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teresChapter Twenty-Five | Table of Contents | Chapter Twenty-Six (Part II)
SCSF: A good day, everyone, and welcome back to BattleAxe! Last time, Faraday and co. spent a day at the Renkins and that was about it. For the reader post:
On part II of the Peek at the Glossary, Maegwin notes that “Treachery Island” (for the island between Desertia and Principalis on this map) is a bit on the nose if it is meant to be a place for pirates. Given that this seems like the most logical place for the “summer raiders” to come from, I have to agree.
A Better Commando Name: 35
On the previous chapter, Epistler notes that there is no reason the Renkins need a “huge fire”. Indeed, it seems to me it would only take up unnecessary space.
PPP: 165
She further points out that there is quite some furniture in the Renkins’ house, no matter that we are told there is not.
PPP: 166
Wolfgoddess notes that the description of the farmhouse as having a single room seems “incredibly inconvenient”, and given how relatively rich the Renkins are, they probably could have fixed that.
She further notes that, while there is mention of hams and cheese, there is no mention of cows or any milk-producing animals.
PPP: 167
She also points out that Faraday not having a reaction to being called beautiful is not out of place per se, since she might just be used to it.
Further, she notes that Faraday’s description of Jack’s disguise comes across as sarcastic, which it does indeed. I doubt that Douglass meant it that way, so I will give this for the “mental fog” comment, but still.
All the Isms: 12
Finally, she notes that the way Douglass notes how awkward Thedithe is around Faraday makes it come across like she is meant to seem “unworthy”.
All the Isms: 13
Well, let me go on with the next chapter, then!
Chapter Twenty-Six: “Belle My Wife!”
Yes, that is exactly how it is written, with the quotation marks and the exclamation mark. As I recall, this will play a big role in the chapter, so it is apposite for once.
The chapter opens with… summary! Thank you, Douglass! Well, Axis led the Axe-Wielders “hard and fast” toward Arcen from the Ancient Barrows. There, they “reprovisioned” and Axis explained to the family of Earl Burdel that Merlion and Faraday were dead. It was apparently not easy, and he left the Burdel “townhouse” feeling “embarrassed and inadequate”. I guess “townhouse” means “town hall” here? It also might have been nice to see this, then. (I genuinely thought that the townhouse felt like that at first.)
He keeps the Axe-Wielders in Arcen for “a day and two nights”. During that time, he writes reports about the attack at the Barrows to Jayme, Isend and Borneheld, to supplement those he sent from the Barrows. Poor Isend! He must be devastated to hear his wife and daughter died! And poor Borneheld, thinking that Faraday is dead! Axis, who is “still grieving”, dreads having to explain this to Borneheld personally. As he well might.
Also, Axis is “still grieving” now, while Faraday does not do so any more. I presume it goes to show who the favoured character is.
Petty Ain’t the Word for You: 36
It is a relief, he says, to finally leave Arcen and to ride north to “the narrow passes in the Bracken Ranges”. (It is to me, too, because we are getting somewhere!!) From there, it will be “a straight run north-east to Smyrton”. Um, let me show a cutout of the map (with new labels added by me!):
The yellow arrow points north-east and soon cuts into a bay of the Widowmaker Sea. Smyrton lies north-north-west of their current position! Can you look at your map, Douglass?!
PPP: 167
How hard would this have been to remedy? Either way, on the first night from Arcen, Axis stops his command “a league south” of the first pass. They have covered “good ground” on that day, and he does not want to risk crossing at night. He has some sense, it seems!
Let me also calculate some things… A quite rough calculation tells me that they have, once again, travelled 30 miles in a day. Further, this chapter says that it has been a week since the Ancient Barrows, so this is the 11th of October, which means that we are quite a bit ahead of Faraday’s plotline. They must have stayed in Arcen during the 10th, so they got there on the 9th… which means that they spent five days getting to Arcen. Some further calculation shows that the distance is nearly exactly 30 leagues, or 135 miles, so they travelled with 27 miles per day!
Armies simply cannot move this fast, Douglass! There is not way the Axe-Wielders have consistently moved at 30 miles a day all the way from Arcen to the Bracken Ranges!
