were quite a few of them! People who do accept it... hm... I wonder! There are a lot of anime fans, of course, and devout fans who really liked this anime, but I think if normal people watched this they'd have a better understanding of it.

[life-rewritten]

The doomed futility of Sisyphus; Sisyphus The Myth Kdrama Analysis

Before we start this analysis, I did have a lot of help getting to understand what's happening in this show especially the logical rules of time travelling, due to this website bitchesoverdrama, we have a great community over there we talk about shows and comment our thoughts and the way packmule sees things in shows is so inspiring. So even though this is my theory it is based of her own theories and opinions on what's going on in the show. 

Sisyphus The Myth Ep 1-4

Let's talk about Sisyphus. The Korean drama that everyone seems to have something to say, mostly negative because they don't understand where the storyline is going, and because of that frustration of lack of understanding, they go to insults, and annoyance, and lack of patience to wait it out, they call the show ridiculous with it's terrible directing and also outlandish action scenes and unreasonable logic. The first mistake these people made is going into this show, thinking it was a logical sci-fi. There is another show where people have mistaken a mystery fantasy plot (as the writers announced it was, in an interview)  for sci-fi because it includes scientific rules sometimes and discusses time travel. Do you the know the show? It's The king's Eternal Monarch. So because logical people have it out for writers using specific sci-fi plotlines to write a romantic mystery show; that doesn't actually base its self on the realism or logic of the science they expected, people call these stories dumb; they say it's ridiculous and should not have been done. And it's hard for people like me who completely gets bored at the idea of a sci-fi show, I'm not logical. Let's first get that out of the way; I won't be calculating mass, and time, and velocity and use maths and science as a base for my analysis.  In fact, I usually run away from anything to do with sci-fi. But there's something funny about this, that with TKEM and now Sisyphus, mystery fantasies that do incorporate a piece of the sci-fi genre, actually make me enjoy them. 

Perhaps it could be argued that it's because I'm not smart and I like ridiculous things, I only want romance with shitty writing, and maybe that's it. However, I disagree, what I see in these stories are a different sort of basis; instead of relying on scientific logic rules, or whatever is seen as appropriate in a sci-fi plotline, they use meta; they use other things to make their world mean something. For TKEM, it was literature and fairytales, and stories, and for Sisyphus actually named after the  Greek myth, it's the same. In order to understand where a show is going when it uses a literature base, you have to first understand the source. What is the source saying? Why have they chosen this source to tell this story? But people clock out and don't want to wait, aren't connected to the characters enough to care, or just plain detest anything that doesn't follow a specific set of logical rules, and that's fine; you're allowed to like or want whatever you want to see on TV, it's your experience, but  for the others who do want a show that is maybe deeper, interesting, laced with a good plot and love story that is sad, futile and also romantic, then I would suggest Sisyphus being for you. This isn't going to have a lot of support, and I already know this. Still, I do want to write about this show and explain why I'm into it because it has everything I like, a mysterious plot, fantasy/sci-fi elements, and a romance that is very angsty but also very deep. The show's director maybe not be as great as the others before him, but I think he's doing an okay job showcasing what he wants from the story. So yes, Sisyphus has so many scientific questions to ponder about, but I want to get rid of all that and focus on the bare bones of the story. How does this myth connect to this story, and why does it foreshadow how good this plot could be? This doesn't mean, this plot will be great because it all depends on the directing and writing skills, I'm not familiar with their work and with the director. I don't particularly care a lot about what he offers. But I know how he makes shows, I know the themes he's into and from this myth analysis, this show is definitely up his alley. So for now, I'll keep enjoying it and analysing, but it doesn't mean I think it's the best thing ever to exist in this genre. Okay, now we have that out of the way; let's learn about Greek Mythology, shall we? 

