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SPOILERS AND ADDED INFORMATION: I had posted other bits of this else where in 2020 before the "Taln never broke" WOB, but consolidated all the ideas here in this post This theory and post came out before Rhythm of War, but updates have been made to include information from ROW SA5 Prologue: This is not discussed to avoid spoilers, but SA5 Prologue has some interesting information --- Weird Questions: 1) TALN BREAKING SEEMS ODD What broke Taln? He is crazy and insensate for 4000 years and then one day he says "No thank you". What could have broke Taln? And, in terms of timelines, Taln returned before the Everstorm crossed into the physical realm, so it can't be that the Everstorm freed Taln. Yes the Everstorm was in the Cognitive, but all the doom and gloom seemed to be about the Everstorm being pulled in the Physical Realm by Eshoni and her team. Since Taln returns at the end of The Way of Kings, then Taln must return in a way that is not related to Eshoni. And as I mentioned before, I don't think it makes sense that Odium suddenly found a way to break Taln after 4000 years of trying. Edit: we later got a WOB that Taln did not break 2) DAVAR FAMILY CONNECTIONS Why was the Davar family so connected to secret societies despite being a Vaden house of little note? They have connections to the Ghostbloods and the Ghostbloods have handed them a confirmed soulcaster AND possibly a Seon box. Why? And it seems Skybreakers may have been visiting as well for "reasons". As well, the Skybreakers are breaking paterns when it comes to the Davars. As far as we know, Shallan's older brother is the only Skybreaker to be using a dead blade. Is this special treatment for a member of the Davar family? And finally, Mraize seems to know the Davar family well enough to recognize the name immediately. The Davars would need to be pretty active for that name recognition to be so apparent. 3) CHILD SHALLAN AND HER IMPORTANCE Why did the cryptic go to Shallan as a child? Lift was chosen due to her strange connection to Cultivation, but why Shallan? And why twice? And what were Shallan's parents fighting about? Shallan remembers her parents having huge fights over Shallan's future starting from a very young age. What was that about? Connected to that, why is an dark influence attacking the Davar family? Why is Heleran given a shardblade and brought into the skybreakers? No other Skybreaker acolyte was given a dead-blade and sent to war (that we know of), so why is Helaran so non-standard? Shallan's parents also fight A LOT about Shallan's future. This seems to be a hint that Chanarach had a major plan for Shallan. 4) MAMA DAVAR IN THE KNOW Why was Shallan's mother so quick to try and kill "one of them". How does she know "them" so clearly? Why would she have such a quick and radical reaction? 5) MORE SECRETS What is Shallan's last secret. There is still something horrible in Shallan's past, and this has something to do with a Seon box and whatever Radiant was created to protect Shallan from. What is worse than killing testament? We also have strange internal thoughts from Shallan from WOR in Chapter 10: "The world ended; and Shallan was to blame". This thought has never been explained. What did Shallan do to end the world? "The world ended, and Shallan was to blame.- Words of Radiance, Chapter 10. Mentioned by @honorblades Another strange but overlooked instance occurs in TWoK when Shallan almost summons her Shardblade: If this is indeed Patters/Testement, then why would that Spren ask "What are you?" Testament should full-well know "what" Shallan is in terms of her being a human or a semi-radiant or anything like that. If this voice is Testament, then asking "What are you?" is very odd in my opinion. Shallan answers "I am terrified", but to me that always seemed ... not what the voice was asking Shallan. I always felt there was more to this that simply speaking truths. 6) THE FAMILY'S SAFE AND THE GLOWING LIGHTS ARE IMPORTANT (main data point for me creating this theory) People are very quick to discount Shallan's recollection of Lin Davar placing a glowing soul into a safe. I have always been very confused as to why Shallan is taken as "lying" to herself in this scene. Shallan has no reason to lie about the item being her mother's soul instead of a Shardblade. Lin Davar acted extremely quickly in that situation and made sure to place the item in that safe before dealing with any other issues. That to me is extremely telling. Why would Lin think the Shadblade wouldn't disappear eventually whenever Shallan dismissed it? Why would Lin think the Shardblade would stay in a safe if he managed to place it there quickly? Why would Lin so quickly run to place the item in the safe in the first place? Why is there an unused safe in that room? And then why do Shallan and Lin seem to continually see light coming from that safe for years and years? None of that vibes with "it is just a blade and Shallan is lying to herself" in any way. I just don't get it. Shallan having a Shardblade is not in anyway covered up by this lie, nor is the lie that Shallan killed her spren hidden by this lie either? There is no mental cover-up being done by Shallan making up a lie here. It seems everyone else dismisses Shallan, including Pattern, in favour of "Lynn put a sword in there". 7) EDIT FOR ROW: Then in ROW we get the timeline, and this does not hold up to scrutiny either. Shallan says her father put the item into the safe. WoR Shallan thinks that was a soul, but Pattern convinces her she is misremembering and that the item was a dead spren-blade. But that can't be a dead spren blade because Shallan has not unbonded Testament yet. Shallan does not think that a spren is trapped in that safe and we know this because Shallan then leaves to go speak with her spren in the garden AFTER the item is placed in the safe. Shallan acts immediately as a child in a way that doesn't even consider that her "blade" is in that safe. It just doesn't make sense to think a blade was placed into that safe based on the reactions of the two witnesses involved (which we learn Pattern is not one of) We take it from Pattern that Shallan is wrong here in her memory. However, In ROW we learn that Pattern is NOT an eyewitness to what went down in that room. Pattern sure has a lot of opinions about what Shallan saw, but Pattern was not actually there in the room and cannot actually know what Shallan saw go into the safe. Pattern assumed Shallan is lying to herself as Pattern sees many other lies around that event. But Pattern has no knowledge about who Mother-Davar was, what the safe was for, or why Skybreaker/Ghostbloods may have been in the home. Pattern is not a credible source of information on the events of that day. Shallan is the only living witness, and the actions of her father are consistent with the understanding Shallan had as a child. Shallan too noticed her father staring at the direction of the safe and the light. Only later in life is Shallan told again and again that her memory of those events are wrong by people who were not there. Both Lin and Shallan believe something is in the safe, and a sword does not match the other data points we have. There is "light" in that safe, and it is leaking out over time. And where di the blood come from? A Shardblade should not have done that. The blood has to be some other injury? The box is something. The light was something. Pattern is making assumptions and is wrong about this history with the safe. And why does Shallan see a glowing light coming from the box? Is it a soul like she believes? We learn in RoW that no herald soul can be trapped completely, and that the light of a herald will slowly leak out (is that what Shallan was seeing her whole childhood come out of the safe?). Is it her mother's soul escaping slowly to Braize? Or maybe could it be a perfect gem with Mishram inside? Who knows? But it is something. We have seen other glowing lights (Dawnshard and Dalinar hearing TwoK), so is she just mad, or did she really see something? Whatever it is, it does not make sense that Shallan thinks Testament is trapped in the safe if Shallan went and yelled at Testament after her mother was killed. Something was put into that safe, and to me the most likely answer is "her mother's soul". And firhermore, there is no reason to believe that Lin Davar would think a safe would ever prevent a Shardblade from reappearing in Shallan's hands. 8) HOID and MIDDLEFEST Hoid is downright shocked to see child-Shallan at the Middlefest celebration. Hoid sees something, but that something is unclear. When we originally read WOR, we assume HOpid is shocked to see a Radiant Child or perhaps a bonded spren. However, Shallan does not have a regular active sprenbond at the time of Middlefest, so Hoid did not see Testament or an active radiant bond There are a few things Hoid may have seen: a. Hoid saw Odium's touch on her family b. a dead-blade living-radiant connection line was still active c. the Cryptic team that watched Shallan. d. Shallan is so obviously a part of Chanarach that Hoid was gobsmacked by the resemblance. e. Shallan is noticeably different than other Rosharans due to her strange parentage. But whatever Hoid saw, it was not an active Spren Bond since we know Testament is a deadeye at that point in the story. ---- It All Put Together - A Timeline 1) JAH KAVED Chararach settled in the Davar estate in rural Jah Kaved. Chanarach is involved in several of the secret societies of Roshar just like most of the other heralds we have seen. Chanarach learns of the theory that a return of surgebinders will bring about a desolation. Chararach is completely terrified of returning to Braize and supports the culling of nascent surgebinding. Chanarach is involved in research and is a part of the search to create a method that prevents a herald from returning to Braize upon death. Kalak is also involved. 2) COMMUNICATION NETWORKS Chanarach commands a fair bit of influence and even has a Seon to communicate off world. It is unclear who knows who Chanarach is, but as she did settle in a rural area it is likely Chana's identity is not common knowledge even within secret societies (similar to Restares and Amaram). Chana exerts some form of influence and stays in-the-know with investiture theory and is able to contact others on Roshar or off-world. 3) CREATING THE SAFE Chana tries to devise a way to never return to Braize. She creates a special kind of safe that her soul could be placed in to. She thinks it will entirely prevent a return or will greatly delay her return to Braize. Chana has no way to test this as there are no herald-souls or returned-souls to experiment with. Possibly, the safe is akin to the Seon box in design or the safe may even actually be the Seon Box Shallan remembers playing with as a child? At some point, Chana tells Lin Davar what to do in case she is ever killed (place her soul into the box). In ROW we learn Kelek has some knowledge on this herald soul-leakage issue, so perhaps he was also involved in the Soul Box experiments in some way. 4) SHALLAN IS BORN Chanarach eventually has a daughter and names that daughter after her friend Shalash (Shallan says she was named after Shalash). Shallan may not be a "typical" offspring. She seems to be different from her brothers in some meaningful way. Perhaps Shallanis a cutting of Chararach or maybe Shallan conceived through some form or parthenogenetic process. Perhaps Shallan was created using breaths, as Tyn notes that Shallan seems to see colours better than most other people. EDIT: In a later WOB we learned that that non-returned Cognitive Shadows have had children Edit: In a later WOB we learned that Heralds can have children but it is complicated and effortful to do. Chana has special plans for Shallan. We know from WoR that Shallan's parents fought A LOT about Shallan's future. This implies to me that Shallan is somehow more intentionally convieved than her male siblings, and that Chana had something planned for Shallan that Lynn Davar had moral misgivings about. We are not sure what this is, but I think a lot of us will assume it has something to do with the Oathapact and/or returning to Braize. 5) SHALLAN IS DETECTED BY SPREN The Cryptics find out that one of the heralds has children or they discover a weird child who stands-out and is similar to the child of a Returned. The Cryptics send a delegation to investigate (WOB confirms heralds can have children though maybe it is difficult). At the same time, an unmade is drawn to the family. Testament begins to bond Shallan similar to what happened with Lift. Shallan eventually discovers what her mother is by playing with a Seon box at the Davar estate. The unmade's influence increases in an attempt to get the Herald to go insane and potentially get herself killed by Lin Devar or Shallan. 6) SHALLAN IS DETECTED BY SKYBREAKERS Shallan is discovered to be a surge binder by her mother. Her mother, fearing a return to Braize, refers to Shallan as "one of them". Note that Chanarach does not seem surprised that surgebinders are real. Chanarach has an absolute PTSD breakdown and attacks her daughter. Lin, who likely knew, steps in and Shallan is able to kill her mother in self defence. Lin Devar takes something and locks it away in the safe. We are told this is the Shardblade and Shallan's mother's soul. Shallan goes to the garden to scream at Testament and break her bond AFTER Testament is supposedly locked away in the safe. This timeline does not make sense even if we believe Testament could escape the safe. Why does Shallan believe her spren was trapped but also then in the garden? And how is Testament-blade = her mother's soul? There isn't a connection there logically. 7) SHALLAN KILLS A HERALD AND THEN TALKS TO TESTAMENT IN THE GARDEN After Shallan kills her mother, Shallan goes to Testament and breaks her bond. It is possible Testament told her more here as well. Shallan then begins to repress everything since Shallan has, in her mind, done the most evil act in history. "The world ended, and Shallan was to blame.- Words of Radiance, Chapter 10. Mentioned by @honorblades 8) CORRUPTION SETS IN Lin Devar begins to be corrupted even more. Lin also has mental guilt and wrestles with killing his herald-wife to save his daughter. He beings to protect Shallan at all costs for reasons that may be more than just guilt. Then Davar family hell ensues. The ghostbloods continue to cultivate the family. The Ghostbloods may not believe a herald could be killed by Lin or may not know she was a Herald. The Cryptics stay with Shallan as they don't blame her for what happened. They are still curious about what Shallan is and are researching what happens to a bonded-deadeye to its original radiant. The dark influence in the house may be more than an unmade as well. One of Chana's divine attributes is "obedient". I think this is significant. Lin is driven to rage every time one of his children will not obey him, and the word obey is emphasized many times. It may be possible the Lin's rage was a dark consequence of something Chana was doing, the safe's magical effects, or something else. It is also possible that Lin thought his children would inherit the divine attribute, and the fact they dont obey him drives him to rage. 9) BRAIZE AND SOUL LEAKAGE Chanarach returns to Braize. It may have taken some time for her to get to Braize. It seems the soul is leaking out of the safe over time (ROW: as we see with Jezrian in the gem). Or maybe it takes 5 years to find Chana on Braize since arrival was unexpected and because in earlier returns the heralds were able to "hide" for some time. Either way, the other heralds do not know that that has happened as they cannot detect the pain-bond while on Roshar. Edit: Ishar created the oathpact so he may be able to sense changes in it. 10) HOID SEES SHALLAN Shallan, with no bond, goes to Middlefest. Wit's magic or memory allow him to detect that there is something very strange about Shallan. Wit somehow knows what Shallan fights "is not truly natural" and encourages her to make a path for the light. It is unclear what Wit saw, but he knew more than the fact she was a surgebinder (even though she's actually a deadeye-binder at the time). 11) CHANA IS CAPTURED ON BRAIZE Chanarach is eventually found on Braize. For some reason, Chana either breaks to the pain or gives in to some deal Odium offers. It may have taken a while or been immediate. What is strange is that Chana has not been seen returning to Roshar, either Chana took some deal meaning she did not have to return or perhaps she intentionally landed somewhere remote. 12) TALN RETURNS WITHOUT BREAKING THE OATH Taln returns to Roshar completely insane and without breaking. What happens to Chanarach is unknown. All assume Taln broke. 13) SHALLAN BEGINS TO REMEMBER THAT HER MOTHER WAS A HERALD Radiant is created from memories of Shallan's mother. Or potentially, Radiant is somehow part of Chanarach. Radiant dresses in the same blue and red warrior outfit as the Herald Chanarach in artworks. Radiant is Shallan's repressed memories of who her mother was. It is also possible that Radiant is in someway Shallan's mother (connection mumbo jumbo and cognitive shadow stuff along with cultivation weirdness possibilities) Here is a description of Radiant: “She [Radiant] had chosen to wear her vakama; the traditional Vaden’s warrior clothing. It was similar to the Alethi takama but the skirt was pleeted instead of straight. She wore a loose matching coat with a tight vest and shirt beneath. The bright clothing features vibrant blues embroidered over reds with gold woven between and it had trim on the skirt” Here is Chanarach: 14) TESTEMENT MEMORIES Shallan is forced to confront what happened with Testament, and Radiant begins to see that she must help Shallan deal with her final truth. [Option 1] Shallan knows she killed a herald and that she sent her mother to damnation - possibly ending the world and starting the final desolation. [Option 2] Shallan does not know her mother was a herald, but will put that together in regards to the "hole" in her memory"

