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  1. Ah, but then we'd never learn calculus because calculus is a seven-book prequel series that won't get published for another few decades. And you can't ask the teacher questions 'cuz he'll just tell you RAFO.
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  2. I am a grad student. As such, I do a lot of reading. The books I read are….shall we say, less than interesting. I do my best to read them. I do my best to pay attention. Yet every time I get more than a few pages in, I find myself drawn, as if by a magnet, to more interesting works. Let's face it: Brandon Sanderson's works are addictive. Once they get going, it's nearly impossible to put one of his books down. And this is a problem for a student who just wants to finish her reading and pass her summer class. So. I have an idea. It's brilliant. It's crazy. And it's totally going to work. We get Brandon Sanderson to write our textbooks. I don't know how we'd do it. It'd involve a lot of fan letters, a lot of asking nicely, and probably a good deal of whining. But once he buckled down and did it—well, we'd have the perfect solution to grad school! A textbook that is nigh-impossible to put down—and a host of classes that are nigh-impossible to fail. There is no possible way this can't work, guys. It's foolproof.
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  3. Night 5: Celebrations The holiday of Bel Tine usually brought with it joy and festivities, when children could laugh and play in the Town Greens, young women would dance around the ribbon pole, and peddlers would bring tales of glee and fireworks to be launched into the night sky, amazing and dazzling the villagers with their magnificent displays. But the village of Drell's Crossing was in no state for celebrations, and the town square lay empty and silent, filled with the wreckage and debris that had built up in the town, the silence occasionally broken by the caws of crows as they gorged on the dead that lay in the streets. No. There was no happiness or celebrations in the village. Instead, there was the grim determination that the villagers had settled into, hoping beyond hope, trying to rid their town of the infestation of evil that had plagued them recently. The citizens of Drell's Crossing didn't know why the Shadow had chosen them to torment, but they would show they would not lie down meekly and let the Dark One win without a fight. Mayor Waes strode up through the village green, a solemn expression on his face as he visibly tried to ignore the taint of madness he was suffering from as a result of his work with Saidin. The fact that a male channeler was their leader was a sign of how desperate the villagers were seek out and destroy the shadow with. At first Waes thought it had just been his madness when the other villagers began speaking to him in strange tongues, making weird, guttural noises that sounded like long strings of numbers when they opened to mouths to talk, but he realized with horror that he could understand what was being said and respond in kind as well! Once the villagers realized what was going on, they were visibly shaken, but undeterred in their mission to hunt down a servant of evil, and with the setting sun, Bunnt was called up to the front of the crowd. Despite a quiet persistence that they had gotten the wrong man, the quiet farmer resigned to his fate and without a struggle let his neck be fitted for the noose. He lowered his head and quiet sobbing sounds could be heard. Waes had tightened the noose and was getting ready to pull the lever when Bunnt suddenly tossed his head back and everybody realized with horror that he wasn't sobbing, but laughing! "You fools! You think this is a victory, but I have watched as you have torn yourselves apart in your feeble attempts to find me! This noose, and all of you, have more blood on your hands than I do! Now watch! I may die, and you may feel a small, fleeting feeling of pride swelling up within you, but know that it is a hollow victory! Now go! Hide back in your homes and cower in fear, waiting for the Darkness to strike." He raised his hands up into the air and let out an insane, maniacal laugh. "And then, shall the Lord of the Evening come. And He shall take our eyes, for our souls shall bow before Him, and He shall take our skin, for our flesh shall serve Him, and He shall take our lips, for only Him will we praise. And the Lord of the Evening shall face the Broken Champion, and shall spill his blood and bring us the Darkness so beautiful. Let the screams begin, O followers of the Shadow. Beg for your destruction!" With a yank of the lever, the floor dropped out beneath Bunnt and with a grunt he fell through the hole and his neck snapped with a sudden, final crunch. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bunnt was a Regular Darkfriend! Lynch Tally: Bunnt (5) - Nath, Leas Fel, Erik, Witless(+1) Nath (1) - Khamsi Night 5 will last 48 hours and will end at 1:30PM EST Sunday, July 6th! Unable to get an exact count-up or player list over at the moment, I'll try and get it updated in later if I get a chance.
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  4. A month or two ago I saw an advert for Skittles on TV which had two distinct effects on me. You've probably seen it, the Midas themed one where the guy is depressed that he can't touch anything without turning them into skittles. He tries to answer the phone and it turns into a pile of skittles, he gets frustrated and touches his desk; it collapses into a cascade of coloured candy. First and most obviously it reminded me how much I love skittles, they're yummy. Normally I skip or mute all adverts but this one actually got to me. I've tasted many a rainbow in recent weeks (you know, the skittley type, not the other type... not that there's anything wrong with... you know what, never mind). Secondly though I was thinking 'So that's what its like to fall into Shadesmar'. Everything around you losing it's form as it collapses into a sea of tiny beads. Except of course a wee bit more colourful. So now I challenge you all to read the parts of WoR & WoK where Shallan or Jasnah find themselves in Shadesmar without thinking of magical skittles, cause I can't anymore. I can't say I'd mind drowning in Skittle Shadesmar all that much. Now if you'll excuse me I need to go to the corner shop for something.
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  5. With regards the Master... I have a story I would love to see happen. I doubt it ever will, of course... but I've been thinking that it would be a very cool situation if the Doctor restores Gallifrey, goes to meet his people, the High Council assures him they locked away/whatever Rassillion, and he is taken to mee the new leader. And sitting in the chair is the new High Lord President of Gallifrey: The Master.
