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I've been rereading OB and noticed something that just struck me as... kind of obvious foreshadowing of something. Possible foreshadowing. Jasnah does not smile often. She only smiles when it feels most genuine to do so. From p. 482 of Oathbringer, in the chapter "Broken People": Why is that little fact important? Consider the very next chapter, Notes", p. 499. And of course there is the somewhat infamous low key flirting scene. But in addition to the flirting, there's also a flash of genuine positive emotion from Jasnah. Dalinar, who is one of the closest family members of Jasnah and knows her very well, states that she only smiles rarely - only when it feels most genuine to do so. And here we have Kaladin sparking that reaction from her in the span of a single conversation, which, if I am not mistaken, is also the first time they've talked to one another. It's hard not to draw the conclusion that they have some chemistry together.

Hello everyone! Since i was introduced to the wonderous world of Brandon Sanderson just a couple of months ago i would like to ask you guys a question? What was the first book of Sanderson's that you have read??? Mine was Steelheart.

I definitely see the seeds of a Jasnah/Kaladin union. Whether the plot actually goes that direction I couldn't say, but the framing has been set up enough that it could. Personality wise they aren't incompatible. Both are intelligent, passionate and committed to doing the right thing. Jasnah's more practical than Kaladin's idealist streak, but neither one is 100% inflexible in that regard. They both also hold a lot of their thoughts/emotions inside. With Kaladin we know what those thoughts are, but Jasnah is still something of a blank slate though. It's possible Jasnah is asexual or not interested in men, but I think it more likely she's like Kaladin, "married to her job" (saving the world), not necessarily adverse to the idea of a relationship, but not really seeking one out either. I could definitely see both growing closer and more familiar with each other as they spend time together. I also see the story kind of maneuvering them into a situation where they likely will spend a lot more time together. I think Queen Jasnah will struggle with her position. Despite being extremely intelligent and capable the fact that she's a woman, a heretic, and is rather emotionally closed-off will present plenty of reasons for her subjects to not like her. Knowing that Jezrien/Windrunners were associated with Leadership, and seeing the personal loyalty that Kaladin inspires from his squires, I think Jasnah will try to learn leadership soft skills from Kaladin. Unfortunately though he wouldn't be able to teach his hilarious Charisma Aura he seems to have unlocked with the 3rd Oath which makes crowds of people stare at him whenever he's brooding or gazing into the distance though

There is a cage match competition of fantasy/sci-fi characters. I don't know much about it, you can learn more by following the link below. But more importantly, the Stormfather is in this competition. And he needs all of our votes! Please go to the link and help the Stormfather! http://www.unboundworlds.com/cage-match-2018/

Friend, if you would classify Adolin's experience thus far in the SA as "getting shafted left and right", then I suspect you aren't going to like what is coming in future books...

Guess who figured out simple knitting today?

I fart in your general direction

I don’t exactly love the idea, but admittedly that’s mostly for personal preference reasons. Mainly, I don’t feel like Jasnah should feel the need to make a political marriage since she already has an heir (Gavinor). And if she was only doing it for political reasons, it might seem to undermine Jasnah as queen in her own right. On the other hand maybe she would use it as an a logical justification for something she wants to do anyway. But I guess I’d rather just see her with a consort if she wants one. That may be out of the norm for Alethi royalty, but Jasnah is unorthodox so it wouldn’t necessarily stop her, especially during a desolation. As for Kaladin, I can’t see him agreeing to a marriage for purely political reasons. I think there would have to be more for him. I love what @Vissy pointed out and I think there are a couple other small indications that Jasnah is impressed and maybe intrigued or even attracted to Kaladin. So far I don’t see any of that on his side, but that could change. He did have a relationship of some kind with Tarah so it wouldn’t necessarily have to be a marriage or nothing for him either.

Pyromancer is obviously Arraenae pretending to be Meta pretending to be Young Bard pretending to be Alvron. Did you guys learn nothing from AG4?

@leboralli, Welcome, and have an upvote! The war is about people offering spiked cookies vs. people offering nonspiked cookies, when you really get down to it. Role-play wars and whatnot, silly stuff. Alternatively, you could have a penguin!* *Does not contain spikes. When adulthood is reached, likelihood of explosively imitating rocket-ships increases by a chance of 24601.0642%.

