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Aftermath: TJ woke up from another weird dream. He'd been having a lot of those lately. Strangely, they were all related to Wheel of Time. Maybe I should stop reading those WoT fanfics all the time. You know when you're obsessed with something and it starts appearing in your dreams? Yeah, I think that's the case here. He tried to remember it, like he did always. What was it again? It was right before the Salidar Aes Sedai took siege of the the White Tower. But something was different, wasn't it? Different from canon? The Amyrlin had tried to root out the Black Ajah? That didn't happen until later in the books. And there were a lot of Aes Sedai whose names I didn't recognise. Yes, the Amyrlin was almost successful in rooting out the Black Ajah. And..And.. I.. remember a James? What kind of an Aes Sedai name is that? And a Basilisk? Trying to find the final Black Ajah for the Amylin. What happened next...? The dream slipped by his mind in moments. He was lucky he could even remember this much. Most of the times, he could never recall a thing. Weird, this subconscious mind. Just like that, Roko, James, and Kanaira were gone, just constructs of his subconscious mind. Gears, James Brafin and Breaker disappeared. They were figments of the narrator's imagination. [Hmm, what's that? You want the actual write-up? You want to know what happened? Okay, okay I'm only joking around. Might as well, cause you know, stats sheet and all that.] "Huh, sure would have liked to know how that ended." mumbled TJ as he stepped out of his room, only to find James and Breaker in his field of vision. "Wow, I must have taken something strong last night." TJ tried to shake himself out of it, and tried slapping himself, but there they were, as clear as a day, engaged in a stand off. "Huh, they're actually...real? Wait a minute-" he looked closely... and they didn't seem to be pointing their guns at each other? They.. held their guns to their own heads? "Oh, god I'm still in a dream isn't it? I-" All of a sudden, they started shouting at each other. "I'M GONNA KILL MYSELF" "NO, I'M GONNA KILL MYSELF" "NO, I'M GONNA-" "No, no, this can't be happening. This is not a dream, I'm going insane HEY, can you guys-!" BOOM. James Brafin was eliminated. They were Rebel Aes Sedai of the order Grey Ajah. Breaker killed themselves. They were a Black Ajah hiding within the order Blue Ajah. Vote Count: James Brafin (1) : James Brafin Rebel Aes Sedai are deemed to have won. Player List: Doc Links: Dead/Spec Doc Black Ajah Doc GM Spreadsheet Thank you all for playing, and I hope you had fun! A big thanks to @Araris Valerian for helping me throughout the game. GM Thoughts later, because oh boy, there are some stuff that need to be said.

This was an amazing scene but... yeah.

DIE NACHT DER APOKALYPSE Night fell. On Roshar, the wind rose in the Frostlands. With it came a terrible groan as the ground trembled. Eight had come to Roshar and three remained, at the end of an entire world. There would be no more highstorms, after this night. Ever. No more Alethi wars, no more Azish examinations. No more, no more. Only the void. Only nothingness. Silence. Fissures ripped through the Shattered Plains and kept going. Ruin was preparing to kill a world. - Death is before me today: like the recovery of a sick man, like going forth into a garden after sickness. - On Scadrial, two men were playing a game of chess. "Check," said one of them. "And mate." Kaddar tipped over his king, and gave the other a look of wary respect. "Well played," he said. "It's interesting to be out-thought like this." "It's been a pleasure," said the other. "Indeed it has," said Kaddar. "Perhaps we'll play some other time. I understand there's a lot going on on Scadrial tonight." He picked up the ash spear leaning by the side of the table. "And I've never been very good at staying out of these affairs." He turned to leave, and then paused. "By the way, did you know I once counselled a king?" he winked. One of two birds - ravens, it seemed - swooped overhead on glossy-night wings. "And I've always enjoyed troubling the Alethi with riddles. You may want to look elsewhere for your counsellor of kings." - Death is before me today: like the odor of myrrh, like sitting under a sail in a good wind. - Tenth of the Dusk sat on the ledge and kept on honing his knife. He had made a promise. To find the one who had killed the worldhopper known as the Penguin. He had promised vengeance, because that was the one thing Tenth could manage. Finding and tracking a killer was no different from tracking his quarry, and Tenth had taken many a contract that had expected him to find a thief or a killer or a traitor. And then there were the Ghostbloods. Of course it would be the Ghostbloods. Enoras held Odium. Enoras had worked for Odium. Tenth supposed he should not have been all that surprised. The Ghostbloods seemed to get involved in almost everything, lately. And there had been those quiet moments of conversation with Sir Brockett and Sophos about Enoras: whether he could be trusted, and part of Tenth, the part he'd learned to listen to after almost a decade surviving on Patji, had not liked how many strange things came up around Enoras. The convenience of having protected Sir Brockett, the claims that didn't make sense, and even the way they'd held back despite calling for Konion's blood early on in the voting. Now, it would end tonight. In a way, Tenth supposed he was relieved. His conversations with the worldhopper known by the codename of Vulture had left him feeling uneasy. The plan had called for the deaths of Vulture, Weasel, and Chameleon. Tenth had been strangely reluctant to kill Vulture: the man had seemed genuine, Tenth supposed, if very much out of the loop. He was out of poison vials, but Tenth did not expect that to matter. He was no stranger to killing, or to seemingly-hopeless tasks like killing the last vessel of the Shard of Hatred. - Death is before me today: like the course of a stream; like the return of a man from the war-galley to his house. - "Make it count," Eris said. The smooth metallic spike felt unusually heavy in Tenth's hand. He hefted it. No grip. He'd have to improvise one himself, just in case he slipped. A strange weapon with which to kill, but he supposed one Shard would know how to kill another. Odium had to die. This had to end today. Too many worlds. Too many lives. Kaikoa crooned into his ear, and Tenth reached up to ruffle her feathers with his free hand. Even now: even broken and diminished, Valor was the steel in his spine, the strength in his arm, and the fire in his blood. He'd thought to give up the Shard, but had not been able to find the time. Khas had spoken, once, about the importance of when. And right now, right here, where and when had interlocked, creating a small window of opportunity. It was the killing time. - Death is before me today: like the home that a man longs to see, after years spent as a captive. - Night fell on Scadrial, and a good man prepared to kill, and a good man prepared to die. ("The Father is merciful," he whispered. Death came swift, on the rustle of gentle wings.) - “In this world, where we find ourselves, we need compassion more than anything, I think, or we are all alone.” –Tigana, Guy Gavriel Kay [OOC: An edited excerpt from the orders I sent in to Wilson and El. I apologise for some of the liberties I've taken and I deliberately left out the bits that made certain assumptions about what was going on in order not to hamstring others in RP I've been RPing my orders most of the time (except for some tiring days) and this one is moderately okay, if a bit long. 1k words thereabouts. I get carried away sometimes >> The death poem comes from Sandman - it's a specific translation of "Dispute between a man and his Ba." ]

