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  2. QF54: Aftermath - The Fires of War I don’t know what King Dedelin will do. I don’t know if it was enough, for what he had planned. We succeeded, but at what cost? It wasn’t anything near the daring raid we’d all envisioned. Only a desperate one, with help and betrayal both from unexpected quarters, on a night of fire and blood. Maybe Austre was looking out for us, that night. And then there was you, Wryn. I guess you won’t remember any of this, but we lost you, too. At moonrise, the remnants of the Idrian squad crouched about the map that Kalsin had scratched into the dirt with a stick, peering at it. The results of the day’s scouting seemed painfully inadequate, in the wan light of Rrendos. Derrick had died for this, Kalsin thought. Gatemaker and Geren had died for this. If they didn’t make good on it, what were their sacrifices for? “Expect a lightly armed presence,” Wryn said, nodding to Kalsin. “The priority is to put the fields to the torch, as many as you can. You remember where we made camp two nights ago?” A chorus of quiet ‘yes’-es echoed around the map. “Good,” Wryn said. “Fallback point is at the abandoned camp site.” He drew in a deep breath. “Austre watch over you, and guide your arm. I don’t want any heroics. I want the fields torched, and I want as many of you alive as possible. Leave the packhorses behind; a man on a horse is a target out there. I’m going to divide the squad into two teams. The objective is to strike hard and fast. Kalsin will take his team past the dormitories and into the fields. My team will make our way past the other side of the lake. This should cause enough confusion that the Hallendren guards won’t be able to anticipate where to respond.” He looked at the squad. “Any questions?” “What about the Hallendren spies, sir?” Pancakes asked. “If you have a way to identify the spies,” Wryn said, dryly, “Maybe you should have shared it a few days ago.” He looked at each of them in turn, his eyes hard. “Any more questions?” No one said anything. It hadn’t been a bad question, Kalsin thought. He’d talked it over with Wryn earlier, but they just didn’t have any answer. Striking this night would force the hand of the Hallendren spies. The more they tarried, this close to the dye fields, the more chances they gave the spies to ruin the mission. You fought bears sometimes, in the Idrian highlands. When you had to. Whether with spear or bow, the trick was always to get the bear before it mauled you with its paws, a task harder than it sounded. If the spies struck while they were attacking, they’d just have to improvise and deal with them then. There was no real alternative. Kalsin just didn’t like that plan very much. Dexan grazed on a tussock of grass. The horse had been lashed to the nearby trees, in the event the teams needed to make a swift escape, with the other packhorses. A shadow fell over Dexan. “Goodnight, boy,” Jacques Noir whispered. A sword rose, and a sword fell, and the dying cries of a stricken horse were swallowed up by the darkness of death. Wryn and his team advanced around the slice of the lake. He watched the vapour rise in quiet awe. It reminded him of that day in the safehouse; of Breath, moving from one Hallendren Awakener to another. “Ware!” someone shouted. “Idrians are attacking! Ward the dye fields!” Wryn cursed, and spun about. It was Jacques Noir; already, Taidon levelled his spear at the man. “Shut up,” Taidon spat. “Traitor.” “You’re under attack!” Jacques continued to call out. His sword was already in his hand. He’d kept the squad close, and Jacques presumably had no ability to sneak off and warn the Hallendren. But he’d brought their spy back to the fold, and now Jacques had no compunctions rousing the guards. Wryn, though, had planned for this. It was why he’d intended to strike in two teams, as hard and fast as they could, under the cover of darkness. The neat rows of the dye fields stretched ahead of them, if only they could reach them before the Hallendren did. “Shut up!” Taidon shouted. A mistake, his hesitation. Perhaps it was different, killing in cold blood. Wryn had seen that shortcoming, had dismissed it. Now they all paid for it. Jacques beat aside the spear with the flat of his sword and stabbed. His sword went point-first through Taidon’s throat. The farmer gurgled as he fell to his knees, and Jacques wrested the spear from him, staring down Wryn. “Sorry,” he said, casually, “But I’ll get in trouble if you reach those dye fields. You know how it is. Hallendren! The Idrians are attacking!” The doors to the Hallendren barracks slammed open, then, and Wryn knew that they were in for it. He cursed quietly, and drew his sword. “Lieutenant,” Pancakes hissed, as they hid in the shadow of the dormitory. “What if the Hallendren spies are with us?” “You know the captain’s answer to that, Pancakes,” Kalsin said, exasperated. He leaned forward a little, trying to gauge when the Hallendren patrol would move on. The dormitories were closely watched. He hadn’t expected that. Did the Hallendren expect a fight? There was an explosion of noise and the Hallendren barracks on the far end of the clearing came to life, guardsmen clattering out. Flares lit up the night. “Austre,” Kalsin swore. The spies had been with Wryn all along. The need to flat out run, to try to save the stricken squad, warred with the knowledge that Wryn would sacrifice him if he needed to, that the integrity of the mission mattered more than one Idrian captain, no matter who he was. He ground his teeth together. There was only one direction they could go, and that was forwards. “We go on,” he told the rest of his team. Vincer nodded, tightly. Fadrian shrugged. Pancakes looked worried, strangely hesitant. Maybe it was Austre who warned him. Kalsin stepped forward, and turned around. Something felt wrong. Something seemed—maybe it was how furtive Pancakes had seemed. And then Kalsin heard the sound of drawn steel. Both of them, at once. Vincer fell, run through by Pancakes’s sword. And Fadrian advanced on Kalsin, his blade glinting in the light of Rrendos. Well, then, Kalsin thought. He was a good swordsman, but Fadrian had always been the best of the company. And there was Pancakes, which meant two against one. It was over, really, but Kalsin would be damned if he didn’t at least put up a fight. Sword against spear wasn’t much of a fight. Wryn knew that. He was pragmatic enough to understand how this would play out. Jacques would toy with him and Edrab, using the greater range of his spear to take them out. So he wasn’t interested in taking this fight. Jacques was, in the end, a distraction. The arriving Hallendren guards were a distraction. Taking the fight here and now would result in their deaths and a failed mission. And all they really needed was to burn the dye fields down. “Run for the dye fields!” he shouted. Edrab got the message and they both pelted off in the direction of the dye fields, hoping against hope that they could reach them. He heard Edrab’s cry of pain—thrown spear or arrow, Wryn didn’t know. But he kept running. As Fadrian pressed him, Kalsin retreated. Pancakes was down for the count. Vincer, it seemed, had managed to club Pancakes over the head, so at least Kalsin wasn’t having to fend off two opponents at once. Not against one such as Fadrian. Superior speed and reflexes confounded Kalsin’s attempts to attack, so instead, he kept backing away. Fadrian didn’t talk, didn’t boast. He wasn’t that sort of person. The scarred veteran was the sort you easily forgot about, until his blade was in your spine. He just