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When you spend a significant amount of your time googling images of your favourite Brandon Sanderson character so that you can have a huge poster of them in your bedroom

When your professor talks about dividing by zero and you can't stop smiling.

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Has anyone else noticed how many dead brothers there are in the comer? Every one of the Stormlight archive flashback characters so far has a dead brother, plus Vin. I can't say that other epic fantasies don't have dead brothers in them but it still seams to be one of Brandons favorite devises. Honestly one on the things I like about the upcoming Venli flashbacks is the presence of a dead sister for a change.

Rusts and Ruin, Mac reached out with the alleys, instinctively calling them toward where the people would land, and right as they were about to hit the ground, they were warped into an alley. Quickly, Mac shoved alleys aside to create a safe path to the more real world. Why would he attempt to kill 7 Innocent people? He didn't even destroy to make a valuable point, he just destroyed to make conversation. He was the epiphany of everything Mac despised. Not even worthy to be given a show. He longes to reach out with the alleys, and warp every cell of his body to a different place. Or to warp an essence spike through him, stealing his soul and letting it slowly decay on its path to the beyond, never fully making it, always stuck in between two places for the rest of time. Such a fate was what was deserved by Ajax. Mac felt a certain familiarity as he moved the alleys into position. He remembered when he had done this before. Placing the alleys so that the man would never see his killer. So that he would suffer and feel every ounce of pain that he caused them. He placed an essence spike at the start of the alleys. As it fell through each consecutive alley it would accelerate, building speed until it warped into a carefully placed alley in his chest cavity. If Mac was careful enough, its velocity would place it right at the bind point, and remove Ajax's soul in one blow. Right before he let the spike go, the memory returned, stronger. Mac remembered the look of shock on the man's face as a metal spike moving hundreds of miles per hour smashed into his chest, and he remembered elsecalling into the Cognitive realm so he could watch as the soul of the man slowly decayed away. He remembered listening to his screams, and watching as the man struggled to escape the spike his soul had been attached to. Then he vividly remembered the lack of satisfaction he felt. He thought, incorrectly, that it was because he wasn't strong enough yet. He thought it was because he didn't completely destroy the soul, and only imprisoned it, and that he killed him from a distance, without showing him who killed him. But this time as he relieved it, he realized that it wasn't because he wasn't powerful enough. It was because it never brought her back. The first person he met in this world. The person who showed him love as only a mother could. He didn't feel satisfied because he was too late. By the time he killed the man, he didn't kill him to save her, he killed him in revenge. And he had forgotten why he tried to gain the power. This time he would not. He warped the unused essence spike away, slid the spike back into his shirt, and let the alleys go. Last time I tried to stop someone like Ajax, I was too late. This time I'm not. I won't kill to destroy, or seek revenge, I will kill to protect those who can't protect themselves. Mac looked around, seeing the buildings that were closest to them. Despite their evacuation efforts, they were still full of people. People who had done nothing to deserve this. People who's parents and grandparents came to the alleyverse for the Utopia that he promised. They couldn't help themselves, so like his Mother once did to him, Mac did his best to help them. He carefully started to take the alleys and place them in between objects around the battlefield, forming a protective dome. Whether it was two columns, or two air molecules, when something tried to go through those alleys, they would be warped away. Then he waited for Ajax to attack. To hurt and destroy more innocent lives. To make Mac want to kill him even more.

I always took this to be a comment about Szeth's already-proven expertise in Gravitation and his proven ability to follow "the law". He wouldn't need much (any) time at the 2nd Ideal level because he is already good enough with that surge and had (in Nale's eyes) already shown that he "will put the law before all else" which is the 2nd Ideal per the Coppermind.

