8D -- The weather here is one of the reasons I sort of relate with the villagers (during the timeline of Shiki) lol. Hot all year-round with the sun technically pathological, where it almost never subsides except when it gets cloudy. The town I lived at before I moved here for my uni studies is slightly cooler and receives more rain, but thanks to moving here, plus having a really hot bedroom with wide windows and crappy air conditioner really increased my heat tolerance and lowered my cold one. Listening to your winter stories makes me feel chilled. Brr. Thanks for the wishes! I've got the results now and I'm pretty pleased with them.
I've always joked (not here though) that 'Shiki' could totally happen in my country. Not that I wish my country'd meet a similar end with Sotoba, not at all, but because of similarities like being very religious and traditional, hot-as-hell, and more importantly throughout the country we mostly bury. The difference is we're so populous those Shikis will not be able to wipe us out in a few months. (but uh, more food?) I may someday write about it, though obviously with original characters.
Well, I've always thought that perception is tied with observation (of external circumstances) and that some people are better at it than others. Given that extroverts are more external (outside themselves) and I always think of 'external' as other people or events, and introverts are internal (inside/among themselves), I figure extroverts are often better at observation, but I might be wrong. I'm only studying a bit of psychology on my own after all, so it definitely lacks. A lot of it is MBTI/personality types anyway. According to it, extroverts are better at unbiased/objective observation because they turn outside first before they turn inwards, while introverts' observation are more subjective because they turn inwards first before turning outwards. But I guess this mostly depends on practice and experiences. My Mom (I suspect ISTJ) is good at observing people, and she constantly analyzes them. My Dad (INFP, also my type) is really indifferent about people, and as he gets older he might become better at observing people but isn't probably on par with my Mom. I don't know what my sister is but she's more perceptive than me. The stereotype is INFPs are often dense about their external circumstances, and it's true for me and (I think) my Dad. Or he actually knows but he doesn't care. Other introverts? Not so much, probably.
To me introspection is better done as two-way interactive method; looking into yourself and then look at others, and/or look at others and then returns to yourself -- forming a cycle. I pride myself in knowing myself, but I'd not come this far if I let out the 'looking at others' part. Understanding others can give you confirmations of your own behavior and vice versa, like, for example: learning about Seishin made me able to name several parts of myself that I was aware were there, but didn't know what to name. Understanding myself in turn makes me able to understand others, because "They act just like I do" or "They feel just like how I'd feel". Of course it's certainly not applicable to everyone, because other people are so different in mindset I'd not be able to understand them without experiencing what they experienced firsthand, for example: Toshio. For me, I need my own psychological map first as a basis to understand/predict others. I usually only try to understand parts of people's personalities that I'm personally interested in, or if they're significant for my further introspection.
That's very likely. However, there are people that are easily swayed by people's passion and feelings -- judging by Seishin's narrative, he is. Unlike Toshio who's all duty but actually isn't as concerned by how the villagers would feel, Seishin is all about how the villagers would feel and way less duty. He mentions about 'being trapped by people's expectation' after all. (Fun fact: I also wouldn't realize Toshio being all about duty until you mentioned it) I also think that what people really want is to validate themselves. However, there are people who are less confident at doing this on their own, and being acknowledged by other people helps you gain the confidence you need. It's also like, other people (plural) > you (alone). I think people who have lots of self-doubt will subconsciously want to turn to others to help validate themselves. Seishin is ever concerned about how people feel -- check. He's also not very secure on his own -- check. It forms a combo for him to be easily controlled by other people -- check. If people say to his face "You better not do this or that" one part of him might really believe them.
The feeling I mostly get from how he ever came to write -- and continue to write -- is that he doesn't think about it, mostly. It is what it is. Sure, he probably links writing to some metaphorical reasoning, and he indeed has some subconscious drives, but he mostly doesn't think anything about it. Doesn't hope anything will come out of it. He mostly writes to understand himself, and if other people find it good, good for them, but he's not going to care much. So I agree on that.
Lol, Toshio. Essentially, I really don't get him, because his most defining personality is opposed to mine (being controlling and dutiful). I guess being dutiful is sticking to anything that's been assigned upon you, even if that's not thrilling at all. Like patriots. That's why he got married, when Seishin cannot (though Toshio's really not up to siring children I guess -- seems his disdain for his family here wins?)
(I'm just curious here though -- is 'memory' a meaningful word for you? You have used the word quite a few times if I recall correctly, for similar context (when we're talking about Toshio). I also think that you might be a more dutiful person than I am, given that you were able to catch that (being dutiful) in Toshio when I couldn't. It's all interesting. Since for me, the more I use a word the more I'm enamored or live on the idea.)
Seishin might be less reserved with Toshio... but he's still highly reserved. And Seishin knows more than anyone about how seriously Toshio takes his duties, and likely, his shared duties with Seishin, so just like with everyone else, with Toshio Seishin will probably feel that he should perform his duties perfectly. As long as it's Sotoba, as long as they're a villager... Seishin will always have his mask on. I think it's mostly because he just doesn't get Seishin, but I've always found it a bit off-putting that he doesn't seem to notice anything. He grasps that something is off, but it's like he deliberately doesn't think deeper into it. 'Seishin doesn't even say anything, so I better leave him to it.' He respects Seishin's privacy, indeed, but he's known to withholding information/refraining from doing something when it benefits him. Seishin leaving him will truly put him at disadvantage.
I said in my previous reply that the one Seishin wanted to separate from was Toshio as an Ozaki, not Toshio as Toshio... but what is Toshio if not an Ozaki? Does a Toshio that's not an Ozaki even exist? That's to put it metaphorically. Those two men really are destined to drift apart.
Well, I'd say that everything in Shiki is deteriorating, including Seishin. I think it fits the theme. I think in time they will fully come to terms with it all, even if at the end of Shiki it's probably more about being forced to accept things by tragedy than anything. I know a tiny lil bit of spoiler from Toshio's end (I hope I got the context right though) and it's really sad in my opinion...
Re: 8D
I've always joked (not here though) that 'Shiki' could totally happen in my country. Not that I wish my country'd meet a similar end with Sotoba, not at all, but because of similarities like being very religious and traditional, hot-as-hell, and more importantly throughout the country we mostly bury. The difference is we're so populous those Shikis will not be able to wipe us out in a few months. (but uh, more food?) I may someday write about it, though obviously with original characters.
Well, I've always thought that perception is tied with observation (of external circumstances) and that some people are better at it than others. Given that extroverts are more external (outside themselves) and I always think of 'external' as other people or events, and introverts are internal (inside/among themselves), I figure extroverts are often better at observation, but I might be wrong. I'm only studying a bit of psychology on my own after all, so it definitely lacks. A lot of it is MBTI/personality types anyway. According to it, extroverts are better at unbiased/objective observation because they turn outside first before they turn inwards, while introverts' observation are more subjective because they turn inwards first before turning outwards. But I guess this mostly depends on practice and experiences. My Mom (I suspect ISTJ) is good at observing people, and she constantly analyzes them. My Dad (INFP, also my type) is really indifferent about people, and as he gets older he might become better at observing people but isn't probably on par with my Mom. I don't know what my sister is but she's more perceptive than me. The stereotype is INFPs are often dense about their external circumstances, and it's true for me and (I think) my Dad. Or he actually knows but he doesn't care. Other introverts? Not so much, probably.
To me introspection is better done as two-way interactive method; looking into yourself and then look at others, and/or look at others and then returns to yourself -- forming a cycle. I pride myself in knowing myself, but I'd not come this far if I let out the 'looking at others' part. Understanding others can give you confirmations of your own behavior and vice versa, like, for example: learning about Seishin made me able to name several parts of myself that I was aware were there, but didn't know what to name. Understanding myself in turn makes me able to understand others, because "They act just like I do" or "They feel just like how I'd feel". Of course it's certainly not applicable to everyone, because other people are so different in mindset I'd not be able to understand them without experiencing what they experienced firsthand, for example: Toshio. For me, I need my own psychological map first as a basis to understand/predict others. I usually only try to understand parts of people's personalities that I'm personally interested in, or if they're significant for my further introspection.
That's very likely. However, there are people that are easily swayed by people's passion and feelings -- judging by Seishin's narrative, he is. Unlike Toshio who's all duty but actually isn't as concerned by how the villagers would feel, Seishin is all about how the villagers would feel and way less duty. He mentions about 'being trapped by people's expectation' after all. (Fun fact: I also wouldn't realize Toshio being all about duty until you mentioned it) I also think that what people really want is to validate themselves. However, there are people who are less confident at doing this on their own, and being acknowledged by other people helps you gain the confidence you need. It's also like, other people (plural) > you (alone). I think people who have lots of self-doubt will subconsciously want to turn to others to help validate themselves. Seishin is ever concerned about how people feel -- check. He's also not very secure on his own -- check. It forms a combo for him to be easily controlled by other people -- check. If people say to his face "You better not do this or that" one part of him might really believe them.
The feeling I mostly get from how he ever came to write -- and continue to write -- is that he doesn't think about it, mostly. It is what it is. Sure, he probably links writing to some metaphorical reasoning, and he indeed has some subconscious drives, but he mostly doesn't think anything about it. Doesn't hope anything will come out of it. He mostly writes to understand himself, and if other people find it good, good for them, but he's not going to care much. So I agree on that.
Lol, Toshio. Essentially, I really don't get him, because his most defining personality is opposed to mine (being controlling and dutiful). I guess being dutiful is sticking to anything that's been assigned upon you, even if that's not thrilling at all. Like patriots. That's why he got married, when Seishin cannot (though Toshio's really not up to siring children I guess -- seems his disdain for his family here wins?)
(I'm just curious here though -- is 'memory' a meaningful word for you? You have used the word quite a few times if I recall correctly, for similar context (when we're talking about Toshio). I also think that you might be a more dutiful person than I am, given that you were able to catch that (being dutiful) in Toshio when I couldn't. It's all interesting. Since for me, the more I use a word the more I'm enamored or live on the idea.)
Seishin might be less reserved with Toshio... but he's still highly reserved. And Seishin knows more than anyone about how seriously Toshio takes his duties, and likely, his shared duties with Seishin, so just like with everyone else, with Toshio Seishin will probably feel that he should perform his duties perfectly. As long as it's Sotoba, as long as they're a villager... Seishin will always have his mask on. I think it's mostly because he just doesn't get Seishin, but I've always found it a bit off-putting that he doesn't seem to notice anything. He grasps that something is off, but it's like he deliberately doesn't think deeper into it. 'Seishin doesn't even say anything, so I better leave him to it.' He respects Seishin's privacy, indeed, but he's known to withholding information/refraining from doing something when it benefits him. Seishin leaving him will truly put him at disadvantage.
I said in my previous reply that the one Seishin wanted to separate from was Toshio as an Ozaki, not Toshio as Toshio... but what is Toshio if not an Ozaki? Does a Toshio that's not an Ozaki even exist? That's to put it metaphorically. Those two men really are destined to drift apart.
Well, I'd say that everything in Shiki is deteriorating, including Seishin. I think it fits the theme. I think in time they will fully come to terms with it all, even if at the end of Shiki it's probably more about being forced to accept things by tragedy than anything. I know a tiny lil bit of spoiler from Toshio's end (I hope I got the context right though) and it's really sad in my opinion...