Leaderboard

MR38: Corruption, Spreading The Council debated long that day, as the sun made her slow trek across the sky. During moments of respite for refreshment, members murmured to each other, trying in vain to find the very best to be in this Fellowship which Elrond had proposed. Suspicion ran high, and all feared the Ring’s corrupting power. Who truly could take the Ring and be safe? The Ringbearer certainly did not seem unaffected. Many proposed themselves, for they were arrogant or brave enough to believe in their own character. But consensus was slow to come. As the sun fell, Elrond stood before the Council. “It is not required of us to decide each member today, for we have time yet to speak, but I ask that we begin to name the Fellowship, so that they may begin preparations, and we may have accomplished something of use in all this great debate.” He turned his gaze on Scar. “Bring forth the Ring,” he instructed, pointing to the pedestal in front of him. “Why should I?” Scar said belligerently, and Elrond noticed the flush of drunkenness on her cheeks. “It’s mine, ain’t it? I’m the Ringbearer! I keep the Ring!” “All the more reason to give it up,” Elrond said with a forbidding frown. “Attachment to the Ring will only make its corruption easier. It is only temporary, besides.” “I’m not scared of you,” Scar muttered, but reluctantly got up and placed the Ring in its place. There was silence for a moment. The Ring was tiny, and yet its presence dominated the room and left all feeling uneasy. Astranwir was the first to speak. “If I might suggest Bombur?” Elrond turned a skeptical eye on him, alongside much of the rest of the council. Bombur heard his name and looked over, but couldn’t speak as his mouth was presently full. “I will second that,” Beren said unexpectedly. “He showed great courage in helping to restore the Lonely Mountain, I am told. And besides, Sauron’s servants will not suspect him for returning in that direction. Mordor is not far from there.” Bombur finally finished chewing. “So long as I can take Dronlir with me!” he declared. “I shan’t be going anywhere without my trust porters.” “The party must remain small,” Elrond said. “Dronlir may go, but not all the rest, I should think. You shall need to be walking for this, not being carried.” “Fine,” Bombur allowed. “So! Who else, then?” A young elf leapt into the chamber, seemingly out of nowhere. Elrond had known a few watched from the edges, but he trusted that fate would ensure any who needed to be here would be, and thought little more. “I, Coda, wish to venture on this quest,” the elf said loudly. “I have managed to sneak into this meeting without notice! I am obviously fit to join the Ringbearer’s party.” Elrond smiled faintly, but the rest of the council was staring at this Coda with expressions ranging from stern to shocked. He wilted a little. “Let me join the quest. Please?” Bombur laughed, suddenly and loudly. “Yes, let him join! Such bravery should be rewarded. He has the look of strength about him. Why not?” Elrond considered, seeing little disagreement from the rest of the council. “Perhaps he was indeed brought to be on the Fellowship by fate. Very well.” Nightingales sang, and a sense of tranquil twilight was falling over Imladris. “We ought to adjourn for the night, then, and meet again when we are rested and fresh to consider who else ought to go. For the moment, Bombur, Dronlir, Coda, come forward.” Bombur’s porters assisted him forward. He somehow managed to stand with only Dronlir’s support as the rest drew back, his eyes fixed on the Ring. Elrond hesitated. The gleam in Bombur’s eyes was disconcerting, and yet... he was better to keep the Ring than Scar, he thought. “Take the Ring, Bombur. Keep it safe, and never, ever put it on.” Bombur nodded gravely. He reached one pudgy hand forward to take the Ring and slip it into a pocket, which Elrond could only hope contained no food. “Go, then,” he said to the council, cutting off Scar’s protest. “We will meet again tomorrow.” He sat thoughtfully as the others began to file out of the chamber, considering the day. The council was... unorthodox, he had to admit, but perhaps the old ways could not work here. Even with Vilya, the way was unclear to him, and all he could do was trust the council to guide the fate of Middle Earth. Bombur made his way out, accompanied by his porters (of course), and this new man, Coda. “Come with me back to my room,” he said. “If we’re on this Fellowship now, we ought to get to know each other!” Coda smiled and came with him. “I’m no one special, I was just... curious, that’s all. I heard there was this important council, and