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So... a little while ago, I posted an essay in the Random Stuff thread. It was about Warbreaker, and is kind of meant as a trial run for something. Ive been wanting to do a blog analysing topics for a while, so i thought starting with one of the reasons why Warbreaker is my favorite Cosmere book would be a good start. And... I was thinking, maybe it would bare re-posting it here in a seperate topic? I hope that doens't count as "double-posting". Honestly, it maybe should have been here to begin with... So... um, yeah. For anyone who is interested: some disconnected ramblings on Warbreaker. Enjoy?

So my mom has been photographing a pair of Great Horned Owl babies at a local park in Ohio and sending me pictures, and some of them were just begging to be memefied. So here, enjoy memes of fluffy owlets! Things kids complain about #2378: bathtime. Channeling Christopher Walken: If Captain Kirk had been an owl: Do I even need to explain this reference, or is it too old for most people here? Owl gazes are the epitome of "intense": Parents never get a break...not even owl parents! Birdhemian Rhapsody (Thanks to @bleeder for that awesome pun!):

You know you are a Sanderfan when you replace the miniature bride and groom on your wedding cake with Syl and Pattern figures.

So, the world's kinda going to crem. Tensions are high, and I'll admit I'm a bit scared for everyone. I just wanted to let you all know that I love you, all of you. Everything's gonna be okay.

So last night I couldn't sleep. I was restless and worrying about alot of crap. Then I just sort of started writing, and well, here's what I came up with. This is the creation myth for the world I conceived. And I think it could apply to our world as well ------------------------------------- On Harmony, and the Creation of the world In the beginning, there was a single note. A pure, clear, constant note. This was known as the tune of Chaos. Then one day, the note was broken, and out rushed the ocean from the discord. The ocean created and filled the first sphere of existence, and added it’s own song to the tune of chaos. And there was harmony once more. 5 more discords occurred, and with each one something new was made. The second discord happened, and the sky spread from the broken harmony, overlapping the ocean and it created and filled the second sphere of existence. But the sky was empty, and it only rang with one note. But there was harmony again nonetheless. Then the third discord struck, and out spurted the heavens, greater and even more all-encompassing than the sky. They pushed and redefined the boundaries of the world, creating and filling the third sphere. There were 7 layers to the heavens, and each brought with them an octave to add to the song of the universe, for before then, the world sung on one octave, and was mostly empty. They added their tranquil and ethereal siren song to the symphony that was creation. For now the heavens were empty, there was nothing but chaos that filled the gaps. And there was harmony once again. From the fourth discord came the first manifestation of life. The Mariner. Sprung from one of the greatest discords the music had experienced. The Mariner was flung into the oceans with a ship and a lantern. His advent created and filled the fourth sphere of existence. The Immortal Plane. The symphony became a cacophony now. There was no more harmony. For with the mariner came his discordant tunes, the song of displaced life. And the mariner spent his days sailing the now chaotic seas, concepting land wherever he went, all sprung from the discords of his music Thus he created and filled the fifth sphere of existence Earth itself The discord continued for many centuries, until the mariner finally began to question the world truly. These questions, tho he had no answers, slowly brought a semblance of order as the mariner endeavoured to find answers. Over time, the heavens stopped reaching into the world, the oceans stilled, the storms stopped and the sky sang a pure note once more Finally, there was a recognisable melody, the melody of a the mind. A quiet piercing melody. Not quite harmony, but a semblance of it. But one day. The Mariner gave up, he stopped looking for answers, stopped asking questions. And with his broken will, the harmony was shattered. And with this tumultuous discord, came mortal life First in the form of a bird, a white dove. It was the first animal to to explore the new world, the first creature to travel the land. It created and filled the sixth sphere of existence: The Mortal Plane And with it, the music became wilder and chaotic, a complicated, overlapping on-rush of discord. One day, as the dove sung its song, a bolt of lightning struck it asunder, and the Mariner, by the fate of the music, stumbled upon it's broken corpse. For then, the spirit couldn't leave the body after death, unless the proper rites were performed The mariner fashioned a draught of life, with his tears and the waters of the ocean. And administered to the bird, nurturing it and rejuvenating it back to life. And with this came a special thing, for the Mariner created something, Love. Love was created, and it filled the six known spheres of existence. And the mariner found an answer. Love was the answer. And with this revelation, the bird died a second time, but with it's death, a star, twinkled into existence in the sky, the first star, the morning star, the evening star. A sign of hope and love for all! The star represented the first story of the world. The story of creation and love. The song of first age of the earth. The Mariner ascended to the heavens after burying the dove's limp body. He no longer sailed the seas, but sailed the stars themselves! And he became both sun and moon, his lantern the sun, himself the moon. His arm was always outstretched, carrying the lantern before him and lighting the way for the world. And so there was Day and Night. The Mariner knew his purpose now, and it was to nurture and kindle the stars, to preserve the stories made and pass them down to the land he now oversaw. To guide the world beneath him and shed light on the answers that were sought by all, just as the dove shed light on the answers he sought. With the advent of love; burst forward more life and music; filling the mortal sphere, the land, the sky, the oceans. And with these creatures, they brought their own stories, developing over the course of their mortal existence Whereupon the end, they ascend to the stars and heavens. Their souls continuing to the heavens, their light, their story, painted on the dark canvas of night. Kept and kindled by the Mariner, their souls able to enter the heavens peacefully. There was a seventh sphere, not one of existence but one of non-existence. A counterpoint to to the creation of everything. The seventh sphere was a subtle one. The Void. No harmony, no discord, no music. This sphere seeped into the other spheres, corrupting and defiling. The music was the genetic code of the universe, and the Void removed the music, taking away notes and tones, “chromosomes”. Mutating and defiling the symphony. The only way to battle it was to look to the stars, and find hope. For hope was the only thing that the void feared. And that was how the world was created, not through some divine plan, but through mistakes. Many many mistakes. And questioning, and searching for answers, through ideas and stories, for they are truly the things that shape the world around us. Our flaws can be our greatest source of strength, our reasons for asking questions, for searching for answers. They are the reasons we strive to be better people, the reason we love, live and endeavour. But they can also be the reasons we fall, the source of our darkest thoughts and deeds. But through our stories, through our compassion which is innate in all things. we can bring harmony to the discord and guide others. support each others and add our tales to the stars. Nothing was ever perfect and nothing will always be perfect Our stories are the tools from which we change and shape the world, our songs are the partof a greater symphony of life. Always have hope and never throw away your story, everything is worth it and there is no reason to stop living and evolving. And there was harmony forevermore. -------------------------- This is just the scribblings I wrote, I still need to explain things like the clouds, the rain and crap heh.

I'm an Oldblood. We don't rule Alethkar anymore, but when we did, we ruled better than Elhokar at least.

Hey, everyone! Name's Alleb. I'm a huge fan of Sanderson (never heard that before, I expect) and I thought I should finally introduce myself on here. So... Hi! Also, here's an image that perfectly describes how my interactions on this forum will go. -Alleb

Lemme just say, a heaping plate of Chinese food is the perfect way to end a tiring day. Yum.

Killing time before I go to get my insurance switched over….. Oh, and the Washington regional accent sounds normal, unless you ask a local to say "I begged the bagger not to go to war with the guy who washed the bags." You'll hear "I begged the beggar not to go to war with the guy who warshed the begs."

I'm very late to this thread, but I just want to say some things anyway: 1. Respect to OP for replying in such a nice manner despite all the angry comments he got. I will upvote the opening post for this. 2. About sexuality: I think that there is a value in the light sexual content of Brandons books. It is good that there is something for everyone. Just like it is nice to have superhero movies that are pure fun (Guardians of the Galaxy) and superhero movies that are darker and more gritty (Logan), it is nice to have different kinds of fantasy, and I would not want Brandon to change in order to become someone he isnt, just as Guardians should not be Logan. That would be sad for audiences like me, who prefer Brandons take on sexual content.

