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Wow! 80 followers! Two of which are hidden and many of which are now inactive! But still! 80! That's a lot of people! (Thanks @Spock!) Thanks, you guys. You're all incredible. -Tesh

Yeah, I think there's two different perspectives on this, and I have differing opinions on both of them. From the story perspective, I adore what Brandon did here, setting up Taravangian as the main antagonist since book 1, with Rayse just as the typical "big bad in a tower" who doesn't have much personality. And then letting Taravangian take over. Now he has the power of Odium, but he also has the character depth that was developed by his POVs (which Rayse didn't have), his intelligence that was shown throughout the story (while Rayse pulled the strings from far away, so his cunning didn't have that much of an impact in my opinion), and his relationship with Dalinar in particular (which Rayse couldn't ever really have because as an evil deity, he was never at eye level with Dalinar). And that is just beautiful. Taravangian could only be deep, interesting and linked to the main characters because he was human instead of a deity. Now that he is a deity, he is the ideal antagonist for the story. So Rayse as a red herring antagonist worked. I'm actually happy to have him gone, because he was so bland in Oathbringer. But from the perspective of the fandom, I kind of agree with you. WOBs always suggested that Rayse was a huge deal in the Cosmere. And we've known for a decade that he has a history of 10,000 years of destroying things. You would expect him to be more relevant. More than a red herring for a more interesting and more intelligent antagonist. So yeah, it's kinda "lame". But I think we have to consider our special perspective in this situation. We're in the core fandom, and things look very different from here, compared to just reading the books without any WOBs and background information. Rayse has mostly been made into a huge deal through WOBs and fan hype, things like that. People thought he was the Cosmere big bad. I don't think the books ever actually set him up for that. It was years of WOBs that did that. So it might seem disappointing now (although for me, it doesn't really), but I don't think it will be a huge deal for future readers who can just fly through the books in one go, hear about Rayse in book 1 and have him die 3 books later. I think that will work very well.

My brother @Ookla the Shadowed(experience) and I made this graham cracker Urithiru:

These words are accepted.

"Honor is dead, but he lives on in the hearts of men" - I think this phrase is going to be very significant, and is related to what is wrong with humans/deadeyes post-Recreance (more specifically with how to fix it). Kalak's epigraphs reveal a lot about what is going with spren/Connection on Roshar - he talks about the mechanics of what happened to Jezrien (and the Heralds are functionally spren who remain Connected to Roshar through the Oathpact). The usual Nahel bond functions by humans giving spren conscious in exchange for power (the Connect): "The bond is what keeps us alive. You sever that, and we will slowly decompose into ordinary souls—with no valid Connection to the Physical or Spiritual Realms." - Kalak (Sanderson, Brandon. Rhythm of War). I think this applies to spren, except pre-Recreance the spren would still have a valid Connection through Honor and would probably return to Shadesmar. However now, Kalak tells us: "I felt it happen to Jezrien. You think you captured him, but our god is Splintered, our Oathpact severed." So when a human breaks their oath, spren do not have a valid Connection through Honor, but they ARE connected to Mishram (as Odium is now part of Roshar), and thus remain trapped in the physical. So when Radiants sever the bond post-Recreance, the spren who usually would have Connected to Honor (keeper of oaths) instead Connect to BAM, hence their minds being trapped. Reversing this requires a version of the Nahel bond that functios according to Odium, which is what we see between Adolin and Maya. With the usual Nahel bond, humans take power from spren in exchange for their minds. Re-reading the trial scene when Maya speaks, and the exchange between her and Adolin is so similar to how Odium takes pain (Passion) from people. "Adolin...felt her pain somehow.A deep agony. And...anger?" He gives her some of his "strength" and feels a warmth deep inside: I think this works the same way it does for the Sibling - they couldn't hear Honor's tone anymore so I don't think any deadeye spren on Rohsar can. However, if they Connect with a human they can because Honor lives on in the hearts of men - as Navani proved.

