FeatherWriter

Yeah, I think Sydney Scroungers might be a lot more your style. It's extended universe, so we're totally separate from the actual canon characters and events. In fact, Sydney Scroungers takes place about four years before the events of the movie, so there aren't even spoilers. Also, it's down in Sydney, Australia, while most of the movie takes place in Hong Kong, China. Really the only thing you need to know about Pacific Rim is the worldbuilding basics, most of which you could get from watching a trailer (like this one). There's giant alien monsters coming from a portal in the Pacific Ocean called Kaiju. Humanity has created an organization called the Pan-Pacific Defense Corps (PPDC) who have built giant robots called Jaegers to fight the Kaiju. And piloting a Jaeger requires two pilots working together with a mind-meld set-up called "the drift." And really, the story doesn't feel like Pacific Rim actually. We're a bunch of criminals and smugglers in the underground, so the story ends up quite a bit like a mix between Firefly and Leverage in the PR universe (with a few touches of Dollhouse as well later on.) We actually haven't seen any Kaiju so far, and we've only run into one Jaeger, so for the most part, this campaign almost feels like it could be set in it's own universe. It's certainly not something like Mistborn, where you'd have to be totally familiar with the source material in order to figure it out. I tend to say that people should start with the introduction here, then probably read the backstory prologue from Sylvie's point of view. Sylvie is my character, by the way. I play her and her AI copy, Syl-V. That snippet of Sylvie's backstory (which takes place about a year and a half before the campaign starts) is probably the most worldbuilding-intensive part of the campaign. It's kind of a crash course in Jaegers and the drift for those who aren't familiar with them, and if you can get through that without getting lost, the actual campaign will be a breeze. Sorry, I know that I talk about Sydney Scroungers a lot now, but I'm kind of obsessed with it and it really is amazing. The whole group is fantastic and just excellent writers and it's so, so much fun. Aaaand, for those who might be interested, we've also got a TvTropes page now, so it's almost like we're official. And there's occasional Cosmere references too, so what's not to love.

