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Got my signed copy of Elantris , with question answered! (They emailed me to clarify the question, which is why i got so in depth). Exactly what i emailed is below, typos included. The background to my question is this: It was once stated by Mr Sanderson that "Magic in the cosmere needs a guiding force. If it doesn't have one, the magic itself will gain sentience." We also have that things like Nightblood that gained sentience because of crazy amounts of investiture. My question then is: "Is the reason that investiture has this tendency to lead to sentience caused by the fact that pre-shattering Adonalsium had a goal/purpose/intent of bringing sentience to his universe." (I guess this is in a way a 2 part question, because it assumes that Adonalsium actually HAD the intent of bringing sentience to his Cosmere) And his answer: Yes, this is part of the reason. Good question!

On Sunday I told my parents that I failed the year and I'm retaking the courses. Take the Good Parents Trope... and that's my parents. The only thing close to scolding me was them telling me it was stupid of me not to tell them earlier. That I shouldn't have held it in all summer cause it made me feel cremy all the time. Good parents I have

I'll still say "You should". Gender does not factor into it, it's just whoever is able to overcome the social awkwardness long enough to make the first move. Since you won't know that, it's better to take fate into your own hands. A simple "out to dinner/coffee" should be sufficient to show heightened interest.

There's a pretty ominous blurb on the back cover of Words of Radiance, that I think might point to a darker effect of the Nahel Bond. I have two theories on what this could mean (which specific one is right I have no clue), but I think we would be naive in assuming the Nahel Bond is a purely positive experience for the recipient. "Men seek what was lost; I fear the quest will destroy them. It is the nature of the magic. A broken soul has cracks into which something else can be fit. Surgebindings, the power of creation themselves; they can brace a broken soul, but they can also widen its fissures" That sounds dark enough by itself, but it gets even more uncomfortable when comparing this to a familiar cosmere magical system (it sounds uncomfortably similar to how a hemalurgic spike cracks open a person's soul to invite outside influence or control). The imagery of cracked souls matches what we've been told so far in Stormlight Archive. Knights Radiant of the past according to Syl were all "broken" people. Being a broken person with a damaged soul seems like a pre-req for spren to be able to form a bond with humans. Indeed (from what we've observed so far), it is frequently only in moments of great psychological stress that the bond between spren and human can be strengthened. This seems like a full boon for our heroic knight, as they gain awesome powers for seemingly no cost. But what if there is a cost? 1) Loss of Free Will Every oath the knight speaks, the tighter their bond with their spren grows. Using the existing cracked soul analogy, one can picture the spren plugging the cracks in the human's soul to make them spiritually whole again (almost like a filling in a tooth cavity). But a more insidious way of seeing this is that the knight's soul is becoming less and less their own, and more and more their spren's. Each oath the knight swears, the more of their soul is bound up with their spren, the more spren-like they become. What's more, this isn't restoring the knight's soul, but only covering up the cracks (with a cover that can be later taken away). Sure swearing those oaths grants you more power, but it also forces you to live your life according to a very strict set of rules. At what point does fear about breaking those rules deprive a human radiant of their free will? At what point do they stop being a human struggling to embrace an ideal, and become just an ideal? I think Kaladin's dark night of the soul at the end of WOR is a poignant example of this. Because he swore conflicting oaths, his power left him, reverting him into his sad pre-Radiant state: chronically depressed, full of pain, and discovering that even skills he thought he had earned on his own (gracefulness with spear) were really only gifts granted by his spren bond. It is only by surrendering to the oaths previously sworn that Kaladin could become a functional human being again. Syl said she didn't want to force Kaladin to do the right thing, but functionally that is exactly what she did! Remembering the shock of his non-Radiant state, Kaladin will likely have something approaching panic disorder if he approaches future oath violations. Again, remember that all Radiants are damaged people. What if they all lived in chronic anxiety of breaking their oaths and reverting to being a non-magical mess again? And what about the addictive nature of stormlight consumption? Would such a constant stress to obey oaths, without the immediate need of a Desolation, be enough to jumpstart the Reacreance? Possibly! 2) I'm cursed - Kaladin makes some repeated ruminations that his continued survival while others fall is a sign that he is cursed. Syl dismisses this as nonsense, and it is our first impulse as readers to just pass this off as Survivor's Guilt on Kaladin's part. But what if he has a kernel of truth there? In Mistborn Secret History we have an interesting scene where Kelsier's shadow is trying to chase Vin around. Preservation loans some power to Kelsier, which temporarily strengthens him, but Ruin quickly responds by crushing Kelsier with mental force. Once Preservation gives up and withdraws his power from Kelsier, Kel notices that Ruin also can no longer restrain him as effectively. I think this was Brandon giving us a clue that competing shards often work in balance of one another, and one shard expanding their power on a human quickly draws the jealous attention of their enemy. What if a similar situation is at play on Roshar? A whole lot of incredibly unpleasant stuff is done to Kaladin and Shallan by the people around them in their life. What if this wasn't just plot convenience? What if Pattern and Syl starting to grant access to power to Kaladin and Shallan shines a spotlight on them for Odium and causes Odium to influence people nearby them to do a heaping of bad stuff in an attempt to break their spirit? It seems awfully coincidental that both of their lives went to hell after their spren first started to observe/bond them. Maybe the Radiants of the past got tired of spren inviting tragic events onto their chosen knights and decided to abandon their oaths as a result? There might be a sort of magical reciprocity at play.

