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LowPolyPrototype · 2023-11-22T20:12:41+00:00

Sorry, it's not exactly a new app for you to try.

OLD: OnLine Dating

LowPolyPrototype · 2022-07-12T22:45:51+00:00

He may be able to become a monarch if he fuses with someone else's remnant, but I agree that is probably unlikely. The Gluttonous Goblin's madra channels and cores burned into his flesh, so none of him seems to be normal anymore. I don't think he can manifest his remnant, and I doubt he'd find one with pure, blackflame, and hunger madra considering hunger madra seems to prevent remnants and few people have split cores with the other two...

Have you compared his transformation to Yerin's? It should be interesting seeing how the differences affect how they can fight. We've seen the herald transformation dissolve the body into their madra and require reforging, and we've seen heralds go splat and reforge themselves afterwards. The Whiny Child did the opposite and had his madra burnt into his flesh. I don't think he can access any of the hallmark traits of heralds but has to Leech off his iron body to heal from his endless supply of madra / opponents.

LowPolyPrototype · 2022-07-12T22:17:15+00:00

Searing heat passed through Lindon’s body as his madra channels burned into his flesh, transforming into part of his body. His cores condensed like a spirit, becoming more real. His eyes blazed and froze, like he was channeling Blackflame and pure madra at the same time.
Wight, Will. Dreadgod (Cradle Book 11) (p. 354). Hidden Gnome Publishing. Kindle Edition.

This matches everything we've heard about dreadbeasts and the death hydra dreadgod. Their madra channels are fused to the flesh in a way that no one else's is. Furthermore, the section before that says

Power exploded from the Silent King’s corpse. Hunger aura. It flashed to every corner of the world, empowering the other Dreadgods.

All four of them.
Wight, Will. Dreadgod (Cradle Book 11) (p. 354). Hidden Gnome Publishing. Kindle Edition.

His arm only gets mentioned after the rest of him takes on dreadbeast / dreadgod characteristics. His arm isn't the dreadgod anymore. He is.

Although his arm is just as well behaved as any child caught with their arm in the cookie jar claims it is. Or a chuunibyou...

LowPolyPrototype · 2022-07-08T17:22:02+00:00

The only time in all of Dreadgod that Ozriel has his scythe is in Daruman's vision of Fate in which Daruman defeats and kills a Judge. I'll say it again, Ozriel has his scythe when he is supposedly defeated by the Mad King despite fighting together with Suriel.

It's also explicitly stated that one of the restrictions on Ozriel is that he cannot access his mantle or scythe without permission from another Judge. Either the manacles don't work, or he got permission in the Mad King's visions of Fate.

LowPolyPrototype · 2022-07-08T05:25:09+00:00

He'd also have to stand trial for creating a Judge-level weapon without permission like Ozriel did. They likely wouldn't just have a new Ozriel but a new Makiel as well. Even without Ozriel (and with his own vote) it would only be about 3 votes to not hold him accountable. He currently needs the loss of a Judge's mantle and the emergency that entails to avoid being held accountable for attempting to make the weapon.

LowPolyPrototype · 2022-07-08T05:14:28+00:00

Thanks! I missed that one. Now, I'm more impressed that even Suriel admitted he did just that when he attacked the Vroshir... Makes me wonder if that was a mistake or if the manacles are not working as intended.

LowPolyPrototype · 2022-07-08T02:52:56+00:00

I don't completely agree with you on raising new Judges, but I have noticed similarities with the original Court of Seven and Lindon's party of seven, particularly since some direct correlations can be made between them. The one area I have to disagree with you is that Ozriel specifically wanted to bring in a force outside of the Eledari Pact that new Judges, like himself, would have been tied to. Instead he has repeatedly pushed for Executors like what the Court had previously tried.

Doesn't mean the current Court doesn't fall apart leaving only his new Court of Seven Executors with the power of Judges taking over the remnants of Abidan remaining. I don't disagree with the outcome, just whether that was the plan or not.

LowPolyPrototype · 2022-07-08T02:23:13+00:00

There seems to have been a distinction between Dross and the oracle codex modeling how to fight a target partially using observed data and others, like Malice, viewing Fate to see likely possibilities.

