So...My Little Pony

Observation and analysis are two things that I love to do. Collect some data, make some assertions, try to prove that they hold up to criticism and scrutiny. Recently, a friend of mine convinced me to watch the new My Little Pony cartoon. I trust her opinion when it comes to cartoons, so I gave it a whirl.

It also seems to be the most interesting cultural phenomenon I have heard occur on the internet. Ever. It seems to be a movement that is a rebellion against the cultural fabric of the internet.

Naturally, you ask: How so?

Ok, so at this point in time I have watched five episodes, and I am trying to understand why this gets the attention that it does.

From what I understand, this began with some folks over on 4chan, particularly the /b/ thread posting things about My Little Pony, and about how they enjoy the show and the characters. Naturally, nobody plays nice, and those that like the show were subjected to ridicule and subsequent flaming from troll central. Eventually the mods had to interfere harshly, and a great egress began of the pony community, which took on the name of "brony," a combination of /b/ and "pony."

Initially I thought brony referred to "boy" and "pony," because the show seems to pull in fellas my age, which is interesting.

Eventually the bronies made their own website, and image based posting board called pony chan, and a news blog called Equestria Daily, where people can come away from the 4chan community to talk.

Easily the most notable thing about this community is its reaction to the trolls that still try to harass them...they just talk about loving and tolerating the heck out of them. The people of this culture strive to inculcate the friendship and loving principles of the characters in the show, and go to great lengths to make it so.

I don't think I'm engaging in hyperbole by saying that this is the greatest thing I've ever seen on the internet.

In all its futility and idiocy, of all its arguments and hate (of which I am a perpetrator) there actually is a place that takes the opposite approach to the internet, and it's all based around a new adaptation of a show that originally only appealed to young ladies.

Hot damn this is interesting, and I'm going to write some more on this later.

As an aside, I've got part of my Wheel translation done, but I have to learn if Latin can make the distinction between myth and legend.

BANZAI!

Sexism Definition

This is rather late, but I have the bad habit of watching a lot of an anime series if it turns to be worth watching. So it goes with Highschool of the Dead. I admit it has too much fanservice, dumb camera angles, and too much jiggling, but the situation is well-developed, the voice acting is good, and it seems to keep the drama up. So, it seems worthwhile to watch.

So, what is sexism, and how is it expressed in culture?

Well, there are certain ways in which we interact that cannot be done unless we know the other's gender. Pronouns, clothing, how to address someone, all of these are in some way used as gender markers for how we interact. Frye goes on to a number of ways farther than we do gender-announcing and whatnot, but I want to focus on language.

If there's one thing I've noticed in the Wheel of Time books, it appears to be the case that the women in the series are more than willing to verbally abuse, and dress-down the men. Egwene especially does this to Rand most of the time they interact in the series. It's not the playful way Min interacts with Rand, but a very blatant way of insulting him to degrade him. Hell, the man is the Dragon Reborn, it's not like he can be brought down, or even forced to forget what he is, and what's been forced on him.

Furthermore, I really can't think of a meek woman in the series. They're all headstrong, willful, or even far dareis mai. Comparatively, it seems to be the case that the men in the series are far more meek. Take the Two Rivers men, all of whom are used to the pushy goodwives of their village, the Women's Circle, and even the Wisdom. They take it as a matter of course as the series goes on that the women they are with are more than willing to run off and put themselves in danger. All the while telling the menfolk that they aren't needed, wanted, or even that they're useful. Nynaeve is particularly a perpetrator of that.

I think from this I want to say that the gender scale is tipped in favor of women in The Wheel of Time series. Also, considering the amount of queens they meet, as well as how the White Tower is the one stable political force for the last three thousand years, women would seem to have a stronger initial status because they can't be infected with the taint on saidin.

Huh, that helped focus my thoughts more than I thought it would. Sorry for not doing the Latin of the Wheel of Time opening, got carried away in cartoons.

For Tomorrow

The coming week will be madness, so I plan to do the following tomorrow:

I'm going to read some of Marilyn Frye's essays regarding feminism, and lay down the structure that my paper will take. I have data, but how to express it is the current problem.

