Blaze1616

To reiterate, it looks excellent. I'll never, in my life, be able to create a piece of artwork that is even close to that. You shouldn't be so embarrassed.

It looks really good, particularly for concept art! As for legitimate criticisms, the two things I'd say you need to work on most is textures and shadows. The shadow on the boulder and the ice/rock wall in the back are pretty good, but with where they suggest the light is originating from, that snow pile to the right needs some shadow added. In addition, the snow pile in general could use some texture, as well as the walls in the back; they seem too smooth to be naturally formed. That all said, you did the snow in the wind really well, and you've conveyed the wind direction well too. I also really like your ice stalagmites in the bottom left, though the stalactites could use a bit of texture, though that's secondary to the snow and ice/rock wall. Also excellent use of the diagonals to showcase depth. I know there's a specific word for the technique, but I can't remember it right now...it's been 6 years since I took that art appreciation class.

The episode was an improvement over the pilot. Still too many references to Superman. The villains actually getting some flesh was better...but Kara not asking what their plan was after Astra is all "I failed to save our planet, I won't let it happen again" confused me. If she's not going to let it happen again, doesn't that mean she's trying to save Earth but in a chaotic good way? Why immediately jump to fight mode? Was there some unsaid implication that I missed? And what's up with the last villain scene? Is Astra working for someone else? I hope it's not Zod. I don't know who else would be above a Kryptonian in an organization likely based on power, other than another Kryptonian, but please don't be Zod... Overall I'd say it's earned another episode, but it needs to improve before the Christmas break otherwise there's just no reason to continue beyond the break.

Corvallis post up. I don't have time to edit it, so it'll likely be edited for grammar tomorrow, so apologies for any glaring mistakes. Content wise, though, it should be good.

