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Sometimes I just want to hug everyone and give you all hot choc because I is sadness *hugs the Shard*

I’m a Bondsmith y’all! Uhh... @Ghanderflaffle and @revelryintheart, y’all are best friends now. Also I just realized that “underly low” and “overly low” both mean the same thing and now my brain hurts.

I wanted to share with yous some notes that I made at the Glasgow SF Writers Circle festive reunion in December, my idea being to provide a little bit of motivation, maybe a smidge of insight from some established SFF authors, writing 'coaches', a renowned games writer, and maybe a talking point or two, and possibly even to pitch out there the suggestion of doing something similar in 2021 for RE alumni (for discussion). All the folks quoted are either current, on-hiatus or lapsed members of the GSFWC. (Also, my quotes are not exact, but paraphrase the intent.) Gary Gibson, established SF author of The Shoal Sequence and the Apocalypse Duology, https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1442754.Gary_Gibson > The people who succeed (as authors) are the hardcore obsessives who just keep going and refuse to give up. For me, this is probably the more important take-away from the whole open forum discussion, which is as completely simple as it sounds: Always be writing. Always be critiquing and revising and submitting your work to markets. Never. Give. Up. I am not yet good enough a practicing this, but I have at least started subbing my work out, and work on writing everyday. Still don't write enough though. GG - The best way to become a better writer is to teach or explain it to other people. Gary is a book doctor, among his various writing activities, and therefore knows whereof he speaks. He also noted that a lot of the books he gets to doctor are first novels. Does this imply that people improve enough not to get their second novels doctored? Or maybe that a lot of people give up at that stage? Unknown, but I think it does feed back into this point about striving to improve our craft through learning, critiquing, discussing and supporting each other. Bill King, spectacularly prolific author of over 100 novels, the majority tying-in to the likes of Warhammer; Warhammer 40k; World of Warcraft, https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/48348.William_King > Looking for things that don't work (in critiquing) is quite counterproductive, looking for things that do work--strengths and positives--is important. Others on RE are better at this than I am, I fear. I will try to do better at that, but, I think it has to be said that allowing shortcomings to go uncommented would not necessarily do the submitter any favours. Hal Duncan, author of the Scruffians books, including Vellum and Ink, https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/143699.Hal_Duncan. Hal is also a book doctor > He noted often falling in love with works that he was doctoring when they come from a place of love and passion (for the subject). I'm sure we all would say this about our work, but I wonder sometimes if any of us ever have a feeling like we know we want to write, but maybe 'this novel' we're working on isn't the one we really, in our hearts, want to be writing. Do we always love it enough to come back to it and edit it, and then edit it again, and workshop it, alpha read it, edit it again, and again, then submit it, over and over? It's probably a question we all should ask ourself every so often. HD - Felt that 'so many times' he found that a novel went wrong in some way in the early stages, and that problems rooted in an early misstep are carried all the way through, that avoiding a wrong turn near the start, or correcting one, can result in many things falling into place. Well, that's what RE is here to help with. More on that later... GG - Tend to find that people who are successful (as writers) cluster together in support groups, i.e. writing groups. This is not perhaps yet one for RE (although we are fortunate to have @kais, @Mandamon and @shatteredsmooth in our ranks as published SFF authors). I think an important thing to take from this comment though, is that writing groups evolve, and less experienced authors do (over time and with commitment, I think) garner valuable industry experience from those who have gone before, and know whereof they speak in relation to the industry, and what works in certain markets. We must also hope that as we all continue to work, and through the efforts of those who stick around in the group medium to long-term, RE can grow like the GSFWC has over 34 years now, to feature some established SFF authors. I always think it's really interesting that the Writing Excuses crew (I refer to 'founders/shapers' Brandon, Mary, Dan and Howard) still talk about being in their respective writing groups (I think maybe Brandon and Dan are still in the same group), even after the success that they have had to varying degrees. This rolls nicely back into GG's original point here about successful people clustering together. BK - talked about the role that luck plays, about meeting the boss of Games Workshop at a convention, getting a job and getting into tie-in fiction from there. He noted how he 'stuck at it till he succeeded. I think this is a message that rolls back (again) into the first point here; refusing to give up. He went on to say that 'if you are going to buy lottery tickets (extending the writing analogy), you might as well buy lots', i.e. keep writing; write a thing; then write another thing while you are critiquing, alpha reading and subbing your first thing; always be writing something new; thinking of the next project. BK - also used the phrase 'put yourself about'. I think that leads on to a whole other discussion about having a profile; experiencing different things like cons; and writing groups (maybe!); and forums; submitting to different markets in different forms (I guess), like short and novels, novellas, maybe flash. His point being you never know where you will find your break or your route into what you want to do. I also like Bill's closing remarks in summation of the message from this open discussion on 'advice to new and developing (unpublished) authors'. BK - reckoned that, in heading out to a frontier, trying to do something different (in our work), there is pressure to say and do certain things (and I took the context to mean in terms of how to develop a career), and he cited social-media. He said 'don't always listen to received wisdom'. What I took from that is that this is not a one-size-fits-all situation, and routes to publication that work for some will not work for others. Taking Bill's point about social-media at face value, I can totally appreciate what he's saying. Some authors are very active on Farcebook and T'wetter, and seem to be able to make it work for them, but there also are instances of spectacular self-destruction. I find so much of TW to be utter nonsense, and FB and SM generally can be come quite self-obsessive for some authors. handle with care, I guess. But I think Bill's point was much wider in terms of don't just follow all the advice you get if it doesn't feel right. At the end of the day it's our work, and our career, and it has to work for us. No point in 'succeeding' (whatever that might look like at a given time), but being unhappy with the outcome. I hope that some might find something in here useful in some way. I really only put this up because I wanted to share what I thought were some sage and useful thoughts from some people who have succeeded in a genre that we are all striving in. Please excuse my prattling commentary, which thoughts are my own, and of obviously lesser weight than the original comments, but largely just provided for context, or to promote discussion.

