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Cosmere characters as Whose Line Is It Anyway prompts! (Never watched the show, but it was fun assigning characters to prompts) Featuring more bad drawings, this time with 80% less effort!

The debate in the crowded mess hall grew louder and louder. A self-professed Servant of the Mad God claimed to be a Forgotten, but was ultimately dismissed. The crowd eventually set its eyes on Joshua. His arguments were flawed, and drew many criticisms. However, Joshua begged for his life, and set the mob on a different target. Dan was normally one of the most talkative people on the front lines, but he had gone strangely silent during this argument. The camp reasoned that this was proof enough that Dan had been possessed. Unfortunately, Dan was not possessed, and was merely unprepared for the deluge of words against him. He died quickly, not even getting to say any last words. Vote Count: Dannex (6): Ashbringer, Burnt Spaghetti, Illwei, Matrim's Dice, Quinn0928, Ventyl Matrim's Dice (4): FlyingBooks, StrikerEZ, TJ Shade, Devotary of Spontaneity Gears (3): Araris Valerian, Kasimir, STINK Illwei (1): Archer Random Bystander (1): Mist Dannex was a Rithmatist. Items Taken: Camp Supply: Player List: This Night will end at 8 PM CST on January 31st. The Strength of the Wild Chalklings is at 2.

All right... I am forcing myself to stay off the shard for a while. I will probably be back friday afternoon. I may try to keep up with RPs but I don't know. Thank you

To everyone else who also has this same birthday as me on the 17thshard, @AquaRegia, @Sgothan, @TheAstronomer, @MyFriend Fernando, @Ziva, @livechat, and @Catchfraze, I hope you are also having a great day today!

Blackbane wrote a letter too. It was a.

I haven't posted music stuff here for a while... I've just been playing around, but not recording anything. Soooo, I thought it would be good to do an update! Current Projects: + Dalinar's Theme (Or The Speech-at the Battle-of-the-Tower-Following-the-Sadeas-Betrayal Theme) + Spensa's Theme or "Skyward Flight" or "Skyward 6" Other inspired ideas in the back of my mind: + Venli's Theme (Or [Insert Inspired Title Here]) + Lift's theme? + Another Dalinar-Theme from Oathbringer: "You cannot have my pain!!!" (that epic scene) + "RoW Spoily" Theme 1 + "RoW Spoily" Theme 2 And please, add suggestions or ideas! The above are in no particular order...

Sakura dug the man’s grave. It only seemed fitting since she was the one who’d cast the final vote. She was the one who’d chosen not to let fate decide. She was the one who’d damned an innocent man. She was terrible. Sakura made the man’s grave deep, not just to respect him properly—as was per standard in the West—but to punish herself. She tore into the coarse dirt of the forest of Nebrask. Her shovel jolted her arms each time she plowed it into the soil, and each time she didn’t prepare properly for the shock. Her forehead dripped with sweat, rolling down her face and into her eyes, it gave her an excuse to stop digging. She was grateful and not at the same time. When she finished digging the three meter deep hole, her arms were covered in mud. It had started raining at some point. Sakura didn’t remember when though. Nevertheless, she climbed back to the surface, grabbing hold tightly to the rocks that jutted out of the ground so she wouldn’t slip on the wet dirt. In her ascent, she cut her hand against one of the rocks, its sharp edge tearing into her palm. Her blood fell with the rain into the soon-to-be filled grave. It only seemed fitting that part of her should be buried with Dan. She picked up his cold body. They hadn’t had a casket to put him in, only a thick tattered cloth wrap. It was disheartening to know that, if Sakura was put under the court’s judgment next, she’d meant a similar fate. Buried in land so far from Japan. Away from her lover, Hogetsu. Who’d never find out that her partner had died in a foreign forest, in a war she should’ve never taken part it. When she returned to the camp, soaked in mud with blood running down her arm, she received looks of concern, distrust, and some that she couldn’t read. Sakura paid them no heed. She returned to her lodgings after grabbing some kind of stew from the cooks tent. Then, she undressed and toweled herself dry, cleaning and bandaging the wound on her hand as she did so. It would make drawing Rithmatic lines for the next few days a struggle, which only seemed fitting as Dan would no longer draw them at all. By the time Sakura finished cleaning herself, the stew had gotten cold, reminding her of Dan’s limp form. She gave her thanks and ate quickly, taking no time to treasure its dull taste. When she finished the meal, she set the bowl outside her tent for the cooks to collect the next morning. Leaving the bowl to fill with rainwater, she returned to the warmth of her shelter and sat down at her desk. Sakura wrote a letter.

