Quiver

Just finished the Legends of Tomorrow pilot. Some spoilers, but only for the first two episodes of it, Smallville and the Justice League cartoon.

Well, I just finished the first half of Legends pilot. I'm saving a full reaction until I finish both, but... Does Rip Hunter remind anyone else of John Constantine? I wonder how much of an influence he was on the character since -show premise aside- Rip reminds me of him more than he does the Doctor.

Afraid I have to disagree with you, Kaymyth. I've only read Storm Front, and the first third of Fool Moon and... I thought they weren't good. Not BAD, necessarily...but Storm Front didn't particularly engage me, for a whole bunch of spoilerific reasons. I liked Fool Moon more, but again, dropped it for spoiler reasons, and because I just wasn't INTO it enough to justify continuing when I had other things I DID want to get too. Which is a shame, because I've heard it's a good series.

I think the keypoint there is that the people had to set up settlements they were happy with. That immediately opens up the possibility of rules and laws in one settlement being different from another (like ownership laws, or minority treatment for instance), all if which ends up promoting the idea of a personal moral code and decisions as being higher in value than the laws of a government hundreds of thousands of miles away which doesnt reflect your personal reality and situation on the ground. Or, put it another way, the entirety of Serenity. (Note, I'm not agreeing with that philosophy... But that's always the impression I've gotten.)

Exactly my point really. There are heroes who operate outside the government in British culture -Robin Hood, for instance, the Doctor as another- but by aand large, European heroes are based within their cultures and governments. Heck, the signature British hero is Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table; very explicitly "Inside" the establishment, or being part of the government. America has that, too, but there's much more willingness to have people operate outside those structures, as you outlined: sure, sherrifs and frontiersmen are (nominally) authorised by local authorities...but a big part of the American identity is the Independance of it. It's fundamentally different from England. (Scotland and Ireland are different stories, but...for simplicity, let's stick with England as synonymous with Britain). Honestly, I've wanted to do a story about American and British superheroes for a while. The Secret Identity is a very American trope whereas British heroes (like Sherlock Holmes) tend to be more public figures...but that's a whole other topic of discussion I think.

That's why I wonder how intentional it is. Britain and America are different, in very many ways; but it doesn't necessarily sound as if Magic!America...feels right? Not sure how to put it. There's a difference between a different "universe" in terms of tone, people, myths and legends and cultural reactions, and a straight up different universe, and it kinda sounds like this is the latter? Like, if it weren't Rowling writing it, it would necessarily be Harry Potter so much as another urban fantasy story. ...incident my, wizard cowboys. Was that mentioned at all? Because that could be interesting, if the American wizards are more paranoid because they have a longer history of vigilante-ism than the British ones do. (Though, the Brits seem to take potential Wizard Vigilantes like Dumbledore and Harry and bring them into the establishment...not to mention making "wizard superheroes" a government sanctioned thing in the firm of aurors).

Huzzah! I could talk for ages about it, but I'll just saw look up "The Transformed Man" series on Comics Alliance. The guy blogged his way through the series, and that enthusiasm is what got me reading it. Anyway. Harry Potter. It sounds like the American side is a whole different universe. Not necessarily a bad idea, but I don't know how intentional that is... Isn't Fantastic Beasts set in the 50's or something though? I wonder how much of the inconsistencies can be explained away as "X happened later as a result of these films". It doesn't explain everything -case in point, 'Skinwalkers'- but other stuff might be explainable that way? Like No-Maj's becoming more skeptival coinciding with the 90's and the ruse of absurdist conspiracy theorist types, or the 50's having the magic equivalent of a Red Scare to explain the magic secrecy clamp down and No-Maj paranoia... Actually, there's a thought: does America have it's version of 'The Two Ministers'? How would a No-Maj president react to the magical community in the McCarthy years? Or have American wizards basically segregated themselves from muggles, so they don't trust them enough to reveal themselves to the government? Might explain the extreme secrecy if they are, effectively, an underground government...

Can I take a second to recommend something that is stellar at world building, has fascinating characterisation and plotting, is very LGBT friendly, and manages all of the above while being based on a franchise and universe that has existed for nearly 30 years? Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye. That comic is fantastic, and more people should read it.

How far has she covered in years? It sounds like she's missing an opportunity to really play with fun conspiracy tropes which are -if not quintessential, then at least more- American than British. I mean...am I the only one imagining magic as an X-File?

I can't help but see "evil teammate" and misread the name as Sylar. Sorry. This...sounds disappointing. Especially since urban magic in the 1920's would be so cool. I remember a friend of mine who once posited the idea of doing vampires in Prohibition, which was cool... But damnation. Sounds like you are especially unhappy with this worldbuilding. I wonder how much Rowling is being tied by the studio, though? Since this trilogy started as a movie, rather than a book... Doesnt excuse her, of course...but I'm curious how much of this was her idea, and how much comes from them.

Juuuust saw an article about it on Tor. Yikes. People sound...unhappy.

Uh. What? Sorry, has Rowling done something about American wizards and I missed it?

I. What. Guys. Guys. I was kidding. I just tried to sound serious so the absurdity would be funnier. That was just me laughing over the fact I am (apparently) imiyating the dubious example and lifestyle choices of an Orwellian blonde woman.

