Quiver

"You owe no explanations for protecting your city, my Queen, least of all from an attack that was unprovoked. If someone marches into Newcago with fire demanding blood, surely no one can complain about being met with ice and steel?" Quiver detaches himself from the shadows of the throne room, dressed in a thicker-costume than most of the Featherclan may have seen him in before... but then, the Court could be very cold. He still had his bow, but looking closer, the feather tied to adorn it had been replaced with one made of ice. The Queens Wit, indeed.

Wait. Are you guys telling me they can't help with my inter caste marriage problems through dark magic?

Okay, so...a while ago, I read a synopsis for a book that sounded really, really interesting; it was sci-fi, and the way the article talked about it it sounded like a well-known classic. Only problem is, I can't remember said title or author, so I was wondering if anyone could help me. What I remember of the synopsis was... that the story was about human evolution. It was divided into different sections or ages, and each one was about humanity beginning, evolving into a particular form of life, then civilisation collapsing. It sounded like the emphasis was on world building rather than specific character, if that helps any...

But of course, your majesty. Transmute the city however Queen Elsa Steelheart, First of Her Name, deems fit.

What fortuitous timing, your majesty! http://www.17thshard.com/forum/topic/8530-the-newcago-court/ I hope you do not mind making your reign over the forum a tad more official ; )

A fan club for Elsa Steelheart to rule over. Who is Elsa Steelheart? If her lengthy introduction topic is anything to judge by, she might just be the most popular Sharder since FeatherWriter. Of course, her highness far outranks Feather; after all, she is just a Lady, whereas Elsa... Well. Elsa is our Queen. In your graciousness, her Majesty is always willing to accepts new members to the court. If you wish to pledge your allegiance to our most worthy Queen, simply present yourself before her and swear your loyalty. Your Majesty, Elsa Steelheart, First of Thy Name, Titan of Ice, Snowwarden, Frozenborn, Queen of Newcago and all Lands of the Seventeenth, I, _______, do swear my humble, undying fealty to thee. I shall forevermore serve thee and thee alone with the utmost fervency, till last I draw breath

Haven't read Elantris, so no thoughts there, but... For Nalthis, I think lhyt is referring to the Five Scholars.

300 posts in the introduction topic. Why has no one started a Featherblade-like cult fanbase for Elsa yet?!?

Scene Three HARMONY damnation IT SYLVIE. Alright, I admit; I found the rickroll kind of hilarious, since it is such an over-the-top prank to pull. It then actually made me feel kind of bad whenever Mira brought up the fact that it also affected Vee, was sharing confidential information, and the fact that she was left mortified. So... as I've said before, the fact that you guys are able to, on a dime, turn the tone of something on it's head is pretty awesome... And then Sylvie tries blackmailing her. That... annoyed me. Not on a craftperson level- I admit I'd like to see the conversation between fiVe and Sylvie, but the rest of the chapter shows they aren't there yet- but just... treating Sylvie Mansen as a real person, her attempt at blackmailing and emotionally guilting fiVe into getting fixed was ...urgh. I hope Vee makes Sylvie feel bad, because she deserves to feel bad for that. Her response to a fairly harmless prank being "Hey, let me screw with your insides!" is... Anyway. I have to admit, the idea of... what exactly Sylvie saw is a tad confusing to me. I remember the piece of art you posted a while ago, showing the two Vees anthropomorphised, but I just assumed that was for representation purposes; whenever you've mentioned their antics, you tend to phrase it in terms of computer codes or algorithms rather than what two bodies would be doing. When fiVe says she rigged the video, did she populate it with avatars based on that fan art? It's just mildly confusing because, later, Mira talks about how fiVe's decision should be made on her own time because it was her body. I liked the subtext of the conversation; with the mention of how it will affect fiVe's body and identity, it sounds (to me) as if Sylvie "fixing" fiVe is related to a transidentity- though that might just be something that's been on my mind lately. And, honestly, I think I need to do a refresher in the earlier chapters of this. Emotionally, I can kind of relate Miranda to Reika, but I can't quite recall any other way that the two are similar enough for fiVe to make a connection between them. Scene Four Eh... Okay, let me get this out of the way; I don't think this should be a separate scene. I can fully admit that that's my own biases at play, and it's entirely because of the time stamping. The previous three scenes all had a short 'break' between them, which gave the opening lines a bit of a kick; we were starting in media res, and there was action we missed and we had to be filled in and put it together. This one doesn't fit that model, since it's more like an epilogue to the last scene. I admit, I only skimmed over the time stamps (so the problem is my own), but whenever Miranda mentioned trouble earlier in the day, I expected that to be our missing time; the fact that it wasn't, and that nothing was gone at all, kind of... threw me a little. Besides that though, I did think it was an effective epilogue... but, as I say, it does make me question fiVe a bit. Yeah, she's been a bit aggressive throughout the entire series (albeit it, getting better about it), but her attacking Sylvie's ankles before and forcing her to show her the editing codes seems... worse somehow. Which is silly; she pointed a gun at Sylvie's head, it's hard to get much worse than that. But still... despite the fact that Sylvie is going to change them, I can't help but worry that fiVe is/was going to use those codes to scramble with Vee in some way. Plus... I'm trying to think what the difference is between what she does here and what Sylvie does before, and I'm not totally sure there is one. Granted, Sylvie's blackmail would have resulted in a permanent change, whereas fiVe's is a temporary one; it's arguably more noble, even if it is self-serving. But, possibly because of Sylvie's warning about what the editing codes could be used for... I can't help but feel uncomfortable about fiVe taking advantage of Sylvie's guilt to get them. The last point I really have to make? The Letter. Again, maybe it's just me, but... that letter seems to circle the whole thing back to what Seiko said at the beginning of the Interlude. Yes, it's apologetic... but it's also a little self-pitying, the demands to be shouted at sounds rather self-flagellating, and I can't help but think there's a bit of a tone of passive-aggression. Sylvie Mansen is complex, I guess? Firstly... to you, and the other Scroungers; apologies if I tend to focus a bit much of Sylvie analysis to the detriment of the others. Second... thanks for that. I've said it in the past and I'll say it in the future; I love reading about different ways people write, so I'd be more than happy to hear more about that sort of thing if you guys would be open to it; 17th Shard Sydney Scroungers Q&A, maybe? I... kind of figure I ought to say something else, but I can't think of anything appropriately insightful to say, so I'll... leave this as is. Albeit with the usual compliments; I'm enjoying the campaign you guys are running. You might have different writing styles, and I'll admit there are times when I might wish for more time inside, say, Katie's head or something, but I do think it comes together really well.

