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I just found out Agents of SHIELD season 3 has been released on Netflix (!) and I told my mother, "I'm going to tell everyone I know!" Mom: "You've already told me." Thanks, Mom.

I'm trying to get some actual numbers for the characteristics of shardplate from in-book descriptions. Things like: How much strength does shardplate lend its user, how much impact can shardplate absorb without visible cracking, how much does shardplate weigh, and are there any serious discrepancies between these values for the various suits that have been used onscreen. I'll try to be as brief and non-technical as possible while still conveying what I think I've found so far, criticisms and suggestions welcome! I'll try to clearly identify any assumptions and estimates appropriately. I'm not doing citations right now though. It's been stated that a large horse can safely carry a full-grown man in shardplate so long as they mount the animal "carefully." I take this to mean that the weight of the rider, plate, and saddle is close to the maximum weight the horse can carry around for a more-or-less extended period of time without injury, about 20-30% of its body weight. A horse can weigh up to about 2,000 lbs. 0.3 x 2,000 lbs = 600 lbs of total carrying capacity, which would make the armor weigh at most about 400 lbs, and more likely closer to 250-300 lbs (since horses that large typically aren't suitable for riding). This is also happens to be just heavy enough that most people would have extreme difficulty moving if the suit were to lose power, which also agrees with in-book references. I'm going to assume Dalinar weighs 200 lbs, is 2 m tall, his armor weighs 300 lbs, and a parshendi weighs ~250 lbs Dalinar demonstrates a maximum vertical jump of 8 ft (a tremendous feat even considering the reduced gravity on Roshar). Neglecting air-resistance and assuming gravity on Roshar is 0.7g (I think there's a WoB on this?), this would require an initial vertical velocity of about 5.7 m/s. Assuming he crouched down before the jump, resulting in a lowering of his center of gravity (which I'll assume is exactly at his belly-button for simplicity) by about 6 inches (I'm not a professional athlete, but this number seemed reasonable to me) his average force from both legs would come out to about 25,000 Newtons, or approximately 2,300 lbs of force from each leg. In another scene, Dalinar kicks a parshendi corpse about 20ft. This is far enough that air resistance starts to matter, however we don't have a great way of accounting for it with the information in the scene, so just know that the force calculated here is a lower-bound. Without air resistance, assuming he kicks the body at somewhere between a 30 and 45 degree angle, and his foot contacts the body for about 1 foot of distance (anyone who plays soccer can feel free to jump in with a better number here if you have one) he would need to exert a force of about 1,700 lbs (According to my research, this slightly exceeds the amount of force required to dismember a human body so we'll assume parshendi bodies are a little stronger than human's, and/or he hit the corpse in the center of the torso). What's interesting about this figure is that it suggests that Dalinar could have hit the body much harder, but chose not to (probably instinctively) because doing so would have caused it to explode as his foot passed through it rather than go flying (gross, but neat!). I'm planning to review some more scenes, specifically those between multiple shardbearers and see if I can come up with some more refined and rigorous calculations, but wanted to share what I had so far. If you think this sort of thing is interesting let me know what you think and I'll try to pick up the pace; challenges to my numbers or your own calculations are also welcome! TLDR; A person in plate could easily tear a person's limbs off (and dunk like no one's business)

Note: I will try to consistently use "Shadesmar" to refer specifically to the region in the Cognitive Realm that corresponds to Roshar/Greater Roshar. When Shallan first went to Shadesmar in WoK, I didn't think much about the sun. I didn't really know anything about the Cognitive Realm, so I sort of implicitly thought, "Sure, that's the cognitive representation of the sun." But after her visit near the beginning of WoR something seemingly really obvious hit me. We've seen that in Shadesmar, physical objects, seemingly no matter how large they are, become spheres. We have no reason to think that a star, just because it's huge and produces light in the Physical Realm, would be huge and produce light in the Cognitive Realm as well. Rather, we've seen that the consciousness of a being in the Physical Realm appears in the Cognitive Realm as a pale light. That is not the sun. It's a mind. I think the sun in Shadesmar is the cognitive self, or the cognitive shadow, or something like that, of Adonalsium. Most of what I've seen has tried to figure out what the sun is in terms of what we know to exist on Roshar. People have discussed it being the mind of Honor and/or Cultivation, or being a countdown clock of some kind until the next desolation. I think this totally misses the sense of scale. Planets in the Physical Realm are regions in the Cognitive Realm. Everything is scaled down. The vast emptiness of space is reduced to mountain ranges between the regions. (Side note: It's kind of funny to wonder whether there's a sad little sphere representing Roshar's sun somewhere in the mountains surrounding Shadesmar.) With this distortion of scale, the sun that is visible in Shadesmar should be visible in the Cognitive Realm region corresponding to any other planet. What is a dwarf galaxy in the Physical Realm is more or less a planet in the Cognitive Realm, at least in terms of distances, so the sun in Shadesmar is the sun everywhere. This is where the more savvy among you will, I hope, fill me in or shoot me down. Brandon has said that matter and energy are essentially manifestations of Investiture. We know that a shard of Adonalsium doesn't act on its own in a meaningful, sentient way. It affects the cognition of a person who holds it, but it doesn't seem to think for itself. I think that the shards of Adonalsium were, at least at the time of the shattering, literally physical pieces of the body of Adonalsium. These pieces by their nature held an incredible amount of Investiture, granting all kinds of power and causing all manner of effects on the holder that you wouldn't normally associate with a simple physical object. I think the cognitive self of Adonalsium remains, independent of a physical body. I haven't read Secret History yet (Bands of Mourning is next on my reading list!), but I know that Kelsier discovered it is possible to linger in the Cognitive Realm after physical death, and that it seems to be dependent on the significance of the being who died. If Kelsier could stick around, Adonalsium surely could have. I don't know how the spiritual figures into any of this, because, well, nobody seems to know much of anything about the Spiritual Realm yet. If I'm wrong and Adonalsium's mind isn't still around, it does stand to reason that the cognitive shadow of Adonalsium would be incredible. The Stormfather himself is the result of the worship of a portion of the population of a single shardworld. Imagine the cognitive shadow of a being who is as close to God as we've seen (short of the God Beyond, whose consciousness I expect wouldn't have a finite size), whose death directly or indirectly motivated just about every story we've been told in this setting, whose essence literally makes up the physical substrate of the Cosmere, and who is known of by at least part of the population on seemingly every world. The Cognitive realm is structured by perception, and Adonalsium seems like a good candidate for the radiant center of sentient perception in the Cosmere.