I think you're missing something important, Rayse (and possibly Odium) didn't heal of the damages he suffered each time he fought another Shard, or each time someone managed to break free of his influence. Him having beaten four shards makes him weaker, not stronger

It is so easy for us to look back, with our mountain of foundational knowledge of the world and how it works and think that the order of science and technology discovered and invented in our history is the only order that it could have been. This is not so. Earth's history is filled with different cultures at different times inventing things and discovering principles "out of order" with each other, according to the needs, social mores, and foundation of knowledge that each culture had at the time. The notion of "progress" being a steady upward climb is a lie. Technologies have been invented, lost, and re-invented numerous times. The Minoans had water and sewage systems, with working toilets, in 2500 BCE, 3000 years before they figured it out in England. First Nations in eastern Canada figured out technology like barometers and other weather instruments before they figured out how to work metal. The cure for scurvy was known to be citrus for ages, then due to a series of events people of the time rightly began to doubt its efficacy and they went back to thinking it wasn't citrus for quite a while before it was tested and re-confirmed to be citrus. Increasing the base of human scientific knowledge is not simple and straightforward. What we think of as obvious connections to make once took enormous imagination and willingness to test them. People take logical leaps in the wrong direction and it takes time to undo "progress" in the wrong direction. It is very easy for humans to look back and take everything the history of humanity has been able to achieve as a given; it takes a lot of work and imagination to make forward development. Even when looking back as little as 30 years - the Internet was not conceived of or expected until it came upon us. The thought of "well of COURSE we invented the internet, how could we not" is the mistake; in another world, that leap wouldn't have been made, and we would be living in a 2021 without the Internet. Then bringing it back to Stormlight Archive, the Rosharans have an incredible foundation of knowledge from bits and pieces that survived the Desolations; they are not an example of a simple medieval society fumbling around in the dirt. Even the sure knowledge they have to simply wash their hands to prevent rot is an enormous breakthrough that by itself could have lent itself to even more scientific knowledge.

My cousins are the best people in the world. So Connie was explaining 17th Shard to my cousins and she was telling them about Fadran. I was upstairs in the kitchen, and Tap Water comes up to me. TW: "(Connie) told us about Fabio." V: "Fabio? You mean Fadran?" TW: "Yeah. Her Mexican boyfriend." V: "Mexican boyfriend?" We go downstairs and Flurry comes up to me. F: "(Connie)'s hiding in the closet." V: "What happened?" F: "She told us about Fabio. He's her Mexican boyfriend. He used to live in Mexico but he got kicked out for spending too much money on Taquitos. He's 54 and lives in his mother's basement in New Mexico. He has two girlfriends, (Connie) and Dairy Queen. His real name is Pedro Eduardo Juan, but he calls himself El Perro or El Dorro. He also calls himself 'The Chinese Dorito.' We're questioning her now." I nodded slowly and walked upstairs. Apparently they continued questioning her (Unsuccessfully) and she threw pillows at them. Throughout the trip, we enjoyed chanting "Pedro. Eduardo. Juan." to her during random times. Tap Water is going to join the Shard and ask "Who's this Brayden Sand guy? I've heard he's a good illustrator." Be ready. @Channelknight Fadran

---- Main topic here! Download the current demo here! Imagine you're a Mistborn in Luthadel and you're jumping over rooftops through the mists. That's what this game project is. It's 100% spoiler free if you're familiar with the basic allomantic powers. I'm a student at Future Games in Stockholm, and this is a pet project I'm working on between classes. I'm working in Unreal Engine 4 and its Blueprint visual coding system. I started this a couple of months ago when I was just done with the Hero of Ages and really into the allomancy magic system. The goal of this project is to make an FPS-style Mistborn game, where you can play around with some schmexy allomancy. It's not finished, and probably won't be for a while. However! I'm updating the demo as I go along, so you can see where it's going. What's in it? Currently, it's a playground with the physical powers (steel, iron, pewter and tin), set in Skaa areas of Luthadel by the wall. There are a couple of NPCs (some friends, some not), a koloss, the fabulous mist, coins, vials and plates. There are some tutorial signs posted in the level to help you control your powers. Read the main topic (linked above) to get specifics about the content. What's coming? The mental powers, a progression system, levels and storyline. It'll take a while, but I'm going at it when school's not overwhelming! What now? I dunno! Go play it and tell me what you think!

