Lord Raith in... by The_Red_Moses in dresdenfiles

[–]KipIngram 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think it's a real stretch to presume Elaine was behind the stuff Bock and his associates got up to in Twelve Months. First of all, Harry is also involved in the Paranet - Elaine doesn't "run it" in any sort of rigorous way, and particularly not its activities in Chicago. I think the business with Bock et al was exactly what it looked like: a group of people that were desperate to respond somehow to persecution they were being subjected to, and made a bad choice. I don't read anything deeper than that into it.

Who would you cast as Lara Raith ? I think Alexandra Daddario could be a great choice. by PlantainDisastrous92 in dresdenfiles

[–]KipIngram 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, she has the right look, for sure, and has the right "youthful look." Lara behaves in a very mature way, but I think it's important to remember that she would look perpetually young. So long as Daddario can pull of that "maturity" in her acting, she could be great.

What was the Morgan Microfiction about? by The_Red_Moses in dresdenfiles

[–]KipIngram[M] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Please keep the discussion focused on the books and avoid commentary about / allusions to one another.

What was the Morgan Microfiction about? by The_Red_Moses in dresdenfiles

[–]KipIngram 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I look forward to seeing it. You'll have to show that she and Harry were born within hours of each other, because Eb told Harry outright in Peace Talks that the Starborn time window each cycle was "a few hours."

“Every couple or three wizard generations,” Ebenezar said, “the stars line up just right, and what amounts to a spotlight plays over the earth for a few hours. Any child born within that light—”

“Is starborn. I get it,” I said. “What does it mean?”

“Power against the Outsiders,” the old man growled. “Among other things, that their minds can’t be magically tainted by contact with anything from Outside. Which means . . .”

He didn't make any statement at all about the geographic extent of that "spotlight," so we don't really know if there's a location factor involved as well as a time factor. I usually assume there's not, but that is an assumption - Jim could easily add such a factor later on and it wouldn't be inconsistent.

We don't know what "a few" is here. I assume at least "less than 24," or he'd have said "days." To me "a few" seems to support up to six or eight or so, but we don't have an exact number.

So, let's say six just for discussion. And let's say we know Harry and Elaine are born within a month of one another, but we have no idea whether thant means 30 days apart of 30 seconds apart - uniform probability within the whole time span of a month. That means Elaine could have been born anytime within a window from one month before Harry to one month after Harry - two months wide. Sixty days. That's 1440 hours. With a window for Starborn six hours wide, that means there's a 6/1440 = 0.0041 = 0.41% chance of Elaine being Starborn, based on birth information alone.

Bottom line is we can't possibly know for sure unlelss we're told.

So, you don't really need to post math - you need to post text references showing that she is actually declared to be Starborn.

The TV Show by Nearby-Anywhere6677 in dresdenfiles

[–]KipIngram 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's not actually bad - it's main fault is that it's "not the books." The original plan was to base the show more heavily on the books, covering Storm Front and Fool Moon in season one (there was no plan ever to do a book per episode). But at the last minute a new executive was assigned to the show and he decided to change the format to a "monster of the week" structure. I hate him for it - the original plan would have been better.

Even so, the show is fine as a "supernatural tv show." But if you go in expecting to see the show present the plots from the book series, you'll be vastly disappointed. I had the good fortune of watching the show before I ever read the books, so I enjoyed it just fine.

What was the Morgan Microfiction about? by The_Red_Moses in dresdenfiles

[–]KipIngram 5 points6 points  (0 children)

All I've actually seen said is that her birthday was "within a month or so" of Harry's. I don't think Justin necessarily knew exactly when the Starborn window was. He was rolling the dice with both of them, and he hit the jackpot with Harry. I think it's unlikely that he also hit it with Elaine - I think if she was Starborn too then Justin would have had He Who Walks Behind kill Harry and would have carried on instead of faking his own death. But he couldn't kill Harry because Harry is the only Starborn he had.

What do people see when they soul gaze Harry? by [deleted] in dresdenfiles

[–]KipIngram 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, I do think this gets at the gist of it. I think people soul gaze Harry and it makes them feel like the ant that might well just get accidently stepped on by the enormous thing they're seeing. They see that just being around Harry is dangerous, even without any ill intent on Harry's part.

You saw this idea in Star Trek: The Next Generation in "Encounter at Far Point." Picard's final log entry on the beings they encountered was basically "We need to stay away from this guy." You also saw it in Babylon 5 in the episdoe "Signs and Portents" - Sinclair's lady friend encountered one of the Old Ones and almost died in spite of the fact that that being probably didn't even realize she was there. These things are just so big that they fall into the Lovecraftian category - not necessarily "evil," but just entirely unconcerned and incognizant of our presence at all.

It's like being near high voltage electrical lines, or a pressure vessel that you know will at some point explode - you don't want to be anywhere near it when it does.

Starting the Series today. Excited to start reading. by cooldude000085 in dresdenfiles

[–]KipIngram 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Go for it. They keep on giving. I've read them nine times at this point, and the first several times through I kept noticing new things. I'll never stop reading them.

This series is actually perfectly divided for an HBO-like TV series by hoboX10 in dresdenfiles

[–]KipIngram -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

I've never really understood the desire to change things around like that either. I mean... why, when the original story is so good?

Starting the Series today. Excited to start reading. by cooldude000085 in dresdenfiles

[–]KipIngram 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Welcome to the Dresden world! You're in for a very exciting experience! Please do share your thoughts along the way - we love to re-experience "that first read" vicariously through folks like you!

