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Status: WAY BETTER if a little tired I went to sleep at 8:30 and woke up feeling great. Thanks for everyone's support yesterday! I do feel a touch tired, but that's probably because I woke up at 5:00 for some stuff and not because of the vaccination.

HELLO I am back ;D

Can't wait for this in the back 5...

Let me make up an extremely short story: "You stand accused of murdering your wife" "I did not kill her" A Willshaper recreates a cognitive memory. "Your floor says otherwise. String him up. Next case" OK, I hope Rosharan judicial procedures were a bit more evolved, but after what the Honorspren did, I have my doubts. Now seriously, after wat we have seen Stoneshaping, we must wonder how they could even have difficulties reconstructing the past. Is the development of history as a scholarly discipline of post Recreance thing. In fact, during a trial can your spren be used against you? I mean if your are showing creation spren while telling the court what you did on that fatefull night, the judges may not be quite so inclined to believe you.

Sanderson Memes

After the mysterious disappearance of Lafay, Illwei had taken up the mantle of experimenting with hemalurgy. She'd found the ancient lore about it fascinating as a child, and had spent most of her adult life secretly wishing she could learn more about hemalurgy and its secrets. And that's when she found Lafay's notes. Ignoring the fact that Lafay appeared to have traveled to other worlds, whatever that means, what Illwei was really interested in was all of the research Lafay had about hemalurgy. The fact that it requires Intent, the different attributes that certain metals steal. The possibility of stealing something from someone and keeping them alive. Granted, Lafay hadn't figure that one out, but Illwei figured it had to be possible. With all of this knowledge at her disposal, Illwei began to carefully get the materials she needed to start making a spike collection. Getting the bronze wasn't that hard; she was a Seeker already, and she could ask her provider for just a solid piece that she'd shave herself. Not a big deal. Getting all the other spikes was the problem, especially with this rusting lockdown on the city. But, well, after a few days of digging around town and inconspicuously asking for bits of old metal, Illwei finally had a solid collection of spikes gathered together. Now she just had to find out- There was a loud bang from her window. Illwei jumped, grabbing one of the spikes from the table and spinning around, eyes wide with fear. She glanced at the window to her apartment and found a man there, hiding in the shadows. He charged at her, brandishing a knife, and Illwei went to try stab him with the spike. The man dodged out of the way, cutting his knife towards Illwei's side, cutting a deep gash there. Illwei gasped, shocked as she tried to turn and reach for more spikes, anything to use against her attacker. As she turned towards the table though, the spikes flew off the table, towards her. Several of them stabbed her, and she realized that the man had managed to grab one out of the air as it had flown past him. I should've known he was a lurcher, Illwei thought to herself, her breathing ragged and the pain sharp in her side. I should've burned bronze, I should've...should've.... Illwei's life faded away. ~ Illwei has been killed! They were a Loyalist Seeker Misting and Hemalurgist! PMs are still closed, so please avoid PMing still. In addition, there will be a removal this turn. As a reminder, there is no vote minimum, and a tied vote will result in one of the tied players being removed. This turn will end at 9 am CDT on Wednesday, June 9th. Also, again, the writeups aren't always accurate to what happens with the game, just thought this would be a fun idea. Player List: PMs will be sent out as soon as possible, if they haven't been already.

I may have stumbled into the beginnings of something much bigger than I anticipated. It was an easy enough matter to get started; I posed a set of statements and a question to myself. "It's becoming increasingly clear that color and metal are important fundamentals of the Cosmere because of Fabrials, Awakening, and the Metallic Arts. Color is important because it's a property of specific wavelengths of light, particular "tones" of light. So how is Metal going to relate to that?" From there, I hit upon a couple possibilities. But I think the one most worth going into detail about connects Investiture to my favorite weird physics, that's right everyone, quantum mechanics. It's my current hypothesis that metallic atoms have the proper frequency of quantum wavefunction to "filter" different frequencies of Investiture. This results in the strange supernatural "theming" of the metals across the metallic arts and even extending into the cages of Fabrials, where color and tone have already been proven abundantly needed. Picture "background investiture" as white noise. Now picture, say... Tin atoms in a pure, undisturbed lattice. Now recall that according to quantum mechanics, all particles also behave like waves (this has even been observed with molecules made of tens of carbon atoms still producing an interference pattern (even when released 1 at a time) in the famous double-slit experiment). The frequency of Tin's quantum wavefunction will interfere constructively with some frequencies of background investiture, and destructively interfere with others, filtering the output of the investiture into a new set of frequencies that don't look like background noise, the frequencies become a stream of investiture that "enhances senses", or something thereabouts. Now picture using a specific Shard's Investiture as the "background investiture". Tin will filter out everything of that shard that doesn't relate to senses, causing the amplification. Stormlight becomes a booster of the spren's sensitivity, making them output less for the same subjective feeling, while Tineyes get to see through the Mists because the frequencies overlap due to the Investiture originating with Preservation. And of course, with alloys, what's important is the "holes" in the atomic lattice (and indeed, metallic atoms' ability to arrange in a regular structure is key in general). It lets other frequencies of investiture leak through, which correspond to different effects. Tin's senses becomes Pewter's physical enhancement. The one thing I'm not certain on is where in Allomancy the push/pull difference originates from precisely. Is it just a rule that Bronze seeking hears pure metal tones as "pulling" while alloyed tones become "pushing"? Or is it a fundemental, even a Singer would hear tin as pulling, while pewter pushes? I'd love to hear feedback on all of this in general. I'm super curious to know if my "quantum wavefunctions filter Investiture frequencies" hypothesis makes any sense.

