I'd like to order some RT Character Building questions for Eva. #3, #12, and #18 please and thank you. <3
Alright then, loaded questions, let's go!
3. Do they have a good relationship with their family? Who were they closest to growing up?
She does, at least with the only remaining family that still talks to her after her psychic awakening. Constantinius and Thalia were the legitimate children of the nobleman who sired Eva, who was the owner of the hunting residence/compound where she was born from one of the serfs.
She was raised as a companion and entertainer to her siblings first, as well as a bodyguard the more she grew. The affection became genuine but the relationship was cut abruptly after she developed her powers and was sent off to Terra on a Black Ship while the other two were not on the planet.
The three reconnected after being summoned on Theodora's ship as heirs alongside Edelthrad in the most trial-by-fire way possible and Eva was the one claiming the Warrant at the end, making her next in the succession with no counter claims from the others. There is a solid base of trust among them and they compensate each other pretty well, Constantinius being the one with more savoir-faire and business acumen of the three, Thalia being a genius in her own right and a skilled naval strategist.
As the protectorate flourishes, the Von Valancius dynasty will be known in the years to come as a three-headed hydra.
12. Who amongst their retinue do they clash with the most?
Abelard.
The premise being that she respects the input from all the members of the retinue or they simply wouldn't be in it. Abelard is the one that more than others is in the position to criticize her actions. Eva has a more involved approach that does not sit well with the old Navy Officer, and on the other hand she feels like Abelard does not trust her ability to handle issues. She has endured the comparisons made with Theodora's way of doing things before snapping at him in the lower decks.
With time, the relationship progresses to where, while still at odds on many subjects, Abelard trusts Eva's gut instinct more and Eva is able to accept his criticism better. Eva despises yes-people and would never trade Abelard for someone more subservient.
The relationship becomes the professional equivalent of a parent always questioning a daughter's choices but ultimately having their back.
She is sad when he suggests he could leave the voidship, but she respects his wish to serve while supporting his family, trusting his judgement when it comes to finding a replacement.
18. How do they approach conflict? Do they tackle problems head-on, or is coercion favourable to them?
Eva tries to be subtle when it comes to dealing with conflicts, she really does. Thing is, she has little patience for bullshit, sales-pitches, and convoluted solutions, so she tends to avoid those herself.
If someone has an issue with her, she would very much tackle it as directly as possible, more so if it's someone close to her. She has learned to control herself when it comes to nobility provocations, and she does so by letting her brother deal with it unless her presence is absolutely necessary.
When it comes to something on a larger scale, if she can avoid the expenses that come with a conflict (lives, time, energy, money, etc) she tries, and defers to her advisors if the topic is foreign for her. She favors effectiveness and long term solutions, such as when she secured the Alliance with the Aeldari on Janus, but if the matter is pressing she has no problems using coercion or hitting the problem with a head-on hammer until it's shaped like a nail.
Hii, so I'm currently attempting to write a fanfic crossover of Yuwu and 2ha and I was wondering if you still had the 2ha book outlines? Even if it's just book one is fine but I need it because it would be hard to go back and skim for information 😅 please if you can help me it would be amazing. Also, do you happen to remember where Mo Ran and Chu Wanning settled down at the end of 2ha? Whenever they actually get together? It's important for my fic, since I'm using the post canon 2ha setting after the events of the novel have settled
Here you go!
.....And wow, no, I can't remember the name of the place they finally settled down in. 💀 Maybe someone else can chime in in the notes?
From a distance, Aurelia could not tell the size of the pilot, only that in comparison to the others, they seemed rather... small. And now, at the victory feast, she got a better look at the second-runner up of the tournament. The terribly petite woman, with her silvery hair, pale eyes, and short stature, ought to have been swallowed up whole by the bulky teal and silver armor she wore.
But Violet de Licorne was anything but swallowed. She moved in the armor with ease, the helmet tucked under her arm so that she could wear her crown of cornflowers unimpeded. She extended a hand out to a fellow knight, who gripped it and dragged her in. A surprise laugh was shared, and then a fond pat on the shoulder.
"A shame," Lady Enna said, a hand coming to rest on Aurelia's elbow, "Violet was such a biddable young woman. A tragedy that the death of her father and older brother forced her to take on the burden of the de Licorne Throne Mechanicum."
"It does not seem a tragedy to me at all, Lady Enna," replied Aurelia, casting a sidelong look at her previous minder, before her gaze returned to the small woman, who had turned her face to a window and the sandy tournament grounds beyond. A scar crossed over Violet's eye, a shimmering glint on her pale countenance. "It seems instead that she has found a passion. There is no shame in that."
My ask is about the golden core transfer and what it would mean for jc. So, if it triggers you, don't read it! I feel the need to alert about this! Be safe!
