Leaderboard

@Edgedancer Jak Going first or last It doesn't really matter I'm still gonna blast You and serve you on a platter.

Hello everyone! I'm Messydesk because my desk is always more or less messy and after years of struggling against it I've finally learnt to embrace it instead. That said, about a month ago I gave The Mistborn series a try. I hadn't been reading much since Lord of the Rings and Althalus in middle school (over 10 years ago, ouch) due to various reasons, I kept dropping books I had started and only read comics for a long time. I just couldn't get into any modern fantasy or sci-fi books at all. I had heard of Mistborn earlier and had it on a post-it note stuck on my bookshelf's glass door along with some other titles, but I never really took the time to look into it. Until, I was in my local bookstore with a friend and noticed an interesting looking book on the shelf. It was called "Usvasyntyinen: viimeinen valtakunta" and I was wondering why it sounded so familiar. Well, it was the Finnish translation of Mistborn: The Final Empire. I was intrigued and finally decided to give it a read. And boy do I regret not picking it up sooner! I read the first book and then bought the second one. After that I was looking forward to reading the third one but apparently the Finnish version of it will be released in December 2018. damnation. So I checked the city library for the English version but it was not going to be available for two weeks. I was growing desperate and decided to do something unexpected: buy an e-book. I know e-books are very popular and common but I'm such an old-fashioned relic who absolutely loves physical books, especially hard covers. Anyway, I read the third book and then moved on to Mistborn: Secret History, being a Kelsier fangirl I just had to know what happened to him. After that I had accepted the fact that if I wanted to read the Wax and Wayne series I would have to buy the e-books, since those were not available at all even in the city library. But reading them was the best decision of my life. Sorry for the long intro:D I don't know how long these introductions are meant to be but since I have a lot to say might as well write them here now before moving to the other parts of the forum. I haven't been actively a part of any fandom in years so I was a bit hesitant to join here, but the Sanderson fandom seems so friendly and interesting I decided to hop in. I also have practically no one in real life to talk with about these books (Sanderson's works are still quite new here) so these forums seemed like the best place to join:D I was also working on some art last night and needed to find the symbols for all the metals, instead of actually being productive I ended up reading Mistborn memes and incorrect quotes for two hours and giggling like an idiot. Good thing I live alone. I think the two main things in Sanderson's books that keep me invested and hooked are the characters and mysteries that can be solved by using logic. I love how varied and non-cliche the characters are. Kelsier is still my favorite one even though Wayne comes very close second. The female characters are also very well written in the series, especially I grew to love Steris due to her being strong and useful without becoming a physical fighter like the others. And she knew when it was wise to stay out of the way. That's something I don't see often. I could write an essay about the characters and why I love each and every one of them but I'll leave that to the proper parts of the forum:D Anyway, thanks for reading my little wall of text and I'm looking forward to being part of this community! I'm also picking up the Way of Kings next so I can have something to distract me from the fact that the next ( and last;_; ) Wax and Wayne book will be released next year. I'm also interested in this Hoid character I see mentioned often in the fandom... Everyone have a great day and see you here in the forums! -Messydesk ps. About e-books, I actually have started to like them a bit more since google books has a dictionary feature that is so helpful when I encounter new words in English. I iz learning!

Whaaaat?! I'm actually ready on time?? I was actually kind of hoping I'd be ready first so I could steal some of your potential "ick" rhymes @Herowannabe. Here's Lift!

Im EXCITED!! Going to japan this friday, for 2 weeks. wanted to go since i was about 12 (im 28 now) so this is a massive dream for me.

Oathbringer spoilers:

Hoid likes instant noodles and has his eyes on Scadrial. Other people want noodles too apparently??? This just in, everyone: Adonalsium's secretly just the Flying Spaghetti Monster and the only way to bring him back is to make every Shardworld have instant noodles, so the entire reason another Shard is messing around with Scadrial is because they want to do their part in resurrecting God via noodles. The Sho Del are just walking piles of noodles. Edit: Normally common sense would tell me to not post this but it's like 2 in the morning and all my brain cells are dead.