I started 12th grade today! 365 days till graduation!!!

Me: I am a professional adult. Cute Patron: *is cute* Me: I ARE AN AWKWARD TEENAGER AND I AM AWKIES

Note: Pansexuals will strangle you if you make this joke to their face. I know this from experience.

Eh, I've shared this story before... but what the hey. My first ever roleplaying experience; a mortals game of Exalted. If you know Exalted, you should already realize this means our life expectancy could be counted in hours. I did not know that until after the game; it was just a one-off, intended to try and court players to the game. (It worked, but the game died a week or two later for different reasons) So, Exalted. to set the scene; we were playing a party investigating some serious "Children of the Corn" type shenanigans, and our investigations led us to a nearby jungle/forest.We entered the area, cautious and wary, and still managed to get jumped by the locals, who scored off a series of shots with blowdarts tipped with poisons. Most of us got jumped anyway; the rogue managed to escape, and settled for tailing them, as the natives dragged our unconscious bodies to... somewhere, and dumped us in a cage. So, our characters came to sitting in a cage which was made of bones. This was less than encouraging, made even less so by the fact that the poisons they knocked us out with? Had trippy side-effects. As in, the "lick the back of a frog, and space out man," kind of trippy. So, the rogue is scouting out the scene. And whatever she saw, it didn't bode well for us... you know, in case the bone cage hadn't already given that impression. So, she decides she's going to stage a jail break. With Exalted running off of "Rule of Cool", and because she didn't want to risk being too open while she did so, she decided to be a cool rogue type. She would toss the dagger she had on her, breaking the lock and letting us all escape. She flipped the dagger, caught it by the blade. Lined up the shot; threw it. And that's when things started to go wrong. I'll start with the rogue. Unfortunately for her, people noticed the dagger flying out of the bushes, and started to swarm towards her. Immediatly, she decided to take off through the wilderness, enemies chasing behind her trying to stick her with spears and blowguns and other pointy things. We ended the session before we found out what happened to her; she was the lucky one. As for the dagger... the GM rolled, to see if it hit the lock and how much damage it would do. Turned out it missed. So he rolled to see if it would hit the bars of the cage, or go through. Turns out it missed the bars, and went through towards us. So he rolled to see if it would hit one of us. Since I'm the one telling this story, you can probably tell how that ended; with my ranger, still coming down from a drug high, suddenly having a knife planted blade first in his chest. He fell to the ground. Now, I cna't recall our precise party load-out... but we had a druid with us. And the druid had healing skills; not magic, but actual, battlefield surgery. Which he immediately leapt up to do. Leading to a stoned out druid trying to perform impromptu heart surgery, with no equipment, on a guy who had no unaesthetic, in the middle of a (presumably unsanitary) cage made out of the bones of the dead. It ended poorly. Only other games I'm doing at the moment... well, haven't had anything really crazy or cool happen yet. Statistically improbably, yes, but nothing crazy or cool.

As we learn more about the three Shards on Roshar and their conflict, I think we'll definitely get a picture of a larger backstory to Roshar in the Cosmere, something that's not uncommon in fantasy stories. One big example is in Lord of the Rings, where the extended worldbuilding found in the Silmarillion reveals that Gandalf, Sauron, and the Balrog are all the same kind of creature, like a kind of angel. There's a vast history of Sauron's mentor, and of the elves of Middle Earth, that isn't directly relevant to the heroes and their journey for the trilogy itself, but serves as an important foundation for the setting. We can understand that Gandalf and Sauron come from a different age without knowing every detail about that age, but the details are there for those who want them. The end of the series, as the elves go to the Grey Havens, is a part of a larger story, but it does have an impact on the main story. To unabashedly twist part of your original post to fit with my example: So, yes, I think we'll definitely see in the Stormlight Archive that Hoid is larger than the Stormlight Archive, the same way the Shards are larger as well. But that doesn't mean we'll need to know everything about that backstory. The books are about the characters, not about the Shards; because the stories exist in a larger universe, there will be supporting setpieces that extend beyond the scope of the series, but hey, even Da Vinci left the legs off of the Mona Lisa. She had them[citation needed], but you don't need to see them to appreciate the painting.

The answer: an unhelpful "you should."

Storm Trek: The Next Desolation

So I've been meaning to share this for awhile because this is the first time this has EVER happened to me At my job, we had a new girl. We just so happened to be working together for a few minutes so I introduced myself and such. We started a conversation and she seemed pretty nice, so I asked what she liked to do. She paused, then said. "I like to read a lot." My fangirl senses were now on high alert. "What kind of books?" I asked, trying to sound super casual and not like I was hyperventilating with excitement. "Oh you know, fantasy and stuff." JACKPOT. "I have to introduce this girl to Sanderson." I thought. "Who's your favorite author?" I asked. She looked really unsure. "You probably don't know him...." "Just try me, I'm a freak. I've read a library full of books." ....... "My favorite author is Brandon Sanderson." My jaw dropped. I forgot we were supposed to be working and just stared at her for a few seconds. I mean, WHAT ARE THE ODDS?? So yeah, now I have a co-worker to discuss the Shard universe with. XD Gives me hope for this world.