OB:

This is a clever theory. And I tend to agree that, if the contract is broken by one side or the other, it will be the provision stating that the champions must be allowed to meet atop Urithiru “otherwise unharmed by either side’s forces” that will be violated. I’m not sold yet on a particular theory of who the champions will be and how they might be harmed, but I like how @nimvin is thinking creatively about what it might be. One thought that recently occurred to me is what if Taravangian names Moash as his champion but then has him surrender himself to Dalinar’s forces in advance of the contest. He would essentially be daring Dalinar to try to keep that storming’ cremhole safe from the myriad people who’d like to see him dead. (This could even allow a role for little Gavinor to sate all the people who think he’s going to factor into the book 5 endgame).

*manic laughter* So, I guess I'll add "exciting and cool announcements" to the list of phrases Brandon uses and does not understand. It's a short list, the other item on my list is "standalone novel".

WoR

me being a shard? no, Dawnshard.

She wandered about the room calmly, hands behind her back (ignoring her husband’s shouts). The room was as spartan as she’d expected; everything in it had a function or didn't exist, which was a real shame since the room was massive. The lack of decor made it feel empty. How did Caden stand it in here? But no matter. She'd be changing things up very soon. The small inventory done, Riva began searching. No corner of the room was exempt; she threw open every drawer, looked under the desk and the nightstand, opened every cabinet and searched for false backs in case of secret compartments. What are you hiding, Caden Praetorium? Clothes were tossed out of the closet, the sheets of the bed thoroughly patted down for anything out of the ordinary. She'd be throwing most of these things out anyway. As she searched she made a list of things to buy or bring over from her old room. Paintings, a bigger mirror, a better bed-spread, some flowers, more inviting curtains. Yes, that should brighten the place up quite a bit. Yet an hour later, Riva had nothing to show for her efforts; not one piece of odd or incriminating evidence to hold over his head. The Raveness slumped beside the bookshelf, arms folded sourly, thoroughly annoyed. If she was going to continue being Caden’s superior, she’d have to have something over him. Eventually she’d use a tongue-loosening serum on him to try and find out what she could from his own lips, but the unique opportunity to search a subject’s living place had been too good to resist. Too good to resist, perhaps, but apparently not worth it. He didn’t even have anything worth reading! Just old but untouched tomes on strategy and war-making. Stars, this was going to be a long marriage. The moment Ivian was assassinated and replaced - for every Mendaharian monarch eventually found their end, that much she was fully certain of - she’d waste no time in slipping something deadly in the man’s tea. She rolled her eyes, resisting a shudder at the day’s earlier events. It was Ivian whose death should be at the top of her list. She hated him, she hated him more than anything. What was he playing at? So willing to throw her life away, yet insistent upon using her as a pawn in his political games by marrying her off. He didn’t respect her and that was dangerous for both of them. Revenge would come eventually and when it did, oh it would be sweet. Every time she recalled being dragged out of her seat and forced down, she wanted to scream, to strap Ivian to her table in the dungeons and watch him beg for mercy. A growl built in her throat and she only realized she was clenching her fists when her nails drew blood. But being so angry was tiring. Her eyelids were already growing heavy, although the hour was not yet very late, particularly not for her and her nocturnal habits. Well, whatever. There was no time like the present to try out Caden’s massive bed. But, figuring she may as well look for notations in his books, she selected a tome on the end of the shelf to look through before dressing down to her chemise and sitting herself down on the surprisingly-soft mattress. It didn’t take very long for her to get comfortable. The whole room was miles better than Riva’s old surroundings and she found she quite liked it. If Caden wanted his room back, he’d have a devil of a time trying to get her out of here. She settled into the fluffy pillows, a thick blanket wrapped around her, and began reading the title-less text. The first sentence was particularly eye-catching: My name is Acalia Praetorium. Riva shut the book, grinning at her luck. So, our good General had a previous wife. Utterly fascinating. The Raveness flipped through the pages with her thumb eagerly. Just as she’d worried, the end of the book - or rather, it appeared, journal - was splattered with blood. Killed her, didn’t you, Praetorium? Riva sighed. She’d make sure she didn’t meet the same fate; one couldn’t stay in her position and live as long as she had without facing a handful of skilled assassins. But perhaps she could learn a thing or two from reading her predecessor’s words….

