MERCEDES-LACKEY Digest 700 Topics covered in this issue include: 1) November birthdays by Megan Stingl Hale 2) Re: Reality of Fantasy by Jedi Master 3) I'm going away for some days by Megan Stingl Hale 4) Re: Birthdays by David Snyder 5) Very short braid, actually more like a stitch...:] by KaleashaS-+AT+-aol.com 6) 2 free Misty books! (Really!) by Julia Rudden 7) Re: Braid: Yarbro/Kali/Recipes/Love/Magic/Sexism/Gender/Narada/GayLove by aw2-+AT+-mail.idt.net (Kimberly) 8) Beach/books/B-town/family by Claris Smith 9) Re: writing by Soljan-+AT+-aol.com 10) Re: forgivness/Catwoman/Forgiving Shadow-Lover by Raingcats-+AT+-aol.com 11) Salutations by "J. A. Whalin" 12) Re: 2 free Misty books! (Really!) by samcpa-+AT+-rtd.com 13) Re: Beach/books/B-town/family by Jake 14) Re: forgivness/Catwoman/Forgiving Shadow-Lover by Jake 15) Re: 2 free Misty books! (Really!) by khu286-+AT+-merle.acns.nwu.edu 16) Re: McKinley/subscriber problems - Reply by David Snyder 17) Kittengirl + birthdays by aw2-+AT+-mail.idt.net (Kimberly) 18) Re: Birthdays/Wagewars by Megan Smith ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 16 Jul 1996 13:47:22 -0500 (CDT) From: Megan Stingl Hale To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: November birthdays Message-ID: On Sat, 13 Jul 1996, catwoman wrote: > > Hey!!! I turn 20 in november too!! So i'm not far from either of > >you!!! catwoman--when is your b-day? Mine's the 11th. Just curious :) > >(sorry to put out this little measly post, but I just *had* to! > > :) megan > > Megan, you scare me. My birthday is November 12. This is a bit frightening. :) > > So, everyone on the list is gonna throw a huge party for us, right, right? > With lots of cake and balloons and presents, right? right? Oh goodie! :) > hey now that is a really good idea!!! The list can throw us a big party and they can all chip in to get us copies of oathblinded! Hey is there something about the month of nov that an inordiante amt of us have out b-days then? just wondering... > :) meg ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Jul 96 12:49:11 -0600 From: Jedi Master To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Re: Reality of Fantasy Message-ID: <9607161849.AA23481-+AT+-netrix.net> At 07:25 PM 7/16/96 +0100, you wrote: > >> OK! Part One has been a great success so far... >> >> Now for Part Two: What fictional character would you most like to meet? >I know that this was supposed to be JUST ONE and i've gone too far, but i guess >if it had to come down to a choicxe between three it'd be between Van >(iknow unoriginal:P ), Anne, and Ford. > puttin' my pennies in an' waitin' to hear your thoughts, > :) megan > *Hi! I think Anne Shirley would be the top of my list, for fictional characters, not fantasy. I've always been compared to her by people, so I'd like to find out how true it is..hehe. And while Van might not be an original choice, that just goes to show you how amazing a person he must be! Mandy (FireSoul) ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Jul 1996 13:55:12 -0500 (CDT) From: Megan Stingl Hale To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: I'm going away for some days Message-ID: Heyla all! I am going out west (from Ohi) to colorado for a few days and so I need to unsuscribe until I'm back so I will miss all the wonderful email (SOB SOB) but there is no way I could catch up on it all if it stayed on! So, I will see you in around a week or so! :) meg ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Jul 1996 15:15:34 -0400 From: David Snyder To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Re: Birthdays Message-ID: <199607161915.PAA20688-+AT+-brickell.bridge.net> At 04:49 PM 7/16/96 +0100, you wrote: >>August 10th, A Leo born and proud. :) ***** August 17, I am too, but real near the cusp. >==================================== > >Hello Lady Thessaly, I have thought about this quite a lot and have figured >out what I would like to be goddess of if you agree I would be honored, > Goddess of Strangeness and all things Odd. ***** No problem, but the Goddess that inhabits me is still on vacation for a few more days, I'll let you know when my godhead returns from England, Seattle and Alaska. (Evil wench goes on trips without me, right now, I'm masquerading as a Goddess, when what I really am is someone who used to be one and will be again.) Lady Thessaly "My dad says I gotta live amongst soft, weak civilized Goddess of Nomenclature men, so's I can be a kind and just ruler...and learn how MKGC torture without leaving marks!" young Alex-to-be-the-Great Lady in Green in Epicurus the Sage ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Jul 1996 16:31:23 -0400 From: KaleashaS-+AT+-aol.com To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-vanyel.herald.co.uk Subject: Very short braid, actually more like a stitch...:] Message-ID: <960716163121_239053233-+AT+-emout09.mail.aol.com> Thanks, Tammy and Jake, for the welcomes! Gosh, they make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. :) ((I *think* I may have been away too long...I'm almost surprised I just wrote that.)) I'm *still* working on trying to get on the wccnut list. I'm going to try one more thing, and if it doesn't work, maybe someone could send in a subscription for me? If that's possible? ObMisty: Let's see...there's got to be something......Oh well, I'll do better next time, I promise. ...as soon as this headache goes away... Lady 'Dessa, Goddess of Laziness ~~When I get around to it...