Oooh, such wonderful commentary! I hope you don't mind if I respond and comment back? Sapphire Broams Yes, as I'm sure you've guessed, this is a shipping fic, so it's basically an exercise in me pacing out how I think the Shallan/Renarin romance might play out. Shallan actually wasn't a favorite of mine for a while, until it occured to me that she and I have a lot more similarities than I originally thought. She does start out a bit aimless, though that's mostly because I think her goals at this point are things that I don't feel comfortable trying to portray, if that makes sense. The problem with "speculative" fanfiction like this is that, there will eventually be answers to a lot of the open questions that we're having, and if I try to answer those myself for this story or guess at what's actually going to happen, I'm going to make a lot of mistakes and this fic will be very dated when later books come out. Now, I don't think there's any way I can actually avoid that totally, but I do try to stay away from it for the most part. For instance, Shallan is probably doing Soulcasting training with Jasnah at this point... but I don't know anything about Soulcasting, so it's not something that's going to be discussed. I might have her offhandedly mention it, but we're not going to get details, because I don't want to make them up and probably get them wrong. Same with Renarin's shardplate, though he mentions that he has it, I don't think I'll show him wearing it, because I have a feeling that that's going to be something important in WoR. Or there's the very real possibility that Renarin already has Radiant powers or a spren during The Way of Kings and is hiding it. I'm not going to invent a spren for him or try to portray him with Radiant powers, because I would get it wrong, so we're pretending they don't exist here. I managed to pull off a vague hinting at having powers in that flashback one short that you read, but for an extended piece like this, it's best to just avoid the issue. As for liking the social mores of Roshar, that's definitely something we can agree on. One of my favorite aspects of this ship is the way it could play with and explore gender roles, and as I'm sure you're realizing, it's a major theme for this story. I adore the idea of Renarin and Shallan exploring, bending, and using the gender roles of Roshar in new ways. "Using the skills of the opposite gender to fulfill the ideals of their own" is how I really would like to see their end arc work out. Lines and Arches It's totally fine that you're not a fan of romance stuff. To be honest, aside from Shallarin, I'm really not much of a shipper myself. Most of the time I'm happy with whatever canon gives me and not too interested in doing more. But Shallarin grabbed me, so there will be romance stuff in this one. Renarin is a very distant character in the Way of Kings. I think it's why a lot of people miss his characterization, because he stays in the background and stays quiet. I didn't pick up on him until a few readthroughs after my first, but then I fell in love and just wanted to see and hear more from him. Or... write more for him for myself. Brandon is so skilled in even giving characters who aren't in the spotlight this wealth of characterization and sympathy, and Renarin is a beautiful, wonderful example of that. I liked having to write him as wrestling with doing something "selfish," something that's just for himself, rather than for his father or for the good of his house. (I think it's something he could use more of actually. The poor boy needs to learn how to take care of himself and do something he enjoys for a change.) Keeping a Pet Skyeel This one is a bit shorter than the others, but only by a hundred words or so. However, I think the humor does help pick up the pace a little bit. I will say one thing... this one took forever to write, even though it's shorter. And that is because I am bad at writing witty things on command. I knew that I hadn't gotten a chance to show off that side of her character (specifically when her tongue gets away from her and says "clever" things that she probably shouldn't). So that's partially why this chapter exists. It was extremely hard to write though and I still think it might come off as somewhat forced. I did want to show her and Adolin interacting. I have her talk about it a bit with Renarin, but I like the idea that Adolin might remind her a bit of Kabsal and that Adolin would flirt with her unintentionally. Shallan's comment later about it being something that he doesn't know how not to do, and how she would consider that a weakness, is a very interesting thing to play with. Having something like the ability to talk to girls, that Renarin has always perhaps been a little jealous of Adolin over, and playing it off as possibly a flaw, with Shallan saying she prefers the way Renarin acts and talks, was something I thought was very sweet. (Let's be honest, I think Renarin needs a good dose of self-esteem boosts and I'm here to give them to him.) A Smile To Calm A Highstorm First of all, thanks for pointing that line out. It was a mistake actually. I started writing one sentence, then kinda switched in the middle and didn't fix it. I've changed it now: Actually, regarding Renarin's POV: I find him a lot easier to write than Shallan, and I think I've figured out why. Because he's not a viewpoint character, there's a lot more... openness to what I can say with his viewpoints. I get a lot more leeway with writing him because we haven't actually seen what's inside his head yet! So the minutae of how he thinks and what goes on in his head is what I get to build up from my concepts of who he is and my headcanons. Also, I tend to think about Renarin a lot and I've done a lot of research into his reactions and who he is, so I feel like I know him a lot better. With writing Shallan's viewpoints, there's a weight of canon that I kind of have to struggle under. Readers have been inside Shallan's head before and if I'm not matching what they remember of her, I'm going to throw them off a bit. You mentioned this even in chapter one, in that my Shallan seemed more aimless than you remember Shallan being in WoK. Try as I might, I'm never going to be able to have the exact same concept of Shallan as Brandon does, and that's difficult to work with. Also while I've read her narrative through a few times, certainly, I haven't devoted nearly as much time or energy into thinking about her character as I have Renarin, so I'm a bit more hesitant when I'm writing as her. And in addition to that, I have to be careful with her, because I see a lot of similarities between us. I have to make sure that the Shallan I'm writing is still Shallan, and not just a self-insert copy of me with her name slapped onto it. I catch myself doing this sometimes and think, "No, wait. That's me who thinks that. Shallan doesn't have a reason to think like that yet." Overestimation The main reason why we don't see sword training here is that I have at least two later scenes that are going to take place during one of their sword training sessions, and seeing as I didn't actually have something to show with their first session that I couldn't convey here, I decided to skip it to save on running out of ideas. This fic starts out with a few scenes of reading training all together, and then it will kinda transition into more scenes of sword training. And while I did consider having them kiss here, I figured the smaller gesture would be better. They're both characters who have good reason to take things slowly and I don't think they're ready for it just yet. I like a sense of quiet subtle intimacy between them. Touching hands, her wiping his cheek in chapter 2, him noticing her safehand in chapter 4, rather than an overt kind of kissing or embracing. Theirs isn't a whirlwind romance, it's a soft and careful one, and that's a tone I'm trying to keep going. So in total yes, I love reading what you have to say, because I'm a glutton for feedback and it's really awesome that you did this!

