Quiver

There is an updated version of General Zoi's pony creator which lets you "turn" the characters a little bit. Don't know if that's any help to you but... it exists. Slight downside is that some of the more... "show" mane styles and tails ahd to be removed. ...Oh, right, my name! Ahem. "My name is Oliver Queen, and after five years on an Island-"

As the others say, it gives us a better viewpoint of the lands of Roshar, which is important since (had we stuck to the main characters) all we would have seen were the Shattered Plains and... whatever you call Taravangian's kingdom. (Name escapes me right now). And while those are important locations, they are also atypical for what "normal" Roshar is like; since Rysn is a trader, she has a built in excuse to visit both "exotic" locales like Shin and the Reishi Isles, and mundane ones if Brandon feels we need it. Add in the possibility that the Larkin will become important later, and that Rysn might be a proto-knight radiant, and while he plot may not have an immediate pay off, I'm sure it will eventually. Besides, Rysn is one of my favorite characters. Any excuse to spend more time with her is welcome.

Huh. Interesting idea; I haven't read Elantris, so I can't comment on it either way. My only caveat would be that Felt maybe seems a bit more appropriate for the "spy" position; we know he served that function in Mistborn, at least.

Tell me about it. Still, only twenty more years to go!

The Eighth could do it, if someone would just give it a chance.

No. Please, continue.

(Wanted to try and do a few more "Cosmere Princesses", but couldn't think of good enough memes, so... Pocahontas, Belle and Snow White are done, and the rest will follow eventually?)

Huh. Does that mean if I change my name is "Baba Ji", they'll end up caught in an infinite loop of spamming themselves with love magic spells?

Frankenstein? (The novel, I mean.)

Yep! Your turn.

No, you were Perfectly clear the first time.

...Though in all seriousness, I can really understand why that would be a thing. I can even think of a lot of people who that would appeal to, either for rustic,back-to-nature soft romance, or people who might be fans of a certain... 50 Shades book, looking for stuff My god, my comment went from Amish Ponies to discussing the intricaies and appeal of Amish Romance, how is this my life?

Dang. Well, the answer was As for a new one... hmm. A young boy is being treated for an eye and heart injury. A girl arrives to "rescue" him by kidnapping him while his doctor is away. This makes him feel better.

Did anyone else see the Legends of Tomorrow trailer? And if so, did you immediately start grinning until the part where you saw the release date, at which point you cursed the heavens for denying such an awesome looking show for close to a year? (Also the Supergirl trailer; it looks like it could be fun, but that trailer seemed like a recap of the entire pilot. What a strange way to market something.)

Speculation!

And that is why Octavia is best music pony.

So... as a hint: it's a television show.

...Featherwriter? Is that you?

Neither- though I was trying to come up with a good Artemis Fowl one. So...funny coincidence.

Er... sorry if I sounded... confrontational. I have a bad habit of slipping into that when trying to sound authoritative. Sorry!

Hey, newbie question here! What exactly is the canon of Magic: The Gathering? I bought some cards when I was younger; specifically, I bought a starter deck from the Mercadian Masques set, because it came with a novel... but I've never kept up with the game, or it's setting. But... I'm curious. What exactly is MTG "about" in terms of background?

I kind of have a love-hate relationship with Sherlock. There's a prt of me that wishes it didn't get renewed past season one because, let's face it, the way the third episode ended was perfect.

Hmm... A conman, a butler and a cop try to prevent diplomatic trade between two cultures by stealing the exports of one and declaring war on the other.

Well, I think a lot of the reputation comes from the Oregon board, where ponifying epics is kind of a 'thing'. Anyway, I like the show, but I'll admit; some of your complaints are valid. It might be strange to see why someone who likes reading ASOIAF and Stormlight Archive would then put aside political intrigues and badchull action scenes for "the magic of friendship". Part of it is that the show really just hits a very different emotional pitch for me; as much as I enjoy the epic high-fantasy stuff, I think the best episodes of MLP are the slice of life stories which focus on the characters. It's always interesting when the show tries it's adventure arcs; Discord and Tirek were great villains, and Chrysallis is nightmareish... but those are the episodes where most of your complainst are most evident. In the context of the greater series, the "adventure arcs" usually only serve to introduce a MacGuffin for the series, one which usually won't be activated until the last episode (if ever); there is some character development, but it's minimal since most of the actual change and development comes as a result of the Slice of Life episodes (and through subtlety); and pretty much every adventure arc has been finished in the last three minutes of the episode with out-of-nowhere lazer powers. ...But as I say, it's not the adventure arcs which interest me. It's the characters, and the episodes in between the adventures where the characters shine. Some episodes are hilarious; some develop the characters more than others. But honestly, the reason I like them is because it's a fun show. Lets face it, there's a serious push in... everything these days that something can only be "Real" and "Serious" if it's dark and gritty. Look at the last decade of Marvel and DC comics if you want proof; gratuituous, empty violence, shock deaths and horror. In that climate, a show which is so blatantly hopeful and opoptimistic about the future and about humanity is actually a breath of fresh air. "Violence isn't the only solution; in fact, it usually isn't the solution at all." That's the pilots ethos summed up in a sentence. I will admit, the pilot is very weak, in many area's; the second half is too rushed, it's too formulaic, it's obvious whats going to happen once Twilight finds the EoH guidebook and the bells signify who each element is, with the rest of the episode just going through the motions. But Luna's sympathetic backstory, and her arcs resolution, elevates that beyond silly kiddy comedy for me. And as for what fans of epic fantasy might get out of it... see the MLP fandom. While the show is often inconsistent with it's concepts, or never really explores things fully, the fandom does a lot to fill in the gaps. There are quite a few MLP fanfictions which really go straight for the "epic" part of epic fantasy. Way of Kings is (according to sources) 387,000 words long. Fallout Equestria is a popular story, set in an atomic-blasted Equestria. It's 607K. Background Pony is a philosophical examination about insignificance and relevance. It's 432K Past Sins is a story about redemption, about choice and destiny, and clocks in at between 179K and 202K, depending on the version you're reading. I realize Word count isn't a signifier of quality; and I want to add that the stories I mention aren't necessarily better than Way of Kings. But I think the fact that so many people have wrote so many words on the subjects indicates that there is something of value that people enjoy about the series. ...Of coruse, I also realise that some people just don't like the pony thing, which is totally understandable. To use an example relevant to this board... as much as I like the Stormlight Archive, it's actually one of my least favorite series of Brandon's books right now. And that's an opinion which I'm totally entitled to, and which is valid to hold. The pony thing might be a little obnoxious (since it's so clearly a visible thing and in your face, whereas other opinions are private)... but I see it as much the same thing. People like what they like. (Of course, as I've said before, if my stuff ever bothers anyone, then let me know and I'll happily change stuff). In summary...I guess MLP is so popular because it inspires creativity. Fan fiction, fan art, head canons... it taps into what fantasy means, about imagining places and how things work, it inspires other works and thoughts. The canon might be kind of dumb soemtimes- but then, Superman is a story about a man who can do everything, always, and he's one of the most powerful cultural figures in human history.

I used to be an adventurer like you, then I took an arrow to the knee. ...oh, and I also used to think that fantasy was a very specific form of midfle-ages setting. Brandon isn't solely responsible for smashing that, but his unique settings certainly helped.