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Messages - MisterGuyMan

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16
Author Q&A / Midlist Authors & Online Piracy
« on: July 31, 2017, 11:37:59 pm »
The more time people spend consuming free media, the less time they spend consuming purchased media, the less money they spend. You can spike your samples any which way (the way IP foes do), cherry-pick countless happy scenarios, but it all comes down to this: people spending less, and content producers struggling more.

Being a Yar is bad enough. Being one who thinks they're actually doing good, on the other hand...
This isn't actually how the market has evolved though.  Consumers are spending just as much money as they ever have on legitimate media and the media industry isn't struggling.  The only difference is how that money is being allocated.  In the music industry, for example, people are buying less albums and singles.  That's the big bullet point record companies cite.  What they don't point out is that consumers make upo that difference and more with concert sales.  This results in individual artists making more per capita today and the big losers are the record labels which historically have played the role of middle men.  As I stated before the primary limiting factor of media spending isn't determined by anything media suppliers can manipulate.  Consumers simply have a finite amount of disposable income and they spend a certain amount of that income on media.

I was always interested in how you specifically would view this considering the major themes of TSA.  Copyright and IP isn't actually universal and has only been around for a few hundred years.  It's original intention was a form of censorship.  Creative arts have flourished before copyright and it flourishes today in markets with lax copyright laws.  In the West we've been conditioned to view copyright as an intrinsic right when the historically it's actually the anomoly.

I hesitate to even continue this debate since you are my favorite author and it would be easy for you to conclude that I'm advocating  "theft" of your work.  I'm not.  I'm just pointing out that the marketplace is ever evolving and we can't put the genie back in the box.  Good to artists have always found ways to profit from their work before and after the Internet. 

17
Author Q&A / Re: Unholy Consultation - *SUPER SPOILERIFIC*
« on: July 31, 2017, 12:38:47 am »
At the risk of alienating my favorite author, I'm firmly believe piracy is a bogeyman used by large media companies.

I've read a lot of studies on the issue and if you throw out the media sponsored ones and the ones that equate each pirated copy to a lost sale, the actual effect of piracy isn't bad and even has positive benefits.

The simplest way to understand it is to examine consumers.  The limiting variable in how many books, movies or songs people buy is simply income.  People simply do not have enough money to buy it all the media they want.  Piracy is generally a supplementary activity in conjunction with legitimate spending.  A more accurate way to view this is by looking at pirates as fans and multiple studies actually confirm that the most prolific pirates are also usually the biggest spenders of legitimate media.

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Author Q&A / Re: Unholy Consultation - *SUPER SPOILERIFIC*
« on: July 30, 2017, 01:19:21 am »
Thanks for answering my question.  Can't wait to start The No-God series!

I'll just quote this other poster's question since I've been waiting with my breath held since he posted it:
Quote
3- what can you say about Kellhus' role in TSTSNBN?  still a major player?
I need to know this!

19
Quote from:  MGM
Bakker just confirmed that Kellhus is no baby in the Q&A.
 

I know, i asked the question. But, to believers of said theory, here is their space and chance to argue their case. :)
I would point out that Bakker has lied before.  He said Cnaür's story was done in TTT and... yeah...

20
Bakker just confirmed that Kellhus is no baby in the Q&A. 

21
Author Q&A / Re: Unholy Consultation - *SUPER SPOILERIFIC*
« on: July 28, 2017, 06:25:13 pm »
The one burning questions I have (and that you have a slight chance of answering) is when can you disclose the title of the next series?  If the answer is now the please let us know!

By the way, I seriously love your work.  If the series ended with Unholy Consult, the Second Apocalypse would be the greatest Fantasy series of all time.  I can't wait for the finale.

22
The Unholy Consult / Re: [TUC Spoilers] CRACKPOT Is Kellhus the God?
« on: July 28, 2017, 11:51:30 am »
I'm firmly in the camp of Kellhus ascending as some higher form.  In order of probability, Kellhus is almost certainly a big bad Ciphrang, is likely a God and I suspect he'll become the Unmoved Soul as foreshadowed... pretty much for the entire series.

Kellhus has to be a God/Ciphrang as a stopgap since he sees himself as a Hunger from the outside.  That's why I think that part is all but guaranteed.