I am a coward and a traitor. Always have been, from the time I accepted the Ghostbloods’ offer of membership to now when I ask you for the Mercy I once held and discarded. I left behind my family, friends, and even planet when the Ghostbloods offered me a place. I never once spoke out against their ideologies or methods even when two innocents died to grant me power over Fortune. And yet when I first encountered the agents of Odium I forsook my oaths and allegiances to join up with Hate incarnate. As one of their champions, I helped kill seven people, Shatter two Shards, and remove three from existence. Even here, entrusted with the full power of Mercy, almost a sixteenth of all there ever was in the Cosmere, my self-preservatory habits continued. Siena and Aurora I let die face the wrath of the assembled Shardic collective when my voice could have saved them. I foisted Mercy off on Solemnheart at their request when suspicion fell upon that Shard and helped orchestrate the death of the only person who knew the level of power I once held. I made only cursory attempts to defend Solemnheart and Konion from death and accelerated the timetable of Scarlet’s death. Now I am alone against the insurmountable might of the remaining Shards, all allies having either died or achieved their goals. I have seen the honor and compassion of your remaining coalition, though the former now lies only in our hearts and the latter a force wholly independent of Adonalsium. No longer shall I allow this conflict to continue. For my last act as your enemy, I will Shatter the Shard that started this conflict before its Intent overwhelms me. It is up to you whether I survive this, and what happens to me should you choose to spare me. I will accept whatever judgement you wish to give. -Enoras, current Odium, ex-Dominion, ex-Mercy, ex-Ringer, ex-Ghostblood, ex-decent person.

I present to y’all why I’ll be single for a very long time...

Guys, I will leave Shard for a moment. Idk how long exactly, but I feel... not good. Bye!! (I will be less active on Discord too. Mostly because I have nothing to say there lately.)

Okay so I posted a theory about Odium’s champion in the ROW lore/magic thread and I feel like nobody saw it or maybe just thought it was too unlikely or insane or something... BUT I was just rereading the ROW prologue and gosh I’m so damn convinced that Odium’s champion is going to be Gavilar!! This is what he says to Navani in the prologue: This is freaking me out. Like at first I was just trying to think through all the possible candidates for Odium’s champion and people like Szeth just seemed a bit too obvious to me, so I thought who would be the most surprising AND crippling to Dalinar? And who better than Gavilar himself, the one he looked up to and failed. Now I do actually think this could be possible! And maybe even likely from these words that Gavilar says. And since we know that the next prologue is going to be from Gavilar’s perspective, what if we get to the part where he’s killed and he appears in the cognitive realm and finds a way to stick around? He was slightly invested like Eshonai was. And the more info we get about him (RoW prologue and Venli flashbacks), the more we learn how much crazy cosmere stuff Gavilar was in on. His relationship to the heralds, and to Axindweth who seems to clearly be a worldhopper of who knows what allegiance - he even seems to know of Kelsier/Thaidakar. So what if he figured out a way to stick around and his motives are not what we think. His whole stint with the Sons of Honour seem to have been a cover for other intentions, since he already knew the heralds were around? It just seems crazy to me how much Gavilar was in on - like where did he get those void light and, especially, the anti-voidlight spheres?! So many questions. Can we get all the answers to them in one prologue? Or will we get those answers from Gavilar as an actual character in the next book!! He is so obsessed with being extraordinary, with unending existence, so what if he finds the opportunity for this by joining Odium’s forces? I at least think it’s possible that we will find out in the prologue that Gavilar has stuck around, and if he does I think he would be an excellent and surprising candidate for Odium’s champion. Also one death rattle I remembered could perhaps support this theory... Interested to read thoughts!

Minor Mistborn and Secret history spoilers. So in short I believe that Ulim is part Ruin and part Odium. Here's why: Ulim's red color means that it is likely he is made up of more than one type of investiture. We know that's not necessarily the norm for voidspren because of Yixli's yellow coloring. We know that investiture assosciated with each of the shards can be found anywhere. We also know that Ruin's investiture has manifested sapience (with some help) and a spren-like form at least one more time in the form of Nightblood. We also know that Rayse does not like expending his own power and would prefer not to invest much. We see this presumably with the Unmade and indirectly through Sja-Anat. Where he can, Odium corrupts instead of creating wholecloth. So I think it's plausible that Rayse or even Sja-Anat corrupted some lose Ruin-investiture that was available in the rosharan system and gave it sapience. Now, here are some textual hints: Ulim bears some physical resemblances with Ruin, or at least Ruin's manifestation that we get to see. The following is Ulims description when he finds out that Axindweth has left the planet and their plans have changed. Secret History Spoilers: I found this parallel pretty striking. Then, a few pages later, when Ulim is discovered by Nale, he says: Which is an interesting choice of words. He's also a pretty destructive little fella. He's cavalier with the lives of others. Even with Venli's, who Ulim is pretty dependant on for a large part of their relationship. And when Navani is captured his very first response is to ask if she should be killed. Ulim was also working closely with Axindweth. I think it's safe to assume based on her name and her rings that she is probably Terris and likely a Feruchemist or ferring. Now, I dont think she was working with him because he was part Ruin, I'm sure she had her own reasons for starting a Return. We don't really know much about her, but I thought I'd point out the Scadrian connection anyway. Finally, and I'm sure this is just a coincidence, but from what I've been able to tell the only translation of the world Ulim is "reduce" from albanian, so there you go

Well, it's my 2-year anniversary of joining the Shard, and the day of my 1,000th post. Why not add a milestone and make it the first time I post something on my profile, as well? If anyone's wondering what the 1,000th post was, I made an AMA. From what I can tell, it's a reasonably traditional choice. Anyway, the reason that I'm writing this is basically to just say that this place is great. Thank you to everyone who's chatted with me these last few years. This little corner of the internet has helped me in so many ways. I already look forward to the next thousand posts!

