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A very unimpressive attempt to try to sidestep the RQ by creatively falsely claiming you misunderstood it, Ravi.

I don’t think he misunderstood it I think you asked the wrong question. Now if had asked ” what did Ravi look like before now” then he might have shown his true colors so to speak.

He deliberately misunderstood the question.
What was being asked is: What is the native form of Ravi’s species?

Nnnnooo, what was being asked was, “What is Ravi’s real form?”

Ravi does not have an objective ‘real’ form (at least, not one that humans could comprehend), so showing his ‘old man’ form is as real as showing any other physical form, therefore it is his ‘real’ form. He didn’t ‘deliberately misunderstand’ anything.

(Especially because these are Reader Questions and we know Kory herself is the voice behind the answers so you can’t even blame the character for ‘deliberate misunderstanding’, that’s Kory being coy. Koyry.)

To be fair, she has characters respond to questions *in character*, so it’s not necessarily just her being coy. The first Reader Question has Jon responding with a rude gesture. That’s not Kory being rude; it’s Jon being himself. (Though, she did provide a bit of an extra answer on top of that.)

Additionally, it’s super IC for an Indian character to philosophically state that everything is an illusion. It’s an extremely prevalent idea in Hinduism (from which Buddhism springs) and is described as māyā, or “that which is not”.

From Wiki: Māyā is also a spiritual concept connoting “that which exists, but is constantly changing and thus is spiritually unreal”, and the “power or the principle that conceals the true character of spiritual reality”.

Who’s to say that yakṣa have true forms at all? What if they are formless and simply assume forms? Who knows?!

(That being said, as a Hindu this answer made me chuckle. Well played, Ravi.)

lil note because I only just learned this myself: Jainism and Buddhism arose in response to Vedic/Brahmanic dogmatism well before anything was or could be called Hinduism, and before we’d recognize it as anything like. But we hindus are *taught* that we’re the ancestor religion and the others come from us because, Brahmanic dogmatism.

edited to add: that detail aside, seconded so much :)

Also, it would be pretty sketchy (pun not intented but left in) for Kory to draw them based on cultural sources? Because there’s no animal/s to work from, and the original depictions would be misread by folks who only know western art, and possibly appropriative etc. so this is the absolute best answer possible IMO, in and out of character.

And it’s just as annoying as everything else Ravi does, so I love it :D

The thing Ravi is(Raksha) are able to change their form at complete will, and every one of them is very much its face and body as any other. Meaning, Ravi being a short, rotund, overly friendly little Indian man very much him as, say, a MASSIVE 20+ foot tall, brightly colored, built like a champion weight lifter mountain of thews, sinew, and aggression.

Now I’m imagining Ravi in gRavi-ty Falls style. Well done.

What would some of the main characters of Skin Deep look like as the opposite sex? Aside from very confused.

Blanche: I look… FABULOUS! *sashays in front of mirror, does pirouette* I’m gonna have to make me some dresses!

Adelle: *enters with armful of dresses* Won’t you try these on first? And maybe some slippers? And let me do your hair? *clasps hands, beams*

Blanche: *eyes dresses, beams back*

Abigail: Well… you look normal, for a harpy, on account of us generally being female-

Tony: Well that’s just GREAT!!!! It never rains but it bleedin’ pours! D-X

Eleanor: *holds two fingers across his upper lip* *removes them* *sniffle* I just don’t look right without my fabulous moustache!! ;_;

Lily: I look badASS! Now… bad boy imitation leathers – check! Bad boy shades – check! Bad boy hairstyle – check! Origin of buddy – Czech!

Dean: Chechen. And look, just because you’re a bloke now, doesn’t mean you have to-

Lily: Don’t mess with my lines, buddy-o. Now, out, and on to the next things on the to do list! Public nuisance! Excessive drinking! Public drunkenness! Getting into the toilets without having to queue! Using them standing up! C’mon, Dean! *exits*

Dean: *eyeroll, follows*

>:=)>

Greenwood, now I’m wondering what you can come up with, for Michelle, Greg, Jim, Merial, and Lorne.

