I really need to see DON'T PANIC in large friendly letters right now.

[puella_nerdii]

Am back on campus, and am looking over my course schedule and wondering what the everliving hell I was thinking. Especially since the university's new system makes it a lot harder to do the last-minute class-shuffle I'm so accustomed to.

...maybe I'm less screwed than I think I am? We'll see.

oh god I am still not ready to be a senior heeeeelp

Comments

[puella_nerdii]

I didn't know the term existed until I ran across it in a bit of fannish meta a while back, so don't worry!

Good to know, and I think that's a sensible policy -- I find I'm less spoiler-phobic about things that have already been concluded, but I hate being spoiled for any kind of series that's still ongoing. But a lot of people have wildly varying spoiler policies, so I wanted to err on the side of caution.

That would be Dragonriders of Pern, I think? Oh god, those books. I read them when I was a very young Puel (and I read the Dragonsinger series first, which is why I have any lasting shred of affection towards the things, because the Dragonsinger books are at least a little less icky), and -- they do not hold up. I think the official thing with the greens was that chewing on the fire-producing rocks made them sterile, which was weird because it never did that to the male dragons but there you have it. I think there is a female greenrider a little later, but it is not done well. Also, OH GOD THE SKEEVY GENDER ISSUES IN THAT THING. Like how according to Word of God, all the greenriders are "passive homosexuals" (and if that's not the exact wording it's damned close to it) and that if a guy isn't gay before he impresses a green, the Sparkly Dragon Bond makes it so. Oh, and the rape that is totally true love!
...sorry. Pern makes me kind of explode.

Rankin and Levitas work so damned well, yes -- and you know, that's something I really love about Laurence: he has convictions and he has strong ones, but when he sees he's wrong, he owns up to the fact and does his best to make it right again. Why is it so rare to see fictional characters (or PEOPLE, hell) who are that mature?

[vulchu]

That does make me feel better! XD thank you for passing that little gem of info along! o/

It's understandable! ♥ I do appreciate the caution, but yeah. People can spoil me for whatever and I don't care. Sometimes spoilers are necessary to get me reading/watching/playing something.

Actually it wasn't Pern! Though you're making me really glad that Pern never factored into my adolescent years. It was the Dragons of the Argonath series by Christopher Rowley. I can't remember how far I read in it but looking back on it, it was pretty misogynistic because I think the main character slept with at least one woman in every book. And I was reading these things before I was even into high school, lol.

Gosh I know yes. It makes him a tich unbelievable at times for me because he's just. So. Mature. But at the same time it makes for really amazing messages woven into the background when you see that sometimes Laurence has the wrong idea about something and he adapts, but sometimes Laurence has a good idea about how to change things and other people realize it. And he does get angry and stubborn at times, which tempers his epic maturity. But overall it's a really nice framework of cultural exchange and just. guh. ♥

[puella_nerdii]

Pern is one of those things that seems like a really good idea when you're a preteen (though even then I remember going "...oh really" at the Skeevy Gender Issues). Sort of like Mercedes Lackey, only more pernicious. *ducks* At least her stuff was generally just outright ridonkulous. Oh Vanyel. I don't recall reading the series you mentioned, but it doesn't sound like much of a keeper, so I will stick to my dragon books where the author clearly does not condone the sexism her characters often display.

Guh indeed, and to me it just smashes my honor-buttons so hard, because Laurence will admit to injustice when he sees it and he will do what he can to correct it, and guh moral conviction, and guh conflict between Laurence's code of honor and the one he's expected to develop and the honor-codes of the people he interacts with and now I am just thinking Julius Caesar and "so are they all, all honorable men" because in this case it is non-ironically true and I think it is fascinating how so many people can have such different kinds of integrity, but they all have it --

-- I am tired and fangirling and should probably remedy at least one of these things but. Yeah.

[vulchu]

Admittedly, a lot of the books I read as a child were sort of hand-me-downs from my older brother and my dad. So I wound up reading a lot of male fantasy authors and. Well. They're not always the best ones at displaying equality in terms of gender roles. I agree with you on Lackey though. XD Definitely something that seems good as a preteen, definitely something you look back on and go "wait...what"

Also I take back everything I said about Laurence's immaturity being a bit hard to swallow because FUCK IF THE MAN IS NOT HILARIOUS WHEN HE'S FLUSTERED. I wanted to laugh forever at the exchange with him and Emily and her mom who is all sorts of badass and kickass and epic rolled into one. Admittedly, I do not have huge honor and loyalty pings (that's more katmaxwell's department) but I love to see tight laced men get flustered. XD