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I'm afraid that I'm going to have to pull out of this game. I've greatly enjoyed catching up, and analysing the game, but doing so took me more than 40 hours last week, and has meant that I averaged less than three hours sleep a night. This would have been fine, but I collapsed after lunch yesterday, and had to be taken to hospital by paramedics. There appears to be something going on with my heart, and it's either caused or exacerbated by stress and lack of sleep. As such, ceasing playing seems to be a sensible, albeit sad, decision to make. Thank you all for providing such entertainment, and particularly Meta for running the game.

I think it depends on the type of fairies, and how they are used? I'm not really a fan of the sugar plum dumpling type of fairies, for instance; you know, those warm and cheerful and friends to the boys and girls. I do t see any kind of interesting hook with them. But, their existence does make the fey a lot more interesting. I'm thinking mostly of Pratchet -read Lords and Ladies, it's amazing- but also, I think... Celtic mythology has a lot of characters and gods and goddesses who would feed into that fey angle. I think the thing that's interesting about them is that tint of darkness, that alien wildness to them. It's compelling, almost intoxicating. The fey -and fairies, obviously- I think are maybe interesting because they are more liminal that straight up gods abd goddesses? They are just human enough that we can understand them, just alien enough that we can't. They have their own worlds - Tir Na Nog - but unlike, say, Olympus, it's a place mortals can go to...but unlike Valhalla, going there carries a price (ie: the stories about people crossing over and coming back after a few days to find centuries have passed). I don't know. It's an interesting question, and these are off the cuff rambles. Sorry.

The Inquisitato

Well, I officially started my business today. Avalon Woodcraft, LLC- specializing in custom cabinets and fine woodworking. Bought myself a CNC router and everything. Just thought I'd share. And now I'm going to bed. I'm beat.

We were all thinking it anyway

In the last couple of weeks I managed to regularly find some time to work on a secret project that I hope will be reveal to the Shard community before the release of Oathbringer

You know how at award shows reporters ask all the celebrities "who are you wearing?", meaning "who designed your clothes?" So a lot of celebrities have begun to voice their annoyance and disdain for the term. I just want one celebrity to have the guts to answer "who are you wearing?" with something along the lines of "Oh, her name was Cheryl. She was a sweet girl, but she knew too much."

Hiya! I'm Marva and I'm loving reading all the Cosmere books. I have a blog that I started over on tumblr which is always fun. I'm interested in getting to know everyone around here in the fandom. I'm currently in the middle of Words of Radiance (WHICH IS AMAZING) and I think it's my favorite of them so far. I've also read the first Mistborn, Warbreaker, and Elantris. Anywho! That's me!

"Wasing the being of voting. Ising the being of defending of not." Sart had mostly based his analysis on voting patterns. He had seen Herwynbe's vote on Rae as a tacit defense of Nyal. He understood that analyzing posts were important, but he had been more concerned with getting his analysis out on time. If that lead to misconceptions, then he supposed he was sorry for them.

Day 12: Perchance to Dream Jack was having a horrible dream- if you could call it a dream. It seemed a bit too vivid for that. It felt more like it was a recollection from another time, where events similar to those taking place in Tyrian Falls… had happened? Were going to happen? In the end, it didn’t matter. They were similar enough in structure that he saw how it would all play out. He saw how the paranoia and the fear slowly sank their teeth into the villagers. He saw how it turn friend against friend and elevated petty differences into justifications for death. He saw as supplies were destroyed and reserves ruined, which made the villagers all the more frantic and fanatic in their search to purge the evil out from amongst them. If it wasn’t so horrifying, he could almost respect the way these forces of destruction systematically encouraged the people to do their work for them. And in his sleeping state, the recent events in Tyrian Falls mixed with those recollections and he dreamt about the gruesome deaths that had just recently happened in new and mortifying ways. Jack tossed and turned throughout the night. He wanted to wake up; to let this nightmare end. But he was not immune to the effects of what was happening in Tyrian Falls and his body was just too exhausted. Then he dreamt of a figure creeping into his room, cloaked in darkness and comfortable in the shadows. The figure stealthily made their way across the room; avoiding any of the squeaking boards that could have given them away. When they reached his bed, they pulled out a wicked looking dagger. When they raised it above their head, it glinted in the moonlight and it looked stained with the blood of those it had already killed. Now this dream felt incredibly weird to Jack. This didn’t feel like a recreation from an earlier time and it seemed embedded in his current reality. Some part of Jack’s instincts kicked in and he snapped awake. He awoke to the exact same scene he had just been dreaming about! And the dagger was already plunging towards his chest. Suddenly, before he could do so much as breath in to scream, he was yanked to the right with such force that he felt as if he had been slammed into by a Koloss’s fist. The dagger stabbed down and sank almost to the hilt into the bed where Jack had laid just a second before. The force was so strong, it carried him across the room and crashing out through the window; glass ripping at him as he barrelled through. Finally, he rolled to a stop in one of the huge piles of ash that hadn’t been cleaned up in the town recently. As Jack lay there, panting and trying to calm down, he could only think of one thought: Thank the gods I got a room on the first floor! Night 12 has ended and Day 12 begins! You have 48 hours. A Joe in the Bush was attacked, but they survived! Good luck! Player List