I am still having a difficult time thinking that a random browser would look at these titles and say, "Wow clearly that guy is a religious zealot" or something. All they would need to do is scroll and they would see there are various reputation titles and it isn't user chosen. I think making the leap into thinking that people will think less of someone with some titles is rather paranoid. It seems extremely unlikely. The titles are chosen like relative magical power level. Steel Inquisitor will absolutely be a title, as will Lord Ruler. They are just fun, cool things. I also don't think that lighteyes/darkeyes are offensive. We should not get offended about fictional racial distinctions. I guess it is fine if you want to be offended by that, but, it's fiction. As for Derethi or Steel Ministry titles, they may have negative connotation because of our perspective of the heroes we read in the books, but certainly not all of those people in said groups were evil. That would be an exaggeration. And more importantly, I'm pretty sure if people had a Prelan title, a browser isn't going to say, "Wow, what a jerk, that guy is a Steel Ministry supporter. Screw that guy in particular." No one in their right mind would make such illogical leaps. We are considering having a hover over to display the rep total over the titles. I would also like to mention again that removing the number from posts was a frequent suggestion in the last two rep discussions as ways to improve the system, and I was persuaded by them. The discussion kind of had already been done a while ago.

I've started wearing a bucket on my head. I look fabulous. Maybe I need to reevaluate my life. But I'll do it while wearing a fabulous bucket on my head.

I'll double-hide it, as it's a Cursed Child spoiler that was leaked on Tumblr.

Wanted to share the tre-cool Cosmere license plate I just ordered! It was a difficult choice between "ADONLCM" and "ADNLCM" with the Superman logo (so happy we have that here in Ohio!). I went with the superhero. That means, in Ohio, the full 7-letter version is still available for another Sander-fan. My car and I can't wait till it arrives!

I was just about to come and tell you guys that! Are you stalking me? My own weirdness feels threatened! I . . . um . . . stayed up all night rearranging my furniture and making rice pudding? Yeah, not as cool as yours . . .

I has a sushi date in an hour. And apparently, Moana features songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda. As if I needed another reason to see it.

I turned 21 today. Well, my sister totally forgot about my birthday (more like 'it's June already?!' than 'you have a birthsday?') cause she was working on her master's thesis We laughed about it and then she went "Oh no, I don't know what to give you" mode... but then I told her that there was recently the premiere of new book of that author I like and I'd like to have it. So now I have acquired The Emperor's Soul! Yay! My parent's gave me a one litre Jim Beam and some money. I think that the best use for that amount of money is to buy White Sand. And I passed today's exam and today there were two storms... A good day it was

Relevant: Also, when I was upset a minute ago, Bruce apparently picked up on it and rushed over to lick my face. He is now snoring next to me and refuses to leave my side. I have the best dog ever.

I bought Mistborn Secret History today! Happy day for all!

A get-to-know-you date, though not with the sort of dates Kobold described. And it went well. We went out for sushi and talked for a while, and then we went to a bar with a whole bunch of international beers and talked some more. He's nice, easy to talk to, and I think we have a lot in common.

Buffy:

I read just some days ago the Elantris Annotation. In these Mister Sanderson said that the first people who come in the area "discovered" Aons in a long time and from there they began to understand the possibility of their own power... this arrive to its masterpiece in the building of Elantris with the magic knowledge developed therefore the answer is hard try and error of many people for many years EDIT: I will copy here the Annotation for a quick reference: There is another lines in some other page that say in few words "With the developed knowledge of the Aon, they discovered how to amplifier the power and build Elantris.