More OB meme but Sja-Anat is all:

A...? EDIT: WAIT, I GOT THE JOKE

Rules Clarification Time: Nope. Acid and Lines of Warding contribute to the Defense of the Camp, and does not affect the Strength of the Chalklings. Unless you have a Lantern, you will not know how much Defense the Camp has each night. No. You have to wait until the following turn. So, you can grab a crab during the Day, and use the Crab at night, but you can't immediately Grab and Use a Crab during the same Day You get two actions. One for the Day Turn, and One for the Night Turn Yes it does. Note that if you are targeting someone else with your Line of Forbiddance, you can still be blocked though, and that would leave your target defenseless.

That's time. Please stop PMing while I figure out what just happened.

I don’t think you’re imagining it, but I do think we have to be careful to note, as you do, that the Roshar Crazy is a real, external effect the world is inflicting on its residents rather than a problem with their states of mind. Crazy as they may seem, these characters are actually behaving astonishingly normally given their environments and natures. It’s not a delusion for Szeth to hear the voices of those he’s slain if those voices are a real, magically-fueled phenomenon literally haunting him. It’s not a sanity problem to be inflexibly wedded to one particular idea of honor/freedom/learning/etc., and intolerant of other perspectives, if that idea is literally what you are composed of. It probably isn’t as severe of a sanity problem as it might be in our world for Szeth to so inflexibly hold to his ideas of Honor and Order that he becomes an assassin, considering that he resides in a world where it’s likely he had a literal mystical connection to something that either was or entrenched that kind of unwavering ideal in him. We would be more likely to consider him influenced, not insane, if electrical stimulation had been used to narrow his focus the way the Roshar Crazy effect did. That’s probably the most apt rationale for this. If my assumptions are wrong, and the Roshar Crazy effect is so new that Ba-Ado-Mishram’s imprisonment caused it, that should be pretty clear in the Heralds’ history when we get it. And will make that event even more momentous than it already looks. My guess for now, though, is that something about Roshar’s Investment causes the Unmade, and potentially other ideas to a lesser extent, to influence people like controlled substances or brain stimulation. I’m assuming it’s all somehow due to the world’s free Investment. But I also think it might be worthwhile to separate the Roshar Crazy from what we see of personified idea(l)s like spren. They could be more an embodiment of the effect, a part of its cause, rather than just victims of it like Humans and Singers. Which might make them more susceptible to the Roshar Crazy, or just so narrowly focused as the one thing they embody that they are extreme and seem unbalanced. Aren’t the spren, at least as far as they believe, overwhelmingly representations of one single facet of “human” emotion/drives/concepts? In a world where people may literally Connect to specific interpretations of ideas that suit them or that they enact, it makes sense for that echo chamber effect to make those people more confined to, and extreme in, those interpretations. In a world where mystical forces are, effectively, constantly Rioting particular peoples’ emotions in regards to certain ideas, we can’t expect moderation on those ideas. And in a world where literal and figurative ghosts don’t let the past stay in the past, those with long or fraught histories are likely to be inflicted with instability by said ghosts. So if there is a single, overarching source of the Roshar Crazy, I’d guess it’s the same thing that makes it likely ideas will manifest, spren will spontaneously come into being/attain sentience, and the (potentially cognitive shadows of the) dead will linger/communicate.

Adolin: I talk to my sword too. Funny thing is, she eventually talked back

“Journey before destination, you bastard.”

