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  1. I don't know if this is the right forum for this, I just signed up here But here are the questions I was able to ask today during his signing: 1) Has Odium ever been to Threnody? RAFO 2) The metal used on Shardblades for training, is it made out of aluminum? This question seemed to get the most reaction out of him. He laughed and smiled, and said "that's a very smart question, well done, you're on the right track." 3) Which of the 16 original shardholders know Hoid the best? RAFO 4) Is Hoid related to any of the 16 original Shard bearers? RAFO 5) How far can a shardholder see beyond his own world? In the spirit realm they can see infinitely. 6) I assume Sazed does not know the metal used in Lessie's spike because it's offworld, but Odium seems aware of Sazed/Harmony. Why is this? Odium has a lot more knowledge that Sazed, he has had the power longer, and there are forces purposely trying to limit Harmony's knowledge. 7) Can a kandra duplicate a parshendi carapace? No, they cannot. 8) Is it more difficult to Worldhop if you are carrying things with you, such as allomantic metals? No, it is not. 9) It there a link between Trell and Nalt from Mistborn and Nu Ralik and Van Makik from Stormborn? "No, there isn't, maybe just tenuously." He said something like that. He seemed confused that I asked that. 10) Was aluminum used in the shattering of Adonalsium in any way? RAFO 11) Can a spren or Seon travel to another shardworld? Yes they can, though are more bound to their world but they can travel else where. 12) Can Sazed communicate with Leras or Ati? No, he cannot. 13) WHy did Hoid not take both beads of lerasium? Hoid has an innate ability to know where he needs to be and what he needs to do. 14) In Way of Kings SYl leaves Kaladin before he means Hoid because she gets a bad feeling, did this have to do with Hoid himself or something unrelated? RAFO, I believe. I don't remember an answer for it. unsure emoticon 15) Have Kelsier and Marsh communicated in any way post-Hero of Ages? "I don't want to answer this right now, there will be other short stories that will go over this." 16.) Marsh says Wax is "doing his brother's work," is this a reference to what Kelsier did in the past or present?" In the past, as in Kelsier was trying to help the little people and people who could not help themselves.
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  2. Round 2 questions! Is Threnody in the same planetary system as Sel? Yes it is. If a Shard's Vessel dies and drops a body and two people step in to take up the power, what would happen? RAFO Did the original 16 break Adonalsium with the intent to gain the shards and the power, or was that a happy/unhappy side effect? RAFO Are Shard vessels able to have children? Yes they are. Follow up: Even Sazed, with his body being a eunuch? Yes, though technically all of Scadrial are the children of Preservation and Ruin. If Preservation and Ruin created life on Scadrial but did not create Feruchemy, where does it come from? The Planet? All magic systems come from Shards power in some way. Why do some spren not receive the Nahel-bond? RAFO
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  3. Words of Radiance, chapter 34. One of those scenes so vivid that it stays in your head after reading it, and you find yourself drawing it instead of sleeping on some late weeknights. I always wondered what Pattern would look like as a proper Shardblade, so I drew him as a short sword with fancy Pattern quillions that glow pink-red in the dark. It's better in full resolution: Options > View all sizes > LARGE But if you don't want to bother, here are the detailed pics: Shallan's eyes glow pink-red when she has her Blade. The moneyshot: Original doodle: In progress: And bonus pic for all you weirdos out there: I call it "Mornings". Click for full size.
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  4. I ended up recording the two times that I was in line to get books signed and the questions I asked, so I've got pure transcriptions. Finally, Feather does something right at a signing for once. I didn't get through all the ones I had written down, but I got a few interesting tidbits! Feather: Is something wrong with Roshar's afterlife? Brandon: Uh, why do you ask? Feather: Because of the Tranquiline Halls stuff? Needing to reclaim them? Brandon: Um. So, I'm... not going to answer anything about Roshar's afterlife. Feather: Kay, alright. Feather: Do you know what color, off the top of your head, the soulcaster is supposed to be? First book said gold and the second book said silver. Brandon: It depends on the soulcaster. Feather: Is that a Peter...? Brandon: I believe silver is the accurate one. That's a PAFO, though. Feather: Is Iyatil from Southern Scadrial? Brandon: Iyatil (he pronounced it like yah-till) has heritage along those lines, but she is not. Feather: Is her mask Invested? Brandon: Mmm, no. Feather: Do the Ire age because they're not on Sel? Brandon: (uncertain) Uh, they do...? They... they age, but it's not the sort of aging that you and I do. Feather: Okay! Interesting... Oh, and because I must brag:
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  5. This indisputably needs to be posted.
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  6. Genius! Next time, I'm going to stand there and every time someone says they have no questions, I'll throw on my best Herdazian accent and say, "Gancho, what my cousin here means is he would like to defer his turn to me. Now a Realmatic puzzler I've been stewing on is…"
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  7. Because switching characters is fun and i had nothing better to do
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  8. Yep, Sanderson Admitting. Everybody just goes in a circle talking about all the horrible things they've done to people in Sanderson Elimination. It's a great time.