Hold the secret that broke the Knights Radiant. You may need it to destroy the new orders when they return. - WOR Chapter 84 epigraph (decoded) Now, as the Windrunners were thus engaged, arose the event which has hitherto been referenced: namely, that discovery of some wicked thing of eminence -- WOR Chapter 38 epigraph These epigraphs strongly imply that the Recreance was precipitated by the KR discovering some terrible fact. It doesn't seem to have been tied to any corruption that may have crept in to the Orders (the taxes for travel through Urithiru, etc.) Now, here's something anomalous. The Desolations devastated Roshar, killing something like 90 percent of the human population and knocking technology back to the stone age, at least sometimes. Yet when Honor was Splintered (after the Recreance -- he remembers it in the visions) there seems to have been no such cataclysm. Aharietiam is still seen as "the Last Desolation", which it wouldn't be if another apocalyptic event had occurred since the Recreance. Similarly, Odium Splintered Devotion and Dominion on Sel. But humanity on that planet survived; he didn't destroy the planet, depopulate it, or warp it into some kind of a hellscape. So why the devastating, lethal Desolations on Roshar before the Recreance? Because humans were fighting on Honor's side. Odium doesn't really care about killing humans, except incidentally to getting at the Shards; nothing much below the power-level of a Herald registers on his "radar screen" Therefore, my proposal for the Secret That Broke The KR is: Honor's been feeding us into a meat grinder for thousands of years to protect Cultivation and a couple of alien gods we'll never see. If we let Odium win, nothing bad really happens to humanity. Honor betrayed us. Our spren have been in on it, all along - they're pieces of Honor. So let him die.

Hey i have read the Stormlight archive and WarBreaker I like to hear all the theories that people have i also like to play video games

I feel way in over my head. Y'all are crazy. I thought I was a obsessed fanboy, but I've been blown out of the water reading the forums today! (The craziness is a good thing though) My favorite series is stormlight, and I've read everything except warbreaker and one or two novellas. Anyway, I hope to be able to learn more and attempt to contribute every now and then! Thanks to all of you wonderful folks who run these forums and fill it with content!