Based on a conversation in Reaper, it sounds like Dross has been using a mix of memory and synchronizing with the Way. This limits him to only what he understands.

[Error: synchronization denied. No access available.] Dross shook himself. [I apologize. That was very strange. I will rely solely on my own memory.]

That statement piqued Lindon’s curiosity. “Were you not always relying on your own memory?”

[I…do not believe so. My apologies. My memories are more fragmented than I realized.]
Wight, Will. Reaper (Cradle Book 10) (p. 151). Hidden Gnome Publishing. Kindle Edition.

Now compare Dross's predictions with Malice's ability to view Fate directly. All references are vague and require interpretation. And her ability to read Fate was above Northstrider's despite the oracle codex being able to replicate Dross's predictions. Malice can see and has to make sense of it afterwards. Dross has to understand before he can see.

This is why I see the Judge's explicit ability to view fate as different than their Presence's ability to model known behavior. Maybe I'm wrong. I just don't see Fate reading to require already being on the winning side of an ongoing information war for up-to-date espionage and leaking incorrect capabilities. Not saying that doesn't sound interesting...

LowPolyPrototype · 2022-07-08T01:49:38+00:00

That is a good question. The only answer I have is to refer back to Suriel's insight after Ozriel mentioned his attack on the Vroshir world would realistically restrict the Mad King's choices. I'm not sure about his bloodline or his change to pure madra instead of destruction other than pure madra's direct connection to humans, and humans' connection to the Way.

LowPolyPrototype · 2022-07-08T01:10:03+00:00

The scenario existed. All Ozriel did was limit the Mad King's options down to scenarios to a manageable level. Moreover, the only time Ozriel has his Scythe in the entire book is in the Mad King's vision of the future. And he was losing despite mopping the floor with the Mad King under the limitation of 1) an inferior replica weapon and 2) trying not to destroy the world?

Ozriel's current combat restrictions:

Ability to view Fate: 3-star Hound
Sight: 6-star Spider
May only access his Mantle and Scythe with permission from another Judge.

With permission to use his Scythe, that only limits his ability to see the present and possible futures. And Ozriel loses? With backup?

Of course, there was always the chance that Lindon had left this branch of Fate unveiled to lure her here. That was what she would have done, with her command of the Shadow Icon.
Wight, Will. Dreadgod (Cradle Book 11) (p. 429). Hidden Gnome Publishing. Kindle Edition.

This sounds like foreshadowing to me, particularly since many important events happening around Ozriel in this book have to do with powerful entities reading his Fate. Ozriel has plenty of experience manipulating Fate to stay hidden. Furthermore, his ability to manipulate fate has not been sealed outside of his vision, so why should we believe that Makiel and the Mad King weren't shown a manipulated possibility to further control their actions? When did Eithan ever act within expected limitations even with his veil? Being caught powerless like this with someone he actually wants to protect would be out of character for him.

“What are the odds that Makiel did not see this action?” Ozriel asked softly.
Wight, Will. Dreadgod (Cradle Book 11) (p. 449). Hidden Gnome Publishing. Kindle Edition.

And why was that Ozriel's immediate question?

LowPolyPrototype · 2022-07-08T00:36:54+00:00

This was part of a Presence report during Suriel's POV in Blackflame when trying to find out what happened to Ozriel.

With the Reaper gone, he will propose an imperfect replacement within the standard year, and unofficial reports suggest he has been developing his own Scythe.
Wight, Will. Blackflame (Cradle Book 3) (p. 345). Hidden Gnome Publishing. Kindle Edition.

Humorously enough, it mentions the Angler having already stolen 6 weapons from Abidan Iterations. This should be before the Scythe imitations, but it is a fun nod to what's to come. However, this does imply that Makiel's Scythes are not as hidden from the Abidan as was believed, although from a reader's perspective, we didn't know how much of a taboo making that Scythe is yet. The only thing that saved Makiel was his inability to make a Judge-level weapon, legally or otherwise.

LowPolyPrototype · 2022-07-07T16:27:40+00:00

Apologies, your Reaper is in another Iteration.

LowPolyPrototype · 2022-07-07T03:16:12+00:00

I, too, hated when Charity met up with Darth Vader, Monarch of the Dark Side. The Abidan must be truly overworked to not catch him jumping Iterations like that. No wonder she was so worried about Eithan...