In the past, the Southern Influence Commerce Syndicate successfully sabotaged their rival’s airship, The Northern Wind. This sabotage bought them the time necessary to finish the construction of their own airship, which they named The Southern Wind in “honor” of their rival’s destroyed airship. This new airship is set to take off in one week, and crewmembers are currently being selected. Below is a brief overview of the ship, covering both the layout of the ship and the jobs available. Basics Factions Airship Parts Roles Welcome to Mid-Range Game 48! I am the GM for this game. @Araris Valerian is the IM. All credit for the original game/ruleset goes to @DeTess and @Young Bard. This game is an altered rerun of MR36. Lots of stuff was changed though, so don't go by that ruleset. If you have any questions, just @mention me. Any clarifications will be put here. Signups will end on February 5th at 5:00 PM EST. This will probably be the normal rollover time. RP Background: You're crewmembers on the Southern Wind. This airship will be used to explore the Pantheon Islands. This game is set on the planet of First of the Sun. Spectator/Pinch Hitter List Player List Quick Links

While there is a long history of war in Roshar, there doesn’t appear to be a tradition of anything like a Just War Doctrine. This is the principal that going to war requires the right causes (Jus ad bellum) and that fighting a war demands right actions (Jus in bello). I find it unlikely that peoples who revered Honor would not have come up with this at some point in history, and so much is lost or hidden that they very well could have. But it’s surprising not to see something along these lines at least proposed as the Radiants start up again. From BBC’s Just War Principles summary: We don’t know much about war culture (beyond just trying to survive) in the time before and during Desolations, and it’s entirely possible (likely, even) that at least certain Radiant Orders ascribed to something like the above tenets. I don’t think a Rosharan (or at least an Alethi) version of Just War Doctrine would rely on the same assumptions many ancient scholars in our world had: that war is an evil, but that if it is the only way to avoid a greater evil, then it should be engaged in as morally as possible. The Ardents we’re familiar with preach that fighting is the most important devotion, because of the Tranquiline Halls. It’s interesting that most of what Honor is stated to be about is connections and oaths, yet his followers do seem to revere the concept of honor, as well. Because they purport to follow Honor, I’m giving the Ardents the benefit of the doubt that they would distinguish between Dalinar’s actions fighting for survival at the Tower the day Sadeas betrayed Dalinar’s 8000 troops, and at the Rift when Dalinar burned the whole city. However, I’d like to explore where and why that line is drawn. Is there textual evidence that the issues individuals have with Dalinar’s war crimes are institutional (I got this idea from the thread Reactions to Dalinar’s Crime)? How would any current Rosharan human and Singer cultures create and implement these kinds of “moral warfare” guidelines? Who would be involved, who would be for and against and why, and what would be the best ways to ensure Urithiru and its allies adopted this kind of doctrine? The Oaths seem to provide some basis, depending on the Order Windrunners trained under Kaladin might have picked some of these principles up by osmosis, but has, say, their honorable behavior against the Shanay-im been codified? What would a Just War framework for Roshar – or at least for Urithiru’s forces and allied/neutral forces – look like, what would be the impetus behind it, and how would it be implemented? I have way too many ideas about all of this, so I’m just going to pose some of my biggest concerns regarding the likelihood of current leadership at Urithiru aiming for a Just War Doctrine. Kaladin: Dalinar: Jasnah: With a religion that glorifies becoming a soldier in the afterlife, it’s credible that this sort of Just War consideration wouldn’t have picked up steam amongst Alethi Ardentia. There are, however, multiple religious orders in Roshar, and scholars from wide arrays of perspectives. Even if none of them have an existing Just War framework, with the Radiants returning, one should, logically and morally, be established soon.

Tbh I’m a little too obsessed with The Stormlight Archive. I started reading them about two months before Rhythm of War came out. Then after I finished Words of Radiace I fell in love with the story! Fave character - Kaladin Knights Radiant order- Windrunner Fave book - Words of Radiance Fave book other than Words of Radiance - Calamity Second fave series - The Reckoners Thanks for reading this!

I would absolutely read this! Alternatively: "Almighty, Dalinar, you look amazing. I'm going to really go all-out to win your soul so I can spread this epic fashion sense to the rest of the cosmere. Who needs my previous plans when you've got -" *waves at him* "THIS going on?" He can now appear however he wants to as an avatar, I'd think, cause we know Rayse did that - he appeared as a human to the humans and a singer to the singers, to make him more relatable - so he could wear whatever he wants, I guess. Third possible crack ending: Taravangian sees Dalinar rocking that outfit and instantly postpones the duel for a day so he can think up something equally cool to wear. (In the end he can't live up to Adolin's glamour, even with all the power of a Shard.)

