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Rascal Article on D&D 50th book Hack the orcs, loot the tomb, and take the land

Started by Omega, May 15, 2024, 11:24:32 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

Krazz

Quote from: jhkim on May 30, 2024, 02:18:31 PMIt explicitly says "when they slew white men, progress ceased". That differentiates the races by their capacity for progress. Why wouldn't the black people make weapons and weapon factories for themselves, if they were capable? 

But it doesn't differentiate the races by their capacity for progress. Let's not forget that whites still exist at that point. Why aren't they still progressing? Because everyone is focused on the global war. It doesn't strike me as realistic - in real world wars, military technology improved greatly. But that's how it is in this story - when things kick off, nobody progresses any more.

As to why they didn't create new factories, the story isn't clear. But you can't just create them out of nothing. The infrastructure to smelt iron, extract industrial levels of coal, move it by rail, etc., takes a long time to create, and the various components support each other. It took Europe centuries to reach that level. If war has decimated that infrastructure, it's not going to be easily or quickly replaced. Maybe the real reason is the REH was racist, and thought that blacks were incapable. But the story is not overt in pointing that out, which was your claim.

Quote from: jhkim on May 30, 2024, 02:18:31 PMYou argue later that "animal-like rate of birth" is intended as a positive, but can you really suggest anyone - black or white - who would take kindly to be complimented on their group's "animal-like rate of birth"?

It doesn't strike me as less kind than:

Quote from: R.E. HowardAnd the white race was exhausted by dissipation; birth rate almost ceased.

Quote from: jhkim on May 30, 2024, 02:18:31 PMMore generally, is there any story or game that you do consider racist? For example, Eirikrautha earlier suggested he thought The Birth of a Nation (1915) was racist. Alternately, GeekyBugle cited Coyote & Crow (2022) as racist. Could you demonstrate your standard of proof in showing how something fulfills it?

I've never watched that film or read/played that RPG, but from what I've heard of them, they sound racist. I'm not going to watch a 3-hour film over an Internet debate, but a quick search gave me this from C&C:

QuoteIf you do not have heritage Indigenous to the Americas, we ask you not to incorporate any of your knowledge or ideas of real world Native Americans into the game.

That's racist. They're asking that people refrain from doing things based on their race. No heritage indigenous to the Americas, but an expert on it? Pretend you're not. A little bit of heritage, but all you know you gleaned from watching a couple of westerns? Go ahead. That's overt racism.
"The subtle tongue, the sophist guile, they fail when the broadswords sing;
Rush in and die, dogs—I was a man before I was a king."

REH - The Phoenix on the Sword

Eirikrautha

Quote from: jhkim on May 29, 2024, 11:56:21 PMTo clarify, I am opposed to MORAL relativism. I do not believe that different moral system are all equivalent, and that we cannot judge people from a different system....  However, I think relativism is fine to apply to things like beauty and taste.

Well, who cares?  I know that narcissistic personality disorder goes hand-in-hand with being woke, but you are not the arbiter of what qualities are relative and which aren't.  Bluntly, your opinion doesn't matter.  Either "racism" is a term with an objective meaning that can be directly demonstrated, or it can't.  The same holds true for "beauty."  Daniel Justice claims that he had no love for Conan stories because there was no beauty in them.  The "to me" refers to the appeal, not the beauty.  He states the lack of beauty as if it is a factual statement, the same way he does the racism.  So either both are objective and factual, or they both aren't.  And that you want to dodge this inconsistency is irrelevant to whether or not it is inconsistent.  So, no, I reject your separation of the two elements.

Quote from: jhkim on May 29, 2024, 11:56:21 PMI'll try to clarify that "race essentialism" is the unscientific belief that race is more important than it is in reality. It often overlaps with racism but there could be some distinction.

Except that's not a "clarification" at all, without delineating what "important" means in this context and describing what reality you are referring to.  Is race "important" in medicine?  Is it important in jurisprudence?  In education?  Much of what people today term as race is in fact a product of culture, as most behaviors (outside of well-know instances like addiction and schizophrenia) have little to no genetic determinants.  So, unless you can clearly define "racial essentialism," it's nothing more than a subjective dodge.