Well, while waiting for Bleeder, I'll just share one of mine... and I feel it appropriate that the first story to share on a Brandon Sanderson site should be from a Brandon Sanderson-licensed game. For those of you who've never played it, it should come as no surprise that the officially licensed Mistborn RPG posits all player characters are criminals or otherwise a "crew," instead of a party (complete nicknames). So, all the players in my game were criminals of one sort of other, complete with an awesome crew-name- The Whispers. Led by one of our players, who went by the nomme de plume of "Hush." The idea for Hush's character? He's a former Canton of Finance bureaucrat (and a Soother) who found himself in the middle of an early mid-life crisis (at the ripe old age of 34) that culminated with him staring into a ceiling one night in bed, after hearing more and more stories of the infamous Kelsier, and thinking to himself aloud, "Lord Ruler, what have I been doing with my life?" So, he promptly quit his job and proceeded to build a reputation for himself as a criminal mastermind who could pull off the greatest heists... all to match or even surpass his secret idol Kelsier. Unfortunately, for all of his pretences, he's... not nearly as clever or grandiose as he liked to believe. We ran his first real attempt at a con. Hush would convince an elderly Noble couple he was a representative for a powerful House in the Southern Dominance famous for its distilleries and monopolization on certain liquors, wines and brandies, responsible for some of the finest wine in the world. With his Soothing, it was a piece of cake, and that he had a perfect replica of perfect Southern Brandy (made entirely out of cheap stuff). A little Soothing and the cheap stuff tasted like the best thing in the world. The con here was supposed to be that the elderly couple would accept a ludicrous proposal to, well, purchase merchant ships that'd carry imports from the Southern Dominance to their docks and their docks only, thereby granting them a full 10-20% of the sales and distribution. Hush would take the money and bring it back to his "master" back south. At least, in theory. Now, astute readers among you might actually recognize this as a reference to a similar ploy from Scott Lynch's Lies of Locke Lamora. And you'd be right. Major inspiration for the campaign here. So cue the party getting together at night to break into the couple's manor, scaring the bejeesus out of them... and convincing them they weren't thieves, but Obligators on the track of a notorious criminal who poses as merchants suckering the nobility with this or that scam. That's right. Hush's plan was to pull a con within a con. Con-ception, if you will. Ba-tum-tsh. The plan? Do nothing. Just keep paying the "merchant's" fees until he's lulled into a false sense of security. A few in-game weeks passed... and while the husband of the pair was a pompous idiot, the wife was a little more shrewd. In fact, she had long clued that there was something fishy about this whole scenario, but she hid her suspicions from the Soother amazingly well. She played the part of a vapid former beauty queen quite well, often overtly and shamelessly flirting with Hush whenever they were in the same room (to the sniggering of the disguised crew and to his everlasting shame). Unfortunately, he didn't realize she was a Rioter. She might have been a little rusty, but you didn't grow up in the decadent court of Luthadel without learning some essential survival traits. Like sussing out a con. So she asked Hush to come to her study for a "night cap," wink wink. Swallowing his pride, and thinking he had already had this con in the bag, Hush followed her into her room... Only to be met by a smiling octogenarian in a flimsy nighty, stringing a bow and knocking an arrow aimed right at him. Yup. That was when Hush knew the game was up. They both dropped the act, they had a neat little "James Bond and Bond Villain" back-and-forth banter, all the while Hush's mind raced with possible strategies. The other members of the crew were downstairs and none of them would have been able to reach him in time if she let loose that arrow. They were already engaged in a battle of wills, between Soother and Rioter, flaring their metals as powerfully as they could. To his horror, they were evenly matched. ... The only thing that saved Hush from a pointy arrow through the neck? A bad roll on my part, but in-universe let's chalk it up to the old noblewoman overestimating her strength and skill with the bow and wildly missing her shot. As the arrow flitted overhead and bured itself in a fine tapestry, our anti-hero fished for the first weapon on his person, the knife he kept strapped to his ankle! ... And he too had an awful roll. The knife pathetically flung itself out the window. Con artist and target took the time to stare at one another, both equally embarassed at how fast this confrontation was descending into pure farce. Noblewoman: "... That was pathetic." Hush: "Yes. Yes it was." (beat) Hush: "AAAH!" (lunges himself at her) Yes, our anti-hero decided the next best course of action was to lunge at the eighty-something old woman. The worst part? Out of everyone on the crew, out of all the Whispers, Hush had the looooowest physical stats. Yes, our James Moriarity here could be physically stalemated by his grandmother, which was exactly what happened as he and the noblewoman wrestled on the floor, each trying to strangle or smack the other with a shoe. Funniest moment out of this whole thing? He managed to get on top (stop sniggering) and strangle the old woman with her own silk shawl, but all the while she was smacking him with a fancy heel. Repeatedly. In the eye. Hush: (through grit teeth) "Why!" (SMACK!) "Won't!" (SMACK!) "You!" (SMACK!) "DIE?!" (SMACK!) And finally, she was dead. The Whispers' fearless leader, the next criminal legend of the Scadrial underworld, nearly murdered in a physical brawl with a woman old enough to be his great-grandmother, had finally triumphed. He could breathe easy. It was at this point Octo, the crew's resident Thug and bruiser, burst through the door and saw what had happened. Octo: ... (sniggers) Hush: "Oh, shut up and help me carry this body." Hush relaid his plan to Octo; they'd carry the body to the docks in a cleverly disguised fish cart and dump its contents in the waters. It was the perfect plan. It couldn't possibly fail- It absolutely did. There was a short gasp at the door as the two men lifted the noblewoman's body at opposite ends. They turned their heads, just as a tray of teas dropped, scattered and shattered on the gorgeous burgandy rug- A young maid stared in abject horror at the scene, wide-eyed, hands to her mouth. Hush: (clears throat) ... "Madame, I can assure you with utmost sincerity, this is not what it looks like." ... And he failed a Soothing roll. So, yes, it was exactly as it looked like. The maid screamed at the top of her lungs and alerted every House Guard in the place. Octo and Hush exchanged glances, nodded, and just dropped the body like a sack of potatoes and ran like hell. They'd soon join up with the rest of the Whispers, as pitched battle and escape ensued. It was harsh, it was brutal, but the party managed to get into the sewers with only a few bruises and cuts and several sacks full of money to show for the whole fiasco. Everyone glared at their fearless leader... and started to laugh uproariously. "Hey, Hush, you think Kelsier ever lost a fistfight with his grandma?" Hush: "I'll have you know I won!" "See, that you had to qualify it..."

Danii stifled a giggle as she saw a man a few feet in front of her trip over his long cloak. Colours! How did someone even manage to tie the ends of it together without him noticing? The amusing image dissolved as she caught sight of a fading glow on the man's cloak. Danii's heart leapt as she realized what it was. She looked up, and there it was, the familiar face. Nyanah, the Rosharian. She hadn't seen her after their first interaction the day she and the Jackal landed on Mars, and had often wondered how she was faring in this strange world. Danii decided to go talk to her, but apparently she was off to be given a tour by the man whose clothes she'd lashed. Sanis, his name was, wasn't it? Tour seemed like it would take a while so Danii swept her eyes around for friendly faces to have small conversation with in the meantime, maybe try to fish for some info about the Healer. Doing so, she witnessed a rather awkward moment: a young man in tuxedo with his hand extended out to a man in red and green shawl, who, while staring at Tuxedo Man, seemed to be lost in his own thoughts as the moment stretched and Tuxedo Man's hand remained extended. Well then... Danii walked over to them, snapped her fingers at Shawl Man's face , and shook Tuxedo Man's hand. "Nice to meet you, sir. Enjoying the party?"