I have to stop myself from saying that anytime I'm anonymous . I started saying it just for fun, but it became a habit. Elysian sat at the edge of the camp. Light from the fire played across his back, but its warmth did not reach him. Even if he’d been closer, the flames could not cure the chill his heart felt. Today he had been responsible for the death of an innocent man. Not only that, but he had turned brother against brother, friend against friend. Frederick and Duncan were close, that much was evident. The power of the Forgotten to shatter a bond like that was just as terrible as their command of the chalklings. As the camp settled into its nighttime routine, the fire burned lower, deepening the shadows around him. Longing the escape of sleep, yet dreading the nightmares it might bring, Elysian let the night overpower his mind. Elysian dreamed of fire. Not the warming fire of the camp, but of the raging fires of destruction and failure. He knelt in the center of a village, burning around him, ashamed of his failure. *Thwack* A pain exploded in the back of Elysian’s head as he toppled into the dust. When the stars faded from his vision, he could make out the transparent outline of an old man hefting a staff, standing over him. “Get up you fool. It’s not over yet. This,” he waved his stick at the carnage around them, “hasn’t happened. My story ends this way, but yours isn’t finished. It might turn out like this, but you still have work to do.” “Work. Just like the work I did today? Destroying families…” “Just like that. That’s what you signed up for when you came out here. When it’s all done, if you’re still alive, you can feel sorry for yourself then. Fredrick knew what he was getting himself into, and so did Duncan. Don’t let either of their losses be in vain.” The elder pointed the staff menacingly. “Get back out there and do your job until you drop.” The dream faded from Elysian’s mind, replaced with the darkness of the night. And slowly, he got on his feet and walked toward the fire. Toward friends and toward the light. His soul needed all the brightening it could get, for more dark work awaited the next day.

