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Those glow in the dark crystals are pretty cool, they'd probably work. This is my new phone case:

The realms are really complicated and we don't understand all of them, or even a small part. Everything starts from the Spiritual Realm. Think of it like the sun. It's the source of (most) magic, and where your spiritweb or SDNA is. It's location and time independent, so you can instantly move from any place to any other place, and you can see the future and the past. The next "layer" is the Cognitive Realm, known as Shadesmar colloquially. It's the realm of thought and living ideas, and is shaped by thought. My theory on why the land and sea are inverted is because when people look at things on land, they see all the different objects--rocks and pebbles and tables and boxes and houses and dried leaves, and all the things. So all of them manifest separately in the CR. When people look and think of the ocean or a river, they don't think of individual water molecules. They think, "Water," or "river." So since they think of it as a singular item, it's solid. Shadesmar is flat, and the space between planets isn't thought about, so is compressed. And that lets people walk between planets with relatively little difficulty. Last is the Physical Realm, the realm of every day, see-and-touch objects. Magic, or investiture, originates (mostly) in the Spiritual Realm, is filtered by Cognitive thought, and manifests in the Physical Realm. Does that help?

I was re listening to WoR, and the way Kaladin describes Hoid telling the Fleet story struck me as odd. He describes it as extra hands playing, and that it didn't sound possible for so much music to come out of it. Plus, Hoid looks at the guitar fondly after he finishes. Both, are odd. Clearly, we know Hoid has breath. He knows how to awaken stuff. It seems pretty likely that he decided to awaken his guitar to make it make cooler music.

Spikeless keep on marching onHead down till the work is doneWaiting on the morning sunSpikeless keep on marching onHands in the lab, ears in the mobLabour on that midnight jobListening for that angel choirYou got nowhere to run You wanna taste a drink of that promise land Take that vial out of your handsCareful Vron you got dreamers plansBut it gets hard to standSpikeless keep on marching onHead down till the work is doneWaiting on the morning sunSpikeless keep on marching on

Ok, so here is a Disney Edition!! I should mention now that I wouldn't call all of these "Theme songs" but more, "I can imagine These characters singing these songs all the time. Also, I will be putting these in Spoiler tags just because there will be some needed explanation for some of them, but I don't think there are any spoilers from Oathbringer at all. If there are, you have to have read it to get it soooo.....I think I'm good? If not let me know. So, without further ado, Let's begin! The Stormlight Archive (Oathbringer spoilers) Mistborn Elantris Warbreaker OK!!! I think that is all I have right now!!

Hello helloo helloooooo I dunno whats going on! imma be reading threads for a while Wowie its been a long time ahahaa so.... Hai hai. Burntie's back. um.... okay... *scratches head yea I'll bbl once ive read stuff >>

*grabs torch and pitchfork*

Welcome to my topic, let’s just talk about anything and everything in the entire cosmere. Who’s up first?

"Playing one of the ten fools." Hello everyone! New to the 17th Shard (obviously) but I've stumbled across great discussions all over here so I figured I'd join and contribute whenever it strikes me. So I first got exposed to the Cosmere a little under a year ago. In that brief time... I've been busy. I should mention that my primary method of experiencing the Cosmere is through audiobooks, both Audible and Graphic Audio productions...Don't worry I know how to spell the names of characters at least, haha. My first time through read order was as follows, but for them all I listened to Audible first then GA of the same production 2 times over: Mistborn Era 1 Mistborn Era 2 Elantris Warbreaker The Way of Kings Words of Radiance Edgedancer Oathbringer (Can't wait for the GA to be finished, 3 of 6 done already!) Arcanum Unbounded (I know, got Edgedancer twice haha) Repeat steps 1 through 10. So, if you can't tell by now, I'm a huge fan of the Cosmere and these amazing yet subtly interweaved narratives of EPIC proportions. And it looks like this is a place where I can nerd-out to my fullest potential with some other awesome people! Looking forward to some cool discussions haha. Shoot, I might as well bring up the random connections I drew today while listening to Words of Radiance for the umpteenth time. Exhibit A: When Kaladin and squad are in the caverns with bridge 17. Kaladin is trying to figure out how to use the Surge of Gravitation like the Szeth did in the recent attempt on Dalinar's life. He gets into a discussion with Syl on the nature of spren and Sigzil prompts Syl to reveal herself to them. Syl says that spren are personifications of human perception (don't quote me on that). to which Kaladin responds, "Doesn't that bother you? that you're created by humans?" She responds, "Why should that bother me? You were created by your parents..." Exhibit B: When Shallan and Pattern are discussing the Nahel bond and how it gives spren the ability to think, remember, and develop personality traits. She asks him, "Doesnt that bother you? To be dependent on (may be 'beholden to') another?" to which Pattern responds, "Why should that bother me? You were dependent on your parents..." Okay my question may be obvious now, but what do you guys think of this overt similarity between the sprens' answers? It felt almost like a programmed response to the questions that formed an analogy to Nahel bonded spren being the "children" of the human they bond. I wonder if its a response to the Day of Recreance, trying to instill different ideas into Nahel bonded humans to lessen the chances of another betrayal?

