Use the Falchion

If I didn't like it, I don't think anything would change. I'd still reread the series, but I just wouldn't like this book and would probably end up skimming it. I don't like Calamity that much, but I'll still reread it when I reread the Reckoners. I don't like the final Legion novella at all, but when I reread the Legion series, I'll still reread it. If most people didn't like it, then things would be...interesting. I think many Cosmere-aware and Cosmere-Invested fans would soldier through and simply accept that the book isn't good. Some fans who aren't Cosmere aware but know Stormlight is going to be ten books long eventually may stick around to see if the series is redeemed. More casual fans may drop off; those who weren't sold on OB or RoW would most definitely drop off. But I think many fans would stick around for his other works. Case and point, I don't like the ending to The Legend of Korra. AT ALL. But I usually don't not recommend it, I simply state that I don't like it and advise potential viewers to form their own opinions. But that doesn't mean I don't follow ALTA news. I also don't like The Burning White by Brent Weeks, but that doesn't stop me from checking out a potential sequel series down the line or anything like that. Overall, I think it comes down to the type of fan the reader is. Fans of Stormlight and not Sanderson may drop the book. Fans of Sanderson and not Stormlight won't care. Fans of both Sanderson and Stormlight may simply give the book a pass.

Aimer! "Insane Dream" is my anime opening to Oathbringer. Thanks! I found them a fun way to include most of the songs that I liked and give them all a platform. The categories at the end of this year may look completely different, and I'm fine with that. I had the exact same experience lol! Have you heard "Different" yet? It's so dope! I bought most of their albums, but I've been listening to CONQUEROR on repeat because it's that good.

I actually did something similar this holiday! I posted the results for the music in the main music thread, but I'll repost them here too. All the results are something that I first listened to in 2020, with one exception. Best Sanderson Inspired Song: Most Listened to Song: Best Song(s): Best Discovered Band: Best Album(s): Song I Want to Sing Most in Choir: Song(s) That Best Describe 2020: Best Leitmotif: *I think I discovered Bring Me the Horizon late 2019, so I'm not counting it here. If I discovered them in 2020, then they tie with Band-Maid.

So, now that 2020's over, I want to share a small look back and my "Best of" for music I listened to in 2020. The song didn't have to come out in 2020, I only had to discover it then (with one exception). Best Sanderson Inspired Song: "Shattered Plains" by The Kepler Mission Most Listened to Song: "Heartless" by The Weeknd. (Runner-up is "The Evening Hate" (Alternate Version) by Red.) Best Song(s): "Bokura no Hikari (Our Light)" by Lyn (from the Persona 5 Royal soundtrack), "The Bigger Picture" by Lil Baby, "Parasite Eve" by Bring Me the Horizon, and "Jinsei no Hari" by Gesu no Kiwami Otome. (Runner-ups include "One Day the Only Butterflies Let Will Be In Your Chest As You March Towards Death" by Bring Me the Horizon, "the Savior" by Nothing's Carved In Stone, "Lemonade" by Internet Money) Best Discovered Band: Band-Maid* (Runner-up is Meet Me @ the Altar) Best Album(s): Post Human: Survival Horror by Bring Me the Horizon and CONQUEROR by Band-Maid (which is what I'm listening to now) Song I Want to Sing Most in Choir: "Every Hour" by Kanye West Song(s) That Best Describe 2020: "World's On Fire" by Mike Shinoda (the exception to the rule, as I bought the full Post-Traumatic album when it came out) and "Teardrops" by Bring Me the Horizon Best Leitmotif: "A Friend" by Ludwig Goransson *I think I discovered Bring Me the Horizon late 2019, so I'm not counting it here. If I discovered them in 2020, then they tie with Band-Maid.

#24—Brandon Sanderson Live Signing Session - YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Exjsx8ZHitU

Ah gotcha. I wasn't specifically referring to you, but I apologize if it felt like I was calling you (or anyone else) out.

If TAG had worked out, he'd probably be finishing up TLM right now. 2017: The Apocalypse Guard 1 & The Apocalypse Guard 2 (He finished TAG 1 in September, leaving him more than enough time to write the sequel had the first version worked) 2018: The Apocalypse Guard 3 & Children of the Nameless (people seem to forget this threw off his schedule a lot too) 2019: Rhythm of War 2020: Rhythm of War & The Lost Metal