~~ e-mail: kaleashas-+AT+-aol.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Jul 1996 14:02:07 -0700 (PDT) From: Julia Rudden To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-vanyel.herald.co.uk Subject: 2 free Misty books! (Really!) Message-ID: Heyla everybody! I have one copy of _Black Gryphon_ and one copy of _Children of the Night_ that I would like to give away to the first person who requests one. (i.e. I'd rather send one book to one person and one to another). The reason? I usually only keep books I know I will want to re-read, and I'm pretty sure I won't be re-reading these. I know some people have had trouble finding these in pb, so I thought I'd try to do a nice thing. --Julia, still no personna, but working on one :-) jrudden-+AT+-eskimo.com R.Julia F.Rudden juliafr-+AT+-lclark.edu "Equity aids the vigilant, not those who slumber on their rights." 428 N.E.2d 110 http://www.eskimo.com/~jrudden http://www.lclark.edu/~juliafr ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Jul 1996 17:27:10 -0400 (EDT) From: aw2-+AT+-mail.idt.net (Kimberly) To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Re: Braid: Yarbro/Kali/Recipes/Love/Magic/Sexism/Gender/Narada/GayLove Message-ID: >On Tue, 16 Jul 1996, Kimi-chan wrote: I guess I haven't seen the last of the variations. But I like it anyway. Thank you. Oh, and BTW, to Jake, if you're listening, thanks for forwarding Kory's post >BOM>>>Subject: Love(pretty please, don't throw this out. please?) > >>>>Love, Kim<<< > >Kimi-chan, you seem to know what love is. Whether you can articulate it >or not. =) I will tell you what I think of as love: If you can not be >happy knowing that someone else is unhappy, then you love them. It >doesn't mean that you value their happiness more than yours or that you >have to live through them. It just means that you are saddened when you >know that your beloved is unhappy. Thank you again, Cennydd, for giving me (and the rest of the list who probably *has* deleted the post, just *because* of the subject title ) your opinion. It sounds right, more or less. Kinda... Actually, though, I'm not happy thinking *anyone* is *un*happy. It leaves m elooking sort of haggard... But seriously, I would have mailed Kory privately when *he* was depressed on that post a while ago but my server ate it each time I retyped my letter. That was three times. I gave up because it was four o'clock in the morning and I needed to go to work the next day. >Another big part of that is that someone you love is so important that >you do not like to even think about being without them. Not that you >would die or anything, just that your life would be a lesser existence >without them. I guess I love you guys a lot then. All fifty or something of you people. :) What ever happened to "love is knowing your love"? >Another part is the part that GGK captured in his marriage proposal in >the Fionavar Tapestry: The sun rises in your eyes. I think that that is >the final test of love. If you truly love someone, the sun rises in >their eyes and just the thought of them is a warmth on your soul. I wouldn't go that far. People do things to piss you off, and the warmth in your heart that you're talking about isn't love when you're angry at someone. That may be part of love too; acceptance. I think. AAARGH. Here I go again. >-----EOM > >On Tues, 16 Jul 1996, the pointy-eared one wrote: > >BOM>>>Subject: Re: Love(pretty please, don't throw this out. please?) > >>>>ObMisty: What we *really* need is for Misty to make a really cryptic book >with lots of possibilities; one that sheds light on some secrets, but >only throws more shadows on others...so we'd have some stuff to talk >about, for a long, long time...<<< > >Well, I just started doing a close reading of OBound and I am amazed at >all the interesting details. For example (and I mentioned this to Kory >last night on IRC), on pages 25 and 26 the text basically implies that >*all* Heralds are potential mages. Kethry states that the mind-magic of >the Heralds is the same talent as the mage-gift, just turned inward and >polished to a finer control. "up north a good ways they use *pure* mind-magic, rather than using the mind to find other sources of power"? Mm, just because she says they're using pure mind magic doesn't mean anything-- what she *did* say was "mages use a diluted form of mind-magic to help them find their power-source" not "the pure form of mind magic can be used as the mage-gift" If I've got you right here, you're sort of saying "fish can swim and so can I, therefore I must be a fish" She said "you have to have the Talent to use that source" which doesn't say that mind-magic Talent is the same as mage Talent. >Also, just before this, Tarma is talking >about the relationship