Long Game 22, Day 5: Threads of the Pattern The night once again found itself lingering, settling over the village of Drell's Crossing without an end in sight, they darkened, cloud-blotted sky not letting any of the ambient light of the unnaturally still full moon shine down upon the villagers, the curtains of midnight seemingly unrelenting. Time seemed to stretch and squeeze, pulsing in time with an odd, eccentric rhythm, distorting the villagers senses even more, the chaotic forces pulling the town apart seam by seam. Tazrim Maim found himself prowling the newly disorganized streets of the Drell village, starting to associate it's name with the blood and chaos that seemed to plague it lately, cursing inwardly at Ruon's insistence they stay here and try and fight evil at it's roots before it could spread and destroy the land beyond the town's borders. He tried to tell himself it was just a child's fancy, the young wannabe gleeman with his filled of songs and stories filled of glory and triumphs, not even thinking for a second the deadly undercurrents of death and danger that lurked behind every corner. Maybe that was why he had took pity on the poor child, with their notions of adventure; it reminded Tazrim of times when he was that young and naive. Maybe that was why he had found himself seeking out Tar Valon, the most wonderous city in all of the land, trying to learn from the best and do something similar with his life. That had been why he found himself training to become a fully fledged warder, not that much older than Ruon was now. Of course, Tazrim couldn't channel, and Ruon being able to meant he had a very dangerous road to walk ahead of him -- no matter how brief and fleeting it would be. That's what he kept telling himself; that's how he had found himself stuck here, in this isolated village in the seeming middle of nowhere, as it slowly tore itself apart. He had traveled the land after his former bondmate had died, an Aes Sedai of the White Tower, together they had roamed the land and done the bidding of the greatest force the world had known. And for all the troubles it had caused him and her, despite all the times he should have died years prior, he found himself alone, their link severed when she had met a gruesome death when he hadn't been there. He had felt the shock and terror pouring through the bond, of course, and that had hurt even worse, knowing where, when and how she had died, and not being able to do a bloody thing about it. He wouldn't let the same thing happen to Ruon, no matter how crazy and dangerous he might possibly become. For he knew that he could've been the same person, in a different life. And things were wrong here, in this bleak little village, he admitted to himself. Perhaps that was why he had stayed, too. Not sure what to do to stop the evil and corruption consuming the town, but unable to stop himself from doing something. Besides, what else could he do, as a lethally trained warder? So he placed his hand down on the hilt of his sword as he strolled through the darkness of the town, cursing again at the night that seemed to not vanish, wondering how many hours ago it had been that he left Ruon, albeit reluctantly. The young channeler had even had the gall and audacity to order Tazrim to go roam the streets. Order him. Like he was a full-fledged Aes Sedai, and was in control of the bond. There was still so much the young gleeman had to learn, and those lessons would be that things never worked out in life like they did in the stories. Still, he found himself obeying his channeler, regardless. Old habits seemed to die hard for an old warder like himself. Despite the feelings of foreboding he had to shake off when leaving. It felt like the pattern was warping and twisting around this light-cursed town, fraying the fabric of the pattern and pulling their threads out one-by-one, until there was nothing left but a dark void where light used to thrive. He shook his head, dispelling the ominous thoughts from his head, telling himself to stay focused. He couldn't let himself be distracted. A moment's hesitation could cost him his life, and ultimately Ruon's life as well. He decided to finish one more circuit of the village, making sure nothing was amiss and everything was as it should be -- quiet and peaceful. If the wheel wills it, at least, he added grimly to himself. He walked across the newly located village green, still uncertain what to think of such an unraveling of the pattern, ignoring the darker patches of the blood stains from previous nights' grizzly encounters. The moon passed out from behind the clouds suddenly, washing the village green once again in surreal moonlight, illuminating everything. Tazrim Maim pulled up short, noticing for the first time the sets of eyes watching him from all around him. Golden eyes. Waiting for this perfect moment to strike. He knew instantly this was one battle he couldn't win, instead turning to flee, hoping and wishing Ruon had disobeyed him for a change, and decided to follow him into the night. The sudden rush of padded feet and snarling growl right behind him was all he had time to hear before death launched itself upon, the horrible, flashing pain of teeth sinking into the back of his neck as he was tackled to the ground. He managed to rollover onto his back, flailing with his arms and legs to protect his vitals. All he could see was the full moon, shining and shimmering above him, it's calming light seeming to mock him, as the shadows snapped forward once again and blotted out the light one last time. *** Cubik Rube stopped dead in his tracks, mesmerized by the sudden chorus of wolves howling out to the moon, singing their song of triumph. The savage roar signaling what had to have been another successful hunt, if the proximity of the howls were any indication. He decided to not go that way, instead wanting to turn around and flee in the other direction. Unless that's where they want me to go, he told himself, trying to shake the unsettling fear of paranoia that had buried itself deep within him. He could feel the chaos and fear that had permeated the village gnawing away at him, wearing down his sanity. He wasn't sure how much longer he could go on like this. The fireball almost came as a sweet relief when it's light and heat came barreling towards him, blinding him in the instant flash of light and pain, knocking him to the ground and blotting out all other senses. He was almost disappointed when he awoke hours later, injured, but still miraculously alive. *** Ruon felt the bond get severed as soon as it happened. Could feel the pain of the tearing and rending of flesh that had killed his warder. Poor old Tazrim, was all he had time to think before the grief and anger consumer and overcame him. He had slipped out of the safehouse him and Tazrim had established, refusing to be left behind while his old warder had all of the fun and excitement. He regretted those feelings now, as he bolted out into the night, the sudden rush of adrenaline and blurry anger overcoming him, blotting out all other senses and rationale. He knew the old man was already dead, could feel the last of his life drain away. Another thread pulled from the pattern. It's light forever extinguished. Ruon would make those that were responsible pay. He no longer held onto the childish fancies of adventures and songs filling his mind. He had more than enough, and with Tazrim's guidance, was going to grow up much faster than he anticipated. He reached out to Saidin, letting the horrible, magnificent torrent of energy and power fill his veins. Molten lava pouring through him, burning his blood within his body. The icy, arctic cold of winter freezing him to the bone. The flood of the one power threatening to sweep him away in it's blazing ocean of chaos and power, scouring him away til he was nothing but a pile of ashes. That was the battle he fought everytime he seized the source, when he filled himself with saidin. But now he drew in more and more of the power, more than he knew was smart too. It was too much too handle safely, more than what he knew what to do with. But still he drew more, the burning