when I heard what was happening, I just couldn’t resist. I want to do something important.” Bombur was lowered carefully down onto his bed, and he dismissed his porters except for Dronlir. “I know how that is,” he agreed. “That’s why I joined the quest to take back the Lonely Mountain, after all! Needed to prove myself. Well, I’ve done that now, and I’m happy enough with my life. I’m not even sure I really want to go on this Quest, or if I trust Elrond’s advice.” He reached into his pocket and brought out the Ring, staring at it in his palm. “Such a beautiful thing, this,” he said. “Whatever else you can say about him, Sauron was a master craftsman. Not quite as good as the Seven Rings, certainly, but powerful nevertheless.” “What does it do?” Coda asked curiously. “I mean, I got that it’s powerful, but what kind of powerful?” Bombur considered. “I don’t actually know. Dronlir, did I miss something at the council?” “I don’t think so,” Dronlir replied. “They all said it was powerful and evil, but I admit I don’t really know what that means.” Bombur shrugged. “Well, only one way to find out, I suppose.” The Ring looked too tiny to fit his finger, but he tried to force it over his pinky anyway, and as he did it seemed to change size until it fit perfectly. “Bombur!” Dronlir exclaimed. “Oh no - what if Sauron got him?” Bombur blinked. “I’m right here,” he said, and then noticed that he was in fact not there at all. “Oh. Huh.” He slipped the Ring off again. “Invisibility,” Coda said. “That’s its power.” Bombur grinned. “Maybe this is even more powerful than the Seven! Oh, that will be useful. Here, Dronlir, you try it on - let me see what it looks like from the outside!” Dronlir smiled eagerly, accepting the Ring and sliding it on. And then he was gone - absolutely invisible, no trace at all left. Coda yelped as something tugged at his arm. “Hey, stop that!” Bombur chortled. Dronlir appeared as he slid off the Ring, smiling broadly. “Here, your turn!” he said, handing the Ring to Coda. Coda slid the Ring on happily, disappearing just as Dronlir had. This time it was Dronlir’s turn to yelp as his hair was tugged. “Oy!” “Now, enough of that,” Bombur said genially. “I won’t have infighting in this Fellowship! But really, why didn’t they tell us what it could do?” Dronlir nodded, adding, “Why couldn’t just one person sneak into Mordor wearing the Ring and take it all the way to Mount Doom without Sauron noticing?” Coda appeared, and gave the Ring back to Bombur with a nod of thanks. “One person might not be enough?” he suggested. “But I definitely think at least someone should be wearing the Ring all the time. That way if we get attacked, that person can get away even if the rest of us don’t.” Bombur nodded enthusiastically. “Wonderful! We’re agreed, then. Dronlir! Get some food, I’m feeling hungry again.” Dronlir dipped his head and left. Coda took his leave as well, promising to return to talk more tomorrow night. Bombur settled back onto his pillows. It had been a good day, he thought. The food here was just so good. Idly, he played with the Ring in his pocket, slipping it on and off again. And far away, in the land of Mordor, Sauron knew his thoughts, and smiled. Coda (Coda), Fifth Scholar (Bombur), and Elandera (Dronlir) were elected to the Fellowship of the Ring! They were all Corrupted! The Corrupted have won! Vote count Fifth (2): Hael, Straw Coda (2): Coda, Fifth Elandera (2): Elandera, Wonko Striker (1): Striker Assuming Wilson approves when she sees the results, the game will be restarting in just under 24 hours. During this time you may drop out or join if you wish to. If you want to change character, that’s also fine. Unless you tell me you are dropping out, I will assume you wish to play again. There will most likely be a change to the rules around ties, or perhaps the Soothe, but I’ll hold off on what exactly the change will be until I have a chance to talk with Wilson. (And to clarify, don’t take me to mean the Corrupted won only because the game was broken. It’s probably unbalanced, but their win lands squarely on their own shoulders - and the village’s for allowing the possibility of a three-way tie.) Congratulations to the Corrupted on their win! Also, special thanks to Fifth and Kas (along with others) for doing so much PM RP that I felt truly immersed in the world in a way I never have. I hope the RP keeps up next game, because it’s been absolutely fantastic thus far! Player List Doc Links Corrupted Spectators (Master Spreadsheet reserved for reuse)

Update #6 just dropped! No new plot information, but it looks like we can be cautiously optimistic about a 2020 release!!