He comes from the WoB, one dead man, a shoe in his mouth, and I know that I have seen true grief.

Just wondering if anyone agrees it's strange about covering her left hand

Further thoughts What makes you think that Adolin is not capable of leading armies, even Radiant armies, simply because he himself does not have a bond with a spren? If Adolin is as much of a capable and brilliant and experienced military commander that you say, why would Dalinar not utilize him anyway? Perhaps Dalinar doesn't ask these questions because he doesn't value his son less simply because he doesn't have a bond. Perhaps Dalinar never doubted his son will have a role to play. Perhaps Dalinar has more faith in Adolin's future without Radiancy than you do.

Patrick Rothfuss parody RP: (I am roleplaying as Kelsier) It was night again. Silverlight lay in silence, and it was a silence of three parts. The most obvious part was a hollow, echoing quiet, made by things that were lacking. If there had been a Shard it would have coursed through the streets, set the great Investiture collectors creaking, and brushed the silence down the road like trailing Cognitive Shadows. If there had been a crowd, even a handful of people inside one of the laboratories, they would have filled the silence with conversation and laughter, the clatter and clamor one expects from a research facility late at night. If there had been music . . . but no, of course there was no music. In fact there were none of these things, and so the silence remained. Inside the Shard-Facility™ a pair of men huddled at one corner of the viewing-chamber. They studied with quiet determination, avoiding serious discussion of troubling news. In doing this they added a small, sullen silence to the larger, hollow one. It made an alloy of sorts, a counterpoint. The third silence was not an easy thing to notice. If you listened for an hour, you might begin to feel it in the roof tiles underfoot and in the rough, splintering barrels behind the building. It was in the weight of the black stone chimney that held the heat of a long dead fire. It was in the slow back and forth of a white linen cloth across the shape of a metalmind. And it was in the nimble hands of the man who stood there, polishing a stretch of chromium that already gleamed in the moonlight. The man had scarred arms, scarred as a well-ploughed field. His one un-spiked eye was dark and distant, and he moved with the subtle certainty that comes from knowing many things. The laboratory was his, just as the third silence was his. This was appropriate, as it was the greatest silence of the three, wrapping the others inside itself. It was deep and wide as autumn’s ending. It was heavy as a great river-smooth stone. It was the patient, cut-flower sound of a man who refused to die.

Perhaps, despite all the things that Adolin excels at and had been gifted with in his life, that these things are not what would make him worthy of attracting a spren to become Radiant? Maybe the spren know something about him we don't?

Spoiler for length:

I would take some cookies but I have already consumed some delicious Oreos and i feel like my stomach would not take kindly to the hemalurgic spikes being there! XD

Alas! I would but becoming a drab would be a terrible thing for me to be doing!

@WhiteLeeopard, that's a good point. I'm assuming some of the old social order has survived the chaos in Alethkar, which is probably a dicey proposition. Clearly the desolation is going to change everything. With all the attention the books have given to the unjust inequalities in Alethi society, I'm sure all of that will be torn down, and a Radiant-centric leadership caste will arise in its place. And if that progresses quickly, a Kaladin-Jasnah marriage could certainly be proposed. But I don't think Kaladin would go for it. Why? Because the only purpose of such a marriage is to cement the new Radiant aristocracy. It would lay the foundation of a new system in which Kaladin's descendants would have privilege because they inherit his bright blue eyes. In other words, a new system identical to the old system. Once Kaladin's eye color changes permanently, and he realizes that all the injustices he grew up with are ultimately the result of ancient Radiant supremacy, he will want no part in this. He swore to protect, not to rule.

Kaladin may be commoner-born, but that doesn't matter since he holds a shardblade. As soon as he shows the blade, he's considered only a step or two below the highprinces. That's how he gets away with ordering Rashone around in Hearthstone. His shardblade places him above Rashone in authority regardless of whether he was a slave or deserter in the past.

My old RS username was Shadow_00002 As for Voidus I'm not actually sure when or how I came to it, but it's been my gamertag and my username in most places for a fairly long time now.

Elenion is an Tolkien-elvish word featured in the elvish poem "A Elbereth Gilthoniel". At one point I had a couple lines of the poem memorized, but then I forgot most of them, and this was the one I remembered. Apparently it's also the name of some tech company out there.