of the Star-Eyed and the Shin'a'in. She says it >is different from the relationship between other deities and their >followers. The implicature of this sentence is that the other deities >exist and that Tarma, at least, considers them to be distinct from the >Star-Eyed. This is an interesting idea wrt to the occasional thread >about whether the Star-Eyed and Vkandis are the *only* gods of Velgarth. Of course not! The original gods who created the Companions, and the Heralds for that matter, are different from the Star-Eyed abd Vkandis; they're a different set of gods. Do you remember that passage where Roald meets the Star-Eyed, and she asks his his Companion if there should be sable Companions to match the silver? "And you, my friend,are leysh'a Kal'enedral of a diferent sort, hmm?" or something like that, I can't remember it that well. >I expect that I will turn up some more things as I go along. Oh, more to discuss! >-----EOM > >On Tue, 16 Jul 1996, Kimbe wrote: I've heard *this* variation before. >BOM>>>Subject: Re: KOGS / Family / BTMIW > >>>>WAIT JUST A SECOND HERE! In less than two weeks, I've had someone call me >"Kimmy," another call me "Kimbo" and now you? I thought I'd seen the last >of the variations... <<< > >And now you have two more. Aren't you a lucky dog? =) That reminds me of a story. A friend called me a lucky dog once, and her mother, who didn't speak English very well, told her to apologize at once. She thought mi friend'd called me a bitch. But please don't go into the "It degrades the woman and the dog" speech, about that particular insult. I've gotten two lectures already on it, from different people. Sheesh. "Quit hanging with the activists" would be a good piece of advice then. Sadly I *like* those activists. Even if they are a pain... >>>>Girls are better than English than guys are, nyah nyah ;P "sugar and<<< > ^^^^ > >Huh? I won't even belabor the self-contradictory nature of this >statement. However, I would love to know where this idea came from? Oddly, it came from a discussion in English class about sexism, towards the last last ten minutes, when we were done with the real lesson part of it; we're always the fastest class finsihed because our teacher is the oldest English teacher in the school (also the best, in my opinion); when teachers come around the next year and ask for their "Priority Request Students" he always gets the cream of the crop. In other words, he stacks the deck. As a little side note, it was a discussion on sexism for either side. We were bashing the "guys are good in math, girls in english" idea, and I stuck it in because it was goofy looking and because I know it's so untrue; sort of a "how could anyone *possibly* take that seriously?" idea. Although I would assume that you *didn't* take it that way, so then I shouldn't poke fun at it; everyone tells me it's a serious issue, but I think that if you keep it a serious issue, then it's going to stay stuck that way forever, and we'll never get rid of it. Oh well. You might disagree. (Something like, " That's not geting rid of it, that's only hiding it in the dregs and undercurrents of society" no doubt. I got that asbestos suit, though, so flame away... ) However: once again, my formal apologies; I'm sorry. >>>>I stuck Cennydd under female, roughly, until I realized a few posts later >that I was wrong. Oops. That's one way of cyber-castration... ::sheepish >gryn::<<< >While I will admit to be an occasional bitch, and also to being a major >queen when it is called for, I am nonetheless male. On the other hand, I >have been known to do minimalist drag (I occasionally am known as Ratri >on IRC). Still, I thought that Cennydd was rather obviously a male >name? It is just an alternative spelling of Kenneth. Anyway, you are >forgiven. ObMisty: I wonder if this sort of thing happens in Velgarth? Might I not make my apologies formally now? I'm sorry, Cennydd, I didn't mean to; it's something about your mode of speech, I think. I can't understand why. Anywayz, just soze ya know, the confusion with the names was because I originally pronounced your name "see-nid" rather than "Ken-nid" Perhaps it was the French? Well, I should know better, because I go to a school where the francophones are constantly speaking French and helping the others who are Baaad in French with their homework; but the guys amongst them are also, well, sort of... jerks. Rather chafingly arogant, and they're not cute about it either, which makes it worse. >-----EOM > >On Tue, 16 Jul 1996, Glithoniel wrote: > >BOM>>>Subject: Once begun is half done > >>>>Maybe you and I and all the rest of the Mage of Green Silences' >flamees should form our own little band of adventures. We could call >ourselves the Drifting Ashes or something equally droll.<<< > >Well, I hadn't really intended for you to go around making an ash of >yourself. =) I think I just got a little suntanned. Can I join? (I must be going through a signup phase; last week I wanted to join the Boy Scouts. NO, not really! That was a joke! Yes, it was!) >>>>It never occured to me, until I read that post of Jeffrey's, that >sexual preliminaries might be vastly different in a homosexual >relationship.