FeatherWriter

Yep. Thiiiis is a good bunch right here. Thank you for clearing that Vin/Kaladin parallel up. I figured it was probably a Mistborn reference... but i was a liiiiittle to distracted at the time and didn't feel like figuring it all the way out, you know? Glad y'all are still loving these. You just wait until we get to Part 3... (Also, Chapter 41. Be prepared for Chapter 41.)

For those confused about all this gender/biology stuff, I think this video by Hank Green will be very helpful in clearing up the kinds of things that we're talking about. It's an excellent resource and he does a great job of talking about it:

Scene 1 Feels good to be back doesn't it? And too many hostages? NONSENSE. THIS IS SCROUNGERS. ALL THE HOSTAGES. Scene 2 Eleanor was kinda amazing in this whole exchange, recruiting her own personal army. Just sorta, rehire everyone on Peralta's ship away from him, woo! And I couldn't help but have Sylvie make a crack at Seiko, even mid-fight, though if we remember correctly, it was actually Miranda who told Sylvie to stay off the jetskis. Hehe. Scene 3 (Whoops, I did mess this up. I'll get it changed soon. I'm not a numbers person!) Scene 4 I don't think the capacitors were any specific shout out. The aeron chairs are back though, haha. I still love that little running joke. Aaand the mystery of Shermann deepens. (That would be what the scene at the end is, btw. We realized after the Zhu debrief that we never cleared up any of the Sherman mysteries so we're going to fix that.) Scene fiVe Miranda's in her elementy here, doing the tech thing to keep us all alive. Scary machine equipment is scary... With a little bit of a cliffhanger to lead into the next scene... Scene 6 Oh Katie. This was actually a pretty good plan, especially since Sylvie just got concussed. Again. She really couldn't take another hit and Katie found a way to end the fight pretty well. But, she terrified everyone in the process whoops. That one's definitely going to come back to bite her... And then the Breach happened. I don't know if you know exactly what the Breach is, but it's the portal between dimensions at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean that the Kaiju come through. It is VERY ominous that someone is attempting to duplicate it. In fact, I was waiting in line at BYU when this happened and I probably freaked out the rest of the people there with my shocked exclaimations. Scene 7 Hmm... I didn't even think about Miranda's anti-Christ status and how that might be affected by her seeing into a mini-breach. That is definitely something I will pass on to Emma to consider. She's mostly been playing Miranda's reaction to someone attempting to re-open the Breach, rather than actually having seen the Breach itself. Iiiiiiiinteresting. I like the way you think, Quiver. Scene 8 There's going to be two somewhat parallel scenes for Vee and fiVe coming up to cement the BackCompat status. This is fiVe freaking out and Vee taking care of her. Next session... you'll see the opposite. Heads up. Poor fiVe. I put her through a lot. And she's very not-okay here. Also, note that she slipped up and revealed Reika's name. That's definitely not something she was supposed to do, and Seiko is going to need to know that... Scene 9 Katie/Zhu feels! I think we ended up deciding their name was 'Expensive Whiskey,' actually. That little relationship will also be the subject of much debate in the sessions to come... Not everyone on the crew is completely pleased with how it is turning out... And I don't think you need to worry about Gavin killing off Zhu just yet. I mean, I HOPE NOT. This is pretty much the end of the act, btw. Though we'll have a -- very long -- debreif/epilogue session for this one too. Scene 10 Heh, "Robin and Roscoe Lawrence" a brother and sister duo of scientists who are investigating rips in space and time? They are definitely a Bioshock Infinite shout out, hahaha. I don't think we learn their names until next session though. Which is funny, because Sylvie and Miranda have both canonically played Biosock Infinite. And I've mentioned that the Luteces were an original influence for Vee and Sylvie, so... it's kinda reference inception going on. And I think by this point Liz and the mercenary crew were being played by Emmalyn, so it's possible that the similarities there are due to the same writer's style coming through. (Always gotta get those hostages!) Scene 11 Fun fact, we've also had cyanide capsules in every act thus far. I think Peralta's the first to actually go through with the act, though. (Though one of the cultists tried, but had Seiko shoot it out of her hand.) Hehe, you and Miranda both were expecting the Assembly to be involved, so Peralta's statment was a surprise to everyone. Zhu'll find out some of their motivations next session and will explain them there, so I'll let her talk. Ha. Restraint and morality. Scroungers. Heh. Scene 12 Just a good wind down scene here, but yes, this is the end of action (for the most part) for Act 3. The next session will be the debrief with Zhu the next day, however, as I stated, there's a missing scene here. It's gonna be Zhu talking to Sherman on Tranquility just after the situation on the yacht, and while that scene has been started, it has not been finished, so I can't edit it until that happens. I'll bug Gavin about it in a little bit, since it'll be nice to get that done. There's also a few more scenes that need to be wrapped up on the debrief session, but I think we're almost finished with that one too. It's a doozy, as the one-on-one character scenes always are, so expect some length and drama from that one to come. Wooo. Drama. Gotta love it. Sooooo much drama. Everyone is upset.