Several reasons 1) He is physically incapable of harming others. 2) He may be powerful, but shards are nearly omnipotent. If he started taking serious action against odium, he would draw his attention, which is exactly what he is trying to avoid. 3) It may not align with his goals. as Hoid himself has stated, he will watch the world burn in order to achieve them, albeit with tears in his eyes. 4) For all we know he has been taking steps to counter Odium. We have seen very little of him throughout the series, and his intent as well as his actions have been kept mysterious. I don't think it's fair to say that he has done almost nothing to stop Odium because we do not have all of the facts.

Just imagine Nightblood learning about the Evil on Threnody. He's probably gonna burst a groove on his blade from excitement. NB : " Evilllllllllllllllllllllll " "Szeth, did you hear that ? Let's ditch this place , we need to go to Threnody " Szeth : " No , Sword Nimi , I have pledged my allegiance to Dalinar Kholin and intend to follow him till he releases me or till I die " NB : " Screw that Dalinar guy, didn't you try to murder him twice ? Come on , let's ditch this place . There's an ENTIRE CONTINENT FULL OF PURE ,PURE EVIL THERE . AN ENTIRE CONTINENT, SZETH . I think I know the route there , Vasher knew it better but I can manage. We probably won't be lost for long .Let's go " Szeth : " I'm afraid I can't do that , Sword Nimi . Nin-Son-God told me that you are to remain here until or unless your true master demands you back. " NB : " Oh come on , both of them are so boring . Please , pretty pleaseeeeee . Are you angry I accidentally tried to eat your soul ? I promise I won't do that ever again. " Szeth : " sigh "

*The crowd hushes as the light in the theatre go off, one by one.* *A man with metal spikes through each eye steps out from behind the curtain, grinning charmingly.* *He lifts the microphone to his mouth, taking off his jacket as he does so. He throws it to a random man, who happens to be named Axel, who screams in joy and faints.* "Thank you all for coming today. I'm one of the Ark Production crew. I'm one of thirty odd of the Profile Picture Team. But now, the musical you've all been waiting for... Ark1002, the epic story of heroes and villains, of good and evil, of guac and salsa, of eggnog and hot chocolate, of pancakes and waffles, of cookies and more cookies!" *The man runs of the stage, grinning, as the curtain parts.* *Standing there, wearing a strange combination of military boots, singlets, and bowler hats, is a variety of people, of various genders, nationalities, species. They were all kneeling, with their heads down, facing a man wearing a kilt, metal boots, and gauntlets. The man had long wavy hair that reached down to his back, a thick beard, and a handlebar mustache. He was extremely muscular, and had massive shoulders. And all the hair on his body was purple.* *He looked up, smiling, and blew a kiss at the just awakened man from the audience, who immediately fainted again.* "I'm Ark. And I'm back again." *The group of people stood, pulling out various instruments, with a large amount of them consisting of bagpipes, kazoos, and lyres.* *The music began, and they all started dancing.* [Skip to the end of the musical, because I'm not going to write it.] *Ark grins as the curtain slides shut, and blows one last kiss, at the man who had now awoken, and fainted, 57 times over the course of the musical.* *The man with spikes through his eyes ran back up to the stage.* "Thank you all for coming! I hope you enjoyed the performance. And remember, Ookla Season is only 2 WEEKS 02 DAYS 04 HOURS 40 MINUTES 1 SECOND away!"

