The White Dragon - Chapter Eleven
Oct. 10th, 2020 12:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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i_read_whatSo last time, Jaxom was creepy and a jerk, while F'lar and Lessa were great, and not nearly as irrational as the narrative and the other characters seem to think they are.
So we rejoin Jaxom and Ruth at Benden. Apparently they'd stayed the night in an empty Weyr. In a genuinely cute bit, we're told that Ruth felt so uncomfortable in a full sized dragon bed that Jaxom bundled up his furs and slept with him. Aw.
Anyway, now Menolly is waking him up, rather desperately. She's brought "all the klah [he] can drink". I'm not entirely sure what's going on, but F'lar is eager to go...somewhere and he wants Mnementh to talk to Ruth first.
Ruth is a little cranky:
Ruth opened his inner lid just a crack, regarding his rider with displeasure. I am tired. I need to sleep.
“You can’t sleep any longer now. Mnementh needs to speak to you.”
Why didn’t he speak to me last night?
“Because he probably wouldn’t have remembered today.”
Ruth’s head came up and he turned one eye fully on Jaxom. Mnementh would. He is the biggest dragon on all Pern.
“Just because he let you gorge yourself on his killing ground, you like him. But he wants to speak to you so you’d better. Are you awake?”
If I am able to speak to you, I am not dreaming. I am awake.
1. I really wish we understood more about the dragons' dynamics with one another. Mnementh is Ruth's father, but the parental bond seems severed with the hatching (or perhaps Impression). That said, there is a clear indication of fondness between him and Ruth.
2. Technically Mnementh isn't the biggest dragon in Pern. He's the biggest MALE dragon. Ramoth is bigger. McCaffrey was lazy here.
3. I'm a little irked by this whole new thread where people assume the dragons, like the fire lizards, have no real sense of memory. Mnementh and Ramoth clearly did in Dragonflight and Dragonquest. Moreover, they clearly do NOW. Their hypervigilance at the hatching is proof of that. Ruth is already pretty special, you don't need to tell me the others are dumber to make him look better. Especially when they're clearly not.
4. I am however interested in the idea that Ruth presents: Mnementh would remember BECAUSE he is large. Ruth himself seems to be a special case, being both tiny and intelligent, but the dismissive attitudes toward the blues and greens might support that. At least until we finally get to a book with a green or blue rider's point of view.
5. Why do you assume you know more about dragons than your dragon, Jaxom?
So anyway, Jaxom asks what time it is? Midmorning. Mirrim is also present, which makes me happy, though she doesn't seem to be let in on the secret of Jaxom's activities. I hate to say, but I actually feel for Jaxom when he mentally grumbles that he has no idea who is supposed to be let in on "the secret" or not.
Mirrim does notice the thread:
“When did you get Threadscored, Jaxom?” Mirrim asked with her usual forthrightness. She leaned over and traced the scar with a light touch, flattening her lips together in patent disapproval of the disfigurement.
“Teaching Ruth to chew firestone. At Fort Weyr,” he added, after a malicious pause as he saw her gathering herself to scold him.
“Does Lessa know?” Mirrim asked, emphasizing the last word.
“Yes,” Jaxom replied. Let Mirrim digest that truth. But Mirrim wouldn’t let some matters alone.
“I don’t think much of N’ton’s weyrlingmaster then,” she said, sniffing disapproval, “letting you get scored that way.”
I think we're supposed to disagree with Mirrim here, but she's right, as far as she knows. IF Jaxom is getting scored at a training exercise than the trainer is doing a poor job. Jaxom, for his part, wishes Menolly didn't bring Mirrim.
Yes, because god forbid people have opinions about your apparent stupidity.
But I love Mirrim, especially for this:
“And I just don’t see what good it’s going to do you. You can’t expect to fight Ruth.”
Jaxom choked. “I am too going to fight Ruth Mirrim.”
“He already has,” Menolly remarked, indicating the Threadscore. “Now shut your mouth and let the man eat.”
“Man?” Mirrim’s voice took a derisive swoop and she gave Jaxom a scathing glance.
Menolly made an exasperated sound. “If Path doesn’t fly soon, Mirrim, you’re not going to be on terms with anyone!”
...is Mirrim wrong? Jaxom is a fucking Lord Holder. And granted, it's not politic to take his position yet, but he's still the fucking Lord Holder of Ruatha. Lytol doesn't have heirs. Lessa won't accept anyone else.
Jaxom shouldn't be fighting thread! He's got a bigger job than that. And the sooner he acts like an adult and accepts that, the better. Sure, it sucks that he doesn't get to do what he wants to do. But a good many characters in this setting don't get to do what they want to do!
