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  1. Hi there. it's been a while. Picking up where we left off (which in other words means random pointless updates from Hen), I'm "quitting" sugar. Cooooooold turkey. It's hard. but anyway, I looked at a bar of soap tody and thought "Mmmmm That looks yummy" And this has been updates from Hen.
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  2. Okay, okay, I guess I may as well stick with the trend of lining out what I did at the meet ups... However. I was out west for more than two weeks, so I'm not going to outline one week, but rather the highlight days of my vacation. June 30th - I wake up at 3 AM to drive to the Cedar Rapids airport and fly out to Utah. We arrive there at 10 AM local time and my aunt has prepared for us a lovely lasagna. July 1st - Despite the lovely bed at my uncle's house, I can't sleep. I wake up perhaps 4 times in the night and finally get out of bed around 6 AM. Passing the time includes doing yoga, making breakfast, watching minecraft videos against my will with my much younger cousin, and doing more yoga. Finally after stomach-ache inducing waiting, @xinoehp512 arrives at 10 AM. We hug, we exchange gifts (I will wear that bracelet forever) we make brownies, we draw together, we watch a show, and then for dinner, I get to meet all his wonderful, Sanderson-loving siblings. It was a lovely meeting, but not quite the meeting I'd expected... July 5th - We pick up Xino at 10:30 AM to go meet the Water Sisters. My little sister screams in the car and though she causes me much embarrassment, Xino doesn't seem too bothered. We take the master worldbuilder to a little place called Gardener Village; a collection of cute, local shops. There we wait for the trio of sisters. @Vapor buys three small jars of jam at a store where I buy perfume, and @Condensation and Xino buy fudge. I also buy a phoenix ring which has come to be one of my iconic pieces of jewelry. After having lunch at my grandmother's house and playing some games over ice cream and taffy, @Mist drives us to my uncle's to watch my favorite movie which the water sisters have not seen; Inception. The day ends after playing some cutthroat games of Dalmoti (oof) and discussing how one might die from salt intake. July 8th - After driving the entire day on the 7th, I arrive at @The Ward's Guard's humble abode on my 16th birthday around 9:30 AM. It's practically love at first sight and over the course of that most perfect day, we only fall deeper for each other. There are many much cuddles, cake baking requiring supreme spatula skillz, flower gardens, chocolate and kisses, a Ghibli movie, and shared lasagna at an Italian restaurant. Leaving him behind felt like leaving part of my soul, but he held me when I cried and I swear I can still feel him holding me in spirit. We've only seen each other for a day, but I think we'll be forever. July 11th - On this Lazy Sunday, I was dropped off at the Water Sister's around 8:00 AM and we went to church at 9:00. Sacrament meeting triggered a lot of anxiety for me, but the moment I saw @Channelknight Fadran, I lit up and was joyous for the rest of the day. Drawing the Masquerade crew together was a riot, I loved the cuddle train, and the cookies were super fun to make. Though Fadran had to go in the middle of Annie, we had the most wonderful day together and I'm so glad I got to stay past the original estimate of 3:00. July 14th and 15th - By now, you've probably read what happened these two days; the meet ups on BYU campus. I was only able to attend dinner on the 14th because of @DancingQueen who so graciously picked me up from the water sisters. We had a blast waiting in line and I will always think back and laugh at @Doomstick offering himself as a selfie stick. I think @Tesh worded it well when she said it didn't feel like we were meeting for the first time. I felt like I knew everyone there so well already (except for @Tani - it was fabulous to meet you) and sitting all together was just a meet up of old friends separated too long by distance. @FriarFritz looked gorgeous, @AonEne was wonderful, and I could only wish that more people were there with us. (looking at you @Jaywalk and @BringerofShadows and @Butt Ad Venture) Thank you all so much for the gifts and suffering through me yelling about the album and just for being my friend these last two and a half years. I left this vacation a changed woman. The last year was ashy for me - as I expect it was for all of you - but these last few weeks have given me the hope I need to rise from them. My depression and anxiety will still be there, but the light at the end of the tunnel is brighter than ever. I love all of you guys so, so, so much and it was truly a pleasure to see all of you in person.
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  3. I do enjoy bouncing Hi @Tesh and @The Awakened Salad!
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  4. TL;DR at the bottom Most of you have probably read Faeiaoeadroeoeaoen's status update (and others which may have been posted by the time I write this), but I had some misadventures that he was not a part of. (Don't ask me why I'm writing this the way I am, it is probably due to the books I have read recently) 13th July, 2021: I make sure all tiny hats, wooden rings, glass mushrooms, and candied orange peels are packed, along with all else I need (and much that I don't) before I leave my house with my mother (the cat is not amused). We drive for three hours before having to stop for the night, and when I sleep, I am still unsure about what would be happening and whom I would meet the next day. 14th July, 2021: More driving, though urgency has increased, as word has come that I would be meeting with @Tesh, @Channelknight Fadran, @Zephrun's Imperium, @DancingQueen, @AonEne, @FriarFritz, and @Tani (somewhat unexpectedly, I might add (see Faeiadroeoan's update for context)) at the time I expected to reach my hotel. Though I drive for a few hours, the majority of the driving is done by my wonderful mother, both for speed, and so we can continue listening to The Night Circus, the audiobook we had started the day before (both of these reasons boil down to the fact that my mother, shocker of all shockers, has more driving experience than me). I arrive late, though earlier than some (whom I shall not name here), and we have a great time, though Tessie, Tani and Faeiadroeoan have to leave early. The rest of us stay and talk until a time that would have been called night in any other season. 