advanced, his eyes intent. He let Fadrian push him on, towards the dye fields. Fadrian had gotten the better of him in the first couple of exchanges. Fadrian was better. That was all. Kalsin was bleeding from wounds to the arm and leg. Fadrian meant to slow him down and kill him, probably. A strategy Kalsin would’ve played himself, if he thought the other swordsman could give him enough trouble. He supposed he should appreciate that show of respect from the Hallendren spy. He beat aside a thrust from Fadrian and riposted, but Fadrian was already stepping aside to deliver a wicked cut at Kalsin’s side. Kalsin dodged into the dye field, trampling flowers underfoot. “Oops,” Kalsin said. Fadrian’s eyes narrowed. “You’re making it harder,” he said, merely. “I know.” A shape loomed up behind Fadrian and Kalsin stared, even as a shadow brained Fadrian over the head with a rock and the man went down. Kalsin didn’t think he was dead, just out cold. He wasn’t going to check though. “What?” Kalsin managed. “You’re not one of theirs, aren’t you?” the shadow said. He stepped forward, and Kalsin realised he was young, barely a man. And he was Pahn Kahl, and his hands showed the calluses and stains of hard labour in the dye fields. “What do you mean?” “Hallendren,” the young man said. Kalsin shook his head. “Good,” the Pahn Kahl said, his eyes flinty. “Burn it all down for me.” “Why?” “You think I chose to work these fields?” the Pahn Kahl wanted to know. Kalsin didn’t need to think about it. He nodded. “I’ll do it, then.” “Good,” the Pahn Kahl hissed, and there was a fire in those dark eyes. “But won’t you get into trouble?” The Pahn Kahl smiled crookedly. “And who will they say did it? Pahn Kahl? Or a group of rebellious Idrians?” Kalsin had to concede the point. He pulled out the oil-soaked bundle of rags and dry tinder and flung it to the ground. He pulled out flint and struck it, again and again, working with urgency. A spark caught, and the Pahn Kahl blew on it, causing it to catch. They both darted back as the flames grew, and began to spread. “What’s your name?” Kalsin asked. Courtesy, he supposed. He didn’t expect to see the Pahn Kahl ever again. “Vahr,” said the Pahn Kahl. “My name is Vahr.” The fields were already ablaze as they arrived, Wryn supporting Edrab, who had been shot in the leg by a Hallendren arrow. “Let go of me,” Edrab ground out. “I can walk.” “No,” Wryn said, firmly. “You can’t.” They both knew Edrab was lying. Kalsin was already there, bloodied and his face grim, though his expression lightened as he saw them. He nocked an arrow to his bow, wincing as the flames brushed his fingers, and then he released. It was mesmerising, almost. The arrow flew, the flames all but gone, in a bright arc. It hit the dye field, and suddenly, fire blossomed where it had fallen. How many arrows had Kalsin already shot? There were small fires everywhere. Wryn just didn’t know if that was enough. “We need to get out of here,” Wryn said, still supporting Edrab. “But is it enough?” Kalsin wanted to know, echoing the direction of Wryn’s thoughts. Wryn shook his head. “Doesn’t matter, enough is enough. We need to get out now, or we won’t make it. Edrab’s hit.” “Leave me,” Edrab said. “Don’t be ridiculous,” Kalsin said, sharply. “No,” Wryn said, at the same time. But he was thinking about it. Edrab sensed his hesitation, perhaps. “I’ll keep burning what I can. And I’m not letting them take me alive. If we all go now, I’ll only slow you down. And if I keep setting fire to the fields, I might slow them down enough to give you a window to escape. Better one than three.” A terrible thought, wasn’t it? But Wryn was a captain, and he was used to making hard, bad decisions. “It’s been an honour. Austre watch you.” “Shut up and go,” Edrab said. He took the bow and quiver from Kalsin. “Don’t make me regret this.” Fire roared around them, and Wryn felt the heat, tight and uncomfortable against his skin. He turned away. “And then?” The Idrian who called himself Kalsin looked terribly tired and haunted. Wryn thought he understood. It was barely all he could do to keep putting one foot in front of the other, to keep walking. He wondered what sort of reserves Kalsin was drawing on, what sort of steel was in that man, to keep going. Kalsin shrugged. “And then we made it out,” he said. “And we left Edrab to die. Most of their forces were still putting out fires, and I trust he sold his life as dearly as any of us might have, in his shoes. But Jacques was waiting for us, by the lake.” It should have raised some flicker of familiarity. But try as he might, Wryn remembered nothing at all. Not even an echo. “You called out,” Kalsin said. “You startled him. You saw him first; I was careless. He was about to kill me. And then he ran you through instead. And you saved my life again.” He swallowed. “I hate this, you understand? Everything about this goes against what I know, what I believe in. But damn you, you saved my life again, without thinking, and Austre curse me for it, because I should take you back to Idris, even if you’d die on me on the way.” “What are you saying?” “I’m saying that there’s a Hallendren logging camp, just down this road,” Kalsin said. They’d been travelling for days and days, with Kalsin consulting his map. Wryn had felt useless, out of his element. Now he knew what Kalsin had been aiming for. “Go down the road. They’ll find you and take care of you.” “And you?” Kalsin’s mouth tilted in a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “I’m going back.” He placed a hand on Wryn’s shoulder. “Don’t tell them anything of this. Promise me this, at least.” “Well, I’m not sure how you expect me to tell them something I don’t actually remember,” Wryn pointed out. For a brief moment, Kalsin chuckled, before he stopped short. “True,” he said. “Well then, you saved my life, you bastard, so now I’m saving yours, Austre forgive me. My life to yours. My Breath become Yours.” And then life, glorious life, flooded into him, in an ecstasy of colour, and he was alive again. “This one,” Firebearer said, slowly. He drew short at the painting, frowning at it. Ever since word got out, it seemed all the art he was required to look at was done in an impressionistic style, depicting brooding jungle scenes. Something about this one. It caught the eye, drew it in. There was the Hallendren jungle, a looming, heavy presence. But there seemed to be a smudge there; as though it was a lone figure. Part of Firebearer imagined it was a swordsman, walking alone into the murky heart of the wilderness. Perhaps he was resigned, and embracing the darkness. Or perhaps he was defying it. He did not know. “Shall I add this one to your personal collection, your Grace?” Hera asked. “Yes,” Firebearer said, absently. “Please do, Hera.” Kalsin unbuckled his sword. Let it drop, still-scabbarded, to the grassy earth. He was tired. He did not know if he had done the right thing. And now he was done with war, done with sacrifices, done with killing. He unslung Gatemaker’s bow next, left it as though it was an offering. Pushing aside an overhanging palm frond, he strode forward, into the shadowed heart of the jungle, and let the verdant darkness swallow him completely. Danex was executed! He was an Idrian Soldier! TUO was killed! He was an Idrian Soldier! The Hallendren Spies have won the game! Thoughts to follow later. Thanks for playing! It was a pleasure to GM you even if I spent a lot of time complaining to Wyrm about self-inflicted write-up pain Dossiers: Player List:
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  3. I have been published! And I have been drawn!