Can we talk about the parallels between Szeth and Moash’s storylines? A. Here is where their stories overlap: Enslaved by evil masterminds Szeth obviously felt he had no choice but to obey his oathstone. I believe Moash thinks there is no way back for him, no matter how much he may want it. (We first see this when he is lost in the wilderness with Graves, longing for his Bridge Four family but tormented by his own betrayal. He removes the Bridge Four patch but keeps it in his pocket.) Now, he 1) needs Odium to take away his shame and 2) doesn't know where else to go but be carried along by whatever current flows his way. Both Moash and the reader know that Odium will not simply let him go. Teeming with self-hatred When he was Truthless, Szeth wanted nothing more than for someone to put him out of his misery. He was furious at everyone who failed to stop him. Even now, we see in his conversations with Navani and his POV moments, that he still despises himself for those murders. Moash is self-destructing. None of you hate Moash more than Moash hates Moash. He punishes himself with physical pain via hard labor and wondering through the storms. You know how when you're supposed to be on a diet but you eat some Oreos and then you think, "Well, I already had some Oreos, I might as well eat a pizza." Later, after you've eaten an entire pizza, you think, "Well, I already ate an unholy amount of pizza, I might as well eat all the Oreos in the house and the ice cream and the Doritos." It's like quicksand, and that's where Moash is right now. He broke the seal when he betrayed Kaladin, a man he truly loved and respected, in WoR. Now, he's just like, "Well, I am already a %#&@'d piece of chull dung, so I might as well kill a god, etc." Moash regards his subservience to Odium as a fate worse than death. He explicitly says he hopes Kaladin dies rather than be forced to serve Odium. The only thing Moash wants in life is for Kaladin to be wrong. His entire absolution hinges on Kaladin being wrong. He doesn't specify what he needs Kaladin to be wrong about, but I suspect he is mentally stuck in that moment of betrayal in WoR. Carried Jezrein's honorblade while serving evil masterminds and hating themselves B. This is where their points-of-view differ: Guilt Szeth clearly tells Taravangian that he holds himself responsible for everyone he murdered, despite being Truthless. Moash cannot bare the weight of his crimes. He desperately needs to push responsibility off onto Odium and perhaps, ultimately Kaladin. C. This is the important part: The Story of Derethil and the Wandersail Most of Wit's stories have morals that play out within the book, but I feel this one has yet to truly land and has been hanging in the air since Way of Kings. The moral at the end of this story was, "If the emperor is dead, and has been all these years, then the murders we committed are not his responsibility. They are our own." Does this not exactly echo the moral conflict that Moash and Szeth both face? What a coincidence that this is the one and only story told with the Trailman's flute that very suddenly and conveniently came back into Kaladin's possession! DUN! DUN! DUN! Predictions (Edit as of 12/30): Definitely, Moash's character has far too much depth to simply die off anytime soon. I suspect that his potential for redemption will be driven by whether or not he confronts his guilt, as Szeth has done. Personally, I think Moash has gone too far for any public forgiveness, but I have a feeling some redemption for Moash could happen privately between himself and Kaladin. At first, I imagined a Steve Rogers/Bucky Barnes situation. However, I think Kaladin saving the day every time might get tired, so what if it were something in reverse, where Moash saves Kaladin somehow? Though I am still not quite sure how that flute will come into play. Thoughts? Also, do you think it is possible that Szeth and Moash might interact somehow in the next book or are these parallels for the reader alone? PS. I am sorry if this is TL;DR. To make it easier to read, I put it in outline format and painted the parts I care about most with voidlight. I couldn't help but be longwinded; Moash's story breaks my heart. Having one decision sweep your life away, falling into the quicksand of self-destruction, and being caught up in currents that carry you to places you never wanted to go: These are all familiar feels for Sara Stormblessed.

Because if you're not a Pulser, swallowing cadmium is just going to murder your kidneys. And society at large thinks Pulsers are useless, anyway. So why would someone try burning it in the first place? Is there some stupidly obvious way to tell an allomancer from the outside that I'm forgetting? Because if not, who goes,"Hey, I should eat this horrible poison on the off chance that I have one of the lamest superpowers on Scadrial!" (I suppose you could ask that about a lot of Allomatic metals, but cadmium is the nastiest one on the chart, right? And with a lot less payoff).