To be fair, Adolin thinks he did what needed to be done because said highprince promised to ruin and betray his father again. Not regretting isn’t the same as thinking he did nothing wrong. He does consider it murder, after all. And to be technical, that would not be cold-blooded murder, by any definition. It was done in a moment of emotion, and at a moment of perceived threat (no matter how disproportionate the response). Frankly, Jasnah’s the only Kholin we’ve seen kill in cold blood, regularly using assassins and choosing to create situations where she had to kill. She would argue that Adolin’s action was quite sane, a reasonable response to an unreasonable threat, I suspect; although she certainly would have sent assassins to do the job rather than potentially drawing attention to her family like a hot-blooded killing could.

[OOC: I sure do remember when we didn't ask the GM, just made our own Kids these days... Now someone get their PMs off my lawn! /Araris moment]

Compounding is not a resonance, magibabble will not make your statements true, compounding is not a resonance, Wax is not a Savant(through he was planned to be) resonance is a extra "quirk" Kaladin is not a Savant, you use Cosmere terminology but you are using it in all the wrong ways.

When in doubt, blame the imprisonment of Ba-Ado-Mishram

The Fused and the Heralds definitely have a collective sanity problem. In one case, it's being literally thousands of years old, unable to die and driven to unending war, and in the second, it's all of that PLUS some cumulative magical effect (WoBs on this, I'm pretty sure) that likely started around the time of the Recreance / the capture of Ba Ado Mishram. So you are not wrong there. Spren? They sure are crazy; I hope we get more explanation why going forward, but for now it's a given that "they are just weird". The general "Roshar Crazy", I think, can be at least partly explained by the influence of the Unmade. Nergaoul has been infecting Alethkar and Jah Keved with The Thrill for generations. Moelach and Ashertmarn have similarly been wandering around for centuries, causing region-wide insanities. We've had strong hints that at least one has ensnared Shinovar, and there are several for whom we have no idea what they are currently up to, but I'm 100% sure it's NOT GOOD for sanity. I'd add Navani to the "not-crazy" list, and Rysn, and Lift, and Gawx. Maybe also Jasnah; weird? Yes. But not "crazy".