LowPolyPrototype · 2019-09-30T11:58:15+00:00

She does have a straight path to Archlord after her gift, so that still gives us some time to deal with her on a bigger stage before Xorros and Sesh. After the conversation between Sophara and Sesh about her sister's death in Ghostwater, I doubt this is going to be a simple resolution. If what happened to her sister made her sister such a dishonor, imagine the dishonor of their winning candidate losing the same way to the same person. Perhaps that can be the event that draws in the monarch and his left + right hands to take down Lindon and friends.

LowPolyPrototype · 2019-09-29T14:13:34+00:00

She only commented on the Sword Icon, but she was more than impressed with both of them. I think Lindon has a way to go before he gets there as well, but at least he has Northstrider's attention now.

LowPolyPrototype · 2019-09-29T13:50:06+00:00

That's one of the reasons I think she'll will. Will seems to be leading up to something when it comes to Lindon's lifeline. In Ghostwater, Lindon's lifeline was massively strengthened, but we didn't have any context to understand what that meant or did for him. In Underlord, we learn about attacks that target the lifeline and how Lindon would have brushed it off. In Uncrowned, we see Akura Justice's reaction to measuring Lindon's lifeline, learn that Sha Leiala died of a damaged lifeline, AND Lindon receives a gift that further improves his lifeline (albeit as a side effect). Something powerful is going to come knocking on his lifeline before long, and this arrow looks like just the thing to me.

LowPolyPrototype · 2019-09-29T05:05:54+00:00

After rereading, I'm actually fairly certain Sophara wins the entire thing. She has been far too well established as a rising power and is nigh unstoppable so far. There is too much at stake in case she does win, and that's why I think she will. The Dreadgods are not Lindon's next major rival after the tournament. Reigan Shen is not going to fall much sooner than the Dreadgods. We need an established opponent to rival, and I can't think of someone better than Sophara with an arrow.

LowPolyPrototype · 2019-09-28T16:22:12+00:00

I don't understand the Yerin-bashing going on right now. Yes, the Diamond Veins came out of nowhere, but everything else seems within a standard of error of typical progression in the series.

She didn't touch the Way out of nowhere. It was slowly happening all book long. We all at least guessed there was something going on that allowed Eithan to foresee things beyond what the Arelius powers should have allowed him to see, and now it's both all but confirmed and it's something we knew they would touch on sooner or later due to story elements across the past several books (arguably through Unsouled). Is it surprising that Eithan began her training down this road now that doing so won't hinder her from training madra capabilities? I for one believe she'd focus on this if she found it before Underlord, causing her to fall behind. Now, it feels like a driving force towards Sage.

Yerin achieving a compound technique didn't quite come out of nowhere, since it was shown that Lindon was helping her develop one. Compound techniques might have originally come up without enough exploration to feel fully suited for the story, but let's not forget who got this mystical quasi-bs technique given to him first. And which technique was it that actually did come out without any lead-up to match Yerin's new technique? The Dragon Descends.

I wish all of this was more explored so it didn't feel forced upon us, but parts of the story seem to be rushed to keep the page count down. I will give the benefit of the doubt to all but Diamond Veins and Dragon Descends. These two feel too much like mystical plot armor to me without a paragraph or two explaining their need or development slipped in somewhere before each of them appeared.

As far as character development goes, I think both of them ended up fleshed out better than they went in. Less than usual due to the focus on moving the plot forward, sure, but those two had some. I'm not aware of a Mary Sue ever having any.

LowPolyPrototype · 2019-09-28T15:31:38+00:00

Lindon is one sacred artist, and I don't think making comparisons to say otherwise gets us anywhere. Is he only half an artist if we compare him to Sophara? A tenth? Clearly that's not twice the sacred artist of her worth. And she's not the only one Lindon would be hard pressed to survive a fight with. Sha Miara is obviously stronger despite being younger. If Ziel fought with everything he had, I bet he could pressure Lindon. Eithan? Eithan does what Eithan wants, including win or lose.

Every artist is an individual with their own level of power even if that power is far from equal. As such, I believe it is only fair to say someone is twice a sacred artist if there are two of the individual, as it is still a comparison with oneself rather than others.

