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Re: NEW BLOOD #23 letters page: (I lent #24
to my sister before I could comment) What is all this
business about a Chot controversy? I'm going to have
to quit using this laptop and get a real computer so I can
get plugged into the Internet. I can't stand the thought
of people having interesting conversations without me.
The general feeling seems to be that Chot is a "useless" character, present merely to act as the reverse mirror, if you will, of all that is "good" and "noble" in the rest of the cast. Well, let me tell you a few things about Chot! (Look out, I'm about to stand defensively in front of Barry with my ears back and my claws and fangs out.)
Chot is a regular guy. In a lot of ways, he reminds me of my long-ago college co-op housemates. He doesn't care what's for dinner, as long as there's a lot of it. And if he thinks the chow's really good, he'll pay you the ultimate compliment of a good loud belch. He doesn't care if the bathroom's clean, as long as no one's in there when he needs it. He does care, passionately, who will win the Michigan game. He makes the best venison stew you've ever eaten, and his chili is to die for. (Unfortunately, those two dishes and microwave popcorn are the extent of his culinary expertise, unless you count opening beer bottles. He drives a bashed-up pickup truck whose mudflaps, if you could read them under all the dirt, show Yosemite Sam with six-guns a-shootin', yelling "Back off!". Chot doesn't care if you ever clean your house, either, as long as you have food. And if you let him come over to watch the game on your TV, he will even bring the chips. Chot is the best date you ever had. He doesn't care what you wear or how much makeup you use, or whether you have spike heels on, as long as you look like a matching couple. He knows all the best places to dance and play pool, and he gets you in free because he knows the bouncer. He can two-step and headbang with equal - ah - skill, but he sneers at the achey-breakey and the mosh. He'd rather play pool, anyway; just don't try to win, because you won't, he's too good. He doesn't care if you dance with another guy while he's playing pool, but High Ones help the guy who tries to give you grief on the dance floor. Chot is the kind of guy who has no use for misguided, empty heroics performed for the sake of nobility, or out of a poorly understood sense of chivalry. Chot is proud to be a Go-Back. He doesn't want to be something he isn't, a Wolfrider. Let me digress for a moment here. Dorene Boltz wrote: I don't think Chot's got anything worth passing on via Recognition. Unless he...does something noteworthy... and then Dorinda Hartmann wrote: ...I can understand the resistance to his type, since every EQ elf we've seen so far - good, bad, or neutral - has been beautiful and somehow noble. I take vociferous exception to the shallow, small-minded insistence people have on equating beauty with worthiness, whether it be the worthiness of the "good guy in white", or the worthiness of his "bad opponent in black". Winnowill is the most wretchedly evil creature on all of Abode, yet readers seem to admire her, and I think it's at least in part because she's beautiful, whether or not people realize that that's how they're reacting.
I think the real reason people don't like Chot is that they're equating his looks with his worthiness. (Personally, I think he's kinda cute - what does that say about me?) Mind you, I'm not saying he doesn't have some irritating characteristics.- so does every other one of the NEW BLOOD. Well, mere uncouthness is no good reason to relegate Chot to the "useless characters" bin. Yes, he's afraid of pain. He doesn't want to die. But he knows his own limitations and he operates very well within them. He's not out to change the world, but if he sees something within his grasp which needs putting right, he won't hesitate. There has to be a place in fantasy for all the Chots of this world, those of us who aren't beautiful, smart, or destined to go down in history, but who follow our own ethical code and want to make a difference where we can. Chot is, in short, a regular guy.
That said, let me address the question of Chot and Recognition. Just because we haven't seen a Go-Back Recognize yet doesn't mean they can't, it just means they can breed without it. After all, Recognition, aside from insuring the birth of children, is meant to produce the best and brightest children of the next generation (pun intended), not just the only children. I don't think Shenshen and Chot would be a good match at all. She needs to grow up. He needs someone who can keep up with him, like, say, for instance, Ember. Actually, she said with a wicked grin. Just for fun, I'd like to see Chot Recognize Aroree or Venka. Suntop needs someone wild and wooly, like, say, for instance, Kahvi. Shenshen needs someone who can get her to start experiencing life in the first person, as it were, like, say, for instance, Pike.
Mari Hersh-Tudor
<<street address removed from archive>>
P.S. One could even extend this idea of beauty conferring worthiness to encompass the elves' dealings with humans and trolls. Elves are universally portrayed as being in the right, while humans, with a few notable exceptions, are wrong but not ugly (probably because their writers are human), and trolls are portrayed as being not only ugly, but stupid, greedy, and clownish to boot. This smacks to me of calling rude names at the deaf kid in class, because children often don't know any better. I know, I know, I'm coming on really strong. I'll shut up now.
P.P.S. And don't think I didn't see Richard "Slasher" Pini on the front cover down there by Dart and Pei-lar. I know they say the pen is mightier than the sword, but that's a heck of an editorial instrument he's wielding there.
Heap big slide rule! See you in 45! - RP