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There is a long line and it's almost 10 PM, but a big thank you to Brandon for patiently answering questions asked by everyone. Personalized copy - " Dedication from a resident of Yolen please" "May two worlds become one to you" He stressed that it's worlds not realms. I'll give a link to the picture later. Here are the questions I asked: 1.a. Is it possible to reliably deduce what a Shardworld's Cognitive realm will look like if we knew a lot about its Physical realm? For example, mists in Scadrial, spheres in Roshar etc. (Thanks @Argent) A. Yes, but it works in odd ways. So it may not work in the logical way that you think 1.b. Why spheres on Roshar? Something related to the highstorms makes more sense, right? A. Yes there is a reason for them being spheres. RAFO 2. How do we pronounce Bavadin? Have we see his/her influence on other worlds till now – like Austre in Nalthis or other religions which Sazed studied on Scadrial for example. A. ba-va-din (ba as in batman, va as in want, din as in dinner). Yes you have seen her influence in other worlds other than Taldain. He wouldn't confirm if it is Nalthis or Scadrial or any other planet. 3. a. Is there more significance to the 10 other planets around the Rosharian start system and them being gaseous? We know that Roshar's moons have unnatural orbits; so there seems to be some astronomical manipulation in the system. A. Yes there is significance of 16 in cosmere and 10 in Rosharian system. 3. b. The outer 10 gas giants in the Rosharan system suggest a tie to the number 10 that predates the arrival of the current Shards. Is the prominent numerology we see around the Cosmere an inherent property of the planets, rather than the Shards who invest them? A. Big RAFO 3. c. Would Ashyn/Braize share the 10-centric numerology of Roshar? A. Yes 10-centric is for the entire Rosharian planetary system...wait Braize is 9-centric 4. Do Ym, Stump belong to Edgedancer? Will we see Stump again in the future? A. Ym is not an Edgedancer. You will see Stump in the future novels though you may not see Tashikki much again. 5. Is Vax present (lurking) in any of the star systems explained in Arcanum Unbounded? Personally I think there will be more star systems that would be discovered in the future and Vax might be part of them. Comment? A. RAFO for Vax. Yes, there might be more stars. The picture on the cover is the sight observed from one particular place (Silverlight? RAFO). Let's just say that there are more planetary systems present in the existing star chart itself that you don't know yet. (He RAFO-ed when I asked if Yolen is present in the dragon constellation) 6.a. Have we seen any of the system or the world that has end-negative magic system other than Hemalurgy? A. Yes there is one more end-negative magic system and you have seen minor hints of it. 6. b. What about Hemalurgy in other worlds other than Mistborn? A. Yes. (I again asked with the exception of Kandra, have seen Hemalugry such as people who may have been spiked. He repeated "You have seen Hemalugry in other worlds." (In other words he is tight-lipped about Kandra part - neither yes or no) 7. What would have happened if Kelsier hasn't taken Preservation or later Sazed hasn't taken Ruin and Preservation powers? Would the earth have been destroyed due to so much raw power much before the actual destruction due to Ruin's actions? A. Yes. Bad things would have happened (Me - "Like Sel?" Him - "Not going to answer that. Just bad things would have happened") At the end he thanked me for the questions!! I was almost stammering while asking all these questions since I'm so excited and nervous. Luckily I have the questions printed on paper. While leaving, I thanked him a lot. First time meeting him and what a memorable event!! Undoubtedly one of the most humble and good-natured author I have met.