Blossom stared out the window of the building, watching the rain silently fall to the ground some stories below. She imagined the pattering sound in her mind, attempting to drown out the noisy room behind her. And the man trying to talk to her. "Look, Broadcast, I don't care if Obliteration himself was staged to appear as a guest. Rainmaker wants this message broadcast across the city every hour." He wasn't being as annoying as usual, which she was thankful for, but he certainly seemed unhappy about the change in his scheduled programming. The Epic had opened his mouth to object once more, but Blossom had had enough. She whipped around to face him, her hand raising to stop him from speaking. "Look, Hell had broken loose in the city today. From Gunsmoke to these attacks against our populace, many vanillas have died. Epics have died. Now, you've got two options. First, you can do as I'm telling you so I can get on with my business. Second, you can continue to argue with me, and tomorrow, when this very station will be broadcasting the names of the dead, yours will be first on the list. Now choose." Her eyes bore holes through him. His still open mouth slowly closed, a small nod emanating from his neck. "Good decision," she said, "the message offers the locations of the attacks, informing people to avoid those areas if possible, a reminder to keep checking back for updates, and a second reminder regarding how the vanillas can still convince Euphoria to return if they continue to behave. Now get to it." "Yes my Queen," was his response, clearly defeated. Good. Blossom turned back to the window, pulling her mobile out. It was time to leave. Grabbing her umbrella, she walked outside, unfurled her protection from the rain, and softly lifted off the ground. She'd have to fly fairly fast to reach Bubbles in a decent time, but she'd reach the fields before long, and with it sweet release from the rain. Buttercup did not flinch at the thunder rumbling in the distance. She could see how upset Rainmaker was with the happenings of the day, no doubt somewhat blaming her for the lack of a secure city. She felt as though she should feel guilty, but really she only felt angry. Angry at the renegade Epics, both the one from last night and this morning, and angry at Rainmaker for hiding the Iron Ogress from her. "Have the ashes secured yourself. I want no scrap of him left behind." Rainmaker said, floating away from Buttercup. "When you are certain they are secure, I want you working to track whoever this is down. Don't bother me with any reports until you have some real results." Buttercup nodded, but Rainmaker began to rise into the sky. "Yes, my Queen!" Buttercup shouted, watching Rainmaker fly away. She quickly blasted into flight as well, weaving in and out of the crop fields until she found an area growing glass jars. Grabbing one, she whipped back to the scene of the crash, collecting the ashes in the jar. She made sure she hadn't missed any, too, ripping pieces of the car off to get every last speck. Placing the lid back onto the jar, tightening it, she stared at the ashes. Could he really use them to rejuvenate? Well, if he could, the glass breaking would let her know, even if she placed the jar down near her. Through the glass she could see a flare of pink in the sky. Looking around the jar, she saw her sister flying through the air, having no doubt increased her speed once getting out of the rain. Buttercup looked at the time on her mobile. At least she didn't forget. The mobile buzzed in her hand. A message from Rainmaker. Protect Hypno? That Epic from last night? Ugh, why is she trusting him? Buttercup sped off to gather the guards she had in mind. Blossom entered Tangent softly. It was a fairly quite town, having been very small prior to her sister's bubble cutting it in half. In fact, one could say that Tangent was tangent to the sphere. Blossom chuckled at her own joke as she touched ground, her umbrella back out and in use as she walked over to her sister's canopy. As usual, Bubbles was lounging with her drawing pad. Must be nice, not having to earn your keep. The thought flashed through her mind before she could stop it. She understood, though, that Bubble's was in as much risk as Euphoria should the town be attacked. Without Euphoria the vanillas aren't kept in check in a peaceful manner. Without Bubbles, the town wasn't protected from any and all exterior threats. Interfering with either system could send the town into chaos. Bubble's was lucky that this Insight had chosen to go after Euphoria instead of her. "I'd like to say I'm surprised to find you drawing out here, but we both know that would be a lie." Blossom smiled at her sister. Looking to the side, a pile of three bodies lay on the street, blood from their bodies mixing with the water coursing towards the storm drain. Her sister nodded. "You know me, I always need to draw." She began to pack up, passing Blossom the drawing once she'd gotten under the canopy. It wasn't Corvallis, so much as some wasteland, with the three corpses acting as a focus for the disturbing backdrop. A storm seemed to be brewing in the distance, with a light rain falling around the corpses. Blossom handed the picture back. "Top quality, as usual. Ready to go back? I assume there's a car of some sort so we don't have to fly in the rain?" Blossom looked to GasMask, who nodded and went into the bunker, returning with the keys and SparkPlug. Blossom offered a smile. She could stay out of the rain. The car ride was fairly quiet. Blossom was busy lost in thought. Apparently she had been tasked with trying to find Insight. Bubbles had read the message from Jumpdrive, and Blossom had filled her in on some other details. Blossom had an idea of how to catch him too, but Bubbles wasn't so