GOODKIND IX - Killer Queen

[Algiz]

As for shortening your life, well, if the QotD takes a decade off, its probably the last decade, which is a mad rambling shitting in your adult diapers decade. So you're welcome again.

Are you suggesting that I be grateful before the notion of a shorter existence? You imply that I Choose death, instead of Desiring Life, betraying my soul? Outrage and blasphemy, indignation and heresy. I was looking forward to spending those last gentle years on a remote farm, nurturing a woman and the remnants of my yeard – mumbling good-natured exclamations of “Bags!†when the goats are being unruly.

As for your question about Richard and Kahlan:

They met in book one, Richard is roaming around the woods trying to find clues about his fathers murder when he comes across Kahlan who is being persued by a "Quad", which is four D'Haran soldiers set out to rape and kill Confessors. This is the first time Kahlan escapes being raped, and the first time Richard kills anyone. Its a big day.

And there was much rejoicing, sounds like a true Goodkind moment. Nothing like forging the basis of a relationship with a near-rape and a quadruple woodland slaughter. When you run out of QotD from Phantom (should probably coincide with the events described above), this might be worth looking into.

[Voland]

And there was much rejoicing, sounds like a true Goodkind moment. Nothing like forging the basis of a relationship with a near-rape and a quadruple woodland slaughter. When you run out of QotD from Phantom (should probably coincide with the events described above), this might be worth looking into.

It's already been a QotD at least once. Look it up, it's worth it

Oh, and Oba is a very realistic serial killer as TG (BBHN) talked to a bunch of FBI-guys that told him so, or something like it. I seem to recall him saying that in an interview, and TG (BBHN) never passes an opportunity to toot his own horn up.

[MinDonner]

I had a dream last night about writing Goodkind-themed limericks, so thought I'd better obey the inner voices and write one for real (the ones in my dream were pretty lame tbh). What I have so far is:

There once was a wizard of war

Whose girlfriend was really a whore

She nearly got raped

But then she escaped

...wait, haven't we seen this before?

On the subject, Kahlan has never actually had sex with anyone except Richard, has she? So Jagang is unlikely to get his wicked way this time, either. I reckon he's going to try to cure Kahlan's memory-loss so he can rape her "properly," then she'll manage to escape by using her powers on some guard who also tries to rape her, then she can have a tearful reunion with Richard when he's finished cutting off peasants' ears.

[Eurytus]

There once was a wizard of war

Whose girlfriend was really a whore

She nearly got raped

But then she escaped

...wait, haven't we seen this before?

That's awesome.

Here's mine;

Listen to this tale of a man of great moral clarity

Betwixt his preaching and actions there was a disparity

Counselling against torture all the time

Yet mutilating hippies it was fine

And gave rise to moments of much hilarity

[KAH]

An author of the real Good Kind

bid Richard his Kahlan to find

scratching his beard

cried "Bow to the Yeard,

you communist centipede swine!"

[Baeraad]

Torturing your enemies for fun is the finest aspect of humanity?

Not for fun, for vengeance. It's a perfectly natural reaction; if someone has caused you immensive pain, you want to cause him pain back. The only thing stopping you is mercy, and then the question becomes - does this purpetrator deserve your mercy? If you decide he does not, you have no reason to hold back.

Goodkind believes that the best thing anyone can aspire to is to be fully alive. This means admitting your passions - all of them, not just the nice ones. And it means acting on them, as long as that doesn't get in the way of your survival. To hurt his heroes, therefore, is to invite vengeance. They are not bound by the IO's code, which makes mercy a requirement; they can choose to grant it, but they can also choose to withhold it.

Obliterating the will of those you touch and making them your slaves is?

Again, this means refusing to be a victim. Attack Kahlan, try to harm her, and you'll spend the rest of your life protecting her. You don't have to spend the rest of your life protecting her. You can choose not to attack her. This is one of them life choices.

Also, how is the Confessor's touch worse than just killing people (which most would say you're allowed to do, if you're attacked and your life is at stake)? A Confessor's victims are perfectly happy. They live lives of perfect love and altruism - some would say that's ideal. Richard & Co would not, so they regard the Confessor's touch as the horror it is - but it's one more tool they have to achieve their goals, and they're not in the habit of throwing tools away.

(must... restrain... knowledge of what a Confessor's touch really is. Must not admit that it's really a case of "You're wasting your life by not living it the way I would live it! I'll make you my slave - that way, at least you'll be good for something!" Damn it, Goodkind, sixty years old and you still think like an angsty teenager...)

Hmm? No, I didn't say anything. Not in the habit of throwing tools away, yep, that was the last thing I said.

Goodkind seems to revel in the degradation of humanity, complete with rape.

What Goodkind "seems" to do is not the issue. Neither he nor his heroes have ever advocated rape. It is true that he has created a world where degradation is always a real possibility, but the same could be said for our own.

[TheSorrowfulMan]

I am disappointed in the last quote Terry clearly wasn't on top of his game if he wanted to really impress us Oba should of Raped his mother. Then bashed her head in with a shovel. That is true empowerment.

[KAH]

Baeraad;

What Goodkind "seems" to do is not the issue. Neither he nor his heroes have ever advocated rape. It is true that he has created a world where degradation is always a real possibility, but the same could be said for our own.