Hey! Thanks for calling them awesome! They were fun to make (laser cut acrylic, then beveled, polished, and leather-wrapped). This is vaguely related to one of the silly questions I haven't had a chance to ask: "What other Vessels have bought Hoid Drinks" I got about 25 minutes of recording of the signing, but other than a couple minor questions (posted below) and my exchange, the questions were more focused on writing. I will try to transcribe the discussions later, but for now I wanted to post the Cosmere-specific Q&A now. Questions from others in line (Timestamps on my audio recording) 11:08: Q: I really appreciate the fact that Steris is a character who is there. Brandon: Steris is my favorite character of the new generation of mistborn. She is a delight to write about. 11:45: Q: Is Lift going to be in the next book? Brandon: Yes Q: Yay! Q: What happened to Vivenna? B: This will be answered very soon Questions from my party: [These were a series of questions in signed books (we bought a lot of books tonight!) as well as oral questions. I have transcribed the book questions as well] Friend: As context, we’re physicists and love playing around with [the mechanics] of this universe. Necarion: Do Vessels have any flexibility in expressing the intent of a Shard, particularly if the Intent is open to many interpretations? Brandon: Yes they do. So, the Vessel’s mind and how they perceive is going to have a large influence on how things are expressed and I think all of them have some wiggle room. But there are some deterministic things that are also going to push them. You know, holding Ruin, Harmony may not go down the same path that happened to Ati. Necarion: So Saddeas would express Honor differently than Tanavast? Brandon: Yes he would. Necarion: Would a soulstamp carved from a gemstone and infused with Stormlight be more likely to Take? Brandon: No it would not Necarion: Would a Mistborn have to worry about accidentally burning her copper IUD? Brandon: Yes she would, absolutely (Laughs) [Necarion's note: this confirms that metal does not have to be in the stomach to be burned] Friend: So my quick question: Can you use Identity (I love the speed bubbles!) to anchor speed bubbles to yourself? Brandon: Uh, this is possible. That’s less a matter of Identity. What’s gonna happen there, like, the more someone uses the powers, the more familiar and intermingled with their soul the powers become, and they are able to accomplish things that others can’t. This would be like a mistborn learning to hover a coin, right, which they can do, but most think you can’t. That’s the sort of level we’re going with. Necarion: So a savant could? Brandon: A savant could totally do that. The problem is, things moving in and out of a speed bubble, there’s a transference of energy. This is how we keep speed bubbles from irradiating people when light moves through them, right, red shift. And so there’s a transfer of energy directly from the spiritual realm, which means that moving with a speed bubble, you’re gonna run into that, and it’s gonna be, it’s gonna cause all kinds of problems, but it would be possible. [Necarion’s note: This might be a very interesting method of harnessing energy, much more efficient than my earlier Terris Wheel idea] Friend: Now, do things actually move unpredictable at the edge [of a speed bubble] or do they refract out? Is it just that geometry is hard? Brandon: No, I have a level of unpredictability, I mean we’re Chaos Theory. The idea being, you could predict if you had a perfect closed system and things like this, but it’s unfeasible for most technology and minds to be able to predict. Friend: Thank you Necarion: One other speed bubble question. Is the speed of light the same inside and outside a speed bubble? Brandon: Um, yes. The speed of light is the same. Good question, you’re trying to figure out the FTL. Necarion: Also, it would eliminate the redshift if the speed of light… Brandon: If the speed of light were similar [Necarion’s note: there would be no redshift if the speed of light were directly proportional to the ‘speed of time’. Alas this theory doesn’t seem to be valid]. That’s one thing we considered, but it felt too unintuitive, plus it’s just not how I imagined things working. So, no it is not, but that’s a good question. It is something we considered. Friend: I just want to setup a lab in a speed bubble and do fun things. Necarion: Could a double-nicrosil Twinborn compound Breath or Stormlight? Brandon: Uh, you’re getting a RAFO card on _that_. You’re getting SUCH a RAFO card on that! Necarion: Is Taldain orbiting at a Lagrangian point? Brandon: [Laughs] Necarion: It would make the orbits work Brandon: [Long pause] I’m not sure the implications, I have to think through implications before answering questions Necarion: The situation I’m thinking of, it would orbit the big star but at the same period as the smaller star. Brandon: Yeah, well, I’ll just say ‘yes’, but I want to make sure I’m not saying ‘yes’, without...well, yes that’s how it has to work Necarion: Right Brandon: Because [Taldain] I want to be not like Roshar where we have unstable orbits and things. Uh, but I… I’m saying yes, but I hope that doesn’t get me into trouble scientifically. [Necarion’s note 1: While the L1 Lagrange point is an equilibrium point in the three-body problem, it is technically an unstable one. However, this seems a system that could be corrected with a small input of Shardic intervention, far less than would be required by any other astronomical arrangement I can think of] [Necarion’s note 2: Note the comment about ‘unstable orbits’ in the Rosharan system. This might account for the rapid variation in seasons on the planet] Necarion: The compounding trick that the Lord Ruler performed. When you’re storing investiture, are you storing your ‘mistborn-ness’ or all the powers individually? Brandon: All of the powers individually Necarion: [Surprised, because this dashed a favorite theory of mine] Oh okay! Brandon: Yeah, the compounding trick. Really what’s happening is you’re fueling feruchemy with the power of allomancy, but you’re filtering it through you, and then you’re storing it. Necarion: So it’s not that you’re a more powerful mistborn when you’ve tapped [investiture] Brandon: No, good question.

Just got off the phone with Lauren and I got three more from her, paraphrased (unfortunately) that she asked and jotted down notes on herself. Q: What kind of spren is Ivory? A: Inkspren Q: Does Damnation exist in all three Realms? A: Yes, all three. Q: Are odiumspren the only spren who live on Braize? A: Only odiumspren are welcome on Braize, but they're different from anything we've seen so far.

