Alright I just finished Firefight.
Megan's insistence's about the The Power of Love not helping epic powers was great. As was most of the interaction between David and Megan. Especially their date. Now just imagine David's reaction if you told him at the start of Steelheart that in a years time he'd be dating a High Epic :P.
I do find it interesting that pretty much all Epics succumb to When All You Have Is A Hammer, in regards to avoiding their fears and thus remaining sociopaths.
About Prof and children. I'm not imagining a crack/fix fic set between Steelheart and Firefight in which he has wacky adventures looking after a group of schoolkids after he is tricked into it by Tia.
edited 26th Feb '15 3:00:58 AM by 32ndfreeze
"But if that happened, Melia might actually be happy. We can't have that." - Handsome Rob
Sir Terry Pratchett is dead.
The world is a little darker and a lot less funny.
Damn. I mean I knew it was coming, but still... And I just started Reaper Man today.
"But if that happened, Melia might actually be happy. We can't have that." - Handsome Rob
Got a problem on the YMMV.The Rithmatist page that I'd like input on. People are putting in an Unfortunate Implications example (with proper citation
) claiming that the wild chalklings are stand-ins for Native Americans, which would of course be an incredibly racist way of portraying the settler vs native conflict, since the chalklings are mostly just mindless monsters. However, I think that interpretation is ludicrous, as it seems blatantly obvious to me that the implication is that the chalklings ate the Native Americans.
Thoughts? Should this be included, or slightly rewritten to be more neutral, or what?
done w ur shit
That seems... odd. At best.
I guess more neutral? I mean, you don't wanna completely shut down a YMMV, because, YMMV, but... still?
Also, RIP.
One could say the chalklings are the representations of the European diseases that wiped out the Native Americans... except in-story we have evidence to suggest that they were actually fighting the chalklings pretty well before the Europeans came and took over their lands and let the chalklings go rampant.
Edit: and here's a story Brandon recommended...
edited 15th Mar '15 5:40:04 PM by SCMof2814
World's Cutest Direwolf
The thing about YMMV pages is that they're supposed to represent the bulk of the fanbase, not some crank with a tvtropes account. So if the fanbase, or at least the sample of it that makes up this thread, doesn't agree with the interpretation that chalklings are Native Americans, the YMMV thread should reflect that. By making it more "chalklings can be interpreted as Native Americans, blah blah" than "chalklings are Native Americans, blah blah," if you're reluctant to delete the entry outright.
Also, the link's dead, so I'm thinking cut it.
Absolutely no relation to NLK
Eh, save that for the WMG and Fridge pages, those are cancer anyway.
Dopants: He meant what he said and he said what he meant, a Ninety is faithful 100%.
The issue isn't whether he literally wrote in the story that chalkings are Native Americans. He uses Mary Rowlandson's name, who actually was held captive by Algonquians during King Phillip War. He took her embellished captivity narrative and used in his story. That's what I meant by "Native Americans-as-savages literature" he based his story on.
He just took a step further by depicting them as unthinking, monolithic monsters who are just in the way. The source, which unfortunately is lost, had a great analysis on this and made a very strong case on the inherent racism of his series. Not WMG, and really, really, unfortunate implications. Not sure where you want citations from. Anyone who read the book and is familiar with http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Rowlandson and Nebraska's history (named after a word of the Otoe people. During 1860s US government forced many Siouan peoples onto reservations to give white people 'free land' to settle; this obviously engendered conflict).
He is narrating a version of America that is no longer seen as valid by historians, but gives it fantasy trappings. His story, he's telling it. But don't say it doesn't have unfortunate implications.
Absolutely no relation to NLK
Could you cite where Mary Rowlandson's story is used in the book? I'm not doubting you, but I think the distinction on whether the chalklings are used as stand-ins for the Native Americans or if they ate them is a meaningful one.
Dopants: He meant what he said and he said what he meant, a Ninety is faithful 100%.
There's definitely mention of the Native Americans fighting them, I remember that much.
It doesn't matter whether a throwaway line about Native Americans 'fighting' them is in there. What matters is where Sanderson is getting his inspiration. Very clearly it's coming from Native Americans-as-savages literature, including captivity narratives, stereotypes of monolithic savages, etc.
The connection is confirmed with Rowlandson's kidnapping. Unfortunately, I don't have a copy of the book handy, but several reviews, including one on Amazon mentions it if you're doubting me.
I'm not doing your research for you, troll. You believe this so strongly, do your own damn proving.
edited 17th Mar '15 2:37:31 PM by SCMof2814
Absolutely no relation to NLK
No reason to call him a troll. But I hope you don't expect us to take your word (and that of secondhand Amazon reviews) for it.
Dopants: He meant what he said and he said what he meant, a Ninety is faithful 100%.
Troll? Do you even know what the word means? It's there in the book. Haven't you read it? "research"? You asked for sources. Here: http://coppermind.net/wiki/Mary_Rowlandson
I assume this satisfies the need. Please don't use insults, you sound desperate and arguing in bad faith.
Cite the book, not the wiki. Anything can mean anything out of context.
He used Mary Rowaldson, except she's now being kidnapped by chalkings. What context are you looking for? The chapters are cited, too.
To clarify, I'm not saying Sanderson is arguing they're stand-ins. I'm saying chalkings are inspired by colonialist depictions of Native Americans. Monolithic savages who deserve being killed and forced off their land. Hence the unfortunate implications. The fact that he included Mary Rowalson makes the connection explicit.
edited 17th Mar '15 4:19:43 PM by proudeagle
I haven't read the novel yet, but I thought I'd go ahead and do a Google Books search and that was my impression.
Link from google books here and here (hope these work).
Basically, it seems like Sanderson is not only using the narrative straight, he's substituting savage monsters for Native Americans in his imagined setting.
Thank you. I'll re-add the point keeping this discussion in mind.
Yeah, no. As SCM said, the wiki doesn't count as a citation. And no offense to Hodor, but a guy who hasn't read the book doesn't count either. Please stop treating this like a fight and make your case calmly.
Absolutely no relation to NLK
Still don't see them.
Dopants: He meant what he said and he said what he meant, a Ninety is faithful 100%.
Besides, the in-story 'journal' has the titular character being EATEN by a chalkling. It looks more like foreshadowing that the chalkling victims are recoverable. Unless you're going to argue that this clearly means that Sanderson is saying the Native Americans force colonial children into their clans by force?
Once more, Brandon reminds us why he's awesome.
Except for today. Today, Kai has to go on a date.
Forces have conspired to require him to meet with his equal—a woman from another world who has achieved just as much as he has. What happens when the most important man in the world is forced to have dinner with the most important woman in the world? Perfect State is an action-filled novella about privilege, culture clash, and expectations.
edited 31st Mar '15 4:17:18 PM by SCMof2814
Absolutely no relation to NLK
Ahahaha. I gotta get that. When's it come out?
Dopants: He meant what he said and he said what he meant, a Ninety is faithful 100%.
I suspect his weakness is children. He gets all weak in the presence of multiple children. I thought his reaction to the crying kid was disproportionate.