#feather replies

[featherwriter]

I'm planning a Cosmere whump event. I was doing a little research in preparation and found your Cosmere Fandom Still Worst Fandom (CFSWF) Collection from back in 2014. Could you tell me a little about that event/Collection? Would people still be able to add to it today? I'm planning on making an event-specific Collection anyway but it couldn't hurt to try to keep all the whump together, either with the CFSWF Collection or the CFSWF ao3 tag...

Whoops, I lost this message for a little while, but yes, CFSWF used to be an annual fanwork event for the Tumblr cosmere fandom, that was all about making mean, heartbreaking fics and art. Angst, whump, tragedy, no happy endings allowed.

The name was a playful twist on my own Cosmere tag on my blog: Cosmere Fandom Still Best Fandom (CFSBF) but instead this time we'd all be the worst to each other and to the poor characters. It ran for a few years, I want to say, but eventually trailed off, as events do.

Ngl, it's breaking my brain a little bit that apparently it was more than A DECADE AGO. Truly I have been in this fandom for too long, I'm going to have to start chasing whippersnappers off my lawn...

In terms of the collection, I think I was in control of it, and I don't think I actually ended up collecting everything from back then. Honestly I'm impressed people still find such an old fandom fossil. I definitely think it'd be fun for people to revive the old tag if they wanted, but I probably don't have enough time or knowhow to manage the AO3 collection. I don't even know if we did a collection in later years, or if people just used the tag. That's probably the more active/useful organization thing.

Good luck with the event! I've been out of the Cosmere fic game for a little while, but whump is near and dear to my heart, so hopefully everyone has a fun and agonizing time! 🫡

[featherbow]

So I'm trying to catch up with campaign 3 and I hit the Downfall trio. Now, I loved calamity and love Brennan, but after like a minute my brain just decided it was Done With This. Without too much spoilers (i mean, it is a historical event lol), is it something I can skip without missing too much?? Or if you really recommend watching, do you have any glowing praise that might hype it up to change my mind lol

Usually I live for lore/worldbuilding/historical stuff/finding out the villains motives, so this seems like it should be right up my alley??? But yeah I don't know why I'm dragging my feet on it. I REALLY want to get caught up fast though.

I mean...you can skip it, though some of what the Hells reference will probably be lost on you as they're also watching it. The intro with the distorted names doesn't last long and then it moves into a more normal format. The intro shows the gods escaping into Exandria, and highlights what their relationships to each other used to be.

I honestly had a lot of fun with it. Finding out through context clues who is playing who and the big moments when you realize oh...this is why this happened, and omg this is where they're standing right now, or where the M9 came though, but I will say that if you're not already familiar with Exandria lore then it will probably be a bit more difficult for you.

If you ABSOLUTELY cannot bring yourself to watch the episodes (and I really do recommend giving it another try!) then Dani has some nice recaps :)

Critical Recap: Critical Role C3E99 “Downfall: Part One” | Critical Role

[renarinkholin]

Have you considered not being a member of the objectively worst Radiant Order though? (this is not serious at all, just a very stupid joke)

Lawl, Tumblr forgot to notify me that I had a message, THANKS TUMBLR. 

Tbh though, I do care a lot about the Skybreakers and their oaths. I think having just laws and universality in those laws is the basis for good societies and the way that laws should protect the disenfranchised and hold the powerful accountable.

I really feel for the Skybreakers too, because the things that they value really made them so vulnerable to what ended up happening to them. I mean, yeah it’s easy for us, the readers on the outside, to be like “Nale is OBVIOUSLY crazy and the Skybreakers are TERRIBLE for following him because how could anyone not realize this???”

But if you’ve been raised in a culture that says that the Heralds are the Almighty’s chosen and this Herald in particular is the pure, incorruptible embodiment of justice, like... how are you going to say “well, actually I know right and wrong better than the Holy Being Whose Job It Is To Decide Right And Wrong”? You... don’t. More than that, all of the Skybreaker spren are also reinforcing this idea that Nale is sane, just, and deserving of being in charge of the Order. There’s so much internal reinforcement of Nale himself as being above reproach because that’s the way he designed the Order to work around him, and that’s the real heart of the issue. Skybreakers find honor in not letting their feelings interfere with following a code that they believe is just, so even if they have personal reservations about Nale’s choices or beliefs, their oaths tell them to ignore that doubt and trust in the system as established.

I just... really want to see more Skybreakers tbh, and I think if there’s any hope of Skybreaker reform, it will have to come from within the Order. I think you would need a very high-oath Skybreaker though to be able to push back against Nale though. It’s possible that we could see Szeth taking this on somewhere down the line, as Edgedancer and Oathbringer show us that he’s new enough to the Order that he’s willing to disagree with Nale’s ideas and choose to stand opposed to him. Whether or not Szeth is willing to move from “I disagree with Nale and I’m choosing a different way” to “Nale is leading the Skybreakers in the wrong way and the Order needs to be reformed,” well... we’ll have to see! That’s a big step, and Szeth seems more focused on cleansing Shinovar, not his Radiant Order.

So yeah, the problem with the Skybreakers isn’t the Skybreakers, it’s that they’re being directly led by Nale... who is, unfortunately, just as crazy as all the other Heralds. The Order which is most predisposed to look for leadership and guidance is unfortunately being led by someone who shouldn’t be in charge of them. And both culture and tradition are reaaaaally big road-blocks to the Skybreakers being able to oust Nale. 

ANYWAY. I’m sure you were not expecting a Skybreaker manifesto two weeks after you send a little joke to my inbox but listen. I have a lot of Skybreaker feelings. And I must send them out into the world. 

[soaringsails]

Game Mom, what is Ship Mom's favorite color, favorite food, and favorite animal?

Charille is fond of goldenrod, light peach, and indigo.

Her favorite food is actually a kind of pastry served in the place she grew up. They’re baked puff pastry pockets that are either filled with sweet dessert fillings or savory meat and veggies fillings and she would eat them for every meal if she could.

Favorite animal is an Albatross ;)

Edit: I made a fatal error that has now been corrected.

[adonalsium]

I was reading about Empress Elisabeth of Austria (called Sisi by family) the other day and I read that her elder sister princess Helene was supposed to marry emperor Franz Joseph of Austria but things didn't go as planned - he fell in love with and married Sisi instead. Then it hit me: Vivenna-Helene, Siri-Sisi. Could it be a coincidence? Did it come up in the fandom before or maybe Sandy talked about it somewhere long ago and I'm reinventing the wheel here?

I haven’t personally heard of the connection, but I wonder if anyone else has heard if Brandon’s talked about this. If not, it could be a good question to ask him, Anon.

[featherbow]

If people had wings, how much would our living spaces be modified?

Hm. Interesting thought exercise if anyone else wants to chime in. Would depend on what size the wings were (large, small, vestigial?) if they were capable of flight, and how much control we had over them.

[featherbow]

I want you to know that your posting BG3 fanart is what got me to cave a few weeks ago and finally buy it. I dunno how far in I am and I've managed to be fairly spoiler free too. So seriously thank you. I am loving it so much.

Oh wow. That's amazing??? This is such a lovely and unexpected message to receive. Enjoy your BG3 journey! I've been playing since early access and there are STILL things I've missed. It's a huge game and worth doing multiple playthroughs! You'll end up sinking hundreds of hours into just one!

[featherbow]

🎺💀🎺 DooT DooT🎺💀🎺 The Skeleton Army Sends Their Regards