I don't know you, ( and yes! wwx was just a traumatized teenager!), but the golden core transfer gives me so much negative emotions. Fandom focuses on wwx's pain (and it's interesting! ) but jc's situation is dismissed with "you have to be grateful about it. What a disprectful brat he is" and I am like, dude, you okay? (maybe their opinions are influenced by what wn says, without understanding that what he says isn't the truth, but only what he knows would hurt jc, because he *wants to make jc suffer*). I tried to think about what *I* would feel and I triggered myself, lol. I would get insane if I knew that someone put my brother's golden core in me (transferring organs is okay, but in this? I don't know that it's from my brother! Also when people say that jc agrees to the surgeon, I don't know if they understand the concept of "informed consent") . It's disturbing. I can't even imagine how jc feels about it! How can you live in a body which is modified in this way? Do you feel shame? (this is something a lot of victims feel). And I am not even talking about what this would do with jc insecurities! No one ever appreciated his efforts! Maybe in the moment doesn't , but wn's "you would never compere to him!" would destroy jc! And that's terrible and unfair. And more unfair it's how fandom treats this argument! My loved ones manipulated me for my sake : this doesn't make anything better! I can't imagine jc's feeling. This ask is messy, but my emotions are messy about this. The only thing that I know is that disturbed me the way fandom treats all of this. I don't want to be too harsh but I would see wwx and wq as monsters more then heros for this. And I am not even thinking about how can you trust again someone who did this to you! People can't forgive cheating in a relationship, lol. Oh, and the "jc and wwx's relationship is destroyed by jc's jealousy" : I am like: you okay, dude?? But maybe I am the weird one. Sorry if I seem rude! But this argument just triggers me
Thank you for the warning. 🥰
(Under a cut for both length and content. Reminder that I'm a CQL-only fan.)
Fandom focuses on wwx's pain (and it's interesting! ) but jc's situation is dismissed with "you have to be grateful about it. What a disprectful brat he is" and I am like, dude, you okay?
From what you're saying, I think I'm hearing that while the whole golden core scenario itself is upsetting for you, what's worse is really more about how fandom tends to talk about it. If I'm interpreting that correctly, then...yeah, honestly, I agree. 😕 And it sucks, because I think the characters of MDZS/CQL are supposed to be messy, and there are some truly delicious, nuanced discussions about justice and love and sacrifice to be had! Unfortunately, I've had to be more liberal than usual with the block button to avoid losing my love of the show due to the impact of fandom discourse.
Honestly, I feel like the whole fandom response thing often comes down to a few overlapping things:
a person is inclined to defend whichever character they like more and/or reject the character who reminds them of people who have hurt them in some way, which is totally normal! But doesn't lend itself well to textual analysis so much as an analysis on this how a piece of media affects me personally, which is an entirely different thing;
whether some element of the golden core transfer reflects a personal trauma (e.g. bodily autonomy) closely enough to shape their perspective on this whole episode in a way that's different from someone who lacks a similar experience;
a person's comfort level in allowing a character's actions -- especially a favorite character's actions -- to be complicated, messy, and maybe even morally questionable;
whether or not someone has access to evidence-based, accurate information about larger social issues like abuse, consent, etc.
I tried to think about what *I* would feel and I triggered myself, lol. I would get insane if I knew that someone put my brother's golden core in me (transferring organs is okay, but in this? I don't know that it's from my brother! Also when people say that jc agrees to the surgeon, I don't know if they understand the concept of "informed consent") . It's disturbing. I can't even imagine how jc feels about it! How can you live in a body which is modified in this way? Do you feel shame? (this is something a lot of victims feel).
Tbh, I also have some pretty strong feelings of my own. I talked about some of that here, from the perspective of a religious person whose faith has some distant parallels to Taoism. And as a survivor who hasn't always had a say in what happens to my body, I struggle with some of exactly what you describe when I think about the golden core thing and especially fandom's common responses too deeply. (It's why I'm writing a JC-centric fic like Crashing Like Stars in the first place, honestly, lmao.)
I think what I struggle with most is the pageantry that's shown in CQL: how WWX and WQ have a whole theater around it that somehow feels almost as bad to me as the act of transfer itself, maybe because it shows how much premeditation went into what is, by definition, gaslighting. I always have to skip this scene on rewatches, tbh. The non-consensual core exchange is bad enough; the playacting feels like a humiliation to me.
And I am not even talking about what this would do with jc insecurities! No one ever appreciated his efforts!
True, but to be fair...why should they? As far as most other characters are concerned, JC is unfriendly, probably not very fun or pleasant company to sit down to tea with, very obviously cares more about his own sect than anyone else's**, and has had the reputation of a disfavored son for years. The only reason to make nice with this guy is purely for politics, but everyone else has enough of their own stuff happening that there's no incentive to try giving JC the benefit of the doubt -- which he wouldn't even accept anyway, since he'd probably interpret it as condescension or pity.