A reply to a message in the dead doc, which I have finally gotten around to reading: @Illwei, you're right. I don't. I don't know how to explain this to you. I don't know if I can explain this to you. I will just say this: A victory in that scenario would be meaningless. Pyrrhic. Empty. If I had earned it, if we'd kept the masks up a little longer and pretended that we didn't know, then perhaps. But after the reveal? After everything? Imagine someone made you a cake, and in return, you smashed it into their face. That was what winning in that scenario was to me. A waste. An act of spite and boredom and the sheer desire to win? Who wants to win like that? [And I do not mean to insinuate that wanting to win over the process to get there is wrong, but I personally do not prioritise winning over enjoying the victory.] It's like... It's like there's a trophy on a shelf, and you could smash it over someone's head to keep it, or you could just... not. And sure, you wouldn't get to keep the trophy, but that doesn't really... matter. At least to me. We all crave the tantalising taste of victory, but it's never as good when you finally have it. The joy is not the win but the process. The art of taking hearts and buying souls, of spikes in the dark and careful plots in the night. The art of subtle logic and guessing games, of keen eyes and open hearts. And if we fall, we fall. If we die, we die. Journey before destination. The game before the outcome. None of this detracts from the fact that you're right. You're right, Illwei. I don't know if I do not comprehend or do not care [or even if there is a difference, in the end], but you obviously care about this more than I. In the future, I will attempt to avoid acting in a manner that makes me happier at the cost of victory. I will attempt to match the playstyle that has been mandated in the newly updated rules. I will attempt to let my opinions fall by the wayside on this issue. I concede this, because I will never be able to change everyone's mind. The rules have been altered, the meta has judged, and my opinion has been deemed incorrect. Very well then. As Manoj Arora said, “You either bend, or you break. Suppress your ego to stay happy.” Embrace change or be left behind. And so I will become one with the Great Machine or I will shatter in the attempt. Falling feels like flying until you hit the ground. We leap off the edge and let the wind carry us away. And the earth welcomes us all home eventually, crushing us beneath the weight of the world. My apologies, I did not mean to ramble. 'Twas supposed to be a mere sentence or two regarding my own bizarre mentality. In the end, I say only this: Journey before destination, but change is inevitable, an endless march towards a self we do not recognise. As we carve away that which we do not want, as we excise the wrong and the bad, as we prune our garden into a shape more pleasing, we leave much behind. And maybe the future will be better, and maybe the future will be worse, but the future will be different. The Voices of God have spoken, and so it must be. The tide rushes in, and some are dragged beneath the waves. This is not the end. I do not want this to be the end. But we disagree.