You said not music, but music is particularly powerful for me. Some songs give me very vivid scenes, others the mood and others are like an idea generator. Like @Kureshi Ironclaw when I am working, running, or just not doing anything that requires all of my attention I am generating, modifying, and applying ideas. There is also a physical brainstorm. I sit down with a notebook and pen (no pencil, it's too easy to erase and dismiss an idea). Then put a heading at the top of the page and start writing things that apply. I draw inspiration from everything. The actions of people around me, my dreams (I try to write them down as often as I can), the motives behind someone's actions, hiking, doing gymnastics, reading, sitting with my friends and discuss a topic, eating. Another especially important foundation is imaginary games. I just finished my sophomore year, but I had a group of friends that from fourth grade to eighth grade we played imaginary games together. They contain the seeds for almost any fiction I have ever written. The only reason we stopped, was because, in eighth grade, we were split into multiple lunches and without the full group, it kind of died out. We almost revived it, but I moved recently which put a stop to that one. We still communicate and discuss things from those games as well as put them down into writing. For me, just about anything provides inspiration. For me, everything is important. Examples from one of my notebooks:

The Stormlight Archives are my favorite books that I've read. I love the characters, the society that he has built into these books, and the look into various political/personal views and interpretations of the same events. I haven't read any of his collaborative works, partially through Elantris, and haven't read anything past the Heroes of War in Mistborn. I'm sure there's others that I have missed but those are the main books that I can think of that he's written. Thank you! And happy Captain Picard Day to you as well! He'd be either tactical - security (red in TNG/yellow in ToS) or tactical - command (red in TNG/yellow in ToS). Most likely command as I can't see him being simply security. Maybe Chief of Security or First Officer? Thank you! I actually found out about Brandon by randomly picking up SteelHeart at my local library. The cover looked cool and I liked the description. Little did I know that I had found my favorite author. Thank you! Kaladin is one of my favorite characters by far. I enjoy different hierarchies and the dynamics involved with Kaladin from his superiors to his peers to his subordinates fascinate me. Thank you! I enjoy Star Wars as well. I'll post a photo of my Star Wars legos sooner or later for you. I have my eye on a Lego Imperial Star Destroyer eventually. Thank you! I'm excited to be here!

For one thing, Dalinar's still around so he is a sliver Some of Honor's power but still human, Dalinar is on his way though and by the end will likely be a shard, if not more. We saw Raysium or Bavidium already but if Dalinar becomes a full shard, maybe his godmetal will be amnesium.

*inspires the skaa to rebel by dying, then having a kandra pretend to be me and go around saying I'm a god* *skaa rebellion then transported to this thread, where they form a raging mob*

Its external spiritual pulling metal. Establishes father-son relationship. Odio-two-yum or Moashium is external spiritual pushing metal. It makes others repulsed of you to the core of their beeing.

A bent metal washer I picked up on the side of the road after an argument with my girlfriend, which was totally my fault. Storming away and walking the four miles back home while trying to push it through my hand helped me come to terms with my selfishness and idiocy in relationships. We got married a few years later.

I'm really enjoying the prechapter poetry this 2nd time around in Toll the Hounds. Most specifically, the passages written by Fisher. And especially the one with Whiskey Jack finding himself as commander of the dead, next to Toc and Brukhalian. I was not able to identify Toc last time.