A not uncommon complaint from my original superhero setting: Flytrap just used his army of mobile carnivorous plants to save the world from alien invasion again, but they also ate my cat.

This is my life.

and after a strangely decent day. I bid thy all goodnight!

Think about it this way: Maybe your competition was freakishly, outstandingly good at drum majoring and mere mortals never stood a chance. Maybe the band director(s) would rather have you in the band playing your instrument for reasons of musical balance. If you feel like you did really well, then you know you performed according to your current ability. Plus, as you said, there is still next year, and just imagine: a year from now, you'll have another 12 months of experience and practice and learning that will make you an even better drum major. *hugs*

There was a reading of the Prologue from Eshonai's point of view, as well as (part of?) an interlude of an ardent reading a romance novel. We also have one page of Adolin remembering meeting a Ryshadium. On mobile right now, I'll see if I can find the links later, but good idea to get all the material in one place

Standardized testing is almost over, band and choir both performed respectably at State, and the extraordinarily stressful yet productive last couple of weeks are hopefully giving way to more calm ones ahead. Also, it rained so hard today that they sent a bus down to pick up people from the fine arts building and take us back to the main building, which I felt was a bit extravagant but kind of awesome at the same time.

The ACT wasn't as bad as expected. I did not, in fact, die. Victory has been won.

Seeing as it tied with Stormlight, here's the first White Sand meme.

I have a non downvote policy. I have made my non downvote policy public on numerous occasions and I am sure I have caused the Mods quite a few headaches about my antics concerning the downvotes and yet I almost nearly did downvote this post. Why? Certainly not because he is expressing an unpopular opinion. I have expressed unpopular opinions more often than most regular posters. There is however a way to phrase one's thoughts and when you are purposefully going against the masses, you have to be clever enough to use the right words. It is an intrinsically difficult task to form up a decent criticism of a beloved author in a non-confrontational way, open-minded to discourse. Thus, the problem with this post aren't the thoughts being expressed, it is how they were expressed combined with the sick feeling the OP is shoving down his own opinion as the One Absolute Truth which basically is Mistake Number One of What Not to Write into an Unpopular post. I am absolutely not surprised by the downvotes, worst I am surprised it hasn't gotten more, yet. @Rockobar, yes, we could essentially discuss the sexual content within Brandon Sanderson's books, we could discuss as to whether or not Shallan and Jasnah should a homosexual relationship, we could discuss the religious content within Brandon Sanderson's books, we could discuss every one of the points raised into appropriate threads and guess what? We did. We did have those discussions and while we do not all agree with each other, we all agree Brandon Sanderson has the write to write his story how he sees fit. His prerogative as a writer to craft his characters as he feels are required by his story, our prerogative as readers is to decide whether or not his story is one we wish to read. Brandon is a swell guy, if you say you don't like his books because their content is not up to your personal preferences, he would be totally fine with it. Even better, I have seen him NOT recommend his own books onto Reddit to a few readers because, based on their tastes, he didn't feel they would enjoy them. We can express thoughts as to what we wish to read within future books, we can say we feel this or that would make a very good story arc, we can even be sadden if the author doesn't share our views and/or retain our favorite idea, but we can't barge in there saying it is his duty to write his story as we wish it to be. I understand wanting a story to unfold into a particular way, I do, I really do, nobody understands this better than I, but I fear a line has been crossed here. Your opinion isn't the only opinion nor is it the only valuable opinion. It is one opinion and we can discuss it, but it doesn't have precedence over other people's opinion and yes, this is hard, at times, to swallow it up. This too, I know all too well. For my part, I love the fact Brandon is actually writing low sexual content books, I love how he has dared, in the 21st century, to write mature characters whom are waiting before having their first sexual relationship. I love how Adolin is a virgin and somewhat ill-at-ease with the whole intimacy concept despite being in his twenties, loud and naturally bragging. Why do I love it? Because in a world where medias and mass entertainment promote to our kids the idea sexual relationships should happen during the first half of their teen years if they are so much as to claim to normality, I find it refreshing to read characters whom aren't following those unseen rules, whom are showing the young readers it is alright to be 23 years old and not having had an intimate relationship yet. It is all right if you haven't really had any serious relationship by the time you are in your twenties. It is alright if you haven't have sex and guess what? There are a great deal lot of people whom are within the same position. So while yes, Brandon could have written Adolin as a pure Casanova moving half-dress from one room to the next answering to the sole call of his male parts, he would have missed the chance to write a much better character, IMHO. So while yes, Brandon could have written Jasnah and Shallan having torrid sex, but it might have read more like heterosexual male dream fantasy than a real genuine relationship. So yes, there are numerous ways Brandon could have written the story differently, when it comes to sex/religion/whatsoever, but in the end what he has to offer does hold itself pretty well. This being said, I wouldn't fear too much about Brandon reading the letter. He might not answer, but Brandon is a swell guy, he won't be offended. He'd just think perhaps you should not read his books if you find them not to your personal tastes, he might even send you a list of books he feels you would prefer. That's just how swell Brandon is. Edit: Typos. Edit 2: I forgot to mention the fact Brandon chose Adolin to be the virgin shy about relationship character is incredibly amazing because he is exactly the kind of character people would take for the exact opposite. Young people can be social, outgoing, friendly. They can date numerous people, but it doesn't mean they have to have sex, right away with everyone. They can even be a bit scared about it, just like Adolin. I feel this message is increasingly important to send in today's world and no it has nothing to do with religion: I am atheist. I just think sex, as a whole, is taken up too much place within nowadays relationships, too much emphasis in put on sex, especially on young people.

If an author is uncomfortable writing graphic violence, they shouldn't be pressured to add more graphic violence to their work. If an author is uncomfortable writing about religion, they shouldn't be pressured to add a religious character to their next book. If an author is uncomfortable writing sex scenes, they shouldn't be pressured into writing sex scenes. End of discussion.