Quick, cheap and dirty idea for basic god concepts: Take a typical diety and reverse the gender. I've just been thinking for a while now I'd like to see a story with some of the typical diety tropes turned upside down. One idea I had ages ago was wondering how a female Loki might act; a Tricktrix, rather than a Trickster.

I have been growing increasingly derelict in my duty of reporting and reviewing upon the growing kaiju menace. My bad. Anyway... I'm reading now, so... standard operating procedures are a go. (Also, I'm going off of the Interlude on Ao3, so apologies if some stuff has been added on or posted elsewhere that I'm unaware of. Though a suprirse Scroungers Attack might be fun.) Scene One Hm. Something interesting I just noticed; I'm not sure what Seiko being dressed casually means. More accurately... I had an idea of what that might have been, but then you guys went to the club, and he surprised me with his fashion choice. It makes me rather curious as to what he was wearing to his meeting with Sylvie, and I don't know if I'm disappointed or not; on the one hand, we don't get any details, so even if it was something 'surprising', the narrative doesn't dwell on it, and it kind of fades into the background. On the other... I'd like to see Seiko outside of work. The closest we've gotten to that so far is him at Zhu's place, and now, and both times he's still with his work 'friends'. By contrast, we've seen Sylvie professionally, publicly and privately. I admit, I'd be kind of curious to see some more interludes of some of the Scroungers without the others around, interacting with NPC's. Might provide an interesting perspective on them... Like the fact that Seiko doesn't conciously need to plan out his kills. I don't know if his casual "This is a sub-optimal killing spot" moment would come up in any circumstance where he wasn't on the job, and getting to see how much of a second-nature it's become to him tells a lot about him. Also... I still have mixed feelings on the guy, at least on a personal level. I think the character works well, is played well, and I enjoy reading him... but I find his actual morals and attitude... sketchy. It makes it a little uncomfortable when he's completely right, like he is here. Sylvie has been kind of immature, and the entire way through I found myself agreeing with him... and then he said because, if she didn't fix it, he'd fix it. Permanently. And then I remembered that he's responsible for killing a lot of people, and that is so against my moral compass, even though so far the people he's killed have mostly been people who kind of deserved it, and... Yeah. Morally complex characters, yay. (And learning to kill by dancing? Hilarious, awesome, intriguing, etcetera. I want to see one of his dance recitals. I bet he just killed the judges.) Scene Two Okay, I know I'm mostly used to the head-jumping style of Scroungers. Even so... I kind of found the jump this chapter to be a little bit jarring. The mood change in the first sentance was fine; it worked well, following on from the last one. But... scene one felt like, if it wasn't exclusively in Sylvie's head, it was there 90% of the time. And yes, this chapter still focuses on Sylvie more than the others- at the very least she's the focus of the attention- but reading the two back to back, suddenly dropping into El's head to help with the mats kind of threw me a little. I had a series of jokes for what happened on ring, but I don't know if any of them are reproducible on the forum. I shall simply have to settle for reproaching you guys. What, Seiko can take his shirt off and pin Sylvie, but Sylvie can't to Eleanor? C'mon guys, seriously. So bigoted. Actually, while it is probably entirely the result of post-drift syndrome... Sylvie noticing Seiko reminds me of what I said waaaaay back when I started doing these reviews, regarding the idea of Sylvie and Seiko as a pairing. The brief conversation about whether or not Mira really's Seiko kind of goes against the idea of Sylvie and him getting together in any form, but... I like drama. And it would certainly cause... drama. And... unexpectedly short online time is unexpectedly short. I'll finish up comments on the last two scenes later, sorry about that.

