On Fantasy Races

[alexandraerin]

I've been a big fan of Order of the Stick ever since my friends convinced me to actually read it (this after years of listening to their in-jokes and plot summaries, naturally.) My love for the strip should come as no surprise to Tales of MU readers, who might have noticed three little shout-outs I've buried in the text.

One thing I really enjoy about it is the fact that Rich Burlew takes the time to show that non-human races are actually not, you know, human. In most D&Desque fantasy, what basically happens is every "race" is basically just a slight variation on humanity (only with a longer lifespan and--in previous additions--a universal ability to see in the infrared spectrum, for some God damned reason.)

Burlew, in a "gag" comic, takes pains to show the nigh-immortal and ancient race of elves actually, you know, has some cultural differences from humans. His dwarf character habitually reacts to key situations in very different ways from his human party members.

This trend is embodied particularly well in the recent plotline, which reveals that sylph Celia routinely underestimates exactly how "mundane" normal humans reall are, as compared to extradimensional elemental spirits... with results that have ranged from irritating to fatal.

(No, the fact that I have a sylph character and another character named Celia aren't two of the shout-outs. Honestly, I'd forgotten that Burlew's sylph was named Celia when I named my nagakin. It just sounds like a snaky name to me, and has the added advantage of being a pun on "cilia".)

I like this kind of thing... which again, should be no surprise to anybody who reads Tales of MU, where most of the characters come from a different cultural background and have varying levels of socialization among "normal" human society. This shows in their broader characterizations, but also in the little things.

Hyper-fast sylph Mariel laments "that time of the week." Subterranean elf Dee uses expressions like "spore of truth," and has trouble digesting wheat products. Mermaid Feejee worries that boys never say anything nice about her flukes. Semi-reptilian Celia has trouble differentiating the more complex "lower anatomy" of mammals.

Dwarves count in base seven.

Little things, but they add up.

The flip side, of course, is that by doing this, I risk putting some people off. I've had at least two comments (over the course of 160 chapters and many thousands of comments, granted) from readers who felt the other races were too inhuman to relate to, that the basis of tolerance was in similarities and common ground. Granted, they were talking about things other than numerical bases and regional idioms: the more "monstrous" habits of the monster races.

That's part and parcel of the same thing in my mind, though. Ogres aren't just big strong ugly humans. Mermaids aren't just beautiful naked humans with scales who live in the water. These are different races, with different cultures and different outlooks.

And when you get down to it, the idea that tolerance comes from "celebrating what we have in common instead of our differences" can both come from and lead to some ethnocentric thinking. Yes, it can be an eye-opening experience to realize that They are actually kind of like Us, but the next step should be to realize that Their value is not tied to how much like Us they are.

Comments

[faithhope.livejournal.com]

Ah, well, now, you see - this is one of the reasons I like (M)ToM so damned much... and so few authors - to my mind - have done it at all/ this well.

{nods} Just passin' through...