Hey physics nerds. I've been toying with the equations of motion for paired gems (conjoiners and reversers). I'm happy with what I've got so far, but I'm interested in digging for thoughts on the decay factor that comes with distance.... But first let me back up and explain where I'm at. Using Pulleys I think the easiest way to think of paired fabrials is by comparing them to pulley systems. For a simple conjoiner, it's easiest to just think of them as rigidly connected, but the metaphor doesn't work for reversers. Pulleys are also a great way to account for the mechanical advantage discovery that Navani makes in RoW chapter 84. And I think friction is a good way to think of the decay they experience over greater distances. Two major caveats though. The metaphor only works for one dimension at a time, though that's not a big deal. And we have to pretend we can force our ropes in both directions. (can be pushed and pulled) Simple Equation Without the mechanical advantage discovery Navani makes and ignoring friction, we have the following equation: (m1 + m2) a = F1 + R F2 This is simply the equation of motion for a simple pulley, with one addition: that R factor. More on that in a second. The idea here is that F1 and F2 are the sum of all forces acting on the gems. (excluding the force being shared between the paired gems -- that is essentially the tension in our pulley system's rope) The masses m1 and m2 are the masses attached to each gem, plus the mass of the gem itself. If we've attached something fairly heavy to one and not the other, you can effectively say the mass of the lone gem is zero. So all this equation is saying is that the acceleration of the system is the sum of forces on the system divided by the total mass of the system. F=ma. We need to note that the accelerations of 1 and 2 aren't necessarily the same. I'm using a = a1 = R a2. In other words, the equation above is really for the acceleration of a1. If we want to know the acceleration of the other gem we need to substitute a = R a2. This R factor I've added is really just a convenience to account for the difference between conjoiners and reversers. Rather than deal with separate coordinate systems for each, I'm just using this one equation with R=1 for conjoiners and R=-1 for reversers. In other words, with a reverser the accelerations are in opposite diretions of one another and F2 acts opposite of F1 rather than with it. (F1 and F2 are in the same direction--whatever direction we want to label the positive direction.) Simple Examples Let's say we've got a pair of reversers with the same mass floating in the air. Their weights balance each other out just as if they were two masses hanging from a pulley. We have (m1 + m2) a = F1 - F2 where F1 and 2 are their equal weights, m1*g and m2*g. The net force of F1-F2=0 so we have a=0. Note that if we give one a push up or down (and ignore wind resistance) they will move at constant velocity in opposite directions. Point being, this isn't a scale that tries to balance back out. Just two weights balancing each other out. What if the second is twice the mass of the first? (m1 + 2*m1) a = m1*g - 2*m1*g using down as positive direction, which is 3*m1*a = -m1*g. Solving for a we get a = -g/3. So the first gem moves up into the air at 1/3 g. The second moves down at 1/3 g. What if the second is much heavier than the first, such that the mass/weight of the first is negligible? (m2) a = -m2*g so we are left with a = -g. The first gem, basically weightless, flies upward at 1g while the second gem falls at 1g as if it weren't paired. Makes sense, right? With a two equal masses conjoined, they just fall freely. (m1 + m2) a = m1*g + m2*g = (m1 + m2) g, which is just a=g and for conjoiners we have a=a1=a2. Mechanical Advantage In RoW chapter 84 Navani is able to use Raboniel's dagger to transfer the spren of a paired gem into a different, larger gem. When she moves the larger gem, the other moves three times as far. We see this same phenomenon with a pulley system that gives a mechanical advantage of 3. If Navani moves the smaller gem 30 centimeters, the larger gem will only move 10 centimeters, and vice versa. There's some force multiplication that happens here. Moving the smaller gem requires less force, though it doesn't move the other as far. Moving the larger gem is the opposite. It causes the smaller gem to move further, but it requires more force. When you work through the math, the equation above becomes this: (m1 + m2/G^2) a = F1 + R F2/G The G factor here is the mechnical advantage ratio. Usually we would use MA for this, but I felt that might be confusing alongside the m's and a's of mass and acceleration. I've been using gamma in my notes and don't have it on this keyboard, so you get G. Also note that this gives us a different acceleration relationship. Now we have a = a1 = R G a2. In other words, the smaller gem accelerates G times faster than the larger. Navani isn't clear on what ratio produces this observed ratio of 3, though I'm guessing the larger gem in her accidental experiment was 3 times larger by mass? Something like that. More Examples So let's say we have a reverser where m1 is basically negligible, a gem ratio of 2, and both only under the influence of their own weight. We have (m2/2^2) a = -m2*g/2. Which gives a = -2g. For the larger gem we have a2 = a/(RG) = g. In other words, the large gem/mass falls at a normal 1g, while the smaller, effectively weightless, gem moves upward at 2g. Note that if the small gem is half the weight of the larger gem they balance out in this situation. The force-half of the equation becomes (m2/2)*g - (m2*g)/2 = 0. You can use this discovery in two different ways. Let's talk about how they apply to the Fourth Bridge. Two options. One thing you can do with this discovery is reduce the number of chulls required. If you use the chulls to pull the small gems and attach the larger gems to the Fourth Bridge, they can get more force with their pulling. But the downside is they have to walk further to make the Fourth Bridge move the same distance. On the other hand, if you attach the large gems to the chulls and the small gems to the Fourth Bridge, your chulls don't have to walk as far... but they have to pull harder. I'm guessing the second will be what they do with the Fourth Bridge. Most of the time the ship should be moving at some constant cruising velocity. So they'll have a harder time getting the thing accelerated up to that speed... But once they're there, they just need to maintain that speed, which shouldn't take as much effort. And in the meantime, the Fourth Bridge will be moving 2 chull steps (or whatever the ratio is) for every chull step. It would be interesting to work out the math on all of this, but I haven't tried yet. Distance Decay So now we come to the distance decay. Navani notes that there's some amount of decay which occurs over greater distances. The further the paired gems are apart, the more resistance you experience. This is essentially like the friction you see in a pulley system. When you work out the math, this essentially just becomes an extra force on the system. In a real pulley system you have different friction amounts in each pulley, but I'm basically collapsing the sum of those into one value: Ff. (m1 + m2/G^2) a = F1 + R F2/G - Ff I'm... probably not handling the sign on this well. It's resisting movement so we're basically assuming here that a > 0. Otherwise, the sign on Ff flips. Now... we don't really have enough information from the books to figure a correct equation for this value... But I'm trying to think it through and figure some idea of what form it might take. We know that it's a function of the distance between the two gems, but it can't JUST be that because I think spanreeds wouldn't work that way. Think about it. If the Fourth Bridge experiences a notable amount of decay from Urithiru/Shattered Plains to Hearthstone and if we just have Ff as a function of distance, then a spanreed over the same distance would experience that same resisting force. That just doesn't really make sense. I don't think it makes sense for the masses to be involved. Thinking back to the pulley metaphor, the friction between a rope and pulley is going to depend on how much tension is in the rope. More force being transferred through the rope means it's pulling harder on the pulley, and that harder normal force leads to more friction. So perhaps it should be a function of F1 - R F2/G? Note the negative sign there. For a conjoiner, that gives us the difference between forces. So, for example, two reversers (G=1) floating in the air give m1*g + m2*g. If you're looking at a simple pulley that's the total forcing tugging on the pulley. The full weight of one is countering the other, so the full weight of each is carried by the rope. More friction. Change that to conjoiners and it's a little odd though. You get m1*g - m2*g = (m1 - m2)*g which... suggests the amount of friction depends on how comparable the masses are? I would think two falling conjoined gems just basically fall under their own weights, together, and so there's no transfer of force between them. No tension in the rope. So something doesn't seem right here. My brain is getting mushy. Feedback appreciated. If you have no ideas, hopefully you at least enjoyed the explanation of the rest!

The discussion centered around one man. Frederick Kerr was seen as too vocal, too controlling. The camp reasoned that he must be a Forgotten. Although several other candidates were floated, there could be no dissuading the crowd. Unfortunately, Frederick's death did nothing to stop the swarm. The Camp had made a mistake, and now the Wild Chalklings were getting their second wind. Vote Count: StrikerEZ (7): Gears, Ashbringer, Lotus, Burnt Spaghetti, Araris Valerian, Devotary of Spontaneity, Kasimir Araris Valerian (2): Flyingbooks, StrikerEZ Flyingbooks (1): Archer Ventyl (1): Shard of Reading StrikerEZ was court-martialed. They were a Rithmatist. Items Taken: Camp Supply: Player List: The Strength of the Wild Chalklings is at 2. This Night will end on February 12th at 8 PM.

Rylan waited until the guards had turned the corner, out of sight, before pulling the chipped piece of flint from his pocket. Whispering the incantation that Yrtrimn had taught him, he struck the flint against the cool steel bars of his cell. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, with a flash, the metal bars warmed, and began to glow with heat after but a moment. Rylan watched the red-hot metal for a moment that felt like an eternity. Steeling himself, he clenched his teeth, and grabbed the bars, wrenching them apart. His palms searing, the putrid scent of searing flesh filled his nostrils as the bars pulled apart, easily bent due to their heat. As soon as he was sure he could squeeze through, he let go, and stifled a scream. It took almost a full minute before he was able to remember the words to a spell to help his hands, which only reduced the pain slightly. He waited until after the metal bars were completely cooled before he slipped through, and quietly made his way down the prison hallway. He felt the cool stone against his bare feet, and tried to ignore the calls of the other prisoners as he walked past their cells. As he neared the guard barracks, he pulled another object from his pocket, a small, clear gem, and crushed it in his hands, immediately wincing afterwards. He muttered a short phrase, and suddenly blinked out of view, becoming invisible. He quietly made his way past the inky blue-skinned humanoid guards, being sure not to step into their path. Casting a final detection spell, Rylan quickly found the room where his boots, sword, and most importantly, his hat, were being held. In but a few minutes more, Rylan was back onto the street of Graazun, ducking past carts and horses, trying to be sure he wasn't seen by any more of those blue humanoids. It took nearly an hour of dodging and ducking, running from shadow to shadow, to make his way to the city gate. He crouched in the darkness, watching the gatehouse, trying to estimate when the best time to run past was, when he heard the skittering of stones behind him. Rylan turned, just in time to see an arrow streaking right towards his face. He raised his right arm, and felt the arrow graze across his wrist, tearing his skin open, exposing bone, and leaving the very tip of the arrow stuck inside his hand. He yelped in pain, but at least the arrow had been deflected. He looked down at his wrist to see the slash was bleeding profusely. He could just barely see the barbed Arratzzn-steel tip of the arrow keeping his wound open. He felt dizzy as his blood dripped down on to the ground. His vision was swirling, he couldn't see straight. Rylan could barely see as one of the blue skinned creatures from the prison approached him, its snarl exposing jagged yellow teeth, its red eyes blazing with the adrenaline of the hunt. Then he felt it. That familiar gut wrenching tug that he had felt thousands of times before. He was being Kicked. The creature raised its crossbow again, with another barbed arrow aimed at Rylan's heart. The creature curled its oily finger around the trigger, and then froze. A bolt of pure black energy shot down from the red sky above, sucking in all light around it, striking Rylan. All he could do was groan in agony as he was suddenly torn from his current reality. ... ... ... ... Darkness. Rylan slowly opened his eyes, but it made no difference. There was nothing to be seen, only the eternal darkness of the space betwixt the endless universes of the Multiverse. He floated there, unmoving for what could have been seconds, and what could have been years. He was used to this. It had happened thousands of times before, and quite possibly would continue to happen until the end of eternity. Then, he saw light. A small speck, growing closer. A new world, a new life, and yet another round of the meaningless torture that the mightiest of cosmic powers forced him to endure. The light grew closer and brighter, first like a candle, then like a bonfire, then blazing like a star looming over him. Time to put on a show, Rylan thought, as the light engulfed him.

“I need more feral children” - me filling out this chart I’m not happy with the positions of some people but I’ve tried at least four seperate times to finish this and I’m done with it now (Hoid is more “big therapist energy” but I decided it was close enough. I was also debating on whether to swap Spook and Nightblood but Nightblood is more childish)

Stormlight

I've gone through and attempted to transcribe the page from Dragonsteel Prime that Brandon held up during the New Years live stream. The first half-page has some really hard-to-make-out parts due to lighting, which are highlighted in various colors to indicate my confidence (or lack thereof) in my transcription, but the rest isn't too bad to figure out. Color key: TL;DR: Orange text should probably not be trusted as accurate, and blue text definitely shouldn't be trusted, because it's not even really properly visible in the video. Red and pink are probably fine, though. The attached DOCX file additionally tries to replicate the layout and formatting of the original in the image best I can, but I'm not going to even attempt that in the post itself (Man, Jerick's an idiot... he didn't feel this dumb in the Bridge Four samples, but I guess that's what character growth does for you.) Dragonsteel Pages, maybe?.docx

If you give an Inquisitor a spike...