Day Five: Putrescence "Reginald Canuk had to take a break from patrolling the castle for the enemy. One could only go so long without finding the garderobe. So, Reginald left his group and found it, which stuck out from the wall of the castle." "Grandpa... first you have graphic violence... now the characters have to go? This is a very odd story." "Alvron, those stories you read are entirely unrealistic. Everyone has to use the crapper. It's just a fact of life. And pirates, as disgusting as they might be, have to do it too." "Fine, just wrap this up quick. It's nasty." Grandpa Steel cleared his throat, and then continued. "Canuk did his business, and went to pull his trousers up. But he stepped in something as he stood up." "EW! Grandpa!" "I haven't even said what it is yet! He steeped in something wet, and slightly sticky- blood. Somebody had tried to stuff the body of Asu Wish down the garderobe hole. Hardly daring to look, Reginald backed up to the door of the garderobe, trying to get a look without being too close. His eyes bulged, and he ran, yanking his trousers up." Grandpa Steel glanced at Alvron, who was looking a little green. "War isn't pretty." Alvron said nothing. "'REFUSE! SLIME! RUBBISH! MUCK! PUTRESCENCE!' Reginald screamed as he ran down the stone corridors towards his squad. They looked at him in utter confusion. Canuk's chest heaved, and he gasped out, 'there was a body,' he rasped in another breath, 'in the hole of the garderobe.'" "'Yikes,' said Exetes, another member of the squad. 'That sounds nasty. No wonder you were screaming about putrescence and refuse.' But Reginald shook his head violently. "NO. Along with the body, there was a guard coat stuffed in. Someone tried to cover up him being a Guard. He was slime all along.'" ___ "In another part of the castle, an old pirate walked with another old pirate. Cummerbund had once been Roberts. The glory days. He had been called in by the most recent Roberts to help out. But, he was old, and his friend, Mark, hadn't been saying much. Mark was shivering from the cold draftiness of the castle, and so Cummerbund was trying to warm him up so he would say something more. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed one of the rooms had a fire in it. Perfect! He helped Mark in, and they sat on chairs close to the fire, enjoying the warmth. 'So, Mark. You want to say anything? Does being warmer help?' Mark, for his part, said nothing. Cummerbund sighed, and looked into the crackling fire. Who had set that up, anyway? The pirates and guards had been skirmishing in this castle for days now. Who had time to set up a fire, that looked relatively new? He was contemplating that fact when he heard a crack as his friend Mark was pushed into the fire. Mark made no noise as he began to burn. Cummerbund began to run to him, but was winded as someone punched him in the gut. 'I haven't had the opportunity to use my machine on an old man yet. What does sucking the life away do, when there isn't much left? How much pain can you really feel?' Cummerbund was whacked on the head again, and dragged away. Meanwhile, Mark hardly moved. Something inside of him had broken at this. But then, he looked at the flames. He was... burning. What a stupid way to die. Flesh seared, he pulled himself out. But he felt different. The fire had burnt something away, a fear. He was no longer mark. Burnt was her name now. And despite her skin screaming at her in pain, she ran to go try and rescue her friend." Bort is totally dead! He was a Prince's Guard. Bugsy has been attacked! He is Mostly Dead. Mark IV has been pinch hitted. Give it up for Burnt Spaghetti, who will (hopefully) stick around! Today's fashion is synonyms! Creative use of repeated synonyms will be rewarded. A continued plea to remain active, please.

