Philomath

I’m late to the game on this one. I had to get through my re-reads of Skyward and Starsight first. So here’s my random non cohesive thoughts. I really enjoyed this book. Even though we didn’t get lots of FM in Skyward, I always liked her and was excited to get more of her. There were parts of this book where I actually laughed out loud. I am happy to get lots more with Skyward flight again. I loved the Taynix. I’m glad Rig and FM got over their awkwardness quickly. I hate it when there is drama caused by people just not talking to each other. I think they are cute together and I’m glad they grew into it even if it seemed a little quick. I’m also glad that their relationship wasn’t the whole point of the story. I’m all for a little romance, but I like it as something that adds depth, not something that is the only point. People and life are more complex than who they have crushes on. I am a science and animal/nature nerd so this book really was right up my alley. I was really nervous for the rest of the flight at the end of the book. I didn’t think Brandon would kill them off in what is technically a side novella. So glad that was the case, but I still worry for them in the long run. I’m very excited for Evershore and Cytonic now. I already finished ReDawn so I’ll do a post on that one too. These novellas made me far more excited for this series than Starsight did. I didn’t dislike that one as much as some people, but it is good to get Skyward flight back. Their dynamic is really what I loved.

So I’m doing my Skyward reread before getting into the new novellas and Cytonic. And I decided that it is a good thing that Spensa is a fundamentally good person. Because her early story of being constantly looked down on because of her father, being judged for someone else’s choices, her mother not being allowed a job, forcing her to miss school to hunt rats, making it nearly impossible for her to get a decent education or job, refusing her a chance to prove herself, and being super derogatory and kind of cruel to her in general is a pretty good villain setup. And I totally agree that Defiant culture totally sucks at times. I get that they are super focused on survival, but still. Anyway. Thank you Spensa for choosing to be a hero instead of a villain. Though I’m all for reading an alternate version along this route too.

Few thoughts on the last few episodes. Very agreed on this. I do not love frat boy Thor. Though I did love Ice Giant Loki. What if Ultron Won was fine for me. My big problem with it was how easily Ultron took out Thanos. Actually the whole series made dealing with Thanos way too easy. I think they meant it to be funny. It isn’t that terrible, but feels slightly invalidating to just the scale and struggles faced in the movie timeline to deal with him. I enjoyed the finale. Did Gamora just show up in that one or did I miss something? Impressive that they brought Killmonger in to the team. I liked the crossovers and callbacks to the previous episodes. Good way to end the season. Overall I will watch another season. It was mostly enjoyable. A little weird. I’m not one who needs darker stories really, but I appreciate that they could tell them here. This show allows more risk taking I think in some ways. Wasn’t always my favorite, but also not terrible.

So I think the order they would be absorbed would matter. You could end up with different things if you combine in a different order. Odium first killed Devotion and Dominion. I think Devotion+Dominion= Zeal. If we say Odium killed them and pulled them to the cognitive realm like is canon, but then changed his mind to take them, I could see an argument for Devotion and Dominion combining first. So then we get to Zeal+Odium= ??? Okay, while trying to put my thoughts together for this I just came across the definition of Bigot: “a person who is obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices especially : one who regards or treats the members of a group (such as a racial or ethnic group) with hatred and intolerance” So now I’m thinking Odium+Devotion= Bigotry Bigotry+Dominion= Supremacy Supremacy+Ambition= ??? I’d have to think a bit on this.

This is almost my exact list. Just add Arriety. I have also seen parts of Nausicaa and Princess Mononoke. I’d like to finish them both sometime. As well as the others I haven’t seen. I voted for Castle in the Sky and Spirited Away as my favorites. The stories in those are fantastic from start to finish. Great adventures and character growth. Though I love the innocence of Totoro. Slice of life is a great way to describe that one. With a hint of whimsy.

Yeah. I trust Brandon to be able to write any deaths in a way that I will be satisfied as a reader. Mistborn gives me hope that any deaths in future books will be done well. But I truly just want some of the Stormlight main characters to just have a good happy future.