Quick post-by-post analysis, just for fun. Anything not commented on is null. Please read the paragraph length commentary on a few posts, namely 32 Matrim, 81 Araris. Flyingbooks: RP Alvron: Likes guns Quinn: Use maps! Gears: Analysis, RP, elim claim [has some strange ideas that will later be critiqued] Quinn: Apologises for PMing Gears [Quinn, you are neither forgotten nor forgiven] STINK: Votes Gears for claiming elim. [I accept this and let it go.] Quinn: Laments the repetition. Matrim: Thinks 4 elims. [23/4 = 5.75, 23/5 = 4.6. I'd think 5 more likely.] GAME MASTER: PMs out. [ALL HAIL] Araris: Votes Gears [The second vote on someone for a bad playstyle is far more suspicious than the first.] Condensation: Exists STINK: PMs are neat Ash: RP Kasimir: Busy, votes Gears [The third vote on someone for a bad playstyle is far more suspicious than the first.] Mist: RNG votes Random Bystander [I have opinions about RNG votes, but I will withhold them.] Illwei: RNG votes Kasimir [I have opinions about RNG votes, but I will withhold them.] TJ: RP as thief Quinn: TJ!Thief? TJ: Maybe, maybe not! Quinn: Ah. Devotary: Lots of good analysis, can budget defense [I have an inability to read people who do good analysis, along with my inability to read people who are chaos demons, along with my inability to read people in general.] Quinn: Started with Specialisation. [Awfully free with information... Alright then.] Matrim: Doesn't like the Gears train [which I appreciate], votes Quinn [I have opinions about reasonless votes, but I will withhold them.] Quinn: Concurs, votes Quinn [I have opinions about reasonless votes, but I will withhold them.] Alvron: Analytics =/= randomness, likes Gears's opening post [which instinctively puts me on edge, but thanks], DEFENSE [good points] Mist: Will be giving offerings to the Gods of Luck and Chance always. [I have opinions. So many opinions. But carry on.] TJ: Thief RP Lotus: RP Gears: RP Striker: Overprotecting not awful here [which is fair, especially given the prevalence of Defense items and Maps], going for a Book Lotus: RP Matrim: Can't afford overprotection [OK, let's think about this mathematically. We will need >= 1 Defense each night. Worst case, 5 elims, mix [mis-X for you lot] every cycle until XLo, elims have Shadowblaze. C1: 16-5-1-1, need 2 Strength. C2: 14-5-1-1, need 3 Strength. C3: 12-5-1-1, need 4 Strength. C4: 10-5-1-1, need 5 Strength. C5: 8-5-1-1, need 6 Strength. C6: 6-5-1-1, need 7 Strength. C7: C8: 5-4-1-1, need 6 Strength. C9: 4-3-1-1, need 5 Strength. C10: 3-2-1-1, need 4 Strength. C11: 2-1-1-1, need 3 Strength. C12: 1-0-1-1, need 2 Strength. Total: 47 Strength for no attacks whatsoever. Assume sacrifice worst cycles [6, 7], 34 Strength. Assume sacrifice best cycles [2, 2], 43 Strength. If 5 elims, every Rithmatist started with Chalk, we have 16 Defense now. 10 Defense in the Camp Supply, 3 Maps, if Maps grant current Camp Supply, we're more than covered with 56 Defense over the course of the game compared to a requisite 47. The Defense cost is higher if the elims hit the thief and non-Rithmatist first, but lower if they don't have the Shadowblaze at all times, so I think this is an OK estimation. Oddly enough, we need less Defense when there are more elims, since less mixes. In conclusion: I think we can afford a few extra Defense early on, especially this assumed that the elims had the Shadowblaze for all 12 hypothetical cycles.], votes Striker for wanting Books [which I don't understand] Illwei: Rules exist Kasimir: RP TJ: Votes Matrim for voting Striker on flawed reasoning [which is a valid point] Gears: RP Matrim: Realisation, acknowledgement, over-Defending bad. Order: Items in day, Lines of Warding in night [telling the elims that was not the best idea, unless you were lying] Random Bystander: RP Matrim: Why did Striker mention Books? [If it's not a smart play for elims, then it's not a suspicious play] Illwei: #shieldthestriker Ash: Votes Flyingbooks for a joke about Books Flyingbooks: Misses the joke Ash: The joke Order: Misunderstands Lines Flyingbooks: Continues to miss the joke, PMed Striker, wants Books Lotus: RP Matrim: Corrects Order Order: Realisation Flyingbooks: Striker = Book coordinator Ash: Striker =/= Book coordinator Striker: Votes Matrim for their vote on him and their disparaging comments towards over-Defending. Flyingbooks: Coordination = good Matrim: Don't coordinate in thread, elims easily get info Striker: Never said coordinate in thread, doesn't like false narrative [which is a little harsh, Matrim is elaborating on why they don't want to over-Defend, but also valid.] Matrim: PM coordination also bad [which I disagree with, but legitimate opinion] Striker: Points out good PM communication Illwei: Votes Ashbringer [so many opinions] Kasimir: Laments futility of existence Striker: Life is life Flyingbooks; Votes