As terrible as this may sound, and I know his past history for being evil, but I voted 'Hottie' for Imin.

There's just something about that 'bad guy' attitude that appeals to me. Besides, it's those eyes (again).

What is it about Sim eyes? I just can't get enough of them.

Nah, I'm sticking with 'hottie'.

I'm just weird that way.

I guess it's because I don't have much time for being 'bad' myself, so I escape into the world of Lothere.

Besides, you can't have a good story without a real baddie or two. Adds to the 'excitement' and charm.

The funny thing is, his looks don't appeal to me either. And didn't I declare that the shortness nullifies the sexiness somewhere, on the topic of Alred? Imin's appeal is something other than his looks, I think. More like the way he looks at you. But sadly enough, I'm afraid the badness does contribute.

I do like the way he stands up to Lar though, which no one else seems to do. He's a self-confident little dude.

Haha, I sucumbed and clicked on the pictures too.

I voted 'hottie' - for me it's both the looks, and that whole bad boy attitude.
I'm a sucker for his hair (the bangs! my goth!) and those eyes.
And I've always thought bad boys were hotties.

So yes, I voted hottie!

Meh. He doesn't really do it for me, although I can see the appeal.
Lar, on the other hand...

I can see the whole baddie appeal... but he just doesn't do it for me. Couple the shortness with the looks (though I'll admit he has a pretty smokin' bod) and I just can't quite find him hot.

Be as negative as you like. In a constructive way of course. Otherwise how can I know if something in the story is not working for people?

I hadn't ever considered the fact that there has so often been an elf involved in our ugly love triangles. Osh, Vash, and Lena, as you said... even Sela coming between Egelric and Iylaine. Also Lasrua may be causing a hitch in Malcolm's life, though it's hard to say what the other point of the triangle may be. Perhaps Maire herself.

There are some elves that haven't been too annoying yet... Shosudin comes to mind. But they all have blood on their hands, without exception I think, among the males anyway. But you can replace "rapists and murderers" with "soldiers in an ugly war". They aren't common criminals. Most of them would not be "rapists or murders" in a happier civilization.

I'm not trying to excuse it... or maybe I am just a little, because it would be hard to feel affection for a real, honest-to-God, pyschopath monster, which I insist Lar and most of the others are not. (Lar's father is one of the exceptions, but more on that later.)

But I have been reading a bit lately about how the potential for evil exists in all of us -- the legendary Stanford prison experiment being the textbook example of it. And I've been thinking about how some of the factors apply here with these elves... the dehumanization of the other, the ability to abdicate responsibility to authority, conformity to the group, etc. So probably I will be exploring that even more in the future.

I'm not saying that to tell you you're wrong not to find Imin attractive, or not to find the elves appealing, of course. It's just something to think about.

And as for identifying more with the humans... that's perfectly normal. That's the point, in fact. Having the "bad guys" be elves makes the topics a little more palatable to us, I think. Science fiction and fantasy authors figured that out long ago. It's allegory for humanity, of course, but it slips past the horror filters in our brains.

I voted hottie.

It's not so much the looks (though that is a GREAT body he's got on him), but the non-pervy side of his personality. I see Imin as a cockroach-- and that's more of a compliment than it appears. He seems like he'd survive anything, even more than Lar, but that comes at the price of something in him being eaten away too. And, of course, Imin has gotten more exposure than Llen, and he's quickly standing out as a potential faction leader (or at least serious trouble-maker).

I really like the significance you put in his hair, Lothere-- from the beginning what threw me off was the hair on Imin. It just never seemed to "fit" him the way Paul's new hair completely fits him (I'm starting to think of it as "Paul's hair" even).

I still want to rip that goatee(?) off him, though.

Funnily enough, I like all of them as characters, but the elves I've really come to support (in the "OMG please please be okay/happy/alive you better not kill him Lothere! *sends petitions*" way) are Lar (...) and Kiv post-banishment. It could be the long-term effects of the Legolas boom so many years ago.

Bleh I voted PERV all the way. Imin is disgusting, violent, and horrible and he kind of makes me want to throw up the fish I just ate when I saw his pictures. Besides he's got a little man's complex and I HATE guys with that. "Oh lemme buy a big truck and a bull dog cause I have a small penis" Pish.

Imin defies definition, Devin. He is the mirror Alred, so you may always ponder that characterization.

I think he would have been a very different elf if life hadn't been so cruel to him. It has made him vicious and bitter... somewhat like Alred, in fact, once life really got its claws into him. But I love Imin as a character, there is so much going on in him. All of his old potential is still there, it has just been perverted.

Lately not much has been happening with him but we should see him once in the middle of December, and then he will start his scheming again.

Hmm, I doubt it since she has been staying at Mouse's house all this time. Imin probably never had an opportunity to see her. Who knows whether he would even remember her face?

The real question is how is Matilda doing, and I am beginning to fear that we won't find out until after her baby comes. So much other stuff going on.

I don't think he would have cared to see her at all. I just thought he might have run across her in his travels, since she lives close to where he does. (Or she used to.) I have no idea what he would think to know he had a half-elf child on the way. Probably nothing good.

NKM was last month, Devin, so we only have the usual amount of angst planned for December. Cassie tells me this adds up to quite a lot, however, so it may be best to continue worrying.

"Used to" because she is living with Ethelwyn and Mouse now, and they live all the way across the lake.

I don't know exactly what the future holds for Matilda, but I doubt I will simply kill her. That would be the most boring of all possible outcomes.

How did you know, Devin? It was not approved so it was supposed to be hidden.

Unregistered users can post comments, but maybe I will turn that off, since I am getting really tired of deleting porn spam. My WordPress blog does a much better job of taking care of that for me.

A forum like "Imin: Perv or Hottie" is probably a likely target for that kind of link though.

I guess I better fix that query to hide comments that haven't been approved

Thanks for bringing that to my attention! (But now I will have to wait for another one to be posted so I can see the difference between an approved comment and a not-approved... how embarassing At least yesterday all the porn links were coming in Brazilian so maybe not everyone knew what they were!)

Poor Sonia! And I love the inflammatory comments, too!

I found your comments in the spam list and unblocked both of them. I also hacked the stupid spam filter so it should let you through automatically based on the email address you entered, but I would appreciate it if you could leave another comment (over there) just to make sure it's still working for you. And not, uh, automatically deleting your comments or something.