We just have to remember that when he says "exciting and cool announcements" he means for him. Sigh...

So I have been thinking about what it is that Taravangian saw in his deal that he thought could be a loophole he could take advantage of. I have heard several people talk about the "child champion" as a possibility among others and I think we're not thinking deep enough. I keep going back to the bargaining scene between Dalinar and Odium and how breaking the contract would put Odium within Dalinar's power and vice versa. Then I go back to Taravangian's deal with Odium at the end of Oathbringer and how he specifies the spirit of the deal is what is binding not the wording (although I am sure it plays a role). Then I think about Brandon's promise at the end of the book, how Kal and Szeth are to fly to Shinovar and Kal is to bring Ishar back to help Dalinar with his bondsmith powers and Ishar says he can repair the Oathpact. I think if they succeed at such a task (repairing the Oathpact) that would be Dalinar reneging on his end of the bargain to have a contest of champions in 10 days time because it would prevent Odium from being able to send a champion to fight on his behalf. Therefore his champion was not unmolested on his journey to Urithiru. This would result in Odium being freed, because Dalinar would be within Odium's power. What do you guys think? Am I crazy or does this argument hold water?

Have discovered an appreciation of metal. Specifically, covers of songs that weren't originally metal. Oh yeah, and Wellerman in different languages.

Brandon has said that Kaladin is the sticking point there; Shallan and Adolin would be all for it but Kaladin wouldn’t be.

Status: Miserable. I got my second Covid shot yesterday and have been feverish, dizzy, exhausted, and weak to the point of not being able to walk up the stairs since last night. So.... whooooooo

I think this checks out. Metal acts as a key for Allomancers to access Preservation's Investiture. Without Allomancy in your Spiritweb, you can't access that Investiture but you should still be able to use the metal to filter other Investiture that you do have access to. An element's atomic structure absorbs and reflects different wavelengths of light, the light can be used to identify those atoms & molecules. With metals whose structures are used as filters for Investiture, maybe they could do the same with Light, and Investiture in general. This is interesting because this suggests reactivity between matter, energy & Investiture. Which might mean that other chemically mundane substances that may not be Allomantically viable might react to Investiture in certain ways.

What is this? A third status update in a row from Chinkoln? Yes, but unless something dramatic happens, it should be the last for a while. My ankle is a little complicated. There was massive swelling, and though it subsided over night, it was still very swollen in the morning. I went and got my 2nd vaccine, then went to the doctor. 95% of the reason it hurts and is swollen is because I sprained/twisted (same thing) it REALLY bad. My ligaments are in TERRIBLE condition. That leads into the other 5%. The ligaments are so stretched, that one of them actually pulled a chip of bone off of my ankle. That is called an avulsion fracture. 95% of my ankle pain is sprained, and 5% is from a fracture. I’m going back next week for someone from ortho to take a look at it. Until then, I have to wear a huge leg brace, everyday. I can’t do gymnastics for at least a month, probably more. I should write a biography one day, I could probably make it pretty interesting.

I know I have done a lot of status updates recently, but too bad! 1. I have 2,500 rep! I am Most Ancient! I average about 2.74 rep per post. That’s pretty good. 2. There was a church campout. My dad and some siblings arrived there, and we helped some people set up tents(we didn’t set up ours because we weren’t planning to stay the night). Multiple people had brought frisbees (all the youth love frisbees). We started playing a game, Moss. I went to catch it, and I tripped. I fell, heard a loud pop/crack, and I couldn’t walk anymore. I am getting it X-rayed tomorrow, but the swelling made my ankle more than twice the size it normally is, so that isn’t good. Based on the swelling alone (the majority of people there were either Eagle Scouts or very advanced Boy Scouts) it is either broken, twisted, or sprained. 3. I’m going to do another status update tomorrow about the official, medical conclusion on my ankle!

Is that what happened to Kelsier? A cat went and scratched him up, so they made up that (w)hole story about the Survivor?

Please no, oh that image is painful to see.