I heard you ask those (I was waaaaay in the back past the cafe) and I love that you thought to ask about the perfume. And he said that's one he does plan on answering at some point. The mystery deepens... Oooh, nice. I love learning anything about Yolen. For my own reactions: Brandon is amazing. By the time I got to signing and asking questions, he'd been doing it for the best part of three hours (already past the time he said he expected to be there, during the Q&A) with probably sixty people after me and he was going like he could keep doing it until dawn. And he didn't even flinch when I brought out a stack of books. He said some people early on brought twenty, so I guess that relatively speaking, I wasn't too demanding. And apparently someone at a recent David Weber signing at Borderlands brought multiple carts worth of books, which just boggles the mind. So, my questions: - I asked if someone who had a lot of Breath would have it weaken collectively, in the same way that the single Breaths of children are more vibrant than others and move one slightly closer to a Heightening, then weaken as they grow older (and contribute slightly less towards a Heightening). He said that it wouldn't be noticeable once you accumulate enough Breath and, for example, Hoid wouldn't find himself suddenly losing perfect pitch as a function of time. - I asked if Nazh's knife didn't glow to Kelsier's eyes because the metal wasn't from Scadrial generally or whether it was a metal with some particular property. I didn't even get to finish the second half of that before he got that smile and I knew what was coming next. Sure enough, I collected a shiny RAFO card. Incidentally, is that a recent thing? Because the last signing I went to was a bit over a year ago and he didn't have those then. - On the less serious side, I asked what Hoid's favorite flavor of instant noodles is. At first I think he misheard me asking what his own favorite is ('spicy Korean ramen' apparently, though I don't remember the exact specifics) so I clarified. He said that Hoid is looking forward to instant noodles but they aren't Yolenese and he knows about them via the same method that he knows where he needs to be in the Cosmere. - That gave me the opportunity to ask one last question, about feruchemical chromium and whether storing fortune would cause you to risk experiencing really improbable things, like the entropy curse in The Dresden Files. He said he wasn't going to answer questions about fortune, that the MAG shouldn't be taken as gospel on this point (I don't remember how it works there and didn't mention it, he brought it up on his own) and that he's planning something different than we might be thinking, for how that mechanic will function. I left a couple other questions on the table, so the sixty or so people behind me could have their turn. Lots and lots of very dedicated (and patient) fans there.