Mistborn: Sazed resolving his faith crisis in the kandra homeland. Sazed’s ascension. Wax doing accounting with Steris. Warbreaker: Susebron explaining how everything he sees is beautiful. Nearly everything with Lightsong. His conclusion is fantastic. The Denth twist is one of the bests twists I have ever read. I still don’t completely trust any character Brandon writes to this day. Stormlight: The Dog and the Dragon. Kaladin and Bridge 4 deciding to save Dalinar at the tower. Navani painting the Justice glyph in Sadeas’s camp. Maya speaking at the trial. Dalinar’s Oathbringer arc… but a small moment from it that I find particularly funny is his conversation with Lift about going into battle armed with books. Just to name a few…

@Frustration Incredibles is a fantastic movie. Just doesn’t have my favorite characters. Cars 2… well it’s not terrible. I don’t hate it. I just don’t know what they were thinking with it. And Incredibles 2 is actually ranked high from me for a sequel. Like I said, I tend to rank originality over sequels.

Okay, so tonight I decided randomly to rank Pixar movies. Inspired in part by one recent episode of Brandon and Dan’s podcast. I hope they do a Pixar rankings one. Anyway. Here’s my rankings. 1. Coco 2. Up 3. Cars 4. Monster’s Inc 5. Inside Out 6. Toy Story 3 7. Toy Story 2 8. Toy Story 9. Finding Nemo 10. Onward 11. Incredibles 12. A Bug’s Life 13. Wall-E 14. Incredibles 2 15. Cars 3 16. Luca 17. Ratatouille 18. Soul 19. The Good Dinosaur 20. Brave 21. Toy Story 4 22. Finding Dory 23. Monster’s University 24. Cars 2 A few notes. Everything from Wall-E up on my list is a movie I may consider on my top movies of all time list. I think there is probably less than half a point separating those movies in my book. For the bottom third of the list, I seem to prefer original ideas to what I feel are poorly done or unnecessary sequels. A big problem that landed lots of sequels at the bottom of my list is that it seems like they didn’t come up with a good story idea first. It seems like they went “Hey, here’s a side character everyone loved, let’s tell a story about them.” And then had to shoehorn a story around them. The exception to this is Toy Story 4, which focused on Woody still, but I think Toy Story 3 had a perfect ending and nothing should have happened after it. (Except the shorts. Those are fine.) Anyway. I love discussing movies and people’s opinions of them. So feel free to ask questions about my list, share your own rankings, or argue with me about why I’m wrong. I’m here for it all.

*Screaming!* I never had a Nintendo system growing up. And as an adult only the Wii and the Switch. So excited for new to me Zelda games!

Okay, not directly related to Legend of Zelda. But I just started listening to a book on Audible that makes me think of it. It’s called How to Defeat a Demon King in Ten Easy Steps. It takes place in a fantasy world that seems very video game-esque. People in the world gain classes, level up, get experience, fight monsters, find compasses in dungeons… It’s basically a Zelda game in book form. Unfortunately it is an audible original, but if anyone here doesn’t hate audiobooks you should check it out. *Also I haven’t finished it yet, so if anyone has read it already, no spoilers please.

This episode was so much better than the zombie episode. I actually want a follow up to this one. Killmonger is a great villain in either story. Anyone else noticing how The Watcher is becoming more detailed and noticeable? I’m wondering if it is setting up for something big where something forced him to become involved somehow.

This applies to the second scenario as well. I thought this was an inconsistency at first as well, but then remembered that Brigan’s watch broke which was why he couldn’t get himself back.