My Spanish teacher sent us an email marked "IMPORTANT!!! END OF YEAR ADVICE!!! PLEASE READ!!" This link was there https://www.thisworldthesedays.com/last-day-of-spanish-class-important-1.html I really liked what was here, and I suggest you click the link to gain the same wisdom that I did. Here is my take on this, please don't open until you have read the original for yourself

It's exciting to post my own topic for the first time! Something I’ve wondered about for a while now is how Helaran appeared on the battlefield from behind Amaram’s lines. It’s been theorized for a while now that Helaran was a Surgebinder. Primarily, this is because of a quick line from Taravangian discussing Shallan as a Surgebinder. Taravangian clearly believes that Helaran has some Surgebinding capability. But he’s absolutely startled by the account of an Alethi bridgeman spontaneously developing Surgebinding on his own. What did he think Jasnah, Shallan, and Helaran were up to, then? Shallan is at the Shattered Plains, but though he suspects her of Surgebinding, she doesn’t apparently warrant activating their agents. He breezes right past her miraculous survival. He doesn't fret about her coming into contact with Szeth at all. But that makes sense if Taravangian knows that the Honorblades are no longer in the Shin's possession, and haven't been for years. He may be assuming Shallan's Surgebinding ability, whatever it is, is granted by a Blade that she was trained to use. In RoW, Szeth learns that his father, who had keeping of the Bondsmith Honorblade is dead, and that Ishar took back his Honorblade at some point after Szeth’s banishment. Taravangian reveals that he knew Szeth’s father Neturo was dead prior to this revelation. My guess is that Ishar recovered his Honorblade about seven years before it’s spotted in RoW. This would coincide with him coming into power in Tukar. Nale seems to have been in contact with Ishar seven years ago, the same year that Gavilar and Shallan Davar’s mother were both killed. Did Nale's concerns, perhaps prompted by his conversations with Gavilar and Venli, influence Ishar's decision to take back his Honorblade? That’s a little bit out of the scope of what I’m thinking but pretty interesting. What I'm suggesting is that Ishar may have also taken custody of the other Honorblades as well. Helaran returns home with his new Shardblade about six and a half years ago, from the current position in the timeline. The descriptions given to this Shardblade closely resemble the Lightweaver Honorblade, which is something I never noticed until I looked at the art for the Honorblades. That gemstone in the pommel is the only thing that doesn’t seem to fit that description. How hard is it to move and set gemstones on a Shardblade? It can be done to regular Shardblades, though I don’t know if that necessarily proves anything. Sunraiser, for example, bears a pretty strong resemblance to the Bondsmith Honorblade, in my opinion. Possibly Helaran’s blade is a dead spren in a form that strongly resembles the Lightweaver Honorblade. But with the Lightweaver Honorblade, Helaran’s miraculous appearance makes more sense. He’d have used a Lightweaving to hide the fact that he was a Shardbearer mounted on a horse in the middle of an enemy army. It also might explain something that has meshed poorly for me with Helaran's being a Skybreaker acolyte, which was specifically his weird glowing effect. Shallan or the things she holds sometimes seem to glow, particularly when it’s implied that she’s using the Spiritual form of her Transformation surge. Tien’s implied bond to a Cryptic also uses the symbolism of things glowing or becoming brighter. To me this is more evidence that Helaran had some Surgebinding ability in that direction. Shallan mentions that there is no history attached to Amaram/Helaran’s Shardblade, in a world where every Shardblade known is recorded and named. It’s not out of the question that Nale would have access to an unknown Shardblade, but if he’s in contact with Ishar and seriously concerned by an oncoming Desolation, he might have access to another Honorblade and the motivation to arm someone who "impressed him" with it. Taravangian therefore might be working under the assumption that the same source (Nale) that gave Helaran his Honorblade might be supplying Shallan. This means that Amaram would have had possession of the Lightweaver Honorblade. If he perceived it as an ordinary Shardblade, perhaps he simply never noticed he was holding