Hello all. I've been thinking about this theory for a long time, although a few recent comments have made me decide to actually write it up. To keep things short, I'm going to quote the Coppermind article for Adonalsium and link the relevant WoBs, that way I don't have to waste any time (mine or yours) regurgitating this information. While I can't say I know everything about Yolen, I have a general understanding that the world was dying to something known as fainlife. According to Yolish lore, it is some kind of malevolent disease(?) released from the corpses of Gods that began to gradually eat away at the world. My first thought here is, what is Adonalsium doing? Why hasn't he fought it off or tried to save Yolen? I can't answer this exactly. I can theorize the entity we know as Adonalsium did not originally hold that power, and that like the Shards, it shaped him into being unable to act in any meaningful way. We already see an example of 2 conflicting Intents forcing a Vessel from acting much (Harmony), so it's possible having 16 different Intents, possibly in 8 conflicting pairs, would have the same affect on Him. On that note, I find it interesting that Frost the Dragon has a non-intervention policy. I suspect that this might be a result of a particularly strict religion that worships Adonalsium directly, and adheres to the same concept that it is their duty to let destiny run its course. Either way, this isn't the main subject I want to discuss. Back to my theory, it seems clear that the 16 original Vessels of the Shards were a group of people from across Yolen who, each for their own reasons, wanted to stop the fainlife, and that the only way they could accomplish it was by killing Adonalsium and taking the power for himself. And thus I believe that the "force that determined which way it shattered" was each Vessel's Intent in committing deicide. To emphasize my theory, let's look at the names of the Shards we know, and connect those to reasons why someone might commit deicide or want to become a god. Autonomy: Based on what we know of Bavadin, she really doesn't like people who use magic. The Kertzians on Taldain have a deep hatred for Sand Masters, and she appears to be interfering with other worlds and encouraging their inhabitants to hate those with magic, if not the Shards themselves. For example, I believe that Bavadin has hijacked Idrian Austrism, hence their recent (300 years) opposition towards Awakening and Returned. I suspect she affected Shu-Dereth in a similar way, which is the driving factor in why wants to conquer the world, and perhaps why the Dakhor Monks want to slaughter the Elantrians as well. There's also the business with Trell on Scadrial. Ultimately I think Bavadin's reason for helping Shatter Adonalsium was because she wanted to have a Cosmere autonomous from Gods, which is somewhat ironic, since she's apparently going around pretending to be them. Cultivation: We really don't know much about this Shard or Vessel, sadly, but for now I can come up with an easy answer. I suspect the original holder of Cultivation was an older woman and a mother at that. She wanted to create a stable Cosmere with her kids could grow old and live happy and comfortably. Likely this desire applied to more than just her immediate family, but all others too. I also wouldn't be surprised if she was an avid gardener, or had an love for nature. Now that I think about it, I think Shinovar being where she resides / the location of her shardpool makes a lot of sense, as it's the only place on Roshar that resembles earth (Yolen). Devotion: This ones a bit tricky, since we don't know much about Aona, either, and one would think that with the religious connotations of the word, it's hard to imagine how someone is being devoted by killing their god. Perhaps I could see that, if a previous statement about Adonalsium not being the original holder of that power, that it's a tradition of sorts for the power to be passed on, and that Aona belongs to this culture. A bit of a stretch, but the most interesting theory I can come up with. It's possible she's just reaaally devoted to Yolen, or whatever country she comes from on it, to the point that she'd kill god to save it. Not as fun an answer, though. Dominion: Skai's reason is a bit easier to figure out, if Fjordell is anything to go off of! He just wanted to dominate the Cosmere! I suspect this isn't entirely the case. Maybe he just believed that mortals should be in control of their destiny, rather than the gods (or in this case, a god). Once again, this answers a bit generic and hard to say for certain since we don't know much about Skai. I personally got a feeling he's not that bad of a guy. Endowment: Considering how magic works on Nalthis, if this theory is correct than Edgli's main reason for committing deicide would be her wanting every person to have a little bit of god's power, rather than see it all be held by a single person. Honor: Tanavast's purpose for commiting deicide being "honorable" is another one of the tougher connections for me to establish. Considering all the business with oaths, maybe he was some kind of knight that strictly abided by some kind of code that compelled him to take part in destroying Adonalsium. Like Dominion, the Honor shard makes me question this theory, although either way, it's a fun thought experiment. Odium: Easy enough, considering what we know about Rayse. He hated Adonalsium. Likely for some completely tragic reason. Maybe he grew up in a very religious culture which was one of the first to be consumed by the fainlife, and ever since, he blamed Adonalsium in particular for failing to intervene. Considering that Hoid describes him as craft, I wouldn't even be surprised if he was the one who gathered this team from the start. Preservation: Another easy one... Leras wanted to preserve the world. He liked it the way things were and didn't want anything to change. The way I just worded it makes me think he might have been one of the younger vessels, which seems to contradict how wise he seems during his appearances, but on that matter, a lot of time has passed since the Shattering. Ruin: We know that Ati wasn't a bad guy, according to Hoid (I think? Or was it WoB?), and that Ruin had corrupted him over time. I know plenty of good people who have reasonable prejudices. It's possible that he came from similar origins as Rayse, in that his homeland was consumed by the fainlife, but instead of hating god for not saving them, he just wanted to destroy the source of his pain once and for all. Ambition: Here we are at the shard we've most recently learned the name of, and also know next-to-nothing about. With a name like Ambition, it isn't hard to guess what the Vessel's reason for committing deicide would be. I suspect he wanted power, perhaps for no other reason than to have it, and this may have been a large factor in why he was the first Shard that Odium attempted to Splinter. And now for the culminating statement! We know that Hoid was at the Shattering. We also know that Hoid is not a Shard(6). I believe the reason why Hoid didn't receive a Shard is because he didn't want Adonalsium to die. I believe that Hoid was present at the Shattering because he was trying to stop it. Furthermore, I believe it's possible that Hoid's ultimate Cosmeric goal has something to do with reforging the Shards into a new Adonalsium (likely not within himself, since I doubt he wants to be a God, or believes himself capable of being a good one). Now that all my thoughts on the matter are out there, I'll go ahead and point out that I don't really have much evidence to support this. However, I would really like to ask Brandon a question like "if every original Vessels was at the Shattering, except another person was there with them other than Leras, would the other people responsible for the Shattering receive the same exact Shards while Leras replacement would take Preservation, or would he get a different Shard entirely?" It would most certainly reveal an RAFO, but I do wonder what Brandon's reaction to such a question would be (a sly smile, a laugh, etc). The idea itself is pretty wild. But I would love it if people commented with any contextual evidence that might prove or disprove it, for discussion's sake. Also, feel free to come up with other motivations for killing Adonalsium that align with these Shard's Intents.

Brandon has a very firm stance on this definitely not being a joke. Source:

Mod!Wilson here speaking as both a moderator of the SE and a moderator of the site as a whole: Using rep as a game mechanic would be abuse of the rep system. Rep abuse is not something the staff or the admins take lightly. Please do not use the rep system as a game mechanic. Thank you.

