Quiver

Hmm. Actually... I didn't research this, but I happened to read an essay on something which has directed me to the concept of 'splitting'; basically, it's a psychological coping mechanism, where a person identifies others as being all good, or all bad. (Grossly simplified) I've already kind of been playing with the idea that Lyla is, in some ways, 'broken', or at least manic; my mental image of her is that she smiles a little too wide, here eyes are a little too staring. But given her epic fanness, and the doctor it seems all encompassing... Well, I'm wondering if splitting makes sense as a coping mechanism for her. She was a kid, growing up in the Dalles, under a tyrant epic. Would her developing that as a coping mechanism and applying it to everyone - epics are good, vanilla's are bad- make sense? of course, splitting is, apparently, a symptom of borderline personality disorder. And other symptoms include 'severe impulsibility', "intense emotional responses that seem disproportionate to the event', and distortion of identity, whichmight be reflected in her wishing she was an epic, so... Yeah. Wondering if I should pursue this.

@Oversleep During the 70's or 80's, Tony handed the Iron Man mantle to a then-new character by the names of Rhodey. When Tony took it back, Rhodes became War Machine instead. Funnily enough, Marvel's relaunch is going to feature two new Iron Characters taking up Tony's legacy. A new character, named Riri, is headlining one book...which Victor Von Doom has the other. As for other characters, Mestiv made the branding argument.  Besides that, it tends to be a case of characters wanting to honour their predecessor and their legacy, and the character has (implicitly) been groomed to one day take the mantle. For instance, Wally West was Kid Flash, so it made sense for him to graduate up to the Flash. Dick is actually a really interesting case, in that (in-universe) no one really wanted him to be Batman, least of all Bruce. Grant Morrison's Batman and Robin run -which is excellent, and highly recommended- touches upon that. Bruce himself doesn't want anyone to be Batman; his video will even flat out told Dick that Nightwing was better than he was. In fact, it's notable that every Robin has gone on to forge their own hero identity. True, it's partly because DC isn't going to step on Bruce's toes...but in universe, Robin is best viewed as an apprenticeship. Dick, Jason, Tim and Stephenie have all gone on to their own codenames after their stints. So why be Batman? Because someone has to. Batman is a legend in Gotham. When Dick thought Bruce was dead, he hesitated about taking the name, but ultimately decided that the city needed a Batman. There's an...image, a mystique, a legend based around the Batman which Nightwing, simply, doesn't have. And when Bruce came back, he acknowledged that, which is what led to the whole Batman International thing. I do find Dick a really interesting character, and there is a line in the recent Nightwing Rebirth which addresses it, where he says that he's had a lot of roles -Robin, Nightwing, Batman, Agent 37- but he has always been Grayson. So...Yeah. Dick see's a value in the concept of Batman, which is part of why he adopted the mantle. (And he was the best Batman.)

Digimon!

I'm a fan of audio dramas, and I'm a fan of podcasts, so I might have stumbled across these by accident, but I'm really glad I did. And, being as this is the 17th Shard, I figured I'd open the floor to see if anyone else was a fan of these shows. So, what are they? Well, Pacific Northwest Stories is a series of docudrama podcasts under the PNWS branding. At the moment, they have two shows available to listen to; The Black Tapes Podcast, and Tanis. The Black Tapes follows a producer, Alex Regan, as she investigates a paranormal investigator, and his collection of supernatural events, refered to as 'The Black Tapes'... and, I'll just add, there is a lot of horror in this show. Anyone who has listened to it probably knows what I'm talking about, and I don't want to ruin the surprise for anyone who hasn't, but... yeah. Brr. At the moment, I've finished Season 1, and I'm planning on starting season 2, just as soon as I get through Tanis. Like the Black Tapes, Tanis has a lot of horror, but it's more based around a supernaural conspiracy. Like Black Tapes, it grounds itself in the real world, probably even more so than it's sister series; real life people and locations get thrown around a lot in the show, which really adds to the immersion of it. I actually prefer the Black Tapes, but that comes down to personal preference, and if you're a fan of conspiracy stories, Tanis should be right up your alley. At the moment, I'm (slowly) making my way through season 1, and enjoying it. So... yeah. Has anyone else listened to either of these shows?