The jump from that to "One Godhood" is more a leap of faith.  I first cite the original TTT conversation between Moe and Kellhus.  While Kell believes Moe will push for his own Great Ordeal and betray it through predetermined calamities, it's stated that Kellhus sees further.  The implication the reader is supposed to take from this is that Kellhus will not betray the Ordeal but this is actually not stated.  It's possibly a false implication that readers naturally are expected to take. 

I propose as one possibility, that Moe's vision of betraying the Ordeal has always been part of the plan and Kellhus is merely adding an extra step.  So what is this extra step?  In the discussion with Outside persona Kellhus-lookalike, the entity states that he wars with the God.  To drive him out he must raze the fields.  This means that the war against the God, necessitates the failure of the Great Ordeal and the near extinction of mankind.

So if this is Ciphrang/God Kellhus, he's conditioning his past mortal self to play a part in his war against the God.  I assume this would fulfill the Unmoved Soul concept and consequently either create a new One God construct or replace the existing one.  Perhaps, ironically, the Inrithri Warrior Prophet kills the immanent God of Gods and replaces it with the transcendent Solitary God of the Fanim.  This would also fulfill TTT by adding a second possibility to end damnation.

23
The Unholy Consult / Re: [TUC Spoilers] Kellhus and future stories
« on: July 18, 2017, 05:39:41 pm »
I think he's in the Outside somewhere which means was always in the outside for the entire series since time doesn't exist there as a strictly linear concept.

I still believe he's on the path of TTT which is to become an Unmoved soul.  If he becomes Ciphrang or a God to reach back to his past and condition it for his mortal self, then that's a paradox that fulfills the criteria of an unmoved soul.

He's either  Ajokli, Onkis and/or the head on a pole.

24
The idea of Kellhus being Ajokli raises an interesting possibility: are all of the Gods actually people, and could that be relevant?

I can imagine Esmenet being either Yatwer, seeing that she is a character whose motherhood has been a pretty significant running theme for her, or even more likely, Anagke, the Whore of Fate, seeing that she is, well, a whore who has had a pretty interesting destiny so far, with lots of ups and downs.
I don't believe that would be possible.  Esemet is Holy.  The conversation between Meppa and Psatma all but confirms that the Gods and Ciphrang are huge hungers.  Cnaiur is the benchmark.  If you're not Cnaiur tier hunger then you probably won't be in the running to be a God.

This though does make me recall a quote from Bakker:

"But it was the innocence part, that struck me as the most significant and the most redemptive. Without giving too much away, there is a manner in which Serwe is the important character in the book."

So if Kellhus is out of play, I can't think of a single reason how Serwe could be revealed to be a pivotal character.


The trouble, though, with him being in the outside, is the same issue I have with Moenghus Sr. being some kind of super meta-psuke wielder. What you end up with is a dues ex machina that can explain any event, and to me that dampens my enjoyment immensely. Granted, I think Kellhus' ascending into the Outside and reaching back through time much more plausible and possible within the confines of Earwa than Moenghus Sr. theories. But there's still the trouble with, if Kellhus, why not others? Who else is/was/will-be/has-been a god? What about Sejenus, or Moe Sr., Koringhus, etc. etc. It seems to open a can of worms that I have trouble reconciling.
Well the Unmoved Soul would presumably be a unique event in history.  Cnaiur is going to be a demon but I doubt he has the other skills or even inspiration to become an unmoved soul.  I really feel like the Bejunka move that changes all other moves is serving as a metaphor for some gamechanging and unanticipated event.  So by process of elimination Bejunka and Unmoved Soul leads me to this Paradox theory since I can't find any other way to reconcile the two.

So my very pragmatic I approach is similar to that children's game "Guess Who?"  First we start with the pool of all people that can become demons.  Then we keep winnowing down that pool with qualifiers.  Who speaks to the No-God?  Who is actually aiming to be an unmoved soul?  Who has spoken with a voice that seems to require a near extermination of mankind to war with the God?  Kellhus just seems like the last man standing or at worst the guy with preponderance of evidence.  Note that this is only with the assumption that the Unmoved Soul thing is still in play.

25
How bout the idea that Ajoklie and Kellhus are one and the same?

Like, the Hundred live across time, right?  And sufficiently mean souls can become Ciphrang (see Cnaiur).  So maybe Kellhus is the earthly form of Ajokli?  Like, the God-form can reach across history, has always been present, etc, but Anasurimbor Kellhus was the living soul that became him.
That's my current best guess of who Kellhus was this entire time.  The trickster God tricking himself would be ironic and fitting at the same time.  Onkis is a possibility too since she's the goddess of the Darkness that comes before.  She's also literally a head on a Pole and Kellhus might technically exactly that at the moment.