The plot begins to unravel under the pressure... IN A CHASM, WITH A PILE OF BODIES SHALLAN: Why won’t this SoulCaster work? I can’t believe operating an ancient and scared artifact is more complex than a point-and-click interface! (SHALLAN looks at several books of PHILOSOPHY) SHALLAN: I can’t believe Jasnah killed those Ardents! All the philosophies say she did the right thing, but… ELSEWHERE (ROCK, TEFT, and MOASH stand in the POORLY LIT ROOM, looking at a SUSPICIOUSLY COFFIN-SHAPED BOX mounted on the WALL) TEFT: I’m cutting the coolant flow. On my mark, be ready to start the transfusion. (TEFT taps an activation rune and closes several valves) MOASH: Core temperature is rising. ROCK: Hexagramic wards are breaking down. Investiture core is approaching critical mass. TEFT: Opening confinement unit. (The BOX slowly opens, and fog begin spilling out across the floor. A leg extends from the box, taking a moment to gain footing. A man strides out of the box. Pan and zoom on his faces.) (SFX: Imperial March) MOASH: Kaladin Stormblessed walks this earth once again. KALADIN: TELL ME, MORTAL. FOR HOW MANY MILLENNIA HAVE I SLUMBERED? TEFT: Ten days. (An AIR RAID SIREN sounds) KALADIN: Really? I’d have thought it’d have been longer. Meh, let’s get this over with. MANY CORPSES LATER KALADIN: It’s pointless. I can’t save anyone. The Bridgemen are Ablative Tactical Armor. I can’t save them. PREVIOUSLY, on AMC’S The Thinking Parshmen LARAL: AHHHHHHH! KALADIN: What’s the status of the patient! (LIRIN gestures at RILLIR) LIRIN: He’s totally boned! See, Whitespine bone right in the lung. And kidney. And spleen. And the funny bone. (RILLIR preforms an expert PORCUPINE IMPERSONATION) ROSHONE: What are you doing! Save my son! LIRIN: I’m sorry Brightlord. I’m afraid I can’t do that. ROSHONE: What are you talking about? I can see him spurting blood! LIRIN: I know, right! I can start harvesting his organs while they’re extra fresh. You can leave now; I’m sure that leg won’t fester. RIPPLE FADE TO K-BAR SHALLAN: I’ve decided. What you did was… Probably the fourth or fifth- … TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES. PLEASE STAND BY. RIPPLE FADE TO K-BAR SHALLAN: I’ve decided. What you did was… Probably the worst thing I’ve ever seen. JASNAH: I was dismantling the Patriarchy! All my actions are always justified! SHALLAN: I’m not really sure how you can even make that argument. (KABSAL smashes through the WALL) KABSAL: OH YEAH! SHALLAN: What are you doing here? KABSAL: I brought jam? (JASNAH stands up, SOULCASTER humming ominously) JASNAH: What are you doing here! (KABSAL reaches into his JAM BASKET and withdraws a SAWED-OFF CROSSBOW) KABSAL: Justice. (KABSAL fires a short burst. JASNAH SOULCASATS each of the bolts into fire, but the wooden shafts simply served as sabots for METAL DARTS, which fly toward JASNAH as her SOULCASTER overheats) SHALLAN: NOOOOOOOO! (SHALLAN dives in front of JASNAH and is struck by three DARTS in quick succession) BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE KALADIN: I hate the Weeping. I can’t believe dad spent another of those Spheres. TIEN: It’s not so bad, Kal. You can’t let the weather get you down. KALADIN’S MOM: You’re brother is right. The spheres are a diversion. LIRIN: Army’s in town or something. Everyone act natural. (EVERYONE assembles in the TOWN SQUARE) (AMARAM enters, taking a moment to comb his GOATEE before resuming his MUSTACHE TWIRLING) AMARAM: Who wants to join the Army? We have… lot of rocks? I guess the pay is pretty good. (ROSHONE enters. He has gain CONSIDERABLE WEIGHT to account for his MISSING LEG.) ROSHONE: We will be taking volunteers. The volunteers will be you and you. (TIEN is knocked off his FEET and begins to FALL backwards, drawn by AMARAM ARMY’S immense GRAVITATIONAL PULL) KALADIN: TIEN! (KALADIN grabs TIEN, holding him by the hand) KALADIN: I’ve got you. ROSHONE: Need a hand? (ROSHONE falls out of his PALANQUIN. KALADIN losses his grip on TIEN.) TIEN: Goodbye, brother. KALADIN: I’m going after him. FADE TO BLACK (The BRIDGEMEN ASSEMBLE. HASHAL enters.) HASHAL: Listen up, maggots! I’m the captain now. MATEL: … HASHAL: Technically my husband is, but you can think of me and your new god! MATEL: … TEFT: Your husband is pretty clearly a cardboard cutout. [CENSORED] KALADIN: So, Bridge Four doesn’t get anyone new? GAZ: Not exactly. (A PARSHMAN wearing a TUXEDO and holding a MARTINI enters) GAZ: Not really sure where he came from, but all the Bridgemen dying lately have driven up the price of slaves, so Hashal though we should give it a shot. Also, you get permeant Chasm Duty. Matel’s orders, of course. (BRIDGE FOUR exits) KALADIN: You need a name. How about… Shen. Just Shen. SHEN: … (BRIDGE FOUR reports for CHASM DUTY) BRIDGEMEN: So, boss. How we gonna get out of this one? KALADIN: We can’t. We’re all dead. No KnobWeed money, no new members. We don’t have a chance. SYL: So, you’re going to give up, then? KALADIN: There is one thing we could try. (KALADIN picks up a discarded SPEAR from a DEAD BODY and racks a round) KALADIN: We could fight. LATER SHALLAN: Where am I? KABSAL: You’re in the Hospital. SHALLAN: What! Kabsal, you tried to kill Jasnah! You shot me! KABSAL: Actually, I didn’t do either of those things. SHALLAN: What do you mean? I saw you- KABSAL: I’ve been a figment of your imagination this entire time. (KABSAL begins to fade and quickly VANISHES) SHALLAN: …what? THE END? TEFT: Hey Kaladin. You can probably do magic or something. KALADIN: You’re right. I just noticed that. SYL: I still don’t care about you. I hope the Parshendi kill you! (SYL vanishes) KALADIN: We need to do something about the Parshendi arrows. If they keep shooting at as, they’ll kill us one at a time, unless… (KALADIN looks at the large number of DEAD PARSHENDI in the CHASM, then SMIRKS) THE NEXT BRIDGEDAY TEFT: This is going to be a bad one. They’re already lined up and waiting for us. MATEL: … GAZ: BRIDGES FORWARD! KALADIN: Checking systems. Stormlight reserve levels, check. Linkage integrity, check. RPMs reaching normal. (The PARSHENDI draw back their bows) KALADIN: Force feedback checking start. (The PARSHENDI open fire) MOASH: What the- (RIPPLES appear in several nearby WATER GLASSES) SHEN: … (KALADIN charges out from under the BRIDGE, ripples appearing in several nearby WATER GLASSES. He wears a suit of DEAD PARSHENDI. Several ARROWS strike KALADIN and bounce off.) KALADIN: There is no spoon. (The approaching ARROWS slow doing dramatically, and KALADIN begins DODGING ALL OF THEM as the PARSHENDI lose FIRE DISCIPLINE) GAZ: IMPOSSIBRU! TEFT: Well, we got the bridges down without anyone important dying, but it looks like Sadeas is going to lose this one. DALINAR: I doubt it. (DALAINAR ARMY arrives, attacking the PARSHENDI from a SECOND FLANK. They RETREAT.) IN THE KHOLIN CAVE ADOLIN: I can’t believe I was wrong about Sadeas! RENARIN: Well, you shouldn’t think less of him just because he set you up to fight four Shardbearders at once. ADOLIN: Wait, what? RENARIN: I mean… You shouldn’t think less of him just because killed Asmodean. DALINAR: Not to get us back on track again, but can we get back on track? I’m not sure I can tie myself to this chair on my own. NAVANI: I can help with that… (NAVANI enters, SCANDALOUSLY wearing a FINGERLESS GLOVE) DALINAR: I’ve been finding these odd fabrials attached to my head when I wake up… most mornings now, actually. There’s one on the table right there. (FABRIAL sits on the TABLE, GLOWING OMINOUSLY) DALINAR: I don’t suppose you know anything about that, do you? NAVANI: No, no…. No. RENARIN: Highstorm’s here. DALINAR: Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn! ADOLIN: What did you see? DALINAR: I saw... I don't know what I saw. Death... Destruction... Nothing's really clear. NAVANI: What the last thing you said? DALINAR: ‘To be human is to want that which we cannot have’. (NAVANI procures a LARGE TOME from SOMEWHERE) NAVANI: Wait! If I cross-matrix the sample with the known passages and integrate the function of highstorm travel time over that interval… RENARIN: That makes perfect sense! NAVANI: And if I can translate the DawnChant from these visions, that would prove that they aren’t just insane ramblings! DALINAR: Can someone untie me now? NAVANI: I don’t see why that’s necessary. (AIR RAID SIREN) DALINAR: That’s The Tower. SADEAS: We need to attack the Parshendi now! ADOLIN: Is that a good idea? That far away, they’ll get in place first… SADEAS: Fighting is sure to result in victory, so we must fight! RENARIN: That isn’t even what that quote means. Besides, everyone with a brain knows that Clausewitz was better. SADEAS: Shutup, nerd. Anyway, that far away, your MechaBridges won’t be fast enough. You can borrow some of my Crews. RENARIN: Is that a good idea? DALINAR: I’m sure we can trust this man to give us bridges. (SADEAS twirls his MOUSTACHE) THE FINAL COUNTDOWN (SFX: Pacific Rim Theme) KALADIN: Bridge Four, Assemble! TEFT: All squads ready in all respects for action, sir. Ad Victoriam! (BRIDGE FOUR salutes KALADIN) BRIDGE FOUR: Ad Victoriam! KALADIN: Excellent. Stand by for departure. Ad Victoriam. OTHER BRIDGEMEN: YAY! ROCK: What are the wetlanders yelling about now? TEFT: They’ve finally realized who we are. MOASH: And what’s that? KALADIN: Their CHAMPIONS! Bridge forward. (SYLPHERENA folds her ARMS under her CHEST) SYL: It’s not that impressive… THE ASSASSIN IN WHITE FLED ACROSS THE PLAIN… DALINAR ARMY TECHNICIAN: Recovering from jump. Sensors coming back online now. Parshendi returns detected, separating signatures… Roughly ten thousand contacts on The Tower. SADEAS: We can take then thousand! We’ve got at least… a lot of soldiers? I’ll attack first, then you pursue the servants of the Corpse God up the Plateau. ADOLIN: But with that plan of attack, if your army breaks… SADEAS: JUST DO IT! DON’T LET YOUR FREAKY HIGHSTORM VISIONS BE DREAMS! DALINAR: All units, begin assault! (DALINAR and ADOLIN begin KILLING PARSHENDI) SADEAS: You’ve activated my trap card! (SADEAS shuffles all creatures under his control into his LIBRARY) TEFT: Is our army supposed to be retreating? (A wild PARSHENDI ARMY appears!) MOASH: That’s not good. ROCK: Stupid wetlanders, getting encircled. KALADIN: This is perfect. We fall behind because of our extra wounded, then loot those bodies for wargear and evacuate. They’ll assume we’re all dead, and then we’re free. (CREMLINGS chirping) (SYLPHERENA looks eastward, toward the ORIGIN and DALINAR ARMY) Vietnam, 1968 Near the Laotian Border Private First Class Kaladin Sturmmwerfer ran, clutching his assault rifle, trying to keep a low profile as he made a beeline for the trench. The detonation of motor shells formed a constant cracking staccato, combining the NVA fire to create a truly nightmarish cacophony. Kaladin spotted the trench and the last second and dove into it, a bullet slicing through the space previously occupied by his head an instant later. The situation was a mess; the fact that they had trenches, that they’d had the chance to dig them but had been unable to extract attested to that. … “What company are you from?” The man asked, flinching as a mortar shell detonated a few feet from the trench. “What’s their status?” “Dead.” Kaladin said, only barely managing not to stutter. “Dead. All dead.” … Kaladin found his way to the reassignment command post. He knew it couldn’t have been more than a few minutes, but it felt like an eternity, one he could barely remember. He spotted Sergeant Dalar as he approached; the man was in charge of Tien’s replacement squad. He needed to- “Reassignment is that way.” Dalar said, glancing at Kaladin. “I need to find the replacement squad. The one from the auxiliary regimental comms section.” “Why would you need that?” … “You.” The lieutenant said, pointing at Kaladin. “Get on the line. About time we got some reinforcements. How many-?” He was interrupted by a sudden burst of machine gun fire. “They’re attacking again.” The gunner announced, panic edging his voice. “Two thrusts, scattered. I’m almost out of ammo, and-“ “We’ve got fire support.” The lieutenant said. “Just make them keep their heads down for second and we’ll be clear. This time.” … Three solider in foxholes below the MLR. He spotted Tien immediately, fumbling his first attempt to fit a box magazine into the Squad Automatic Weapon he held, a weapon he clearly had almost no idea how to use. Tien opened fire, but the NVA were already closing on his position, and he fired almost continuously, and ran out of ammunition. Kaladin opened his mouth to shout something. … Tien could barely use the SAW, but he’d still caused the enemy to bunch up for the strike. Kaladin glanced back at the lieutenant. “Gotta turn a liability into an asset whenever you can. Only way to stay alive.” … SYL: Do fissionspren cause atomic decay, or are they attracted to it? KALADIN: Tien never could figure that out. I was usually more interested in the stellar sequences and other… Is this the time for that? Does it even matter? SYL: See, I’ve remembered what I am. Honorspreen. Spirit of Oaths, promises, and nobility. KALADIN: I’ve… This place… I won’t let it happen again… KALADIN: BRIDGE FORWARD! (BRIDGE FOUR charges the CHASM, easily DEFLECTING the first few salvos of PARSHENDI fire) (SFX) TEFT: There! On the left flank! (A large blob of PARSHENDI outflanks) KALADIN: Side carry! (BRIDGE FOUR rotates their BRIDGE, and the outflanking PARSHENDI suddenly EXPLODE) MOASH: Oh no… PARSHENDI: Now witness the power of this fully armed and operational battle station! (THE SUN vanishes as the PARSHENDI fire LOTS OF ARROWS) KALADIN: STEADY! (KALADIN raises a hand, and FLATTENED HEMISPHERE of RIPPLING EDDIES OF INCANDESCENT ENERGY appears, drawing in and catching each of the arrows) KALADIN: Vortex Lashing! (KALADIN returns the ARROWS to the PARSHENDI. They ALL DIE. KALADIN gains a LEVEL.) TEFT: Set bridge and prepare for combat! ESHONAI: Send in the next wave. (The GROUND shakes as a PARSHENDI SWARM approaches) KALADIN: GIVE THEM NOTHING! TAKE FROM THEM EVERYTHING! SOMEWHERE NEARBY SHARDPLATE: Stormlight dangerous low. Immediate withdrawal from combat recommended. DALINAR: I would if I could Shsh, but that’s not really an option now, is it? ADOLIN: Well, this is how it ends. DALINAR: What, no witty remarks? ADOLIN: Acerbic is better for last words. Besides, you were doing the right thing. I see that now. I suppose this had to happen sooner or later. Journey Before Destination and all that. If- WHAT IS THAT! (A massive SHARDBEAR crashes through the ALETHI line) ADOLIN: …. DALINAR: Why now! Why did you wait so long! ESHONAI: ROAR! DALINAR: Once more, into the breach! @BRIDGEHEAD KALADIN: I will protect those who cannot protect themselves. (KALADIN stares down the PARSHENDI SWARM) KALADIN: Sort of like you. (The PARSHENDI attack, with exactly the expected results against KALADIN’s T6 2+/3++ FNP 4+ IWND) SLY: OVERKILL! (KALADIN punches a hole in a PARSHEDI before grabbing another to use as a bludgeon) SLY: KILLTROCITY! KALADIN: THIS HAND OF MINE GLOWS WITH AN AWESOME POWER! ITS IMMORTAL WORDS TELL ME TO DEFEAT YOU! TAKE THIS! MY LOVE! MY ANGST! AND ALL OF MY COMPETENCE! (A PAINFULLY BRIGHT MOTE OF LIGHT appears in KALADIN’S HAND) KALADIN: INERTIAL-GRAVATIC CONFINEMENT FUSION LASHING!