Two things: I finally have more reputation than posts! I made a meme, and it made me sad:

Final Empire 2 memes contained within

Well... I just saw this, and I need to post it even though it's old.

Words of Radiance, and later in SA

This is undeniably stupid...

Kuno swept back into a stance that portrayed power and authority; he stood tall and imposing, not hiding his dull grey eyes as he regarded the guardsman as they waited for the mayor of the town. It was a long moment before the mayor came, and when he did he was in no apparent rush. He was on the shorter side, with brown hair. His most prominent feature was his eyes, they seemed to burn hot red with an inferno that seemed ready to start blazing at a moment's notice. He regarded Kuno warily, waiting for him to speak first, his thoughts portraying a resolve in his own strength. There was an uneasy silence as both Kuno and the mayor regarded each other; Kuno remaining serene, and the mayor watching Kuno with suspicion. Kuno smiled at the mayor, "I see that you're doing well thus far Ewald." At the mention of his name, Ewald glared at Kuno. He was disturbed by the fact that Kuno had not used the title. "Yes, my position as mayor has been very good for my town. It was only a matter of time before the last guy tripped over himself, the least he could have done was leave as little of a mess as possible." Kuno ignored Ewald's tone. "My push was necessary, otherwise humanity would have lost all of you. Fortunately, you seem to be as competent as I thought you would be. It's also fortunate that the timing played out well, isn't it Ewald?" Ewald glared again at the lack of a title. He was suspicious of Kuno, as he claimed to know so much, but was willing to share so little. If he was pulling him along, then he would regret it. However, if Kuno was right . . . "So, what do you need now. You wouldn't come if you didn't need something." Kuno seemed almost amused, "it's not what I need, and it never has been. I've promised you the ability to save your precious town, and I've delivered, haven't I? Now, the threat that comes for us doesn't just plot to destroy your singular town, they want more. The amal want to kill us all." Something inside of Ewald flared when Kuno said the dreaded word. Ewald didn't like that word. No, Ewald didn't hate the word, he hated them, the amal. It seemed that his very mind seethed with hatred when he considered them. His postured shrank down slightly as he had to take a few brief seconds to calm himself down upon hearing that word. "I understand that . . . they are a threat to us all, but there's nothing I can do for anyone who's not in my town." "Yes you can, through me." Ewald almost sneered at this comment. "So you helped me save my town, that doesn't make you the savior of all humanity. You're one man, with an unattainable dream. How can my one town save everyone on this Crystel?" Even though Ewald obviously meant it as a rhetorical question, Kuno stepped forward to answer, radiating confidence. "Tomorrow, a legion of my best will come to aid you in your defense. They are over 300 strong, and they will stand in your defense until you can get your own garrison modernized." Ewald's anger faded away to be replaced with confusion. "300? Modernized? Wha- Where is this coming from?" Kuno's smile turned endearing, "my world is so, so much bigger than you know. As I told you when we first me, humanity on the whole is in danger, and I represent the force that wishes to save us all. I am not alone in this, I might've been once, but no longer. There are already so many who wish to see the sun dawn on a safe world, an orderly world, and they are all willing to unite together to see it." Ewald was apprehensive as he considered what Kuno said, "No, there's