Archer for PM reasons [so many opinions] Matrim: Archer exists? Illwei: Votes Kasimir again [so many opinions] Ash: RNG! Araris: Going after books NAI Alvron: How to invoke the Gods of Luck and Chance Ashbringer: 23-sided dice? Alvron: Cards Ashbringer: 22? Illwei: Death Ash: ? Kasimir: Self-voting. Quinn: Retracts Quinn, notes that Thief can just stockpile bribes. Reading: Not a million pages! STINK: Chalk? Striker: True. Chalk? Ventyl: Exists, Striker why tell everyone? Lotus: Chalk. Mist: Exists. Striker: Yes. Araris: Gods of Luck and Chance? [I don't think this is a good idea. I'd rather divide the player list into random groups that are each responsible for 1 Defense total and that group decides in PM who donates and that person RNGs which turn to do so or just coordinate in thread and RNG which turn to act upon. Though that is subject to all elims just blocking everyone, that means they'll be out of chalk.] Ashbringer: Fortune. Reading: Gods of Lunch and Chance Matrim: RNG! Devotary: 4? Archer: Votes Flyingbooks [I have so many opinions], thief friend, distribute acid Ash: Mix, 2 Quinn: Reject the Gods of Luck and Chance! Striker: Likes RNG, but flaws. Needs everyone, RNG unreliable, etc. Matrim: Common sense. Araris: 20% better. Reading: Will succumb to peer pressure, doesn't like it. Quinn: Swayed by maths [don't give in!] Random Bystander: Probability is weird. Devotary: Coordination needs accountability and PMs Striker: If probability, use 20% Kasimir: Sure. Quinn: Sure. [I still don't like the plan.] Condensation: OK. Illwei: Votes Condensation for PM spoilers Condensation: Denies, Greek mythology Ventyl: Questions Matrim: PM leak...? Gears: Flawed and decent ideas hand in hand [So my opinion on the RNG plan still stands. The No Vote idea has been smote, so I drop this argument and discard it in the Eastern Sea.] Araris: Can just ask. Quinn: D1 X done to death, kill someone to get the withdrawal out of the way [SE is a drug cartel, and we're all a bunch of murder addicts.] STINK: D1 X already hashed. Order: But different! Araris: Argument flawed Illwei: Lamentations [Ash, why have you co-opted a perfectly good word into a name? I liked that word, and now I'm invoking the name of a god whenever I use it.] Flyingbooks: No vote min? Order: Aye. Araris: But voting Quinn: Vote min? Araris: Hmm Striker: KILL! Quinn: LoW, def items useless for elims Araris: Def items =/= useless Quinn: But no use when using Ash: KILL! Condensation: Shadowblaze != important; Kasimir: Shadowblaze = important; Quinn: Shadowblaze = important; Condensation: Shadowblaze = important; Ash: Shadowblaze = opportunityRP; STINK: Shadowblaze Ashbringer: Lamentations [Ash. Honestly. I liked that word. I really liked that word.] Quinn: Fight! Ash: Time. Quinn: ? Striker: Ominous Quinn: Confusion Ash: Time. Quinn: Comprehension Ash: VC? Alvron [Sidenote: Thoughts on new name of "Wraith"?]: PMs! Bury SpiderEZ! Striker: Wait, don't. Condensation: Exists. Lotus: RP GAME MASTER: Rule clarifications, all hail. All hail. ALL HAIL Matrim: Murder list: Kill Condensation, Striker, Archer, Quinn, don't kill Matrim, Gears, Random Bystander, Araris [that trust will get you killed some day] Bubbles: Exists, no Twilight!Bubbles. Striker: Murder list: Kill Matrim, Condensation, Quinn, don't kill Striker, Kasimir, Alvron [Wraith], Random Bystander, Illwei, TJ, Burnt, Araris [that's a... large pool of murder free people] Matrim: Why self? Striker: Has reasoning [?], has bad reasoning [Ah] Kasimir: Thanks, but murder addiction. Note Matrim, Striker, Araris, Alvron. Quinn: Reads? How? No read on Striker, Matrim, RNG plan. The Servant of the Mad God smirked as the Daughter of the Prime Forest tried to reprimand him for his refusal to meld with the fold. He was a Servant of the Mad God, after all, and madness in this world was not following the rules and scriptures of society. He had to do it. Until he was considered sane, he had to continue onwards with this path. Once accusations of sanity crept his way, he would abruptly change Doctrines until no one dared to consider him sane. Unless he didn't. Unless he decided to be unpredictable. Unless he wanted to unnerve them by the sheer audacity of seeming sane. For isn't sanity true madness for the mad? And so anything and everything he did could be considered mad. Several people had promised him their corpses. Having not put a time frame on collection, he would be visiting someone tonight. He had to investigate the effects of his altered Chalkling dust tonight. There were so many options. The flame-drenched one, the eager one, the fear-stricken one, and dozens more. So many corpses, so little time. Ah well, he didn't really remember where everyone's quarters were, so he would just stalk through the night until he found a new test subject. Maybe he could make them something new.