It’s Like We’re Smart But We’re Not: 25 (+2)
Let me check… Ah, the distance from where they are now to Smyrton is about 210 miles, and they will cover it in 21 days, for a much more reasonable speed of 10 miles a day. Oh, but I see that Axis planned to cover it in 15 days, for a speed of 14 miles a day, which is still possible. So the army will halve its speed after now, for no discernable reason.
But I should complain about it then. Since they left the Barrows, Axis did not take risks. He has the Axe-Wielders ride with “mailshirts under their cloaks” to give them “the best chance” against further ice-spears. (Which is of course why Gorgrael would not use it again, if he is smart about it.)
They also sleep “fully clothed”, with their weapons at hand, and there are “double sentries” to watch for Gorgrael. Ogden and Veremund might hope that Gorgrael weakened himself with his attack, but Axis does not want to risk it. My, is he sensible now?
Axis now sits before the campfire, in a “reasonable mood”. Belial and some cohort commanders are joking away about a “tavern brawl” they saw in Arcen. Ogden and Veremund sit apart. Axis exposits that he has “virtually ignored them” since leaving the Barrows, as everything went wrong after he read the Prophecy. And, though the Brothers promised they would answer Axis’s questions, they gave “such indistinct answers or such disturbing ones” that he sometimes thinks he should leave them behind.
Is Axis allowed to question them now? I do like where this might go, then…
Still, during the “past week”, the Brothers were “surprisingly pleasant company” around the campfire. They respected Axis’s “wish to be left alone”, and have such a “repertoire of bawdy ballads” that even Axis sometimes joins in “embarrassed laughter” at them. But, we are told, they are more than they appear. Yes, we already know that. Do we need to see Axis find this out, too?
Axis leans back and narrows his eyes as he looks at them. Maybe they speak the truth when they say they do not know his father, he says, but he gets the “distinct feeling” that they do not tell him all they know. And how did Ogden know the melody of the ward? How indeed, Axis? He keeps going:
- They faltered over the Service of the Dead at the Barrows, and he doubts that 39 years is long enough to forget it, and still remember “ancient enchantments”.
- He found it “embarrassing and disrespectful” to the dead and he fought to restrain his anger at them. My, he restrained his anger, and at those who do deserve the full load of it, too!
- While the Axe-Wielders went to and through Arcen, Ogden and Veremund avoided contact with the Plough-Keepers, who were are told are those “brothers who live[] among and minister[] to the people”. Good on Douglass for working this exposition in naturally!
- Many Axe-Wielders noted this and commented on it. Axis thinks some of it can be the result of being isolated in the Keep for so long, maybe combined with the onset of dementia, but he is not sure and he knows that Arne also keeps a close eye on them.
Why Arne specifically? Because he went along to the Silent Woman Keep? Either way, they are in a “relaxed mood” tonight. Belial has got out a harp and tries to play the tune of a ballad he heard in Arcen. Axis smiles and says that, while he likes Belial “very much” and respects him “as a fighting man”, he is very bad at the harp.
Axis asks for the harp, so he can tune it. Belial grins and hands it over. Belial says that he “deliberately mishandled” it so Axis could ask for it. He has been “too quiet” since the attack at the Barrows, and Belial does whatever he can to “lift [Axis] out of his dark moods”. That is quite sweet of him!
Axis pretends to tune the harp, then looks around the campfire and asks what they will sing tonight. One of his commanders calls “Belle my Wife!” and the rest laughs and claps. It is apparently a “favourite ballad” among the Acharites, though it takes a “skilled musician” to do it justice. Axis smiles along with his men and begins to play.
We get the first verse:
This winter’s weather, it waxeth cold
and frost it freezeth on every hill,
And Artor blows his blasts so bold
that all our cattle are like to spill.
Belle my Wife, she loves no strife
she said unto me quietly,
Rise up and save Cow Crumbocke’s life!
man! put thy cloak about thee!
This is better than I expected! The content is good enough, I would say, and it has a nice meter and rhyme scheme. (The former turns out to be “iambic tetrameter” and the latter ABABCDCD.) The only problem is that “quietly” does not rhyme with “thee” for me.