15th July, 2021: A second meeting is scheduled at lunch, this time including @Mist, @Vapor, and Shortie (@Condensation), though our resident member of an unknown royal family sadly can not make it. Once again, the meeting lasts until after those with fuller schedules must leave, though not as long as last time. I play a game with my mother to pass the rest of the day. Unknown to me, this is the last time I will see the Knight of Many Vowels and the Star for some time, and proper goodbyes are not given. 16th July, 2021: Nothing is scheduled until the evening, so my mother and I escape to a slightly cooler place. Once the meeting time comes around, I join Fritz and Ene and we visit the most peculiar store. It sells only soda, and most of that is root beer. I buy three root beer-adjacent sodas (one of which is the only bottle of its kind in the entire store, making it slightly dubious, though I am assured that it is safe). Shortie and her sisters join us once we return to the meeting place, and all plans for movie night are thrown out the window, as we decide to talk instead. I am ripped away from the gathering too soon, though when I get to my hotel room, I am quite tired. I do not give proper goodbyes. 17th July, 2021: I wake up early to say goodbye to Tesh, Channie, and Tani, though I miss Channie because I underestimated the walk time. Once more, nothing is scheduled until the evening, so my mother and I escape the heat by going up once again. Once it is time, we head to Drammie's production of Newsies, which is fabulous. A proper goodbye is given, and my time with those whom I have shared my existence with for the past 1-3 years draws to a close. We do not listen to our book in the car on the way to our hotel, as we want to keep the memory of the show alive as long as possible. 18th July, 2021: More driving, we finish our book and start another. I arrive home tired and stiff from the car, yet giddy from meeting those whom I know so well for the first time. TL;DR: Connie is short. I saw the people mentioned above (my excitement can be measured by the amount of text) I got dubious spruce beer I saw Queen's production of Newsies (which was awesome) Y'all should read The Night Circus
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  5. Okay so I'm gonna do this too. Ages ago (I'm not exactly sure when) Fadran messaged me and told me about this writing camp his mom had told him about, and said it'd be awesome if we both could go. And I ended up actually being able to go, which was really surprising, actually. So Fadran and I were going to meet up. We were also planning on meeting up with the Water Clan due to their proximity to the location of the camp. We waited for about three months (I think) and after a lot of stuff happened in my life (including an AP test and two family reunions) I headed to Utah. And I met Fadran on the twelfth. Everything from here has pretty much been explained. We met Tani the next day, and then the day after that we met up with Queen, Star, Stick, Fritz, and Ene. The day after that we saw Star, Stick, Fritz, Ene, Vapor, Mist, and Connie. People gave me rocks. (I love the rocks). We hung out. And then I really needed to run away. I didn't really get to say goodbye. On Saturday morning, while my ride home was struggling to find where I was, I got to say goodbye to Fadran, Tani, Stick, and the entire Water Clan. And that's about it. It easily was one of the best weeks of my life. I especially miss Fadran, as I had gotten used to seeing him every day and hanging out with him all day. On the drive home, Queen suggested that I listen to Jekyll and Hyde, and in true Tesh fashion, I've listened to it about six times in the last three days and it's really cool and y'all should check it out if you're into gothic horror musicals. (Murder, Murder is my current favorite song in it, followed by Confrontation. And i highly recommend watching Confrontation on YouTube because the acting is so cool.) I love each and every one of you that I saw more than I can even say, and I can't wait until we can meet again. Hopefully we can hang out for longer than an hour and a half next time. *hugs* Scud it I accidentally just touched my glasses. :l
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  6. Good weekend, all said and done. First things first, Brandon read the prologue to The Lost Metal: Not a huge Wayne fan, so I didn't find the chapter all that exciting. But as I was working on transcribing it, I remembered the recent Lost Metal Outline reveal. I couldn't help but notice that Wayne's Ma's story had three parts, and some of the descriptions of Jak felt a little more like Wax. So I'm wondering if that's some foreshadowing for the structure of the rest of the book. But let's get back to the beginning. On Friday, Isaac had the first signing, and I got him to personalize all of my Arcanum Unbounded star chart prints. I asked him to put a snarky Nazh comment on each one, complaining about every planet. He said they are non-canon, of course. Here's what he wrote and said for each: And then, during Brandon's signing right afterwards, I got him to add a new planet to my constellations print: He drew in the dot, and then wrote "Here there be Aethers!" He said he did not have a name he could canonized there, though. Isaac took a picture of the chart afterwards, so I believe this will be the canon location on future star charts. So I now have a very nice set of personalized cosmere space-stuff to go up on my office wall. I got in more questions in the signing line, and the line was actually pretty empty for a while (thanks to an art panel that Isaac was doing at the same time), so I got to slip in a few extras. They'll all be transcribed eventually, but here's the gist for now And those were all the questions I got in. I got a good haul on the opening day, so I let off the gas for Saturday. Brandon and Isaac each had another signing, and then in the evening Brandon scheduled a last-minute reading and Q&A. Everything there got recorded. (My recorder unfortunately ran out of batteries during the Q&A portion, but a lot of other people got it. It was great seeing everyone again who I saw again, and meeting everyone I wasn't seeing again. Until next time!