@Bzhydack it also needs at least ninth heightening to even attempt

Venli became one of my faves in RoW but this is a ymmv sort of topic I guess. She interests me because she's a coward, and not a very good person, and she's aware of it. But she decides to make steps, small but nonetheless important ones, to do better. Do I enjoy this kind of character because I too am cowardly? Perhaps. I also think her opinions about the conflict between the humans and the Fused mirror my own. She distrusts both sides and doesn't want to join either. But at the same time she's awed by the knowledge that the Fused have of the singers' past culture. She has a front row seat to their insanity, yes, but she's also curious about their traditions. Even before Ulim, Venli was hunting for warform, and when she met the humans and saw their script, she wanted to make an alphabet too. After Ulim, she passes herself off as a "scholar" when she's just being guided by him. But I do think she probably has an innate scholarly drive; if she hadn't been given envoyform, she likely would have picked up scholarform. In Alethkar she sees the Fused building a palace with their own style of architecture, and she's so wistful thinking about the rich craftsmanship her people must have had, ages ago. When she gets a chance to use Cohesion on the stones of Urithiru, though, it's amazing, because the stones remember her people. And the stones remember the abilities of the Dawnsingers; things she wouldn't have learned from the Fused. And it's so beautiful to me that she goes back to the Shattered Plains and gives this gift to her people. (It's also kind of tragic, like sorry I wanted you dead but here! I have magical powers for you now! I promise I'm a better person.) I love that in Oathbringer, the Reacher captain who's presumably Timbre's father says that his daughter is chasing foolish dreams. But in Rhythm of War, it's mentioned that large amounts of Reacher sailors have been disappearing from Shadesmar. Timbre was a trendsetter! Also the scene when she reveals to Leshwi that she bonded Timbre is my favorite thing ever. She's like "sorry...I swore the first ideal of the Knights Radiant." And Leshwi is like "sorry?? This is the happiest moment of my 7000 year life! I'm defecting immediately from Odium, f*ck that guy." The listeners rightfully made songs about the dangers of their gods, Venli decided to ignore them. But some of those gods actually ended up being decent at heart :') Anyway this was long, and may not convince you to like Venli. But it's what I enjoy about her and her chapters

I know this has been discussed before, but I had some fun doing a goofy data viz project poking fun at the number of times characters "raise an eyebrow" at each other in the original trilogy. After collecting some basic eyebrow interaction data, I made some plots analyzing: The most frequent eyebrow Raisers vs Raisees Changes in eyebrow raising frequency over time The social network among characters as defined by their eyebrow exchanges I wrote up some analysis claiming that characters' eyebrow behaviors mark key moments of personal growth in their character arcs and dumped a set of interactive visualizations for all 3 books here. I thought this forum might get a kick out of it Here are some viz previews: (Nodes are sized proportionally to the total number of eyebrow interactions in which that character was involved; Arrows are sized proportionally to the number of directed eyebrow raises from the source to the target)

I was mentioned! Knight! You are fantastic! And 1,000 is a big number, and I hope you get at least another 9,000! ... YAY!

Y'all, I think that I've found the song that Connie sings to herself when she's not on the Shard.

Well, she did release a deadly disease that one time that decimated both human and Singer populations between Desolations. She wanted to end the eternal war, and that's what she worked towards, always.

So, I have been mentioned here! Congratulations, Knight, for reaching over 1000 posts. I will join Salad and say it is, indeed, fun RPing with you (I enjoyed the Worldbuilding part more, but I guess it's just me being me). Are the other Knights of Metal only of the Allomantic metals, or of every metal in the periodic table? And do they hate you so much only because you are the ruler right now? Never stop asking questions!

"I am literally unable to do as you ask, not without destroying myself in the process." -Odium "I will take this bond to the Stormfather. I will bear it myself. I sense... something odd in you. A Connection to Odium. He sees you as... as the one who will fight against him. This cannot be right. I will take that Connection as well." -Ishar, rated perfectly sane by 4 / 5 dentists Heralds

‘Deal with your own stupid planet, you idiot. Don’t make me come over there and slap you around again.’

Jasnah: "Harsher."

Wit and Kaladin’s conversation after the Dragon and the Dog story and Kaladin asks Wit to confirm that it’s going to get worse after he leaves their little bubble: "It will,” Wit said, “but then it will get better. Then it will get worse again. Then better. This is life, and I will not lie by saying every day will be sunshine. But there will be sunshine again, and that is a very different thing to say. That is truth. I promise you, Kaladin: You will be warm again.”