A cameo to look forward to in Oathbringer

So we recently found out that the essay prefacing the White Sand sections in AU referred to Autonomy as "she" and thanks to some intrepid sharders like emailanimal we recently got this WoB on Reddit: This has lead to discussion in a few threads that she might be a Dragon or another non-human shapeshifter since she has so many male and female personas spread across the Cosmere. I would like to argue that instead her MO can be explained by her being or having been a Yolish Lightweaver. This doesn't preclude her from being a Dragon or a member of the third sentient race on Yolen of course, since we don't know what the requirements for initiation into investiture was back there. But she could also be a human. Consider what the two Lightweavers we know best actually do, not in the specifics of their magic but what they use it for: Shallan has used it to both make her self look more impressive and to create and use the persona of Veil. Hoid has shown up as a beggar, a smuggler, an informant, a storyteller, and two different flavors of court jester. Both have used only human personas so far, and always the same gender ones but I don't necessarily think this is limit of the power as opposed to how the two have thus been seen using it. And this bent towards using their powers of illusion and disguise in a way to become someone/something they are not may refer to an innate mindset that Hoid referred to in WoR as "the nature of lies" and Pattern's very nature as "liespren" supports.This is why even the times we have seen Hoid use more mundane methods for disguise I believe underpinning them is still this mindset that seems to come from being a Lightweaver. The WoB says Bavadin has a gamut of personas to the point where multiple pantheons are just her in different guises. To me this seems like the Lightweaver penchant for being able to become someone else, even multiple someone elses!, taken up to deific levels. Her still having/using lightweaving is irrelevant since from Ruin becoming Reen in HoA we know Shards can change how they appear to mortals even if the Vessal is not a natural shapeshifter. What matters is that her being/having been a Lightweaver means she understands the nuts and bolts of running all these various personas of her across the Cosmere (again the whole Nature of Lies thing). This also may explain the animosity Hoid has towards her, he explained why he's against Rayse: he finds him to be an evil man given a power that makes him even more evil and destructive. But never really touches on Bavadin in the letter to Frost besides mentioning her. But if she was another Yolish Lightweaver who used her powers in a way Hoid found to be at odds with his belief on how they should be acting. Well, that's one of the few things in the Cosmere that might really upset him: one of his own turned bad.

I've never liked the idea that it's a "Voidbinding chart." Everything about it screams Shadesmar. You've got the Shadesmar map, you've got gems and spheres, you've got a Vorin woman. I just don't see anything the slightest bit Voidish except maybe the lightning? And that's a pretty weak connection. It's got to have something to do with the Surgebinding as it relates to the Cognitive Realm. My personal theory is that it has something to do with soulcasting.

Hey, my name's WritingBookworm (or Writing -- some people shorten it to that). I was looking for a new forum to spread my wings to and I found this one. I've read a few of Sanderson's works. I'm very slowly forging my way through Way of Kings, I've completed the Steelheart trilogy (even though that isn't a part of the Cosmere), and I'm almost done with the original Mistborn trilogy -- like, I only have 20 pages to go in Hero of Ages. I'm gonna finish it up once I'm done typing this. So while I'm not the most well-read of Sanderson's fans yet, I'll get there. Pleased to meet you all!

So ailavyn-siniyashi over on tumblr posted the following the report:

Ok, so this may have deserved a separate post, but I'll just put it there for now. Doing a scan of the interview database. Got this one: Case closed?

Last night at a signing I got the chance to ask Brandon if the reason Nazh's knife doesn't glow to Kelsier's eyes was because it wasn't made on Scadrial or if it was some property of the specific metal it was made from. The exact quote I was wondering about: I didn't even get to finish the question before he got a grin on his face and I knew I was about to get a RAFO. That got me thinking and unfortunately I didn't ask a followup question that might have made this theory stronger ('Does he want his knife back?') but alas, this theory only occurred to me today. What theory you ask? That Nazh's knife is Awakened, a Type IV BioChromatic Entity. This might explain why the knife doesn't glow to Kelsier, because it's already heavily Invested with something he has no Connection to and can't process. We also have Word of Brandon that Nightblood would be one of the hardest things to affect with Steelpushing owing to how heavily invested it is, so there's already confirmed 'interference' of a sort between Allomancy and Awakened metal. That however isn't the reason I think Nazh has an Awakened knife, just the reasoning I applied to my original question after the brainwave hit me. The serious evidence I think we might have for this theory is hidden in the New Ascendancy broadsheets in Bands of Mourning. One of the advertisements there reads "Do your metal tools speak to you? Your neighbors probably don't want to hear about it. But WE do! Visit 27 Ralen Place. Ask for K or N. Bring the talking metal with you." Obviously, Khriss and Nazh think there may be Awakened metal on Scadrial at this point in time. I can't see this as being a question about hemalurgic spikes because while one of those might have been repurposed as a tool, it would only 'speak' to you if you stuck yourself with it. So, Awakened object on Scadrial. The only such thing we know about is Nightblood and while it might plausibly find its way to Scadrial (based on Era 2 Mistborn happening between Stormlight 5 and 6, so for all we know it's no longer on Roshar by that point) it could never be mistaken for a tool. It's a sword, it's really good at the stabby slashy stuff but you can't imagine building anything with it. But a knife? Now that could be mistaken for a tool. I think that Nazh wants that knife back and is hoping that somone on Scadrial has found it or can give him clues to its whereabouts. Now, we know that the knife was left in the Cognitive Realm when Kelsier Ascended but Nazh doesn't necessarily knoiw that and we have no idea what happened to the knife later. If Nazh knows Kelsier is now running around the Physical Realm again, he might also suspect that the knife came with him, or that it was retreived from the Cognitive Realm some other way in the past three centuries and is on Scadrial waiting to be found. So, thoughts?

