Your opinions please

[42Bonzo88]

    I was thinking (scary, but true) about this and thought it would be an interesting topic.

    We here at WOT are one of the most diverse groups I have been associated with between religions, sex, color, creed etc. From different countries and diverse even in the same country, we all have had many things to say on the many subjects on this site.

    For this one, I don't want your personal opinion. I want you to think about your community you live in. Big city, small town, metropolis, where you call home. Now, I want you to think of what you think would be your community's reaction would be if a band of Aiel were spotted camped a couple miles outside. Or the tinkers, children of the light, Aes Sedai, Shinearans, etc.    Or what they would think of some of the habits of Ebou Dar women, Domani women, Tearian nobles, etc.

 

    With myself living in the USA in Utah with a predominant religion (LDS) I think my community would have a BIG problem with Domani women's attire, we are a modest community for the most part. I think we would be able to get along with the tinkers okay and would try to lend a hand for the most part.

    That's all I've come up with so far, but how about you?

[Hybrid]

I doubt Tinkers would be a problem in most places.  With travel made so much easier, people are more accustomed to seeing unfamiliar faces, and communities are not as close-knit and inaccessible as in WOT.  Also, with technology and organized police forces, there'd be less fear of thievery and kidnapping.

 

 

[Roxinos]

I live in Miami, FL. There can be no "camping a couple of miles outside the town." Once you're outside the city to any degree, you're essentially alone and no one is going to notice you. As for a band of any thing walking through the streets? Just depends on what part of Miami. More often than not, though, any group, be it Aiel, Tinker, CotL, Aes Sedai, Shienaran, would just get a double-take and then we'd move along with our lives. Maybe mention it later in a conversation ("I saw the craziest group of people today"), but that's about it. Unless the group caused a sort of disturbance, then it would pretty much be just like any other town. Traffic would slow. Police would arrive. Etc. Etc.

 

As for the habits of various peoples put in practice in Miami? Setting aside the legal issue of a person carrying around a knife in public, I don't think many people would have a problem with an Ebou Dari woman, or a Domani woman, or a Tearan noble wandering the streets. Sure, they'd get some askance looks, people would probably avoid them, but as there aren't that many people on the streets as it is, it doesn't matter much if they were walking the streets. They just hope they don't get hit by a car. You move onto the areas with a more congested pedestrian traffic, and you might run into a crime related issue, but no more than any other.

 

A Domani woman is really the individual which would cause the greatest stir. Depending on the clothing they wore. The prude attitudes of the various peoples in Randland give us a bit of a skewed account of what the Domani might wear in public, but assuming it is conspicuously sexual even by traditional standards in my city, it would cause quite a stir. The Domani might get unlucky and have the police called for indecent exposure. Miami is populated to a large degree by Hispanics, and they are predominantly Catholic. The rejection of sex is evident, though the perverse fascination with sex the entire country has is still present. Most likely, though, a Domani woman would merely walk along any area and get plenty of jealous looks. Many a man might get slapped. Many horns would be honked rudely. Many teenage boys would go home that day and have something new to imagine for their daily routine.

 

I'm not sure how it would be in any other city or state, but I could imagine it would be the same anywhere. The smaller the town, though, the greater the reaction, I would imagine.

[bushleague16]

Toronto is one, if not the most diverse city in the world with over 50% of the people having immigrated from another country, so i really dont think anything would be a surprise or a problem.

[trakand_01]

Well, I live on the outskirts of Doncaster, and am myself from Sheffield. The whole area (Doncaster/Rotherham/Sheffield) forms one large conurbation known as South Yorkshire and the nature of people is very similar across the whole area, however I'll concentrate on my own village, Conisbrough (look us up on Google, we have quite a history!)

 

If a band of Aiel appeared on the horizon, first of all there'd be tuts and sighs in the papershop from the elderly people about 'these ethnics' [please note I am not in the slightest racist/ageist/sexist/anythingist, I'm simply relating the society], whilst the younger generations roll their eyes. Then there'd be a few skirmishes as the local youths try to nick tents and bucklers in the night. The police would likely be called and it'd all get a bit messy. Eventually I think people would realise they're hard workers and come to accept and respect them, amidst doffing of caps etc (Yorkshire is quite stereotypical in the villages!!).

