[LMB] OT: reminded me of Orson Scott Card's 'Bean'

[Azalais Aranxta]

On Fri, 18 Aug 2006, Rowena wrote:

> I allways have a bit of a problem when a protagonist is soo
> young that it gets hard to believe s/he could actually fullfill
> the role set out for them. The character of Bean in Orson S.
> Card's books about Ender is (for me) such a character. But
> today I read something in the newspaper that made me readjust
> that. In Cracow a youth gang was rounded up, the members where
> in th ages from 4 to 13 and they robed other children using the
> thread of weapons. Leader of this gang was the very youngest,
> the 4 year old.

People who have led relatively sheltered lives and have had
decently sheltered childhoods really have no idea what some--not
all, but some--very young people are capable of, because they
base their ideas of "what kids are like" based upon their own (in
many cases, idealised) memories of what they did as children, or
on what their own children do.

I have a long-running argument with one of the LW players that
the dialogue is too sophisticated to be teenage dialogue that
always falls apart when I remind him that while I am 42, we have
17 and 18 year old players who were 14, 15, and 16 when they
began in the game.  He forgets that because he and I are of an
age and have known each other since we were kids, the other
players are not the same age as us.

One of my fanfiction series, "House of Ill Faith" was amazingly
popular with people aged 12-16 (and yes, it has explicit content,
but when I consider that the same people are reading "Kushiel's
X" books I can't be arsed to care), and for a long time I had a
lot of LJ friends that age though they have mostly grown up.

There is one journal in particular that is written by a 12-14
year old who I have watched over the years; she has seen and done
an awful lot in the short time she has been on this earth, and
she's a CTY kid, so it's not like she's someone who could
secretly be 53 and bored.

I also have a dear friend who was married at 14 and divorced at
21.  It gives you a lot of perspective on the rest of the world.

~malfoy
**************************************************************************
"That wickedness weltering around inside of you, inside of everyone, is
sacred somewhere.  There's a deity out there who digs it.  You can respect
and love your darkest side, disposing only of what is obsolete or
impractical.  It's all about giving yourself permission." --Jack Darkhand

"It is better to be cruel for love than for hate." --Thomas Burnett Swann