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unremarkable guy's avatar

This bit is so dead on I was fist pumping in my head:

“It is notable that one of the favorite rhetorical tricks of self-styled Special People is to point to something in incredulity and pretend to be aghast at how weird it is; how against “common sense” and “reasonable” and “first principles” understandings of the world. Those words and phrases are always suspicious, and extra suspicious — suspicious-squared as Pratchett might have said — when used by Chosen One types.”

Only one thing I have to quibble with: Carrot is very very special — he’s just such a very good person that he does everything he can not to oppress people with that specialness

He tries to be normal out of courtesy to everyone around him, which is almost even more special

He’s like a Mr Rogers but as a cop — a true saint

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Shawn Kilburn's avatar

All the Chosen One readings of TLOTR miss the core of kindness in the books. But I agree it’s a super silly thing to model your worldview on :) You can see the silliness on plain view in many of the Tolkien riffs spawned over the last several decades. I understand why they appeal to teenagers though.

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