Hartlaub's Bustard from #Meru National Park.

#Books | Author S.B. Divya speaks to @chiber_mini for #THMagazine about her latest novel ‘#Meru’, dabbling in Sanskrit in a bid to “pull it into the future”, and more!
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Artist: merunyaa #handjob #hentai #meru #demon #cum

#hentai #meruthesuccubus #meru

I finished the new novel #Meru by @sbdivya a few days ago and I'm still processing it. But I heartily recommend reading it, and I'll mention a few things I really loved about it just to whet your appetite. I might edit this later as I think about it longer.

- threads the #worldbuilding needle perfectly by introducing the setting and context gradually so I didn't have to constantly re-read early sections to get a grip on it
- reframes a congenital human #disability in a smart, non-romanticized way as a potential advantage for living in another habitat
- portrays a non-human character coming to terms with a disability (from an injury) in a non-idealized but ultimately positive way
- writes cross-species familial, platonic, romantic, and sexual relationships in a complex and credible way
- offers insights into common ground among different life forms around self-awareness, attachment, self-esteem, aspiration, and ambition
- normalizes various parenting styles and roles, including the choice not to reproduce or take part in parenting

I hadn't read reviews (intentionally) but the author's page links to some good ones: https://sbdivya.com/meru. Also loved her earlier novel, #Machinehood!

I also admire Divya for being open about her illness: #longCOVID #MECFS #pwME :heart_cyber:

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Interesting reading coincidence: as in #Meru, we have people being designed instead of letting chance put them together. The alloy do it somewhat playfully, but (at least sometimes) also with a clear path for the offspring in mind. Here, it's just done to make better slaves.

That's certainly evil, but I think the designing to a goal /always/ buts a burden on the child. It's hard enough to live up to expectations; I can't imagine having to live up to specifications.

#TheTerraformers #Books2023

I'd have liked to have the unique structure of the universe with everything being somewhat conscious explored in more detail, but apparently there is to be a sequel, so maybe it will happen there!

That being said, I really liked "Meru" - to my surprise not in spite of a love story being very important, but because of that. These two are just so young and cute and insecure, and it's written in a way that's sweet instead of cringe-y - no small feat!

(4/n, n=4)

#Meru #Books2023

"Meru" has a strong theme of good and bad parenting and mentoring, as both protagonists struggle with fulfilling their potential and ambitions - but also as they fall in love and become parents in a very tender love story.

Both human and alloy culture are complex with a lot of depth, the political system is interesting (it's not an empire!), and I liked the handling of Jayanthi's chronic illness (it has uses, but also drawbacks) very much. Same for the Sanskrit names!

(3/n)

#Meru #Books2023

The universe of "Meru" is special: all matter has some degree of consciousness. This makes conservation efforts especially important; even introducing new bacteria can be seen an assault.

The universe's structure allows specialized pilot alloys FTL travel, and we follow a human, Jayanthi, and her pilot, Vaha, to the Exoplanet Meru, where Jayanthi conducts controversial research projects: officially about human habitation, unofficially about genetical engineering.

(2/n)

#Meru #Books2023

So, @sbdivya's "Meru", which I really liked!

Set 1000 years into the future, we explore a world where genetically engineered posthumans (the alloys), who come in a variety of shapes and sizes, explore space. Unmodified humans also exist; they are confined to Earth - after catastrophic climate change and a failed terraforming trial on Mars they are deemed unfit for other planets and, if necessary, medicated for "Aspirational and Avarice Disorder".

(1/n)

#Meru #Books2023

Great theme of parenthood and mentoring. We have Vaha's borderline abusive maker and zir somewhat fraught friendship with another pilot, but also the very positive mentoring model of Rithu.

Jayanthi's parents and mentor seem more supportive, but treat her ambitions more as one indulges a small child and not as an adult's dreams.

And there are Jayanthi and Vaha becoming parents, thinking hard about what characteristics a child should have, but also wanting to do better.

#Meru #Books2023

I really like how a main character's pregnancy is handled. It's neither the hardest thing ever (I'm looking a you, "A Memory Called Empire") nor is the character able to do all sorts of physical feats unchanged (I'm looking at you, "Red Moon"). It's hard, especially intersecting with chronic illness, but it's not debilitating. Growing a child inside you is lovely, but also really weird.

Plus that early pregnancy feeling of "what on earth have I /done/?"? That's totally real...

#Meru #Books2023

Something I noticed in #Machinehood as well: we've got characters have strong disagreements, betray each other, and separate; but that's not the end. Lots of them reconcile, change their mind about things, grow and learn. And that's not just true for lovers, but for friends as well.

It feels... mature, I guess? Being able to see scales of grey, apologize and return. And very hopeful: people /can/ change their minds!

#Meru #Books2023

"Meru"'s universe is of the "Age of Sail" type: FTL travel, but no FTL communication except by courier. There are long travel times and news are not always easy to come by. But it's /not/ one with an empire and all its trappings, which is very unusual.

The only thing reminiscent of that era is the fact that Earth is treated like a colony: exploited for raw materials, humans with their limited rights are second-class citizens.

Interesting.

#Meru #Books2023

So, that name "alloy" for the posthumans. Lots of associations there! Explained in text as referring to their metal-infused skin, but also points to the Ages of Man (golden, silver, iron - the bronze one would also be an alloy 😉) and their continuation into a new era. Also reminds me of the Amalgam in Greg Egan's "Incandescence".

#Meru #Books2023

"Sometimes, it takes losing a dream to figure out what you really want to do with your life."

That hits really close to home right now. I've recently lost a dream, a possible future. Still figuring out the alternative.

I'd argue that both main characters thinking this way /archieved/ their dream, briefly, and then it was taken away from them.

Which hits even closer to home.

#Meru #Books2023

Public instances of the Just B club 3 world are a lot of fun for a lil public nudity~
Especially when you convince the player you just met to get naked in public too~
#vrchat #loli #inkling #splatoon #cunny #meru #succubus

So... That theme of love between humans and sentinent spaceships... That's a thing, apparently. Might be worth thinking about both the how and why.

(Here, it just starts so super sweet. They're both so young! It's cute.)

#Meru #Books2023

Pilot alloy landing on a planet for the first time: "As zie drank, zie picked up a rock from the surface, lifted, and released. It fell, just like in the movies."

I love stuff like that. A short phrase hammering home we're with a being with very different experiences and upbringing that our own. A reminder of the alienness of this. Just a little detail but so very effective.

#Meru #Books2023

Awww tea and literature as valuable things humans produce 💙

#Meru #Books2023