I will say this, I have not read GRRM's stuff, so I'm not sure how accurate your assesment is. Fret not about upsetting me with talk like this though, I LOVE hearing feedback about my stuff! And... now I will probably talk your ear off for a bit. There is definitely a different narrative style for the Renarin fic than there is for the others. That one was a quick, slapped together thing, and it was meant to read in a very stream-of-consciousness style. We'd already seen this scene in the actual books, and what I was changing was putting the reader in Renarin's head. Therefore, I tried to emphasize that a lot more with that kind of present-tense, flashback heavy, strange syntax style. Emphasis is heavy on his reactions, emotions and thoughts, less so on the actual scene around him. There is almost nothing objective at all in it. (Also, an aside re: present tense. I've been trying to write my secret santa fic for this year and it has come to my attention that Sydney Scroungers has absolutely destroyed my ability to naturally write in past tense. It only takes a few paragraphs before I slip back into present and then have to grumble and go back and fix everything. I'd think about giving up and just writing it in present, but Brandon always does past and I want to mimic that for a fic like this.) With ASMoB and the two Kaladin shorts I definitely tried to emulate Brandon's style more than I did with Renarin's fic. They're in past tense, and the extent of introspection is a lot more in line with what we see from Brandon's viewpoints. ASMoB and A Training Session are both meant to be in-universe, while Beneath The Bells is a divergent AU, of course. I'm sure as soon as Words of Radiance comes out, the other two will have a lot of canon conflicts, but I don't care. And... I'm sure once you've started reading A Strange Mix Of Both, you'll realize why Renarin's the one with a pretty young girl with him. (Shippers gotta ship!)

Ah! I'm so glad you liked the Renarin short story! (even though it's weird and in present tense and bleh.) Fun fact, I actually have lots of trouble writing in past tense now because Sydney Scroungers has ruined me. Aaaand... that's also why I haven't been writing fanfic because Sydney Scroungers has consumed my life and I'm sorry but it's so great and I love to be a part of it and the whole group is fantastic and everyone should read it forever and ever. *drops a link in here and runs again*

Welp, I was going to respond, but then Weiry came in and said everything I was going to. *username that ends in "Writer" high-five!*

Joyeux Anniversaire, Brandon!

Actually, Wikipedia (for the most part) is standardized to present tense. The Sherlock Holmes and Prince Hamlet pages are good examples of this "narrative present" style in regards to a character bio. This style should be used for any kind of events or history as well. The thing about trying to "switch" to past tense for dead characters or historical events is that it again tries to sync a fictional timeline to our own. It's much easier to stay fully separate from the events and use the present tense all throughout. Under this "switch" method, what would be done if a character dies in the middle of a book? Should we write Dalinar's page in all present-tense right now, but if he dies go back and re-edit everything to past? Would we say that all of the Mistborn Original Trilogy characters should be written in past tense because most of them are dead by the time Alloy of Law comes out? Or just the ones that are dead at the end of the series? It's a lot of work and a confusing system to work with. It might be a jarring switch from reading present to reading past simply based on the character's state at the "last time" we saw them. It also somewhat writes as though the person reading is current with all of the cosmere books, so that they know what is "most recent." It could be somewhat of a spoiler to see that a character's page is being written in past tense whereas all the other characters are in present, if that signifies that they are dead by the most recent book. Narrative present separates the author and the work about which they are speaking, showing that our timeline is wholly separate from theirs. All of those events in the books "happen" everytime we open a book. It's not like Earth history, where an event happens once and then it's gone in the past forever. With a book, the events and things that happen are never truly "past." Vin joins a thieving crew every time I open The Final Empire. Kaladin is sold as a slave on the Shattered Plains and he becomes the bridgeleader of the Bridge 4 every time I decide to reread The Way of Kings. I know I said I wouldn't argue for one tense or the other, but... I kind of am. It just makes more sense to do it right while we have the chance, doesn't it? I realize narrative present seems like it would be a wierd thing to work with, especially when the books are written in past tense, but honestly, it makes the most sense. There's a reason why it is the convention when talking about fictional characters and events, and it's what is "correct" in modern English.

