Quiver

I really ought to order White Sand sometime. In the meantime, however, welcome! Glad to see someone else who's reading Warbreaker. It's my favourite book, and yet is so under appreciated in the Sandercanon.

What an awesome screen name. Anyway, belated and what not, but hello, welcome, and hope to see you about!

More importantly than 'have you noticed the intricacies of the cosmere' is this question: Do Spren dream of cognitive sheep?

The difference (so far as I understand it) is that the god metals aren't normal. Steel or iron are naturally occurring metals, which appear on a lot of different worlds. Atium and erasing are unique to Scadrial, because they're the physcial aspects of their shard. Being able to create more of them seems unlikely.

In that case, I hope you don't mind if I call you Egghead. You might have noticed from the signature that I'm a little fond of it myself. That list sounds a lot more daunting than it actually is. Each "series" takes place on a different planet within the same universe. The universe has an ongoing storyline, and there is an underlying physics in how everything works; there's a common mechanic as to how all the magic works, for example. There are also some characters who appear on multiple worlds, and hints towards an ongoing story for the universe. That said, it's all background. Each series is stand alone from each other, with it's own plots and characters. The hints of the Cosmere are more like easter eggs for fans who want to draw connections for the series as a whole. If you're curious, the planets and their series are labelled below: Spoiler-free... Mistborn would be a good place for a budding Cosmere egghead to start.

If it's any consolation Zionite, I feel you're pain. I really disliked Eye of the World, and it took me a while to make myself start the next book. That being said, while there are some moments in The Great Hunt that aren't great I did think it was a big step up from the first one, particularly towards the end. It has some interesting ideas, and really epic moments. The Dragon Reborn was great. Like you, I'm not a fan of Rand, but his role in this book is pretty awesome. I would suggest reading the first three; the ending of TDR leaves stuff for the rest of the series, but it seems more-than-possible to just tinker with some things and consider it a capstone to a trilogy.

I can't tell if your username is a reference to the Twilight books, or to Twilight Sparkle. Either way, welcome! If you've read The Emperor's Soul, you might be interested in checking out Elantris. It was Brandon's first novel, and it's set in the same world as TES. If you want to get a taste of Brandon's writing quickly, I'd recommend downloading Warbreaker. What's that, promoting piracy on the offical fan forum? No! Because Warbreaker- a standalone fantasy novel, and one of my personal favourites- is available to download from Brandon's website. Alternatively, you might want to check out Mistborn: The Final Empire. That book suckered me in with it's high concept tag line: what if the Dark Lord won.

The Shadow Rising. Dunno when I'll get around to reading it...but I have it.

Oh dear. Claincy mentioned Shallarin. Any moment now, Feather will swoop in with 'Now that I glow too' already recorded, posted and trending on Brandon's twitter. For some reason, I imagine the prologue of Les Miserables would translate pretty well for Kaladin, either as his slave days, or his time on Bridge Four before being freed by Dalinar. EDIT Also trying to edit All Along the Watchtower to be relevant to the Well of Ascension.

First things first; I have no idea what a periapsis is. Second, you managed to post this right when I'm starting to get interested in fan fiction again. I'd have read it anyway, but still; kudos. Onto actual story comments... Well, I like it. I've mentioned elsewhere that, with Brandon, I tend to think the best way to write fan fiction is either to use original characters in his setting, or to just go the AU route, and a space opera SA fits the second. As Weiry and Joe said, the brief glimpse we get here makes the setting sound fascinating; presumably this story is going to be Shasnah-focused, but I think I'd be interested in seeing you expand this setting into the rest of the Archives. For some reason I picture Parshmen/Stormform as semi-Borgish... And on the topic of setting, I liked how you turned important things, like the Kharbarenth citadel or Pattern into things that fit with the space opera setting. Characters are the most interesting part if an AU, and something I'll comment on more later, since I don't think there's enough here to judge Shallan or Jasnah. I'm not completely sold on Yalb, but that's partly because I couldn't remember who he was; he's the kid who escorted Shallan, correct? The way you set him up, I'm guessing he's going to have more screen time and be more active than he was in the book. Periapsis!Yalb is actually kind of fun. I don't know if it's intentional or not, but the roboarm made me think of the Winter Soldier, so that's who he is fancast as. My only reservation with him is that he seems very diverged from his canon counterpart, further than I would have expected. As for the writing itself, I liked it. Sic-if isn't really my thing, but the description of the spinning gravity...things, and the sheer size gave it a huge epic feel. I also loved the description of Kabsals name tag as being 'florid'; another personal preference, but it just kind of seems like an awkward or glaring word to me, which makes him stand out more as an awkward and unpleasant person. And now we shall watch as Periapsis!Kabsal is both heroic and noble.