Also, I think I want to write down our favorite Wheel of Time paragraph in classical Latin.

I also am taking a break before getting into A Crown of Swords. I'm wanting to read Conan the Magnificent.

:P

Saldean Marriages

Whee, finished Lord of Chaos yesterday!

:x I think it's time I finally sat down and read The Republic. That whole philosopher and classicist thing...

So, what we know of how Saldean couples interact comes from two sources primarily, the marriage of Perrin and Faile, as well as Bashere and Deira. This comes from when Perrin finally gets to Caemlyn because of the pull of Rand's stronger ta'veren thread.

So, I'm going to quickly recap the scene, then try to figure out what it means.

Once Perrin makes it fiercely clear that he will cleave through anything Bashere has to keep Faile with him, the two go to a room where Deira and Faile are discussing her running away, as well as her marriage. Once inside, Deira immediately speaks to Perrin about how Faile makes him out to be weak, indulgent, and not strong. Here comes a quote, and I'll try to interpret it:

"Weaklings never think so. A woman wants a strong man, stronger than she, here." And farther down, "If a woman is stronger than her husband, she comes to despise him. She has the choice of tyrannizing him or else making herself in order to not make him less. If a husband is strong enough, though..." She says a little more about how she can be strong as he is, but I think this will be sufficient.

First thing we know: Borderlanders are nuts, but lovable. As with what I've said of Shienar, the Borderlands require men to be constantly ready to fight off a Trolloc raid, and the practice of making men as strong as possible to deal with them takes on a different form here. Wherein Shienar chivalry defines how they will die to protect the women of the land, Saldean women seem to have decided that they need to be fierce to scare of any weak men, so only those strong enough to "tame" them will get to reproduce.

Remember, angry sex is the best sex!

Again, women do not generally fight in the Borderlands, but that does not mean they are simply subordinate to the men there. They seem to be always ready to antagonize and keep their husbands willful enough to hold the Blight back. Also, they seem to push their husbands when they think they might need it. Consider how Faile is the primary source of why the Two Rivers decides to be independent, and eventually a province subordinate to the Queen of Andor.

One thing I'm unsure of is that bit about either terrorizing him or lowering herself to make him stronger. Two possibilities arise, and I think they are both true. Either she rules him and forces him to "man-up" as it were so he does his duty, or she encourages him by making herself seem weaker than she really is.

Pretty interesting as far as relationships go. What was that quote by Robert Jordan, something about preferring to hunt leopards than rabbits, which refers to how much more satisfying it is to go after a tough woman than a meek one.

Bah, duty calls, Latin time!

Death is lighter than a feather, duty heavier than a mountain.

Egwene al'Vere

Ho boy, is this something I've noticed the WoT community is divided over. Going from the girl that Rand believed he was to marry to Amyrlin Seat, as well as thinking Rand is nuts for thinking he should break the seals, Egwene's character arc goes from those small village roots to the most powerful woman in the world.

Yet, why are the people divided about her?

Honestly, I think it's because she goes from being nice, helpful, and determined to help Rand survive the Aes Sedai, to becoming the living embodiment of the conservative, 3000 year-old edifice that is the White Tower.

Sure, she works to bring all the channeling women together, whether Seafolk or Aiel or Knitting Circle, and unites the Tower from the divide that many considered would be irreparable, but she becomes as deft and strong a manipulator and savant of Daes Dae'mar that Moiraine will probably flip when she meets her again.

So, in Towers of Midnight we are treated to a great scene in which Rand just waltzes up to the White Tower, and asks to see the Amyrlin. Far from being fearful because he's in the center of Aes Sedai authority, and even while shielded, Rand simply tells Egwene what he will do, and that she must plan for it, so buts. And he leaves with nobody trying to stop him. One interesting thing to note here is that, although he was shielded, some of the Aes Sedai comment that they felt that they couldn't contain him if he did want to break out, which has two possibilities.

Rand has gone to 11, and can bring out so much of the Power that not all the Aes Sedai could keep him shielded.

