Eldest part five
Apr. 1st, 2007 01:05 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kippurbirdChapters A Sorceress, a snake and a scroll; Hrothgar's gift
Summary
Our chapter begins with Eragon meeting a girl. Actually it is a woman of indeterminate age. We know that she is tall has dark hair and startling blue eyes. But as to her age we are left guessing. This is of course important as we'll see in a bit. Her name is Trianna and she is a Sorceress. She wants Eragon to join the Du Vrangr Gata (which sounds like Paolini was hitting the keyboard to come up with that name) the magic users of the Varden. She tells him that she wants him to take control of the group and Eragon thinks that she's friendly and charming. Nothing about her indicates friendly or charming. Polite maybe, but nothing in her speech indicates that she's trying to be charming.
That bit of dialog is followed by Eragon think that she's friendly and charming. Nothing in that paragraph indicates friendliness or charm. Unless we are to consider that smiling and displaying teeth is such an indication. If she had smiled charmingly or invitingly or any number of different adjectives then we could have had reason for her to be considered charming and friendly. However as it is presented here, it is merely business like. Still, Eragon gets all hot and bothered by their conversation.
We also have a classic example of when the Stu gets undo praise during their conversation. Eragon does the equivalent of aw shucks I haven't done anything great and Trianna feeds his ego by saying that he's too modest and that he should be proud of his accomplishments. She even tells him that the Varden have made up songs about him and sing them every night. There are also rumors that Eragon's going to take the throne from Galbatorix. Which he denies and told that this is the right thing for him to do. So, still, he's doing nothing wrong and no one is disagreeing with him.
Trianna then gets a little bit too friendly by asking if he's betrothed. And then changes the conversation for some bizzare reason to show off her bracelet that can turn into a snake. I think the only reason that this little section in here is so that Paolini can say, "look, she has a bracelet that can turn into a snake, innit neat?" It completely disrupts the flow of conversation and is utterly pointless. They talk a bit more and then Eragon offers to go and eat with her.
Saphira disapproves of this greatly and scares the sorceress off with a very long threatening growl. We then devolve into bestiality and lots of innuendo that really shouldn't be between man and dragon. Saphira calls Trianna names like "slattern" and then tells Eragon this:
If we look at this conversation carefully, it is insinuating that Eragon can not be in any relationship unless it will be "the One". He's not allowed to have any sort of fling or even a relationship with someone who is not the one, because Saphira will be involved. It's not like he can get into a relationship with someone and then later on discover that they're just not right for each other. No, he has to make one choice and that's it. This goes back to the idea of One True Love, and Eragon's destined lover that was prophicised by Angela. He's not allowed to discover what it means to love, or have a bad relationship or even what it's like to be with another woman. He's not even allowed to discover how to find a woman he likes. He's just supposed to know who to choose. And he's not allowed to chose more than one person. This is forcing Eragon into a corner because he's not allowed to grow and learn about people, about women about relationships. He is going to be in one relationship and somehow he's just going to know who the right person is before getting to know them. He doesn't even get to discover if he's gay or not. Not that he would be. This would be an affront to Paolini's masculinity. He has to be a big macho hero type which means that being gay is completely out of the question. Archetypal Heroes are not gay at all. They meet their Designated Love Interest and that's the end of that.
After this lovers spat, and yes, I declare it a lovers spat because Eragon goes and sleeps on the metaphorical couch because he doesn't want to be near Saphira, the two of them make up and avoid the subject all together. While they're eating lunch a boy, Jarsha, comes and tells Eragon that Nasuada wants to see him. Now while this seems innocuous enough, I've been thinking about something. They're staying in a city, as has been constantly stated. It may be in a marble mountain but it's still a city. Eragon has been given free rein to walk all over the city as he pleases. How utterly difficult would it be to find one person in a city? Especially if you don't know where they are? I'm just saying, that's all.
Moving on!
It takes a half an hour for Eragon to get to Nasuada's office. I feel sorry for that kid who had to find Eragon in the first place. Nasuada and Eragon talk. The Varden are leaving the dwarves and going to Surda. Eragon is going to Elf land. Elf land has a name besides Elf land but it is long and has interesting accents so I'm not going to bother to reproduce it here. Arya is going with Eragon to Elf land to make sure he can get in. He's to leave in the morning. They talk some more about the Varden and what they're going to do. It's all exposition and nothing really happens.