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  4. 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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  5. Blegh I knew Araris was evil. Also for the record, Devotary, I completely did not realize that you were referencing my LG79 ruleset when you said I hate cats. The reason that's in there is because it's explicitly untrue and mostly a joke. Even as I write this, I am cuddling with my cat. Or, sitting next to her anyway. It was fun playing a vanilla game, even though forgetting about it kind of killed me. Kasimir's writeups are freaking massive.
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  6. Chapter by Chapter is a collaborative writing game. The first player is given a short writing prompt, which they will continue for a couple paragraph or so. This chapter is next passed to the second person via PM, who writes a chapter of their own. Both chapters are passed to the third person, and so on, until the result is a completed story. People who have expressed interest so far are @Zephrun's Imperium, @Szeth_Pancakes, @Channelknight Fadran, @DancingQueen. Those who participated in the last Chapter-by-chapter are @Hentient @Spren of Kindness @The Awakened Salad @JesterLavorre @Matrim's Dice @Bearer of all agonies @Nathrangking @Experience @Truthless of Shinovar @LukeWasTaken @Shard of Reading.
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  7. In Rhythm of War, both the Sibling and Kalak claim that the imprisonment of Ba-Ado-Mishram not only impacted the singers, but also impacted all of the spren. Here's the Sibling in RoW 49: And here's the relevant passages from Kalak's journal in the epigraphs from Part 4: Note how the quotes suggest that BAM's imprisonment caused damage to Roshar itself, and by extension to those entities who souls were Connected to Roshar. To me, this suggests that the method BAM used to connect to the singers somehow exploited their Connection to Roshar. I tend to think that it was their Connection to the rhythms/songs of Roshar. Consider this WoB: There's also this line from the final Eshonai flashback, when the Stormfather lets her ride the storm: Note also that the rhythms are a cosmere-wide phenomenon that manifests in a particular way on Roshar: Ok, so this all makes me think that BAM must have connected to Roshar itself in some way and it was through that Connection that she was able to Connect with the singers. The singers are Connected to the rhythms, and the rhythms are Roshar. (This fits with the listeners being spared because they were in dullform and had only a tenuous Connection to the rhythms, which we've been told are difficult to hear when in dullform). So what about the spren? They are little pieces of Honor and Cultivation. Honor and Cultivation have Invested in Roshar. So the spren are clearly Connected to Roshar. But BAM's imprisonment did not tear our the Connection and Identity of the spren like it did the singers. How did it impact them then? What part of themselves are the spren missing with BAM still imprisoned? Whatever it is they are lacking, could it's absence be what causes them to become deadeyes now when Radiants break their oaths? (The book is not real clear on this. Kalak says deadeyes never existed before the Recreance. But we know the Recreance happened shortly after the imprisonment of BAM and shortly before the death of Honor. A lot of crem went down around the time of the False Desolation). The only real hint we get about what's missing is from the Sibling, who says that when BAM was imprisoned they lost the ability to hear Honor's and Cultivation's tones. I had once thought - then abandoned - but have come back around to the idea that BAM's imprisonment somehow cut off the signal or broadcast of the pure tones. In other words, before the imprisonment the pure tones emanated from Roshar itself. And entities with enough Connection to Roshar or one of the Shards could hear them. This would include the Sibling, spren more generally, the singers, and maybe Knights Radiant as well? But now, with BAM imprisoned, it's as if the tones are trapped in the Spiritual Realm and can't get through, so you need some other means of touching the Spiritual Realm in order to hear them. Here's a rundown of the times when characters are able to hear the pure tones (without someone singing them or playing them on a tuning fork or metal plate): Eshonai and the other soldiers who are the first to adopt warform hear Honor's tone during their transformation Eshonai mentions that there are stories that the first listeners to adopt workform heard Cultivation's tone Eshonai hears Honor's tone (along with Odium's and the Rhythm of War) when she bonds with Timbre right before her death Navani and Rushu catch hints of a tone and "thump" early in RoW when Dalinar opens a perpendicularity Venli hears an unspecified tone when she sees Rlain in the cell ("Venli felt all the rhythms freeze when she saw Rlain in the cell. Like the silence following a crescendo. ... In that silence, all of Roshar changed ... And in that silence, Venli thought she could hear something distant beyond the rhythms. A pure note.") Venli hears Cultivation's tone while thinking on the history of the listeners as told in her mother's songs; then she hears Odium's tone and its harmony with Cultivation's while communing with the stones of Urithiru and practicing her stoneshaping The Sibling is able to hear Cultivation's tone again during the climax of the battle of Urithiru, but can't find Honor's (I suspect the Sibling was able to hear Cultivation's tone again because Venli had been able to hear it while interacting with the stones of the tower) Navani finds Honor's tone within her just as she's about to bond the Sibling I think that's all of them. And I think that in each instance there's something happening to bring the character into contact with the Spiritual Realm. It's definitely the case with the transformations, with the characters bonding or about to bond a spren, and when the perpendicularity is opened. The borderline ones are the two Venli ones and the Sibling. But I think that with Venli, in those moments she's feeling an intense connection to her people and their history, helped along by communing with the old stones of Urithiru. And as I mentioned above, I think that the Sibling was picking up Cultivation's tone because of Venli finding it while communing with the stones. Could also have been the bond forming with Navani. (Or maybe Cultivation herself helped out? The Sibling does say that Honor should have been able to help her when she lost the ability to hear the tones, but that he didn't because he was losing his mind). Here's another thing. Aside from the Sibling and the stones of Urithiru, I don't think we ever hear a single spren talk about the pure tones. Doesn't that seem weird? Here's the stones in Urithiru noticing Odium's tone when Venli is using Voidlight to practice her surgebinding: They also mention the tones once later, but we don't get any sense one way or the other of whether they can actually hear Honor and Cultivation's tones: That's it. It just seems odd to me that we never see any other spren talking about the tones. (If I missed instances, please let me know) The main piece of evidence against the theory that BAM's imprisonment cut off the signal of the pure tones is the fact that Infused gems are able to pick up and echo the tones. But it's very faint and requires intense focus to hear. And given that it's really the Light that is picking up and and echoing those tones, and that the Light is itself Investiture brought forth from the Spiritual Realm, I don't think it completely destroys the theory. It would be weird if Investiture itself completely lost the ability to echo it's associated tone. As for what continuing impact the muffling or silencing of the pure tones might have on the spren, I don't really have any good theories. But if color is like flavor for spren, then maybe tones, especially the pure tones, carry some significance for them as well. I started this post genuinely questioning what impact BAM's imprisonment had on Roshar and the spren, but in the course of writing sort of convinced myself that it has something to do with a silencing of the pure tones of Roshar. But who knows, maybe I've got it all wrong and there's some other way that BAM's imprisonment damaged both Roshar and the spren. Do folks have other theories? I'd be interested to hear them.