(Spolier tag for length)

I am not at all convinced Kaladin and Jasnah would naturally make a good couple. I think there is a good case that it would take a lot of work, at best. At best! (at worst, they kill each other). Nor have I followed the Jas-adin debates closely, so I apologize if this has already come up. But I am not convinced Jasnah would spend much time even taking their compatibility into account. Of course, for that matter, I think it is entirely possible that Jasnah perfers women. But when she first realizes Shallan was a Radiant, she immediately has her engaged to Adolin. Now, there are far too many Radiants to that for everyone. But arguably the most important man on Roshar, after Dalinar, is Kaladin. He is the most accomplished Radiant so far (even if Shallan is technically ahead of him in oaths) and he has the most squires by far. Of course, part of that is his order's resonance/quirk, but still, he has the most. Jasnah is going to want him to marry into her family. This will be important for the Kholin Dynasty survival and stability. It would not be wise to have someone so powerful compete for power, even if utterly unintentionally. History will be a compelling factor here for Jasnah. I am sure she knows of other great dynasties that collapsed for similar reasons. So, if Jasnah can't marry him to one of her sisters, she will make a play for him herself. And I expect she will be terrible at it. Shallan might be helpful, with her powers of transformation, for instance how she helped the bandits become better men, even if she is helpless at transforming material. (I am a stick!)

So, we know that the reason Vessels are slowly corrupted is the Intent of their Shard, slowly forcing its way through their soul and warping them. This sounds an awful lot like what’s happening to savants, the amount of Investiture, and therefore Intent, passing through them warping their very soul. As we see throughout the books the savants in different systems are warped to a different degree. My theory is this is because some Shard’s Intent would be closer to typical human Intent, making the Intent forcing its way through the human less incompatible, and that is why different humans are affected in such different degrees. If this is true, could it be that if their original Intent matched that of the Intent of the Shard their other traits would not be affected, meaning that for example Sazed will remain the same as throughout his life he was more or less striving for harmony? I know this is flimsy, so @Calderis and @RShara, unsheath your WoBs, and prepare to cut this theory through all three realms.

https://wob.coppermind.net/media/snippets/273/5084_13.mp3 New info has come to light; the Dark Alley has spread their sinister web even to Sanderson himself! Someone must inform him of the truth! Quick, at the next signing, someone must reveal the truth to disillusion Sir Sanderson!

It seems I did misunderstand a bit, my bad. However I do understand the question of why the characters don't question it, and I just don't think its relevant in world, right now. A desolation just started, the Radiants have just been refounded, the last thing on anybody's mind is why Adolin isn't one. They have bigger things to worry about than why Renarin or Jansah is a KR and Adolin isn't. I get the question, I get why the characters might want to question it, I just dont think its at the top of their priority list as to why Adolin specifically isn't a Radiant.

Perhaps because these characters understand at a deeper level that it is the spren who choose, not the individuals. Maybe all the individuals you and maxal named recognize that they have flaws that played a role in their selection, and they recognize that Adolin doesn't have any flaws (something to assist in breaking open of their spirit web that allows the bond to form), and it just goes without saying that he is not in a place where he would attract spren. Maybe, because Adolin hasn't been confronted with any issues severe enough to challenge his behavior and morals, he shouldn't be trusted with access to surges quite yet...

Maybe Adolin isnt a Radiant because he's hauling around a spren corpse everywhere? Or maybe he's just not cut out to be a Radiant? I like how you refer to Adolin as the "perfect" son who doesn't get to be a Radiant, but Renarin as the "sickly" one who does. So, because Adolin got to grow up strong, handsome, well liked, and was always daddy's favorite he's more deserving of being a Radiant than sickly Renarin, who's been ostracized his whole life because of his health? Right. Then theres Jasnah, no one is pretending she knows everything, she's head and shoulders more intelligent than Adolin. And he's not actually a "boy" but a 23 year old man, and if hes so smart and capable, why doesn't he step up and do something, instead of you know, playing at fashion while everybody else actually does the work?

