> >I think viewing V-L as a joint mind reinforces my (wrong) interpretation > >of the embarrassment. > > I don't see it as being quite "a joint mind". They share thoughts and > perceptions, but not all of the time. Vlad & Loiosh are seperate > entities - and Loiosh has all of the instincts of a jhereg. He's > aware of human mores (because he grew up while linked to Vlad), but > he does not share them. I don't want to get into some messy theory of consciousness a la` Daniel Dennett but I think they're close enough to be considered one being. I will admit that they seem to have separate emotional systems on the basis of say Teckla, which is already an important distinction (one that is a bit contradicted by Loiosh's pain when Vlad is stabbed in Athyra). Useless philosphical discussion aside, I haven't noticed anything at all non-human about L except his attraction to Rocza, a more developed character on the basis of a few pages in Athyra. I wonder for example what V and L disagree about, if anything - is L happy, upset, anything about V's change of life direction in Phoenix or Issola? Does L have in fact any emotional reaction to V beyond a sort of filial/sidekickal devotion? Doesn't Robin get to beat up Batman on occasion? Anyway, I'm missing something or the series could use a bit more exploration of these identity issues. While I'm raving, did Dolivar have a sidekick? Say a little black-and-white cat? (Moorcock Eternal Champion reference, btw.) > > > I know my failings/weaknesses/venalities but I'm not internally > >embarrassed about them. > > You might be if you had a snarky familiar making pointed remarks > about them. > I have parts of my brain that make remarks about these things already, and other parts respond emotionally to those remarks, but not in an embarrassed way.