…I do have any problem with it, which is the old-fashioned language like “waxeth”, “freezeth” and “like to spill”. No one we have seen talks like this, so why would Axis sing it this way?
Talk Like a Natural: 6
His voice is “clear and strong”, and the others let him sing “the first four verses” before joining in. They all have a good time, and when they finally close it, “after the fifth repetition of the final chorus”, Axis joins in with the laughter and applause. He plays some more ballads, and then goes to strum “soft tunes” as the mood shifts and the commanders talk about riding north and the danger they face. They wonder (in the narration) what those creatures are, where they come from, and who drives them.
“Baldwin”, one of Axis’s commanders, asks him what he thinks about the Prophecy, and if the creatures attacking Gorkenfort are the Ghostmen from the Prophecy. Before they left Carlon, they thought it was the Forbidden, but now… There falls a silence and Ogden and Veremund carefully look at Axis. Axis turns the question back on Baldwin. Baldwin hesitates, and we are told that the Prophecy has “spread like wildfire” through the Axe-Wielders, and once heard, it is “impossible to forget”.
We already saw that with Faraday, and I am not pleased with it. Baldwin admits that he cannot get it out of his mind, and Ogden nods at that. He says that it enchanted, and once it is heard, “few would be able to forget it”. So the Prophecy is designed to mess with people’s minds? And you agreed to it, Ogden? What a hero. He goes on about how only “one man” can remember the third verse (well, that might get you in trouble), and we get this:
He restrained a smile as he thought of the enchantments that the Prophet had woven into the Prophecy. No doubt the Seneschal would find over the next few months that many Acharites were not so deeply committed to Artor as they thought.
You what!? You see fit to spread a prophecy that you know will mind-control huge amounts of people? Just to score a victory over the Seneschal???
That is what I gather from this, at least. Their “commitment to Artor” is their religious faith, after all! Also, what a condescending description, Ogden.
Maria Monk Redux: 51
What do they plan to do this for, too? I guess they think it is to make the Acharites more willing to accept the Icarii and Avar. Never mind that such integration will never be truly stable; I guess they do not understand that promises made at knifepoint are quick to break.
It is also just wrong. It is wrong and evil to make the Acharites abandon their religion! I do not care if it is necessary; invading their thoughts and forcing a way of life on them is simply not something I would ever condone.
Morals for Thee But Not for Me: 85 (+10)
What makes it worse is that I am quite sure Douglass put this in to have the stand-in for Christians get deprived of their religion, and it feels so very petty.
Maria Monk Redux: 61 (+10)
And Ogden is smiling about the harm he has caused (it was him who had Axis read the prophecy, after all)! I hate him so much and if I were there… I cannot say for sure what I would do to him. Gah!!!
[Caption: Gif of a dragon breathing fire.]
Well, now I am somewhat calmer, let me discuss further. First, there had better be more enchantments inside of the Prophecy, because this seems certain to blow up spectacularly. Do the Sentinels truly think that the Seneschal would not use this as evidence of “evil sorcery” or that people would not think they are aligned with Gorgrael? Without further protection, they would be dead within a few months, too.
Second… if they want to brainwash people into accepting the Icarii and Avar, why try to break their religion? Even if they do not believe in Artor, they might still think the “Forbidden” are evil. After all, what is there to contradict them? The Icarii and Avar will not be coming back in the next few months, I am sure. I just get the feeling that Douglass thought their religion is inextricably bound up with believing that the “Forbidden” are evil, which is not how things work.
It’s Like We’re Smart But We’re Not: 26
Third, I have three more thematic points to offer.
The first, which is not directly related but nonetheless quite important, is that almost none of the Acharites today have ever persecuted the Icarii or Avar. That means that they also cannot be held responsible for the Wars of the Axe, and that this situation is not equal to usual racism, or indeed usual bigotries, something that Douglass does not seem to grasp.
The second is that someone’s religion does not dictate their actions. If, say, Axis decided to persecute the Avar and/or Icarii, the fault does not lie with him being religious. Or, to bring it to what Douglass wants, if a Christian does bad things in the name of their religion, them being religious is not the problem. Being religious does not strip you of free will, Douglass! If the Prophecy is meant to stop them, it should target the bigotry of the Acharites, not their religion!
