for For Something Better11/3/2010 c1 
71Exilo
Let me start by saying, thank you. This has been a good birthday, here and there people wishing me well. Aside from a touching gift from Luke, this is the first…substantial thing given to me, as in, material possession. And a touching one at that.
Hm…the story. At first, I had assumed this would be a story of Exilius, or a character strongly resembling Exilius. The closest character to him, though, is Alidrando. Exilius, well, actually, he’s Kritius now. A long story, but anyway, the character that represents me was rough around the edges. Honestly, I’m not the scientist, I’m the militarist philosopher. I do believe force can often be used to accomplish a task. You know my affinity for hammers. But Arasta reminds me of a great many people who I have talked to, as well as studied. So to see this develop touched me in a way…no offense to you, but it touched me in a way I’m not sure you were expecting.
The story itself was very good, and in my beliefs regarding the Jiralhanae. There was one touch that I had never thought of, and that is the superiority of the Sangheili stemming from the deeds of their fathers. For a species who believes so firmly in a meritocracy, that is a rather big hole. That they do not know their biological fathers, and yet they cling to the robes of their ancestors to justify their preferential treatment. I’m…ashamed to have missed something like that for so long. You’ve opened my eyes to a new dimension of Halo.
Arasta beliefs are well developed. And reflect many greats throughout history, the one lone voice. I had just finished “The Fountainhead” by Ayn Rand, I’ve mentioned I’ve been reading that the past few days. It deals, here and there, with what Arasta was talking about, but had a much different moral. But anyway, Arasta’s views, and, arguably being the only sane one in an insane society. Or is it the only way around? I’m sure it sounds pompous, but I can relate to that. His fears even, of the Jiralhanae not standing on their own two legs but relying on the Covenant for many things. Too many things. Not learning from the Covenant, but only taking it as an excuse to continue on their way of being brutes and monsters. It was well in line with what I see sometimes, here and there.
Arasta is written like a philosopher. And, in that way, I think you are a better writer than Rand, to be perfectly honest. The Fountainhead is so ham-fisted. Like, oh, another section of the Bond Villain’s plans for world domination, whoop-di-do. Yes, I was disappointed in the Fountainhead, and I don’t want to seem like I’m name dropping by mentioning it so much, but I think it’s important. Because, the Fountainhead is considered a great text of morality, individuality, and a well developed exploration of political ideas. But the problem is, it too often reads like a text book. The characters, far too often, simply monologue on and on and on about their beliefs, outlining it perfectly so that the reader will be able to understand what exactly every character is made up of. Again, it’s like reading a text book.
And I criticize it because this story could have been the same as that. In the sense, you have two characters who are discussing what the future should hold, discussing morality. If this were human terms, you have, Socrates, Aristotle, Plato, Galileo, talking to Alexander, Hannibal, Attila, Leonidas. You have the philosopher, the scientist, vs. the warrior, the brute. You keep the discussion well balanced. Specially, “I'd never say fighting is devilry, though I oppose for it being the only answer I never say it can never be a right answer”. So it’s well balanced, instead of a one sided pamphlet. Balance is hard to maintain, and you maintain it. Maintain it well.
Above all else, this is a real story, and the characters feel real. And one thing about it, there is hope for a better world. At this point in time, which would be very early in the Jiralhanae’s entrance to the Covenant I assume, they still carry golden hammers. I enjoy thinking about post-Halo 3 time line. While, the books seem to be going down the road that the Sangheili continue to pwn the Jiralhanae effortlessly, I tried to explore two outcomes, one being the Lazarus stuff, which isn’t pretty, and one with Reconstruction, which is…well…reconstruction. I thought that those were the two outcomes. The only two. But it feels like there could be a third, at least for a time. Not quite an MAD scenario, and not quite the fragile treaty, but treaty none the less. This feels like…this story, the Jiralhanae become their own faction. Nothing formal, and nothing signed between the two sides, but the two sides cool down into a prolonged cold war. And Jiralhanae like Arasta begin to make some headway. I could never see them fully abandoning their golden hammer policy, just as I’m not sure I could. But to have a greater number of philosophers would lead to an interesting dynamic. Whereas Sangheili are warriors, they have distinct education, similar to the samurai. So, hypothetically, say that they are eighty percent warrior, and twenty percent philosopher. To have the Jiralhanae take on even ten percent philosopher while their regular ninety percent is the golden hammer wielding warrior, I think that would be amazing. But don’t touch honor. Jiralhanae and honor…bleh.
A touching gift. I cannot thank you enough. I do just wonder, at what time is this happening? I wonder if Kritius could be a distant descendant of Alidrando, perhaps Alidrando being his great-grandfather.
Only problem would be that adult Jiralhanae names end with an -us suffix, though there are examples of that not being followed. So, it's not actually a mistake, just something to be aware of.