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  9. Maybe I'M an Epic too! With Future-sight and prophetic dreams! Hmm, what would Brandon's Epic name be then? If he sucked creativity and writing speed out of other people? Ooh! "Bestseller"
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  11. There's a question to be asked: Why Nalan hunts Surgebinders? Or rather: Why does he believe that Surgebinders may cause Desolation? Let's get a timeline. I'll be puting quotes in spoiler tags. There were no Desolations before humans were on Roshar. At first, Heralds were the only Surgebinders. At one point, spren figured out what Honor did and started bonding humans which resulted in Surgebinders. Heralds became patrons of the Orders, at the same time imposing organisation on them. We know that between Desolations Radiants fighted with some monsters (Dalinar's vision with Midnight Essence). We know that Heralds are sent back to Roshar before Desolation. We know that if they stay too long after Desolation ended, another one will start. Aharietam and Recreance: The Last Desolation was 4500 years ago. There is a connection between Heralds tortured and Desolation. Kalak seems to believe that if Odium cannot torture them to break them, he can't cause a Desolation. After Heralds walked away from Oathpact, Knights Radiant did not leave their posts. Steel stores physical speed. When Recreance happened, one of the soldiers in Feverstone Keep mentioned that Radiants should be fighting devils on the front line. So even after Last Desolation monsters showed up. After Recreance there were probably no Surgebinders (or next to none, since spren turned away from humans). Honor was Shattered after Recreance (or maybe Tanavast survived Shattering long enough. It is nor clear or known.) since it is in one of the Dalinar's visions Modern times: Taravangian believes that Desolation happens when Heralds break under torture and that spren came back because it was to happen. Stormfather forbidden spren (or maybe only honorspren) bonding with humans in fear of Recreance happening again. He has to accept Words, though. Stormfather sent Dalinar visions as demanded by Tanavast. These visions request Dalinar to refind Knights Radiant Spren started bonding humans at least ten years ago (Shallan's childhood) Nalan hunts Surgebinders down because he believes that Surgebinding may cause Desolation. Voidspren started showing up en masse after "Taln" returned to Roshar. But Venli is suspected to bear stormform earlier. True Desolation seems to be triggered by chain reaction: stormspren start hijacking Listeners -> large number of stormform Parshendi exist -> Voidbringers summon Everstorm -> Everstorm circles Roshar carrying more voidspren, triggering more Voidbringers out of formless Parshmen But Radiants existed for a long time after the Last Desolation, until Recreance. When Heralds abandoned Oathpact Jezrien said "There is a chance we might end the cycle of Desolations." But that wasn't their intention, they wanted to get free of the torture. They seem to consider End of Desolations as a side effect, not the primary goal. They know that Odium is somehow bound by their torture and they're afraid he will find a way around them not returning to the Damnation. True Desolation seems to be different to the regular Desolations, but we do not know why. The question is, why would Nalan hunt Surgebinders since they existed before without triggering Desolation? Why is the True Desolation different from the previous Desolation? How is it different? What is the exact connection between Herald's torture and breaking under it, their return, release of voidspren and start of Desolation? Do spren sense Herald's coming near to point of breaking? Discuss, provide more quotes and WoBs you find relevant.
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  12. Yeah! A meatball themed slumber party under Morzathoth's bed!! . . . That sounded less strange in my head.
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  13. Upon reflection, I'm not surprised there's a whole website dedicated to Donald Trump limericks. There's a website for everything on the internet. Toupée or Not Toupée, that is the Question There once was a brash billionaire who couldn't afford decent hair. Vexed voters agreed: "We're a nation in need!" But toupée the price, do we dare? EDIT: And another one, because I'm in a good mood. Be Careful What We Wish For Picture Trump with the GOP nod. Yes I know that sounds terribly odd. But its base is bizarre, And he’s gotten this far… Plus his rivals are nearly as flawed. In theory, this might be a boon For the Democrats: "Clinton v. Loon!" There are risks though, galore: If George Bush could "Trump" Gore, Odds are strong we'd (s)elect this buffoon.
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  14. I am in the needing of some advice. It's about my mum. She gave me a whole lecture about how I'm so arrogant and selfish and this is a family not a hotel etc etc. And I have no idea what she's talking about. That I don't ask her for permission every time I bake cookies or leave the house or organise something? That I take her opinion into account and then do what I think is best, not follow her opinion blindly? That I'm not intimidated when she loses her temper and yells, and asks for rational explanations of what she's upset about? And talks to her rationally and calmly, which is apparently arrogance because of "tone" and "attitude". ?? I think she's subconsciously reacting to the reality that she doesn't control my life anymore. But I'm not sure. And like, I help out. Unpack groceries, do the laundry, clean up the house etc. make everybody cookies sometimes. I just......I don't think I'm selfish or arrogant. And she sometimes projects what she thinks I'm thinking onto me regardless of her true that is. Anybody have any advice? Aside from my current "ok, fine, I'm a terrible human being. Are we done?" *walks out*. and to be clear, this is nothing like Twis mum. My mum is usually great, logical, calm, loving etc. I just don't know how to deal with this one. Help?
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  15. Um. Is pleading the fifth an option?
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  16. Random side note: this is my 200th post!
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  18. We interrupt this randomness to bring you mean princesses.