Wonder Woman 1984 tonight! Overall, I liked the movie, but I don't think it was as good as the previous WW movie. I'd give it a 7/10 or 7.5/10. To some that may be generous, but there are very few superhero movies that I don't like. Wonder Woman 1984 is a weird thing. It's a mixture of true, heartfelt optimism, campy fun, brilliant ideas, and mediocre execution. It has a lot of things to like - the action scenes, while seemingly fewer than before, are sharper than ever; the side-characters have been trimmed down, allowing for more time and depth to be given to Diana; the villains are FAR more fleshed out than the previous movie (...which isn't saying much, but it counts), and the score has some really nice call-backs to other DC movies Snyder has worked on. But this movie is far from perfect. The ending was bad. There's no two ways around it. It was a bad ending, both the resolution to the climax and the final scenes. The mid-credit scene was nice, but it also made me realize that I HATE winking towards the camera. It always creeps me out. The optimistic tone, while very needed for 2020, doesn't really fit the message of the previous movie and feels far more...hopeful than I feel Diana should be at this point in the main DC timeline. (I will address some of this later on in the "things I would have changed" part towards the end.) There were a couple of moments in several of the fights that reminded me of scenes in the Captain America trilogy also, although not nearly as well done there. But again, there are good things too. Steve's return was very well done, and the jet scene was brilliant. Maxwell Lord's early uses of his powers was great, and I loved when it felt like there was a grounded explanation for the wishes. Cheetah was well-done as a villain, and felt very understandable and ultimately human, although certain parts were very on-the-nose. Which leads into an interesting feeling I had about this movie. In a lot of my complaints about things, I always feel like there are scenes that were left on the cutting room table that should have been in the final production. Here, there were scenes that should have been cut out or shortened that were put in in their entirety. I personally didn't mind this, as I LOVE those sorts of scenes. They flesh out our characters and help us see the world they live in. But I would have understood if certain scenes were cut here. For example, Barbara - no, not THAT Barbara - and Diana go out for a (seemingly very) early dinner in the first quarter of the movie. We get a scene where Barbara explains her personality and her lonely background while asking Diana a few questions, eventually asking Diana if she's ever been in love. I think that we could have cut the first half of that scene. We would start with hearing (and not seeing) Barbara ask Diana if she's ever been in love, and do a shorter version of that dinner. We don't need to hear Barbara's feelings about herself because her awkward behavior and encounters with all of her coworkers show us that reality. What we needed was a separate scene where Barbara and Diana become friends, or at least feel like coworkers instead of the "meet my new best friend" dynamic they have. It reminded me a bit of Electro's dynamic with Spider-Man in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, and I'm not sure I liked it. My second fix for this movie would have been putting it in modern times, in a post-Justice League world. WW84 acts like it's trying to cash in on that 80s nostalgia, but quite frankly it does a terrible job of doing so. I think setting it in modern times could really help us realize how far we have to go as a culture at times, while also letting a more optimistic Wonder Woman truly shine. We also wouldn't have to worry too much about Diana's secret identity, the movie's message would be more striking, and Barbara's envy would make more sense. Besides, Steve's flabbergasted nature would be even funnier...and a lot more like another Steve we know and love. What if she was driven by what she saw of Diana and other women on social media? What if we tackled the dangers of appearances in a more approachable manner? The movie could also do more with romance. For example, what if this was set in modern times, and Ben Affleck's Bruce Wayne was involved, eventually being promoted to a sort of love interest by the end of the movie?* It'd be a nice throwback to the Justice League cartoon. Imagine if we see her turn down guys (and gals) asking her out for coffee, only by the end of this movie, asking Bruce out to get coffee, signaling that she's ready to move on.** Honestly there were more than a couple of times where it would have felt right for Bruce to be in the movie. All of that said, however, I can see why the chose NOT to set this in modern times. Some of the topics talked about may have felt too...on the nose, given how this year has gone. Ultimately, if you're a fan of superhero movies and Wonder Woman, check this out. If not, then don't be afraid to skip this or come back when drunk (on friendship and good times). *In my head, however, this spins out into a sort of Flashpoint storyline. Bruce's wish would be for his parents to come back, and him having to say goodbye to them again would probably overshadow anything Diana does. Then again, having in the movie maybe would work as a solid juxtaposition for Maxwell. Here you have Bruce, the man who seemingly has everything, not making a wish on one side; and you have Maxwell Lord, the man who is trying to make everything work but comes from nothing on the other side. Maxwell meeting and being even more motivated to succeed because of his background compared to Wayne's would be a really interesting motivation. **Also in my head, it wouldn't necessarily be that Bruce didn't make a wish when given a chance, it'd be that he didn't have the chance to do so. He'd admit this to Diana at the end of the movie, claiming that her willingness to give up Steve makes her stronger than he could ever be. Diana would mention how there are probably those out there who didn't give up their wishes, and Bruce would respond that they'd deal with those people as a team if it comes to that end.