no way that you cou-" "With all that you've seen me do, do you doubt me." Ewald was struck with fear as several traumatizing images came to mind, only a few were of Kuno, the rest were Ewald doing things, horrible things. He saw himself standing in front of the crowd as they egged him on. He remembered with a clarity how he not only stood there as he watched his friends be killed, that would have been more bearable. He remembered ordering their deaths on a whim, he could still see the look in their eyes, a look of betrayal as he had them killed. He then remembered Kuno, standing far off behind the crowd, watching it all with a satisfied smile on his face, as if he were watching a plan of his coming to fruition. Ewald began to tremble as he remembered the pain in his friends' eyes as he had them killed for . . . for . . . Kuno's smile faded as he watched Ewald, taking a step towards him and placing a hand on his shoulder. Even with his dull grey eyes, it seemed that Kuno knew what Ewald was thinking. "Ask yourself, why did you do it? Why was it necessary?" Ewald thought on those words as they pierced him. Why did he do it? Why did he betray his friends and have them killed? Why did he stand there as he did it, feeling so accomplished? Why, Ewald, why? It was because of them. The anger that was forgotten rekindled at the thought of them, burning brighter and hotter as he thought about them more. They forced him to do it; it was because of them that he had to take command, that he had to force a few of his friends to suffer. Kuno's smile returned. "Sometimes a few must suffer, even be cast off in order to strengthen the whole. Metal must first be cleansed of its impurities before it can be fashioned into its strongest form. If we want to withstand the coming fire, we must be pure in our devotion, and bonded together to avoid being shattered. It is the sacrifice that we must make in order to defeat the amal." Ewald's resolve strengthen as Kuno spoke, but not resolve in himself, it seemed to be shifting to Kuno. Then, at the mention of the name 'amal,' Ewald's anger and passion flared once more against them. He didn't take as long in regaining his composure this time before speaking, "what can I do? How can I make it worth it?" Kuno's smile was kind, while his mind was confident. "I have big plans for this town, but first we must make many changes. As of now, we have a shortage in production of weapons for the upcoming fight. If humanity is to survive, we will need to fight. As soon as my forces secure this town from our enemy, I'll have the details sent to you. Then we can discuss more plans, incredible plans. Soon, all of humanity will have a beacon to gather round for defense and unity, but we must first take the small steps." Ewald's mind strayed, reminiscing those horrible moments for a brief moment before locking them away, thinking instead about saving humanity's future by helping Kuno. "I can't help if you don't tell me how." Kuno smiled, he knew that he had Ewald. "All in good time my little mayor. It's a matter of security more than anything; just think of what the enemy would learn if they came before my forces arrived. I must move on, my work can not wait mayor Ewald. When my forces arrive, they'll bring with them a means to contact me and my other friends. In all of humanity, there must be order, and we'll find a place for you where you can be the most help to us all in that order." Ewald nodded, not completely satisfied, understanding that this would be all that he would get for now. "If that's all, then I must return to my duties." Kuno nodded towards the mayor as if to dismiss him. "That is all." He then turned and walked off into the town, not bothering to see if Fie and Catorphia were following.