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  7. Oh, we're doing status updates! 1. we pick up Noam, who is v pretty and cool 2. we meet the water cycle, who are great, BEAT ME AT MONOPOLY?!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!???!?? and have cats 3. there was a root beer store somewhere in there 4. we go to lunch, get there late, are abandoned by the campers and are forced to sit among the decayspren in the graveyard of water bottles with the fabulous one, the tall one, the pretty top-hat-wearing one, and everyone drinks my water, I am told my autobiography will be named "I'm High On Laughter and a Single Gusher", and we decide to live in a caravan 5. more food with more people: Tesh is one of my platonic soulmates, Fadran is like literally an angel, Tani is super awesome, and I would sacrifice my soul to the water sisters. Also, DRAGONSTEEL, which I will be very careful with under pain of DEATH 6. everyone's chocolate melts, but worth 7. movie night that is not a movie night! our dog hates everyone. More root beer, I try to dissuade Stick and Fritz from building the Sharder Lair out of insulation foam, Stick Does Not Drink The Dubious Soda To My Disappointment, and we end the night with climbing all over concrete from the construction happening right outside the door with the water sisters 8. sleepy Ene keeps waking up late and it's a Problem, yell at me 9. the movie night that IS a movie night, featuring a chameleon, incest, a rattlesnake with a gun for a tail, a guy who is not a hallucination, and an unexpected amount of exploding water 9.5. chocolate-covered frozen raspberries = yum 10. the future. What will it bring? More meetups, hopefully, because I love you allllllllllllllllll Side Note: Fritz got sick (but is feeling a little better now), plz send floof and love
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  8. I guess I should probably rant about the best week of my life. Friday, July 9th. I'm incredibly hyped as we yeet everything into the trunk of a tiny car and hit the road. We drive for nine hours to get to Provo, Utah. Saturday, July 10th. BEST. DAY. EVER. I get to meet my Queen, @DancingQueen, and we hang out all hecking day. Or, well... a modest portion of it. I saw her Newsies production which was an absolute bop. We also may or may not have decided that we had true love that day. Sunday, July 11th. I go to chuch with the water clan (@Vapor and @Condensation, @Mist wasn't there) and @Zephrun's Imperium. I'll also have you know that I had the best Young Women's meeting of my life then. After that I hung out at the Clan's house for the whole day with them and Star. We got up to all kinds of shenanigans BUT MOSTLY CUDDLES. Monday, July 12th. It's the first day of the writing camp, and I MET MY @Tesh!! We became besties right off the bat and hung out. There was also this other kid who was pretty cool I thought. Tuesday, July 13th. It's day two and we find out that this other kid was secretly @Tani THE WHOLE TIME. So she joined our Sharder duo to make it a trio and bam, an eternal friendship was born! Wednesday, July 14th - Friday, July 23rd. I guess it'd probably be annoying if I listed everything amazing that happened (there was an awful lot) but here're some highlights: I met a bunch of Sharders on Wednesday and Thursday, including my Queen (again), the Clan (with Mist this time), Star (also again), @Doomstick (much tall), @AonEne (much intimidate), and @FriarFritz (much mullet). But that's THE LAST TIME I'LL SEE THEM FOR A LONG TIME which makes me sad There's this cool new author around that some of you may have heard of: Christian McKay Heidicker. He visited our camp and talked about writing and he was the funniest freaking guy ever. He was also super friendly and some of my friends and I kinda hung out with him later. Read his stuff! My gaggle of guys were the bestest crew I could've asked for that week. We were just a bunch of nerds at a writing camp and it was awesome. Our group name was "Mostly Men" (my suggestion), and it became a running joke throughout the week. I BUSTED 100K WORDS ON ICONAR COLLECTIVE!!! Saturday, July 24th. This was the last I saw of my group, the Sharders, and the best week of my life. That wasn't to say that the ride home wasn't eventful (our tire pressure warning light malfunctioned and a cop pulled us over for speeding), but it was certainly a bittersweet last few hours. I miss the place already. So... yeah. That's what happened. Don't die! ~ Fadran
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  9. We all think that Gavilar chose Aesudan to confide in for some manipulative or secretive reason, but could the truth be somewhat simpler? What if Gavilar was having an affair? What if all that he confided in Aesudan was their pillow-talk? Now mind you, I HATE this theory. I utterly LOATHE it. A different book series that I like did this, and it was an awful twist in my opinion. But it makes a weirdly appropriate amount of sense here, more-so than it could ever do in the other series. Aesudan may want to be the Queen, but so long as she's married to Elhokar that will happen in time. For now, she has the attention and "affection" (barf) of the real king. She also knows about Gavinor's dealings due to some pillow-talk by Gavilar (who needed someone to brag to), and uses his connections to become involved with some of the conspiracies after his death. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go try not to vomit and take, like, thirty showers... Other notes: I had a connected theory that Gavinor was Gavilar's son and not Elhokar's, but the timeline doesn't really add up. THANK ADONALSIUM IT DOESN'T ADD UP.
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  10. I will now announce my week in Utah it was just like every other week I went to work and was sad and bored and lonely the end
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  11. QF54: Day Four - Heart of Darkness Back in the days of the Manywar, before the Idrian royal family fled T’Telir for their highland exile, before Kalad the Usurper wrested control of the throne, the Pahn Unity stood against old Hanald. Over the course of the war, Pahn Kahl rangers ambushed squads of captured Idrian soldiers; they were stripped of equipment and released into the wilderness to fend for themselves. We call them the Taken. Most of them died. The deep jungle of Hallendren is unforgiving to the unprepared, and especially not to those who aren’t trained trackers. Before the Chedesh ships arrived, the Pahn Kahl were a loose confederation of fishing villages and jungle encampments. They worshipped their own gods, but we know little enough about those. Some say they revered the storms of the Inner Sea; others that they venerated the swollen headwaters of the Serpent. They gave their worst offenders to the jungle, then, the same way they dealt with the Taken during the Manywar. Jungle justice, the Pahn Kahl call it. Sometimes, some crimes are too horrendous to be punished by the frailties and foibles of mere men. Sometimes, a holy man or a devout person simply walks out of the encampment and into the jungle instead. The Pahn Kahl say that that person has been called by the jungle, as though the jungle were a living, breathing being. But is it not? We have been in this jungle for days now. We have cut our way through ferns, hacked past tangles of vines and thorns, fended off predators in the night. I cannot shake the feeling that as we journey ever further inwards, following the trail signs left by the Hallendren, we are also travelling steadily into the dark heart of this wilderness. Is it so strange to think that, in their uneasy truce with the jungle, the Pahn Kahl may have taken to venerating it? The days were a misery of trudging through mud, and hacking their way slowly through the undergrowth. The Hallendren trail beckoned temptingly, but Kalsin made the decision to go off-trail but keep the trail in sight. The last thing they wanted was to be ambushed by arriving Hallendren troops or by anyone who worked the dye fields. Wryn at least agreed with his judgement. “Surprise is our only advantage,” the captain said, as they consulted the map yet again. “If the Hallendren know we’re coming, all of this will be for nothing.” “Don’t they?” Kalsin asked. Wryn let out a long breath in a sigh. “We have to hope, don’t we?” Gatemaker had been right, but a search of the expedition’s packs found an interesting variety of contraband—Kalsin was no stranger to the sorts of things soldiers could squirrel out into the field— but no sign of Lifeless blasphemies. The squirrel that Gatemaker had shot must’ve been a desperation