We're getting away from cosmere puns again? I'm starting to see a Pattern here...

Not a lyric writer, so just tossing this out for someone who might be: 'A Whole New World', sung by Hoid. Only lines I can think of would go like this: A whole new World! A brand new magic I've never seen!

Gavilar also thought Restares might have been responsible for his murder, and Restares seems to be operating with Amaram. Honestly... I don't have time right now to make the full argument. But despite this same line of arguing leading nowhere with Amaram, I'm going to give Gavilar the benefit of the doubt. He had his hands in a lot of plots, given his connections with the Parshendi, the Diagram, the Sons of Honor and wherever-it-was he got his black stone from. I need to make a post sometime to articulate my feelings on the subject, but I suspect that Gavilar was using these forces to achieve his own goal; it's even possible that he named the people he did when he was assassinated because he thought that it must have been one of those organisations exacting retribution for him double-crossing them.

A question for you: what do you want this to be or to say? I'm still working on stuff to critique about it, but one of the points which has stands out to me is the issue of structure- namely that a short story, a prologue and a prelude (to me) are all different things. What you want to achieve with any one of those is in conflict with the others, and trying to match all three sort of weakens the story as a whole. Now, bare that 'to me' in mind, because everythign I'm going to say is coming from my own (kinda wrong-headed) interpretation of things. A short story is a complete story in and of itself. It can take place in an established setting (like the Rysn interlude for Roshar), but the important thing is that it stands alone, as a singular piece. And this, to me, doesn't quite do that. We'd need a bit more concrete information on the worldbuilding; what is a Fusewarden? What is a Glyphwarden? What's a Sunderer? What is the significance of the temple, or the voices inside Alvondir's mind? A Prelude is seperate from a prologue, in that it's a stand-alone begining to a larger series, and if that's the case, I kind of see two ways this might be re-structured. The first would be to trim out everything before Alvondir's arrival at the temple, and elaborate on that aspect of it, raising the readers curiosity and questions; what are the voices in his head? Who is this mysterious figure who intervened? It doesn't overwhelm the reader with details, and provides a glimpse into (what I'm assuming) is the meta-plot of the series. The alternative (and the way I'd do it if I was writing this story) might be to present it from a different POV; namely that of Skanev. You tell us that he is Alvondir's 'most hated servant', and he seems to recipricate the feeling. The ending has the twist that everyone believes Alvondir saved the world when he actually didn't; perhaps you could try playing on that? What I mean is... write the prelude from Skanev's POV. A servant whose lords were just assassinated, who now finds himself under the command of an incompetent general. There's a lot of stuff that you could explore there; the fact that Alvondir is so bad at tactics that Skanev has to correct him, the resentment that must have been left when Alvondir abandoned them mid-fight... and then the epic moment of realisation at the end, when Alvondir returns as a hero, forcing Skanev to see him in a new light. You could have Alvondir protest his status (which would still generate mystery for the readers), and if you wanted to show the trials that Alvondir went through in the desert, you could insert them as interlude-like scenes throughout the narrative, expanding on what, exactly, is going on and contrasting the relaity of the situation to what everyone thinks happened.

Oh right. Strange. I know Thunderclasts pull themselves out of the ground, and were made of rock, but for some reason I still had the thought that you could cut them and make them bleed... even though Shardblades are the only thing that could cut rock. That was odd.

Neat idea! Have you seen the songs people have already performed? I know I've seen a Spook version of Let it Go, and FeatherWriter sung a Survivorist hymn sometime around Christmas,..

I remember assuming the purple blood belonged to the Thunderclasts.

An odd problem (of sorts) that's been happening to me a few times, including just now. I'll try to create a private conversation with someone; type up the content, give it a title, all that stuff. Click send. And instead it brings up a message saying the action failed... Except when I check my conversations, it seems to have been sent.

. It was measured

So close to the magic number! Unless you're going by Stephen King logic, in which case 19 is the magic number, and the cosmere is going to end in an extremly unsatisfying manner. Nothing much else to say though. There are fantasy epics which have the villain introduced early though; how quickly is Sauron mentioned in Lord of the Rings? Or the Forsaken in Eye of the World? Or the White Walkers in ASOIAF? Honestly... I like Stormlight Archive, don't get me wrong... but it seems like the most 'traditional' of Brandon's books, so I'm not sure if we can rule out Odium as the real Bad. That said, I don't think he is. Maybe he's the Big Bad of Stormlight Archive, but for the rest of the Cosmere? My bets are either on whatever force shattered Adonalsium or Banadin as a Franchise Villain.

