Apotheosis
Lucifer
- Pronouns
- She/Her
You mean Marcipoor here?
Also, is Claudo the sarcastic one we're supposed to like or the other? Though I assume there's few differentiating features between the two.
Let's Read: Vox Day's Arts of Dork and Spite, and Try to Make the Resulting Hurt Stop.
- Thread starter Space Oddity
- Start date
- Books
You mean Marcipoor here?
Also, is Claudo the sarcastic one we're supposed to like or the other? Though I assume there's few differentiating features between the two.
- Location
- East Coast
Yep, my mistake. Let's be honest though, these characters are all starting to blend into each other.
Also, is Claudo the sarcastic one we're supposed to like or the other? Though I assume there's few differentiating features between the two.
No, Claudo's the bishop we're supposed to see as the bitter old dean because he calls Marcus on his bullshit. Aestus the reportedly dead one is supposed to be the lovable sarcastic one.
As I plan on elaborating, he didn't actually achieve that state.
- Location
- East Coast
For those wondering--just two more chapters, and then I'll do the Appendixes and the Author's Note in one entry.
And then it's eight short stories.
And then it's eight short stories.
Self-published or Baen?
It's Beale, of course it's self-published.
- Location
- East Coast
Technically, it's published through Beale's own
Though the first edition of Summa Elvetica (and just Summa Elvetica none of the stories) was done through a basement-level Christian press.
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I(A) Q. VIII A. I AD II: Almost through with this chapter system. Huzzah!
- Location
- East Coast
More Bad Latin involving elves and souls and back to the story in progress. The party is taken to King Mael in a backroom that is apparently where he holds his RPG sessions--it's got shabby furniture and dice in it, though Marcus, coming from a less enlightened culture assumes it's the guard's breakroom. Mael is pissed, and he has Zephanus with him. Marcus finds that he's rather peeved at this man who is trying to kill him. Especially as to how they killed Aestus, who Marcus insists was brilliant and affable, something none of Aestus' handful of lines communicated. In fact, generally when he actually interacted with people in this story, Aestus came off as a smug jerk, but hey, the important thing is we were told repeatedly that he was brilliant and witty. We also learn that Aestus was--apparently--on the "Elves don't have souls" side, though he felt that this didn't mean they were demons, just you know, like sparrows, and other animals. The important thing is, he didn't hate them for being soulless. So mourn him people! MOURN HIM!
Mael meanwhile declares that the Bishop is too much of a loose cannon, who as the first human to set foot in Elebrion in Mael's reign, ruined the feast held in his honor, had his soldiers disturb the peace, AND set fire to the city. Also, he's been told that Marcus is plotting to kill him. Oh, and he's seduced an elf, apparently, and Mael ain't down with that. Elves and roundears shouldn't mix, yo! Caitlys is offended at this, but Mael shuts her up with the Special Award winner...
Having thus made it clear that Mael feels obligated to speak like a bad Renfaire extra, he says he'd like an explanation for all this, and it better be damned good, or executions. Marcus seems to feel that Mael is being icily polite as he says this, but no, it's his usual third-rate Bond villain ranting, so apparently Amorrans have really shit manners.
Claudo's response is to point out that he was responsible for none of these things, which is the truth, and that the people he's blaming are actually trying to help Mael avoid a war. Oh, and he doesn't know what's going on with Marcus and Caitlys, but that's their business. All he knows is they saved his life, so, they're good people in his book. Lodi confirms this, but adds that he set the fire to cover his escape. Mael seems to be amused by all this, so I'm going to assume that this has interrupted a drinking party, and he's rather blitzed. He notes to Zephanus that this seems to contradict his story. Zephanus responds by spinning an elaborate conspiracy theory, claiming that Claudo and Aestus were both elf-haters, backed by merchants, plotting Mael's assassination to start a holy war. Oh, and apparently Claudo was the "elves have souls" guy, though it's tough to be sure. Anyway, the plan was Marcus would kill Mael, Mael's heir would kill the delegation, holy war would start. When Mael points out a slight flaw in this plan for members of the delegation, Zephanus says, well, you know fanatics. Holy martyrs and all that. As for Caitlys, well, Zephanus doesn't claim to grok the internal politics of the elves.