sure it would work. Hopefully, after working out the kinks today, they might be able to try and catch this Epic tomorrow. Exiting the vehicle, Bubbles walked out of the car and entered the building they had parked in front of. She knew her way in by now. Weaving through the hall ways, her sister and bodyguards close behind, she threw open the doors to a large room. Some of the walls had been knocked down, making it larger than the room likely was back when the University was operational. The room's perimeter was filled with security officers, all armed to the teeth. The middle of the room was left empty, various weapons lying on a table placed atop a mat. She glanced at the clock on the wall. "Two minutes. We all ready?" The officer that was clearly in charge nodded, closing the doors behind Blossom, who had just walked in, and locking them. Bubbles looked to her sister. "So what exactly am I practicing?" Blossom adjusted her glasses. "Well, this Insight is apparently incorporeal, but it's very possible that your bubble might still affect him. If you can rapidly create bubbles of increasing sizes, it's possible that you might manage to pierce him with one, locking him in place and, assuming you don't allow water to pass through, cutting the blood flow through his body. The pain could theoretically be enough to get him to stop using his powers, allowing us to attack and maybe subdue him. It might even release Euphoria from whatever prison he's holding her in." Bubbles nodded. "Wouldn't that require us to know where he is, though?" Blossom made an agreeable sound with her throat. "Yes, it's all very hit or miss. I don't even know if your bubble can affect him, or where we should even attempt to use the technique. Perhaps we could lure him out somehow. But right now that doesn't matter, it's time for the drop. I need you to practice rapidly making bubbles of different sizes while you can." Bubbles nodded, an alarm ringing through a PA system in the building. Moving over to the mat, Bubbles felt a tingle in her body as she removed the bubble. She couldn't see it from inside the drop point, but she knew that, were it a clear day, anyone outside would see a slight shimmer of the air as the bubble pulled away, disappearing. Those near the bubble's walls would definitely see it, if they were paying attention. For the next forty-five minutes, Bubbles worked hard using her powers. She was constantly placing and dropping bubbles, slowly increasing in size by 1 centimeter increments. Slowly being a relative term, of course, as the action was very rapid. Blossom was there helping too. She was keeping time, checking Bubbles's speed, making sure it was fast enough that Insight would have no hope of escaping by running. She also randomly threw glasses of water onto the bubble, ensuring that Bubbles was keeping water from passing through. She'd also occasionally shout, prompting Bubbles to stop the action, holding the last bubble she had raised before the shout. Should this work and Insight cry out in pain, Bubbles would have him trapped. With fifteen minutes left before raising the bubble, they stopped. Bubbles eyed the clock, itching to get out of there. Blossom walked over, patting her on the shoulder. Bubbles pulled away from the touch. "That was a good job. You should be fast enough to catch him. Now we just need to find a way of locating him, and hope that this works. Leave that to me though." Blossom smiled. Bubbles frowned. "Yeah whatever, just let me know when you need me." Blossom's smile turned to a frown as well. "Yeah..." her sister trailed off. Bubble's began pacing across the mat. I just want to leave. I always get so worked up at these practice sessions. It feels uncomfortable...Oh who cares, I just want to leave. She glanced at the clock. Ugh, why is time so slow! I wish I had time powers too. Stupid Calamity. Buttercup's mobile rang. She had just finished setting up a perimeter around Hypno's house. Flipping the thing open, she lifted it to her ear. "This is Queen Buttercup." "My Queen, this is lieutenant Donaldson from the Adair Village Checkpoint. We've found something you'll likely want to see." Buttercup allowed a sigh to escape her lips. "Lieutenant, I don't have time for this. You've no doubt heard the news." Buttercup herself had heard the broadcast over the radio while she was gather personnel for Hypno. "I'm sure you can handle it." "Ma'am, you'll really want to see this. I think a High Epic just entered town." Buttercup stopped. Another High Epic? Here? An hour ago? Have we become some High Epic magnet recently? "I'll be there shortly, lieutenant. Thank you for calling me." She hung up the phone, all her mental power channeled into not crushing the tech in her hand. She took to the sky, bee lining for Checkpoint Adair, landing mere minutes after take off. Moving towards the surveliance office, she took not of the bubble going back up, a slight shimmer to the air giving it away. Right on time. She burst into the surveillance building, the lieutenant and some kid staring at a computer. The lieutenant saluted, prompting everyone else in the room to do so. He then pulled up some footage on a larger screen. He began playback, and Buttercup witnessed a particularly brutal fight. "Okay, which one do you think is the High Epic? The sound one? She didn't seem to show any kind of invincibilities." "No ma'am. It's this one," lieutenant Davidson pointed out a man standing off to the side, eating some kind of pastry, it looked like. "My Queen, he doesn't flinch at the fight at all. In fact, he keeps on eating. It doesn't bother him one bit. He doesn't feel like he's in any real danger." Buttercup stood closer to the screen. "Play it again, please." The playback resumed once more. The lieutenant was right. Sparks.