Maria Monk Redux: 62
The third… this goes against the message of the Prophecy itself. It says that “Forgiveness is the thing assured / To save Tencendor’s soul”. How, pray tell, could the Acharites practice forgiveness when they are magically made to? Is forgiveness not supposed to be given freely? Douglass literally went straight against what she tried to say here.
With that out of the way… let me return to what is happening. Baldwin says that it makes sense that, if Gorgrael is responsible for attacking the north, he might also be responsible for the storm that hit the Barrows. Axis frowns at this and tries to speak, but “Methuen” breaks in, saying that if it is Gorgrael, they need to find the StarMan to save them.
Axis gets angry and tries to speak again, but he is “again forestalled”. Axis, you were merely interrupted. That is not something to get angry over.
Axis Is Angry: 11
Belial now asks Axis what he plays. Axis is completely stunned and wonders it himself. He had not paid attention to what he was strumming, but now he realises that he is playing a “haunting melody” that he has never heard before. Furthermore, “the style of music, its phrasing and beat” are “completely alien” to him. Well, I have never heard “phrasing” with regards to music, and he cannot get a beat out of a harp.
PPP: 169
Still, now we have Axis making a magical melody without outside prompting. Have some powers awakened in him already? He quickly says that it was a “silly tune” and drops the harp. He says he goes to check on the sentries and leaves. Arne wants to follow but Belial grabs his arm (could you not?) and tells him to give Axis “some time alone”.
There is a scene break, and we pick up with Axis inspecting the sentries and then leaving for a little introspection. He wonders what is happening to him. He tells us that the only good thing that came from his experience since the Barrows is that “his nightmares [have] finally completely disappeared”. So Gorgrael did not bother to send him any more nightmares, even though this would be the best time to play into this grief and doubts? Seriously, Douglass?
Papier-Mâché Villains: 21
Clearly, tormenting Timozel will have more impact than with Axis, the commander of the Axe-Wielders! Well, even though he no longer has these nightmares, thinking about the “continuing enigma of his father” gets him “deeply uncomfortable”. He wonders what kind of man it is who can “teach a growing foetus” how to sing a ward to protect against evil. And I wonder why Axis uses “foetus” here.
He goes on that the Seneschal taught him that all enchantments are evil, and even the “herbal remedies” that many country women use are frowned upon. That is especially if they use “words or songs to aid the herbs in their healing powers”. Yes, these country women are actually using magic. It is not magic of any sort we have seen, either, but Acharite magic, as we will learn in Pilgrim. (I am mostly just surprised she managed to set up a future plot point!)
Axis himself has been involved in some cases where he had to bring them to the Tower of the Seneschal “for trial and justice”. Axis shudders at the memory at what happened to those found guilty: “death by the purification of fire”. He says he will never forget the screams of these people burning to death, and says that at least it was not “his role to light the fire”. You are still responsible for their deaths, though, as you were the one who brought them to the Tower in the first place.
I do like this a lot! We finally see the Seneschal actually persecute people! Granted, it may not be very many people they persecute, but it is still as unreasonable as Douglass has made the Seneschal out to be. We also now have a solid reason to want them to stop: them teaching the Acharites that magic is evil actually gets people killed.
Still… I cannot help but be suspicious of the placement of this. I get the feeling that Douglass only let us know about Axis’s more unsavoury aspects quite a way into the book, to keep readers from disliking him.
Well, Axis says that now he, the BattleAxe, experiences “disturbing, long-buried memories” from the place that reading the Prophecy unlocked. Oh, when did we see this?
PPP: 170
He also has had talents come from there, like the ward against evil he sung to Gorgrael and the strange melody he just played. I do like where Douglass is going with this; it would be great to see the BattleAxe, the person who has helped kill people for doing magic, come to terms with him using magic himself. Better yet, I would love to see him deal with being half Forbidden… (Yes, I know Douglass will probably not do so, but I would still like to see it.)
He then wonders where his talent “for the harp and the music” has come from. I think that should be “and music”.
PPP: 171
He cannot remember having actually learning it; he has “simply always played”. Even when he was a small child, he “had been more skilful than the court bards”. And no one thought that was suspicious, then? Axis himself does not think this is very weird? No, of course not.