Despite the obvious response to that being "Pull the other one, it has bells on it," Mael is confused, and Marcus talks up Zephanus' ability as a liar. And then Mael says, well, wait, you're supposed to be a Michaeline, but they say you're not a Michaeline. So about you do that anti-magic thing, and if it works, clearly they're lying, and if it doesn't, they're telling the truth, and also, time that would have been spent sending for an executioner is saved. Caitlys is game, and everyone thinks it's a good idea, except for Marcus, who says that it would be murder. He pushes himself between Zephanus and Caitlys and is promptly rendered a human shield by Zephanus. Nice one, Marcus. Zephanus prepares to toss a dagger at Mael, Caitlys casts a spell and a shitload of knives appear and plunge into Zephanus and Marcus. Marcus is unharmed. Zephanus is dead. Mael seems slightly put out and asks if Caitlys could have used a slightly less messy spell. Caitlys insists that she chose the spell to honor Mael's wisdom, as it was worthy of whassname? That human guy? That was a king?
Marcus answers "Solomon", and we all groan. After some musing about how terrible elvish sorcery is--this chapter it's been a lot of uses of "elvish" a few uses of "elven" and no uses of "elvic"s as yet, so, small mercies--Marcus starts going off about how Solomon's wisdom involved avoiding slicing things up, and Mael says, hey, at least it wasn't a Flame Wind spell. Though he does wonder how Marcus avoided getting killed. Marcus is left mystified, and then realized that the relic he got in the beginning is on him--and hot to the touch. So apparently crazy-ass relics do work as advertised in this universe.
Mael decides that Zephanus was lying, which leaves the trouble of the rest of the Michaelines, which Mael is eager to handle. Claudo points out that as their crime was against the Order of St. Michael, the Knight-General.... that is a terrible title which misunderstands what the "General" in things like "Postmaster-General" means... anyway, it should be up to him. Mael says he can judge the parts that are leftover, but Claudo is adamant on this. Mael says fine, but Claudo and Marcus are leaving tonight. Claudo asks about the Legionary eagles, and Lodi, and the Michaelines. And also Marcipor. So, Claudo is now a million times more thoughtful than our protagonist.
Mael replies that he doesn't really care about any of them, so sure, everything will be sent to Amorr. Though Amorr's paying for it. And nevermore shall a man set foot in Elebrion. Except, wait, they're probably going to need emissaries now and then, aren't they? Screw it, he's tired. And probably drunk. Mael bids them go, Claudo says something in elvish/elven/elvic, Mael appreciates the sentiment, and bids them go again before he kills them all.
And we all breathe a sigh of relief at the fact that there's one measly chapter left. Yay.
Mael meanwhile declares that the Bishop is too much of a loose cannon, who as the first human to set foot in Elebrion in Mael's reign, ruined the feast held in his honor, had his soldiers disturb the peace, AND set fire to the city. Also, he's been told that Marcus is plotting to kill him. Oh, and he's seduced an elf, apparently, and Mael ain't down with that. Elves and roundears shouldn't mix, yo! Caitlys is offended at this, but Mael shuts her up with the Special Award winner...
Having thus made it clear that Mael feels obligated to speak like a bad Renfaire extra, he says he'd like an explanation for all this, and it better be damned good, or executions. Marcus seems to feel that Mael is being icily polite as he says this, but no, it's his usual third-rate Bond villain ranting, so apparently Amorrans have really shit manners.
Claudo's response is to point out that he was responsible for none of these things, which is the truth, and that the people he's blaming are actually trying to help Mael avoid a war. Oh, and he doesn't know what's going on with Marcus and Caitlys, but that's their business. All he knows is they saved his life, so, they're good people in his book. Lodi confirms this, but adds that he set the fire to cover his escape. Mael seems to be amused by all this, so I'm going to assume that this has interrupted a drinking party, and he's rather blitzed. He notes to Zephanus that this seems to contradict his story. Zephanus responds by spinning an elaborate conspiracy theory, claiming that Claudo and Aestus were both elf-haters, backed by merchants, plotting Mael's assassination to start a holy war. Oh, and apparently Claudo was the "elves have souls" guy, though it's tough to be sure. Anyway, the plan was Marcus would kill Mael, Mael's heir would kill the delegation, holy war would start. When Mael points out a slight flaw in this plan for members of the delegation, Zephanus says, well, you know fanatics. Holy martyrs and all that. As for Caitlys, well, Zephanus doesn't claim to grok the internal politics of the elves.
