Shivertongue

I would like to announce that I am designing stuff while a little more than tipsy. This is the best plan ever.

I wasn't at TWG long (maybe a year? I forget) but I remember a lot of those from the numerous archive binges I did back then. Good times. In regards to Chaos and his position as Hero of Ages, I think it's a moot point now, since 17th Shard is less a democracy, and more of a tyrannical oligarchical hegemony. "Spikeocracy," I believe, is the term that has been applied to us...

Happy Birthday, Matt! We'll do your Birthday Spiking when you get back. And don't worry about the Hemalurgic Decay; when we convert the remainder to Canadian, it should balance out.

I am declaring this to be his new name.

That's what I get for posting whilst simultaneously doing visual research on coffee shop logos.... I are coherent. For the record, I enjoy <snarky sarcasm> tags. Emoticons can be interpreted multiple ways. Reading over that first paragraph in my previous post, I can easily see where someone could get lost; I admit that I did myself just now. Intelligence is not the same thing as sentience, no, but providing a strict dictionary definition is not beneficial to defining intelligence. Scientists, psychologists, philosophers, and other types of 'ists and 'ers over the centuries have made attempts to define it, and they can't seem to agree on a solid definition. Without opening that particular can of worms, the best way to phrase what I meant when I used the term, is "awareness". And by that, I mean that perhaps the Ryshadium are not as driven by factors of pure instinct (fight, flee, eat) and have some degree of understanding of the world around them. In thinking about this, your use of the word "untameable" stuck out to me. It's interesting, the differences between the terms "tame" and "tameable" - the latter meaning that a wild animal can be trained to have specific responses to specific situations or stimuli, and the former being how much an animal tolerates the presence of humans, which can come about without any human influence. Ryshadium choosing their riders suggests that they are tame to some degree, but that they cannot be tamed. This suggests to me that they have a level of intelligence/awareness higher than that of your standard, instinct-driven animal. I'm not denying the possibility that Ryshadium intelligence and rather unusual nature could be caused by magic. I'm just not currently seeing that as likely, as, in my eyes, the differences between them and your standard horse is explainable by purely mundane methods. And my initial post was part of my ongoing desire to see people not immediately attribute everything to magic. Think outside the box and consider the mundane. Hopefully this post made more sense.

I don't think I'm allowed to tell you that story.

It's a bunch of stars that happen to form a shape. Go outside yourself, tonight; if you're lucky enough to be able to see stars, you can probably find some shapes among them. I do it every summer when I got to northern Wisconsin, where the sky is so clear the night is absolutely filled with stars. As I'm fond of saying, not everything has to have magic attached to it.

You appear to be either misinterpreting what I meant by "intelligent," or misunderstanding what intelligence can mean. Intelligent in this case does not necessarily mean "smart," but rather "closer to sentience." Is it truly impossible to consider, in a fantasy world, that perhaps a specific breed of horse is more cognizant than others, perhaps to the point of having such concepts as honor and reward? They may not be able to speak or compose symphonies, but could it not be entirely possible that the Rhyshadium breed is simply more intelligent, perhaps on their way to sentience in several thousand years? There have been reports and articles of animals in our world who have some bizarre habits that make them seem almost human. My point is it doesn't have to be have a magical reasoning. It could be fairly mundane. Not everything extraordinary has to be magical.

Or they could just be more intelligent...

Perfect crew in Alloy? Easy. The Twins* 5 pts - Lucar Raisaal, Steel Compounder. Wields two revolvers, Sterrion 36's. 5 pts - Umbra Raisaal, Iron Compounder. Wields two revolvers, Sterrion 36's. The Raisaal Twins handle any job they feel like taking, if the money is right and it fits with their personal code... or if it'll be just plain fun. While both twins carry firearms, and know how to use them, Lucar and Umbra prefer to get their hands dirty. While they occasionally work with others, they prefer to handle things themselves more often than not, finding that incorporating additional bodies into their dynamic simply not worth the hassle. Highly-trained and highly-skilled in physical combat as well as their Twinborn talents, The Twins rely on nothing but their wits, their skills, and each other. Always each other. Some situations, however, just call for bullets. *Lucar and Umbra Raisaal created by Will (Shivertongue) and Kerry (KChan), respectively.

Exactly. I don't think he's afraid of Harmony or of any other combined Shards, he's just afraid of it happening to him. I'm too tired to find the quote, but Brandon said something along those lines at some point, about Odium not wanting to "taint himself."

I think it's more Odium's fear of becoming 'tainted' by taking the power of another shard, not a fear that multiple shards wold join and become stronger than him.

I like it. Now, you know me. I'm not big on theories. It says so in my signature, after all. But the absence of math and high-level physics kept me reading, and it feels very well-thought out. I have long been a proponent of the idea that people were considering Dominion in the wrong light - there doesn't need to be a 'good shard' and a 'bad shard' (and really, I don't think there is such a thing). I have my own theory on how Dominion and Devotion interacted in a different way, but that's a tangent I'm not going to go on right now. Anyway, I like this idea because it feels very cohesive. But even more so, I really like the implication that magic on Sel comes from a mix of Dominion and Devotion, rather than one or the other. It's a fresh take that I'd been thinking of myself, but you actually put in the effort to gather information and stuff to back it up. If I espoused theories, I'd consider espousing this one. This theory gets the approval of the High Anti-Theorist.