Or, and this is what I think is the case, he can channel the Creator's version of the True Power now, which does explain the immense strength he suddenly gains, as well as his oddball ability to suddenly see Darkfriends, a capacity only seen in Padan Fain in The Lord of Chaos, which was a gift from the Dark One.

Personally, I dislike how she just becomes another Aes Sedai, albeit a "better" one. The wench is still uncomfortable around channeling men, doesn't believe that saidin is cleansed, and doesn't listen to the messiah that surviving Tarmon Gai'don is really their job, not his. His is to seal the Dark One away before another comes later in the Pattern to the place where the Pattern is thinner, and a strange new power source exists.

I gotta admit, I'm really wondering what's going to happen with Lanfear in A Memory of Light, given Rand's strange dream where he sees her imprisoned in the necklace thing that Moridin has.

So, Egwene: pretty much 180s her trust in the man that she would have married had not the Pattern set the two on the path that they are on.

As a side note, Saldeans are crazy with how their marriages work, and I will be commenting on that for more stuff regarding what I hope to be the gender analysis paper I want to write.

Been a tough week, but updates will be coming more often.

Later!

The Asura

So, Areanet just came out with some videos and articles detailing the personality, architecture, and world view of the Asura.

Initially, I had thought that they would just be that small, cute dumbass race that either the younger kids would want to play, or just a bid to get girls interested in the character models.

Praise the Gods and sacrifice a bull, I am wrong.

The Asura are a race of insane, arrogant little goblin-like tinkers (no song, though) that believe they will conquer the surface with their technology and understanding of magic.

Considering that Areanet made the Sylvari actually interesting, as opposed to just another elf knockoff, Guild Wars 2 is really shaping up to take the MMO market by storm when it gets released, and it will be free to play, which is huge in my book.

I have been busy this week, but I think I will write something on Egwene this week, considering that I'm at the part in Lord of Chaos where she gets raised to the Amyrlin Seat, and I want to reflect on how she changes through the story.

Space Marine

Hey folks, just a couple days ago the new Space Marine video game got released, and I wanted to share some thoughts of mine on it.

While predictable, the campaign is solid, and has an ending that was surprisingly good and innovative concerning the relationship between the Ultramarines and the Codex Astartes. I won't go into it more than that, but it was a solid 40k experience, and Relic/THQ delivered.

What I do want to touch on here is the multiplayer, which will be the real test of the game's longevity. What this means is that they set out to make the experience such that people will still come to play it after getting fully decked out in the wargear available from either leveling up or performing feats with the various weapons to show proficiency.

Currently, there are two modes: capture point, and annihilation. If you're looking for quick leveling, play capture point.

One thing that's stuck with me while watching the videos Relic put out concerning the multiplayer is that they wanted to do more Unreal Tournament than the current, very shitty FPS market where dregs like what the Modern Warfare series somehow sell copies. Yet, what is the Unreal Tournament experience, and how could it be implemented in Space Marine?

2004 was a very special year for me, mainly because UT04 was my introduction to the series, and I played that game to death. The game was fast-paced, reflex-based, and the weapons were all balanced against eachother. Even the glossed-over bio rifle was capable of doing massive damage, as well as a one-hit kill, with the right amount of timing and skill involved. Which I did. And it was good. Movement is another thing unique in UT that I haven't seen replicated in its beauty in any other game. Everyone has the capacity to dash in any direction, and everyone has a timing-based double jump. This makes for a fast-paced, relatively balanced shooter that actually takes place in 3 dimensions, rather than just never leaving the ground.