I think the fourth ideal will be along the lines of “I will honour the living and the dead”. I base this on a number of parts: 1. The 4th ideal is a progression of ‘the type of person the spren want their KR to be’, protecting people without honouring their lives, and deaths, will be shown to be a hollow thing. 2. Both our Windrunners, Teft and Kaladin, seem to have an issue with honouring the dead. 3. Kaladin has previously had problems honouring the living 4. Kaladin just prior to attracting windspren to save captured humans from a highstorm, had been talking with syl about right & wrong, honour, and perception…then getting parshmen to protect humans, and getting people to help each other out of danger. 5. Kaladin, in attracting the windspren aboard Honors Path, was finally thinking about what it means to honour the living. 6. Kaladin attracts windspren near Thaylenah in Shadesmar. This time, he know the words, but cannot say them, thinking of all the dead. So we know that the 4th ideal must relate to his perspective of the dead. 7. Kaladin, then thinks of Dalinar, and the oath he must say, thinking ‘could he really mean them?” In this section we’ll see how the 4th ideal also relates to the living 1. BS said that the ideals were about the type of person the spren wanted them to be. The 2nd & 3rd oaths were about protecting…but: - You cannot protect everyone - You cannot force your protection on such a person who does not want your protection . - You must honour others right to make their own choices - You must honour even their choice to put themselves in danger (eg the Squires, who themselves swear to protect) - If they die, you must honour their choices, their sacrifices, and their lives The fourth ideal must progress the type of person honourspren wish their KR to be, and swearing to protect seems hollow without honouring the lives (values, decisions, journeys, camaraderies) and deaths (willing sacrifices, and other deaths) of those you swear to protect. It is almost akin to saying 'your life and death is about me, not you'. Should they die, then you must honour their lives and deaths. It's why we have funeral services. 2. Both our Windrunners (Teft and Kaladin) seems to have an issue with honouring their dead. For both Teft and Kaladin, if you think about it, it has always been about their failures, their pain. We see that Kaladin, despite his very good intentions, has never: - paid honour to his friends or brother’s deaths - paid honour to their journey (that lead to their deaths), nor the improvement in their lives, nor the camaraderie, nor the meaning when they died doing their best / what they thought was right etc - celebrated the good things in their lives. Teft too, hasn’t done such for his family. 3. Kal has a problem with honouring the living, but he is getting better at it. A year back, in his conversation with Tarah, she says “"Oh, Kal," she whispered, then squeezed his arm. "Maybe someday you'll learn how to be there for the living, not just for the dead.". For him getting better at honouring the living, see the next sections. 4. In the scene were Kaladin saves people from a highstorm by parting the winds with windspren. Kaladin attracts windspren prior to this scene, and he had been talking with syl about right and wrong, honour, and perception. He then has a conversation with a parshman about honour / them protecting humans, “Do Better,” he said to her”These people are your charge now. You’ve seized the city, taken what you want. If you wish to claim any kind of moral superiority, treat your captives better than they did you.” He was talking to people about helping each other reach shelter, then letting them move on as he went to save others. He eventually attracted a hundred windspren, though from the description, this may actually be a windrunner ability, as at the end of it we get this sequence “Kaladin sighed and released the winds, and the spren behind him scattered”. In later scenes, as he nears the 4th Ideal, he doesn’t exercise any control over the windspren. 5. In this section, we’ll see how, as Kaladin almost reaches the 4th ideal, he is thinking about honouring the living, and helping them. He is also thinking that the 2nd ideal must have limitations on it. Kaladin argues with Notom about honouring the living. - He talks about what honour there is in keeping Syl locked up - He talks about what honour there is in Notom killing him - He talks about helping Dalinar (rather than protecting, in this particular passage) Kaladin goes on to think of the 2nd Ideal “The Second Ideal made more direct sense. I will protect those who cannot protect themselves. Straightforward, yes…but overwhelming. The world was a place of suffering. Was he really supposed to try to prevent it all?” Kaladin then thinks of the 3rd ideal, but with no resolution “Who decided what was “right”? Which side was he supposed to protect? “The Fourth Ideal was unknown to him, but the closer he drew to it, the more frightened he became. What would it demand of him?” Windspren then start crystallising around him. “Syl. What is the Fourth Ideal?” You know you have to figure that out on your own, silly…you’re close. Here, Syl alludes that the 4th ideal is closely related to what he has been thinking about, as he’s just about reached it. His directly previous conversation had 2 references to honouring the living, another to helping the living, and almost admitting even if indirectly, that he wasn’t personally meant to “protect them all”. Kaladin and Notom move on to talking about the Bondsmith, and Kaladins need to protect the Bondsmith. He does this with great consideration for Notom. 6. In this section – we see that Kaladin now knows the 4th ideal, but can’t bring himself to say it. He had a single slim hope. Each Ideal he’d spoken had resulted in an outpouring of power and strength. He licked his lips and tried whispering it “I…I will…” He thought of the friends he’d lost (lists names) Say it, storm you! “I…” (more names of the dead) A windspren appeared near him, like a line of light. Then another. The words, say the words ! But Kaladin is not yet ready to let go of 'his responsibility for those deaths'. His saying the 4th ideal must involve in some way, him changing his perception regarding his responsibility to the dead / his view of the lives of the dead (which is currently only 'I failed them'). 7. This section is a continuation of 6, but focused on the living: Kaladin thought, finally, of Dalinar. Could Kaladin do it? Could he really say these words? Could he really mean them? “I …can’t” Kaladin finally whispered, tears streaming down his cheeks. “I can’t lose him, but …oh, Almight…I can’t save him.” He couldn’t say those Words. He wasn’t strong enough. Here, if Kaladin means what he says when he swears to honour the living and the dead: - he must let Dalinar fight the battles that Dalinar chooses to fight – which is honouring the living. The realisation that he must let other people choose to put themselves in harms way is why Kaladin says “I can’t save him” (he still believed that saying the ideal would grant him access to power that may help him get home, then the thoughts that followed “He had a single slim hope.”) - he must let Dalinar do this, despite the danger. Kaladin’s fear of losing people (in his view ‘letting them die’) leads him to say “I can’t lose him”, for if he lost Dalinar, it would mean honouring the dead, and he’s not ready to do that / absolve himself of such a death. So Kaladin, though he is getting there, isn’t quite ready to give up on trying to protect everyone, or to absolve himself of all those deaths that he couldn’t prevent. Hence the lines ‘He couldn’t say those words. He wasn’t strong enough” As the KR who left the gemstone said “Am I not meant to want to help people?” ------------------------ Sanderson has given us a lot of clues, from how progression works, to Kaladins character (in detail), especially Kaladins fears (which relate directly to why he can’t say the 4th ideal), to what Kaladin is thinking each time he attracted windspren, to what Kaladin was thinking as approached the fourth ideal, to what Kaladin was thinking when he knew the 4th ideal but couldn't say it. I think there's enough consistency among the clues to say that the 4th ideal will be something close to “I will honour the living and the dead”

Allomancer Jak:

If you want I could arrange for two people to show up at your door and explain it to you. I may even be able to talk them into giving you a free book

