OtH 1.05 - Questions - Part 2

People have all sorts of opinions about lgbtq+ characters in media. I am gay, so my main character is gay. It is a position and feeling that I can relate to. 

That being said, while he is not going to hide it, I currently have no plans for him to be in a relationship. That doesn't mean it won't happen. I am a discovery writer, I am just as surprised as my reader by what my characters get up to sometimes.

For anyone reading this who has also been reading Saga of the Soul Dungeon, I would like to let you know that Sevso was never supposed to become a repeating character, and eventually (we haven't gotten there), one of the main cast. As I was writing that scene the muse forced me to do more with him, and that necessitated altering the entire story. Not a huge amount, but adding another character did require altering Gnaeus's arc, and the eventual arc when they reach Caden. I don't consider this a spoiler, since they have been heading there the entire time, and it was explicitly stated.

Also, while many of the elements of Xianxia are traditionally from Chinese culture, I chose to remove many of the Chinese elements in order to deconstruct it, and also to let me have more authorial freedom.

However, I am writing this because I happen to love cultivation novels, so I am not simply writing this to tear that genre apart. I want to rebuild it in an interesting and compelling way.

One aspect of Xianxia and Wuxia novels that had become prevalent is a rather obnoxious alpha male, claim all the women (or a harem), sort of ideology. I decided to rebut this by borrowing from the more authentic Chinese traditions. For various political reasons, China in the modern era became more hostile to homosexuality, though that may be changing.

Historically, however, including all the eras xianxia and wuxia are meant to enshrine, bisexuality and homosexuality were considered perfectly normal. I personally borrowed from the attitudes of the Han and Zhou dynasties.

And now, that very long diversion aside, the chapter:

Aarick grinned and shook his head.

“This is what comes of relying on others for information all the time,” she muttered. “Usually, when someone is presented before me I already know everything about them. I haven’t needed to do a proper introduction to a social inferior in… my goodness, at least a few decades.”

Luronaturned to him and smiled brightly, and if the smile seemed a touch manic, he certainly wasn’t going to comment on it.

“Well,” she said, “it was a good thing I decided to make this meeting as informal as possible. I seldom get the chance to do an actual informal meeting. And you, being from another world, are currently the definition of outside the social norms.

Sadly, I was supposed to be teaching you good manners. Stand up for a moment.”

She stood up, and he followed, her yellow robes fell into straight lines. Even the folds in the garments created a set of beautiful matching geometric lines. Honestly, they reminded him of the art he had seen as he walked through her… home, manor, palace? Absently he wondered if she was causing the effect with qi, or the robes were simply that well tailored. How could could a tailor get if they had been sewing for a thousand years?

Lurona’s posture went ramrod straight, her neck arching upward gracefully. She bowed her head slightly and then returned it back to perfectly straight.

She spoke in a formal voice, each word sculpted before it left her mouth. They resonated, each word throwing itself into the surrounding walls, only to be rebuffed and return.

“I, Imperial Agent Lurona, welcome you into my presence.”

Her voice and tone shifted.

“Now, in response, there are a few things you mustdo, if you do not intend to insult the other. First, you bow at the waist with your hands together.”

Aarick put his hands flat against each other, as if he was going to pray.

“Ah, not like that. Put your dominant hand into a fist, and then wrap the other hand around it. Yes, like that, now bow. Ensure that your lower body and upper body are both rigid lines.”

He did his best to follow her directions, and she seemed satisfied.

“One of your tutors will help you get that polished,” she said.

Okay, maybe she wasn’t satisfied. I hope my tutor isn’t too much of a pain in the ass.

“Regardless,” She said, “you still need to do your introduction. Since you don’t have a title or position, state, ‘I,’ your full name, and then respond to my greeting.”

He mustered up his best attempt, channeling all the social events he had been dragged to by his parents. That, plus a little bit of what he remembered from reading cultivation novels, shaped his response.

“I, Dougal Aarick Perdita, am honored to be welcome into so radiant a presence as your own.” He said, attempting to mimic her own gravitas, shaping each word as best he could.

Lurona flashed him a smile.

“Well,” she replied, a faint trace of laughter in her words, “if you are engaging in flattery, or flirting,” this said with a wink, “that was fairly good. If you ever meet one of the vast number of people overinflated with their own importance, but who is too powerful for you to ignore, that kind of line was fairly good. A simple expression of gratitude, or pleasure, would be better for most interactions.

Now, you gave three names. Which one is your familial name?”

“Perdita,” he said after a moment.

“And, she asked, “what would a friend or someone you know casually address you as?”

“Aarick.” he said.

“And the other name, Dougal, what is that one for?”

“That is my first name. Usually, people are addressed by their first name or a shortened and more casual version of it. I don’t like my first name very much, so I chose to use my first name. The middle name is, just kind of there to help tell people apart. Some people have very common first and last names, so it can help.”

“Generally people only have a given name and family name here,” She replied. “Since you prefer Aarick, that will be your given name in your records.

What was the social status of your family?”

He thought a bit about how to express that one. The class structure of the USA was definitely there, but it was also an illusion.