This is all being attributed to the fact that Mirrim's Path is due for a mating flight though. Because god forbid we acknowledge that she's right.
Jaxom is a fucking dick about it:
“Oh ho. Path’s ready to be flown! That’ll sort out some of your high-headed notions.” He couldn’t resist crowing at her dismay. “Has Path shown a preference? Ha! Look at her blush! Never thought I’d see the day you’d lose the use of your tongue! And you’ll be losing something more soon. I hope it’s the wildest flight they’ve had at Benden since Mnementh first flew Ramoth!”
Maybe Mirrim is not on board with an impending rape, you malodorous cretin!
Mirrim snaps back that at least Path will be flown, not like Jaxom and his "white runt". This is a bit out of line, but I think it's fucking provoked. Menolly, of course, takes Jaxom's side, because why should women defend each other against rape taunts:
“Mirrim!” Menolly’s sharp voice made the girl wince, but not soon enough to erase the angry retort that sank coldly into Jaxom’s mind. He stared at Mirrim, trying to reject her taunt. “You take too much on yourself, Mirrim,” Menolly was saying. “I think you’d better leave.”
“You just bet I’ll leave. And I don’t care if you have to climb down from this weyr, Menolly. Indeed I don’t.” Mirrim ran from the room.
“Shells and Shards, but it’ll be a relief when that green of hers rises to mate. And it might even be today the way Mirrim’s reacting.” Menolly spoke in a casual tone, almost chuckling at her friend’s behavior.
You're no fucking friend, Menolly.
Anyway, Mirrim's taunt registers on Jaxom, because it's not enough that he gets fucking everything he wants. Now he's concerned about whether or not Ruth can mate. Path is younger, but a full grown dragon. Jaxom asks if he'd like to fly Path, and Ruth doesn't see the point, when Path isn't as fast as Ruth is in the air.
Menolly burst out laughing. “Oh, I wish Ruth had said that in Mirrim’s hearing. That would bring her down a peg or two.”
Fuck off, Menolly.
So Ruth goes off to talk to Mnementh and Jaxom asks if Menolly knows something he doesn't, about Ruth. Why would she? She's not a dragonrider? I'm okay with Menolly being the great expert on fire lizards, but she's a fucking Harper.
“You heard him, Jaxom.” Menolly’s eyes were bright with amusement. “He’s simply not interested in dragons, not that way yet.”
Jaxom gave her hand a hard squeeze.
“Just think logically,, Jaxom,” she said, leaning over to him. “Ruth’s small, he’s maturing more slowly than other dragons.”
“You mean, he may never mature enough to mate, don’t you?”
Menolly regarded him steadily and he searched her eyes for pity or evasion, and found neither. “Jaxom, aren’t you enjoying Corana?”
“Yes, I am.”
“You’re upset. I don’t think you need be. I have never heard a word to suggest you should worry. Only that Ruth is unusual.”
There is SO much to unpack here.
1. I do rather like Menolly's calm acceptance of Ruth's asexuality, for lack of a better term.
2. I'm not sure why Jaxom is so caught up in the idea of Ruth's mating. He seems to be looking at it as a reflection of his own masculinity. I'd like to blame the Weyr's fucked up culture for this, but I actually don't think that's where this comes from.
I've complained before about my dislike of the way the series treats green riders in particular. But I have to admit that most of the insulting aspects are indirect. The greens are the ones portrayed as hypersexualized. The riders are along for the ride. And except for one or two comments about someone suggesting that a candidate would be a good green rider, there doesn't seem to be anything that overtly differentiates them from brown or blue riders. (Except F'nor of course, who is basically a bronze.)
I still think changing Lytol from greenrider to brown rider is fucking insulting, but that's McCaffrey. Not the characters. Though I've decided to go with the idea that Lytol was and still is a green rider, they just put out that he was a brown rider to avoid stupid prejudices from people who don't understand.
So, for all that the Weyr is fucked up about mating, I don't get an open sense of mating flight = virility from the dragonriders. So I think that this may come from the Holders instead.
Anyway, Jaxom actually has to make an effort to talk to Ruth calmly, when the latter returns and I'm wondering again how I'm supposed to like him.
For his part, Ruth is a little reproachful, without the fire lizards, he can't have his back scrubbed. Menolly promises to send her friends when Ruth's at the lake, out of sight of Lessa and Mnementh. This pleases Ruth.
Menolly apologizes for "inflicting" Mirrim on Jaxom. Fuck off Menolly. You should be apologizing to Mirrim for not defending her against this fuckhead mocking her impending rape.