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  8. The Lego Batman Movie is unironically really good. That is all.
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  9. Either Mistborn or Skyward calls I'd guess. Skyward was purchased by Universal Television last year I believe, and doing something lower risk like that may help Brandon get some experience (and a little more clout in Hollywood) before moving onto something as demanding and precious as a Cosmere product. However, Skyward may end up like Legion - there's a comic book trilogy also called Skyward that Sony bought the rights to in 2018. Depending which gets out of the gate first, the other one may be screwed over. (That being said, the Skyward comic trilogy is a blast and I highly recommend it.) Add to that the fact that the rights were just bought, and these things take time, it might be a while yet. Mistborn has the treatment, is a complete series, and could be pretty trendy right now with The Witcher, The Wheel of Time, and Shadow & Bone all overlapping. Add to that a solid release date that either satisfies fans until a new book comes out (2023) or has the movies coincide with Era 3 release dates (2025), and you've got a nice tie-in that does what Martin and Game of Thrones didn't/couldn't do. Overall, Mistborn is the more likely of the two, but both are high possibilities IMO. Unless Sanderson throws us a curveball though, I don't expect we'll hear anything about this until around the State of the Sanderson at the earliest. A few weeks ago in an update (the June 28 Weekly Update) Brandon did mention outlining the rest of the year with "some exciting things," and I can definitely see working on a television/movie treatment for WoA as exciting for Brandon, especially if things look like they're going forward. (Especially since as far as we know, the rest of Brandon's year post-TLM's first draft consists of revisions for the book along with writing the first draft of Skyward 4.)
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  10. These days, your usual self is most of the time an elim
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  11. Yeah, this really feels like a Catch 22 situation. Only thing that I can think of to resolve that is that maybe trapping an Unmade doesn’t absolutely require a Bondsmith, but just someone with a deep understanding of the Unmade. So Melishi was required not for the mechanics of the entrapment but because of his deep understanding of Connection, similar to BAM. (For example, Shallan was able to see that Re-Shephir had been imprisoned by “a Lightweaver like Shallan, who had understood this creature.”) If that were the case then he could have participated in the imprisonment without his bond to the Sibling.
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  12. the best piece of advice i can give you is not to worry too much. as someone who recently went through this, it’s okay. you don’t have to know right now. try different thing and see what feels right. it’s also totally okay to change your mind if one label or another doesn’t fit right. don’t let anyone tell you you don’t know what you’re talking about when you tell them. it can hurt when someone close to you doesn’t take your decision seriously, but in the end it will be okay. everything will work itself out one way or another. wishing you the best on your journey!
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  13. All right, here's the story. Brandon's signing started on Friday (and was gonna run about 2 hours), and then Isaac had a panel showing off some White Sand art that started a little after. So nearly all the Sharders went to Isaac's panel, while I stayed behind and kept an eye on the recorders. And wouldn't you know it, the panel was really popular, and since there was another Brandon signing on Saturday, the line was pretty much empty. So people would come right up and get their books signed, no waiting, and when no ody was there, I was sliding in with a quick question or two. Whenever someone else showed up to get books signed, I got out of their way, which was why I got in a lot of pretty quick questions this year, but no really long ones. And while I'd step away, I'd go flex about it in the Discord chat. And jof, green with envy, DM'd me a question to ask, which I was gracious enough to do for him. So, then the Saturday signing comes around, and there are, like, a half dozen of us hanging around this time. But the line never died down like it had on Friday. It got real close; there's be, like, one or two people left, and all the other Sharders would get real excited, but then a new group of people would come up and get in line. We did get a couple more over the day, but not a lot. Of course, I made sure to antagonize the others as much as possible. "Oh no, more people coming? Isn't that a shame." If there were such a thing as sarcasmspren, I would have my Shardplate from the Order of Buttheads.
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  14. I understand the WORDS... but this sentence simply doesn't make any storming sense. It implies that some activity exists which is better than conversing with Brandon Sanderson, and that is clearly nonsense. Did @Jofwu suffer a head injury?
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  15. I imagine it is casual at the moment. Like a couple Zoom calls plus what we know he's doing (i.e. the Mistborn script). Something of note when you do a weekly update, almost never amounts to anything substantial for fans (it's still good, because it means options monies for Brandon)
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  16. I wanted to note that there’s a new WoB that touches on the impact that BAM’s imprisonment had on the spren: Seems like it might blow up my theory that imprisoning BAM did something to cut off or dampen the tones. If the imprisonment had cut off the tone I feel like that would have prevented them from hearing the tone in the same way as for the Sibling which would have yielded a yes response on the second part. Props to @Pagerunner for getting this WoB. I’m curious if you can share with us what you thought the answer might be and whether this surprised you. One thing that occurs to me now is that I wonder whether the fact that the Sibling is essentially manifested as the tower is relevant to the manner in which the Sibling was wounded or to the inability to hear Honor’s tone?
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  17. When I heard that, I figured it was something to do with Mistborn. He was doing a script a while back, maybe it's got something to do that.
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  18. 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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  19. I thought up a good pun and was about to create a new thread for it, when I did a search and found this thread, so instead I am reviving this. What is Mitsubishi's best selling vehicle? The Thaida-car For explanation, Mitsubishi is the car brand with the logo that is identical to the Ghostblood symbol.
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  20. Same I don’t think this would work as a twist/reveal for narrative reasons. Aesudan and Elhokar are both dead. Navani has moved on. Even supposing Gavilar turns out to be not dead, there aren’t enough characters left who would care that much. A surprise affair wouldn’t add much to the story at this point IMO. I think Aesudan must have had connections to some shady people - maybe the Sons of Honor or a similar group - which would handily explain why she’s been let in on some secrets, and also why Jasnah’s shadiness radar was being set off.
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  21. Moved here because I accidentally spoilered up the Stormlight Forum - sorry! Has anyone else noticed that the Heralds we've seen - Ash and Kelek in particular - talk more like modern-day English speakers than any other characters on Roshar? Ishar speaks very formally, but he's playing the role of a god-king. Nale also has a very severe way of speaking, which fits his severe personality. Ash and Kelek, however, read like contemporary Earth humans. Twice in ch. 17, Ash uses the word "yeah" - the only time, I think, anyone has done so in four novels. Kelek, in ch. 82: "Boy, you're doomed. You realize that, right? Tanavast is dead. Like, completely dead." The only time in four novels anyone uses "like" as the well-known idiomatic filler word it has recently become. He's also the only one to use "hell" and "for heaven's sake". This has to be intentional on Sanderson's part, so I'm wondering WHY? What does it mean that he seems to want these ancient Ashynites to sound the most modern to our ears? Thoughts? I'm also very interested to hear from folks who read other language translations of the novels. Did these differences come through in your experience?