Hmm. I wonder if that might be a topic that gets covered in Stones Unhallowed or a different future book; unchanged Parshendi/Parshmen arriving at Uritheru seeking Sanctuary from the Everstorm, and the resulting political fallout from it. It would be kind of an interesting way to keep the divisions between the peoples going, and it might be an interesting reversal from earlier; the Highprinces who were insistent on not getting rid of their Parshmen turning against them, Dalinars struggling with whether or not to take the chance and try to save them.

Holy topic revival, Batman! Yes, I've still been watching MLP:FiM. As a matter of fact, I haven't posted any analysis because I've not just been watching the episodes- I've turned into a full-on Brony, reading fan fiction, analysis and other things connected to the series. If not for the fact that it goes with the name (and builds my brand recognition), I'd probably have changed my profile picture by now. Heck, I still might do that once I hit a certain number of posts and replace Green Arrow with Best Pony, Anyway, because it's so long overdue, I figured I'd add another text analysis. This isn't my first impressions of the episode, since I saw it weeks ago and have watched it a few times since then, but is still a fairly accurate representation of my thoughts on the episode in question: Return of Harmony. (And even though it's a two parter, I'm going to treat it as a single, longer-than-average episode, because that's how I watch it.) Summary After a school trip is disrupted by the Cutie Mark Crusaders, an old enemy of Celestias is released. He is Discord (voiced by John DeLancie), and the danger he poses is sufficient that Celestia summons the mane six to turn the Elements of Harmony upon him. Unfortunately, Discord has already stolen the Elements and hidden them. He challenges the six to find them, during the course of which he corrupts them. Finally, upon being reminded of the power of friendship, the girls reunite, combine their power, and leave Discord stoned. Brief summary? Yeah. BECAUSE I LOVE THIS EPISODE. Look, the plot? It's simple and straightforward. But that's good in this case because the episode is so much fun that it doesn't need a dense! Machiavellian plot. Arguably, that 's part of the point. Discord is simple; he's Chaos personified. So the plot of the episode is correspondingly simple. As for reviews, starting with the elephant in the room; John DeLancie. His character is often described as an MLP equivalent of Q, but that's a comparison I don't agree with. For a start, TNG is one of my least-favourite Trek series. Secondly, while the characters both have that 'chaps trickster god' aspect to them, and the ability to warp reality, they don't have that much else in common. For a start, Q appears as a human to the crew of the Enterprise; his meta plot is that he is judging humanity, seeing of they should be made extinct or not. Because of his appearance, he's implicitly a hint towards the future of what humans could be; godlike, all powerful, but with no sense of morality. Picard has to temper that and, arguably, by his last appearance Q (and the entirety of the Continuum) have mellowed. Discord is nothing like the ponies of Equestria. His species has a vaguely similar name, but that's it. He's a mishmash of different animals, put in a blender and stitched back together. He is antithetical to the Pony way of life; when Nightmare Moon or Sombra returned, she was cool and calm. With Discord? She flips out worse than Kaladin at seeing a light eyes. It isn't the exasperation or irritation that Picard had for Q; it's outright contempt. And that contempt works because of how DeLancie voices his character. Discord is, at once, more simple and more malevolent than Q. When he's being playful or exuberant, he sounds cheerful, but when he's malevolent -such as the riddle-scene- his voice is somewhat terrifying. I'd compare deLancies Doscord to Mark Hamils Joker; they can both flip on a dime. The strong vocal work extends to the rest of the cast, as well. Hearing and seeing an angry Celestia fleshes her character out a bit, but the main attraction is the Discorded Mane Six. I'm a big fan of mirror-verse type episodes, so seeing these characters act out the reverse of their virtues was lots of fun. Liarjack and Fluttercruel stood out in particular; maybe it was because of the lines, but those two sounded completely different, whereas the others sounded like a variation on their normal voice. Honestly, the episode was comedic gold, and it's one of the ones I keep a copy of for when I'm depressed. It's full of funny moments, like Discord moonwalking on Twilight's head. Despite the comedy of Discord, Twilight is the humour catalyst for the episode. Her interaction with the Discorded!Five is hilarious, particularly in regards to Tom, and I found her description of the elements funny as well. She's the straight man to to cast and, in something like this when the joke is how crazy everything else is, their usually the funniest. The episode also cleared up something that had been bothering me; how magic fit into the Elements. The other five are qualities of friendship, but magic seemed rather forced. This episode made me realise that 'magic' meant being able to see and appreciate things around you since, when Twilight finally turns, she holds her head down, speaks quietly and doesn't seem aware of anything around her. She doesn't have a plan; she just wants away. It's a interesting mix of cynicism and depression, and it made her moment of realisation, regaining her colour while she remembered the good times, all the more emotionally fulfilling. As someone who very easily gets discouraged or upset, I found it emotionally cathartic when Twilight dragged herself out of her emotional spiral. Restoring the remaining elements was...perhaps a bit convenient. Again, it led to some funny moments, like Liarjacks version of what happened when they challenged Discord or the chase to catch Traitordash, but it wasn't as rousing as Twilight's moment was, and the victory over Discord at the end was somewhat rote. That said though, I still loved this episode, it has such a different look to the rest of the series, with the chaos capital of the world, that it is, in some way, just more appealing. It was emotionally satisfying, funny, and I enjoyed it, and since this is my thread, I suppose my word goes, doesn't it? ; )