river of power fanning his anger, like a heavy wind to a fire, stoking it up higher and higher. He screamed in a furious rage, knowing he had to do something with all of the power before it overcame him and wiped him -- and probably this village -- away completely. With a anguished effort, he willed all of the power into the sky above him, throwing his hands out and forcing the threads of spirit, fire, and water up into the night. The wind rushed in, like a flood of water filling in a sudden void, the rolling clouds darkening even further, twisting and turning in sinuous lines above the city, hiding the moon and light once again. A single lightning bolt struck down out of the heavens, it's light piercing the night like a dagger with a painful, tumultuous roar, blinding him instantly, the thunder deafening. His whole body hurt all over. Especially his side, where he reached down and was surprised to find blood flowing freely between his fingers. Like a dagger, was all he had time to think before the blade was driven into his back this time, the icy hot pain shocking him once again, as he lost his old on saidin, the shock of that driving home the pain even further as he crumpled to his knees and fell down into the dirt. He knew now that life was, in fact, not like the songs or stories. Because in the stories, the heroes never died. *** Alain Stern hefted the axe back out of the tree, digging it out of the trunk before re-positioning and swinging once again, putting all of his might into the blow. He grunted with the effort, exhaling with a rush, wiping the sweat from his forehead before digging the axe out of the bark once again. Swing. Chop. Dig out. Repeat. Those were the motions he kept repeating in his head. The mantra he gave himself to keep up his rhythm, not letting himself rest for a moment, giving himself time to think. Or time to mourn, he thought grimly, before cursing savagely at himself and attacking the tree once again. The pain had receded to a dull ache, a tight pressure built around his chest, weighing him down with the burden of his warder's death. He had known what he was getting into when he had gotten himself a warder, laughing again at the irony of a male channeler finding somebody loyal and insane enough to be bonded to a madman. But despite working with saidin for years, he knew the taint was catching up to him. He knew it was only a matter of time before the madness took him completely, leaving him a crazy husk of his former self before he lashed out at those he loved, and any poor fools still around him. That was what Keland had been there for, to help calm him in his rages, to remind him of who we was and how to struggle through the taint. Thinking of his former warder brought another fit of rage, so he expelled it the best way he knew how. He chopped at the tree once again, reverting back to his former skill set, preferring the exhaustion the manual labor brought him. And the clarity of mind, once he had driven everything else out of his mind. He knew it was the only way. With a loud snap, the tree finally bent to his will, the cracking sound, like thunder, driving the thoughts from his head again.In a rush, he seized saidin, letting the icy, hot flow of it into him, filling his body. He coughed and gagged on the taint, the thin layer of evil floating at the top of the pool of power. Like a film of oil on top of a well, one could never dig a bucket into the water without taking a small portion of the oil. He was familiar with the fetid feeling of the taint seeping into him, but he wasn't ready for his vision to swim, seeing two images as one as the tree started falling the wrong way and almost on top of him. In a panic, Alain weaved a thread of air, yanking the falling tree out of midair and heaving it over onto the pile of trees he had created in his manic fury these last few nights. It was the only thing keeping him going. Dozens of the fallen trees lay in a misshapen mound, a teetering, unbalanced cairn. That was how Alain felt, as if any step would be the last step, and he would fall headfirst into insanity, and eventually death. The limber settled with a loud crash, shaking the ground as it's weight crashed down onto the other fallen trees. He just had to keep chopping. To keep himself occupied. He grunted once more, lifting the axe up over his shoulder, ready to move onto the next tree. He couldn't let himself be distracted for even a second. A part of him realized he still held onto saidin, and he found he didn't want to let go. The struggle to not let the power overwhelm and wear him down was a familiar fight, like an old friend that he was used to. And he couldn't afford to be alone with his thoughts. So he kept fighting, unsure of what he would do if he ever succumbed to it's powers. Or started thinking of what he would do after the trees were all gone. And suddenly, there was a blinding flash of light, a tremendous roar of sound, and a concussive blast of air as he was tossed off of his feet and thrown back a few yards, landing hard on his side and knocking the wind out of him. The clouds poured in overhead, as he realized he could now see the night sky. Not because the moon had peeked out behind the shrouding clouds. He realized the light was coming from below. Near him. Oh, he slowly thought, piecing everything together, the pile of trees.... he felt the bolt of saidin as it ripped through the air, tearing the sky asunder as the brilliant bolt of lightning blasted down near him, igniting the fallen timber in a giant explosion. If only he hadn't kept himself so distracted, he would have felt it before it happened. Laying on the ground, his body bruised and aching, he realized he just didn't have the will to get back up. He could hear the shouts and screams as people began to wake and see the conflagration of trees as they ignited, the tongues of flame reaching high into the sky and illuminating everything around him. He knew he could do something. Use a weave of air or water to put the fire out, to displace the heat somewhere else and spare the town of the impending threat of spreading fire. But.... why even bother? He told himself, finally letting the flood of emotions he had been blocking come rushing in. The sadness and the regret taking hold of him. He closed his eyes, letting a single tear leak out. It's pointless anyway, he thought. The shadow seems to have already won. At least for him. So he didn't move, and didn't feel the desire to save himself, as the flames spread and washed over him, burning away his fears and sorrows. Another thread in the pattern snuffed out. It's light extinguished. And probably for the better, Alain told himself one last time, as he closed his eyes and let the pain burn away. *** Mashadar flooded the village, it's misty fogs shrouding the streets, it's smoky tendrils seeking another target, another victim to bring to the perfection of the Waiting Shadows. Slowly pouring through the streets of Drell's Crossing, like poison coursing through veins before the morning sun burned away the mist. But not before another person was brought into it's own grip of corruption and evil. *** The whitecloak didn't even try to suppress the yawn, as the never-ending night finally seemed to abate, the morning sun burning away the terror of the night as they saw another sunrise. They didn't even speak as they hauled the prisoner to their feet, pushing them out into the light and slamming the door on their backs. It was time for another day in Drell's Crossing. And with it, more blood. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Somebody was detained! Hellscythe was killed by Wolves! He was a Village Warder! Bard was killed by Darkfriends! He was a Village Channeler! Araris died by lack of Warder! He was a Village Channeler! Rubik was attacked by a Fireball! He survived. Somebody was Corrupted by Mashadar during the night. Day 5 will be extended and last until 12AM (MIDNIGHT) EST on MONDAY June 20th. (I know, extending it to a weird time again, but this will make the rollover easier for me that night!) (Refer to Hael's handy countdown below for proper timing. He can math better than the GM.)