After beating Spider-Man: Miles Morales with my brother-in-law, I've come to ship Captain Yuri Watanabe and Aaron Davis. Yuri doesn't even appear in the game, but I think they could have an interesting dynamic. You have Next I have Insomniac's Rio Morales with an Earth 616 (or really, any older, non-broke/hobo/destitute and broken) Peter Parker. I just think they'd be an interesting couple. Maybe not a good one, but an interesting one.

so, my brother-in-law and I just finished the main campaign for Spider-Man: Miles Morales. He ended up doing most of the story missions while I did the side-missions, which is exactly what we wanted. We'll finish up everything we need in the post-game or NG+, because this game is so short that getting 100% shouldn't be a problem. My TL;DR about this game is: Unless you're a Spider-Man fan or didn't play the PS4 Spider-Man game, having this as your only PS5 game - or even buying a PS5 for this game exclusively - is a bad choice. Don't get me wrong, this is a great game. The cast is phenomenal, the characters are so human and likeable, and the gameplay is exactly what we all want. But it's so short that I can't entirely justify it to everyone just yet. But if you have a PS5 and are looking for a new game, then yeah, go ahead and get it. You won't regret it. The score is a solid 8 or 8.5/10 I do have one major gripe that I'll get into in the spoiler section down below, as it's character and story related, not gameplay-related. After this game, I think the big question on everyone's mind is which Spider-hero should get a spin-off next (after Spider-Man 2 of course). I think people are trending towards Spider-Gwen due to her popularity, but honestly I think that would be a bad choice. Peter's history seems to be an amalgamation of the general Peter Parker mythos...and in most of those stories, Gwen Stacy is dead. Sure, one could bring her back to life and state that Peter simply thought she was dead, but I don't think that's a good move on Peter's part either. No, my choice for the next hero would be Cindy Moon aka Silk. Silk could help us explore what it's like to be Asian American in New York while also giving an up-and-coming character the spotlight. Her story would be vastly different from Peter and Miles', and I think that would be appreciated. My one problem is that gameplay with her may be...routine at this point. You see, Peter and Miles have the same core gameplay, with a few exceptions. Peter hits far harder than Miles, has more tech, and is far more sturdy. This makes sense, as Peter has been doing this far longer than Miles has. Miles on the other hand has his awesome (and super fun) Venom Shock powers, invisibility, and great finishers. Cindy would have to find her own balance in this, and while that's possible, I'm not sure where it'd be. There's also the fact that since Cindy is such a new character, she doesn't have the range of costumes needed to fully support her. I've seen people complain that Miles' suit repertoire was too small compared to Peter's (despite the fact that Miles even HAS that man suits to change into, given that he's only nine years old as a character); Cindy is even younger, first appearing in 2014. So how do we keep the gameplay fresh while keeping the core of it? There are a couple of things. My first thought was a prologue focusing on [MASSIVE, GAME-SPOILING SPOILERS] My second thought is a DLC focusing on [Minor, Non-Game Ruining Spoilers] But I'm getting side-tracked. The side-missions in this game are relatively varied and far better than the mission in the PS4 game, as they help you know the community and side-characters more. The gameplay is fun and a solid mix of stealth elements with raw action, as is fitting with Miles' powers. And the story, while nothing new, is told quite well. It's a fun game.

I watched an LP it last year and played 2/3 of the campaign earlier this year, so I'm familiar with it. My brother-in-law and I decided to dive straight into Miles Morales!

Played it, beat it, got to about 95% completion (I wasn't going to try and Ultimate rank everything). I also spoiled myself on the story of Miles, so it's not that part that I'm eager to get to...although I AM eager to get to it. I'm here for the experience the EXAGGERATTED SWAGGER OF A BLACK TEENAGER webslinging of Spider-Man, the in-world podcasts, and the side-missions.

Not playing right now, but by tonight I should be playing the PS5 Remastered Spider-Man game. My goal is to beat that and then dive straight into Spider-Man: Miles Morales. ...although, I also want to dive straight into Miles Morales. Maybe I'll do a little of the Remaster and then go to Mile's story.

So, the last chapter of the year is out, and can I say, it was a good one. Chapter 295 Spoilers Below First off, we got And then we have

Sometimes having morally ambiguous MCs is annoying. Sometimes I just want my good guys to be genuinely good guys. That doesn't mean they aren't flawed or perfect, simply that they're trying their best and need to grow.