So In Way of Kings we get this death rattle, “In the storm I awaken, falling, spinning, grieving. ” In 2018 Brandon stated that we had not yet seen this death rattle on screen. https://wob.coppermind.net/events/369-skyward-san-francisco-signing/#e11616 I am pretty sure that this Death Rattle referred to the Scene when Kaladin jumped out of the window to save Lirin. He is falling without full use of his powers, grieving the loss of Teft, In the middle of a high storm. When he swears the forth oath he awakens to the height of his power. We also know that this is a scene that Brandon has been planning for a long time. https://wob.coppermind.net/events/452-youtube-livestream-23/#e14518 I think it all fits, Thoughts?

Alexander Hamilton is my second cousin. Benjamin Franklin is my 9th great Uncle. I'm a direct decendent of Anne Boleyn. This is so cool...

It might be that the existence of rotspren stymies the progress of the medical field. If you're a doctor and you have an obvious cause of the infection (i.e. rotspren), why bother looking for another cause?

Apparently no cookies for you then. Let me try again:

Cadmium is significantly less dangerous ingested than breathed in due to the digestive system absorbing far less efficiently than the lungs. I would imagine very small doses for testing for Cadmium. However I think the real answer is, if someone has snapped, test every metal except Cadmium first and if they don't exhibit any other powers then Cadmium would be their ability by default

Storms curse this rep limit! Did anyone get the Most Iconic Sharder one? With Fadran? Most Iconic. Anyone?

Guys, officially this is not here until 12:05 PM on Wednesday, okay? Also, Kelsier’s name is pronounced Kel-see-ay in world, and he’s talking, so keep that in mind, alright?

It might be a little early to make this, and I hope this isn't cheesy, but I would like to wish everyone on the shard, especially the Moderators and Admin, a happy new year! Thank you especially to the Moderators and Admin, who help keep the shard running, and keeping it civil :-P who are friendly and warm, understanding, and show great restraint. Thank you all, I also hope you had a great day on Dec 25th, whether or not you celebrate that holiday, and I hope this time of the year has been a blessing to you. God bless, and grant you health and joy in the new year! (Also, should I tag the mods, or would that bother them? I would like them to know we appreciate them, but in the right way.) Likewise, I wish each and every one of you who reads this, whether or not you are a Moderator, also have a safe and blessed day on Thursday evening / Friday, and may the new year be a blessing to you also.

Feeling dumb right now Being a good soldier is far from the same as being able to become the embodiment of the concept of War, beside it's likely the fusion of Odium and Honour don't actually make War, war is can be started for honour but it don't stay honourful (see the War of Reckoning) Cultivation don't seems much more abstract to me than War. Not only there are concept that fit Odium+Honour better, there are also shard combinations that fit War better, Dominion+Ambition for example (or arguably just Dominion)

Oh, hey, just so everyone knows, I'm starting an art blog so y'all can see all the stuff I'm working on. I posted a piece I finished yesterday on there.

When Vasher and Vivenna rescue a girl that was being trafficked. The girl is understandably traumatized and Vasher said that he has a command that can fix that. He tells Vivenna walk out of hearing distance so we don't find out what he got the girl to say but Vivenna did sense the girls Breath flicker. When Vivenna came back the girl had forgotten the entire event and her trauma was gone.

I'm going to be offline for a few days, I'm going to climb up a mountain in the middle of nowhere. If I don't come back then...oops. While I'm gone, try not let anyone win for too long on TLPW, otherwise I will be sad (but not very sad). If I'm RPing with you, especially in Thorns and Roses, I'm sorta looking forward to read how carried away you guys get with the plot; I feel like I should of made Jahora leave the scene so he would disappear and reappear more naturally when I come online, but I don't have the planning skill for that. Anyways, bye for now. (yay first status)

Thanks for the kind words! Thanks for coming here

Not sure whether to feel offended or complimented by being called the Shard's biggest nerd. Eh, what the heck, I'll take it as a compliment

