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geebsSo at last night's CMT awards, Taylor Swift started off with a fake rap video of herself and T-pain. As Warming Glow says, its not as hilarious as the Natalie Portman Rap, but Taylor Swift is kinda hott in it:
But do you know what's hotter? Taylor Swift doing "Pour Some Sugar On Me" with Def Leppard.
Speaking of pouring sugar,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
clevemire was aghast that I did not have that song or Warrant's "Cherry Pie" in my stripper mix. So got a hold of those. Even got to break it in by inviting the rear neighbor's hot just turned eighteen year old snowflake daughter of the golden hair to take a break from her sun tanning by her pool and eating popsicles in her skimpy powder blue bikini and pink heart sunglasses to try out the pole in the basement. With sexy results! Okay, not really. Everyone knows there's no pole in the basement, because that room is reserved for Fight Club. Which I'm not supposed to talk about.
Exalted talk of the day:
Of Solars, Abyssals, and Infernals- As much as I've knocked the Solars, truthfully, the world is their oyster. After all, exaltations are literally the stuff heroes are made of. Yeah, they've got an entire Empire hunting them and telling the world they're abominations that need to be hunted down and destroyed and have a whole order of powerful zealots whose only job is to do just that. And being so powerful, they'll eventually be drawn into conflict with those that would destroy the world (or at least destroy it as it is)- the Undead/Demon/Fae triple threat.
But truthfully, their not bad off. Yeah, they don't start off with a Yozi or Deathlord master ready to lavish support on them. Even if they are supposed to be pariahs, depending on where they exalt, that's not the case. Plus, by their very nature, they're charismatic heroes. So the senator or mercenary captain or distinguished scholar who exalts might not necessarily be shunned, even if its in an area where the prejudice against them is strong. There are plenty of cases where their soldiers or aides or what have you follow them, forming a nascent army or organization to serve as their power base. Plus, they're heroic, they can easily recruit followers.
The Death Knights and Green Sun Princes, they're as powerful as a Solar, but they also have the backing of a Deathlord or Yozi behind them. But unlike the Solar, they're pretty much under the thumb of their masters. As long as they please those masters, they're fine. But piss them off, and they'll have their masters' quite potent wrath down upon them. Some of them do get a lot of leeway, but even then, its not very wise for them to have something they truly care about. And I don't even mean true love or anything like that. They can't really get attached to a favored pet or slave. Who knows the whims of their capricious masters? Even if they think they're serving their lord well, they might not even realize they've done anything to offend, and then their master will either destroy or turn anything they care (in the strictest sense of the word) about against them.
Demons vs Undead- As I said, I really like the Exalted world. Its a nice fantasy setting, but the world is expansive enough to encompass all sorts of locales (your standard Feudal Asian and European style kingdoms, harsh deserts, frozen tundras, tropical isles and pirate filled seas, etc) plus its got that sort of "magitech" level of technology you see in many anime in video games, which means Airships and Escaflowne style mechs. And smack in the center you have this vast Empire full of houses vying for control, ripe for all sorts of political intrigue. So on all that alone, there's all sorts of adventure possibilities.
But then add in the triple threat. You have the Fair Folk, denizens of the chaos outside of creation, trying to steal it back piece by piece into the wild. You have the Yozi, the demons trying to escape hell by turning creation into a hell as well. Then you have the Neverborn and the Deathlords, denizens of the Underworld trying to annihilate everything. I think there's no shortage of story hooks in the Exalted universe.
I haven't read the Fair Folk book, so I don't know about them, but the Demon vs Undead thing is an interesting comparison, I think. They have somewhat similar goals. Or rather, their goals are accomplished in much the same way. Break down society until its ripe enough for them to storm from hell or the underworld with their massive armies. So they prolly won't be too averse to working together. Interestingly enough, I know in the infernal book it mentions a yozi/deathlord alliance is fine temporarily, but the Yozis obviously don't want the deathlords to actually succeed in obliterating everything (Malfeas and Adorjan's similar destroy everything goals notwithstanding). Since the abyssal book came out before the infernals, there's no "opinion on infernal" paragraph(s) in the "how they interact with other exalted" chapter. I mean, if hell and creation merge, does that make any difference at all to them? I guess it might make it harder to pull everything into oblivion, because then the Yozis would be free to try and stop them. But it seems the Yozis have more incentive to stop the Deathlords than vice versa. Because they can't escape from hell if everything is obliterated, but I think the Deathlords and the Neverborn can still try to destroy a hellish Creation.