@TwiLyghtSansSparkles Personally, I don't think you should go the 'legacy hero' route... but that's for my own personal hangups. A lot of superhero fiction "starts" in the 1940's, and having a legacy hero step in already seem's like really rapid turnover in my opinion. ...But yeah, that's my only objection, from a comic booker standpoint. Addressing the fact that there was a different minister, whether that's in a foreword, appendix, or some kind of in-character reference might be the best way to go? Point out to people reading that "This is a work o fiction, but there is a lot of really real, and important, history in this area, which you can find by checking out X, Y and Z" or something...

Your essay on the downfall of the Knights Radiant just wasn't up to Jasnah's standards, Elend. 1.Kelsier 19 HP 2. Kaladin 28 HP 3. Vin 11 HP 4. Elend 2 HP 5. Shallan 19 HP 20. Marsh 22 HP 25. Jasnah 24 HP

Jeez. Sorry, ya'all. Saying 'I've been busy' doesn't quite wash as an excuse since I've been online, but... Yeah. Sorry. Many andvery and much. I'll...try ad get posts for all my stuff up soon.

Well, at least I managed to do one thing right! ...seriously, um. Yeah. Sorryfor the off topic ramblings. I talk to much.

I've been meaning to get started on this for a while. Hoping to watch season 1 today or tomorrow. I shall report my findings!

@Edgedancer Yeah, to both those accounts. There is literally no statement that has no controversy on a comic book forum. ("I like comics" would immediately be followed by people demanding what comics, arguing over companies, and at least one guy saying that every Marvel and DC book since about the mid-80'sa are basically trash. ) But, yeah. People will argue that pants aren't a part of the "iconic" look, and then someone will point out that the "classic" costume had a skirt instead of leotards and that might be read as sexist, and then the debate about heroines showing skin and... Yeah. I love comic books, but a lot of the time, watching fans is like watching a slow motion car crash.

To be fair, she's also had some awful designs, too. I didn't even post the 90's look she had (since...you know. The 90's.) But, I think there is a reason for the consistency though, related to this: NEVER SAY THAT ON A COMIC BOOK FORUM. See, here's the thing. Wonder Woman is awesome. She's strong, she's noble, she's heroic...but in 75 years, she's never had 'The Story'. You know, that one great piece which defines the character, that one story people will point to as a guiding stone for how the character should be, the tale that sets the bar and tops the list of Wonder Woman recommended reading. Superman has All-Star Superman, or Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow. Batman has the Dark Knight Returns. Spider-man has The Night Gwent Stacey Died. The X-Men have The Days of Future Past. Now, each of those characters have great runs, of course, and Diana has those too.Greg Rucka and Gail Simone are both held up as critically acclaimed writers for the book. But Wonder Woman herself has never had the single, all encompassing story to guide her canon, which has led to her having (probably)one of the most fractious fanbases in DC. Everytime a new writer comes onto the book, they end up redefining some part of her character or origin. In particular, the main problem is 'Is Diana a warrior or not'. There are fans who will dig their heels in with the opinion that Wonder Woman should be a non-violent hero who solves problems through love and understanding, and there are fans who believe that Wonder Woman is an Amazon, raised in a warrior culture, so her not fighting is ridiculous. That's nor even getting into the 'loving submission' doctrine that the original stories promote, or the fact that Wonder Woman is meant to be a perfect woman so what does that mean, and... Yeah. Yikes. Point is, I've seen entire flame threads based around the question of "Should Wonder Woman wear pants". So, you know. If you're on a comic book forum, don't mention that. (I like the Odyssey look, but personally? I liked the New 52 look. They keep coming up with reasons to "explain" it, but I've never liked the fact that Wonder Woman wears a costume based on the American flag. The New 52 look is less specific in that regard. Rebirth is looking decent, though.)

I think you need to be more specific with this, Delightful. Was it classic Wonder Woman? Secret Agent Wonder Woman? Odyssey Wonder Woman? New 52 Wonder Woman? DCYou Wonder Woman? Rebirth Wonder Woman? And I mean, I haven't even started on the number of costumes Donna Troy or Cassie Sandmark have had over the years... (Of course, whatever Wonder Woman it is, you end up with awesome theme music, whether it's for television or cinema, so, you know. That's great.) I AM A COMIC BOOK DORK, YOU CAN'T STOP ME COMIC BOOKING

I don't get it. Shouldn't Rapidash or Ponyta be leading team Harmony? ...but seriously, not available yet, dunno if I'll get it when it is.