Quote from: jhkim on May 29, 2024, 11:56:21 PMI think your classic definition of racism is fine, and I'll try to stick to it in my arguments regarding "The Last White Man".

Once again, who cares?  You do not define the limits of conversation here, and that story (which I have not read and have no intention of reading) has nothing to do with my original questions.  Justice used REH's Conan stories as his argument, and asserted that they held no beauty, grace, or romance.  This is an objective assertion (once again, the to me refers to the "appeal").  Is this assertion correct?

I understand that you dare not contradict Justice, otherwise the woke left will cast you out like garbage, but that is the topic of this discussion.  Your evaluation of what is or isn't moral, what is or isn't subjective, etc. really doesn't matter.  I reject the idea that you could act as an authority on morality, anyway, based on your own admissions on this site.  Quite frankly, it's not about you, or what you think, you value, or you believe.  It's about Justice's statement about the Conan stories and their influence on D&D.  Now, is Justice correct, is he accurately describing D&D, or is he wrong?

"Testosterone levels vary widely among women, just like other secondary sex characteristics like breast size or body hair. If you eliminate anyone with elevated testosterone, it's like eliminating athletes because their boobs aren't big enough or because they're too hairy." -- jhkim

Krazz

Quote from: Eirikrautha on May 30, 2024, 04:00:56 PMOnce again, who cares?  You do not define the limits of conversation here, and that story (which I have not read and have no intention of reading) has nothing to do with my original questions.  Justice used REH's Conan stories as his argument, and asserted that they held no beauty, grace, or romance.  This is an objective assertion (once again, the to me refers to the "appeal").  Is this assertion correct?

As I pointed out earlier, Justice is objectively wrong about the stories containing no beauty, grace or romance. To take the first one:

The Frost Giant's Daughter:
QuoteFor an instant he stood frozen, awed by her terrible beauty as she posed naked against the snows.

Queen of the Black Coast:
QuoteIt was high of stern, with a tall curving prow; broad in the waist, sloping beautifully to stem and stern.

The Hour of the Dragon:
QuoteA flood of joy lighted her beautiful face.

Red Nails:
QuoteShe was tall and lithe, by far the most beautiful woman in the room.

People of the Black Circle:
QuoteIt was a woman who had entered unannounced, a woman whose gossamer robes did not conceal the rich garments beneath them any more than they concealed the suppleness and beauty of her tall, slender figure.

The Devil in Iron:
QuoteHe went silently in his soft leather boots, his gaze sifting every shadow in eagerness to catch sight of the splendid tawny-haired beauty of whom he had dreamed ever since he had seen her in the pavilion of Jehungir Agha by Fort Ghori.

Shadows in Zamboula:
QuoteBeauty like yours might drive a man mad.

A Witch Shall be Born:
QuoteTaramis was still beautiful, in spite of her rags and the imprisonment and abuse of seven weary months.

Shadows in the Moonlight:
QuoteThe form was of a man, but no mortal man ever wore such an aspect of inhuman beauty.

Jewels of Gwahlur:
QuoteYelaya was coldly beautiful, even in death.

The claim that there is no beauty in the stories is as silly as to claim that there is no combat in them. It's spelt out explicitly, usually in narration that is not even hinted at being unreliable. And it applies to men, women and inanimate objects. I can't believe we're still discussing this. Justice's statement was objectively very, very wrong.
"The subtle tongue, the sophist guile, they fail when the broadswords sing;
Rush in and die, dogs—I was a man before I was a king."

REH - The Phoenix on the Sword

HappyDaze

Quote from: Krazz on May 30, 2024, 04:59:15 PM
Quote from: Eirikrautha on May 30, 2024, 04:00:56 PMOnce again, who cares?  You do not define the limits of conversation here, and that story (which I have not read and have no intention of reading) has nothing to do with my original questions.  Justice used REH's Conan stories as his argument, and asserted that they held no beauty, grace, or romance.  This is an objective assertion (once again, the to me refers to the "appeal").  Is this assertion correct?