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  22. This is Prompting Excuses, where your answers are 1 paragraph long, because our lives are in a hurry, and we're trying to get prompter. Alright Prompters, so the concept is that I'll provide a weekly writing prompt, and if you're interested, you will write a paragraph response in this thread within that week, and others will be able to comment on and critique that paragraph. This is meant to be a creative excercise to help us sharpen our writing chops in a meaningful and concise format. There is no pressure on this, it's more of a casual thing you can pop in and out of when life allows. Participate if and when you can, that's cool. If you would like to suggest or recommend the next weekly prompt, just post it in this thread or DM me and we'll add it to the list of potential prompts. I know it's the middle of the week, but I think we can manage a prompt within that timeframe. Let's say the week starts over on Mondays going forward. If you can't get something done within the week's prompt, that's fine, you'll get another opportunity next week. This week's writing prompt: Write a scene involving a student and their unconventional mentor. (not a wise, old wizard)
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  23. Ok the most recent WOB shardcast they talk about how investiture can be stored in gems, but only stormlight can be infused by leaving it in a storm, and void light cannot, and presumably mist light (Scadrial) or gift light (Naththis) cannot. I think that has to do with the fact that Honor’s perpendicularity is in some way tied to the storms and the Stormfather. In theory, maybe bringing gems to the Well of Ascension, the emerald pool above Elantris or Endowment’s perpendicularity will allow gems to be infused with their respective lights. it is possible that it here has to be an intention to infuse the gems as well, but this is at least how I can see a passive system working
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  24. Hey all, just wanted to respond to some of these things, so that we have "official" guidance in place. That is a mislabeling. #rafo explanation is meant to be the meta around what "RAFO" means. For a wob where Brandon explains why he is RAFOing something in particular (or gives some other relevant information) #rafo-plus should be used. These should be the ones with punctuation. If it is auto-deleting the punctuation that is a bug that needs to get fixed. (I know we've run into this before and I thought it had gotten fixed). Thank you for collecting these. Most, fortunately, seem to be dead tags (as in they have been fixed in the actual entries, but they still show up in the aggregated tag list and in searches). Dead tags not being deleted is a code issue that will need to be addressed. According to my original plan, none of these should have existed. They all should have just been #knights radiant, however it appears people really want them. Going forward they should be standardized to #order of blank. So this is an example of us not having the name for a book (or the book name not being confirmed) when we were doing the tagging. This is something we should go back update to the actual name. I believe Mestiv can mass replace this sort of thing. I concur that it should get renamed to #dawnshard novella. I am 100% going to abuse my power and standardize this at #ettmetal. These could really go either way. I had it as #unkalaki because that is what they refer to themselves as, but they are more often referred to as horneaters. And #the dor is because I don't like super short tags, like #dor would be (and because the dor is always referred to with the definite article). I'm interested in what people have to say for these. These are simple, they should be the latter. I think I would prefer to keep #intention, especially now that Shardic intent has been canonized, because we have two related but distinct things that are given the same name in-universe. These are dead tags. #ai is actually a dead tag, so no conflict here. This is another outgrowth me not liking super short tags, I'd prefer to keep it #waxillium. Tags in general should be pluralized. #cognitive entities is actually not intended to be a duplicate. The idea was for a wider bucket, to include broader topics for cognitive shadows, spren, and whathaveyou. Do people think this is actually needed/helpful? I don't think either of these tags actually need to exist. I don't really see a reason for these to change. I think they are fine. But it is always good to reassess, so thank you. Ha.
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  25. I guess it comes back to me thinking that really, no cosmere books would come out any faster in this hypothetical world. I think he may eventually just have some YA cosmere stuff that feels different enough in practice that it's still rejuvenating to work on, so he can be refreshed for Stormlights. But right now those don't exist yet.
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  26. The only one we know of is Nightform, from the Song of Secrets. Given the number of Regal forms implied to exist, it's a safe assumption there are more.
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  27. Yeahhh we stood no chance. I tried to get Archer and Szeth killed though, so I guess I’m glad about that :/ Two out of three isn’t bad. But well played elims. Edit: I laughed a lot at this thanks I actually have just generally been trying to use less of those. A lot of the time I’ll draft a post and then take out about half so that’s interesting you find that the indicator.
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  28. Hello everybody! I hope this thread is still active. So I am a 14 year old female (15 in November) and I am pretty much sure that I am LGBTQ+. But I am still a bit confused. Can you guys help me figure it out?
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  29. I remember that was a fairly dry talking heads scene too. A moment where Al makes the connection between Ket weather mages and his father in that scene would really ramp up the intrigue and involve Al more in the talking heads discussion.
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  30. Everything is better with David Tennant, he's like ice cream
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  31. 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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  32. Of course, Full Feruchemist is always forgotten...
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  33. I think there's a tendency for Cosmere fans to come up with complex explanations through magic rather than just accept the simpler mundane answer. It's like how everyone was saying that Dienno must be a surgebinder because how else could he possibly be able to escape shackles? In this case, the purpose of the scene is to show how the millenia of combat have made the heralds superhumanly skilled at fighting. He fights as though he can see the moves they're about to make because he's just that good, but he's not even the best of the heralds in sword fighting.
