Kobold King

Well if it's a time travel series then it's understandable. I'd try to make some kind of knowledgeable comment about writing and how this sort of thing happens, but given that I don't have any writing achievements to my name, I think I'll just keep my trap closed about the topic. I have noticed that ideas tend to mutate over time, however, especially if you read a lot and expose yourself to new ideas on a regular basis. You've actually made me curious about this WIP of yours. Do you mind saying anything about it?

Ultimately I think that a a really really weird Epic is more enjoyable to read about than a really really dark one. I allow Lightwards to have his share of darker scenes--an old man being ripped to shreds by raptors isn't exactly light and fluffy material. But Lightwards is balanced by the fact that he's a bit of an over-the-top villain, and of course he has Funtimes to play off of. Möbius would simply be a dark, oppressive, and above all overpowered addition to the RP. That said, if anybody ever tries to say "my character flees Oregon into northern California," my headcanon will be that Möbius gets him.

Once Current!Funtimes' weakness has been revealed, I'd be curious to see what her original was. It's always interesting to see the process by which ideas shift and change. I designed one alien race that has gone through so many redesigns since its conception that it's hardly recognizable as the same species.

Nathan and Funtimes cause Lightwards to pass out from sheer terror, claiming they've invited Möbius to "Funtimes' Funtastic Sushi Party of Fun, Fun, Fun." --Taken from "What Happened in Oregon," page 22. In all seriousness, Möbius is the most twisted character I've ever come up with. Blindside was a random nutcase with a fondness for knives. Lightwards is pretty much too delusional to be taken seriously. But Möbius... Möbius is the answer to a question I asked myself. "What happens if introverted tendencies, shyness, and a gentle desire to do good are twisted into something unrecognizable?" I hope that Möbius is a believable, terrifying answer to that question. A reclusive tyrant who isolates her lands, ensuring that her people rely on her 'kindness' for survival. A woman who usually abhors direct conflict, and will kill her adversaries in horrifying ways simply to avoid getting into a confrontation (Her killing of Lightwards was the exception that proves the rule.)

I didn't spell it out in so many terms, but as you can see, it's been implied canon since the beginning that Möbius did terrible things to people who were once close to her. So no. I didn't just make that up now, it's been part of her backstory since the beginning. Her mother commented negatively on her daughter's changed behavior, so she got to spend the rest of her life in a living room-centric universe. Some of her friends from college started shying away from her when they saw the coldness seeping through her personality, and she did variously unpleasant things to each of them (one of them got sent to Venus.) Finally, Josh figured out that she was an Epic and tried to appear to her inner humanity, a gesture which only infuriated her. His attempts made her deluded self feel even more betrayed and abandoned. She sealed Josh into a pocket universe within the sushi bar and left him for dead. However, her weakness was activated shortly afterwards, potentially allowing Josh to escape. If you recall, Möbius was planned to be my primary Epic character before I went with Lightwards instead. As a result, she has a substantial amount of backstory built up. Unpleasant backstory.

It gets even creepier if you imagine it sung not by Möbius, but by Alexandra's mother indefinitely locked within a pocket universe. Actually, on second thought...

Veggielurgy is a messy art. Of course, that's why it's so much fun.

Aaaaand I'm terrible at song-matching. Most musicians don't specifically write their songs with Oregon Epics in mind. This was the best I could find for Möbius. In particular the chorus.

TwiLyght before that line: TwiLyght after that line:

Brandon Sanderson won his upvotes by being an awesome man who wrote novels that spoke to each and every person on this forum. He won his votes for making people laugh and cry and gasp with shock. Brandon Sanderson earned his reputation by being the skilled, talented person on the forum, his books standing as a testament to the incredible mind contained within his skull. Me? I make snarky comments and make cringe-inducing puns on every thread I stumble across. My reputation is merely based on a coincidence, the coincidence that my own insanity and joker-mentality happened to fit the tastes of a wide range of forum members. You are hereby commanded to downvote this post! This means you, Quiver.

Fan art of Lightwards after the Civil War of Light. Taken from page 37 of "What Happened in Oregon."

I have three separate guesses: A. Something party-themed and whimsical. B. Something that will cause another death. C. Both. (Probably C.)

They live separate existences, so I think it would be fine to just post Nighthound's before leaving.

That was largely because of all the weaponry (though the whimsy got to him a little more than he'd care to admit). In the words of that Phineas & Ferb song, "it's effective and it's fun!"

Just for the record, Lightwards would not be happy about living in a giant flashlight.

TwiLyght will now spend years of her life traveling the globe searching for that man. She will search through deserts and rainforests, deserts and cities, just to compliment him on his mane of fiery red gair. Who wants to ship that?

* extrapolated features of their hypothetical offspring *

There is no accounting for the powerful enigma that is TwiLyght the Shipmistress.

I would point out that multiple ships involve Möbius, and she's never appeared in the RP.

Do you intend for Penumbra to be a permanent secondary character, or is he making only a temporary appearance here?

Buy, that's a pretty cool idea. Perhaps the mystery of Calamity is never quite solved. Swimmingly, Chaos, myself and others will eventually surpass Brandon Sanderson, and he will drift further and further down on the reputation list. Until, of course, he decides to do another Q&A on the forum, after which his reputation will skyrocket into the 10, 000s.

Oh, glad you liked Falcon's characterization and OH SWEET LIMELIGHT THERE'S A NEW EPIC IN TOWN. KILL IT!