Despite the obvious response to that being "Pull the other one, it has bells on it," Mael is confused, and Marcus talks up Zephanus' ability as a liar. And then Mael says, well, wait, you're supposed to be a Michaeline, but they say you're not a Michaeline. So about you do that anti-magic thing, and if it works, clearly they're lying, and if it doesn't, they're telling the truth, and also, time that would have been spent sending for an executioner is saved. Caitlys is game, and everyone thinks it's a good idea, except for Marcus, who says that it would be murder. He pushes himself between Zephanus and Caitlys and is promptly rendered a human shield by Zephanus. Nice one, Marcus. Zephanus prepares to toss a dagger at Mael, Caitlys casts a spell and a shitload of knives appear and plunge into Zephanus and Marcus. Marcus is unharmed. Zephanus is dead. Mael seems slightly put out and asks if Caitlys could have used a slightly less messy spell. Caitlys insists that she chose the spell to honor Mael's wisdom, as it was worthy of whassname? That human guy? That was a king?
Marcus answers "Solomon", and we all groan. After some musing about how terrible elvish sorcery is--this chapter it's been a lot of uses of "elvish" a few uses of "elven" and no uses of "elvic"s as yet, so, small mercies--Marcus starts going off about how Solomon's wisdom involved avoiding slicing things up, and Mael says, hey, at least it wasn't a Flame Wind spell. Though he does wonder how Marcus avoided getting killed. Marcus is left mystified, and then realized that the relic he got in the beginning is on him--and hot to the touch. So apparently crazy-ass relics do work as advertised in this universe.
Mael decides that Zephanus was lying, which leaves the trouble of the rest of the Michaelines, which Mael is eager to handle. Claudo points out that as their crime was against the Order of St. Michael, the Knight-General.... that is a terrible title which misunderstands what the "General" in things like "Postmaster-General" means... anyway, it should be up to him. Mael says he can judge the parts that are leftover, but Claudo is adamant on this. Mael says fine, but Claudo and Marcus are leaving tonight. Claudo asks about the Legionary eagles, and Lodi, and the Michaelines. And also Marcipor. So, Claudo is now a million times more thoughtful than our protagonist.
Mael replies that he doesn't really care about any of them, so sure, everything will be sent to Amorr. Though Amorr's paying for it. And nevermore shall a man set foot in Elebrion. Except, wait, they're probably going to need emissaries now and then, aren't they? Screw it, he's tired. And probably drunk. Mael bids them go, Claudo says something in elvish/elven/elvic, Mael appreciates the sentiment, and bids them go again before he kills them all.
And we all breathe a sigh of relief at the fact that there's one measly chapter left. Yay.
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- Location
- Volksstaat Hessen, Deutsches Reich
Most. Pushover. Supposedly-obnoxiously-arrogant-elven-king. EVER!
- Location
- East Coast
To be fair, he's handing these people over to the fine folks who think gladiatorial combat is just fine and dandy, so from where he stands, it just saves him from having to come up with appropriately cruel means of execution. But yeah. "NO HUMANS EVER! Oh, wait, we'll still need to diplomacy now and then. Right, LIMITED HUMANS HENCEFORTH!"
POSTSCRIPT--I should also mention that I tend to picture Mael as being Elrond played Mike Myers doing his Dr. Evil accent. It fits the character and it makes me laugh.
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I(A) Q. VII A. I AD IV: The last awful title for this thing.
- Location
- East Coast
More bad Latin about elves, and animals and souls, and damn it, this is annoying. And now--on to the epilogue, where Beale will attempt to demonstrate that Marcus has grown so, in his epic journey. Right, so they're at the... Pontus Rossus which divides Amorr the city from Amorr the empire... and of course, Beale's Latin is so shit that he can't even give his version of the Rubicon the right name. So, Marcus is coming back home. We learn that Mael did send all the Amorran stuff back. Marcus freed Lodi at Kir Donas, and had the bishop give him a handsome purse of gold, as is only fair. Claudo also gave him a relic, a gilded bit of the foot of Saint Saturus.