Jaxom magnanimously decides that if Path is "proddy" then Mirrim has to be excused. You know. For the crime of being RIGHT.
Actually, oh, this is rich:
Jaxom took a long sip of klah. “I suppose, if Path’s proddy, she has to be excused.”
“Mirrim usually is, one way or another.” Menolly’s tone was acid. “Huh?”
From the girl who faced absolutely no consequences for fucking anything in either Dragonsong or Dragonsinger. Fuck the fuck OFF, Menolly.
This gets Jaxom thinking:
A sudden thought caused Jaxom to interrupt the harper girl abruptly. “You don’t think Mirrim did sneak onto the Ground before that Hatching? I know she swears she didn’t but I do know she wasn’t supposed to Impress ... ”
Don't project your own guilty conscience on other people.
Menolly defends Mirrim, FINALLY, and gives a retelling of what happened, I presume, in Dragondrums. It better happen in Dragondrums, it sounds awesome:
“Not any more than you were! Oh, for goodness sake, Jaxom, can’t I tease you? No, I don’t think she tried to influence Path in the shell. She had her firelizards and was always content with them. Who wouldn’t be with three? Also, you surely know how furious Lessa was after she Impressed Path? Well, no one came forward then to say they’d ever seen Mirrim sneaking onto the Ground and they would have! Mirrim can be managing, tactless, difficult and exasperating, but she’s not devious. Weren’t you at the Hatching? Oh, well, I was. Path came staggering over to the spot where Mirrim was sitting, crying her heart out and refusing every single candidate on the Ground until F’lar was forced to decide that Path wanted someone sitting among the spectators.”
Apparently Mirrim's lizards didn't mind at all. We also find out how Menolly got her tenth fire lizard, and I'm appalled again:
"No, I think the partnering was as much ... well, destined to be as you and Ruth. Not at all like my acquisition of Poll. As if I needed another fire-lizard.” She grimaced ruefully. “But his shell cracked just as I was passing him to that addle-handed child of Lord Groghe’s. He’s never faulted me, and the child got a green. A bronze would have been wasted on that brat!”
...WOW, Menolly. I'm sure Auntie One and Two would be thrilled to know that they matter so little to you. "A bronze would have been wasted" indeed. But it's fine for the kid to have a green. Fuck all the way off.
Jaxom thinks Menolly is blathering and hiding something, and she returns to the topic of Ruth. She doesn't actually say anything that wasn't said already, namely that Ruth has no interest in Path mating. She agrees that it doesn't mean anything. Ruth is just maturing late. That's all Jaxom needs to think about. Especially with Corana on hand
I really fucking hate how they talk about Corana.
Can this book be about Mirrim and Felessan? So far they've annoyed me a shit ton less, and Mirrim at least seems to have a much more legitimately feminist story than Menolly's, because F'lar and Lessa are allowed to actually be wrong sometimes.
Jaxom is pissed off that she's talking about Corana, stating that Ruatha Hold isn't Harper's business.
Um. Yeah, it kind of is. Or it should be.
“You, Jaxom, rider of white Ruth, are the Harper’s business-not young Jaxom, Lord of Ruatha.”
“You’re making distinctions again.”
“Yes, I am, Jaxom,” and although her voice was serious, her eyes twinkled. “When Jaxom influences what happens to Pern, then he becomes Harper business.”
...this literally makes no sense.
Look, you know, and I know, that Jaxom is going to have a lot of heroics while riding Ruth. But the characters don't know that yet. Right now, Jaxom is a dude blessed with an adorable little dragon who, while a talented flier, isn't really any more adept than anyone else at fighting thread and therefore shouldn't be doing it. Jaxom's value is in his position as Lord Holder.
Suddenly things are interrupted when Menolly's firelizards appear. As does Ruth. D'ram and Tiroth have returned, and everyone's very excited.
Ruth is a little sulky that Mnementh is pleased with himself for having brought them back, but Jaxom and Menolly reassure him that Mnementh couldn't have done it without Ruth. And poor Ruth, because I'd be more sympathetic to him here if I didn't fucking hate Jaxom and Menolly right now.
Menolly sighs, thinking they really owe the Southern firelizards. Okay. That still doesn't mean Lessa and F'lar are wrong about the moratorium though. They have a fucking job to do.
So anyway, Menolly notes that it's nice to leave Benden with everyone in a good frame of mind for a change. Sorry that the trauma of a missing child isn't fun for you, Menolly. They head back to Harper Hall, where Menolly is "exultant" to see Sebell's Kimi appear.
Apparently the Harper, and Zair, wants to see all three of them. Including Ruth.