I always get my dogs a package of rawhide bones. They love it, and it can last a long time if your dogs like to savor rather than devour.

Currently jamming to Blind Guardian to prep myself for their concert I'm attending on Friday. Super pumped!

What do you mean by "what?" Seemed pretty straight forward to me. That is an average Tuesday in the What Happened In Oregon forum.

Interesting. I'm going to go ahead and label what you've pretty solidly described as the Sharder Symptom. Essentially, it is the symptom that you, as the reader, know about both the Cosmere and the fact that Brandon likes to hide things in plain sight. As a result, upon reading new works, you find yourself over analyzing, which ultimately ruins the experience for you. To put this another way, I'm fairly confident that you read most, if not all, of Brandon's library other than SoS prior to discovering the Cosmere/17th Shard, which means that you fell in love with Brandon because he dupes you, the reader, with his endings. But because you know of all that trickery, you tried to catch him doing it this time, but as a result lost all enjoyment that the book presented. Because it certainly sounds like you were too busy focusing on not letting any subtle hint get past you than you were just enjoying the story. Clear proof that you were exhibiting the Sharder Symptom: Underlined the important sentence. Why did it matter that you catch the tip-off? Why not just enjoy the story, and on a subsequent reread attempt to catch it. Isn't that how you caught most of the other Cosmere easter eggs and foreshadowing for Brandon's other works? But maybe you always over analyze every piece of literature you read for the first time. Just something to think about.

All right, I'm going to pull my name from Australia. Given the 1 RL week = 1 in game day, I don't know if I'd be able to keep my posting rate consistent enough to make it work. I only have access to 17th Shard weekdays, from 8am-4pm local time, and even then it depends on what's happening at work. More importantly, I don't have access on weekends, which is when most of the activity will likely be happening. Potentially forcing the whole thread to grind to a halt because I don't have the capability of signing on until Monday is far from ideal, and that's assuming I'll have time to post on Monday rather than Tuesday. I really liked my Epic too... Also, Corvallis update: my work plate is quite full today. I might be able to free up enough time to write my post. I promise I've not forgotten about it!

Thing is, the Nalthis magic system is one of the most Realmatically revealing systems, second behind where Roshar is headed, and Roshar only really tops it because we can actually converse with spren, unlike Breaths. Nalthis books could reveal many new wonders regarding the other two realms. That said, as you say, the current story, as it stands, calls for little Nalthis representation.

I'd rather be a pawn. He's not a High Epic, so no ruling cities for him.

I'd be down to join Australia. I have just the epic too. He can control water, but only when the molecules are highly structured, i.e. frozen water. In Australia. It'll be awesome.

You are correct, and it confuses me because he seems to be talking about two different types of spren intelligence in that same paragraph. As you note, he's likely talking about spren with minds in Shadesmar in that first part, but he's clearly talking about bonded spren in the second. It's also possible that, because it's very likely a larger percentage of the populace was well educated in the time before the Recreance, the average intelligence improved the quality of Shadesmar, and the spren as well.

There's about a year wait for #3, assuming Brandon's schedule doesn't kill him. Also, have you read Elantris? You said you haven't read some of his early works, so I'm just curious which ones those are.

Sorry Winter, I didn't realize that Chase had left the van with Blossom and the vanilla helper for Rainmaker. That's what I was waiting on. No matter, this means I can get my post up tomorrow or Monday, hopefully.

I'd say 20 minutes in? It's after the Jersey Devil, and I don't remember the exact order afterwards but he's during the Krampus segment, as well as the Satan segment (which was almost last, if not last). If you're just wanting Brandon's input, jump to those two segments.

I might be alone in this, but I was disappointed with the episode. From the poor acting, to the poorly done action sequences, to the fact that they were so insistent on making sure you remembered that Superman was out there, it just got to me. To start, the acting. Much of the episode had good enough acting that I was immersed in the world, which is what you want. But there were times where it just felt...off, and I got knocked out of the world. Certain lines they would say too forcefully, or not forcefully enough, or it was poorly edited to the point that it didn't fit the flow of the conversation. Another show that I notice this on is 2 Broke Girls, which I can't watch because of how bad the acting is. Supergirl wasn't that bad, but it was noticeable. The action sequences were poorly executed as well. Too much throwing and chasing. Here, let me throw you through a wall and then chase you. Then you can do the same to me. Now lets go back and forth. Though I understand that, given the sheer strength of the combatants, ragdolling each other is not only possible but fairly likey, but there should be more to the action than being flashy. The final action sequence of the movie was pretty good, and the increased tension of course helped, so hopefully this aspect improves as we continue on. I was very pleased with the sister's character. She's a tough, strong woman who overcame the enormous shadow of her adopted sister. I love that. I also love the complexity of her being this strong woman, yet still having to deal with being overshadowed by her sister. I was hoping for this really cool story arc with the agency growing to appreciate Kara, and the jealousy/despair that the sister would feel at being overshadowed in her professional life as well, only to then discover later that Kara is strong in part because of her support. Instead, it's almost as if that was dealt with all in one episode, with the whole "She's the reason you're here. You're the reason you get to stay" shtick. It's way to early to pass judgement though. Lastly, my biggest disappointment was in the refusal to drop the Superman mentions. He's so cool, He's perfect, He's proud of you, He wears blue and red, He told me about you, etc. We get it, Superman is a thing. It felt like the show makers were pouting about not getting to make a Superman show, and instead having to make a Supergirl show, as if that's somehow inferior. It really got on my nerves. I expected some form of mention, as it's only natural for her to compare herself to DCs big dog, but I did not expect him to get a mention every three minutes. What bothers me most about it, though, is that they spent all that time talking about him, yet they won't ever be having him on the show to help with the bad guys, because then why is Supergirl even there? Considering Supergirl's emergence would be national news because, aside from the quick Super Friends mention, there were no allusions to other superheros existing in this universe, Superman should definitely know about her coming out as a hero, and should also then be getting the news about these super powered bad guys that are targeting her because of her mother. Yet, knowing all that, he's not going to come help. So why put so much focus on him? [/rant] I'll probably stick with the show for at least one more episode, if not two or three. Depending on improvements or lack thereof, I'm not sure if I'll finish out the season.