He already is the Parshendi advocate in Urithuru, his Windruners are the only known group within forces of Honor that activelly support idea of human-parshendi collaboration, he is the only known person to allow parshmen/parshendi use weapon, and has a parshendi amongst his elite group (bridge 4). He is also probably known amongst the forces of odium because of his actions in the frst part of Oathbringer. Venli is supposed to become leader of Parshendi rebellion forces. She is bound to work closelly with Kalladin as he is "that one guy we can trust for sure", and has the single most mobile unit on Roshar period. And that close work can transform into something else. Moreover he is probably seen by most people as the most "radiant" Radiant, and Venli is going to be the very face of rebellion. That is THE SINGLE BEST marriage for PR of humans/listeners cooperation. They both have survivors guilt (Venli has it for a reason, but Kalladin seems to more affected), and seem to cope with it kind of similarly (unlike it is with Shallan who has completelly diffrent approach), and probably would find a lot of understanding towards eachother. Also unlike with Shallan while Kalladin hates lighteyes he has a lot of respect towards orginal Parshendi, and Venli despite despising most of humans she has ingrain respect towards Radiants (and as I've said Kalladin is the most "radiant" Radiant). I've hyped myself so much that now I belive it. I will be laughing with satisfaction like crazy when it will be confirmed.

I figure I'll organize all the murder methods by type. Italicized if it could also be an accident. So here's what my player list looks like: I also have wilderness-related clues underlined. Kidpen, what is a Lak?

When you strike up a conversation and become friends with some total strangers at a bus station because you overheard the words "Warbreaker" and "Oathbringer" being uttered by them. (We talked cosmere almost the entire way home until parting separate ways, except at the end, where it devolved into a conversation about anime where they tried introducing me to One Punch Man.) When one quarter of the songs you play at your piano recital of original works are cosmere based.

Sorry for the late analysis! So, yeah, I do agree that wilderness could point to only a limited amount of murder methods and evidences, and accident only narrows that down. The consensus seems to be with animals, and accident does fit that, however, it does seem wilderness could also match the habitat of any other animal, and also fit the setting of Threnody, which I haven't seen anyone bring up. That world is pretty much a big forest, and things like shades could kinda classify as animals, fitting with the animal-trap theme. Wait a second, just saw Randuir's post with shades, so nevermind. Out of all the FotS things we have, I'd think Patji's Finger fits accidental the most, with you accidentally drawing all the animals near, though that doesn't fit untidy clothes, so maybe not. But then again, neat, elegant, shabby and bizarre wouldn't fit an animal-attack victim's clothes either and if the body is clothed it isn't naked. So, eh? Another thing that's seemed to be forgotten is hiking/camping related death. Dehydration could technically count as an accidental death, and let's be honest, your not going to die from lack of water in a big city. Unkept clothes would fit this (obviously), and so it seems the perfect non-animal death and overall not-very-notable death for a murderer to pick to fool everyone else. Also, I think the fact that the motive was neseccity is severely underrated. If something was done out of necessity, it means it was done as a last resort, right? Accident seems to fit with this. Noting this, I find it easy to rule out booby-traps, as they would require planning, right? And if our murderer really did act out of necessity, then they wouldn't plan something so intricate only to use as a last resort. So this rules out booby-traps as well as many of the seemingly-planned murder methods, including the death-by-animal ones, as that would require planning, which the murderer didn't have (hence necessity being picked). This is why I personally find the more in-the-moment murders more likely, as they are not only overshadowed by the vast numbers of animals, but also follow our clues. Hence, fitting with the wilderness, I think cliff seems a very likely option. A cliff would be mostly be found in the wilderness, a cliff would be an 'accidental' death, and pushing someone off of one seems a very in-the-moment thing to do, fitting with necessity. As with clothes, unkempt seems the best pick for such a murder method. Nothing would really happen to them, save for being a bit untidy. And for footprints? Well, walking off away from a cliffside could count as that, I guess. Overall, my current suspion is on Joe in the Bush, aka Various Divide (a Threnodite name!). Same as last time, not gonna make an accusation just yet, but cliff really does seem like it would work. Then again, I argued strongly for Aons last time, so maybe I have just sprinted in the wrong direction again. >>>>>RP<<<<< Itiah VII was hungry, but he knew that it was only because his author needed a complication to make his post more interesting. Itiah VII was also annoyed his name kept autocorrecting to Utah. But most of all, he was hungry. Taking out a small metal vial, speckled with all 16 Allomantic metals, Itiah downed the vial, because obviously Mistborn couldn't just "drink". Nope, they "gulped" it, or "downed" it, or "threw it in the air, did a five-arc somersault before caching its contents perfectly in their mouth" it. Darn Mistborn, never stopping to think about whether their awesomeness had an effect on others around you. A few weeks of reading about them and it made you feel bad you couldn't just drink metal and slow down time. Itiah VII guessed it was probably because they had an author who was known for making things awesome. Completely unlike his own writer, who would attempt to spice up his post by making his character hungry, of all things. Nooooo, no god of supreme hate, no tyrannical grandpa, no god of magical talking earrings. Even Itiah would take the magical earring god over being hungry. That or the tyrannical grandpa. What was his name again? He was a lord and he ruled. Hmm... Speaking of names (though no one was actually speaking), Itiah VII couldn't stand his own. Seriously, what type of inner crisis do you have to be to name your character after an acronym? And a terrible one at that!? If anyone could describe to Itiah the symbolism of having 'I think I am here. (don't forget the full-stop)' as his name, he would award them an empty metal vial as their award, as that was all he had and besides, anyone could tell you if this 'symbolised' that or that 'symbolises' this. The trick was actually getting them to believe you. And then scamming them afterwards. There was also the fact that no one, and he meant no one, knew his last name. Heck, even his writer didn't know Itiah's last name, and Itiah VII knew the writer just preferred to ignore it whenever it came up. If Itiah was Itiah VII's first name, why was Itiah Manor called 'Itiah Manor' and not by their last names? Unless their names were Itiah Itiah, which would be stupid. Knowing his post was probably getting too long, the writer tried hurriedly ending it by giving Itiah VII a cookie, which was a win-win for everyone.