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  19. Chapter 5 will end on Sunday, February 27th at 5PM EST Chapter Five: Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken We interrupt this program for the following announcement: Kipper Pyke has received a Fatal Wound for inactivity! Elbereth Gilthoniel has received a Fatal Wound for inactivity! Luna Arryn has received a Fatal Wound for inactivity! Caln Sand was revived by a Red Priest! Maddox Magguns was a Giant-Blooded Greenseer! Maximum Starkness died to his wounds! Joss Stilwood was burned on a pyre (again)! [2] Joss Stilwood: To B. Determined, Oswin Snow [1] Noah Stone: Baldo Buggins TheMightyLopen: To B. Determined Kynedath: Gaera Skor'Gaera Gold Cloak Curious Anamaximder: Maximum Starkness Alvron: Joss Stilwood Mailliw73: Maddox Magguns Giant-Blooded Greenseer Elbereth: Elbereth Gilthoniel IrulelikeSTINK: Reek, Reek, it rhymes with Geek Stoneman Mark IV: Maxicos the Cutter Ranger Sart: Oswin Snow Paranoid King: Baldo Buggins Kipper: Kipper Pyke JerleShannara: Noah Stone ThatTinyStrawMan: He is a Stick Steward OrlokTsubodai: Orr Locke Clanky: Caln Sand DeathClutch19: Artemis Lannister LUNA: Luna Arryn Chapter Five has begun! Both last chapter and this chapters write up will be completed and edited in as soon as possible. GM PMs should arrive very shortly. Please do not send any more messages in your PMs from last cycle (unless you want to renew it instead of contacting another player, in which case inform me in our GM PM first).
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  20. Interesting, interesting. I wonder whether it is Hoid or the 17th Shard that are trying to do this. Probably the latter. Which would suggest that Hoid is somehow foiling them - maybe by lugging around Investiture they need. Woah, did I jump to conclusions there...
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  21. "And remember: If you mix baking soda with vinegar, the bubbles will find you. And they will kill you."
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  22. Here's what I asked: Q: There are different kinds of spren that bond with people and it appears they’re based on a concept. Is it possible to have a concept which would make a Nahel bond that gives two Surges that don’t align to one of the Radiant orders? A: Um, uh...this is a theoretical possibility that has not happened. Now I'm wondering what sort of concept of a spren might correspond to Progression and Transportation. Edit: I finally listened to the recording provided by Megalodon and found where my question was asked (just over halfway in, at 1:33). I didn't realize how hoarse I was at the time, which explains why the transcription had so many question marks in it. I managed to figure out the words I used to get that answer and updated the transcription as well.
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  23. The latter channel is constantly spammed with the comment "EPIC FAIL!" on every video. It got old a long time ago, but Backtrack's too scared to block someone with Calamity as his avatar.
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  24. So finally got my copy of Calamity through the post, Brandalised of course. Now, the Weapon and the Shattering is a particular topic of interest of mine - My copy of Firefight confirmed that there was a failed plot to kill Adonalsium, and my copy of BoM confirmed that Adonalsium shattered because he was killed, thereby confirming that Adonalsium was a being that identifed as male. My reuest for Brandon this time around was "for information on the current status of the weapon that was used to kill Adonalsium, including the current possessor" - as far as I am aware, nobody knows where the current location or the owner of the Weapon is. That is because the Weapon no longer truly exists. The response I received was as follows: "The weapon was expended, and no longer exists in its original form" Discuss, my fellow Sharders!
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  25. Brandon stopped at Murder By the Book in Houston last night. MUCH smaller crowd than the Shadows of Self signing in September, maybe 150 folks? Speech He kept the speech pretty short. 3-6 minutes with a bit about the effects of choice on humans. Especially when there are more than two choices. Prime example came from his choosing a publisher for Arcatraz that didn't do the series justice after an editor left the publisher after book 1 and the second guessing that became of it. Talked a bit about how we're not daunted by trying to make the best choice, rather we're afraid of picking the worst choice by accident. He also limited the number of questions in the open Q&A because he's had difficulty with his losing his voice periodically (and the Sept. stop at MBTB lasted until 1am and he wanted to try to get out earlier.) Brandon mentioned that he came back to Murder By The Book because it’s one of the best bookstores in the country,and he can't skip any stops in Texas because we have a lot of guns and we won't stand for it. Q&A The open Q&A was filled with pretty standard questions. The ones I remember: How often do airport bookstore employees bother him while he is Brandolizing books? (Sometimes) "I'm 42. How long do I have to live to read it all? Am I going to make it?" ("Well, I'm 40, so at least three years longer than me, but don't worry, we'll get there.") When will we get Stormlight 3? (A year after he's done and he thinks he'll be done this summer, so fallish 2017.) What's next after Stormlight 3? (Probably Rithmatist 2.) How much of the big Cosmere stuff will be in Stormlight 3-5? (Not much. Just hints. The big cosmere stuff will come in Mistborn Era 3 and things more like Mistborn: Secret History for a long while. Some people just don't care about it.) Young Kid: "I've never actually read any of your books" (That's okay) How would you rate your books versus others? (I don't pump them