I feel like a Pokémon. Not a specific one, but likely because of the Mew archetrope, which also is a paratype, so feelings that came from me being who I am (dream dragon) and fitting into the narratives I see Mew fills in. It's like you scoop out a Mew-shaped hole, and I will fit right in. I feel like I can very well be defined as a Pokémon (although mythical, because again, Mew, which is also derived in a paratype way because I'm more a spirit or youkai and I identify with divinity)
Which is a doozy, because that wibbly-wobbly feedback loopdy-loop makes already a chicken-and-egg situation all the more complicated.
It makes for an interesting experience because I'm not (fully) Pokémon, but I feel this sort of closeness to Pokémon alterhuman in this way.
Might I be able to ask about your Mew paraarchetype? I... believe we do remember what a paratype is, and we do know what an archetype is, but I'm very curious about this, myself. - Art
Of course!
So, to give a small recap, a paratype is
an identity facet that only exists in relation to a preestablished identity
- Quoted from Defining Paratypes - Once and For All
Mew fits several tropes and roles that I find myself would "fit right in" so to speak.
As a folcinteric dragon that has sort of divinity, I find Mew's mythical/little l legendary status reflecting back to me. Powerful, but not to the level where you think of gods and final bosses.
I identify as a chaotic neutral with a good lean sort of creature, and what I view Mew as within the world of Pokémon.
Because of that alignment, I'm a mischievous entity at times--which is Mew's role, curious, just testing things out, playful, but not harmful.
Key side character and secret unlock. Well, I suppose I'm not that much of a secret unlock, but I do feel like a relevant side character. Mew in anime comes to mind.
I'm a shapeshifter, which Mew is an archetype of.
Of course, I may be stretching some a little, and it is all purely based on what I perceive Mew's narrative roles and archetype to be. But because of these facts put together, I find the whole of Mew an archetrope that only happens because of my own draconity. And therefore, it is a paratype-archetrope, or I shorten it to paraarchetrope.
If you're accepting asks for the fictionfolk game, I have some questions!
23.) Have you ever considered fictionlinking? If you already have, what made you decide to do it? (In this case, what made y’all collectively ‘link Aurelion Sol?)
26.) Have you ever questioned being fictionhearted? If you already are, what started your questioning into that connection?
28.) Have you ever questioned being a fictionbased archetrope? If you already are, what's your archetropal identity? (In this case, what’s it like having Mew as a pararchetrope?)
Ohhh! specific questions! I like!
Answering according to the fictionfolk ask game
23.) Have you ever considered fictionlinking? If you already have, what made you decide to do it? (In this case, what made y’all collectively ‘link Aurelion Sol?)
So in an alterhuman server, we'd met a Shyvana and a Smolder. They were talking about League of Legends. I played it before, and I still wish I could go back and play it one day. But anyway, they were talking, and because Smolder was a recent release at that time, there are more dragons now, like, an actual playable champion. Within the game setting, you usually need 5 for a team, but in the smaller map, you can have 3, so I contemplated the logistics of a three-dragon team to make up the full set. I lament the fact that I'm not another dragon from LoL, but wouldn't that be fun and funny to make a full dragon team if I were to link Aurelion Sol?
Except, you don't really joke about stuff like that. Or maybe I don't.
I'm never too interested in linking identify-as identity, which can make the linking process trickier, harder to pin down feelings, or ways to maintain the link. (I couldn't clearly articulate the why yet; it's an essay-worthy side topic for sure. Perhaps due to me already dealing more than enough with my one kintype with my shapeshifterness and varied draconity that comes with more discovery as I go, or I just prefer to explore the other sort of alterhumanity, in defiance or fascination? Perhaps a bit of both and more.) I had the linktype in the back of my head for a while, but it didn't really go anywhere. Then come April Fool, following the same jokey vibe, I (half-)jokingly set up a proxy.
A little side note before I go on, during that time, we were sorting out our plurality and general median business, but it's all extra fuzzy at that time.
Setting that proxy up was like what we were missing. After a whole day, we feel like something is settling with our identity, or multiple identities. You see, we I'd use pluralkit proxy to help anchor our my form (cause just Ryuu/I shapeshift, the others don't. Median shenanigans, I tell you, can't switch the self pronoun around easily at times), and apparently it has that same affect on helping link a identity.
I should do that for our digimon (also another vaguetype) linktype.
I probably could have finished the answer in that first paragraph. Yet I feel that, to truly answer the "why you link", you need to answer the "why you continue to maintain said link". Figuring that out helps the linking process in my honest opinion.
