# If you're great at leaping — bite the sun! #

I know, I know, most of you are going, ‘what?’ (and some, perhaps, ‘who?’). Let’s just say that the interplay between several layers of narrative was one of my favorite elements in SVSSS, and I am delighted to share some of my findings! As you may have guessed from my enthusiasm, those are some messed-up findings, so: content warning for discussion of fictional s/exual a/ssault, though nothing that wasn’t described or alluded to in the novel – ie, if you’ve read the entire novel and were fine, nothing in here should extend past your tolerance.

But that’s for the latter half of this meta. First, some context on what I mean by ‘layers of narrative’: SVSSS, belonging as it does to transmigration-into-a-novel subgenre, includes both ‘the original novel’ PIDW’s story and the altered by transmigration story (which I will be referring to as ‘the new story’ going forth, because while the new story kinda is SVSSS itself, it also really isn’t). The situation is further complicated by mentions of ‘the original outline’ version of PIDW, the possibility of characters from ‘the original novel’ crossing into ‘the new story’ and being influenced by it (as per extras), the fact that ‘the new story’ is still a story, and the limitations that imposes on characters and events, and, of course, our primary narrator Shen Yuan|Qingqiu’s unreliability – both regarding the events happening to himself, in the new story, and the events of the original PIDW.

Keeping in mind the interrelations between those layers is an angle that I found very rewarding for analyzing this novel – which leads me to writing this meta about a character who has… two, I think… in-person appearances in all of SVSSS. Qin Wanyue’s lack of page-time – and relevance – in ‘the new story’ makes sense, given the shift in events and narrative roles brought on by Luo Binghe falling for Shen Qingqiu, demoting her from a prominent love interest to background extra. But I believe that we, as readers, were largely misled about her relevance in PIDW’s story – because Shen Yuan, bless his heart, has all the facts but fails to put them together. Not in the ‘oh he is so oblivious’ way, but rather in a combination of ‘effects of toxic masculinity’ way and ‘lack of critical engagement with reading material’ way. Which are two topics that the novel delves into with some regularity, so hey, makes sense! Anyway, time for us to use our critical thinking and excavate the clues MXTX left us.

(cont. under cut)

All of it comes from the chapter 10: Huan Hua of the second volume from the official English release. They are below under the cut.

*goes through chancellor’s desk drawers and finds this*

Complex knowledge is built on top of simple knowledge. A person who mentions that they've been learning how to ride backwards on a horse probably already knows that you can also ride a horse while facing the same direction as the horse. You do not need to tell them this. A person who seems to be familiar with foraging edible mushrooms probably already knows that there are unsafe and inedible mushrooms. You do not need to tell them this.

Assuming that a person who seems familiar with more advanced knowledge would not be aware of the basics of this field is like assuming that someone who is in the fourth floor of a building has not been to the second floor yet. People will assume that either you are stupid, or that you're assuming they are stupid. People don't like either option, and therefore will not like you.

In this clip, her business starts around 1:10.

Scientist bakes sourdough bread with yeast derived from 4500 year old Egyptian pottery

is a sourdough boule

I stepped in and explicitly detailed everything that the list got wrong, which was about 95% of it, to show why is was harmful. After an hour they deleted their comment plus they deleted most of their comment history.

It's derivative. Anything it "generates" is derived from the vast amount of human-generated works these systems have ingested.

School kids can tell you what happens when you turn in an assignment where they had to generate work after reading various other works. They have to cite their sources. Gen-AI doesn't do this and is, therefore, the plagiarism machine.

This confirms that there is a civilization older than the Sumerians that we have yet to find

Some people get existential dread from this

Source (non Aboriginal)

And a quote I picked out from a longer interview with an Aboriginal local elder about the area where he touched on the history