Guys, guys, I just realized something. What happens at the climax of Edgedancer? Lift reaches her next Ideal and Nale is forced to admit he's been kind of crazypants. In other words, a Radiant swears an Oath and the Herald in her vicinity has a moment of lucidity! Sneaky Brandon, slipping that bit of foreshadowing right past us.

So I make music and rap, and wrote this a while back (around when Oathbringer first came out). I know my mixing skills aren't that great, but I wanted to make a tribute to my personal hero and writing idol. How many bars can you catch? Also, I'm aware that some of the names in the fandom are usually pronounced differently, but as Brandon says: you are free to pronounce the names he makes up however you want! xD Lyrics: (Intro)Brandon Sanderson Yeshevishman This the nerdiest stuff I've ever done! Yo! These days most Rappers are trying to stay topical It's hard to be lighthearted and keep it comical Yet I could act polite, like top hat and monocle And still write raps longer than the Stormlight chronicles! So stay back and stay wack I pull guns and play Wax Switch my flow up more than Brandon Changes Wayne's hats! Yo, like this guy I'm disguised Burning metal gets you this high! Got more personality than Wit, need Steris to list my- Atributes, yet I got attitude like Bastille I'll turn into any weapon you want like I'm Syl But stop reprimanding me there's no real damage done 'Cause I'm killing with a pen: that's Brandon Sanderson! Son, you saying I am famous? Stab the eye like you're Sadeas Even look like Adolin, 'cause I'm dressed like a playah! Don't want me at your party, I'm an unwanted visitor Don't spike the punch, I spike your heart; make you an Inquisitor I burn MCs like Metals so call me a Mistborn Got more fight than Bridge Four More stormlight than six storms And you're tripping like you're Sing, or Teft on opium Step to me? Your career is unmade - your new name is Odium! Got talent! You a Smedry, 'cause I think that yours is broken I'm half royal, ruling grammar, call me semi-Kholin Could rewrite the whole Wheel of Time - MC Jordan No girls folding their arms beneath their breasts when I'm recording! I could write like other rappers: "Took an enchantress from Elantress Bragging how the answer is always to romance her." Although that wine's decanted I'm still bringing witty banter Harder than Horneater White while your stuffs the softest amber! Every rhyme aluminum, every line a shardblade 'Cause when I run you through with one, I give you heartache Worse than the one that Szeth gave Gavilar Leave you more depressed than Evi's death made Dalinar! I'm a chef, you're a cook, and your rhymes are thick as mist Plus your bars are always falling flat like the Rythmatist. (I'm playing) But I'm so raw I'll leave your throat parched and Leave you feeling less than a dark eyes: like a Parshman! (That's harsh man!) I'm not racist: Joyner of the Cosmere Joining with the Cosmere to be the storming boss here! Forming a new order like Reckoners meets Radiants Drawing a line in the White Sand between you and my braininess Making you hate this more than an Ardent hates an atheist 'Cause I write like I'm Jasnah! You thinking this is alien? I came to win! The rap Kaladin I'm that paladin Leaving your brains addled, riding the wind when I saddle it. Better step out the ring if it's me that you're battling 'Cause I win every duel: MC Young Adolin! B.S. his initials; my lyrics? no way! Swear to travel with swagger - call that my Oathgate!

My community reputation thing is Lighteyes. My eyes are dark brown lmao

Some stuff is going on with these two. Venli wants to free everyone Mishram is in spren-prison Venli wanted new forms of power Mishram had brought many of them Theres a lot of threads here just waiting to be pulled. I suspect Venli and Shallan may team up/conflict in the near future since they seem to both be implicated with this spren. There's also another possible explanation for the femalen voice accepting Venli's oath: it may be that is not the normal oath and the stormfather rejected it but Cultivation accepted it because it serves her interests Intrepreted this way it suggests Mishram's imprisonment and the events surrounding is actually a dispute between Honor and Cultivation. Either way, Brandon is heavily invested in Venli's redemption arc with RoW. I expect there's a key plot point she plays in the next book. Final edit: it ocurred to me that the stormfather accepts oaths, could the femalen voice be Mishram, a powerful spren?