Day 1: A Mess The Oracle's shop was a mess. No, worse than that. When you walk into a messy room there is at least some sense of where things should go, what does belong and what doesn't, what is garbage and what should be kept. Not so with the Oracle's shop. At first glance the Investigators immediately thought that the place had been ransacked, likely by whoever kidnapped the Oracle, but after only a few minutes they were forced to discard that hypothesis. Even the most determined of looters would have given up after only a few minutes. The room was filled with all sorts of junk, such as oversized cards painted with vaguely mysterious pictures, bowls containing small bones with strange markings on them, stacks of cages containing small animals such as birds, rats, cremlings, lizards, cats, pigs, and goats beneath a sign that read "Haruspicy Specimens," sacks of strange flavorless cookies with little slips of paper folded inside of them, "magic" tarachin balls that would answer yes or no questions when you shook them, large glass spheres, broken mirrors, stacks of books, shrunken heads, star charts, unwashed tea cups, shelves lined with vials of various colors, abstract paintings, flat boards with alphabets written out on them, piles of half-used candles, odd-sized bowls and urns, and on and on and on. And those were just the things that were immediately identifiable. There were piles of unidentifiable auguries, baubles, trinkets, artifacts, relics, and tokens. The investigators paused for a moment, drinking in the full weight of the task ahead of them and wondering if perhaps it might be better to let the assassin get away with the crime, just this once, then collectively took a deep breath and began searching for whatever clues the Oracle had hidden there. Day 1 has begun! Here are your Oracle clues: Player List: Link to the spreadsheet Link to the Rules

Trell has been a character of interest in the Cosmere ever since the Alloy of Law book. There are tons of crazy theories on Trell and Trelagism, so I thought I'd share some of mine. Trelagism reminds me a LOT of the Shardworld Taldain. One one side it's constantly daytime - Dayside - and on the other it's constantly night - Darkside. In the religion Trelagism, worshipped by the Nelazan on Scadrial, they thought that night was sacred, as they could see the Thousand Eyes of Trell, which were the stars. This could be a reference to Darkside, and it's entirely possible some Darksiders travelled to Scadrial and spread their beliefs. White Sand takes place waaay before Mistborn. Trell, supposedly an Avatar of Autonomy, could have gone to Scadrial himself. In Trelagism, Trell was the stars and Nalt was the sun. This isn't something crazy, but I connected Nalt to Nalthis for some reason. Is this a coincidence or am I connecting two random things for no reason.