move. It gave him a little hope that their coming had been kept secret for now. “If we attack and there are Hallendren spies still among us, they will move against us. You must know this. The dye fields are too important to Hallendren to allow us to put them to the torch like this.” “Yeah,” said Wryn. “Got a plan for that then?” Wryn sighed. “I’m working on it, alright?” “Work faster.” “That’s my line, not yours.” The current plan called for striking the dye fields, hard and fast, under the cover of darkness. They had enough men to split the force, or so Kalsin hoped. If there were no more Hallendren spies among them. If they did not lose more of the squad. If the dye fields were not heavily guarded. Kalsin couldn’t imagine that they would not be. But perhaps the Hallendren trusted secrecy more than guards or Lifeless. There was, in the end, only one way to find out. It was one of many reasons why Kalsin was on this expedition. There were others, of course. Who was he to put himself before so many others? But in the end, he had taken up the sword because it would have been selfishness to remain at the monastery when Idris faced the threat of Hallendren aggression, and he had joined the expedition because they needed trackers and because, in the end, Wryn was leading it. If it was to end in a storm of fire, Kalsin thought, it was a place they should all reach together. Enough of their company had felt the same way: most of them had volunteered for this expedition. Wryn had selected some of the best, and sent the rest on their way. Geren was dead now. So was Variel. Falfen had been killed by one of the Hallendren spies. Kalsin wondered how many of them would return to Idris and prayed to Austre to watch over them. Keep them safe, he thought, because surely it was pride, too, to beg for his own life. Take me if that be your will, but let the rest of them return to Idris in safety and peace. There was no answer and he brushed aside an overhanging frond, hacked through yet another cluster of vines, and strode deeper into the dark heart of the Hallendren jungle. Kalsin did not have words for it when he first saw it. The trees parted, at last, and he stumbled past the slashed vegetation and into a wide clearing. He understood then why they called it the Smoking Mirror. The lake was clear, and still, but a faint, insubstantial vapour rose from its surface, as though it was smoke. “The Smoking Mirror,” Wryn breathed. On the other side of the lake, he could see the outline of simple dormitories, and what must be the Hallendren dye fields beyond. Shapes in the distance toiled in the fields, but Kalsin could not yet make out any sign of guards. “I’m going to scout the area,” he said. They needed to know more than they currently did about the dye fields if they intended to strike at nightfall. “Take Derrick with you,” Wryn replied. He didn’t tell Kalsin to be careful, the same way Kalsin didn’t tell Wryn how to do his job. Kalsin nodded. “All right,” he said. “But he’d best be quiet.” Derrick was quiet enough. Kalsin wondered about him. They didn’t seem to know enough about Derrick, but the soldier moved with a competence that suggested he was not completely at a loss when it came to operating within this sort of terrain. They worked their way around the slice of the lake, keeping close to the treeline where possible. Kalsin wondered at the crystalline purity of the waters. What fed this lake? And why was it smoking? He didn’t know. He wondered if Austre had to do with it, for surely the Lord of Colours had a hand in such things. When they reached the rough wooden outlines of the dormitories, Kalsin tapped Derrick on the shoulder. “Split up,” he instructed. “I’ll scout the dye fields. You keep an eye out for any sign of Hallendren military presence. Guards, Lifeless. Stay out of sight, and don’t engage. Meet back at the lake in an hour.” He glanced briefly at the position of the sun in the sky, confirming his assessment. And then he faded into the shadows, as best as he could, slinking towards the dye fields to assess the best way to approach the target. They called him Steel, because he was solid and dependable as the soldier’s steel. Right now though, Steel felt only a deep and abiding worry. The Hallendren spies were among them. That much was clear. He shot a wary look at Fadrian. Supposed to be an old veteran, that scarred man, but Steel’d only heard whispers that Fadrian’d survived because he had no fear of leaving his own squadmates to die if it came down to it. And then there was Taidon. Steel wasn’t sure he believed a single word of it. How did a farmer conveniently survive the deaths of a supposed Hallendren spy and two decent soldiers? He knew Geren, knew Falfen. Neither of them were easy prey. He couldn’t see how a simple farmer killed a Hallendren who’d gotten the better of them. The captain seemed to buy Taidon’s story, which only made matters worse. Steel didn’t like the idea of going behind the captain’s back, but Wryn had only disagreed firmly when Steel took the captain aside and suggested that something wasn’t right about Taidon. “He’s been through the wringer, that’s all,” Wryn opined. “Right now, I need everyone on task, and this means preparing for tonight’s raid on the dye fields.” His gaze drifted in the direction of the lake, where the lieutenant had gone. Everyone knew that Kalsin had served longest under Wryn. Steel supposed it gave you a kind of sixth sense for what the other man was doing. He’d been that way with a few, though they were back in Bevalis. Or maybe they were guarding the passes, now. Everything depended on the success of this mission, and the fact Taidon was getting away with that unlikely story of his was galling. They called him Steel, because he was solid and dependable as the soldier’s steel, and Steel resolved to do what had to be done. Even if it was the unthinkable. He drew his sword and moved in on Taidon, moving quietly from behind. Except that someone, Steel couldn’t have said who, not in that moment, shouted a warning, and Taidon turned, and— And then there was the sharp song of a bow and he felt the impact of the arrow, as though he’d been struck. He staggered back, a little. He forced his fingers to tighten about his sword hilt. No. He had to see to the mission. He had to make sure the Hallendren spy was dead. “Get back!” and then Steel realised it was the lieutenant, shouting, grim-faced. When had he returned? “I can explain,” Steel wanted to say, but the bow sang again and the breath left him, then, all at once. He collapsed to the grassy earth. He had failed, Steel thought. He had failed. “Derrick is dead,” Kalsin reported. “The dye fields are lightly guarded, but he went down before I could get to him. I shot the two guards who found him, and hid them in some brush. It won’t be long before they come looking for them, probably around nightfall. We have to strike tonight, or it’ll all be for nothing.” Wryn grunted. “Not ideal, but we’ll have to make do.” “What about Steel?” Wryn frowned. “I don’t think he was in the pay of Hallendren,” he said, at last. “There was no sign of irregularity in his pack, and you know Steel.” Kalsin did. It was why he’d asked. “I think he just got it into his head that Taidon was working for Hallendren, and the more he thought about it, the more he got himself worked up about it, until he felt he had to act, and then there was no stopping him.” Except Kalsin had. Permanently. Gatemaker’s bow felt disapproving, as though he’d put it to ill use. But Steel was trying to kill Taidon, and Kalsin had shot to kill. He hadn’t drawn a bow in a while but his muscles remembered, all the same. “It was a good shot,” Wryn said. Kalsin made a face. “I was an archer before I was a swordsman. You know this. It shouldn’t be surprising.” “I suppose so. Even so. You saw the shot you needed to, and you took it. Nothing else.” Kalsin sighed. “I know,” he said. “It doesn’t mean I don’t regret it.” Regret has no place in war, he could remember one of the drillmasters in the Idrian army saying. Perhaps, thought Kalsin, but they would have to live with what they’d done, on this mission. If they survived. If they walked away. They would have to live with it, and Kalsin did not know if that weight could be borne. “I don’t know if it is a dream, or a memory of a dream. The trees draw closer and closer. And at the centre, at the beating heart of the jungle...I see only darkness.” “I’ll add that to the record, your Grace.” Steeldancer was executed! He was an Idrian Soldier! Ash fell from the sky was killed! He was an Idrian Soldier! The cycle has begun! It will end at 2300hrs SGT (GMT+8) on the 20th July!