Within SA we knew: Thaidakar is a title. Thaidakar is an offworlder. Master Thaidakar follows a Scadrian honorific-epithet naming convention Hoid calls Thaidakar ‘Lord of Scars.’ Hoid has ‘slapped around’ Thaidakar. Thaidakar is a Cognitive Shadow. The chapters leading to the first meeting between Shallan and Mraize in WoR were: Scars, Mere Vapors, and Ghostbloods. Scadrial is the Expanse of Vapors. The Ghostbloods resembled the Mistborn crew in some respects. Some Ghostbloods have an almost religious like reverence toward Thaidakar. We also knew: Kelsier would lead the GBs in a heartbeat. Ghostblood referenced specific in-world events. We had seen the proto-Ghostbloods. Then Brandon told us: He expected many of us to know Thaidakar’s real name. Thaidakar had been seen going to great lengths in other books. And then Brandon went on the Shardcast and confirmed: Thaidakar is Kelsier and this was always the plan. The GBs are supposed to dovetail with Survivorism. And Kell is lying through his teeth about the Avatar thing. So yes, we know.

I have ascended! (for a week) Thank you though. I haven't read all of these past winners and I am looking forward to diving in =)

Fadran dropped onto one knee and proffered an onion ring to Queen. "Are you hungry?"

It might be more accurate to say that RoW provided more - and stronger - clues, and that Brandon himself then CONFIRMED it.

Enter drank a metal vial.

You may not be able to explain this but I can, having been on the receiving end of it. When enough players in a game are chaotic enough, the elims can never be sure what's going to happen. The village vig, who had hitherto suspected none of them, might decide to shoot one of them in the last five minutes of rollover (QF50 C2). The exe target might switch to an unsuspecting villager at the last minute (QF50 C2) and if that person was your NK target... (I mean, Ash wasn't but it's still something that you have to worry about with chaos). Or the exe target might switch to an elim last-minute (QF50 C1). and so on and so forth. If the elims can't predict what villagers are going to do, they can't react to it, and it makes their job a lot harder (I'm sorry, but the first 3 cycles of QF50 were a nightmare for the elim team so that's where my examples are coming from).

I definitely agree with this. I was hoping Rlain wouldn't bond the Sibling since it was brought up. The Sibling basically only was willing to because of immutable characteristics. Which would have felt awful for Rlain after him talking about wanting to have a spren bond him because it wants HIM. The whole Sibling being willing to bond Rlain felt like a different beat on the whole Kaladin ordering that honorspren to consider him. "Please consider our token Listener." I also didn't want Dabbid to bond with the Sibling either considering how he was extorted by them. It is my sincere hope that an honorspren decides to bond him. Anyways, Navani bonding the Sibling is great. They both have their faults, they both have their conflicting beliefs, yet they both mesh together. It was truly enjoyable to see the Sibling get all excited over Navani understanding the fabrials they made of themself.

I got it killer of white someone is going to kill szeth in the first chapter

(Is this meme entirely based on your username? Yes. Do I regret it? No.)

Some time ago I've put together a timeline of books. I've decided to translate it to English and post it with sources, so I went and searched for the WoBs to put them in the timeline. I haven't found all of those I was using at the time (see the end of this post) but I've also found some I haven't seen before, so... profit? Enjoy. Order of series: Dragonsteel White Sand Elantris Mistborn First Era Warbreaker Stormlight Archive (first pentalogy) Mistborn Second Era Stormlight Archive (second pentalogy) Mistborn Third Era Mistborn Fourth Era ------------------------------------------- Order of the books: (Entries not bolded have not been released yet) Dragonsteel White Sand (before Elantris) Elantris & Hope of Elantris (long before Mistborn First Era, but not thousands of years) Emperor’s Soul (technology didn’t change since Elantris so probably not much more than decades #2) Eleventh Metal The Final Empire Well of Ascension Hero of Ages (341 years before Alloy of Law) Warbreaker (closer than farther to Way of Kings) (between HoA and WoK #1 #2 #3) Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell (in the latter part of timeline but before Way Of Kings: #1 #2, and FAQ – if it’s correct – says it’s after Warbreaker) Nightblood (we don’t know whether it’s after Shadows for Silence..., but it’s before Stormlight Archive) Way of Kings (happens 300ish years after Hero Of Ages) Words of Radiance Edgedancer Oathbringer Stormlight Archive, book four (Rhythm of War) Stormlight Archive, book five (about 15 years before Stormlight 6 but the gap may as well be 10 or 20 years #1 #2 #3 #4) Alloy of Law (341 years after Hero Of Ages)(it’s after Stormlight 5 but we don’t know if it’s before Stormlight 6. It could also be after Stormlight 7.) Shadows of Self (year after Alloy of Law) Bands of Mourning (half a year after Shadows of Self) Lost Metal Stormlight Archive, book six (about 15 years after Stormlight 5) Stormlight Archive, book seven Stormlight Archive, book eight Stormlight Archive, book nine Stormlight Archive, book ten Mistborn Third Era (modern times, around 80s)(probably roughly about 50 years after Second Era) Sixth of the Dusk (just before Mistborn Fourth Era #1) Mistborn Fourth Era (sci-fi) ------------------------------------------- WoBs I cannot find now but I'm sure they exist since when I was putting together this timeline I was strictly going off only WoBs: the gap between Stormlight 5 and 6 could be 20 years (specifically 20 years, 10 and 15 I have sourced already) Warbreaker being closer than farther to Way of Kings

Not sure about anyone else, but I'm endlessly intrigued by Ulim. And not just his weasely, sycophantic ways. There's a lot of weirdness going on with him. So I wanted to put together a post laying out what we know, and what mysteries remain surrounding that Voidspren we all love to hate. What We Know 1. Appearance Ulim generally takes one of two forms. Either that of rolling, crackling red lightning/energy moving across surfaces; or that of a small human male with "odd eyes" and long hair that waves or ripples in an unseen wind. He can also vanish, making only certain people able to see him. And on one occasion, we also see him with spikes breaking through his skin and then retracting: RoW, Chapter 77. 2. Personality and Mannerisms To put it bluntly, Ulim is just ... the ... worst. He's dismissive, derogatory, and downright callous ("Oh, you thought she was alive?") to anyone he views as bring of a lower station than him. Which seems to include pretty much everyone except for the Fused and Odium himself. Although he's not beyond making snide remarks about even the Fused and the Unmade, provided they're not around to hear it: Row, Chapter 73. But when in the presence of a Fused, he's obsequious and frankly, more than a little cowardly. He's concerned about others making him look bad in front of them. He lies constantly, and is a master at manipulating people. While being dismissive is his go to move, he's plenty able to pour on the praise and promises of future glory if that's what the situation calls for. And while he seems firmly on the side of the Fused and Odium, he speaks and gestures in human ways. Here he is in RoW 59, somewhat reluctantly deciding to work with Venli, while using what seems a very un-singer like expression: Here he is in OB Interlude 3 after Venli grows angry at the way Ulim is speaking about Eshonai: Here's another point later in the same chapter, and this time a Fused calls him out for it: He's unforgiving toward those he views as traitors to Odium's cause (even when they do exactly what he wants them to do). Oh, and he thinks pretty highly of himself (perhaps not entirely undeservedly) for what he was able to accomplish in summoning the Everstorm. This is again from OB Interlude 3: 3. Abilities (Note: I'm proceeding in this section under the assumption that what we see Ulim do with Venli, he would also be able to with other singers) Ulim is able to move in and out of a singer's gemheart without needing a highstorm (though it may require some level of permission from the singer). He's able to crowd into the gemheart along with whatever lesser spren gives the singer their current form. While inside a singer's gemheart, Ulim is able to speak to the singer and even hear their thoughts. By taking up residence inside a singer's gemheart, he also grants them the ability to hear Odium's rhythms. Perhaps his most impactful ability is the ability to manipulate a singer's emotions. He makes Venli dance like a puppet on strings, and through her manages to manipulate a number of other listeners as well in pursuit of his goals. (If interested, you can read in the thread below about my theory that Ulim is actually using vibrations/rhythms to perform this emotional manipulation): As mentioned above, Ulim is able to scoot along surfaces in the form of cracking lightning. And although he doesn't appear to able to fly, he does seem able to sort of jump while in lightning form: This is also one of several instances where we see that Ulim can make physical contact with a singer. Other instances are when he hops onto Venli's shoulder, grabbing onto her hair, and shortly later in RoW 77 when he lands on Venli's arm and begins moving toward her gemheart. During that pivotal moment, Ulim also demonstrates that he can vibrate energy through a singer. After hitting on the idea of starting a war with the Alethi, he vibrates energy through Venli while trying to convince her, not just to go along with that plan, but also that it was in fact her idea. There is a limit to his ability to interact with the physical world, though. For example, he is not able to carry a bag of gemstones, and brings Venli along to do that. One ability that Ulim does not have is the ability to see in Shadesmar. I don't know how notable this is. I tried to look back through the first four books to see whether spren are generally able to do this or not and couldn't really find anything definitive one way or the other. 4. Ulim's Role in Odium's Plans Although it is never explained, the Fused (and even one stormform singer) refer to Ulim as the Envoy. He made his way to Roshar by passing through the barrier storm that blocks the way to Braize in Shadesmar. Through some unknown method, he was pulled into a gemstone in the Physical Realm of Roshar at a place in the southern ocean that, presumably, corresponds with the location of the barrier storm in Shadesmar. Axindweth, a Feruchemist agent of Odium delivered the gemstone into Venli's hands and tempted Venli with promises that it held the secret to granting forms that could heal her mother's illness. After Venli releases Ulim, he begins putting into motion Odium's plan to circumvent Taln, who after 4,500 years of torture has still not broken. By manipulating Venli, revealing information about new forms, and sharing human gem cutting techniques, he eventually succeeds in getting nearly all of the listeners to adopt stormform. This allowed the singers to pull a large portion of the roiling barrier storm - that Odium had broken off and moved through Shadesmar to the the Shattere Plains - through to the Physical Realm. The result: the Everstorm, which restores the Connection and Identity of the singers who were lobotomized by the imprisonment of Ba-Ado-Mishram, and allows for the Fused (and other Voidspren as well I believe) to return Roshar for a good old-fashioned Desolation. After that, Ulim shows up just a couple of times in OB (searching for Eshonai, and the scene where Venli and the other singers are lined up to accept Fused souls in the Everstorm). And then he pops up early on in the invasion of Urithiru (RoW 42), letting Raboniel know that they've found Navani, after which they have this intriguing exchange: And that's it. We don't get to see him again throughout the rest of RoW. 5. Miscellaneous This didn't really fit in above, but I wanted to mention that Ulim recognizes the Heralds (at least Shalash, Kalak, and Nale). And Nale, at least, knows Ulim by name. Relatedly, Ulim is terrified of Nale Remaining Questions about Ulim 1. Why is he called the Envoy? 2. Why does he both appear human and have human mannerisms? 3. What's with the unseen wind that's always rippling his hair when he's in his human form? What's so "odd" about his eyes? 4. How the heck did he make it through the barrier storm? 5. How does he communicate with Axindweth and other agents of Odium? In RoW 77 he says that "I haven’t heard from Axindweth in a few days. I’m certain it’s all right. We have a meeting point where she leaves things for me. The gemstones will be there.” How was he communicating with her? How often did he go to the meeting point? What else did she leave him there? How did he carry it? Also, who are these other agents? 6. Why can't he see into Shadesmar? And more broadly, if anyone can point me to any information about whether other sapient spren are able to do this or not, I'd appreciate it. 7. What's the deal with the creepy little poem that Venli seems to use in RoW 86 to locate/summon Ulim ("Say a name on the breeze and it will return, she thought") 8. What was up with those spikes poking through his skin when he was freaking out he night of Gavilar's assassination? (I've seen someone compare that to how Ati appears a couple of times in Secret History; also reminiscent of the several times when light seems to be poking through Rayse in RoW) 9. What did he mean when he referred to Navani as a new toy? Has he used humans as pawns in the past? Who? When?