Marcus gets to musing on Caitlys, who he apparently kissed. And Marcipor is hanging around, and not bringing up the whole freedom thing. The pretend Michaelines aside from the not inconsiderable number of the dead, were taken to Mount Cassanus (or rather MountCassanus in the text--as I've stated elsewhere there have been a lot of merged words here), where the Knight-General will pass judgement. I still hate that effing title. Marcus has had a conversation with Serranus about one burning question--how did they impersonate the Michaelines so well?
See, I would have asked how they managed to pass as Michaelines in Amorr itself, to the point where they were at a meeting in the forum before EFFING POPE NERO DUMBLEDORE HIMSELF. But that's just me. Beale is content to plug the little hole in his "plot" while allowing the great gash in it to go on sinking the ship. Anyway, they read up on them. Well, that's good to know. Serranus asks Marcus to put in a good word to him, so that the Knight-General will sell them to the stables, or even the salt mines, and not kill them.
Yep, had to get one last one in there. So now that we know that Beale really doesn't know what Roman-era salt mines were like, it's time for our meeting with Pope Nero Dumbledore. Marcus is thinking how the room he's meeting in seems small this time, instead of intimidating, which kind of ignores the fact that he's meeting one of the most powerful men in the world. We learn the Knight-General is named Francescus Centurionus, so just fuck that guy, and... it's still MountCassanus. Anyway, his plan for the imposters is to have them be slaves of the Order of St. Michael for seven years and a day, and everyone seems to think this is a great idea, especially Marcus who feels Serranus will be fighting in God's name, "notmammon's".
Crystal Dragon Jesus Christ. This thing needs a real editor.
Pope Nero Dumbledore asks if Marcus has reached a decision, and Marcus says, yes, yes he has, elves have souls, possibly a lot of other things do as well, and here is his own Summa Elvetica on it, which he modeled on Oxonus, and why is Pope Nero Dumbledore laughing? Pope Nero Dumbledore explains that he just wanted to know if Marcus had reached a decision on his profession. After feeling all butthurt, Marcus says that he will serve God, but he thinks he should do so out of the Church. Pope Nero Dumbledore says that's great--he and the Bishop think he's more an intellectual than a priest, and that you shouldn't confuse the Church with God, which gives Claudo a chance to throw some shade on Nero Dumbledore. They then turn to what Marcus plans to do now, and he explains that he's going to put himself forward for tribunus plebis--wait, wait, no stop. That is literally not how the system works. Marcus is a patrician. He can't be a plebeian tribune, unless he wants to get adopted by a plebeian. I mean, Beale can say "This isn't Rome," but it's close enough that...
Ehh, fine, it doesn't matter. More importantly, for now Marcus' plan is to join his father on the campaign to learn the great Valerian art of killing thangs. Pope Nero Dumbledore wishes him luck with all that, and then asks if he's willing to do one last favor for the Church. Pope Nero Dumbledore's made a decision on the elvish soul controversy, and he wants Marcus to go as his emissary to Elebrion to deliver it to Mael. Marcus figures that it must be war, which given that they're sending one of the men that Mael just kicked out to deliver it may very well be the case. (Then again, given Mael's track record, he'll probably just bitch and moan.) Marcus internally whines how it's not fair, how all his efforts have come to naught. I mean he did so much, he... ummm...
...
Well, if he hadn't had Lodi sent with him, things could have been very bad. Still, one last chance to see Caitlys. And he's off.
We switch viewpoints to Pope Nero Dumbledore and Bishop Claudo, and here their viewpoint on Marcus leaving.
That's a Special-winner. Anyway, they find it all amusing, though Claudo thinks it's a bit cruel. I mean, Dumbledore could have handed him an unsealed scroll. Pope Nero waves that off--Marcus wouldn't look, because he's still an arrogant little ponce after all that. Claudo agrees but says it's still a loss for the Church. Pope Nero Dumbledore notes that Claudo saw him kiss the elf girl, which proves he's just not suited for the Church, which he wraps up with the following statements...
Which would be admirable, if he wasn't, you know, the titular head of a material empire, and oh, yes, a guy with numerous soldiers working for him. So, yeah, that ship has kind of sailed.