Wow! A whole year already! Sometimes it felt like it would never come, and at other times it flew by! Like Fadran, I'm going to start by resolving not to start naming names (but I'll probably end up doing it anyway) so just know who you are! First, my AMAZING Shardbuddies. I don't have awesome enough words to describe you, but here are some that come close: prodigious, stupendous, phenomenal, flabbergasting, magnificent, miraculous, exceptional, incomparable, and transcendent. Also, all 62 of my followers! Wow, when did that happen?! I'm so glad you guys consider me interesting enough ( ) to check my status updates and whatnot! Thank you! Now for some art. And now some special thank you's! I know I said I wouldn't do this, but I kind of have to. (It won't let me tag you. Someone tag these people?) @xinoehp512, you've been so patient while I learn how to RP well. You're so amazing. I love being on the Shard with you! And xino's "partner in crime", @Shard of Thought! Your art is amazing, and I'm so glad I met you on Discord! Otherwise, I'd probably have been too intimidated to talk to you! Fadran and Queen, of course. Y'all already know how absolutely amazing you are, but let me tell you again. Wow. You are so effervescent and enjoyable to be around, I can't even put my feelings into words! Vapor and @Mist! You're great siblings (as much as I complain) and I'm so glad we're on the Shard together! Can't wait for Fog, Cloud, Dew, Brook, Tap Water, Flurry, Moist, and H2O to join as wel! @Matrim's Dice, you are a hidden masterpiece. You've been so friendly to everyone (especially me), yet you often get forgotten. No longer! Mat, you are one of my favourite people to be with on the Shard. Yikes, already on a third page. I'm writing this in my large notebook late on January 1st so I can edit it over 18 hours or so. (Even though I didn't end up doing it.) *deep breath* Everyone who's done SE with me! You are awe-inspiring! I haven't won a game yet, but maybe the sixth time's the charm! Anyone I RP with or have RPed with! WOW!!! (Got nothing else to say, I'm running out of words.) @Doomstick! You should join an RP so I can blanket statement you! But seriously, you're cool. @Nameless, you are amazingly good at being random. I love posting on TLT and TST with you! @EmiTheNinja and @revelryintheart, your art rocks! Emi, I loved your Secret Sharder present. Rev, I loved getting to meet you! Shoot, I said I wasn't going to do this. Time to stop. If you didn't get mentioned, I'm sorry! I can't blanket statement you all! But I'm sure you're amazing and I just forgot to mention you because this is late at night. Lots of Love, Connie!

Okay, y'all, here's my final thoughts on this. I don't want to have a big 'ol argument, so thanks @Eri for the thread link. As Taravangian so helpfully demonstrated, to embrace a Shard you have to understand it. There are numerous examples of people acting in accordance with ech of the Shards' Intents, but IMO, Adolin's experiences are the most impactful. While it's true that he killed Sadeas, which may or may not fit under Odium, he certainly tried not to. He did everything he could as a human being to respect Honor(law, oaths, etc). He failed in the end, but failure teaches. He may have acted out in passionate anger, which is why I listed this under Odium, but it does not, IMO, negate his attempt at following the path of Honor. I'm not saying I believe this will happen, just that I hope it will. I think there's evidence to support it, but in the end, I doubt I'll predict Sanderson's decision. I'd be saying this no matter what, just because I'm not one of those Shards with futuresight, unfortunately. To summarize: I believe that Adolin has embodied and will continue to embody each of the Rosharan Shards, and because of this, I believe that Adolin understands and is the best candidate for said Shards. It makes me very happy to see that people care about Adolin, even though he didn't get to do much in RoW Keep on theorizing, everyone. Here's a smiley for a kinda long post

I was very pleased with how the Odium thing turned out. Taravangian had been built up right from the beginning as a fascinating, ruthless, utterly driven villain with understandable goals and a bizarre affliction. We saw from him everything I love to see in a complex villain: moments of triumph, unconscionable depravities, humanising affection, personal virtues, fatal flaws, moments of weakness, deep introspection. Even a genuine friendship with his heroic counterpart, whose morals and philosophy are incompatible with his own. Good rust. Great writing. He was hamstrung only by his place in the narrative, as the expendable, second fiddle antagonist next to Rayse... who was far less interesting (the kill!destroy!death! flavour of evil god) while being infinitely more powerful. Odium's characterisation in general throughout OB was one of the low points of the series for me, as he stood out as a fairly uninspired dark lord archetype (he put me in mind of the Dark One from WoT, only with Voldemort's glib charm and sneery personality) in a cast otherwise brimming with flavour and uniqueness. I really disliked seeing Rayse divest T of all his intrigues and resources and just kick him into total subservience, as it felt like the more compelling antagonist was being sacrificed by the meta need to have a god-level character present the foremost threat to Roshar. So, the bait and switch here -- Rayse being taken out in an abrupt, shocking way and supplanted by the dark horse villain whose journey we've all been following since book 1 -- is quite fitting to me, and bodes well for the second half of the story.