Yep, I'd go with PorridgeBrick onthat one. Shai isn't transgender. She's cis, in that she was Designated Female At Birth (DFAB) and identifies as female. It would be much more difficult -- though maybe not impossible -- for her to stamp herself to a masculine state. And I don't know that we have evidence that there is no experience with transgender identity on Sel. Just because we haven't explicitly seen any doesn't mean that the society is wholly unrecognizing of them. And even if their society didn't recognize them, transgender people would still exist. I'd think in world with a magic system that has the ability to change people like that, you would have quite a few more transgender people around. *salutes Rubix* Fret not, sir. I am also very closely watching this topic. People have been doing very well thus far, I think, but rest assured I'm keeping an eye out. This is a topic that's near and dear to my heart, so I'll be making sure we're all staying civil.

"If you make Adolin turn to the dark side, I will probably hurt something." Well. Adolin might be turning to the dark side. And it might be Sadeas's fault. But that wasn't exactly what I was talking about.

Like Chaos said, Soulcasting seems like it'd be reaaaaally difficult to accomplish. I mean, I'd figure that, as Serendipity suggested, gender perceptions are probably a more Spiritual thing. Soulcasting, as far as we've seen, doesn't touch the Spiritual realm at all. It's more... hacking the Cognitive realm to create a change in the Physical realm, if I'm understanding it correctly. That's going to be a pretty complex casting and there'd be a lot of difficulty in it. I'd say something like Forgery would be far more suited to a transgender transition. I very much like the idea that the stamp would more easily take to transition because it would be bringing the Physical aspect more into line with the Spiritual. In a trans individual, we would have a disconnect between the Physical and Spiritual, and the stamp would be rectifying that and would probably be very easy to take. Disclaimer: I don't remember tons about TES and I'm probably getting stuff wrong with all that. Please ignore me if so. Also interesting to consider though: Transgender Returned from Warbreaker. One of my friends actually ended up asking Brandon about this at the Portland signing about a week ago and this was his response: So that's fun to consider as well!

Can you guys not hide your own posts? Hmm, that's strange. I thought you could. Aaaaanyway. I... probably should have uploaded Session #32, shouldn't I have? OOPS. That's totally my bad for not posting it... It's right here. However, while I was editing I ended up asking Gavin about some stuff and we realized we need another scene at the end there. So, we're probably going to play that one through sometime tonight and I'll get it edited and up ASAP. Enjoy what's up now though!

My new favorite Audacity commands: "Amplify" "Noise Removal" and the beautiful wonderful feature that is "Truncate Silence. I have informed my boyfriend that I might be cheating on him with Audacity's "Truncate Silence" feature. Let's all give "Truncate Silence" a round of applause, shall we? After that I just have to go through and delete any coughs, sneezes, door slams, or sniffles that slipped through the filter. Glad y'all are liking them so far!

I think Truthwatchers are order 5, actually. 'Palah'. So their attributes would be Learned/Giving. Just/Confident are the attributes of the Skybreakers actually!