Argent has a deep voicethat could work as the Sormfather's. Cracking up imagining Dalinar asking Stormfather for show and tell.

Mistborn

BEWARE! THERE WILL BE ALL OF THE LORE SPOILERS FOR DAWNSHARD AHEAD! I only put this post here instead of the dawnshard board because there is a bit of things relating to RoW, and I’m not supposed to put spoilers for RoW in the dawnshard forum. So. Endowment. Let’s break down the magic system. We have heightenings and the whole breath thing. The hightenings come from breaths being grafted onto your spiderweb, as seen in dawnshard. They are very color-oriented. They make colors pop. This is very useful to know given that color is a fundamental part of shards. We have their light or color, and the anti-light, and color. This doesn’t seems to be a specifically Roshar thing. Correct me if I’m wrong, but you can have anti-Ruin light and so on. So perfect color recognition helps in that respect. it also helps with perfect pitch. That allows you to make the anti-light in the first place much more easily. so basically, the heightenings are very useful for creating anti-investiture. Endowment has created a magic system to specifically allow for this type of thing, with the breaths sticking to your spiderweb, and whatnot. now there are commands. These are based off of Intent and Command, which we learn in Dawnshard is the fundamental part of all of magic in the Cosmere. In other worlds, it is more veiled. The command is symbols in Sel and the molecular composition in Scadrial. But in Nalthis, it is just verbal, which is the most fundamental form there is. The third part is investing objects. This makes them harder to tamper with and make much more powerful objects, such as Nightblood. The final part is the divine breaths, which is all about stapling the cognitive shadow to the physical realm. This is seen in many other systems, but this is given so freely by Endowment, and she made it part of the magic system as well. Nalthis’ magic system seems to be made off of the fundamental building blocks of the cosmere. It is built to allow gateways to all parts of the Cosmere’s magic, within easy and straightforward access. This is quite surprising and quite dangerous. What is Endowment doing? She has plots that involves all of the raw power of the Cosmere within easy access. Why is she doing this? And what does it mean? This is a thing that seems very deliberate on Endowment’s part. I’m quite worried how dangerous she might become later on.

Me: South Scadrian.

@Robinski Thank you for sharing that! It reminded me of something Mary Robinette said at SiWC this year durring the writing group pannel. (Paraphrasing from memory) on the topic of accepting critiques and advice: Your story is a perfect thing that lives in your mind. It's yours and no one can take that from you. The novel is the tool that lets you share that story with the world, but the novel won't be perfect. That's how writing groups can help. They can't see the perfect story in your head, but they can help you refine the tool that let's you share it.

Oathbringer 400th Post!

I'm not going to try to contend for the title because I still haven't read the Silmarillion, but I do think I have the best LotR Quizlet account. My school makes us use this website for studying, and people always look so confused when they first see my account enrolled in their classes and it's this:

I have nothing important to say, but the instant Argent said he was forbidden show and tell, it made me crack up for some reason.

Hey fellow cosmere fans! I discovered the cosmere after finishing wheel of time over the summer. I am now obsessed with the cosmere and in turn Brandon Sanderson. I recently started listening to ShardCast and so I decided it was time I join the community. Previously I have gone to reddit for all my discussions and theories but I am excited to give 17th Shard a try!