up too much or you're sure to be disappointed no matter what. I'd say compared to other books, they're a little bit awesome.) Something carefully worded about how he isn't opposed to having a major character of Stormlight 6-10 arc be dead before the books started and would he do that in a style like in Mistborn: Secret History. Kudos from Brandon on carefully wording it to avoid MB:SH spoilers and the very consistent answer that if Brandon did so, the character would be the focus of the flashback sequences in those books, and then once the flashback is over they'd be dead, so no one is safe for the book until the flashback sequences are over. Reading He also mentioned that MBTB is one of only two stores/cities that he had in common with the Shadows of Self Tour and, had he not had those two repeats, he would have just read the same Dalinar flashback as the Shadows of Self tour on the Calamity tour. However, he didn't want to read the same thing for those two stops and it wouldn't be fair to give Houston and wherever else two stops in four months AND an exclusive reading, so he read the second Dalinar Flashback for ever stop on Calamity, and all the other cities should be thankful for it. He also told us not to bother trying to hack the Dropbox where he's keeping the draft because it's not in good shape currently and it would not be an enjoyable read. There were a few folks with cameras, so there should be video of all of this eventually. Signing After the reading, they tried something kind of different for the signing. The store organized two lines. The "normal" line allowed for signing and personalizing Calamity + 3 older works, a photo, and a reasonable number of questions. (For most it was 3 or 4. I got 6, because I had a list and I was prepped.) The "Fast Pass" line (the store staffer is apparently a Disney nerd) allowed for one personalization and three regular signatures, no photos, and one manly (or womanly) fist bump. Probably 60% of the crowd opted for Fast Pass. My buddy was #27 and I was #62 and there weren't audio recorders for the questions when we were up there... Guess I'm going to have to buy one. Hopefully others will report their stuff separately. Words of Brandon All of these are near summaries from memory as I didn't audio record and transcribe. I did take the answers for my questions down in shorthand. The person in front of me asked if Brandon invents ridiculous accents for Wayne just to see if Michael Kramer can do different voices. BS: No, it's not just to torture Michael, though Brandon really enjoys hearing how Michael reads the different voices and he's amazed at the various accents, and he listens to all of the audiobooks at least once... However, Brandon will say he has one voice planned for Wayne that does make him giggle when he thinks of Michael Kramer having to do it. He's going to LAFO (Listen and Find Out) which voice it is, but we'll all likely be rolling around in tears when it happens. My questions Written on the title page of Bands of Mourning (as requested by my wife) "Would it actually be possible for a Kandra to "become a rusting bunny?" Also, Thanks for Wayne. He's my favorite character. BS: Yes, But it would be Tough. BS: (spoken to me) They must keep a certain mass to maintain intelligence and a bunny is very small. Me: But obviously being a Harvey sized bunny is totally doable. BS: Yeah... Good movie reference. Me: Would a Connection medallion work for sign language? BS: Yes. Me: Would it make the person’s fingers move or would spoken word be interpreted mentally as the appropriate sign? Would it overcome deafness? BS: (a non committal “ehhh noise”) It would translate the communication. I can say that. Me: Does a Connection medallion account for heavy sarcasm? BS: It would. Maybe not the heaviest, most deadpan sarcasm. Me: Would a Connection medallion accurately interpret a Listener’s Rhythms? BS: Yes, it would, but not all of it, some would be lost in translation. You’d probably lose some of the nuance. It would probably be better to give the medallion to someone who couldn't understand it than someone who spoke it. BS: (Laughs) Well, I’d have to say he doesn’t need anyone to cut his food for him, he’d just kind of grr, arrgh (pantomimes, stabbing something on table with fork and ripping into it with teeth) Because he’s The Lopen right, and he can take care of his food himself. Great question. Very unique. Me: You’re in Houston, questions of Oil & Gas and energy sources will be naturally be bandied about. BS: Naturally. Me: Is the gasoline on Scadrial a fossil fuel or biodiesel? BS: Oh. Hmm. Well It’s fossil fue… no. What they’re using now is mostly biodiesel, I think. It’s not something we really talked out. Me: Ok, we had a whole thread on 17th Shard and even discussed how scientifically fossil fuels could have been put into place during the Catacendre. BS: Well, fossil fuels are possible, and I don’t want to seem like I’m clearly giving credence to those that believe in a Young Earth, but Scadrial *is* a relatively young planet. Relatively. Me: Young Earth doesn’t bother me, though I know I’m not the majority. Me: Where on Scadrial is it being produced? No mention of refineries in Elendel or the Roughs. BS: Where on Scadrial… Well It’s… I’m going to have to RAFO that for now. It starts to touch on questions of the future as they will need more fuels for travel and they’ll need to look for different sources. We’ll just leave it at “If fossil fuels are there, they were placed intentionally.” Me: Okay. I just didn't see any mention of oil derricks in the Roughs or fuel producing infrastructure in Elendel. I’ll just continue to hold out hope that we see Wax fighting some big battle all around an oil derrick. (I start eyeballing the last question on my notepad trying to decide if I'm going to push it.) BS: Ok, well, I need to move on, but thank you, those were really great questions. Good to see you again.