On a careful reread, I rediscovered a conversation between Szeth and Nale, where Szeth refers to Nale as "Aboshi, a deific honorific previously reserved for the Spren of the Mountains..." From this I gather the obvious, that the Shin honor those spren as Gods, but what are these spren? Do they represent a spren for each mountain; a spren for all the mountains, or many spren in the mountains? Based on the sentence, I see them/ it as being powerful and large spren, since Szeth does not seem to treat all spren with equal reverence. Are these mountain spren why walking on stone is Sacred? We need more info on this. Have any of you addressed this before? Thanks.

I had a thought earlier. If people learn how to make unsealed metalminds, and compounding copper lets you make copies of the memory, then it means that you could make a ton of copperminds that all have an exciting/entertaining/whatever memory that you could sell to people. Wax's description of getting the memory made it sound like he almost lived the memory, so this would work pretty well I think. Can anyone thing of any cool applications of this?

Less than 4 hours left! We haven't quite hit 25 players yet, but we are very close and with the pinch hitters who are willing to join, we'll even have a couple extra to actually pinch hit. Couple other notes: it might take us a bit to get everything sent out. We hit a small snag with the anonymous accounts today in getting the names changed, but that shouldn't take too long to resolve and even if it does, it won't impact the game start time. We've talked and have decided to open up PMs rather than have them closed at the start. We will have a spec doc, but we haven't set it up yet. That's on the agenda for later tonight. If you want a link or have requested a link and we don't send you one by tomorrow morning (MDT), PM one of us and we'll get it to you. That's all that I can think of right now, but get excited. This will be fun. >:)

I mean, using Booby Trap again might be the perfect cover for murder.

198. If you're working for a villain, don't tell them the hero or heroine is dead when you technically don't know that. You will be wrong. 199. Don't decline stories from men with white hair. (Looking at you, Miss Savage.) 200. Use common sense. It sounds so obvious, but just...do.

Could you imagine if Cusicech was actually much smaller in Shadesmar, essentially having a Napoleon Complex.

From the Sanderson store - ***Attention: NO PERSONALIZATIONS OCT 15- JAN 3*** so Get your orders in. This of course could make the Hero of Ages leather-bound queue bunch up a bit when it releases. Edit - More info in the Holiday Deadlines - This year’s deadlines for ordering from the store if you want your items to arrive by December 24th: Oct 15: We will not be accepting Personalized orders after this date in an attempt to get all pending personalizations by December 15th. December 1: International orders. (This is a “best-effort” date: International shipping is unpredictable, but this date matches recent delivery times.) December 4: Jewelry December 14: T-shirts, prints, and “signature only” books Happy Holidays! *Note: We will not be shipping out orders December 23- January 3.*

Suddenly, the lookout mimes at the local mime branch start freaking out and signing to their brethren to get over there. Even after 16 years, they still worked at peak efficiency. A team of mimes mimed driving a car to the way stop where they began to repair the fourth wall.

Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a goat. A goat is never late, Frodo Baggins. Nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to. I've always been very confident in my goat. “But you can't kill me, Lord Tyrant. I represent that one thing you've never been able to kill, no matter how hard you try. I am goat.” Goats rarely see their own actions as unjustified. Elend: I kind of lost track of time… Breeze: For two hours? Elend: There were goats involved. Frodo Baggins: I wish the goat had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened. Gandalf: So do all who live to see such goats. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the goat that is given to us

Rebecca, My favorites so far are Hoid (obviously), Kaladin, and Pattern. Thank you for your recommendations for RP! Anomalee, I am a stick, obviously. (Also the Wandersail)