As I pointed out earlier, Justice is objectively wrong about the stories containing no beauty, grace or romance. To take the first one:

The Frost Giant's Daughter:
QuoteFor an instant he stood frozen, awed by her terrible beauty as she posed naked against the snows.

Queen of the Black Coast:
QuoteIt was high of stern, with a tall curving prow; broad in the waist, sloping beautifully to stem and stern.

The Hour of the Dragon:
QuoteA flood of joy lighted her beautiful face.

Red Nails:
QuoteShe was tall and lithe, by far the most beautiful woman in the room.

People of the Black Circle:
QuoteIt was a woman who had entered unannounced, a woman whose gossamer robes did not conceal the rich garments beneath them any more than they concealed the suppleness and beauty of her tall, slender figure.

The Devil in Iron:
QuoteHe went silently in his soft leather boots, his gaze sifting every shadow in eagerness to catch sight of the splendid tawny-haired beauty of whom he had dreamed ever since he had seen her in the pavilion of Jehungir Agha by Fort Ghori.

Shadows in Zamboula:
QuoteBeauty like yours might drive a man mad.

A Witch Shall be Born:
QuoteTaramis was still beautiful, in spite of her rags and the imprisonment and abuse of seven weary months.

Shadows in the Moonlight:
QuoteThe form was of a man, but no mortal man ever wore such an aspect of inhuman beauty.

Jewels of Gwahlur:
QuoteYelaya was coldly beautiful, even in death.

The claim that there is no beauty in the stories is as silly as to claim that there is no combat in them. It's spelt out explicitly, usually in narration that is not even hinted at being unreliable. And it applies to men, women and inanimate objects. I can't believe we're still discussing this. Justice's statement was objectively very, very wrong.
i think you're being way too literal here. Just because a story contains the word beauty/beautiful, doesn't mean the work invokes a sense of beauty, which is what Justice was stating (not that I agree with him, but that's his opinion).

Brad

Quote from: Anon Adderlan on May 30, 2024, 02:05:04 PMIronically they feel exactly the same way about folks like you.

Imagine thinking I give a fuck what Satanic pedophiles think of me...

EDIT: Also immaterial bullshit, as I've already said multiple times. Marxists can't allow any sort of discussion to take place that they're not in control of, hence the constant injection of "isms" into every single fucking conversation. Your "both sides" nonsense is arguably worse than their moronic positions.
It takes considerable knowledge just to realize the extent of your own ignorance.

Krazz

Quote from: HappyDaze on May 30, 2024, 05:11:26 PMi think you're being way too literal here. Just because a story contains the word beauty/beautiful, doesn't mean the work invokes a sense of beauty, which is what Justice was stating (not that I agree with him, but that's his opinion).

So when he said

QuoteRobert E. Howard, especially his Conan works, held no appeal for me whatsoever, as there was no beauty, no grace, no romance—just blood, brutality, butchery, and overt racism

he didn't mean that the stories contained no beauty, grace or romance, or that they contained blood brutality, butchery or overt racism, but instead they didn't invoke a sense of beauty, grace or romance. Conversely, he was filled with a sense of blood, brutality, butchery and racism. He sounds pretty fucked up when you put it that way.
"The subtle tongue, the sophist guile, they fail when the broadswords sing;
Rush in and die, dogs—I was a man before I was a king."

REH - The Phoenix on the Sword

jhkim

Quote from: blackstone on May 29, 2024, 11:26:54 AMTaking REH and HPL out of the context of the time they live and wrote does a disservice to them. Yes, they may have been racist viewed from a "modern" standpoint, but it doesn't matter. Their view on race for the time period was considered normal. It doesn't make it right or wrong. It's a product of it's time. So, those of you saying REH and HPL racists are taking them out of historical context, no matter how truthful and uncomfortable that makes you feel.
Quote from: blackstone on May 30, 2024, 03:18:57 PM
Quote from: jhkim on May 29, 2024, 01:05:18 PMJust because someone comes from a communist society, that doesn't mean that they're not communist. They're still a communist - it's just that their reasons for being communist should be considered to fully understand them. The same applies for racism.