I donut know. I do know that their names would be:
Michelle>Michael(and her dad the reverse), Greg>Grace, Jim>Janine, Merial>Merry, Lorne>Lorenda, Tony>Tonya, Blanche>Blanche.
Bloodcarver>Deathbringer, Alec>Alexis, Tim>Maude, Marshall>Marsha, Eustace>Muriel, Ophelia>Ophideus.
Finns: Mary>Mark, James>Jamie, Colin>Coleen, Tobias>Rachel, Paulbert>Paulie(Pollie?), Martha>Courage.
Petrus Ike>Lithia ‘Ith’, Rhonda>Ron, Django>Jade, Elanor>Elanor, Rupert>Ruphina, Sam>Samantha/Dermot>Dereana, Elise>Elsen
Ravi>Ravie, Jocasta>Jacosta, Wosret>Wadjet, Phineas>Finley.

This is what happens when pre-op medication makes you woozy. Names! A thesaurus of derp.

Here goes…

Michelle: I look… and see the ground start to rush up towards me as my freaking WINGS freaking VANISH in the MIDDLE OF A FREAKING GLIDE!!! “Oh, you must try our private flying range!” “The whole area is shielded by illusions, it’s PERFECTLY SAFE!! If Jimantha here hadn’t swooped in and caught me, I’d be fertilising the freaking pasture!!!! WHY ME???!!! *points at mirror* But it turns out there’s a perfectly good reason for all this, because MALE SPHINXES DON’T HAVE WINGS, AND I’M A MALE NOW!!! …I look just like my father.

Jim: *stands behind Michelle* I look… like a seven foot tall woman with a…

Mary: Double F-cup? Around about that…

Jim: Yeah. And since I didn’t get them from you or anything, this must be part of the green curse… they feel weightless! Same with these hips. And, y’know, I think I carry off the waist-length green hair a whole lot better as a woman. *starts to smile* Now, if I could give it a bit more volume and bounce… Earth magic, go! Yeah, it’s working! *hair flick* Not bad at all! *hugs hair* And I think the name Jimantha suits female me, thank you Mickey! *hugs him too* So, how do you feel about yer new daughter Jimantha, mam?

Mary: ♥HUG♥

Lorne: (from next room) Uh, guys… I’ve grown a load of- *ow* hair all of a sudden, and it’s got tangled up in stuff. Little help?

Tobias: *heads to door* O-okay, just a sec… you’ve- oh, wow – you’ve gone really golden blonde and really petite. Lie back down and I’ll…

Colin: *runs to door, sniggering* ♪Toby and Lorna up a tree/ Kay eye ess ess eye en gee-♪ Ow! Hey!

James: Come on, our Colin, if you’re not gurna help… *enters room with struggling Colin*

Merial: Well, Greg, you look like a lady satyr, not a fauness or a glaistig, so that probably means you’re not s’posed to exist ‘n’ all that. You’ve no beard or sideburns anymore, and your horns are a lot smaller…

Greg: I know, right? I can probably cover them up with just my hair, and possibly a scarf or Alice band just to be safe! And you look like a male nixie, not a nokk, so you prob’ly shouldn’t exist either, but that might mean you’re not gonna go psycho when you get older… you look a bit bishonen now, with your long hair… if you don’t mind me saying so… *blush*

Colin: (catcall) oooOOOooo!

Mary: Any more of that from you, young man, and your medallion will be going back in the chest!

Meanwhile…

Sam Hain: Hello, boys! Guess who just got their proper transformation knocked loose by an impromptu sex-change? PreeeeSENTing – SamANTHA HarRIET Ainsworth, -♪da da, da da♪- reverse gryphoness! *step, step, turn* What do you think?!

Royce: GO AWAY!!! (returns to talking to Jack) …I mean, look what all these curves that I didn’t use to have have done to my bloody tattoos! I mean, I spend all that time and effort getting a full-body inking that’ll work in all my bleedin’ forms, and then THIS bloody happens!!

