Started Rhythm Of War, And…

SHE DIDN’T GO INSANE SHE JUST FELL IN LOVE

KILL ME

Shadows of Self Spoilers

She’s wearing Lessie’s face… and knew in intricate detail how she “died”. She was either Bloody Tan… or Lessie herself. I am. I am confident Lessie was a Kandra the whole time. It fits her hatred of being manipulated by Harmony… maybe she actually loved him? Maybe she didn’t want to lose the life they lived at the time. Maybe she was forced to go along with Sazed’s plans and lost her favorite face… and that broke her. Fuck, please if I’m right I’m going to be irreparable.

Alright, so for a brief rundown of some of what I *think* the themes of Cradle and The Last Horizon are:

Cradle -- with enough power, you can do almost anything, but not everything. Also, the society mirrors an exaggerated version of capitalism where economic and political power are interchangeable at the highest levels, that power is half-created by being a "big player" who has more leverage to create wealth, and half-taken from those below you; also also, it's a somewhat-meritocracy where talent is rewarded, but only if you're exceptionally lucky -- by running into resources yourself, or getting a sponsor who is willing to commit Big Nepotism. Finally, there will always be problems with big enough systems -- but you can still change them to be better -- and change can cost unimaginable resources and lives. There are more themes than this, but these are the ones I'd remark on.

The Last Horizon -- there are always fires to put out, and you can't go wrong trying to put them out. And people will always get in your way of putting out those fires because they personally benefit from them, and also because they value their autonomy or something.

The Last Horizon is much shorter than Cradle, on account of being ongoing and also just being a more streamlined story, and its setting being less possible to twist into a real-world allegory. But it is also true that I haven't examined either story deeply, and could stand to do some more in-depth analysis.

Anyway. Enjoy the crumbs, fellow Cradle and TLH mutuals.

Oh my God??? The Dawnshard gave Rysn the Breath???????? There’s truly just so much Warbreaker in this series.

Character art I did for @shoccoe for her Cradle oc!

You know, the Liberal Woke mob is going *too* far. They’re actually changing the history books!!! Yeah. That’s right.

You know Beowulf? Now *her* name is Beowolfcut. That’s right, they made the strongest king into a butch queen.

But they didn’t stop there. Gilgamesh is now *Girl*gamesh! And Enkidu? They’re now Enkidu!!!

And you know King Arthur? They’re now *Non-Binary Conforming Monarch* Arthur. And instead of pulling a sword from a stone, they pulled an pumpkin spice latte from the abortion clinic!?!

But it gets worse. They’re coming after America *itself.* Amerigo Vespucci is now Americunt Vespcoochie!!!! And… you guessed it, they’re going to rename the continents in *her* honor!!

This may seem unreal… but this is the future… or well, *past* that awaits you…

I. What. I. No. There’s no way he. I. What. That couldn’t have. No. What. What. What. What.

Teft… he is so… I… what a tragic, beautiful man…

Aahhhhh!!! So good!! Yes, fantastic.

I decided to fantasize about what the amulets from Hollow Knight would look like in the world of Over the garden wall. According to their properties, these amulets simply copy those that already exist in the game.

1. The amulet is only needed for the finale. (Void Heart)

2. Summons blue birds. (Glowing Womb)

3. Protects the wearer with a strong shell. (Baldur Shell)

4. Improves the skills of the wearer in the field of spells. (Spell Twister)

5. Attacks enemies nearby with Edelwood branches every time you take damage. (Thorns of Agony)

6. The wearer's power increases when he is close to death. (Fury of the Fallen)

REAL

Sentry posting time!! I’ve read almost all of his appearances and will be giving my thoughts on most of it!

SO! Something I’ve come to enjoy is reading as many books as I can around a specific Marvel character or series (I’ve literally read every single Runaways appearance), and recently became a bit infatuated with the Sentry.

