traceria

I If you're able to further perfect or would be interested in suggestions, definitely share that recipe!

I should preface this by mentioning that all our computers at home have been named after LotR characters. My husband's is Gandalf, but we've also had a Radagast (laptop) and a Galadriel (my desktop). Obviously, my loyalties lie with LotR and thus, Gandalf, but not without merit! You can't take the Maia out of him even when he's in the form of a man. I'm sorry, you just can't. The dude goes by many names, but the name does not make him. If anything, he makes the name (see: going from Gandalf the Grey to Gandalf the White). The fact that Dumbledore needs something to resurrect, manifest, etc. is a point in Gandalf's favor. Gandalf doesn't need anything like that to resurrect. It can just happen, albeit at the instruction of a higher power. Besides, how would a ghost do serious damage to someone in a physical body? All that a side, I have to agree with Erai that if they're put in an AU situation where Gandalf wasn't concerned with sticking to rules of his calling, Dumbledore would have no chance, even with all his experience and the Elder Wand at his disposal. Gandalf has experience, too, but also greater power behind him. I'm remembering Dumbledore's hand after trying to deal with the one Horcrux. That was just the curse of another wizard, albeit powerful and evil, but it crippled him. Gandalf, on the other hand (ha ha), dealt with the Balrog, and though they both perished, he was victorious and got a level up, as LeftVash mentioned.

I listened to the audiobook of the novel almost ten years ago and felt "eh" about it. I like Card, but there are some books of his that just don't keep my interest like others. I'd have to find something to jog my memory regarding the plot to be able to comment more.

Ba dum ching!

Perhaps if you get an emotional allomancer in the DA, they could help push people to a frame of mind where such cookies would then have the desired effect?

I think it's important to remember that with Brandon we're at least inside his characters' heads part of the time. With LotR, you're getting the story third-person. I really do think that Tolkien's world and characters are very rich and full of depth, even though you're not seeing inside their thoughts the same way you do with Brandon's. As writers, the two have different goals and styles. I'm not saying one is superior to the other; they're just different. I don't think the characters in LotR do things without thought. What I think happens is you don't see firsthand them struggling with choices. You get inklings, like Aragorn mentioning more than once in conversations that he was dreading the choice he had to make: to go with Frodo to Mordor or to go to Gondor (right before the Fellowship gets divided). He's in turmoil over the decision he knows is coming, but you don't see it all "on screen." Instead, you really are only told he's struggling with the decision through a conversation he has, and you don't hear all of it. To look at Elrond and people agreeing with him (I think you're thinking more of the movie than the book), there is a whole chapter devoted to the council. Leading up to it, the reader is not privy to discussions between Elrond and Gandalf or any other council participants except really for Frodo and Bilbo, who do more talking about other matters. The big difference between SA and LotR is that there is an obvious enemy in LotR, and thus, an obvious evil in the world. The good guys don't always agree on how to fight that evil, but that doesn't mean they don't struggle with choices, both moral and strategic. With SA, at least speaking for myself, I find myself rooting more for specific characters and against others (like Sadius). Odium is definitely a "bad guy" to me because the characters I'm rooting for are seen as good guys in my eyes. Brandon has a lot of gray characters, though. I'm not promoting either Tolkien or Brandon over the other, but I am saying that they're different writers. I love LotR and really do think there is a lot of depth and richness to the world and characters, you just don't see it all in front of your eyes as the reader. There are many layers behind it, and I think that can get construed as being more simplistic, when in fact it is not. I hope that makes sense. I feel very inadequate writing stuff like this. I never quite feel like I've explained properly what is in my mind.

So, I've been thinking... I'm not a member, but I was the first victim. You've got all this spikes cookies stuff going on, but why not actually make cookies and other baked goods WITH the spikes in them. Like, for example, any cookie or baked good that would normally have almond slivers, you could do a direct substitute for little spikes. Then your victim customer takes a bite and, voila! All the work can be done for you!

I feel you maxal. I'm about to turn 34 in...oh...two days. *sigh* I grew up watching the old TMNT, X-Men, Batman, etc. and also the Smurfs, Snorkels, original Thundercats and such when I was even younger.

Definitely a fan if you read this and also really want to know how it turned out! (If the answer is well, I'd love that recipe!)

I was going to say, too, that there would be more of an underlying and subtle worldview that would lend even more complexity to the choices of the characters. It's not that the SA characters don't face tough choices or anything, but Tolkien definitely had an extremely deft hand with this. (Go read this book if you like thinking about stuff like that.) (Sorry about the double post, for some reason it wouldn't let me edit and add a quote to the prior comment...hmm...)

