#renshai

[andthebubbles]

leonardo 2x09

loving the different shades of evil in this ep loooool by that i mean, piero having to save leo’s arse and leo wanting it and being appreciative; actually a lot (if not all) of their animosity has kinda fallen away, i presume that’s over a decent amount of time... it did fall away slowly though so i’m not too unimpressed. but on the other hand, piero’s gonna do something shitty with that cannon, isn’t he. and i suppose the new duke (idk how to spell rocco?) isn’t ~evil, he just was... on the opposite side to leo etc and... yeah. so perhaps different shades of evil isn’t the right description, but more like... different shades of ... antagonists?? skjnfgkf idk

lorenzo’s still a bit annoying but he gained some sympathy back when he got told off by his dad for trying to call off the wedding/stand up for himself and angelica. hmmnnn

leo is very precious to me and i’m glad that he has main character privileges which work 99% of the time lol (that remaining 1% goes to rache in the renshai chronicles book 1................)

i like mac and angelica. i just want them to go down to the river and do whatever it is she said she wanted to do, take her shoes off?? i can’t remember but it was cute and arranged marriages suck and women as property sucksss

mmmkay anyway i don’t think i’ll watch another ep tonight. i’m trying to keep a good sleep schedule~

[owlsandwich]

Thank you for the tag! :D It's got to be Jonathan!

I'll tag @teacupsandstarlight @pb-dot @jadenoryuu

I'm not actually sure who my favourite characters are. It's hard to narrow down and think there's going to be some obscure ones in here :P

make a poll with five of your all time favourite characters and then tag five people to do the same. see which character is everyone's favourite!

Tagged by @mircallaruthven ^_^ thank you

Tagging @semicolonsandsimiles @tragediegh @unmitigated-garbage-fire @spectrum-color @gwenllian-in-the-abbey

[functioning-minne-holic]

What is your favourite fictional book?

Oof. I'm not sure I could just pick just one! I'm a fantasy reader, so I have a lot of fictional books on my shelf haha.

Recs would be:

The Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss

The Malazan book(s) of the Fallen by Steven Erikson

Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind

Dragonriders of Pern by Ann McCaffrey

Godspeaker by Karen Miller

Kushiel's trilogy by Jacqueline Carey

The Twilight Reign trilogy by Tom Lloyd

Glittering Stone (Black Company books) by Glen Cook

The Broken Empire by Mark Lawrence

The Last of the Renshai by Mickey Zucker Reichert

And so so many more.

[marmotsomsierost]

it feels so amazing walking in to a used bookstore. i was early meeting my dad for dinner and saw the bookstore as i was walking from the car, and just- instant relief, you know? all the frustrated-hurt-anger and hopeless-drained-worthless just disappeared. like it had gotten clotheslined at the doorway, stuck on the window like a bug. seeing row upon row of cracked spines and faded covers and worn edges- old friends, tucked away on shelves. waiting to bring smiles. utterly incoherently arranged, but hey. can't have everything. Deep Wizardry, So You Want To Be A Wizard, the other books 4-7 of Young Wizards- fate, then, almost, as i'd found High Wizardry in a different used bookstore...but not an L-space situation, as the copy i have of book 3 is the extra-tall trade not the normal trade paperback. the fuckin' Renshai Chronicles, god it's been so long since i thought about those books! just books 1 & 2 but still! Brothers in Arms, oh Miles, Miles...what are we gonna do with you? Jennifer Roberson- i went to slide it out, but my fingers stalled before they touched the spine, the betrayal still too strong. Tales From The Bounty Hunters, The Last Command; fewer of the (what are they calling them now? legacy? expanded unverse books) than i'd expected. fuckin' Greenthieves! snarky PI with robot minions in that particularly ridiculous Alan Dean Foster way. Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Katherine Kerr, Julie Czerdena, CJ Cherryh, Melanie Rawn, Kate Elliott...bits and pieces of series and worlds and memories, all haphazardly scattered amongst the shelves, worn and dimly lit and smelling like the darker corners of the library, like The King's English, like Bev's Book Nook, like Book World... i was late to dinner. minor L-time incident. Dad didn't mind.

[dmnsqrl]

Ok.... so

I'm gonna finish off the rest of the Animorph books

(Re)read the entire Renshai series

(I find myself uncertain as to whether or not I actually read The Immortal Renshai.... the series isn't marked as read on my Goodreads... and it's only 9 books

Might as well read through and be sure)

Then... I'm going to read the Witcher books

That should all keep me busy for a few weeks

And I think there is another volume of the Dresden Files coming out soon

(I like Harry. I, too, would like to believe that if I keep setting things on fire that everything will somehow sort itself out)

(And sure... he may be Winter Knight now... making setting everything on fire just a touch off-brand

But

This /is/ Harry

Things.... happen)

[parsleysagerosemarytimemachine]

HRules: Answer the questions below, then break the rules by not tagging people. At least, that’s how I’m interpreting it. :)

I was tagged by @animatedamerican

Relationship status: Divorced.