And he’s so neat, but ultimately gets… floundered. Like. His original run is one of the best character studies of a Silver Age-style character with some of the best stylistic expression I’ve seen. It’s a genuinely fantastic roughly 10-issue run of a self-contained story on the meaning of heroism, the importance of legacy, and the actual definition of sacrifice…

And then he gets brought back in New Avengers and it’s like… okay, fine. Sure we can see more of him. And the beginning of it is pretty good!! There’s some confusing retcons, but it works well and I liked it enough. Then you get to his second solo run and it’s peak again! The visual style is worse, but they keep the discordant retro aesthetics for poignant scenes and it works. While the central conflict remains the same Sentry vs Void, the story shifts from analyzing his archetype to analyzing him. It’s about “responsibility”.And-!!! YES!!! It’s powerful to see someone so strong struggle with, then accept that they aren’t the best person to have their gifts, or even a good person to have their gifts, but resolve to do the best they can with them despite that.

But then. But then you finish it. And you hit side-character. And Sentry… he- doesn’t… work. He just doesn’t work as a normal character here. He’s too far outside the power scale so all his interactions in fights just. Ugh. They’re so lifeless?? There’s a fun one in Thunderbolts, but I found New Avengers dreadfully boring and I could NOT care less about Civil War. But… Sentry works way better as a plot point than a character. His appearance in Doctor Strange is my favorite, I’d say, as it treats him as a plot point. He’s the plot device that allows Doctor Strange to go all God of Magic-y!! It’s fun!

but… it gets worse after that point, as Sentry Volume 3 is like- bafflingly bad. He’s mischaracterized to hell, ignores all his previous character growth, and ends with a truly baffling conclusion that gets immediately done away with because it was so stupid. I get wanting to change the status quo for a character, but please don’t make it bad. It seriously felt like they just went with the first idea that came to mind.

Annihilation - Scourge is awesome, go read it. It’s great. Doesn’t do much for Sentry other than revert him to his post Sentry Vol. 2 status quo, but also that status quo was fun and good, so whatever. It’s generally just a good event series I highly recommend it.

And then you hit King in Black. Spoilers, but he gets Piccoloed. It happens a lot with his side-character appearances, but he shows up to lose in order to make the big bad look super strong. It’s… annoying, but I guess effective? It just felt really self-aggrandizing. I am not the biggest fan of Knull. He feels like the edgy OC of a child no one in the friend group likes. “He’s actually the God of the Symbiotes and kills Celestials and made the All Black Necrosword and also could kill all the Beyonders and super easily beats Sentry because he’s so awesome and strong 😎” It retroactively degrades the excellent stories before it and the value of his sacrifices. Sentry doesn’t solve every problem not because he can’t, but because the Void would create that many more. So, because he doesn’t have the right to decide who lives or dies, Sentry chooses to abandon his legacy, his name, his power. He chooses to be one third of a man because it is right. He chooses to let people he could save die, because it would cause other, different innocents to die. Even though it tears him apart physically and mentally, he bears it.

Sentry is the best written "Superman clone" I've seen… in his own books, because in things like King in Black, it feels as if the writers didn't even read the original story. Luckily his appearance in King in Black: Return of the Valkyries I get to see Robert wax philosophical again. I’m not mad he died, I’m mostly just mad he didn’t get the respect or pomp in death he deserved.

And I think I refuse to read the current Sentry run. I am Not Enthused™️ about the concept. Robert was the interesting part of Sentry, not his powers. Oh! And don’t spoil The Thunderbolts* as I haven’t seen it! I’m excited as I’ve heard nothing but good things, however.

So anyways, I think Sentry’s wife was totally based for wanting to fuck that golden man, even if he’s kind of a wreck, I can look past a few (well, a lot of) mental illnesses. But Linda or I could never fucked the Sentry as hard as Marvel Comics.

Mm.,.,. Kaladin just- get over being mad and stuff.,., it makes you less attractive.,, I could fix him if he gave me the chance.

Rhythm of War/Mistborn Era One Spoilers

I- wait. Is. Is the Shard in the Interludes. Is that. Is that fuckin SAZED.