George Lucas Open on Kaladin, staring out at the battlefield. It is littered with both soldiers and Parshendi corpses. He stands alone in his vest and trousers, an unreadable expression on his face. KALADIN: Dead. All of them….dead. Half of Bridge Four is gone, because of me. Sylphrena floats up to him, a ribbon of light, before assuming the form of a young girl. SYL: Not-so, Mistah Kaladeen, sah! You-sa still have meesa! KALADIN: Uh, Syl? Why are you talking like that? You didn't talk like that in the last book. SYL: Mistah Lucas thought it'd be better for the KIDS! You-sa knows he loves dee children! KALADIN: Excuse me, Syl. SYL: Where-sa you-sa going, Kaladeen? KALADIN: To find the nearest chasm. J.K. Rowling Dalinarbledore gripped Kaladin's shoulders, meeting his eyes. "Don't you see, Kaladin? You are the Chosen One. Of all the Radiants at this school, you alone can unite the Sprenly Hallows and defeat Voidemort!" Kaladin looked away from Dalinarbledore's eyes, which always made him feel as though he were being X-rayed. "But….this doesn't make sense." "Of course it does. Voidemort chose you as his equal, which is why you can fly and do all of those amazing things." "But wouldn't I have been able to do that anyway, being a Windrunner and all? And while we're at it, why did I get Windrunning while Shalmione got Lightweaving? I mean, seriously, why are there differences in our magic, anyway?" "Because it's magic. Duh." Just then, Professor Sadeas walked by, scowling at Dalinarbledore. "You're smiling, Professor. Ten points from Gryffindor." "I outrank you, Sadeas." "Fine. Ten points to Slytherin, because I have better fashion sense." George R. R. Martin Sigzil stood alone on the battlefield. Around him lay the broken bodies of Bridge Four, Dalinar's warcamp, Sebarial's warcamp, and the entire customer base of a random tavern. "Looks like it falls upon me, then," he sighed. "I alone must carry this narrative to the end. And I shall. I shall." The arrow struck his heart from an unknown source, and there he died. Stephanie Meyer Pattern buzzed in deep chagrin. "Shallan?" "What?" "I know that your sketches are important….but shouldn't you be working on keeping the parshmen from destroying the world?" "In a minute," she said, chagrined. "Shallan, you have already made 499 sketches of Adolin Kholin's abdominal muscles." "And this will be an even 500." Just as she finished the sketch and held it to the light for a moment's admiration, the door swung open. Her chagrin was quickly replaced by delight. "Shallan," Kaladin breathed. "I'm sorry for intruding on you like this, but I had to see you. I didn't have time to put on a shirt. I hope you don't mind." Pattern's chagrined buzzing began anew, but Shallan ignored it. When the Almighty sent you a shirtless Captain, you didn't ask for details.

Hello all, I've browsed a bit over time and decided to join up. It's very rare that I find an author I thoroughly enjoy as much as Brandon Sanderson and I'm excited to get involved here. I'm currently working my way through Oathbringer. A bit of random info about me: - Name is Matthew - Love Star Trek - I'm a special education teacher in real life - Getting married in September I look forward to meeting everyone!

You know, I've been wondering about this myself as I've been reading Oathbringer for the first time. While Jasnah & Kal don't have a lot of interaction up to this point, there are things that just got me wondering. I was originally a fan of the obvious Kal / Shallan shipping that Sanderson has going on with Adolin as sort of a 3rd wheel, but it almost seems too "set up" and "obvious" and the more I read the two of them, the less I am into them eventually getting together, which kinda got me thinking about Kaladin + Jasnah. A few things that just sort of stood out to me while reading Oathbringer - * Early in the book, while all of the interactions weren't shown between the Radiants, I found it noteworthy that Jasnah asks Shallan what she thinks of "The Windrunner". Just kinda strange...Jasnah is the type who generally doesn't care a lot of about other people's opinions about other people. It's just beneath her - she's a scholar, and incredibly intelligent. She forms her own opinions and doesn't generally have much interest in other people's views on a simple subject such as other people in town even if they are a Radaint. Just a little out of place and it stood out to me. * Shallan openly wonders what Jasnah's deal is with regard to sexuality as she's basically confused by Jasnah's behavior. She notes that Jasnah has rejected a number of suitors over the years, some of which were very attractive men. She also notes that it's strange that if Jasnah is simply not interested in romance, then why in the world does she seem to care so much about her appearance - always wearing expensive / pretty clothing, adopting the latest hair styles, makeup, etc. [Generally when you have characters that are truly asexual, they simply do not care about their appearance] * Couple the above bullet point with Jasnah's interaction with Amaram where he is physically aggressive with her and from her POV she thinks about family not always protecting their kids from everything - I certainly could be wrong, but it seemed to me she had something somewhat traumatic occur years back that may have messed her up a little bit when it came to men, making her afraid of relationships, or getting close on an emotional level. She notes this herself at a point during OB where she thinks to herself how she feels that at times she herself is too emotional, and it's implied that she just doesn't show it. So, while she maintains an outwardly scholaresque appearance for those she interacts with, she's quite emotional on the inside, just tries to focus on logic instead of emotion. * About midway through the book where the group is going to Kholinar together, Shallan uses Lightweaving to make Elhokar look like a high born lady who looks very similar to Jasnah, and we're reading from Kaladin's POV, and he notes that he's certainly a fan of that appearance, there. So while Kaladin may have disagreements / idealistic conflict at times with Jasnah, he's certainly physically attracted to her. The more I've thought about some of these items, I've been able to see it more as a possibility down the road, and quite honestly I like the pairing. They would need to have something happen that forced them to interact closely for a while. Jasnah doesn't like getting close to people much as we've noticed and I do think it has to do with whatever happened to her years back that's made her a little strange with regard to these types of things. Of all the books I've read, one thing that I think is fairly standard is that as you start reading a book / series, the characters of that book are presented to you in a certain way at the beginning, but as the story unfolds and the characters interact, they have a profound effect on each other and will change as the story goes on, sometimes for good and sometimes for worse. Kaladin's had issues with trust of lighteyes for good reason, and as a result he's built up some pretty significant prejudices against them. It's clear Jasnah's had some issues of her own as well that's caused her some emotional guardedness and hesitation at allowing men near her - I don't think it's unreasonable to think that with the right circumstances that would be obviously up to the author, those two characters could potentially get close to each other and may or may not lead to a romantic relationship. I certainly won't hold my breath for it, but I do like the idea as I've come to find the Kaladin / Shallan pairing just a little too "predictable" and somewhat boring as a result. As far as the age difference between Jasnah & Kaladin, I really don't find that to be an issue, personally. He's an incredibly mature, and charismatic dude, and I think his intelligence paired with how direct he can be when emotionally triggered, might go a long way under the right circumstances with Jasnah as he's certainly not the type of guy who would ever be aggressive with her in a physical way as it sounds like she may have dealt with in the past. Either way, it'll be interesting to see what does or doesn't happen moving forward. Sorry for the length.