Highprince Sebarial, Upon further correspondence with the agents planted in our midst—the Ghostbloods who we have identified—their close-lipped silenced and stiff denials only serve to confirm my suspicion that it was they who tried to assassinate you. The Highprince of Investigation agrees with me, and adds that after our raids in which we were able to capture a Ghostblood spy, the camps have had an undercurrent of activity, and the organisation appears ready to make a counter-strike. It is apparent that some of the men around us will not hesitate to knife us in our sleep, and so the only thing we may do is stab them first. That said, the increased security around your warcamp is impressive, and reassures me that the next strike will not come near you. I can only hope it does not fall on me. Keep up your spirits, and tell your troops to be vigilant for absent or suspicious-looking men these next few days. Our continual cohesion in these times is imperative. Elhokar, King of Alethkar Mraize looked around the small circle of men and women huddled inside the stone-walked tavern. His voice was silky and soft, yet carried an undercurrent of pure rage within its low whisper. “Alright,” he said, fighting to keep his rage down. “Which one of you thought it would be a good idea to go out and cut a hole in a Highprince’s wall? You’re all capable Shardwielders, which is why you have the Shards to begin with, so you know the consequences of doing something like this! You know a stunt like this would attract attention! Why? Why would you expose our entire network?” He swept his gaze from side to side. The members looked startled, as Mraize rarely had trouble keeping control of himself, but not afraid—just as they had been trained. Their eyes stared back into his, and one of them replied. “None of us carved that hole.” “It was in the shape of three diamonds,” Mraize hissed. “How could that not be your doing?” “The same three diamonds which we are never to carve into anything important or permanent or official?” “I…” Maize faltered. “Are you saying we’re being framed for this?” “What else could it be?” another Shardwielder sighed. “We’ve already told you that we’re blameless in this, and you’d perhaps literally chew our heads off if we lied; that’s the only other option. Either the king wants a scapegoat for something he ordered himself, or else a third party wants us both weakened to the point of death.” “This is true,” Mraize conceded. “Which is why it will become essential that we kill the king without delay. He is the head directing Alethkar’s efforts against us, and his death will cut that head off, leaving the body, as large as it may be, to writhe.” Mraize felt his voice grow in power. He had to be right about this. “Your new task is to get yourself into his court, convince your way through or slaughter the other guards, and kill him. We cannot afford to let this drag on any longer, or we will all be found separately and killed. And finally, find that Shardbearer who actually cut the hole. I want his Blade!” Three crashes of mugs slamming against the table in agreement greeted Mraize’s ears, and five seconds later the tavern was deserted, the only sign of previous habitation the faint beer flecks on the table and the hushed, echoing whispers of a conspiracy gone wrong. Day 1 has begun! It will end in about 47 hours at 9 PM EST (-4:00 UTC) on Tuesday 12 November. All role PMs should be sent out! Thank you to Devotary and Snip. A brief reminder that one-on-one PMs are closed, unless you have a Spanreed and use it during the Night turn. There will be a lynch today, with no vote minimum to kill. Ties will result in a random death. The updated rules may be found here. Good luck to all! Player List:

Meanwhile, from her forcefield, Sophie sang quietly. My hope is blood on broken glass A shattered hole, a scattered past And I can't wake up cause the darkness won't let go And I can't wake up cause the darkness is taking hold Everything is lost And this nightmare's closing in Everything is lost There's a sorrow beneath my skin This is the end of me This is the end of me There are angels and demons at war inside my chest The good and the evil are fighting to possess And I can't stand up as the ground shakes underneath And I can't stand up as the Earth gives under me Everything is lost And this nightmare's closing in Everything is lost There's a sorrow beneath my skin This is the end of me This is the end of me Everything is lost And this nightmare's closing in Everything is lost There's a sorrow beneath my skin This is the end of me This is the end of me

I’m curious how much a difference a tour really makes on book sales (especially for a established author). You would think that the sales division on the publisher would have many ways, in this digital age, to get the word out and people interested without the author traveling. He is absolutely correct and it is much better for him to be working on another Stormlight rather than touring. I appreciate him telling the publisher that the book will sell well without me and not giving in the pressure they must of put on him. I’ve never met Brandon and probably never will. I now live and Tulsa and it takes a lot to even get me to drive two hours to Oklahoma City. I don’t really see Brandon visiting My town anytime soon. I don’t need to meet a author to really enjoy their books.