Here are relevant WoBs: [1] [2] [3] He does specifically say that Hoid did something to spook her, and implies that it had to do with his behind-the-scene actions in WoA, getting the lerasium bead. It does look like what Brandon originally doesn't match what we saw in Secret History, but it is a very old quote (a note in Theoryland says it's the first time Brandon mentioned Hoid), so he might have 'lied' simply because the truth would have been far too off-the-walls for his fans to get at the time. But it's also possible that he changed his original plan; in the same topic, he mentions he hadn't determined what had happened to Vin and Elend after their deaths, and fans were welcome to imagine them returning at a later date, something else we see contradicted in Secret History.

The Void seems to whisper back... "Accepted" A small silver spike gently rolls out of the darkness, resting at the strangers feet.

A meta discussion thread, since I don't think we have enough of those. As the title says...do you guys think that Hoid is too much of a presence in the Stormlight books? As fans who are aware of the Cosmere, we can understand Hoid's presence in the books, why he is such a big deal, why he is interested in events, and how he connects to the metaplot of Honor, Cultivation and Odium. But... I do wonder if the way Hoid is presented is a deterrent to readers who aren't familiar with the Cosmere. Frankly, if I didn't know who Hoid was? My immediate guess would be "He's a Herald." After all, he shows up in unexpected places, has philosophical discussions with three point of view characters, is present for the return of two major characters in epilogues... In previous books, Hoid has been an easter egg for eagle-eyed fans. In the Stormlight Archive, he's like a flashing neon sign...and I wonder how readers unfamiliar with the Cosmere will take his character, and how that effects their readings. Are they frustrated that Kaladin doesn't press Sigzil for information on the obviously important guy? That Dalinar isn't more suspicious of the King's jester appearing with "Taln" and running away? Because I admit; it stands out to me. I enjoy the books -don't get me wrong- and I like finding Hoid in stuff, and wondering what he's doing; heck, Warbreaker is my favourite book, and it's becoming cosmere relevant in a big way! But the complications Warbreaker brings to the series are going to be resolved in the Stormlight Archive. Since Nightblood and Vasher were originally meant for this series, they fit in a little more easily, and will presumably be fully explained and resolved within the narrative of Roshar, while Hoid... Hoid can't be, because he's tied to the narrative of the larger universe. Unless Roshar gent's really heavy with the worldhopping as it goes on, I find it hard to see how Hoid can get a satisfying storyline and conclusion in this series, especially for readers who aren't familiar with the larger Cosmere. Am I overthinking things?

Kaladin. SA FTW! Edit: Whomever the person is who keeps upvoting my posts in this thread, thanks.