So, Relic/THQ stated that they wanted Space Marine to have a UT-like multiplayer. To begin, we'll just start with the classes and movement for each. You've got the Devastator, Tactical, and Assault Marine classes, respectively the heavy weapons man, mid-range shooter, and melee dude. Of them, the devastator is the slowest of the classes, and instead of rolling, he kinda...lunges? It looks funny, but he hip-thrusts with his heavy weapon to get around the battlefield. The tactical marine has the capacity to roll, which moves pretty far, and he does sprint the fastest of the classes in the game. The assault marine is the second fastest, and has the vertical movement option of jumping with his pack. A simple tap of your spacebar with your direction will give you a short burst of speed, and is quite good for faking out people. Holding the spacebar down will get you your vertical leap, but sometimes it seems as if I hold the damn button down, and the jump pack itself decides not to let me jump up when I know I should be able to. So, it's pretty evident that this game, while it does have a lot more movement options than most video games' multiplayer mode, it ain't UT in this respect.

Now we'll talk weapons. Initially, assuming all the people are just level one, the game modes are pretty balanced in damage output, and risk vs. reward. When people level up and start getting their achievements and perks, then shit starts getting crazy. I have been one-shot several times by some jackoff jumping down on me with the fucking Thunder Hammer in tow. Do not pass GO, do not collect 200 bucks. But hey, the bastard was higher level than me, and after playing and getting up there myself, I found a great counter to their bullshit: the meltagun. It's the equivalent of a shotgun from God, but it has a long time between shots, so you'd best make the first one count. Essentially, countering the assault marine will come down to timing your dodge, then predicting where he'll be so you can fill his insides with your melta-load. Yet, even as you level up and get new gear, the old weapons do not at all become irrelevant. The boltgun stays a very solid medium-range weapon, and when you unlock the weapon-specific perks for it, it is a really good option for medium to long range firefights. This is the aspect I think that they did well in mimicking Unreal Tournament, the weapon balance. Yeah, there are headshots, but they're hard to pull off, albeit easier in Space Marine because of limited movement capacity.

However, everyone I have spoken to about this game agrees that the multiplayer needs one of two things to happen: either the marines get tougher, or the weapons get weaker, because some of them are simply too strong. The lascannon is capable of a two-hit body shot kill, and it requires no set-up time like the heavy bolter, which depends on its rate of fire downrange to get anything done. Next, the plasma cannon is too good, and its charged shot does so much damage that it's nearly impossible to live if you get hit anywhere near the blast, yet its single shots will still kill someone in just a few hits. The meltagun needs to be altered to where it does less damage, has a slightly longer range, and less of a reload time.

Changes like these will make the multiplayer more balanced, and will take a decent multiplayer experience to being a really good one. Nearly-instant respawn timers are worth playing this game for. Also, for the level discrepancy, when someone kills you you have the option to copy that person's weapon loadout, regardless of level, and allows you to compete with people that may be too high level for you.

On a final note, leveling up is just too damn easy as of right now. Two days, and I'm already halfway to level 41, and some people are undoubtedly already there.

Shienar

Found in the northeast corner of Randland, Shienar is one of the four borderland states that keep the southern lands from being overrun by Trollocs, Myrddraal, and other horrors of the dark one. Forty years before Shienar was the buffer against the Blight that it is, the nation of Malkier existed to the north. However,treachery from within caused the utter destruction of Malkier and its Seven Towers, and began the lifelong struggle of Lan to dance with the Shadow in a war that cannot be won, only fought. Regardless of the buffer that used to exist in Malkier, Shienar is home to a unique culture that has generally endured for the three thousand years since the Breaking of the World.

To encapsulate the male culture of Shienar within its own words, here's the most quotable phrase in all of the Wheel of Time books:

Death is lighter than a feather, duty heavier than a mountain.

So yeah, keep to your duty, and do you damndest to not die. This phrase is one of the only things that keeps Rand going in the books, a talisman to remind him that he must go on for life to continue, and death waits for him at the end so he can rest.

So, Shienaran culture can mainly be described as a practicing chivalric society, especially since Shienar is famous for producing powerful heavy cavalry. Women are given immense respect, as well as their own quarters that men are not allowed in to. Necessarily, this leads to the question: "Why?"