Yeah, I have to agree. While reading, I just kept nodding and grinning and nodding and grinning. Bravo!!

I was curious, so I decided to search Amazon with just the word "saga" in the search field. In just the first four pages somewhere between 1/3 to 1/2 of the covers are either scantily clad men and/or women (some covers have both) or obviously chick-lit of the fantasy/supernatural variety. The other covers either look like they fall in the fantasy, horror, or graphic novel and/or manga categories. All that said, Twilight actually didn't appear on the first four pages. *shrug * If anything, SO many people have heard of the Twilight Saga and have a lot of opinions on it (good or bad) that I can understand the desire to groan if someone were to call it the Mistborn Saga instead. In my opinion, it should be what the author/publisher or someone official calls it.

Hey, I'm married to one of those! (He would totally approve of the DA.)

Aha..ha...ha....*cough * If that was a Doctor Who reference, extra kudos to you! Have an upvote (even if it wasn't)!

Yeah, the lady who helped us said that bending would be grounds for a replacement phone, so even if you got one of the 9 out of every 100,000 that are duds, at least you wouldn't have to keep it!

Exactly. You WILL be friends, or suffer her "royal displeasure."

I know this thread doesn't get much action, but you all must be dying to know about the new iphone6, right? Does it bend? (Briar King and Hood, this one's for you.) Well, mine isn't bending at least, and neither is my husbands. We took advantage of the trade-in-and-get-a-giftcard deal because we were in serious need of upgrades anyway. Just in case the phones even thought about bending, we got clear TechArmor cases that aren't going to give into a bending impulse anytime soon. Plus, the girl at the store said if they bend you'd be entitled to a replacement. I only set mine up last night, but from my brief experience using it then and this morning, it's a really fast phone. And I'm loving the thumbprint unlock thing. Also, another cool thing it does is if you double-tap the button, not only does it show you what things you have open but it also has a running group of contacts at the top (in little circles) that are for people you contact most often. I haven't called someone that way yet, so I'm not sure if it just calls them when you tap or if you get a list of options. I'm going to guess you get list of options (call, text, email). If anyone has any other questions, do let me know.

Even if they didn't win, I can't imagine any cat, let alone a Catquisitor, admitting it. That's the only reason I voted the way I did. Being only a member of the Herd, I can only officially condone making love (and therefore, peace), but not war.

I liked Ergo Proxy over all, but it's been too long since I watched it to say much more. I seem to recall the ending wrapping most things up but leaving me a little confused still.

Thanks for the support. Doing better today, but basically after talking with my husband last night we decided to start putting my resume together again. I don't have any vacation/sick days left this year, so I'll probably officially start looking at the end of the year so that I can go on interviews in January when my days are available again. But it's nice to know I won't have to be in this h**l hole forever. Work isn't what started the whole thing, but what did set me off yesterday is something I can't control. The work stress is just something underlying that is there all the time and exacerbates everything else. It's the one thing I can control... by finding another job. That stinks. :\ Too bad you can't use those things that prevent people from putting the seats back anymore...

Words cannot describe the level of crappiness of my day. It was just that bad.

Y'all must have one a dem newfangled eye-pods.

Oh wow, that's terrible.

This post relates to my moaning over this entire week (so far). I wish I could just have one day where I didn't have five things open and in the works on my desk before being interrupted yet again. Why must there always be fire-alarm-status interruption after interruption? Why can't the people at the courts and sheriff's offices just do their jobs correctly instead of making me do mine three times over due to their errors?! Today I have a headache to top it all off. I'm so done with this work week. Edit: Also, why must people be stupid in that they don't read the content of their emails, letters, whatever... and actually answer the questions that were posed? Why must they give answers (term used loosely) that in no way correspond to the questions?!?!

I'm probably giving up on Fallout 3. I don't think games where shooting things (other than portals) are really my thing. I find myself a nervous wreck when a mutant dog attacks me in the wasteland and dreading going anywhere. If it was me in real life, I'd probably go back to the Vault and try to make up with the inhabitants. My hubs at least said he'd take advantage of us having bought the game again and he plans to play it sometime. Puzzle/adventure games are more my thing, or the strategic sort like Civ (yeah, Civ in space soon!), with the occasional old RP game for a console where I don't have to react quickly and my party members have a turn they act on. I'm soooo terrible at reacting.