An Introduction to a Genius

So who or what is Sisyphus? When I hear about Sisyphus, I think about the guy who tried to run away from d*ath but ended up being captured by Zeus for even trying to think he could do that. He ends up basically with this painful task of constantly rolling a boulder uphill. In a way, it's depressing AF, and it really holds this theme of futility and punishment. So it's interesting to see we have a character who is being punished for his brains and his cunningness to evade situations and save people, and it seems unfair that he gets this ending. It also makes me worry about Tae Sul, our main character in Sisyphus the myth, who begins the first episode evading d*ath by saving tons of people on a plane and then also wanting to revert a specific family member's demise that he feels guilty about. Taesul is just as smart and cunning as Sisyphus; he uses his skills, his brain and his talent to help people. So it's a bit disturbing because already from looking at him, it's unfortunate he's destined for a futile, sad ending; he's destined to be punished by powers be, for being an obstacle. And will you have it, the whole plot revolves around him being chased by people who want to get rid of him because it seems he's found a way to prevent d*ath and prolong the lifespan of the people he loves. What a surprise. Honestly, it's that simple; the boulder represents him having to take on weight constantly because of his actions and live with that repeatedly being chased by the thing he tried to avoid. The episodes scream that it's because he tried to bring back his brother from the past, but the thing is, there's more to the myth of Sisyphus than just this outline. So before we can truly understand the big picture and where this plot is, we need to truly go back and understand the real story of Sisyphus, the myth. 

Let's go back. So yes, Sisyphus is cunning, smart, witty, he has many moments since he's apparently a king, royal full of influence and power. He really cares about protecting people, including himself, yet the way people see him is actually harmful. They see him as childish, sneaky, heartless and a player. Surprise. The thing is, this is precisely how we are introduced to Taesul. He's a big flirt, a big child who complains and acts immaturely with his company. He's someone of influence, in fact, significant impact; so much money and prominence, and yet he doesn't seem like he cares about anything. So yes, you can understand why people have a wrong perspective of our Sisyphus. However, he doesn't want to care about anything because he's self-destructive, broken by the guilt of letting pride, money and greed stop him from preventing his brother from being eliminated.

 And it's something that lives with him every day; in fact, he's dependent on self-medication to get rid of the haunting figment of his brother. Now he says he doesn't care about people and others, but we know he's lying; he's clearly someone who's destined to protect, he does care even when he acts nonchalant, for example, saving a whole plane from crashing and hurting people, especially when he has said he is waiting and has been excited to leave the world, if he were selfish he would have let the plane crash, he didn't care as he said, but something in him still went back and provided the solution to help. 

So this is really vital, this idea of Sisyphus being misunderstood by people in a way he's actually with a saviour complex, he protects, and he saves people with what he has yet even his actions are deemed evil or selfish or a natural disaster for them. So again, it's obvious the plot is based on whatever he has done to create this apocalyptic future we see in the show that is being misunderstood. The people who are out to get him are seeing him and hating him when in reality, it's obvious this was meant to better the world/ also himself because as much as Sisyphus has a saviour complex, it doesn't mean he's selfless; in fact, he's a very selfish character, he'll put his own needs above the world at times. This is where Taesul will make a mistake. Because for him, his only goal is to bring back his brother, even when warned he shouldn't, even when there are hints that him unveiling the truth will lead to suffering and the end of the world as we know it, it's still all he wants to do. Is it just that though? I'm getting ahead of my self I still need to break down this myth. 

The Problem with Cunningness

So Sisyphus is someone with cunningness, knowledgeable and powerful, so when the first time he sees an opportunity to get rid of this thing we call mortality for people (not just him), he's punished when the gods aren't happy. Especially the god of war himself, Ares, who is frustrated at Sisyphus for chaining de*ath,  Ares is upset; he is annoyed that Sisyphus is getting in his way, making people lose the meaning of war, what's the fun of war if no one is being removed? Which is interesting because we also find out in Sisyphus that Taesul's actions and mistakes and his own demise will lead to a war that will end everything and some organisation isn't happy they were at the losing end of that war. They hated the result of Taesul being alive to either cause or prevent that war. So they're sending people from the future who look creepy as hell and also like don't have limbs because they're rushing the process of uploading or just using a fake uploader with more errors (not yet sure which), but they are here with one goal; to get rid of Taesul, like Ares. Wow.