(I have searched a while and not seen questions same as this. There's theories about future genocide possibilities but I'm talking about the past. )(Try to talk using in-world moralities. I know genocide is bad in our values, this is just for discussion's sake.) So, between the normal Desolations, a discussion between human villager A,B may go like this. A: "Aren't those singers the ones that will become Voidbringers every time?" B:"Yeah." A:"And we are sitting around, waiting them to become magical warriors and shoot lightening at us, and then we fight back?" B:"Yeah." A:"I got a brilliant idea. Why not kill all those singers BERORE they can become Voidbringers?" B:"Yeah that's a great idea! Why haven't anyone thought of it?" I understand the Knight Radiants may be above genocide, but it is highly plausible for the normal politicians to conceive something like this. Humans are very capable of committing genocide even on humans, and after about 2500 years of war with a complete different species, it was very weird that no one has done this already. Especially the Heralds, who were getting insane and were immensely tired of the war. The Heralds could just left an instruction for the Vorin church to wipe out the Voidbringers each time they left, and these orders are unlikely to be doubted. Not sure how Knights Radiant would respond to this sort of command though. Some might argue that human society was too broken after Desolations that they couldn't pursue the singers. But the singers are supposed to be even more broken, so it makes no sense to wait for both sides to rebuild, than clash again without an end. One possibility is that humans and singers lived far enough that they couldn't meet each other. Or if the Knights Radiant put efforts to stop the genocide that would be the end of the story, but still there were long times when there was no Radiant. Same could probably go for singers to humans, but they were defeated each time so they haven't got any chance. Except for Raboniel's bioweapon, which I think is a very rational respond to the war. (Makes me think of Attack on Titan and The Dark Forest, but that's off topic.) Edit: summarize some good points made by the discussion below Population was dispersed, societies were broken and without Knights Radiant(Blades, Plates, Soulcasters), it's hard to wage wars of such scale. Likely all three Shards wouldn't like the idea of genocide and would have intervened. There likely were failed attempts. Why didn't the Heralds instruct humans to genocide is unexplained. (Especially after the Last Desolation)

Hello, everyone. I figured, since I keep checking in here, might as well officially sign up. I've read everything cosmere related so far, except RoW, which I'm now about half done.

The colonel cursed under his breath as he watched, he knew that something had to be done, but it was smarter to wait for backup. Still . . . The colonel's body moved by its own accord, all the while Tulcam felt a rushing in his ears as anger overcame him. Only two thoughts pierced through the building rage, one was a memory of a woman's smile, so kind, loving, and endearing as she watched Tulcam. His other thought was his failure; constant and powerful, but not as powerful as his rage. His rage at failing her, he saw it all over again as he watched Trace, and even though his mind told him, screamed at him that he should wait, his heart knew what he needed to, no, what he had to do. He wouldn't fail, not again. The colonel burst from his hiding spot, firing his sidearm at Vespyr in rapid succession as it was closer. The muzzle flash reflected off of the armor plating that covered him from his shoulders down to his wrists, with his fingers partially covered by armor plating in select places, as if to protect his hands when he grips something, or backhands someone. The armor starting to glow, getting brighting with every shot.

Aight, whose radiant am I?

Interestingly it would not help them, Endowment's investiture just don't hinder you when you try to go offworld and that's it ^^

I think you have this the wrong way around. Roshar's ecosystem is evolutionarily linked to localized free Investiture (Stormlight). Most likely, Investiture itself is inextricably linked to light and sound (and rhythm). The major difference between Roshar and other planets we've seen is that Roshar has a cyclical release of free Investiture into the Physical Realm that has defined its flora, fauna and geography. Sel's Investiture is locked in its Cognitive Realm. Scadrial and Nalthis are more "normal", with all Investiture locked in the Spiritual Realm. The first test of this outside Roshar would have to be on Scadrial mists, Scadrial's version of gaseous Investiture. Specific rhythms should attract them or cause them to retreat. Sanderson's Second Law of Magic: Limitations > Power. Creation of a power that specifically limits what magic can do comports very well with this law. Going forward in the Cosmere, having direct counters to magic will be important to make sure the magic systems don't overpower the stories. Sanderson isn't going to limit them to Roshar.

I'm actually not sure about this. Bronze allows allomancers to feel a pulse (rhythm) of investiture being used. Vin can even tell the difference between different types of metal being burned eventually. To me it suggests that this is a Cosmere wide phenomenon, though you would need the right combination of magics and equipment to be able to both detect and duplicate the creation of different types of anti-Investiture the way Navani has. Though Gavilar's ability to create it before means there might be still other ways of creating anti-light that we don't know about yet.

Y’know, I remembered about the whole silly beginner questions today. I apologize for abruptly stopping. Times have been tough for me and I thought it might be a good idea to scale back on stuff that I don’t need to do but can take some energy to do. So I dropped it. I might come back to it, but i won’t for a while. I dunno how fun it was for others, but I did like that reputation. Things might improve enough to put in the consistency, but I don’t know when.