Oh, well. Here's the way of things:
Master Robinton and a man with a master’s knot on his shoulder came striding down the Hail’s steps. Master Robinton’s arms were outstretched so he could encircle both Menolly and Jaxom with an enthusiasm that almost embarrassed Jaxom. Then, to his complete surprise, the other Harper grabbed Menolly from Robinton’s grasp and began to swing her around and around, all the time kissing her soundly. Instead of protesting this treatment of their friend, the fire-lizards went into spectacular aerial maneuvers of twined necks and overlapped wings. Jaxom knew that firelizard queens rarely indulged in tactile contact with queens, but Beauty and the strange gold were as joyously indulging as Menolly and the man. Glancing to see what the Harper’s reaction was to such excess, Jaxom was astonished to see Master Robinton grinning with smug pleasure, an expression quickly altered when he noticed Jaxom’s regard.
As angry as I am at Menolly right now, this still makes me happy. Especially given the way Jaxom was eyeing her last chapter. Guess what, dude, she's already got someone better. At least someone who hasn't annoyed the shit out of me yet.
Menolly becomes self-conscious, since Robinton had called them, but he tells her to go see what Sebell (who is grinning) has to tell her, while he talks to Jaxom. As Robinton escorts Jaxom into the Hall, he sees Sebell and Menolly with their arms linked about each other's waists.
So Robinton gets his update. But he's far more interested in the fact that the firelizards saw men.
Jaxom was momentarily startled. Whereas the Weryleaders had been alarmed and skeptical, the Master Harper acted almost as if he’d expected this news.
Of course he fucking did. Haven't you read this series? Robinton always knows everything, even when there's no way he possibly should. And if he disagrees with someone, he'll always be in the right.
Anyway, Robinton has always believed they came from the Southern Continent, and maybe I'm dumb, but I thought that was already established. Hence the grubs. Anyway, he presses Jaxom for details about the men. The lack of specific details intrigues him, even the fire lizard images are vague.
Jaxom's still tired though and eventually Jaxom is sent home to Ruatha. Robinton is of course big on the praise:
“That you found D’ram and Tiroth safe, Jaxom, is the least of this affair, I think. I knew I was right to involve you and Ruth. Don’t be surprised if you hear more from me on this business, with Lytol’s permission, of course.”
And just because Jaxom was almost tolerable in this scene, McCaffrey gives us this:
As Ruth obediently climbed higher, Jaxom waved a cheery farewell to the diminishing figure of the Master Harper. Then Jaxom looked down toward the river for Menolly and Sebell. He was annoyed with himself, at the same time, for wanting to know where they were-and further irritated, because, when he did spot them, the intimacy of their attitude proved that they enjoyed a relationship of which he had been totally unaware.
Weren't you JUST telling Menolly that Corana wasn't her business?
Jaxom doesn't actually go back to Ruatha right away though. Instead, he goes to Plateau Hold, wondering how he can attract Corana's attention without everyone in the Hold knowing he's visiting.
Ugh. You've got to be fucking me. So basically, with the question of Ruth's sexuality, and the fact that Menolly isn't actually as sexually available as Jaxom thought, he's now going to reassure himself of his manliness by banging poor Corana. Because she's not actually a person.
Happily for Jaxom, Corana's off to the river to do her washing. Ruth finds a nice place to lounge. And just in case we thought I was being too harsh:
Suddenly Jaxom was assailed by a conflict of desires and doubts. Mirrim’s angry remarks resounded in his head. Ruth was indeed well beyond the usual age of mating and yet ...
She comes and she is good for you. If she is good for you, it is good for me, Ruth said. She makes you feel happy and relaxed and that is good. The sun here makes me warm and happy, too. Go.
I love how no one actually thinks about whether this is good for Corana.
The chapter ends with more grossness:
Together they moved toward the soft moss that carpeted the ground beyond the stones, out of sight of the river bank, out of Ruth’s actual vision. Corana was as willing and eager as he was to satisfy desires thwarted on his previous visit to the hold. As his hands touched her soft flesh and he felt her body press against his, he wondered briefly if she’d have been as willing a lover had he not been Ruatha’s Lord. But he didn’t care! He was her lover now! He gave himself to that pursuit with no further reservation. At the precise moment of his release, exquisite to the point of pain, he was aware of a gentle touch and knew, with a sense of relief that enhanced his own, that Ruth was joined to him then, as always.
Oh god, are you suggesting, Jaxom, that someone might be attracted to your rank and privilege? What a fucking astounding thought! Maybe this might have occurred to you earlier if you ever bothered to realize that Corana is a person. A person who might actually have a bit to lose from this kind of liaison.
And with that last bit of acidic rage, I'll set the book down for now.