I'm guuueeesssssssiiiing that people have been expecting me to respond to this thread, huh? 'Sup. I'm here now. So, let's talk Shallarin. I am... deeply ambivalent about Shallarin. And I mean that word the way it's supposed to be used: multiple conflicting opinions. On one hand, I'm saying that the theories I've had regarding Shallan and Renarin's compatibility are... for the most part... still fairly true. I end up talking about some of this in Splintercast, but the episodes haven't gotten there yet, so I'll talk here. I mean, the way that Shallan cares for her brothers and expresses her love for them by doing things to make them happy and make their lives easier seems to me like she would be a very kind and caring match for Renarin if she were to ever develop affection for him. I think Renarin's cleverness and analytical mindset as well as his natural knack for scholarship means he would be someone with whom she could have very intelligent and scholarly conversations with, which I think she would appreciate greatly. However. That ending. “Creepy and whiny." "Deal with your issues." "Someone shut him up." "Gag him if you must." *very long angry sigh* So... the basics of Shallarin are still valid, but let's face it, after their first meeting, they've got a long way to go. At the moment, I'm pretty ticked with Shallan (even though, yes, I know she was under a lot of stress and it was a tense situation.) I mean, it's Renarin though. I can't help but feel visciously protective of him, and Shallan was probably the rudest person to him this whole book. Even the stinking Shardbearer in the dueling ring who was trying to maim Adolin was kind enough to Renarin not to actually fight against him and just keep him occupied. Shallan's got some growing to do before I think she would be ready for a relationship with Renarin. She's got some making up to do before I would think she deserves him. I'd like an apology from her in canon, but I haven't the faintest idea whether or not that's going to happen. Long term, I think Shallan and Renarin are still a possible viable option, for the reasons discussed above here and in the multiple Shallarin essays floating about by me (click the link in my sig if you're curious about one of the best ones). And, I think it was 'good' (but not enjoyable) that we saw someone outside of Renarin's family (and the amazingness that was Kaladin's handling of Renarin; more on Kaladin later) reacting to him and misunderstanding him, because... well that's a thing that statistically is going to happen. I tend to like this option as a "Take A Third Option" solution to the Kaladin/Shallan/Adolin love triangle whatnot that's going on right now, because... Shalladin and Shadolin are neither one terribly appealing relationships to me. If it absolutely has to be one of those two, I'd probably pick Shadolin, because the Kaladin/Shallan relationship just kinda makes me groan at the idea of it becoming an end-game relationship. Shallan being presented with options A and B and deciding instead to choose option C sounds like lots of fun and would bIe exactly the kind of tricky subversion that would make this love triangle satisfying rather than worrisome. However, I'm left with a bit of a conundrum. See, if anything the Shallarin ship has taken a step backward. The anchor is in the harbor, persay. When I did all of my theorizing I assumed that Shallan was going to react to Renarin with a level of understanding, kindness, and maturity that she... obviously did not. I think my assessment of Renarin was pretty much spot on, but Shallan was not as ready as I thought she was. Which means, that until she (hopefully) grows back up to the point where I assumed she would be for the "start" of this relationship, I don't have much to add to my theories and analysis that I haven't already said before. We're stalling here until Shallan gets her act together. Come on, girl. You're better than this, and you could be a good match for him, but... you've got a much longer way to go than I thought you would. So, while we're waiting for Book 3 to hopefully show some Renarin-related growth on Shallan's part... I'm kinda jumping ships for a bit. Shallarin hasn't been abandoned... just, I don't have anything to add to it based on WoR and BOY DO I HAVE ANOTHER SHIP TO ADD THINGS FOR. All aboard... the S.S. Kalarin, hmm? I realize what this sounds like. I've "fought" the Kalarin shippers for years. They've been one of Shallarin's main rivals, especially when they team up with those pesky Shasnah shippers, right? (I'm kidding, mostly. All these peeps are my friends and I love our ship rivalries.) But hey, Kaladin's interactions with Renarin were fantastic and absolutely wonderful and everything I've ever wanted someone to act like around Renarin. So I'm gonna give that ship some credit and love, alright? There were canon cutes. I can't fight canon cutes. (And I don't know that I'm all the way to 'exclusive romantic relationship between Kaladin and Renarin' shipping, but I'm definitely at the 'deeply caring about each other and protective towards one another; this relationship makes both of you much better people in the long run' kind of shipping, kay?) Kaladin just absolutely nailed his treatment of Renarin, to the point that I would argue that Kaladin... somehow, and somewhat inexplicably... understands Renarin on a level beyond that of the other characters. Beyond his family even. Adolin might come close, but we definitely have Kaladin being more intuitive than Dalinar when it comes to Renarin. Compare Renarin's nervousness at asking to join Bridge 4 (Kaladin POV) versus his nervousness at revealing that he's a Radiant (Dalinar POV). Kaladin picks up on it and understands. Dalinar doesn't. Kaladin also really understands Renarin's condition and knows how to take care of his symptoms and what to do if he were to have a seizure. When Renarin starts talking about his "blood weakness" Kaladin immediately wants to know exactly what Renarin's condition is and what he should be expecting to see. He knows the right kind of treatment and is thorough in making sure that he would be prepared to handle a situation in which Renarin's condition were affecting him. That's... a really incredible thing, to tell the truth, and it makes me feel very safe thinking about Kaladin spending time with and protecting Renarin. Yes, Kaladin. You can be trusted with him. In fact, I kinda trust you around him above just about anyone else. Shallan is not trustworthy right now and I will be on guard anytime those two have scenes together after this. Shallan could hurt him! She could be insensitive again! I've got to watch her carefully and be ready. Kaladin though? I can relax and just prepare for adorableness. He'll take care of my boy. He's got this. For me, that's a ship. When I think "Okay, I want to see these two characters together on 'screen' because I know awesome wonderful cute things are going to happen between them. Kaladin and Renarin are in a scene together? Perfect. Let's do this." I mean, I guess you could say that my preferred ship is "People being kind to Renarin and understanding him." I'll appreciate any character who treats Renarin with the kind of excellent behavior that Kaladin showed towards him. And come on, he joined Bridge 4. How are you expecting me not to fall head over heels for that scene. It was the cutest thing ever. Like, really. I was crying the whole time. It was so sweet. In the competition of "How well did we treat Renarin during the events of WoR" Kaladin is in the lead by like a million, then probably Adolin and Dalinar, and then Shallan is dragging in ABSOLUTE LAST PLACE for right now, thanks. Aaaand this was not supposed to be this long, but I'm guessing no one but me is surprised by this.