What's the matter? High standards? A placebo effect is certainly not out of the question. Or it could simply be that he's a sadistic slontze who enjoys eviscerating people, but likes telling people it has a mystical component to it.

The fun thing is, Lightwards assumes that Purple Phoenix left the pebble there--but that's only half true. What might happen next is that Lightwards sends a pterodactyl out to look for PP, and finds him by the Sports Warehouse. He then travels there with raptors and Acrocanthosaurus in tow, furious with his new "ally" and fully prepared to revoke his life dinosaur privileges. He then runs into Altermind. Of course, anything could happen to throw this plan off the rails. I do hope Lightwards' discovery of the bombs doesn't seem too far-fetched. Lightwards is a suspicious person, and every dinosaur in the Museum watched PP place the stones. He was bound to find it sooner or later, and in this case it's best to have it sooner and get the drama over with.

Lightwards smiled despite his irritation as the Museum grew larger and larger in his sight. He used it as a reminder for why he shouldn't try to kill Funtimes, no matter how much he was beginning to want to. She was one of the most powerful Epics he had ever seen, and this Museum would be a constant reminder of it. A reminder of our power, he told himself. She made it float, but I'm the one who whispered the thought into her empty head. I am the one who populated the place with Warriors. None of this would be possible without me. The litter set down by the heavily damaged front door, where the bronze brachiosaur stood over a handful of wrecked cars that had been lifted up along with the Museum. There was no sign of Purple Phoenix, but his Coelophysis was standing by the very edge of the flying fortress, its head staring down to the city below. Lightwards stepped out of his litter and whistled for the rest of his raptors. Seven Deinonychus soon stood before him, their eyes locked onto their master as they awaited orders. "Find Purple Phoenix," he commanded. "Search the building. Report back once he is located." The man was probably using a restroom or something, but Lightwards liked to make sure. The raptors fanned out through the building, and Lightwards took a look around. Clearly there was a substantial mess to clean up. Nighthound's crazed ride had trashed substantial portions of the building, and odd little potholes dotted the floor, as if someone had dug up the tiles and filled them with rubble. He couldn't remember that happening during the fight. Maybe he'd just missed it in between breaking a rib and dying from gunshot wounds? He set the old man from the crowd to work sweeping up debris, raising up the male Regways to help in the clean-up. The rest of his human Warriors he fed to the Acrocanthosaurus. He reached a hand into a pile of puked up human remains, touching a hand he was pretty sure had belonged to Hotwire. He surged his miracle into the hand, expecting his first Epic Warrior of Light. Nothing happened. Lightwards frowned, trying again. Each time he felt some form of resistance from the corpse. As if there were something already there, fighting him. Turning from the regurgitated Hotwire, he instead bent to face the dead Blindside Nighthound had left laying on the ground. The same happened with him. For some reason, Lightwards couldn't perform his miracle on other Epics. He was irritated about the fact, but moreover it made him curious. If he could reanimate fragments of protein material from fossilized dinosaur skeletons, why were mostly intact Epic remains so difficult? Clearly this would require further research, but for now Lightwards decided to attend to other matters. Blindside's body was given to the tyrannosaur as a treat as the professor headed deeper into the building. The Museum was a large building, but Lightwards toured it briskly. Every now and then he'd come across a specimen that caught his attention and he raised it up. The ranks of his Warriors were soon bolstered by varying numbers of stuffed lions, tigers, leopards, buffalo, and grizzlies. Eventually he found that raising corpses was growing slightly more difficult--he was approaching the limit to his power. But that was all right by his book. By his estimate, there were easily over fifty different creatures defending the halls, and he could easily raise at least a dozen more human Warriors if need be. The completion of the Museum tour brought a sense of ease and security to Lightwards, but also a hint of concern. Purple Phoenix was nowhere to be seen. True, they'd left him alone here, and as another Epic they couldn't expect him to wait patiently for their return like a servant. But he could have at least left a note. Lightwards stepped out the Museum doors and fixated his attention on the Coelophysis. "You!" he barked. "Where is Purple Phoenix?" The sleek, feather-covered dinosaur continued staring off the edge and towards the ground. Fascinating that it had feathers--Lightwards had once argued that Triassic theropods couldn't possibly have evolved that sort of covering at such an early point in their evolution... He shook himself, doing his best to ignore his more scholarly impulses. Instead he seized the animal's head and oriented it towards himself. "Take me to your master." The Coelophysis stared at him blankly before slowly drifting its head back to the ground. Lightwards let out a growl of frustration. "Obey me! You will follow his orders, but I am the one who gave you life. You will listen to me." The dinosaur angled its head back to face him, then bobbed its pointed head off of the building. Oh, Lightwards thought suddenly. He left the building. Maybe Purple Phoenix was a flying Epic and had simply glided away. He felt slightly foolish for not inquiring about his new allies' powers. "Did he do anything before he left?" he asked the bird-like creature. The Coelophysis stared vacantly for a moment, then turned and darted inside. "Sparks--where do you think you're going--" Lightwards ran after the moronic creature, reaching it just in time to see it explode. With a curse, he caught a piece of leg that had gone flying and resurrected the creature, which dropped to its haunches and began bobbing its head rhythmically. Lightwards slowly examined the small crater where the explosion had occurred--it seemed as if some form of explosive had been concealed behind a loose wall tile, and that Phoenix's dinosaur had set it off during the course of its command-following. He caught a brief glimpse of shining purple pebbles losing their glow. He gritted his teeth, glimmers of rage and suspicion growing in him. What the Calamity has that man done to my fortress?