I think a common thread in all the borderland cultures is that women decide when to hop in the sack, and when to get back out. The respect given them is due to how there is a constant need for able-bodied men to serve in the armies of the border, and because of their contribution, women are given immense privilege and power. Gotta make babies, and the women have to put up with them so the line can be held. One funny thing you learn in The Great Hunt is that the ladies of Fal Dara Keep love playing matchmaker. They think that Rand is an outland lord, and constantly drop hints that so-and-so would make a dutiful and good wife, and how his babies and sword skill would help keep the Blight back.

It is also influenced by samurai culture, primarily in how they approach honor and obligations. The men find their self-respect in how well they perform their duties as borderlander men, as well as how seriously they take their duties. Men giving themselves over to abstract concepts like this helps maintain their devotion to not only Shienar and the border, but to all the people south.

Just a quick primer, but interesting nonetheless. One last bit is to note that Aes Sedai are immensely respected there, which may be a distribution of their attitude towards women.

Opening the fan, Ishamael

What is a Gender Analysis?

So, I've run in to a bit of a conceptual conundrum. I want to do a "gender analysis" of the Wheel of Time books, but I can't say I'm sure what exactly I mean by that term in the context of the fantasy story. While analyzing the politics, both macro and micro of Randland will be a primary way I will make my observations, I think what I will need to do in order to focus my energies will be to go back to some of the readings from my Feminist Ethics and Epistemology class, which will primarily draw from Marylin Frye's concepts of feminism. What I may do for the time being, after I at least tease you all about the culture of Shienar and what the women there's status seems to reflect, is to give synopses of the essays from Marylin Frye's book The Politics of Reality: essays in feminist theory.

At least this will help my framework of what questions to ask while looking at the piece, specifically things like "what is oppression," or "conceptual harm."

Just thought I'd share that.

Oaths

So, there happens to be a philosophy paper that I'm considering submitting to an undergraduate journal to try to get published. While my edits will not necessarily be about the material I'm going to speak on here, it maintains its relevance because oaths are a part of our culture that still exists, yet is not spoken of nor explained during our education. 'Ere we go!

Before any mention of the modern relevance of oaths, it will be useful to talk about how our cultural ancestors set up their societies such that when an oath was given, you fucking keep it, or you'll get a lightning bolt right up your ass! There is always a reason for a God to have a certain aspect, otherwise a God would not have it. Everybody's favorite party God, Dionysos, is really a combination of different aspects that come from what he's associated with: wine. The Greeks, in their own way, learned that wine and alcohol have their own curative properties, from cleaning a wound with strong booze, or drinking to feel better. Heck, Greek theater, the realm of Dionysos is most well-known among the ancients because of the cathartic feelings experienced during performances, was believed to have special healing powers because of that release of pent-up emotions among the people. Or rather, dudes.

So, Gods have aspects because for a reason: because the Greeks found it important!

Enter Zeus, the pimp daddy of Olympus. Symbol of masculinity and virility, Zeus is the embodiment of the adolescent fantasy of being powerful, authoritative, and capable of taking different forms and ravishing every beautiful woman one takes a fancy to. He's also the Greek justification for the power of the old kings, like Agamemnon. So, the importance of oaths needs to be shown in this particular culture. Let's look at the Iliad, since I've already mentioned Agamemnon and Zeus. Alright, this all begins with the Goddess Eris not being invited to the marriage of Peleus and Thetis, and she gets pissed. So, she nabs this apple, gives it to some unqualified kid looking after some sheep named Paris, and says "Hey, you're invited to this party because you're a prince, go give it to the most beautiful woman there!"

Oh man, does this not bode well.

So, three fly ladies come forward after hearing about how this apple is to be given to the most beautiful woman there: Athena, Hera, and Aphrodite. Now, we modern humans would think that he would just judge beauty, and it would be done lickety split, but each Goddess pulls him to the side, and insinuates a reward if he chooses her.

Athena, "I will make you a consummate warrior, every man will fear you!"
Hera, "I will give you a station of importance, with a good marriage!"
Aphrodite, "I will give you the finest piece of pussy in the world."

http://www.happletea.com/2010/03/12/helen-of-sparta-is-super-fly/

If you like or love mythology, read this comic. It's fantastic, and thought provoking.