I definitely see the argument here - BUT I can think of a couple of counter points: 1. From the epilogue of Words of Radiance Jasnah talking to Hoid: "The words of the highspren could be inaccurate" - it seems that in Shadesmar highspren gave Jasnah information about the desolations - this doesn't sound in line with the highspren following Nale's line of no desolation is coming. 2. The point I quoted above about how Szeth reflected on his highspren when swearing his 3rd Ideal - which implied a longer relationship 3. This comment that could imply a past involvement with highspren? Chapter 90 of Oathbringer (bottom page 867 in the hardback)

We indeed know that Szeth thinking that the voidbringers were returning was part of why he became truthless. But could this not in some way be related to him bonding a Spren? Could the Spren have told him that the voidbringers were returning? OR could he have bonded the spren because he thought that the Voidbringers were returning?

Chapter 92 of Oathbringer Did Szeth bond a spren at a very young age but suppress/forget it later? Possibly when he was made Truthless? Could this in fact be what he was made Truthless for?

Hi all! Recently many new members have been posting in extremely old topics. Though we had always said that if there were useful things to add to a topic, topic necromancy could be productive, ultimately things many years ago before many WoBs or books had come out kind of render this moot. As such, I have closed many, many old topics in Book Discussion. Currently I've closed things older than 2017. I'll likely look into getting some sort of auto-closer thing, similar to how Reddit closes old threads after a certain time threshold. If you'd like to discuss material that pertains to an old topic, please feel free to make a new topic with your thoughts. If for any reason you as the topic owner would like your old topic to be reopened, this is also a thing we can do; just report the thread

Hey! I’m Shadow’s Sister. I have never read Brandon Sanderson, and I am having BoS type this for me.

The Stranger sighed. Here he was, hoping things would be interesting, and the upstart wanted to give him the first blow? The lack of respect was horrendous. How had someone this oblivious made it thus far? Very well, time to give him a wake up call. The Stranger's grin was filled with condescension as he replied "Oh you young people, gain a few shiny new powers and think yourself a god. Well trust me laddie, you wouldn't make it through the first piece of paperwork." He gestured to the destruction Ajax and his goons had caused. "Do you think this impresses us? Child, you really have no idea just whom you are dealing with. You deign to give me the first blow? Time's Teeth but you're a foolish one. Oh well, guess there's nothing for it then. I have but one question for you..." He reached into his coat and the smell of freshly baked goods wafted through the air, diffusing throughout the city. He pulled out what looked like the perfect chocolate chip cookie, warm and soft and fragrant. It was a thing of Beauty. Then it seemed to disappear. The Stranger had moved so fast he broke the sound barrier, creating an explosive sonic boom. He rocketed straight towards Ajax, but the instant before impact he drew the aon Tia and vanished, reappearing underneath him. "Would you like a cookie?" As he flew upward he grabbed Ajax by the back of the neck and dragged him higher into the sky, then flung him like a ragdoll, snapping his neck with a flick of the wrist. It was a spiteful move, as he doubted it would actually kill him. If it did they had really overestimated him. "I don't have time to waste on your juvenile displays," he chided, "please try to amuse me, or Voidus will hit me with that 'I told you we were wasting time' look and I hate it when he does that." @RayOfSunshine @Voidus

It doesn't, anyone in the Cosmere who goes through a similar experience to Szeth could hear them as well. The reason Szeth hears screams and Vin doesn't could easily have to do with how they feel about the people they killed; Szeth is burdened by a ton of guilt over his actions while Vin generally isn't. Remember her reaction to being asked if she's a good person? I'm not a good person or a bad person. I'm just here to kill things. If you want to speculate on why she's killed lots of people and doesn't hear anything, I suggest that line is a good place to start looking for an explanation.

International House of Radiance. Motto: Breakfast before Lunch, Syrup before Butter, Waffles before Pancakes ...in retrospect, letting Lift name the school was probably a mistake.

"If The Stranger is fighting Ajax, Voidus probably isn't too far behind, I'm not sure how Ajax's going to live through this." He followed her, but hesitated when she went into an alley. To hell with it, the DA has bigger problems, he thought, and continued running after her.

I think that the only moto that match everyone is "life before death, strength before weakness, journey before destination"

His response on TLJ is probably the first thing I've ever heard him say that I completely disagree with...