Ah yes, welcome to Mystic's random status update, but this one has to deal with what day it is today. No, it's not my birthday or anything like that, but it happens to be Q's birthday. And I figured why not do a little something to celebrate it. So have something that I drew earlier today, not that anyone will see this, lol. I also wrote something that some of y'all might enjoy, others might brush this off. I dunno why, but I just wanted to do this, lol. –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Q tossed and turned in her sleeping bag, feeling grateful that she wasn’t sharing a tent with anyone. They would’ve questioned her and why she couldn’t sleep or why she was tossing and turning like crazy, and she didn’t want to talk about that if they were to ask. They didn’t need to know why she hurt or why she couldn’t sleep for long anymore. She could always pretend that she got some sleep and just lie awake in her tent with her chaotic thoughts, but she always found that those times were often the times where she couldn’t make out what in the name of the forgiving Ko’ad was going on the next day. Turning on her back, she stared at the ceiling of the dark tent. She tried to remember the last time she slept like this, but no recent memories came to light. The only memories that did come were those of her past and she didn’t want to think of that right now. Those memories only brought pain and of times that she could never have again. Those memories will only keep her awake, wishing for the sweet release of sleep to overcome her when it wouldn’t. They would only make her–– Think of your walk in the rain, Krow suggested, the thought coming out of nowhere. You like the rain, remember? As much as she wanted to protest against Krow’s words, she knew that the others would hear her talking to herself and start to question her sanity. She was pretty sure that they were already questioning it, but she didn’t want to confirm their suspicions about nothing. She only had a Fragment in her head, nothing that she couldn’t handle. Then again, Krow had a point. She did love watching and listening to the rain, even if it reminded her of her namesake. She always hated it when he had a point, but she knew that he had been with her since the beginning, so he would know almost everything about her and what she liked or didn’t like. Q glared at the tent’s roof, saying nothing as she hoped that it would get the message across to Krow. Yet, she sighed and closed her eyes, starting to focus on the rain pattering on the tent’s roof as well as from her memories. It was worth a shot, after all. The walk in the rain. That had been… relaxing. But had it been relaxing? Ellis had been there with her, so that really didn’t help her relax as much as she had wanted it to. It seemed like she had been revealing too much about herself to him… well, she didn’t know. It had been nice to watch the rain fall, pattering softly against the umbrella’s surface as it was to hear it against the tent’s roof. Now that sound had been relaxing to hear and it was calming her down slightly, even if it was bringing up old memories that she would rather forget. Instead she focused on the sound of rain; she listened to the pattering against her tent matching the one that she was thinking of from earlier. It was relaxing and it reminded her of calmer times and of when she had been home with her family, watching the storms with awe. Those memories were the ones she would rather think of than the ones that had been surfacing earlier. She remembered when she would fall asleep next to the window, listening to the rain now that her mother had made the rain and storm comforting rather than frightening. As she started to fall asleep, the rain started to grow softer, a calming white noise with all the chaos in her head and memories. Rain wasn’t the loudest of noises all the time, but it struck through her chaos and often told her to calm down a little bit, even if it brought up painful memories. It kept her in check, especially when she was having the roughest of days. It reminded her of times when her mother would calm her down from the thunderstorms and tell her about how they were there to calm people down, no matter how loud they could get. The sound of the rain slowly came to a stop, and was instead filled with the sound of chattering birds. The wind flowed through the trees around her, and even breezed through her short hair. The sun bathed her with warmth like she had never felt before, like a hug from a loved one long dead. If she could strain her ears, she could hear people laughing and perhaps walking around in the soft grass. Q opened her eyes and didn’t see the darkness of the tent, but a sight that she thought she would never see again for a long time. The rolling green hills of her home seemed to be full of life when the sunlight touched the tips of grass. The sleeping volcano, Huo, loomed in the background, but gave her a homey feeling after all she’s been through. The grass felt so soft underneath her fingertips, making her feel at peace. The air smelled of nature; the trees seemed to be more vibrant than usual. The scene looked to be out of her memories, and perhaps it was, but it made her feel like she was actually home and not caught up in the mess that her life gave her on a daily basis. If she were to squint, she could see the city of Tiankong at the foot of the sleeping volcano. She had often questioned why the people of Meide had built their capital city in the volcano’s lava path so long ago, but she also knew that the city’s resident Foreseer Mystic would let the people know when or if Huo was going to let it’s rage on them so they could evacuate if needed. Sounds of laughter came from the bottom of the hill and Q tensed, waiting for the blood from her nightmares to start. She knew that when she thought she was at peace, the blood would always find her, no matter where she was or who she was with. It never came. She looked around, seeing no one, but didn’t relax. Could this just be a normal dream? Is this just how normal people sleep, without nightmares about what they have done in the past? It seemed so… strange. Almost alien with how it could be this way. “Mama didn’t expect you to be awake for a while.” Q whipped around, seeing someone that she thought she would never see again for the rest of her mortal life. It was Ishido, her brother. He looked like he grew, at least when she had last seen him. When she’d seen him, he had been a broken corpse. His raven black hair had grown to be a mess, like his uncle’s. He must’ve been taking after him. He held two plates of something that she couldn’t make out, holding them out of sight when he came closer. His sapphire eyes were full of light when he walked up to her, sitting beside her in the grass while placing the plates in the grass on the other side where she couldn’t see them, his bare feet facing upwards in the grass. She sat in awe, seeing her brother sitting next to her at their home, as if nothing’s ever happened. But at the same time, she was concerned. How could he have grown from the last time she saw him? Either her subconscious was really good or someone spiked that crumb cake. “You’re dead,” she whispered, wanting to look away at him but couldn’t. “I watched your body burn. I saw you dead.” Ishido looked hurt for a bit, then understanding slowly came into his eyes. “Nothing gets past you,” he said, smiling. “Mors thought that you would appreciate seeing me today, or tonight. Whatever. He gave me the chance to see you for one dream. Good thing that you’re not having a bad one today.” Q’s eyes widened with surprise. He would… do that for me? “Wait,” she interjected her own thoughts, “what’s so special about today?” “Don’t tell me you’ve already forgotten.” He laughed, causing Q to smile. It was good to see him again. “Have you been fighting too much to forget what day it is?” “Ishi, you know that I’m not the best with remembering dates.” “Oh, so we’re going back to those names, huh?” Ishido’s eyes twinkled with playfulness. “If I remember correctly, you were the one that constantly reminded me when we had to go to school and all of those activities that Mama had us signed up for.” “School and their activities were different. You know that.” She gave him a playful glare. “I was the one that actually enjoyed learning things there and the activities they hosted.” “Yeah, and I was the one that enjoyed the people there instead being a reclusive shut in.” Q glared at him again, then saw his playful expression, then she started to laugh for the first time in what seemed like forever. It wasn’t in real life, but she still counted it. It was with someone she cared about, even if they have passed on. But Ko’ad’s Light, it felt good to laugh like that. It had been too long since she had done so and actually enjoyed it. Maybe it was because she hadn’t been around people she really cared about, but she will enjoy it. It may not be exactly real, but she will accept it. Ishido seemed to be happy with her laughter that he joined in for a second, before he looked back at her. “You really don’t remember what day it is today?” he asked. Q shook her head, a smile still on her face. “I can barely remember to eat nowadays, Ishi,” she said. “I can’t remember what day it is most of the time, unless someone reminds me.” Ishido gave her a smile, something reminiscent of her own, then pulled something up from behind him and placed it on her lap. A plate holding a slice of a beautiful cake now sat on her lap, decorated with blue icing and with the occasional golden sprinkles. It was something that she hadn’t seen in a really long time. She hadn’t seen this kind of cake since… well, since… He leaned in, giving her a brotherly peck on her cheek. “Happy birthday, Yulong,” he whispered in her ear. “To the both of us. Take some time for yourself, for your family.” And with that, her vision faded to black as she woke up in her tent. The rain still pattered against the tent’s roof, and it was still calming. She couldn’t exactly see the roof of the tent, but she knew that the rain was drizzling softly. A smile was plastered on her face. That smile was genuine, and it felt like forever since she smiled like that. It had been the first time in a long time since she had heard her real name, at least from her brother of all people. It was still dark out, but at least she now knew what day it was.

If Marsh had kids Daughter: Hey, Dad? Marsh: Yes? Daughter: Can I get my ears pierced? Marsh: NO!! Daughter: C'mon Dad, they wouldn't even have any charge! Marsh: No child of mind will be pierced by metal. EVER. Daughter: Mom, Dad won't let me get my ears pierced. Mother: *sigh* That's just because he regrets his own piercings.

