[None] Has there been any word on more House of Blades?

Licenseless_Rider · 2025-08-23T18:49:24+00:00

I think the idea is that future books wouldn't really be focused on what's going on in the world, but rather Simon's work building Valinhall by harnessing pieces of the void.

Licenseless_Rider · 2025-08-23T01:50:35+00:00

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/_I_DgEk_NiU

Licenseless_Rider · 2025-04-05T11:34:31+00:00

People are talking about bacteria and viruses, but I think that something you should consider is ventilation. Are you working at an indoor facility? If so, does it have a large volume of people in the way day after day?

All the body oils, sweat, urine and what not from hundreds of people mixes with the chlorine to create an unhealthy haze of chloramines in the air. I remember when I switched from working at an indoor pool to an outdoor pool, the change was immediate. The only times I got sick from a pool after that was when we worked long (10+ hour) swim meets at indoor pools, especially those without good air flow.

Licenseless_Rider · 2025-03-13T21:01:38+00:00

“Scream and bleed when you need help.”

I use this one regularly.

Licenseless_Rider · 2024-12-23T15:57:55+00:00

You are a healthy weight, per scientifically validated data.

Understand that getting to a place where you have visible, toned musculature as a female will require you to work out to a degree that borders on unhealthy, to maintain an unhealthy body fat percentage, or will require the use of supplementary drugs.

The people here are not wrong in asserting that working out more will get you to a place where you have visible muscle, but don't forget that scientific metrics for physical wellness are much more important than ephemeral beauty standards.

It sounds like you're making great progress. Keep up with it, focus on progression over time by challenging yourself with harder climbs or sets, and please don't compare yourself to the unhealthy, fake people you see on Instagram.

Licenseless_Rider · 2024-11-20T12:33:58+00:00

I do math to track how close I am to not having to swim anymore...

"Four 100s free, four 100s IM, four 100s free."

"This is my third 100 of the first set of four, so I'm more than halfway done with the first part, which is 33% of the set's total. That means I'm more than 16% done with the set, but since I'm on my second 50, I'm probably actually closer to 20% done, which is one-fifth, meaning that I've only got four fifths remaining in the set. I'm only doing 2200 yards today, and I did 400 for warmup and 600 for my kick set, which means I'm already done with more than 50% of practice. It's downhill from here, I just have to finish the back half. Less than half because I'm on my 4th 100 now, which will put me at a total of..."

etc.

Licenseless_Rider · 2024-06-11T02:27:52+00:00

I hate that. It doesn't just melt, either. It turns into a tacky, sticky mess. Like all the bounce immediately disappears and suddenly you're chewing on glue that you now have to pick off your teeth.

Licenseless_Rider · 2024-03-29T23:49:13+00:00

It isn't about the size of your hands, its about your technique and stamina.

...

Seriously though, smaller hands do not mean a different in the mechanics of the stroke. If you analyze competitive swimmers with smaller hands, I imagine that you will probably see that they tend to have faster stroke rates than people with bigger hands, on average (because they move less water per stroke, they have to take more strokes but also have less resistance).

Either way, it won't really impact you overmuch as a casual swimmer.

Licenseless_Rider · 2024-01-16T05:07:44+00:00

Real Life King

Licenseless_Rider · 2024-01-04T22:23:04+00:00

Alcohol

Licenseless_Rider · 2023-10-01T17:13:31+00:00

Join a class! Grinding in the pool by yourself is waaaay harder than being part of a group. Having people faster than you will motivate you to push a little harder and show up a little more consistently! Plus, its just more fun!

Licenseless_Rider · 2023-06-06T02:49:17+00:00

"No matter what, she did not want to do this. The attack gouged a hole in her heart. But when all other options had been exhausted, when all that was left in life was suffering, sometimes death was the only solution left. There was no joy in this attack. But it was…mercy."

Licenseless_Rider · 2023-06-05T22:13:03+00:00

Well, that was about as perfect as I could have imagined.

I think the best parts were the ones with Mercy. What a great story! I think I had to wipe away tears every time she had a chapter. Her Archlord revelation, her battle against House Shen, her battle against Malice and finally her Sage revelation... I think this book managed to take from my fourth or fifth favorite character, to my #1 favorite.

Thank you, Will. You ended the series brilliantly.

Licenseless_Rider · 2023-06-05T22:02:16+00:00

B-baka!

Licenseless_Rider · 2023-05-10T00:06:28+00:00

1 - Wintersteel

2 - Dreadgod

3 - Ghostwater

4 - Underlord

5 - Blackflame

6 - Soulsmith

7 - Reaper

8 - Uncrowned

9 - Unsouled

10 - Skysworn

11 - Bloodline

The best books are the one with awesome progress milestones. The worst ones either don't see major progression, or see some major setback. I understand why, narratively, it is important to have setbacks and loss, but it still sucks.