So, Paris chooses Aphrodite, and Helen gets whisked away from Sparta and Menelaus. The kings of Greece, having taken an oath to help get Helen back in the event that she gets taken from the husband of her choice, are called upon to go to war to bring her back. So, the question we ask first is "Why was an oath required in the first place?" Well, Helen was so hot that men were more than willing to kill other Hellenes for her. To bring about any semblance of peace, the men agreed that whomever she chose they would help should she be taken. Next comes the question "Why did they have oaths in the first place?" This will be the meat of the piece.

As far as we can tell, the Trojan War is supposed to have taken place around 1200 B.C.. We believe that the alphabet was introduced in 750 B.C., which allowed the Iliad to be written down, along with these strange little things written on papers called "laws." While the various polis that were developed after the collapse of the Mycenean dominance of Hellas, which was around 1100 B.C.. So, how did these societies operate without codified laws, written down and readable for anyone to check?

Promises and oaths.

People are bound together as a society because they are supposed to look out for each other's survival, and it's us against everybody else. Yet, there is still a distinction between those that would keep their word when given, and those that find promises and oaths only contingent upon the circumstances they are given or during the execution of that promise. What overriding, absolute way can we guarantee adherence to this cultural staple?

That whole "lightning bolt up the ass thing."

As such, this is the basis for oaths being given in the sight of the Gods, with sacrifices given to seal the deal. Whether it is the oath given to protect Helen, or the agreement between Hannibal and Philip V of Macedon in 215 B.C. after Hannibal's success at Cannae. To violate this oath would be the same as lying to one's Gods, the fast track for disaster, ruin, and death. Two things come from this. First, oaths require some form of a religious commitment or ceremony, solemn and truthful. Second, it's easy to see how oaths have fallen out given our much more secular world that we live in today. That is not to say that oaths are inextant in our world today. For example, certain youth groups have oath-taking ceremonies to prepare them for weighty virtues and demands of probity. Most famously are the Boy Scouts of America, and more obscurely the Order of DeMolay. Within our governmental structure, is it not the case that the highest positions of office require oaths to be given, specifically on our holy texts and in the sight of God and thousands of people to uphold our ideals and to do one's duty as well as possible?

I cannot back this up, but I think that oaths are as old as language and religion, the latter, so archaeology tells us, is believed to be the basis of culture, the former a way to communicate beliefs. While I think this is the cultural basis for oaths and oath-taking, I don't think that a religious component is necessary, it is at least sufficient. One need only take the spoken word to be excessively powerful to take an oath. Like Conan, who happens to hate laws and civilized people, yet keeps to his oaths as best he can, and swears by his God like it's nobody's business. Another interesting bit is that oaths seem to be rather wide-spread as an integral part in the fabric of ancient societies. Now, I would need to go into more detail than I have in the past concerning ancient China and thereabouts, but I know there is at least dedication to a words uttered formally to seal promises. Like the Shaolin badasses.

With this primer that will actually act as an informal background for the strongest philosophy paper I've written, I think one of the best questions that can be asked on this topic is this:

In the absence of laws, what keeps others from taking your crap like in Hobbes. The threat of violence, which is inefficient, but common Gods and practices that will keep people bound to their utterances?

Wa-ta! Ishamael

Magic...Explain It!

Too many times have I heard when I ask of a fantasy series "How does the magic work," and I get the response "It's magic, you don't have to explain it," that we need to sit down and talk.

To begin, we must ask the question "What differentiates a children's story from what is referred to as the "epic tradition?" Anyone's that has studied those long stories we call the Classics understand that the main reason the Iliad, Odyssey, and Aenead are so long is because of one thing: detail. For example, in the Iliad you have these long scenes of Achilles being armored with his new wargear made by Hephaestus himself, or any one of the long lists of who killed whom in a day's battle. To what end does this detail exist for?

Suspension of disbelief, and transporting you into the story.

I had to read a terrible translation of the Iliad this week, and although it got in the fact that Achilles throws his scepter down after getting angry at Agamemnon, it never established the scepters in the first place!