Chapter 2 will close on Friday, October 14th at 8PM EST! Chapter 3 will begin two hours later! Chapter 2: Out with the Old From the break of dawn to the cusp of dusk, Tiberius waited, and waited, and waited. Of all his lancers, three had failed to heed his call; to renew their vows. Gregor. Rylos. Morsde. Just thinking about their names made Tiberius tremble with fury. Knuckles white and jugular throbbing, the ArchGovernor of Mars burst from his High Chair and began descending towards the gardens, each step heavy and slow, resounding like the rhythm of a bass drum so loud that every man, woman and child stopped what they were doing to watch him finally join them, all except for one Gold who's own titanic voice drowned out any sound that wasn't his own. "KAVAX AU TELEMANUS!!!" the Gold shouted before becoming overwhelmed by a fit of laughter. The grizzled old war veteran had been telling a riveting war story from the Moon Lord Rebellion, in which Tiberius, Spartacus, Kavax, Lorn and even Nero had fought together to reclaim Ganymede. It truly was a fascinating tale of outrageous heroics, though his audience did not seem very entertained; not with the ArchGovernor looming behind the old man now, jaw clenched tight with rage. Though he was a head shorter than Kavax, Tiberius seemed to tower over him in that very moment, causing Spartacus to step back plaintively and begin to desperately motion for his new-old-friend to turn around. It took a good minute for Kavax to realize he was the only one laughing, but when he did cease and notice the silence, he did not hesitate to turn. "Oh, well hello there TIberius. I was just tellin' these youngins' about the good old days whe-" Tiberius decked Kavax au Telemanus so hard that not even his fortified skull could protect him from instant unconsciousness. Quiet. Not even Tiberius' cherished birds dared to sing, now. To all present, it was as if a picture was taken and they were now living in that photograph, bodies frozen in time by fear. Kavax was one of the most powerful Golds ever to be bred and here he was, sprawled out on the floor with a head cracked open by a single punch, ground drinking the blood leaking from an impossibly large gash behind his left ear. Somewhere nearby a Forsworn sweat, thinking to himself "This is the god we are expected to topple?" A gasp from across the garden caught Tiberius' attention as Sophocles, Kavax's pet fox, leaped from the arms of his youngest son, Pax. Just before landing, the devilish creature knocked into a Brown carrying a tray of alcoholic beverages, causing him to stumble and drop a few of the glasses on the ground. While most people watched the glass shatter, Tiberius' eyes lingered a few meters elsewhere, where has youngest daughter, Tarna, and her new best friend, "Tia" were talking with lancer Lumina, who had the most peculiar mass of colors taped to her back. It was a familiar pattern to Tiberius, though it seemed distorted, somehow, and just a bit too dirty... "MICKEY?!" the ArchGovernor shouted as he charged towards the three young ladies like a rhinoceros in heat. All three of the girls flinched as he approached. Eac expected the man to make an example out of them just like he did Kavax, but instead the they were surprised to find him his knees, gently tugging at the tape that held his favorite bird to the stoic lancer's back. "Tarna..." he said, voice shaking with grief. "How... how could you... Mickey, no..." In an instant, Pliny was at the ArchGovernor's side, desperately trying to convince the man to hand over the bird's corpse. Instead Tiberius just hugged Mickey into the crook of his neck, sobs racking his chest as a torrent of tears streamed from his eyes. Glancing at "Tia" sternly, Pliny commanded she "bring Tarna to her room immediately" and "wait there until Tiberius is ready to talk with them both." For Lumina, he only asked for her to help him get Tiberius to his own sleeping quarters. "And someone get Kavax to a Yellow!" Pliny shouted for the first time in his life, voice cracking from the pressure. When no one moved, he yelled an even louder "Now!" then finished with "And spread the news! This party is over! Tiberius expects every. Single. One of you in his war room at zero-six-hundred on the dot. Understand!?" Whether stricken by fear, or awe, or perhaps even pity for their ArchGovernor, each lancer nodded their heads in agreement. Later that night, Kavax awakened with a moan, a sharp pain throbbing from a bright pink lump on the side of his face. "What.. what happened?" he asked out loud, despite him seeing no one in that dimly lit room along with him. And yet... "You made a grave mistake this evening, insulting our beloved ArchGovernor," a young Gold said as he stepped out from behind a curtain hanging across the room, head tilted just right so that his face was obscured by shadows. "Eh? Who are you now? Where are my sons, Daxo and Pax? Step into the light, boy, so I can see your face." "Light? What light?" the young Gold said with a smile, and suddenly there was only darkness. Darkness, except for the distinct glow of the ionBlade in his hands. Before Kavax could leap from his bed, the young Gold was suddenly on top of him, jabbing it once, then twice, then a third time into his torso, the first in his gut, the second between his ribs, and the third in the center of his chest. "Why?" Kavax asked with his dying breath. The young gold answered with a shrug before the old giant's body finally went limp. "Haven't you heard? It's out with the old, in with the new." The shops are now open, and dueling may now commence! Feel free to send PMs again. You will be receiving updates on your Merit and Items shortly. (3) holoCam(s) / holoBox(es), 10 Merit: Give your holoBox to another lancer and every action that you make or that is physically made against you will be recorded and relayed to them. (2) jamField(s), 15 Merit: Any device that is used within close proximity of you and another lancer you target is disabled (not destroyed). This can interfere with a Lunes research, but no other House ability. (2) stunFist(s), 20 Merit: Stun another lancer, preventing them from taking any further actions this Chapter. If your target is protected by a pulseShield they will not be stunned, although their pulseShield will be destroyed. (2) fleshMask(s), 25 Merit: Disguise yourself as another lancer, preventing any action that would be used against you at the cost of potentially becoming the target of an action that would target the lancer you disguise yourself as. Likewise, any further action you take will be observed as being executed by the lancer you impersonate. (2) ghostCloak(s), 25 Merit: Stealth yourself, causing any action that targets you to fail. In addition, you can stalk another lancer to discover the targets and actions they make, but you yourself are unable to take any more actions. (1) pulseShield(s), 30 Merit: Passively protects you from a single death (includes duels). (1) ionBlade(s): 40 Merit: A generic, energy-based weapon that's perfect for assassinations. Dramatis Personae Darkness Ascendant as Brown-Piercing Daniyah as Danii Doctor12 as Spartacus Assassin in Burgundy as The Jackal Magestar as Lucius Wonko the Sane as Sanis Jondesu as Quintus AliasSheep as Nirgal I_am_a_Stick as Stick livinglegend as Rylos Bugsy6912 as Sevro The_Lady_of_Chaos as Tenebrum Elenion as Khazad The Young Bard as Gregor TheMightyLopen as Priam Burnt Spaghetti as Tia Arraenae as Nyanah Elbereth as Lumina Straw as Morsde jefrywlfersn as Jefry

Babies are terrible. They're not as smart as my cat, they aren't little people: they're developing people, they don't like it when I read Heidegger to them...just awful!

Yeah, but babies are loud little annoying mucus machines, they are the opposite of cute.

Definitely. Remember, everyone's the hero of their own story.

Hey @TKWade just wanted to say welcome to Reading Excuses, and I did read through your submission, but everything I noted has already been captured in (gory) detail by everyone else, so I won't beat multiple dead horses (fridged horses--killed to further your plot?) Anyway, congrats on taking all this criticism like a champ--your writing will only get better from it. If I may offer some suggestions: 1) Don't let this keep from you writing 2) Don't let these critiques make you rewrite the same chapter over and over 3) Finish the story, even though you know it has problems. 4) Read stories that happen in non-western cultures, to non-western people. A lot of them have less bias towards the sort of tropes we have in western writing. They are good examples to develop your style.