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  12. Sometimes, you need nice, soothing piano. Sometimes, you need Weird Al Yankovic. Die, brain weasels. Die.
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  13. I went inner-tubing for the first time on Saturday and I fell in the lake only once. It was fun.
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  14. I'm pretty sure you wouldn't have lasted this long if that was the case .
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  15. Here’s a couple I asked Isaac that I don’t think were on any recordings.
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  16. I thought I'd list a few technological oddities and how they are visible in the books. Then maybe we can discuss a common denominator 1. Guns. Scadrian gun technology is a curious thing. And it seems to be in extreme flux, leading to extremely anachronistic solutions.. In Alloy of Law Wax takes a captured gun and its ammo apart. The propellant is definitely black powder. Yet they use cartridges. That was a transition technology on Earth. Tech level around 1870. Yet Shadows of Self mentions a submachine gun. 2. No refrigeration Shadow of Self clearly states that they get their ice from the mountains. On Earth refrigeration was invented around 1850 and became economical around 1875 3. Cars like around 1920 They look reliable and mass produced. That is post-WW1 technology. They definitely have gasoline engines. Waxillium wonders about using them in Bands of Mourning 4. No immunology Bleeder tells us that the scientists of Scadrial don't know about the function of leukocytes. That is really odd. This is 1860ies knowledge. 5. Spectroscopy & Zeeman effect Again Shadows of Self. That is fairly advanced physics. If you wish to understand it fully, you will need quentum mechanics. 6. Tarcsel's speaker's It looks like he has invented an amplifier based on vacuum tubes. That is 1905 technology and was combined with loudspeakers in 1925. On the whole it looks to be ahead of our world where electricity or materials help, but they are hopeless in organic chemistry or biology.
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  17. Spoilers RoW - Spoilers Dawnshard - Spoilers All Cosmere - SPOILERS HERE - SPOILERS THERE - SPOILERS BLOODY EVERYWHERE ...now that we've scared off the neophytes: I haven't read a lot of Stormlight theories. I'm going to start that right now. But I've spent a lot of time reading the books, and reading the blessed Coppermind. So based on too much information and too little community critique... here are my craycray ideas about the Cosmere: Roshar is Yolen. The original planet, home of Adonalsium, is hidden in the Physical by crem (much like Akinah)... and known so commonly as Roshar that it is shrouded in the cognitive. Adonalsium was Shattered at the Shattered Plains, and the warcamps were the loci of the vessels who Ascended to become the first Shards. The burst of power from the Shattering created so many features of Roshar, such as the Windblades, as a result of cymatics. Rosharan Highstorms are driven by the spren of this storm - basically its memory - imprinted on the cognition of the very world. Every highstorm is the memory of the shatterstorm. Cusicesh is the spren of everyone on Yolen recognizing the Shattering - the spren of "a million voices crying out in terror," Alderaan-style. The reason the three realms on Roshar bleed over into each other so much is because of the realmatic trauma of the shattering - a kind of permanent perpendicularization. The ancestors of the Alethi are from Ashyn. The ancestors of the Ashynites were from Yolen. As such, they share a common ancestry with the Shin, who never left Yolen. (Alethkar-son-son-Shinovar). This explains their continued use of stone, which is but a memory of what once was used to keep the Fain at bay. The crem-based life of Roshar is either Fainish, or the result of Fainish adaptation to Roshar - that is to say, to the introduction of the crem cycle. This possibly aided by Cultivation, and/or Dawnshardic influence - or maybe Cult simply created the context which would cause 'evolution' in the direction she desired, God do I love Cult, she storming owns. In this same manner, the races of Roshar are mostly the result of interspecies combination caused at a Deific level. We've seen part-human, part Dysian Aimian; part-human, part Siah Aimian; part human, part Parsh... what is hiding in plain sight is that the Parsh themselves are part human, part dragon. Hence their limited but impressive ability to shapeshift, and their Revisionist Smaug hoarding of gems. Sja-anat's "Enlightenment" is literally adding a light. Five broams says Horneater White is how Brandon thinks Hornitos is pronounced. Axies the Collector is of Whimsy. So is his race. His Collectoriness is his Whim... and he can change his appearance on a whim as well. I'm guessing that the Dysian Aimians are of one of the remaining two shards - probably a complement of Invention, such as Observation - or maybe Fascination. The planet-names of the Threnodite System are all about songs for the dead. They are unrelated to Ambition. They're a little related to Mercy. Maybe. But I wonder if the original Shard of that system was something like Mourning, or Grief, or maybe even Celebration. I wonder if that shard is still in the Threnodite System - maybe Celebration plus the presence of a dead Shard equals Mourning. Harmony will fail to turn Waxillium Ladrian into his prime agent. This is mainly because Harmony's mutually-exclusive powers prevent him from making something into something-else. (His Shard-name could very well be "Laissez-faire.") As a result, he will need to recruit an Agent from offworld. Someone who is already brilliant and capable. Someone who can serve with honor. Someone who, opposite of Sazed, can put on a different intent and skillset to meet the particular challenge at hand - a little like the halfway point between a kandra and a human. Someone who is already involved with a Scadrian organization. Someone who is already involved with an organization dedicated, by happy accident, into discovering how someone with a spren-bond could leave Roshar. Harmony thinks he needs a "sword," but what he really needs is a "little knife." Shallan’s mother was the Herald Chanarach. When Shallan manifested surgebinding, her mother tried to kill her. Shallan killed her in self-defence - but in doing so, she started the False Desolation. I also wonder whether Shallan killed her mother, not with Pattern, and not with Testament, but with something else - either a permadeath weapon, like the knife that killed Jezerien, or a gem-on-a-stick