A very obscure 17th Shard / Edgedancer in-meme. Props if you get this one. Also the above meme is ironic because Anakin failed right after saying that.

You'll get the hang of it. I know for a fact how annoying it is to have everyone drop WoB you never heard of on you, when you are new, but eventually, you'll catch up. I doubt all Windrunners were hateful people: it seems a rather restrictive criteria to use to chose future knights. I would point out right here Brandon did say that while the essence of the oaths were the same for all knights of a same order, the wording and the circumstances would differ on an individual basis. What does Kaladin's third oath teaches us? Upon first glance, it seems as if it wants Windrunner to try at protecting all people, even those he hates, but if we dig further, I think we can draw the conclusion the oath isn't about hate, but about rational thinking versus emotional one. In other words, a Windrunner has to offer protection to those who needs it independently of how he personally feels towards those persons. In Kaladin's case, it was hate, but it could also be the complete opposite: love. I will protect those who need it the most not just those I love the most. Or more broadly: I will not let my feelings decide whom I should protect. These are two examples which, I believe, embody the essence of the third oath with a complete different wording and a completely different character progression. Hence, I think we cannot base ourselves merely on feelings existing within characters to determine if one is suited for one given order or another. We should also be careful in tying too closely individuals within the same order: not all Windrunners will be almost identical clones of Kaladin, not all Edgedancers will be street orphans with a bad mouth, not all Elsecaller will be scholars, etc. Hate I believe is irrelevant when it comes to finding out the next Windrunner. The question we should ask ourselves if whom seek to protect when put to the trial? Whom is ready to give up chances of advancement, of escape, of fulfilling a dream in order to be better placed to protect others? Is it Moash? I think, based on the character we have read so far, it is practically impossible to guess. I would say no, but we do not know how the guy will progress for now on. Other thoughts for Moash would be Dustbringer as we still need one.

During the end of WoR, a medical professional in Dalinar's army inspects Dalinar's newest shoulder wound. The doctor is horrified to see that the skin is mostly scar. Dalinar seems to have suffered an incongruently large number of wounds to his shoulder (and likely other body parts). The doctor says that Dalinar shouldn't be able to fight at all considering the previous trauma that the shoulder has suffered. Danilar should never have recovered full from his previous wounds. Dalinar jokes off the remark, but the doctor insists that the human body can't function normally after receiving wounds like his.... “Storms” the surgeon said, “Highprince, you’re all scars under here. How many time have you been wounded in the shoulder” “Can’t Remember” “How can you still use your arm?” “Training and practice” “that’s not how it works…” she whispered eyes wider “I mean… Storms…” --- Do we think Dalinar has previously drawn in stormlight? Has he been a base-level Radiant for a lot longer than we thought? Dalinar took multiple arrows to the shoulder in his newly released flashback chapters. It seems as if Dalinar never stopped being the Blackthorn due to injury, though? The Blackthorn doesn't sound like a great candidate for a Nahel-bond so it doesn't make a lot of sense to say he was healing with Stormlight? Perhaps Shardeplate has regenerative qualities? Perhaps the gems can slowly leach into the body? Shardplate is so rare that perhaps medics haven't had the opportunity to study its effects on healing. Another option is that The Thrill might grant impressive regenerative properties (we know that it can energize and invigorate), but you'd think the medic would be aware of such a phenomena associated with The Thrill. Perhaps Daninar's Thrill was something so beastly that he was able to tap into Odium's investiture? My other thought is that perhaps his body was healed by The Nightwatcher. This seems unlikely since Dalinar has sustained multiple wounds to his body over the course of decades. It seems unlikely that Dalinar visited the Nightwatcher so early in his life (though we can't be sure just yet). What do you guys think? How has Dalinar managed to heal from the wounds he sustained in his youth?