So, a few days ago we received our first "Next Fire Emblem 'Leak.'" I'm using all of the quotations to show how much I believe this. Overall the idea is interesting, and while I wouldn't put too much stock into it given its origin, schedule, theming, and previous FE "leaks" (remember Gothic Emblem and Pirate Emblem?), I think it's more probable than what people usually give it credit for. Anyways, I'll link it here and let y'all decide. Fire Emblem remake announced in 2021, new game announced in 2022 based in Africa (According to 4chan) : GamingLeaksAndRumours (reddit.com)

...and that update is really just Steven saying "I'm working on stuff in this world, but I can't share much of it yet!" Which I guess means "no news is good news." Steven Bohls - Steven Bohls From the website: Steven Bohls on Twitter: "Write an expansion to the #Reckoners universe alongside @BrandSanderson? Why, don't mind if I do: https://t.co/SoY78VLEod https://t.co/KfCW4Y5BFS" / Twitter

Also, as I'm watching Shardcast's breakdown of SotS 2020, I realized how worried I am for Dark One. It started as this multi-media project thing, and now the graphic novels are a "plan" but not a guarantee; the show seems to be going in a two steps forward (there's a pilot and a good writer on board), one step back (it's being shopped around and isn't guaranteed to be at USA as it was before); and the podcast idea is now being turned into an audiobook (which is a solid recovery, but is different from the original idea). I'm sure once the graphic novel releases in stores that sell comic books it'll gain more traction, but for now I'm worried. This is also because (and I've said it before), as much as I love Stormlight and the Cosmere, I don't want Brandon to be known just for that, or even just for being "the guy who finished the Wheel of Time." I want Sanderson's name to be known to graphic novel fans and YA fans. I want his name to be known to those who like fantasy shows and audiobook mysteries. Doing these side projects is a great way to get there, as it lowers the entry into the fandom and overall increases his exposure. Oh, and I just really like the concept too. EDIT; Mainframe is a very solid step in the right direction, but right now it's focused on properties that Brandon has already worked with. This is good to get started, but they'll need to branch out and create more things like "The Original" and whatnot if they want to spread their influence beyond Sanderson's (admittedly large) fanbase.

I've been listening to a decent bit of new music, so here we go! Also, Microsoft won't let me link the actual YouTube video now for some reason, so...sorry about that... First up, we have Meet Me @ the Altar, an alt-rock group made up entirely of women of color that sounds eerily like Riot!-era Paramore. (However this band does have its own unique flair) They're really good, and I love how they're all women of color. There were times when I was younger that I felt weird for being a black boy who liked rock music, as there were so few examples of black men in the genre. Now I don't worry about it (as much), but I can't help but imagine how this band can help some young black teens feel more confident in their music tastes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfMi8ANejmo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfjNWqaM_uI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RDRaEAahhU Next up is the Band-Maiko. They're a Japanese band that mixes rock with some traditional Japanese instruments and overlays to create a cool mix. Some say that they're the only band to rival J-Rock band Band-Maid. The truth is far more sinister...and by sinister I mean amusing. It started as an April Fools joke, where Band-Maid said that they're changing their name and style to become Band-Maiko instead. It gained a bit of traction, and eventually the group decided to make the spin-off as a fun "why not?" side-project. "Gion-Cho" is one of the few songs I've heard by them, as that and "Secret MAIKO Lips" are the only songs I could find on YouTube or iTunes, and getting their CD outside of Japan costs an amount of money I'm not willing to spend on anything other than Sanderson at this time. "Gion-Cho" is great, though. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umSt7oMUMcs Next we have Gesu no Kiwami Otome, or "Lowest, Lowest Girl" as I believe it's been translated. I haven't heard enough of them to buy their entire discography as I will with Band-Maid, but I've really enjoyed the songs I've heard so far. It may be the mixture of piano and strings into rock. I'm a sucker for that - it's why I like the band Red and why I liked Yellowcard as a kid. The last one listed has a similar feel to "Asphyxia" by Co shu Nie. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0DkktXsCpw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ae6gQmhaMn4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUNqw5Hczfc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiodFyTSowA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6-AN8J385c https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZB9UvUJL_lE Next we have Lecrae's songs from Spider-Man: Miles Morales. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-jvzM-YJp0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTakCndtK4s We also have Jidenna's 85 to Africa. I haven't heard the entire album, but I'm digging this song. It IS explicit however, so don't play this where you can't play that sort of music. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4irvuySCrY And "Racks" by H.E.R. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qcg-3_YGoY

I have a feeling that will be his 2023 "Post Stormlight Decompress" book. Anyways, this SotS was exactly what we expected. There were some things we hoped to see that didn't happen (Alcatraz 6's release date & no real updates from Songs of the Dead), but there were also things that were finally explained and gave some surprising cool things to look forward to (Mainframe and Skyward's novellas). Overall, this was good, but I think next year will be even better. Oh, and I'm 90% sure Soulburner is going to be a videogame.

Waluigi, Geno, the main robot from Custom Robo, and maybe Pokemon?

I FINALLY caught up! My thoughts:

Thank you! They were all pretty fun to write, and I'm glad you enjoyed them. Edit: Extra Note about the Claude/Edelgard Support:

He puts himself as Bondsmith (as seen above), but he's also been identified as an Elsecaller. Dan Wells and I Take the Knights Radiant Order Quiz (With a Twist) - YouTube