Erunion

So stuffed and happy about it I tried three new things, including one very hard one, and they all turned out fantastically. I am super, super pleased! I did three steaks in a pan, and cooked fresh linguini with an spiced-up alfredo sauce. The pan-cooked/seared steaks were tricky, but it worked out deliciously well. I stuffed myself and had to stop myself from eating the leftovers I made for tomorrow (chopped up the last steak and tossed it into the linguini).

When once thou hast slain thine jabberwock, is thy life not in that very moment fulfilled? For the jabberwock remains ever until thy last day when thou shalt face thy own beast once and for all and overcome it - shouldst thou be provided with a keening vorpal blade!

There Turin will plunge gurthang into thy dark breast; thus avenging Hin Hurin once and for all! And then the children of Illuvatar shall sing along with the vala a second great music - a greater and more splendid music than the first! Oh it shall be glorious!

@Darkness Ascendant - "That was the last time in those wars that he passed the doors of his stronghold, and it is said that he took not the challenge willingly; for... alone of the Valar he knew fear. But he could not now deny the challenge before the face of his captains; for... Fingolfin named Morgoth craven.... Therefore Morgoth... issued forth clad in black armour; and he stood before the King like a tower, iron-crowned, and his vast shield, sable unblazoned, cast a shadow over him like a stormcloud. But Fingolfin gleamed beneath it as a star; for his mail was overlaid with silver, and his blue shield was set with crystals; and he drew his sword Ringil, that glittered like ice. Then Morgoth hurled aloft Grond, the Hammer of the Underworld, and swung it down like a bolt of thunder. But Fingolfin sprang aside, and Grond rent a mighty pit in the earth.... Many times Morgoth essayed to smite him, and each time Fingolfin leaped away...; and he wounded Morgoth with seven wounds, and seven times Morgoth gave a cry of anguish, whereat the hosts of Angband fell upon their faces in dismay, and the cries echoed in the Northlands." - stolen from theonering.com, and them from that book of epicness The Silmarillion Aute i lome! Aure entuluva! Your night is passing! DAY SHALL COME AGAIN!

Come on guys. The Mongolian mafia was set up in the time of the Golden Horde, when the Mongols ruled all of central asia (and then some!). They have cells all throughout the region! Of course they own a few sulfer mines near Samarkand!

@Delightfully Smoak - Get well soon, hopefully everything will go well with the job (specifically them understanding that you were storming sick and did what you could to communicate that fact). In the meantime, if you're going to punch something keep your wrist straight, hit with the first two knuckles and make sure your thumb is properly positioned (gripping your fingers to your palm, not gripped by your fingers). This will increase your punching effectiveness and reduce the risk of injury

Two things - one, you're really good and have great style. Keep it up - you do fantastic comic/caricature portraits and you should keep doing it. The second thing is this - that is seriously unhealthy. I strongly, strongly suggest seeing a mental health professional. How old are you? And you live in Australia?

Remember when discussing Szeth/etc., you can rescue a human within 15 minutes or so of death using CPR (if you wait longer than 4 minutes to start though, you can expect brain damage - but that can be healed by investiture in the Cosmere). Likely in-canon, that's roughly the point where the cognitive self ceases to be re-attachable by normal means, and starts to wander off into the beyond (although they can go sooner, thereby preventing any resurrection - see M:SH for examples of both). I think we can say with some confidence that Endowment holds the Returned from moving on, giving them their option to Return. Therefore, I think that one of two things happened to Szeth - either a fully effective healing method was used, but his soul was starting to wander into the 'sun', starting to fade (like shown in M:SH) - into the Beyond, and as such isn't wholly there anymore, or more likely that the method used to return his Cognitive Self to his body wasn't 100% effective, that it was a jury-rigged and slapped together and therefore isn't quite... right.

@Blackhoof - still significantly disagree with you here. A phalanx-like spear formation provides depth and concentration of force. You don't just have an impenetrable wall or spears constantly stabbing (which Koloss would get through, with casualties), you have wall after wall after wall. The first few rows of spears getting overwhelmed? That's fine - the next few lines will lower their spears and start stabbing, giving the front lines time to crawl out of the way. The best counters for a phalanx or pike wall are effective ranged weapons or heavily armoured infantry (like German zweihanders). The armoured infantry are also a best counter, but one that will cost heavy casualties. The koloss, while powerful, have no armour and die to stabs. Also remember that only the few are truly huge/strong. Unpowered Elend Venture could kill a smaller, normal koloss in a knife fight/grappling match.