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  6. "Few people have seen a High Epic in their glory. Fewer still have seen the glory of an Epic who is high."
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  7. Shardplate is a Radiant’s Spiritweb Introduction There’s been a lot of speculation about what Shardplate actually is made up of. I had posted parts of this in another thread, but I decided to take those parts and expand them out here. As noted in the thread title, I believe that Shardplate is actually composed of the Radiant’s spirtweb, made manifest in the Physical Realm. Logic We already know that a Shardblade is actually a spren in the Physical realm. When the Recreance happened, the spren “died” and were left as the Shardblades that are currently used in most of Roshar. These Shardblades act a bit different than the spren version we see Kaladin wield (they can’t change shape, need ten heartbeats to be summoned, etc). Shardplate acted differently in the times before the Recreance. They glowed with Stormlight and Radiants were able to manipulate the Plate at will, adding and removing their helmet in the blink of an eye, for instance. The Plate changed shape similar to how a live Shardblade could change shape. This changed during the Recreance as the Plate no longer could appear or disappear at will and no longer glowed with glyphs. In essence, the Plate died in much the same way that Shardblades died. So why do I think that the Plate was/is the spiritweb? First, take a look at how the Radiants acted directly after disposing of their Plate. The Radiant that Dalinar caught up with simply ignored him, not speaking to him. This is very similar to how a Lifeless acts. Vivenna notes that Clod had an “emotionless face”. The Lifeless have a bit of their spiritweb left[1]. The Radiants giving up their Shardplate would likely be in the exact same situation. The Shardplate has certain points on it that, in modern times, contain gemstones to power it with Stormlight. I believe that these points are the exact same points that would be the Hemalurgic points in the spiritweb. They are focal points for Investiture. Szeth noted that Shardplate would have interfered with his lashings[2], but we see a Windrunner in Dalinar’s vision that could clearly lash. Why? Because the Windrunner had his soul as his plate. Shardplate for Szeth would be another person’s spiritweb and would not work for him. When the Plate is cracked, the cracks show up as a web. This is circumstantial evidence, but I believe it serves to back up everything else. There is a reason it’s called a “spiritweb” after all. Additionally, Plate can be regrown from using Stormlight. This is very similar to what we see with Kaladin, healing his Shardblade severed limb with Stormlight, essentially reconnecting the Spiritual with the Physical. The breastplate, as well, mirrors this. A strike to the chest (or spine) with a Shardblade is a killing blow. Shardplate ceases to function when the breastplate is destroyed[3]. Each Radiant’s soul was unique. This would manifest itself in the different shapes and patterns of the Shardplate. The sets of Plate were unique enough that Dalinar could recognize Adolin’s set in the vision of the battle where the Dustbringer fought[4]. Finally, every order of the Radiants had access to Shardplate, even if they did not use it[5]. This, quite simply, is because each Radiant had a soul (spiritweb). I think this makes for a very nice situation where the a Radiant would fight using aspects of all three Realms. Physical with his body. Cognitive with his spren Shardblade. Spiritual with his spiritweb Shardplate. References Edit: Fixed typos
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  8. Solomon Grundy is the avatar, Ian is the real name. Became a fan of Brandon's writing through the Wheel of Time series, which I felt he finished splendidly and, though I'll probably be banished to one of the Nine Hells for this, I felt he was better with the material than the original author... In any event, I'm mostly here to get information on Stormlight glyphs and writing for a tattoo design I'm working on for myself, but if I don't alienate myself too quickly, perhaps I'll stick around and irritate you all for a time...
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  9. It's a holiday. There's a beach. There's socializing. All I'm thinking is "can I get back to my book?!" Introverted Sanderson fan. 4th of July freedom is turning the fireworks off and being quiet so I can read. Ha!
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  10. The blackbane leaf, which Syl gave to Kaladin at the chasm
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  11. I would take a class on surgebinding physics, cosmere biology(the section on kandra would be interesting), and the economics of allomancy.
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  12. "...And so the 2 used the power of the division Surge on the 4, by doing so it managed to split it´s very existenc in half, bringing them down to equal footing..." This might just work.
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  13. Since we're talking about dr who, and some people here are newer doctor who fans, i will assume that some people have not seen this. Thus, i present to you a comedy bit with rowan atkinson (mr bean) from the mid 90's or so, "Dr who and curse of fatal death"
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  14. This touches on the biggest problem with textbooks - they are infodumps, not stories. Stories are interesting; infodumps are not.
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  15. Gallifrey is mine, its sweets will obey me.
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  16. LOL...hilariously enough, I just looked it up and I was, in fact, born on a Monday...
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  17. I upvoted that. It was quite funny.
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  18. Just ride the winds of rep, Mat. Do not seek to understand or control them.
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  19. I recognize that! The Gunslinger, Jake Chambers Oh, and good duel you guys. Ought to say something remotely on topic, even if it is... out-of-character.