Yes, tagging my topic titles with square brackets is a thing I do now, tagging topic titles with square brackets is cool. Okay, so... I joke because I get nervous. Sorry. Anyone who knows me knows that I'm a bit...er...anxious. I get worried over lots of stuff very easily, particularly stuff that I don't understand, especially when it's to do with modern technology- I'm something of a Luddite. Saying that... Well, I read something the other day about a computer problem called Heartbleed? And it can access your passwords or something? The or something part is my problem. I don't understand this thing, at all, and that makes me worried- very worried. So I thought I'd throw it out here, to try and get it answered by some members of the forum and set my mind at rest. What is Heartbleed and how does it work, in terms someone who doesn't understand computers could understand? All I use my computer for is websites and forums (no eBay or commercial uses), so is it necessary for me to change my passwords? Do. I need to change my passwords for everything (ie: one affected site means all of them are contaminated) or just for the web forums in question?

375 is confirmed as the starting point for an Artifabrian.

Disclaimer The following is intended to promote discussion on the variety of opinions and viewpoints on the issue of fan fiction, it is not an attack on any individual, or individuals, or on the subject of fanfics. It is intended to encourage people to chime in with thoughts, from both sides of the debate. Thought this might be an interesting topic for discussion; does writing Fanfiction count as 'real' writing? And does reading or writing fan fiction help or hinder someone's creativity/legitimacy as an author? I've seen different views and opinions on the subject. On the one hand, it can be a pretty easy way to get started writing; I got my start writing really bad X-Men fan fiction, and as a matter of fact, the amount of writing I've done over the years has somewhat declined in proportion to the amount of Fanfiction I consume- I've always found it a lot easier to work and twist ideas already suggested by canon rather than create new ones. And is that really wrong? I'm not trying to profit off affection for the cosmere, or superman, or MLP. It's just a means of encouragement, a way of getting the kick that starts it off. It lets the hypothetical me practice storytelling techniques with a (relatively) ready-made audience. Aside from the fact that I live off attention! it's a lot easier to get feedback about what you're doing right, what you're doing wrong, etc when you have a large audience consuming your work- and if there's one thing fandoms generate, it's audiences. There's also an issue with regards to the quality of fan fiction because- and this is directly related to why I stopped reading it- most Fan fiction is awful. Seriously. Painfully awful. But that doesn't mean the isn't good fan-written stories as well. I mentioned MLP because, lately, I've been reading some very well done Fanfiction related to that universe, Fanfiction which has sparked my curiosity and given me an idea for my own Ponyfiction. To use a subject more relevant to this board, the first series of fictions displayed in FeatherWriters fan club post are cosmere fan fictions- fan fictions which I enjoyed. This forum has a section for both writing groups and for cosmere fan fiction. Not to mention the fact that, in completing The Wheel of Time, it could be argued that Brandon has participated in fan fiction. After all, he's expressed his affection for the series many times, and his notes on completing the series mentions that, while he was working to Jordan's general design, he included his own thoughts (I think? I admit, I haven't those articles in a while)... Besides Wheel of Time, though, there are published novels which could be considered fan fiction. Fifty Shades of Grey began life as a Twilight fan fiction, and I believe I read somewhere that Mortal Instruments has a connection to the. Harry Potter community in some way. And what are the various Sherlock Holmes pastiches, if not commercially printed fanon? Even so, while some authors seem supportive of the fandom movement, I've seen others who are extremely critical of it. George R R Martin, in particular, seems really strongly against it. I can't cite sources (and if I'm wrong, please tell me so I can correct it!), but I'm sure I've seen comments issued by him along the lines of dissuading people from writing Westeros-based fiction or using his characters, on the basis that character creation. Is one of the fundamental parts of story telling. And... well, I can't rogue with that logic. It is good to encourage creativity, so does that mean fan written stories, by their nature, are inherently worse than original writings? What are you're thoughts? Is fan fiction something that should be encouraged and embraced, or the sort of thing that isn't 'real' writing?