**Which is true for everyone, of course, but he doesn't have the charm or charisma to at least fake concern for people or 'play the game' like JGY.
If you mean that fandom doesn't appreciate his efforts...I'm not really sure what to say to that mostly because I'm still puzzling over HOW DARN POLARIZING this fictional character is. 😂 Even his haters can't be chill about him and it's rather fascinating to watch, like a trainwreck.
And more unfair it's how fandom treats this argument! My loved ones manipulated me for my sake : this doesn't make anything better! I can't imagine jc's feeling.
I think a lot of people confuse things like context and motivation for justification, and even more so when it's a family member and emotionally charged beliefs about family relationships get pulled into the mix.
This ask is messy, but my emotions are messy about this. The only thing that I know is that disturbed me the way fandom treats all of this.
Unfortunately, when not treated carefully, discussions about fictional characters can cross into more real-world consequences. I've certainly blocked people less because of a disagreement in interpretation and more because their line of argument betrayed much deeper biases that made me feel actively unsafe, and I don't always have the resources or bandwidth to try educating folks who aren't here in good faith.
I don't want to be too harsh but I would see wwx and wq as monsters more then heros for this.
I think it's a false dichotomy, honestly. I don't think WWX and WQ are heroes or monsters: I think they're young people put in horrific circumstances with limited resources and support, forced to make decisions with no good possible outcomes. Again, not meant to justify anything, but I think recognizing that the things we label monstrosity is, itself, a very human thing to do is the best way to begin recognizing why it happens so that effective interventions, preventions, and methods for taking responsibility for one's actions to encourage real healing can be put into place.
And I am not even thinking about how can you trust again someone who did this to you! People can't forgive cheating in a relationship, lol.
Oh man, forgiveness is complicated. Some people DO forgive cheating and even worse, for a whole host of different reasons and motivations! (Me, I hold grudges for years.) But forgiveness can also be customized to a situation: maybe forgiveness is earned, not freely offered; maybe it means letting go of one's resentment towards another but not letting that person back into one's life; maybe the refusal to forgive is itself an act of self-empowerment because forgiveness was always coerced and guilt-tripped prior to that. But again, we come back to folks in fandom not always having a solid grounding to have productive, informed conversations about this sort of thing, which can lead to some REALLY unhelpful hot takes going around.
Oh, and the "jc and wwx's relationship is destroyed by jc's jealousy" : I am like: you okay, dude?? But maybe I am the weird one. Sorry if I seem rude! But this argument just triggers me
I don't think you're weird at all. 😊 JC and WWX's relationship is thorny and messy and multi-layered, compounded by unaddressed trauma and mutually conflicting coping strategies and perspectives, exacerbated by the people around them playing political games with their relationship because of their respective positions of power. I think JC's jealousy is a factor, but it comes from being constantly compared and found wanting since childhood, and we have multiple scenes in CQL where WWX does something Cool (TM) and JC will do that half-exasperated smile or roll his eyes with a laugh or something that clearly isn't mean-spirited. The evolution of their relationship is made by a progression of smaller decisions on both of their parts in the context of family dysfunction, loss, war, and political powerplays, and I think flattening it down to "JC is just a jealous bitch" or, conversely, "WWX is just an arrogant asshole" does a disservice to WHY these goddamn characters have taken so many fans emotionally hostage, lmao.
LONG STORY SHORT I agree or am sympathetic with a lot of what you say, anon, with maybe some different perspective on other pieces, but I found that MXTX fandoms became a lot more lovely when I began using blocking features liberally (and, frankly, avoiding Twitter altogether).
hey saw ur asthma post and i get it, i have family with really severe asthma and i think if u dont live with it its easy to pretend its not as serious as it is. but also i think i remwmber that fic u mentioned bc the writing for jc’s disease was SO descriptive it really did stick with me . its called “this phantom pain might not be so farfetched” on ao3
OH HEY IT SURE IS, by meadow_wanderer. (CW for terminal illness/what's heavily implied to be lung cancer, not asthma, to clarify for anyone unfamiliar with the fic but might be interested in checking it out.)
do you know if gender neutral hanfus existed historically? or even recently?
This post from @ziseviolet should be helpful. :D
(She also has a pinned post with, like, a whole lot of excellent additional info in case you end up wanting to check out specific clothing terms or go down any research rabbit holes.)
hi!! i read through your 2ha summary (thank you so much for that one) and i was wondering if you could explain how the wedding verses in chapter 14 were foreshadowing future events?
Hello! Spoilers below:
If I'm remembering my thinking correctly, at the time of the ghost wedding, the identity of TXJ's concubine hasn't been revealed. The ghost wedding is a foreshadowing (post-shadowing? time travel, amirite) of that reveal. :)