I maintained from its release that the movie was a failure of beta readers and not re-drafting. There's certainly ideas that are wonderful in the film, and its shot so well too. However, it's just so sloppy and poorly realized. I find it unbelievable not a single person read it and said "this is perfect and doesn't need another pass at all." Then again, we know thats not true also from Marks own mouth. Just a truly bizarre experience where they let one man make such a major movie without listening to any criticism or advice.

So much yes. When the film came out, I was hugely into listening to Writing Excuses. I really hoped the group would use their knowledge to explain all the things that went wrong with The Last Jedi in actual writing terms. Then I saw that Howard thought it was a really great film, so figured that would just never happen. I'm kind of relieved to find that Brandon didn't share Howard's feelings about the film. But of course it makes sense that he can't go on a massive rant about it and burn all those potential future co-workers. For me the film started off on a sour note the moment Poe puts General Hux "on hold". Instantly reminded me of Brandon talking about some of the comedy he removed from Warbreaker because it was doing soft fourth-wall breaking - referencing things that didn't exist in the Warbreaker universe. And there is Last Jedi doing exactly that in the opening scene - telephones don't belong in Star Wars, putting people on hold doesn't belong in Star Wars. GAH. And of course it all went downhill from there. Edit: Just want to add that I don't want to spoil anyone's enjoyment of the film, or try to convince anyone else that the film was "bad". For me it was, but I appreciate that many people found it great.

Honestly I like Venli the most right now because she is trying to find her own way just like Kaladin, Shallan, and Dalinar were doing in books 1 and 2. Also she brings upso many intriguing mysteries and is the connection other than Moash to the Odium and the fused and what their plans are. Also just the fact that she bonded Timbre and how he captured the "enemy" spren is just awesome.

Szeth is probably my least favorite "main" character, mainly due to the lack of consequences for his actions and the retcon of his death or his resurrection pre-retcon. I don't like the way he seems to take the "just following orders" excuse for the many terrible things he has done. He was not under magical compulsion to do what he did, he chose to do it based on a personal code of values that he had to listen to his government/elders when they said he was "truthless." I get that part of the point of Szeth's story is that people's definition of honor can be different, and sometimes even contradict what a lot of people would call morally right. I can appreciate that as a good moral message for the book, but it doesn't mean I like Szeth's character. I thought he had a great story arc in tWoK and WoR - does a lot of bad deeds, but feels bad about it and then realizes what he's done is wrong and was entirely his own choice all along. Then he dies and pays the price. If it had ended there, he would probably be one of my favorite characters. Instead, he sort of pops back up and is told that everything he did was fine because he did what he thought was the law and then he moves on as if he never murdered dozens of people as part of a plan to plunge the world into chaos. I don't really get the feeling of person who is tortured by his past from Szeth the way I do from Dalinar. My most favorite through WoR was probably Shallan. I thought her character arc was really interesting and the way she tried to always make the best of bad situations, bring out the best in people despite having faced so many hardships herself, etc. I didn't like her OB arc, but depending on what she does in Book 4 and 5 if the overall arc continues to give better context and meaning to everything she went through and did in OB, then I could easily see myself enjoying that arc as well once I understand it in context. If Shallan continues on a path that isn't in my personal preference, then I'll probably default back to Kaladin for the same reasons as everybody else. Dalinar is a close third place.

I have my character bio in my “About Me” section and simply hyperlink to it in my signature.

Woah. Shad's the popular weapons channel that I find too annoying to watch. I actually first heard of Brandon from Skallagrim's channel, so I'm a little bummed that this is with Shad and not Skall. Oh well. Cool video, bro.

As for POV characters I really like Lift. Her just plain goofiness really lightens the books up for me.