So I guess this is a thing now... Huge thanks to Botanica for making this possible!

It may be crucial to my survival, but it'll probably kill everyone else. I am far from a harmonica expert. But then again, what do I know? Maybe my terrible harmonica playing will be what the group needs: a cause to unite under! The cause, of course, being "stop Mist from playing that harmonica or so help me we will throw her off a bridge."

(write-up to come) The Young Bard was lynched! He was a Crewmember! Lopen was killed! He was a Crewmember! Mckeedee was stabbed! He was a Crewmember!

I suppose that's a possibility, but the main problem I see is that it would all be one piece and he would be unable to move a centimeter. It's not like the shardblade/hammer/shield etc were flexible like spandex.

The word 'savant' is ruined for me. Because we use it very much here and it's quite rare to come by in its normal meaning.

And Vin? Should we make a separate post for The Facepalming Avatar Club?

Bard, are you not paying attention? Conquestor is already dead! He was killed by the traitors. There are two player lists posted. Did you really ignore them? Mckeedee's list contains the 4 people who could have killed someone, presuming everyone followed the plan. You and I, along with Zas, had no items. Mckeedee was going to pass to Elbereth, but she died, so his action was free. We know that two players did not follow through, but I believe their excuse of real life issues. If they're lying I will be very pissed at them. Of the four who could kill, you're the most likely candidate. Sorry, but the gig is up.

Bard, I read this thread regularly already. The notification thing is just obnoxious. That comment which you still can't let go of was made at the start of the game, and I was giving my opinion on early-game poke votes. As for the rest, I have to say that I don't really find this game at all interesting because of you guys. Honestly, nearly all of everyone's suspicions are most likely incorrect ones as they are based off of meaningless fluff. Furthermore, nearly all of the discussion in this game has been about an item passing plan that clearly abuses the rules. I don't know if this game is your idea of fun, but it's not mine. P.S. This is not directed at Ripple, who made a great and interesting concept. EDIT: Ok, I may have come across as annoyed. That's intentional.