Ill Logic: 119
After all, a small child playing the harp better than the court bards should rightly have roused all kinds of suspicion… Then again, Jayme probably covered it up because he did not want trouble for his foster child. Either way, Axis ought to have thought about it before now, and there is certainly something magical going on here.
If the Seneschal learns of these strange things he does, he might face the “purifying flames” himself, or, at least, “be subjected to rigorous inquisition”. For the first time in his life, he is glad that he is far away from the Tower of the Seneschal. I still like this!
He keeps walking through the night, listening to the camp settle down. Despite his efforts, he thinks about Faraday and Timozel again, who he describes as “[t]wo such young and innocent people, with such promise and zest for life”. Timozel, he says, is the son of “his closest female friend” (which is why you will not be seeing Embeth for two years…) and the other one “a beautiful women who ha[s] earned his respect and admiration”.
He says that he has never been in love before, though he never had trouble “charm[ing] women into his bed”, and he sometimes wonders if he is just too “cynical and bitter” to fall in love. Or maybe you just are not given to experiencing romantic love? I have not exactly seen him be “cynical and bitter” so far, after all.
PPP: 172
But, that night at the Barrows, he realised that just maybe her “freshness, innocence and above all, honesty” might break down the barriers he built around his heart. Yes, yes, if you say so, Axis. We get a note that he pulls out a “strand of grass” and chews on it as he ruminates. He wonders what he meant when he told Faraday she could “spend[] her life with someone she could learn to love”. He admits that he meant himself by that, and laughs bitterly. Was he truly “so brazen” as to suggest that Faraday, the daughter of an earl, that she would want to forget life at court, possibly as queen, “for his bed”? Apparently so. I do note that he does not acknowledge that marrying Borneheld might make her better off…
PPP: 174 (+2) (capitalisation of “earl” and “queen”)
He goes on to says that Borneheld’s “taunt in the court yard” (which I guess was the one about having “the finest mare in the stable”) “stung deep”, and he can never hope to win the hand of “a noble heiress like Faraday”. He wonders if he only kissed her because it would be “a triumph to win her away from Borneheld”. He is not sure, and says that he might as well have done it because she was Faraday and she was “close and warm” and because he thought he might fall in love with her. (He also notes that he has “never met another woman like her”.)
Well, I do hope it was the second option, then! Axis thinks that she now lies died along with Merlion and “over three hundred” Axe-Wielders. Hmm, then Gorgrael’s attack took out at least… 8,6 percent of the Axe-Wielders, which is a quite respectable amount for such an attack. In any case, he thinks, what is love if it makes him so careless that he condemns hundreds to death? Despite Ogden and Veremund’s reassurances, he still “burn[s] with guilt” about leading the Axe-Wielders out.
Just then, someone says that he should not blame himself. That turns out to be Belial, who gives him a casual salute, though him using Axis’s name implies that he comes as a friend, we are told. In front of the Axe-Wielders they are “BattleAxe and Lieutenant”, but in private they are “friends and companions”.
I would like to stop here, as I am about halfway through the chapter, and I also did not manage to analyse much during the last bit. Until next time, then!
(no subject)
Sunday, 28 July 2024 20:18 (UTC)And this is why those two shouldn't have decided to impersonate men of the cloth. It is disrespectful that they are prancing around aping the clerics of a religion they clearly have no respect for.
It's a pity they successfully evaded the folks who would have exposed them...
"Sir, we have a situation."
Axis was surprised, as service had only just let out and he didn't see how anyone could have had the time to cause trouble. "What is it?" he asked, following the man.
"The Plough-Keeper cornered the two brothers and -"
They were interrupted by the furious Plough-Keeper himself. "There you are! I demand you arrest these imposters at ONCE!"
'Belle my Wife!' could be an old song, or even a song written to sound old. I've sung both in my church choir.
I remember the general gist of that prophecy, nowhere did it suggest the Way of the Plough was wrong. How shallow of Douglass.
And yes, forgiveness is something one choses to do.. Speaking as a Catholic, forgiveness is letting go of anger and hurt so that one can move on. Mind controlling people into 'forgiving' others is just wrong -
Hang on. The Acharites are supposed to be the ones in the wrong.