"Of all tha recruits up in his cohort, dat schmoooove muthastorma had hustled tha quickest yo. How tha storm ta hold tha spear, how tha storm ta stand to spar yo. He’d done it almost without instruction. I aint talkin' bout chicken n' gravy biatch. That had shocked Tukks. But why should it have, biatch? You were not shocked when a cold-chull lil lil pimp knew how tha storm ta breathe. Yo chull was not shocked when a skyeel took flight for tha last time. Yo chull should not be shocked when you hand Kaladin Stormblessed a spear n' he knows how tha storm ta use dat rust." ~ "Do tha mackdaddy know you back?" "Nope biaaatch! I be tryin ta be thinkin of a properly dramatic way ta inform his muthastormin chull. Perhaps a hundred chasmfiendz marchin up in unison, rappin a ode ta mah magnificence." "That sounds… hard." "Yeah, tha stormin thangs have real shiznit tunin they tonic chordz n' maintainin just intonation." "I have no clue what tha storm you just holla'd." "Yeah, tha stormin thangs have real shiznit tunin they tonic chordz n' maintainin just intonation."

This conversation took a turn I did not expect...

Sanderson Elimination: Depictions and Memories Wilson Haelbarde Orlok Alvron Mailliw Elbereth Kasimir Arraenae Upcoming Seonid Burnt Spaghetti The Only Joe Stink Doc12 Amanuensis Wonko the Sane Bard Lumgol BrightnessRadiant Elenion DroughtBringer Wyrmhero Lopen Dicslaimer: I reserve the right to work on voices in any order I choose, though the order stated here is the order of request (or my choosing to begin work on your voice, in some cases). Voices that excite me get priority. Also, feel free to request your voice and I'll put it on the list. It may take a while, but I promise to do it eventually.

Woo! And on my birthday no less! *Starts digging through docs to find my parodies* Is it better to link to docs or posts, or throw stuff in spoilers here? Long Game 14 Parodies Confrontation (Les Miserables) RP'd parody done in game. Link to thread What Have I Done (Les Miserables) Do You Hear The People Sing? (Les Miserables) Stars (Les Miserables) - Link Ballad of Serenity (Firefly) - Link Anniversary Game 7 Parodies Highstorm (Wellerman) - A chronicle of the events in the 200 page Roshar 5/6 world doc. The Bloated world doc? (The Drunken Sailor) - bemoaning the aforementioned 200 page world doc. Other Parodies Bohemian Rhapsody (Queen) For QF15, referencing the signup RP. Orange was me, Green was The Only Joe in the Bush, Blue was Elbereth, Purple was Burnt Spaghetti I See Fire (Ed Sheeran for The Hobbit) Commemorating the conclusion of LG12 - Blue is Little Wilson, Purple is Burnt Spaghetti, Green was me, black was chorus Mad World (Tears for Fears) My perspective of MR7 SE Art The following were made to commemorate LG12. The Aon, to recognise the newly crowned Brightness Ascendant, is the Aons Ehe (Fire), Omi (Love), and Teo (Royal) interposed on top of each other, all attributes of the Brightness Ascendant. This banner was created during LG12, showing my support for Wilson and the Brightness Ascendant. But once the game concluded in flames, with my character being burnt to death, the banner was likewise burnt. Keteks Keteks are fun to compose, and I've been pretty happy with how some of them have turned out, as I've written them for SA games. AG4 / AN1 Color tests: Red, Red, Red, color=Red, color=DarkRed (Red), color=Crimson (Red), color=FireBrick (Red), color=Maroon (Red) color=DarkRed e7 4c 3c c0 39 2b d3 54 00 ff 00 00 red 8B 00 00 darkred dc 14 3c crimson b2 22 22 firebrick 80 00 00 maroon Green Green Green Green Green green Green darkgreen Green ForestGreen Green Lime Green LimeGreen Green SeaGreen Green SpringGreen 2E CC 71 27 AE 60 1A BC 9C 16 A0 85 00 80 00 Green 00 64 00 DarkGreen 22 8B 22 ForestGreen 00 FF 00 Lime 32 CD 32 LimeGreen 2E 8B 57 SeaGreen 00 FF 7F SpringGreen

Let me tell Kelsier how noble you are.

This is an idea I had, and was wondering if anyone was interested. The basic principal of this rp would be this: Members of the 17th Shard, from different planets and backgrounds, are tasked with finding the elusive Hoid. It would take place roughly at the same time as The Way of Kinds/Words of Radiance. The only problem is, I've never done an rp in this format and, quite honestly, have no idea what I'm doing. If you're interested, let me know

It's okay, we'll keep you company.

Kaladin has to have shardplate. If a 10,000 lb thunderclast made of granite hits him and he isn't wearing 100 stone (2,000 lbs) of armor, even if he parries, he'll get launched so far from the battle that he'll be irrelevant. Looks like he's blasting off again!!!....

But maybe this is the great subterfuge infiltrating those that would otherwise hunt them...