So I had a bit of a bad month, I'm not going to get into specifics but my mother found out I was struggling mentally and was more open than I thought she was going to be. The support she's given over the past 2 days (it's been short so far) has been more than I've noticed before. Now, we aren't an outspoken family but we always know we are there and that's true so far. Talking about things does make it better and, hopefully, this continues and I can get out of the mental rut I'm currently in. I'm trying to stay positive and distracted though, I'm sure everyone will help in this circumstance.

Buckle up. It's graph time. Brandon made a comment recently at a convention that his writing career is now almost as long as Robert Jordan's was while he was writing the Wheel of Time. The first Wheel of Time book was published in 1990, and the last one before Jordan's death was in 2005. Brandon's first book was in 2005; by 2020, he'll eclipse Jordan's tenure. So, I decided to crunch some numbers and compare them. (I'm including projections for Skyward 2, assuming it's the same wordcount as the first book, and Stormlight 4 at 400,000 words for a November 2020 release.) Brandon has essentially had three writing careers in this time: 1) the Cosmere, 2) his non-Cosmere stuff, and 3) writing the final Wheel of Time Trilogy. Here's a comparison of Robert Jordan's writing speed to each of Brandon's careers, and Brandon's total speed. Notice that each line has a dashed average. This represents the average writing speed for that career. A couple things I found interesting: Robert Jordan had a significant drop off. You can see that sharp angle about five years in, between WoT books 6 and 7. He maintained that later speed fairly well, up til the end. I suspect you'll see that with many other successful authors, for reasons creative or personal, but... Brandon's total writing speed has remain essentially unchanged. He has matched Jordan's initial pace fairly well, and his total wordcount (solid line) stays pretty true to the average (dashed line). There's some funky stuff going on around WoT, where Brandon was working harder than usual, but that was making up for a bit of a slower start. (More on that later.) After WoT, his total writing speed and each of his career writing speeds have tracked their average very closely. Brandon's Cosmere career has remained remarkably consistent. Even though there was that huge slowdown with Cosmere books during WoT, the initial post-Mistborn push, with Warbreaker and Way of Kings releasing, was enough to keep things averaged out until Brandon could finish up WoT and write Words of Radiance. (The solid blue line gets well above the average at the 5-year mark, but stays pretty flat until the WoR release.) As he's settled in to his groove after WoT, it gets a little choppier, but that's an effect of writing bigger books. He's still writing the same amount of words. Brandon's non-Cosmere career has.... remained remarkably consistent. This career actually has two regimes, which is why I included multiple averages. The uppermost red dashed line is the total non-Cosmere average, and it rides well above the solid red line. This indicates that the trend is concave up; Brandon is writing more and more non-Cosmere than he used to. But it's not a gradual process; after WoT, he started working on stuff like Reckoners and Skyward. So I gave non-Cosmere another average trendline with two segments; you'll see the inflection point right around 3000 days, with the release of Rithmatist. Since then, he's been pretty consistent in the amount of non-Cosmere he wrote. Brandon's Wheel of Time career is pretty obscene. The green dashed line is essentially the same slope as the blue dashed line. Brandon wrote twice as hard as he used to when he started working on Wheel of Time. My man. I crunched the numbers. I can't deny them. Brandon's pumping out Cosmere books just as fast as he used to. But 2019 is the second year ever we have had no Cosmere stories published. (Not counting White Sand, since Brandon didn't write anything for those.) The first time it happened... 2018. It feels like we haven't been getting as much Cosmere, and so many stories have been waiting years for their resolutions. (The gap between Bands of Mourning and Lost Metal will be larger than between Alloy of Law and Shadows of Self. Rithmatist and Alcatraz have been hanging out forever, with the end always just around the corner. Even Legion, a novella trilogy, took seven years to complete.) I think the answer to this is scope creep. Brandon's not writing any slower, but his plans are getting bigger and bigger. Each Stormlight book is larger than the last. Plans are changing - Skyward was a secret project, followed up by Children of the Nameless as another Secret Project. We'll still get as many words; but waiting a long time for 1 Stormlight book book feels more painful than 3 Mistborn books totaling the a similar amount of words. Same thing for the non-Cosmere projects waiting for their finales; it's not that Brandon doesn't have time, it's that he devotes his time to a different project, instead. If we take Brandon's average writing rates (Cosmere: 191K words/year; non-Cosmere: 134K words/year), and we assume he's gonna be writing Stormlight (400K ea), Mistborn/Elantris (250K ea), and W&W/YA (120K ea), that gets us projected release dates of: This is all assuming he sticks to the average. Which, so far, has been a good long-term bet, but not a good short-term bet. So I'd expect these releases to be more clumped together, as he'll alternate what's getting focused time. My final projected Cosmere completion date is 2055. A nice, round 50 years. (My last estimate I put together, back when Brandon was working on Oathbringer, was in 2052. Over three years, the projection has moved back three years. Uh oh... let's not focus too much on that. I was much less rigorous in my analysis.) What we've seen from the Wheel of Time excursion, though, is that Brandon is not writing at his maximum capacity. About one-third of his WoT writing speed was transferred over to his current non-Cosmere work. (I'd guess the remaining two-thirds turned into family time, since he started having kids right around then. [Well, his wife started having kids. You know what I mean.]) If push comes to shove and Brandon decides to make a focused effort to knock out more Cosmere books, his pace can increase considerably, even without cutting back on his non-Cosmere writing hours. If he were to go full-speed ahead, nothing but Cosmere, I'd project a 2037 completion date; 32 years from start to finish. Obviously, it won't be that. (At the very least, he'd have to fit Rithmatist 2 in there, which would push the whole thing to 2039, somehow.) But based on Brandon's 15-year career so far, it looks like the Cosmere will last between 32 and 50 years. Which doesn't seem terribly unreasonable. In conclusion, please don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to say anything about what Brandon should or shouldn't be writing. I just like the data, and I think we can learn a lot based on what Brandon has accomplished so far. He prides himself on his consistency. (That's his canned answer about how he writes so much; he's not fast, he's just consistent.) And that's exactly what the data shows.