If I read a story and don't know who the author is or when it was written, I can still describe it objectively and factually using words, including "racism".

 Tell that to the Solidarity movement in Poland during the Cold War. Or the Order of the White Rose in Germany, students who opposed Nazis in their own country. They were opposed to communism and Nazism in their respective countries and were in no way, shape or form communists or Nazis. You made a blanket statement that holds no water.

Same goes for racism. you can live in a racists society, but it doesn't make you a racist. And people speak out against it. Ya know, like repealing Jim Crow laws and the civil rights movement of the 60s.

I apologize for my phrasing that you bolded, which wasn't clear. My point was that if someone comes from a racist society and they have views that are normal for their racist society, then it is reasonable to call them racist. So if it is the norm to have anti-miscegenation laws and Jim Crow laws in someone's society, that is racist - and also, the people who support them are racist.

In your original statement that I quote above, you said that REH and HPL had views on race that are normal for their time, and because of this, it is wrong to call them racist.


Quote from: blackstone on May 29, 2024, 11:26:54 AMIf someone uses racism as part of the story, including characters who reflect that, it does not make the author racist, unless that author explicitly states they are IRL (people can also change over time too). I'd think the author of Lovecraft Country and Spielberg about Schiendler's List would agree. There are many more I could cite, but I'm sure you could find more.

You say that it's only true if they express views in real life. Back in Reply #40, I gave two quotes from R.E. Howard in real-life conversations.

Quote from: R.E. HowardI shall write a story entitled "The Last Man" as a warning to the white races. If the West falls before the East, it won't be because I haven't warned the white races. Well, maybe if I progress, which I doubt much, in a few years I'll become such a nuisance that the Dalai Lama will take notice of me and my career will end suddenly.

In another letter, Howard wrote (regarding a rape trial in Honolulu):
Quote from: R.E. HowardI know what would have happened to them in Texas.  I don't know whether an Oriental smells any different than a nigger when he's roasting, but I'm willing to bet the aroma of scorching hide would have the same chastening effect on his surviving tribesman.

His girlfriend Novalyne Price wrote about a conversation with him where he told her, "I guess you know if a Negro is found on the streets after dark in Coleman, Santa Anna, and several other towns around here, they run him out of town.  Chances are they might tar and feather him." When Novalyne reacted negatively, Howard elaborated, "Let me tell you something, girl, that you don't seem to know.  Those people come from a different line.  They have different blood -"

I'll add a bit from a letter Howard wrote to H.P. Lovecraft talking about "murder ranches" in Texas.

Quote from: R.E. HowardHis son now has a ranch some hundreds of miles west of here, and some twelve or fifteen years ago killed a Mexican, sewed the corpse up in a cow-hide and flung it out on the prairie to rot. The Cattlemen's Association sent out a detective — just why so much trouble was taken about a Mexican I cannot understand, unless he was some way connected with the Association — and this detective, playing the part of a deaf mute, worked for months on the murderer's ranch and finally got full evidence.

Brad

Quote from: jhkim on May 30, 2024, 05:33:55 PMI'll add a bit from a letter Howard wrote to H.P. Lovecraft talking about "murder ranches" in Texas.

LOL

You just won't give it up, will you?
It takes considerable knowledge just to realize the extent of your own ignorance.

jhkim

Quote from: jeff37923 on May 30, 2024, 02:37:51 PM
Quote from: jhkim on May 30, 2024, 02:18:31 PMI'm going to focus on just the first passage here.

Quote from: R.E. HowardThe black race was doomed. They were destroyers, not builders. When they slew the white men, progress ceased. The blacks reverted to savagery. They did not even know the art of making weapons. They had destroyed and could not rebuild. And they were going back to bestial savagery, and to a slaughtering of one another which even their animal-like rate of birth could not control.

