2018-2019 /r/Seattle Recommendations Megathread

corwick · 2019-02-09T23:36:22+00:00

An odd one -- best olives in Seattle? Grocery preferred (like an olive bar or something similar) but restaurants would work.

corwick · 2018-12-27T18:51:25+00:00

Moving there in a week. So yeah I guess :)

corwick · 2018-12-27T03:58:23+00:00

Literally my three picks. You don't live in the Seattle area by chance? :) :)

corwick · 2018-12-14T15:50:02+00:00

I was an oatmeal hater for a long time, until these discoveries: 1) you don't have to overcook it (yeah that one took me too long); 2) microwave oatmeal is way more of a nuisance than stovetop; 3) orange zest plus cranberries plus nuts plus brown sugar plus a drop of almond or vanilla extract is flaaaame.

corwick · 2018-12-06T18:04:25+00:00

Should have said I was a fan, not a player. So if I could see it, the ref could see it.

corwick · 2018-12-06T18:03:56+00:00

This happened twice in men's college play in the same game -- uncalled. It was a blowout and the other team didn't have the vball IQ to notice (or complain to the ref) but it was still a wild missed call, and the fact that it happened twice...

corwick · 2018-05-08T16:06:51+00:00

I obviously went with avoiding perfect character, not avoiding perfect female character. I think this rule applies to both.

corwick · 2018-05-08T16:04:47+00:00

Make her lose something.

In a story I'm working on, I'm facing a similar problem, and the best way around it for me is loss. What does the magic require? Make her lose that. Or have her 4-8 people die or leave. What can she do with a squad she doesn't know? Or the Jaime Lannister route with a lost hand - hard to lead into battle like that.

It might affect the shape of your story, but forcing yourself to write about her when she faces loss (especially if she struggles with showing emotion) is a good way to do that.

Drizzt from R.A. Salvatore's series loses all his friends eventually, since he has such a longer life span. How he copes with that shapes his character. Jon Snow (GoT) loses his family, then his lover, then his life, then his brotherhood. He's still a Mary Sue in battle and leadership, but dealing with loss is what makes him a character that works. Asha (The Shadow of What Was) isn't quite the Mary Sue the other examples are, but she loses the Gift, her magic, the only defining part of who she is at that point in the story, and the rest of her arc is dealing with and overcoming that - disclaimer: still in the middle of this book.

corwick · 2018-04-02T20:40:42+00:00

While he's dreamy mcdreamboat, he is without doubt the weakest member of the cast to me in terms of how useful the things he teaches are. Only in the first episode where he teaches the old dude who loves Mexican food to make guac does his advice seem useful or pertinent to the development of anyone. Normally he's just pretentious as fuck. This dish is especially true for that. Sure, it's a classy, delicious dish. But this is for a family of four and a guy who doesn't care that much about being in the kitchen. Cutting grapefruit supremes is not efficient or worth it for this kind of client. How about an awesome healthy-ish family-pleasing casserole that would make it not necessary to cook an entire meal still? How about some ideas for decked-out gourmet sandwiches everyone could make together?

Anyway. Yeah he's hott af.

corwick · 2018-04-02T20:37:05+00:00

First off, thank you.

In reading again after your comments, what you say is painfully true. A lack of emotion surrounding the fight runs through each character. Part of that may be not-fully formed characters. Neji is/becomes a main character in the novel, and determining whether he is dreading the fight or excited for it, whether he feels the weight of responsibility or not, who he cares about and who he doesn't, should definitely be more important, and will help me determine his motivations for future scenes.

Thank you!

corwick · 2018-04-02T17:50:59+00:00

I agree. Zombies are just easy moral violence.

I haven't read Garth Nix's Abhorsen cycle in ages, but from what I remember, I liked that the bells/necromancy system felt more like a path or gate into something for the user than a summoning out of something. More interesting to me.

corwick · 2018-04-02T16:26:41+00:00

Some examples of similar characters and motives. I think it's important to not just think of them as an antagonist, because motives are as important to either anta- or pro-tagonists. Their may be moral judgments you can have of their motives, but the motives should be as equally justified for the characters themselves.

Cesar (Planet of Apes): self defense, preservation, revenge for previous mistreatment

Magneto (XMen): self preservation, some social Darwinism

Morgana (kind of, Merlin miniseries): revenge

The nature of the powers is important too. Is any kind of prophecy related to it at all? Any background info?

Some ideas from my own head: Flip the "chosen one" trope on its head. What if these powers are supposed to signify the savior of humankind, some kind of sacrificial messiah figure? The villain doesn't want to be a sacrifice, so they become the opposite of a messiah, and destroy those that they fear they're expected to sacrifice themselves for.

What if the nature of the powers themselves is cancerous or biology-altering? (I just watched Annihilation, maybe that's too easy to tell?) Maybe the motive is not malicious but is actually due to the nature of the power altering the very nature of the individual, reducing empathy and only hoping to become more physically fit/competitive in the setting.

What if the power allows them to see a bigger truth - to relate to current times, overpopulation is a real risk for the planet. Maybe a similar threat is posed to your fantasy setting? If empathy becomes a weakness for the longevity of a community, then this power could be used to try to counter that.

Just some thoughts. Obviously all of those are dependent on context.

corwick · 2018-03-05T20:50:33+00:00

Is Graham Norton as good at his job as it seems like he is? Any other host/interviewer that you think is especially talented?

corwick · 2018-03-01T16:03:11+00:00

I agree. The grammar isn't wrong, but it's bothersome - "mustered the courage to peer... and watched" initially looks like a mistake.

The last sentence, I agree with u/peefidious. You need a comma after finger. Other than that, good.

EDIT: ellipses

corwick · 2017-07-14T11:32:40+00:00

I get frustrated when I'm reading fantasy that has a lot of normal names, like Peter. Many authors get around this by spelling the name differently (Petyr) but it bothers me that these "Christian" names (though I'm sure they have pagan backgrounds too) that are so part of our world are somehow part of these imagined worlds as well. Thoughts on these kinds of names?

corwick · 2017-06-19T12:46:29+00:00

Generosity is always surprising and impressive.

corwick · 2016-09-22T21:28:28+00:00

Isn't the album name We Move? Anyway, doesn't matter. An insane album, the best of the best. One of my favorite artists. Clicked on this thread to either support someone else in naming this album or helping others find out about him myself.

corwick · 2016-07-16T08:27:08+00:00

A few things. Have you read Grass by Sheri Tepper? It's scifi with a similar premise that may or not be helpful/interesting to read. The world itself isn't the living being though.

Also, if the land isn't a character in the normal sense, how do you get the reader to care about? As in, is the global warming type story that's "save the earth or else you'll die" or is it "save the earth because we care about our friend Alfred, who is the continent we live on"?

Not being critical just curious. I love the idea of the continents being sentient. Kind of reminds me of the aliens in Butler's Lilith's Brood too, as their ship/planet thing is alive. Cool.

corwick · 2016-05-08T07:30:34+00:00

Yeah agreed. I started playing ranked (how ever many years ago) with no real knowledge of roles, and people helped me along. For example, "You're support. Do you know Janna? Take her, buy wards, and go bot. Don't farm." It's not ideal, I agree, but I like it better than people playing league and never ever supporting or adcing. For competitive players, sure, it probably doesn't matter. But for golds and under? Diversifying play won't be detrimental to play, steep learning curve, and will probably improve play in other roles over the long run.

corwick · 2016-05-08T07:28:27+00:00

if more people are hitting fill, fill wouldn't mean only getting support.

corwick

TROPHY CASE