#vace

A magnificent and extremely rare large doucai vase,

This vase looked particularly special. Not only is it large, 52.7 cm from base to lip, it is decorated using the difficult and costly doucai technique, which involved painting fine underglaze outlines in cobalt-blue onto porous, unfired clay, allowing no room for error.

The striking design of lotus blossoms and leafy scrolls also incorporated a number of auspicious symbols, including a band of stylised bats above clouds on the shoulder, four gilt wan  on the body, and a series of ruyi  motifs based on the form of a lingzhi  fungus.

Qianlong six-character seal mark in underglaze-blue and of the period (1736-1795).

So a big theme in Exo is avoiding repeating humanity's mistakes in Earth. And I always found the idea of the kids being born with genetic enhancements interesting. But it wasn't until I learned about a certain someone's augment that I really thought about how messed up it is. And then it makes me question why they were given then in the first place. I've come to the conclusion that each augment is what each parent thinks their child needed to survive and thrive based on their experience in earth as they are the only ones to remember how awful it was. It also makes clear what expectations they have for their child. So I'm just going to go through everyone and explain further.

Vace and Rex: I think they fall under the category of 'social survival.' Vace is the one who made me realize the connection because why the hell would you want to enhance your child's genitals? Vace is a clear representation of the patriarchy instill by his pos father. A 'man who takes what he wants, builds a family, a tough guy' etc. I actually really like Vace though I get why people don't. But it can't be denied his father messed him up and constantly talked down to him. He developed an inferiority complex and his augment fed into that, making him feel the need to prove he's a man. He's proof the patriarchy causes men to suffer under it as well as he suppresses his emotions except anger and takes it out on other, finishing friendships not based on fear. He's probably the most 'earth' out of everyone. And all the intimidation he uses kind of assured that he leads and excels in a social setting. Rex is the opposite of this but serves a similar purpose. He's a dog, sweet and lovable. He's friendly and helpful and people are drawn to him. I think it's also important to recognize that Rex is a black or at least dark skinned male. With this in mind, I think this is why his family found it important to give him the dog augment. Under the light of racism and white supremacy, black men are seen as aggressive and dangerous. So, it makes sense that a black family that came from that earth would want to ensure their child would be seen as a non threat and thrive socially even if it drastically affected his personality and shortened his life span. Though it's unknown if they knew that. I think what makes Rex and Vace good foils is how they navigate social interactions. Vace through fear and Rex through charm.

Nem, and Tammy: Both fall under the category of survival. Tammy has sensitive hearing which allows her to pick up on a lot of things. More than likely this was for hearing predators, animals, etc. Or even things like a baby crying. Even though it's useful, we see it can also be a detriment as she gets anxious hearing what's outside the walls and loud noises hurt her ears. Nem has her scaly skin which seems to help her defensive capabilities and such though we don't really see it in action. It makes sense her mother who sees very coddling would want her to be tough so she doesn't really get hurt though it seemed to backfire in a way since she joined the defense force. They both seem to be augmented to survive and help others survive as well which makes sense since earth seemed to be at war when they left.

Cal and Tangent: I think they have a looser connection of 'thriving in career.' Cal doesn't need to sweat (which I still question if that is biologically healthy) which allows him to work in the fields and avoid heatstroke and can brave the cold as well. It makes sense his family would want this augment and it fits in to his farm life. But it does make you question if his augment affected him at all in that way. Tang needs much less sleep than other people. We know that her and Dys have a rough relationship with their parents, their mother taking her own life and they dealt with that in different ways. Her mother more than likely wanted her to not need as much sleep to just survive and maybe help her mentally. However, it's an obvious detriment as it causes her to overwork which damages her mental health more. It's tough to know what their mother was really thinking especially after she named one of her kids Dysthymia. I do believe the augments were a way of her trying to protect her kids in some way.

Dys and Marz: A couple of my fave characters and I think fall under 'mental health survival.' For Marz, I once again think it's important to recognize that she's a black woman which I think directly affects her lack of shame. A lot of black women right are shamed for anything they do. Their body, their attitude, their hair. All things Marz unapologetically displays. Her dads, also being gay men it seems, would probably want her to live her life without being oppressed by other people's opinions. She can be grating at times, but it's just because she unable to feel bad for her existence. This allows her to thrive and stare her opinion without feeling bad later. Obviously even if it sounds nice, there's some obvious downsides such as her bullying others when she was younger and doesn't really feel shame over hurting others. Dys doesn't feel fear and that causes him to do things without restraint. However, he has a soft heart so he can still feel bad and have hurt feelings. Similar to Tang, his mother probably tried to protect him, thinking getting rid of fear might help him mentally, but he can still be anxious. It really makes you question whether a lack of fear actually helps anything. Life on earth was probably dominated by fear. There's no confirmation on what exactly happened on earth before they left, but it obviously wasn't good considering Flula's attitude.

Edit: My dumbass forgot about Nomi. Even though Nomi's augment status is unconfirmed, their parents attitude towards it is telling. Based on dialogue, they feel like very hippie hands off parents who want their child to have the freedom to be themselves, but the problem is that they equally don't offer guidance so Nomi has a hard time knowing what they want and feel a bit stranded. Again it's probably a reaction to earth ebung very strict in some children and many people are forced to be something they didn't want. Including things like gender and career. So they try to give Nomi freedom but not the support they need.