QUOTE FROM A CHARACTER IN A STORY WRITTEN BY ROBERT E HOWARD YOU LYING PIECE OF SHIT!!

What the fuck! Is every character a writer creates now a stand-in for the writer? Is every character or non-player character you roleplay in a game now actually just you?

I've already several times brought up the possibility of an unreliable narrator -- and in reply #127, Krazz, at least, agreed with me that he didn't think it was a delusion. This is a very short story with only a single character, through whose thoughts we understand the history of the world.

If you want to argue that the narrator is delusional, thinking untrue thoughts, then what is the story supposed to be saying? Is any of the history of the world true? If so, how can you determine which parts are true, and which parts are false claims because of the racism of the character?


Quote from: jeff37923 on May 30, 2024, 02:37:51 PMUm, those people who you keep saying are the victims of racism won the war in the story. So they are both the winners and the victims at the same time to you?

In short, yes. The story is supposed to be a tragedy where the bad guys win - as Howard said to his friend Tevis, a warning to the white races. The unnamed last white man is described in positive terms as "a splendid example of a wonderful race". The prolific blacks who kill him are described negatively with terms like "bestial", "animal-like" and similar.

Ratman_tf

Quote from: jhkim on May 30, 2024, 05:54:52 PMI've already several times brought up the possibility of an unreliable narrator -- and in reply #127, Krazz, at least, agreed with me that he didn't think it was a delusion. This is a very short story with only a single character, through whose thoughts we understand the history of the world.

Reading the quoted parts of the story, I got a strong feeling that the narration was from the character POV. "The trees were swaying in the wind" is fairly neutral, "The beautiful trees were swaying in the wind like graceful dancers" is from a subjective POV, very likely the character viewing the trees, since that's why the trees are being described in the first place. "The ugly trees swayed menacingly" could be said from the POV of another character about the same trees swaying in the wind. I'm sure I could dig up some relevant passages from any book. Tolkien especially springs to mind.

QuoteIf you want to argue that the narrator is delusional, thinking untrue thoughts, then what is the story supposed to be saying? Is any of the history of the world true? If so, how can you determine which parts are true, and which parts are false claims because of the racism of the character?


It's almost like you have to think about the story and not just have your opinions spoon fed for you.

The notion of an exclusionary and hostile RPG community is a fever dream of zealots who view all social dynamics through a narrow keyhole of structural oppression.
-Haffrung

jhkim

Quote from: Ratman_tf on May 30, 2024, 06:44:24 PM
Quote from: jhkim on May 30, 2024, 05:54:52 PMIf you want to argue that the narrator is delusional, thinking untrue thoughts, then what is the story supposed to be saying? Is any of the history of the world true? If so, how can you determine which parts are true, and which parts are false claims because of the racism of the character?

It's almost like you have to think about the story and not just have your opinions spoon fed for you.

You're just dropping into hominem instead of actually giving an answer.

I claim that the narrator is reliable in the story. This isn't _Rashomon_. I supported that by showing how the large-scale events (like how blacks couldn't create) were well-matched by the immediate, objectively-narrated events like how the attackers rushed the rifle-armed man with spears.

Likewise, the narrator is objectively described and called "a splendid example of a wonderful race" in the fourth paragraph -- which matches his thinking of the rise, fall, and rise again of his own white race.

Someone can claim that there is no vampire in Dracula - the only thing that happens is that people write letters. But without some clear argument about why we shouldn't believe a given narration, I don't think that's supportable. The clear intent of Dracula is that there is a real vampire.

So, if you think the narrator is unreliable in "The Last White Man", make a case for that. What part of the narration is right and what is wrong, and how do you know that? Is he really the last white man? And was there a race war?

GeekyBugle

Quote from: jhkim on May 30, 2024, 07:19:34 PM
Quote from: Ratman_tf on May 30, 2024, 06:44:24 PM
Quote from: jhkim on May 30, 2024, 05:54:52 PMIf you want to argue that the narrator is delusional, thinking untrue thoughts, then what is the story supposed to be saying? Is any of the history of the world true? If so, how can you determine which parts are true, and which parts are false claims because of the racism of the character?

It's almost like you have to think about the story and not just have your opinions spoon fed for you.

You're just dropping into hominem instead of actually giving an answer.

I claim that the narrator is reliable in the story. This isn't _Rashomon_. I supported that by showing how the large-scale events (like how blacks couldn't create) were well-matched by the immediate, objectively-narrated events like how the attackers rushed the rifle-armed man with spears.

Likewise, the narrator is objectively described and called "a splendid example of a wonderful race" in the fourth paragraph -- which matches his thinking of the rise, fall, and rise again of his own white race.

Someone can claim that there is no vampire in Dracula - the only thing that happens is that people write letters. But without some clear argument about why we shouldn't believe a given narration, I don't think that's supportable. The clear intent of Dracula is that there is a real vampire.

So, if you think the narrator is unreliable in "The Last White Man", make a case for that. What part of the narration is right and what is wrong, and how do you know that? Is he really the last white man? And was there a race war?

And this is RELEVANT in a discussion about Conan HOW?
Quote from: Rhedyn

Here is why this forum tends to be so stupid. Many people here think Joe Biden is "The Left", when he is actually Far Right and every US republican is just an idiot.

"During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act."

― George Orwell

jeff37923

Quote from: HappyDaze on May 30, 2024, 05:11:26 PM
Quote from: Krazz on May 30, 2024, 04:59:15 PM
Quote from: Eirikrautha on May 30, 2024, 04:00:56 PMOnce again, who cares?  You do not define the limits of conversation here, and that story (which I have not read and have no intention of reading) has nothing to do with my original questions.  Justice used REH's Conan stories as his argument, and asserted that they held no beauty, grace, or romance.  This is an objective assertion (once again, the to me refers to the "appeal").  Is this assertion correct?

As I pointed out earlier, Justice is objectively wrong about the stories containing no beauty, grace or romance. To take the first one:

The Frost Giant's Daughter:
QuoteFor an instant he stood frozen, awed by her terrible beauty as she posed naked against the snows.

Queen of the Black Coast:
QuoteIt was high of stern, with a tall curving prow; broad in the waist, sloping beautifully to stem and stern.

The Hour of the Dragon:
QuoteA flood of joy lighted her beautiful face.

Red Nails:
QuoteShe was tall and lithe, by far the most beautiful woman in the room.

People of the Black Circle:
QuoteIt was a woman who had entered unannounced, a woman whose gossamer robes did not conceal the rich garments beneath them any more than they concealed the suppleness and beauty of her tall, slender figure.

The Devil in Iron:
QuoteHe went silently in his soft leather boots, his gaze sifting every shadow in eagerness to catch sight of the splendid tawny-haired beauty of whom he had dreamed ever since he had seen her in the pavilion of Jehungir Agha by Fort Ghori.

Shadows in Zamboula:
QuoteBeauty like yours might drive a man mad.

A Witch Shall be Born:
QuoteTaramis was still beautiful, in spite of her rags and the imprisonment and abuse of seven weary months.

Shadows in the Moonlight:
QuoteThe form was of a man, but no mortal man ever wore such an aspect of inhuman beauty.

Jewels of Gwahlur:
QuoteYelaya was coldly beautiful, even in death.

The claim that there is no beauty in the stories is as silly as to claim that there is no combat in them. It's spelt out explicitly, usually in narration that is not even hinted at being unreliable. And it applies to men, women and inanimate objects. I can't believe we're still discussing this. Justice's statement was objectively very, very wrong.
i think you're being way too literal here. Just because a story contains the word beauty/beautiful, doesn't mean the work invokes a sense of beauty, which is what Justice was stating (not that I agree with him, but that's his opinion).
Quote from: jhkim on May 30, 2024, 05:54:52 PM
Quote from: jeff37923 on May 30, 2024, 02:37:51 PM
Quote from: jhkim on May 30, 2024, 02:18:31 PMI'm going to focus on just the first passage here.

Quote from: R.E. HowardThe black race was doomed. They were destroyers, not builders. When they slew the white men, progress ceased. The blacks reverted to savagery. They did not even know the art of making weapons. They had destroyed and could not rebuild. And they were going back to bestial savagery, and to a slaughtering of one another which even their animal-like rate of birth could not control.

QUOTE FROM A CHARACTER IN A STORY WRITTEN BY ROBERT E HOWARD YOU LYING PIECE OF SHIT!!

What the fuck! Is every character a writer creates now a stand-in for the writer? Is every character or non-player character you roleplay in a game now actually just you?

I've already several times brought up the possibility of an unreliable narrator -- and in reply #127, Krazz, at least, agreed with me that he didn't think it was a delusion. This is a very short story with only a single character, through whose thoughts we understand the history of the world.

If you want to argue that the narrator is delusional, thinking untrue thoughts, then what is the story supposed to be saying? Is any of the history of the world true? If so, how can you determine which parts are true, and which parts are false claims because of the racism of the character?


Quote from: jeff37923 on May 30, 2024, 02:37:51 PMUm, those people who you keep saying are the victims of racism won the war in the story. So they are both the winners and the victims at the same time to you?

In short, yes. The story is supposed to be a tragedy where the bad guys win - as Howard said to his friend Tevis, a warning to the white races. The unnamed last white man is described in positive terms as "a splendid example of a wonderful race". The prolific blacks who kill him are described negatively with terms like "bestial", "animal-like" and similar.


So let's start by looking at jhkim's delusional nature. You've been using The Last White Man as a source for your argument. Yet The Last White Man is an unfinished manuscript by REH and that unfinished manuscript was never published until after he died, so how can you claim that it is representative of his works? Since it's only relation to the Conan stories is that they are by the same author, how can you claim that it is representative of the Conan stories?

And where is your source for this quote from Howard to Tevis?

I think that you are being delusional jhkim and using this as an excuse to beat the social Marxist drumhead just to hear it say Woke! Woke! Woke!
"Meh."

Ratman_tf

argle bargle edit stuff.
The notion of an exclusionary and hostile RPG community is a fever dream of zealots who view all social dynamics through a narrow keyhole of structural oppression.
-Haffrung

Ratman_tf

Quote from: jhkim on May 30, 2024, 07:19:34 PM
Quote from: Ratman_tf on May 30, 2024, 06:44:24 PM
Quote from: jhkim on May 30, 2024, 05:54:52 PMIf you want to argue that the narrator is delusional, thinking untrue thoughts, then what is the story supposed to be saying? Is any of the history of the world true? If so, how can you determine which parts are true, and which parts are false claims because of the racism of the character?

It's almost like you have to think about the story and not just have your opinions spoon fed for you.

You're just dropping into hominem instead of actually giving an answer.

It doesn't help that you cut out my answer when you replied. I can do both. :D

QuoteI claim that the narrator is reliable in the story. This isn't _Rashomon_. I supported that by showing how the large-scale events (like how blacks couldn't create) were well-matched by the immediate, objectively-narrated events like how the attackers rushed the rifle-armed man with spears.

Likewise, the narrator is objectively described and called "a splendid example of a wonderful race" in the fourth paragraph -- which matches his thinking of the rise, fall, and rise again of his own white race.

Someone can claim that there is no vampire in Dracula - the only thing that happens is that people write letters. But without some clear argument about why we shouldn't believe a given narration, I don't think that's supportable. The clear intent of Dracula is that there is a real vampire.

So, if you think the narrator is unreliable in "The Last White Man", make a case for that. What part of the narration is right and what is wrong, and how do you know that? Is he really the last white man? And was there a race war?

I didn't say the narrator was unreliable. I said I think the narration is in part or in full reflecting the POV of the protagonist.
The notion of an exclusionary and hostile RPG community is a fever dream of zealots who view all social dynamics through a narrow keyhole of structural oppression.
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