An update? IMPOSSIBLE! PART THREE: HALF-SHARD LIFE SHALLAN: I’m not sure I like these women writing about the assassination of King Gavilar. JASNAH: It’s called the Assuredness Movement. The AssMove. It’s very dignified and cleaver rhetoric. SHALLAN: But… Here, Brightness Kayne is criticizing the centralized order imposed by the monarchy by simply repeating the phrase ‘storm THE POLICE’ in response to every argument against the position. (TARAVANGIAN enters, speaking on his CELLULAR SPANREED) TARAVANGIAN: I don’t care if the rate dropped by half, I want you to slice and dice. ???: Yes, daddy. TARAVANGIAN: damnation straight! (TARAVANGIAN hangs up, hanging his PURPLE FEATHERED CAP on a hook and draping his RHINESTONE STUDDED COAT over his chair) TARAVANGIAN: Jasnah, thanks for the assist on getting my ho out of that hole. What’s the scoop on your new girl there? JASNAH: Would you like a sketch? (SHALLAN sketches TARAVANGIAN, but accidently incudes some WIRED THINGS. She DESTROYS the SKETCH) PAN TO SHATTERED PLANINS GAZ: What is this? KALADIN: WE’RE GONNA NEED A MONTAGE! BRIDGE FOUR: A BRIDGE TRAINING MONTAGE! (GAZ wanders away) GAZ: I hate only having one eye. Not only do I have no depth perception; I think there’s something supernaturally wrong here. And given how that thing with the earring worked out… LAMARIL: Pay up, Gaz. GAZ: But you already took my lunch money today… LAMARIL: Well, get me more! Also, make that one guy die, but don’t kill him. Try spraying his blanket with ChasmFiend Mating Pheromones. (SOMEWHERE ELSE, KALADIN has a BRILLIANT IDEA) KALADIN: What was it that father used to say…? Oh, right. (A BRIDGE LAUNCH ELEVATOR deploys a SIDEWAYS BRIDGE) NEGATIVE SIX YEARS LATER LIRIN: Hey, Kal. (LIRIN and KALADIN sit at a TABLE. LIRIN is CLEARLY DRUNK) LIRIN: When you get to the Big City, stay there. Don’t get sucked back to some dump like this. KAL: Okay dad! KAL (THINKING): Little does he know that I’ll join the army, kill a Shardbearer, eat him to gain his powers, and then… figure out that part when I get there. (SOME TOWNSFOLK start pounding on the DOOR) TOWNSFOLK: Open up! This is a robbery! (LIRIN opens the DOOR) LIRIN: What do you want? TOWNSFOLK: Give us the spheres! LIRIN: Kaladin, go upstairs. Daddy has some work to do. (KALADIN beats a HASATY RETREAT upstairs, hearing his father’s SURGICAL CHAINSWORD revving as he does so.) PAN TO PRESNT DAY GAZ: Alright, fish. Bridge crews. KALADIN: Why doesn’t Bridge Four get any new meat? GAZ: Fine. One. KALADIN: I’ll take that one. He looks like the least useful, so he’s probably the best choice. (An AIR RAID SIREN sounds) KALADIN: Bridge Four, roll out! MANY HANDS OF BRIDGE LATER (BRIDGE FOUR and the rest of SADEAS ARMY approach THE DARK TOWER) KALADIN: So am I the Gunslinger here? GAZ: Bridges FORWARD! (SFX: SAVING PRIVATE RYAN BEACH SCENE) BRIDGEMAN: I’M LOSING CONTROL OF THE SITUATION! OTHER BRIDGEMAN: WE NEED EVAC NOW, DAMNIT, NOW! (Both BRIDGMEN immediately DIE, causing the rest of their BRIDGE CREW to suffer a PANIC CHAIN) KALADIN: Deploy our secret weapon. TEFT: Sir, it hasn’t been tested. Without proper calibration, we could lose confinement on the main reaction chamber and- KALADIN: We don’t have a choice. SIDE CARRY! (BRIDGE FOUR rotates their BRIDGE a full NINETY DEGREES on the X AXIS) TEFT: Stormfather! It’s actually working! (BRIDGE SEVENTEEN catches on FIRE. BRIDGE TWO suddenly EXPLODES. Within Minutes, SADEAS ARMY is falling back in disarray. Four PARSHENDI WARRIORS press their SKULLPLATES against the corner of the GATE and ESHONAI floats through, ending the BATTLE) (LAMARIL approaches KALADIN, accompanied by THUGS) LAMARIL: Do you know what you’ve done? KALADIN: For Great Justice. (The THUGS surround KALADIN and BEAT HIM SENSELESS) WHEN SUDDENLY SHALLAN: King Gavilar’s account of his expedition into the Unclaimed Hills is certainly breathtaking. So is his discussion of the possible socioeconomic and geopolitical impacts of intelligent Parshmen and easily harvested gemhearts. (SHALLAN spots the SUBTEXT, clearly marked with an ILLUMINITI SYMBOL) SHALLAN: Jasnah wrote this? It says… “Gavilar should be thinking about hitting Greatshells, and here he is whining about economics and anthropology and Voidbringers like a little bitch”. SHALLAN: Interesting. JASNAH: Time for a Philosophy lesion! (SHALLAN and JASNAH quickly FAST TRAVEL to a different part of KHARBRANTH) SHALLAN: Are you sure this is safe? JASNAH: Of course it is! This used to be a dangerous neighborhood, but then a group of Ardents started doing a lot of work to clean it up, cut down crime, improve education and public health… They’re working out of a chapel just over there. ARDENT: With this new immune system-boosting Fabril, we can increase the survival of patients, and allow surgeons to work on them without getting infected themselves! With mass production, we could cut down plague deaths by an Order of Magnitude! (JASNAH uses SOULCAST, turning one of the CHAPEL WALLS into a PILE OF RUBBLE. She enters.) ARDENT: You? No! (JASNAH uses SOULCAST, turning ARDENT into STELLAR PLASMA. He EXPLODES. The CHAPEL collapses.) JSANAH: Much more satisfying when they understand their lives are over. (JASHAN uses SOULCAST, turning the SURVIVORS into CHUNKS OF MEAT) SHALLAN: You just killed at least thirty people! JASNAH: Did I though? Did I really? Or, was it they were men and knew how to read that killed them? SHALLAN: …NO! (SHALLAN crouches, approaches JASNAH from behind and removes the SOULCASTER from her inventory, replacing it with her own BROKEN SOULCASTER and a GRENADE, sans PIN) SOME TIME LATER (KALADIN is STRUNG UP from the roof of the BRIDGE FOUR HEADQUATERS, facing the ORGIN, and is UPSIDEDOWN) KALADIN: Unfamiliar celing… Wait. That’s a wall. (SFX: WHEN THE WILD WIND BLOWS) TEFT: Not only did they beat you senseless and string you up; they took your money. ROCK: Stupid wetlanders. Can’t even survive a Highstorm. KALADIN: It’s situations like this that make me really want to reconsider my life choices. JEZEREZEH: ROCK YOU LIKE A HURRICANE. KALADIN: WELL THEN, COME AND GET ME! (KALADIN is SMASHED by the StormWall) KALADIN: That smarts… What? (SYLPHRENA holds a GLOWING SHARDBLADE, deflecting ROCKS before they hit KALADIN) KALADIN: Great. Now I’m hallucinating. (The HIGHSTORM becomes as a SHIFTING TECHNICOLOR EXPASNE) KALADIN: The rust is this? (The SHIFTING TECHNICOLOR EXPASE turns to the INFINITE COLD DARK BLACK OF SPACE, occupied by a RATHER LARGE FACE) KALADIN: The rust is that? (KALADIN is out of useable POKEMON. KALADIN paid out THIRTEEN CLEARMARKS to the winner. KALADIN BLACKED OUT.) PREVIOSULY, ON AMC’S Breaking Radiant (KALADIN, TIEN, and KALADIN’S MOM are SITTING at a TABLE) TIEN: Kaladin, look at this rock. Tiny pieces of it keep breaking down into even smaller pieces of something else. KALADIN’S MOM: That’s nice, dear. TIEN: I’m not sure what controls if, or when, a given piece of the rock breaks down, though. KALADIN’S MOM: Perhaps is has a spren. KALADIN: I doubt it. Spren are ugly and stupid. KALADIN’S MOM: I think you’ll regret that one day, dear. TIEN: I wonder what would happen if I got a bunch of this rock and crushed it really hard, all at the same time. (LIRIN enters) LIRIN: I’m off to see the BrightLord! KALADIN: I’m coming with you. (KALADIN and LIRIN quickly infiltrate the CASTLE and sit down for DINNER) ROSHONE: Give me the Spheres. I know your family is starving! LIRIN: If we want for food, we can always eat your family. Kaladin, please step out for a moment. (KALADIN exits. He encounters LARAL and RILLIR in a BREAKFAST NOOK.) RILLIR: Father says we should marry. I’m not opposed to the idea; I think I could limit myself to about ten or fifteen mistresses… LARAL: Stop acting like on of those Final Empire bastards and- Oh, hey Kal. (LARAL bats her EYELASHES at KALADIN) LARAL: Have you missed me, Kaladin? KALADIN: No. I can’t believe I ever thought you were… fun to spend time with. Storming lighteyes. PRESNET DAY (ROCK and TEFT look up at KALADIN, who is hanging from the ROOF and HAS LOOKED BETTER) ROCK: He is dead. TEFT: He’s only mostly dead. Big difference between all dead and mostly dead. Nothing we could do if he was all dead; they already went through his pockets looking for spheres. But if he’s only mostly dead… (TEFT and ROCK cut down KALADIN and stash him in the BARRACKS, then leave. TEFT enters some time later, carrying SOME SPHERES.) TEFT: No way this could work. Just what to prove those old bastards wrong. (TEFT places the SPHERES on KALADIN) TEFT: Good, nothing. I was worried for a second there- (SFX: LIBERA ME FROM HELL) (KALADIN begins GLOWING) TEFT: No! It can’t be! The legendary Super- (TEFT notes that KALADIN’S EYES become pale rather than his HAIR) TEFT: Oh. Just a Radiant. I was worried for a second there.