If they did go head to head though, it seems like the Underworld's armies are far more vast than anything in Malfeas. And their ranks fill with newly dead every day. Demons are just pieces of the Yozi. There's only a finite amount to go around. (I mean, there's still a crapload of power there, but compared to the constantly swelling Underworld?) However, your average demon is more powerful than your average undead. Both have easy access to first age quality stuff because they have the vast knowledge of the Yozis and ranks of undead (respectively) to draw upon.
But, the Yozis are bound by surrender pacts that prevent them from getting too overtly powerful. So its not like they can have Hellish factories churning out infernal war machines day and night like the underworld can. They have to corrupt and subvert mortals to their cause and fill their ranks, lest heaven find out and be all, "You can't do that." Because that's all the gods literally have to do, as terms of the Yozi surrender, the Yozi have to listen. Which is why the Green Sun Princes were given free will (as much as some of the Yozi were loathe to do, since free will is what got them overthrown in the first placE), so they aren't subject to the same laws they themselves are. But yeah, the Yozi have to tread a fine line.
The Deathlords have no such worries. Heck, the Silver Prince has a huge secret navy of soulsteel airships lying in wait, and the First and Forsaken Lion, in addition to his gigantic Legion Sanguinary (the largest fighting force the Underworld has ever known), he has that super flying battlecruiser "The Final Maelstrom" being built, if he could only figure out a way to get either into creation. (Cecelyne is toying with the idea of allying with him against the Southlands, and if Gem is ever destroyed, that should be a big enough beachhead for the FaFL. But while destroying Gem may suit her purposes, giving FaFL a way to get his troops into creation might be too risky) Even Mask of Winters has a major foothold with Thorns and has engaged the Savage Lands diplomatically. So it does seem like the Deathlords are making major progress.
On the other hand, the Deathlords don't work well together. They all have the same goal of annihilation, but they all seem more concerned with being the one to actually accomplish that, rather than putting their heads together. I guess they don't believe in "many hands make light work", but that is quite fortunate for Creation. While the Yozi are ultimately self serving, they work together more than the Deathlords. Prolly because they know they're all in this together, and they can't escape Hell on their own. So they're allies for now, until the Reclamation succeeds, and then its every Yozi for his or herself.
The Green Sun Princes- I was reading an early review of Infernals from the WW forums, and the reviewer made a good point of how the Infernal castes aren't straight analogs of the Solar castes. Yes, they share similar anima powers and the same favored abilities. But its the charm trees that make them different- as I've said countless times, since they're based on the Yozis rather than any set of abilities, they have whole unique set of powers. Plus, sorcery comes easier to the GSPs. Since every Yozi has charms that allow access to sorcery (as opposed to the other exalts having to work on their Occult skill to qualify for the charms that allow them to cast sorcery), any of the castes can easily cast spells should they so desire. They do get certain bonuses on certain spells as well, though limitations as well. (For example, Malfeas' spells do 1.5x more damage, but Malfean spell casters can not cast "peaceful" spells)
But yeah, the reviewer said the Slayers (the Dawn analog) is closer to a Dawn/Zenith, having pretty good social and soak/protective charms. Malefactors are closer to a Zenith/Twilight mix than a straight Zenith, Defilers seem like Twilight plus Eclipse, Scourges are a Dawn/Night combo (the athletics of night and decent stealth, plus really good combat abilities), while Fiends are Eclipses mixed with Night.
Again, the Solars/Abyssals seem to have more charms at their disposal, being based off the 25 abilities, and thus seemingly more "tricks". The Infernals, on the other hand, while having less charms, a lot of their charm trees are based off one charm that does something, and the later charms just permanently modify what it does. So in the end, they have less tricks, but as they gain experience, those tricks get quite powerful. For example, the Malfean attack charm, "Green Sun Nimbus Flare". Its an extra damage charm. But instead of the Slayer (or whomever if they're favoring Malfean charms) getting other tricks in his repertoire, that's basically his only go to attack enhancer. Only at later levels (i.e. getting the charms that permanently enhance it), it doesn't just do extra damage- it hits incorporeal things, automagically infects the victim with an extremely virulent disease, marks the target such that if they do anything against the hitter they take damage, and if slain, burns the victim into an ashen shadow, and the spot where they died, for the next 10,000 years (no, that's not one of my exaggerations, its actually 10,000 years), if someone tries to sleep near there they're plagued with horrible nightmares. Now this isn't a combo, its just that that first charm does all that after the Infernal has built it up with other charm purchases.
