Carmela outrageous

[seabiscuit1009]

I'd have to agree with Alida about the whole "Carmela's going to play a larger part" thing. Since she figured out how to get a worldgate in her closet, one would assume that she might get in some travelling, especially if the TV keeps behaving oddly. It should, since it had been trying to evolve in an earlier book. Anyway...I wish I had some of that chocolate right now...

-seabiscuit, a.k.a. hungry

[Lamarquise]

Now what I'm trying to figure out is this...and Peter, maybe you can help me?

According to the Errantry Concordance, Carmela is supposed to be four or five years older than Kit and a Senior in high school at the time of WAW. But how can that be possible? Isn't Kit fourteen by this time? I can't see how she could be much more than three years older than Kit...and do we know how much older than her Helena is? And how was Helena there with her family when Kit told them all about wizardry but is working on her MBA now?

Hmm...

[Peter Murray]

I nitpicked that on the Talk: page for Carmela.

TWD does refer to her as an otherwise excitable fifteen-year-old, when Kit was thirteen. Helena had just left for college in TWD, so she would have still been at home in HW, when Kit told the family he was a wizard.

Meanwhile, Kit himself is just thirteen, and won't be fourteen until AWOM. (I commented on his Talk: page, too.)

Moeen's attempt to fix the timeline is on Kit's Talk: page, but I'm not convinced.

It'd be easier if Kit turned fourteen just before TWD (his birthday's in August), and if Carmela were fifteen either in TWD, or back in HW when Kit told them, in which case she might have had time to turn sixteen by TWD. Either way, Helena works, unless Carmela's five years older than Kit; then she'd be older than her older sister .

I just noticed I said Kit told them in DW! Fixed now.

[ang3lcat]

I didn't like Carmela. Way to Mary-Sue for me. Except for the annoyingness. Sure, she was funny... a little... -shrugs-

[Mimi_Fire]

Carmela is HALIROUS!!!

I like the Oops line too that was wayy funny...

and the toothpick of virtue(forgot what that was pointing too though-.-;

Who would've ever thought that aliens(okay the things we call aliens even we;re really the aliens -.-) like chocolate

I think Carmela wouldn't be tooooooo old to be a wizard... but if she does...boy do i feel sorry for Kit

Dai!

[MadWizardGirl]

I've always adored Carmela's character. I mean, she's so unique and fun! I have the feeling that she probably bought the chocolate in bulk and won't stop using it as a bartering tool. I'm afraid of what kind of non-wizardly power Carmela could get ahold of. For pete's sake, she could hire some of the best mercenaries for star systems around with one bar of chocolate!
Scar-ee...
She's also not going to back down from trying to help Kit and co. in the future. I think the tension between her and the LP from the 'Oops...' incident will pop up again. No way she's staying neutral.

What you all are thinking about her not knowing about the LP in the king is really interesting, but I'm not sure I quite buy it. She knows that the wizards downright fear this thing, something that probably wouldn't apply to a mean bug king. Besides, she destroys the bug form and the LP actually manifests istelf. I think Carmela knows of the danger from what Kit, Dari, and Neets do, even if she doesn't know the specifics. I just think she's uber-brave, awesome, and in some unique way, very, very strong... and stubborn.

Also, did anyone else sense something with her and Filif before her and Ronan (who seems kind of scared of her)?

[katiedidnt]

I think that Carmela stole the show in this book. All of the funny scenes seemed to involve her in some way. I really liked the "Opps" thing and the "Toothpick of Virtue" and the thing she said to Kit at the beginning about aliens and chocolate. I'm also glad that the curling iron/eggbeater wepon made a comeback in this book. I had always hoped we'd see it again.

Also, I doubt Carmela was the first non-wizardly earth human to go to the Crossings. I know most non-wizardly earth people don't get offworld much, but surely there was someone...