 

Tinkers would probably hardly raise an eyebrow. We have 'gypsies' or 'travellers' in the UK and doncaster seems to be a hotspot at times. So long as they can lag a roof and lay a drive, I reckon most people would accept them so long as they didnt nick everything that isnt bolted down like some [but by no means all] travellers do *rolls eyes*

 

Children of the Light - most likely would find themselves retreating, quickly. Oh sure there'd be a fair few would hail them as Gods' own army but I reckon the vast majority in my community would probably resort to bricks, stones, small dogs, gates; whatever they could carry and throw, really. I'm afraid my community (infact much of the UK in the current 'nannystate' climate) is not one which takes lightly to being instructed in what they should believe, think or how they should behave and certainly not where religion is concerned. We've survived for centuries on our own judgement, thank you very much. My particular village was pretty much desolated by the Maggie's closure of the pits in the 80s and is now a very hardy and self-opinionated society as a result.

 

Domani? They'd get wolf-whistled, there'd be the occasional 'feel-up' from a drunken or overzealous lad but I reckon eventually the fashion would probably catch on. It's more modest than what I see most of the girls (and grown women) going out in these days!

 

Unless they rolled up their sleeves and 'got on with it' as we say, I doubt that any nobles would fit in very quickly...

 

ETA - sheffield is also a very diverse city, as most large cities in the UK are nowadays. Not much surprises, and us 'northerners' are renowned for our friendliness and accomodation, which is sadly lacking in London, and many other 'southern' places. However we have retained a strong sense of identity and will happily fight any attempt to usurp it. I'm very very proud to be from Sheffield, it has history and much to be proud of. It survived the war despite being the main steel-manufacturing city in the UK, and the people simply... got on with it.

 

I do think Aes Sedai might be a step too far for us though!!  ;D

[Ireond]

Social experiment!

 

I need 40 people with nothing to do for a whole year to dress up like Aiel.

We'll then travel the USA on a government grant to find out about xenophobic tendencies when presented with an unknown or little known culture. Who wants to write up the grant proposal?

 

  I've grown up in increasingly larger towns, so I believe the tendency is that the larger the town, the less they'll notice, as there is more of a likelihood of fitting into some social group.  The areas that they'll run into trouble are family, company and farm towns, family towns being where everyone is a member of three or four families that have lived in the area for awhile, company and farm towns being where everyone does the same job.  Those tend to be small enough that the daily routine is fixed and has been for almost five decades.  In the smallest town I've been through (rural Indiana, population 8 people and 12 pets) they'd probably talk about it to no end until something new came along.  Indianapolis, and Chicago, well, half the population wouldn't notice, unless you're talking about an obviously armed and potentially hostile group of people moving in, in which case it might make the evening news.

[trakand_01]

Social experiment!

 

I need 40 people with nothing to do for a whole year to dress up like Aiel.

We'll then travel the USA on a government grant to find out about xenophobic tendencies when presented with an unknown or little known culture. Who wants to write up the grant proposal?

 

 

 

Haha, I suspect we'd never be seen again  ;D

[amy]

I'm from a small city in india .we are a pretty diverse lot and tend to accept different people easily.but the first time any aiel ,domani are spotted they will be surely mistaken for some participants in a fancy dress compettion or a drama.people being nosy  would soon know about them and a circus will start .every body will be talking only about them there will be extensive media coverage.they will become old news within days and within weeks integral part of the community.there will be protests against the newcomers from some and protests supporting the new comers from all sorts of organizations but soon life will return to normal.however there would be no escape for the domani women .if the dress is not modest enough there will be tough criticsm from both the community and the moral police.hard workers are always welcome and the tinkers would be perfectly in place as we have communities which are nomadic.so all in all while the people would be noticed and remarked upon they would be able to integrate with us pretty easily.

[Swigaro]

Great topic... 