Yes yes I know Edit: @Ghanderflaffle I made it! It's done! You don't need to extend it because of me! Also @Shard of Reading and @The Awakened Salad c'mon! Join me! (Though Reading hasn't been on since Christmas...)

I have a meme...

Oh no... This is what Ishar’s trying to figure out, isn’t it.

I couldn't think of a good template so it's in text, but here's a normal one.

It is only in a spoiler so that it isn't really big, and also for formatting.

I have a joke about the 4th ideal of the Windrunners but I'm not ready to say the words.

Lift not liking bacon is a horrible character decision that will keep her from being an influential figure the Cosmere and will stifle the reader’s ability to accept her as a viable POV character throughout the Stormlight series once her personality quirks become stale

Hey guys. I need your opinion on these keteks I threw together. By the way, I would love to see some of your keteks too. Keteks Definition: A Ketek is a form of holy Vorin poetry which reads the same forward and backward (allowing for changes in verb form), and is also divisible into five sections, each of which also expresses a complete thought. Death Death comes. Without stopping Death arrives. Now Death, the death now arrived, Death stops without – Come Death! Death comes./ Without stopping Death arrives./ Now Death, the death now arrived,/ Death stops without/ – Come Death! __________________________________________________________________________________ Diamonds Beautiful diamonds, the blood of diamonds creates greed – sin to beauty, beauty to sin – greed creates diamonds of blood, the diamonds beautiful. Beautiful diamonds,/ the blood of diamonds creates greed/ – sin to beauty, beauty to sin – /greed creates diamonds of blood, /the diamonds beautiful. __________________________________________________________________________________ Darkness Darkness encroaches. Nearer, day by day: dawns darkness’s dawn. Day by day nearer, encroaching darkness. Darkness encroaches/. Nearer, day by day: /dawns darkness’s dawn./ Day by day nearer,/ encroaching darkness. __________________________________________________________________________________ Moonlight Illuminates darkness by moonlight. Silhouettes created by pale and gray light. Dim lights of lights dim, light pale and gray creates silhouettes. Moonlight by darkness illuminates. Illuminates darkness by moonlight./ Silhouettes created by pale and gray light. /Dim lights of lights dim, /light pale and gray creates silhouettes./ Moonlight by darkness illuminates. __________________________________________________________________________________ Note: the second writing of the ketek is separated into its five segments PS: Szeth-son-son-Vallano is awesome keteks.txt

Here we go! Best couple: Shard Clown: Life of the Party: Most Changed: Most missed: Most Likely to Succeed: Most Athletic: Best Prankster: Best Dramaqueen: Shoulder to cry on: Most Likely to Brighten up your day: Most Likely to be President: Most Likely to become the next Bill Gates: Next Brandon Sanderson: Best Motivational Speaker: Best RPer: Breakout Star 2020: Boldest Sharder: Best Mod: Friendliest Sharder: Scariest Sharder: Biggest Sesquipedalian: Best Artist: Most Likely to become a spambot: Best Spambot Killer: Pack Leader: Head Chef: Lone Wolf: Teacher's Pet: Biggest Nerd: Cutest Avatar: Most Iconic Sharder: Best Member title: Partners in Crime: Most Awards: Thanks y'all! Happy 2021!

It's worth noting that they don't need mateform in order to reproduce or form interpersonal bonds. Even as enslaved Parshmen they had children, and there were bonded pairs. The forms allow for specific forms of specialisation, but it doesn't mean that other forms aren't capable of similar functions. Also we don't know what other forms have been brought into being for the Listeners now - there could even be something specific like loveform, tbh.

I got the feeling that Keenspren were sentient.

Very modern, but I spent about ten second on this. It just came. Feeling stupid for failing art, investigating the art of failing. Stupid feelings.