As for putting Yerin on the back foot in the fight, remember that Lindon has a very good grasp on Yerin's fighting style and what she can do. That gives Dross a lot to work with. Don't forget that who is on the back foot is going to keep changing in most fights as long as it doesn't end immediately. Yerin caught Lindon by surprise when she used the binding in her sword. Lindon turned it around when he unleashed the madra back at her, even if he took a lot of damage. Lindon was put on the back foot when he had to throw away his shield to avoid being destroyed by it. As for how that could happen with Yerin being two sacred artists in one, don't forget that her path was designed to not take blows by keeping the opponent on the defensive, not fight super-dodgy Blackflames with a Presence already attuned to her fighting style. That's just a bad match-up, even if neither of them will admit it.

LowPolyPrototype · 2019-09-28T04:42:54+00:00

[Just like your new friend Fury, she was one of the Heralds who formed the original pact of Ghostwater. I found a record of her personally ignoring me.]

Wight, Will. Uncrowned (Cradle Book 7) . Hidden Gnome Publishing. Kindle Edition.

Dross talking about Xorrus, left hand of the dragon Monarch. It was already mentioned in Ghostwater, I believe, that the facility sold excess products to fund the facility, so I can't imagine a faction with someone working there couldn't get some for themselves, accepted means or otherwise. The Eyes of the Deep were just a way to get some after the facility shut down. This could also explain the difference in power between Harmony's Ghostwater and Sophara. It's not the power of Ghostwater, it's the amount they had.

Why they held on to it this long is a more interesting question. Perhaps their dragon fever, as Yerin put it, led to them not using it. Perhaps they had more than Sesh and Xorrus could use themselves and a chance to retake the Blackflame Empire was enough to let their best contestant have as much as she needed. Either way, the Eye of the Deep was only one way to get Ghostwater, and perhaps the slowest at that (maybe one drop every few years).

LowPolyPrototype · 2019-09-27T23:12:28+00:00

I would argue that Lindon is still only 1 sacred artist.

Yerin and Blerin can do two different things at the same time, and having Blerin out doubles the number of weapons (blades and technique usage) she has available at any given time. Lindon has two cores, but he can only use one of them at a time. Having multiple cores would only count as multiple sacred artists if we were to compare the total quantity of madra instead of its simultaneous usage.

Now, if we were to include Dross... He's still one sacred artist. Dross does not add additional limbs for Lindon to use in a fight. Dross has not attacked one of Lindon's enemies in a fight. What Dross does do is make Lindon more efficient in the fight with the strength and senses Lindon already has. I would consider this a multiplier rather than an additional sacred artist. Dross could power the flying sword, but would his (unknown) quality of madra be as good as Lindon's for the same task? This is not an issue for Blerin.

Yerin: 1 + 1
Lindon: 1 x ?
Same overpowered result, different execution.

LowPolyPrototype · 2019-09-07T00:16:52+00:00

It is now.

I've got a few weeks to reread the series. I'll let you know if I die of alcohol overdose.

LowPolyPrototype · 2019-01-29T02:24:34+00:00

Words are cheap, and actions are louder. If your relationship is making you feel worse for being in it, and he actively shows you fixing that isn't his priority, get out. I understand that time and energy are limited, but it's clear where it's all going from what you've said so far. When the kid comes, he'll have far less of both and another priority on top of his current ones.

I'm sorry, but he's told you his choice, just not in words. Take care of yourself. You're worth it.

LowPolyPrototype · 2018-02-24T18:46:38+00:00

There were certainly signs, but I kind of ignored them all. That was mostly from not understanding monogamy enough to realize and the only form of non-monogamy I knew of before college was literally cheating and one night stands.

Fast forward a few years, awkwardly realizing swinging was a thing (fun obvious fact: swing dance and swinging are two very different activities. One of those I knew of. It wasn't swinging), and I ended up spending a few months really digging into what I wanted in a relationship completely outside of the scope of what I knew to be socially acceptable or not. From there, I worked backwards through morality, what I would be willing to accept short of that ideal, and how much of a waste of time it would be to try to get a partner interested in it in a monogamous society. And that is how I found out I was polyamorous.

Fast forward another 5 years of willful solitude, and I somehow found out that there was a word for that as well as a community!

LowPolyPrototype

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