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  26. Preface/Opening Rant: Calamity's Epic Downfall Part I: Transfersion and Impedance I got the term "transfersion" from the "Great Transfersion", the event where Steelheart turned almost every non-living thing in Chicago into steel, thus creating Newcago. I define transfersion as any Epic effect that transmutes the nature of things. Each transfersion ability has an attribute. In the case of Steelheart's "Steel Transfersion", the attribute is steel. Early on in the series, Megan and David described a quirk of Steel Transfersion: One might prefer to believe that this quirk has no implication beyond Steelheart. If that's what you think, that's perfectly okay, but you might want to stop reading this post. Anyway, I theorize that this insulation effect applies to other Transfersion-type powers, and is therefore a general rule for Transfersion: Likeness Limit Rule: Things that are similar in nature to a Transfersion's attribute resist transfersion, and things that fully match the attribute block transfersion completely. The Likeness Limit Rule explains why Gifters can't Gift to other Epics. Gifters are Power Transfersers, and the Likeness Limit hinders them from Transfersing powers to people who already have powers. The Likeness Limit Rule also explains why Megan could only pull shadows of alternate worlds when she wasn't at her full capacity. Just as Steelheart found it more difficult to Transferse steel onto non-steel metal, Megan requires more effort to Transferse a core possibility onto her current core possibility, especially if the two core possibilities are close to each other. Ephemeral Possibility Transfersion (a weaker form of the power that only pulls shadows of possibilities) is much easier, so she relied on that for most of the series. Part II: Transfersion and Weakness Suppose Gifter Bob had the power of enhanced strength, and his weakness is the sound of a chihuahua barking. Bob Gifted his super strength to average Joe, and then Bob went off to terrorize some people in another country. Joe, excited about his new power, decided to impress some girls by lifting a 500 kilogram barbell with just one hand. Suddenly, a woman approached, her pet chihuahua barking madly in her bag. According to David's Large Dispersal Rule ("An Epic's weakness has less and less influence on their powers the farther you get from the Epic's presence"), Bob is too far away for his super strength to be affected by that particular chihuahua who's barking at Joe. But what of Joe? Will the power Gifted to him remain? Will it fade away? Will Joe have a sudden urge to kill the dog with the barbell? Does Bob's weakness have any effect on Joe at all? Now let us look at an example from the books. Calamity's weakness can be triggered by someone who conquered their fear in order to save others. A person that Calamity has Gifted experiences this weird compulsive urge to lose all empathy, be utterly selfish, and be absolutely terrified of Epic Downfall every time they use their Gifted power, and this feeling vanishes once they start freeing themselves from their Gifter. Despite Larcener's sneering and self-rationalization, there has to be a connection there. Does this mean that the darkness is part of Gifting in general? Obviously not, otherwise the Reckoners would have felt it when they used Prof's powers. Rather, the darkness was part of Calamity's Gifting. Somehow, the power being Gifted knows its owner's weakness, and fears that weakness. Downfall Avoidance Rule: When a sentient being is Transfersed by an Epic, the power becomes aware of the concept of ownership and will defer to a "true owner" by actively avoiding his weakness. So in the above example, Joe would definitely be affected by the chihuahua. Once I came to that conclusion, it was surprisingly easy to find evidence in support of it, not just from Gifters but also from other Transfersers of humans as well. For example, sneezing allowed David to grow back from being shrunk by Loophole. The shrinking transfersion fled him the moment he manifested Loophole's weakness. Note that Loophole's Downfall is supposed to be triggered by her own sneezing, not anyone else's, but somehow the power was still repulsed by sneezing even when it was from the target of transfersion (i.e. David). In the first book, there were two instances where David unexpectedly couldn't use the tensor powers properly. In both cases, he experienced a moment of failure before using the powers. In the first scene, David must have felt like a failure many times over: In his mind, he failed to bring Megan to safety, failed to hide from Enforcement, and failed to keep intact his only means of escape. Even though he really was capable of using the powers without the gloves, his feeling of failure triggered the Downfall Avoidance Rule, so the powers fled him. In the second scene, his failure to hit the enemy led to Cody being hurt, and then he failed to take down the enemy with his second shot, but this at least distracted the enemy from finishing Cody off. David was able to use the tensor, but there was resistance. The power was close to leaving him. There are still some open questions. I don't know if the Downfall Avoidance Rule had anything to do with the Diggers going crazy, because we don't know what Digzone's weakness was. I also don't know why the rule no longer applied to Megan after she started "owning" her power (perhaps because the power has accepted her as its true owner?). (Update: The open questions above have mostly been answered by a deeper analysis of power ownership, as I discussed here.) Part III: Transfersion and Death When Steelheart died in the first book, we saw that part of his corpse turned to steel: We've only seen a few other "odd" deaths in the series, but all of those had been of Transfersers. This made me think that Prof was onto something, and that this was another general rule that governed all Transfersers: Death Trigger Rule: A Transfersion effect happens at some point after a Transferser's death, unhindered by the Transferser's weakness. The obvious example of this aside from Steelheart is Megan. Her power of Possibility Transfersion pulls the possibility of a living Megan every time she dies, in accordance to the Death Trigger Rule. "Death Trigger" might remind you of Deathpoint, who was a Transferser who could turn people's flesh into ashes. When Deathpoint died, he didn't turn to ash, so that ironically looks like a violation of the Death Trigger Rule at first glance. But remember that Deathpoint had a second ability, the one that he was about to use on Steelheart before Blain Charleston shot him. Perhaps this second ability is the one that manifested when he died. I'm speculating that this ability's attribute is death itself (instead of ash, as in his first ability); think Avada Kedavra from the Harry Potter series. I'm not sure if such a power could have killed Steelheart, but it would mean that Deathpoint's corpse was lethal to touch. Good thing his corpse was Transfersed into harmless steel moments later. How about Gifters? Well, fortunately we've already seen a Gifter die (well, "close enough"). Calamity is the ultimate Gifter, the one who Gifted all of the Epics on David's core possibility. Soon after our heroes returned from defeating Calamity, they learned that Mizzy has become an Epic. How interesting! But I don't think it's likely that Calamity chose to Gift someone just as he was facing opponents (I mean, priorities...). I think Mizzy became an Epic after Calamity was defeated, that Calamity's Gifting power was Death Triggered. And since the Death Trigger effect is immune to the Epic Downfall (since the Epic already...fell), it must also be immune to Downfall Avoidance. This means that anyone Gifted by Calamity's Death Trigger would not have felt the darkness, and would not have experienced the Rending. This is consistent with the ending scene. When Knighthawk informed Megan about Mizzy turning Epic, there was never any indication that Mizzy went on a homicidal rampage, something that Knighthawk wouldn't have forgotten to mention. They didn't seem worried at all about the news. It stands to reason that Mizzy fully owned her powers the moment they were Gifted to her. Edit: Removed weak speculation about Prof and motivators. Reworded some things for clarity.