Favorite color: Green. With a side of blue, occasionally.

Lipstick or chapstick: Chapstick, when I think of it.

Last song I listened to:  As opposed to theme songs playing before shows? I put on music to wrap Christmas presents for, but since I don’t know what exactly, let’s just say it was ‘Angels We Have Heard On High,’ since that’s a fun one to sing.

Last movie I watched: The Secret World of Arrietty.

Top 3 TV Shows: Revolutionary Girl Utena, Ah My Goddess, Ancient Magus Bride

Top 3 Characters: This... needs to be narrowed down. Pikari and Teko from Amanchu!, Yuu from Bloom Into You, Colby Calistenson from the Renshai Trilogy.

Top 3 Bands: I haven’t ever payed enough attention to the music I listen to to pick up any bands.

Books I’m reading: Currently: The Black Tides of Heaven, by J.Y. Yang. On the top of my TBR pile are The Red Threads of Fortune (also J.Y. Yang), Empire Games by Charles Stross, and Barbary Station, by R. E. Stearns.

Tagging: No one, since I don’t have energy for that right now. :)

[risingshadownet]

The Immortal Renshai by Mickey Zucker Reichert https://www.risingshadow.net/library/book/54424-the-immortal-renshai

[andthebubbles]

guys i know no one cares here (and actually NOBODY I KNOW IN MY LIFE CARES) but i love colbey so much i’m so tempted to like, get a chibi template and draw him. EXCEPT I CAN’T DRAW. but i really wanna see that white blond hair and chibi colbey cuddling up with chibi frost reaver like ughhhhhhhhh

also where the fuck is the fanfic? WHY HAVE I BEEN GETTING INTO SMALL FANDOMS LATELY

i’m probably gonna reskim book 2 tonight lol

[othercat2]

So Tell Us What You REALLY think Mickey...

So I finished the first two books in Mickey Zucker Reichart's new Renshai trilogy and my general reaction to it was "Gee, MZR has some strongly held opinions about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict!" Which is to say, most of the first and second books, but especially the second, Fields of Wrath is basically a soap box for Mickey to rant at length about how lazy and evil the Palestinians are. The set up felt forced and clunky. And the Renshai are the world's worst stand in for the Israelis ever. (Mickey, you do realize that the Renshai started out as homicidal maniacs, right? Right? And are now only less homicidal maniacs because Colbey completely overhauled their culture? You should know this because you wrote it.) As are the npcs Mickey stuck in for the Palestinians. And the Fields of Wrath =/= Palestine/Israel.

[therichlittlebunny]

Current book I'm reading...

[andthebubbles]

also gdi Colbeyyyy is Colbey Calistinsson but also Thorsson and I MISS THAT VERSION OF NORSE MYTHOLOGY TOO cause he marries Freya dammit and there’s Sif and Modi and yadda and they’re all on Asgard eventually and Thor dies in Ragnarok iirc

[andthebubbles]

Shadimar dropped his offended expression for one of eager interest. "Where did you get these powers? When did they start?" "Childhood." Colbey leaned against an elm. "It's part of the Renshai training to learn to control the body with the mind." "But not to read minds." "True." "Yet you stole my words." Colbey had done this to people for so long he hated the need to explain it now. "I steal everyone's words." "You do?" Shadimar seemed shocked. "I do." "That makes no sense." The comment seemed even sillier than the previous one. "Which word didn't you understand? 'I' or 'do'?" Colbey glowered.

Renshai Chronicles 2: The Western Wizard, Chapter 12

[andthebubbles]

“Fine.” Colbey saw no reason to engage in incidental discussion. “You’ve spied on me. I hope you had the decency to, at least, study our enemies as well.” Shadimar shook his head sadly. “I can only look at those parts of the Eastlands that you’re in. I can follow my champion here; but, if not for your presence, I couldn’t have passed that boundary. Odin’s laws allow other glimpses under specific circumstances, but none of those apply here. In particular, I can’t look anywhere I suspect that another Wizard’s champion might be.” “And then, only on nights of a quarter moon in odd years of the Western king’s reign.” The rules seemed arbitrary to Colbey.

Renshai Chronicles 2: The Western Wizard, Chapter 29

[andthebubbles]

Mitrian released Garn, knowing that none of these thoughts mattered. Colbey had found a way to recreate the Renshai before he died. And it pleased her every bit as much as him. She watched him walk away and turn his back to work on something he did not want the others to see. Yet, the loops of bandage that tumbled to the ground gave away his mission. As the end fluttered to the dirt, she saw him stiffen. For some time, he stared at the hand mangled by a demon's claw, the wound that had nearly driven him to take his life, that Shadimar's magics had either healed or, by delaying his suicide, damned him for eternity.