'
Eragon and Saphira then go flying. Why do they go flying? So they can run into Angela. They have a conversation about toadstools. Or frogstools, as she calls them. This goes back to her earlier argument that there are no such things as toads only frogs. Of course the fact that toadstools have nothing to do with toads is besides the point. This is Paolini trying to be clever, of course. However they do point out a certain kind of mushroom, "Fricai Andlar" where the stalk is instant death and the cap cures most poisons. This will probably be brought up later. It's highly unlikely that Paolini would put this in without it having some sort of meaning or use later on. Then Angela just leaves, thus ending the entirely pointless chapter.
Our next chapter begins with the Fellowship of the Ring leaving Rivendell Oh wait.. my bad... wrong book. Our next chapter begins with Eragon, Dwarf and Elf Sue leaving the Dwarf City. Before they do that, Dwarf gives Eragon back his armor. It's all nice and shiny now. And there's something special about the helm. It has the King Dwarf's family symbol on it. If Eragon wears the helm he's agreeing to be adopted into the King Dwarf's clan. This has never happened to a human before, but he's just that special that he gets this honor.
Today's special word is Otho. It is used in this sentence, spoken by Saphira, "It may be intended as a gift, though, another sign of Otho, not a trap." Otho, at first, I thought was Paolini abusing the thesaurus again. But Dictionary.Com defines it as the name of a pope from almost 1000 years ago. This of course makes no sense in context. So after some discussion with other people it is discovered that Otho means faith in dwarf. It's in the back of the book under the dwarf language. Since it is a dwarf word, one has to wonder, Why is Saphira, a dragon who has never used any sort of dwarf word before, suddenly using it? How does she even know what it means? And why does she use it instead of faith? The answers to this, we will probably never know, but it could just be that Paolini is once again, trying to be clever and go, "Look! I have my own language!" Unfortunately the word has absolutely no context and instead of showing how clever he is, merely confuses the reader and pulls them out of the story as they wonder, WTF could that possibly mean? Since it is spoken by Saphira they will probably not think to go to the back of the book and look in the language section but instead go to the dictionary and not find it's meaning at all, thus leaving them in a state of confusion.
Eragon, of course, joins the dwarf club. In joining the club he gains the right to give voice on every issue that is brought before the council. This is probably important and will come into play later on in this book or the next one. Eragon is now Dwarf's foster brother. Dwarf is coming along because the King Dwarf thinks it's only fair that a dwarf be present at the training of Eragon. If we recall correctly from the previous book the dwarves wanted little to do with dragons and their riders. But apparently all of this is forgotten because this is Eragon and everyone wants a piece of him. In fact Nasuada even remarks on this fact when she learns that Eragon is now part of the dwarf club, saying that all three races have a hold on him. I suppose we're supposed to feel sorry for Eragon because he's caught in the middle of all these manipulating forces. But it honestly doesn't feel like that.
As they leave Elf Sue says, "“Come,” said Arya, gliding past them into the darkness of Farthen
It is time to leave. Aiedail has set, and we have far to go.” Looking up the word "Aiedail" we discover that it means morning star. So I speculate that the morning star must be the Sun, however this makes no sense because they're supposed to be leaving at dawn. So what this morning star is... I don't know.
The chapter ends with theFellowship the group leaving through the mountains and Eragon musing to himself that he is "abandoning the few things he had grown accustomed to among the Varden in exchange for an uncertain destiny" (page 82). But he's only been with the Varden for less than two weeks, that's hardly enough time to grow accustomed to anything, especially since he spent most of the time by himself. But it's probably just Paolini trying to make the upcoming journey sound foreboding and dangerous.
Summary
Our chapter begins with Eragon meeting a girl. Actually it is a woman of indeterminate age. We know that she is tall has dark hair and startling blue eyes. But as to her age we are left guessing. This is of course important as we'll see in a bit. Her name is Trianna and she is a Sorceress. She wants Eragon to join the Du Vrangr Gata (which sounds like Paolini was hitting the keyboard to come up with that name) the magic users of the Varden. She tells him that she wants him to take control of the group and Eragon thinks that she's friendly and charming. Nothing about her indicates friendly or charming. Polite maybe, but nothing in her speech indicates that she's trying to be charming.
