Travolore Wrote:As the Empire turns up the heat on Kashyyyk Kara and Cal must chose there fate. Meanwhile the Twelfth Sister draws ever closer to her quarry... 

Quote:Brynhildr had once seen her systematically whack half the trees in a forest with a magic stick until a giant talking squirrel had fallen out of one, which she’d then fought seventeen times until it offered her a funny hat to assuage her wrath. If her madness didn’t yield results more often than not and were her nature less strange, the Valkyrie would have simply assumed she was insane.

The Dragon Millennium, Manna-hata University Press, Ltd. Wrote:Despite the conflicts that marked its inception, Berk's Dragon Mail service transformed European society and shortly the world within Hiccup Haddock's lifetime, with regular mail and trade routes that extended to China, India, Madagascar and the northern reaches of the Vestrilands by AD 1100. 

The effects this had on social norms, commerce, and the sciences can only be seen by comparing the state of the world in AD 1000 with that of AD 1200.  In 1000, the world's human population was approximately 275 million people (+/- 20 million), the majority of whom were living in feudal or tribal societies, and approximately 2-3 million dragons, living either in nomadic bands or in the few remaining nests.  By AD 1200, the human population had doubled to a minimum of 550 million people, and possibly as high as 600 million, while dragons had reached a population of over 50 million, and social structures…

(08-27-2018, 04:22 PM)itsune9tl Wrote: Harry Potter and the Redheaded Alien Warrior, has updated.

(08-28-2018, 07:22 AM)Bob Schroeck Wrote:

(08-27-2018, 04:22 PM)itsune9tl Wrote: Harry Potter and the Redheaded Alien Warrior, has updated.

Did we ever have a recommendation for this before?  If we did, I missed it and I really regret it.  I'm only about a third of the way through the thread but I'm really enjoying it.

By purest coincidence I came across a very nice picture of a twenty-something Ruby on a Tumblr this past weekend; might want to point the author at it.

(08-28-2018, 07:14 PM)itsune9tl Wrote: There must have been, as one of the Update threads, is where I was introduced to it.

(08-28-2018, 07:22 AM)Bob Schroeck Wrote:

(08-27-2018, 04:22 PM)itsune9tl Wrote: Harry Potter and the Redheaded Alien Warrior, has updated.

By purest coincidence I came across a very nice picture of a twenty-something Ruby on a Tumblr this past weekend; might want to point the author at it.

Stanzas 70 and 71 of the Hávamál Wrote:It is better to live | than to lie a corpse,
The live man catches the cow,
I saw flames rise | for the rich man's pyre,
And before his door he lay dead

The lame rides a horse, | the handless is a herdsman,
The deaf in battle is bold,
The blind man is better | than the one that is burned,
No good can come of a corpse.

The Second Flowering Of Yggdrasil: An Analysis Of The Norse Resurgence, 1710 Wrote:One factor that has been cited as the reason for the success of the Norse Reformation is, oddly, the acceptance of non-Norse into their society.  Part of the theological basis of this were these words from Odin's own lips on proper conduct and wisdom, which served as a reminder that no man or woman was unwanted or unneeded. 
These stanzas were often repeated and interpreted in a light of acceptance and brotherhood among those that were different, as "man rejoices in man."  Further, those defending this perspective of integration and acceptance found fit fodder in the sagas of the gods and their lives, which are full to bursting with the sorts of behavior that were rejected by those who did not accept difference.  Tyr was missing a hand, and had two fathers.  Loki was fluid in form and concept, being both male and female at times and places.  Thor was prone to dangerous rage.  Odin was missing an eye, lay with men, and swore blood-brotherhood with a stranger. Hödur was blind.  Freyr gave up his weapon for the love of a jotunn woman.
Furthermore, on the topic of general egalitarianism, it is worth noting that this acceptance was not reserved solely for men.  The Aesir respected Skadi's claim of having been wronged by them for the death of her father, and Freyja earned the respect of all, claiming half of those who died in honor for her hall.
And for those whom the gods did not set a sufficient example, among mortal men, Hiccup the Wise was missing a foot, and his father, Stoick the Lawgiver, was missing an eye and a hand, and both of them sought to reach out and include others, and attempted to act with kindness and respect to those not of their own people.  And while they were the leaders and would have received more acceptance from their followers simply due to that position and the social deference that came with it, it should be noted that Stoick's best friend from childhood preferred men and was missing two limbs, and his personal aide was a woman of a different faith who chose to never marry, and Hiccup's inclusion of others is literally proverbial.
This acceptance of those who were different, who were strangers, who were outsiders, gave the Reformed Norse a strength in diversity that stood them well, especially in those early years…