'The chaining of a Shadowblaze, fourth entity removed, is an often indeterminable process, and the bindagent should consider wisely the situation before making any decision regarding the vessels to be indentured.' This is the paragraph I will be milking for all it's worth. I was reading the rithmatist, saw this, and thought to myself, 'Fourth entity removed'? At first I saw this more as like how people are related (Ex: Fourth cousin, twice removed), but that didn't quite make sense. So if a Shadowblaze is the fourth entity removed, where or what is it removed from? My basic idea is the Tower, but that's not heavily supported. If the Shadowblaze is the fourth (Rithmatic?) entity removed from the tower, their must be at least 3 more. Categorizations of creatures: I began to categorize forgotten, Shadowblazes, and actually, wild chalklings. Here's what I got: Shadowblaze (Fourth entity removed): Bonded to people (Vessels) to create rithmatists? [This bonding is important] When bound to vessel, vessel- is made a rithmatist/body preserved/vessel remains in control Forgotten: Bonded to people (Possesion) When bound to vessel, vessel-is made a rithmatist/body preserved/vessel loses control Wild chalkling? (I was wondering what the other entities of the four we know exist may be, and remembered warbreaker, and the categorization of awakened objects. So what if the body of the vessel wasn't preserved?) Wild chalkling: Bonded to people to create wild chalklings? When 'bound' to vessel, vessel- body removed/ vessel loses control If this proves true, than the other entity would likely be: Entity: when bonded to vessel, vessel- Body removed/ vessel remains in control Just some thoughts and ideas I had, but there's a chance they could prove to be somewhat true.

Valentine's day is almost here. For some of us this is a good thing. Getting to be with the person you love more then anyone else. Some of us this day is one of the single worst days in history. And for people like me it sucks to be lonely but you hate the fact that couples are being couples more then not having someone. Regardless of which "party," so to speak, you fall into I hope you all a happy Single Awareness Day. Spoilers for size. Have some Valentines day memes to cheer you up..... ish. Feel free to post more meme

CW: It gets a bit dark at the end, but it gets better. Think Kaladin and blackbane in WoK. Please read with caution. Edited to add: Also, as much as I'm apparently externalising my internal angst and psychological conflict in this game by appealing to what the Wyrm in my head would say (Duncan, is that you bleeding through here?), I have been duly informed by my superior in the Inquisition to clarify for everyone's benefit: "I take no responsibility and am not advising Kas on the game. This is his own stupid idea, and really, even if he was listening to me, he knows better than to do that by now." THE EDGE OF NIGHT Duncan badly wanted a drink. Wyatt smiled. Black bled into the whites of his eyes. In the gathering of dusk, he was more charcoal shadow than man. "Good soldiers follow orders," he hissed. Duncan tossed a pebble at him half-heartedly and it passed through Wyatt as if he wasn't there. Maybe he wasn't. Duncan rubbed at his eyes with the heel of his hand. He was having difficulty telling, as the days wore on and he just wanted a drink, something to numb the pain, to forget everything. To forget what Nebrask had made of him. To forget what he had done. Oh, Frederick, he thought, and he'd drunk, just a little, he supposed, but it wasn't nearly enough to cleanse the tar-black guilt from his soul and heart. He'd defended his little brother, but only half-heartedly, and now Frederick had followed him to Nebrask and to death. Another stone to lay against his soul, another charcoal smudge, and Duncan considered this the blackest and darkest. Frederick had never seemed touched by Nebrask. Duncan had never wanted this for him. And when Shimamura Sakura bore away his brother's body to offer him a decent burial, all Duncan could do was to drink from the last of the Respected Madman's stash, but it wasn't enough, and the guilt was there, and clinging to his soul, daubed in charcoal. How many more? Duncan wondered. How many more would there be? He couldn't meet Shimamura's eyes at all as she returned, even though he wanted to thank her. Someone had done right by Frederick at least, even if she, too, had called for his court-martial. Frederick, cold and still. Was this justice? Duncan, still living, still surviving, still drawing breath although he suspected he had died a very long time ago on Nebrask with the rest of his platoon. It was a shadow that had come home, someone who didn't know how to laugh, or smile. He'd left too much of himself on Nebrask, where Dig lay beneath the silent earth. Where Matt had fallen. Where Rlint had been betrayed and murdered. Where Tavi had in turn been killed as they turned upon each other as brotherhood and comradeship failed, at the end. Wyatt tsk-ed. "Did you really think you could get rid of me so easily, soldier?" he asked. "Worth a shot," Duncan grunted. He wanted to stop feeling. He wanted to die. It should have been him, and not TJ. Not Frederick. At what cost? "Rude," said Wyatt. "I'm just trying to help you." "You said that," Duncan snapped. "You always said that. Orders from the CO, you said. Good soldiers follow orders. We'd..." his vision blurred, and he realised his voice was trembling, too. "You said we'd hold the line, until the replacements came. I believed you, and I helped you murder my own squadmates!" And there it was. The first sin, the blood on the earth of the garden, the first murder, the one that stretched back all the way in a carmine chain of blood and betrayal to the first life when brother slew brother (a Ghostblood snaps off an arrow from his Shardplate, wisps of Stormlight leaking from the shattered gems; afraid and ready to die at the same time, a dying darkeyes collapses on wartorn streets from five stabs to his back, still reaching out to his assailant with the last of his strength, still trusting, still—) "Humans," Wyatt said. "Predictable. You never wanted to kill, so all I needed to do to tirelessly root out loyal soldiers was to tell you what you wanted to hear. Orders from the CO. Duty. Do it." He knelt down. "You know the truth? You were afraid. You wanted meaning, structure, order. A tidy story, in which you were the hero. I gave you everything you wanted, Duncan. And now you cry about how that's what you never wanted?" "Go 'way," Duncan whispered. "Go away, go away, GO AWAY!" The last words came out in a strangled shriek, as he hefted the empty spirits bottle. "I have a glass bottle and I'm not afraid to use it!" "Will you?" Wyatt asked. "I don't think you know what to do without me, Duncan. I think you need me. I think you're still afraid. And that's why you hesitated. Two Forgotten, dead, but the last you let live." Kessen and Tory. He did what he had to, but then Wyatt had woken up and—had he hesitated? Was this his fault? (It was, because Wyatt had been kind, Wyatt had given him direction, and Wyatt had been the mentor that a fresh young Rithmatist on his first tour on Nebrask needed, and Wyatt had been the perfect combination of duty and good humour that young Duncan, old Duncan had needed, and Duncan had trusted him and believed him and it was his hands that held the chalk and he would never, ever be free of that sin.) "Go away," Duncan whispered, hoarsely. He squeezed his eyes shut, and when he opened them again, the camp was empty. Talking to himself again. He rubbed at his eyes, until the blurriness went away, but he was shaking and he couldn't seem to stop. He stared at the bottle in his hands. He'd killed before, he thought. He knew how to kill. He could make it fast, or— They would come for him, the Forgotten here. They would kill him. Of course they would. He had taken down two of their own, which made him harder to set up, the way they'd set Frederick up. He didn't have to fight it. He could wait, and welcome death. And maybe... Duncan's throat choked up. Maybe that would be a form of justice, too. If I die, let me die, he thought. Let him live, he'd prayed to the Master, for Frederick. But the Master had done nothing. The Master had heeded no cries, that first tour on Nebrask, and Duncan's faith had died inside him. "Stop it," someone said, and Duncan knew that voice, and it cut through him like a knife, and he was grieving and raw all over again. He squeezed his eyes tightly shut. No. He could not—would not—did not deserve to—look. "I came to Nebrask for you, you know." "Shouldn't have," Duncan managed, with a strangled sob. "Well, I did," said Frederick. "And I don't hold this against you. I wish you could've saved me—" "I don't think I could have." "I wish you tried," Frederick said, and Duncan's heart broke all over again. "But it's done, and I think they would've distrusted me anyway, if I'd lived." But he hadn't. And now Duncan was all alone again. "Don't go," he whispered, when there was silence. He opened his eyes, cautiously. Just a crack. Frederick was smiling at him, and Duncan's vision blurred with renewed tears. "Make me wait, alright?" Frederick said. "I'm not in a hurry, so you shouldn't be, either. I always looked up to you, you know. All the stories you'd tell me in your letters, about Nebrask." "I'm no hero," Duncan croaked. "Just...broken." Just a coward. He couldn't save his platoon, and he couldn't save Frederick, either. I wish you'd tried. "You don't have to be," Frederick said. "We've got enough heroes, I think. We could do with fewer of them. And this whole camp is full of soldiers." "Then what do you want from me?" Duncan begged. "Live," said Frederick, and it was both a cruelty and kindness. "Forgive yourself. Remember us. And Ward the camp. Be their watcher, since I could not." "Okay," Duncan said, and he ignored the prickle of tears in his eyes. "I'll try." And then he was alone again, with only the ghosts in his head and the scars on his soul, and an empty bottle in his hands and two more on the floor, still stinking of alcohol. He wanted nothing more than to lie here and give up, but he'd given Frederick his word. How long can I keep doing this, Frederick? Duncan pleaded. He thought he could see Frederick again, shaking his head. Make me wait, Frederick had said. Duncan supposed he could do that. He took the next step.