"And battle mage and spy and anything else the Varden deem necessary. There aren't enough magic users, so we each end up with a half-dozen tasks." Displaying even, white teeth, "That's why I came today. We would be honored to have you take charge of our group. You're the only one who can replace the Twins." (page 64)
That bit of dialog is followed by Eragon think that she's friendly and charming. Nothing in that paragraph indicates friendliness or charm. Unless we are to consider that smiling and displaying teeth is such an indication. If she had smiled charmingly or invitingly or any number of different adjectives then we could have had reason for her to be considered charming and friendly. However as it is presented here, it is merely business like. Still, Eragon gets all hot and bothered by their conversation.
We also have a classic example of when the Stu gets undo praise during their conversation. Eragon does the equivalent of aw shucks I haven't done anything great and Trianna feeds his ego by saying that he's too modest and that he should be proud of his accomplishments. She even tells him that the Varden have made up songs about him and sing them every night. There are also rumors that Eragon's going to take the throne from Galbatorix. Which he denies and told that this is the right thing for him to do. So, still, he's doing nothing wrong and no one is disagreeing with him.
Trianna then gets a little bit too friendly by asking if he's betrothed. And then changes the conversation for some bizzare reason to show off her bracelet that can turn into a snake. I think the only reason that this little section in here is so that Paolini can say, "look, she has a bracelet that can turn into a snake, innit neat?" It completely disrupts the flow of conversation and is utterly pointless. They talk a bit more and then Eragon offers to go and eat with her.
Saphira disapproves of this greatly and scares the sorceress off with a very long threatening growl. We then devolve into bestiality and lots of innuendo that really shouldn't be between man and dragon. Saphira calls Trianna names like "slattern" and then tells Eragon this:
You don't understand. She refused to meet his eyes.
Don't understand! Will you prevent me from ever having a wife and children? What of a family?
Eragon. She finally fixed one great eye on him. We are intimately linked
Obviously
And if you purse a relationship, with or without my blessing, and become... attached... to someone, my feelings will become engaged as well. You should know that. Therefore- and I warn you only once - be careful who you choose, because it will involve both of us(page 67)
If we look at this conversation carefully, it is insinuating that Eragon can not be in any relationship unless it will be "the One". He's not allowed to have any sort of fling or even a relationship with someone who is not the one, because Saphira will be involved. It's not like he can get into a relationship with someone and then later on discover that they're just not right for each other. No, he has to make one choice and that's it. This goes back to the idea of One True Love, and Eragon's destined lover that was prophicised by Angela. He's not allowed to discover what it means to love, or have a bad relationship or even what it's like to be with another woman. He's not even allowed to discover how to find a woman he likes. He's just supposed to know who to choose. And he's not allowed to chose more than one person. This is forcing Eragon into a corner because he's not allowed to grow and learn about people, about women about relationships. He is going to be in one relationship and somehow he's just going to know who the right person is before getting to know them. He doesn't even get to discover if he's gay or not. Not that he would be. This would be an affront to Paolini's masculinity. He has to be a big macho hero type which means that being gay is completely out of the question. Archetypal Heroes are not gay at all. They meet their Designated Love Interest and that's the end of that.
After this lovers spat, and yes, I declare it a lovers spat because Eragon goes and sleeps on the metaphorical couch because he doesn't want to be near Saphira, the two of them make up and avoid the subject all together. While they're eating lunch a boy, Jarsha, comes and tells Eragon that Nasuada wants to see him. Now while this seems innocuous enough, I've been thinking about something. They're staying in a city, as has been constantly stated. It may be in a marble mountain but it's still a city. Eragon has been given free rein to walk all over the city as he pleases. How utterly difficult would it be to find one person in a city? Especially if you don't know where they are? I'm just saying, that's all.
Moving on!
It takes a half an hour for Eragon to get to Nasuada's office. I feel sorry for that kid who had to find Eragon in the first place. Nasuada and Eragon talk. The Varden are leaving the dwarves and going to Surda. Eragon is going to Elf land. Elf land has a name besides Elf land but it is long and has interesting accents so I'm not going to bother to reproduce it here. Arya is going with Eragon to Elf land to make sure he can get in. He's to leave in the morning. They talk some more about the Varden and what they're going to do. It's all exposition and nothing really happens.
'
Eragon and Saphira then go flying. Why do they go flying? So they can run into Angela. They have a conversation about toadstools. Or frogstools, as she calls them. This goes back to her earlier argument that there are no such things as toads only frogs. Of course the fact that toadstools have nothing to do with toads is besides the point. This is Paolini trying to be clever, of course. However they do point out a certain kind of mushroom, "Fricai Andlar" where the stalk is instant death and the cap cures most poisons. This will probably be brought up later. It's highly unlikely that Paolini would put this in without it having some sort of meaning or use later on. Then Angela just leaves, thus ending the entirely pointless chapter.