There's "main" and "main"... 1st tier (Dalinar, Shallan, Kaladin) : Kaladin. As Truthwatcher_17.5 mentioned, he's the easiest to relate to (for me too). It'd probably be easier for me if he wasn't so strong/smart/talented/charismatic, etc. He bonded Syl, who happens to be my favorite spren, so it's an easy pick. 2nd tier (Szeth, Lift, Navani, Adolin, Moash, Venli, Eshonai, etc.) : Adolin. I just love the guy's attitude, and none of his chapters are boring. None! 3rd tier (bridgemen, Zahel, Ash, interlude characters, etc.) : Teft. He's very likeable (caring, inspiring), and has a lot of potential, so I hope he can learn to forgive himself and overcome that crippling self-loathing of his.

@Truthless of Shinovar your name is mine

Sure. Lets have it join all of the unnamed dead moms.

I don't realy understand what your talking about. I am a bit tired but a feel like I am reading some pythagorean cult document. Anyone share the feeling or am I just unusually stupid at the moment?

I think this is highly likely. Why else would he assume the voidbrigners would return? I do think its possible that he did not realize he was bonding a spren and did not understand where the knowledge was coming from. But would this be his current highspren? Or a different one?

If someone ever asks me "Hey what happened in Era 3" I'm going to say "my character killed the evil orthodontist final boss with his own Shardtoothbrush" No regrets

My Braces Stop Me From Nothing Thanks to Voidus and Zinc. (I don’t freaking know, okay)

@BringerofShadows Welcome, BoS’s sister! I hope you read some of Brandon Sanderson’s books in the future, they are amazing!

@TheGirlWhoLookedUp, welcome back!!! Long time, no see!

Cyrus Albright ladies and gentlemen!

I don't hate you but Venli just lost her husband(once-mate but I am adjusting my terminology for human terms) like a year ago. My thoughts are as follows. Bold is a probably Italics is a maybe Underlined is an Unlikely First group(I am going to call them team Offense): This team will be the largest one and will include Kaladin as a major POV. This book will feature him prominently and as a Windrunner he is a front line character. You can't have a hero siting in a tower contemplating the universe. Kaladin is also at his best as a character when given high stakes missions, visceral examples, choices, and consequences. He is going to need a support team as well as other characters to play off against. I don't see Szeth working in that capacity. He has book 5 stuff to do and he is too useful as a political tool to send off into danger(the fact then when he saw frog the storming assassin in white jumps is kind of amazing). He is also Dalinar's only Skybreaker and he will want to keep Szeth around to train more Skybreakers in his Radiant school(this school needs a name BTW). Adolin is great for this kind of thing and it would give him an opportunity to figure stuff out(bring back Maya and become a lifebearer) but as a highprince I am not sure he can wander around Roshar on missions. Shallan is also great at this and it would give him some time to complete her arc however I am hopping for some more interactions with Jasnah and the ghostbloods and those can't happen in the field. Renarian would defiantly work but he seems to be going in a more scholarly direction(plus Jasnah is still a bit unsure about him). Jasnah, Dalinar, and Navani, all obviously can't go(at least in a realistic world) and I don't think the Heralds are options either. I am thinking that the mystery Dustbringer would be excellent for this kind of thing(they could learn about responsibility and loyalty from Kaladin while following their own Dustbringer path). Kaladin would be stupid not to bring at least one squire with him wherever he goes. Dalinar will probably order him to. It is not like they can do anything remotely as useful anywhere else. Lift is way too young and she will be hanging out around unnamed Radiant school. An eventual Venli team up is both awesome and inevitable(which makes me suspicious as this is Sanderson) but in the mean time I am putting her down. Lirin would be a good final pick. The same goes for Rock(who should have bonded a spren at this point). PS