Well, here goes: My first ever... whatever this is!

If you see some specific memes that you want to upvote at this instant, then you can go find other posts that you upvoted, remove your upvote, and then give it to the place you desire. Generally, however, it is courteous to leave an upvote once you have given it.

This is mostly going out to @Vapor and @EmiTheNinja, but if you're not one of these two wonderful people, then that doesn't mean you can't take anything in what I expect to be a massive wall of text to heart. You guys all know me as this crazy, charismatic, and all-around happy guy (I think). I do my best to personify that in my posts and whatnot, and to be completely honest, it's not usually that difficult for two reasons: I am, in fact, a crazy, charismatic, and all-around happy guy; at least, I am for most of the time. I can type literally anything from behind a computer screen and portray any emotion I want. I could be bawling my eyes out right now and you guys would never know What most of you probably don't know is that sometimes I am not a crazy, charismatic, and all-around happy guy. After recent events and other disappointments, my parents and I are pretty scudding sure that I have depression. In case you were wondering, having depression isn't fun: it doesn't take very much to trigger me into an angry or depressed streak. I'm more irritable than usual, I get frustrated really easily, and my stress levels are through the roof. There's a weird thing at my school where everyone's always like "Look at me, I have depression." I'm pretty sure this came from the memeverse, because I've never understood it. Basically, every other kid pretends they have depression because they think it's cool to have depression. At this point, it's impossible to determine who actually has depression and who's just pretending. Back before I realized I was depressed a whole scudding lot, I kind of assumed that it didn't even exist: that it was just something kids made up for pity points and likes on reddit. Now that I am depressed a whole scudding lot, I've had plenty of opportunities to think to myself, "nope, nope... it definitely exists." Being an aspiring author, I've had lots of time to study up on character arcs and whatnot. I don't like blowing my own horn, but I think that doing so has made me a bit of a wiser person. I could go on and on about how thinking of myself as wise makes me not wise, and how I'm just trying to tell myself or whatever, but... just... we'll ignore that for now. At the very least, I've put thought into how characters struggle with their own faults and weaknesses, as well as how they overcome them. I must've had a bit of an ego going for awhile, because when I realized that I had the same struggles as those characters, it was a huge blow to my paradigm. If you guys have ever wondered why I tend to turn down compliments, it's because I don't enjoy taking pride in myself; I feel self-centered and narcissistic whenever I do so (it's kinda annoying sometimes, to tell you the truth). So looking back and realizing that I essentially thought that my "character arc" was something different and "better" than those of characters in various media kind of made me think, "was I really that crass?" I think that everyone thinks that they've reached the peak of wisdom and maturity at the point they're currently in. As a seven-year-old, I can distinctly remember thinking that I was finally a big boy now: I could go out and live on my own for all I cared. Same for when I was eight; and nine, and ten, and so on. Perhaps the biggest revelation I've ever had was just realizing "hey... y'know, I'm not done growing yet, and I doubt I ever will." It was that thought that kind of defines what most of us think of a "character arc." Some people mistakenly say that character development has to end in change, which is totally untrue (remember Frodo and the Ring? He literally failed his arc. The only reason the Ring was destroyed was because of the promise Smeagol broke, and evil being the only thing being capable of destroying itself, and... okay, I'm going off on a tangent here, DO NOT PROVOKE ME, CHILDREN, I WILL GO ON FOR AGES ABOUT THE THEME IN LOTR). A character arc is simply defined by choices and growth, whether those choices be good or bad; that growth for the better or for worse. The supposed "character change" is made by a character choosing to change. If you're reading this, then you're probably on the Shard. Furthermore, you're probably relatively active on the Shard, and likely a member of the extended group of buddies that I happen to be a member of. During this stupid pandemic (I bite my thumb at thee, Corona), I've come to rely on the friends I have here for basically all of my social interaction. That's probably not completely healthy, but that isn't the point I'm trying to make here. The point I'm trying to make is that you've all been supportive of me, and I'd like to have a chance to be supportive of you. Well, that's real great, Fadran. Is there a reason why you gave us that massive wall of text for what seems like a relatively superficial point? Shush. I'm not done yet. I still need my super-Dainspeech-style closing argument thingy. The reason I made this status update was because of two friends of mine here on the Shard: Vapor and Emi. Near as I can tell, they're the two sweetest and most loveable people on the face of the entire scudding planet. Only problem is, they strongly disagree. Very strongly disagree. Anyone on the Sharder Lair discord would know of our incessant conversations trying to convince these two to love themselves and be happy. Generally, trying to convince a Sharder to be happy with who they are is like trying to convince a stick to become fire; difficult, but not impossible. Unfortunately, when Sharders be like the one and only Fadran, trying to convince them to be happy is like trying to convince a rock to become fire... or, rather, trying to convince a rock to become a warrior instead of a cook. The reason I made this SU is to try to convince them that it's okay to be unsatisfied with where you are right now. I'm very unsatisfied with where I am currently, and I think that's understandable: I'm depressed all the time, I'm easily irritable, and I get mad at people real easy. None of those things are desireable traits. Maybe you guys have undesireable traits. Maybe you think that you're ugly and worthless and mean. You're not the only person who thinks of themselves that way. I doubt that there's a person in the world who's completely satisfied with how they are. What's important is just trying to show yourself some mercy and love. It isn't lawful that man should run more than he has strength (scud, I love that scripture), so just do your best. Remember that you're loved here, and we're only going to encourage you to try to improve. Unfortunately, we can only take you halfway. We can cheer you up and endlessly hurl compliments in your direction... but you can only take a horse to water. You can't make it drink. In the end, the only thing that matters is the choice you make. We'll walk with you, talk with you; we'll carry you if we have to. We'll drop you on the crossroads of your life, cheering you on to keep going, but there's nothing we can do to make you choose to become better. Rely on us for the journey, not the destination. The choice belongs to you. Hopefully that helped you somewhat. Don't die, ~ Fadran