<<< > >I just want to say that I don't think that Misty's characterization of >'Lendel and Van or of Van and Stef was that far off. In fact, the >seduction with Stef was very similar to me and my first boyfriend. I don't want this to sound too awful or blunt or pry too much into your life, but Cennydd, are you gay? (and I say it sounds awful not because I'm anti-gay, or anything like that, but because poking into people's private lives in general is just Not Done. And I have to agree with that policy; people deserve their privacy, and, if friends really want it, they deserve it even more) >He was so scared of "hurting" me emotionally that he wouldn't make a move. >I, literally, almost had to trip him. >As for the contention that the >same-sex relationships in Misty are just glosses of her relationships, I >don't see it. One thing that this theory depends on is the idea that the >whole male/female or butch/femme relationship doesn't really occur in the >l/g/b world. What? Huh? What male/female/butch/femme relationship thing? (You can tell I've never been in a relationship...) >Well, there is just one problem: it does occur. And while >there are certainly lots of couples that don't follow this pattern, I >think the same can be said about str8 couples. Not all of them are >butch/femme. For that matter, I don't think that Van/Lendel or Van/Stef >really showed this dynamic, anyway. One of these days, I'll find out. Instead of turning philosophical and "not-depressed" late at night. When I start to redevelop interests in the opposite sex. (You know how seventh grade is one of those years where all the hormones and crap are running around your system? It's also one of those disillusioning years of friendship-turns-into-love/infatuation, and perfectly healthy relationships that were happy in the sixth grade turn to something more serious, and then the other person realizes that they don't want a relationship, and you end up getting sort of disgusted and vowing "friendship only for as long as I can hold this state" So now I'm in the tenth grade going into eleventh... Actually, I'm really only happy with that, and content, too; it keeps things less complicated.) Happiness reside in thy hearts-- however you go about it. Kim. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Jul 1996 16:34:05 -0500 From: Claris Smith To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Beach/books/B-town/family Message-ID: <1.5.4.32.19960716213405.0068cb0c-+AT+-comp.uark.edu> At 02:20 AM 7/16/96 +0100, you wrote: Me say: >Uh, who was going to Rehoboth, and when? My friend the Talia clone is >going >too. Mishi say: >That would be me!! I'm going this Saturday (the 20th). When is your >friend going? "Talia" isn't going til Aug. 17, bother. But she says to be sure to visit a sture called Bewitched. She always brings back cool stuff from this place, and she TALKS about it *all the time*. Now I'm jealous ;) Barbara the Sigless mentioned: >Claris wrote, in response to Sal's challenge: >. . . I know! I know! Bordertown, *HERE* *I* *COME*!!! >My reply: Bordertown? Where/when/who is this series from? Intrigued people want to know! I really like urban fantasy, but so little of it's readable. The Bordertown books are written by a group of people (yes, it's a shared-world, but it's done right, because:) who know and work with each other, and are connected to a group of artists (Tom Canty), writers, and musicians (Boiled in Lead) from the Minneapolis area. There are 3 anthologies: Borderland, Life on the Border, and Bordertown (Life OTB is my favorite, start with it), edited by Terri Windling (the Fairy Tales editor), with stories by Charles de Lint, Ellen Kushner, Craig Shaw Gardner, Will Shetterly, Emma Bull, Midori Snyder, and some others. There are at least 3 novels, _Finder_ by Emma Bull, and _Elsewhere_ and _Nevernever_ by Will Shetterly. All involve a day-after-tomorrow when the Elven lands have returned to this reality, and a mysterious place called Bordertown appears between their world and ours; magick and technologically both work, sporadically. Some libraries put the books in the YA section, but they deal with fairly mature topics. They're really, really great books. Heavy doses of rock music, Celtic magick, martial arts, and great characters. There's an unofficial web page at http://player.org/pub/u/nathan/border/ Undine, you know about them, evidently. Cool. How do you get started running a bookstore, anyway? Regarding this family thing: I'm an only child, I guess it's my fate to get left out ;) Can I hide in the attic? I was just looking at KoG&S and StT again. I want new editions, these covers suck. I could do better than that, and I'm not really even a professional (Pro enough to get disqualified from the Olympics, amateur enough to count as unemployed). *Claris Smith, Art/History Major, GM/Gamewriter, sf/fantasy Artist, Gung Fu Student* *U. of A., Su Ko Ming, Razorbattles Art Show Coordinator, The Dragon Roars Editor* *ccsmith-+AT+-comp.uark.edu | 4045 Abington Ct. Fayetteville AR 72703-5065* *"What kind of bomb was it?" "The exploding kind!"