As you may know, there is an ever-evolving list of newly-created words that we devise on this website. So I figured I'd make a compendium of our words and terms. Feel free to point out new ones or ones I have left out and I will add them in. They have to have been collectively decided as a Shard-term; you can't just make 'em up and expect me to accept them. There also has to be a reasonable level of propriety, as this is an all-ages forum. But, hey. Have fun with it. (SLIGHTLY)(POSSIBLY)(NOT REALLY) OFFICIAL SHARD DICTIONARY Kobold - (v.) to veer off into increasingly irrelevant and flowery terms regarding something seemingly simple (esp. metaphorically) glut - (n.) the collective term for a group of epics brain weasels - (n.) bad, intrusive, self-doubty thoughts that may or may not take the forms of tiny green weasels that invade your happiness WoB - Word Of Brandon. Official statement from Brandon about his books, whether from a signing, online Q&A, blog post, email newsletter, etc. Sanderfan - fan of Brandon Sanderson. DA - Dark Alley. Home of hemalurgists who offer newbies suspiciously metallic cookies. RAFO - Read And Find Out. What Brandon says when he doesn't want to answer a fan's question, usually for spoiler reasons. Sharder - member of the 17th Shard website Lifeless - (n.) one who has not yet been exposed to the wonderful works of Mr Sanderson cookie - (n.) a harmful baked good which contains metal spikes instead of chocolate chips badchull - (adj.) formidable, excellent. Used as a replacement word for badass Incredimazable - (adj.) something so fantastic it cannot be described with existing or sensible adjectives. Origin: Funtimes ("This Pop Rocks fudge is incredimazable! And also hurting my tongue but do I look like I care.")

Huh. This is nicely fitting, and also awfully surprising in its reveal. To continue the thought, this is actually an excellent clue of how Jasnah acquired one. They were probably like "OMG.... This is some awesome writing she is doing!!! Must... bond... NOW...."

The only surefire way to remove an earworm is to replace it with an even more annoying and catchy earworm. That's right. "Yellow Submarine" is your only salvation.

Reminds me of what Hoid said in Warbreaker (Chapter Thirty Two):

On the way back home. He was patient and answered all my questions though half of them were RAFOed and I finally got a RAFO card. Will update everything in two hours. Meanwhile an interesting thing - Asked for a dedication from a resident of Yolen. Got "May two worlds become one to you" He stressed that it's worlds not realms!!!

So I ended up making it to the signing (thank Harmony for the extra tickets!) Here are my questions: Q: Does Lift see Wyndle a different way than another Edgedancer would see their spren? A: Yes, but only slightly. She sees a longer vine, and slightly more, but it's not a big difference. Q: [EDGEDANCER SPOILERS]

Big WoB incoming! Had my fiancée ask in Fort Collins if Silverlight exists solely in the Cognitive Realm... ...and the answer is YES!

I am a sucker for linguistics these days, so this note from Brandon (reddit) attracted my attention. Parshendi, Shin and Horneater all have dawnchant-derived languages. This is really weird to me not because of linguistics, but because of all humanoid races/species on Roshar (Aimians aside), Parshendi look like the "most Rosharian", while Shin appear to be the "most imported"...

Life before death. Strength before weakness. Journey before destination. The Knights Radiant adhere to the philosophy that the ends do not and never will justify the means. Unlike Taravangian who is committing atrocities in the name of "The Greater Good" the KnightsRadiant are forced to work the hard way by living by ideals and honorably. But the Radiants en masse (except perhaps the Skybreakers) broke their oaths on the same day. This was after the Desolations had ended and resulted in the Nahel bonds failing and the Spren abandoning mankind. We know that a war was going on right before the Recreance and that the Radiants were fighting in the war and after they abandoned their blades and plates and left from what we see in Dalinar's vision in WoK (At least the Windrunners and theStonewards). What is something that would break the oaths of all of the knights at once, something that the Knights could be convinced was worth doing that would be dishonorable, that was for the Greater Good, that took the easy path. An unethical action that all the knights would do. I see two possibilities and they're related. There are two events that have happened in the past that require great power and would seem to break the Knights first ideal. One is the shattering of the shattered plains. The other is the enslaving of the Listeners. I don't think it is a conincidence that the last free listeners live on the edge of the kingdom that was shattered by someone. I think Natanatan may have been figthing a war with the Listeners before the Listeners of Narak fled and abandoned civilzation, culture, and the forms and retreated into the wilderness in Dull Form. I think the Radiants were called in to stop the war of join the war and were somehow convinced that the Listeners would bring on another Desolation. I think the Radiants may have been convinced to make a preemptive strike to avoid the Desolation that may or may not be coming and destroy the Listeners entirely before they could summon a Desolation. So they shattered the Area around Stormseat by working together somehow and enslaved all the other Listeners. This stopped the threat, but was such an abhorent, deplorable, dishonorable act, such an egregious breach of the first Ideal that the Radiants agreed to do that it broke all their oaths beyond repair. I haven't put all the pieces together and I don't think we know enough. This is just a hypothesis. I think what broke the oaths was the result of either the breaking of Stormseat to stop the Listeners, or the enslavement of the Parshmen.