I agree there might elements within Adolin's life which made him unsuitable to the sprens having chosen to investigate his family (though apart from the classic "he's not broken enough", I really don't see what he doesn't have he'd need to have for one spren to pick him, considering he is a Kholin), but in-world characters are practically clueless as to why a given individual is made a Radiant and not another. Considering every known Kholin is a Radiant, I found the fact no one questioned why Adolin, of all people, was left out a bit odd... It seems to me it would have been within Dalinar's character to question why his "deeply honorable son walking the path he set for him" wasn't picked. Why Renarin? Why not Adolin? As for Renarin, it is odd to he isn't wondering why he was chosen over Adolin, the brother who can never do no wrong, the brothers who always knows what to do? Why isn't Renarin not wondering why he and not Adolin was made a Radiant? The lack of in-world questioning was bizarre. Even if not Adolin, I feel Dalinar should have wondered why no higher ranked officers was chosen, no Highprince, no individual with the military knowledge to make a greater difference onto the battlefield. No one seems to think it matters Adolin is not a Radiant and this too was odd to me. It would make a nice question for Brandon... Why aren't in-world characters, especially Dalinar/Renarin, not asking why Adolin wasn't made a Radiant?

Jiamo was hailed from across the plaza. The man from whence the sound had come was seated behind a rack of horrendously assorted merchandise. There was neither rhyme nor reason to the organization of the booth, and every item demanded an exorbitant sum, my colors! But none of this bothered Jiamo more than the salesman's erroneous identification of the color of his headscarf. "EXCUSE ME?!" Jiamo hollered across to the man. He began to gesture wildly at his head. "This is not 'yellow-green', my good fellow. No sir, if your eyes actually could see, this piece of exotic fabric, acquired in Taldain only after quite a bout of haggling, is VERMILION!" EXAMPLE. Jiamo whipped out a crimson scarf from his pocket and tied it around his waist, to signify his immense anger. He decided to get closer to the salesman, that perhaps he could see that he was in the wrong and that it was a brilliant color. However, upon approaching, he noticed the particular item the man had been advertising. "What... is... that..." Jiamo pointed at the pair of gloves, as horrendously pink as a rash. They matched nothing in his wardrobe. He could not think of a single combination that would complement them. And the style was appalling as well. Besides the terrible color, the leather gloves had a mesh veil over the palm and a string of beads on the back, yet the mesh had dyed differently than the leather, so it was two shades a different color! And the beads were highly impractical. Though Jiamo could see their appeal, they served no use on this item. Dross. The salesman looked expectantly up at Jiamo. He scoffed and turned away. There was nothing useful at that vendor at all. All eyes were on him as he strode off, and it took him a second to notice. Quite a spectacle he had made. Jiamo felt the blood rush to his face and mentally scolded himself for making such a scene. Though it was necessary to educate the unenlightened, everyone must now think him a buffoon! He sulked away.

Contrary to @mrwizard70, I find this extremely engaging! I didn't have a particular problem with motivations or promises. I thought both were clear. Striving for acceptance from an authority that won't give it to you is very common and easy to relate to. As for promises, W seems destined to get out into the forest one way or another, and I'm sure we will find out more about the world. I did have some concerns with W wanting to change paths from temple adept to hunter at age 23. It seems late, and I wonder what she's been doing until now. I think this is probably an easy fix, but here it seems a little strange. If she was young teens, I wouldn't have any problem. But at this stage in her life, it seems more like "switching" from one path to another rather than "starting" a new path. In all, a good start, but I want to see more! keep submitting! Notes while reading: pg 11: "the tawny haired tanner’s son...Steady on there, son." --Having two "son"s in a row is a little confusing. I think you're saying T is J's son, but why do you need to reference J's father? pg 13: "apprentice herself to the hunter" --again, W seems old to be starting an apprenticeship. pg 13: Random Cabbage Theft is the name of my new band. pg 14: "Is that sympathy in her eyes" --from how G is behaving, I don't know why/how W would suspect sympathy. pg 15: "She could pierce an armoured hide at ninety paces now." --good start. pg 18: "separating a foal from its mother" --after it's weaned, I hope...I mean they do sort of depend on the deer. pg 20: "Three and twenty." --hmm..defintely old for apprenticeships. What's W been doing up until now? pg 22: ‘Leave to me.’ --missing a word pg 23: It sounds like W's been an apprentice to the temple until now. Are there any skills shared between that and hunting? "she could turn herself into someone with the ability to bring it back" Hmm...ok, this sort of makes sense.