Thankfully, I haven't read Goodkind except Debt of Bones and the little snippets I read here (which is really more than enough, thank you very much!), but it does indeed seem likely that Goodkind is moving towards ever more degradation, including the morals of his hero.

Take the snippet where Richard says to wage some hare-brained guerilla war on enemy territory since they cannot defeat the IO army head on, and someone objects that this will harm innocent people. Richard dismisses this as irrelevant, seeing as

1) The IO started it.

2) The good guys have the appropriate motivation for their actions.

Seeing as the justification of all this is to end the war as quickly as possible, Richard implicitly has given a carte blanche for his men to do whatever they want to the enemy (including civilians). After all, any injury inflicted on Old World inhabitants would be a Good Thing - torture, rape, murder, what have you. As long as you can rationalize that the True Motivation ™ of your actions is to end the war more quickly/ensure your own victory...well, anything goes, really.

[Sad King Billy]

You could almost make a parallel with the Middle East situation: Richard & co are Hezbollah, making as many kills as possible, because they can't face the Imperial Order (Israel) head on, due to their strength in numbers (real world: superiority of equipment)

Both sides kill civilians, one side claims all deaths are justified in the struggle for freedom. Not sure whether the IO claims the victims, rapes, etc... is collateral damage, though. euhm, yeah. ok, fine, it's a weak comparison. Sue me

[The Wolf Maid]

Wow. So many poems and songs. It seems TG does inspire people to do better things.

Like great comedy.

Baerdad, that was a great defense of TG's work, much better than what mystar could ever come up with.

Just wondering, has there been a QOTD on what Gratch looks like? I need it for the Richard/Gratch slash I'm writing....

[MinDonner]

Richard's a wizardly lord

Who learns lots of tricks through his sword

And after he's killed

A statue he'll build

And lecture you till you are bored.

Wolf Maid, I think Gratch is like a brown furry Barney the Dinosaur, but with wings. Though I'm not sure I could stomach the slash... :sick:

[The Wolf Maid]

Wolf Maid, I think Gratch is like a brown furry Barney the Dinosaur, but with wings. Though I'm not sure I could stomach the slash... :sick:

I thought he was scaly or something. A brown furry Barney. Gah. I hate Barney.

I just want to know if the world will really end if I do write a Richard/Gratch slash.

[Sad King Billy]

The world? Possibly. Civilization as we know it? Been there, done that.

[The Wolf Maid]

The world? Possibly. Civilization as we know it? Been there, done that.

*shug* Gives me something to do later when I go home from work.

If you don't like slash, I could do the chicken, or the goat. They're both female, so that would make it het.

Hm. Come to think of it, what does Richard look like? Other than being manly and noble of course. What's his hair and eye color?

[Sad King Billy]

His eyes are grey, IIRC; supposed to be a mixture between Darken Rahl's blue, and Zedd's brown. That's what I assume was the author's logic behind it...

Don't remember the hair, but when looking at the covers, there are a lot with a man with brown/blackish hair.

[The Wolf Maid]

His eyes are grey, IIRC; supposed to be a mixture between Darken Rahl's blue, and Zedd's brown. That's what I assume was the author's logic behind it...

Don't remember the hair, but when looking at the covers, there are a lot with a man with brown/blackish hair.

Thanks. Now I can work on the slash.

Then I can shoot myself in the head after.

[MinDonner]

Don't forget to use the word "glided" - this seems to come up in far too many of the QotDs to be entirely a coincidence. Terry's ideal sentence would probably begin "the thing instantly glided...", possibly ending with "whump!"

Glided is an odd word, it looks like it shouldn't be correct but it is. Wouldn't be the first time he's had trouble with his irregular verbs though; he has also used the word "shined" more than once.

[The Wolf Maid]

Don't forget to use the word "glided" - this seems to come up in far too many of the QotDs to be entirely a coincidence.

Glided is an odd word, it looks like it shouldn't be correct but it is. Wouldn't be the first time he's had trouble with his irregular verbs though; he has also used the word "shined" more than once.

I won't. Thank you for the advice. And let's not forget the word 'instantly' and 'thing'.

I really find his use of the words glide and stride together off. When I write, I usually use glide for women, to denote grace. Having someone stride, then glide, is rather odd for me. It's almost a contradiction. Stride usually denotes force and 'heavy' movements, glide is for grace and 'light' movement.

[MinDonner]

Ah, but you forget - Terry (BBNC)'s only concerns are theme, plot and characterization (sic). Consistency of gait does not concern him, nor do the pointless minutae of English grammar. True freedom is the freedom to ignore the grammatical conventions of the masses and to strike out with a unique writing "style" all of his own - well, him and several hundred other teenage boys failing GCSE English, anyway.

[The Wolf Maid]

Ah, but you forget - Terry (BBNC)'s only concerns are theme, plot and characterization (sic). Consistency of gait does not concern him, nor do the pointless minutae of English grammar. True freedom is the freedom to ignore the grammatical conventions of the masses and to strike out with a unique writing "style" all of his own - well, him and several hundred other teenage boys failing GCSE English, anyway.

Weird. I once asked people in another forum what were their biggest pet peeve in [fan] fiction. All of them said they hated bad grammar. Plot, theme, and characterization were mostly secondary concerns.