I'm finishing up a reread myself, and I've struggled with this line, too. One challenge with interpreting it is that "Spren" is both the singular term and the plural term. So, he could be referring to many spren of the mountains. (This could directly parallel the Horneater myth, where there are gods of the trees, gods of the waters, and gods of the mountains.) Or it could be referring to a single spren, who represents the Mountains in total, one of the three Bondsmith spren. (As they are theorized to be mentioned in the Elia Stele: "For their betrayal extended even to our gods: to spren, stone, and wind. Stormfather is obviously Wind; either Nightwatcher or Sibling could fulfill the other two. I've seen good arguments made for both directions) And if it is a particular term for the Sibling, which is itself always referred to as "they," other references to the spren of stone that appear plural (like Nale speaking to Szeth at the end of WoR, "Your people revere the spren of stone, but you do not worship them") could be referring to a type of spren, or they could be referring to the Sibling. If it's a group of spren, I'd think the spren of the mountains could be the Stoneward spren, who we saw with cracked-stone skin in Celebrant. Going off the Horneater myth, there's an easy candidate for the spren of the trees; cultivationspren. I'm not sure who could be the spren of the waters, though; the only Radiant spren we haven't seen in Shadesmar are the Truthwatcher spren and the Highspren, and neither of them seem particularly aquatic in the Physical Realm. There are other intelligent spren in Shadesmar who don't bond Radiants (like the mistspren), so potentially the spren of the waters could be an unseen spren race. So, yeah, it's a good question that I don't think has a definitive answer at this point. There are a couple schools of thought (Radiant spren vs godspren), and I know I find myself waffling between the two on a regular basis.

Haha that would've been great! "I'll see your Wyndle and raise you a Treebeard."

When you finish all of Brandon Sanderson books, and think "what do I do now" then you reread them.

Welcome, we’re glad to have you here on the Shard! I have the same opinions of ebooks. I used to really dislike reading them, but over time I have realized their advantages, such as the dictionary feature you mentioned. I still prefer physical books though. And don’t worry about your intro being too long. It was interesting to read.

Thank you:D! Thank you! I was in the exact same situation, desperate to finish reading the trilogy so I bought the e-book and read it on my phone. Even though it was sometimes uncomfortable and I was constantly checking the page count (I always keep fiddling the next page or pages till next chapter when I read) I eventually started liking the e-format enough to buy the Wax and Wayne series in e-books too. I decided to buy the English versions in e-format and then buy the physical Finnish versions once they are translated since my bookshelf space is limited... We'll see how long that decision holds though since I really would want to buy the hardcover versions of Wax and Wayne series x)

@Messydesk Welcome to the Shard! I first converted my friend (who, before she met me, preferred to either buy books or borrow them from the library like a normal person) by introducing her to a certain trilogy (no, not Sanderson - we're working on that) in which she finished the first book and was so desperate to read the rest that I downloaded them on her phone.... she's been much more open towards ebooks ever since.

Welcome! It's great to have you! Don't worry about writing too much - you'll fit right in I prefer physical books over ebooks too, although I've started getting ebooks of some of Sanderson's books so I can read them whenever I want. They're definitely convenient, at least.

So they basically are at Theoretical Maximum Sharpness. Though their size also limits how finely you can cut things with them.

I am now a member of the 17th Shard Tautology Club because I have joined the club on the 17th Shard dedicated to the appreciation of tautology. I'd like to celebrate this occasion by being joyful about this event. And by sharing some famous quotes that have been altered to be tautological, by posting tautological versions of well-known sayings: "I think, therefore I am thinking." -René Descartes "A penny saved is a penny that is in your possession and has not been spent on anything." -Benjamin Franklin "Impossible is a word to be found only in a dictionary that has the word impossible in it." -Napoleon Bonaparte "To be, or not to be? That is the question of whether to exist or not exist." -William Shakespeare "What's in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other name would not be called a rose." -William Shakespeare "Four score and seven years ago, it was 87 years in the past." -Abraham Lincoln "The unexamined life is a life that has not been studied." -Socrates "Two roads diverged in a wood, and they went in separate directions through a forest. And I-- I took the one less traveled by. And that has made me walk on a path that has less foot traffic." -Robert Frost "Oh, East is East and West is West, because East is this direction and West is that direction." -Rudyard Kipling "Success usually comes to those who succeed." -Henry David Thoreau "What the mind of man can conceive and believe, the mind of man can conceptualize and consider to be true." -Napoleon Hill "Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken." -Oscar Wilde (I didn't alter this one because I didn't change it) "For every minute you are angry, you spend sixty seconds being upset." -Ralph Waldo Emerson "Genius is 1% genius and 99% genius." -Thomas Edison "To expect the unexpected shows an anticipation of something surprising." -Oscar Wilde "Nothing is so aggravating than the feeling of aggravation." -Oscar Wilde "I got carried away doing this, because I got swept up in thinking of tautological versions of famous quotes and lost track of time." -Zath

You take my onesie, I take your unicorn explanation. ...and I fix the grammar.