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  27. ...was right after Steelheart. Not in Firefight. Not in Calamity. Right after Steelheart, exemplified in Mitosis. Mitosis spoilers follow. Also a barely structured rant that few will be interested in. The people of Newcago are the oppressed peasant class to end all oppressed peasant classes. They labor day in and day out in factories making goods for their Epic overlords. A lot of them live underground in a place called the catacombs. THE CATACOMBS. However badly your neighborhood sucks, remember that you don't live in a place people call the steel catacombs. So yeah. Aside from the Morlocks that live short brutal lives in the steel sparkin' catacombs, the people on the surface have to live in fear of a random Epic stopping by and murdering them for the crime of being noticed. Or having their building being noticed if Steelheart decides to make a random example out of them. The ones on the surface might as well live underground because the sky is pitch black 24/7. They don't even see stars besides the big bloody bullet hole in the sky that is Calamity. There are a few living in a privileged upper class, that isn't very privileged when it comes to a slontze like Fortuity picking out his victims. A prince among cattle is still classed as cattle. Everyone in this city lives a squalid existence against a black sky and cold grey surroundings. There is no green in their lives. There is no sun. There is only the Epic behind you and the Epic in front of you, and your entire existence is trying not to be noticed between them. These are people who walk with their heads down because looking up gets you killed and there's nothing to look up to anyway. Bottom line? You'd have to fly out of the universe, hit the Cosmere, and head to Scadrial to find another group of people as downtrodden as these poor unfortunate slontzes. But then the Reckoners kill Steelheart. Suddenly the entire class hierarchy of this city comes crashing down around these blokes. Everything changes overnight--oh, and that phrase makes sense for the first time in most of the children's lives. The immortal was slain before them. The insurmountable was made achievable. They see the sun for the first time in a decade. They see their tyrants cast down low and forced to leave town. They see the brutal totalitarian enforcement division turned into a peacekeeping division. They see life as they've never seen it before. Then comes Mitosis. An Epic like any other. A man--sorry, men who cannot be killed. And he comes in making demands, threatening to start slaughtering them like so many Epics like him have done before. And the Reckoners, for all they've been able to accomplish, can't stop him. But what can the Reckoners do? Tell the Newcagoans how to stop him for themselves. Which they do. By singing. They line up by the steel river and sing the worst song in the history of songs, all across the city, melting a High Epic in his glory. The goal of the Reckoners was never just to kill Epics. It was to teach the common people to kill Epics. To be willing to kill Epics the moment the opportunity presents itself. Mitosis demonstrates that they succeeded, with the most unlikely, downtrodden bunch of common people you could possibly imagine. Firefight and Calamity are just icing on the cake. It's Mitosis that proves that the Reckoners could actually win. It's Mitosis that makes for the uplifting epilogue to their mission. It's Mitosis that showcases the Reckoner organization's greatest victory. Sorry for the rant. Someone dissed Mitosis and I felt the urge to vent.
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  28. I mentioned this in another thread but really want to confirm it. Am I the only one who thinks Wayne's rough's nickname is Kid Wayne? It hasn't really been mentioned here from my searches. Upon their first meeting MeLaan says "I had no idea that Kid Wayne was so talented with beer-mat sculptures." (Capitalization and all). And she called Wax his nickname instead of his actual name. It also makes sense because he was only a kid when he first started following Wax around and they were making a name for themselves. What do you think?
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  29. Hello! So now that I'm officially here I should leave an introduction post instead of just answers to some interview questions. My real name is Charles, or Charlie, no Chuck or I'll cry. I live in San Antonio, I've been here for a few years, but I'm from Chicago originally. I was originally a hardcore Wheel of Timer, which is how I found my way to Sanderson. It's interesting to me really. I, of course, was very upset by Robert Jordan's passing, but I realize if he did not pass away I may have never discovered Sanderson. Funny how life works out sometimes. Anyway, now here I am, very much so into the Cosmere. I don't know as much as others, so I'm here to leech away all your information That's good enough, happy reading everybody!
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  30. You know what's hilarious? Trump rating women on their appearances. It's disgusting and sexist and awful. But it's also ironically funny because seriously? The ugliest man on the planet thinks he can give out beauty advice/comments? Like dude, look in the mirror and shut up. It's like an ant commenting on nuclear science and insisting on being taken seriously. And honestly if I don't laugh I'm going to cry. /politics /meanness
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  31. Can we make this a thing? Someone should make this a thing. I especially want to hear from Alv and Wilson.
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  32. If you're Gandalf, why are you White?Oh my god Aragorn, you can't just ask people why they're white.
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  33. i got a rafo on one and two but for the second one he did say he couldn't answer it because it is to close to what is happening
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  34. I noticed something about my WIP: So far, all of the female viewpoint characters have had mental powers (clairvoyance, empathy, retrocognition) and the male characters have had a mix of mental and physical powers. What's wrong with this? Well, nothing, strictly speaking; to this point, I'd been planning to use it as a sort of stealth commentary about how until fairly recently, female superheroes had powers that didn't force them into combat, for the most part. Not only that, but there was a meta reason: I'd intended to introduce Francine (the empath) early on, and at the time she was introduced, the Spokane County Police Department only hired women with mental powers because those were the only sort the NCO position utilized. Now, I've gotten a firmer grasp on the plot, and I know that eventually, tensions will come to a boil and there will be a massive walkout of male police officers, who protest the chief's policies of hiring not only women, but minorities as well. Because of this, the SCPD will hire women for combat officer positions—pairing them with male officers as often as possible, because old-timey sexism, but the point is that a female police officer with power over fire or super strength will be allowed. I also know that Francine will join the SCPD around this time, meaning that her introduction would be a golden opportunity to introduce a woman whose powers are more combat-oriented. Pros: I'd be able to break the stereotype of women with non-combat powers. Francine is already pretty headstrong, the sort of character who doesn't let society define her. It'd be just like her to seize the chance to become a full police officer, rather than be pigeonholed into an NCO role. Francine is African-American, and there's rather a dearth of African-American superheroes. Giving her a power like empathy might make her a good detective, but it's not very superhero-like. Giving her physical powers would be a good excuse to make her and Susan partners (lack of male officers leads the chief to pair two female Supers—one with mental powers and one with physical) Cons: I already worked out how she'd use her empathy; though I hadn't written anything yet, so I wouldn't lose a ton of work. No idea which power she'd have, though I'm leaning toward control over kinetic energy. I'd have to change her goals somewhat. …. Know what? I think I just talked myself into changing Francine's powers.