Sorry if this has been done before, but I had this thought: This is more of a what if scenario than a theory or anything, but ever since I finished Era 1, I've always wondered how the books would've differed if Preservation ended up as the main antagonist instead of Ruin. Like instead of saving the world from destruction, maybe the crew now have to save it from stasis? As Ruin says in Secret History: Since Mistborn already has so much trope deconstruction and subversion, I don't think it'd be too far-fetched if Brandon turned around and was like "hey, you know that evil malevolent force I've been foreshadowing this whole time? Yeah well now everyone has to work with it to stop the end of the world", albeit "the end of the world" in a different sense. I'm not sure exactly how much it would change the story (it has been a few years since I've read Era 1), but I think it would've made for some interesting character dynamics. Maybe this time Preservation sealed Ruin in the Well to stop him from interfering with Preservation's plan of freezing the world, and in Hero of Ages maybe Vin and the crew are actively searching for the missing atium. Though this probably means The Lord Ruler's backstory would have to completely change, and actually, the Final Empire would probably be completely different. And Secret History . . . well, I don't know what would happen there, except that it would have to be completely reworked. I think Mistborn does a pretty good job of establishing that Ruin or Preservation are neither truly good or evil, but that they're both necessary, but it would've been cool to see their roles reversed.

Mistborn Magic Spoiler(talks about mistborn magic theory) Is it technically possible to create a unicorn mistborn? With the Inquisitors, they stab themselves with hemalurgic spikes to get allomancy. So what is stopping someone from getting a horse and killing a full mistborn with a spike as they drive it into.tje head of a horse, and therefore create a mistborn unicorn?

