[Crosalar]

In the middle of tCG re-read and had completely forgotten about Cotillion's visit to Lostara Yil after the nah'ruk battle and her intimated shadow dance to save Tavore and Henar. I always say I like the Crokus/Cutter Sorry/Apsalar story line--and get derisive responses for it--but I think it's Erikson's device to demonstrate Cotillion's remorse humanity. The scene with he and Lostara--which underscores that sentiment--just slays me.

This post has been edited by Crosalar: 23 April 2018 - 10:57 PM

[worry]

Who is deriding you?

[Abyss]

Yeah, I’m a fan of the Crokus / Apsalar story. It certainly is one of the ways we see Cots’ humanity, similar to his interactions with Kalam and Lostara... not coincidence I suppose that all the people reflecting his humanity are assassins.

[Crosalar]

Luv2B_Sassy, on 23 April 2018 - 11:04 PM, said:

Who is deriding you?

Other boards. A lot of folks see C/C as whiny and Apsalar should have always stayed the badass Sorry. And with the love cult of Anomander Rake among fans, many people tend to think this arc just gets annoyingly in the way. To me, it doesn't matter at the end of the day because it's an arc that goes from the very beginning of GotM to the very end of tCG. I even get the sense here and there that ST is a little envious of Cot. Very little, to be sure, but a word here, a phrase there...

This post has been edited by Crosalar: 25 April 2018 - 12:34 PM

[Abyss]

Just my $0.02, but anyone who thinks Apsalar didn't stay badass missed a large chunk of BONEHUNTERS.
Same for Corkus as of TtH.

...it's also missing the subtlety of large chunks of those characters' storylines, vs the bigger flashier stabby sploddy. And yah, i get it, i love the stabby sploddy, but i appreciate that SE gives us so much more than that.


Of course, if they're whining because we didn't get more books of either of them being badasses, well... ok fine that would have been good too. I actually really enjoyed the times Apsalar throws down in TB, and Crokus only has two real moments of badassery in TtH, three if you count when he almost backs Karsa against the Hounds, but the two are pretty awesome.

[worry]

Crosalar, on 25 April 2018 - 12:14 PM, said:

Luv2B_Sassy, on 23 April 2018 - 11:04 PM, said:

Who is deriding you?

Other boards.

I've diagnosed and isolated the problem.

[Crosalar]

Abyss, on 25 April 2018 - 01:39 PM, said:

Just my $0.02, but anyone who thinks Apsalar didn't stay badass missed a large chunk of BONEHUNTERS.
Same for Corkus as of TtH.

...it's also missing the subtlety of large chunks of those characters' storylines, vs the bigger flashier stabby sploddy. And yah, i get it, i love the stabby sploddy, but i appreciate that SE gives us so much more than that.


Of course, if they're whining because we didn't get more books of either of them being badasses, well... ok fine that would have been good too. I actually really enjoyed the times Apsalar throws down in TB, and Crokus only has two real moments of badassery in TtH, three if you count when he almost backs Karsa against the Hounds, but the two are pretty awesome.

The thing is, Apsalar did NOT want to be badass, once she sniffed Cot's game. But between Cutter and Rellock, she has a heart-fart (ha! just made that up!) and continued because she didn't know what else to do, even though she hated being an assassin. I think it's telling in HoC when she (being chained to Cot) talks about her loss of innocence. I ripped the sentiment for some of my writing (but between a father, daughter, and grandfather) because it strikes at the heart of Apsalar's dilemma: she had no choice, or perhaps the choice was made for her by Cot and ST (bugger that). In BH, she is Sorry Part II, but only because she has to withdraw into herself to pay Cot off and return to Itko Kan. I wish SE wrote one more page about her and Crokus in tCG's second appendix, but maybe that's wishful thinking. The scene as it is is fantastic and followed by Fid's arc-wrap, a wholly satisfying conclusion. Yeah, there are loose ends, but that's life. At least we got those (and Korlat/WJ).

This post has been edited by Crosalar: 25 April 2018 - 11:02 PM

[Crosalar]

Luv2B_Sassy, on 25 April 2018 - 07:20 PM, said:

Crosalar, on 25 April 2018 - 12:14 PM, said:

Luv2B_Sassy, on 23 April 2018 - 11:04 PM, said:

Who is deriding you?

Other boards.

I've diagnosed and isolated the problem.

Thanks. I've got pretty thick skin and know what I like, so "sticks and stones"... etc. What bothers me are those folks don't see the entire STORY.

This post has been edited by Crosalar: 26 April 2018 - 05:48 AM

[Kellanved's shadow]

Crosalar, on 25 April 2018 - 10:59 PM, said:

Abyss, on 25 April 2018 - 01:39 PM, said:

Just my $0.02, but anyone who thinks Apsalar didn't stay badass missed a large chunk of BONEHUNTERS.
Same for Corkus as of TtH.

...it's also missing the subtlety of large chunks of those characters' storylines, vs the bigger flashier stabby sploddy. And yah, i get it, i love the stabby sploddy, but i appreciate that SE gives us so much more than that.


Of course, if they're whining because we didn't get more books of either of them being badasses, well... ok fine that would have been good too. I actually really enjoyed the times Apsalar throws down in TB, and Crokus only has two real moments of badassery in TtH, three if you count when he almost backs Karsa against the Hounds, but the two are pretty awesome.

The thing is, Apsalar did NOT want to be badass, once she sniffed Cot's game. But between Cutter and Rellock, she has a heart-fart (ha! just made that up!) and continued because she didn't know what else to do, even though she hated being an assassin. I think it's telling in HoC when she (being chained to Cot) talks about her loss of innocence. I ripped the sentiment for some of my writing (but between a father, daughter, and grandfather) because it strikes at the heart of Apsalar's dilemma: she had no choice, or perhaps the choice was made for her by Cot and ST (bugger that). In BH, she is Sorry Part II, but only because she has to withdraw into herself to pay Cot off and return to Itko Kan. I wish SE wrote one more page about her and Crokus in tCG's second appendix, but maybe that's wishful thinking. The scene as it is is fantastic and followed by Fid's arc-wrap, a wholly satisfying conclusion. Yeah, there are loose ends, but that's life. At least we got those (and Korlat/WJ).

We might see Crokus and Apsalar again in the Karsa trilogy.

[Kellanved's shadow]

I understand what you mean. Dancer is my favourite character but I prefer the times when he has character interactions with his (debatable) friends. Seeing him be a badass is fun and all bat, Dancer simply killing faceless nobodies isn't all that fulfilling.