I’ve said most of my thoughts about this situation in the spec doc. If anyone’s curious to hear more of my thoughts, you can read them there. As for what @Gears has said: Breaker easily could’ve won still. In C9, he votes you last minute and submits a kill on you. James was the only one to vote, and on himself, so James dies, you lose your extra life to either the exe or the kill, and Breaker is the last player standing. I can understand not wanting to do this, as it could have felt like a betrayal. But is not the point of the game to betray and lie to each other? Is not the point of the game to try and win? Obviously we want to have fun first and foremost, but if we aren’t really trying to win, what’s the point? Anyway, I really don’t think we need a rule to say that something like this isn’t allowed. We just need guidelines and recommendations about making sure we pay attention to how our actions can affect other players. Like, sure, you and Breaker had a lot of fun doing that ending. But was it worth negatively affecting the enjoyment of the game for many other people? And I’ll be honest: my enjoyment was negatively affected, but seeing the RP you guys wrote was enjoyable at the same time. Anyway, not sure where I was going with this. But...I don’t know. I’m just tired of talking about this.

The main point I had was that I didn't think that Breaker should have made that move in the first place, and I believed that you would side with Breaker in his onions. So the "He" there, was referring to Breaker, and not you. I agree that in the end there a win wouldn't mean anything. The moment Breaker revealed in thread everything felt meaningless to me. I can Understand this view, but also the view of everyone who worked for that win. Yes it was handed to you there at the end, but that wasn't the problem to me. I know that personally i put in a lot of work, and the fact that you, at the end there, sided with him because you were friends? It felt like a punch. It felt like nothing I did mattered. It felt like I wasted hours on this game because someone was throwing, for "fun". I understand that at the end there it felt to you like you were having fun- I definitely saw that, and I'm glad that this ending was fun for you. Again, this is definitely more of a problem I had with what Breaker did than what you did. I don't like that you sided with Breaker, but my main issue was I didn't like what Breaker did. 1) I definitely didn't mean it like that, and I apologize it came across like that. I did not mean for you to sacrifice fun for winning. But I did mean my above comment. 2) I appreciate this, but also I definitely wouldn't consider "gamethrowing" a playstyle. Maybe this is a matter of opinion. To me, How you approach the completion of your wincon is a playstyle. Actively/Intentionally going against that wincon in a way that will most certainly make your team lose? I don't consider that a 'playstyle'. Maybe a matter of opinion. All in all, I am thoroughly tired. I don't intend to hurt you with anything I say, I don't intend to attack or antagonize you at all. I apologize if anything I say comes across that way.

I for one, would definitely watch Chaos and Brandon fight with Stabby awards.

Hey everyone! Remember me? The other Blue Ajah you all decided to vote out in the last five minutes of C2 and then promptly forgot existed? ... that being said, this was... both strenuous and hilarious to watch from the dead doc . And apparently my D1-death-analysis worked (somewhat) again.

"You too." Soren took his hand away from his blade, satisfied that these people weren't trying to kill him. "So are you some kind of cult or something?"

Dalinar talking to Ishar

Throughout the series of Era 1, the ash is described as black: "The dry plants, the angry sun, the smoky-black sky." -Kelsier, Chpt. 12, TFE "the black flakes covered up everything beneath," Chpt. 61 and 63, HoA I absolutely love Sanderson's world building and the scenes he creates; it makes sense from an emotional point of view that things need to look dark and depressing. But the Lord Ruler should've known that black colored ash would absorb sunlight and heat up the planet more. White/reflective would've been more appropriate, though snow-like-covered landscapes might not bring as dreary a picture to mind. Perhaps gray would've been a good compromise.

Did my doctor just tell my parents and I that we shouldn’t worry because she’s 50% sure I’m fine......? That’s convincing....

I really hope I'm not the only one who pictures Marsh to live in a cottage in the middle of nowhere, jamming out to classic rock while he makes fancy stuff for breakfast. Marsh: *flipping omelet* Owner of a lonely heart! Much better than a... Owner of a broken heart!

It’s also possible to just stumble there accidentally if you are the type who just loves exploring like crazy. But you can’t accomplish any quests there unless you have talked to the right people in the main story. Also, I haven’t had a chance to absolutely geek out about this with anyone, but this is the spot if I’m going to. My husband absolutely knocked it out of the park for Christmas and got me the Creating a Champion book and art set. It is so awesome! We’re finishing our basement and letting it be our place to just be nerdy and enjoy our entertainment. So you better believe this map is getting framed and hung up on the wall. (Next step is getting some Sanderson art.)

They're a bit longer, but I like the thoughtfulness of both quotes, and these are the ones that stuck with me.

THE GAME IS OVER ...but we haven't finished the writeup and want it to be appropriately epic, so we'll put it up in 24 hours. BUT there is one thing you can do in the meantime! We still have non-Sanderson passes to give out, after all, and even if this game didn't try very hard at anonymity we might as well do it while nothing is confirmed yet. So! Please PM us your top three choices for cosmetic role awards! There's no strict criteria here - it can be who you think stayed in character best, or made you laugh the most, or anything else you like. Please rank your choices when you send them to us. You can send it in your GM PM, or the PM where you got your anon account login, or on Discord, or really wherever non-public. I doubt we'll hear from everyone by tomorrow, but we'll announce the winners as soon as we can!

This "something else" was most likely Cultivation. But this is very interesting (and relativly popular) theory - Gavilar becomes Cognitive Shadow, invested by Odium, and will come back to take back what he thinks is his. Being Cosmere-aware he can know how to do this.

I agree. That is one thing I’m not sure about - why we never got hints about Gavilar being part of Odium’s plan (both Rayse’s and now Taravangian’s). Also why the Stormfather wouldn’t have known. I’m not sure how to explain it but perhaps Gavilar figured out his own way to stick around and maybe that is the “something else” that Taravangian notices in chapter 114? I’m not sure but perhaps Gavilar has found his own way of entering the realm of gods as he told Navani he had during the prologue, and only now can Taravangian notice him or perhaps only now has Gavilar chosen to revealed himself. This is very speculative but I don’t think it’s impossible that Gavilar could have hidden himself from Odium or the Stormfather, since it seems Kelek was able to keep his location in the cognitive realm hidden also otherwise the Stormfather could have just told Dalinar that he was at Lasting Integrity

I'm thinking that role might be reserved for Sja-Anat or Ba-Ado-Mishram

Gavilar could have had Breaths: And Life sense potentially??