1. I said nothing about this game in particular; the behavior you are describing is always alignment indicative, much more so than being properly inactive. Choosing not to participate when one manifestly has the time to do so is dubious, doubtful, and dicey. 2. Dislike is a strong word, but I do find that behavior more typical of an eliminator than a villager. Do you have an alternative suggestion for how to use votes? As you recently wrote, "this is the best time to weigh in on suspicion." Would you like to rethink, review, or revise that statement? 3. I didn't ask you not to vote. That is inconceivable. Implausible. Incogitable. I do what I can to encourage everybody to vote at all times Voting is unequivocally a good behavior, but a vote without a suspicion backing it this late in the game is alignment indicative. 4. I gave three distinct and succinct points about why I think one of them is an elim, four if you count gut read as a reason. I don't really have anything to add; I would just be using highly fashionable synonyms to restate, rehash, and recapitulate. If I am sufficiently entertained you have my word of honor I will find a different eliminator to lynch

I tend to let ideas gestate in my mind for several months before I start writing. Any interesting thing I find out or think about gets thrown into a sort of mental dossier for different stories and settings and they start connecting together. Eventually it reaches a point where I'm starting to visualise scenes and figure out a plot, and usually around this time I will sit down and write a full outline. I actively brainstorm a bit more with the outline because I have to fill in the gaps between all the cool scenes I've imagined, but it's not a cool process of brainstorming. I just sit and think really hard for a couple of hours. For other mediums, I'm also a songwriter and I tend to avoid any active brainstorming for that unless I'm writing a song for a specific purpose. I just keep lots of ideas written down and recorded so when I get struck with inspiration I have a lot of material to draw on to make the song come together in one sitting.

Vron's eyes snapped open. No. No, no, no, no, no. This can't be happening. Not again! Vron knew what was happening. He had lived this part before. He had never seen how it ends however as the Spiked always killed him. They killed him again and again as time itself seemed to replay over and over as if caught in some kind of loop. Let it end. Please let the pain end. Vron is reluctantly signing up. Here's hoping he can survive a game and finally be free of his eternal torment.

Well, that was fun. Festive. Fantabulous. Now I have a few random thoughts. Theories. Theses. As you can see, I seem to like threes. Triads. Trilogies. On activity, three comments. Communications. Considerations. I concur with Sart's caution against lynching the people who vote, although I believe the vote on Bort is partially vindicated by its being correct. I believe the eliminator team has a comparatively high concentration of active players. Before I joined the game, I remember reading a poem Elenion posted that implied the village was losing. That bespeaks a degree of confidence. Certainly the loss of village power roles plays into that, but I don't think the elims could feel in-control of the situation unless they had multiple active players who were working the situation. Because the pinch-hitters just arrived, and their predecessors gave us little to work from, I am definitely against lynching any of them on this cycle. However, I predict that roughly one pinch hitter was stepping in for an eliminator. Even if my hypothesis is correct about the eliminator team's activity levels, it is still statistically likely that they had an inactive player, going off the assumption of a five-player elim team. In addition to a questionable gut read, Mr Doctor's recent post gives me some pause. Procrastination. Predicament. Voting on somebody whom they do not suspect. Voting on somebody for fixating upon Sart, when the post in which they cast they vote is almost exclusively about Sart. An analysis of Sart that strikes me as unusual, though probably NAI. And now, on Fifth and Randuir. My gut and logic seem to coincide on this count. One of the two is a traitor. Turncout. Treasonist. One of the reasons I investigated Bort in the first place was because it felt like they were distancing either Rand or Fifth. As I said, I believe the eliminators have at least another strongly active player, and either Rand or Fifth fits that profile well. I am leaning Randuir at this point, by about 60/40. Fifth's case has some valid points. Also, he voted on somebody whom he did not suspect. I respect campaigning for activity, but seeing as our information about the eliminator team just functionally doubled, I believe a villager might be less keen on poke voting this cycle.