Win s Colorfully I just did all that on mobile...never again

Signing up, possibly against my better judgement.

So what if it isn't? it's still beautiful, @Coda I have one too: Pieces broken, joined together, stronger together, joined broken pieces

When you read someone else's questions for Brandon and realize that you aren’t the nerd everyone thinks you are.

@mtthgn already mentioned this a few months ago, but I'm going to bring it up again because if this theory is wrong, I'll eat my feet.

Cheers and congrats to the Eliminator team! I'm going to pull out of the next round, I'm afraid, as I'm tired of the amount of RP I've done, and I think I'm not especially inspired by Kavan after all. Thanks for RPing with me guys, and see you around sometime! Also, @Wonko the Sane - y u no PM Given who my main suspicions were, I felt we could've stood a chance together. There was no aid for Dale to be found in the house of Elberond. The elf lord spoke merely of a trinket of power, a Ring, and the need for a council to convene to debate the formation of a Fellowship who would embark on an arduous quest to cast the ring into the fires of Mount Doom. Dale did not need quests. Dale needed armies, alliances, aid. Dale needed promises that someone would remember her when the Enemy swept over the banks of the Carnen and the blood flowed like the wine once had. Kavan rode back to Dale that night. He did not tarry.

Just go over to the continent and toss the nightblood to Evil.. all problems solved..

When it comes to the idea of a shard "river" I'm... Honestly I doubt it. Not so much because of property of the Investiture, but magnitude. The Well and the pool. Near Elantris are both contained an only a few feet wide. Liquid Investiture is the most potent form, and it shows... The Well was enough power to reshape and move a planet. To have enough Investiture to create a stable flow for even a brook or stream would be... An astounding amount of power.

I wouldn't say that every planet would always have Cognitive Shadows. All of the ones we've seen have been deliberate (or at least willing) creations by the Shard. So some Shards not creating them and some Shards creating them works out. The only CS we've seen on Scadrial would be Kelsier, and that took some fast talking on his part. We have no idea what the process is for Threnody, other than it seems to involve something from Ambition dying nearby. Elantrians are not Cognitive Shadows, by the way. They never died. They were more in a state of suspended biological animation than anything else.

THIS IS A JOKE. IF YOU DON’T WANT TO BE ON THE LIST, SAY SO AND I’LL TAKE YOU OFF. It’s just what it sounds like, ladies, gentlemen, and everyone else! Vote for the administrator or moderator of the 17th Shard who you think is the least intimidating one. To those in the running: feel free to try and make yourselves seem more or less intimidating through posts on here if you want (but if you’re going for more, make sure it’s clear that you’re not going to do anything bad). To those not in the running: be nice, this is all in fun. (By the way, for those with the ability - you could pin this to the forum, so people could see it easier and more people would vote. I won’t say should because I don’t want to imply this thread deserves it - it doesn’t - and because I feel like that would be rude. But it’s an option you have. ) Edit: Mods, you’re all allowed to vote too.

I am personally very interested on all of the similes, metaphors and other figurative language in Brandon's books. If you guys could put any that you can think of here, that would be great.

He also provided aluminium so that soulcaster can be used and Kholinar does not starve..

I think a shard can kill him easily or really hurt him, trap him, then prevent him from achieving his larger goal, whatever that is, but it is most important to him, and like he has said he will not risk anything that will jeopardise his goal....

Eh, might as well sign up as Straw.

I could see a book tour having some modest impact, simply because people will buy hard copies of the book (rather than e-books, which are usually cheaper) specifically so they can have it signed. I got to meet Brandon at a con shortly after The Rithmatist was released, and people were buying copies of it in the dealers' room so they could get it signed. I'm sure a lot of them would have bought it anyway, but with the popularity of e-readers today, they might have gone for electronic copies instead. Or they might have borrowed it from a library instead of buying a copy. The dealers' room also had copies of all Brandon's previous works prominently displayed, and people were buying those too. With a book tour, you've also got incentive for people to buy the book right now, instead of going, "Eh, I'll wait for it to come out in paperback." I don't know if publishing is like the movie industry, where your numbers on "opening weekend" are A Great Big Storming Deal, but I can imagine it making at least some difference.