[Alethia]

I LOVE Carmela here! When I found that she was talking about the TV manual instead of the real Manual, I actually laughed aloud! This is extremely rare for me to do whilst alone. It's just... I was all set, like, "Oh wow, I knew that this was gonna happen sometime!" and I was just imagining the cringing look of horror that Kit must've had... Tee hee!
Her humor (like what Isarian said on page 1) was such a great comic relief in the middle of a really intense scene. That's just... classic Carmela- she can never, ever understand the gravity of the situation. Leave the little brother to save the world, but she still has time to barter with the dangerous Talwalf on the side for a bit of chocolate. Eeeexhellent. Mon DIEU, she's swisse!
And add to all of this the whole Lara Croft "comes-into-the-Crossings-in-a-shootout-in-crazy-cool-clothing-and-a-laser-stunner-on-the-hip" thing. DD's amazing!
Why didn't she come under LP's control? I mean, that was great acting and DD put together a great scene, but why didn't she? Because she wasn't really a wizard, didn't believe, what?

[Peter Murray]

Dai katiedidnt and Alethia.

I have to pick on the avatars you're using: in the guidelines the rule is that avatars can't be bigger than 100x100 pixels, and yours are 207x198 and 120x118 respectively. The pictures are Ok, if you scale them down first. Sorry to nag you so early.

I was looking back through Wizard's Holiday and found the scene with Kit telling Carmela he'll have to have that laser dissociator back, so that he can make it safe. Just as well he didn't get round to it, really .

Alethia: Yes, the LP may have thought she wasn't worth bothering with - what could she do? (Plenty, of course.)

[mythbusterfan]

He did make it safe. Carmella told nita that when kit fixed it he didn't void the warrantee.
so carmella sent for the free upgrade.

[Alethia]

Oops! Sorry! Will do!

[Sibby]

Gosh, I can't believe this, but Carmela is actually the /only/ character in the YW series I just can't /stand/!! I'm not exactly sure why, but she annoys me terribly. I mean, she's just so weird and annoying! And she reminds me of these popular girls at my school who think they know about stuff they have no clue about, and never know when to back off.

I mean, she spends all day in alien chat rooms, that's cool. She, somehow, seems to know the Speech as well as most wizards w/out ever opening a book. Okay. But then she randomly shows up in the Crossings and demands to be taken on the adventure? No way!! And, somehow, she manages to do all of that, and /still/ be a ditz!!

Also, she gets in the way of Ronan/Nita, which is just unforgivable.

[Alethia]

See, I don't agree with you there. Because she isn't all haughty about her ignorance- she knows that she doens't know this stuff- that's what makes the whole scene about "finding the manual" so funny!
She's unaware, but up to the extent that it's funny! And she's nice about it. That's the point.
And she flirts with everybody- Sker'ret, Roshaun, Filif, and Ronan. Which is every male wizard that she's ever met, in case you've forgotten.

[JLrep]

"After all that," Nita's mother said, "am I a nonwizard?"

The line between wizard and nonwizard is anything but clear-cut. The manuals alone range from as simple and straight-forward as a book to a sentient computer to your own memory.

Carmela may not have passed an Ordeal, have an obvious manual, or be the right age, but you can't deny the services she's done against the Lone Power. I like to think of her as both the most wizardly nonwizard and the least wizardly wizard. I think the only reason her case seems so odd is how laid-back she is.

EDIT for my first post: Forgot to mention Ponch, who both is (or was) certainly not a wizard, and also certainly had some rather odd powers.

Anyway, Carmela's so laid-back simply because it's how she deals with things. If you didn't brush off things such as fighting Yalrid warriors and facing the Lone One she'd simply break down, because she can't handle it seriously like most of the characters do.

Merged the two posts - JLrep, you can edit your own posts with the middle icon of the row of three - Peter

[Alethia]

Agreed. She's basically a wizard because of her services to fight entropy, however unintentional they may see. But why is she so "laid-back," up to the point that she's completely oblivious? That's the question.