Hithon's stormlight had run out. He had been careful. Had tried to use it in only controlled bursts. But getting thrown bodily from the back of an enraged chasmfiend proved to be the final straw. When the other Initiates had managed to get the fiend to smash into something, the fiend had lurched forward alarmingly, and Hithon had been jerked off from his position. He had tried his best to twist himself into a landing position, but it had all happened too fast. He smashed into the ground, having taken an unprepared fall from the height of Urithiru's third storey. it had hurt. But he did not have the luxury of unconsciousness. The spheres he had been carrying had contained enough Stormlight to patch up his broken bones and injuries. He had forced himself to his feet, even as the last of the light washed over his body. The first tired step forward, the light finally winked out, leaving him empty. And even though the light must have healed his major injuries, he still felt every single cut and bruise and ache screaming in his body. It hurt. But he had gritted his teeth and forced himself to walk towards the thundering roars. He knew, at least, that their efforts had not been in vain. The roars sounded noticeably more anguished and weaker than enraged now. It was failing. As he picked his way painfully through the fallen rocks, his foot came across a body, who groaned at the kick. Hithon frowned, kneeling. Quickly, he placed a hand on the person's chest, feeling a strong heartbeat. Efficiently, he searched the person, coming across a bow clutched in a death-grip in the man's hand. Shinon. The man groaned again - he seemed to be half conscious. Hithon groaned. Must he? He knelt, hooking his elbows under the man's armpits. This maneuver was difficult, and much easier when he had his eyes. Nevertheless, he was familiar enough with the movements that it wasn't too awkward. After maneuvering Shinon into a position where he was draped over his shoulders, he began to painfully walk forward towards the noises. Towards the other Initiates, hopefully. Towards help. Oh, it was painful. But he had lived a life used to pain. After a time of walking, footsteps came running up. Hands lifted Shinon from his shoulder, and a comforting, soothing voice was speaking to him, thanking him, telling him that he had done enough. The stranger. Kintas. He couldn't hear what the man was saying. Something was pushed into his hands. A pouch, filled with round spheres. Hithon gasped. Then suddenly, Light. Strength. Relief. All the bruises that he had been carrying seemed to melt away, all the pain - gone. Relief. He could stand straighter, he no longer had to gasp for every breath. Light. "Thank you..." He gasped. Above them, the chasmfiend screamed. Hithon jerked his head up, although he couldn't have hoped to see what had caused it. The fiend wasn't dead yet. And he knew - he himself was living proof that a creature wounded and frightened would strike back twice as hard if not quickly subdued. He still wondered why he had charged out with Teresh earlier. But it didn't matter, for now. He had started out to do one job. And it was time to finish it. Hithon drew two more poisoned daggers with wicked blades, turned calmly towards the source of the roars, and started running. Time to end this. Don't worry @TheMightyLopen, Hithon's got your back @Jondesu, you got two new patients.

I just joined a few minutes ago, and I wanted to stop and say Hello. I'm rather new to all things Cosmere, but I'm sure I'll soon catch up. I've read Elantris, Mistborn: The Final Empire, and I'm currently reading Well of Ascension. I'm trying to pace myself, and I'll probably start Stormlight when a firm release date for Oathbringer is announced. If I'm lucky, I may even get to read The Winds of Winter this year, as well.