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  20. This is going to be pretty spoilery (but I guess we are in the Cosmere Theories section anyways… and the books were published ages ago…) 1. Um… I think there's a WoB that says that Vin was special so that she could take the mists in*, but I can't find it. Though the Preservation "approval" is a good idea. 2. Based on our current understanding, I think that a Misting would just be able to super-power his one skill. A Misting is someone who has Spiritual DNA written in such a way as to allow Preservation's power to take a certain, pre-determined effect when taken into himself. When the Misting Snaps, the cracks in his Spritweb allow Preservation's power in. Ingesting the Mists gives a LOT more power than a metal will usually give. This will give a lot of power to say, Steelpushing, if the Misting is a Coinshot. However, he wouldn't be able to use the power to change his sDNA to give himself different powers. That's one of the differences between the Mists (gaseous Investiture) and Lerasium (solid Investiture). Lerasium somehow affects the Spiritual Realm, while the Mists don't. They just amp up the Physical effects of the Investiture. While I'm writing this… I was doing some editing on the Coppermind when I noticed this, and I don't want to start correcting stuff that doesn't need to be corrected. I've noticed that some people talk about a "Surge of Growth", even though technically, that's part of the "Surge of Progression". Are both of them considered Surges (one being a sub-Surge of the other), or is only Progression a Surge? There isn't a Surge of "Basic Lashing", or "Full Lashing", only Surges of Gravitation and Pressure, right?
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  21. Listen to a song you've never heard before, preferably one without words, and write as fast as you can for the duration of the song. Expand on your ideas afterwards.
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  22. Nononono, he requisitions songwriters to put Steelheart propaganda to all the tunes, then plays the revised versions over loudspeakers so nobody can hear them without thinking of the Steelheart version first.
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  23. When you complain of stomach pains and your doctor finds coins in your gut. (Yeah! First popular post!)
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  24. The President solemnly dons an aluminum foil hat before every speech, polished to a gleam, to prove that he speaks for himself.
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  25. Having seen very little disccussion on this, I thought that I might as well make a thread (and also delurk myself. Again.)! I think that we can assume it's in-cosmere, but either way I enjoyed it the most of the steelhunt material. Thoughts on it?
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  26. The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter have many similarities - They are both widely popular, were turned into films, and are absolute doorstoppers, putting many people off reading them because the films exist. I also enjoyed them both when I was younger, and they brought me into the fantasy genre in full (though HP is more of an fantastic Earth than a straight fantasy) There's also another important similarity, and one which I absolutely despise: Science is verboten. Science in The Lord of the Rings is the province of Saruman, the White Wizard, the leader (such as they have one) of the Five Wizards in Middle-Earth. Famously, he betrays Gandalf the Grey and goes around allying with Sauron due to his lust for power and the One Ring. He develops gunpowder, a huge benefit to the world even if you ignore its military power. It can be used to study ballistics, or in the mining industry, for instance. Unfortunately, Sauron is evil, and therefore his science is a devilry which the main characters consider some kind of fell sorcery because they don't understand it. Tolkein designed Saruman and his war machine to mimic the pace of industrialisation, destroying nature in the name of progress. In Harry Potter, we see impressive technologies, such as the developments of flying broomsticks, a 'living' and changing castle in Hogwarts, and so on. However, all of this is done by magic. Not one whiff of science there, apparently because it doesn't work there due to ambient magical energies or whatever. They even had to steal the Hogwart's Express from the pathetic and worthless muggles (remember kids, stealing is fine if you do it from normals!). The magically inclined are so backwards that it's laughable. They don't understand - and can't even pronounce - electricity, or figure out muggle money: they find it easier to count in a combination of base 29 and 17 than in base 10, for goodness' sake. They even have to be told that 'A gun is kind of like a metal wand' - after 400 years of them existing! Even Arthur Weasley, their Misuse of Muggle Artefacts guy, has no idea what electricity is, which even in the mid-1990s you'd think would be pretty crucial to most Muggle Artefacts. This is all in despite of the fact that a good number of the characters have a non-magical lineage. About half a year ago on his blog, the head of Research and Development at the Magic: The Gathering branch of Wizards of the Coast said that they'd never do a sci-fi themed set because it wouldn't appeal to people because it wasn't fantasy. He even mentioned that they'd considered doing a Western/gunslingers-style set, but of course we'd have spellslingers instead of gunslingers. To this date, the only gunpowder-based weapons in MtG have been with fantasy-okay cannons (mostly on ships) and the Portal set, which had a very small print-run and is non-canon due to the fact that it is based on the Chinese Three Kingdoms period. Even the Dresden Files has this. Dresden works with technology daily, even going so far as to put his name in the telephone directory (now also an anachronism, thanks to the internet). In this alone, it's by far better than how Harry Potter deals with it. However, he also has to use old technology, because anything new is too vulnerable to magic. Now I can kind of justify this, due to new tech being more precise and therefore easier to wreck with small changes, but even so it seems a little excessive. These are just examples of series in which magic and science are felt to be opposing forces, or perhaps downright wrong to the main characters. The only time the two are allowed combine are in the areas of magic Steampunk (because electricity is apparently too good for some people) and Magitek (in which magic is a power source rather than electricity). The only real fantasy series I can think of which avoids this completely is The Discworld novels, particularly in later novels, with films, semaphore, High Energy Magic, steam power and so on. That may be however because they're much less based on combat, and are more about characters than epic fights for the sake of the world. The Amber Chronicles also slightly gets around this as well; Gunpowder is somehow inert on the titular land, so the character gets a different explosive compound instead. A rather clever solution, in my opinion. However, after this, it progresses rather similarly onwards and employs magitech. We can kind of make sense of why this is - People get cut by swords and hit by arrows, but a gunshot is a definite kill, after all. Older weaponry requires skill to use proficiently, whereas guns have a simple point 'n' click interface. Now obviously this is an exaggeration, but it seems to be the reason in fantasy for enforcing this technological stasis (something I will forever love Mistborn for justifying and then subverting). Overall, it's the idea of technological stability over large periods of time that I think is most abhorrent to me here. I can get that gunpowder takes a lot of the romance out of it, but it wasn't the be-all and end-all of scientific achievement. It didn't help us discover how to use electricity, for instance. It's rather annoying when they don't even justify it either. There's Willing Suspension of Disbelief, I know, but after several thousand years... Even worse is when even magic isn't studied. 'Any sufficiently studied magic is indistinguishable from technology', the corollary to Clarke's Third Law states, which might give the reason for magic being mysterious and unknown. The idea that no-one in that period of time was born who went 'Hey, you know that thing we rely on? Anyone know how it works at all? Or even if there's an alternative that doesn't put our lives in the hands of people born with all that power who we can't control?'. Scientists of any flavour are severely lacking in fantasy. So... After that long rant discussion, what are your thoughts about the use (or absence) of science in fantasy? What have you seen which does it really well or really poorly? Do you think that fantasy has to mean the medieval era? In your opinion, are urban fantasies are true examples of the fantasy genre? Or for that matter, what about the development and study of magic itself? Finally, do you think that the idea that science does not belong is at all damaging for the advancement of the fantasy genre?