weapon, that killed her mother's physical form but trapped her mother's spiritual aspect in the gem, which was then hidden in the box - either to remain trapped forever, or shattered and sent back to Damnation, starting the cycle of desolation BUT allowing for her immediate rebirth. (Poor Lin!) Jasnah is trying to get pregnant by Hoid. The Dawnshards are the building blocks of life. In the context of the world - of what an evolutionary biologist might call *evolutionary pressures* - they are Adaptation, Perseverence, Mating, and Multiplying. Devoid of their context, they are, at their most fundamental levels, CHANGE, SURVIVE, UNITE, and DIVIDE, respectively. At a more programmer level (Cosmere's Game Of Life?) they are +CHANGE, -CHANGE, COMBINATION, and REPRODUCTION. (Or on an OS level, "Edit" "Save" "Merge" and "Duplicate"). As of the current moment - the end of RoW, and the end of Era 2 Book 3 - the Dawnshards are held by Rysn (CHANGE), Kelsier (SURVIVE), The Stormfather (UNITE) in trust for a worthy host, and I'm guessing Jaddeth for Divide. The effects of this can be seen in Chiri-chiri's evolution; Kelsier's sheer inability to stop being alive; and Dalinar's desire to Unite Them... which so far expresses itself mostly in political terms, but is probably not orthogonal to the fact that, as has often been commented upon, suddenly and irrepressably, Dalinar f---s. Vstim was training Rysn to be a Dawnshard. He made her fit to hold it well, and also developed her Connection to its evolutionary concept sufficient for her to claim it. He arranged for her to have a larkin, and a ship. This smacks of Cultivation’s work with Taravangian, but is rather less direct. Perhaps Vstim is an agent of Cult. Perhaps he visited the Nightwatcher and as a result has become her pawn unknowingly. Or perhaps the indirectness of his actions is based upon an oath of noninterference… because Vstim is Frost. The reason that Investiture on Scadrial always re-gathers is due (howsoever indirectly) to the presence of the Dawnshard SURVIVE. The reason behind so many of the racial hybrids on Roshar is the presence of the two Dawnshards, UNITY and CHANGE. The reason that Kelsier and Hoid immediately wanted to punch each other - and Hoid was able to! - is because of their closeness to Dawnshards. We know that Kelsier is Mr. SURVIVE. Hoid might have also held SURVIVE, and perhaps the Dawnshards are like storming magnets, whereby identical polarities repulse. Or Hoid might have held CHANGE, and as such they are naturally opposed. Personally I prefer the former logic, because... um... well... RYSN/KELSIER. IS THE SHIP THAT I DID NOT KNOW I NEEDED BUT NOW I DO I DO I DOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. Larkin/lanceryn are guardians of Dawnshards because they prevent the Dawnshard-holder from gaining Investiture. They are like the tamper in the core of a nuclear bomb. (Someone get Kelsier a gang... that is entirely made up of EDIT: Leechers.) The forging of Nightblood took "ten thousand breaths" but I bet it also involved ten thousand hemalurgic spikings. This is related to the growing theme in the Archive of "is it okay to do evil to make a technology that will do more good?" - which is very Ishar and just SO DAMN TARAVANGIAN. (As an aside: I wonder if Nightblood was cast or forged. Unwrought steel naturally has a crystaline structure, quite akin to a gem.) (As another aside, I bet the Conventicle of Seran was founded by one or more of the Five Scholars - at least Shashara - and its name is related to the name she used when she was on Scadrial.) Speaking of awakening, command, intent, and visualization: I am told that humans dream in black and white. I wonder if that's why Awakening requires color, to make our dreams reality? Aaand speaking of ethics: Odium's champion is going to be someone Dalinar cannot kill. Adolin? Kaladin? Gavinor? The ghost of Evi? Dalinar will "lose" this rigged contest... but also, *he will be glad to lose*! The end of Stormlight 5 will have the humans of Roshar abandon the planet to Odium. More specifically, they will cede the planet to Toadium, in reparation for bringing the Void and enslaving the Parshmen lo so many years ago. (Stormlight is anticolonialist literature?!?). The Shin will remain, as they predate arrival of humans from Ashyn. Maybe *some* humans will, too. But some will go. They will leave Roshar behind. And this sets us up for the Stormlight Archive Back 5 to suddenly and fully go COSMIC STORMING COSMERE. Dalinar and Navani will go to Sel (Dalinar to Unite that which was splintered; Navani to study seons and aons and basically become Ada Lovelace but for MAGIC), Shallan will go to Scadrial to become Harmony's Mara Jade, and Jasnah will lead the Alethi to Ashyn to try to de-storm the planet of Honor. AND I MENTIONED KELSIER/RYSN RIGHT?!?!?! But not "Toadium." Actually "Passavangian." Because: The Oathpact was a deal between Honor and Odium to fight FOR THE SAKE OF FIGHTING. Odium would send his forces after Honor, and thus be his Hateful self. Honor, in turn, was the anti-Yoda, and thought that wars DO make one great - and longed to provide his people with an endless war in which they could fight and die in glory. This is the truth which the Knights Radiant learned, leading to the Recreance. I would even guess that Koravellium betrayed Tan to Rayse in desperate hope to end their mutual madness (shard-savantism + toxic masculinity = you're gonna have a bad time). El wishes to continue this fight, probably by going after the forces of Valor in big bad Infinity War II Interplanetary Boogaloo. The real test will be whether Odium can truly be transformed into Passion as once he was, causing El to rip off his armor and return to his carapace... a very heavy-metal version of swords-into-plowshares. ADDITION: I still wonder if Ba-ado-Mishram is actually the Sibling - broken of light, trapped in a gem - already bonded by Navani. ADDITION: I bet Kaladin will will sacrifice himself to save Moash, even though Moash has not been redeemed. This might be his fifth Ideal. Or, it might be him being unable to swear the fifth Ideal! In either event, it will be so damn Honorable that we'll get Kalavast. ADDITION: I believe that the most important person in the entire storming cosmere is our sweet, our beloved, all-around best twink in fiction, Adolin Kholin. And why? Because he is Connecting so strongly to Mya. He's not just going to reverse the Deadeye-ness. He's not going to just become an Edgedancer. No. No. He's going to form a bond with a spren WITHOUT SWEARING THE IMMORTAL WORDS. He's going to form a Nahel outside of the strictures that Honor placed on Surgebinding on Roshar. He's going to be