Brandon just said this yesterday - I think we're going to learn what happened to her in Oathbringer! =)

Hello, thought I'd say something before I stood quietly watching and waiting. Patiently.

Hi all! I'm about to release my unofficial Stormlight short film! Have a look at the trailer and tell me what you think

Does it count as a peeve if it's a seriously issue? Either way, bisexual erasure bothers me. A lot. The thing that's triggered my sudden posting of peevishness? I read an article which described one of the leads of DC's Legends of Tomorrow's a lesbian. Apparently the author decided to ignore the fact that the character in question had a romance sub-plot with two male characters over the course of the show(s) in addition to her female love interests. Sloppy research, and contributing to the notion that bisexuality isn't really a thing. Let's make that two pet peeves.

So. Um....this is a question I'm sure none of you expected from a twentysomething, but.... How do I learn "Flirt"? I have "Notice Cuteness" and "Get Nervous From Cuteness" down, but "Flirt" is a skill I haven't unlocked yet....

Yup, in fact thinking about it I think the mindset is more important than the ability. We see that having access to a magic-system often changes parts of personality and psychology. Whether that's the "special skills" Surgebinders and Twinborn develop like Shallan's memory or Jasnah's innate direction sense or simply how Vin and Wax try to be as hyper-aware of all anchors near them as possible at all times in their POV. Either supernaturally or through rote experience using certain types of magic predispose people to behaving certain ways. So Bavadin doesn't actually need to be able to lightweave as Autonomy, if her time as a mortal built up a habit of making up personas because that's how she used that power back when she did actually use it. This assumes her Intent doesn't override her old personality quirks, but from what little we know "Autonomy" should not conflict with "manipulate people by using constructed personas". That makes me think that if this theory is true the reason Hoid is antagonistic towards her is because she used Lightweaving for those manipulative purposes for her own ends. Where Hoid seems to take pride in using it to tell stories and be a lorekeeper (though he too manipulates people when he has to).

Huh. The Christmas lights Funtimes set up must've gone out again.

Thor saved us from the Ice Giants

I could totally see this particular instance harboring more than the amusing comedy we expect of Wit scenes... I mean, if the Sleepless were watching Kaladin, they'd have picked up on Wit in WoK, even as slippery as Hoid is, it might provoke interest. And the fact that Hoid is so clearly ignorant of any "intelligent audience" is far, far more amusing if it actually was a Sleepless Hordeling.

I hate you.

Yeah she's no airsick lowlander! She's a ROCK star

Plot twist; the Gallifreyan known as the Lawyer has a reputation for his scrupulousness and honesty.

Nobody knows for sure...

Indeed we do not know what the chart is. But I'm sticking with my theory that it's a Cognitive Surgebinding chart for now.

Yes, he and I go 'way back' (3 years, @Mandamon?). Since we're blowing trumpets, I can fully vouch for his CP skills as well!! Well Kaisa, you'd better write something else then Yup, she gets my vote too.

Hurt Conflux; heal Firefight. 3. Firefight--35 5. Limelight--6 6. Conflux--5 I was basing it on pages until completion. Also, I vote we do allomantic metals next.

So, I have a general comment and a specific one. The general observation is this. I believe there is somewhere a note from Brandon who says that indeed, *these* 16 Intents are not necessarily what a Shattering would have resolved into: that is, under different circumstances and with a different crowd of future Vessels, the Intents could've been different. Last winter I posted a theory regarding there being "atomic" sub-Intents, and the Shards being constructs of these sub-Intents. It seems like you are thinking in the same direction. However, I do think you may be looking at matching the Intent of the Shard and the "intent" of the Vessel at Shattering time in a too literal a way. I also am not certain that I agree with some of your characterizations of Vessels. For example, you make Cultivation to be rather benign, yet we know that she was Tanavast's lover (an elderly lady, eh?) and that her power can be used in relatively cruel ways (see: Nightwatcher, The). On the specific topic of Autonomy: I share similar suspicions: in the past I called such religions "Abomination cults" (treating Investiture use as abomination); they can also be called "prohibitionist". However, what I disagree with is in your (implicit) implication that this is ALL Bavadin is doing. She is responsible for Taldain's investiture and hence, for Investing the sand ,for example. I think, the picture is quite different. Based on Brandon's word that Bavadin has oodles of personas and makes up pantheons of herself, I suspect that she is playing a divide-and-conquer game to her own ends. That is, my theory is that: (a) Bavadin supports Prohibitionist cults NOT because she is somehow opposed to the use of Investiture by humans, but because it serves as an excellent check on the powers of the respective planets' Shards (or whatever is left of them). That is: her reasons for supporting Prohibitionist religions are political, not ideological. (b) Bavadin's MO is "set the goal, then figure out what the best means of achieving it are". She appears to largely do it by creating, co-opting and possibly outright corrupting religions, and by making the religious adherents the chief executors of her will. But it appears that she is literally not above setting up two conflicting religions where she is behind both of the Gods/ pantheons. Also, isn't Ambition a "she"?