Just checking up on this thread and chiming in; as mentioned back in the first couple of pages, a Rosharan phalanx is almost the perfect choice to fight koloss. The only thing better would be a Tercio. Phalanxes are meant to hold, and to push against an incredible crush. They also give you depth of spears. The first row stuck? Good thing there are 10 more rows behind. Reread Way of Kings and you'll see how a Rosharan army is supposed to work - proper formations are described in contrast to amarams undisciplined forces. The combination of shorter spears and longer spears (and possibly pikes) is ideal when facing an irregular force of lightly armoured heavy infantry/light cavalry. The only concern would be securing the flanks.

@maxal - I don't have a problem with Min becuase WOT has Egwene, and WOT has Lan. Yes, Min does drop everything to be with a man - but Elayne, Egwene and Aviendha all don't (and Min has her strong points too! She is reasonable, understanding/etc.). WOT also has Lan, who drops everything for a woman... twice. So I don't have a problem with Min, and even like the character, as she shows that women can do whatever they want, even if that means dropping everything for a man. But men can do that for women as well. It's balanced - as is fitting in WOT

So I just cooked some lovely paprika-rubbed chicken served over a cooked-Barley salad. It is tasty. Very tasty. I am pleased with myself

Wheeee! Just wrote my last exam for this semester! Now I have two weeks off(ish), and then my last semester of real school starts in may

I definitely feel the Sam Gamgee vibe here - after fighting his way through mordor, throwing the ring into the fire, fighting Saruman's flunkies in the Shire/etc., asking Rosie Cotton out was 'the bravest thing he ever did'

I make things disappear...

Yes, I am way, way out of my comfort zone. I have somehow gone through 24 years, a four year relationship and somehow this is only the second time I've asked a girl out like this. Nervous levels are through the roof. I really should have waited until after my final exam today - good luck to me on studying now orz.

@Darkness Ascendant - that's always appreciated and thanks guys, I'm feeling better today!

So, I was wondering - 'Erunion, what is the most interesting thing about yourself?', and I realized that I couldn't really think of anything. So, while I struggle with this mental challenge, what do you oh fellow sharders think are the most interesting things about yourselves? Pick one thing - can be anything. Weird joints. Cool hair. Amazing stories. Personality quirks. Things you have done. Go crazy.

So, I just did something I've been hemming and hawing about for the last two weeks - I asked a girl out, sorta - asked a girl if she wanted to meet up. We met years ago, and I had a crush on her then but nothing came of it. We chatted a bit around her birthday this year, and met at an event a couple of weeks ago. She gave me a hug!!! but we both had to go and didn't have time to catch up properly. So I just asked her if she wants to meet up. Why is my heart beating this fast storm it. I dunno, even if nothing comes of it - at least I was brave. It's good to be brave. Right? Right??

@Julio - the women being 'jerks' is actually a sneaky, clever little integral part of the worldbuilding. You see, they're not jerks, they're sexist. WOT has a lot of mild/moderate sexism in it directed against men. A lot of people, including myself, didn't notice it, so I think RJ intentionally made Far Madding so terribly, clearly, obviously sexist. These books are one of the main reasons I'm a feminist today, because they showed me what mild sexism in our modern society looks like - the way women treat men in WOT is how men treat women in our society (Not always, and often in different ways, but it is very similar. The whole worldbuilding created a realistic premise where RJ could invert our cultures sexism, and he did a very subtle and imo a very good job of it). I'm nervously excited about it. It could be great, or it could be terrible. Mostly, it will be very very difficult. But if they pull it off? I will be thrilled.

I'm feeling really down today. No good reason - ok, lots of little reasons, but no big outstanding reason. It's just - I don't want to feel like this. I don't want to be like this. I need a hug. I really need a hug. That's all for now.

I really want to be excited for this, but adapting WOT to a good TV show is gonna be hard. Blood and ashes, the effects budget alone! Not to mention the absolutely vital necessity of good casting. This thing will need to have fantastic characterizations to carry over to a broader audience, because the series is extremely heavy/reliant. People will have to love the core group. I want them to. I still love the characters. But it'll take great acting.

Same. It's on my list, as is the book of Mormon and some others. I may not agree with your beliefs, but I certainly am willing to learn about them (and to have my own challenged, and then either strengthened or changed as needed).

@Cognizantastic - Philosophy is important. They don't teach enough philosophy anymore. I deeply regret the lack - they should teach basic philosophy (especially logic, especially applied logic) in high school. But then you'd need high school teachers trained, willing and paid enough to properly teach philosophy.

Good luck! That sounds awesome - or maybe you could go into politics and reform you guy's current situation Starting with tuition fees at uni's, cuz whoa. You pay per year what I paid for my degree. Mind you, I'm not including room/board. But still. (Note, I go to the second-most prestigious university in my province... which is famous for being the hardest grading university in Canada and one of the top 16 hardest in the english speaking world...)