Ogden and Veremund are mind controlling the Acharites into 'atoning' for something they didn't even DO and Douglass wants us to think this ISN'T evil? Pull the other one.
Phrasing refers pretty strictly to vocals, yes. Though you can get a beat out of a harp, since you pluck the strings.
Okay, I'll grant that the Church distrusted wise-women. However, throughout Medieval Europe the primary source of trained medical care were monks, who had access to medical texts and the time to study them. The herbal remedies should not be something only used by country woman, they should be used by everyone.
... Most witch hunts were in Protestant countries, and belief in witches with magical powers had been ruled heretical long before that. (Also, without a stated reason why Artor condemns witches I am forced to assume they believe these women have, quite literally, sold their souls to the forces of evil.. They need education not mind control.)
(no subject)
Monday, 29 July 2024 07:51 (UTC)... Okay, I don't have the greatest grasp on maps but even I can tell that's a bad route. Furthermore, why is he travelling THROUGH THE MOUNTAINS? Mountains are terrible going and no one with half an idea of what they're doing would be so cavalier about it. He should be thinking about where the pass is!
SCSF: Come to think of it... would it not have been easier to send a small group to the Silent Woman Woods, while sending the army ahead to Skarabost?
Further, they might be better off now trying to cross the Bracken near its estuary. Yes, it might take longer, but there is no sense in having Gorgrael attack them while they are in the mountains, while they might flee at the Bracken.
Yes, that would have been quite nice to see happen... At least they eventually stop pretending they are Brothers?
'Belle my Wife!' could be an old song, or even a song written to sound old. I've sung both in my church choir.
Well, you are entirely correct!
Ogden and Veremund are mind controlling the Acharites into 'atoning' for something they didn't even DO and Douglass wants us to think this ISN'T evil? Pull the other one.
That is about the size of it, indeed. Reading ahead, it seems like she seems to think that the Acharites in general are "responsible" for oppressing the Icarii and Avar, when that is not the case. So I do not even know what they hope to accomplish with this. And yes, it is quite evil.
Phrasing refers pretty strictly to vocals, yes. Though you can get a beat out of a harp, since you pluck the strings.
Then I will correct that, too.
Okay, I'll grant that the Church distrusted wise-women. However, throughout Medieval Europe the primary source of trained medical care were monks, who had access to medical texts and the time to study them. The herbal remedies should not be something only used by country woman, they should be used by everyone.
Indeed they should! I do not see why the Seneschal would bother to suppress remedies that ought to be common knowledge, either...
... Most witch hunts were in Protestant countries, and belief in witches with magical powers had been ruled heretical long before that. (Also, without a stated reason why Artor condemns witches I am forced to assume they believe these women have, quite literally, sold their souls to the forces of evil.. They need education not mind control.)
Yes, that is what they need! I get the distinct idea that we are supposed to assume these people are persecuted from malice instead of ignorance. How should the Acharites know that the magic the Goodwives use is not that of the Forbidden? As far as I know, only a handful of people know that in the first place...
(I think I will have more to say on "education, not mind-control" about the Icarii and Avar in a few chapters.)
(no subject)
Monday, 29 July 2024 15:00 (UTC)Doughlass' capacity for wrongness is just negatively impressive, isn't it?
(no subject)
Monday, 29 July 2024 15:47 (UTC)SCSF: It absolutely is.
(no subject)
Thursday, 29 August 2024 12:04 (UTC)It really, really is. If you think THIS is bad, you ain't seen nothin' yet. We've still got the wife-beating, murder, torture, rape and child abuse and baby killing waiting in the wings, all of it perpetrated by characters we're constantly told are the nicest, noblest, most pure of heart eveeeerrr.
Oh, but it gets worse and I think you in particular will find it really offensive (I did, and I'm a lifelong atheist). Not only is the Christianity stand-in depicted as evil, not only is it ultimately wiped out via book burning and the persecution of the clergy... but guess who is then promoted as a much better alternative?
The aforementioned characters who do all that evil shit I listed.
Yes, that's right.
No, I'm not kidding.
Douglass actually had the GALL to flat-out tell us her vile Mary Sues ARE SUPERIOR TO GOD
I'm getting completely furious all over again just typing this out.