Preeeeetty much. Brandon is a meanieface and ruins all of my dreams and all the stupid things I said on tape are here for everyone to enjoy. But yes. I tend to get blindsided by EVERYTHING because I don't pick up on foreshadowing or catch hints very well. More fun for you guys, right?

WHO PUT CHAOS IN CHARGE OF WRITING THESE SUMMARIES. WHOSE IDEA WAS THAT. Also, not mentioned in this chapter but important: Kaladin vs. Herdazian Food. It's the best. Kaladin rivalries are my favorite. (Also, wow, only 5 Scrounger references? I'm impressed at my restraint...)

The old mic does not even deserve to be recognized as microphone and should be ashamed of itself. I am sorry that you all had to listen through THAT MANY EPISODES WITH IT. You are all saints. And I love all of you.

In which Eric is Navi.

I didn't freak out about anything. I don't even know what you're talking about. Nope. Nope nope nope. I thought we agreed to never MENTION. IT. AGAIN.

I actually took the opposite point of view here. As soon as Kaladin started even considering helping Moash kill Elhokar, I felt it was a bad idea. I was grinding my teeth the whole time, muttering "No More Dead Kholins 2014" to myself, and yelling at Kaladin for being so dumb. When the stuff with Syl started happening, I was like "I TOLD YOU THIS WAS A DUMB IDEA KALADIN. LOOK WHAT YOU DID TO HER. YOU ARE BEING A MORON, CUT IT OUT." So, the payoff with the Third Ideal and Kaladin finally deciding to protect Elhokar and stand against Moash was incredibly satisfying to me. One of the most satisfying parts of the whole ending actually. I need to read it again, but yeah that was the part of the ending that I really adored, and was a welcome distraction to some more... unpleasant aspects of the Shattered Plains/Narak/Everstorm narrative going on.

