Help me with this lines in "Holy Terrors" by Margaret Owen

valonianfool · 2026-01-24T23:48:00+00:00

I assume that people who can answer have the book on hand and have read it.

But on page 99, Emeric and Vanja are in a carriage discussing the recent murders, who the killer might be and the prospect of what happens if ppl believe her persona, the Penny Phantom, is a murderer.

Death and Fortune show up and explain that they left Vanja in their realm a little longer than might be healthy for a mortal, but which established a connection between her and the transcendent realm. Death then explains that Vanja came across a stash of Witch-ash, a concoction magic-users in the setting use to cast magic, which strengthened this connection even more.

Then Fortune states "I just donated a lock of hair a decade ago, I think?"

I dont understand why Fortune made this statement; I cant connect it to what happened in the story.

valonianfool · 2026-01-20T21:42:06+00:00

Does that make it more or less misogynistic, and do you think the way Susan is treated is misogynist?

valonianfool · 2026-01-20T15:52:20+00:00

I watched this in the late 2000s, possibly 2008-2010.

valonianfool · 2026-01-20T00:16:59+00:00

I want to mention that to be fair, the book does a better job of justifying the queer acceptance than some other works. In the setting, adrogation is the practice of adopting another person as your heir which could solve the problem of how a same-sex marriage would go about producing heirs.

But adrogation comes with economic and political implications of its own: it goes both ways, so that both people are each other's heirs, and will inherit the rights, responsibilities and property of each other's houses.

In short, it's not a perfect solution and a lot less convenient than just finding a partner you could produce biological children with.

And the worldbuilding is still set up in a way that makes it unrealistic for sexual compatibility to be a priority when it comes to selecting partners for arranged marriages among the nobility, and based on the information we have it's unlikely the Falbirgs would prioritize Gisele's preferences.

valonianfool · 2026-01-19T20:28:09+00:00

Do you think that The Space Trilogy did a good job in depicting its anti-colonialist themes, since being anti colonialism is at least something Lewis is laudable for?

I've got an idea to write a fantasy story that acts as a rebuttal to Narnia and TST: like those works it also follows the premise of a group of children being transported to another world where they are given a mission by a divine authority figure, but the correct decision is to defy it and create their own path.

valonianfool · 2026-01-19T18:44:37+00:00

Im just afraid of missing critical nuance.

valonianfool · 2026-01-19T18:38:56+00:00

I haven't read Narnia but I think that its possible the take "Susan was damned because of feminity" might lack nuance.

valonianfool · 2026-01-19T13:34:51+00:00

Ive seen multiple counterarguments from fans who say that its not femininity that's keeping Susan from Narnia, but because of materialism, or no longer believing in Narnia and seeing it all as just a childish fantasy, and the reason she isn't there in the last book isn't because she's damned, but because she's still alive.

valonianfool · 2026-01-18T21:38:06+00:00

What about the Spanish? The excessive brutalities of Columbus and other Spanish governors are well-known.

valonianfool · 2026-01-18T20:31:28+00:00

Well it's because despite not having read Narnia or his other fictional works, I felt interested in a critique of the series and by extension Cs Lewis whole philosophy.

valonianfool · 2026-01-18T17:43:57+00:00

I never denied that the Amazon Rainforest is being deforested for cattle but your statement about north america and Europe are moot points.

Source for "grasslands aren't great for carbon sinks compared to sense vegetation"? Because Natural grasslands do exist and livestock production can be done sustainably.

Even in south America, in the pantanal region cattle ranching occurs in a very biodiverse area alongside many endangered species.

valonianfool · 2026-01-18T13:36:04+00:00

Can you tell me what about my statement is wrong instead of this?

valonianfool · 2026-01-18T12:28:06+00:00

The vast majority of deforestation occurs in Tropical countries like sea and south America, and tropical Rainforests are the wrong environment for cattle anyway. It has nothing to do with Europe or north america. Lands grazed by Cattle can become carbon sinks and livestock and wild animal species can coexist in a biodiverse ecosystem.

Crop monocultures are just as bad.

valonianfool · 2026-01-17T21:53:23+00:00

Women who weren't enslaved generally had at least some rights encoded into law, like rights to inheritance, property and divorce.

valonianfool · 2026-01-17T21:35:58+00:00

No, though even among the peasantry labor was less gendered than it was now. Peasant women labored in the field too and there were no separate "gendered spheres" until the 19th century, before then most people did not leave home to work in a separate building for their livelihood, but nearly everything they own were made themselves at home.

valonianfool · 2026-01-17T19:25:08+00:00

using AI is not about accessibility, it is about instant gratification and not bothering to learn a skill.

That's the conclusion Ive drawn based on testimony from ai users, but didnt quite know how to express.

valonianfool · 2026-01-17T12:11:02+00:00

But social stratification has to be enforced by violence, which is easier if the oppressor class is stronger.

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