(no subject)
Thursday, 29 August 2024 14:19 (UTC)That tracks. I just hope she continues to leave Blessed Mother Mary out of it.
(no subject)
Friday, 30 August 2024 00:47 (UTC)(no subject)
Friday, 30 August 2024 01:19 (UTC)Small mercies indeed.
(no subject)
Friday, 30 August 2024 05:56 (UTC)(no subject)
Friday, 30 August 2024 14:03 (UTC)And, well, there's a lot of anti-Catholic stuff out there. I have personally seen a fanfic tagged with 'did you know the Catholic Church is bad actually' 'dont worry I fixed it', been handed a pamphlet claiming the Church is heretical for celebrating mass on Sunday, even run across claims that Our Lady of Guadalupe is secretly an Aztec goddess (as if Don Juan couldn't tell the difference!). People saying really offensive stuff about God, Mary, and the Church is just part of being Catholic and I can't afford to waste my time and energy getting upset over the stuff I haven't seen yet.
(no subject)
Saturday, 31 August 2024 05:52 (UTC)As it happens, just yesterday the local crackpot handed me the Chick Tract which is an hysterical screed about how Catholic practises are paganism, blah blah blah. The local Catholics, meanwhile, just hand you one of those Blessed Mary amulets and quietly say "God bless you".
(no subject)
Thursday, 29 August 2024 11:56 (UTC)Forgiveness is not even remotely a theme in this trilogy. Just the opposite, in fact. Axis, the guy who's supposed to be making the stupid Prophecy come true, never forgives anybody. If you cross him he just fucking kills you. He even kills someone who's straight-up BEGGING ON HIS KNEES, and also an unarmed, defeated opponent. He also has prisoners tortured to death without a trial.
(no subject)
Thursday, 29 August 2024 14:08 (UTC)(no subject)
Monday, 29 July 2024 11:42 (UTC)If I was having to break the news of someone's death to their loved ones, I don't know if this is what I would be feeling. Inadequate, maybe, since there's no easy way to break the news, and you want to be as gentle as you can, but embarrassed?
-
If it is, it falls flat. Faraday has essentially been fighting for her life against harsh conditions, starvation, exhaustion, and an incompetent guardian. She hasn't really had time to sit down and grieve. Meanwhile, Axis has been sitting on his horse with nothing but time to think. Not to mention that Faraday may or may not be under some breed of mind control that could keep her from truly feeling the full impact of what happened.
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Oh, lord. I could have let this slide if it was fanfiction; it's easy to get tiny details wrong, but how do you forget your own map? YOU are the one who designed it!
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They should have been doing this in the first place! Even if you didn't know that Gorgonzola was out there, you're escorting important people who might be targeted by any number of bad guys!
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...okay, that's kind of cute. Credit where it's due.
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It could work, if you put the emphasis on the 'ly' in 'quietly'.
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It's probably a very old song, made back when the way people spoke was different. Take the song 'Greensleeves' for example. It was made centuries ago, and the wording reflects that, even when it's sang in the modern day. This is most likely the same concept.
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*long silence* Is...is he supposed to be a secret evil villain whose true goal is to destroy the world or something? Because this is absolutely something a villain in disguise would do.
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Want to borrow my cactus collection? Smacking people you don't like with them is extremely satisfying.
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Wow, when I said that Gorgonzola did little more than show up in his dreams and go "BOOGA-BOOGA" at him, I was making a joke, but he really did do that.
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Too late. I disliked him from the start. He's done nothing to endear him to us. If anything, these aspects should have been shown first, because it could have painted him as someone who has done horrible things in his past, and is now extremely haunted by them and regrets his actions. That would actually make him sympathetic.
You have a funny way of showing it. You've been nothing but a jerk to her from the beginning.
(no subject)
Monday, 29 July 2024 15:42 (UTC)If I was having to break the news of someone's death to their loved ones, I don't know if this is what I would be feeling. Inadequate, maybe, since there's no easy way to break the news, and you want to be as gentle as you can, but embarrassed?
SCSF: Maybe he is embarrassed at being inadequate? I would not know what else it might be.