If you want to add another point, I think there is a good chance Windrunner 4th Oath is about been more coolly logical and knowing when to protect, and Elsecaller 4th Oath about doing what is right regardless of logic. If that is true they could help each other on their respective 4th Oaths . Slight correction .

Unfortunately for the Alethi lighteyes, they have very little real power to stand on currently. Alethkar has been overrun by Voidbringers, and they are currently guests in Urithiru. Other nations can walk out in a huff if they don't like what the coalition/KR are doing, The alethi don't have that option, since the only alternative they have is reconquering Alethkar, and if they leave Urithiru because they are pissed with the KR's authority they would be fighting a battle vs Fused and Singers with no KR on their side = bloodbath and defeat. Common soldiers follow their leaders (in this sort of society) mainly because they rule the land they are born in. Considering the alethi lighteyes no longer rule said land I'm not even certain if the common soldiers would keep following if they give the order to leave. Normally I would say yes, as common soldiers question little. But I seem to remember in OB most alethi armies in Urithiru (except for Sadeas) were increasingly merging together, doing manouvers together, drinking together, etc. When they start having a viable alternative commander to follow, and if given the choice between "lets go fight Voidbringers with no KR backup" vs "Let's wait and eventually fight Fused with KR backup" it would seem to open at least a split among most armies. I don't really think all highprinces will stay in Urithiru, but I estimate half or more will stick around and simply try to manouver as much power as they can in the new world order. The remaining highprinces will leave and either be slaughtered or become part of the Odium forces. Regarding the OP post, I could see that happening, but not sure how much I would like it. What I have no idea is what Kaladin's reaction to the suggestion would be.

Mine's pretty obvious, I picked a semi-obscure cosmere character and was like "yeah ok, that works"

Or so he says. Lirin has shown a capability to lie to Kaladin's face if he thinks it is for the best (spheres incident) so he isn't by any stretch a perfectly trustworthy source. It's also notable that Lirin as a hobby likes to predict the timing of Highstorms. I think he received a much more classical (if incomplete) education than he has implied. Even if Lirin isn't from Kharbranth I would place very good odds that Hesina was.

@vissy I read that smile as "Hold my beer and watch me destroy this fool," but it's entirely possible we'll get it recontextualized later.

Mistborn + Stormlight Archive. Honestly I don’t know how I picked it.

As someone who lends books a lot, I feel you.

So i made this name in 2008 when making my first (and main) xbox account. Before that i always used Hiei online (yu yu hakusho) or Shadow for offline (ps2 ect) So i was trying to make a version of Shadow for xbox live, and me and my buddy were brainstorming. i had "shadow in your closet" for my aim (i was trying to get Monster in your closet, but taken, and since i used shadow for everything..) so my buddy actually came up with it. He was the one who suggested " night shadow" as a name, i loved it, so i had to make it work in spelling, hence, Niteshado. Been my name for everything since 08. Runescape, online, offline.

You get a cookie. We get a lot of Tolkien related names around here, actually. And while I'm here, this name is a product of searching for good one-word usernames across multiple platforms. Magestar is rarely taken, it sounds cool, and it harks back to some old games I'm rather fond of. So yeah. Magestar. It's a step up from my other, older usernames in just about every respect, too...