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  34. Ok, finally reading through this. Last week was A Lot. I apologize in advance for maybe more critical remarks that usual. I think, like @C_Vallion, I bounced off of this one because of all the teen angst. That by itself would have been alright, but I think this chapter still has some disconnects. My biggest one is I don't understand why W would refuse N at this point. The whole "people you care about helping you take care of others" is a central tenet of most human culture, so this comes off to me as seeming like a plot contrivance why W and N can't be together. That added to W's constant self-doubt makes me want to shake her, just a bit. Playing up on the extreme weirdness of N having some sort of reason why he needs to be with W would be a much better angle to me for why W would want to reject him. I though the mother was going to ask for something other people wouldn't want to do, not...play D&D. (Full disclosure, I am the person who reads all the manuals). Notes while reading: Pg 1: Not really on board with the discussion on the first page. It seems very...overt. N asks what W's thinking about and it goes into this whole thing about Feeeelings of stuff that occurred last chapter. I don't think we need this quite yet. pg 1: "I’m sorry again that I couldn’t dance with you.” --also covered this. A lot. pg 1: “Don’t you remember me ignoring you..." --also not needed, I don't think. This was like five pages ago, right? pg 2: yeah...I just...don't get why W is making Drama over this. pg 2: "If we were to try a relationship" --Wasn't that what they were doing already, with the date and everything? pg 2: “With everything going on, I don’t think I can be in a relationship,” --huh? why? Because her mother has cancer? Wouldn't another person helping make that better? pg 3: "but there are factors at play I can’t talk about. Factors wouldn’t understand." --1) missing "you" 2) now it seems like N is going all creepy again like he was at the beginning. pg 3: "“I know it’s not going to work for me." --I think I mainly don't understand this because W hasn't given any reason things won't work. pg 4: "see if you can fall in love with someone prettier and nicer.” --UUuggghhhhh. W. Stop it. pg 4: “In my community, when this happens we’re expected to be close and comforting." --uh, yes. Also, you know, in all cultures. pg 6: "Going to Taekwondo becomes a chore" --again, W doesn't seem to understand human interaction. I've taught martial arts for over ten years and students routinely come when they're having problems at home as a place to de-stress. pg 6: "“We decided he can join us when I’m trying to spend time with you,” I say. “Since that’s normal for his culture after all.”" --What culture is W's family from? I feel like theirs is the strange one. pg 7: Top of the page I don't know what's going on. What decorations? what about old texts? pg 7: “I wanted to run a Dungeons and Dragons game.” --oh horrors. I don't know if your geeky teenage children would ever want to do that... /s
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  35. I can't think of a single reason why Todium would want to remove those memories since the more he alters, the more likely it is that Hoid will notice what's been done. By removing something as major as memories of a relationship, not only does it dramatically increase the risk that Hoid notices something's wrong but it exponentially increases the odds that somebody else notices that he's acting differently. Todium's entire purpose in messing with Hoid's memories there was to erase a few minutes worth of conversation to hide the blunder that gave away that Rayse isn't Odium's Vessel any more, anything beyond that would potentially compromise that goal and at least put Hoid on his guard. This is of course setting aside the theory that Hoid engineered some part of that confrontation, witness how he had just enough Breath that the damage done dropped him off the Second Heightening.
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  36. This post contains spoilers for Stormlight Archive’s Rhytm of War, Mistborn’s Bands of Mourning and minor spoilers for Warbreaker. Proceed with caution. In the epilogue of Rhythm of War, Wit encounters the new Odium and their interaction leaves us wondering if the encounter truly happened as Wit expected or whether he has been outwitted (hah). I will summarize some “facts”: 1. Wit planned entering the old palace in order to meet Odium. 2. Investiture can be used to store memories. 3. Odium notices that Wit stores his memories in his Breaths. 4. Odium does something to Wit’s Breaths. 5. Wit appears panicked. 6. Wit appears to have forgotten he had already met Odium. 7. The encounter “repeats”. 8. Wit loses his perfect pitch, an ability granted by holding a sufficient number of Breaths. I think it is safe to say that 1. – 3. are facts. I will explain what I think what really happened during 4.-8. Put on your ralkalest foil hats and let's dive in. Wit, the man himself, gives us a few hints in the epilogue. Wit does a coin trick while talking about storytelling. He explains to Design that performing a magic trick without actual magic is more impressive. He talks about misdirection (“dirty tricks”) and then shows us that he had two coins all along. Now here is my theory: Wit knew exactly what he was doing. He planned to meet Odium and he planned to trick Odium into thinking he had been outwitted. “But wait”, you say. “Odium did mess with Wit’s Breaths! He stole them and that’s why he loses his perfect pitch. To that I say: “True, he stole his Investiture. But what about second Investiture?” Breath is not the only thing in the Cosmere capable of storing memories. Copperminds can do so as well. Wit is shown playing with a coin. That’s his Coppermind. He uses both Breath and Copperminds to store memories. These are the two coins that are parts of a whole. During the initial encounter, he starts storing his memories from the last few minutes into his Coppermind. When Odium “attacks”, Wit truly is panicked because he doesn’t know what’s going on. His memories are partially in his Coppermind and therefore not in his mind. His lack of information makes the rest of the encounter scary. While Odium talks about his predecessors’ agreements, Wit finishes storing the memory of the meeting into the Coppermind. The Breaths are a decoy, the misdirection. Odium does steal a few of his Breaths but Wit has a backup in his coin now. After their second encounter, Wit appears to have forgotten that they had already met a few minutes before. He seems confused and looks for Design. Then he meets Odium. At this moment, Wit genuinely thinks this is their first face-to-face meeting in over a thousand years. While talking to Odium, he glances at his coin and thinks “I wanna tap that. But not now with Odium watching.” The encounter ends. Wit walks away and tries to whistle. He notices a few of his Breaths are missing. He taps the coin and recalls his memories. Their first face-to-face meeting in over a thousand years had gone exactly as he had imagined. Some problems and possible answers about this theory: P1: It might be impossible to upload memories into Breaths and into a Coppermind at the same time. A1: 1. Wit could have stored half of his memories in his Breaths and half in his Coppermind. He can then piece together through context what happened. 2. The more interesting explanation is that Wit created this scene in advance (storytelling) and left those memories as a decoy for Odium. Here is an excerpt from the epilogue. The biggest clue, however, is the very last sentence of the epilogue. He *imagined* the meeting, as in he created images of it. How? Lightweaving. P2: Why does Odium notice the Breaths but not the Coppermind? A2: Wit says (Like Breath.) (Unlike coins.) Breath is Investiture that Wit is endowed with. It is a part of him, at least temporary. Metalminds store Investiture outside of the body. Odium is not interested in the coin at all. Why would he? Breath is much more interesting. Maybe if he had not noticed that Wit stores memories in his Breaths, he might have been curious about the coin. But that’s the magic of misdirection. P3: If Feruchemy existed before the Shattering or if Odium learned about Feruchemy at some point before Rhythm of War, he would be much more wary of a coin, something that is not commonly used on Roshar. A3: During his negotiation with Dalinar, Rayse says This implies that the different manifestations of Investiture are not known to each Shard. Plus, Odium was trapped in the Rosharan system, so he might have missed a few things P4: Why did Odium not notice that Wit's prepared memory was fake? A4: Wit is an amazing storyteller and could create illusions with Yolish Lightweaving prior to bonding a Cryptic. The Surge of Illumination would enhance and complement his abilities. P5: Why could Odium not foresee that Wit would attempt to create a fake memory? A5: Wit spent quite some time around Renarin who can interfere with Odium's predictive powers. Wit's Fortune allows him know where he is supposed to be but even without Fortune it would be smart to stick around Renarin if you want to avoid Odium's gaze. P6: Is Wit even a Ferring? We only know he is an Allomancer. A6: BoM chapter 21 Wit doesn't have to be a real Feruchemist or Ferring. He would just need to have access to a filled Niccrosilmind. P7: Where would Wit get a filled Niccrosilmind from? He visited Scadrial during Era 1, presumably left and came back during Era 2. However, Stormlight takes place before Era 2. A7: Wit could have visited Scadrial again between Era 1 and Stormlight to get a Nicrosilmind. Another and easier solution is that someone brought the Nicrosilmind to him. There were at least three Scadrians on Roshar, two of which are heavily implied to be Ferrings or Feruchemists. So that's my theory. I invite you to re-read the epilogue with these thoughts in mind. Channel your inner conspiracy theorist and try to find as many connections between what Wit says during his performance to the Spren and what happens during his meeting with Odium. I would love for you to add your thoughts and expand this little theory. TLDR: Wit is an advanced method actor. He played the fool but was actually still the Wit. He said to Odium "~~You cannot have my memories~~ Please feel free to take my memories" but only if you can find the right ones.