"Get up. You are needed." Sareth looked around the darkness. It was a room, completely black, with visible dimensions and invisible everything. And in the center of it was an orb of light. "Get up, Sareth. I won't let you die yet." Sareth struggled to his feet, or at least what he thought were his feet. Did he have feet? He couldn't see them. He squinted at the orb. "Wha- who are you?" He asked. The orb seemed to wink at him. "I am Immera. Now let's get you back alive..." the voice faded away as the light from the orb intensified and engulfed the room, getting brighter and brighter, threatening to burn Sareth away... ... Daylight. And stormlight. Sareth hastily sucked in the stormlight in front of his face, feeling the power course through his body, fixing him where broken and strengthening him where not. He looked up at Kintas, who looked down at him with relief. "Oh, thank the Almighty you are alright. You wouldn't breathe the stormlight, and I was getting worried. Oh, and I found this nearby," he handed something to Sareth. It was his staff, a little beaten, but still whole. Sareth pulled it to his chest. He smiled and nodded to Kintas. "Thank you so much for this. I will find someway to repay you," he said. Kintas looked up, something catching his eye. Sareth followed his gaze. It was the Fifth Nameless, as the others had become to call him, standing on the back of the chasmfiend. He extended his arm to Sareth, the other grasping a quarterstaff. "Let's finish this," he said, with a determination in his voice that didn't take no for an answer. Sareth got to his feet, leaning on his staff, and smiled. "Yes, let this be finished." Then he ran and leaped, thrusting himself into the air and landing on one of the beast's legs. Then he swiftly climbed onto the back, feeling alive and full of energy. He turned to the Fifth, staff gripped firmly. "Let's do this."

I see your Inquisitato and raise you Potatodin!

It's kind of a common thing for me to accidentally hit the downvote button instead of the upvote button. I'm on a small touchscreen most of the time, so that's probably the cause. My question: if I downvote a post, and then quickly change and upvote it, does the person get a notification?

As Uther breathed easier beside him, recovering, Kintas searched the chasm around him with his eyes, looking for other opportunities to help. The beast itself was down, pinned and while not helpless, less of an immediate threat than it had been, and there was rubble strewn about from its struggles. Peeking out from around the edge of one particularly jagged boulder, Kintas spotted part of a cloak and then an arm laying on the ground, hopefully still attached to someone behind it. Sprinting out again, he quickly made his way to the tangle of rocks and vines that lay over Sareth, the Shin man who had blinded the chasmfiend, at least partially. Kintas had seen that he was still atop the beast when the outcropping fell onto it, but hadn't been able to work out until now where he'd ended up. Sareth was unconscious, but Kintas was quickly able to ascertain that he was still breathing, and while he had some unhealed wounds, indicating he had run out of Stormlight, nothing looked too serious. Before Kintas could grab a pouch of his own spheres, he spotted a bag of them on Sareth's belt, still infused and glowing. He held those up closer to the man's face and hoped he could Breath in the Stormlight unconsciously, but nothing happened at first. Taking his waterskin from his side, Kintas splashed some on the man's bald head and face, shocking him back into semi-consciousness. "Take to wake up, Sareth. You've done your part, let's clear the way for others to finish the beast off." @Hemalurgic_Headshot, hope that's satisfactory!

Orlock, I hope you get better Those small little slips are the things we really need to look out for, so, I propose that we should feast on lynch Magestar! "Hey, look blood!" someone says. Everyone stops for a moment then starts chasing after the person that accidently cut himself. "I guess even the regular people are working for Ruin," Mr. Hoid said.

On the other hand, some people can use that to stealthily downvote some old posts of people they don't like.

They are, generally, personifications of forces and events we do not/did not understand. They are best used as plot devices because while they can generally resolve a lot of problems, their fey nature makes them unpredictable. That leads to some interesting humor or suspense.

Have you guys seen this? Season 7, with William Shatner!

Hey everyone, I'm really sorry that I haven't been on and posting, but from now on, I am going to at least try and post twice to three times a day. So, I see that any other spiked have been killed, do we have any ideas for spiked yet? Mr. Hoid wakes up from his really long nap and said, "Wow, that was a . . . really long sleep, can anyone even sleep that long?"

I have downvoted your post, un-downvoted it, upvoted it, un-upvoted it, and then upvoted it again and left it there. What did you see?

Believe me. I've got bigger plans than another greatshell for Chapter Four...

Guess who just passed the 20,000 word mark?

One of my friends said this

As someone with 7 siblings, the concept be being an only child sounds strange

Just use hemalurgy to steal that attribute from platypus and implant it into a windwhisperer ferring.

Buying a new Sanderson book like:

Nice work.

