Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Witherweaver]

I remembered I had seen this idea (power through names) used by other authors as well.  I think it comes up in the Dresden series.

Before Christianity, people in Finland actually believed in power through names.

Right, well I guess most fantasy stuff has roots in mythologies.

[Axxle]

It's hardly a new concept, it's called "true names". https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/True_name

Rumpelstiltskin is a good example of a story with it that's existed for thousands of years https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rumpelstiltskin

[Kirian]

I'm pretty certain both "kid learns about special powers s/he wasn't aware of and enters a magical world" and "names give you power over things" predate Ursula LeGuin as well.

[Donald X.]

It's hardly a new concept, it's called "true names". https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/True_name

Rumpelstiltskin is a good example of a story with it that's existed for thousands of years https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rumpelstiltskin

Rumpelstiltskin, what? The name had no power. I am looking at the link, it gives no power to the name.

I'm pretty certain both "kid learns about special powers s/he wasn't aware of and enters a magical world" and "names give you power over things" predate Ursula LeGuin as well.

I don't equate "kid learns about special powers s/he wasn't aware of and enters a magical world" with "school for wizards."

It's not that "school for wizards" is a hard concept to think of. It's that Le Guin got there first, with a well-known book. If your first thought when Harry Potter hit the news wasn't "oh, like A Wizard of Earthsea?" then I don't know what to tell you.

[eHalcyon]

There's also this at the beginning of Azkaban:

They were there, both of them, sitting outside Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlor — Ron looking incredibly freckly, Hermione very brown, both waving frantically at him.

I don't have a problem with a black Hermione. At all.

But I wanted to chime in to say that this argument doesn't work so much.
If I remember rightly this quote is from immediately after Hermione has been on holiday somewhere beachy.  It's a comment on her tan.  So really it supports the idea that she's canonically white.  Otherwise commenting on her tan wouldn't really be a thing.

I think people have argued that if she were just tanned, it would have said "tanned" instead of "brown".  But my point was more that we shouldn't read too much into the colours in this quotation or the other.  "White" in context was likely just a reference to Hermione's emotional state.

[Darth Vader]

Enough about Harry Potter. Let's talk about Star Wars.

[Awaclus]

Enough about Harry Potter. Let's talk about Star Wars.

Why does anyone care? It's a crappy continuation of a mediocre series

[Darth Vader]

Enough about Harry Potter. Let's talk about Star Wars.

Why does anyone care? It's a crappy continuation of a mediocre series

If Awaclus could be turned, he would make a very powerful ally...

[silverspawn]

In this case I agree with Awaclus. I don't even think the starwars movies qualify as 'mediocre'.

[Burning Skull]

Not a huge fan of the first six Star Wars movies, but at least they were enjoyable to watch.
The last one was a plain nightmare. The only good thing about this movie is a girl in the main role IMO.

[Kuildeous]

If it's in the context of being scared, white-face means pale, as in the reddish color from normal blood flow has left your face.  Contrast to flush, where your face is red from increased flow.  This is a human thing, not a racial thing, though obviously not noticeable the lighter someone's skin is.

The fact that we use white-faced to describe the effect of blood drained from the face definitely shows the Caucasian-centric nature of that phrase. But that is the nature of language.

I wonder if the efficacy of gamification is mostly a generational thing. I know that there are gamers out there who seek to complete every achievement in a game, but I just usually ignore them. It does help me know ahead of time if my action in XCom 2 is great. Before the animation is completed, I'll see a badge pop up that I got something cool.

Although, I did focus a lot on the star challenges on Super Mario Galaxy, so I guess I did fall for it. The additional stars just allowed me to access harder content, as I recall.

[Seprix]

In this case I agree with Awaclus. I don't even think the starwars movies qualify as 'mediocre'.

Heresy! HERESY! (The prequels are awful though)

[Haddock]

There's also this at the beginning of Azkaban:

They were there, both of them, sitting outside Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlor — Ron looking incredibly freckly, Hermione very brown, both waving frantically at him.

I don't have a problem with a black Hermione. At all.

But I wanted to chime in to say that this argument doesn't work so much.
If I remember rightly this quote is from immediately after Hermione has been on holiday somewhere beachy.  It's a comment on her tan.  So really it supports the idea that she's canonically white.  Otherwise commenting on her tan wouldn't really be a thing.

I think people have argued that if she were just tanned, it would have said "tanned" instead of "brown".  But my point was more that we shouldn't read too much into the colours in this quotation or the other.  "White" in context was likely just a reference to Hermione's emotional state.

This might actually be a cross Atlantic issue. Am i right in saying you're American?
In my experience, brits use "brown" to describe tan on white people more often/naturally than "tanned".

[Awaclus]

Heresy! HERESY! (The prequels are awful though)

In other words, you agree that, on average, it is a pretty mediocre series?

[Seprix]

Heresy! HERESY! (The prequels are awful though)

In other words, you agree that, on average, it is a pretty mediocre series?

No. Episode 4 is incredible, Episode 5 is one of the best movies of all time, Episode 6 is the worst of the original trilogy but still good. And because of the prequels, we got Mr Plinkett. Episode 7 is arguably better than 6, and it's "basically" Episode 4 all over again.

