42: Don’t look for the Meaning of Life here. Monty Python’s circus has flown elsewhere.
This is so cute. It’s almost not fair. ;w;
***a sudden flurry of shout poles emerge above my head*** Well... this was unexpected. To some extent, it makes sense, considering the complicated nature of Cherubs and their mating. It further makes sense in the light of Calmasis, who seemed to be a-gendered in Calliope’s fanfiction/stories (if I am remembering things correctly), which I suppose might to some extent have been projecting the subtleties of her desire, will, and nature in more ways than one.
I am just as stunned by the Narrator, but at the same time, I am so amused by their reaction that it’s hard to actually take in the gravity of what Roxy’s saying, and to think about it in light of Roxy’s history+character, generally. Wow.
Honestly, I am a little overwhelmed by that revelation, and I think I’m going to have to return to it at a later time other than one little dalliance into a statement of curiosity: Is this related in some way to her Void Aspect?
Haaaaahhh. This shrieks of sudden insecurity. This is particularly interesting in light of the presumed Heart Aspect that is floating around in the Narrator’s existence because of the seeming Dirk dominance that’s going on (made more obvious as they’ve been dwelling on the stuff in Universe C, and become more casual in their narration, in this last bit). If that insecurity is in fact a thing, it could speak to potential internal exertion on Rose’s part upon Dirk’s otherwise firm and very self-knowing psyche. Something to think about.
“Allow it.” Pffft. (I wonder if this is representing the Narrator loosening their reigns on things a little bit, relatively speaking, or if it’s simply a matter of the aura of Void surrounding Roxy that’s interfering with things, just as with Mom’s own Void messing with Rose’s ability to detect her in Act 2.)
Related: I do in fact think that the Narrator might secretly be uncertain about/have difficulty wrapping their head(s) around the concept of non-binary and/or a-gendered existence, especially since they conflate the two, and obviously are projecting insecurity about the use of “they/them” to reference either/both of them. (Honestly, it’ll take me a while to not constantly try to apply a “she/her” to either of them, probably. It is very surprising, especially for Roxy.)
Yeah, I guess dealing with an alien race that presumably has at least sequential hermaphrodity as their norm, and which may determine their sex purely based on mating outcomes, rather than anything beforehand (yet while still presumably retaining their gender/lack thereof) prooobably naturally would bring up questions like that. It’s definitely a complex topic, and I’m sure aliens being added to the mix would make things even more complicated for humans in real life when it comes to the discussion than it is as of now.
Indeed, “Reasonable thoughts,” compounded with Jade’s confused, uncertain reaction (which reads similar in tone to a stereotypical parental, “Have you tried to stop being gay?” reaction, at least to me) and the Narrator’s refusal to deal with it again afterward suggest that they are being quite judgmental about it, probably due to their mechanistic and highly Light-emphatic views of reality engendering them with a desire to categorize and concretize everything. This desire likely makes them struggle not to reject anything they can’t quite get a proper grasp of due to the barriers of void surrounding it (as is, to some extent, the matter with issues of gender, I suppose this story is suggesting, and as is the case especially with the nature of the MSPA Reader, who the Narrator clearly rejects and dismisses as important because they can’t peer beyond the indistinguishability of all of us from an insider’s perspective).
I mean... yes and no? Gender roles and whatnot are definitely constructed socially and only distantly relate to biological features of the sexes, but gender identity, broadly, generally comes with being human, I should think (regardless of what you identify as, including a-gender identities). Obviously, gender is a slippery concept, but I would suggest it’s not one that is completely baseless or undeserving of acknowledgment like that.
It’s just a matter of individual identities being more nuanced than the traditional male/female divide with its cultural baggage might suggest to those that don’t recognize that some of what goes into defining gender comes from biased sources of tradition and law which affect the way one thinks of it.
To summarize what could be a very long and controversial/awkward conversation, I would suggest this: Gender is something of an inherent part of the ego, related to but not fully requiring or dependent upon the various group identities one will take in the process of going through life. Such a kernel of self-identification will naturally build up through one’s development as a child as one begins to develop a more solid sense of self and a reflective understanding of the separations existing between one’s self and others. Obviously, this will be very malleable, early on, which is probably related to why many/most societies begin to attempt to ingrain concepts of gender roles into individuals early on. Regardless of whether one agrees with the idea of pushing such ideas on a child or not, the development of gender identity ought to be regarded as superseding this interference, and overall an innocuous part of what it is to be a human.
(That said, with factual matters out of the way, I understand why Roxy would want to get away from the idea of gender as understood/developed in our own history, given how close she is [fudge] they are with Calliope, and how she they think of themself. It is not wrong of her to desire to dismiss such things as wholly constructed beasts.)
***snickers*** Screwed up on the tense of that verb, there, after you messed up on their gender, Narrator. ;3
Ahaaa. I had suspected this might be the case, but hesitated because I thought Callioped must have taken to gendering themselves first. Caliborn seemed to be a bit slow with most things he interacted with/adopted, so that didn’t seem like a good assumption to make. I guess enthusiasm doesn’t necessarily predict chronological placement, but still, it makes it seem like Calliope did this later than him. Hmmm.
In this sense, gender roles definitely seem to have a strangely influenced path through Paradox Space. How curious.
Roxy’s following summation of/declaration concerning the idea was quite humorous, as well.
Not something I knew/remembered about her. On the other hand: THERE WERE STILL CHESS PEOPLE!!! D:
Is this meant to suggest that Jade is more comfortable with her gender, now (if so, why? Dog body/hormones?), or is it meant to suggest that the narrator thinks that being non-binary is immature/a fad that Roxy will grow out of?
Hehehe~ Ectobiology is fun.
Now, this is certainly a fun and interesting extension of the connection between individual versions of a being with a single oversoul that I didn’t suspect would be possible. I wonder if it’s because of the lessened relevance that was mentioned concerning those in Universe C that Rose mentioned near the beginning of the Epilogue.