Let's talk about motivation. I'm sure every one of us has had problems with being motivated. You didn't feel like going to the gym, we don't feel like writing, we don't feel like taking that piano lesson etc. We just lack motivation or strong will to do those things and yet, we want to be fit, good writers who know how to play piano. So I ask you all: What are your sources of motivation? When you can't find the strength to do this thing that you want to do, what then? I have found in practice something that is I think kind of common knowledge: motivation is contagious. If you hang around people who are passionate, hard working and determined to achieve something, you yourself become stronger and more likely to succeed. Unfortunately it works the other way too. If you keep hanging around people that complain all the time, that don't do anything and see only negatives, you're more likely to fail. My personal way to find motivation is also listening to motivational videos. I know that it might sound stupid to some people, but they work for me. I have a playlist with some that I liked, you can check it out here if you'd like. Warning: there are some popular S- and F- curse words in some of them. TL;DR: What are your ways to motivate yourself?

Eh, screw it. Fickle GM is fickle, but I'm recuperated enough to be able to do a rollover. The cycle is ended now. Just don't expect a write-up right away. XD (So ignore my last post.)

Great, now I'm imagining a scene of Sazed escaping with Scadrial in his arms while Galactus runs after him with a fork and a knife...

The new site looks great. Mobile is so much better. I like the new features. The messenger looks much more modern. The stream options are nice. Thanks for all the effort that went into this! There are a few things I wanted to mention though. Problems There's something that seems a bit like a glitch. If I go to a thread, then navigate to a different page in that thread, then hit the back button in my browser, I stay on the second page instead of going back to the page I was on before. This happens both on my laptop and my phone. There's a problem where selection lists like the ones for content streams or for folders in PMs show up behind the blue bar at the top. When looking at the options for activity streams, I couldn't find any link to get back to a stream I saved later if I didn't immediately make it my default. Also, when I figured out I could get back by changing the url, I noticed I could access the other user-created streams. Is that on purpose? Because it seems odd that you can't save those settings without making them sort of public. Then again, maybe that's good because it means I can make a personalized stream that I can access even from devices I'm not logged in on as long as I don't use options that require a user to view (like "unread"). Aesthetic Issues The header doesn't look very good at the size I keep my browser window. The menu just plain looks like it's in the wrong place since the entire "create" blends in with the white sun, and it would actually be entirely outside the sun if it was moved to the top. Also, the logo looks off center and gets too close to the edge of the sun on the right. I've attached the image to show what it looks like. I know this is because I keep my browser at quite a bit less than full screen, so it might not affect too many people, but there is a large range of desktop-sized windows where the placement of the menu blends with the sun. Even when I go to full screen I think having the menu in the middle of a large header instead of at the top looks weird. When the announcements are added (they weren't there yet when I took the screenshot), the combination of header and announcements takes up nearly the full screen, which is pretty bulky. It all even takes up well over half the screen when I go fullscreen. I think I preferred having the announcements in a black bar at the top of the header. This probably isn't very important, but on the bottom of the news page there isn't any whitespace below the page navigation, which looks strange with the modern tons-of-whitespace design. In comparison, there is some whitespace at the bottom of the Shardcast page. Also, "Contact Us" and "Community Software..." at the bottom is very dark and hard to see. I'm not sure if that is on purpose though. (See relevant image in spoiler below.) I think it's kind of strange that subforums with unread posts are marked with yellow, but when entering the subforums the threads with unread posts are marked with bolded text and blue dots while it is pinned threads that are instead marked with yellow. That seems a bit inconsistent. Some of the staff title colors look bad on the default cover photo background when you hover over their names. Global Moderators in particular. That's probably best solved by them picking cover photos, although finding something that looks good with both the white username and darker title might be hard. The round profile pictures look good for some (like mine), but for others it is obvious the pictures were designed as a rectangle. Even the default profile picture has a bit of the bottom corner of the shard cut off when trimmed to a circle. Changes I don't like It lists the number of posts in each topic, but not the number of threads anymore. I'd have thought the number of threads would be more relevant if just one of those were shown, but both would be preferable. I miss the list of users on in the last 24 hours at the bottom. That was really nice for checking how recently users had been on. I also miss the "Who's Online" list stating how recently it is checking (15 minutes), and I think it is weird that section lists everyone who has been on in the last 25 minutes when it still removes the green dot that means they are logged in after 15 minutes. Also, it looks like the list of who is browsing each thread only lists members and doesn't mention if any guests are viewing now. This might be more of a personal preference, but I really dislike posts saying how recently they were made instead of having a date and time stamp. For one thing, it gives the time since the page last loaded, which means I can only guess how long ago something was actually posted if I wait a bit after opening the page to read it or if reading the entire page takes a while, and if I reload it can be harder to tell what's new and what was already there. Also, if I "show new replies" in a thread, it shows the times between when they were posted and when I loaded them, but the times for previous posts are still shown as what they were when I originally loaded the page, which is confusing. Also, anything posted in the hours ago range doesn't give minutes, so context about the length of time between nearby posts or edits is lost. Similarly, posts from about a week or more ago only give the date, not the time. Also, figuring out the length of time between recent days of the week isn't as intuitive as between numbered dates. I know it's possible to see the date and time of a post by hovering my cursor over when it was posted, but that doesn't work on a phone and it doesn't work on quotes and it's annoying to have to do that for something I prefer to be able to see at a glance. Is there a way for a user to remove or collapse any of the sidebars on the front page or the announcements at the top of each page? Didn't there used to be a link directly to the comments from "Recent News" in addition to the link to the article? I miss seeing people's statuses when I hover over their name. I kind of miss the staff online sidebar, although that information is easy enough to figure out by looking at Who's Online.