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  37. Welcome to the Shard! Who's your least favorite character?
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  38. I'm not sure if this has any bearing on the reasoning but if a zinc ferring were in a field of science and that same ferring were applying mental speed to their specific field of study it could/would progress at a pretty quick rate. It could be that there simply aren't enough zinc ferrings to ensure each field of study is getting the same amount of invested brainpower dumped into it. Not only could it be a lack of zinc ferrings but I dont believe that being able to store into zinc actually means that you think better... your brain doesn't magically know the sciences that you want it to when you tap. It simply allows you to think faster on subjects you are already familure with. That isn't to say you couldn't use it to learn faster... but a zinc ferring who spent their life studying / working on making a car wouldn't be able to suddenly tap zinc and have the ability to make massive leaps in biology. I guess there could also be a much simpler answer too... because Brandon likes the world with these aspects at this time.
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  39. This makes me laugh so much. I love this community.
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  40. Quiet week, this week. Full disclosure on this chapter: I didn’t like reading about high school drama when I was actually in high school, and several (oh man. More than I’d realized until just counting) years of distance have not made it any more endearing as a setting to jump into during my free time. So some of the things I comment on might hit better with an audience that wants to see those high school relationship dynamics… if there’s a crotchety old lady undertone to any of my comments, I apologize. That being said, even with my being prone to whine about high school angst, I liked a number of aspects of this chapter (mom wanting to set up the d&d game, N getting her to back up a step and look at things, etc.) but many of the individual beats themselves felt like they could be trimmed back a bit. I think some of my frustrations would be improved a lot if the relationship-emotion-processing sections weren’t as drawn out. I think if they were a few lines instead of a few pages, we’d still get the pain and inner conflict that’s going on. It’s the dwelling on it that pushes it over into sound like whining or self-pity. Pg 1: I assume her nightmares are related to her mom’s previous bout of sickness? It might be helpful for that to be clarified. I’d avoid any extensive detail on what happens in the nightmare, but at the moment, my reflexive response to “My nightmare comes back” is “What nightmare?” If it’s been mentioned before, this could very well just be WRS, and can be ignored “sleep cycle is going to be wrecked” did she have counseling or therapy or medication or anything for sleep/anger/anxiety issues last time she went through all of this that she’d be expecting to start up again in response to this realization? I wouldn’t expect her family to have any sort of stigma against any of that, and it seems clear that she’s well aware of the trouble she’s had in the past. As a random thought that occurred to me, I wonder if seeing that she’s actively trying to work through her anger issues and past trauma might help with some of the trouble of her coming across as self-pitying at times. If she’s actively working against it, it’s a way she’s trying to improve herself. If it’s just her past anger issues or having been dealt a pretty rotten hand with her mom’s health, it feels more like that’s just the way she is. The relaxation techniques do a little of this, and I do think those moments where she’s stopped herself, realized what she’s doing, and refocused have been good. Maybe that would help make some of the emotional beats that readers have been iffy about more engaging as well? Might be worth running past some others and see if that makes sense to them. “…before I fall in love…” this seems like a pretty forward thought to throw out there when she’s very torn about them having a relationship (and has trouble admitting that she even likes him a little later). And the fact that he ignores the comment and focuses on the pillow-punching seems odd. Especially when whether or not she likes him is pointed out as Very Important on the next couple of pages. “defies all logic” does it? Hadn’t he mentioned previously that he recognized that she struggles with anger and is sympathetic to that struggle? Especially when it’s related to her mom’s sickness, since it’s the same thing he had to walk through? She might think it’s ridiculous for him to want to go through the same pain with her, but I’d expect her to recognize the logic in it. Pg 2-3 Most of what’s here goes carries through from my last two comments on page 1. I’m not really on board with her reasoning, so I’m not really invested in her angst here. Pg 3: “Not as much at stake” …”If you can’t be honest…” I am with W on this one here, because now it seems like N has other ulterior motives for being in the relationship, which makes me suspicious of him. Pg 4: N’s wanting to back up a step and figure out where the disconnect is refreshing. Pg 5: “I just…want to be with you.” - “Because there are big things at stake that I’m not going to tell you about?” I’m not entirely sure how I feel about this shift in dynamics… when he’s the one trying to get her to look past her self pity to see the situation better, it bothers me that he’s also hiding things. Pg 6: “keep enough energy” what does this mean? “Taekwondo becomes a chore” THIS line hit hard. It does an excellent job of showing us how exhausted she is, when she’s considering giving up something that’s so important to her. “Since that’s normal for his culture…” Is this really such a foreign concept to them? I don’t get the big disconnect here. Part of this is definitely a skewed perception thing, since my family always pulled in all of me and my siblings’ friends to hang out for family dinners or camping trips or things. So it would just seem weird for someone close to any of us to not also spend a significant amount of time with the family, whether friends or significant others. Even if it’s not standard or expected in most standard high school relationships, I’d expect someone who is really close to her family (and someone whose family seems so welcoming) to see that as a normal thing at least some of the time. Pg 7: It seems odd to me that W wouldn’t have ever played any D&D if her mom enjoys it so much. It seems like they play a lot of board games as a family. That seems like it would have naturally progressed into some sort of tabletop RPG now and then. It also doesn’t seem like we should need a full page of back and forth about whether or not to run a campaign. Pg 8: Hah. I like the detail that her mom enjoys reading the game rules. A vital part of any board gaming group. Pg 9: “I don’t want to make him relive all that pain” This is the point I would have expected her to remember at the beginning.
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  41. Why not? Be sensible. If Odium drove him to do this, influenced him, then really, It wasn't completely his fault. Besides, he was no more than a product of his upbringing, his Vorin culture. All you have to do is accept that it was Odium's fault, and give him -- Ahhh.... Right... But you see, it is easy and seductive to do that, yes? Even Gavilar seemed to have been falling under that influence, who was also a nascent Bondsmith (even as Dalinar came very close to falling to Odium, despite being a Bondsmith of the Second Ideal). So no, it's not an excuse per se, reason to "give him a pass", but I would say is a reason for pity. We cannot say that we ourselves would be any stronger in withstanding an Unmade's influence his place, and he began with the best of intentions - he took on a lot of pain, mistrust, and suspicion onto his shoulders for Shallan's sake, and even under the Unmade's influence, despite all the other evils he ended up doing, he never betrayed that secret.