“That is complicated,” He finally said. “The class structure of my country is complicated. Ostensibly, everyone is completely equal.”

He noted Lurona’s amused smile.

“Of course,” he continued, “it doesn’t actually work out that way. The laws are the same for everyone, but the execution of those laws in not equally applied. You cannot get away with anything, if you have wealth and influence, but the lines are flexible.

We have no actual noble class, but like I said, wealth, power, and fame act as stand ins. In that regard, my mom comes from old money. And my dad is head of the local… well I guess you would call it a healer’s association.”

He thought for a moment about what that would translate to, in terms of social status.

“I don’t really know anything about what social dynamics are like here. If I counted where we lived and the nearby towns, we are one of the most prominent families. That would make us some of the most influential people in… maybe five to ten million people?”

“How many people live in your country?” She asked.

“I am not sure of the number, but I think it was about 350 million.”

“So small,” she muttered. “No, wait, all the Outsiders from lower worlds have had smaller populations. That makes it fairly impressive. What would that equate to…”

He considered what it would mean for that number to be low.

Maybe she thinks that each country is a fifth of the total world’s population? A fifth of the world would be a little more than one and half billion. Still, that is in modern times… Right, don’t make assumptions, just because they use magic doesn’t mean they are unsophisticated.

Lurona trailed off, her finger tapping against her lips in absent thought. She shook herself slightly.

“That should let me place you as at least very minor nobility. I won’tfalsify your equivalent rank, that would have complications later down the line. This will give you some small social perks, but no one should expect to know you or your family if you are from across the Empire. You can honestly tell people you are from a small place that none of them have ever heard of.”

Makes sense, enough social status not to be lowest person around, but not enough to be important. Hopefully that will save me some grief.

He considered what to ask next. There was so much he didn’t know. It was probably best to satisfy his curiosity, tutors should be able to fill in the rest.

He cleared his throat.

“Uh, your skin and eyes, they would not be found in my world. The same with some of the people I saw as…” He paused for a moment, “I didn’t speak your language before, so I don’t actually know the name of the man who brought me here. Anyway, some of the people I saw along the way have colors that I haven’t seen before.”

Well, technically he had seen all sorts of colors and designs in games and movies, plus makeup, wigs, and hair dye around Halloween, but that wasn’t the same.

“Yes,” Lurona said, her voice drawing out the word, “I suppose that would be different. Most of the people in this world have somemanner of spirit heritage, where their ancestors conceived with a spirit. A rare few have some form of beast heritage as well. That is less common, because beasts are primarily creatures of ziu, few of them manage to overcome the madness of its influence.”

She looked at him for a moment, her mouth pursed to one side, even as her brows furrowed.

“I honestly have no idea what that will mean for your cultivation,” She said. “A trace of the ancestral spirits influence often shapes what a person is attuned to. As you can see from me,”

Lurona gestured downwards with of her hands, the fingers splayed out toward her.

“I have a spirit in my ancestry within a few generations back. However, it is generally considered rude to ask. Many people will gossip anyway, of course, and some of the noble families will boast about it. If someone shares their heritage, or their family openly acknowledges, you may comment on their ancestor, otherwise pretend it doesn’t exist. It is merely a polite fiction, but social niceties are made of such.”

That created an entirely different line of questioning. Apparently humanity was not alone on this planet. He few strange about that; a sense of wonder and awe mixed with fear.

How different will they be? Obviously humanity can get along with them well enough to fuck, but that doesn’t really say much.

“Do spirits and beasts marry humans?” Aarickasked, “What are the relationships like?”

“How to describe this…” she said. “The beasts that manage to become spirit beasts, will carry the nature of the beast that they come from. The transition to spirit beast grants them greater intellect, but they don’t stop being a beast. Sometimes this means they integrate into society very well, sometimes not. Still, the relationships are not quite equivalent.

Spirits are more complicated. Spirits… are more like ideas made manifest. The greater the idea, the more they can encompass and the more they understand. The great spirit of the heavens can act as human as you or I, they can also be completely enigmatic. A spirit of dreams constantly shifts, and is never quite real. A spirit of a valley or mountain will reflect the people who have lived there, if they have been there long enough, but they will still carry the aspects of the place they are from. Many relationships with spirits are brief and intense. Few spirits can form a lasting relationship with a human. Each side has fundamental difficulties dealing with the other.”

Aarick thought for a moment, before he decided to ask something a little more personal, and a touch riskier, however, while they were on the subject of relationships anyway… he might as well go for it.

“You mentioned that if I were a noble they might offer women, men, etc… whatever would keep me happy,” He said. “Are relationships between men common, or between two women?”

“Having a gay relationship, you mean?” She said.

Lenora looked at him with eyes that felt a little too knowing, accompanied by a small smirk.

“People may love a man, a women, or both, as in their inclination. Most people end up experimenting with both sides. Even if gay, nobles are more likely to have one or more wives for the purpose of lineage, while having the informal role of ‘companion’ for one of more men. Even then, they sometimes will marry both a man and a woman, formally.

