Timewaster's Guide Archive

Just wonder--Do you get snake eyes every time you roll your eyes?

I have been following this thread closely, because it hits so close to home. My family, on both my mother and father's side, have been LDS for generations. My husband and I were married in the temple, and we raised our kids in the LDS faith. Our only daughter is gay. It was a hard adjustment (though, in hindsight,  not entirely a surprise) when she told us. It occasioned hours of tears, prayers, and soul searching on my part, trying to come to terms with something for which I had no frame of reference. She was miserable during her high school years because she was trying to hide and deny her same-sex attraction.   I think one big reason she had such a hard time is that this is not a popular topic of discussion at church. The only thing she really knew was that the church teaches that homosexuality is wrong, and she had no real understanding of the distinction between the feelings and acting on the feelings. She thought she was a horrible, evil person for having feelings over which she had no control. My heart aches for her every time I think of what she was going through and the anguish she experienced. I truly wish that I had been observant enough to realize the turmoil she was in, and that I had been there to help her through it. She eventually chose to leave the church and pursue a gay lifestyle. We treat her and her partner the same as we treat our son and his girlfriend--they are welcome in our home at any time, they attend many of our family get togethers, but we ask that they respect our feeling and beliefs when they are in our home.

I firmly believe the principles that Brandon and other church members have explained on this thread. My daughter is a beautiful child of God that has a particular temptation to work through. It has to be her decision how she reacts to the feelings that she has. My responsibility is not to judge her, but to let her know that I love her and will accept whatever decisions she makes in her life. We have many frank discussions and she knows that the thing I want most is for her to be happy.

Armadius, I know this is not in line with your beliefs, and I hope I didn't say anything to offend you, but I thought maybe you would like to hear from someone with a little different perspective on the topic.

Some ideas that have been mulling around in my head--I tend to be way off base with this type of thing, but here they are.

Is Vasher in Hallendren as an agent of Panh Kahl trying to overthrow the government? If you remember, the prisoner he took the breaths from, and then killed in the beginning was named Pahn. Their conversation together showed that they had worked together in the past.
If that is the case, his interaction with Vivenna makes a little more sense--she was probably messing up his plans with her actions, so he needed her out of the way while he tried to figure out what her motivations where. That's why he was surprised by her reaction to his sword.

(From Tjaden, posted yesterday:)  She (Vivenna) keeps putting herself in places where she questions her ability to judge people, and place herself above them.  While these are admirable qualities, they should not be in a princess.  Vivena is constantly being shown as more naïve than Siri – which bothers me on a few occasions.

I don't know if naive is the right word for Vivenna. She was the "perfect child" growing up. She seems to never have allowed herself to question much of anything--her religion, her destiny, her upbringing. She only had been taught one worldview and didn't realize that other peoples' views might be just as valid and reasoned. The places she is put in are all forcing her to expand her horizons. Siri on the other hand, grew up questioning everything and thus was able to adapt to her new circumstances much more readily.

I was wondering the same thing about Vivenna's kidnapping.  Denth and company obviously had an assignment that involved Lemks, so when they found out from him that she was coming, I imagine they informed their employer and were told to intercept and control her.

Dan, do you have a link to the new trailer? I haven't seen it, and my husband is a huge fan. I would love to be able to show it to him.

Here's the link: http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/transformers.html. My oldest son (he's 18, and thankfully still a kid) is a big fan too.

How's this for some  far-out speculation: Lightsong uses his breath to heal Susebron's tongueless state, and Susebron weighs in on the Idrian side of the war.   

All I can say is WOW!   What a chapter! "Kind of important"? I think amazing and pivotal describes it better. The events in this chapter totally snuck up on me. I really enjoy reading a book like this--it's fun to have the time to speculate about where the author is heading. Thanks for letting us participate in the process, Brandon.

I have to admit it--I'm a Siri fan, so I'm glad this is her chapter. I like the way her relationship and character are developing. Just a couple of questions that have been mulling around in my head--
During their conversations, why is Siri not worried that the priests are still listening in on her nightly visits? Is she still doing her "bump and grind" act? (and how does she explain that to Susebron?!) It seems like the priests would keep an ear on things until she is pregnant.

Also, how does Susebron eat with no tongue? I can see why he was taught he needed to take in only small pieces of food and eat slowly--wouldn't he choke if he were cramming whole pastries into his mouth?