Aha, this was the critical bit I missed! Thanks! The only time I'd seen 'avatar' used in the Cosmere before was for Autonomy, so I immediately started thinking Shards, so it didn't occur to me that 'Lord of Scars' would be Kelsier. I hadn't seen any of those recent WoB's either...

I mean, it was as confirmed as it could be without a literal namedrop, I feel. A non-Rosharan Cognitive Shadow known for scars with a loose morality who has been beaten up by Hoid is pretty specific. As for this...

This is true - though in some cases the broad patterns are very simple, it's the detailed feedbacks and stuff that are impossibly complex. (Kind of like climate vs weather - predicting weather even 2-3 weeks ahead is essentially impossible, but everybody knows July will be warmer than January in the north temperate zone...) Sure, but @Jofwu above posted the HOA epigraph that Ruin was messing with it... All I was saying is that the ash being dark wouldn't prevent the overall net effect from being cooling rather than warming. I think that was just to make it concentrate over the Final Empire area (where the magnetic pole was) ... but yeah that part possibly doesn't make the most sense, especially since the ash itself isn't that important climate-wise vs. the sulfate aerosols. Yeah... Given that these are volcanoes engineered by godlike magical power to cool the planet, I think they probably have whatever mix of gases to ash they need to have to get the desired effect... I am not really sure this would work in RL. It seems to me that the ocean away from the Final Empire area, more exposed to light, should evaporate at a horrendous rate and make the planet go runaway-greenhouse. OTOH, we only know that it worked for 1024 years - it is quite possible that the system actually wasn't stable (on geological timescales) and in the absence of Ruin/Vin/Sazed intervention it would have turned into a runaway greenhouse in a few tens of thousands or millions of years...

Remember what happened with Dannex's exe in that game though? They were village. Just because a player has caused a lot of discussion and is pivotal in people suspicions doesn't mean they're village. If me being a villager makes you suspect others, and you're sure I'll be a villager so you can go after others...why don't we go after other people instead and save us exing a villager?

This still depends on Spren. Radiant abilities are given, not inborn, what is advantage, but also disadvantage, because Radiant will never be as competent with his powers as Metalborn who uses powers all life. Also, Metalic Arts are most instinctive in use from every powers, faster to learn than Surges. Yeah, Radiant can be made in hours, but competent combat Radiant need months od training, while Metalborn can figure out New abilities literały on the run if he somehow gain them (Like Marasi or Wax).

Regardless of whether it feels "Brandonish..." I storming love this!

Honestly, I think this is perhaps that most useful thing that any of us can learn, and I think there is no easy way to learn it but to keep going, and listen to the feedback you are getting, even if it is difficult to take, and act upon. Sorry for the delay, and I know there is water under the bridge, but I'd like to catch up. There's no way I could take on the alpha read, I'm afraid, but if you've got @kais on the...case, you don't need me. Ergo, comments on this sub. Chapter 1 - A lot of crunchy detail at the start. From what I've read so far, I am still not engaged by this character, and that is where any story should start, IMO. Why would I put any store in the internal thoughts of a character that I am not engaged with? I thought we were going to get this engagement with the hawk scene, and there was a little bit of character in her exchanges with the maid, but by the time we got the library and her exchange with her mother, it was all political detail and very little if anything at all of character. No amount of political detail is more less interesting than a good, solid, engaging and interesting character. - Okay, the library scene is different, and it's shorter, that's good but, noting my point above, I don't think the message is getting through. I feel that the reader must be engaged with the character, and preferably the setting as well, before all this heavy, heavy, detail lands on them (the reader). Countries, nations, factions, none of it matters without a personal perspective, and we still don't have that. I know that there is mention of Is-a's motivation to help her father, but that's quite generic. What are her hopes and dreams, hers, not her father's or mother's, what does she want from life, what is she striving towards? What type of person is she? What are her faults? Her flaws? - "He raised his eyebrow at the sight of her and smirked before making some comment to her mother" - This is the first time I've been shown a conflict instead of being told about it. There is a massive difference between telling the reader that this nation or faction is in conflict with that country or party, and showing them a conflict and letting them experience it. - "he meant to hold the knowledge over her" - Why is this significant? - "likely snooped through my notes while you were there" - I'm absolutely incredulous that the queen would leave private political notes lying around in the library. It is mind-bogglingly naive, and makes me think she's an idiot, and would deserve any and all bad things that happened to her as a result of an enemy seeing those notes. In actual fact, what it reads like is the author making something happen to affect the plot, but those things have to be plausible, have to be consistent with character, and this leaving out of private notes did not seem that to me. - "Then who will help him? Because you know he won’t ask" - Here is a small glint of character. - "But there are things I could get away with then that I can’t now" - Why? I don't follow. - "If she’d had time to think ahead, she would have expected that" - Expected what? I don't understand. - "I don’t have the time I used to" - Eh?! She doesn't have the time to deal with the world-encompassing issue? That does not seem plausible. - "One that had apparently been burning steadily for the past fifteen years" - Eh? - Last line is decent, but there are starting to be introduced jumps in logic, people making decisions for reason that I don't understand. I think that plot here at the start is far too complex to be understood by anyone who does not have all the background that your have in your head or in your notes. Consider Lord of the Rings as an example, or indeed Wheel of Time, and maybe Mistborn too, and I'll try to illustrate my point. None of those three stories attempts to describe the entire world in the first chapter, laying out all the factions and intrigues and conflicts and threats. In fact, they all do completely the opposite. They largely eschew references to politics (maybe the odd point notes in passing) all together. Instead they focus completely and utterly on establishing character, and maybe setting to a degree. There is a reason that JRR Tolkien, Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson do that, and it's because loading plot into the start of a story doesn't work. It doesn't engage the reader, because they need to have a character to root for, and a foothold in the setting that they understand, can feel solid in before plot details are fed in gradually. I feel that you are desperate to spool out as much plot as possible as soon as possible but that does, not, work. I would encourage you to look at stories you have read recently and study how the authors open those stories. I would wager that it is closer to the template of establishing character and location before any complex plot details appear, and when they do they are fed in gradually. Chapter 2 - I reckon a pendant goes around the neck, and the bracelet around the wrist. I guess something can hang from a bracelet, but it's confusing. - Obviously, Al is essentially a new character, as he was a child in the prologue, but I'm struggling to remember if Trev is the old advisor, or the younger(?) steward crawling in the rubble trying to free Al's father. A wee reminder here would be good, just a word or two. - Okay, the opening to this chapter is okay. It's a little slow maybe, but I feel it's establishing Al as a character (a little, not a lot), it's reminding me about Trev, and it showing something about magic, also a little tension/conflict over the gift. A fair start, but I want it to move on quickly no, after the first page. - Okay, Al is reasonably decisive. I was concerned that he was going to fay about and need someone else to solve the problem for him, but he seems to have some agency. - "Servants stood on ladders in the gardens below, securing swaths of blue fabric" - Nice bit of colour (literally), just enough to establish setting, and show the preparations for the party. - Because so many countries have been mentioned, I can't remember which one Tra is. - Who's working as hard as they can? I'm getting confused. Who is Was again? Is any of this relevant to the plot? Cut. - "head of the duke’s serving staff" - Nope. This is a butler, who would not leave the duke's own seat, and certainly would not be in charge of arrangements, IMO. The chap who make travel arrangements, accompanies the duke of visits, etc. would surely be a chief steward. The implication here is that he's the same chap that directs the staff serving the duke's meals. I don't buy that at all. - I'm confused, what was the hiss of pain about? Did he stab himself with the needle? Unclear. Also, no way does the heard steward sew the duke's clothes for him. Also, this is boring. Cut. - Who is Ras? I'm confused. - "ran his thumb across each stone in turn" - If it's that easy to check, it's all the more unbelievable that they didn't do it before packing all these things. - This chapter is eight pages long, and the only thing that actually happens is that Al changes his mind over which gift to give one princess and the other. That's all that happens. Overall Okay, this is way, way too confusing. There is far too much detail that has no bearing at all on plot, or character, and needs to be cut, hard cut. Dan Wells (I think), during some season of of Writing Excuses exposed the theory (I think it was Dan, might have been Howard) that sometimes a writer does not have the skill to writer the story they are trying to write, and need to defer it, practice, hone the craft and the other facets of writing skill (including self-regulartion), and then come back to it after having practised on other things, shorts, novellas, whatever, and come back to their passion project with a new perspective. It's clear that you have skills in relation to language, and world-building, but--I think--there is no self-regulation in terms of what should be in the story and what should not. In Elements of Style, by Strunk and White--something of a seminal work in writing about the craft of writing--the authors say 'Cut all unnecessary words'. Stephen King, in his memoir On Writing (which I'm reading at the moment) quotes Strunk, and he also cites the example of his first writing job on the local newspaper, when his editor said (on submission of King's first two pieces) "When you write the story, you're telling it to yourself. When you re-write, your main job is taking out the bits that are not the story." I think what you need to do--as a test exercise--is go through the MS with track changes on and cut out all the bits that do not affect the plot. The man servant hisses in pain, dirty shirt, clothes all around, doesn't affect the plot. The servants hanging the bunting, establishes the party, and the ceremony, probably okay. The stuff about the jewellery looks like it might be relevant further on, foreshadowing, probably fine. The long-serving nature of the Trev? We';ve had that in the prologue, haven't we? All the stuff about rooms being too small, clothes being unpacked. All that can be summed up in a couple of lines, and I have a strong feeling that none of it is going to be relevant to the plot. You might not have much left, but that's fine. I get the impression that you are tinkering with the MS, when what's needed is a major re-write. Another thing that contributed to my confusion is that the narrative is fragmented. They are talking about the rooms, then they are talking about the gift, then they are talking about Was, and none of these 'thoughts' or conversations is finished before they go on to another topic. It's too complicated and too confusing. I suggest finishing with one topic in the chapter, resolve it, and move on to the next.