an Honorblade. I think this would be pretty deeply ironic for the villain who lies to himself about why he does what he does and truly believes his own lies to have the Lightweaver Honorblade. Someone who would have known, Restares/Kalak, seemed mostly to be in contact with Amaram via spanreed from afar. I doubt he’d share that information with Amaram, who I think he must have been manipulating--but it’s impossible to say. Other people who would recognize the Lightweaver Honorblade would be Szeth, Dalinar, Taln, and Ash. Szeth, Taln, and Ash don’t ever seem to witness Amaram wielding the Blade in combat that I can find, although all three are present at the Battle of Thaylen Field. Ash spends her time looking after Taln, and never mentions seeing her own Honorblade or Amaram. Szeth, likewise, spends a lot of his time occupied by other concerns, and never mentions seeing the Lightweaver Honorblade or Amaram that I can find in the text. It’s either not the one, or they miraculously miss it every time. Dalinar also saw both Helaran/Amaram’s Shardblade, when he confronted Amaram near the end of WoR, and the Honorblades in his visions of Aharietiam. Dalinar also pitched the idea of Shallan doing studies of the Honorblades seen in the vision. Dalinar has published written accounts of the visions, as I recall, but no mention is made of drawings. Quickly reading through the rest of the part, it's not clear to me if Shallan ever gets around to doing that. However, when Dalinar sees Ishar’s Honorblade, he doesn’t have the same recognition he does for Jezrien’s Blade, which is the most familiar to him; this could be a continuity error, or maybe indicative of something else. And during the battle, when Dalinar does the tally of people with him, Amaram wields Oathbringer alone. As far as I can tell, Amaram doesn’t use Helaran’s Blade until he fights Kaladin. Finally, there is the matter of Honorblades' behavior. When Taln drops his Honorblade, it doesn't vanish. This is meant to be a big clue as to its nature. Amaram drops Helaran's Blade twice in his fight with Kaladin, and it vanishes. Szeth also drops Jezrien's Blade in the fight with Gavilar, and the “bond” so to speak doesn’t appear to be broken. Szeth is able to resummon the Honorblade after being parted from it. No mention is made of where it ended up or if it vanished as he dropped it. My only explanation for this is that perception could be at work here. Szeth believes that the Honorblade should take ten heartbeats to summon, and it does. Perhaps Amaram likewise believes that a Shardblade should vanish when it is dropped, and so as it leaves his hand, it vanishes. Ishar demonstrates that the Honorblade, like a living Shardblade, can wink out of existence for a second and return in a flash. To summarize: I think it’s possible that Helaran was given the Lightweaver Honorblade by Nale, who gained access to it when Ishar reclaimed his own Honorblade. It’s not clear to me why he would do that, although Mraize says that Helaran was recruited with “displays of power” and that Helaran impressed Nale. Could Nale have shown Helaran how it would be possible to Surgebind without bonding a Cryptic? Then Helaran uses it to position himself behind Amaram’s lines. Maybe as an enemy combatant on the field of war, the kill is “legal?” This is still a mystery to me. Helaran is then killed by Kaladin. Eventually the Honorblade ends up with Amaram, who is completely ignorant of what it really is, and somehow it conveniently hopscotches anyone who could identify it. The Blades are awarded to then Rock, who "insists that they cannot be used" according to his daughter. They "gather dust in their box" until he returns to the Horneater Peaks. I find this idea extremely interesting, but a bit tenuous! I've done my best to cover all the things I can think of on my own, for and against. I specifically like Helaran's Shardblade being the Lightweaver Honorblade for the thematic connection to Amaram's lies, and because it's a simple, elegant explanation for the things about Helaran that don't quite make sense otherwise. But it seems to rely on those who could see it for what it is to simply not be around, for certain lapses of curiosity, and for Nale to be totally okay with losing an Honorblade. The gemstone is also located in the wrong place according to the art, which I am not 100% is really usable as evidence, and when it gets dropped, it vanishes ... Despite all this, I still thought it would be a fun theory to share.