 

I live in New York City.  If any of the groups you mentioned showed up here, I don't think it would be a question of it causing a stir; frankly, I doubt anyone would even notice.  New Yorkers have a remarkable ability to ignore things they don't want to deal with, be it a homeless person on the subway, or a black veiled Aiel stalking someone.  A sad testiment, perhaps, but here, diversity is sort of the norm.

[Majsju]

The city where I live is dominated by the university, roughly 1/3 of the population are students. So  if a bunch of Domani lasses showed up, there would be parties in their honour for a month ;D

[triadruid]

Can you update the thread title to be a bit more descriptive?

 

I think Kansas City would fail to notice for quite some time. We don't have a big tradition of Goth/funny-dressers, but we're extremely spread out, and there's a large Pagan/Rennie/SCA/reenactor population, so they'd probably think it was something like that. Also, practically nowhere in the metro has a dress code, so Domani or Tinkers would also be overlooked. :D

[Mr Ares]

bricks, stones, small dogs, gates; whatever they could carry and throw, really.

You people throw small dogs? Are there no laws against animal cruelty in Yorkshire? I really can't see Lancastrians doing this sort of thing.

 

'northerners' are renowned for our friendliness and accomodation, which is sadly lacking in London, and many other 'southern' places.

As is the dog throwing. Not very friendly to the poor dog, is it?

[Guest Dreadlord]

Strangely enough I live in Lancashire and me and a friend have just bollocked a group of young lads for harrasing a dog that wasnt theirs. Wierd timing

 

Anyway, as to what would people do if WoT factions started appearing, well I live in a town called Colne and its not the nicest of places if Im honest. If a group of Tinkers turned up in Colne I would wager the majority of my scrote hair they be dead quicker than Steve Irwin in a tub of stingrays.

[trakand_01]

bricks, stones, small dogs, gates; whatever they could carry and throw, really.

You people throw small dogs? Are there no laws against animal cruelty in Yorkshire? I really can't see Lancastrians doing this sort of thing.

 

'northerners' are renowned for our friendliness and accomodation, which is sadly lacking in London, and many other 'southern' places.

As is the dog throwing. Not very friendly to the poor dog, is it?

 

Funnily enough, that was said tongue-in-cheek.

 

No, we dont throw dogs in yorkshire.

[Mr Ares]

No, we dont throw dogs in yorkshire.

Shame. It would have added an interesting new dimension to the Wars of the Roses....

Henry, Earl of Richmond: They're throwing dogs at us?!?!

Earl of Oxford: Jack Russells to be precise. How should we respond?

Henry: In kind. We have a catapult and some Great Danes...

 

It's a bit like the occasion a geordie threw a stick at a Scotsman, and all this time they've been training to throw it back.

 

Funnily enough, that was said tongue-in-cheek.

Well, you say that now...

[Ireond]

Cry havoc and let fling the dogs of war?

 

Will it still be a catapult if you use dogs?

 

I've been thinking about it, and I think we would be less likely to fit in their world, then they would fit in ours.

[Spirit1025]

I've been thinking about it, and I think we would be less likely to fit in their world, then they would fit in ours.

I tend to agree. We've got all sorts of crazy people out there in our world.  ::)

 

I live in a tiny little town (population under 1,000) in a little valley in the middle of the Rocky Mountains in southern Colorado. It reminds me a lot of the Two Rivers. (We even have a "Two Rivers Real Estate Company" next door to my office!) It's a tourist town in the summer; lots of RV parks and such, so I think in the summer time, most locals would look at anyone strange and just roll their eyes and say "Stupid tourists..." In the winter...they would probably take one look at any outsider and then pointedly ignore them until they gave up and left. That's pretty much what they do anyway.

 

I could see Elyas walking down the street and no one would even notice. We do have a decent population of 'mountain men' who dress up in furs they've trapped themselves, and live back in the woods in a tent...

 

The Aiel...if they wore their shoufas, they might get shot for 'middle eastern terrorists,' regardless of their skin coloring.