So we rejoin Jaxom and Ruth at Benden. Apparently they'd stayed the night in an empty Weyr. In a genuinely cute bit, we're told that Ruth felt so uncomfortable in a full sized dragon bed that Jaxom bundled up his furs and slept with him. Aw.
Anyway, now Menolly is waking him up, rather desperately. She's brought "all the klah [he] can drink". I'm not entirely sure what's going on, but F'lar is eager to go...somewhere and he wants Mnementh to talk to Ruth first.
Ruth is a little cranky:
Ruth opened his inner lid just a crack, regarding his rider with displeasure. I am tired. I need to sleep.
“You can’t sleep any longer now. Mnementh needs to speak to you.”
Why didn’t he speak to me last night?
“Because he probably wouldn’t have remembered today.”
Ruth’s head came up and he turned one eye fully on Jaxom. Mnementh would. He is the biggest dragon on all Pern.
“Just because he let you gorge yourself on his killing ground, you like him. But he wants to speak to you so you’d better. Are you awake?”
If I am able to speak to you, I am not dreaming. I am awake.
1. I really wish we understood more about the dragons' dynamics with one another. Mnementh is Ruth's father, but the parental bond seems severed with the hatching (or perhaps Impression). That said, there is a clear indication of fondness between him and Ruth.
2. Technically Mnementh isn't the biggest dragon in Pern. He's the biggest MALE dragon. Ramoth is bigger. McCaffrey was lazy here.
3. I'm a little irked by this whole new thread where people assume the dragons, like the fire lizards, have no real sense of memory. Mnementh and Ramoth clearly did in Dragonflight and Dragonquest. Moreover, they clearly do NOW. Their hypervigilance at the hatching is proof of that. Ruth is already pretty special, you don't need to tell me the others are dumber to make him look better. Especially when they're clearly not.
4. I am however interested in the idea that Ruth presents: Mnementh would remember BECAUSE he is large. Ruth himself seems to be a special case, being both tiny and intelligent, but the dismissive attitudes toward the blues and greens might support that. At least until we finally get to a book with a green or blue rider's point of view.
5. Why do you assume you know more about dragons than your dragon, Jaxom?
So anyway, Jaxom asks what time it is? Midmorning. Mirrim is also present, which makes me happy, though she doesn't seem to be let in on the secret of Jaxom's activities. I hate to say, but I actually feel for Jaxom when he mentally grumbles that he has no idea who is supposed to be let in on "the secret" or not.
Mirrim does notice the thread:
“When did you get Threadscored, Jaxom?” Mirrim asked with her usual forthrightness. She leaned over and traced the scar with a light touch, flattening her lips together in patent disapproval of the disfigurement.
“Teaching Ruth to chew firestone. At Fort Weyr,” he added, after a malicious pause as he saw her gathering herself to scold him.
“Does Lessa know?” Mirrim asked, emphasizing the last word.
“Yes,” Jaxom replied. Let Mirrim digest that truth. But Mirrim wouldn’t let some matters alone.
“I don’t think much of N’ton’s weyrlingmaster then,” she said, sniffing disapproval, “letting you get scored that way.”
I think we're supposed to disagree with Mirrim here, but she's right, as far as she knows. IF Jaxom is getting scored at a training exercise than the trainer is doing a poor job. Jaxom, for his part, wishes Menolly didn't bring Mirrim.
Yes, because god forbid people have opinions about your apparent stupidity.
But I love Mirrim, especially for this:
“And I just don’t see what good it’s going to do you. You can’t expect to fight Ruth.”
Jaxom choked. “I am too going to fight Ruth Mirrim.”
“He already has,” Menolly remarked, indicating the Threadscore. “Now shut your mouth and let the man eat.”
“Man?” Mirrim’s voice took a derisive swoop and she gave Jaxom a scathing glance.
Menolly made an exasperated sound. “If Path doesn’t fly soon, Mirrim, you’re not going to be on terms with anyone!”
...is Mirrim wrong? Jaxom is a fucking Lord Holder. And granted, it's not politic to take his position yet, but he's still the fucking Lord Holder of Ruatha. Lytol doesn't have heirs. Lessa won't accept anyone else.
Jaxom shouldn't be fighting thread! He's got a bigger job than that. And the sooner he acts like an adult and accepts that, the better. Sure, it sucks that he doesn't get to do what he wants to do. But a good many characters in this setting don't get to do what they want to do!
This is all being attributed to the fact that Mirrim's Path is due for a mating flight though. Because god forbid we acknowledge that she's right.