So all in all, the Infernals are definitely a new and different animal to their solar/abyssal counterparts, and not just demon-solars. (that would be the Akuma! Well, Akuma also encompasses demon-Dragon bloods, demon-lunars, and demon-sidereals, as well as demon-heroic mortals)
But do you know what's hotter? Taylor Swift doing "Pour Some Sugar On Me" with Def Leppard.
Speaking of pouring sugar,
clevemire was aghast that I did not have that song or Warrant's "Cherry Pie" in my stripper mix. So got a hold of those. Even got to break it in by inviting the rear neighbor's hot just turned eighteen year old snowflake daughter of the golden hair to take a break from her sun tanning by her pool and eating popsicles in her skimpy powder blue bikini and pink heart sunglasses to try out the pole in the basement. With sexy results! Okay, not really. Everyone knows there's no pole in the basement, because that room is reserved for Fight Club. Which I'm not supposed to talk about.Exalted talk of the day:
Of Solars, Abyssals, and Infernals- As much as I've knocked the Solars, truthfully, the world is their oyster. After all, exaltations are literally the stuff heroes are made of. Yeah, they've got an entire Empire hunting them and telling the world they're abominations that need to be hunted down and destroyed and have a whole order of powerful zealots whose only job is to do just that. And being so powerful, they'll eventually be drawn into conflict with those that would destroy the world (or at least destroy it as it is)- the Undead/Demon/Fae triple threat.
But truthfully, their not bad off. Yeah, they don't start off with a Yozi or Deathlord master ready to lavish support on them. Even if they are supposed to be pariahs, depending on where they exalt, that's not the case. Plus, by their very nature, they're charismatic heroes. So the senator or mercenary captain or distinguished scholar who exalts might not necessarily be shunned, even if its in an area where the prejudice against them is strong. There are plenty of cases where their soldiers or aides or what have you follow them, forming a nascent army or organization to serve as their power base. Plus, they're heroic, they can easily recruit followers.
The Death Knights and Green Sun Princes, they're as powerful as a Solar, but they also have the backing of a Deathlord or Yozi behind them. But unlike the Solar, they're pretty much under the thumb of their masters. As long as they please those masters, they're fine. But piss them off, and they'll have their masters' quite potent wrath down upon them. Some of them do get a lot of leeway, but even then, its not very wise for them to have something they truly care about. And I don't even mean true love or anything like that. They can't really get attached to a favored pet or slave. Who knows the whims of their capricious masters? Even if they think they're serving their lord well, they might not even realize they've done anything to offend, and then their master will either destroy or turn anything they care (in the strictest sense of the word) about against them.
Demons vs Undead- As I said, I really like the Exalted world. Its a nice fantasy setting, but the world is expansive enough to encompass all sorts of locales (your standard Feudal Asian and European style kingdoms, harsh deserts, frozen tundras, tropical isles and pirate filled seas, etc) plus its got that sort of "magitech" level of technology you see in many anime in video games, which means Airships and Escaflowne style mechs. And smack in the center you have this vast Empire full of houses vying for control, ripe for all sorts of political intrigue. So on all that alone, there's all sorts of adventure possibilities.
But then add in the triple threat. You have the Fair Folk, denizens of the chaos outside of creation, trying to steal it back piece by piece into the wild. You have the Yozi, the demons trying to escape hell by turning creation into a hell as well. Then you have the Neverborn and the Deathlords, denizens of the Underworld trying to annihilate everything. I think there's no shortage of story hooks in the Exalted universe.
I haven't read the Fair Folk book, so I don't know about them, but the Demon vs Undead thing is an interesting comparison, I think. They have somewhat similar goals. Or rather, their goals are accomplished in much the same way. Break down society until its ripe enough for them to storm from hell or the underworld with their massive armies. So they prolly won't be too averse to working together. Interestingly enough, I know in the infernal book it mentions a yozi/deathlord alliance is fine temporarily, but the Yozis obviously don't want the deathlords to actually succeed in obliterating everything (Malfeas and Adorjan's similar destroy everything goals notwithstanding). Since the abyssal book came out before the infernals, there's no "opinion on infernal" paragraph(s) in the "how they interact with other exalted" chapter. I mean, if hell and creation merge, does that make any difference at all to them? I guess it might make it harder to pull everything into oblivion, because then the Yozis would be free to try and stop them. But it seems the Yozis have more incentive to stop the Deathlords than vice versa. Because they can't escape from hell if everything is obliterated, but I think the Deathlords and the Neverborn can still try to destroy a hellish Creation.