Because the anchor is only one of the steps. Did I mention it settled multiple aspects of our identities? Remember me mentioning that we were figuring out our plurality and were having trouble? Turns out, it's like a key clicks into place (HA! The amount of alterhuman pun I just used in that sentence). Having an identity together actually helps distinguish us--Akumu is more pronounced, with a stronger individualization. We are like a reverse hydra. Having Akumu helps in other aspects as well. Aurelion Sol is a purple dragon, I'm orange, but Akumu is purple. You see where I'm going with this? This linktype was never a single dragon thing; it's a teamwork effort between the two of us. Also, quoiluntariness makes everything extra funky on what's the cause or the effect.
There are other personal symbolisms we also tied in and tossed into the soup/salad that is the vaguelinktype. Opportunist linkers that we are. In the end, the identity sort of grew beyond us, brought us closer together as a Constellation (which I did not even realize until this moment how perfect the whole thing is). Truly, we started linking this as a "I want to be part of this" sun, silly thing to "I want to put all these things I realize are precious to me together, and along the way, I realize I can do these together with we."
The fun of quoiluntary linking, did you find something new, or did you find the right trigger that awakened something within you? Because these days, we are very much a starry dream dragon.
As a footnote, since I did mention it. When Nova (@nova-dracomon) was first making the Fictionfolk Webring, there was a temporary draft showcasing the digivice (featuring Hortense as her Dracomon X self) as the webring icon, I jokingly said that maybe I should link a digimon. Mind you, Digimon is a source that's dear to me prior to this, and probably with others talking about it more in servers, renewing my interest, one thing led to another, it's yet another case of "probably don't joke about linking stuff because it might just happen". It's not a stable identity yet, but I'm trying to document the process as much as I can to hopefully write something more coherent on it. Oh, this time it's going to be a linktype the whole Contellation (trio of us) will be linking together :D
26.) Have you ever questioned being fictionhearted? If you already are, what started your questioning into that connection?
So, I had to dig around my own activities and guesstimate a bit on the timeline. I really suck at this kind of pondering. I'm always quite amazed when people can pinpoint when or how their questioning process starts or the moment of awakening. I don't remember that y'all!
When I go into a fandom that sticks to me, if it has a lot of transformative potential, I will dive deeper, and if I enjoy the fanfics? Boom, hyperfixation. Down the rabbit hole of exploring the fandom proper I go.
I'm not really sure which came first. Like so many of my identitype, egg-or-chicken is a neverending question that has no answer whatsoever. Maybe the questioning spark the fandom interest, or swimming in the fandom ocean spark that curious pondering. Maybe it's because Naruto is the orange ninja, maybe it's because of Kurama and Naruto's relationship dynamic in fanfics, or maybe it's all the found family or team-as-family and the whole bunch of fix-it feel-good fic. Regardless, there's an inkling of something alterhuman going on there with Uzumaki Naruto and all that surrounds him.
Like taking a stick to a piece of unknown object, I poked at it. I don't remember if this is my second or third alterhuman identity that I questioned, since you can argue that my kardiatype only got separated from me cleanly after the term was coined, though you can also say that it's been in the back of my head since forever. And maybe all my friends being some form of fictionfolk helped push that curiosity, and learning about all types of alterhumanity beyond otherkinity may or may not have added to the wonder, further pushing me to question, "Maybe I can have this too?"
It was for a while with me questioning between synpath vs hearttype due to it being very specific single character (or potentially a whole clan), since some distinguish synpath as for a specific character, and hearttype being applied more for a whole species, or in this case, a clan. I ultimately decided that it is a hearttype.
28.) Have you ever questioned being a fictionbased archetrope? If you already are, what's your archetropal identity? (In this case, what’s it like having Mew as a pararchetrope?)
Good thing the pondering was still fresh XD
A while ago, some discussion was happening within a Pokémon alterhuman server. It led me to contemplate how I'm not a Pokémon, but I feel like I can be considered one. It's hard to tell if that was why I say Mew is a paratype-archetrope, or if my having that feeling is after I declare Mew an archetrope, and me picking Mew specifically is because of the paratype feelings. You gotta love paratype shenanigans /genuine
Why Mew?
I, as a dream dragon, am not an animal sort of dragon. I would take on the label of monster, not because of me seeing myself as monstrous, but more the property of what I am as a creature is a spiritual sort of critter, like a RPG monster. Or, more of a Pocket Monster. Once upon a time, I tried linking Dragonite as a hearttype, because physically, it looks the closest to me, orange and chonky and deceptively speedy. Remembering me saying that you should ask the question of "why do you continue linking the thing"? I didn't have much solid reason or elements to help me maintain the Dragonite heartlink, and it ends up fading away. It's a surface-level, aesthetic sort of connection; it won't last long, and it didn't.