Even if all that was true, it doesn't matter. Why? Yatwer thinks she's absolute with her White-Luck, and how did that turn out? Ajokli thinks he's absolute with his plans, and how did that turn out? What makes Kellhus immune to this pitfall?....Pick anyone who was sure they were on the winning side that hasn't lost everything (or nearly) for their certainty.
I can't be sure of course but if there is a paradox then that entails Outside Kellhus being the cause of his own demise which is the cause of Outside Kellhus.  He doesn't even have to be in control.  I'd actually prefer it if this were written to be a complete betrayal of his past self like Proyas.  In terms of narrative I still think the un-moved soul goal is in play and a bootstrap paradox is the only way I can see that manifesting.

If you want a story answer to why he's different, then he's the only entity in the Outside that has manipulated the No-God and might have heard voices from him too.  So if Outside Kellhus can talk to mortal Kellhus who can talk to Kelmomas, then a lot of coincidences can be explained.  Add to that how Kellhus is still speaking to an outside voice he does not know about which may be a different voice from the voice he believes to be to No-God.

Weird that during the "Moenghus is behind it all" discussions some people used Kellhus's mistakes/near deaths throughout PoN as evidence that the Dunyain are fallible and that Moenghus simply fucked up and died. Now some of those same people won't accept that Kellhus could have failed. No, he must have planned it all, he is infallible after all...
The very big difference is that Kellhus sees himself in the inverse fire descending as a hunger.  So that confirms that he's Ciphrang at least and not fodder.  He could have made lots of mistakes but we know what his floor is but not his ceiling.  I would argue that if TJE says Cnaiur is a "Prince of Hell" then Kellhus should be that at least as well.

26
I was thinking the same thing. I just have a problem wondering how Kellhus planned on dying or what have you if Kel doesn't pop up. What I mean, he defeats the Consult, carapice destroyed, then what? Because, I'm pretty sure Kel wasn't part of the plan.
My current theory is that Outside Kellhus conditioned the ground to get mortal Kellhus salted to complete the paradox.  Kellhus is still seen speaking with a voice he doesnt know so that's at lease one agency unaccounted since he'd know Ajokli.  So Kellhus was tricked by his future self because he obviously would have no reason to believe a voice telling him to salt himself.  I just believe that if we assume Kellhus is a Ciphrang, which seems a safe bet, that it's axiomatic for him to start doing what he does in the Outside since... that's what he does and he can't *NOT* do it.  Now he can do it in a place where time doesn't exist and he'd actually be a Ciphrang or even God since the first page of the first book.

Kelmomas has really been the wildcard the entire series, alternatively saving and salting Kellhus.  So who's Sammi supposed to be?  If we follow the obvious narrative it can't be Ajokli since the gods are blind to him.  The only one we know that is stated to speak with the No-God is Kellhus.

27
The problem with the Ajokli harvesting Kellhus narrative is that Kellhus sees his future when he looks into the inverse fire.  He responds to Merk that where the Nonman is fodder, Kellhus sees himself descending as hunger.  So at the very least, Kellhus is a Ciphrang.  Cnaiur is described by the Judging Eye as a Prince of Hell so Kellhus would be something even greater.

28
One problem with this though. What does Ajokli gain by killing Kellhus and the No-God walking? Nothing. If anything there stands a chance the the Outside will be sealed and he'll be left howl g at the gates. A lot to digest and definitely need to reread.
I went back and found this quote:

I war not with Men, it says, but with the God.

Yet no one but Men die," the Aspect-Emperor replies.

The fields must burn to drive Him forth from the Ground.

"But I tend the fields."

The dark figure stands beneath the tree, beings walking toward him.  I seems the clinging stars should hook and carry him in the void, but he is like the truth of iron-impervious and immovable.

It stands before him, regards him-as it has so many times-with his face and his eyes.  No halo gilds his leonine mane.

Then who better to burn them?
So the resurrection of the No-God would actually fall into line with some strategy of fighting the Earwan Over-God.  This plan does not at all sound like the "Hell of Earth" plan that Kellhus spoke of with the Mutilated.

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Some meta analysis:
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