This is two-parts fun speculation and one-part potential crossover fanfiction fodder, sprinkled with a dash of potential amusement and fanservice. Bake at 350 for twenty minutes, then coat with a thin glaze of slap-dash reasoning. Serves 3.2 million. The Real World, for those fortunate enough to never have been exposed to it, is an American program that airs (aired?) on the now dubiously-named MTV. A "reality" show that was something of a precursor to those that currently inundate network and cable television, focusing on the lives of a group of twenty-somethings who have never before met, spending the summer living in a house, all the while having their fights, romances, trials, tribulations, and immeasurable idiocy recorded for the amusement of others. It has been copied, parodied, ridiculed, and praised for nearly thirty years. Now, it's our turn. Here's what I want to see from you wonderfully inventive people. • Decide where the house should be - some city or town on a published cosmere world, be it Elantris, Hallandren, Elendel, or wherever. • Pick seven characters from any of the published cosmere novels (and I think I'll allow Alcatraz as well, just for funsies) and put them in the house. To make this more interesting, I'd like to stay away from primary viewpoint characters. We already know their story, and we know who they are. If you really want to, you can have ONE, but everyone else has to be secondary or lower. Give them a chance to shine. And try to be diverse; not only with genders, but with age, race, and world of origin. • Argue engage in friendly debate with other posters as to why your selection is better than theirs. • If you like, speculate as to the kind of mundane problems that might arise when you throw these characters together, and why it would be entertaining. Does anyone hook up? Does anyone fight? Is Blushweaver eating all the peanut butter? Is Moash not doing his share of the dishes? Can someone make Denth PLEASE observe the "no pets" rule? Have some fun with this, and don't take it too seriously. This isn't about "who would win," but about "who would be amusing to see in this situation?" I have my own ideas that I'll eventually get to posting, but before I do, I'd like to see some of your cast choice for... The Real World - Cosmere

The problem with showing the past is that we already know how it's going to end. That does not mean that a cool story couldn't still be written, but the story itself would probably be more interesting if the focus was NOT on one of the major characters from historical Scadrial. Give us a perspective on events that we haven't seen before, with problems that are not directly related to events that shaped the time of the books we've read. That said, I don't really want to see what happened before the Lord Ruler. I prefer that some stuff, including the history of a world, be open to imagination. Robert Jordan did this masterfully over the course of The Wheel of Time, giving just enough history to provide flavor to the world and the events of the novels, and then letting the readers fill in the gaps. Anything he or Brandon or anyone else comes up with is not going to be nearly as cool as what we can imagine for ourselves.

I totally did. Called it almost the moment Sazed was introduced.

Agreed. That was one thing I totally did not see coming, and with some thought, I'd have to agree that that one is my biggest "What the?!" Everything else, I've managed to figure out beforehand to some degree or another. Not Taravangian.

You had me at "atheistic prophet." You lost me with everything else.

Glad you like it. That was my sole contribution to the reputation rankings. xD

Alright, before I begin, keep in mind that I am a professional. I can't say for certain whether they are the same or not, nor if they are meant to be the same. Allowing for stylistic differences, the general form is very similar. The image is an icon, a religious symbol if I'm not mistaken, and if you look at real-world religious symbols, you will see thousands of variation on the same initial concept. Crosses, Stars of David, Buddhas, etc. It's not a logo, with brand standards behind it that require specific ways in which it might be used. Icons are meant to stand for something specific, but can be open to interpretation by whomever is using them. This is why you might see slightly different 'Walk' signs when you cross the street, or different 'Caution, Wet Floor signs'. Analyzing the two images, there are several aspects that are shared. The color, the general shape, and rather importantly, symmetry. The front pincers are different, but that's another stylistic element, and does not immediately mean the two images are not meant to be the same. In regards to the coat of arms and the flag PM has posted... those two have far, far more differences between them then the crabs do. Use of color, of shape, of layout... and the example is completely different, as we're talking about the stylistic differences between two possibly similar images. The example you cite is of two images that were not designed to be similar, but follow a similar template. Do I believe the two crabs are meant to be the same image? I can't say; it could go either way, as far as I'm concerned. The banner crab could very well be the personal symbol of the man wielding it. But considering the specific similarities in the designs, I would not rule the option that the banner image represents the same as the chart image.

I wouldn't want to. Such a feature could never account for all the possible variations, and would give far too much attention to an aspect of the site that honestly, to us, is barely of secondary importance. Downvotes shouldn't be given out on a whim. If you find it important enough to want a reason for your own stuff being downvoted, maybe you should consider putting in the effort and leaving a reason for why YOU downvoted something.

Agreed. Downvotes are nothing. I've been through critiques in which work I have spent weeks on, put countless hours into, put MYSELF into, has been verbally torn to shreds as my abilities are brought into question along with my self-worth and self-identity as an artist/designer. Critiques where people pulled no punches, critiques that hurt more than almost any physical pain I have ever experienced. I've seen people reduced to tears, rushing out of the room. You don't survive in the design world without a thick skin, so I developed one quickly. The real world isn't going to pull punches either, regardless of what you do. So if a simple downvote is the worst you ever experience, I'm afraid I have no sympathy. I don't care about the downvotes I get. I look at them, try and figure out why I got them, and then see if that's an area I care to improve upon. I have never held a downvote against someone, and I will never retaliate for someone disliking one of my posts. Yes, I can see who gave rep; I only ever do anything about it if it constitutes abuse of the system. The goal should not be to avoid criticism. It should be to grow stronger from it.

And the attack dogs probably slightly smaller than the every day cockroaches. (Remember, kids... we ARE professionals.)

What, you can't feel the heat of our burning, fiery love?

Nothing to worry about, people. *tosses an incendiary through the other window* This is just how we welcome staff back from sabbaticals.