Discussion My irritation with perfection

seconded

 

Honestly, the post just feels like you are trying to hate the series you like and praise the one that you love lol. It's not the first time you have done it, so it makes it a lot more obvious.

The examples were quite vague. Most of the praise are given for their strength, not characters minus lin feng in which crowd believes killing is right.

Other things are similar to what every novel do like in black lands on issth author keep trying to justify meng hao killing as normal thing cause everyone does it.

 

I completely agree , it's what i don't like from 75% CN (don't ask me where i got such a precise porcentage xD) , i don't have a problem with dark protagonist like Wang Ling (Xian ni) or Linley (Warlock of the Magus World) becouse the author doesn't try to justify them as heroes or some BS , whereas in a lot of CN the author tries so hard to justify the actions of the mc, BS.

 

Character is related to someone's behavior, not what people said someone is like. However, some authors probably mistook the two. For example, one author maybe thought that as long as it was mentioned that a certain MC is heroic and devoted, then he instantly becomes heroic and devoted to his lovers...even if his actions don't say so. IMO, a good characterization should indicate consistent behavior, not simply crowd recognition.

 

Yun Che's gonna rape you guys~

 

Parth, no offense, but grow a damn backbone. If you're going to post your opinion, do it and do it with pride.

 

Even if it is an opinion the present you found to be unacceptable?

 

But he doesn't. He deleted it to appease others since he wanted to try and keep a more neutral position as a moderator

 

The basic issue with the idea of perfection is in the very point that it is an ideal personified. Perfect at what? Perfection is so heavily based on the viewpoint of the individual, or the culture, that it is like commenting on common sense. The only thing common about it is that everyone has some form of it; we just can never agree on it and get confused that no one else seems to have it.

You also hit the nail on the head that humans by their very nature (freedom of thought) are imperfect. Perfection is a goal, usually one that can never be reached. Heck, if you do have a 'perfect mc' then in all technicality, you are removing humanity from the character. After all, how can we connect with a person that is so wholesomely unrealistic?

I find when someone uses the term of perfection as a kind of taboo, especially if the subject of it is left open ended. Unless it is defined and quantified, it's use would then be based off a strange combination of ignorance and arrogance. Hence is why I think so many of these mc's and stories as grossly hypocritical, yet perfect, reflect that point so well. Then again, that is entirely my viewpoint and understanding.

 

Sometimes a "good" character is a really great character. Itkovian is one of my all-time favorite characters and I won't say he's perfectly good but he's pretty damn heroic and his philosophy is very forgiving as well.

Spoiler

He even "ascends" into a kind of god-like figure who is called the Redeemer who basically is a god about saving people and no one being beyond redemption

 

Holy f... Someone else who reads Erikson/Esslemont?

Just don't forget when he ascends and the troubles he gets trying to figure out his role. That being said, you got to love the crazy ones like Iskaral Pust.

 

There's several of us on the forum actually. I'm probably one of the more outspoken readers and proponents of western fantasy though, particularly Malazan (which is probably my favorite series).

Kruppe, Tehol and Pust are great.

 

Easily the best. Sanderson, Rothfuss, Donaldson, among many others, are absolutely great, but the Malazan series hits so many notes freaking exquisitely. It always saddens me to no end how little recognition it gets...