71ExiloLet me start by saying, thank you. This has been a good birthday, here and there people wishing me well. Aside from a touching gift from Luke, this is the first…substantial thing given to me, as in, material possession. And a touching one at that.
Hm…the story. At first, I had assumed this would be a story of Exilius, or a character strongly resembling Exilius. The closest character to him, though, is Alidrando. Exilius, well, actually, he’s Kritius now. A long story, but anyway, the character that represents me was rough around the edges. Honestly, I’m not the scientist, I’m the militarist philosopher. I do believe force can often be used to accomplish a task. You know my affinity for hammers. But Arasta reminds me of a great many people who I have talked to, as well as studied. So to see this develop touched me in a way…no offense to you, but it touched me in a way I’m not sure you were expecting.
The story itself was very good, and in my beliefs regarding the Jiralhanae. There was one touch that I had never thought of, and that is the superiority of the Sangheili stemming from the deeds of their fathers. For a species who believes so firmly in a meritocracy, that is a rather big hole. That they do not know their biological fathers, and yet they cling to the robes of their ancestors to justify their preferential treatment. I’m…ashamed to have missed something like that for so long. You’ve opened my eyes to a new dimension of Halo.
Arasta beliefs are well developed. And reflect many greats throughout history, the one lone voice. I had just finished “The Fountainhead” by Ayn Rand, I’ve mentioned I’ve been reading that the past few days. It deals, here and there, with what Arasta was talking about, but had a much different moral. But anyway, Arasta’s views, and, arguably being the only sane one in an insane society. Or is it the only way around? I’m sure it sounds pompous, but I can relate to that. His fears even, of the Jiralhanae not standing on their own two legs but relying on the Covenant for many things. Too many things. Not learning from the Covenant, but only taking it as an excuse to continue on their way of being brutes and monsters. It was well in line with what I see sometimes, here and there.
Arasta is written like a philosopher. And, in that way, I think you are a better writer than Rand, to be perfectly honest. The Fountainhead is so ham-fisted. Like, oh, another section of the Bond Villain’s plans for world domination, whoop-di-do. Yes, I was disappointed in the Fountainhead, and I don’t want to seem like I’m name dropping by mentioning it so much, but I think it’s important. Because, the Fountainhead is considered a great text of morality, individuality, and a well developed exploration of political ideas. But the problem is, it too often reads like a text book. The characters, far too often, simply monologue on and on and on about their beliefs, outlining it perfectly so that the reader will be able to understand what exactly every character is made up of. Again, it’s like reading a text book.
And I criticize it because this story could have been the same as that. In the sense, you have two characters who are discussing what the future should hold, discussing morality. If this were human terms, you have, Socrates, Aristotle, Plato, Galileo, talking to Alexander, Hannibal, Attila, Leonidas. You have the philosopher, the scientist, vs. the warrior, the brute. You keep the discussion well balanced. Specially, “I'd never say fighting is devilry, though I oppose for it being the only answer I never say it can never be a right answer”. So it’s well balanced, instead of a one sided pamphlet. Balance is hard to maintain, and you maintain it. Maintain it well.
Above all else, this is a real story, and the characters feel real. And one thing about it, there is hope for a better world. At this point in time, which would be very early in the Jiralhanae’s entrance to the Covenant I assume, they still carry golden hammers. I enjoy thinking about post-Halo 3 time line. While, the books seem to be going down the road that the Sangheili continue to pwn the Jiralhanae effortlessly, I tried to explore two outcomes, one being the Lazarus stuff, which isn’t pretty, and one with Reconstruction, which is…well…reconstruction. I thought that those were the two outcomes. The only two. But it feels like there could be a third, at least for a time. Not quite an MAD scenario, and not quite the fragile treaty, but treaty none the less. This feels like…this story, the Jiralhanae become their own faction. Nothing formal, and nothing signed between the two sides, but the two sides cool down into a prolonged cold war. And Jiralhanae like Arasta begin to make some headway. I could never see them fully abandoning their golden hammer policy, just as I’m not sure I could. But to have a greater number of philosophers would lead to an interesting dynamic. Whereas Sangheili are warriors, they have distinct education, similar to the samurai. So, hypothetically, say that they are eighty percent warrior, and twenty percent philosopher. To have the Jiralhanae take on even ten percent philosopher while their regular ninety percent is the golden hammer wielding warrior, I think that would be amazing. But don’t touch honor. Jiralhanae and honor…bleh.
A touching gift. I cannot thank you enough. I do just wonder, at what time is this happening? I wonder if Kritius could be a distant descendant of Alidrando, perhaps Alidrando being his great-grandfather.
Only problem would be that adult Jiralhanae names end with an -us suffix, though there are examples of that not being followed. So, it's not actually a mistake, just something to be aware of.