When your non-sanderfan friends automatically assume that whenever you say something that doesn't make sense it is a book reference. When your sanderfan friend gets a unicorn onesie and tells you that it has a gold horn, so you immediately warn them to be careful of hemalurgic spikes. When you begin wondering if you hemalurgically spiked a horse in the cosmere through the head could you create a unicorn? If anybody knows please let me know. Also, on your starwars topic, the original lightsaber's where just CGI surrounding sticks (at least that is what I have heard). And do you know what that means? It means that the stick Shallan failed to soulcast was also Luke's lightsaber, among other things.

Am I doing this right?

Hey. I just had a random thought about nicrosil compounding and how it would be totally broken if you were a worldhopper to Nalthis or Roshar. Think about it. You buy one Breath and put it in your nicrosilmind. then you burn it. You'd get a ton of Breath. Same with Stormlight. You get some, put it in your nicrosilmind, burn, infinite Stormlight. This power is awesome. I know that Compounders are very rare and nicrosil isn't the most common of abilities, but surely over the years there has been a nicrosil compounder. If a nicrosil compounder ever shows up in the cosmere at large, remember, that person should be a really powerful chap. (This is my first real post. Hope you all like my thoughts!)

This weekend at WorldCon, someone asked Brandon about the historicity of The Girl Who Looked Up: I noticed three key differences in the versions: Shallan's message is that we're monsters; Hoid's mesage is that failures make us greater Hoid's version says there was no light before, only starlight Shallan says Stormlight; Hoid says God's Light Shallan says the wall was destroyed; Hoid says the storms "boiled over" the wall Recognizing the difference in morals is essential in approaching the basis of the legend. The story isn't about either; it can, however, be made to be about one or the other. But if we're going to examine the story as a retelling of events, even a mythological retelling, it doesn't have to be a word of warning or an admonition of strength. Looking at the similarities (the presence of storms, the existence of a wall, going from Lightless to Light), we can guess that there is some historical basis for the story, regardless of how it's used. And with the revelations at the end of OB for Humans as Voidbringers, I think it's pretty clear that the story is connected in some way to that context. So, let's contrast Hoid's story with Shallan's to try to figure out some details; I'm going to assume the differences highlight what Hoid says, and that he'll have the more faithful account. The Differences The "land of shadows" is explicitly called out by the text as something Shallan didn't know about, but that made the whole story make more sense. Like how people didn't know there was a wall; it was because they actually couldn't see it. Hoid mentions people seeing by starlight, which I think will throw the Domed Shinovar theory into the garbage before I can even articulate it. This darkness must be metaphorical; the Wall isn't physically the mountains that protect Ashyn, it just happens to be a parallel. In the context of the story, I don't think they had the sun on the other side of the wall, either; their lives were illuminated by God's Light normally, and the experience of the people inside the wall changed to match that. There's no event in the story that grants people sunlight; their hypothetical options would be Storms and Light, or Safety and Darkness. That's why I say the story is metaphorical, though much of the metaphor was drawn from the very real events of humanity venturing out of their appointed lands. "Stormlight" vs "God's Light" is another key difference. There are a lot of gods in the Cosmere, but who would Hoid call God? His point of view in the Elantris 10th Anniversary scene implies that Hoid believes in the God Beyond. And the end of WoR, he has a conversation with Jasnah where he says Tanavast wasn't God, and that she'll "find God in the same place you're going to find salvation from this mess. Inside the hearts of men." If he shares the views of Frost, who calls Odium "God's own divine hatred," then there would be a connection to Adonalsium there. This ties in with the metaphorical nature I highlighted in the last paragraph; the story is a metaphor for something going on in the hearts of men, about something bigger than a migration to a new planet. The last difference makes me wonder what the Wall represents. Shallan's story changes the nature of the world, through the destruction of the Wall allowing the existing storms to break through. Hoid's changes the nature of the Storms, where they now boil over the Wall, but the Wall isn't destroyed. I think this ascribes some sort of intelligence