Right, Claudo doesn't think much of that--apparently Caitlys kissed Marcus, nothing else happened, so yay Marcus, I guess. Pope Nero Dumbledore says no, no, everything was fine, no problem, and that Caitlys solved the whole elvish soul thing for Pope Dumbledore, because she blushed when the Bishop caught her kissing Marcus! And that proves she had a soul, because it matches something Augustinus about purity, a virtue of the soul. So elves have souls.
Claudo seems to accept this in stride and still thinks it's a shame to lose Marcus. Pope Nero Dumbledore replies that remember, not many saints are priests. Which... isn't true, actually?
Ahh, hell, the story proper is over. Just two appendixes and an Author's Note, which I might actually do later today.
So, yeah. We come, at last, to an end. Not a good end, not even a particularly understandable end, but an end. And isn't that enough?
Marcus gets to musing on Caitlys, who he apparently kissed. And Marcipor is hanging around, and not bringing up the whole freedom thing. The pretend Michaelines aside from the not inconsiderable number of the dead, were taken to Mount Cassanus (or rather MountCassanus in the text--as I've stated elsewhere there have been a lot of merged words here), where the Knight-General will pass judgement. I still hate that effing title. Marcus has had a conversation with Serranus about one burning question--how did they impersonate the Michaelines so well?
See, I would have asked how they managed to pass as Michaelines in Amorr itself, to the point where they were at a meeting in the forum before EFFING POPE NERO DUMBLEDORE HIMSELF. But that's just me. Beale is content to plug the little hole in his "plot" while allowing the great gash in it to go on sinking the ship. Anyway, they read up on them. Well, that's good to know. Serranus asks Marcus to put in a good word to him, so that the Knight-General will sell them to the stables, or even the salt mines, and not kill them.
Yep, had to get one last one in there. So now that we know that Beale really doesn't know what Roman-era salt mines were like, it's time for our meeting with Pope Nero Dumbledore. Marcus is thinking how the room he's meeting in seems small this time, instead of intimidating, which kind of ignores the fact that he's meeting one of the most powerful men in the world. We learn the Knight-General is named Francescus Centurionus, so just fuck that guy, and... it's still MountCassanus. Anyway, his plan for the imposters is to have them be slaves of the Order of St. Michael for seven years and a day, and everyone seems to think this is a great idea, especially Marcus who feels Serranus will be fighting in God's name, "notmammon's".
Crystal Dragon Jesus Christ. This thing needs a real editor.
Pope Nero Dumbledore asks if Marcus has reached a decision, and Marcus says, yes, yes he has, elves have souls, possibly a lot of other things do as well, and here is his own Summa Elvetica on it, which he modeled on Oxonus, and why is Pope Nero Dumbledore laughing? Pope Nero Dumbledore explains that he just wanted to know if Marcus had reached a decision on his profession. After feeling all butthurt, Marcus says that he will serve God, but he thinks he should do so out of the Church. Pope Nero Dumbledore says that's great--he and the Bishop think he's more an intellectual than a priest, and that you shouldn't confuse the Church with God, which gives Claudo a chance to throw some shade on Nero Dumbledore. They then turn to what Marcus plans to do now, and he explains that he's going to put himself forward for tribunus plebis--wait, wait, no stop. That is literally not how the system works. Marcus is a patrician. He can't be a plebeian tribune, unless he wants to get adopted by a plebeian. I mean, Beale can say "This isn't Rome," but it's close enough that...
Ehh, fine, it doesn't matter. More importantly, for now Marcus' plan is to join his father on the campaign to learn the great Valerian art of killing thangs. Pope Nero Dumbledore wishes him luck with all that, and then asks if he's willing to do one last favor for the Church. Pope Nero Dumbledore's made a decision on the elvish soul controversy, and he wants Marcus to go as his emissary to Elebrion to deliver it to Mael. Marcus figures that it must be war, which given that they're sending one of the men that Mael just kicked out to deliver it may very well be the case. (Then again, given Mael's track record, he'll probably just bitch and moan.) Marcus internally whines how it's not fair, how all his efforts have come to naught. I mean he did so much, he... ummm...
...
Well, if he hadn't had Lodi sent with him, things could have been very bad. Still, one last chance to see Caitlys. And he's off.
We switch viewpoints to Pope Nero Dumbledore and Bishop Claudo, and here their viewpoint on Marcus leaving.