@Argel, you asked how I would want to be associated with those characters, and whether Sharders would be offended by the name. Well, I can only speak for me, but my personal opinion is no. I have no problem with that. For one, they're fantasy characters. At the end of the day, they're not real, and I'm not those characters. For starters, these are characters that have been written in a book that I nearly tear apart flicking pages as I read, digest, process, and analyze. And, a quintessential part of these books are the villains. Without these characters, the book wouldn't be nearly as good. So, I love these characters, not because they're good people, or because I agree with them, or because I'd like them in real life, but because they serve to make the story, the elaborate illusion that Sanderson set up, a more interesting place. That doesn't change when these titles appear next to my name. When I am a Gyorn, or a Silent Gatherer, I can still accept that these titles are labels based of a story that I enjoy. Simply because they appear next to my name doesn't change who I am, what I stand for, or how others view me. In fact, beyond maybe a couple quick posts now and again, I usually completely forget my reputation is there a lot of the time. Finally, I would ask whether you think these examples could somehow lead to offence. Is it offensive if an actor plays a villain, be it James Earl Jones as Darth Vader, Christopher Lee as Saruman, or Ralph Fiennes as Lord Voldemort, simply because they don a role, it doesn't mean they support the views of the character, or would approve of their actions. Reputation works in the same way, except it's a hardly noticeable because it will only ever appear at a post besides your name for a period of time. So no, I see no problems with the titles as they are. When I first read your argument, I thought you were saying that one or two of the titles had a real-life connotation, which happened once before (for reference, I think it was Half-Blooded, a racial slur against African Americans, which got changed to Noble-Blooded). However, I see no problem with this. I'm sorry if I'm being overly aggressive with this. If you found anything I said to be offensive, then post or PM me, and I'll rephrase my point.

I'm just curious. I wanted to see whether Brandon's books were more likely to be read by a certain religion. P.S. I did put cosmereism there as a joke. If you're okay with sharing, then I would much rather you answer truthfully.

More accurately, how the heck did they do it? So, here's the thing; the magic of Sel is complex. Delicate. Fine. The entire plot of Elantris is based around what can happen when one line of an aon is drawn incorrectly. With all that in mind, just how on earth did the Elantrians discover their magic to begin with? It appears so precise that I can't imagine someone casting an Aon by accident -unlike, say, how Vin was able to burn her "luck" as a child- and yet I can't recall anything that would say how they came to the realisation of how their magic works. And yes, Raoden was able to come up with Aon's, figure out what they did and fix Elantris... but he was working off of tomes of research to provide him with a starting point for his studies. The first magic users of Sel, presumably, were working blind. So how did they manage to work out the precise symbols and shapes needed to cause magic to work?

No user facing option for this, no. It might be something we consider. You probably hit your daily quota of positive reputation you can give out.

Because I was raised as an American and firmly believe that my opinion counts all the time no matter the topic or my experience with the subject at hand, I am here to say that I thoroughly approve of this idea and hope to see it in a future release. I also support the rest of what Chaos said. It is important to be aware of things that might be hurtful to others. It is also important to know when something is fictional and not meant to be harmful in any way. We are all here because we love Brandon Sanderson's work and I think we should focus on what brings us together instead of trying to find the things that might divide us. JE SUIS 17TH SHARD!

Ooh, thanks! That tells me how to enlarge them. :-) EDIT: And… nope, didn't work. Ugh, really thought that would do the trick. jW

A highstorm hit Warsaw today

If another shard traveled to Scadrial, would they produce a new god metal? Would this also reveal/create (exactly four) new metallic arts? If the answers are yes, this could explain Brandon's previous, slightly cryptic statement that there are either 10ish or 30ish magic systems on Roshar, depending on how you count. Also: Do the 16 shards account for 100% of what is left of Adonalsium after being shattered?

Did Ars Arcanum's author make some mistake with the Hero of Age's one ?