'I am death itself, Defeated One, and I've finally caught up to you.' - Both of them had no idea how right Kaladin was in the end. And the other one, 'Run. Flee. I'll chase you. I will never stop. I am eternal. I am the storm.' - Kaladin was making flames dance on my skin when he said this.

Oh!! There was a hilarious throwaway line about this, where Dalinar (I think it was him?) says that they now call the enemy "singers" instead of "Voidbringers" because "Voidbringer" had turned out to be an imprecise word. I imagine that after the battle at Thaylen city, the Urithiru PR team decided: let's delete that term from our propaganda so that people don't think too hard about the implications of humans bringing Odium to Roshar. (And, somebody either on here or on reddit pointed out that labeling an entire race as your enemy is also not a good move. It probably makes Rlain's life a massive pain and discourages coalition building with the common singers that don't necessarily want to fight.)

He has a point. You can't deny that.

Aww yeah! This is my kinda place! Don't be sad, cat lovers! There are reasons why people might prefer cats!

Relevant WoB with that:

Now is a terrible time for any planet to attempt to wage war, but most especially Roshar: They are still politically divided, and vacating a large amount of troops from any single population would be an invitation for invasion. Their greatest resources - surgebinders and fabrials - cannot yet leave in this time period. And even if they could they have almost no means for re-fuelling Stormlight once they enter into the Cognitive Realm which functionally nullifies their abilities either way. There is no food in the Cognitive realm, so they haven't the means to appropriately resource a large travelling army. They would be sending their soldiers effectively single file through Harmony's pool which means they could be taken out one at a time by a much smaller defending force. They may be martially trained, but they are likely to not have appropriate armour to deal with bullets, let alone the bombs and airships from the South. FTL space travel is going to be vital for this kind of conflict to take place in a serious way.

Dalinar isn’t leaving because the Stormfather is a necessary part of Roshar’s ecology. Navani maybe could leave. No one is leaving quickly. It takes time to get an army together and Roshar just fought a war. The South knows how to fight wars as indicated by the fact that they appear to be fighting one. (Deniers of masks????) North Scadrial and South Scadrial are different things. Stop conflating them. Kelsier knows guerrilla tactics. He also knows where to find people who know these things. He can also put up giant speed bubbles giving him time to train small elite crews. Scadrial will not be fighting an all out war. They’ll be fighting a war of attrition from day one. The idea isn’t to win; it’s to make winning too costly for Roshar. And that is 100% something Kelsier can do because that is what he’s best at. Being an annoyance. You keep thinking in terms of battles. This isn’t going to come to that. If it does, Scadrial surrenders. No war. Straight up surrender. And then a bazillion little rebel groups keep causing havoc while the entire population obeys Rosharan laws as begrudgingly as possible. They’re survivors. That’s what they do. They survive. Roshar isn’t equipped for that. The Alethi? Surrender without a fight isn’t something they’d contemplate. But that’s what they’d get. Because Scadrial is going to survive and occupying an unhappy and unwilling nation isn’t easy. It’s a HUGE resource drain in multiple ways. And small teams move faster than large armies. Oh, and lightweavers have NOTHING on Kandra. Which Scadrial also has. This will NEVER be an open battle. Instead it’ll be thousands of tiny skirmishes and attackers that vanish as quickly as they attack. Roshar goes for the thrust; Scadrial kills with a thousand tiny cuts. It’s not about winning; it about surviving. And Scadrial is very, very good at that. To put this in RL terms: Kelsier will turn this war into Vietnam.

Here’s the thing, it depends on their personality. The Lord Ruler liked to toy with people and draw it out, but if Kelsier was a Fullborn he would instantly annihilate the enemy. Here is how: Compound speed to insane levels, then cut the Radiant into tiny pieces, enough that even Stormlight can’t heal. Or Burn atium Or Kill their spren Or Compound pewter and LITERALLY CRUSH THEM These are only a few of many ways to beat a Radiant

Also this is

That might be what Jasnah is saying, but I don't believe it for a moment. I think she is lying to everyone in order to make Kaladin have to marry her and become king of Alethkar. Now that everyone knows that he is the son of Tanavast, it'd add a lot of stability to her rule, which she desperately needs with Elhokar coming back and all.