[silverspawn]

In this case I agree with Awaclus. I don't even think the starwars movies qualify as 'mediocre'.

Heresy! HERESY! (The prequels are awful though)

No man, 2 > 5 > 3 > 4 > 6 > 1; the second of the prequels is the only movie worth watching.

[Seprix]

In this case I agree with Awaclus. I don't even think the starwars movies qualify as 'mediocre'.

Heresy! HERESY! (The prequels are awful though)

No man, 2 > 5 > 3 > 4 > 6 > 1; the second of the prequels is the only movie worth watching.

!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

That's arguably the WORST Star Wars movie!

[eHalcyon]

This might actually be a cross Atlantic issue. Am i right in saying you're American?
In my experience, brits use "brown" to describe tan on white people more often/naturally than "tanned".

Oh, that could be it.  I'm Canadian, but that's still the same side of the Atlantic.

[silverspawn]

In this case I agree with Awaclus. I don't even think the starwars movies qualify as 'mediocre'.

Heresy! HERESY! (The prequels are awful though)

No man, 2 > 5 > 3 > 4 > 6 > 1; the second of the prequels is the only movie worth watching.

!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

That's arguably the WORST Star Wars movie!

I remember having had this discussion in the past with Teproc, but he wasn't able to tell me what is bad about it.

It has a really good plot, not generic, untypical, even, with the good side having the larger army and the main characters not being the heroes at the end; It has cool locations; It takes itself seriously, for the most part (the chase in the beginning sucks and the comic relief in the end with C-3PO is the worst part about it); it does not require opponents to be utterly incompetent to work, or even the good side having extraordinary amounts of luck; it's not predictable; it sells the universe believably; it has no stupid over the top scenes like 3 and 4 and 6.

In other words, it's a good movie! Unlike 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7

[Seprix]

In this case I agree with Awaclus. I don't even think the starwars movies qualify as 'mediocre'.

Heresy! HERESY! (The prequels are awful though)

No man, 2 > 5 > 3 > 4 > 6 > 1; the second of the prequels is the only movie worth watching.

!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

That's arguably the WORST Star Wars movie!

I remember having had this discussion in the past with Teproc, but he wasn't able to tell me what is bad about it.

It has a really good plot, not generic, untypical, even, with the good side having the larger army and the main characters not being the heroes at the end; It has cool locations; It takes itself seriously, for the most part (the chase in the beginning sucks and the comic relief in the end with C-3PO is the worst part about it); it does not require opponents to be utterly incompetent to work, or even the good side having extraordinary amounts of luck; it's not predictable; it sells the universe believably; it has no stupid over the top scenes like 3 and 4 and 6.

In other words, it's a good movie! Unlike 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7

You confuse me.

[Kirian]

I know it's a bit weird that the series "starts" with Episode 4, and I'm sure there are plenty of stories they could tell prior to New Hope, but I think it's a bit silly to be ranking movies that haven't been made yet, right?

[Accatitippi]

In this case I agree with Awaclus. I don't even think the starwars movies qualify as 'mediocre'.

Heresy! HERESY! (The prequels are awful though)

No man, 2 > 5 > 3 > 4 > 6 > 1; the second of the prequels is the only movie worth watching.

!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

That's arguably the WORST Star Wars movie!

I remember having had this discussion in the past with Teproc, but he wasn't able to tell me what is bad about it.

It has a really good plot, not generic, untypical, even, with the good side having the larger army and the main characters not being the heroes at the end; It has cool locations; It takes itself seriously, for the most part (the chase in the beginning sucks and the comic relief in the end with C-3PO is the worst part about it); it does not require opponents to be utterly incompetent to work, or even the good side having extraordinary amounts of luck; it's not predictable; it sells the universe believably; it has no stupid over the top scenes like 3 and 4 and 6.

In other words, it's a good movie! Unlike 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7

You confuse me.

Careful, or you'll hit yourself in your confusion.

[silverspawn]

I know it's a bit weird that the series "starts" with Episode 4, and I'm sure there are plenty of stories they could tell prior to New Hope, but I think it's a bit silly to be ranking movies that haven't been made yet, right?

who ranked movies that haven't been made yet?

[Seprix]

Careful, or you'll hit yourself in your confusion.

I know it's a bit weird that the series "starts" with Episode 4, and I'm sure there are plenty of stories they could tell prior to New Hope, but I think it's a bit silly to be ranking movies that haven't been made yet, right?

who ranked movies that haven't been made yet?

I mean, I'm pretty excited about Rogue One...

[Titandrake]

I know it's a bit weird that the series "starts" with Episode 4, and I'm sure there are plenty of stories they could tell prior to New Hope, but I think it's a bit silly to be ranking movies that haven't been made yet, right?

who ranked movies that haven't been made yet?

Ooo, ooo, I get to explain a joke to make it funnier!

Kirian is saying that Star Wars starts on Episode 4, and there's lots of potential for stories before A New Hope, but no prequels have been made. Of course, Kirian knows the prequels 1,2,3 have all been made. He's pretending they don't exist to explain how much he would rather they didn't.