Once you get outside the nobility people engage in whatever pairings, or more, that they choose. People who try to form enormous groups may get ridiculed, but it is more often about their hunger exceeding their capacity, or their indecisiveness.”

That… was actually far better than he could have hoped. That was moreprogressive than home. Honestly, he had no idea what to do with the idea of polyamory, because it hadn’t even been on the table at home. However, he didn’t need to worry about the fact that he was gay. Here bisexuality was the norm, or at least experimenting with it.

“That is good to know,” He said, trying to keep his voice mild.

Judging by the look he got from Lenora, she was unimpressed with his equivocation, but she let it lie. It was probably not polite to pry.

Honestly, the formality paired with the accepting attitude felt wrong to him. When he went to the big formal gatherings with his parents he was far too used to the performanceof acceptance. A few of the people running the charities seemed to really care, but all too often even they fell into the role of the gracious wealthy individual deigning to extend their hand downwards.

He was bound to run into someissues with this society, but he didn’t know what they were yet. No… he knew one, nobles would exercise their power to collect individuals (and presumably objects) that were status symbols. People in power abusing that power to some degree, was not exactly news, so he would need to see how far the corruption went.

For now, he had more immediate issues.

“Enlightenments, what are they exactly?” He said.

“Oh, you like to pick the hard questions, don’t you?” She teased him. “That is another issue that has many answers, none of which are complete. Since that is the case, I will give you one of the theories that seems to loosely fit what happens to everyone.

In that interpretation, enlightenments come from two parts. The first is literal understanding. The better you understand what something actually is, at its core, the more likely you are to have a moment of enlightenment where that understanding crystallizes into something more. Where it becomes a connection on a fundamental level.

For example, if you wanted a connection to the element of earth, you might go out into the fields. You could study the dirt, the stones, what they are made of, how they form. How the soil is layered, and the stone lies beneath it.

The other side of the coin is about what something means or feels. People divide this into its own separate categories, which is why this model is only good for a loose analogy. The earth is a symbol of fertility, of abundance, but it is also a symbol of danger. It is the spiritual representation of foundation, but also corruption, the source of ziu. It has opposing elements, and coming to understand them may help to form the same connection.

You might do this my looking at a piece of art, or looking at the fields at different times of day, trying to understand what it means and how it feels.

And then there are the literal feelings something gives. The dusty grittiness of a dry stone, the wet slickness of a stone polished by a river’s embrace, the smell of harvest and the fresh smell of damp earth, turned over before being planted. All of these are part of the physical sensation that something brings. Which half of the two sides they belong in is fiercely debated by those who have nothing better to do with their time.”

Aarick snorted a little. He had certainly met some pseudo-intellectuals who fell into that category. Usually at those same parties.

“Do you have a theory of your own you subscribe to?” He asked.

“I do, actually,” she said, with an arch look. She paused for a long moment, before slumping slightly. “I was tempted not to tell you, but it is more than an academic debate for you right now. I so seldom get to talk with anyone as a peer.

Anyway. I follow a theory that is still well known, but not quite as popular.I believe that the natures of the enlightenments relate to the three spiritual cultivation methods in some manner: the body, the spirit,  and the soul.

The body’s connection to one is obvious, the physical senses. The problem is that it relates too well to two of them, because the body would also connect to the physical nature of what something is. And then which of the two aspects should be assigned to soul or spirit gets debated.”

Lenora shrugged and sighed.

“Ultimately it becomes a question without any particular distinction. The only reason I find it relevant is that I use it to help me understand. In the end, the more comprehensive my knowledge of all these types, the easier it is to be enlightened.

For a moment Aarick considered. He didn’t actually know how much people here knew about how the universe actually worked. Could that be an advantage for him? And… there was something that was bothering him about her explanation. It was a feeling he knew too well, unfortunately. His subconscious had caught something he hadn’t and was working on the problem. Eventually, whatever it was would coalesce, or it would fade away as his mind dismissed it.

He was interrupted by Lenora’s voice.

“This had been quite enjoyable, but I am a fairly busy individual. The room you came from was a sick room, better rooms have been assigned to you with your recovery. I will arrange for your identification papers to be drawn up.”

She stood up, and he scrambled to follow suit. She smiled a bright and sincere smile at him, her teeth flashing white between her red lips.

“I hope to have another chat with you later, but I will be busy most of the time. If you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask the servant assigned to you. Also, money…”

She paused for a moment, absentmindedly looking off into the distance.

“You have no idea how our money works… Well, no matter, I will remind the servant that you have lost your memory of even the most basic things. For the time being, unless something you desire is truly extravagant, all your needs will be provided for you.

When you join a group of students in the creche, I will arrange for a stipend, in addition to your lodgings.

For now...”

She bowed to him, and then spoke.

“Thank you for heeding my summons.”

He bowed in turn, and replied in turn, a standard phrase from home rising to his lips.

“It was my pleasure.”

She smiled at him again, the corners of her eyes crinkling.

“That was a perfect response.”

She swept out of the room and he followed behind.