You've got a LOT here, and I haven't gotten far yet but I want to bring attention to something that may be relevant to one of your early points. There is a Theory posted on Reddit (that Brandon actually responded to with praise and a RAFO) in response to the translation of some of the in book sketches of the daggers, that the housing that Raboniel claimed wasn't relevant to the function is actually Nicrosil, and thus is relevant to the leeching process you describe above. (link to the thread, and the translations is built into the below WoB quote)

that's fair.

Kelsier Marsh, because it's obvious he added double-nicrosil+double-aluminium to his powers to effectively remove the mind control issue Wax, because he's a fullborn now Ishar with the Dawnshard Known to bind mortal and voidish creatures alike Suzeborn In Shadesmare: Jashna or Battar These are Dawnshard spoilers but the spoiler season end tomorrow so I guess behind a spoiler box it's ok He was compounding, his powers where far stronger than old allomancy, which was more at the Elend level Then just compound a bit.

I really hope the only Gavilar we see in book 5 is his POV in the prologue and spiritual realm him a la Tien in book 4. If Dalinar and or Navani Connect to Gavilar and they have a talk that'd be cool. I don't see Gavilar as a character that needs to come back. Kelsier was a co-main character of a book who died near the end of it. We at least new him. We don't know Gavilar that well, I feel like the prologues will give us most all the we need on who he was and what he was up to. I don't want a Stormlight Secret History with a guy we barely knew hanging out as a ghost off-page for 7 years and then shows up at the end of book 5 as a surprise. There's 900 named characters in this series, one of them can stay dead. https://coppermind.net/wiki/Category:Rosharans

I think this might be the earlier post you were thinking of. The gist was that pre-Recreance the spren would still have a valid Connection through Honor and would probably return to Shadesmar. But post-Recreance and the death of Tanavast, when a human breaks their oath, spren do not have a valid Connection through Honor, but they instead Connect to BAM, which results in their minds being trapped.

Azure was looking for Nightblood because if a crime. I think Nightblood was in witness protection. Which is why he was at the valley. Both are hiding on roshar so they split up to hide.

...is in space. I was over in the RoW meme thread and I saw a post from @Child of Hodor which gave me this idea. I believe me know that at least one of the shards is not invested on a planet. What if it's Invention? And here's the twist, what if this is where Silverlight is located? We don't have any information so it's all just speculation. But there must be some reason Silverlight is located where it is. And i like the idea that the home to a Cognitive Realm University is located where Invention has manifest. Edit: I forgot about the survival shard. It likely Wisdom or something along those lines. This definitely fits.

I love it so much, thank you.

The theory I remember from before was that the Expanse of the Broken Sky is Taldain, as it has two distinct permanent skies, one for Dayside with the visible star, and Darkside with the twilight, thus their cognitive belief and view of the sky would be different, two views for one planet. So Densities is Sel, Vibrancy is Nalthis, Vapours is Scadrial, and Broken Sky is Taldain.

Kelsier Mistbear holding The Survivor’s Hand

I don't agree that Sanderson isn't (sometimes) funny, but I'm also fine with less humor. I don't feel that there needs to bee TOO many comedic moments. It's a dark book, and I'm ok with that. I agree that Navani bonding the Sibling seems off. But, I don't think Rlain should have bonded them. It should have been Dabbid!!! I completely agree with this "unpopular opinion" lol. Not happy with Teft's story line in this one. But his ultimate arch will be redeemed when his soulcast body is awakened in the next book and we get Zombie Teft shenanigans.

It's fairly obvious Todd thinks of himself the way MCU Thanos does (i.e. doing terrible things for the greater good). I've been wondering if he ends up like Endgame Thanos.

Yes, because many of the "gods" of the cosmere are entities that people have actually seen and met, I've always considered Jasnah's atheism to be an attitudinal stance. She knows that beings of great power and significance exist, so it's not like she doesn't believe in them, but she just doesn't consider them worthy of being worshiped as gods because they're not all-powerful and flawlessly perfect. Like, someone in the cosmere who doesn't believe in the existence of "gods" like the Heralds, or the spren, or any given Shard of Adonalsium, is wrong, because those entities do objectively exist. But choosing to believe that they are worthy of worship, or that there is some fundamental distinction between, say, a Knight Radiant and someone like Cultivation, rather than a natural gradient, is another question altogether. And in the scope of the cosmere, I think Jasnah's stance makes a lot of sense. Most of the "gods" we've seen are all imperfect and extremely human individuals, so if you want your gods to be perfect and pure (which not necessarily everyone does), then there would be no reason to consider any of the "gods" of the cosmere to be worthy of worship. Thus a belief in the God Beyond makes a lot of sense, and is really the only escape for the nihilism in the cosmere which starts to consume you when you realize that the "gods" are just flawed humans who are ridiculously highly Invested.

I really didn't like Jasnah in this book. The way she handled Ruthar was so...jarring. Maybe that was the intention but the whole "harsher" bit felt so off to me and made me really uncomfortable. She's never been my favorite character but until that point I never disliked her either. I didn't really mind her involvement with Wit, but I'm not invested in that relationship at all either. I feel really sad about Venli. I think Eshonai would have been so much better in her place, but I do understand why they had to be swapped. I had high hopes for her though, and expected her to actually do stuff in this book. Brandon has said he made her more passive, because he didnt want all of his characters to feel like they were superhuman, and that he wanted characters who were in over their head, but Venli was just so passive and indecisive. There was this lingering feeling of "oh no, I hope nobody discovers I bonded a spren" but I never felt any excitement or tension in her plot. I dont know, in previous books Venli seemed way more smart and capable, and the flashbacks showing that even her achievements in the past were someone else's didnt help. She felt like an inbetween character. She had interactions with so many other important characters, Navani, Raboniel, Lift, Lirin, Rlain, but she never really got involved with any of them. Maybe if she had one of those to really team up with plotwise and actually do something with them, actually having a goal she wanted to achieve, that probably would have helped her story. I just hope she still gets to do something cool with the listeners, or maybe she worldhops or something, but with how crowded book 5 probably is I don't she will get a bigger role than she has now. It really felt like Brandon wrote her because he felt he had to, not because he wanted to. That said, RoW was still my favorite SA book and I loved almost everything else.

I both admire and hate the fact that I can totally see this being true... But at the same time, I can't help but wonder if I'm just grasping at straws.

Moash is on his own. Gives off a padan fain vibe now.

This! This is the only explanation that explains chapter one! Chapter one would be when murder-clone(pr) is revived after original Holly kills her in the museum. O.H. leaves the message for the revived murder-clone and continues the cat-and-mouse game.

Maybe the original Dawnshards were some of the fundamental "things" of the magic systems. One could be a gem, one could be a metal, one could be a gas/mist/light, and one could be something to do with color?