Our next chapter begins with the Fellowship of the Ring leaving Rivendell Oh wait.. my bad... wrong book. Our next chapter begins with Eragon, Dwarf and Elf Sue leaving the Dwarf City. Before they do that, Dwarf gives Eragon back his armor. It's all nice and shiny now. And there's something special about the helm. It has the King Dwarf's family symbol on it. If Eragon wears the helm he's agreeing to be adopted into the King Dwarf's clan. This has never happened to a human before, but he's just that special that he gets this honor.
Today's special word is Otho. It is used in this sentence, spoken by Saphira, "It may be intended as a gift, though, another sign of Otho, not a trap." Otho, at first, I thought was Paolini abusing the thesaurus again. But Dictionary.Com defines it as the name of a pope from almost 1000 years ago. This of course makes no sense in context. So after some discussion with other people it is discovered that Otho means faith in dwarf. It's in the back of the book under the dwarf language. Since it is a dwarf word, one has to wonder, Why is Saphira, a dragon who has never used any sort of dwarf word before, suddenly using it? How does she even know what it means? And why does she use it instead of faith? The answers to this, we will probably never know, but it could just be that Paolini is once again, trying to be clever and go, "Look! I have my own language!" Unfortunately the word has absolutely no context and instead of showing how clever he is, merely confuses the reader and pulls them out of the story as they wonder, WTF could that possibly mean? Since it is spoken by Saphira they will probably not think to go to the back of the book and look in the language section but instead go to the dictionary and not find it's meaning at all, thus leaving them in a state of confusion.
Eragon, of course, joins the dwarf club. In joining the club he gains the right to give voice on every issue that is brought before the council. This is probably important and will come into play later on in this book or the next one. Eragon is now Dwarf's foster brother. Dwarf is coming along because the King Dwarf thinks it's only fair that a dwarf be present at the training of Eragon. If we recall correctly from the previous book the dwarves wanted little to do with dragons and their riders. But apparently all of this is forgotten because this is Eragon and everyone wants a piece of him. In fact Nasuada even remarks on this fact when she learns that Eragon is now part of the dwarf club, saying that all three races have a hold on him. I suppose we're supposed to feel sorry for Eragon because he's caught in the middle of all these manipulating forces. But it honestly doesn't feel like that.
As they leave Elf Sue says, "“Come,” said Arya, gliding past them into the darkness of Farthen
It is time to leave. Aiedail has set, and we have far to go.” Looking up the word "Aiedail" we discover that it means morning star. So I speculate that the morning star must be the Sun, however this makes no sense because they're supposed to be leaving at dawn. So what this morning star is... I don't know.
The chapter ends with the
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no subject
Date: 2007-04-01 08:23 am (UTC)1) A fic in which Eragon is gay for Murtagh and has to deal with his homosexuality after being taught that it is OMG RONG.
2) A fic in which Angela brews a potion with a lot of Fre- Freak- Frick- poisonous mushroom thing, and makes him and Saphira drink it, therefore bonding them for life and rendering them lovers.
I haven't actually read anything where the Mighty Cliche Hero actually turns out to be gay. I'd like to. It would be refreshing.
no subject
Date: 2007-04-01 06:20 pm (UTC)I never have the insolence to ship such obviously uncanon couples in fandoms I actually respect. But since Eragon is so utterly dreadful, I have no shame.
no subject
Date: 2007-04-02 12:21 am (UTC)On the other hand, that could be why Eragon is so batshit crazy; his longing for Murtagh and all that...
no subject
Date: 2007-04-02 01:19 am (UTC)...says the girl who's shipping brothers. I don't usually go for incest. Honestly, I don't.
On the other hand, that could be why Eragon is so batshit crazy; his longing for Murtagh and all that...
Unfortunately, Eragon was like that before he even met Murtagh.
no subject
Date: 2007-04-02 01:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-04-02 01:51 am (UTC)*points at icon*
Date: 2007-04-02 03:06 am (UTC)Maybe that's just the way I read it.
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Date: 2007-04-02 12:37 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-04-02 01:21 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-04-02 01:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-04-01 08:38 am (UTC)He is to stupid tro make up his own world isn't he? When I read that passage I started sreaming in frustration. My roomate and friend woke up. Here it is four in the morning.
