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The New Raraku

#1 Gorro

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Posted 24 March 2012 - 03:54 AM

So who ends up in control of the warren around Whirlwind - is it House of Chains or what? Or is it read on and learn.
And do I read it right Raraku transformed into a coral island surrounded by sea? And is it a permanent change or just and echo of the past?

Oh and we now know what SE thinks should happen to rapist now don't we. Left a funny taste in my mouth.

#2 Kanese S's

TMI Frigate Bird of Low House PEN

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Posted 24 March 2012 - 04:35 AM

Do we?

I think it's important to remember that Karsa is also guilty of that particular crime. Then again, he's been imprisoned, enslaved, nearly killed, etc., so...

As well, Bidithal is guilty of female genital mutilation in addition to rape, or at least, that's the impression I got. To me it read like he cut little girls... down there... so that they'd never be able to feel sexual pleasure.

Laseen did nothing wrong.

I demand Telorast & Curdle plushies.

#3 Defiance

Vicariously I live while the whole world dies

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Posted 24 March 2012 - 06:51 AM

It's a permanent change. And the memory/past of Raraku more or less claims itself.

While Karsa is a rapist, I think SE makes an important distinction between Bidithal. Karsa is raised in a culture where it is not only accepted but glorified, but as he is tempered by his experiences, he actually learns that rape is wrong. Bidithal, on the other hand, grows up in a culture where rape and the excision of pleasure is viewed as a disgustingly wrong habit. People tolerate him, though, because of his power. Which, you have to admit, is a bit disturbing. No one really seems to care what Bidithal does to the little girls until it becomes personal. Of course, there is the whole thing with him remaining in play so that he can help expose Febryl's schemes, but even so. Turning a blind eye on that sort of things isn't as bad as actually doing it, but damn, it's pretty close.

uhm, that should be 'stuff.' My stiff is never nihilistic.
~Steven Erikson

Mythwood: Play-by-post RP board.

#4 Aptorian

How 'bout a hug?

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Posted 24 March 2012 - 07:21 AM

Was Bidithal a pedophile/rapist? I never actually got the impression. I thought what he was doing was ritualistic tempering. A Seven cities version of the female circumcisions going on in Africa. I thought he just hurt those girls, and enjoyed doing it, but I didn't get the impression that he had sex with them.

#5 Kanese S's

TMI Frigate Bird of Low House PEN

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Posted 24 March 2012 - 10:22 AM

How much of a distinction is there, really? I'm pretty sure his slicing off of their... bits... qualifies as a sexual assault. If anything, it's worse, because he removed their ability to ever derive any pleasure from sexual relations. He stole sex from them, before many even were old enough to know the value of what he was taking.

Laseen did nothing wrong.

I demand Telorast & Curdle plushies.

#6 Defiance

Vicariously I live while the whole world dies

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Posted 24 March 2012 - 08:29 PM

He raped Felisin before he stole her pleasure, so I think it's a fair assumption to say that he's done it to others.

uhm, that should be 'stuff.' My stiff is never nihilistic.
~Steven Erikson

Mythwood: Play-by-post RP board.

#7 Kanese S's

TMI Frigate Bird of Low House PEN

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Posted 24 March 2012 - 09:02 PM

Did he? It's been a while since I read HoC. I was thinking he did, but wasn't sure.

Laseen did nothing wrong.

I demand Telorast & Curdle plushies.

#8 Salt-Man Z

My pen halts, though I do not

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Posted 29 March 2012 - 05:40 PM

Gorro, on 24 March 2012 - 03:54 AM, said:

Oh and we now know what SE thinks should happen to rapist now don't we. Left a funny taste in my mouth.

I see what you did there.

"Here is light. You will say that it is not a living entity, but you miss the point that it is more, not less. Without occupying space, it fills the universe. It nourishes everything, yet itself feeds upon destruction. We claim to control it, but does it not perhaps cultivate us as a source of food? May it not be that all wood grows so that it can be set ablaze, and that men and women are born to kindle fires?"
―Gene Wolfe, The Citadel of the Autarch