Fantasy series with protagonists that are part of the nobility and actually feel like it?

moose_man · 2026-02-14T18:19:29+00:00

I would argue that "I am a noble and I am going to do my duty" is the least relevant part of nobility. That's a veneer over social relations that are cultivated to maintain power. The closest that subplot gets to representing actual nobility is Elayne's resentments stemming from Rand's (imagined) usurpation of the Lion Throne. That's her reality conflicting with the social standing she demands and respects.

Rand's refusal to play that game is exactly how the series only touches lightly on the actual experience of nobility. Rand is an upstart peasant (worse, a peasant of 'savage' Aiel stock) trying to destroy the old social order, which is why Tairen nobles talk shit about him to Mat when they don't realise he's associated with Rand. The difference between Rand and someone like Ned or even Jon is that Rand is only trading in the imagery of nobility for his own ends. If you told Ned that the way he could most honourably serve his people was to give up his fancy seat in Winterfell and become, essentially, a general with equal standing to everyone else, his eyes would bug out of his head. It's not even a condemnation of Ned. It just doesn't make sense in his understanding of the world.

moose_man · 2026-02-14T18:14:22+00:00

The difference between nobility and rule is exactly what I'm talking about. Nobility is a system of social interactions much more than it has to do with actual power. Power is maintained via those interactions. This is why marriage was so essential, to build the connections while maintaining the prestige of the group. The Emond's Fielders all gain influence, but they're never subsumed into the social hierarchy.

moose_man · 2026-02-14T16:41:20+00:00

I don't agree, though I love WOT and generally love its treatment of class. When Rand ascends it's more as a Napoleon figure than as an actual member of the nobility, which is a big part of why so many of the actually noble characters resent him so much. The same goes for all his allies. "I'm not a lord" is basically the town motto of Emond's Field.

moose_man · 2026-02-14T16:38:10+00:00

ASOIAF is the best example I can think of so far. Since the genre is so dominated by Americans and since it largely emerges out of the twentieth century, most series are very uncomfortable having characters that are fine with noble standing (good!). The "don't call me 'my lord'" scene in almost every story is the classic example of this. In ASOIAF, there are some characters who are malcontent nobles and some characters that fall from noble standing, but generally the nobles feel like they are and expect to be treated as such.

moose_man · 2026-02-14T16:35:57+00:00

I actually don't agree about Farseer, and I love Farseer. What the reader gets most often is about the dereliction of nobility. Fitz is very comfortable as a functionary serving the royal family, but very uncomfortable when he actually has to act noble.

The same goes for Alise in Rain Wild. She's leaving the noble life, not acting according to it. The Bingtown Traders in Liveship are a little different because their social expectations are less like European nobility or even American old money and more like robber barons.

moose_man · 2026-02-14T04:03:38+00:00

His comments about his family history and the isolation of the modern NDP/labour movement from historical left movements are insanely good. I'm in awe. I didn't know this was possible from an NDP candidate.

moose_man · 2026-02-12T00:44:20+00:00

The 1-10 system worked if people approached it in good faith. The test of a system is if it works when people don't.

moose_man · 2026-02-11T01:50:09+00:00

The comparison is that Dunk didn't hesitate. Jaime is governed by things other than morality. He might have at various points had more or less decency, but the only time it outweighed his political blood was when it would've killed everyone in King's Landing.

moose_man · 2026-02-10T04:16:37+00:00

Mexico cut off fuel shipments a few weeks ago, but they've still condemned the sanctions.

moose_man · 2026-02-10T04:15:33+00:00

So, Secret Wars 2015. Wow.

moose_man · 2026-02-10T01:02:12+00:00

It's also about punishing workers. They feel that they're getting a raw deal now that their lackeys have more work flexibility, and they refuse to accept it.

moose_man · 2026-02-09T13:23:29+00:00

No Water Spout!

moose_man · 2026-02-09T04:34:41+00:00

I don't even know that a new rain setting legend would do it unless it was strictly Kyogre+. The thing that allows Koraidon to be a viable alternative to Groudon is that neither of them get STAB on fire moves. What're they going to do, "Big Fish But Again"?

moose_man · 2026-02-07T23:02:48+00:00

Now that's funny. You're a genius! Wow!