Tell you a secret, I kind of dislike the color pink, a lot. If it's associated with me, I will try to shake it off like it's some sort of nasty substance. Largely because of gender, you gotta love society and their idea of gender associations /sarcastic
And what a great irony. Dream is often tied to the color pink, my first and only flight in Flight Rising is Arcane (pink), and my pearlescent eyes are freaking literally rose-tinted! Also, I happened to enjoy P!nk's music quite a lot. To continue that irony, I don't feel an archetrope feeling towards shiny Mew, but the regular Mew. I can't even say why, it just is. Don't you (in general for anyone) dare assign/diagnose some sort of alterhuman thing going on between pink and me, I will bite.
I digress.
Mew, to me, is all these tropes and archetypes.
Mystical side character
Little l legendary/mythical
Divine being
Secret unlock character
Mischivious folklore entity
Powerful support side character that's not final boss level
There are probably more that I can't think of right now. But me being myself is me fulfilling the Mew archetrope. In being a dream dragon, which is an always constant state of existence, I am always embodying the Mew pararchetrope.
(neat combination by taking out one a, Solomon XD)
Honestly, I'm not too certain. It feels like I'm talking about different thing when I speak of it in English than if I speak it in Chinese or understand it in a Japanese context. Or just my lack of context. I grew up with Asian culture, after all.
That's probably something to write about for another time.
The idea of spiritual creature, youkai and the like, or the idea of asian dragons who are occasionally some sort of divine, that does resonate with me on some level. Specifically my various draconic identities.
If I say my various non-draconic type (except Mew) are "down to earth", because they are, literally, my draconic types are "up in the sky". Well, I tried to make word parallel.
My kardiatype, the Japanese ocean dragon was a local guardian, hailed as a guardian, a deity, a divine entity. It's this sense of, grandness, but also protectiveness, sense of great responsibility, which arguably can probably just be regular "being a guardian" thing. The sense of awe and reverence towards my kardiatype is a interesting one. Noemata tells me that's how the villager treats him. But I myself feel like that towards him too.
Aurelion Sol exudes immense power. Awe inspiring and a literal cosmic being, one of the very synonym with divinity. There isn't much to say about this vaguetype.
Flammie can be seen as a divine beast of sort. On the Wiki of Mana, Flammie is described as
shy, though otherwise joyful and friendly creatures. They sometimes are special creatures created by the Mana Goddess or Tree to help protect the world, and other times just a normal, if somewhat rare, creature.
- From Flammie, Wiki of Mana
It really draw a connection, a resonance, with what Mew paratrope is for me. Perhaps there's a more complete way I can call these common theme?
My own sense of divinity is a bit tricky to say. Would I call myself deific? Hard to say. It's going back to the whole "RPG monster" thing. I'm a sort of spiritual entity. I would categorize myself as celestial being but not quite. I mean, I am embodiment of dream in a way. Or more like those river that took the form of a dragon or serpent? I'm not sure. Morikai (my kardiatype) was definitely the other way around, a dragon first and then tied to the element which he governs. I think I am so too, a dragon before a dreamling. Calling myself using words like "deity" "kami" "youkai" are all incorrect. Once again I'm looking towards my paratrope with Mew, the mythical category of pokemon. That's my sort of divinity, mythical, folkloric. I do utilize the label folcintera for myself.
Side note a bit, some folks dislike being referred to as entity or being. I think I like being called that way due to my own relation with my own form of divinity. Just like how I see myself as a category: monster, instead of as a animal, because I am not a animal.
Paladiary Day 23: Paratropes- Right Hand Man/Lancer
Now, I previously covered a few paratropes in my Day 8 essay. These are essentially tropes and archetypes that, like paratypes, can result in strong feelings due to overlap, resemblance or relationship to the existing archetype.
The Lancer is, broadly speaking, the closest narrative foil to the protagonist. They often have either opposing or complimentary powers, strategies, personalities, etc. Commonly they are rivals or second-in-commands or both, but the dynamic can cover a lot of different relationships. The points of the lancer that stick most with me are the idea of being powerful, but not in charge, being the champion or follower to another figure.
I really, really cannot overstate how much this trope/dynamic feels core to my very being. It is in every possible aspect of my life, in alterhuman, professional, personal and even intimate spheres.