I have once linked Adolin's character to the Prince Charming trope: dashingly handsome, blond headed, blue eyed, mighty warrior in standing proud in a shinning armor, yielding a magic sword mounted on his pristine white stallion. There is a lot of imagery involved in drafting Adolin's character and I for one do believe it was done on purpose. Not at first as Brandon Now, the horse is dead. I see it as a symbol. The white stallion is such an iconic item killing it appears to me as clear foreshadowing for Adolin to lose his former status. It is the disbanding of the trope: what happens when Prince Charming is made irrelevant in a world where he does not fit? I personally find this potential story so interesting it overshadows all others.

Hero (An explanation under the spoiler)

-Does the worldbuilding work, is it too descriptive? I actually would have liked more description! But more in the sense of little details as they're talking. I'm feeling a little bit of the floating head syndrome during the conversation, even though you have nice descriptions later in the chapter. I think the world sounds interesting. I liked the bit at the beginning about how there's a glass floor under all the dirt. It does make me wonder what all these buildings are made of - are they all glass? What kind of resources do they have here? I also realized at the end of the chapter that I never figured out what species Ri is. I assume human, but that's because I'm human. -Connection to the characters I had a lot more of a connection to the characters in the first part than the second. I feel a lot of sympathy for Sam, and not a lot for Ori, because he's kind of being a jerk. That said, I do find Ori interesting and I'm prepared to like him more when he's not so stressed. I enjoyed the conflict between the three of them at the beginning. -How is the arc of the chapter? I would have liked more tension. I was invested before Ri gave Sam the telepathic meds, because they were all trying to solve problems. However, the walk through the city lacked stakes. I think I'd like to know what might happen to Sam if he loses his composure. Is he afraid of embarrassing himself? That the only people he knows in this place will just leave him for lost on the street? What's driving him to even try to keep going? I lost the sense of his goals. -Anything else you see In-line suggestions! It was hard to guess at Methiemum expressions... Later in the chapter, don't you say the Nether translates intent? The boy—Sam—let his shoulders fall a little, opening up a little. Not sure I understand Sam's reaction here. Why would he be opening up after they both are clearly not believing or understanding him? “The same thing happened to you?” Not sure why Sam is saying this now, rather than a few paragraphs up. She hadn’t heard of that word either, so it wasn’t something the Nether translated incorrectly. I just realized what the Nether is doing - translating. Control it rather than let it control you. I could believe his Aunt Martha would say this, but a psychologist, in my very limited experience, wouldn't put this in such stark "you versus it" terms. My therapist was always trying to get me to not talk in extremes. And I can't imagine her ever telling me to try to "control" something. I've only ever had one therapist, though. Sam answered, then seemed to relent. I'm still surprised he lets these people help him so easily. I assume most people who want to stay inside, and who are afraid of crowds, would generally not be very open to strangers poking around in their heads. It would seem that Sam generally wants to protect himself, and if he's already in fight or flight mode, this could be exacerbated. But it could be I'm misinterpreting his character. the freshest maggots Haha, nice. Sam slowed, as something intruded into his fuzzy perception. Are you talking about a thought here?

A Cup With No Bottom: by ME An empty heart, do you fill it with tears?+ Do you fill it with sand - the passing of the years? Joy, Sadness, Anger, Love, and Fear- All pretty words that mean nothing here. If there were sages who said what seemed true, They'd say the only way to fill it was to fill it with you. But how on earth can I fill it with me, If all earth gave me was the hollow of a tree?

At this point I have something to contribute- get a tin pin, stick it in a spider, and what do you get? Spider sense.

People at work who when addressing me insist on putting "Miss" in front of my first name. Stop it. Just stop. I know you think it's polite or something, but it isn't. It's infantilizing and annoying and this little habit or tradition or whatever it is needs to go die in a fire.

^ This Dalinar expected there to be scars, so there are. He might be able to get rid of them with proper "mental gymnastics"

Boo, your cosmere idea sucks.

I'm giving my first English lesson over the phone today. I'm terrified. I can has support and comfort please? (I still have ahhh I have a job going through the back of my head in a panic. )

I think from the other end, it also depends on the will of the person. Some Soulcasters may be more powerful naturally or some may not be able to do it in stressful conditions. For an example: Shallan was exhausted and not very confident in her abilities and proved no match for stick. Jasnah on the other hand seemed to be able to soulcast most things easily.