Glad to be of service Iredomi. Helping other people understand things that are confusing is one of my favorite things to do! I think it's probably best that we drop the issue of gender and sex (because those are two different concepts), because this looks like it's just going to turn into a mess if we keep going. I didn't realize that I'd be starting something, but I'll see if I can stop it. I find it very unfortunate that Alaxel feels this way about these issues and I couldn't be further in disagreement with a lot of the things that he said, but this isn't the place to discuss them. We can carry this to a private chat if we so choose, but let's keep it off the main site.

Yeah, yeesh. That's... definitely not a worldview you would want to be touting around on tumblr. Seeing as we have quite a few wonderful transgender and genderqueer members of our fandom over there, it's probably somewhere you should stay away from, for their sakes if nothing else. I am very sorry that you think that way.

Long rambly talk about what tumblr is and how it works in spoiler tags. And when I say long, I mean it. Seriously VERY LONG.

It's Kurk, and he'll hold you to that one. I think it is safe to say that Shallan is a Radiant though, because if I'm remembering correctly, Brandon has talked about her order, hasn't he? As opposed to someone like Szeth who isn't a Radiant but somehow has surgebinding abilities. There is something up with cryptics though. I'll give you that one.

I may go ahead and buy that. Most translations end up splitting WoK up into multiple books, whether that be two or three, so the fact that the English version might follow suit for WoR isn't too much of a stretch. Ooh, since I ended up reading this chapter to the fandom yesterday and it bugged me: Dalinar will feel bad about misgendering Eshonai when he finds out she's a girl.

Yep! I believe the Raoden and Sarene images are hers as well! http://coppermind.net/wiki/Raoden http://coppermind.net/wiki/Sarene EDIT: Rysn too! http://coppermind.net/wiki/Rysn

SO EXCITED! Aaaaah a lovely cover for my story, I just can't express how amazing that is! Someday (when I finally kick this Sydney Scroungers phase I'm in right now) I will get my Shardling Secret Santa fic finished and get back to writing A Strange Mix of Both! I swear I haven't abandoned it!

BOTA! My dear wonderful friend! So good to hear from you, I can't believe I nearly missed your introduction post! *casually upvotes every single one of your posts because you're so awesome* I swear, every single time you post something, I have to go through my "Feather's Protocol for New Bota Art": *see art* *scream and flail for about a minute* *wonder angrily why there are hardly any notes* *hit like* *hit reply* *scream in all caps in the reply* *take deep breaths and tag professionally like a normal person* *reblog to Adonalsium* *start hyperventillating again and tag like a crazy fangirl in all caps again* *queue to Alwaysanothersecret* And then of course when you draw me beautiful fanart I get to post it on Featherwriter too! So glad everyone here's starting to realize how wonderful you are, because you deserve every single nice comment that you get!

Thank you Ki, and all the other people who liked that post. I'm not the kind of person who would demand a cover change, but if a redraw is happening I would hope that the opportunity would be taken to fix something like that, which is so important to so many people. On a lighter note, the cover talk on the other side of the divide has taken a turn for the humourous, so I figure I might as well share Flynn Rider Rambo-din and Yoga Pants Jedi Szeth by Lunarubato: Please note my favorite part: Tien's name crossed off multiple times. Please ignore my least favorite part: Renarin's name being listed first. (Kallarin shippers... Hiss...)