--Inspector Clouseau* ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Jul 1996 17:54:16 -0400 From: Soljan-+AT+-aol.com To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Re: writing Message-ID: <960716175408_157535628-+AT+-emout14.mail.aol.com> -------------RYLISSIA------------ In a message dated 96-07-15 10:12:07 EDT, you write: >Cennydd wrote: >> Well, I don't know. I have a couple of short-stories started, but I >> haven't really made any progress on them. Mostly I just tweak the >> scenario and elaborate on it for the fun of it. > >Sigh. That's all I can do - I love writing Chapter 1, creating my place, >my inital people, I daydream myself to sleep plotting the next stages, >walk along the interminably long corridors of where I work muttering >conversations to see if they work, but, it all sort of peters >out after chapter 1. Then a few days later I'm off on another tack. Still, >I get fun out of it. I love creating out nice, warped subplots, esp. emotional/mental problems/trauma, so forth. Let's see- I also use suicides (for a good reason!). So far I have one finished (well, not edited all the way) and one in-the-making novel that includes a suicide. The finished one is Eve of the Roses and the main character ends up as a martyr by her own hand. The in-the-making is The War of !812 (it has nothing to do with the War of 1812) and the main character 1812/Aitwenelve kills herself because she feels like a traitor to her kind (that is a really warped story. If anyone feels like braving the details- you can ask). One that really includes some nice twisted mental problems is two sisters that hate each other- this all takes place in a separate world. One (Tabitha) gets a high position that they other (Ophelia) would die for, and Ophelia attempts murder, gets exiled, and is taken in by a group of really strange other people.Both sisters eventually become leaders of their own people, but there's a growing threat from foreigners... And I'm rambling. My personality is INTJ- (we make up 1% of the American population), and we have this undying need to A) be excellent in everything B)finish everything- perfectly. I know we were talking about how you shouldn't mix real names with made up ones. I do- but I don't throw in a really bland one. In the above story, I have Ophelia,Tabitha, Rae, Adieve, Kylan, Darion, Kielle, Shevara, Ahryalle, Jharid, and Arynne (and a whole bunch more, but I'm not going to rattle off all of them). Now I wouldn't put a "Tom" or a "Mary" in there. But the more elegant, exotic names, I think they go nicely. (so shoot me) One the Piers topic... I liked the third Xanth book- um.. I blanked on the title, but I like Jumper. But the books got monotonous and just repeated over and over again... OOC- does anyone else here have an obsession with snakes? I have no idea why I'm asking this, I think all this mail went to my head, but I have this odd craze over snakes recently. Zhai'helleva -Windshadow Ydreen, Syana, Kanya, Mylahi **Ladies do not start fights but they can finish them!** ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Jul 1996 18:00:03 -0400 From: Raingcats-+AT+-aol.com To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Re: forgivness/Catwoman/Forgiving Shadow-Lover Message-ID: <960716175958_157539727-+AT+-emout09.mail.aol.com> David wrote: >How could i mind? My pleasure to help a soul so wonderus beautiful. >If you're still worried forgive yourself for me(Don't wnat to encroach on >anothers domain!) Why, thank you kind sir. ************************************************* >I got de-railed today tho. Like I said before, I just found out our cat has >very severe kidney problems. He's not eating or drinking, and neither of us >think he's going to make it. So, it was a very sad day for me, I wanted to >stay home from work, curl up and die or something. It hit us quite hard. So, >once this chapter is over, I can get back to my research. >-Cat\/\/oman Oh, Catwoman, I'm so sorry!!!!! I have cats myself and we have had to put some to sleep before and it just kills me. I'm sorry, this is no substitute for the real thing but *HUG* *HUG* *HUG* *HUG* *HUG* *HUG* *HUG* *HUG* *HUG* ************************************************* > Wait a minute!! Did I just do a song parody???? >*Shadow-Lover >sends tithes to the Goddess of Forgiveness that she might >intervene on his >behalf when Jake finds out that he has encroached on his >humorous domain...