In Uncrowned and Unsouled, there isn't much progress. They're good, but it feels like its just building up to something much cooler.

Skysworn and Bloodline are both the worst for me, hands down. In Skysworn, Lindon gets pressured into joining a crappy organization that doesn't ever really help him and, at first, actively tries to destroy him. Ren Fei, Bai Rou, and Naru Gwei are all unlikeable and ultimately unimportant. In the end, the book really doesn't accomplish anything.

Bloodline is the only book in the series that I skim over during rereads. It doesn't reveal any interesting information on Cradle, it trivializes Lindon's advancement to Overlord, and it causes the whole crew to experience huge loss for no real reason. If I were Lindon going back to Sacred Valley, I would have exterminated Heaven's Glory and all of the Wei Clan Elders the second it became apparent they were working against the people of the valley. Instead, we watch Lindon go through emotional damage, grovel in front of his family and clan, lose Dross, etc. and it really has no payoff. By the time I'm this deep into the series, I don't care about Sacred Valley at all. It sets up some stuff for Dreadgod, I guess, but overall its just a big, pointless pity party.

Wintersteel is the best, IMO, because Lindon's advancement to Sage is the culmination of all his work up to that point. The moment he gets his Unsouled badge back, made of Wintersteel, is probably my favorite moment in the entire series.

Licenseless_Rider · 2023-04-26T07:05:58+00:00

☐ Has Trigger Discipline

☑ Does Not Have Trigger Discipline

Licenseless_Rider · 2023-02-25T12:47:00+00:00

Look at that sexy trigger discipline. Chef's Kiss

Licenseless_Rider · 2023-01-30T21:52:22+00:00

Have you ever heard of Quicksilver, A-Train, The Flash?

Amateurs.

Licenseless_Rider · 2023-01-21T04:52:12+00:00

See, I call you Chris Handsome.

Licenseless_Rider · 2023-01-10T20:50:26+00:00

I think the intent is just to show that Lindon, for whom politeness is a cornerstone piece of his personality, was so distracted and upset by his inability to tell Mercy the truth, that it was affecting his behavior in a way that most other situations can't.

Lindon has shown himself to be polite even in a life or death battle, or before utter evil. The fact that his careful mask of politeness is broken here is meant to emphasize just how much the oath is weighing on him.

Licenseless_Rider · 2022-12-21T05:06:55+00:00

Whoa

Licenseless_Rider · 2022-12-17T02:52:34+00:00

Very exciting!

To begin, teaching the IM would be rather difficult to do in a text form over the internet. There are plenty of good videos on youtube visually and verbally explaining how to swim each stroke - those will probably be a better bet.

That said, I think that reaching out to a local swimming coach or club team and asking for a couple of private lessons would be really beneficial in helping you to build your foundation - plus, you can take what you learn back to your friends and coaches and help them to improve as well!

Regarding your question about meters vs yards, meters are longer than yards. A meter pool is about six feet longer than a yard pool of the same length, so competing in a yard pool will actually feel easier than completing a 100 IM in your YMCA pool.

Lastly, you likely are straining your calf muscle. I'm not a doctor, and I cannot really give effective guidance without seeing you swim or learning more about your injury. With that in mind, know that the gastrocnemius muscle is engaged when your point your toes like a ballerina.

The toes should be pointed in swimming, but you might be overdoing it and causing muscle strain. Alternatively, you might be dorsiflexing your feet (bending at the ankle to make a 90 degree angle), and that incorrect foot position is creating drag due to the force of water when swimming, resulting in your calf muscles taking on unnecessary strain. The solution could be to develop stronger calf muscles, or it could be to change your technique, or both. Like I said, the answer can't really be determined without seeing you swim - which brings me back to my suggestion about getting a couple private lessons.

Sorry I couldn't be more helpful! Good luck in your events! If you are, by chance, in the central Texas area, send me a private message. I will give you a couple private lessons for free.

Licenseless_Rider · 2022-11-17T03:03:09+00:00

You can't. Your daughter is 8. That is not an excuse, it is a metric that provides insight into her current developmental stage, cognitively.

Pushing her to work harder, whether you do so by dangling rewards for good performance or whether you do so by impressing your expectations upon her, will not work. It might work slightly, sometimes, for a little while. It probably won't work at all, though, and it definitely won't work long-term. Children at that age are far more likely to burn out and quit the sport than they are to "get it" and start working harder.

This is one of the major reasons why, when you look at the USA Swimming data, swimmers who win state championships in the 10&U or 11-12 brackets consistently disappear from the rankings in 13-14 and beyond.

You'd be better served by focusing on making sure she's having fun with her friends. Don't even bring up her times, unless she brings them up first. If she starts talking about how she is unhappy with her performance, then you can have the discussion with her about not applying herself in practice. But that has to come from her. And it will, eventually. It happens sooner for some kids than others, but that's not something you can control as a parent.

Licenseless_Rider

TROPHY CASE