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  27. Just thought I'd share some random thoughts I had about life in the Cosmere and on Scadrial. I was thinking about why exactly horses are found throughout the Cosmere, and ended up wondering if Brandon had ever shared the specific details of how life arose on Scadrial. Obviously the development of life was intentional and guided or else horses, hominids, etc. would probably never have existed (and we might have ended up with wierder life like on Roshar). But was life created all at once or over illions of years? I suppose the former is probable since I sort of assume it hasn't been that long since Adonalsium shattered, plus Rashek's mistwraiths have already demonstrated that Preservation's power is capable of creating whole new forms of life. But I find it a bit odd that Preservation's intent would allow Ati to create life that way. You would think he would have more respect for natural laws and allowing things to happen gradually, since preservation is the opposite of rapid change. Could that imply a relatively short timetable between the Shattering of Adonalsium and the creation of life on Scadrial, meaning Ati had not yet become completely shaped to the intent of Preservation?
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  28. I'm guessing that if the Viewer survives tonight, we would like to learn more about Trimat's role. If he's faking being a Viewer, it would be nice to get a clear idea of his actual role. With that and the role that was scanned last night, we should be able to lynch accurately enough to have good odds of winning this. 11 players remaining 1 darkfriend down (Good case) - 8 vs 3 - Night 5: - 6 vs 3 - Day 6, if the Forsaken is lynched - 6 vs 2 - Night 6: - 5 vs 2 - Day 7, if a darkfriend is lynched - 5 vs 1 - Night 7: - 4 vs 1 - Day 8, if a darkfriend is lynched - 4 vs 0 - Game over, village win (Rough case) - 8 vs 3 - Night 5: - 6 vs 3 - Day 6, if a darkfriend is lynched - 6 vs 2 - Night 6: - 4 vs 2 - Day 7, if a darkfriend is lynched - 4 vs 1 - Night 7: - 2 vs 1 - Day 8, if the Forsaken is lynched - 2 vs 0 - Game over, village win (Bad case) - 7 vs 4 - Night 5: - 5 vs 4 - Day 6, if a darkfriend is lynched - 5 vs 3 - Night 6: - 3 vs 3 - Day 7, if the Forsaken is lynched - 3 vs 2 - Night 7: - 2 vs 2 - Day 8, if a darkfriend is lynched - 2 vs 1 - Night 8: - 1 vs 1 - Day 9: If the last darkfriend is Aiel-blooded Game over, village loses (Worst case) - 7 vs 4 - Night 5: - 5 vs 4 - Day 6, if an Aiel-blooded is lynched - 5 vs 4 - Night 6: - 3 vs 4 - Game over, village loses 54413072387032129540221714 13128225501314173982136082 46907313381041141756478312 25207214388380832953734745 10628312108382172182134027 25207339544013118247257313
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  29. "You're the Master of candies and sugar now, is that it? Is that what you've spent centuries of corruption and murder working towards?" "Yes!" "Oh. Well. Well, then, I hope you're happy!"
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  30. Since you obviously are failing to lynch the Forsaken. I have lost faith in the one who is supposed to lead to victory. I move for a vote of no confidence on Weas leadership! And I put my vote on Douza.
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  31. For a villain episode, I think that a one-shot/minor recurring villain would be best. All the very big villains such as Dalek and Cyberman are not diverse enough. Maybe something alike the Calvierris from "The Vampires of Venice." If the Master is still alive, now that Gallifrey isn´t destroyed anymore, it might be fun to get an episode from his perspective. Granted, he wouldn´t be afraid of the Doctor, so that kind of defeats the point.
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  32. Smith lasted about as long as Tenant did. Granted, Ten had an extra year squeezed out with his 'specials', but still; each of them racked up three seasons apiece, which isn't bad. I mean... it's nothing compared to Bakers run, but it's still more than Colin, McCoy and McGann had... I KNOW, RIGHT? I mean.. I'm not sure what villain you could do it from the PoV of. I imagine an episode almost entirely composed of EX-TER-MIN-ATE voices would get... annoying... but I still love the idea of an episode where what is usually the heroic turnaround is the side we're watching getting beaten. And it would be cool to see how other species view the Doctor, since they don't get to see the same foppish, goofy behavior that the audience sometimes does; they just get the epic Pandorica speeches and threats to their existence.
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  33. I have no idea what you are referencing. Aperture Science has always maintained a strict policy of promising only 100% valid bakery options.