@Zmann966 One might argue that Nightblood is very much a Skybreaker-aligned weapon. It does not know what evil is, but it tries very hard to fulfill its directive to destroy it. The Skybreakers--or at least Nalan--don't seem to know what evil is, either. They simply follow the law to the letter and don't consider the spirit of the law at all.

Just coming home from the event! He was awesome! I asked two questions (I wanted more, but had no time). I asked Szeth is a Skybreaker, and why was Hoid drinking perfume that time he met Wax. They were BOTH RAFOed! I got my first card though, which was nice. Hey, is they guy with the two awesome clear-bladed daggers on here?

Today in the library I passed a guy wearing a sweater patterned with # symbols and I had to stop myself from telling him he looked sharp today. True story.

From what I understand, this comes primarily from the First Letter, where Hoid refers to Odium as "God's own divine hatred." I don't recall any other specific information or quotes on this; whenever I've utilized this idea, I've only pulled it from this one source (albeit a very strong and clear one). It's an interesting thought, that the Shards' Intents have been shaped by the reasons their Vessels participated in the Shattering in the first place. I don't have any specific comments, since I have some disagreements on some of your assumptions (I think people are elevating the fain life to an undue level of importance, and I disagree with the specific interpretations of some Shards). But I do like the concept as a whole.

OK, let's see how I can totally mis-explain this and maintain my [Redacted], Inc cover... Let's say we track UFO sighting reports. We have an electronic database of every UFO, along with a file for it for anytime that UFO appears anywhere. (Just assume that we can tell which UFOs are seen more than once. I know, the metaphor really doesn't make sense, but go with it anyway.) We have a master set of files for domestic UFO sightings. Underneath that, we have a subset of them that we'll call green glowy UFOs. Because they're special, and we need to track them separately, so we keep their files separate. Well, I've started a project to clean up the UFO file cabinets. Come to find out, nobody has pulled out any of the files for debunked/explained UFOs since sometime in 2003, leaving us with a huge number of files that we don't need anymore just taking up space. Compounding this problem, apparently back in the 90s, my predecessors at [Redacted], Inc for reasons unknown deemed it necessary to keep TWO separate files for each green glowy UFOs - one in the green glowy UFO file cabinet, and one in the general domestic UFO file cabinet. This is inefficient and annoying. So now, not only am I pulling out all of the files for the debunked UFOs, I am combining the duplicate files for all of the green glowy UFOs. This is a slow process and is a pain in my behind, but at least it gets me out of my cube and moving around a bit. Oh, and I am also finding that we are missing a lot of files for our UFO sightings, so I'm going to have to pull information for all of those ones out of the electronic tracking system and create new UFO files, lest our auditors come through someday and get angry at us for not having all of our UFO records properly in place.

Video chatted in from London: Q: Is Nalan using his original Honorblade, or did he bond a spren? A: He's using his original Honorblade. But there's an asterisk here that will come up in Oathbringer. Edgedancer spoilers:

Ok I just got back from my long drive. I didn't get audio of the questions, but I wrote down some notes right afterword. Me: Is ReLuur's spike made of Atium? Cut out some stuff, he started to answer thinking I said Lord Ruler, but I stopped him Brandon: hesitated a for a second RAFO. You get a card though. It's not that big of a spoiler, but the answer would bring up questions that are. Me: Are the Svrakiss cognitive shadows? Brandon: RAFO. But you expected that. Me: If you tapped blank Identity in an area, would you develop the area's accent? Note: Sanderson interpreted this question as blanking identity. Also, I don't think tapping blank identity is a thing, so it was not a great question. Brandon: It's part of what you need. You need to both blank your Identity and tap Connection to get the accent. Me: If Shai had a gold shadow, and she used one of her Essence Stamps, would her gold shadow change to reflect her new self? Brandon: Yes, because she is changing her soul so the gold shadow changes. @Rasarr I liked your question so I asked it here: Me: If you were on Roshar, and tapped Connection, would you be unable to use Scadrial magic? Brandon: No, but that's a good question. You would not be able to use Selish magic though, because that is dependent on location. Me: Did Demoux achieve immortality by manipulating his Connection age? Brandon: Demoux uses the same method as most of the Seventeenth Shard. That method slows aging by a lot, but doesn't stop it completely.

Can confirm. Made the Reddit comment, finished Edgedancer last night, and my mind is still blown.

Or, you know, she ate the pancakes like this (excuse the hasty Paint illustration):