Day 7 Noooooooo!! I forgot to post on Sunday!! Here are two to make up for it:

Anything that smells like Hoid is a good place to start.

There is a different time table for “big” authors instead of the “smaller”. With a Brandon Sanderson I know that Tor will move mountains to get it ready to be published quickly so everyone can line their pockets. The quickest turn around that I’ve ever heard of a author completing a final draft and publication was about four months. That was Martin’s Dance with Dragons. That situation was unique because he was turning in sections as he went and it was being edited as they came in. Brandon will want to do multiple drafts and this is now Tor’s flagship series. They will probably want extra time to get publicity out for the release. I’ve noticed recently the publishers want more time to”build up” anticipation and get the word out (for their big money makers).Tiamat’s Wrath by Corey was delayed by about three months just for that reason.

@GoWibble so I was right when I suggested that we should just toss NB at Evil and threnody’s problems will be solved?

“The first is rather good, for us, though somehow I doubt you have any true understanding of pain, only a passing acquaintance. Anyone who truly knew pain is either already a denizen, or would be screaming in response to that question. The second however, well to put it bluntly, is simply a tragedy. Sierra it is, as you put it, the sugar and spice, that makes life worth living! I’ll get some interns working on some cinnamon rolls for when we are finished.” He turned back to Viv, “ You ready?” @ZincAboutIt @Shard of Thought

If there is anything to be learned form the above exchange it is that babysitting Nightblood is mostly about directing its energy somewhere else, hopefully somewhere productive if posable. "Look over there! I think it's some EVIL!" "OMG! Where?"

Does anyone know why January 1 is the deadline for publishing in 2020? As opposed to, say, early January or Jan. 8 or something? I mean, clearly the whole proofreading/editing/publishing process takes time, but I'd think that especially this time of year, taking an extra week or so to finish up would dramatically decrease the time pressure he must be under. I doubt the in-book art even gets started until much later. He's still in rough-draft mode. No use commissioning art for a scene that might need to change before publication.

Ew. Look I recognise that some people ship these two but their relationship is nothing like that at all and I for one appreciate a young man and woman having an important, intimate, exclusive relationship that is not romantic. Putting them together just feels wrong not to mention cliche. Agreed. Remember they won that battle. Their ship numbers are now higher so their is probably less stigma around ejecting+ Spensa ejected and it saved the world.

It will be very cool if this happens. I know Brandon can do it, but obviously we don't want him to rush it either. So I'm not going to be devastated if it needs to be pushed to early 2021.

True but I always thought that these are called red rip because these are a constellation of red stars or one prominent red star. And a red star is simply a star that has reached the end cycle, core has become predominantly of helium. So it is some really old stars. But I still think that these are very relevant as they are constantly mentioned again and again.. may even be where yolen is, so associated with shattering but, unfortunately red shift is not something visible through the naked eye....

363. Never pick a fight with these kinds of characters: old men, disabled men, women in impractical high heels, kids. They will invariably turn out to be the most dangerous one among their peers. Just pick the big brute, there's a good chance he's very stupid.

Good evening! Have some art! Vivica & Bennington. Viv has two distinct modes: Crazy, and Very Crazy Rig and Allri from the "Into the Dark" thread: And some more DA Karaoke night this time featuring Voidus

Kaladin finds Jasnah attractive. At least this is how I read the text: This is in Chapter 61 of Oathbringer.

My sister is in the middle of Words of Radiance

Made from Penguin Classics Cover Generator Inspired by [x] [x]

“Aww, are you talking about me again?” “ninja’d,” Truthless said unexpectedly.

i this is a meme in itself

So true.

If I start offering free cookies, does that make me more or less intimidating in this community?

O’tay!! Thank you, sorry I sound like a total jerk. (Which I am, btw)