Spoilered for size 3 memes inside

I think Endowment, or Edgli rather, was one of the Vessels who Shattered Adonalsium because they thought it was necessary. The reason why her magic is so... primal, might be because, like Frost, she believes in a plan of Adonalsium. That might also explain why she's so hostile towards Shards who broke the compact, as it's a view shared by Frost as well that Shards should not settle on the same planet together. So the magic took form from essential elements of Command, based on the patterns of life, drawn by her Shard's Intent.

On Nightblood's leakage... I couldn't help but notice that black smoke leaked out of Raboniel's mouth when killed by Anti-Voidlight. Perhaps Nightblood converts anything he comes across into AntiInvestiture of the relevant variety?

Elantris

Yay! My 3,000 post! Kaladin: Hoid:

One important fact I would remind others: Testament is a name of convenience given to Shallan's first Cryptic only at the very end of RoW. Her original name was Pattern, because all Cryptic's names are Pattern (referring to different patterns, but to human speech their names are all the same). Thus when reading Shallan's dialogue and thoughts in the earlier books, any time she says or thinks "Pattern" there is intentional ambiguity about which she is referring. Thus, when Shallan activates the Oathgate and calls out to Pattern, this doesn't necessarily mean she wasn't using Testament. I'm of the opinion that Shallan is using Testament as her sword all throughout WoR. In fact her first time summoning Pattern as a sword is in Oathbringer Chapter 15 when Adolin requests to see the sword and Shallan has a somewhat unexplainable panic attack. Pattern initially comments Implying something important was being done when summoning Pattern as a sword for Adolin. Eventually she creates the Radiant persona to abate the panic attack. The panic attack and generating of a new persona make more sense in the context of RoW: Shallan is about to summon a shardblade that is distinct from the one she was previously using, and she can't confront that reality yet. This is also the same chapter where Pattern drops his disturbing line: “It’s because you hate me,” Pattern said softly. “I can die, Shallan. I can go. They will send you another to bond.” e: Another point. Testament's spren friend mentioned finding her on an island far to the east. It's the Shattered Plains Oathgate platform, the last location Shallan summoned Testament.