I'd personally give Weiry and Joe both allomantic bendalloy and feruchemic copper. This way they'd be able to write tons of stuff for the internet Coppermind much more easily.

I see Comatose is reading, so I'll let him explain the thread if he'd like to, since it was his idea to start the thread, and he's it's GM.

Mestiv's characters are sitting in limbo currently around the 1-2 pm time frame. I'm waiting on a Chase post from Winter so that I can make a post with hopefully all three sisters, which will include the bubble drop. The current time in the city is 11 am or shortly after, so with the bubble drop going from approximately 11:30 to 12 or 12:30 (we never really discussed the details), my characters will be caught up.

I Highly recommend Fire Emblem: Blazing Sword, also known as Fire Emblem 7, also known in the US as simply Fire Emblem. It's the game they made before Sacred Stones (FE8). It's my favorite in the series, and is easily in my top 10 games ever. It was for the GBA so your emulator would work. It's also available on the Wii U eShop, as is FE8.

I back certain kickstarters. I backed the mistborn allomancy dice. I backed Howard Taylor's Schlock Mercenary RPG. I also back a series of educational science board games that are fun for all ages.

My name is Blaze1616 and I approve this message. I really like this theory. My only remaining question is how Harmony lost sight of his "little" splinter child.

In WoR Pattern speaks to something similar to this: "Pattern" she said softly, clutching a mug of warmed wine, "I'm not a Radiant, right?" "I do not think so," he said. "Not yet. There is more to do, I believe, though I cannot be certain." "How can you not know?" "I was not me when the Knights Radiant existed. It is complex to explain. I have always existed. We are not 'born' as men are, and we cannot truly die as men do. Patterns are eternal, as is fire, as is the wind. As are all spren. Yet, I was not in this state. I was not...aware." "You were a mindless spren?" Shallan said. "Like the ones that gather around me when I draw?" "Less than that," Pattern said. "I was...everything. In everything. I cannot explain it. Language is insufficient. I would need numbers." Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson. Chapter 75 Underline and bold emphasis are mine. Aside from the clear evidence that firespren likely have a higher version as well (probably whatever bonds for Dustbringers), this is just something I thought you might find interesting. There's also something else, later on in the same conversation. Stormfather. Shallan pulled the blanket around her closer. "An entire people, all killed?" "Not just one people," Pattern said, solemn. "Many. Spren with minds were less plentiful then, and the majorities of several spren peoples were all bonded. There were very few survivors. The one you call Stormfather lived. Some others. The rest, thousands of us, were killed when the event happened. You call it the Recreance." Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson. Chapter 75 Now I'm not sure if the word "less" should actually be "more", as it seems to contradict the history, but regardless this makes it sound like none of the bonded spren made it. Anyways, I don't really have anything to throw in to the conversation, but I recalled those quotes and thought they'd be interesting to consider.