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  34. I would like to thank Awesomeness Summoned for the fantastic post during the night cycle. You did say that Aonar was verified on the first night, but wouldn't the forsaken have come up as a regular villager on the first night? Also, Khamsi could be the forsaken. If somebody else was their channeler, they still could have cast their Mask of the Mirrors onto him. Council that is Not a Council, did we gain any new information last night? If we can kill the forsaken today, we could still win. (Technically we could still win if we kill the forsaken tomorrow, but that's less likely.) At this point, I think we should present all evidence for and against everyone. I'll start by defending myself. Somebody else, please present anything that sheds a bad light on me, and then proceed to defend yourself. If anybody has anything to add about anyone, feel free. Evidence 1: I have no power. I've been telling Awesomeness who I have been dragon fanging, so he knows that I have the ability to draw the Dragon Fang. This doesn't mean I'm not dark chocolate, but it does mean I am not the Forsaken. Evidence 2: I've been too offensive. Rather than avoiding suspicion by only posting RP with the occasional tip here and there, I have been constantly discussing. My crazy rampage on day 1 and my pursuit of Khamsi are examples of this, though I have said a lot of stuff all along the way. Witless and Awesomeness could probably both agree that I didn't sound like a darkfriend in my PMs with them. (Maybe a little bipolar with the "I trust you... wait no I don't! Wait yes I do, but not insidious." Ok now somebody else's turn! edit: color, duh.
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  36. Look, I keep the software upgraded, as much as I can without the bloat running down my machine, anyway, but the hardware's ancient and I frankly don't have the time or money to add or replace many components. It took forever just to optimise the interface device for communicating with silicon hardware-based systems, and I can still only get text commands across.
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  37. Korb ambled out of the tailors' - the man had taken to keeping new clothes in his measurements at some point, generally updated to the just-past-latest style. A good tailor for the purposes, that man was. It was convenient, never needing to keep abreast of fashion oneself and still cultivate the exact image one required. Despite Korb's rank - barely lower than the city-king himself - Korb's title was more political than functional. His estates more or less ran themselves, producing a steady profit and rather nice wine, and he was left to politick, scheme, and generally make a fool of himself. He had carefully carved out a position for himself as the second-best at just about everything of importance in the city. He was second-best in title, second-best in fashion and bearing, second richest, second fastest, even, among the nobility at those Contests. The wine from his estates was even second best in the city. Combined with his natural talent for being more or less unnoticed, this position left him just out of the public eye. Everyone knew him, and some chuckled over his eccentricities, but they didn't take undue note. However, as the other dukes, high barons, and merchant-lords jostled for position and respect, jumping up and down the ladders of aristocracy, Korb stayed quietly and occasionally frantically maintaining his ideal image at the edge of peoples' minds. A few blocks away from the Docks - the worst of them, anyway - an averagely respectable winehouse perched on it's rundown street like a tarnished penny in a bed of coal. The Gods' Vinery was a relic of a past age, when the Docks had been a bustling depot of trade and commerce in a newly established colony. When Governor Ferl von Gudmannz had decided to become City-king SerFerl don Gudmannz I, at the violent protest of the Vrumeynan Empire, the war and trade embargoes had let the area stagnate, the entire region splitting into ethnic-speciesist ghettoes and black-market trading rows during the ten years of war. Somehow, the Gods' Vinery had weathered all that, and it was set to reap the rewards as gentrification on the outer edges of the Docks slowly crept inwards. Korb walked into the blondwood building, new sword-cane with ostentatious handle- apparently it had been the fashion six months or so ago - tapping the ground genially. The man he had come to meet sat in a booth with a vinery board carved into the wood - dozens of small, circular indentations, each filled with a miniature flute of wine. The pattern made a parallel, each wine on the board matching its mirror - a two-person set. "Count der Alucard," Korb nodded as he sat down, "I trust you are well?" The man was a native to the area, not descended from the old Vrumeyan colonials like the majority of the nobility - his grandfather had perhaps been a high-ranking officer in the revolutionary navy, elevated to a title in gratitude for his services - and to keep the humans native to the region from chafing at their now independent but still ethnic Vrumeyan rulers. "Excellent," der Alucard answered, smiling. "Yourself, lord Shwartmeyer?" "Well as a fine wine on a summer day." Der Alucard smiled, plucking the first of the flutes from the vinery board - a light, bubbly confection, perhaps a ber Ferandrelz vintage? Korb nodded, smiling in turn, and lifted the matching cup from his side of the board. The drunk at the same time, letting the wine flow over their palettes, and set the empty glasses back into the vinery board. "Now," der Alucard said, tone a little harder, "to business..." Korb left the winehouse an hour and a half later, satisfied at the arrangement he had come to - giving der Alucard just a little more than he had too, arguing weakly at just the right points. The deal was profitable on both sides, and der Alucard now saw him, not as a fool, but not as a master of the mercantile arts, either. He would gladly deal again, even owe a favour or two should it come to it, because he saw Korb as neither dangerously stupid nor dangerously perceptive. And, should Korb ever see a need, he didn't doubt he could destroy the man financially. Not that he would, but it was nice to have insurance. As Korb walked, the relatively nice, if run-down, outer docks district faded back into one of the less desperate lizard ghettos. Lost in though, he began to wander the streets, half expecting to get jumped and robbed again any moment. Miraculously, it didn't happen, and so Korb managed to wander in the gathering dark for a full quarter-hour, dressed in out-of-style gentlemen's finery, among the thin windows and chiseled stone ornament of a proudly sslyssin neighbourhood, poor and overcrowded though it was. It couldn't last, of course. The thug leapt from an alley, knife drawn, and Korb made the split second realisation that this was not a man he could have a civil