* > - Shadow-Lover I except those tithes, kind Shadow-Lover, and shall protect you from Jake when the need arises. (If I'm too late let me know 'cause I just got back from a 3 day trip) I'll always forgive you but never forget you, Lady Nightshadow aka Shady Goddess of Forgiveness ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 17 Jul 1996 00:02:22 +0200 From: "J. A. Whalin" To: "'mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk'" Subject: Salutations Message-ID: <01BB7373.4717DC80-+AT+-mitterand.azur.fr> To the gracious readers of the Mercedes Lackey Mailing List: greetings. After spending the past few months observing the rampant boisterousness and general mayhem interspersed with rare gems of pertinent, dare I say, highly perspicacious commentary concerning the works of Mercedes Lackey that make this list such a joy to read, it seems that, by some fantastic miracle, I have found a week that had been lost among the ripples of time and that I am, consequently, reading the digests as they appear and not, as has been my habit, about a week later; therefore, in order to rid myself of this horrible nagging sensation of being a voyeur hidden in the cyberhaze of Internet anonymity, I have decided to proffer a short introduction. Although France has been my home for the past 6 years, I am, legally, a citizen of the United States, where my sorely neglected family pines away for their mentally unbalanced offspring, gone to live in uncivilized, foreign lands. Spiritually, I feel a kinship that goes beyond any one nation, considering myself, if you will permit such a terrible cliche, a "citizen of the universe". Currently, I am working on my doctorate in international relations at the Universite de Marne-la-Vallee; however, all my classwork is finished, my only duties towards the university being occassional chats with my research directors so I spend most of my time on the Cote d'Azur. To keep the champagne flowing I am a freelance translator, working mostly on political science and international economics documents, but I do get the occassional bit of more interesting and challenging work. Mercedes Lackey, or, more precicely, her works have been a part of my life for many years -- I await with unbridled anticipation each new "care package" from my friends in the U. S. hoping beyond hope that there will be a new book ready for me to devour, nevertheless, I generally wait (such profound stoicism comes as a surprise to those who know I have absolutely no self-control in other domains) until all the books in a trilogy are in my possession before starting. My first love, beyond all doubt, is the LHM trilogy, but I do have a certain fondness for the Di Tregarde and other modern fantasy novels, for, inspite of your remarks, brawd Cennydd, I feel that the author of such imaginative exercises should not be constrained by Real Life (whatever that may be) or even by RL mythology (someone has said this before, but I'm too lazy to look and find out who). To leave aside the overdone gaki problem, I have never seen my elven friends drink any name brand cola, though every last one of them has come over for tea and never exhibited any adverse effects from the caffeine, but this does not diminish in any way my enjoyment of M. L.'s novels. Moving on to other things, this message was largely motivated by Glith, the Goddess of Tardiness, posting a message from Jeffery largely based upon an essay by Joanna Russ concerning the characterization of homosexuals in /-fiction which Jeffery used to analyse (for lack of a better word) the LHM trilogy, and upon which, in turn Megan Smith and Shadow-Lover commented. It is unfortunate that neither Joanna Russ, nor Jeffery are, as far as I know, members of this list and cannot, therefore, respond directly. I have not read Joanna Russ's essay, but the premises presented by Jeffery seem to be largely unfounded. Apparently Joanna Russ asserts that all or most /-fiction concerning male characters, written by women is only a thinly veiled masquarade of a "traditionnal" couple. Jeffery claims that her analysis is based upon "textual indications" that he does not cite. Such an analysis would involve, if she even attempts to give a valid argument, a rather long, involved linguistic and sociological study. If this is what she has done, and if anyone on this list knows how to obtain her essay, I would be very interested in hearing from you; however, from what I've read here, such an endevour seems doomed from the outset. Most of the /-fiction that I have read is rather poorly done, and even those stories that are well written are not generally concerned with the inner workings of the "quintessential" homosexual couple -- they are generally simple, humorous parodies seeking, at most, to make a statement about social attitudes towards homosexuals. According to Jeffery: "The sex scenes, if analyzed closely, are actually described as if they were heterosexual. Two homosexual males don't/can't have the sex as described in the story." It is unclear to me if he is actually talking about the LHM or about /-fiction, but as Megan Smith pointed out, the Mercedes Lackey leaves the "sex scenes" up to the imagination, whether hetero- or homosexual, so much so that I was surprised to read Shadow-Lover write about Vanyel's supposed evolution from stereotypical "bottom" to stereotypical "top". I had imagined an entirely different relationship between the two. Vanyel's reference to the rumor that his father has undoubtedly heard about him "playing ewe to 'Lendel's ram" is just that, a rumor, and does not necessarily give any indication as to what they actually did in bed. I do agree with Shadow-Lover that Stefan's "role as 'healer' in the Kyree's cave" required a passive, tender attitude, although I