What type of twinborn would you like to be? Personally, I would like to be a chromium compounder, as then I would be able to be really lucky (Jackpot!). earning £10m every time I do the lottery. Lol, that would be so funny... Although gold compounder would be pretty good too... To see the full list of feruchemical and allomantic abilities, see the metal magic quick reference chart I made down below, or go to coppermind.net to find it. Mostly, I'm talking about compounders, but just about anything could be possible. Actually, being a lerasium allomancer and a soulbearer ferring would make your allomancy really strong... But that's just my thoughts. What do you think? Ars Arcanum Metal Magic Quick Reference Chart.docx

I've lived with moderate anxiety most of my life, in recent years it has scaled up somewhat and led into bouts of depression. It hasn't been too serious, but although I can live with it, it definitely interferes in my day-to-day ability to do the stuff I need to do. I only recently sought professional help and began seeing a therapist. She asked me to talk about how I cope with these feelings when they get bad, and I was honest with her and told her that I essentially just distract myself from them, usually by reading. I've found that reading fiction, particularly fantasy, transports me from whatever is giving me anxiety and lets the feeling pass. It lets me feel intense emotions when depression is keeping me from feeling them in my own life. I fully expected to be advised against this, to be told that distracting myself from my feelings wasn't a legitimate strategy, that I needed to face reality. But my therapist actually said she thought that was a good, and common strategy that she hears all the time. And that if its working, keep doing it! I'm not saying reading fantasy is a cure-all for these problems, but I really like the idea that it can be an effective coping strategy (among other efforts I'm making toward being mentally well). Stories have been such a huge component of my inner life ever since I was a kid, and the fact that they are so healing for me now makes me smile. Anyways, just felt like tossing this into the internet void in case anyone else has had the same experience and wants to share about it. And love and well wishes to anyone who is dealing with these issues

This seems to be so much better than the random stuff I come up with...I once came up with the idea of a horror story told from the perspective of an apple being eaten...

Alright, looks like I need to clarify my thoughts on two sets of things. The spren and the spiritual realm. First, the spren. There is a fundamental difference between the spren and the beads. The beads are the 'minds' of objects that are affected by how people view them. The spren are intelligent splinters of Investiture that are mostly cognitive in nature, and therefor influenced by the cognition of other people. Also, the sea of beads is only on land. On physical water bodies, the cognitive realm is actually 'land'-- see SH. Spren live somewhere in the cognitive realm in cities they have... 'built?' Why would the spren's thoughts need to go anywhere? By your logic, you wouldn't be able to fully enter the cognitive realm physically, because then where do your thoughts go? It is clearly possible to enter the cognitive realm physically, so your logic can't apply. The thoughts of spren are self contained. As for the spiritual realm, for a moment I will ignore that it doesn't really have 'location' for the sake of the metaphor. I mainly picture the SR as a neural network, or maybe something like a food-web. Anything and everything can have a Connection to anything and everything else. It just has to have some physical, cognitive, or, in some instances, ideological interaction that puts them together. In this sense, just passing someone in the street would Connect the two of you in the SR, albeit infinitesimally. On the other hand, Sazed couldn't Ascend to both R/P before Hero of Ages. It was in that book that his moral/religious dithering and grief Connected him to Ruin enough to be able to Ascend to it. Those thoughts and actions basically extended a tether through the 'neural network' of the SR to Ruin, and the two were Connected. Kelsier, with his birth, was Connected to Preservation such that he could become mistborn. Eventually, with all of his destructive thoughts and behaviors, he had a very powerful Connection to Ruin, and that is what prevented him from properly using Preservation. The neural network isn't necessarily the best metaphor, but I will try to do it justice. You are just a point with no substance. The things that matter to 'you' in the SR are your Connections. They are 'lines' between you and other points. These lines can have different 'width' and 'color.' The wider the Connection, the more powerful it is. Different colors of Connection mean different things, like ones that grant magic versus ones where you just know someone really well. These Connections comprise 'you'-- and are your sDNA. Hemalurgy grabs one end of the line and attaches it to a different point, Ruining it somewhat in the process. Think for a moment about TeS. The reason Shai could experiment on Gaotona was because he was well Connected to Ashravan, so the stamps would take for a minute or so. I think that all Connections are, as you put it, latent. It's just that some of those Connections can be conduits for power under certain conditions. You can Connect to any of the Shards ideologically, but you are essentially always going to be more Connected to your local Shard than others, even if it's only because of your proximity to their physical and cognitive portions of power. That is what I meant by them being a central hub. Shards have substantial, if not large, Connections to all the people and things on the planet they Invest, so they kinda have a domain in the SR. This is why it's so hard for a Shard to leave a planet, and part of why Odium is very displeased at the moment. Just being nearby for so long, on top of sending Desolations to untrap himself, has Connected Odium fairly well to the locale, so it's hard to leave without leaving some power behind in the form of those Connections. I would guess it is mostly about the Connection to the planet(s) itself, since those are so large I would presume they can handle a much larger Connection. The place this metaphor falls apart is with internal Investiture. I would say it is more like the network Connects your Investiture to other Investitures. When you store a Feruchemical aspect, you are temporarily moving the effect of that Investiture into a different location- the metalmind. Then when you draw on the mind, you temporarily enhance a certain aspect of your personal Investiture, thereby changing how it filters down through the cognitive and physical realms. Ugh... that could have been worded better, lets try again. When you store, the shafts of light metaphor from SH is key. I think you are storing those shafts of light in the metalmind, and then when you tap them, you have extra shafts of that kind of light. That wording was a little better. It's about where the pressure is coming from. With a straw, you are sucking up the Investiture. With a pipe, it's trying to get to you, but you have to do something to open the valve. A particularly apt example is Raoden with the Dor, though that is something of an exception to the rule for obvious reasons. Another distinction is that the pipe is already in place, it's only on/off. With a straw, you can take it in and out of the drink as well as suck up power. That's... no. They probably had more of Preservation's Investiture 'inside' them when they had just eaten the bead and not burned it, honestly. The burning of Lerasium changes your latent Connection to Preservation. To use my metaphor, the line is wider and the color is better suited to conducting power. You are more permeated with Investiture, yes, but all that really means is that it takes longer for you to pass Beyond after you die, and may have implications for interference when others use magic on you. That is more a residue effect of burning in general. *Sigh* I really just think Occam's Razor shreds your ideas. The ideas you present require too many obtuse interpretations to work. You've built a massive house of cards, and I really think it will all just collapse once you accept the loss of one or two cards. Pretty much everything you say about WoBs is prefaced with "I interpret." Just take the darn things at face value sometimes! I may edit this later if I feel I've poorly explained something. I may just post again. Edit: yep, editing. I found this WoB that should put the spren case to rest. May edit more later.