@Mandamon, I thought your excellent LBLs deserved some response. - I have made some change to increase pace as you suggested around the first paragraph, and moved up the bit about the thugs. Also did some trimming. - I've unpacked the bit about 'natural waste' (that phrase is gone, actually). - "I patted my pocket where lay the purse that I had filled with nickel and silver by playing cards on my journeys" - This was a simple missing word, but I can see how it caused confusion. I also added a bit about 'tells' to explain the cards thing. - The term 'clout' is gone now, and I am only using 'marrow'. - He's not actually in solitary, but I appreciate it comes over that way. Also changed the bit about Ch protesting (wrong word), and clarified the three months thing. He's not almost out. Poor wording when I first mentioned three months. - The bit about Ch in the yard is not clear. J is thinking back to their first meeting, but that was three weeks ago, then he comes back to the present to be called over to her. I've reworded. - The reference to preparing the bones is something that has not come out yet. The best way is to boil them to get the biggest benefit. A quick suck maybe nets the user 50% of the power, if they are lucky. - "dancing before the bedding" - Lol, very apropos. - Ch's reputation. Yes, I did dodge that a bit. I like that idea of it being a bit of a teaser, but I haven't even hinted at it here because I haven't figured it out!!! I really need to do that so I know whether I should be dropping things in or not. That's my homework for this weekend (apart from keeping writing). I will seek to grow some beans so that I can spill them in the next submission. Thank you again. Really helpful comments to push me forward

You should know that the answer to this question is a resounding yes, Rand. I was pocketed by over half the Elims in the AG, by Orlok and Aman in MR28, and Eternum (though to an admittedly lesser extent) in MR29. I’m infamous for being easy to pocket. Len tried to pocket me earlier this game, but he mostly failed, luckily, because I had strong enough prior suspicion of him. I’m not really sure why you’re asking me this question other than to rub salt in old wounds, so if you have a specific case you’re looking at I’d love it for you to be more explicit. Oh—Bort’s defense of you. Sorry, I can be dumb at times. Umm...I acknowledge the possibility of a pocket, but that doesn’t erase the fact that Bort had no real incentive to move the lynch off you if you were village, as you were an easy target if the Elims were looking for a mislynch, and they’d have been unlikely to interfere unless they thought they could take out an even more dangerous or high-profile villager, and assuming that you were a villager, they would be unlikely to find such a target. I won’t dismiss the possibility of a pocket, though.

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For the show, yes, I can see that. But not the "supplementary, multi-volume book series that will expand on the storyline from the show and further explore subsidiary characters." When the TV execs comes calling for that book series, he's not gonna be able to float it out 5 years waiting for a good time to write it, like he has for some of his other projects. While Brandon's a big fish in the fantasy publishing pond (able to pull stunts like releasing 33 free chapters of a book as previews for TOR, or pulling a book from the publishing schedule and giving them a replacement half a year later), there's no guarantee his new bosses are going to grant him the same level of freedom. Even if the Dark One tie-in series is only two YA books, that's basically what Brandon has spent the past year doing: the Apocalypse Guard draft, the Skyward draft and edit, and now he's finishing up a novella-sized Secret Project. Dark One will take at least a year of writing time, and it will be a priority. What does that do to his 5-year plan? He's said in the past, that January 1st 2019, he stops everything else and starts Stormlight Four. (He's got five and a half months to write Wax and Wayne Four, assuming he finishes the Secret Project tonight. But there's also the Skyward tour and the holidays, so I expect he'll like to have that done by the end of November.) Once he finishes that, he plans on a break book to clear his mind, then back into Stormlight Five. What's that break book? Could be anything, really. At JordanCon, he said maybe Elantris 2. I think he's mentioned Nightblood as a possibility. Skyward 2 will be a strong candidate. Or he could have something goofy pop into his mind that he wants to get out. But if the TV series gets rolling when his break comes up, he's gonna have to write his Dark One series then. Which isn't too bad, really... Elantris has waited, and can keep waiting. One year break, Dark One gets its pound of flesh, and then Stormlight gets rolling again. In my mind, the best case scenario. But what if Dark One comes due in the middle of one of the Stormlight books, and he has to pause? He can't say, "I'll finish this Stormlight book and get you Dark One in my next writing slot next year." Even if they'd consider let him get away with that, the TV show will have come and gone by the time the books are out, undermining the whole point of the partnership. So he has to step away from Stormlight for a year, and he's had trouble interrupting books before while writing them. (Shadows of Self and Rithmatist 2 come to mind. Yeah, we got a bonus Mistborn book out of the first one, but releasing Stormlight Four and Five at the same time would be absurd.) And then, when he finishes the Stormlight and Dark One sprint, what's waiting in between? Mistborn Era 3, and whatever other Cosmere prerequisites may remain for that. Finishing the Skyward, Rithmatist, and possibly Apocalypse Guard series, since even the new stuff will have had at least five years of waiting, and young adults don't stay young forever. And that's all assuming that Dark One is only two books at one time. Successful shows don't just end, and if the show is popular, they'll keep going with additional seasons. And, of course, they're going to want Brandon to write more books to go with them. Every series Brandon starts, he ties a chain to himself. Stormlight, Mistborn, Cosmere standalones, Rithmatist, Alcatraz, Skyward, Apocalypse Guard; they're all pulling him in different directions, demanding his time and attention. Yes, the fan expectations are part of that pull, and the publishers' needs are there too, but his own creative integrity is the biggest force on those chains. He wants to finish these books, get these stories out and share them with people, and he'll maneuver himself to release these chains as best as he can on whatever pulls the strongest. I think he's a little immobilized right now, since he hasn't been able to slip out of the ones for Alcatraz and Rithmatist, but he had a pretty solid plan to focus on Stormlight and give himself some wiggle room. The new Dark One chain, however, is going to have the television industry pulling on it, and they pull very hard.