Yeah, I definitely hope the third version looks... rather different from this one. If I'm being honest, this cover feels like a step backwards. I really didn't like the first cover's Kaladin for a lot of reasons, and this one almost seems to have made it worse. The pose, especially through the shoulders seems very awkward and unclear. Why does his head seem to be floating strangely lower than it should be? And what's up with those linebacker shoulders? Ellie did a pose breakdown and then a quick digital fix and even just those few tweaks make the pose look better. The uniform still looks very strange - but perhaps that's because I've become used to Exmakina's and Botanica's lovely portrayals of them. Ex's breakdown of Kaladin's uniform possibilities based on the Steelhunt chapter were all wonderful, and I like the one she's decided to go with a lot. (That would be the third one, btw. The one at the end is her original portrayal of the Kholin uniforms.) Not even to mention what I thought was the reason that everyone had a problem with the first cover: Kaladin's physical appearance. I mean, he still looks so generically high-fantasy white-dude that I'm just sitting here wondering why the cover was being changed in the first place. And he certainly doesn't look like he's 19 years old, but honestly that's a more minor issue. Perhaps the reaction to the first cover wasn't the same over here, but in my circles, there was a lot of angry talk about the white washing going on. In fact, most of us thought that the cover was being changed because of the physical inaccuracies of Kaladin in age and race. Uniform cuts and poses are matters of opinion, and while I'm not fond of those, I wouldn't be expecting a cover change. Actually depicting a character incorrectly and white washing them is something that I would think might warrant a cover fix, especially there were very vocal groups of the fans speaking against it. The fact that the cover has been changed, and yet they did nothing at all to fix the most obvious problem is... really, really disappointing. Come on. Brandon has done something so wonderful in creating a world with diversity where we have the majority of the characters who are not supposed to look "white" or "Caucasian." The least we can do is try to maybe reflect that in the official art? I mean, there's a reason we tend to harp on the fact that Alethi people have dark skin and just about everyone on Roshar outside of Shinovar has an epicanthic fold over their eyes. Kaladin's a 20 year-old PoC. In fact, just about every single main character besides Szeth should be a PoC. Rosharans should not look like white people, end of story. There's plenty of fantasy stories out there with white dudes on the cover and between the pages. What's great about Stormlight Archive is that it doesn't have them between the pages. Can we please not put them on the cover?

Technically this was over Skype, but we're all tumblr-ites, so I linked to their blogs. There was copious talk of the SA players playing Mario Kart... FeatherWriter: Wit is that player that stays in first the whole time until a blue shell alert comes up and then he SLAMS on the breaks and Sadeas takes it for him. Lunarubato: Then he zips ahead, gesturing to his "TIMELINESS" bumper sticker as he fades into the distance As well as high school!AU Kaladin as a rebellious teenager to go with the dodgeball game. Swamp-Spirit: See know I just see Kaladin with badly bleached hair Swamp-Spirit: Lighteyes prize dark hair Swamp-Spirit: WELL SCREW THEM Emmalyn: omg Emmalyn: frosted tips + boy band hair FeatherWriter: No stahp Swamp-Spirit: No FeatherWriter: pls i'm begging u FeatherWriter: do not do this to my frail and mortal body Lunarubato: Can Kaladin try to make armor out of the desks FeatherWriter: Erasers. FeatherWriter: He gets detention ALL THE TIME because Gaz the hall monitor hates him FeatherWriter: And he has to smack erasers together. Swamp-Spirit: No. Anatomical plastic dummies from the science lab Lunarubato: Just like hundreds of chalkboard erasers tied to his torso Swamp-Spirit: Bone armor Lunarubato: wAIT NO THAT'S BETTER FeatherWriter: He doesn't even bleach his hair. He just puts chalk dust in it. Lunarubato: LIRIN TEACHES HEALTH AND JUST LOOKS OVER AND KALADIN'S STRAPPED THE CPR DUMMIES TO HIS CHEST FeatherWriter: KAL. NOT AGAIN. Swamp-Spirit: OH MY GODH FeatherWriter: That really quiet kid in the back, Shen, gets really upset because he has to put all the dummies back together afterward and he cares about them a lot. Swamp-Spirit: [link] Swamp-Spirit: Just covered in these Swamp-Spirit: It's actually disturbing Abalidoth: WHAT Lunarubato: Bridge 4 wanders into the gym covered in tiny plastic babies. No one's entirely sure how to respond FeatherWriter: Oh god Lunarubato: "LIFE BEFORE DEATH" Lunarubato: *throws CPR doll* Abalidoth: *dying* Swamp-Spirit: "Strength before weakness!" Swamp-Spirit: Working out on gym equipment Lunarubato: "JOURNEY BEFORE DESTINATION" Swamp-Spirit: "Five minutes late for class" FeatherWriter: *mashes play on the boom box* FeatherWriter: DOOON'T STOOP FeatherWriter: BELIEEEEEEVING Lunarubato: *dragged out of gym in general direction of principal's office*