Jaxom is a fucking dick about it:
“Oh ho. Path’s ready to be flown! That’ll sort out some of your high-headed notions.” He couldn’t resist crowing at her dismay. “Has Path shown a preference? Ha! Look at her blush! Never thought I’d see the day you’d lose the use of your tongue! And you’ll be losing something more soon. I hope it’s the wildest flight they’ve had at Benden since Mnementh first flew Ramoth!”
Maybe Mirrim is not on board with an impending rape, you malodorous cretin!
Mirrim snaps back that at least Path will be flown, not like Jaxom and his "white runt". This is a bit out of line, but I think it's fucking provoked. Menolly, of course, takes Jaxom's side, because why should women defend each other against rape taunts:
“Mirrim!” Menolly’s sharp voice made the girl wince, but not soon enough to erase the angry retort that sank coldly into Jaxom’s mind. He stared at Mirrim, trying to reject her taunt. “You take too much on yourself, Mirrim,” Menolly was saying. “I think you’d better leave.”
“You just bet I’ll leave. And I don’t care if you have to climb down from this weyr, Menolly. Indeed I don’t.” Mirrim ran from the room.
“Shells and Shards, but it’ll be a relief when that green of hers rises to mate. And it might even be today the way Mirrim’s reacting.” Menolly spoke in a casual tone, almost chuckling at her friend’s behavior.
You're no fucking friend, Menolly.
Anyway, Mirrim's taunt registers on Jaxom, because it's not enough that he gets fucking everything he wants. Now he's concerned about whether or not Ruth can mate. Path is younger, but a full grown dragon. Jaxom asks if he'd like to fly Path, and Ruth doesn't see the point, when Path isn't as fast as Ruth is in the air.
Menolly burst out laughing. “Oh, I wish Ruth had said that in Mirrim’s hearing. That would bring her down a peg or two.”
Fuck off, Menolly.
So Ruth goes off to talk to Mnementh and Jaxom asks if Menolly knows something he doesn't, about Ruth. Why would she? She's not a dragonrider? I'm okay with Menolly being the great expert on fire lizards, but she's a fucking Harper.
“You heard him, Jaxom.” Menolly’s eyes were bright with amusement. “He’s simply not interested in dragons, not that way yet.”
Jaxom gave her hand a hard squeeze.
“Just think logically,, Jaxom,” she said, leaning over to him. “Ruth’s small, he’s maturing more slowly than other dragons.”
“You mean, he may never mature enough to mate, don’t you?”
Menolly regarded him steadily and he searched her eyes for pity or evasion, and found neither. “Jaxom, aren’t you enjoying Corana?”
“Yes, I am.”
“You’re upset. I don’t think you need be. I have never heard a word to suggest you should worry. Only that Ruth is unusual.”
There is SO much to unpack here.
1. I do rather like Menolly's calm acceptance of Ruth's asexuality, for lack of a better term.
2. I'm not sure why Jaxom is so caught up in the idea of Ruth's mating. He seems to be looking at it as a reflection of his own masculinity. I'd like to blame the Weyr's fucked up culture for this, but I actually don't think that's where this comes from.
I've complained before about my dislike of the way the series treats green riders in particular. But I have to admit that most of the insulting aspects are indirect. The greens are the ones portrayed as hypersexualized. The riders are along for the ride. And except for one or two comments about someone suggesting that a candidate would be a good green rider, there doesn't seem to be anything that overtly differentiates them from brown or blue riders. (Except F'nor of course, who is basically a bronze.)
I still think changing Lytol from greenrider to brown rider is fucking insulting, but that's McCaffrey. Not the characters. Though I've decided to go with the idea that Lytol was and still is a green rider, they just put out that he was a brown rider to avoid stupid prejudices from people who don't understand.
So, for all that the Weyr is fucked up about mating, I don't get an open sense of mating flight = virility from the dragonriders. So I think that this may come from the Holders instead.
Anyway, Jaxom actually has to make an effort to talk to Ruth calmly, when the latter returns and I'm wondering again how I'm supposed to like him.
For his part, Ruth is a little reproachful, without the fire lizards, he can't have his back scrubbed. Menolly promises to send her friends when Ruth's at the lake, out of sight of Lessa and Mnementh. This pleases Ruth.
Menolly apologizes for "inflicting" Mirrim on Jaxom. Fuck off Menolly. You should be apologizing to Mirrim for not defending her against this fuckhead mocking her impending rape.
Jaxom magnanimously decides that if Path is "proddy" then Mirrim has to be excused. You know. For the crime of being RIGHT.
Actually, oh, this is rich:
Jaxom took a long sip of klah. “I suppose, if Path’s proddy, she has to be excused.”