 So Sisyphus punishment is actually that he is eliminated and sent to the underworld. Wait, so it wasn't the boulder that was his first punishment; his first punishment was to be chased by De*ath (I'm going to find another name for this we're gonna say D  because of this stupid flagging system in Tumblr) just like Taesul is suffering in the present time in our show. Oh, okay, so where do we get the other punishment, the one Sisyphus is really known for. This is where the plot of this show unfolds, surprisingly. Because there's another character connected in this Sisyphean myth, Seohae, meaning Sisyphus had a wife. So when Sisyphus ends up, you know, getting axed, he still has a few tricks up his sleeves; he asks his wife to do something for him, not to bury him or respect his body wishes appropriately, in fact, to drop him naked in the middle of the city (that's obviously a parallel to how people are being downloaded into the past in the show visually). So because he did this, he's able to trick Hades and Persephone into letting them allow him to run back to the past to his wife to have a go at her, to tell her she didn't respect his wishes. And oh boy, oh boy, does he end up again evading D. Genius, in fact, he ends up going back to his wife and staying a very long time because it was his plan all along; he wasn't back to the underworld; they were all chumps who allowed his escape. So Sisyphus is a funny character, he chooses to go back, and he again avoids D; however, when he finally reaches his old age, he has to face everyone, including the gods; Zeus isn't happy with Sis; he says it's a bit of an insult really for what he has done, so Zeus basically punishes him with that godforsaken boulder. 

Okay, hold, that's a lot to unpack. So what happened here is we're still seeing Taesul as Sisyphus in this second part of the myth, right? So he's going to find a way to avoid Sigma always and survive, but we know he doesn't. His story ends truly when his demise leads to the war if we're following a timeline mentioned by Seohae. So what is this second punishment about a boulder?  Because this is the most crucial plot for every Sisyphus myth. 

Our Surprise Sisyphus

Well, look at it carefully;

 it has themes of running back to the past to criticise a lover,

 it has themes of trying to prevent a lovers demise, 

it has themes of futility and repetitive actions, it has themes of being punished by a powerful source,

 it also has themes of someone who is rebellious and doesn't want to let D win. 

It's Seohae. And that blew my mind. We don't have one Sisyphus in the storyline; we have two. The show's title is Sisyphus the myth because the love of these two is actually the role of Sisyphus; let me explain. 

The first acquaintance with D is Taesul's story he's the one who invents a way to chain D and then is punished by being taken by D. The person who ends up wanting him to save himself is not himself in this show; it's Seohae her whole goal, her whole reason to want to go back is also to evade D for her mother (she mentions this in episode 1 to her father) but also to stop Taesul from being eliminated, to stop the war but more of all because she loves him, she's married to him, they're meant to be lovers. However, she doesn't have all her memories of everything. All she knows is that another version of her self has told her she needs to go back in time to warn Taesul, so he doesn't make this mistake, so they live happily together after marriage, and the war doesn't happen. 

Ohhh, that's what's happening. So who's Zeus, you ask? It's the ICB, the Control Borough, that has to find balance and makes things right with all of the time travellers; they're looking for Seohae because she's illegal; she's not meant to be doing what she is doing. Just like Zeus has to intervene to punish Sis. So alright, we're getting there, we have Taesul, he's going to do something to avoid D, but unfortunately, he is going to be found by D because someone does not want him to succeed. Okay, however, we have Seohae; she is in love with Taesul and is determined to keep him safe. Hence, she finds a way to go back and warn him to prevent D from finding him; she essentially tricks the system to find and save the world, but also selfishly to go live a happy life with the guy she loves. So what's this about this boulder then?

The boulder; A heavy frustrating punishment

 Well, unfortunately for our two characters, it's pretty apparent Taesul always ends up being eliminated #, and it always leads to the war that destroyed earth. But also we know Seohae gets shot; during her wedding, she also is fated to suffer and be eliminated if she goes back to save Taesul. Her father warns her repeatedly about this. She doesn't listen. The clue here is the boulder keeps on being pushed; Sisyphus is in a constant struggle of the futility of his punishment; he can't escape; he is tied to this boulder to keep trying to push it to a destination, but all he does is repeatedly keep pushing the boulder infinitely.

Oh, wait, a show about time travel, a show about the futility of trying to change the past, a show where the future versions can go back with regret and meet their past versions which make the same mistakes over and over again, no matter how much Seohae tries to stop Taesul from opening the stupid suitcase that starts everything, he always opens it, it's useless, they're in a time loop. Each time he always creates the uploader, and each time the war happens, Seohae returns to stop him from being eliminated each time they always fail, and Seohae somehow leaves her diary telling her next self to do the same. It's an eternal loop. She's stuck being punished for carrying that weight, constantly relive that story over and over again, to try and save Taesul; her destination is always the start again. Like Sisyphus with the boulder. 