...does it surprise you if I chime in with "I don't like children and babies"...?

Attractive cute. When it's a baby being cute I just make inane statements like "You're a baby!" I...don't think so.... O.o

Brandon has stated that it's the intent that matters, not the specific words, and that we would see other KRs say some of the oaths worded differently. Would a really young Shallan say the exact above words? Probably not. But she is an artist, and in that context, the above could be expressed in many different ways. "I want to see the world before I die and there's nothing you can do to stop me!" might be good enough, and considering how much she likes to draw flora and fauna, it doesn't seem like a stretch. As a side note, Shallan has progressed the furthest of all the proto-KRs, which puts her at level 4.

There is, of course, a school of thought that thinks women should let the menfolk do the asking. I rather think that's a load of sexist hooey. If you're interested in a person, express that interest! Guys can be shy, too!

The silence was getting awkward. The man had not yet responded to him, seemingly lost in his own thoughts, leaving his hand hanging awkwardly between them. Spartacus took a long look around the room, wondering whether to retract his hand, or to try speaking up again. Then fortunately, fortunately, he was saved. A woman strode forward, looking just like any other Gold, with typical golden hair and a sly smile. She snapped her fingers at Shawl man’s face, then met his hand with her own, watching him carefully. “Nice to meet you, sir,” She smiled. “Enjoying the party?” Spartacus shot her a relieved smile, shaking her hand. “Thank you, for that. Spartacus au {redacted}, at your service. And you are?” Even as he asked, he noticed that she was one of the three offworlders he had vowed to keep an eye on. There had been three… The girl with the red and gold hair, who carried arguments with the air, and the smiling twins. She was one of the twins… Offhandedly, before she replied, he shot off a question. “I noticed you taking a glance at Sanis’ cloak before you came over. I’m guessing you noticed that glow. Have you any idea what it was?” Because @AliasSheep might have missed my response. @Daniyah, @Assassin in Burgundy, I look forward to exposing the both of you for the murderous, rabbit wielding Returned that you are...

If you use it through the whole jump, it would act as a straight multiplier. It would be useful to add a small multiplier like, say, four. You couldn't go much higher than that without compounding because the tap would have to be maintained for a long time until you hit the peak of your jump. Hmmm. I thought it was 20 miles, so I converted. I try to use metric for these things, but I live in the US. I just hope I got all my units right. I think I did. Metric is just better. I thought of another cool thing you could do. Jump laterally for some sweet long jumps. Use it to jump chasms or use it similarly to a burst of superspeed. The amount of practice this would take to get accurate with your jumps would be tough. I can see many broken bones occurring before you get it down. Lucky they are a full Feruchemist and can just tap gold!

Hurt Roshar, Heal First of the Sun 3. First of the Sun - 8 5. Roshar - 27 6. Scadrial - 20 You MONSTERS! #NeverForgetTaldain

True, the progression is not the same in every order. But even Lightweavers say the first Oath: Life before death. Strength before weakness. Journey before destination. It seems odd that a little girl (what, five, six years old?) would say that out of the blue. Especially since the only KR we've seen saying them as part of their Oaths did so after being told what the First Ideal was. The other Ideals, in Kaladin's case anyway, seemed to just come to him without being told what they were. But both Kaladin and Dalinar had someone else tell them what the First Ideal was before saying it themselves. So, assuming this is necessary, who told Shallan? And why? If it's not necessary, how do they know/find out what to say?

I'm pretty certain 1) is the correct scenario. As you note, Syl says that she'll go stupid again if Kaladin dies. I don't see any particular reason why Stormlight would halt aging, though. If I understand correctly, Stormlight restores a person to what they think of as their natural state (or something like that), but I don't think there's anyone who really thinks they're twenty years old forever. Aging is a natural part of life for everyone, even Radiants, so Radiants should age just like everyone else. They might age more gracefully, sure -- think the active, marathon-running seventy year-old, not the bedridden one -- but I can't think of any particular reason why they should stop aging entirely.

I really dislike the Stoneward/Stone Shaman connection theory. If nothing else, it would seem to run contrary to what the Stonewards are. They are the "stand you ground right or wrong" sort of guys and girls. It would seem to me that they wouldn't fake participation, they'd just ignore the order to do so. To clarify, it isn't non participation that I have an issue with, it is the way they allegedly did it. But on a side note, didn't something make its way into the history books? Isn't that what we are talking about by referencing Words of Radiance (the in world)? So yeah. The theory is possible. But I don't like it, and I don't consider it as likely as another order being the traitor.

I know this isn't the freshest of news, but I got inspired when today someone asked me the question. You know which one.

Do we even have a "date" or time zero for the shattering itself? Although we have absolutely no evidence to support your theory (not saying that to detract or deride, just stating what is), I do like the sound of it. It would be quite the misdirection and would allow us to as it is explained to learn more about how shards affect their vessels. I kinda hope that is how it turns out. upvote

In Ender's Game, they were squatting while "flying" in zero gravity. They were looking and shooting from between their legs. It sounds like a practical solution, but it looks really, really stupid.

What is the Lord ruler's favorite classic video game? ...Pac-man...