would not qualify that as particularly "effeminate" and that does not exculde another role at another moment of their relationship. In any case, it is an error to confuse socially attributed gender related roles and the different sex roles that a given individual may play in any couple. An "effeminate" man is not necessarily a stereotypical "bottom", and is not even necessarily homosexual -- vis-versa, changing the gender and sexuality at will. M. L. does a wonderful job of portraying Vanyel and Tylendel / Stefen as "human" beings, with all their strengths and weaknesses, in a "real" loving relationship. I do not ever get the impression that she is in anyway finds homosexual relationships "a bit icky" -- the message that comes through to me is exactly the opposite. It may be that by treating the homosexual relationships in her novels the same way she treats the heterosexual relationships, Jeffrey feels that she is denying any specificity to homosexual relationships in general; however, even if that might be a valid argument, Jeffrey did not explicitly say that and since he is not on this list, we won't be able to have that discussion (unless someone else would like to defend that point of view). I am certain that I have taken up far too much of you time for one message. Wind to thy wings, J. A. Whalin P. S. This message is several days old, but it doesn't seem to want to be posted -- maybe it is an omen from the Internet Gods. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Jul 1996 15:05:09 -0700 (MST) From: samcpa-+AT+-rtd.com To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Re: 2 free Misty books! (Really!) Message-ID: <199607162205.PAA04763-+AT+-seagull.rtd.com> >Heyla everybody! > >I have one copy of _Black Gryphon_ and one copy of _Children of the Night_ >that I would like to give away to the first person who requests one. >(i.e. I'd rather send one book to one person and one to another). I take _Black Gryphon_! Can't seem to find it... I apoligize for the one-liner. Wait! I feel an ObMisty coming on... ObMisty: Why do blood-path mages not require that much mage-gift? ************************************************************************ Stephen Moore E-Mail- samcpa-+AT+-rtd.com "Silly sheep go to sleep. We will watch around you keep through the night be dark and deep nothing past us dares to creep go to sleep." -Holderkin Sheep-Song ************************************************************************ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Jul 1996 18:26:19 -0400 (EDT) From: Jake To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Re: Beach/books/B-town/family Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19960716182506.189fcac6-+AT+-webspan.net> Milady Claris wrote: >I was just looking at KoG&S and StT again. I want new editions, these >covers suck. And LARRY did the cover to Summoned to Tourney! I remember looking at it and going, "WHAT?" They look like underground comic book covers. I was complaining about them to someone (Stormcloud?) wayyy back when I first got them. KOGS was alright, but the sequel cover was really a disappointment. Uncle Jake's Advice to Misty #3: Don't let Larry work in color. >I could do better than that, and I'm not really even a >professional (Pro enough to get disqualified from the Olympics, amateur >enough to count as unemployed). I love this quote, Claris. That's going up next to: "You're not a columnist. You're a reporter who writes long." Grow in Wisdom, Jake -- O--------------------------------O O-----------------------------------O | Jake Adamo / Rynath in Green | | Misty Information FAQ Admin. | | rynath-+AT+-webspan.net | | God of Parody and Top Ten Lists | | http://www.webspan.net/~rynath | | Avatar of Humor / Ladies in Green | O--------------------------------O O-----------------------------------O HOW DO I TURN THIS CAPS LOCK OFF? -- Death using computers, Pterry style ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Jul 1996 18:45:29 -0400 (EDT) From: Jake To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Re: forgivness/Catwoman/Forgiving Shadow-Lover Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19960716184414.1affd06c-+AT+-webspan.net> The Shadester replied in reference to Shadow-Lover's encroaching upon my domain: >I except those tithes, kind Shadow-Lover, and shall protect you from Jake >when the need arises. (If I'm too late let me know 'cause I just got back >from a 3 day trip) Curses! There goes my intensely sarcastic parody of Misty's "Shadow Lover." Divine intercession indeed. . Peace and Balance Jake -- O--------------------------------O O-----------------------------------O | Jake Adamo / Rynath in Green | | Misty Information FAQ Admin. | | rynath-+AT+-webspan.net | | God of Parody and Top Ten Lists | | http://www.webspan.net/~rynath | | Avatar of Humor / Ladies in Green | O--------------------------------O O-----------------------------------O 'With a friend like Jake--isn't it time you had a Heineken?' ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Jul 1996 17:50:02 -0500 (CDT) From: khu286-+AT+-merle.acns.nwu.edu To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Re: 2 free Misty books! (Really!) Message-ID: <199607162250.AA067257402-+AT+-merle.acns.nwu.edu> >From Stephen Moore: > ObMisty: Why do blood-path mages not require that much mage-gift? It is stated in the White Gryphon (I think) that since death releases a lot of energy, the mage only need a strong will in order to channel that enery. As far as I can tell, the mage-gift is the ability to pull energy from certain sources, ie journeyman and master, it is from yourself while at adept level, it is from the ley lines. Since the advent of death provides the energy for the blood-path mage, he/she/it can use the energy even if they do not possess the mage-gift at all! (again, stated in the White Gryphon somewhere) Spencer ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Jul 1996 15:24:27 -0400 From: David Snyder To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Re: McKinley/subscriber problems - Reply Message-ID: <199607161924.PAA20777-+AT+-brickell.bridge.net> At 04:53 PM 7/16/96 +0100, you wrote: >That happened to me on this mailing list. When I got Eudora light, it >changed my address a bit (well, the system did.) >I don't know if the software is the same, but if you are subscribed under a >different address, try sending a post to the list. I did that when my >address and my system address were different, and the software sent me a >mail that said something like: >"rynath-+AT+-webspan.net: you are not subscribed. To subscribe to the mailing >list, blah blah blah. These addresses are similar to yours: >rynath-+AT+-orion.webspan.net" >Then I discovered the name the list had me under and changed my software >accordingly. >Perhaps this helps... >Jake ***************************** I don't know, it won't admit I exist, I've sent it in every day for three days, and no answer, but no list either, I could scream. Maybe I'll try again today, it steadfastly is ignoring me. *********** Congratulate me, I just got my first Terry Pratchett novel (other than Good Omens with Neil Gaiman, which I found to be one of the best comic novels on the market--it's still ROFL after several reads) yesterday at a used bookstore. (The Light Fantastic) And my boss promised to bring in the first one tonight, so I can read them in order! ********************** OBMisty: Did anyone else have the same reaction to BTS that I did when they first read it? I got very angry at the deus ex machina that she used, and it almost ruined it for me. I got over it, mostly, but it took awhile. Lady Thessaly "My dad says I gotta live amongst soft, weak civilized Goddess of Nomenclature men, so's I can be a kind and just ruler...and learn how MKGC torture without leaving marks!" young Alex-to-be-the-Great Lady in Green in Epicurus the Sage ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Jul 1996 19:15:03 -0400 (EDT) From: aw2-+AT+-mail.idt.net (Kimberly) To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Kittengirl + birthdays Message-ID: >Kim-o-rama wrote : >>Huh? (trans: woof?) Who's Kittengirl? I think I've heard that one before I'm glad I don't mind... >And Windsong replied: >>Lady Kittengirl is Jake's bonded. She was on the list a while ago for a >>while but left because of lack of internet access. I think she'll be back in >>September? >Kittengirl is currently at home in California *sob* with no internet access. >When she goes back to college in September, she's [hopefully] going to >rejoin the mailing list. Kitten is my real-life bonded, btw. But she's >been keeping up with list stuff through me and the occasional hard-copy >printout or twelve. That's really sweet :) ... Though your phone bill must be E-N-O-R-M-O-U-S, between improving your web page and talking to her long-distance,and your butt must hurt from sitting in front of your computer and doing list stuff/freelance/ talking to her. Good luck, in love and life both, Jake. >From a Kimmy-immy. (If you can't beat em, join em, right? ) BTW, since people are mentioning birthdays, I might as well put mine in. Worth exactly one beggar's glare (or two cents). July 22. My sweet sixteen (it's overrated) Counting down: six, five, four, three, two, one, zero!! (that's my mental progress, by the way... not really the amount of days from now till the 22nd...) ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Jul 1996 20:18:23 -0500 (EST) From: Megan Smith To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Re: Birthdays/Wagewars Message-ID: <199607170118.UAA12468-+AT+-zap.wwdc.com> > Lady Nightshadow who is waaaaaay too tired to bother with her sig. >> >August 10th, A Leo born and proud. :) I'm sorry - you'll have to change that. I've already taken that one . ---------------------------- > Has anyone been able to successfully subscribe to this list since >the most recent "Mage War" started? Nope, not me! Tried and failed (I assume - haven't received anything). Could the listprocessor not have updated it's mailing batch (or whatever it's called) with the new names? Megan Smith (megan-+AT+-wwdc.com) ------------------------------ End of MERCEDES-LACKEY Digest 700 *********************************