The only thing is why does she not remember or why is she acting like she doesn't remember, because it's different versions of her, it's a paradox, she always goes to find her next self, and she leaves that diary starting this all over again, her next self has now instructions always telling her to find Taesul, to save him and when she's going to be eliminated. (her wedding probably). Each time she goes back to save Taesul, she falls in love with him, they get closer to the wedding, and she gets shot. For Taesul, we see that the wedding leads to him making an ultimate decision, remember Sisyphus evades D twice. Seohae does this all the time to escape D for her mum and Taesul.

Meanwhile, Taesul only does this to avoid it for Tae san, his brother. Who is the second person? It's Seohae. They're Sisyphus for each other, surprise, Seohae ends up becoming Sisyphus always to try to prevent Taesul's demise and the war, but Taesul has a choice on the wedding day to choose either Seohae's life, or the world, what do you think he chooses? That's why I think he continually invents the uploader because of her, to save her, more than anything else. He always chooses futilely to save her above the results of the war. In doing so, he always ends up being the one who gets eliminated, but she always ends up determined to prevent that situation. 

Her dad was indeed right; she shouldn't meet with him; they both are in this repetitive loop, and the world is always a victim because of it. See how Sisyphus can try to be good and protective but still be seen as evil, a disaster, and a curse. So, in the end, both Seohae and Taesul are Sisyphus; both are punished every time. One by Taesul continually being caught and two by Seohae constantly losing her memories and forcing her self to repeat the journey again, to push that boulder over and over again. But with TKEM, we entered a timeline where change could happen after being stuck in an infinite loop forever, and that's interesting. With this show with how many times it seems Seohae has always written more instructions each time she travels, could we be in the timeline where things may become different? 

Sisyphus; A chance to change the past futilely

It seems like it more things are being revealed to them, that might be new information, Jung apologising and realising his mistake in probably being the one who takes Seohae's life in the wedding because he thinks she's evil (lied to by ICB) might be a new occurrence in this new timeline. There's more information slowly being added each time we do this time loop; the question is, where are we now? As I said, I don't know the science or calculations needed to understand the time travel aspect of the show, but that is important. 

So we have a star crossed romance that is being torn between the claws of D, two people punished continuously for just wanting to be with each other and putting the world at risk. We've seen what the results of Taesul's actions lead to; it leads to an apocalypse, a disaster and more; we've seen his stubbornness and determination not to let that stop him. All he wants is to evade D for his loved ones. But Seohae also becomes like that; she's also stubborn, also determined just like him to protect her loved ones despite both being advised not to do anything more, not to shake fate, not to mess around with time and life. Still, they never listen; they've put themselves in a time loop where they're being punished, and their punishment leads them again to do the same thing because of their desperate need to be together. 

It's heartbreaking; however, there's a slight hope for a happy ending, one because this director does stories of couples torn apart by forces and things they can't control (Master's sun, Dr Strange etc...) being tied to each other's downfall and growth, being pulled away no matter how desperate they want each other. Their need to be with each other puts others at harm, but he always ends it in a happy ending. Sisyphus actually gets his goal a bit, not how he wants it, but he gets to live a long life with the woman he loves. However, it's after he lives that life; he goes back to being punished. So maybe this timeline Seohae may succeed and live the married life she wanted with Taesul (she does not know she loves him, she will fall for him repeatedly each time they do a loop, both of them always do); however, the sad truth is it was not her first version/authentic version that got to live that happy ever after,  it might be this version though who knows? Either way, her original (her first-ever version, always suffered and had to be the one to push that eternal boulder with no end, she didn't get to see her ending) but this one or another future version may do. Taesul also has a chance to have a happy ending because even though his story ends with the first part of Sisyphus, Sisyphus finds a way to get out of the underworld and go back to his wife, so again it's like yeah, his first version did get punished, did get eliminated, failed, but this version or a future version may get a chance to spend that time with this Seohae. 

Do you get me? It's not their original versions that get the happy ending, but it's still them that gets a chance to live old and have a happy life. So I'm hopeful, is what I'm trying to say. Thought that infinite loop of futility and failure to escape mistakes isn't a great sign. Let me know what you think about Sisyphus so far. Are you like me? Are you intrigued by this love story, and what are your theories? Let me know.