“Mirrim usually is, one way or another.” Menolly’s tone was acid. “Huh?”
From the girl who faced absolutely no consequences for fucking anything in either Dragonsong or Dragonsinger. Fuck the fuck OFF, Menolly.
This gets Jaxom thinking:
A sudden thought caused Jaxom to interrupt the harper girl abruptly. “You don’t think Mirrim did sneak onto the Ground before that Hatching? I know she swears she didn’t but I do know she wasn’t supposed to Impress ... ”
Don't project your own guilty conscience on other people.
Menolly defends Mirrim, FINALLY, and gives a retelling of what happened, I presume, in Dragondrums. It better happen in Dragondrums, it sounds awesome:
“Not any more than you were! Oh, for goodness sake, Jaxom, can’t I tease you? No, I don’t think she tried to influence Path in the shell. She had her firelizards and was always content with them. Who wouldn’t be with three? Also, you surely know how furious Lessa was after she Impressed Path? Well, no one came forward then to say they’d ever seen Mirrim sneaking onto the Ground and they would have! Mirrim can be managing, tactless, difficult and exasperating, but she’s not devious. Weren’t you at the Hatching? Oh, well, I was. Path came staggering over to the spot where Mirrim was sitting, crying her heart out and refusing every single candidate on the Ground until F’lar was forced to decide that Path wanted someone sitting among the spectators.”
Apparently Mirrim's lizards didn't mind at all. We also find out how Menolly got her tenth fire lizard, and I'm appalled again:
"No, I think the partnering was as much ... well, destined to be as you and Ruth. Not at all like my acquisition of Poll. As if I needed another fire-lizard.” She grimaced ruefully. “But his shell cracked just as I was passing him to that addle-handed child of Lord Groghe’s. He’s never faulted me, and the child got a green. A bronze would have been wasted on that brat!”
...WOW, Menolly. I'm sure Auntie One and Two would be thrilled to know that they matter so little to you. "A bronze would have been wasted" indeed. But it's fine for the kid to have a green. Fuck all the way off.
Jaxom thinks Menolly is blathering and hiding something, and she returns to the topic of Ruth. She doesn't actually say anything that wasn't said already, namely that Ruth has no interest in Path mating. She agrees that it doesn't mean anything. Ruth is just maturing late. That's all Jaxom needs to think about. Especially with Corana on hand
I really fucking hate how they talk about Corana.
Can this book be about Mirrim and Felessan? So far they've annoyed me a shit ton less, and Mirrim at least seems to have a much more legitimately feminist story than Menolly's, because F'lar and Lessa are allowed to actually be wrong sometimes.
Jaxom is pissed off that she's talking about Corana, stating that Ruatha Hold isn't Harper's business.
Um. Yeah, it kind of is. Or it should be.
“You, Jaxom, rider of white Ruth, are the Harper’s business-not young Jaxom, Lord of Ruatha.”
“You’re making distinctions again.”
“Yes, I am, Jaxom,” and although her voice was serious, her eyes twinkled. “When Jaxom influences what happens to Pern, then he becomes Harper business.”
...this literally makes no sense.
Look, you know, and I know, that Jaxom is going to have a lot of heroics while riding Ruth. But the characters don't know that yet. Right now, Jaxom is a dude blessed with an adorable little dragon who, while a talented flier, isn't really any more adept than anyone else at fighting thread and therefore shouldn't be doing it. Jaxom's value is in his position as Lord Holder.
Suddenly things are interrupted when Menolly's firelizards appear. As does Ruth. D'ram and Tiroth have returned, and everyone's very excited.
Ruth is a little sulky that Mnementh is pleased with himself for having brought them back, but Jaxom and Menolly reassure him that Mnementh couldn't have done it without Ruth. And poor Ruth, because I'd be more sympathetic to him here if I didn't fucking hate Jaxom and Menolly right now.
Menolly sighs, thinking they really owe the Southern firelizards. Okay. That still doesn't mean Lessa and F'lar are wrong about the moratorium though. They have a fucking job to do.
So anyway, Menolly notes that it's nice to leave Benden with everyone in a good frame of mind for a change. Sorry that the trauma of a missing child isn't fun for you, Menolly. They head back to Harper Hall, where Menolly is "exultant" to see Sebell's Kimi appear.
Apparently the Harper, and Zair, wants to see all three of them. Including Ruth.