Mitrian waited, breath held. She felt air-starved and dizzied before Colbey's grim stillness broke, and he let out a cry of pure elation. Both swords spun from their sheaths so fast she never saw him draw them. He lashed into a kata then, a capering, lethal devil-dance that required him to invent maneuvers more magnificent than Mitrian believed she could ever perform, even in her dreams. He hacked and slashed for Sif, moonlight reflecting from his blades and filling the trees with glorious, shifting highlights. He displayed his thanks and reverence in a wild flicker of single combat that few would consider prayer. Yet Mitrian knew. She never doubted that it was Sif who brought Tannin and his kin to Colbey nor that Sif had worked her divinity on his injured hand.

Somehow, Mitrian felt certain that Sif appreciated Colbey's exultation. And the goddess heard him.

Renshai Chronicles 2: The Western Wizard, Chapter 21

[andthebubbles]

omg i finally finished the first 3 books of the renshai chronicles (just reading the colbey parts though (i just wanted to refresh my memory of what happens in these books after seeing a reddit thread reminiscing about this series)) and i’ll probably not read the next 3 for a while (i can’t remember if i read them when i was 13ish but i suspect not? although i seem to remember a scene with colbey at the gates of valhalla hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm)

ANYWAY. so i have some rambly comments...

I have always liked the second book the best

I’m not fond of how the third book ended because it was so haphazard, sorta? Like, explanations piled upon explanations. But idk, maybe that’s just me

This is also just me: I’m not fond of the writing style, it forces you to read slowly and I have a preference for writing styles (and writing this way myself) that enable quick reading. Probably cause I have a short attention span

I love Colbey with all my heart jdfkjfg but hm, when you read it, all his special ~chosen one qualities are not so bad, but when you might explain it to a friend, it seems ridiculous. He’s like, everything: he’s the best swordsman ever, can read minds, is the Western Wizard, is also Thor’s fucking son. But honestly I object to none of that apart from him being a demigod. I guess that’s because I don’t really feel like it was necessary to the story.

I appreciate the author subverting lots of tropes (apart from making the ~chosen one ~speshullll). Like, 

The first book about Rache where you think he’s the main character and then he dies (I didn’t read it this time on this re-read/skimthrough, but I remember being rather disappointed the first time I got to the end of the first book and realised I was paying attention to the wrong character)

Colbey the real main character being frickin old and also sort of being the old-teacher-who-dies trope, except he’s not

...there were more but weirdly I can’t remember them right now lol

I don’t know why but I wasn’t super comfortable with the way the author described the female love interests in the third book. Which is such a weird thing because the writer’s female and to me the descriptions of Freya and Khitajrah seemed very male? That said, it WAS from Colbey’s perspective...

Speaking of which, I wasn’t keen on the whole romantic pairing off of characters in the third book. It seemed rather forced

And I also didn’t really like Colbey/Freya and Colbey/Khitajrah because they sort of came out of nowhere in the true heterosexual fashion of ‘here is your male and female talking like normal people OF COURSE THEY MUST FALL IN LOVE OR HAVE SOME SORT OF ROMANTIC/SEXUAL ATTRACTION WITHOUT MUCH REASON OR GROWING BOND OR HISTORY’

I feel like some of these issues (male gaze (?), forced romantic relationships) are a product of the book being written around 1992 (iirc). So, well, okay.

I’ll add more things as I remember them...

ETA:

I would love to see these books made into 3 movies. The subverting thing would be pretty cool to see on screen. All the new characters would keep each movie fresh. And MOST OF ALL it would speed up the pace of the books LOL like akjdkfjkfgjkgjfkjg I think it’d work very well at a faster pace with things just happening faster

I’m not super keen on the sudden massive involvement of the Norse gods in the third book

Why didn’t Colbey ever work at his mind powers in the same way he trains with his swords? You’d think he would, at least to just build stamina to offset the fatigue. I get that it’s a limiting factor to his character though because he was becoming rather powerful and undefeatable

On that note, I do like that he never learnt any magic and he knew nothing about it. Thank godddd lol

If I could, I would totally do art of Colbey. I hate the cover art, or at least the cover I see on the internet when you search for the books. They made Colbey super fucking buff wtf those arms are tree trunks in their own right. (I don’t think my copies of the book have the same cover; it’s probably an older edition. I don’t remember the cover.)

ETA:

Book 3 is just Colbey!whump lol

I like how almost no one is safe from dying. Like, you know how main characters are usually safe from it. And I really like how some get somewhat unsatisfying deaths and oof that Episte one really sucked for Colbey

ETA:

Why did Colbey take so long to tell the wizards at the end during the bargaining/ransoming stuff that they had the Staff of Chaos and he had Law?

[andthebubbles]

jfc i love colbey