Here are my thoughts: Group 1 Major POV: Kaladin Szeth Venli Group 1 Minor POV: Adolin Group 1 Minimal/No POV: Renarin Group 1 Thoughts: I think Kaladin and Szeth will be sent on some mission, along with Adolin and Renarin and likely other minor characters. They will eventually encounter Venli, who starts off separate from them. Following past precedence from what Sanderson has written, he considers Adolin a secondary character (though a fan favorite) and will keep his viewpoints at a similar level to OB. They will bring Renarin because they want his healing and future sight powers, but he will stay as a non-POV character or only very short scenes with POV. Group 2: Shallan Jasnah Group 2 Thoughts: I think the year gap between OB and Book 4 will give our heroes time to realize life is difficult, if not impossible, in Urithiru without all its fabrials working. As the two smartest radiants, these two will be given the task to make Urithiru work again. They will probably receive support from Navani and any others who aren't sent out on the main mission that group 1 is tasked with. Group 3: Dalinar Lift Group 3 Thoughts: I could see group 3 going in one of two ways - one: it's a political story with Dalinar trying to forge alliances with Azir and other nations. Lift is pulled in due to her ties with Emperor Gawx. She doesn't want to be a politician, but is forced into the role because she's the only one they have that has powerful ties. The other alternative is we see a plot with Ash and Taln doing something. I feel like the Heralds have to try to do something now that they know the desolation is here again. It would make sense the way Sanderson described Group 3 as just sort of keeping track of what certain characters are doing. So, Ash and Taln may have now regained enough sanity to believe they need to gather up the Heralds they can and try to help/do their duty.

It's actually both: That said, to respond to the original post, the numbers don't seem to be tied to the Shards necessarily, but the planets: Although that's technically a RAFO, the last answer definitely points in a direction.

Hey, please don't post the same thread in multiple forums. Thanks! TLR didn't die from relying on nicrosil. He died because he'd been compounding atium for a thousand years, and when Vin pushed his atiumminds away, those years caught up to him. A Fullborn can compound Fortune just like any other attribute. So he would never run out of Fortune, just like he'd never run out of speed or strength or healing. We haven't seen any evidence that points to the Spiritual attributes not being compoundable. Actually, it was Pushed out. Sorry, I don't think your theory holds water here.

It works either way realy. Also without reading Secret History it does not make a lot of sense. Also also a careful reading of Shadows of Self will spoil that ending anyway.

Aging someone isn't easy. Manipulating age, which is part of the spiritweb and isn't easy to change, has so far required something like atium, which is a god-metal, to accomplish. I highly doubt simple healing or Progression would work for it.

I have repurposed this thread. Prior to now, it was dedicated to a single poem I wrote in regards to Kaladin. Here is the original post: However, I have since decided to make this a general Cosmere Poetry thread. I decided this when I realised that it would be silly to make multiple threads for individual poems: Instead, one place ought to do all. Whilst this thread serves the purpose of letting me post any Cosmere poetry I may write in the future, I would also more than welcome reading poems based on the Cosmere written by other 17th Shard users; as I understand it, you are a creative bunch. Happy writings!

Questions for Moash: Are you a little turd biscuit who should go die in a hole?

Vin Sazed Rashek Spook Beldre Breeze Dockson Clubs Demoux Wax Wayne Steris Marasi MeLaan Syl Shallan Teft Rock Pattern Dalinar Renarin Jasnah Lift Wyndle Szeth Tien Navani Gavilar Vivenna Vasher Nightblood Susebron Lightsong Sarene Raoden Hrathen Galladon Karata Ashe Roial Ahan Kaise Daorn Kiin Lukel Jalla Eliminated Ham, Kaladin, and Wyrn, so this would happen... Kaladin: I’m storming hungry. Ham: What is hunger, anyway? Wyrn: The only true hunger is the spiritual starvation which occurs when Holy Jaddeth wishes it upon the nonbelievers. Kaladin: STORM BOTH OF YOU, JUST SHUT UP. Which character is most likely to own a unicorn pillow pet?

The Lopen is Olaf.

I think that the epigraph for chapter 86 gives a clue: It sounded like something that Kaladin would struggle with as well, and he then went on to not being able to say it. That made me wonder if it isn't something like, "I will let people protect themselves, if they are able" or something like that. It seems like Kaladin has a hang up about needing to protect everyone, including members of Bridge Four who were in the midst of learning to protect themselves. To be honest, I'm not entirely sure that is right now that I finished the book, but it's what I thought when I read that epigraph.

Mistborn Secret History spoilers here: Gemmel just picked up the fork cause he was crazy, no additional reasoning behind it.