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  42. I have always had... a soft spot I guess, for Lin Davar. Yes, he was a despicable person who did terrible things, but in a way I feel that I understand him. To me, he is one of, if not the most, tragic character in the Cosmere. His fall started with one of the most selfless acts I can think of: his defense of his daughter. He basically walked in on his wife and her friend trying to kill Shallan. He fought against them, and was wounded. He still fought, and probably would have fought to the death if Shallan hadn't summoned Testament and ended things. When she did, what was his response? He cradled her, tried to soothe her, hid her actions, and most importantly took the blame. Not only from society as a whole, but also from Shallan's brothers. What is more, he kept her secret about being a Shardbearer safe to prevent her from being targeted again. He didn't even try to claim the Shardblade, or get Shallan to use it again when to do so would have made his own social position secure. Even at the end, he kept those secrets safe. What was his reward for doing what any good father would do? He became reviled by everyone, including his own family. He bore that to his death, and never tried to explain what really happened. The closest he came was with Helaran when he told him that "you don't know what you think you know." That broke him and let Odium in through the cracks. He became filled with hatred, and fell. And yet, even when he fell, he felt remorse and sorrow. He tells Shallan so when she met Hoid for the first time, and frankly I believe him. He knew that he had fallen, and he regretted it deeply. And yet, the one thing that he could have done to get some modicum of respectability back from others, namely betraying Shallan, he never did, or even considered. Of all the characters who deserves a redemption arc, he tops my list. He deserved it more than Roshone, more than Moash, more than even Dalinar in a way. He didn't get one, and the irony is that the person who ended that possibility was the person who he gave up everything for. As a father who likes to think that I would be as much of a defender of my daughters, this is the ultimate tragedy.
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  43. Uh, what about the women he murdered and all the abuse of his sons?
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  44. "You let grandfather pick my swimming instructor?" Andyn's voice went up in pitch with each successive word. The lanky, mop-headed youth peeled his tunic off in one quick motion and hurled it backward into the King's face, as he strode through the castle halls. King Ondyn followed and caught the tunic, folding it into a neat square without missing a beat. "What's wrong with my father?" he mocked, failing to disguise the amusement in his voice. Andyn stopped in front of the door that led to the pools and turned around, holding up a hand between them that he clenched into a fist and shook. "This isn't funny, father. I can tell when you're trying not to laugh. You know perfectly well what's wrong with grandfather. He hired an assassin to kill me on my birthday!" The king let out a strained chuckle, coughing to cover it up. "It wouldn't have been a killing blow, just a little lesson in the dangers of complacency." Andyn stared at his father. The muscles in his jaw bunched. "Sometimes I think you're just as bad as him." The king help up a hand. "Hey now, no need to get nasty. I'd estimate that I'm about half as bad, actually." The prince turned and pushed heavily on the door. It creaked as it swung open on rusted hinges. "It's just swimming, right? How bad can it be?" A shining, suckered tentacle snaked around Andyn's waist and yanked him into the pool in the center of the room. His shout of surprise was transformed into a dull gurgling. King Ondwyn crossed his arms and grinned as he watched the prince wrestle with the creature in the pool, periodically snarling curses in his direction. "You're just going to tire yourself out like that," he called in a calm voice. "Use your legs, Andyn, swim with your legs. Attaboy!"
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  45. I think that Kelsier's 'problem' is being stuck on Scadrial when he'd really like the freedom to go elsewhere in the Cosmere and possibly punch some more Shards in the face, rather than incipient insanity... not that he was a paragon of mental health beforehand. He's only been around for a few centuries at this point while the Fused and Heralds are thousands of years old and while we don't have an exact timeframe, we can reasonably assume the Heralds were comfortably past a thousand by the time of Aharietiam when all but Taln were at the breaking point. They also spent most of their immortality being tortured so that didn't exactly help things. We also see with Vasher at least one Cognitive Shadow who is comfortably older than Kelsier and not showing signs of insanity, even if he is wondering if he's really the person who died or just an Investiture copy who thinks he is. I don't think Kelsier ever needs to worry too much about that though, he has far too high an opinion of himself to care about that distinction.
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  46. Personal theory, Tanavast tried to re-connect the Singer's minds and failed because Odium used the opportunity to attack him. I think that this will be a cause of great division among Odium's forces. Odium directly interfered with the Singers regaining their minds and leading to thousands of years of slavery once the how and why of Tanavast's death is revealed. I also suspect that Odium had agents who were instrumental in making them salves in the first place. I'm probably wrong but Tanavast dying while trying to protect the people that hated him (sound familiar?) would be in theme.
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  47. I like the theory that Honor swore to protect the Singers, and 'began to die' when the Singers felt Tanavast wasn't keeping his promise. Or, mirroring Kaladin's story, maybe Honor made promises to both groups and found he couldn't keep them (remember, the dude's foresight isn't that great). He protected 'Elhokar,' but had to break an oath to 'Moash,' and in doing so, damaged himself. Actually, as I type this, I realize the power likely would have prevented him from making a choice, because he CAN'T break an oath. So where Kal could say "I made a mistake, I need to break this oath," and essentially fix his Spiritual problems, Honor couldn't, and it began to wear away at him.
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  48. Most likely it's because their sprens are bigger. If you gave investiture to a gloryspren until it became sapient you'd most likely get a Radiant with physical Adhesion and physical Tension and not both the spiritual and physical version as Boundsmiths do. The "speak for honour" part is unique to the Stormfather and comes from the fact that he's a Sliver of Honour (and even bigger than the Sibling or the Unmades)
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  49. I am not Mormon but I have read a fair about it and other world religions and I noticed some interesting similarities between Mormonism and whats happened on Scadrial. If I get any details of Mormon theology wrong please correct me. Some of what is here is pretty obvious but some I have not seen anyone say before. Also, I’m not trying to make the argue that Mistborn is secret Mormon propaganda, more that growing up Mormon affected and inspired Brandon Sanderson in interesting ways. First, the main premise of the Cosmere feels inspired or similar to Mormon theology. This is a simplification but in Mormon theology, anyone can become god and get their own new planet. Similar to the idea of the 16 shards becoming gods and getting planets. Another parallel is Harmony to the Trinity. In most Christian theology (Honestly I’m not 100% sure the Mormon view on the Trinity so this is a bit of a side point). For those not familiar with Christian theology the Trinity is the three “persons” of god. God the Father, God the Won (Jesus), and the Holy Spirit. (Sorry if I am using Catholic terms, I recently took a class in Catholic theology and I don’t know what words are Catholic and what words are used by everyone). Harmony is also a trinity of sorts. