Post by rvm45 on Jan 21, 2020 13:43:31 GMT -6
Friends,
I was just at the 290th chapter of a Story, "Godly Model Creator" that went to at least 800 chapters. I was really enjoying that story and I looked forward to being able to read it obsessively for the next several days.
Then the Main Character took it upon himself to Neuter someone….
In this context, in Japanese, Korean and Chinese Light Novels, it is often possible—through various means—to take away someone's super powers. The means varies with the story, as does the possibility of remedying the situation. Usually, there is no remedy.
In this story, the dude in question was a bit of an asshole. The Main Character was supposed to be dead. The asshole made a pass at the MC's sister and hinted that she needed a strong protector since her brother was dead.
MC shows up and Neuters the asshole. Now, I would think that it was a bit extreme, but if he'd KILLED the asshole—I'd have kept reading. If he'd crucified the asshole or flayed him alive, I could have kept reading. Taking someone with breathtaking abilities, a brilliant future and turning them into an ordinary mortal is TOO DAMNED CRUEL!
I get almost as disgusted with the Neutered Villains as I do with the Evil Neutering Main Characters. The proper response, in order, would be:
A.} Commit Seppuku.
B.} Challenge the Main Character to a Death Duel {Suicide by Cop—since a mortal has no prayer of winning.}
C.} Spit on the Sister—thus provoking the Main Character to commute the sentence to mere death.
Neutering applies not only to Fictional Super Powers.
Castration is a form of Neutering—the original form of Neutering.
Cutting off a man's hand—as they still do in Mussulman land—or putting out eyes or ripping out tongues like Medieval Tyrants used to do is a form of Neutering.
Finally, taking away someone's guns—or limiting the power of one's guns, is a form of Neutering.
There is good news about that last one. If the Mussulmen cut off your right hand, you're screwed. If some jealous woman mutilates the face of a rival in love, if some sadist gouges your eyes out…
Well, you're pretty much screwed.
If the state takes away your guns…
Even if they catch you flat-footed and confiscate every gun that you own—and then send you to prison for 20-years…
When you get out, there are a number of ways to restore yourself to full personhood…
Not that the possibility of remedying the situation makes the Neutering any less morally reprehensible.
Let me make myself clear…
In the history of the human race, millions of people have done things that deserved death. Many of them did things so evil that they deserved to be tortured to death slowly…
However, even if they DESERVE SUCH A FATE…as "Civilized" people, we may not feel that we should sully ourselves by inflicting such a penalty.
NO ONE—Not Adolph Hitler, Not Joseph Stalin or Ted Kennedy or the most rabid anti-gun politician now alive—deserves to be mutilated or Neutered.
Yeah, if I were the Supreme Ruler of the Earth, I'd line a lot of Anti-Gun Zealots against the wall and shoot them…
God as my witness, I wouldn't maim or Neuter any of them.
Anyway, I have trouble understanding authors whose Heroes have NO MORAL BOTTOM LINE…..ZERO...
Damned Nation!
You know China was the only country in the History of the World that had to pass a law FORBIDDING PEOPLE FROM CASTRATING THEMSELVES.
{Being a Eunuch was a prerequisite to becoming a Bureaucrat and so many folks were Castrating themselves on spec—and ruining themselves for any productive work—that the cities were filled with beggar Eunuchs and the Emperor was forced to take action…}
Anyway, is this something deeply engrained in Chinese Character—faced with the choice of being castrated or losing a hand or something—the Chinaman choses to live on, though crippled? And does this percolate down through their stories?
……RVM45
Parenthetically:
Once Doctors wanted to amputate my left arm. I refused.
Doctors: "You could die."
Me: "And if I do, and you look in my casket, do you know what you will see? You will see a corpse with TWO ARMS!"
I still have my left arm. It has an ugly scar, but it works…well with carpal tunnel, ulnar neuropathy and a wee bit of arthritis—Let's just say that it works as well as my right hand and arm...
I was just at the 290th chapter of a Story, "Godly Model Creator" that went to at least 800 chapters. I was really enjoying that story and I looked forward to being able to read it obsessively for the next several days.
Then the Main Character took it upon himself to Neuter someone….
In this context, in Japanese, Korean and Chinese Light Novels, it is often possible—through various means—to take away someone's super powers. The means varies with the story, as does the possibility of remedying the situation. Usually, there is no remedy.
In this story, the dude in question was a bit of an asshole. The Main Character was supposed to be dead. The asshole made a pass at the MC's sister and hinted that she needed a strong protector since her brother was dead.
MC shows up and Neuters the asshole. Now, I would think that it was a bit extreme, but if he'd KILLED the asshole—I'd have kept reading. If he'd crucified the asshole or flayed him alive, I could have kept reading. Taking someone with breathtaking abilities, a brilliant future and turning them into an ordinary mortal is TOO DAMNED CRUEL!
I get almost as disgusted with the Neutered Villains as I do with the Evil Neutering Main Characters. The proper response, in order, would be:
A.} Commit Seppuku.
B.} Challenge the Main Character to a Death Duel {Suicide by Cop—since a mortal has no prayer of winning.}
C.} Spit on the Sister—thus provoking the Main Character to commute the sentence to mere death.
Neutering applies not only to Fictional Super Powers.
Castration is a form of Neutering—the original form of Neutering.
Cutting off a man's hand—as they still do in Mussulman land—or putting out eyes or ripping out tongues like Medieval Tyrants used to do is a form of Neutering.
Finally, taking away someone's guns—or limiting the power of one's guns, is a form of Neutering.
There is good news about that last one. If the Mussulmen cut off your right hand, you're screwed. If some jealous woman mutilates the face of a rival in love, if some sadist gouges your eyes out…
Well, you're pretty much screwed.
If the state takes away your guns…
Even if they catch you flat-footed and confiscate every gun that you own—and then send you to prison for 20-years…
When you get out, there are a number of ways to restore yourself to full personhood…
Not that the possibility of remedying the situation makes the Neutering any less morally reprehensible.
Let me make myself clear…
In the history of the human race, millions of people have done things that deserved death. Many of them did things so evil that they deserved to be tortured to death slowly…
However, even if they DESERVE SUCH A FATE…as "Civilized" people, we may not feel that we should sully ourselves by inflicting such a penalty.
NO ONE—Not Adolph Hitler, Not Joseph Stalin or Ted Kennedy or the most rabid anti-gun politician now alive—deserves to be mutilated or Neutered.
Yeah, if I were the Supreme Ruler of the Earth, I'd line a lot of Anti-Gun Zealots against the wall and shoot them…
God as my witness, I wouldn't maim or Neuter any of them.
Anyway, I have trouble understanding authors whose Heroes have NO MORAL BOTTOM LINE…..ZERO...
Damned Nation!
You know China was the only country in the History of the World that had to pass a law FORBIDDING PEOPLE FROM CASTRATING THEMSELVES.
{Being a Eunuch was a prerequisite to becoming a Bureaucrat and so many folks were Castrating themselves on spec—and ruining themselves for any productive work—that the cities were filled with beggar Eunuchs and the Emperor was forced to take action…}
Anyway, is this something deeply engrained in Chinese Character—faced with the choice of being castrated or losing a hand or something—the Chinaman choses to live on, though crippled? And does this percolate down through their stories?
……RVM45
Parenthetically:
Once Doctors wanted to amputate my left arm. I refused.
Doctors: "You could die."
Me: "And if I do, and you look in my casket, do you know what you will see? You will see a corpse with TWO ARMS!"
I still have my left arm. It has an ugly scar, but it works…well with carpal tunnel, ulnar neuropathy and a wee bit of arthritis—Let's just say that it works as well as my right hand and arm...