That's a Special-winner. Anyway, they find it all amusing, though Claudo thinks it's a bit cruel. I mean, Dumbledore could have handed him an unsealed scroll. Pope Nero waves that off--Marcus wouldn't look, because he's still an arrogant little ponce after all that. Claudo agrees but says it's still a loss for the Church. Pope Nero Dumbledore notes that Claudo saw him kiss the elf girl, which proves he's just not suited for the Church, which he wraps up with the following statements...
Which would be admirable, if he wasn't, you know, the titular head of a material empire, and oh, yes, a guy with numerous soldiers working for him. So, yeah, that ship has kind of sailed.
Right, Claudo doesn't think much of that--apparently Caitlys kissed Marcus, nothing else happened, so yay Marcus, I guess. Pope Nero Dumbledore says no, no, everything was fine, no problem, and that Caitlys solved the whole elvish soul thing for Pope Dumbledore, because she blushed when the Bishop caught her kissing Marcus! And that proves she had a soul, because it matches something Augustinus about purity, a virtue of the soul. So elves have souls.
Claudo seems to accept this in stride and still thinks it's a shame to lose Marcus. Pope Nero Dumbledore replies that remember, not many saints are priests. Which... isn't true, actually?
Ahh, hell, the story proper is over. Just two appendixes and an Author's Note, which I might actually do later today.
So, yeah. We come, at last, to an end. Not a good end, not even a particularly understandable end, but an end. And isn't that enough?
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Two Appendices, and an Author's Note.
- Location
- East Coast
Not much left. First, Pope Nero Dumbledore's declaration that elves have souls, which reveals we are in the year 1043 of this messed up world, whatever that means, which is largely modeled after Pope Paul III's 1537 papal encyclical on Native Americans, which forbid their enslavement on the ground that they have souls. Yes, Beale puts that bit in this one in all his copypasting, apparently not noticing that apparently you're better off as an elf than a human as far as the Amorran Church of Crystal Dragon Jesus is concerned. Oh, and species spawned through demonic influence lack souls, so slay away!
A chunk of Marcus' work, in English, instead of Latin. It's a bad approximation of medieval logic, being little more than an elaborate word game. Reading it, you do start to understand the appeal of these things to Beale and his fellows, because a world where making arguments is largely just moving words around, sort of like in Ramon Llull's Ars Magna, is a world where they imagine they'd do well. It's the sort of thinking that leads to things like timecube. Oh, and Beale includes a quote from the First Book of Samuel in it, so the line between Crystal Dragon Bible and Our World Bible continues to be very thin.
Also, an actual quote from it.
The Author's Note. Beale explains that this was supposed to be the start of an epic philosophical trilogy--because of course it was. He talks about how irreligious fantasy authors just don't get how awesome the great scholars of the church were, and how he thought it was time for someone to write a fantasy novel that showed a medieval church in a medievalesque fantasy world. If so it's still time, because the Amorran Church of Crystal Dragon Jesus ain't that. He includes as many slams on atheists and modern intellectuals as he can fit in. He explains that the subtitle is a pun. He in essence, invites us to enjoy his immense cleverness. He then states that the rest of the stories in the volume are less ambitious than Summa Elvetica but more successful. For most of them, that is at best half true. And he invites people interested in what happens to Marcus to go to Book I of the Arts of Dark and Light, where I will spoil you all to note that he isn't going to die unpleasantly.
A chunk of Marcus' work, in English, instead of Latin. It's a bad approximation of medieval logic, being little more than an elaborate word game. Reading it, you do start to understand the appeal of these things to Beale and his fellows, because a world where making arguments is largely just moving words around, sort of like in Ramon Llull's Ars Magna, is a world where they imagine they'd do well. It's the sort of thinking that leads to things like timecube. Oh, and Beale includes a quote from the First Book of Samuel in it, so the line between Crystal Dragon Bible and Our World Bible continues to be very thin.
Also, an actual quote from it.