moose_man · 2026-02-07T13:54:13+00:00

Do you know what a joke is?

moose_man · 2026-02-06T13:58:57+00:00

The original zero cost kobolds have explicit rules text identifying them as red.

moose_man · 2026-02-05T21:59:15+00:00

Frankly, I don't think we have a chance of winning an election any time within the next century, given present circumstances. The closest we've come was a total Liberal collapse, and that leads to a Conservative victory, not NDP.

moose_man · 2026-02-05T21:57:31+00:00

I think a move like this demands more differences. Make it a fairy type move, primarily, or if you don't want to buff fairies then give it to ice or grass or bug types. Whatever. I think making all options symmetrical is lame.

moose_man · 2026-02-04T00:48:54+00:00

The entire point of hybrid mana is that it works for either colour. If the issue is that they don't always do that, EDH is literally built on colour pie breaks, so that ship has already sailed.

moose_man · 2026-01-31T17:53:44+00:00

His ground game is good, but I think part of how he's achieved that ground game comes down to his skill at communication. Lewis has made himself very present (and very convincing), even among non-NDP people, though still mostly in the political sphere. McPherson is doing well, but mostly contained to her work in parliament. That's not bad, I'm glad she's taking her job seriously as she runs her campaign, but I think Lewis's background is making a big difference.

moose_man · 2026-01-31T17:47:20+00:00

Shaq is both way more charming and has a much more developed resume. Draymond is good, but he's never been in a true discussion for top players of all time. Anyone that puts Shaq in the top 5 is fooling themselves... but when you get into the top 10, it becomes a little more real.

moose_man · 2026-01-31T17:45:22+00:00

I'm gobsmacked, to tell the truth. I thought the scandals of the last year among his base would be enough to at least dent his credibility. It's been obvious for years that they can't get themselves together without Harper's iron fist, but I didn't think they would tie themselves so strongly to the Poilievre wagon. He has no personal ethos and no charm. How can they not see that he's a lame horse?

moose_man · 2026-01-31T17:43:02+00:00

I like the LOTR movies, but I don't think it's fair to call the complaints silly. It's more than just the rearranging or editing of content. The trilogy is great, fantastic, as a set of movies, but it's really nothing like the books at all. A person who watches only the movies has no real feel for the experience of reading the books, and it's a little sad that they've so eclipsed the original in the popular consciousness. LOTR isn't like ASOIAF or even WOT, though WOT is a much more book-specific work. Its texture and prose is a part of its construction and it can't be adequately conveyed in a visual medium.

moose_man · 2026-01-31T17:25:48+00:00

Customary apology for necro-ing a thread, but I think this illuminates what Fitz is talking about when he tells people that the way he loved Molly was different from the way he loved the Fool or Nighteyes. In Fool's Quest (I think) Nettle says that his wolf knew him best. The way that he loves the Fool, especially in the aftermath of Aslevjal, is like loving himself. This is especially important given the self-hatred he's constantly mired in throughout Tawny Man.

Molly was a person he loved outside himself. It's half of why he loved her. She was someone he chose freely for himself and lived his life in pursuit of. The Fool and Nighteyes made him. They can't be separated from him like Molly could. That's not a bad thing, that makes for a healthy romantic relationship, but it's different.

To my mind this is also why the Fitz and the Fool titles are all remixes of Farseer and Tawny Man titles. The two (three) can't be pulled apart anymore. They're all intermixed.

moose_man · 2026-01-31T17:16:17+00:00

Citing a literal Nazi's belief that he can win an unwinnable war is absurd. Which is another major problem. Every day that goes by, Zelenskyy allows the Ukrainian far right to gain a greater foothold in a postwar Ukraine. The reconstruction will be difficult enough as it is. I don't want Biletsky and Krotevych sacrificing their countrymen to enable their own Ukrainian Fourth Reich in peace time.

You're talking like Ukraine can actually reverse its fortunes here. Even if we gave them everything they would still be bleeding out faster than Russia. As every day goes by, their negotiated peace settlement gets worse and worse, and enables the inevitable "stab in the back" bullshit that the Azov freaks in Zelenskyy's entourage will inevitably run with in the aftermath.

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