In the scene with Hoid, Harmony and Wax in Alloy of Law, Harmony says something interesting to Wax. He's talking about the way humanity has progressed on Scadrial since his Ascension. “You don’t explore, Harmony continued, ignoring Wax’s confusion. Why would you? You have everything you want here. You’ve barely progressed technologically from what I gave you in the books. Yet others, who were nearly destroyed …” Could the "others, who were nearly destroyed" be a reference to mankind on Roshar? People that were nearly destroyed by Desolations, and then built up technology and civilization for thousands of years afterwards? Even if this is the case, it's really not much at all, but I thought it was an interesting idea.

Overall: I like the adventure in the other plane and what Ori learns there. Meeting the other At- and learning a little about how the planes exist next to each other was really fascinating (I like delving into the ideas surrounding different planes of existence, so that whole aspect is right up my alley) , and I'm looking forward to seeing how things continue to go forward from there. I do agree with @RedBlue's thoughts that the last section after she gets back to this plane feels a little out of place. I get why it ends with Em- showing up, since that’s way things don't go like they were supposed to. But I’m not sure what to make of the stretch that comes in between when she gets back and when B tells her the news. Pg 2: “N very rarely get to be in control.” Oof. “horrible, curled tickling” Blech. Also, it seems like curled is either a typo or a wrong word? Not sure what’s supposed to be there. “DISSLV?” Hah. But also. Blech. Pg 3: What’s going on here is a little hard to follow. I get the rough idea of the fungi adjusting things and her telepathy abilities shifting, but the actual details of noticing sound changes and hearing other conversations and trying to talk to Y are all a little confusing. Pg 5: “More as an emotional touchstone…” I don’t think the word “more” is needed here. Or maybe even “more as”. At the moment, it’s making me expect a “than” to complete the thought, which is messing up my perception of sentence/thought breaks. “Then she’d face her demons…friend-now-god” All in a day’s work. Her dialogue here certainly fits the excitable tourist stereotype, but for some reason I find it hard to see Or being convincingly bubbly. Maybe just because most of the time we’ve seen her she’s either been in pretty dire circumstances or struggling to process her world falling apart. Suddenly being forced to act a part that doesn’t really meld with her personality (or what we’ve seen of it) seems like it wouldn’t go that smoothly. I do like the “best ‘meeting the High Priest’ smile” line a lot, though. Pg 6: “lead to curtained doors” -> led So we’re in the “lobby” now? I think it might be helpful to have that noted since we don't have a clear understanding of how this portal hopping goes at this point. Pg 7: On one hand, I really like the room being double booked. Specifically for a hatching party. It made me chuckle. But it makes me wonder what exactly this lobby is for and why our mystery meeting (did we get any information on what it’s about? Or did Y neglect to mention that?) would end up being held in the same facility as a hatching party. Is it just a sort of mid-plane meeting center to keep people from having to cross planes entirely to get together for discussions/parties/meetings? Not having an idea of what Or thinks she’s trying to do is making it hard to get oriented here, and I think we could use a few more cues as we go along to absorb things more easily. Pg 8: As a general note, I really enjoy how often your characters are thrown into frustrations with technology. I feel like my (admittedly limited) perception of sci-fi is lots of fancy futuristic tech that is intuitive and always works smoothly. Answering machine holograms misunderstanding directions and user interfaces that refuse to cooperate generally feel far more feasible to me. That being said, after Or tries to get out of there, it takes a full page of fighting with the computer to actually do so. It might be possible to trim some of that back without losing too much of the computer-frustration humor. Pg 9: “Smell of campfire” I’m not sure what this is supposed to mean. The use of “Step one”, “Step two”, and so on really confused me because I immediately assumed we were back on-plan and doing whatever it is she was supposed to do somehow. It wasn’t until the next page that I did a double-take and had to go back to read it properly. Once I’d gotten my brain aimed in the right direction, I really liked the transition from lobby room to N, though. Especially getting to “Step five. Nothing changed.” As an ominous “well. Looks like we’re stuck here now” Pg 13: “the wrench you dropped yesterday.” This sentence strikes as too specific to feel like natural conversation. What was she doing with a wrench out…wherever she is? Pg 14: We spend a lot of this page following her spying on the birds. Does she know that this is the sort of information Y has her looking for? Pg 15: “I went through the wrong door.” You could say that again. Pg 16: “Gave up your lead position on the Guard to for a stay of execution” something in the wording there is off, but I’m not sure what it’s supposed to say. “…promised me you would never...” Ouch. Still more time spent listening in on the birds than seems necessary. Especially when the conversation with At is pretty intense and she should probably be paying attention to her. Pg 20: Question about naming conventions: On page 18, At asks “Does your At- believe in Ard-“ so she refers to herself that way as if she expects it to be normal for Ori. She refers to Ori as “Four”. She obviously doesn’t want to be referred to as “Exile”, but seems to get angry on page 20 when Ori mentions “My At-…” and asks if At- let her call her by her child name. I’m not entirely sure what is going on here. What is normal by N naming standards and what would be more like a pet name (since At calls her “Four” and not “Ori” when she’s running over). If Ori is referring to At as “My At-“ wouldn’t that be proof enough that she’s used to calling her that? Is there some third name that this At- would expect Ori to use to refer to At-? “And- trees like the N…” isn’t this something we know already? Not about the fungi, but the first sentence? Pg 21-24: The shift from At shouting at her to being told she has a discount at all of the gift shops is a weird, sudden shift. Especially when she doesn’t really process any of what just happened. She mentions that Y would be thrilled but that she no longer cares. But how much did she care in the first place other than what revolved around it being a paying job. There’s a vague feeling that she’s exhausted and overwhelmed, but it’s hard to say what exactly is the main source of that. The birds’ plotting? The experience of going plane jumping in general? The fact that she and At have counterparts on the other plane? The fact that they’re married there? The way the timelines worked out differently? The fact that At was angry at her for replacing the Ori that existed there for however long? I don’t have a good concept of what thoughts or emotions she’s pulling away from the experience except that she’s tired and wants to leave with B-. And if that’s all she cares about, it feels like she’s ignoring or running away from a lot of things. I feel like it's not supposed to come across as “A bunch of stuff happened. I’m tired. Lets get out of here.” But I don’t have a better sense of what aspects of the experience are sticking with her.

Roshar is the only known place in the Cosmere where there's more Hoid lover than Hoid haters^^ Oof

I love that! It is so meta and hilarious. Kelsier is one of my favorite characters and Moraine is pretty good too. That comic also makes so much more sense now. It was good before but now it’s even better.

Yeah, TUO at this point you've promised reads and suspicions. Anything other than RP for us? I might go there, but first... @DrakeMarshall, what do you think we should do about Araris?