Actually, most of what I've been reading these days has been fanfiction or else comic books. But in terms of actual, hard-copy books? Making very slow progress through Temple of the Winds by Goodkind; slow meaning 'hasn't finished chapter one yet'. The reason for such slowness? "Wow, I haven't even opened Shadow Rising yet. I should probably do that."

Free books? I can get behind that. I don't usually like translated stuff; no matter how it's done, something is going to end up lost in translation, if only because a text assumes a certain cultural awareness. Still, free books are nothing to scoff at, if they are half-decent. Any particular books anyone could recommend? A short novella might be the best palette cleanser after what I'm reading at the moment...

So... that was a thing. Can you hear the enthusiasm dripping from my voice? Avoiding spoilers... it was okay. I mean, I've seen far, far worse films, and Godzilla isn't really bad, it's just... eh. It was an enjoyable way to spend two hours, I guess, and it's certainly better than the 1999 American film. That might be a reason for my general apathy, I suppose. I'm not a Godzilla fan; the only film I've seen was the American one. By contrast, this has a feel of being very much an... American-produced Japanese Godzilla. If you like Godzilla, I imagine you'd enjoy it; there were somethings I picked up on, from reviews/research of old Godzilla movies leading up to this. But I just found it an okay, but unremarkable, experience. So... eh. The monsters were cool. The humans were functional. The film was alright. I certainly wouldn't object to them making a sequel out of it; I just hope that, if they do, they build on what's come before. This movie does have a sense that 'This Is A Big Deal', and it would be cool to examine the idea of living in a Post-Godzilla world.

I'm reading, mostly, DC Comics at the moment. Forever Evil has been... interesting, but a tad disappointing. They seem to have set up a lot of cool ideas with it which won't get paid off, unless we get an Earth-Three comic. I keep meaning to go back and pick up the full StephBats run. I miss that era of Batman; Synder is a good writer, but I found his stuff so... dull in comparision to Morrison's, so I haven't been reading Batman lately. I have been enjoying Lemire's Green Arrow run, but if I'm being honest, that's probably at least as much for the art work as it is for the writing- maybe even more. Licensed materials, I've been picking up the trades of the My Little Pony comics. The quality tends to go up and down quite a bit, but when it's good, it's fantastic. Volume 3 is one of the most enjoyable comic experiences I'v had in a long time.

"Hello! My name is Vera. Would you like to destroy some evil today?"

Do you mind giving out a bit of information about the world? Not enough to spoil the book, obviously; just something to set the 'tone' of it. Do you want Greek-style Soap Operas? Grim dark Viking sagas? Something entirely different?

Actually... I like the idea of Baldwin as Vasher. Jayne looks like a simple-minded thug and layabout. It would make his turn when Vasher starts acting like a scholar and explaining biochroma a lot more surprising and effective.

Temple of the Winds.

Eh... I dunno. Yeah, the people of Arandell weren't expecting a a Winter, but the whole thing last a week, at the outside most. And they aren't unfamiliar with cold conditions. The ice diggers at the beginning clearly have a steady job, the atmosphere is cold enough that there's an official capacity for someone to act as Ice Master, and the sales hut adapted quickly. I'm sure there were some deaths, but I don't think the effects lasted long enough for Elsa to work up a seizable body count.

Shameless plugging! http://www.17thshard.com/forum/topic/7548-discussion-fanfiction-and-literature/ Anyway, I'm generally a lot more positively disposed towards fan fiction these days; I'm writing one of my own for MLP, planning one for Mistborn, enjoyed the SA one posted on this board (Periapsis) and am a big fan of Feathers writing, period. If you want to post fan fiction here, I say go for it- I'd be really curious to see what you create. For names... can you elaborate on the context? Since hemalurgy isn't a 'natural' magic, I don't think it needs it's own name like Ferring/Misting, so depending on how you're using it in the story might determine how it's named.

Are you saying Szeths last name is Stark?

At last, someone with the courage to say what we are all really thinking, and decry WoR as the abomination upon literature that it is! ... I mean... yay, Brandon? (15-20 times? I don't think I've ever reread a book that often.)

Mind if I put my name up for parody? Besides being curious what you come up with, I've been debating getting a new picture for a while. Do you really want to be beaten by a pony?

When Szeth confronts Taravangian, the latter says that one of the Honorblades was stolen. I'm guessing that question was made under the assumption that Hoid was the one who stole it.