From my youth and well into the present day, my favorite characters in media tended to be the Lancers. Gokudera Hayato from Katekyo Hitman Reborn comes to mind as an example. Drumknott from the Discworld books. Own Burnett from Gargoyles. Tygra from Thundercats. Lucien the librarian from Sandman. Sometimes they weren't lancers specifically, but were "powerful character who is not the protagonist" was a common thread. In school I was the teacher's pet, the "gifted kid" with a frankly unquestioning loyalty to teachers and authority figures. I enjoyed martial arts and got a genuine internal satisfaction from the honorifics and respect structures.
As an adult working as a research assistant (between undergrad and grad school), I remember having the realization that I really liked being a research assistant, but never wanted to be a PI. It felt viscerally satisfying to be the one counted on (and seen as competent enough) to be lab manager or run studies or be the one teaching newbies, while still not being the one designing the big picture or calling the shots. I discussed with my therapist the cultural pressure to always be advancing higher in one's career while genuinely being happiest in the position of a secretary or assistant.
The idea of being a right hand man or part of a paired set of rivals/friends/nemeses also manifests in my romantic and sexual attraction, though this isn't the place to explore that in detail.
I feel like I'm rambling for paragraphs and still not getting across how fundamental this trope is to me. When Overly Sarcastic Productions released their trope talk on The Right Hand Man, I literally happy stimmed for several seconds.
Frankly, this trope might be more fundamentally part of my personality and psyche than being a Paladin. If I'm honest with myself, I would still gain some amount of validation and alignment by being the Black Knight to a Dark Lady, or a minion to a supervillain, as a champion/White Knight. Paladin still covers a lot of other ground- my religious background, my personal and professional calling, my spirituality and ethics, my aesthetics. But the idea of being a Champion (to another person) is just one facet of being a paladin that is disproportionately or particularly significant to me. "Lancer/Right Hand Man", being broader tropes, can cover a lot of different character types and dynamics.
I guess the way I would put it in short is, I am fundamentally (at the level of personality, soul, nature) a Right Hand Man, and I choose to be a Paladin as a way of manifesting that, as well as incorporating other facets of my life.
In the Archetrope term coining/discussion thread on NPP, two possible related experiences came up. One was of characters that may feel like kintypes, hearttypes or synpaths because they matched one's archetrope, like a paratype. I suggested these be called pararchetropes, and have written about one (Pearl) already. The other was the idea of similar, related or overlapping archetypes and tropes. I suggest these be termed "Paratropes", and want to talk about mine.
Knights
Knights are a very obvious paratrope for Paladins. The very archetype of the paladin was based in and inspired by romantic stories of knights, such as the Arthurian mythos. The typical paladin appearance is that of an armored knight, and several famous knights (e.g. Galahad) could easily be considered Paladins. If I was forced to indicate a difference, I would say knights are more broad (e.g. include dark knights, etc.) whereas Paladins are more specifically associated with magic and/or holiness. In fact, I would even argue Paladins are a sub-type of Knight.
Clerics
As I have said before, Paladins are not specific to D&D. But D&D codified the archetype for a lot of people, myself included. And within that context, there is a lot of overlap between clerics and paladins. Both are divine warriors, mixing combat with healing. Many 'cleric' characters will share virtues and personality traits that draw me to them and resonate with me. If I had to elucidate a difference, I would say clerics are high priests, and paladins are knights templar. The former are defined by their faith, and may or may not be combative. The latter are defined by their devotion, and may be religious or may simply be dedicated to a cause or person. Nevertheless, there is a great deal of overlap. There is a reason 'wight knight' is a suggested synonym for 'hierophant' in the Merriam-Webster online dictionary.
Magical Girls
Loot at me. I am not joking. I grew up with magical girl media and found myself returning to it often as an adult, and I think it's because Magical Girls tick a surprisingly large amount of "paladin" boxes. They are empowered, magical warriors, often dedicated to light and good. If one wanted to get D&D technical, one could point out that some Magical girls are more like warlocks, etc., getting their power from some pact or outside source. And that's true, but the technicality doesn't change the archetype, and, again, D&D is not the end-all, be-all here. Also, I think it's important to point out that while the source of power can be different from show to show (a deity, a being, science, pure luck) one nigh-universal constant in all magical-girl series is the idea of the power of friendship. X source may be where a magical girl gets their powers, but it's not what drives and motivates them. And when it comes down to it, it's usually not how they get the needed boost to save the day. Magical girls, like Charimsa-based D&D paladins, are rooted in the sheer force of their conviction, particularly relating to relationships with others.