"“Honor is not dead so long as he lives in the hearts of men!” EPIC! So good, especially if you tie it back to my favorite WoR quote "Honor is dead but I'll see what I can do." (And making me think of some theories) "“You’re good enough for me.” That Tien scene made me bawl.

[OOC: sorry im late checked out of the game tbh and my artistic skills are awful but i bestow upon u all a glorious meme: ]

AG7: Night 7 - Sushi The Brightness Ascendant Bloodthirsty Goddess, in a fit of rage over the votes, has turned Octopus into sushi. She happily munches away on the former Scarlet Octopus, trying not to get any glitter on her meal. If others would like to partake of the octopus sushi, the Bloodthirsty Goddess is open to sharing. Scarlet Octopus (9,154,686,513): Amber Vulture, Azure Mouse, Charcoal Hyena, Coral Swan, Ivory Dragonfly, Magenta Albatross, Onyx Flamingo, Opal Lion, Violet Axolotl, Wilson Wilson (4): people who are either dead or who want to be dead (ellie, I’m looking at you) Scarlet Octopus was a Champion of Odium! The night has begun. It will end at 9 am MST on 23 Jan. Get your orders in.

Forget Hoid, he's the real worldhopper...

stormlight: mistborn: elantris: warbreaker: skyward: I am by no means good at photoshop, but here you go! *no spoilers the tags are to save space*

look closely

We’re back for another exciting edition of “Tay Falls Asleep Within 2 Minutes of Me Reading So I Have to Start the Chapter Over Again the Next Day”. We’re workshopping the name, but at least it’s honest. Since the moderators have kindly moved this thread over to the Rhythm of War spoiler boards, I’m not going to hide these reactions behind a mask of mirrors no wait, an invisibility cloak ack still wrong fandom… a spoiler lightweaving. Part III reactions ahoy! -- TAY: Chris, write this down so that I can tell you “I told you so” when I’m right. The Sibling is going to switch on Urithiru by plugging in sword ninny. -- TAY: Adolin should be the Bondsmith. He’s so much cooler and better at bringing people together than Dalinar. Plus everyone likes him. -- On the above note, Tay had much to say about Dalinar. Now that she knows his backstory, she’s not as quick to forgive him as many other characters are. Much like Adolin, she is kind of putting up with D-Man because the whole fate of humanity rests on his shoulders. But she’s still pretty mad about the whole ‘burning his wife to death’ thing. Can’t really blame her though. Be ready for some Dalinar roasting (pun intended) -- *Dalinar tells Jasnah he disapproves of her plot to get Ruthar out of his position* TAY: *angrily* Oh! Really, Dalinar? Nobody in this tent gives a *censored* what you think! Supercilious blowhard. After Evi, you never get to hold the moral high ground! Jasnah should call him “Uncle-who-knows-jack-*censored*-about-*censored*”. You found this entire experience “distasteful”? Know who else found this entire experience distasteful? YOUR WIFE. Oh wait, she can’t experience anything ever because she’s now dead. I swear, he could have vertigo from the pedestal he thinks he’s on. *Interestingly, I think Taravangian says something very similar to Dalinar in their chapter together in this Part* -- *Gavinor asking if his father was brave when he died* TAY: Oof. Little guy is asking the big questions. -- *Dalinar and Renarin are speaking to each other while Sigzil is Worldsinging* TAY: I mean, I think it’s kind of rude that they’re interrupting Schnitzel telling his campfire stories, but okay. These are the kind of guys who don’t clap when there’s a live band. -- *Dalinar is being a good dad to Renarin* TAY: HEY! Dalinar! Why are you only being nice to one of your sons! This is Radiant privilege and I will not stand for it! -- *At this point, Tay got excited about which characters we were in the Knights Radiant official quiz up on Brandon’s website. As you no doubt remember, we did this last year when it dropped – Tay was a Windrunner and I got Lightweaver, much to Tay’s laughter. This time, we did it for each other – answering what we believed about the other person. Tay got Windrunner again, but this time I got Truthwatcher.* TAY: It’s because I am consistent in my character and you? You are a fickle *censored*. -- TAY: Venli wants to remake the Listeners? Man, hasn’t she read The Great Gatsby? You can’t relive the past, old sport. *This may well be the first time she’s mentioned Venli. This is because Tay hates Venli. Like, “Shallan-in-the-first-book” level hate* -- TAY: Brandon Sanderson writes about fashion and people who are interested in fashion like someone who has never cared about clothes in their life. “Adolin did up his buttons. They were shiny and round and fashionable, the peak of Alethi style.” -- *Syl impersonating a Voidspren* TAY: “I’m really annoyed?” Oh my god, Syl is you. A polite Canadian trying to be angry. -- TAY: Is it just me, or does “The Pursuer” sound like a bad WWE character? ME: Not gonna lie, I’ve been picturing him as Triple H. -- TAY: On that subject, ‘The Lady of Wishes’? You can’t tell me that’s not the name of the mistress of a high-end brothel. -- *Points for Tay – she has guessed that Venli will free Lift… but she guessed it before Venli spoke her rejected Second Ideal* -- *On the topic of emulsification, Tay has helpfully put forth the idea that mustard would be an excellent emulsifier for Voidlight and Stormlight since it works well for vinegar and oil in a salad dressing. She frequently asks “Where’s the mustard” when Navani and Raboniel are on the topic* -- *Tayla is also being a real trooper in the Light theory chapters. While I found them fascinating, Tay has been instantly brought back to the horrid spectre of her grade 11 science classes… a class in which she was one percent off an A. As a result, I’m having to give her some Cole’s Notes on the progress Navani is making* -- *Discussing the Magnified Ones and whether Edgedancers could do that* TAY: So I could just make a tree appear and block a shard? That’s what I’ll do. Make a tree pop out of my skin. ME: You’d need seeds to do that, I think. TAY: Yeah but I’d be prepared. I’d keep seeds in my pockets and then BLAM! Tree-face. -- TAY: Wait, so Odium’s voidlight is violet? ME: Violet-black, yes. TAY: But his followers’ eyes are red. And their skin is red, black, and white. ME: Yeah. TAY: But he’s always described in gold robes? ME: What are you getting at here? TAY: Odium’s colour palette is all wrong. He needs to Stick. To. A. Simple. Colour. Palette. This is not on-brand. This is not how you raise an empire. Ugh. -- *Dalinar talking about how Taravangian is able to influence others* TAY: I like the idea of Taravangian being an Instagram influencer. “Take a burst shot of me as I commit this atrocity!” ME: “Do these burnt orange robes make me look fat? Be honest, Adrotagia.” -- *Tay has a pretty okay theory that Dalinar testing out his Bondsmith powers during a Highstorm will allow him to progress faster, due to the Connection and the closeness of all three Realms* -- *Dalinar in the Highstorm* TAY: I can show you Roshaaaaar. Shining, shimmering, wetness! -- *Chiri-chiri is mentioned* TAY: *incessantly sings this* -- That’s all for now, folks! Next one is gonna be a combined Parts IV and V because of, well, you know. Crem before cremlings!

