Shallan “Let Go Of All Your Parshman” Davar Very Much Does Not Have Any Slaves :P She Owns Those

there’s a website where you put in two musicians/artists and it makes a playlist that slowly transitions from one musician’s style of music to the other’s

it’s really fun

okay, Rhythm of War: Complete. That book was awesome.

I’m really worried about Taravangian!Odium, but… well, it could end up fine, maybe. I think I’m gonna detour into Mistborn Era 2 now. I’ve been in the Stormlight Archives for a very long time, so a smaaaallll break to read a five book series is in order :P

Hope you guys stick around for that liveblog as well <3

kissing him kissing him kissing him kissing him

I wasn't going to post this, I was just drawing some Kaladins training for fun and for myself and giggling and kicking my feet to it, but I thought if they made me happy they might make someone else happy as well :)

Unsure if the replies to this post are promising or scary

Wind and Truth Spoilers (Maybe)

Yeah so I’m like… 90% sure Taravangian!Odium is going to elect like- some total innocent as his champion. I don’t remember he or Dalinar imposing any like… restrictions on who could be chosen as a champion. So like… while there’s a chance it’s a powerful Fused, I think a more surefire bet would be something akin to a Singer child. A sickly, frail Singer child. A blind sickly Singer child with no parents. Taravangian listened to Dalinar rant about “journey matching the destination” so many times. It’s uh! Yeah. I’m worried for our man.

Aaaaaaahhhhhhhh Kaladiiiiinnnn you were so cool don’t. Stop. Don’t let your grudge fuck everything up. Please. Fuck, man just. Just stop.

SO REAL!!! He SUCKS!!!

My current Oathbringer experience

So we have multiple statements by Jorge Rivera-Herrans that he was inspired by video games in the creation of Epic the Musical. This is pretty plainly seen in the multiple “boss battles” that cap off most albums in the musical.

Two of the most important examples of “boss battles” come from the characters recognized as “monsters” in the canon of the story: Polyphemus and Scylla. These two are important, because they are the only two characters with songs named after them. This sets them apart as unique and special, which is substantiated even further by the impact they have on the wider story of Epic.

“…but wait” you may be asking. “Odysseus has a song named after him as well, no?” That is correct! This is because, like Polyphemus and Scylla, Odysseus is a monster. So much so that there’s an entire song in the Underworld Sage.

Okay so- what does this mean effectively? Well… the final boss of the musical isn’t the suitors. It’s Ody. The song Odysseus has a lot of parallels to Polyphemus and Scylla (the line “keep your head down he’s aiming for the torches!” Being a direct callback to Scylla), but the one I’d like to focus on is the narrative framework of the song.

He’s the antagonist. The song’s narrative is carried by the disparate Suitors as they are hunted by our old king and try to survive. (heh. See what I did there?) The background chanting of Odysseus’s name is even in the same style of how Polyphemus is sung in Survive!!! He’s the FINAL BOSS. (and tbh. He’s a LOT better at murdering everyone who wronged him than anyone else in the story. Polyphemus should take notes.)

So… what does this mean? He kills every suitor. And like- as he should. They sucked. So what? The final boss isn’t defeated in Epic?

…well no. He is firmly defeated in the end. By Penelope. Something very important in the story from No Longer You onward is this division between the “Old Odysseus” and the “New Odysseus”. It’s this Old Odysseus who is a monster, and it’s THIS man who Penelope defeats.

Her defeat of Odysseus is shown in two parts: Lyrically and Musically. The first is very clear. Odysseus argues that he is no longer the man who married Penelope, and she disagrees. She is the only one to effectively trick Penelope, responding to his rhetorical statement of “I am no longer the man you fell in love with” with a trap that ends with Odysseus confirming beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is, in fact, her husband. Furthermore If you payed any attention at all while listening to Epic, Jorge’s love for motif is very clear, and this is relevant in understanding the emotional “defeat” of the Monster Odysseus.

Ody has two key instruments: a soft guitar and a harsh, electric one. These correlate to the two unique Odysseus’s we’ve established. We hear inklings of the soft guitar when Odysseus and Penelope first reunite, but it quickly fades to that harsh electric guitar as they begin to “fight.”

But. Here’s. Where. It. Gets. Fun. Because after he’s deceived and defeated, the soft guitar returns. He is finally, after twenty years, being allowed to return to the kind man he once was. He’s finally, *finally* home.

And that, my friends, is why I conclude, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Penelope tops Odysseus after Epic.

Biggest problem with this liveblog is that I get random, unprotected spoilers for shit that happens later in the series. Like seriously guys what the fuck please don’t just…. Ugh whatever.

You know when a bastard shows up in a Brandon Sanderson book he’s about to be the single coolest man in the entire series. There’s something about the concept of a man torn between two worlds that inspires Sanderson to absolutely cook.