I kind of agree with you guys about episode 5 not being the strongest. I feel like this was one What If that no one was really asking. They just did it to fit a pop culture zeitgeist of zombies/horror. The other episodes may not have been things people considered, but they were still interesting stories. This one just felt campy. There were some good parts. I think Peter Parker’s how to survive a zombie apocalypse video was great. Makes sense the Gen Z kid would survive. That generation has been planning for a zombie apocalypse their whole lives. The train station scene was fun. Zombie Wanda is terrifying. My other problem with the episode is it felt unfinished. Like yeah they made it to Wakanda, but will they actually cure everyone? And what is Zombie Thanos’ goal? It’s almost like it needs a follow-up but I don’t actually want it. Also I am now questioning the logic of zombies in general. Like, they eat humans, but also humans turn into zombies when bitten so do they actually get eaten? It seems like it just creates more mouths to feed. Do zombies actually need food or do they just have the urge to spread zombie-ism? If zombies do need food, will they eat other zombies? And if they did that, then I feel like it would be easier for humans to survive. I am not well versed in zombie lore…

I’m a little late to the game on this. But I’m enjoying the show for the most part so far. The first episode wasn’t my absolute favorite. But it was still fun. I really enjoyed episodes 2 and 3 though. Thought T’Challa as Starlord was awesome. That episode was just fun. I also enjoyed the mystery/darker feel of episode 3. Pretty sure Agent Coulson is (head)canon bisexual now. Is there a way to see which characters will be focused on in the following episodes? How many episodes are there? And is there any character you all want to see a What If story for?

I’ve beat Calamity Ganon and all the shrines and still am too scared to fight a Lynel. Maybe soon. Guess I’ll never learn if I don’t try but…

I thought they had some good points even though I seemed to enjoy the movie more than them. I think it was important that Dan pointed out that there indeed may be a difference between men and women’s opinions. As a woman, this movie felt important. Despite Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel coming first, I feel like this is the first female super hero that was truly female centered. Not only was a woman the main character, nearly all the side characters were women as well. And it called out objectification of women in many ways. So while I agree with some of the things that bugged them, I’m glad they acknowledged that for some people it might hit differently.

Oh that could be fun. The triforce is kind of on purpose too though. But this is definitely something to consider.

Hey Sanderfans. I’m looking for some advice on a way to add a nod to Sanderson’s works to a tattoo idea I have. I really like some geometric designs I’ve seen in some tattoos. I’m thinking one of the Mistborn symbols kind of going around the triangle, but am open for suggestions. The picture is a really rough design. I’m not much of an artist myself. But that’s the general idea so far.

Okay. Being honest here. I thought this was a good episode, but terrible finale. And I can’t quite put my finger on why exactly. I think it is because I still don’t quite see how this fits in the MCU moving forward. Like yes it seems that this is essentially the backstory for how the multiverse is possible, but what’s next? Especially what’s next for Loki? I’m glad there will be a season 2, because it definitely needs it. Anyone have any ideas to help me make more sense of things? I really do want to like this episode more. That being said, I just want to give major props to the cast of this show. Everyone did so well with their roles.

I loved this movie so much. I thought it was so well done. I loved Nat’s relationship with Yelena. Scarlett and Florence played them so well. While there aren’t too many movies in this list, Black Widow easily became my favorite superhero movie with a female lead. All the themes and emotional moments really worked for me. Nothing felt really forced (except maybe Alexei’s story about “you know, fathers…” ha ha). Ugh. It was just so good.

Another great episode. Though really I am just glad that they called him Alligator Loki. My biggest pet peeve this last week were all the articles calling it a crocodile! Ha ha. Can’t believe we only have one episode left. Can’t wait.

Ah! I’m just so glad there was a mid-credits scene for this one. I think that was my favorite episode so far. Editing to add

I just read some more about it. It was written just for the show. And it is planned to be on the show’s soundtrack. So I’ll definitely be looking into that.

I am enjoying the show so far. But I must admit part of me finished every episode just feeling confused. I am still wondering where this is ultimately going especially since we are apparently already halfway through the series. Can’t wait to see Loki in action more. And does anyone know if the song he sang in Ep. 3 is a real Norwegian song I could find a recording of or was it just written for the show? I enjoyed that part.