I have... mostly fixed my pronunciations? Maybe? It doesn't happen until the end though. HAVE FUN SUFFERING THROUGH ME SWITCHING PRONONCIATIONS THE WHOLE TIME HA.

(bold mine) Heh, I suppose I could thank you for the tact you had in not calling me out by name, though I think we all know who you're talking about. And you were very respectful about it, so I can't really be upset. I mean, I know I'm irrational about Renarin. I don't even come close to trying to be rational about Renarin. If he were a real person, I would definitely not treat him the way that I do now. You're right, it'd be completely unhealthy to have someone fawning over him and sheltering him from every possible thing that could hurt or even mildly discomfort him. But that's kind of the fun of him being fictional. That I can fall unequivocally, head-over-heels, in love with him and that I can baby him and be completely biased in my overprotectiveness of him. That I don't have to be rational about him; I can just adore him and have fun with it. It's why I can say that I have the craziest villian crush on Mraize even though, WHOA, that'd be a really terrible relationship to ever consider in real life. It's why I can hiss and grumble at Shallan and be mad at her for what she's done, even when the more sensible part of me knows I can't really completely hold those actions against her. I don't have to worry about how my actions are going to affect Renarin (or Mraize or Shallan or anyone else), because I can't affect him at all. So I can be selfish and think "how does Renarin's reactions affect me? Oh, I know. I want him to always be 100% happy and nothing bad to ever happen to him and I can wail and lament whenever that doesn't happen." So... I'm going to be ridiculously protective and biased and I can wail and moan at anyone who would try to hurt a hair on his darling adorable head, because he's fictional and I adore adoring him. It's fun and wonderful, and I'm throwing my lot in with him to it's fullest because Harmony dang it all we're going all or nothing on this "favorite character" thing and I'm going to ride it out for all it's worth. I like being invested in characters to this kind of crazy, whirlwind, take-no-prisoners kind of level. It's my favorite way to enjoy things. It's certainly not the way that everyone else should have to enjoy things though, and I know it might seem wierd or crazy from the outside. Just... know that there is a measure of choice in the way I regard Renarin, I guess. I could be a lot more reasonable about him if I wanted to. But I don't want to. This is more enjoyable, and it's something I read and analyze for fun, so I'm going to have fun. (Whoops, this turned into an essay. Sorry about that. Y'all are saints for putting up with me and my craziness, I swear.)

Question. Did you get permission from the artist for those? If not... you should maybe A.) Take them down for now B.) go ask the artist if they are okay with you using their art, C.) If they are okay with it, make sure you credit them. In case you were unaware, your icon is The Way of Kings - Stormbless by krhart and your sig image is Kaladin Meets Syl by dixon-leavitt.

Ym, the surgebinder (I think he's a Truthwatcher actually!) who gets killed in the Interludes.

I'm pretty sure Hoid has the ability to lightweave on his own. But I'm guessing the flute had some sentimental value, and I don't think Hoid gives his gifts lightly or to people he thinks might leave them behind. Silly Kaladin.

That stick is a stick. (And I totally added the pic to the Coppermind article because it amuses me as well. Hehehehe.) I love how we have both "stick" form and Shadesmar bead form. Oh, and thanks for clearing up spelling/pronunciation. I know I've been calling you "Ex" for a while, but I will switch to Maki, since that's what you listed! ...I feel like I'm forgetting something. Oh, right. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HE'S SO CUTE I'M GONNA DIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIE. IT IS THE MOST PERFECT THING EVER AND I LOVE IT AND I LOVE YOU AND YOU'RE PERFECT AND I HOPE ALL OF YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE.

I'll let Maki (Machi? How do you want that spelled?) post her own link.. but... Prepare your ears for immenent screams. Because a thing has occurred... and it is the greatest thing that could have possibly occurred...

Quuuuuuiiiiiiivvvvvveeeeerrrrrrrrr... As punishment for your insubordination I'm going to force you to read and respond to the new session of Sydney Scroungers. Yes. Good punishment. I am the best at evil.

Yes. Yes there would have been. But next week's spring break! I'm gonna get all 81 files edited and sent off to Chaos soon! ...yes there's 81 recordings. Yes I am a crazy person. There were a lot of squeals and reactions to be captured.