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  35. She's his favorite YouTube channel. Her and Backtrack.
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  36. This one more or less disapprove it. Questioner: Have we– I think you mentioned in a previous signing that we’d already met one member of every Order of the Knights Radiant. Brandon: Yes, I think you have. Questioner: My question is, have we met two Edgedancers? And is one of the Dustbringers a viewpoint character? Brandon: One of the Dustbringers is eventually a point-of-view character. Questioner: Haven’t been yet? Brandon: Nnnnoooo, not yet, I don’t think. But it depends if you count the Heralds as members of their order. Questioner: I don’t. Brandon: Oh, see I would, because they’re kind of heads of their Order. If you don’t count them you have not met some from every Order. Questioner: [Have we met someone from the Dustbringers?] Brandon: Well… Dustbringers are really complicated. /Really/ complicated. So that’s the weird one. Okay? So let’s shelve that one. You’ll see why it’s really weird later on. It says two things: 1) We may not have met whoever will become the main Dustbringer and if we did, it most likely was a very minor character (Reddin the bastard comes to mind for instance) and 2) We will not find anything more about this order until one becomes a main one. Adolin isn't a main character, not now nor never, so he isn't this "future main Dustbringer", not to mention he breaks the condition of 1) as we most certainly have read his POV. This being said, he could always be a minor KR, but since this main Dustbringer isn't currently active within the story, it means Adolin cannot take one step towards this path until this character becomes a main one. Adolin's little arc is currently on-going which means he can't, in all plausibility, be a Dustbringer as the conditions of 1) and 2) are not respected. This being said, I don't think he fits within this order, but this is another discussion entirely. One of the reasons so many people put him there was tied to the fact we didn't have any character to place-hold there and everyone thought Adolin, even without flashbacks, would be a main character. Sadly, reality is quite different. The Dustbringer is probably Shalash as she is a redundant flashback character from the same order as Shallan, she thus needs to change to fit within the plané
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  37. My idea. Very defensive Edit: cant attach File Edit2: Attached file 1) Primary defense lines (of forbiddannce).Protects against frontal attacks. Note the window on their rigth end. 2) Line for defense and bouncing. Window between 1 and 2 is relatively big, and protected by defensive chalkings. 3) Defensive Line, mainly to protect the main Chalking area. (5) 4) Here we draw most lines of Vigor. Line 2 is good for bouncing. We have some heavy-armored chalkings here. 5) Main chalking area. The window between 1 and 3 allows mysnake chalkings to leave prety easy, while most enemies' chalkings, even if they pass the window, will be torn apart between knights and turtles. 6) Here I draw my last resort. dismissing some lines of forbiddance i hacve four snakes and a "dragon" ready. 7) Backside, obviously protected less than the front side. In this area I can draw some chalkings, tha i could use for a flank attack. One never has "enough" chalkings. The pink arrows indicate obvious weak points. Usually a turtle or a line of forbiddance can fix this problem to some point. The circle inside the main circle is another anchoring point. Could be probably painted outside to fix the weakness of this part, but also makes the whole structure less stable. Edit 3: I would appreciate a method to counter this "Alfa-defence"
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  38. Here's one: Around 3-6 years ago I used to play CTF with a group of friends on a semi-frequent basis. We often played it across a primary school on weekends, perhaps once every month or two. (We were mostly within the age range of 16-21 at the time.) This particular story occurred in 2012 during one of the last ones that we ran (perhaps the last one actually, I don't remember). This particular CTF day was a NERF one, and I think there were around 10 of us. The rules were pretty simple, roughly: -the two flags were placed at playgrounds at opposite ends of the school -if you were shot you had to go back to the designated respawn point for your team and drop the flag if you had it -if you managed to grab their flag and bring it back to yours, you won! Back then I wasn't exactly fit but I could still outpace most of the people who were playing, I was also one of the best shots. My memory is a little hazy on some of the details but I think we'd already played one game (in which I had successfully captured the flag for our team) and in the second game I'd managed to fight (or sneak) my way into their base and grab their flag again. I think most of their team was busy elsewhere and I was just making it back to our base when I saw one of the opposing players coming towards our base from the opposite direction. I was reasonably sure I was a better shot than them and I had another team-member nearby so I could have taken the careful approach and *probably* won. But I knew there was a risk of failure and if they managed to get our flag before I got there we'd have to retrieve it to win. So decision made I flat out sprinted for the drop off point, keeping my eye on the opposing player who was also sprinting in. I reached the point, dropped the flag on ours and BAM. I was flat on my back and having severe difficulty breathing. Turns out there was a tumble bar parallel to the ground at my chest height that I'd completely forgotten about and I had just sprinted straight into it at near top speed. I was reasonably aware of what was going on around me but I think it was about a minute before I could really move or make a sound to let them know I was ok, just long enough for me to start seriously wondering if I wasn't. I'm still not entirely sure how I didn't at least crack a rib doing that but I got away with some moderate bruising. The thing that scared me in retrospect was that if I was a bit shorter, or that bar a bit taller, that could have ended very very badly. (I don't run in playgrounds anymore ) Unsurprisingly that was pretty much it for my ability to play that day and once everyone was sure I was ok I think there were a number of jokes about me handicapping myself because I was too OP Cos when you get down to it, despite the stupidity and pain, I *did* capture that flag
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  39. BEWARE THE COOKIES. They're really hemalurgic spikes. *bows* Welcome to the Shard. We hope you enjoy your stay. *cackles madly as she leaves the room and locks the door behind her*
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  40. The Stormlight was never delayed - it never had an official release date. This is one of the main reasons creators of any type dislike giving unofficial ETAs. I am as eager as everyone else for more Stormlight - it is my favorite Brandon series - but it'll be out when it's out. Until then it's best not too much too much stock in unofficial estimates.