For the purposes of this post, if one makes a magic system, it must be detailed, otherwise it will be written off as childish, and not worth reading about. I have asked for years how magic works in the Harry Potter universe, and fans of that, of which there are an unforgivable amount, still cannot give me a good answer as to what the hell it really is.

Don't get me wrong, D&D also has this problem, and it makes me dislike Wizards of the Coast a bit for it. Mind you, the balance issues now prevalent in 4th edition has me miffed as well. Looks like we're going the 3rd ed route.

I'll give an example of a good magic system in a bit, but I think I could have liked Harry Potter if two things had happened: the magic system wasn't hand-waved in and seemed like I was getting dick-whipped in the face with a wand, and if Harry actually flaming died at the end of the series, ending his messiah pattern, and making up for him being a cunt...I mean, useless cunt in his own books. Fuck, that Hermione chick does just about everything, and she's only a side character to give the boys some tail to trail after, at least early on.

Enough of that crap! So, one criterion of a good magic system is detail, but what kind of detail do we need, as readers? Simply put, we need to know what magic's role is in the universe, how it is manipulated by individuals to create effects, even some detail about how the effect looks, and how people can gain access to magic. Only one of these that Potter does is the last one, and that's a genetic or random mutation explanation, which does actually work.

We all know where this is going, so here's my own little primer on the One Power:

The Wheel of Time turns, using the threads of sentient lives as its threads as it weaves the Pattern of the Ages. The driving that turns the Wheel, the One Power, is made of two halves, one male, one female, that work together and against eachother constantly to provide the motion. Certain individuals, some through breeding, others through the needs of the Pattern, are born with the ability to learn how to control the One Power, while others will touch the Power regardless of being taught. From the Aes Sedai, and from the meditative trick called the ko'di in the Borderlands, we are told how men and women prepare themselves to use the one power. Women empty themselves of all thoughts except a rosebud, imagining themselves as that rosebud. It then slowly opens up, and the light upon the rosebud is the One Power, and only through serenity can a woman control saidar. If she is not serene, she will be consumed by the Power, which will either kill her, or burn the ability to channel out of her, effectively killing her will to live. Men empty themselves of everything except a single flame, and feed all emotion into it, until there is nothing left except the warmth of saidin. Where saidar is a gentle stream that you need serenity to control, saidin is a raging torrent of ice and fire, molten lava and lightning, and only the constant struggle for survival can keep a man holding the Source. Another problem with the One Power is that it fills one with the bliss of life and heightened senses, making it excessively addictive, which can easily lead someone to draw too much of it and die. Once held, channelers use threads of the Power, consisting of five types: Fire, Earth, Water, Air, and Spirit, to create effects. These threads are woven together in patterns, and those designs activate when the pattern of the weave is completed. Fire and Earth are more prevalent Talents in men, while Water and Air are in women, while Spirit is relatively equal between the genders.

So, what we have here is a detailed, systematic, far more interesting magic system than what normally occurs in fantasy novels. Hell, even the lauded Tolkien really didn't mess with magic, beyond mentioning some things where Gandalf throws some pine cone grenades.

So, magic is an integral part of the universe, and plays a large role in its continuity and fate. It is far more like a science, and before anyone tries to say anything against a scientific, logical explanation of magic, riddle me this: If magic is not scientific, then why the fuck is there a school for it? Furthermore, it's not like they learn any useful things there.

If anyone's curious, Asha'man learn to use saidin through constant training by doing chores only with the Power. This does allow them to become stronger weapons faster, but it more than doubles their chance of burning the ability to channel out of them, as well as almost constantly exposing themselves to the taint on saidin. Oh, didn't I mention that the male half of magic is tainted, and will make you go insane and kill everyone you know and love? Just by using it. And you aren't going to stop wanting to use it, and you will touch the Source again regardless.

So yeah, aspiring fantasy writers, take a hint from Robert Jordan, and spend a lot of time explaining the metaphysics and existence of magic in your universes, otherwise you will get lumped with all the children's books.

Don't make me balefire you, Ishamael