to whatever is represented by the Storms; it now enters where it did not, not because the obstacles are deeper, but because someone took its Light there, and now it continues to return there to replenish that Light. This isn't an act of Man; it's an act of God. The Religious Allegory As a pretty religious individual, I'm seeing heavy parallels to Christianity throughout this story, highlighted by the differences listed above. The girl stealing Light, but bringing Storms, is very reminiscent of Adam and Eve eating the forbidden fruit in Eden. They received knowledge of Good and Evil, but they also received the curse of mortality. Since then, the message of Christianity is not returning to the Innocence of Eden, but moving forward to a new kind of Glorification; not going back, but pressing onward. That's the same thing we see in this story; life was fundamentally altered, this is what made things the way they are now, and there's no going back. God's Light is also a concept that appears in real-world religions. Some books of the Bible, 1 John in particular, use Light as a metaphor for God's Truth, or specifically the Scriptures. It's not pleasant to be under the scrutiny of God's Light, but it does reveal areas of sin in our lives. That's extremely similar to what the Light did in the story here; it made life harder for humanity, but they're not going back to when they were blissfully in darkness. The Storms boiling over, instead of the Wall falling down, also reminds me of a key aspect of Jesus' teachings. Man doesn't attain to reconciliation with God; God, through the person and works of Jesus Christ, reached down to accomplish that reconciliation. That's why I said above that the Storms reaching over the Wall isn't because the Girl's actions brought the Wall down; it's because God now sends his Storms across the wall. So, why do I sound like Billy Graham, rattling off all this Christianity? It's to hammer home that this is not about the physical exodus of humans from their appointed place on Roshar; Hoid's story makes me think it's something bigger than that. I don't think it's how they stole spren and Surges on Roshar, either. The humans had Investiture, they had Surges, on Ashyn before it was broken. It's not just that they lived in a place without Stormlight, without that particular brand of Light; they were in a place with no Light at all. I think the story is about the way humans first came into Investiture. (Using the term to mean "magic" here; yes, Investiture comprises everything, but this is referring to the magical, the supernatural, the very reason this is a fantasy series.) There was a time when Humans were apart from God, and didn't have Investiture; but something changed, and someone took Investiture, and their actions spread to the rest of humanity. Something great, something terrible, and something that could never be undone. The version of this story that grew on Roshar took influence from their history with the Singers; parallels of humanity stealing something is not hard to find within our own world, and it is the same in the cosmere. The White Hair There is one very important clue that is in Shallan's version, but not in Hoid's. Shallan, without realizing why, made the girl's hair white at one point in the story. But she always called her a girl; never said she became an old woman. White hair, on someone who's not old, has always been a mark of Hoid. I think this is a story about Hoid, about what he did to change the very way humanity interacted with Investiture. Hoid, as an architect of the Shattering. The version of this story on Roshar may have become about a girl, but I think the original inspiration for that girl was none other than our mysterious worldhopper. Hoid asked a very peculiar question of Shallan during his telling of it: Hoid is certainly not a child who stayed out of the woods, and he's at the crux of all the Cosmere stories. Imagine that he is asking Shallan what she thinks about him, about what he did to help prepare for the Shattering. He ultimately did not take a Shard, but he could have been one of them, and they all know who he is. He calls himself bold, for seeking to take the power of Adonalsium. And he calls himself stupid, for unleashing the Shards upon the cosmere. In Conclusion Yes, the historical context of the story makes it clear that this version was developed after the humans arrived on Roshar, and it draws much of its setting from the way humans took the planet, the spren, and the Storms from the Singers. But there's also a deeper meaning, from a time before the humans had a God, before they had any Light, before they had Investiture, before they had Shards. They took the Light, they killed their God and took His power upon themselves, and the universe has never been the same since. But none are willing to go back to how it was before, to give up their Light.