Sadly, I have zero opinions on Beyonce, Joe Bidden or...plastics? They're from a movie, right? Guess I'm not American enough for Eaglecrest.

@Delightful Nope. The current status quo for Superman, going forward, seems to be about expanding the Superman family line: - The Clark Kent from a parallel universe (where he married Lois Lane and had a son) is joining the Justice League and heading up the Superman title. -Lex Luthor seems to be heading up Action Comics, and he's adopted the name and image of his "dear departed friend" Superman. -Kenan has his own book, as above. -Lois Lane is getting super powers, and going to start staring in her own book, Superwoman. -Supergirl is getting another comic this audutmn,featuring her protecting National City in conjunction with the DEO; basically, appealing for fans of the show. -Superman's Son (Jon) and Batman's Son (Damien) are staring in their own title now, too. So far, no one knows Kenan even exist, but once they do? It'll be interesting to see how they react to him. We have no idea what his powers or limits are, though. He got his powers since the Ministry of Self-Reliance claimed to have a way to replicate Superman's powers... but they stopped the experiment before it could be finished. The issue ended with him exhibiting flight and heat vision, but we don't know what other powers he has, or how strong they are, and we have no idea what kryptonite would do to him. (My guess is... nothing. Kryptonite affects Kryptonians because they are aliens, whereas Kenan is human. Unless this experiment changed that, he should be in the clear. On the other hand, I can't see someone giving Superman powers to a kid with no way to control him, and Dr Omen seemed convinced Bat-Ma and Wonder-Woman could take Kenan down if necessary, and I'm sorry. I'm gushing about comics again, aren't I?)

Because that isn't Clark Kent? Introducing Kong Kenan, the Super-Man of China! See, the story takes place after Superman died (did I forget to mention that? Superman is dead. Except there's another Superman from a maybe-parrallel-timeline taking over for him) anyway, this is after Superman died, and Kenan has gotten tangled up in a Shadowy Government Conspiracy (is there any other kind?) to give him all the powers of Superman, so he can be a symbol for the people and join the Justice League of China. Also, the Bat-Man and Wonder-Woman of China were there. ...Admittedly, I'm not entirely sure why they felt the need to clarify they were the Chinese versions of the characters in that last panel? The comic is set in China -to the point that the editors boxes note that unless otherwise stated, all the dialogue is in Mandarin- so I would have taken their roles as read, but, whatever. Point is, comic I liked. More in depth reasons... the book set's up a world which is utterly removed from the rest of the DC Universe, so hopefully, that means less crossovers. But besides that, I like how it takes a lot of the classic Superman tropes and ideas -a plane, the mad scientist, the working-class background- and twists it just slightly. Kenan is... well, he's kind of a chull. But he's a jerk in a way that is very, very relatable, a way which even he notes is basically him doing bad things for no good reason. He's... Well, he's kind of a chull. But he shows enough self-awareness and (buried) remorse for it that it doesn't make him changing impossible. Basically, he's a three dimensional character, and I am intrigued.

You know that scene in Avengers, when Tony tells Thor "Don't touch my stuff." That's my life. I've said before, I'm OCD about things. The big one is touching things. I don't think touching this (or people), and I don't like people touching my things (or me). So, with that in mind, how do you guys thing I felt coming home from work to find my room redecorated? Urgh. I hate how ungrateful I sound. My room got redecorated! There was a lot of effort put into that! But... But all I can think about is how they touched my new, or touched my books, or walked over my floor, dragging dirt everywhere, and I have to use that stuff now, and, and Yeah. I'm...annoyed at myself.

Just read sme of my comic pulls from this week. GUYS. .NEW SUPER-MAN IS SO GOOD. ...well, okay. It isn't THE GREATEST COMIC EVER or anything. But it is a very solid opening issue, introducing a world with lots of potential, and a main character with depth. I liked it.

I haven't found a good Green Arrow pony yet, or I'd split the difference with that.:ph34r:

Speaking of changing for relationships... Does anyone have any advice on how to be less neurotic? I, um...imagine it's not an attractive trait.

...so. Kinda want to write a fic about Raven in Equestria now.

wow. i just got a whole new appreciation for this site. So, I signed up for another forum and...wow. The attitude is just so...different. At best, it's less welcoming, at worst, barely restrained venom and backbiting. I am so glad 17th Shard exists.

@TwiLyghtSansSparkles I an convinced that fic is a troll work. It...it can't be serious. Also, The Flash spoilers.