If they did go head to head though, it seems like the Underworld's armies are far more vast than anything in Malfeas. And their ranks fill with newly dead every day. Demons are just pieces of the Yozi. There's only a finite amount to go around. (I mean, there's still a crapload of power there, but compared to the constantly swelling Underworld?) However, your average demon is more powerful than your average undead. Both have easy access to first age quality stuff because they have the vast knowledge of the Yozis and ranks of undead (respectively) to draw upon.
But, the Yozis are bound by surrender pacts that prevent them from getting too overtly powerful. So its not like they can have Hellish factories churning out infernal war machines day and night like the underworld can. They have to corrupt and subvert mortals to their cause and fill their ranks, lest heaven find out and be all, "You can't do that." Because that's all the gods literally have to do, as terms of the Yozi surrender, the Yozi have to listen. Which is why the Green Sun Princes were given free will (as much as some of the Yozi were loathe to do, since free will is what got them overthrown in the first placE), so they aren't subject to the same laws they themselves are. But yeah, the Yozi have to tread a fine line.
The Deathlords have no such worries. Heck, the Silver Prince has a huge secret navy of soulsteel airships lying in wait, and the First and Forsaken Lion, in addition to his gigantic Legion Sanguinary (the largest fighting force the Underworld has ever known), he has that super flying battlecruiser "The Final Maelstrom" being built, if he could only figure out a way to get either into creation. (Cecelyne is toying with the idea of allying with him against the Southlands, and if Gem is ever destroyed, that should be a big enough beachhead for the FaFL. But while destroying Gem may suit her purposes, giving FaFL a way to get his troops into creation might be too risky) Even Mask of Winters has a major foothold with Thorns and has engaged the Savage Lands diplomatically. So it does seem like the Deathlords are making major progress.
On the other hand, the Deathlords don't work well together. They all have the same goal of annihilation, but they all seem more concerned with being the one to actually accomplish that, rather than putting their heads together. I guess they don't believe in "many hands make light work", but that is quite fortunate for Creation. While the Yozi are ultimately self serving, they work together more than the Deathlords. Prolly because they know they're all in this together, and they can't escape Hell on their own. So they're allies for now, until the Reclamation succeeds, and then its every Yozi for his or herself.
The Green Sun Princes- I was reading an early review of Infernals from the WW forums, and the reviewer made a good point of how the Infernal castes aren't straight analogs of the Solar castes. Yes, they share similar anima powers and the same favored abilities. But its the charm trees that make them different- as I've said countless times, since they're based on the Yozis rather than any set of abilities, they have whole unique set of powers. Plus, sorcery comes easier to the GSPs. Since every Yozi has charms that allow access to sorcery (as opposed to the other exalts having to work on their Occult skill to qualify for the charms that allow them to cast sorcery), any of the castes can easily cast spells should they so desire. They do get certain bonuses on certain spells as well, though limitations as well. (For example, Malfeas' spells do 1.5x more damage, but Malfean spell casters can not cast "peaceful" spells)
But yeah, the reviewer said the Slayers (the Dawn analog) is closer to a Dawn/Zenith, having pretty good social and soak/protective charms. Malefactors are closer to a Zenith/Twilight mix than a straight Zenith, Defilers seem like Twilight plus Eclipse, Scourges are a Dawn/Night combo (the athletics of night and decent stealth, plus really good combat abilities), while Fiends are Eclipses mixed with Night.
Again, the Solars/Abyssals seem to have more charms at their disposal, being based off the 25 abilities, and thus seemingly more "tricks". The Infernals, on the other hand, while having less charms, a lot of their charm trees are based off one charm that does something, and the later charms just permanently modify what it does. So in the end, they have less tricks, but as they gain experience, those tricks get quite powerful. For example, the Malfean attack charm, "Green Sun Nimbus Flare". Its an extra damage charm. But instead of the Slayer (or whomever if they're favoring Malfean charms) getting other tricks in his repertoire, that's basically his only go to attack enhancer. Only at later levels (i.e. getting the charms that permanently enhance it), it doesn't just do extra damage- it hits incorporeal things, automagically infects the victim with an extremely virulent disease, marks the target such that if they do anything against the hitter they take damage, and if slain, burns the victim into an ashen shadow, and the spot where they died, for the next 10,000 years (no, that's not one of my exaggerations, its actually 10,000 years), if someone tries to sleep near there they're plagued with horrible nightmares. Now this isn't a combo, its just that that first charm does all that after the Infernal has built it up with other charm purchases.
So all in all, the Infernals are definitely a new and different animal to their solar/abyssal counterparts, and not just demon-solars. (that would be the Akuma! Well, Akuma also encompasses demon-Dragon bloods, demon-lunars, and demon-sidereals, as well as demon-heroic mortals)
