[quigonkenny]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

I know quite well how to read in context. I was very careful to put those narration quotes in context - even going out of my way to point out how one came after the "pour hot tea on Kyon" command by Haruhi.

And how can you not take this narration seriously? His narration is almost constantly like this in Novel 2... his profuse complimenting narration over Mikuru being about the only break from it. A snarky comment every now and then can be a simple joke. Constant snark is a bit more than that, imo.

Look, you're free to like Kyon and interpret his snark differently. But I don't see where the way that I'm taking his narration is wrong. And, clearly, there are people who are fans of this series and don't like Kyon.

Myself? I see his good points... and his bad.

If you're taking his snarky narration seriously at all, you're taking things too seriously. It's snark. Its whole point is to not be taken seriously... And way to try to distract from my point by attempting (unsuccessfully, btw) to paint me as a rabid Kyon fan. My difference in "interpreting his snark" (not quite what I was talking about, thus further proving my context point) nor anything else I said in that post has anything to do with me liking Kyon (or not). Few things bug me more than when people think that kind of approach helps an argument...

As for missing the context... Okay, I didn't have time to go into detail earlier, but...

Originally Posted by Triple_R

Spoiler for Chapter 1 spoiler:

"I would really like to drill a hole in Haruhi's head and replace the contents within. Sadly, I would find nothing inside and can only sigh. "

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Now, granted, this was brought on by the infamous "Spill hot tea on Kyon" scene.

Still, it always irks me when I see Kyon pretty much say that Haruhi is brainless... because it's patently false. Her excellence in school marks alone proves that. She's also a frequently eloquent speaker.

I don't mind Kyon calling Haruhi "crazy" or "eccentric" or "weird" or anything like that... but she's not dumb, and Kyon ought to know better, imo. This is far from the only example of him directly speaking lowly of Haruhi's intelligence.

He's not saying she's "dumb" (I assume you mean specifically "ignorant") or "brainless" ("not intelligent") here. He's saying she doesn't think. This is what I mean by context. She is very obviously in this scene (the infamous "spill hot tea on Kyon scene" as you put it) NOT thinking, specifically about the repercussions. It would not make sense for him to call her dumb or brainless in this scene, but stupid? Absolutely.

Originally Posted by Triple_R

Get a load of this comparison between Haruhi and Mikuru...

Spoiler for Chapter 1 of Sighs:

"If Asahina-san was a white rose blooming in the wild, then Haruhi would be a special breed of rose that doesn't even blossom and is full of thorns; it probably doesn't even have seeds."

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I guess that Kyon thinks that Haruhi is infertile, going by the lack of seeds comment... I have to admit, that's a funny line if you like strong satire... but whew, it's still really harsh. It's an epic insult if Kyon actually says it.

Again, not what he's talking about. He is suggesting that she has no redeeming qualities in comparison with Mikuru. It's as much deredere Mikuru action as snark. Haruhi's just the unlucky point of comparison.

Originally Posted by Triple_R

Now, some short zingers... (my comments for each is in paranthesis).

Spoiler for Sighs spoilers in general:

"If people want to achieve time travel, just put Haruhi on a spaceship. Since she probably wouldn't give a damn about the Theory of Relativity anyway.

As I mentioned this to Nagato, all that the silent alien said was, "Your opinion may be correct."

For Nagato, this is very meaningful. For others, Suzumiya Haruhi is a joke."

(Again - this is just an untrue snark; Haruhi clearly cares about the Theory of Relativity as per what she said in Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody - how is Kyon not remembering that? Mind you, how is Yuki not remembering it? And the loathing that Kyon is displaying for Haruhi is just oozing off of the "Haruhi is a joke" line)


"There used to be a saying, "There's nothing more terrifying than not needing to pay." The thing is, Haruhi doesn't seem to care. If someone knows something that would make her terrified, please, do let me know. " (So... I guess Kyon would like to terrify Haruhi...)

On the first one, that might be an inside joke from the author. While BLR was written, was published (in Sneaker), and is set before Sigh, when it comes to novel readers, BLR (and Haruhi's Tanabata-fueled Relativity-fest) will be encountered after Sigh.

Of course maybe it's just Kyon (and Yuki) acknowledging Haruhi's questionable continuity when it comes to actually obeying the laws of physics...

On the second one, I don't see how anyone can read this as Kyon maliciously wishing for Haruhi to be terrified. Going back to one of the ones above, Haruhi does not acknowledge the repercussions of her actions at all. She has very little to non-existent self-control. And as proven by the end of Melancholy, her brain is out to lunch when it comes to situations where she should rightly be scared out of her mind. Does he wish for Haruhi to encounter a situation where she quits with the bullheadedness and stops to think about her surroundings? Absolutely. The series is full of examples where he as much as says this. Does he specifically wish for her to be terrified? Probably not, but would her being scared put her in a situation where she has to take stock of her situation? Most likely. Keep in mind too that "terrified" is a very strong term, and, this being a translation, might not be connotatively accurate. "Scared" or even "unsettled" could be more accurate. I don't know.