The Author's Note. Beale explains that this was supposed to be the start of an epic philosophical trilogy--because of course it was. He talks about how irreligious fantasy authors just don't get how awesome the great scholars of the church were, and how he thought it was time for someone to write a fantasy novel that showed a medieval church in a medievalesque fantasy world. If so it's still time, because the Amorran Church of Crystal Dragon Jesus ain't that. He includes as many slams on atheists and modern intellectuals as he can fit in. He explains that the subtitle is a pun. He in essence, invites us to enjoy his immense cleverness. He then states that the rest of the stories in the volume are less ambitious than Summa Elvetica but more successful. For most of them, that is at best half true. And he invites people interested in what happens to Marcus to go to Book I of the Arts of Dark and Light, where I will spoil you all to note that he isn't going to die unpleasantly.
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Vyslanté
The self is a prison
- Location
- European Union
1537 actually
- Location
- US
- Pronouns
- He/Him
But it was clearly one of the leetest encyclicals.1537 actually
- Location
- East Coast
Super leet.
Oh, and Paul III is one of the neatest popes. His given name was Alessandro Farnesse, and he became a Cardinal because his sister was one of Pope Alexander VI (aka Rodrigo Borgia)'s mistresses. He then spent decades as a papabile, making a good showing in conclave after conclave but never winning until 1534, where as a sixty-six year old man, it was figured that he'd be pope for a few years, and that would be that. His papacy lasted fifteen years, and saw the beginning of the Counter-Reformation and the Council of Trent.
Also, he made his eldest son the Duke of Parma. And some of his grandsons Cardinals.
Like I said, neat guy.
- Location
- Volksstaat Hessen, Deutsches Reich
Gib back rightful Milanese clay!
- Location
- Library
That's ripped off the Summa Theologica. Which underscore two points: 1) English is ugly and clunky language, not fit for philosophy or poetry. But let us not belabour the obvious. 2) all the Beale's "brilliance" is just lazy theft. And I am sure the quote is not attributed.
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- Location
- East Coast
He vaguely states in the author's note that he used bits of the Summa Theologica in Summa Elvetica, though he implies more work than he put into it. And he definitely doesn't credit the translation he used.
So no real surprise--again, Pope Nero Dumbledore's declaration is Sublimis Deus with elves written in, even though this makes no sense for the world he's written. Oh, and later in Throne of Bones he rips off one of Cicero's letters, with some adjustments.
Cause, it's just words.
I'd say that English does just fine on poetry, and about average on philosophy.
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- Location
- US
- Pronouns
- He/Him
If it is a text about whether elves have souls, it isn't much of a summa, is it? I mean a summa is supposed to be everything known about a topic. The Summa Theologica is supposed to be the sum of knowledge available about theology at the time. Where as this is a treatise on a specific topic about the theological status of elves.
I'd expect a summa on elves to include their physiognomy, and culture, and history, and a history of all the opinions regarding them from past scholars. Not just "these are the elves I met on my summer vacation".
- Location
- East Coast
Beale is kind of shit at Latin (Hello, Pontus Rossus), but insists he's brilliant and fluent in it. Though he mentions having help with the bad Latin bits that he was opening chapters with.
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- Location
- East Coast
To be fair, the dumb little mistakes are often overshadowed by the huge fundamental errors in the story. But yeah, Beale's online persona is basically the Internet Navy Seal with pretensions.
Coiler
ROURKE
For the later work by his patrons and promoted authors, I can say the apple fell about a micrometer from the tree. What I've seen is genre fiction (and often bad genre fiction) mixed with pretentious and arrogant ramblings about how bold, daring, creative, and above all, important it is for being bad genre fiction.
- Location
- East Coast
Yup. That's the Castalia House mission statement.
The Victorian
Elven Supremacist
- Location
- Canada
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I have a soft spot for bad fantasy, and by "bad" I mean strains of fantasy that are out of style these days - cheesy sword-and-sandal epics, traditional heroic tales, that sort of thing.
But this is just bad, period. It employs one of my most hated tropes in fantasy - taking real world places and nations, mashing them together, changing the names a bit (or sometimes not at all), then calling it a day. We don't even get much of Beale's loathsome politics to riff on.
But this is just bad, period. It employs one of my most hated tropes in fantasy - taking real world places and nations, mashing them together, changing the names a bit (or sometimes not at all), then calling it a day. We don't even get much of Beale's loathsome politics to riff on.
- Location
- Somewhere
Pulp/Camp fantasy/scif is immensely fun, but it still takes talent and/or effort to make it work. Beale has no talent and puts in no effort.