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  41. IIRC, on theoryland in one of the history of Aons WoBs is the story of Arelon's founding, and IIRC it stated that they found Elantris already prebuilt but empty of life. I'll need to recheck this but perhaps the Ire are Elantrians from before the Arelish kingdom's founding and they vacated Elantris due to Devotion's and Dominion's upcoming duke-out with Odium.EDIT: Found it! History of Aon Ehe http://www.theoryland.com/intvmain.php?i=768#2
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  42. Because all these one syllable nicknames are pretty much the given names of darkeyed peasants. Why would a lighteyes who is named after a Herald, ancient king, or princely grandfather, want a peasant name, even as a nickname? In universe, I expect petnames are something cute and endearing, along the lines of "Pudding" or "Chicken". Just imagine Sadeas and his wife calling each other that.
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  43. I've never wanted to stick a "support ________ candidate" sign into my lawn until now.I think we can all agree that Dalinar would be Best Candidate.
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  44. Honestly, more SoS spoilers, but this just occurred to me. This is somewhat about Trell's influence, but more about his tendency to have (two) villains in these books spiked. It's almost like a pattern, but I think that might be a little far... So, how do we know that he was spiked? Wax mentions it in his POV in chapter 13: Was spiked, Brandon mentioned this in his Chapter 13 Annotations for Alloy of Law. Also: Odd? Well, we do know something about odd spikes that Sazed cannot sense. If Miles got a different metal grafted onto his spikes, then, in theory, he may have a Trellium spike. In other words, Miles was not possessed, but Trell had direct influence over him through his spikes, perhaps whispering words of grandeur (or whatever) into his ears. Driving Miles [more] insane, and upping those psychological qualities Miles presumably had some control over in the Roughs. In other words, much like Paalm, Miles' actions are directly linked to or influenced by Trell. I don't think that it excuses his actions, but one of the themes in all three books so far has been stopping someone you know/care about when they go bad because YOU would've wanted them to do the same thing if you were in their shoes. It's a strange kind of love; a strange kind of idea of mercy, really. First it was Miles, then Paalm, and now Telsin (she is still Wax's sister, so, I believe she fits the theme). It also means that someone else might go bad in the Lost Metal, since it fits the series' authentic. [Perhaps the last book will be stopping someone before they go bad, but that's neither here or there]. So basically, Miles was spiked just like Paalm; he was using Hemalurgy, it seems, and it was probably Trellium. Marasi should go and find his metalminds to make some...interesting connections...
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  45. The weapon could be classified as the group of sixteen that killed him. Since that group broke apart after gaining their Shards, the 'weapon' no longer exists in it's original form.
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  46. So, this is just a quick theory about Dawnshards. First of all, here's what we know about them: They can "bind any creature, voidish or mortal" They disappeared some time before Tanavast recorded his "journal" Tanavast believes that they can be of great help in fighting Odium There is also this tidbit: Analyzing the Poem of Ista, I propose that Dawnshards were held in the user's hands when being used, as opposed to being worn like Shardplate, but of course we're not sure. Next, let's look at all the other terms on Roshar that contain the word "dawn": Dawnsingers Dawnchant (an ancient language that now survives only in the Vanrial song) Dawncities (which, as Kabsal showed, feature cymatic patterns) It's already obvious where I'm getting at: I think the Dawnshards were magical musical instruments used by certain heroes of the Heraldic epochs (perhaps the Dawnsingers, or perhaps some other group entirely). There! I've said it. Now that I read that, it almost seems rather silly in its simplicity ("Dawnsingers and Dawnshards both have 'dawn' in them, so they must be related? LOL, you silly skaa..."). But it does shine a new light on Kaladin's encounter with Hoid. While I don't necessarilty think that Hoid's flute is a Dawnshard nor that Kaladin will become a Dawnsinger, I do think that Hoid might be preparing Kaladin to one day rediscover these magical artifacts so that he may "return to men the Shards they once bore". Also, magical music sounds more likely to "bind" creatures than, say, slashing at them with magical swords. (As you can see, I am highly skeptical of the idea that the Dawnshards were some sort of Shardblade.) Edit: Given what we've seen in Words of Radiance, I now also suspect that these musical instruments called Dawnshards are also spren, and somehow these spren (Dawnsingers?) have "died", or at least have disappeared for some reason.
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  47. EDIT: Added one more.
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