I'm actually now rather interested in seeing Vasher and Nightblood's reunion, with Nightblood calling out to Vasher in Szeth's head. "How do you know Sword-nimi, ardent?" "Oh, I uh... made him." Everyone else in the room - "You WHAT?!"

This is such a good idea! I just might be able to make them my project over the summer. I can use a plastic spherical mold and resin, instead of glass. Now I just need to hunt down glowing marbles... I'm actually excited for this hehe Edit: maybe these for the sapphire and emerald spheres? It was harder than I expected to find good glowing crystal shaped things

I really like this idea. Especially in this day and age when it's important to hook your readers right off the bat. This is the first lines of my WIP novel tentatively titled KillingTime. Time, it permeates all things, constantly in motion.

Saw this punny sign while I was out today.

This sounds real neat, I, too, however worry that I won't live or Brandon won't live to finish Stormlight. He seems to do everything and always has another secret!

Yeah, I think the implication here is they know the planet is round but not necessarily that it spins. It's actually a common misconception that even here on Earth that early societies didn't know the shape of the world; the ancient Greeks figured out in something like 300 BCE.

Liss, Rlain, and of course my one true love, Taln

Nice connect. That would fit with this theory: Fortune-As-Future-Sight would functionally become being able to View that twisting path that leads to your Ideal. It also goes a little ways toward explaining why Atium with a Duralumin burst gives you that single "Ultimate" effect timeline. Such things would be largely Subjective I feel, which is part of why I keep latching onto the idea that Fortune is relative to your Spiritual Realm Self that is your own Idealized Self-Image. What else would define the Good vs Bad part of good or bad fortune? The Spiritual Realm ideal is outside of Time Itself (which is why it would function as a means of future sight) but it /does/ change over time as the Person changes; as the idea of who and what they think they are and/or should be evolves.

The bracelets I wear to remind me of the my most important life moments. (I call them my copperminds)

I am crying so hard right now. I have never seen anything more beautiful.

Brilliant. We should do a charity kickstarter to morally compel Brandon to record this.

There once was a girl from Roshar Who wanted to play the guitar. As she started strumming, Pattern started humming, And made her a rock n' roll star.

I claim Suzane Colins Stormlight Archive. - Shallaniss Everdavar held her thousand page sketchbook in her hand as she stared intently at Kalato. He was charging. With a spear. Shallaniss would've thrown her book, but she was running low on supplies. Adolpetre Kholark was following, along with Roclove and a group of enraged Bridgecarreers. They'd left the big bridge they'd taken from the warcopia across the chasms, which helped them move. Shallniss decided not to risk dying so she summoned a tree out of no where and climbed it. The bridgecarreers surrounded the tree. Adolpetre pointed at something and tried to distract the bridgecarreers. Kalato yelled at Adolpetre and threw him into the chasm because he wasn't good enough. "Oh no!" Shallniss called, and lunged into the chasm after Adolpetre. Adolpetre got really badly hurt on his leg, but magically Shallniss was given the Honorblade from a sponsor that gave her Regrowth. She healed Adolpetre. Shallniss was emberassed as she found she didn't actually like Adolpetre. She liked Kalato, forming an unecessary love triangle. Then they were all forced together in a tiny chasm and a group of mutated chulls- chasmfiends killed Kalato. "No!" Shallniss then wacked chasm fiends on the head with her huge sketchbook and everything was okay.