This is, I think, ![[personal profile]](http://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lilfluff‘s fault.
The summer between years 31 & 32 of the Addergoole school
The boy with the unfortunate name of JohnWayne seemed to be settling in decently to Yoshi’s mom’s collar by the first time Yoshi visited home. At the very least, he wasn’t fidgeting, wasn’t hiding, and had learned to stay away from Uncle Howard and leave Gaheris alone.
He had, interestingly, far more a sense of curiosity than most of Mom’s Kept had displayed, displayed in part by the place that Yoshi had found him.
He also seemed to be lacking in common sense enough to pretend he’d just happened upon the hidden closet and hadn’t seen anything. Then again, Yoshi wasn’t sure he could blame him. After all, he’d found Mom’s trophy rack.
Yoshi had seen it before, of course. From the look on JohnWayne’s face, he hadn’t been expecting that.
“That…” He gulped, and tapped the saddle-leather collar hanging under the tidily-lettered “Pellinore.” “That’s my father’s name.”
Yoshi took another look at the kid – weird that they’d started out grown-ups and ended up kids, while Mom never seemed to change. He could see it, in the eyes, in the pointed ears. “I remember him,” he agreed. “He was a nice guy when he was here. Mad as hell about it for a while, though. Mom said he nearly blew up the car.”
That didn’t seem to help Johnny-boy any. He blanched, a trick with his complexion, and looked back at the rack. “All those names…?”
“Yeah. All Kept. Mom’s Kept.” He had his own trophy rack in the castle. Taking pity on the boy, he reached over and tapped the very first one. “That’s my dad’s name.”
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This is oddly cute. But … JohnWayne son of Pellinore? Seriously? What was he *thinking*?
It’s an awesome name! (they should never let teen boys name kids XD )
Yes, that. 🙂 He was thinking he didn’t like Johnny’s mom and really liked cowboy movies. Also, he was thinking that “Pellinore” was an arse name.
…? Was he Kept at the time? Does he not care about his kid? I suppose not all of them do, and there seems to be a strong social meme that kids belong to their mothers, beyond the naming. But if he doesn’t like Pellinore … hell of the way to curse the kid with another Hopeless Quest name, along with lonliness, and tragedy in all his romances.
It’s not a social meme, it’s actually a Law. The name doesn’t determine the kid’s fate (Eris thinks it does. She’s wrong.); it sometimes describes it. Sometimes kids just give their kids a name because they like the sound, or because it’s like their own name. We have one baby on the tree whose name translates to “Help me!”
Is there a list of Laws somewhere? Do the Laws have fixed phrasings, or are they ideas? Names, changes, powers and even personalities seem to go together nicely for a fair number of characters. Coincidence? It’s not a nice thing to give your kid to start out with (though it could be worse), even if it’s not binding. Seriously? Who thought this was a good idea, and why?
There might be; I’ll go look. http://www.addergoole.com/wiki/index.php?title=The_Law ! Oh, yes, it’s just the other way around. The Naming Rite gives some idea of the kid’s future, which, if the father has any caring and prescience, shows in the names. “Help me?” A kid who really, really needed rescuing.
O_o #4 seems like a pretty severe failure of #3. Given #2, why can any of the new students at Addergoole be Kept, by their own agreement or not? They should still be under the aegis of their mothers or mentors. #6 seems like it’s not particularly understood or binding on either side. Are there extant writeups of any of the naming or acknowledgement processes? … that still seems like an unpleasant name to be saddled with. (What’s the actual name?) What was the answer to Penny’s question about who Names the child if its father dies before it is born/named?
Fourth Law of Belonging? It’s not a fail, it’s a loophole Ah-ha! That, that is PLOT. Both sides argue quite a bit about the sixth law. There are not writeups. Should there be? Acknowledgement process? Ayuda. The mother, then.
Yes. #3 is a fairly “nice” rule; #4 undermines it badly. How did these rules come into being? Plot which is currently ongoing/in the writing? Plot which is somewhere in the archives? Plot which you’ll get around to sometime? What are the “both sides” to argue about #6? Ah, I thought there might be a naming or graduation story somewhere. And the “recognized by three of its Breed” acknowledgement. Is Breed fae in general, or the “original” three races, or something else entirely? Ayuda could maybe also be someone who provides help?
The Gods set the rules in place. There are situations in which #4 can be not-a-bad-rule; Addergoole just isn’t good at exemplifying them. Plot == One of the key plot points of the serial. There’s a line in “Belong” which leans on “responsibility.” The Children of the Law say that their responsibility is to guide, not control. The Children of the First focus on “Belong” meaning “property” and believe they have the right to do whatever they damn well please to humanity. Breed = original three races. There’s a halfbreed codicil not listed. It could also be, but I know what Joff meant when he Named her.
Err. Which Gods? Surely not the fae who are showing back up claiming to be gods? Such as? Well, yes, it’s pretty clearly critical to the mess which is Addergoole, but why does it work, given those rules? Is that going to be explained in the serial at some point? Or is it just a necessary state for the scenario? This school set up by the Children of the Law (I think?) seems not to be doing a very good job of teaching “responsibility not ownership” to its students.
I think we all pretty well understand that you are morally opposed to the setting. Continuing to point it out doesn’t seem constructive on any level.
I’m certainly not fond of the morals of many of the characters, nor the way Addergoole is run, but that’s not the same space/issue as poking at the axioms of the universe they operate in. That said, if would rather I not poke, I won’t.
With Addergoole/fae apoc, it’s hard to differentiate your “how does this run?” from “this setting sucks.” (The worldbuilding on Addergoole was intentionally dystopic and unfair. Sometimes this gets attacked as bad planning or bad worldbuilding, which makes me more than a little defensive about this.)
Check! Would you prefer that I try more carefully to distinguish, or stop poking, or something else? (Addergoole is deliberately designed in-world to be … trying. I’ve no idea if the fae laws were, or were designed at all …)
in world, the fae laws were… you know, I don’t know. Um. That’s a good question. I think if you keep in mind that I /know/ it’s a dystopia – and also keep in mind yourself that yes, the setting is nasty. Some times, I really can’t cope with any of it, honestly. I could wave a flag on those days? 🙂
Please feel no obligation to answer, acknowledge, or otherwise pay any attention to my questions, especially if/when they are causing you stress. Letting the stories stand on their own is perfectly reasonable. So is telling me to cut it out if I ask the same thing repeatedly, or if you don’t feel like dealing with them at all.
*nod* thank you. I am bad at conflict, but may just not answer if it comes up (Or I may practice my drawing-lines skill on you. 😉
*raises a hand* I take partial responsibility for, when Lyn requested someone tell her it was a bad idea, informing her that it was in fact an excellent idea. (For the record, I still think it IS an excellent idea.) ~Inventrix
It’s a fine plot idea, it’s just sort of headache-inducing to consider someone in genre thinking it was a good idea. “Being a jackass” is a much more plausible explanation than “thought it was a good idea”, for what Pellinore was thinking. (And what said.)