Her: Where are the Nazgul?
Me: That were no Nazgul, it was just my frustration over Pao Pao’s writing.
She: Well what do you expect, you read Eragon you should know better than to expect good writing form him
Me: *frustrated* He copied the Fellowship and he made fun of Tolkien with his obvious plagiarism.
She: Grabs a spork and a copy of Tolkien’s books yelling.” Lets get to work than”
I swear, she spends far to much time at deleterius. But on the other hand so do I.
I congratulate you on a spork well done. I would give you the purple spork , if I knew how to insert a picture into a comment. I believe everyone can agree that you more than deserve it. I hope you finish sporking the whole series. It is incredibly entertaining and I find myself neglecting homework, to read you comments. Stupid World War 1 essay.
By
no subject
Date: 2007-04-01 08:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-04-01 09:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-04-01 06:50 pm (UTC)[img src="insert URL here" border="0" alt="say something about the picture here"] and just change the [ and ] to < and > where needed.
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Date: 2007-04-01 07:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-04-01 06:55 pm (UTC)< img src= "http://insert image here" >
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Date: 2007-04-02 12:40 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-04-01 08:45 am (UTC)And I hate looking up words in the back of the book, it slows everything down. Especially when they're faux-fantasy type ones.
no subject
Date: 2007-04-01 06:05 pm (UTC)Funnily enough, as x_trickster_x pointed out, "the morning star" is also a name the former angel Lucifer went by before his fall from grace.
So Pao-Pao has unconsciously given us two nonsensical cultural allusions. Either Eragon-land is actually Earth and therefore can see Venus as the morning star or Eragon-land has a neighboring planet that behaves like Venus in its orbit around a main-sequence star like the sun. But, of course, we have no information about Eragon-land's place in the universe. Also, Pao-Pao has unwittingly referenced Lucifer, that is, Satan. A better author would realize this and either use it (if the story was set in the real world) as a bad omen or get rid of it since it creates a mental image that conflicts with the rest of the narrative.
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Date: 2007-04-02 12:45 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-04-02 12:41 am (UTC)Half the time I don't know if it's a made up word or Paolini raping the thesaurus.
no subject
Date: 2007-04-01 04:30 pm (UTC)Inane chapter. What would happen, I wonder, if you ate the entire toadstool at once?
Aiedail, I would assume, refers to the Venus-equivalent of Algaëwhatever. Why it's setting in the morning is an interesting question, likely never to be explained.
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Date: 2007-04-02 01:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-04-01 05:44 pm (UTC)I keep reading Aiedail as Idol even though I'm betting that itsn't want Paolini wanted.
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Date: 2007-04-01 06:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-04-02 01:42 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-04-01 06:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-04-01 06:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-04-02 01:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-04-02 05:25 am (UTC)Stu-time
Date: 2007-04-02 01:30 am (UTC)This amuses the hell out of me. Because the place you NORMALLY see this in real life? It's a reasonably attractive, typical brunette who always says she's ugly and, no matter the reassurance of her friends, no matter if she says that's sweet of them to say so, she'll never really believe them because she knows that she doesn't look like a model (or she'll at least say that she won't believe and mention it again sometime later.) I know, 'cause I'm kind of like that myself and I have/have had a few friends that are too.
So it's just weird seeing Stu's going "Oh, no, my accomplishments in science, politics, or magic are nothing" because, while I suppose it's not impossible for there to be a correlation in WHY a guy would respond that way, it's basically more realistic for a woman to be modest in such a manner (particularly about a matter like beauty, which is far more subjective and flirtatious anyway.) Men, in most societies, are supposed to brag and show off. Not all of them do, of course, but that is the general view.
Admittedly, I could be wrong about all of that. That's just how I see it. :)
And if you purse a relationship, with or without my blessing, and become... attached... to someone, my feelings will become engaged as well. You should know that. Therefore- and I warn you only once - be careful who you choose, because it will involve both of us(page 67)
This is bizarre. It makes no sense. Either Saphira and Eragon feel exactly the SAME about the exact SAME people (which is creepy) or Saphira has her own feelings on the matter. You can't have both at once. If Saphira feels what Eragon does, then she should be interested in this woman as well. Before love, there is interest. Saphira can't ONLY feel the love that Eragon feels, once he falls in love.