conversation with as he gave up his belongings. Korb ran. When Korb ran, he ran. In his estimation, the nobility managed to both place far too much emphasis on the annual Contests and far too little time preparing for them. Some made an effort to exercise at the facilities scattered about the hilltop mansions, but most began their training only weeks before the Contests, if indeed they did join. The past seven Contests, Korb had needed to consciously restrain himself from winning each of the running events, coming second each time. That had been quite a blow to his ego, but he consoled himself by sprinting through the lower markets - the legitimate ones - at full speed each dawn, just as the fishmongers and butchers were beginning to set up their wares and shops. So, as a result, Korb was quite possibly the quickest man in the city, excluding the magically assisted. The thug stumbled, surprised, as Korb shot off like a greyhound after a hare. His swordcane clutched at the point of balance like a javelin, he bounded out of the sslyssin district in the direction he'd been walking. Back towards the Docks. The thug gave up, panting and heaving, but Korb kept going. First of all, he loved to run - a simple pleasure, one of the few left to a duke as carefully positioned as he. Second, you didn't just stop running through the Docks at nightfall. You found a crowd, and preferably someone who would follow you with a drawn sword for a few coins, then stayed with one, the other, or both until you were in the low markets at least. Korb found both around the next corner, legs still pumping as he grew closer. A small crowd had gathered, watching an ongoing fight between some grotesquely muscled lizardman and a low-level magic user. The wizard, or magician, or whatever - Korb had never been clear on the differences - had set his fists glowing blue, and was crouching over the lizardman, dropping punches into his jaw - the flesh around each strike crackled with frost, scales curling and popping free as the blood in the skin beneath froze and expanded. From the gaping hole in the second story of the inn they fought next to, Korb guessed that the wizard had leapt down and hit the lizardman - or perhaps thrown him out of it? Beyond his magic, he seemed brawny enough. Hell, with the magic, it was barely a fight at all. Racist bastard had probably plugged the sslyssin for looking at him funny. Korb hated people like that, but they had their uses. And, when carefully overused, they had a habit of expiring. Korb would have seen more, except that, sprinting towards the fight, lamplight, and protection of the crowd, he rammed into a slight figure with a clank - pain blossomed in his chin - then a an ominous rattle, presumably weapons bouncing off the armour as the figure staggered for a step, then recovered. For his part, Kort tripped, tumbling head over heels and nearly cracking his skull on the cobblestones. The figure turned, and growled something - too soft for Korb to hear, but in the Docks, intent could be assumed. It was swathed in cloth head to toe, complete with what seemed a veil and white cloth wrappings in the gap between glove and coat. Perfect. Korb picked himself up, felt around for his sword-cane, and noticed that the figurw was holding it, looking curiously at the engravings on the hilt. He saw Korb reach for it, froze, and dropped it -there was a distinct clack as it hit the stony ground. "Good evening, friend," Korb said, hoping the abject terror wasn't making his voice too squeaky. He reached down with only mildly shaky hands and picked up his cane. "How do you feel about making a few coins tonight?" First off, sorry for all the exposition. If anyone wants to change the worldbuilding I've done here, message me and I'll edit it. I just thought that, as it seems everyone else is a fighter or mysterious wanderer, it would be good to have a perspective acquainted with the politics and history of the region, which, again, are totally changeable. Second, I hope the word count is okay. My posts will probably be shorter than that usually, but I had to establish the details of the character, the setting, and build it into a plottish event. Usually I'll be more restrained. Third, Vhalin, you're up! Edit: The fight should be more accurate now. Changed some characterisation details, as well.
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  38. It's hard being ordinary, Korb thought. The pair of thugs - one tall and muscled, and incidentally blessed with claws, scales, and a tail; one thick as a slab of marbled meat - blocked the entrance to the alley. Muggings were not uncommon, of course, but Korb had managed to avoid this particular misfortune until today. Korb carefully lifted his satchel over his head, trying not to look threatening. In his estimation, it wasn't difficult. Thin, short, Korb was a better runner than most and a worse fighter than many. While some seemed to take every day as a personal challenge to beat more noses flat than the previous one, Korb stayed unseen. It wasn't that he was stealthy, or even quiet. You just didn't notice him. Of course, these two muggers had. Korb finished with his satchel, moving slowly and deliberately. He turned his pockets inside out, spilling coins and jangling nicknacks onto the cobbles, and removed his fine leather jacket, dropping it over the satchel regretfully. "Want anything else?" he asked the thugs. The lizard looked him over. "Boots," he growled. Korb sighed, but did as asked. He pulled out the dull knife in the side of the boot by the blade and tossed it onto the coat, startling the two thugs, who seemed to be getting more and more nervous as Korb dragged out the mugging. Though they held long, nasty-looking brass knives and pockets bulging with a variety of small weapons, they flinched with every movement Korb made, as if they expected him to leap up and beat them senseless. Korb sat down and began unlacing his boots. "What's the matter with you two, anyway? I walked through the Docks - I probably deserve this for being so stupid. You know there aren't any guards about." This is a bad time to be flippant, something inside him said. Korb ignored it. The lizard glanced at the thick man, who grunted. He looked back at Korb. "Well, friend, you see, usually, after shoving a weak-looking man into an alley and demanding all his possessions, we've got, oh, twenty seconds of witty banter before they pull out a knife, potion, sommon something, turn their skin to stone, blast us with lightning, call a blazing rock to smite us from the sky or something worse." "You've got a good vocabulary for a criminal." "It's all the witty repartee, friend. I got tired of never understanding their terrible puns, so I robbed a linguist and read his dictionary." Korb shook his head, laying the boots down on his coat and stepping back. "How'd a smart fellow like you end up robbing dishonest men in alleys, anyway?" The thick thug grumbled, but Lizard waved his free hand in a dismissive