So, guys, I have a major change I want to make for Sentry, and I figure I ought to get permission from you guy's. Or, not so much a change, as an addition? Namely, I wanted to give her a sidekick. I tend towards being really wordy, talking and excitable, which... doesn't exactly mesh with the image I want Sentry to have. So, I was thinking of adding an aide; someone who smiles a lot, is super excited and enthusiasti, and kind of a dork. And also, is Lyra Heartstrings. Now, you all may say that adding a straight-up pony to the setting doesn't make sense. Allow me to explain my reasoning: I am playing Sentry's power almost like a CCTV camera. I have been inactive lately because I have a job at a security company, where my job duties involve monitoring CCTV camera's. Clearly Salem has some reality warping going on, and life is imitating art. Therefore, I wish to exploit this situation to get myself Best Pony. (Seriously, it might have been the insomnia, but I suddenly realized this morning my job? Is Sentry's job. I was stunned.)

My impression -from Dalianr's sentiments when digging the latrine- is that the difference between masculine and feminine arts comes down to 'Msculine Arts Destroy, Feminine Arts Create'. So, men get warfare, because that involves violence and breaking things, while women get music and arts, because they involve making things. Now, why that divide appeared, considering there are (or were) female Knight Radients in combat orders? I'unno.

Speaking of the first episode, it's marked up as 'Pilot Pt 1'. So. I'm hopefully gonna get it watched after work tomorrow, but I'm gonna leave any comments, reviews and analyses until I can watch both halves. ...though, disappointing to hear Savage hasn't improved from the crossover episode. He wasn't the most impressive villain there; he came across more like a stalker than the uncontrollable id I usually imagine.

So... I like reviewing things. Or, rather, I like trying to review and analyze things. The actual results aren't ever really as good as they should be, wgich isn't my point right now. My point is...well, for a while now, I've been debating whether or not to try and do more of it. Specifically, Ive been thinking of starting a topic on this forum for me to post my ramblings and reviews about...whatever I feel like talking about, or whatever you guys would like requested. And yeah, it's logic that I've tried doing before. This would be a more serious push to actually do it right for once. So. Bullseye. Lian Yu. Quiver's Corner. Whatever I decided yo call it. Would you guy's be interested in hearing my reviews and ramblings, or is this entirely just a vanity project?

I'm having one of those days where I'm worrying about whether or not people like me, and am I annoying, and should I just stop being me, followed by hyperventillation. Yay.

Fire and Blood

I'm...kinda tossing a concept for something around. Probably a short story (or maybe just something to post as an AMA in this forum)... I was thinking it might be fun to do a story about a body double/political decoy; think Padmé's handmaiden in the Prequel films. I figure that would have the potential for an interesting relationship, but other than the idea of a main character who is in that position? I have nothing. Kinda throwing around some idea's - it'd probably be fantasy, since I like that genre, but I'm trying to figure out a cool story to tell with a character with that background.

And post-hiatus Arrow.

I'm kinda hoping that, with the Story films, they'll take more risks. The Saga films are one long epic of the force, so it's understandable that they'll be similar... But standalone movies like these seem like a great opportunity to do stuff that might not fly in the "bigger" movies. How about a Star Wars political thriller? A Magnificent Seven style story featuring Boba Fett and the other bounty hunters? Heck...the story films seem like an easier place to introduce an LBGT character to the Star Wars verse without courting controversy. So, yeah. I think I'm more interested in the X-Wing film than I am for Episode 8.

I have not been paying the type of attention to the election as I probably should. Then again, that's largely because -I'm in the North, so Republic elections aren't as big a deal, and -All my mental energy is too worried over other elections to think about these ones. Also, I know no other real life Sharders. I mentioned Brandon's output to a guy at work though, and he concluded that he has to be a robot to write so much.

Alright, roleplaying stories. I have one, from my only experience at the table a few years ago. We were playing mortal Exalted. If you don't know what Exalted is, the way it was described to us was that the characters were typically (basically) demigods. We were playing as mortals...so we were warned "You're gonna die". Spoiler: we died. That's not the story. The story is the circumstances of the death, in particular my death. So, during this adventure, our party of four were trekking through a jungle. Naturally, this being a fantasy game, we ended up being attacked by the local inhabitants. I say " attacked". We never stood a chance; they his in the bushes and started during blowdarts at us. The blowdarts were tipped with hallucinogens and some kind of sleeping poison. I should add here, we all rolled openly, DM included. I don't know if he hoped for us to be captured or if it was just bad luck, but it wasn't a railroad track. Myself and two others got captured. We woke up, still woozy from the effects of the drugs, in a cage made out of bones. Which was, you know, less than promising in that it was a cage, but hey- we woke up! Plus, during the scuffle, our fourth party member (the Rogue) escaped and had followed the trail, and was currently hiding in the bushes. The Rogue decided they didn't feel like running across the open ground to pick the lock of a cage. Understandable. "Can I throw my dagger to try and break the lock?" GM says yes. Rogue throws. Misses. GM tells us he's going to roll to see where the knife goes. Straight towards the cage. GM rolls to see if it hits the bars or goes through them. It goes through them. You probably get where this story is going. My poor Ranger woke up in a cage made of bones, still pumped full of drugs, and got a knife to the chest. The story doesn't end there. See, the knife wound? Not necessarily fatal (though I did pass out). The Rogue started being pursued by the natives again, so we were left alone. The Mage started trying to break the lock. The Druid decided he would try to heal me. And here's the thing: he's still high on drugs. And the knife? Inside my chest. And the druid? Rolls a 1. My very first roleplay character died because a stoned hippy decided to perform impromptu open heart surgery (without anaesthetic) in the middle of a jungle.

Jafar