Warbreaker. Found the book kind of slow and boring. I am color blind as well, so I had problems imagining everything. That said, Warbreaker is still good, and...

He thought he had the Honorblade. In reality he had the blade that Dalinar had bonded and placed back in the hiding place to catch Amaram in the lie. The blade in question was never the Honorblade though, as that was switched at some point between tWoK epilogue, and Taln's arrival to the Shattered Plains. The description between the two blades is unquestionably different. Edit: all of which has already been covered in this thread.

Amaram has the honorblade. Note that he mentions a precious cargo in his trunks before he fetches 'Taln'.

The Adolin flashback was new to me when @The One Who Connects told me about it a few weeks ago. I didn't learn it within this thread I said it was great news, because Brandon has always been reticent to speak/write more of Adolin and now he wrote this. Since it is something he did recently, I figured something must have changed his mind, but I am very pleased he did. I get most of my information either by scrolling down on Reddit and into the Events and Signings. @jofwu also makes, each month, a nice compilation of all WoB on Reddit which is a nice way to check if I haven't missed one.

@Blackhoof I had somehow assumed it was some reasonable Coalition vs the Final Empire. I feel like Clubs' perfect win record with Koloss has some small bias in his opinion on what seems like a reasonable K/D for Koloss, but he is the most authoritative source we have. Never really found(or at least never seen) a decent explanation of whether it was 16% naturally or mist-snapped. Skaa are by far the largest portion of the population, and per (Kelsier?) they can't even be Mistings if they don't have Noble blood in the last 5 generations. 16% with that kind of negative skew seems too high in my opinion. Fair enough on situational timeframe, but I don't think it's his very first keep raid. He may have only hit minor nobles in the plantations/other cities, so the standard guard sounds good. Ok, so I reread the scene again. The first group of Hazekillers she and Zane fight is the "looked to be perhaps fifty" group. They take out a total of 50 together at that time. Zane then goes to the second floor and does unknown stuff. Vin heads straight up to the third floor and is attacked by "dozens more coming out of a secret stairwell" There was a fifty to one mention, so we'll call it 4 dozen. The fourth floor is bypassed with a casual mention of Zane jumping out the window and that making it "clear." The Fifth floor is where they find Cett, after Vin fight "soldiers" not Hazekillers. She thinks they were probably trained against Allomancers, but they are noted differently than the HK's were. Floor 1: 50 HK \\ Floor 3: 48 HK Floor's 2 and 4 are cleared by Zane in the time it takes for Vin to clear Floor 3 via Two Duralumin moves, so I imagine if Zane faced any HK's, there were much less. Floor 5 didn't have any at all. So anywhere from 100-120 HK's in total.

Do you really think Brandon would drop such a huge spoiler? Brandon will often give vague answers to vaguely worded questions and this looks like another example. I wouldn't say there's much that you can really say from that particular WoB apart from: Shallan and Kaladin will meet a few times (ie Kaladin won't be away the entire book) and there might be "sparks" but it doesn't tell us where they end up at all. I'd suggest being quite careful about this sort of thing, unless you're happy to take a "tabloid" type stance on "facts".

The kids next to me on the bus are watching Hebrew MLP.

THEY JUST DO? I also randomly felt like making a Sauron/Hermione Granger meme >>

El, you don't have to put yourself on hiatus just for a few dropped games. Many of us, if not most of us or all of us, have done things that have negatively-affected gameplay. There have been senseless bandwagons, accidental alignment reveals, inactivity on many more fronts than yours, broken game mechanics, betrayals in poor strategy... the list goes on. One inactive doesn't make or break a game, and I'm sure that the rest of the SE populace would join me in saying that you're welcome in any game that you sign up for, regardless of your projected activity level. So if you feel like putting yourself on hiatus, that's your choice. But whether or not it is your choice, it's not your only choice.

Still don't get why people would buy edgedancer solo if they can get Arcanum Unbounded. I am guessing they will include 5 or so of Oathbringer chapters to pull in committed

Yeah, the magic system is more of a background magic system. In fact, it's only until after the murder is committed that you even find out it exists (although there are hints and inconsistencies). Basically, in this world (which has fairly low-level technology) people have magic inside of them. Different parts of a person's body are more powerful than others, with things like blood, bones and organs being the most powerful. This magic is also inside animals of the region. For the magic to be used, however, it has to accompanied by some emotion. Because the magic is either new, or hasn't really been discovered (not completely sure which), it has manifested in strange ways, by people putting strong emotions into or while weilding objects containing body parts (wow that sounds dark). One of the biggest ways this has manifested and effected their world has been through various forms of art. Like music: many instruments were once made using body parts. Intestines were really common for strings, hair is used for bows, and bone is sometimes used for ornamentation. Put enough emotion into your music while playing, and things happen. So yeah, this is what I've come up with for my world's magic...

Everything I'd say has already been handled by others so I'll just add one detail because I didn't know it until recently and it's worth spreading around. And here's what I want to add. Brandon has confirmed that we've seen the final phase in the chasmfiend lifecycle, they don't turn into anything else once they reach the point we've already observed on the Shattered Plains.

i think you remember it wrong. ivory never specifically says it's not the painspren. the exchange goes "but they are harmless" "on your side, harmless. on this side, harmmore". so it definittely refers to the painspren

I was starting to think this was an idea I'd seen before (though rarely) about a difficultly in trying to revive a dead blade, but this is far more interesting. You think the Radiants were basically forced into the Recreance because someone locked their spren, rather than them choosing to abandon their Oaths? That's actually really intriguing, and in fact fits better with the emotions and behavior of the Knights in Dalinar's vision of the Recreance, in my mind. They hadn't lost their powers completely, hence being able to fly (the Windrunners he saw, at least), but the spren had been locked away, and the Radiants he saw seemed…dejected and numb, perhaps feeling betrayed themselves rather than having betrayed the world. If their spren had essentially been murdered, en masse, and them left with only the dead bodies of their closest friends, I could see them simply walking away and abandoning everything, if they felt or knew the betrayal had come from within in some way (either within the Radiants, or just within Alethkar, rather than the Voidbringers).