I'm not very good at making memes, but Dawnshard is too good not to try.

To celebrate Tau Day, I've decided to write my first ever Rithmatic theory. This one, appropriately enough, will involve circles, circular functions, and τ. There will also be ellipses, but we'll be talking about their relationship to circles. (A slight pause to explain what τ is.) Before I continue, if you haven't seen it already, you guys really need to read KalynaAnne's awesome series on Rithmatics first. She has a guide on how to construct different Lines of Warding, including a couple that were not mentioned in the book: the five-point and the eight-point circles, both of which have been confirmed by Brandon. She even has theories about Lines of Vigor that have also been confirmed, which is pretty cool. KalynaAnne also speculated about elliptic Lines of Warding, including the mysterious Blad Defense (I think her version of that looks very promising). But while most of her work had been quite brilliant, ellipses is where she had one tiny problem. Since elliptical Lines of Warding are stronger where the curvature is greater and weaker where the curvature is less, she initially theorized that smaller circles (which have greater curvature) must be stronger than larger circles. But this theory had one obvious flaw: If larger circles are weaker, then the Great Circle of Nebrask would be pathetically weak, and that's not very likely. Confronted with this, she gave a list of possible alternatives. The only one in her list that actually solves the problem of the Great Circle is this: She proposed that each Line of Warding has a total amount of "charge" directly proportional to its circumference (i.e. the bigger the Line of Warding, the more charge it has). This "charge", which determines the strength of the Line at a given point, is distributed along the points of the line based on curvature, so points on the line with more curvature attract more of the "charge" and become stronger. Since circles have constant curvature, the charge is evenly distributed all throughout. This solution works perfectly well, but I'd like to analyze this problem using a different approach, create a solution that is essentially compatible with KalynaAnne's proposal, and then discuss its implications. Here is what the book says about the strength of an elliptic Line of Warding: The question an observant reader might ask is "Which circle?" This is because, as KalynaAnne correctly pointed out in her discussion on curvature, the curvature of a circle depends on its radius. This means it varies depending on the circle's size, so there isn't a single curvature for all circles that can be compared to that of a point on an ellipse. So, which circle? The simplest interpretation is that each Line of Warding has its own reference circle. This reference circle would of course have a constant curvature (hence a constant strength at each point), and by comparing the curvature of a point on an ellipse to the curvature of that circle, we can determine the Warding strength at that point through this ratio: σP = (κP / κC) * w Where σP is the strength at point P of a particular Line of Warding, κP is the curvature at point P, and κC is the curvature of the reference circle. As you can see, points of greater curvature with respect to the reference circle would be stronger than the reference circle, and points of less curvature are weaker. Finally, w is the coefficient of Warding, which has a constant value for the unit of "Warding strength" being used. We don't know any Warding strength units, so we'll just set w to 1 and ignore it. Note that this equation should also apply to perfectly circular Lines of Warding because circles are also ellipses. In this case, it would make sense to assume that a circular Line of Warding is its own reference circle, meaning κP=κC, so σP=1 for all circles. This solves the Great Circle problem. (Edit: I've been reminded by ccstat of this recent WoB showing that there is in fact some sort of weakening involved when creating large circles, but not as fast as the curvature would indicate. So in fact σP is not 1 for all circles. I formulated a possible explanation, but please read the rest of this post first.) Either way, we still need to define what this reference circle is for non-circular ellipses. I could think of three natural candidates: The inscribed circle of the ellipse ("incircle"), a circle whose radius is equal to the ellipse's semi-minor axis The circumscribed circle of the ellipse ("circumcircle"), a circle whose radius is equal to the ellipse's semi-major axis The circle whose circumference is equal to that of the ellipse (let's call this the perimeter circle or the "pericircle" of the ellipse) (Conveniently, when the ellipse in question is actually a circle, then all four circles are equal to each other. This jives with our assumption that the reference circle of a circular Line of Warding is itself.) Here's a badly drawn diagram of an ellipse and its incircle, circumcircle, and pericircle: In one of her diagrams, KalynaAnne called the incircle of an ellipse the reference circle of that ellipse. Later I'll explain why I don't think the incircle's curvature is the best candidate for the basis of Warding strength. The "pericircle" is an appealing choice because it shares something quite fundamental with the ellipse: the circumference. It also jives with KalynaAnne's "charge" theory which uses the circumference as a basis of total strength charge. However, the equation for getting the circumference of a non-circular ellipse (which involves a factorial, a double factorial, and the sum of an infinite series) is so complex that I doubt Brandon would bother with it. (Although there is a nifty rough approximation of the elliptic circumference involving tau: τ * sqrt((a2 + b2) / 2)) I'm going with the circumcircle as the reference circle, mainly because it is the largest of the three (for non-circular ellipses), and therefore has the lowest curvature. If the front and back of an elliptical Line of Warding really are "much stronger" than a circular Warding, then the κC ought to be pretty low compared to the ellipse's greatest κP. Using the circumcircle of the ellipse as the reference circle creates stronger elliptic Lines of Warding than using the incircle or the pericircle. I am open to counterarguments, though. Feel free to defend either the incircle or the pericircle. Even as I type this, I am growing more fond of the pericircle. Perhaps it's because I invented the term; there is no widely used name for the circle whose circumference is equal to that of an ellipse, so I had to make a name up as I developed this theory. Alas, I need a stronger argument in favor of the pericircle before I actually switch. (Edit: I now believe that the reference circle is the one whose area is equal to that of the ellipse, as I explain later on in the thread.) (More talk about curvature and its relation to circles.) Now for the fun part. Let us play with extreme values for the numerator κP (or the denominator rO, if you prefer the equation I gave in the spoilered note on osculating circles) and see the results σP. If κP is negative, then you're looking at a non-convex part in your Line of Warding (either that, or you managed to draw a hyperbola, which stretches to infinity, so... no). Well-drawn circles or ellipses are convex all throughout. If κP is zero, you've got a line segment (another solution is two parallel lines stretching infinitely in both directions, but that's impossible). P is somewhere on the line segment other than the endpoints, and σP is also zero. A line segment is a degenerate ellipse whose foci are on its endpoints, meaning it's so squashed that the foci have moved as far apart as they possibly can. If κP is ∞, then you are on an endpoint of a line segment. If you used the incircle as the reference circle, you get a weird strength value: σP=∞/∞. Otherwise, you only get the slightly less weird σP=∞. What does it mean that a Line of Warding that looks like a line segment has infinite strength at its bind points while having no strength at all anywhere else along the line? In real life, things get really weird when they start involving infinities; for example, a portion of spacetime with infinite curvature becomes a black hole. I believe something similar happens in the 2D universe of Rithmatic lines when Rithmatic Lines involve infinities in their construction: the very fabric of the "chalk space" is affected, and the effects leak towards "people space". You already know where I'm going with this. I think a Line of Forbiddance is actually a Line of Warding whose infinite curvature at its endpoints has transformed it into something that warps "chalk space", and this is what causes the electromagnetic-like force field that affects both the world of chalk and the world of people. A Line of Forbiddance is a degenerate Line of Warding. Can this theory of degenerate Rithmatics be generalized to other Rithmatic lines? I believe it can. Let us look at two more pairs of Lines: the Line of Vigor and the Line of Revocation. Vigors are basically sinusoidal waves of varying frequency and amplitude. They are used to either move or destroy other Lines. Sine waves are generated through the following function of time: f(t) = A * sin(τft + p) Where A is the amplitude, f is the frequency, and p is the phase of oscillation. The "sin" is, of course, the circular function sine. In Rithmatics, the amplitude is defined by how large your Vigors are. Frequency is probably defined by how many individual waves are drawn. The phase is probably just zero. You could add different sine waves together to form different-looking periodic waveforms, some of which can look quite weird. Such waves are difficult to draw (remember, you need at least two repetitions of a waveform for the Line of Vigor to work) and would be impractical when used as Lines of Vigor. But what if we add an infinite number of different sine waves? Well, that could be interesting. Consider the following summation of an infinite series: f(t) = 2A * (Σ(-1n * sin(nτtf) / n) from n=1 to n=∞) / τ When graphed, that function looks like a sawtooth wave, which looks exactly like Lines of Revocation. The Line of Revocation is just a degenerate Line of Vigor, which is how it can affect things beyond the chalk universe. (More talk on Lines of Revocation in the second part of this post.) Alas, the remaining Lines aren't circle-related. Let's just discuss them briefly. Lines of Making are able to actually harm people once given the Glyph of Rending as an instruction. This Glyph must be a degenerate form of other Glyphs, which seem to all involve straight lines. This makes me think the Glyph of Rending is just a dot. The Line of Silencing, which is four spiral loops combined, is already degenerate because it can affect the outside world. I just don't know what it is a degenerate form of. It kinda looks like this, though. I think I need to read up on fractals.