So, I'm in an RP group with some members of the tumblr cosmere fandom over skype, and sometimes in our off-topic chat gets very interesting. I snatched this gem to share on tumblr and figured I ought to share over here too. Lunarubato: Windrunners are the best at dodgeball FeatherWriter: "GET OFF THE CEILING THAT'S CHEATING" FeatherWriter: That's how the Szeth/Kaladin showdown will go. Windrunner dodgeball. Abalidoth: If you can dodge a Shardblade you can dodge a ball! FeatherWriter: *ugly laughter in Starbucks* Emmalyn: oh god XD Lunarubato: Gets down to one Windrunner, uses reverse lashing to block all the oncoming balls, gets entire team back in play FeatherWriter: Bridge 4 is def Kal's team FeatherWriter: And Renarin FeatherWriter: Renarin doesn't want to play, but Kaladin and Adolin say it will "toughen him up" Lunarubato: Bridge 4 gets in trouble for their "improvisational dodging" which mostly involves hiding behind the bleachers FeatherWriter: They want to know why they can't have shields. Lunarubato: "Turn the bleachers sideways," they cry as they rip pieces of metal from the wall As you can see, we are a very mature group of adults. So mature.

I used to say that my favorite Branderson book was whichever one I'd read most recently, and while that's still kinda true I do have a few stand out faves. 1. The Way of Kings - Not only is it a wonderful book with characters and plot points that blow my mind (and only the first of greatness to come) but it's also shaped a lot of my personal philosophy. Kaladin's struggle to help Bridge 4, Dalinar's dedication to what is right in the face of a society that is convinced he's mad for it, the parables of the in-universe The Way of Kings, all of them are now things which I have actively allowed to affect the way that I act and interact with the world. (And then I discovered Renarin... but we're not going into that here. Y'all are well aware of my feelings on Renarin, I'm sure.) 2. Mistborn: The Final Empire - My first Branderson novel and it still holds a very close spot in my heart. I think it's Brandon's "tightest" novel, so to speak. It's almost always the one I recommend to others when trying to get them into the cosmere. It's gripping, fast, funny, epic, powerful, and unexpected. Dramatic highs and lows, a hook that grabs immediately, a fascinating magic system, plot twists that no one sees coming, character development for everyone, a sweet romance if that's your thing, and a killer female protagonist. The narrative arc is nigh-well perfect and everything's just exactly in the right place. Superb novel execution. 3. Infinity Blade: Redemption - This one should probably be Warbreaker, but I'm gonna do IB for reasons. It's one of Brandon's works that I know not a lot of people have read and I just love it. Honestly, I thought Brandon making me feel sympathetic for TLR was bad in HoA, but it's got nothing on the Raidriar arc. (UGH RAIDRIAR FEELS NO BRANDON WHY.) Siris and Isa are just wonderful together and Siris and Raidriar's relationship is so interestingly complex. Also, I'm a sucker for sci-fi that looks like high-fantasy. Also the games are completely fantastic (especially in their handling of Isa as a female character), not to mention incredibly fun, and the novellas just take that and tell these wonderful stories with them. Really guys. Check out Infinity Blade. It's incredible.

Most loathsome of curses! While my quota has been replenished, I have run out of nefarious posts in need of downvotes! Does theFallGuy run from conflict? I demand he own up to his crimes!

That's what the tumblr cosmere fandom's for. We'll all just liveblog and scream and cry all over tumblr together. We'll probably end up having special Non-Friday Cosmere Chats specifically for those of us who have read it to come and sob together and wail at Brandon. It'll be a beautiful, emotional mess of pain.

Well, Brandon would probably be safe for a little while, because I wouldn't be able to pick myself up off the floor where I collapsed in the fetal position for at least a week. I'm actually really worried about my psychological state when WoR comes out... Like... the Kaladin chapter from Steelhunt made me cry, multiple times. It wasn't even anything sad, but storm it if I wasn't sobbing. I am going to be... emotionally compromised to say the least.

Suggestion: Downvote quota upped to 100 long enough for all of us to turn TheFallGuy into the anti-Brandon of the forums, and then reduced back to three. Everyone wins!

Attention loyal followers, I have updated my signature to warn my enemies of your terrible might.