 

Anyone in medieval costume would probably just be taken for someone who had wandered away from a Rennaissance Fair. Domani women would probably be harrassed by the local drunks.

 

Tinkers would be no problem. We have an Amish community here, so everyone is pretty accomodating of horses and wagons. We do get a few modern day gypsies through on occasion too, though those tend to drive vans nowadays rather than horses.

 

The Ogier...lol now that would be fun. I can just hear the tourists screaming now.... "Bigfoot!"  ;D

[trakand_01]

No, we dont throw dogs in yorkshire.

Shame. It would have added an interesting new dimension to the Wars of the Roses....

Henry, Earl of Richmond: They're throwing dogs at us?!?!

Earl of Oxford: Jack Russells to be precise. How should we respond?

Henry: In kind. We have a catapult and some Great Danes...

 

It's a bit like the occasion a geordie threw a stick at a Scotsman, and all this time they've been training to throw it back.

 

Funnily enough, that was said tongue-in-cheek.

Well, you say that now...

 

Hey - Jack Russels are vicious little blighters at times!  ;D

[Dbob]

Cry havoc and let fling the dogs of war?

 

Will it still be a catapult if you use dogs?

 

 

OK, that made me laugh.

[42Bonzo88]

    Thank you all. The responses have been awesome and alot have made me laugh (mainly the throwing of the dogs and reaction to the Domani's).

 

  Just to clarify things. The reason that I didn't put more in the subject was because I wasn't sure how to word exactly what I wanted to say. "Your opinion on what your community would do" sounds a little wierd and I was afraid alot of people would have brushed it by without knowing what I wanted from them.  Also, I pretty much figured in the societies we live in, that police would get involved if there was a showing of violence or a major threat camped outside of a community. What I was looking for was the reaction of the common ordinary citizen seeing something like Noah building his ark before the flood (for those who have read the bible) or something like that.

    The responses have been great and I hope they continue. Thanks for your replies.

[trakand_01]

Of course it has to be said taht the involvement of the police (in my area at least) would depend mainly on what sort of mood they were in on the day and what time the chocolate hobnobs are likely to run out at the station.

 

Re' the throwing of sticks... I would love to see a Geordie with a stick get leathered by an errant caber  ;D

 

There's a saying in the UK that I think could do with amending.

 

"Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me."

 

No, but a rottweiler and a couple of yorkies could have a good go!

[Guest The Thin Inn Keeper]

Hey - Jack Russels are vicious little blighters at times!  ;D

All this has reminded me of something...a little Brit-specific, but...

 

Monty Python's Quest for the Holy Grail and the immortal line,

 

"Fetchez le vache"

 

Takers, anyone?

[Ireond]

*blink* Brit specific? BRIT specific?

Just because your country gave birth to 5 of the six little blighters doesn't mean they're not known a far distance around the world mate.

 

My final argument?

*twanging sound* mooooOOOOOOOOOOOOO *splat*

 

Brit specific indeed.

[trakand_01]

British sitcoms have so many opportunities for humorous takes on WoT. Perhaps I should open a thread.

 

I have visions of Bayle Domon in 20 years time

"Du-ring the wa-er..."

 

I still think Basil Fawlty was funnier than Monty Python.

[Ireond]

I wanna see the forsaken chasing after the Ta'varen to Benny Hill music!!

 

*Lack of sleep + caffeine? Imagination overdrive*

 

Picture it now: *saxophones kick in*

Rand, Mat, and Perrin walking through Edmonds Field winking at the women and getting into trouble when around the corner you see Ishamael and Lanfaer scowling and pointing at them.

Cue upbeat part of music, Trollocs, and then suddenly you have them being chased all over.  Cue Moiraine and Lan coming in and pulling them off, cut scene, cue slower bit of music again, scene opens again on Rand wandering through Tear and the fortress of stone.  See him innocently walk up to Callandor and gaze at it. While turning to walk away he knocks it over with a loud clang. While trying to pick it up, the guards come in and chase him, trollocs come in and chase them, aes sedai and aiel also eventually get involved.*

 

Anyone in film school want to help do this for a dragoncon tv bit?