a Radiant without being a Knight. And this will be both the key to Connecting with Investiture on other worlds... and also will make Surgebinding on Roshar as dangerous as it was on Ashyn. Yeeeeesh. ADDITION: My guess is that Urithiru is one leg of a Rosharan Bifrost. When you turn it on, it makes a bridge to another similar device on Ashyn. This is how the Ashynites got to Roshar in the first place. However, I also have an alternate guess that is probably mutually exclusive - that the gateway to Ashyn is still open, that it's at the Origin, and that it's the source of all the crem on Roshar. ("Ashyn fell from the sky.") ADDITION: Adonalsium was not actually shattered. It was split, like light by prisms. No, not actually like, but literally. A Dawnshard is a pure Command, wrought into a crystalline lattice so that it can capture investiture, and held by (as) a person in order to supply Vessel-like Intent. (I half wonder whether Hoid's name when he was a youthful otherkin on Yolish Tumblr was Feldspathoid The Dragon, hence "hoid.") I think that the Sixteen thought they would split the light of God off into the world(s). But. But! They used gems that contained TOO MUCH DAMN ALUMINUM. (Such as topaz!). This trapped the Investiture, forcing the Ascension of those who held these gems. ADDITION: I really wonder if Shallan's mother was planning on having more children. Like, 5 or 6 more. Think about that for a hot minute. ADDITION: I wonder if the way you "wound" a Shard is to convince them to betray their Intent. The Sixteen made a promise not to reform Adonalsium. From the get-go, this limited Ambition's ambition to such an extent that they were in internal conflict, and thus injured. Exploiting this injury was easy for our boy Rayse The Roof. By the same token, the infinite loop of the Desolations grew so dishonorable that Honor began to lose himself within it. Kind of like if Cultivation was asked to *not* prune, such as by choosing to *not* nuke every human on Roshar except Kharbranth. I wonder if Koravellium is setting herself to be Splintered, or even killed, by making such a choice - as part of a plan to kill Odium - or even, as part of a plan to let some others (Dalinar and Navani?) Ascend to Unity. Also the binding of Ba-ado-Mishram is the source of the taint on saidin. Okay I'm done now. -silver the ridgerunner (yes, actual name) (yes, actual job title) thanks for being the best fandom. just, the best. <3
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  18. Do note, Brandon not doing side projects will not actually get Stormlight done any quicker. He has said on many occasions that he uses those other books to recharge and rejuvenate himself so he's ready to write a killer cosmere book. This has always been how he has worked. If he didn't write Skyward or noncosmere, honestly, I don't think you'd get a cosmere book any faster. Brandon says that the giant books are exhausting. By doing this, he makes sure people get something in between the breaks in Stormlight releases. Brandon is very conscious of time and has recently spoken in great detail that he wants to make sure he finishes the cosmere, so he has to get Stormlights done every three years. But ultimately I'd probably prefer Brandon to be excited to get to the big cosmere books and not burn out and hate writing them. That's what the noncosmere ones allow him to do. He's fairly consistently put out Stormlights every three years. It is a fact with this author that he will work on side projects in between the big ones, and still get the big books out more frequently than some other fantasy authors That said, Lost Metal has taken a while, for sure.
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  19. Based on the description we get of the things, it would supercharge the power of a guy who's already bonded to a demigod Splinter of Honor that is also a fusion with the Cognitive Shadow of a former Vessel, with incredibly powerful abilities that include serious Realmantic manipulation. Combine those with one of the four Commands that were apparently involved in the creation of the Cosmere and... yeow. I mean, one reason the Sleepless were willing to entertain Rysn's bargain in the first place is that she can't really do anything with the 'Change' Dawnshard because she lacks access to any Invested Art. Giving Dalinar that sort of power, whatever it does, would be pretty much the exact thing that they were trying to prevent from happening in the first place.
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  20. Gnorman Gneablies walked into the town where nothing happened. Well, he thought, obviously not nothing. His Gnomometer readings were off the charts, and the International Gnome Federation For All Things Pertaining To Gnomoid Beings. He would have to find the source of all these Gnomons. Gnomons, of course, were a sort of particle that all gnomes can sense, and which the IGFFATPTGB was in charge of monitoring throughout the world. As Gnorman walked, he used some of the Gnomons that were so abundant here to conjure up a new outfit. Brown overalls, and a dirty blue shirt, along with a hat he had seen referred to as 'cowboy'. He did not, of course, know how in the world cows and boys had crossbred, but the hat customary to their culture was quite nice.
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  21. Shattered Plains 2: Electrum Boogaloo
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  22. Tbf if they work out Soulcasting antimatter they're probably gonna destroy the entire planet the very first time they do it, when they expect the explosions to be as mild as anti-Light and they are not
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  23. More like Connecting to their future but it’s mostly the same Probably is easier said than done…
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  24. "sald, you must soften the leather in blood first" - the above poster
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  25. "Hello I am Ene's large torso baby." - Tesh
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  26. Alright, here's transcriptions for some of the more Cosmere-relevant WoBs from The Sanderson Collector's video of the Q&A, since the audio's not on Arcanum yet:
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  27. Personally I think the Stormfather will make a choice to spare somebody, becomes a deadeye and thus the Night Of Sorrow happens. I don't have the quotes at hand but more than once it's been asked what will happen if the storm ceases to blow and we will probably find out in book 5. This would also provide an even more urgent reason for team Radiant to find BAM and free her.
