Quiver

...the 17th Shard is having a better comic book based discussion than any of the comic book forums I have visited. I'd be surprised, but let's face it. This site is the best.

You are (I assume) combat ready.

That... is a very fair point. One which is predicated on just how much one chooses to view Hydra as symbolic stand ins for Nazi's (at least one version of their origins in the comics has them as a splinter group of SHIELD instead)... But Marvel has really, really tried marketing Hydra as their analogue for Nazi's via their cartoons and movies. As one guy on a forum put it, equating Hydra with Nazi's, then turning around and saying, "What? You thought Hydra were Nazi's? Nah man, they just crazy supervillains!" is pretty damnation disingenuous. I admit, I don't think of Hydra in terms of them being Nazi's; I think of them as generic super terrorists. But I am coming from a very, very different background in that regard.

That face you make when you agree at the last minute to do six extra hours of work and then you make a bunch of mistakes that could cost the company thousands and then you agree to do an extra 12 hour shift which means working 8, 12 hour shifts with only one break and you have stuff, personal stuff, to do as well, like writing, but you're not going to have time to sleep much less do anything else. That face is my face. Help.

So...just wondering. Where do you guys think Baelish falls in terms of culpability? ...not a good way to put it. Let's rephrase; did he know how bad Ramsey was, and so took a calculated gamble with Sansa, or did he just underestimate Ramsey? I find both positions hard to believe; Ramsey has a reputation, after all. But rolling the dice with Sansa seems risky by Baelish's standards, so...I'm left to conclude it was just a poorly conceived plot in the first place.

Sphinx

I...have thoughts on Brandons romances that I'm still trying to get into cogent thought. Short view, romances are the weakest parts of his books, particularly when (like with Zane or the Shalladin situation) they are pushed to the forefront of a book. By contrast his background romances, like Siri and Susebron or Wax and Steris, I find quite...likeable, at least.

I've said it before, Goku is an all around terrible parent. When Vegeta is more involved in his kids life than you are? You officially such at parenting.

I don't mind coming into work to cover you. I'd just like more than 6 hours notice, since, you know. There goes my plans.

I can buy there being some sort of cultural connection between the Dawncities and Elantris (or other Selian architecture). I suppose part of the issue would be, how much of that is intentional. I do feel as if there are a lot of points where Elantris almost reads like a proto-Stormlight in terms of some of the concepts and characters, at least to me... so would Elantris being reminiscent of the Dawncities be an intentional thing, or a case of Brandon drawing upon and refining an earlier influence.

In-universe? He's offically... omnisexual, I think. He comes from the far future, by which point society has gotten to the point that he finds people being given labels quaint and amusing. So omnisexual is kind of "the closest thing we can use to describe him". Jack is awesome. For so many reasons. He was the first mainstream sci-fi character I ever saw who talked about being homosexual in a way that didn't feel seedy or exploitative. I have strong feelings about Jack Harkness.

The weird thing is, there are some Jewish superheroes who have appeared on screen... except that the fact that they are Jewish is never, ever mentioned. Kitty Pryde (Shadowcat) from the X-Men films is Jewish; in fact, she actually got some really neat scenes in the comics which were related to that, both to her dealing with anti-semitism and her trying to wrap her head around the fact that Magneto -who at the time was very firmly in genocidal maniac supervillain mode- was also a Jew who lived through the Holocaust. Ben Grimm, aka The Thing from the Fantastic Four is also, I believe, of Jewish descent... which actually raises a really weird situation, since In-Universe, Ben Grimm is one of the most popular superheroes of all time, while, in our world, the Fantastic Four aren't exactly a best seller...

In Wanda and Pietro's defence, they were both adopted. Pietro's character is usually about angsting over his relationship to Magneto (you know, when he isn't being a smug jerk about how awesome he is), while Wanda tends to emphasize the Roma heritage that she was raised in. The fact that they are Jewish isn't ever really mentioned, since... until they were twenty-some years old, it wasn't a thing they were aware of. ...A story about Wanda or Pietro investigating their roots would have been fascinating, but I don't think it's ever really happened. Also, Wanda and Pietro aren't Magneto's kids anymore (for dumb reasons, which are dumb), so... there's that.

I don't ever really feel like I have good ideas, though is the issue. I admit, I kind of... spitball concepts or random thoughts. But developing them into fll fledged ideas...? I am significantly less good at that.

This is an article I agree with. In fact -and as egotistical as it sounds- it's the thing that I said, from the start, was the most fascinating prospect of having Spidey in the MCU. ...but also, the comments started talking about pop culture in the universe, and wondering what Doctor Who would be like in the MCU and guys? Guys. This is the best thing, I want this so much.

It's...hard to disagree with that sentiment. A guy on another forum was trying to ecruit people for an A Song of Ice and Fire Rpg, and I said it should be set in Dorne, "Cause no matter how badly we do it, we'll still have the satisfaction of being better than TV!Dorne."

...well. At least male and female coaches are paid equally?

Donkey Kong

My brother once got suspended from school. I say this not to denigrate him, and I don't want to give details...but it was on account of an argument between himself and a member of the football team. Both received three day suspensions. The football player was in school for all three of those because they coincided with training. His position on the team was 'subtitute'. I understand school athletes don't have things easy...but the favouritism they got at our school, a school which did not compete at a national level, disgusts me.

Unless you're Reginald Hudlin. In which case, Panther Powers comes from winning a wrestling match. Also, my personal trainer saw Civil War. His reaction? "Not overly impressed". I'm meeting him today, so! Any comments ya'all want me to pass along? : P