@Wiresegal and I patched together Kal's rendition of Frozen's Let it go, as sung by Kaladin from stormlight (Syl too) [she helped with the sylllables] also thanks to @shallan314 for the inspiration (image credit goes to botanica) [Verse 1] [Kaladin] The storm burns bright in my pocket tonight Not a windspren to be seen A kingdom of oaths now broken And it looks like he’s the king The highstorm howls but I've got no storm inside Couldn't keep my Oaths, Tien knows I've tried [Pre-Chorus 1] [Syl] Go lead your men, don't let them see Be the Stormblessed you always had to be Conceal, don't feel, don't let it show Well, now they know! [Chorus 1] [Kaladin] Let it go, let it go I've been here before Let it go, let it go We save them as Bridge Four! I don't care what they all will say Let this storm rage on The winds never bothered me anyway. [Verse 2] [Syl] It's funny how the sky's view Can make everything seem small [Kaladin] And the fears that once destroyed me I push beyond them all! [Pre-Chorus 2] [Sigzil] It's time to see what this can do To test the limits and break through Do right, not wrong, Ideals to keep you're free! [Chorus 2] [Kaladin] Let it go, let it go I am one with the wind and sky Let it go, let it go You'll never see them die Here I stand, in winds I claim Let the storm rage on! [Bridge] [Kaladin] My power banished as I fell below the ground My soul is spiraling in frozen fractals all around And one thought drives me, even in the darkest night. To protect those I hate, so long as it is right! [Chorus 3] [Kaladin] Let it go, let it go I will stand like a Knight of old Let it go, let it go What's broken shines like gold! [Syl and Kaladin] Here we stand, with our Bond still strong! Let both storms rage on! The skies never bothered us anyway.

The allot that the gun is made of is a real life alloy. Wax mentions "Ekaboron" which is another name for scandium, and that is used in real life in the frames of guns because of its strength and light weight. The percentages are even the same. The bullets though? That's never identified. And scandium alloys still aren't doable for bullets or gun barrels/chambers.

Silas, deciding Songbird was too boring, began playing Through the Fire and the Flames.

Hi there, welcome! We’re glad to have you, whoever recommended you must be an awesome person

Not many people agree with me, but I think Worldhopping is going to become less doable as knowledge of space and the Cosmere grows, making FTL necessary. Spoilered for link. Bolded and underlined the relevant portion. So a moon, or an uninhabited planet is still Goin to be represented because people are aware of and thinking of it. What happens when science and education progress to a point that the average person in the Cosmere is aware of the Cosmere itself? When the space between planets is thought of, and the world's are thought of in relation to each other? I don't think that any of that would be close to its actual size... But I also think it's going to prevent people from crossing "light years in a step."

Food for thought, and Era 3 speculation: Crazy speculation, but maybe?

Sorry for double posting, but I just want to get more of these across because I feel like this thread is, unfortunately, being ignored. So this first song, "Noble Life", is meant to be basic background music for the balls Vin goes to in TFE. Now for a bit of a switch-up. I've decided to make some Era 2 songs as well, starting with "Wayne", a theme song for... well, you know. Steris, of course. And then this last one is... a sad one meant for a sad scene. "Frozen in the Ash and Snow" is for the scene in WoA when Sazed is searching through the dead on the streets of Luthadel and finally finds Tindwyl's frozen corpse. You are likely to get the fuller impact of this song if you listen to the "Sazed" theme above before this. Noble Life.m4a Wayne.m4a Frozen In The Ash And Snow.m4a

Someone send me some motivation and time to extend the filter to galleries... Because that's me generally:

I too hold The Emperors Soul as my favourite book he's ever written. It's such a beautiful piece of art that as soon as I was done reading it, I threw it into the fire.

The Second Law of Fiction: When in doubt, consult Sanderson, if RAFO'd, rinse and repeat.

Even if compounding copper doesn't duplicate memories, I envision families passing down treasured memories and even knowledge or practical experience to their loved ones if they are fortunate enough to be able to see that their time of death is near. Being able to gift your grandchild with 60 years of welding experience might not seem like a flashy power, but it would have serious implications for culture and how society treats elders. I even envision the social elite using copper medallions to buy knowledge to get through difficult school programs or simply to master new skills on a whim.