And of course Stick. On witch Cosmere world you want to live?

When you rephrase things that you say so that they include subtle Cosmere references.

I'm a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I believe in a God that loves us as his children. I also believe in science, and the validity of theories such as evolution and the Big Bang. I'm always happy to discuss theology/philosophy with anyone interested.

First off, I agree that it's not the duty of an author to portray an individual of a given group in a certain (positive or negative) way. Stories are about individuals and individuals are diverse, so the portrayals of individuals in stories should be diverse as well. I'm with you there. (EDIT: To be clear, I do not think that this -- looking for a mascot -- is actually what the other commentors in this thread are doing, I want that to be clear as well!) But, that said, constructive criticism means recognizing what the author wanted to do, evaluating whether they succeeded at it, and, if they didn't, point it out (in a respectful way). And I think Brandon just didn't succeed in what he wanted to do. For example, this is one thing he wrote for the annotations of Rhythm of War's first part: Which implies that she "cares" about Wit, on some deeper level, to some degree. That should go beyond "he's so old and he knows so many secrets". Which is essentially all she has to say (/think) about him. It's just not a believable portrayal of someone caring about someone else. And it seems like that's what he wanted to do with that scene. Instead, we got her thinking about him like he was some puzzle, instead of a person. And in the light of what he seemed to aim at, I do think that this just isn't good writing. In this case, he didn't do a good job making me understand her like he intended (as someone who "cares" in a heteroromantic, asexual way). That said, I haven't seen much "anger" directed at him for it, just disapointment, sourness, or lack of understanding (I share all of them to some degree). And most people who are annoyed by it still love the book as a whole (which I share as well!). I just think that this was sloppy in a way that we don't usually see from Brandon. The fact that this scene sticks out so much is a very positive thing to say about him, in my opinion.

go easy on me it's my first cosmeme/crempost