I don't have a problem with Windrunners having to swear an oath promising to fight to the death if necessary, but I do have trouble imagining how it would come up organically. The last few oaths Kaladin swore came to him at a time when they were particularly relevant to his situation. Like, he swore to "protect those who couldn't protect themselves" because that's literally what he was trying to accomplish. He swore to protect even those he hates so long as its the right thing to do after he came to that conclusion and did just that. I feel like it would be kinda messed up for the final initiation for joining the Windrunners to be something along the lines of: having to be put into a situation where you literally feel like you need to fight to the death or sacrifice yourself. Seems to me like that would be a violation of the first oath, but that's just my own speculation.

Not a Radiant at all. I do understand there are abnormal circumstances which have led to not one, not two, but three member of the Kohlin household to be made Radiant, it would annoy me greatly if Elhokar were to be chosen, especially so he just doesn't seem to have the will nor the desire to improve people/events/things around himself as we have seen in other Radiants. My suspense of disbelieve is thus seriously trialed when I think of reasons why he would be chosen. Investigated, oh yes, certainly: he is a Kholin and a King after all, but I wish for him to be one of those individuals where the bond just vanish due to a lack of commitment from the individual. All in all, Elhokar sounds too selfish to be a Radiant and while Radiants have been known to be selfish at times, their greater motivation always ended up being non related to their personal glory. I read none of that in Elhokar. There is also the fact I don't see the need for him to become a Radiant. He works well as a foil, as a mean to illustrate certain personality traits in Dalinar. Him being a Radiant would break this equilibrium and it wouldn't serve any purpose I can see for the character development of our main crew. I personally wish for Elhokar to serve as a light post to illustrates Dalinar's blind eye and strong bias when it comes to his personal relationships which is something I think needs to be addressed. As for Elhokar, just as Navani, I don't see much need for him beyond that. If he redeems himself, then he can do it without being a Radiant. This position is however not exactly popular: I think most support the Elhokar will become a Radiant. Not necessarily because they want it to, but because they feel there is too much evidence in favor. I personally feel this evidence can be played both ways and I hope to be proven right in Oathbringer.

More tidbits: In chapter 14 Marasi and MeLaan look at info about the man blew up a damnation and caused flooding, named Johnst. They read that he acted very strangely and couldn't remember the names of his family before being executed. He also claimed that he only intended to cause trouble for a neighbor--not kill people and flood an entire region. Lastly, they read that his grave was desecrated shortly after burial. They conclude that Paalm must have been impersonating Johnst. That she blew the damnation, let them bury her, and then crawled out of the grave. But MeLaan casts some doubt on the first few points. Paalm is too skilled an impersonator to mess something up as simple as family names. What if it wasn't Paalm, but Johnst himself. He was spiked, and under the influence of Trell. Trell convinced/made him to blow the damnation. And given this experience, it's not surprising he was going mad in the end. Perhaps Paalm dug up his bones for some other purpose, afterwards. To retrieve the spike, for example. This is perhaps more of a stretch than Marasi and MeLaan's conclusion. It's certainly more complicated. But it's suspicious to me how Sanderson has them point out multiple times in the conversation that the man acted strangely (not as if he were being impersonated by a skilled kandra).

Now, @PeterAhlstrom very clearly told us that the canonical mechanics of reviving someone killed by a Shardblade have not been changed by the revision to the ending of WoR, but let's just say that he never popped in to tell us that. I still don't see any contradiction. A Herald, who is thousands of years old and full of the knowledge of the ages, shows up with a specially made fabrial and revives a man killed by a Shardblade... Compare that to a 13-year-old child (who thinks she's still 10), who doesn't have enough Stormlight to revive her subject, regardless, and just learned how to heal others, anyway. Yes, Wyndle said that it had been too long, but is Wyndle remembering things properly? He's better off than any other newly bonded spren, but he still has some memory loss. And how does the fabrial that Nalan used affect the process? Also, how much time passed between Szeth dying and Nalan healing him (in either version of the story)? And how much time passed between Nalan killing the girl and Lift attempting to heal her? Is there a difference between how much time you have to heal a subject who has wielded an Honorblade for years and how much time you have when your subject is a preteen petty thief? There are more than enough vagaries there to conclude that the story probably works just fine. But also, Peter told us that it does.