Crepuscula sat on the soft grass, staring at the silver rings that were all that protected her - all that protected all of them - from death. Such thin, delicate things, yet even as she watched a shade drifted up to them and flinched back when the edge of its... body, she supposed, insofar as they could have bodies, touched the silver. Then her gaze drifted past the rings of silver to the shadows beyond. Shades drifted about aimlessly for the most part, eyes glowing green, but a very few had eyes still red. They’d been like that since the horrible night that she only vaguely remembered, stumbling here in the dark, red-glowing eyes all around... She shuddered and rose, stepping closer to the silver. The night was drawing on, and soon it would be the twilight before dawn. I should probably get some sleep, she reflected. Maybe tomorrow I’ll finally be able to organize them effectively enough that we can figure out who the murderer is. She’d been trying and trying, and she thought that maybe tomorrow would be the day it finally worked. Today they’d had to kill Beckett, and they’d been wrong. The image of his pleading face, just before he died... But she ruthlessly blocked that from her memory. There was no room for self-recrimination, not now. She was so close... The hairs rose on the back of her neck. She froze in place, dread sickening her stomach. Too close, she thought bitterly. She heard a voice behind her. “Sorry, dear. But we couldn’t have you going and catching us, could we?” She dodged to the side, but hands were already there, catching her and tossing her bodily right over the silver rings into the shades. And while it hadn’t been running... being tossed was moving entirely fast enough to be noticed. And as the first light of dawn began to infuse the sky, Crepuscula was swallowed by a hundred angry shades, and was gone. (This write-up brought to you by Elbereth.) Bugsy was lynched! He was a Crewmember! Elbereth was killed! She was a Crewmember! Vote Tally: The Young Bard (1): Sart Winter (1): Joe Joe (1): Elbereth Bugsy (2): Mckeedee, Lopen

We do have an example from BoM where a character says something that doesn't get translated as it should, because the other language doesn't have a word for that thing. It could be the same for coins, if they are considered sufficiently different from spheres. I think a lot of people tend to zone out a bit when Hoid speaks as Wit, since he often makes far-fetched puns and other jokes that go over his victims' heads. He can probably get away with saying some pretty weird things, and people will just assume they missed some word play. Same with those guards at the gate: Hoid mentioning 'coins' wasn't the only thing weird about this guy randomly sitting on some boxes, talking about storms and what people value in life. Also, Hoid has been on the planet before (when he arrives in the Peaks he asks Rock what year it is, and he seems to have something to do with the Worldsingers), so he could have learned the language normally. I do think he has a translation thingy, but he probably knows at least some languages naturally.

I like this. It's the sort of thing that I completely missed because it makes sense from my perspective, but not from the in-world one. Like Argent (I think) said in the other thread, it is a bit odd how the translation works out, though. Still, if it's in both epilogues, and both quotes said by Wit, I think it's very likely that it's on purpose. Zahel uses Nalthian color metaphors, but the characters listening seem to think they are old sayings, or just from a different part of the same world. So not necessarily outing him as a worldhopper for anyone who isn't Cosmere aware.

The beacons are lit! Gondor calls for aid!

When you go around and try to figure out how you would steelpush yourself to a certain area. "Lets see, I could push against that thing to get onto the roof, but if I was Mistborn I could just lurch myself to that thing...." Or when you are faced with a problem and your first thought is to solve it with one of the magics in Cosmere.

You know you're an LDS Sanderfan when you wish that Moroni had started the Golden Plates with "I write these words in gold, for anything not set in metal cannot be trusted."

The real purpose of Area 51.

“They named it the Final Desolation, but they lied. Our gods lied. Oh, how they lied. The Everstorm comes. I hear its whispers, see its stormwall, know its heart.” "Do you mind, Kobold? I'm trying to watch the Weather Channel."

Ah, awesome. My first game of elimination, but hopefully I won't do too badly... Well, let's find out! Wyrm shall be a scholar of BioChromatic research, and he hopes to follow the same path that the Five Scholars did before him. He has, however, only just started properly delving into the world of Investiture and Realmatics, so he's missing large pieces of the puzzle when it comes to figuring things out. He likes spending time outside when it comes to writing up his notes, and so he'll often be seen pouring over a thick tome with a hot drink in a local cafe. However, he's far from the best when it comes to research, and will probably find himself quickly in over his head when his studies start to bring him into the social circles and hidden plots of those living in the great city.

I think we've got everyone we're going to get. sign ups are now closed. Role PMs should be out within half an hour. Edit: grammar Edit 2: PMs are out! night 1 Cryus barricaded himself in his hovel, aided by all who would help. There was no way the killers could get to him without him taking several of them with him. He heard something. Instantly, he flared tin, bringing definition to the distant noise. It was screaming... screaming for help, too distant to be heard without allomancy. Lord Ruler, He thought I was wrong about them targeting me. He smashed through the door, startling the villagers he had asked to guard it, and shot off in a Pewter enhanced dash to the outskirts of the village to the origin. I was so sure he thought I was so sure they would try to kill me. As he reached the source of the noise, he looked up to see a hooded figure leaning against a building, in no visible distress screaming for help in the voice of a little girl. Cyrus suddenly realized he'd been tricked. The figure looked up and smiled, pulling the hood off. "you?!" Cyrus yelled in shock. Another figure came from behind Cyrus and sunk an obsidian dagger through his chest. Cyrus spent his last moments of life turning to see his murderer. "and you?" Cyrus cried, then fell on his face, dead. And that's exactly how his body was found. Face down in the ash, dagger still sticking through his chest. But the night was only just begining ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Night 1 begins and will end in about 45 hours! I hope the slight overlap with the other game doesn't bother anyone.