If it is, it falls flat. Faraday has essentially been fighting for her life against harsh conditions, starvation, exhaustion, and an incompetent guardian. She hasn't really had time to sit down and grieve. Meanwhile, Axis has been sitting on his horse with nothing but time to think. Not to mention that Faraday may or may not be under some breed of mind control that could keep her from truly feeling the full impact of what happened.
Oh, it does. I am just irked at how Axis is allowed to grieve but Faraday is not.
Oh, lord. I could have let this slide if it was fanfiction; it's easy to get tiny details wrong, but how do you forget your own map? YOU are the one who designed it!
It certainly is impressive; I guess she simply did not look at it, and no one else noticed?
It could work, if you put the emphasis on the 'ly' in 'quietly'.
That might work... I am not exactly an expert on such matters, either way.
It's probably a very old song, made back when the way people spoke was different. Take the song 'Greensleeves' for example. It was made centuries ago, and the wording reflects that, even when it's sang in the modern day. This is most likely the same concept.
That is probably it, then.
long silence Is...is he supposed to be a secret evil villain whose true goal is to destroy the world or something? Because this is absolutely something a villain in disguise would do.
The Prophet roughly fits that description, anyway, so I think he would be one of the Evil Minions? Seriously, given what we will find out, I would honestly buy the Sentinels as such.
Want to borrow my cactus collection? Smacking people you don't like with them is extremely satisfying.
Maybe... thank you for the offer either way.
Too late. I disliked him from the start. He's done nothing to endear him to us. If anything, these aspects should have been shown first, because it could have painted him as someone who has done horrible things in his past, and is now extremely haunted by them and regrets his actions. That would actually make him sympathetic.
Oh, that would have certainly worked better.
(no subject)
Thursday, 29 August 2024 12:15 (UTC)That's because you ARE inadequate, Axis. It's why you keep flying off the handle and screaming at people.
He's supposed to be the Best Commander Ever and oh-so charming and charismatic, yet it's so painfully obvious that he's pathetically insecure.
She sure as hell forgets all about her dead mother in about five seconds flat. And subsequently never thinks about her ever again except for once when she stops by the Barrows in book three and goes "oh yeah, this is where my mum died".
Even when she's watching a friend crying about their own dead mum, this doesn't prompt her to feel sympathetic pain.
Belial is basically Axis' emotional crutch and punching bag, and it's pretty incredible that he never falls into depression as a result because it's not as if Axis ever bothers to reciprocate.
Instead, he never thinks about it ever again, let alone accepts any culpability.
He's a jerk to every woman he meets, and ultimately a vile abuser and rapist as well. How he treats Faraday in this book is fucking mild by comparison. We never, EVER see the "charm" he supposedly uses to get laid. If a woman says no to him, his reaction is to get violent and start screaming threats at her about what he'll do to her if she leaves him. It's absolutely terrifying and horrible.
(no subject)
Thursday, 29 August 2024 13:38 (UTC)If this is what Douglass thinks is charming and charismatic, humanity is ultimately doomed. I'd rather be single forever than date someone like him.
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That just reinforces my belief that she's been brainwashed so she never has second thoughts about what they're making her do.
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Welp. I'm officially terrified now. How do guys like this end up romantic interests?!
(no subject)
Friday, 30 August 2024 08:14 (UTC)In all seriousness, if you dated someone like him the odds are extremely good that he would ultimately murder you. When his girlfriend (who he cheats on Faraday with) starts withdrawing and talking about breaking up, his reaction is extremely disturbing, and very violent.
As my father once told me, a real man doesn't act like that.
Or, out of universe, the author just didn't give a fuck about Merlion and didn't think of her as a person, so therefore her death is not important.
I have no idea why anyone finds this sort of thing sexy and romantic. None. If the idiots who love this stuff actually ended up dating an Axis, they'd be fucking terrified.
Yet Axis' victims don't ever act that way. They don't become afraid of him, or traumatised. When he screams at, violently grabs and threatens his girlfriend, she doesn't cry or beg him to stop or anything like that. Then he later does something a thousand times WORSE to her and she just instantly forgives him. With a smile. And then never thinks about it ever again. It's so disturbing.
PEOPLE THINK THIS SERIES IS FEMINIST.