RoW made one thing really clear. You can use Surges through your own Shard Plate. Jasnah using Soulcasting in battle leaves no reasonable doubt about that. Yet we are also sure that you cannot use Arcane Arts through an opponent's Plate. What is the difference? I can see no other good candidate but Identity. A Windrunner can lash himself even when full of Stormlight, but not his Blade. So we think that aluminium would block all Arcane Arts. I doubt that, as it is not fully inert. It has functions in the Metallic Arts. Functions that are connected to Identity. So I propose that aluminium does not block Investiture. It filters it by Identity. This thesis is falsifiable. I predict that a Rioter/Soother + aluminium Ferring can use emotional allomancy through a sheet of aluminium filled with his own Identity.

you aren't from America are you? And it's the "National Socialist German Workers Party" for future referance

I'm late, but I have notes! Similar thoughts to the others. It would help to have a more consistent throughline with this chapter in terms of what they think about the date. The first few pages are not very engaging to me, but I am interested in N and W together. Two big issues for me are 1) the family here seems very distant from each other and very awkward around each other. Before they've been described as close, or at least W has good moments with them. 2) I don't see any way W doesn't know about her mom's sickness. In fact, I was blindsided because I just assumed she already knew. Having the parents keep that from her seems really stupid, especially from two scientists. It also looks like now W is not going to the prom with N? I was really looking forward to that, so I'm wondering what will happen next. pg 2: The conversation about being able to but new stuff is a bit strange. Like, the mother and W are sort of apologetic about even having the conversation? I'm not sure it adds much. pg 2: "Besides, watching his face light up..." --Didn't N say he was bringing sweets anyway? I'm not sure why she's surprised. --Also, baklava are usually not that big, so trying to cut or break it in half seems a little silly. pg 3: I thought this section was going somewhere else. It's just the reception of the pastries and that's it. Is there something else to further the story here? pg 4: "I hope N can at least play along" --has he given any indication of not validating her appearance? I know teenagers any everything, but this seems not to have a cause. pg 5: "I have some choice words for his mom" --but she doesn't know what baklava or a bear claw is? pg 6: All this negotiating about how everyone will position themselves around N and W is a bit awkward and uncomfortable to me. It seems very "no you go first" in its tone and also seems formal and standoffish, like these people are less a family and more individuals that happen to live in the same place. Also, it takes away from the tension of the first date. pg 7: and then there's almost a philosophical discussion about whether food, alcohol, or boys are better? This is kind of strange and off topic. pg 7: "You had better not say whatever mascot glitter companies use" --not sure what this means. pg 9: "Like I said, I’m not assuming you’ll want a relationship after this." --wait, I thought they were going to prom together now? The back and forth with this chapter is a bit of whiplash. pg 10: The discussion of who will pay for the meal is also sort of awkward. pg 11: "I’m only able to reach her that deeply once or twice a year at most" --I think this is what's hitting me as off in this chapter. Everyone except N seems so disconnected from each other. pg 13: "the answer to the questions about my mom’s illness..." --The part about N smelling...cancer, I suppose...is cool but now I'm lost on what's going on. W knows that her mom is sick...does she not know with what? I don't understand what's being hidden. pg 14: "you’re already going through radiation therapy" --oh, wait, she doesn't know that? How? Like, I can tell that just by the description of the mother. pg 15: Very confused at the end of this chapter. I thought W already knew what was going on with her mom. I was also looking forward to N and W actually doing some dating, but the whole chapter is sort of a weird dance around a date, without actually having one.

See, if iron-feruchemy was in any way consistent with how it messes with physics, that would be easier to answer. Unfortunately, its really not. Since we know momentum is conserved, you'd actually lose energy by tapping just before you hit the door, as you'd slow down quite a bit when you tapped. Theoretically if tapping gives you the strength to move your tapped weight around as if it was your normal weight Wax really should have super strength while tapping, which we know he doesn't, but it does at least mean you should be able to sprint normally. In which case, charging at the door while tapping, lets say up to twice your normal weight, you should have twice the normal energy, and thus that would be the better option. But at the same time, the lack of an increase in durability means rather than crashing through it, your more likely to just splat against it. As for the last question, kind of. The main reason it would have more of an effect in the air is because there's no way for a normal person to apply force in the air that would help them maintain a constant speed like you could on the ground. Crashers kind of throw that off because they can push off metal while still in the air, which makes it more similar to them to being on the ground.

Is it weird that I have more Days Won than I have followers?

Okay, I've been sitting on this for almost a week, and I need to get it out. Last week, I woke up in a cold sweat after a nightmare. This itself is rare because I rarely dream, and it's even more rare that I have nightmares. What was my nightmare, you ask? Take those creatures from A Quiet Place. I haven't seen the movie, but I've heard a lot about it and seen a few clips. Now, combine those with the character design of Venom, the symbiote. Again, haven't seen it, I just saw some promos. Finally, make the whole thing look like a six-foot-tall Gollum from Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings. Got that nice and meshed into your brain matter? Let's keep going. This creature that my subconscious came up with can sense motion, and has super speed. The only way to avoid it is to be dead silent and not move a muscle. It can't see you unless you move and make noise. My dream started out with me roaming through a sunny, mountain forest. And it ended with me frozen in place, dead silent, as a motion-sensing Vollum creature slunk around me, waiting for me to move so it could kill me. And then I woke up. Someone comfort me?

The otter has returned!