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  28. Not to be overbearing. Huge fan of your work. But if you could please re-focus on the Cosmere and Stormlight Archive, this Skyward stuff is for the birds.
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  29. We have Preservation/Harmony and Odium who both granted Futuresight in form of electrum and Regals. (I am leaving out Atium because Atium is weird). So why do these Shards still have Futuresight although Renarin blocks Odium's? What is going on there? Do we misunderstand this? Is Odium blinded by Renarin because Renarin is connected to Honor/Cultivation? Or does Harmony have a blind spot in his Futuresight for every electrum Misting? And Odium simply just cares about Renarin due to his position and ignores all those Regals causing gaps?
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  30. The Constructs of Antiquity mentions a small colony of machine beings, named Kelkis, on Scadrial, which @Lesser spren remarked upon. And attributes them to the Lord Ruler's hemalurgy. That is too close to a corpate not to suspect a connection, especially as Nazriloffi s interested in them, as depicted in the Ghastly Gondola. What do you think?
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  31. Hehe you're on the wrong site, my guy. Sanderson hasn't been here in... what, eight years now? Also, I like Skyward.
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  32. And I can confirm that Kas and I have made rules for a game with a mechanic where I get to arbitrarily kill players. Is that this game? Who knows!
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  33. But if exotic matter exists....
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  34. This isn't any sort of hard truth answer, but my personal headcanon is that Brandon is writing this stuff as though we're (or he's) using Connection to translate what's being said, etc, so that it makes sense for Earth readers as best it can.
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  35. If you’re referencing the scene I think, we’re never told the voice from his youth came from a stone. From OB 92: That said, it’s possible an Unmade could have been involved somehow.
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  36. 1 like
  37. I WAS SUMMONED. When you go to a writing camp full of Sanderfans, meet some Sharders, write a Sanderson fanfic, and this results in you obsession with the Cosmere getting rekindled. And then you climb on the roof while wearing your mistcloak because it's smoky outside and there's literally ash falling from the sky. I also jumped on the trampoline while wearing it, which I highly recommend. When you get your stuff from the Kickstarter and then put all of the stuff you can up on your corkboard.
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  38. Allomancy and Hemalurgy also work on Roshar, including with Rosharan metals. The thing with Stormlight, spren, and the Heralds is a Connection issue, since it's Honor's Investiture that's been laid down deeply on Roshar, whereas the Metallic Arts use the metals basically as keys to access the Investiture, so the molecular structure of the metal is all that's important. Also Stormlight being actively consumed by the Radiant while also being unique to Roshar probably plays into it some. To break Stormlight free of the Rosharan system would require some serious work. With RoW's revelation of anti-Investiture comes the idea of anti-Connection, and that might work, but it also may not be possible and/or have some really funky side effects. Other solutions could be a willing change on the part of someone who glues Honor back together and Ascends, if they know to do that. Or some other form of Connection manipulation to make the Stormlight and the spren less inherently tied to Roshar and tied more closely to something portable that would be carried around. Could make the spren's Connection to the Radiant greater than their tie to Roshar to ensure they'd be able to stay paired off-world, though that probably has some side effects for both parties, but making a perfect gemstone an anchor for a ton of Stormlight would probably go better as long as wherever it's going has someone who can undo that change. Lift may also be able to generate her Lifelight off-world since it's a direct metabolic function, which may be the most reliable method to prevent off-world Radiants from running out, but doesn't solve their spren's issue. (Can spren get Old-Magic'd from the Nightwatcher?) Actually now that I'm thinking about it, you could probably shenanigan someone from Scadrial with access to Chromium abilities to transfer Investiture. It would take some doing, but it could probably be done.
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  39. Gavilar strikes me as the type of man who would learn to read and write on his own, and only keep up the façade for political and proprietary reasons. I just can't see him truly trusting anyone but himself with the things he's doing. But yeah, if he didn't know how to read and write, then Aesudan would be of some use to him. Agreed, although I could see Gavilar mentioning it in the Book 5 prologue, and it would be a "nice" way to make readers feel even more disgust for the man. (As if being a warlord and abuser and thinking of his children terribly behind closed doors wasn't enough.) But yeah, there's no narrative reason for this, just slimy character stuff...blegh...
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  40. Sure. In most parts of the world sales and deliveries of ice in fact continued into the 1950ies. But that conflates two different things. That you do not have a device for refrigeration on the premise means that you will have to buy ice. But it does not mean that the ice you buy has to be gathered from glaciers or stored in winter. It can just as well be made in a factory. And that was how it was done from the last quarter of the 19th century onwards. Yet the text clearly states that the ice comes from the mountains and is becoming affordable because transportation has been getting cheaper. And that puts a pretty incriminating light on Scadrian technology and science. In fact, we can no longer be sure that they have thermodynamics as a scientific concept.
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  41. I can tie with it When meeting up with Sharders all week is one of the best things you've done all summer. When reading Dragonsteel Prime is another of those best things. And when you're sad you can't go to JordanCon. Next year...
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  42. YAY I AM SO EXCITED. Also we got the orange Amazon banner for #1!
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  43. Hi All, Been a fan of the cosmere since 2018, I've read all the published material, love everything about it. After the release of RoW I got more into the fan community and started listening to Shardcast and posting theories on Reddit so I thought I'd join here. Can't wait to engage with all of you.
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  44. bet thats what you’ll be saying to people right before you pull it off again
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  45. I believe in the passage in RoW where Venli first starts to use her Willshaper Surges she vibes hard enough to Roshar's Top Ten that the stone forms figures, an entire scene, apparently in response to her thoughts. That might not be how it works for Stonewards (i.e. it's a Willshaper Resonance) or it might be specific to a listener Stoneshaper.
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  46. The Windunner ideals seem to be progessing from more external to internal, i.e. from protecting others, to more internal epiphanies related to that first oath. My guess is that the Fifth will be something along the lines of a mirror of the First. Perhaps "I acknowledge that others can protect me, and I am worth protecting."
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  47. Am I the only one who thought Eric was Hoid at first. Eric and his unwillingness to touch a sword plus his carefree character main me instantly think of Hoid which of course isn't possible but the way he described Eric made me think of Hoid.
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