Now, if she is saying that "we're like family and we're always together, I want you to choose someone that I like as well", then she went about it ENTIRELY the wrong way. I could accept that she simply handled it badly except that Eragon probably didn't think of anything along the lines of 'Well, how am I supposed to know who you'll like if you don't tell me? Focus on that instead!' in his thoughts after the argument, if not during the argument.
As it stands, no one has any idea what the hell Paolini meant and the whole thing just ends up confusing and stupid. He DEARLY needs to express, in no uncertain terms, the precise fucking link that Saphira and Eragon have. I think in the prior sporkings you pointed out that he tried insinuating that they have some kind of mental link (that may or may not only be a means of conversing.) But it isn't always there and it only affects anything when Paolini wants it to.
However they do point out a certain kind of mushroom, "Fricai Andlar" where the stalk is instant death and the cap cures most poisons.
... How does that work? I understand that with some plants, not all of the plant is poisonous. But that just seems impossible for part to be deadly and the other part a CURE for everything (except the other end of itself.) How did they even find out? I guess someone tried the CAP first and then thought "What if I try the stalk?" and then "FU-- x_x"
Re: Stu-time
Date: 2007-04-02 01:57 am (UTC)The nature of Saphira and Eragon's bond seems to fluctuate depending on what Paolini wishes it to be. At one point they're minds are supposed to be as one, and then at other points it's just a means on communication. We never see Eragon feeling anything from Saphira, only her conversation, which could lead one to believe that the link is one way. But then again, Eragon states that it is other wise. So, it is impossible to know what it's like. Especially since we never get Eragon's thoughts on what it's like. Something that McCaffery did when she had her characters Impress a dragon.
I don't even want to get into the mushroom bit.
Re: Stu-time
Date: 2007-04-02 05:20 am (UTC)Right. But most people don't expect a man to be humble, unless he's a monk or a priest that is supposed to act that way. Men are supposed to be the cannon fodder that is willing to take a bigger risk for a potentially greater outcome, most notably on a battle-field. And then they brag about it in order to impress women. That's all I'm saying. :D
Something that McCaffery did when she had her characters Impress a dragon.
Which is one of the things that makes McCaffrey better than Paolini, most definitely.
I don't even want to get into the mushroom bit.
Mushrooms are evil! And must be destroyed! Either under foot or through consumption. *nods sagely*
Re: Stu-time
Date: 2007-04-02 03:03 am (UTC)Re: Stu-time
Date: 2007-04-02 05:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-04-02 06:54 pm (UTC)I refuse to even think about the One Twu Luv thing, lest my brain scream.
...And the mushroom? xD Oh, wow. All right, deadly poison? Sure. Miraculous cure? Unlikely, but heck, it's a fantasy setting so we can mess around with improbable flora. But both at once? It's a Stu-shroom! :O
no subject
Date: 2007-04-03 08:42 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-04-03 04:56 am (UTC)No, Paolini, just no. There are two ways to handle the random insertion of non-english words and concepts. First is the 'question and answer' method; Saphira says 'otho', Eragon says 'otho?', and Saphira explains it. Second is the 'internal exposition' method, in which the character explains the concept just after speaking it; Saphira says 'otho', then immediately follows it with 'the dwarvish concept of whatever'. Either one works just fine, but you have to use of them. If nothing else, it sounds totally false otherwise; imagine someone you're speaking with, in english, suddenly dropping a word or phrase of Tolkien Elvish or Discworld Dwarvish into the conversation. Now imagine just letting it go without understanding it or giving it a second thought. Totally ridiculous.
And if you purse a relationship, with or without my blessing, and become... attached... to someone, my feelings will become engaged as well. You should know that. Therefore- and I warn you only once - be careful who you choose, because it will involve both of us
It's hard to know where to start with this totally insane concept. There's the unfairness of Saphira getting a veto on what Eragan can do and who he can do it with. There's the creepiness of Saphira basically admitting that she's going to lust after anything he lusts after. There's the ham-handedness and threatening manner of a clawed and fanged animal that can breath fire and is large enough to be ridden by a relatively full-sized human growling and scaring off a casual flirt. And there's the utter inanity of setting up, clear as day, that Eragon is going to have just One Twu Wuv. Not so much because there's someone out there who's naturally perfect for him, but because Saphira will growl at any 'slatterns' who don't fit her standards which, by the way? What the hell does a six month old dragon know about human sexual relationships?
Oy.
no subject
Date: 2007-04-07 07:59 pm (UTC)