I'm not an expert, but I believe the original iteration of This forum was made somewhere in-between the release of Hero of Ages and The Gathering Storm. The core and founders of the 17th shard came from a subset of a different forum. The Mistborn Inquisition RP site was still a big deal back then. The Coppermind Wiki was started some time later. For a better understanding of the history older members like Quiver, Kurkistan were around then ish. Chaos, Rubix, and other staff members have been on since the beginning obviously. I joined around the release of Alloy of Law, when the cosmere was really starting to open up. We had found out about the Shards and Hoid by that point obviously, but our WoB library was still shallow and we didn't have as many books as we do now. Most of our WoB gathering and theorizing were about very functional parts of the magic or lore, and not so much about the grand scheme of the cosmere I think. The Only Joe and Del joined close to the same time as I did. Kobold a few months later I think, or maybe a month earlier. Too lazy to look it up. If I remember correctly, Delightful, Twilyght, and Kaymyth didn't join for quiet a while after that. The beginning of the more casual parts of the forums becoming Very active was when Queen Elsa joined, had an introduction thread that ran in excess of twenty pages, and than formed the Newcago Court. The formation of the Newcago court allowed for much more lighthearted and less strict roleplaying that SE allows, and encouraged other guilds to form, culminating in the ultimate showdowns between Chaos's Lords of Chaos and the Newcago Court, primarily led by Elsa and I, although Joe and Quiver among others were prominant players. The guilds continued, and more and more and more started popping up. The Dark Alley, first founded by Kurk and Swimmingly, but inherited by Voidus hasn't changed much from those days. Many of the roleplayers got tired with running around in circles in the guild halls, and started the Rechoners RP. Kobold King was instrumental to this, but as I wasn't terribly active over there I can't give a good history of it. Somewhere between the guildwars and Reckoner's RPing, the game threads started to hit it big with Nightwatcher, Eastern Street Slang, and several others. When I introduced the Hurt'n'Heal game to the forum it exploded in popularity faster than anything except perhaps the Reckoners RP, but than fell off, and has since gone through one, maybe two revivals. With Reckoners came the era of the Pony. *Shudders* Those were dark days. EVERYONE was being ponified. It was very scary. The discussion threads like Random Stuff, Bad day/Good Day, and the others got established and I think really helped keep many members engaged when they got bored with other sections of the forums. Unfortunately, others like Swimmingly and Queery retired. Many of the early staff who were less active let newer more active members take much of the responsibility for moderating. Reputation points were probably flowing fastest at this point, but there was also quiet a lot of wasted time spent on discussions about upvotes/downvotes, largely due to accidental downvotes being impossible to get rid of. The most prominant current members were starting to emerge as very popular and influential posters, and second tier prominance members were joining. Basically, nothing outrageously interesting happened until the big update in the forum. *realizes that no one asked for what is probably a pretty garbled and narrow view of the history of the shard* *Meh, who cares.*

Welcome to the Shard @Rockobar *waves*. I must say, you have certainly entered with bang. Also, upvote because I don't think you deserve all those downvotes, you stated your opinion, and, even though I don't agree with it, I can respect the fact that you did so in a respectful manner. Anyway, welcome! Now onwards to my points (this sounds like a debate now...) which turned out waaay longer than I expected. Whoops. Overall, I would say that you are asking Brandon to be un-Brandon. Every artist has a hallmark to their art, and I think that if Brandon were to do some of the things you talk about, it would ultimately diverge his writing from his personality in his writing, as well as the story that he wants to tell. You refer to the upbringing and how it resulted in this view which is obviously misguided, but if we did not have authors of different upbringings and views, what would be the point in reading. If every story was the same in the outlook it presents, would you be interested in reading it? I know that I wouldn't. Firstly, on the topic of sexuality. I am personally very grateful for the fact that there is very little sexual scenes in the Cosmere. As an asexual myself, I find it refreshing to see a modern, adult fantasy series that doesn't involve some kind of explicit sex. Half the time when it occurs in a book, I'll roll my eyes skim the section to see if there is anything important and move on (I skipped pages and pages of Game of Thrones, rolling my eyes as I did). I would personally prefer to read about something that actually influences story and character in books (which are already getting very, very long) rather than a sex scene for the sake of a sex scene. "Raw primal desire" as you put it, is not the sole form of what makes us human. Humans are a complex being, as you have pointed out, and while it is a factor in who we are, I personally believe that humans are so, so much more than lust that they feel, and not every part of human life can, or indeed should be included in a book, simply because it does not have enough relevance to the story to warrant being included. Also, I would say that doing this makes the books more accessible to people of younger years On your point on religion now. Religion is something that has been a foundation of human society for milenia, and has had a profound impact in culture throughout much of the world, from creating the backbone of morality, to societal structure. Violence and peace can both result from religion, and it is a vital part of a culture. I would also say, particularly on your points on the diagram is to wait and see, because I think it will be an interesting ride, because we're only 2 books in. Now, onto genre. I must say, we have highly different opinions on this, because the mish-mash of genres is something that really appeals to me. Fantasy owes a lot to Grandpa Tolkien, but far too often, I believe, authors get stuck in a rut of making very fantasy fantasy (hopefully that makes sense). I know very few fantasy trilogies that show an obvious growth of society, over time, as culture is not static, but is a very fluid concept that is always changing, as does technology. I find that it is extremely refreshing to see this in a fantasy book. Also, on a bit of a side note, I love how I have no idea what genre Mistborn era 2 (1.5?) in that it's a strange cross between fantasy, sci-fi, western, crime, thriller and probably a few more chucked in there. Life is rarely so black and white. So, whilst I disagree with many of the points that you have made, I think it is great that you put your ideas out there, even though they might not be very popular ideas (especially on your first post). I hope I didn't sound too aggressive in my writing (sorry if I did), but I would love your thoughts on my thoughts on your thoughts (yay for overly confusing sentence). See you round the shard!

everyone, try to calm down. yes, that letter is poorly conceived and it has some "my world view is the one true view and so I feel i must impose it on everyone else", but it was politely worded and therefore deserves a polite response. Do we not brag about the niceness of this community? Is this not a place where one can write his ideas without fear of being bashed if they do not conform to the majority? And, perhaps most relevant to the specific case, can we convince him of his mistake by calling GRRM an old pervy and his followers people who are only in for the sex and violence? This is the same attitude we want to discourage. Yes, the OP dislikes many of the things that are the mark of sanderson and that are exactly what most of us likes about his books. Yes, the OP shows he has not understood some subtleties of the story - you'd be surprised, but not everyone reread every book several times looking for subtle clues and then goes to find all the author's interviews; casual readers don't know of adonalsium or hoid - and he probably cherry-picked some evidence to support his wrong conclusions about religion in the books. and yes, he had a somewhat arrogant attitude about it - something many people, me included, can adopt without realizing. There just isn't enough to bash him like some of the replies did.

@Quiver @Darkness Ascendant

Robert Jordan Adonalsium shatters, and the Shards turn into fragments, and the fragments turn into slivers, and even slivers fade to dust when the Shattering comes again. In a time of trial, a time yet to come, a time far past, a wind blew through the Northern Roughs. The wind was not a beginning. There are no beginnings and no ends to the Shattering of Adonalsium. But it was a beginning.

It may get a RAFO because he doesn't want us to know too much about Resonances yet (which is not to say that we shouldn't try). I'm still pretty sold on that being the case, though. It might be somewhat different for Lift--indeed, my suspicion about how Resonances work is that they're all the same general ability, but it's a little different for every individual--but the evidence seems pretty compelling to me. Granted, there is only a single line about the historical Edgedancers being very eloquent, but it seems like Lift also has that in her. During her final confrontation with Nalan, her speech patterns change in a very interesting way. In the orphanage she shouts, "Darkness! The one they call Nin, or Nale! Nakku, the Judge! I'm here. It's me! The one you tried--and failed--to kill in Azir!" Then when she forces him to confront the Everstorm and the parshmen becoming Voidbringers she says, "I heard what you said, Darkness! You were trying to prevent the Desolation. Look behind you! Deny what you're seeing!" That is not how Lift usually talks. She hasn't suddenly become a master orator, but she is much more articulate than usual. And that really squares with the Edgedancer vows. Remembering the forgotten and listening to the ignored doesn't really go hand-in-hand with eloquence, necessarily. It does, however, match up pretty precisely with the ability to always speak to someone in their own personal language. There's something special about talking to someone who uses the same words that you do and always puts things in a way that really resonates with you. I'd be really surprised if it turned out that Edgedancers don't all have some version of this ability.

He...was tapping a bit too much electrum and storing a bit too much zinc. And Breeze was in the corner fiddling with his emotions.

Holla Holla.