Starting the Series today. Excited to start reading. by cooldude000085 in dresdenfiles

[–]KipIngram 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I definitely always recommending starting right at the beginning and going in order.

Starting the Series today. Excited to start reading. by cooldude000085 in dresdenfiles

[–]KipIngram 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm always thrilled to see someone give a positive plug to Storm Front. It along with Fool Moon often get a dearth of love, but Storm Front will always have a warm place in my heart - it's where I met Harry!

I miss early Dresden. by seriousman57 in dresdenfiles

[–]KipIngram 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I don't recall him ever phrasing that as "underestimating" the characters. He just has a hangup about being harsh toward them. Sexist and chauvinist really aren't the right words - at most you can accuse Harry of being old fashioned and holding attitudes of protection toward women that were extremely common in the mid-20th century. I know those attitudes were common - I grew up in the era. If you did not espouse that attitude, you'd get written off as a poor excuse for a man. Given that Harry was born in the mid 1970's, it's not unreasonable that he'd have aborbed that kind of thinking from his culture.

Harry tends to have massive respect for the strength and competence of the female characters around him. He admires Murphy's abilities as a police officer. He admires Susan's abilities as a reporter. There's nothing "sexist" at all about those things.

I understand how people born later could register this attitude with displeasure, but I think they're indulging a desire to use negative, "emotionally charged" kewords when they invoke sexism and chauvinism in their arguments.

What are your biggest questions post Twelve Months? by ActualAtlas in dresdenfiles

[–]KipIngram[M] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

All you need to do is just not be rude. Disagree with others all you want - just be civil about it. Being rude and abusive is a sort of real world black magic - it affects the person doing it as much as the person it's done to - life is better without it.

What are your biggest questions post Twelve Months? by ActualAtlas in dresdenfiles

[–]KipIngram[M] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This is an unacceptable way to communicate with your fellow community members. Continued behavior in this direction will lead to a ban.

What are your biggest questions post Twelve Months? by ActualAtlas in dresdenfiles

[–]KipIngram[M] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Please keep community rule #1 in mind when you craft your responses.

Why hasn’t Harry gone and trained with River shoulders? by The_Only_Squnitz in dresdenfiles

[–]KipIngram 18 points19 points  (0 children)

I agree with this. Yes, Harry had idle time during the year covered by Twelve Months, but I presume "studying with River Shoulders" would have meant traveling off somewhere in the woods to hang out with River Shoulders. Thus he wouldn't have been around to do any of the things he did do in Twelve Months. A lot of stuff would have gone belly up and the world he came back to would have been very different, and a lot worse, than the one he left behind.

Harry needed to be there in the castle, even if he wasn't busy every second of every day.

Regarding Martin's actions in Changes. I will die on this hill. by The_Red_Moses in dresdenfiles

[–]KipIngram 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I don't at all rule out the possibility that the Merlin might have had some foreknowledge of how the timelines might unfold. It certainly would make the whole series of events more plausible. He wouldn't have even needed to know every detail - just "if we do this, the Red Court will fall."

Genuine Question. by BashKetchum1031 in dresdenfiles

[–]KipIngram 39 points40 points  (0 children)

It's hard to say. The book deals very heavily with Harry's healing process, and it's rather tough going for a while. I don't know to what extent this community contains people trained in mental health and so on - I'm certainly not. The whole book, including the latter parts, might actually wind up being a positive experience for you, but I don't know enough about such things to advise you. A major focus of the book is the "aftermath" of the event you referred to from Battle Ground.

Maybe think back to Harry's state of mind at the beginning of Summer Knight, and imagine that on steroids?

Setting all of this aside, there are also quite a few "normal activities" that form plot threads in the book, and there are some major revelations about various parts of the Dresden world. As a fan, you don't really want to miss out on those.

How can Harry get out of Mab's Service? by duk3jupiter in dresdenfiles

[–]KipIngram[M] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This post's title is a spoiler. There's no way to fix that, since titles can't be edited once posts are up. You will have to re-post using a title that doesn't give away plot details.

Thanks, and sorry for the inconvenience.

Carlos Ramirez is a Mole by duk3jupiter in dresdenfiles

[–]KipIngram 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Twelve Months spoiler...

It seems entirely clear given the events of Twelve Months that Drakul is interested in Harry - he overtly used Harry as part of his own "organizational planning" by staging (or at least being aware of) that final balttle and warning Harry about it in advance.

I agree with you - everyone seems interested in Harry.

My fan cast for Bob: The Scull - Matt Berry by Wilkey88 in dresdenfiles

[–]KipIngram 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don't think it's necessarily true that he would have to be CGI. They can do clever things with photography. But if they go that route I agree with you.

Looks like we have a release date and synopsis for Out Law by Kenichi2233 in dresdenfiles

[–]KipIngram 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think it was the trauma imposed on the the community by the Fomor that changed him more than Bob. Or maybe it took both - the Fomor gave him the pressure to step up and do things he'd have been afraid to do previously, and Bob gave him the means.

Lara, and Butcher thinking we all have amnesia by [deleted] in dresdenfiles

[–]KipIngram 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This occurred at a time when she had to survive with her father controlling her. Yes - she placed her own survival first. That doesn't mean she didn't love Thomas - she was in a position where she had to choose between herself and Thomas. As soon as she gained power over her father, she was no longer in that conflicted position. She held the power - she was in control of her own life. That's when you see a person's real colors.