MERCEDES-LACKEY Digest 2323 Topics covered in this issue include: 1) Re: life bonding by Tessa Raethen 2) Re: braiding, braiding, braiding :) by Tessa Raethen 3) Re: Vanyel and Eastern Empire by winged_wolf-+AT+-juno.com 4) faerie tales and plots by Abby Normal ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 10 Jun 2000 18:17:11 -0700 (PDT) From: Tessa Raethen To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Re: life bonding Message-ID: <30921535.960686231315.JavaMail.imail-+AT+-scorch.excite.com> > Aura wrote < depressed partner? I can't think of any at the moment. =( >> About Mardic and Donni (can't remember who wrote, sorry), they weren't exactly central to the book, so we can't know what their lives or emotional states were like before they lifebonded. Perhaps one or both of them was emotionally unstable, and Misty popped them into the book well after they were lifebonded and had stabilized and supported each other. Just a thought. On the same topic, I don't think it's exactly a requirement for one lifebonded to be "depressed", persay. I don't exactly remember what started this conversation, but I believe the textevd stated was something along the lines of one partner is "emotionally unstable" or "emotionally dependent". To compress a statement like that into "depressed" is narrowing down a wide range of possible emotional states. Genius tutor sheep to all taking finals next week (like me...*sigh*) ~Julia~ _______________________________________________________ Get 100% FREE Internet Access powered by Excite Visit http://freelane.excite.com/freeisp ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 10 Jun 2000 18:26:43 -0700 (PDT) From: Tessa Raethen To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Re: braiding, braiding, braiding :) Message-ID: <29605002.960686803144.JavaMail.imail-+AT+-scorch.excite.com> Windborn writes- <> It seems to me that it would be highly impractical if once the Companions chose, their chosen didn't have any say in the matter after that point. That would make for a lot of mediocre Heralds, when almost super-human selflessness and devotion to duty are basically part of the job description. I mean, you might be able to find a person who is perfect for the job in every way, but if they don't want or feel they can't take the responsibility, they will most likely perform their duty half-heartedly out of rebelliousness or sheer misery. Even if they didn't realize what they were doing, someone always performs a task better if it's something they honestly want to be doing and don't feel they were coerced into ~Julia~ _______________________________________________________ Get 100% FREE Internet Access powered by Excite Visit http://freelane.excite.com/freeisp ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 10 Jun 2000 15:31:14 -0600 From: winged_wolf-+AT+-juno.com To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Re: Vanyel and Eastern Empire Message-ID: <20000610.221519.-304493.1.Winged_Wolf-+AT+-juno.com> On Fri, 9 Jun 2000 20:45:36 +0100 (BST) Sara Peek writes: > > Just to raise a question, did Withen have to be Van's > father? MPawn said he took after his mother, but I > think that meant courtly ways, not looks. However, > there was never any mention of an affair. > > There is a mention of a mercenary group called > Pedron's Wolves in Black Gryphon on page 45. I'll bet > some chocolate-covered sheep that they founded the > Eastern Empire. I think they intended that he took after his mother in looks, too. I remember in one of the books they mentioned that the Ashkevrons tended to be stocky, hearty farm-stock, but when they did have a child that didn't fit the mold, the child would generally end up going to haven--as a bard, healer, herald, etc. So it seems likely that if this was a new occurance for the family, it was Van's mother who added that twist to the genetic mix. --Winged Wolf http://www.crosswinds.net/~wingedwolf/index.html "Pardon me while I burst into flames...I've had enough of the world and its' peoples' mindless games. So pardon me while I burn, and rise above the flame, pardon me, pardon me...don't ever be the same..." --Incubus ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 10 Jun 2000 22:03:21 -0700 (PDT) From: Abby Normal To: MLML Subject: faerie tales and plots Message-ID: <20000611050321.14901.qmail-+AT+-web4703.mail.yahoo.com> Heyla Listsibs, on faery tales: Pyrephox said: >I've always wanted the Beast to stay a beast, and I >had always considered the giant reset button at the >end of the fairy tale to be a cop-out. It's like those >"plain girl" movies where the girl is actually a >knockout, she just needs some make up and clothes to >make all the people who mocked her fall to their >knees. And the lucky sod who saw it first (who was >usually forced by a bet or something) gets the prize. >It just strikes me a being a little cheap. So I liked >Lackey's handling of it. Those movies tend to annoy me as well. However, my reason for disliking them is the same as my reason for disliking Fire_Rose. Those girls are only thought of as beautiful when they conform to society's image of what they should be - the right clothes, make-up, ect. It's the old conformity message; the girls are not valued for their own selves. In "Beauty and the Beast", it's the other way around. The Beast is not really a beast, his true self is human; he was turned into a beast because his manners and attitudes made him into one. The point of the story is that he overcomes the beast in himself and finds his true nature again - human. Staying a beast would be a denial of himself, or (perhaps worse) embracing his own worst aspects instead of his best. The story is, after all, a metaphor. That is one of the reasons I did not care for Fire_Rose. on traumatized main characters: Books are written about conflicts, including person v. situation, so traumatizing situations are therefore everywhere in literature. It's also a pretty reliable way of starting a quest in fantasy. Person v. self always adds an interesting layer to a book (if done well, that is), which is why we have so many angst-ridden main characters. (What can I say - my favourite Shakespeare is _Hamlet_.) As for Cenydd's observation about ordinary people going on quests, such as in LotR and The_Hobbit, I've noticed that the Redwall books often follow suit. For that matter, so does David Eddings' Belgariad - the good old Sendarian scullery boy who becomes king. "Star Wars" too, for that matter - all those 'farmboy' jokes. I must say I also like this plot device. One seemingly little-used plot/theme would be that of a person who has great emotional problems without galvanizing major events in their life. Someone from one of those ordinary backgrounds who nonetheless closely resembles those characters who had catastrophes occur. Common enough in rl, it would be interesting to see the issue explored in a fantasy novel. For whoever asked, ObMisty is Obligatory Misty. fudge brownie sheep to all, Ambermoon Singer of Fire Royal Defender of the Brat __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Photos -- now, 100 FREE prints! http://photos.yahoo.com ------------------------------ End of MERCEDES-LACKEY Digest 2323 **********************************