gesture. "Jarlen, it's all right. This man's kindly provided us with meals for a month, if I'm any judge of quality. I owe him a conversation, at least." Jarlen scowled, raising the knife towards Korb, but Lizard held his throatcutter with a relaxed gesture. "Upbringing," Lizard said, turning back to Korb, "and the damnable speciesism in this city. I couldn't apply for a single school in the place just because I've got fangs and and a green tail. Terrible thing, it is. Jarlen here," he said, slapping the big man on the back, "seems to have been born for this, though. We work well together." Jarlen smiled for the first time since the mugging had started, teeth, strangely, all white and clean. "It's a good life," he rumbled. "Pays for a roof and a meal." Korb nodded, sitting down again and crossing his legs. Lizard followed suit, though Jarlen remained standing, moving into place behind him. "Still, the speciesism really is something awful here," he noted. "I had a friend who knew a lizardman that worked in one of those specialty bars. Turned out the business was a front for some dark cultist blood sacrifice operation - not that he knew anything about that. Anyway, some musclebound idiot pranced in last month, killed everyone in the place, and smashed through the back wall until he found the secret passage. And do you think he got arrested?" Lizard shuddered, flicking his tail. "I heard about that. The Bastard's Promise, right?" Korb nodded. "Terrible, terrible thing." He leaned forward, flipping open the pocketwatch on his pile of former possessions. "I'm afraid, friends," he said regretfully, "that I'll be late for an appointment should I tarry any longer. If you wouldn't mind?" He gestured at the mouth of the alleyway. Lizard nodded, standing up, and shook Korb's hand with his left claw awkwardly, the main one still gripping the knife. "Glad to meet you, friend, very glad indeed. Best of luck in recouping your losses." Korb smiled. "To you too, friend. May the marks be rich and the heroes unlucky." Lizard chuckled, and, suprisingly, so did Jarlen. The thug nodded respectfully as Korb left the alleyway. And Korb von Shwartmeyer, Duke of the city, walked down the street. It appeared that he would need to visit a tailor soon - he had very much liked that coat. So, as you may have guessed, my character is the plain, human Korb von Shwartmeyer. He's no good in a fight, though he can run surprisingly fast when it's required. His strength, rather, is in connections, politicking, persuasion, and general manipulation. He's a slight bit eccentric and arrogant, too - he really should NOT have gone for a walk through the Docks. Still, he's athletic, and his lack of fighting skill is more a matter of never having learned. He has a good head for most things, though his grasp of languages beyond his native one is almost nonexistent. Being a rather sheltered aristocrat, he has never been more than a day's travel outside the city limits.
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  39. Tuck Everlasting: The man in the yellow suit. I don't know how Babbitt managed to create such a loathsome character in so few pages, but he was a despicable human being. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix: Dolores. Umbridge. I had such a visceral reaction to her that I invented a new fanfic pairing: Umbridge/Avada Kedavra. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: Harry, after his entirely unsympathetic reaction to Draco's nervous breakdown. Maybe it's because I've had one before, which put Draco into an entirely new light for me during that scene, but Harry doesn't even try to help him. Doesn't even ask. He's just all, "Oh, he's attacking me, so it's perfectly okay for me to try this weird dark curse on him!" And then we're supposed to sympathize with him afterward because Pansy Parkinson "vilifies him to the entire school"? I'm with Pansy on that one! All the Pretty Horses: Pretty much everyone. I can't think of a single character I liked. I think I was fond of one of the horses….but I'm not sure. Oh, the truck. I liked the truck. Oedipus: Almost everyone. I liked the Greek Chorus, but I didn't really have a chance to get to know them. Everyone else was a melodramatic moron. Except the gods. The gods were jerks. Other than that, I honestly can't think of anyone else off the top of my head. I might later, but there are usually precious few characters I actively dislike in fiction.
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  40. That director knew he shouldn't have cast Justin Bieber as Nightweilder, no matter how well his shrill girly voice complimented Faultline's gravelly man voice.
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  41. Don't worry, I can still give you a guest pass.
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  42. Well I've not been on here for that long nor made that many posts while I have been here but here's my top 5. 1) The highest number of upvotes I've had so far (14) was a pretty random entry in the 'Words of Radiance Is Here' thread where I joked about a photo of boxes of WoR arriving in a bookstore, saying that the boxes were so big that they must contain at least 'two' copies each. surprising popularity for a quick (but good natured) snark about the size of the book. 2) The next highest (11) was for the initial post in a thread of my own making entitled 'Lighteyes suck at apologising...' Obviously it's much more satisfying to get the upvotes for a thread you start, this one going on for 3 pages of discussion. 3) Closely (10) followed by another more random post. In the thread 'This is a sad hour' I expressed my relief that the thread was not announcing that there would be no more WoR previews posted on tor.com. There were a few comments posted about that actually being true until the Almighty Ahlstrom pointed out that I was making a hilarious joke. Peter clearly gets British humour. 4&5) Joint fourth/fifth place (8 each) are the first posts in another thread I started called 'Cryptic Previews' wherein I presented outrageously suspect WoR previews and encouraged others to do the same. At the point of making this post I'm keeping a very respectable ratio of 2 upvotes for each post, though this is likely mostly because I've only made about sixty posts so far. If I can get a mere sixty people to upvote this entry then I can boost the ratio to 3 per post... any volunteers?.. no one?.. Dang it! Another point of interest that can be added to this thread would be 'most criminally underrated post' for those ones you did not feel got the upvotes they deserved. My nominee would be in the Glimpses of Radiance thread where my response to the 'Prince Renarin would you kindly slay this rock' glimpse was 'A man chooses, a Szeth obeys'. Maybe I should have put the 'would you kindly' bit in bold or maybe there just aren't so many Bioshock fans here, oh well. An addition to this thread for the real attention whores among us, "Lookit me Lookit me, I'm so big and clever!"