So let me just preface this with some stuff: 0) This will also be obviously shaped by my experience of queerness as a white Ace Bi Transwoman from Switzerland, so maybe keep that in mind as you read this. 1) This is also not supposed to be a dunk on Brandon for his inclusion (or lack thereof) of queer characters. While I wish there was more in his work (and I’ll talk about how you could do that in the cosmere), it’s not like there is none, which is already more than many other Fantasy writers have. He is also not queer himself (as far as we know) and I can respect it that he doesn’t want to include harmful representation in his books (as he has stated before). 2) I’m mostly writing this because I got a friend (who has not (yet, as I hope) read any of the Cosmere books) to take the Knights Radiant Quiz (I guess mostly by saying it’s essentially the Sorting Hat Quiz). Following that I realized I truly had a lot of thoughts about the Cosmere at large, but since none of my friends is into the Cosmere, I had no one to talk to (it’s much easier for me to talk to friends than strangers online, so I didn’t really want to go on Discord and start a conversation, so I’ll just plop it down here and let people decide whether they want to be part of that conversation or not). 3) This is essentially me rambling, there’s probably going to be holes or stuff that I missed or aspects of queerness that I did not think about. Calling it “Queerness in the Cosmere” might have been a bit ambitious, but I honestly didn’t know what else to call it. I’m also not really active on here, so maybe other people have already said all of this, but I had a desire to write this. 4) I think this will mostly concentrate on Roshar (specifically Vorin culture), Scadrial and Nalthis so I’ll structure it accordingly. Nalthis and Scadrial will also probably much shorter than Roshar, both because we know a lot about Vorin culture compared to the others and because the Magic on Roshar gives a bit more to talk about. To start with, let it be said that there is a WoB that clearly states trans people can use Investiture to change their body (he specifically says this with regards to Bloodmakers, Stormlight and the surge of Progression). So let’s start with Nalthis. There’s not that many Characters to begin with and none of them appear to be queer. Of course, many characters have their own situations going on where we don’t see anything regarding their sexualities or identities (Vasher and his history with Shashara, Denth being consumed by vengeance, Vivenna being brought up with the singular purpose of marrying the God King with the implicit understanding that she would be killed eventually, etc.), so I can’t talk about what is, because there isn’t any. As for what could be: the interesting thing for me on Nalthis are the Returned. We know their bodies change upon being returned and we also know that they have the ability to shape-shift to a certain degree. This is confirmed by Vasher (in deeds and words) and also evident in the Court of Gods, where Returned tend to fit their given domain (Blushweaver being extremely attractive, Lightsong being muscular/toned) physically. You could easily fit trans people into further Nalthis works via Returned and their place in Hallandren society. For one, you could have person return and in the process have their body change to one matching their identity. Now, we don’t know whether the Returned consume investiture when they shape-shift. Given that investiture is highly quantized on Nalthis, this seems unlikely. However, as the process of Returning is a result of direct shardic intervention, this investiture could easily come from Endowment directly. This would be a bit more complicated in terms of non-binary, agender or genderfluid people (as well as other marginalized identities which I don’t know about), but this goes beyond my experience and I don’t want to speak for them. Once you have a trans Returned, this would obviously have an influence on Societies where Returning is viewed as a divine act (e.g. Hallandren and Idris (I’m actually not sure whether Idrians see it that way, but I do believe so)), legitimizing their existence beyond doubt (as clearly, God says trans rights). Even if this is not the case, the process of bestowing a divine breath on someone to heal has also implications regarding trans people. Healing in the Cosmere generally works, as I understand it, by restoring the body to the spiritual ideal, with possible influence on self-perception (see Kaladin inhaling Stormlight doesn’t fix his slave scars as of now). From Renarin we know that you can be born with a body that does not conform to this ideal (his bad eyesight was corrected upon inhaling Stormlight). We don’t know whether bestowing a divine breath requires the Returned in question to know what they are healing, although considering Brandon has described this process as “supercharged healing” my guess is not. So it is easily possible that a Returned will bestow their breath and give a trans person a body they are comfortable with, at which point, again, God says trans rights. From there, you could make Hallandren either a very trans acceptive place or (and I personally don’t want that, but it’s a legit possibility) a place where you have to “medically transition” before you are treated as your real self (as in get a Returned to bestow their breath) and where the Returned essentially judge your trans-ness (as in, if a Return doesn’t bestow their breath on you, you’re not “really trans”, as otherwise they (and by extension God) would have given you their breath). Again, that would suck as much as that attitude sucks in real life, but it would at least be something that isn’t cooki-cutter Fantasy stuff “gay people bad and gender binary rulez”. Awakening itself might also provide people with the mechanism to shape-shift. There are “mental commands” that Vasher uses to make a girl forget Trauma, so there is a possibility there to apply this also to “physical commands” that change the users body in a certain way. Let’s look at Scadrial, specifically Era 2 onwards. For starters, we have lesbian rep with Ranette (although I guess she could be Bi), we have disaster Bi rep with Wayne and kandra, who are an interesting subject with regards to gender identity (even further, we have TenSoon, a kandra who spends most of his time as a dog). They are probably the queerest books in the Cosmere and as such, there is not much that I want to talk about. The kandra are super interesting, because they have a distinct gender identity. This could obviously be a remnant of either the spikes that are used to give them thought or because they were human at some point and then transformed by Rashek (this point depends a bit on whether mistwraiths can procreate or whether all mistwraiths were once terris people). Still, they are a super easy way to introduce queer characters. You can easily have a kandra that uses they/them pronouns or who presents differently at different times (apart from the fact that they do this anyways in Era 1 to spy), so they are always the same person, but switch between male/female presentation including pronouns. I hope we get to see something like this in the future. Bands of Mourning and the medallions the southern scadrians use have a huge implication for trans people. In essence, you could build an industry (healthcare should be free though!) on providing unkeyed gold metalminds. If they are charged enough, they would allow trans people to change their bodies. This could also be added in the background, like an ad in the newspaper pages Era 2 books have every now and then or that a character reads in the newspaper. I’m not sure how that would impact a society. Like, in real life there are many medical tools that allow transition, but our society is still incredibly transphobic. So it is not a given that, even though the effectos of healing would be impossible to ignore evidence that trans people are real and valid, there would not be effort to deny trans people access to unkeyed goldminds. You could then still, through Wayne for example, show that there is a black market going on where trans people try to get access to them. So, Roshar. More specifically though the Vorin nations and the singers. Again, Stormlight healing and healing via the surge of progression allow for very easy ways to introduce trans characters, either only as background characters (like in a scene where Renarin heals people) or in a more direct way as a Radiant that changes upon inhaling Stormlight the first time. Apart from that, Vorin culture allows for very interesting explorations on queerness. Vorinism heavily enforces gender roles through the book “Arts and Majesty”. It’s not really clear how this system reacts to the emergence of new professions. It might be the same as with stable hands, where it’s not part of the book so everyone can be one. It might also be that it gets amended, similar to how the bible was changed at various councils. That may sound like it’s beside the point, but whether or not it can be changed does have implications on queer people. Like, could it be changed to include the existence of non-binary people? Or gender fluid ones? That is something I think could be touched upon (assuming Vorinism survives much longer). As the system is right now, there is an obvious (and I think boring) way how Vorin culture treats marginalized gender identities: It’s a heavily gender segregated, binary society and thus, moving between the two camps or outside of them will be suppressed as heretical. However, it could also naturally support trans people, but only as long as they conform to society. You could show this by having a man that can read (maybe in an emergency situation or through subtle reactions in a span-reed conversation or like this) but doesn’t do it openly because it’s unmanly (the implication being that he was taught as a child an came out after). Or maybe there are professions for people that don’t identify as either male or female, but transitioning from one to another is not possible. I think the heavily segregated Vorin society is a really cool playground on queerness, which I hope Brandon will explore a little bit. If there is any fanfic of this, I’d be glad if you could recommend them to me! I also want to shortly talk about homosexuality in at least Alethkar (but I assume this is again a Vorin thing). There seems to be no real prejudice against it. Kaladin does have bit of a different reaction, where he finds it weird how uncomfortable Bridge 4 is with Renarin possibly learning to read but they have no problem with Drehy courting a man (Dru) and Bridge 4 reacts very strongly in favor of the relationship. (I just checked as well, according to Brandon Vorin culture doesn’t have a problem at all with homosexuality). To me, the acceptance of homosexuality seems at odds with Vorin culture, which heavily reinforces the relationship of man-woman not only in a personal sense, but also a professional one. The fact that only women can write and read means that they are pretty much essential in almost any profession (as seen by the fact that Alethi at least reeealy like their ledgers). In my head canon, at least one of the Heralds was gay and this persisted as a part of Vorin society even past “Arts and majesty” (which might have been written after the fall of the Radiants, as they were open to all people). With Sigzil, we’ve seen that at least the Azish are not so supportive of gay people. In his own words, Drehy would have to apply for “social reassignment”, which is exactly what it suggests according to Brandon: You can’t have a gay relationship, instead one of the involved parties has to “socially transition” and would henceforth be treated as their opposite gender (in a WoB, Brandon references ancient India as a inspiration, although let it be said that Iran for example still does this today). This might suggest that, while being wildly homophobic, Azish culture might actually be trans-supportive (in a certain sense). This is also something I hope we get to see more of. There are also the Iriali and their religion of the One. According to Brandon, the more conservative/religious Iriali are supportive of gay people (and I think that would extend to any other marginalized gender identity) on account of them all being part of the One. I very much like the inversion happening here: the “modern” Iriali have outlawed it, but the “conservative/religious” ones accept it with no problem. The singers have 4 distinct gender identities. I know that this is sometimes contested, whether they are really genders or not, but we have not seen much of singer society as of now. Brandon promised that we would get more of that, so I guess we will see. I don’t think Brandon would call them gender identities if they weren’t such, but again, he is a cis man, so his view on “gender identity” might be flawed. I think you could do some interesting things with the singers. They are explicitly shape-shifters, taking on forms as demand dictates. Again, you could easily have a singer that is femalen in one form and malen in a different one or even change from malen to female in the same form (this all depends on how forms exactly work; we’ve only seen a limited amount, and gender seems to be tied to some). This could also indicate how singers would treat, say, non-binary people. This ties in with the Sibling, who we know does not identify as male or female and also not as malen or femalen, so they are either older than the singers and thus not shaped as much by their perception, or it was enough of a part in singer society for them to pass it on the the spren, as it were. According to Syl, some spren do have 4 gender identities, which I think Brandon has confirmed is because of the singers. I also think it would be neat if singers would be referred to as they/them if they are children or even teenagers, leaving it up to them to decide. At least, I guess you could say the first time they go into the storm to adopt a form would determine their pronouns. Again, we don’t have much information on singer children, so we don’t know what form they have when they are born. Also, I love the idea of an entirely Asexual race (well, mostly). I think Brandon has alluded that not all forms are Ace, mate form included. Personally, I think this does Ace people a little bit of a disservice. Lots of Ace people have sex, some enjoy it themselves, some enjoy it because their partner enjoys, it really is (as always) a spectrum. At its essence, Asexual only means that you do not experience sexual attraction and is not tied to sex drive or the desire to have sex. The singers could easily all be Ace and still reproduce enough. I… guess this is all? If you’re still here: thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed my rambling thoughts! Maybe this starts a discussion on queerness, maybe not. But I wanted to post it regardless because I've been thinking about it, like, a lot. (I hope there are not too many spelling or grammar errors.)