Oh, well. Here's the way of things:
Master Robinton and a man with a master’s knot on his shoulder came striding down the Hail’s steps. Master Robinton’s arms were outstretched so he could encircle both Menolly and Jaxom with an enthusiasm that almost embarrassed Jaxom. Then, to his complete surprise, the other Harper grabbed Menolly from Robinton’s grasp and began to swing her around and around, all the time kissing her soundly. Instead of protesting this treatment of their friend, the fire-lizards went into spectacular aerial maneuvers of twined necks and overlapped wings. Jaxom knew that firelizard queens rarely indulged in tactile contact with queens, but Beauty and the strange gold were as joyously indulging as Menolly and the man. Glancing to see what the Harper’s reaction was to such excess, Jaxom was astonished to see Master Robinton grinning with smug pleasure, an expression quickly altered when he noticed Jaxom’s regard.
As angry as I am at Menolly right now, this still makes me happy. Especially given the way Jaxom was eyeing her last chapter. Guess what, dude, she's already got someone better. At least someone who hasn't annoyed the shit out of me yet.
Menolly becomes self-conscious, since Robinton had called them, but he tells her to go see what Sebell (who is grinning) has to tell her, while he talks to Jaxom. As Robinton escorts Jaxom into the Hall, he sees Sebell and Menolly with their arms linked about each other's waists.
So Robinton gets his update. But he's far more interested in the fact that the firelizards saw men.
Jaxom was momentarily startled. Whereas the Weryleaders had been alarmed and skeptical, the Master Harper acted almost as if he’d expected this news.
Of course he fucking did. Haven't you read this series? Robinton always knows everything, even when there's no way he possibly should. And if he disagrees with someone, he'll always be in the right.
Anyway, Robinton has always believed they came from the Southern Continent, and maybe I'm dumb, but I thought that was already established. Hence the grubs. Anyway, he presses Jaxom for details about the men. The lack of specific details intrigues him, even the fire lizard images are vague.
Jaxom's still tired though and eventually Jaxom is sent home to Ruatha. Robinton is of course big on the praise:
“That you found D’ram and Tiroth safe, Jaxom, is the least of this affair, I think. I knew I was right to involve you and Ruth. Don’t be surprised if you hear more from me on this business, with Lytol’s permission, of course.”
And just because Jaxom was almost tolerable in this scene, McCaffrey gives us this:
As Ruth obediently climbed higher, Jaxom waved a cheery farewell to the diminishing figure of the Master Harper. Then Jaxom looked down toward the river for Menolly and Sebell. He was annoyed with himself, at the same time, for wanting to know where they were-and further irritated, because, when he did spot them, the intimacy of their attitude proved that they enjoyed a relationship of which he had been totally unaware.
Weren't you JUST telling Menolly that Corana wasn't her business?
Jaxom doesn't actually go back to Ruatha right away though. Instead, he goes to Plateau Hold, wondering how he can attract Corana's attention without everyone in the Hold knowing he's visiting.
Ugh. You've got to be fucking me. So basically, with the question of Ruth's sexuality, and the fact that Menolly isn't actually as sexually available as Jaxom thought, he's now going to reassure himself of his manliness by banging poor Corana. Because she's not actually a person.
Happily for Jaxom, Corana's off to the river to do her washing. Ruth finds a nice place to lounge. And just in case we thought I was being too harsh:
Suddenly Jaxom was assailed by a conflict of desires and doubts. Mirrim’s angry remarks resounded in his head. Ruth was indeed well beyond the usual age of mating and yet ...
She comes and she is good for you. If she is good for you, it is good for me, Ruth said. She makes you feel happy and relaxed and that is good. The sun here makes me warm and happy, too. Go.
I love how no one actually thinks about whether this is good for Corana.
The chapter ends with more grossness:
Together they moved toward the soft moss that carpeted the ground beyond the stones, out of sight of the river bank, out of Ruth’s actual vision. Corana was as willing and eager as he was to satisfy desires thwarted on his previous visit to the hold. As his hands touched her soft flesh and he felt her body press against his, he wondered briefly if she’d have been as willing a lover had he not been Ruatha’s Lord. But he didn’t care! He was her lover now! He gave himself to that pursuit with no further reservation. At the precise moment of his release, exquisite to the point of pain, he was aware of a gentle touch and knew, with a sense of relief that enhanced his own, that Ruth was joined to him then, as always.
Oh god, are you suggesting, Jaxom, that someone might be attracted to your rank and privilege? What a fucking astounding thought! Maybe this might have occurred to you earlier if you ever bothered to realize that Corana is a person. A person who might actually have a bit to lose from this kind of liaison.
And with that last bit of acidic rage, I'll set the book down for now.
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Date: 2020-10-12 02:13 am (UTC)Also Menolly was pretty shitty this chapter. I miss Dragonsong Menolly.
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Date: 2020-10-12 02:50 am (UTC)