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  43. nonsense balderdash Figgldygrak is an anagram for seon gangs dry elf king shardblade. because that makes sense
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  44. Sure. BOOKS YOU WILL SEE SOON: (The books that are done.) AMOL: January The Rithmatist (once named Scribbler): Summer 2013 Steelheart: Fall 2013 or spring 2014. BOOKS YOU WILL SEE SOMEWHAT SOON: (Working on right now.) Stormlight 2: Hopefully Fall 2013. Shadows of Self (New Wax and Wayne): 2014 OTHER: Alcatraz 5: I own the rights again now, and hope to write this book sometime in the near future. Stormlight 3: Goal is to write this soon after Stormlight 2 Steelheart and Rithmatist Sequels: I will probably try to do one of each of these between Stormlight 2 and 3. MAYBE MAYBE: Elantris 2: I'd still love to do a sequel for 2015, the 10th anniversary of the book's release. Warbreaker 2: Long ways off. STALLED PROJECTS Dark One: Unlikely any time soon. The King's Necromancer: Unlikely any time soon. I Hate Dragons: Unlikely any time soon. Death By Pizza: Turned out mediocre. Won't be released anytime soon. The Silence Divine: Will be written someday. White Sand: Will be written someday. Mistborn modern trilogy: Will be written during the gap between Stormlight 5 and 6. The Liar of Partinel Didn't turn out well. Scraped. Dragonsteel: Won't be written until Stormlight is done. Not a lot of changes from back then, except that Steelheart got finished and Rithmatist got a release date for certain. It's because of mode-shifting. The people you noted have been doing one thing for a long time, and are now forced into something else. The self confidence is a side effect of that. However, I wouldn't say it's the primary character attribute for any of them, however. I think you're blanketing self confidence as a larger issue, when it's the smaller part of something larger for each character. Vin: Trusting Others Elend: Idealism Dalinar: Conflict between the killer he was and the man he wishes to be. Spook: Self Worth Kelsier. Expanding that, however, I feel that in general, other people are telling stories about "dirtier" characters and doing it well. I don't feel characters who are generally good characters are any less realistic, however--in fact, almost everyone I know is more like Vin or Dalinar. They want to be good people, they TRY to be good people. Fantasy has taken a very dark turn in many ways, and this is fine, but it is not the type of story or characters in which I am interested. That doesn't mean I won't ever do it. There are some far more borderline characters mixed into some of the series, but they are more the exception than the rule. Maybe, but there are a few problems here. For one, "Four elements" magic has been done over and over in books and video games, so it feels hard to make fresh. And in what you describe, it sounds like the characters would be very powerful, which makes for a challenging story to write. What a clever question. Gold star for you. He certainly saw the side benefits. However, his primary motive was to make a statement. Not just as a thank you, but as a way of proclaiming to all of the Alethi "What we have been doing is wrong. This wealth is not worth the lives of men." Third Mistborn Trilogy will certainly include some of this. We shall see if I do any of Hoid's stories before then. RAFO. It is, as always, my pleasure. Thank you for supporting my writing.
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  45. 1: Hemalurgy can do some very, very odd things. And the endowment of intelligence is a common result of tinkering with shard-based magic. 2: Because I messed up. I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but that power was supposed to be swapped with another one. (You might be able to guess which one.) However, by the time I realized my mistake, it had already been canonized in print in the trilogy, so I was stuck with it. I've been tempted to go back and correct the error, but it reaches pretty far back. People drawing upon warmth is mentioned in the first book. One thing to keep in mind, however, is that in general the 'physical, mental, etc' things are applied by people--they are boxes that people investigating the magic have used to describe it. 3: This is a RAFO. I don't want to be pinned down on this one quite yet. 4: You will get plenty in the next Stormlight book. But more than one type of spren live there.
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  46. Thank you for reading, and for the kind words. I'm thrilled that people out there are paying enough attention to even ask questions like this. It's flattering. Yes, though in the overwhelming majority of cases, it's end-positive or at least neutral. Hemalurgy really is an oddity in the cosmere For similar reasons to why the Dor acts so differently from Preservation's essence... Some planets had people before the shattering. The Dor's nature, and why it acts as it does, is in part related to this question. Thanks!
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  47. He couldn't get rid of this entirely. I don't want to spoil things, but Snapping was built into Allomancy primarily because of larger-scale magical issues. This is getting deep into the issue, but it has to do with a person's spiritual makeup and a 'wounded' spirit being easier to fill with something else, kind of like a cut would let something into the bloodstream. Sazed made this threshold on Scadrial much easier to obtain. Yes. In theory. Getting to Sel is really tough... I'd say that the spren on Roshar have been my favorite so far--they are so different, but also so RIGHT. They have a mythological fae-feel to them, but also fit into the cosmere arcanum just perfectly. I also like writing them.
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