I did not mean in any way that it was less, I am really sorry if I expressed myself badly. If I felt dissappointed (although that is still too strong of a word for it) is because of what expected her to be, not because one thing or another is worse o better than the other. I also celebrate ace visibility in a book, specially one as popular as ROW. I do not like their relationship because I did not feel like she had romantic feelings towards Hoid, she openly doesn't even trust him, I just don't buy the relationship, but that is another matter

Definitely good to keep in mind, thanks. I know I definitely did not to mean to imply her canon ace orientation was in any way less than a wlw reading - sorry if it came across that way. For the record I think ace Jasnah is great, like the OP said. I just also get the disappointment from people after she was revealed to be heteroromantic I guess. To your first point, speaking as someone who did not figure out his sexuality until adulthood despite living in a very accepting household with an accepting circle of friends, while Alethi society might be less overtly prejudiced, I think that the strict gender roles in Alethi culture would create implicit or subversive prejudices for same sex couples, and a storyline about a closeted individual definitely would still work, especially for a public figure in the ruling family. People stay in the closet (even from themselves) for lots of reasons. Its not just about protection from overt Homophobia.

I think that readings of Jasnah's sexuality are somewhat complicated by Brandon's annotation on the subject. I think that there is definitely textual evidence which supports a reading of her as a lesbian. Its a head canon I really like. I think she's a great character for queer women to identify with. That being said, I hope people don't get their hopes up too much about her coming out now that Brandon has explicitly stated she's asexual and hetero-romantic. Its definitely okay to think about what might have been, and discuss a wlw Jasnah reading, so long as people are managing their expectations, in light of Brandon's comments. I definitely agree that there is a lot about Jasnah that reads as having a complicated interior life, so I can definitely see her sorting through her orientation and how she interacts with gender internally despite her external confidence. I have a similar view of Adolin - so much of his expression of his heterosexuality is performative that I've often related his experience to my own before I realized I was gay. I know that's not the direction Brandon seems to be taking with the character, but there's a lot there imo.

This is put in a spoiler because it is a gif. It also happens to be a spoiler.

I love how this went from Skyward memes to Flex Tape memes

the one who give the posion to hrathen?

Again, I searched the forums, but didn't see this topic specifically unless it was commented on in the body of other threads. In WoR epilogue when Wit is talking to the "ugly lizard-crab-thing" he states: Then he goes on to have a very interesting conversation with the ugly lizard-crab-thing about art which I suspect is more important than I can fathom at the moment BUT, it made me wonder about the blind man story that he had with Shallan earlier on. Does this statement mean that he's also the blind man in THAT story? It's from the end of chapter 45: There's more to that story, but I didn't want to type it all out. These quotes/points may have been brought up in another forum or thread specific to Wit/Hoid or maybe the Cosmere, but thought I'd bring it up here since these passages are WoR specific. Questions: 1. I think it's safe to assume that Wit is one of the blind men in the story that he tells Shallan. Any ideas which one? 2. Do we know who the blind men are?? I doubt it, but thought I'd ask since I have absolutely no idea. I LOVE the cosmere, but it hurts my brain most of the time thinking about it! 3. When he references "that other statement" is he talking about the "contemplating the beauty of nature." part? If so, any ideas why that statement is so important? He makes a point to italicize very stating that it's a very clever statement. I'm not sure why that would be. Unless he saying that it's clever because that's what he's doing at that very moment?? 4. If he's spiritually bind, does that mean he can access/see/interact with the cognitive realm and physical realm, but NOT the spiritual realm? Or does he just not believe in spirituality anymore??

I was flipping through WoR earlier and came across another parallel that I think is worth considering here. Compare Chapter 45... with Interlude 10... (Also, bearing in mind that Urithiru is completely flat on the east side, making it essentially an enormous cliff.) There's a marked similarity between these two quotes, from the world's tallest tower/cliff to the contemplation to the "end." Too many for me to believe that these two quotes are unrelated. Now, I'm not saying that Szeth is the other blind mand in Hoid's story (he does sound a lot like the disillusioned blind man, but I don't know when or why he would have had a conversation with Hoid.) I do think Urithiru is significant. Could Hoid have had a conversation with someone atop Urithiru at some point? It's been abandoned for ages, aside from Szeth's occasional visits. I doubt anyone else could have reached it, except perhaps Nalan/whichever Herald still has his/her Honorblade (assuming it grants the Surge of Gravitation or Transportation, or functions enough like a living Shardblade to operate the Oathgates.) So perhaps the conversation happened a long time ago. Say, in a previous Desolation? That would certainly qualify as "the end of an era," and could explain the part about "overlooking the land and seeing nothing." There wouldn't be much left to see after a Desolation. As to who the other blind man might be, my only guess is Nohadon. Mostly because he's this mysterious figure of legend living in eventful times. Seems like the kind of person Hoid would seek out for a conversation or two.