Jack: Yeah… *nods awkwardly*

Sam Hain: *snerk* *sashays away whistling the Cruella de Vil song*

Meanwhile meanwhile…

Stanley: *swims lazily in the dock* *!!* *curls neck around to check himself over* *?!* … *resumes swimming*

>:=)>

I generally don’t answer the gender-swap questions because they make me uncomfortable, and this reply really punctuates why it makes me uncomfortable. Magically changing chromosomes wouldn’t suddenly change your gender identity. Also why on earth would a string bean like Jim get huge tits and hips?

Sorry, this whole thing just makes me uncomfortable.

This is very true. A physical sex change wouldn’t change a person’s gender without a disturbing level of mental rewiring. I joked on this latest readthrough about Anthony freaking out more about the thought of changing his sex than changing his species, but honestly that might have been harder for him to adapt to. Being genderqueer and having transgender friends, I’ve seen the level of distress having the wrong body and social expectations for your mind can cause. Even just being called the wrong name or pronoun is like a little jab in a sore spot every time.

As funny as the idea might be to some, this story would realistically involve fewer gleeful name and pronoun changes and prancing off to find dresses and more freakouts and desperate attempts to fix it. Some characters might not care, but others would be devastated, and it would be kind of hard to predict which is which.

Also, again with the implication that it’s Greg’s horns he can’t hide. It’s been shown repeatedly it’s his ears. There’s no way a stocking cap would hide those horns.

I have to wonder though, a lot of mythos in this world have theological roots, but I’ve seen some that aren’t as well, is the universe here primarily the former or do other types make the cut often? And for that matter, on the topic of illusions, would kitsunes exist here? Fox spirit and all.

Minnesota simargl said that Ravi was the crow on the shoulder of the red dude from illumination chapter 1. I take no pride in say this. I TOLD YOU HE WASN’T THAT CROW!!!. OK maybe I take a little pride.

Reality is a illusion, so his current form is also an illusion. He even said back in chapter 1 of Illumination that he had a different form back then.

Also note to everyone of the site, Alta’s is my brother so that’s way we seem to fight a lot. We love each other but like the Phineas clan we don’t always get along. We’ll try to keep the sib debate down in the future. ;)

Here’s a question, if the characters of Skin Deep were a part of a Battle Royale/Hunger Games type death game, who would win?

I don’t know about the preceding rounds, but I see the final coming down to a three way.
Ravi vs the now fully powered Michelle vs Gabe.
As for who would win, no idea. That is a high power magic users war, the sort of thing best observed from several galaxies away. The only certainty is that reality would be fried to a crisp, and the WORLD turned inside out.

Easy to understand.. Just use the story flatland and apply the role of the sphere to ravi, everyone else who isnt living in the same or higher dimensions as him are the inhabitants of the proverbial flatland from his perspective.
Because of that What he looks like to us equates to shadow puppets being projected from higher dimensions (meaning what we see is real from our perspective and an illusion from his)

I think a quote from G’kar (Babylon 5) somewhat applies here as well. Paraphrased:

G’Kar: [points to a flower with a bug crawling on it] What is this?
Catherine Sakai: An ant. So much gets shipped up from Earth on commercial transports it’s hard to keep them out.
G’Kar: I have just picked it up on the tip of my glove. If I put it down again, and it asks another ant, “what was that?”, how would it explain? There are things in the universe billions of years older than either of our races. They’re vast, timeless, and if they’re aware of us at all, it is as little more than ants, and we have as much chance of communicating with them as an ant has with us. We know. We’ve tried, and we’ve learned that we can either stay out from underfoot or be stepped on.

Ravi is one of those vast, timeless, “things in the universe”. He’s a little bit more aware of us than the aliens referred to by G’kar, but the point is, he’s a Yaksha. He’s an immortal being that (depending on source) is either a deity, or the next closest thing to one, and can change his form at will. So whatever form he takes is just as much “the true Ravi” as any other form.

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