Elereod was born on Sel, thousands of years after its restoration. He hated the Elantrians and their powers, the way they thought their abilities justified them to meddle in the lives of others. He'd lost count of the number of times his parents had dragged him into Elantris, begging the distant gods that resided there to try one more time to heal him. A silvery being would look down at the little boy, his hands trembling uncontrollably. Without pausing to examine the boy or trying to discover what was wrong with him, the Elantrian would invariably begin to trace the familiar shape of Aon Ien. When the light faded and Elereod remained unchanged, the Elantrian would try again, adding new and different modifiers each time. All of them failed. Perhaps, Elereod wanted them to fail. Everyone had heard stories of the distant past, when Elantris fell. Ten years without their powers had forced the Elantrians and their neighbors to get along without magic. The Arelons had squandered that opportunity for technological development, and Raoden's triumph had led to further technological stagnation. Nonmagical medicine had not progressed beyond simple treatment of minor wounds. Nobody on the planet could do anything for Elereod. It had been a traveler from Scadrial who had finally saved him. Who had looked at him not with pity or with mockery, but with scientific interest. She had been a Set Hemalurgist, endowed with a supply of pewter spikes. Yet she hadn't tried a magical solution immediately. Feruchemical gold was not her first, last, and only solution to medical problems. She was the one who had finally told him, after nearly two decades of life, why he was like this. Copper savants, she explained, often had similar symptoms. Too much copper built up in the body was toxic, and caused the hand tremors, the balance issues, the dark rings around his eyes, even his impulsive, and at times psychotic, behavior. In the end, she offered him a choice. He could accept the way he was, with the knowledge that his lifespan would be limited. He could get a liver transplant, take drugs for the rest of his life and avoid copper. Or, he could accept an aluminum spike, cleanse the copper from his system, and begin a new life as a Hemalurgist. In the end, Elereod accepted the spike, and the flakes of aluminum that came with it. He would join the ranks of the Set, but not for the abilities it offered. No, Elereod wanted only one thing, to find those with too much power, and Ruin them, casting them down to the levels of ordinary mortals. Decades passed and Elereod became an old man. Frequent burning of aluminum had kept his disease in check, while also granting him the abilities of a savant. Having long since retired from fieldwork, Elereod spent his time researching technologies that could supplant magic and guarantee equal standing between those with power and those without. When the call came from Silverlight that Hoid and Khrissala were attempting to free the Shards from containment, Elereod knew that his days of taking an advisory role were over. The two ancient worldhoppers collectively represented the two things he hated most of all; the accumulation of power into fewer and fewer people and the tendency of the powerful to interfere in the lives of those less fortunate. Elereod packed up his aluminum fiber armor, his supply of Allomantic aluminum, and fake documentation bearing the name Reed in preparation for the trip to Silverlight. Yes, he would stop Hoid and Khrisalla, but he had another motive as well. He would destroy the Shards themselves, splintering them and scattering their Investiture throughout the Cosmere. Never again would wars be fought over their corrupting power. If he died in the process, so be it.

My name is Overlord Jebus, lord of lords;Look on my WoBs, ye Mighty, and despair!

In reference to my memes:

So I was doing an Oathbringer reread and when I got to the part where Dalinar went to meet the Nightwatcher I recognized his guide Felt. Felt was in WOR as a scout for Dalinars expedition and I am pretty sure I saw a WOB a few years back that the same Felt was in Mistborn working as a scout for Elend. If I Remember correctly that implies that Felt either survived the Mistborn trilogy and subsequently learned how to worldhop or he left because things were getting crazy. This seems to imply theres a lot more to him than meets the eye. He tells Dalinar that he tried to meet the nightwatcher but that he was to foreign and that Dalinar is "less foreign". Was he obliquely referring to his worldhopping? Why did he look for the nightwatcher at all? Why is he sticking around Dalinar? Is he aware of Vasher/Zahel? I got nothing so pile up anything you can come up with.

Mine is the title of a mid-series episode of the original Fullmetal Alchemist anime. I always thought it sounded cool. And I have a great story for my gaming username. My gaming username is Rage_Fortress. One day in college my roommate was trying to start an account on World of Warcraft and was getting increasingly frustrated that everything he picked for a username had already been chosen. He tried for probably 30 minutes typing in every possible cool sounding fantasy name he could think of until finally he threw up his hands screamed "Fine! You're going to be Smite Smith Rage Fortress!" Sometimes after the lights went out I would start laughing for seemingly no reason and my roommate would be like "What?" Then I would barely choke out "Smite Smith Rage Fortress". I still crack up thinking about it. XD

The American income tax machine. Have to pay in year after year while I listen to my single parent coworkers talk about all the many thousands of dollars that are being "returned" to them. These people don't make enough money to have paid that in to begin with. I know, because I make the same wage. There needs to be a cap. No single person should be getting back more than what they have paid in. At that point it's no longer a return, it's a redistribution, and is wholly unfair. Why should I be subsidizing the existence of other people's children to the detriment of my own financial needs?

Ah, already been offered a cookie. Have a kiwi bird! Please don't eat it. It's super sweet. Her name is Hesina.