Editing Xeelee Sequence (section)

==The Sequence and the Critique of Humanity Fuck Yeah!==
{{Topquote|The past is a distraction, a source of envy, enmity, bitterness. Only the present matters, for only in the present can we shape the future. Cut loose the past; it is dead weight. Let the Extirpation continue. Let it never end.|the ICOG’s cynical justification for eradicating of the past; dooming humanity to never learn from its mistakes. From Exultant}}

Whether by accident or by design, the Xeelee Sequence is notable for being inherently hostile to [[Humanity Fuck Yeah]], even if it shows one of the most overpowered factions of Humanity to ever exist in fiction. Many of the HFY rallying cries and tropes are subverted and deconstructed down to its core, while others just don't exist because the aliens blew them up in their faces. Throughout the series, Humanity has never been shown in an overall good light, if anything they are viewed as vindictive, (self) destructive, short-sighted, petulant, petty, and overall ''pathetic''. All of the cliches that make HFY so appealing are rendered to paste in the Sequence. Case in point:

*Trying to show Humanity's might and achievements? Barely if any noticeable by the Xeelee, nothing that Humanity tries to strive for would ever register so much as relevant footnote to the Xeelee. Even if Humanity shouts their loudest at the top of their lungs like a sociopathic ten year old on a powertrip throwing a temper tantrum to be noticed, the reality is that the multiverse doesn't care about the opinions of a bunch of unga-bunga space monkeys, so you all should consider yourselves grateful that the Xeelee gives the slightest two shits about your existence at the end of reality.
*Conquering entire Galaxies? It all Immediately falls apart the moment the primary enemy left due to Humanity's inherent nature for power, xenophobia, bloodlust, and wanton greed, rendering the entire point of conquering the Galaxy (which would be considered one of the greatest achievements by most Human-centric polities in Sci-Fi) worthless and meaningless. And the Milky Way wasn't even inhabited by Xeelee, but ''some rudimentary automated defence system'' protecting one of their pet projects. Humanity was just a retard monkey which just kicked at a garden shed with an automated nerf-gun alarm for 20000 years and when they finally figured out the lock, smashed inside the shed, pissed and shat all over the place before starting to fight each other. Pathetic doesn't even begin to describe it.
*Becoming the dominant species and trying to play God? Gets curbstomped so bad Humanity is reduced to pathetic, stone-aged savages once the ''actual'' dominant species gets sick of our shit and immediately shut us all down dead in its tracks.
*Trying to be a badass hero and save the day? LOL nope, you will immediately get arrested and punished for disobeying orders by time-traveling NKVD/Gestapo/thought police hybrids. Essentially speaking, every characteristic that makes Humanity Fuck Yeah [[Awesome]] is exposed for the folly that it truly is:
**Human resourcefulness: Humanity spent hundreds of thousands of years fighting multiple wars that were basically worthless and meaningless on the grand scale of the multiverse that never even mattered to start with. All for what? A bruised ego and a massive inferiority complex? Basically the direct opposite of resourcefulness and showcase how our usage of resources is only utilized at its fullest extent when our hubris is threatened, <u>'' NOT''</u> for the improvement of society.
**Human ingenuity: Completely butchered by Humanity's own innate fallacies of infighting, incompetence and power struggles. Innovation if it is ever permitted, is only used for the cocksucking of the fragile Human ego than it is, for the betterment of society and humankind. But despite all this, Humanity is still a less than third-rate blowhard by Xeelee standards due to the implementation of superior closed-timelike curves.
**Human warrior prowess: Exposed for what it is in Exultant; juvenile, petty, and pathetic. Ties hand-in-hand back to the fallacy of Human resourcefulness. To something like the Xeelee, the so-called Human 'warrior spirit' is nothing more than spoilt retarded psychopathic manchildren fighting over what would be considered petty face-saving for the Xeelee. 
**Human tenacity: Similar to Human warrior prowess and resourcefulness, the Sequence shows how the multi-millennia wars against the Xeelee, Qax, and the Silver Ghosts have reduced a positive Human trait into a degenerate showcasing. It is even quoted in-universe. By comparing ourselves to [[Skaven|rats]], all of a sudden, being tenacious doesn't sound all too appealing. As such, Humanity is nothing more than vermin and would stay ''as'' vermin.
**Human masculinity: Humanity was metaphorically cucked not once, but <u>'' TWICE''</u> by two alien races. Never has a Humanity in all of literature, been this ''powerful'' yet carried so many [[FAIL|Ls]] in its existence. There is nothing 'badass' nor 'manly' about a polity that routinely used children as suicide bombers and construct what is effectively a state sanctioned child rape camp.

[[Tl;dr]], Humanity, in general, is nothing more than an irrelevant third wheel, a literal side character to the plot that bitterly learned their place in the hierarchy of things. 

As you can imagine, Stephen Baxter ''really'' does not like the idea of glorifying what is basically Human supremacy. Most of his works aren't HFY friendly with the Sequence being the most notable example. This is made more impressive when one considers that Baxter was able to mold this into a setting that is both [[Grimdark]] yet not [[Edgy]]. How is that possible? It's simply because Baxter does this neat delicate trick called '''Show, don't Tell'''. Baxter ''shows'' how the machinations, ideas, and processes could turn children into literal and metaphorical war machines. He ''shows'' what would happen if any regime got its hands on advanced technology. And he ''shows'' how said technology could function to an incredibly detailed scrutiny and he did it without trying to justify nor glorify it, but to present it as it is. The ICoG and future Humanity isn't some badass motherfuckers you want to cheer for or at the very least, have power fantasies on. They are depicted as what they truly are. Absolutely <u>'''''DISGUSTING'''''</u>. A vile, deeply unpleasant and monstrous creature akin to a rabid dog that needs to be put out of its misery. 

You compare and contrast this to 40k's attempt at [[Grimdark]] for the [[Derp|sake of marketing]] and [[Herp|flowery prose and language]]. Now flowery language is great when it comes to adding in-universe mystery. After all, many legends and fables contain flowery languages, and incorporating this into in-universe legends is good world-building. But 40k is ''too'' reliant on this form of medium, which is a serious issue when it comes to trying to comprehend the validity of said language and whether or not to take it seriously as a feat of Grimdark or as - you know - a fable. This often leads to obvious [[Dan Abnett|mixed]] [[C.S Goto|results]] and the creation of [[Grimderp]]. Flowery language is also really, ''really'' immature when handled badly. The most embarrassingly notorious example is almost ''anything'' written by C.S. Goto which is so absurdly dark for no point or reason other than for shock value, that it borderline resembles parody. [[Fail|Except it is not and written 100% seriously.]] Most [[edgy]] fan-fics written are often reliant on overly descriptive prose which sounds a lot, but in the end, means nothing. Sometimes, less is more.

Remember the aforementioned trivia on Baxter's role in GeeDubs' early Black Library history? Yeah, there were further rumours (So take it with a grain of salt) that GeeDubs actually tried to invite him back in the 2000s to write more Black Library books, but Baxter declined the offer as he found 40k's handling of grimdark to be tasteless, overglorifying and juvenile. It <u>'''''IS'''''</u> a rumour I cannot stress this enough, but if true, it really shows the sheer gulf of sophistication and maturity between Games Workshop and Stephen Baxter.

Another interesting trivia and potential case study is that the Sequence both invokes, subverts and mess with the tropes of [[Lovecraft]]'s cosmic horror genre. In Lovecraft, the eldritch abominations are indescribable and utterly alien. The motto of "The greatest fear is the fear of the unknown" runs ''deep'' in Lovecraftian ethos. The Sequence is the complete opposite. Baxter explains nearly ''all of his shit'' in a logical and easy-to-understand way. So in the Sequence, its ethos would then be "The greatest fear is the fear ''of the known''". Because since everything is explained, the aura of futility becomes far more pronounced ''as you would know the end results''. Ignorance is bliss and all that, and there is nothing more terrifying than ''knowing the truth''.

Think of the Xeelee Sequence, therefore, as the Anti-STTGL. Whilst Gurren Lagann showcase the 'Humanity is Special' trope to an over-the-top degree, Baxter just puts that idea in a blender and pours out the contents in the drainage pipe.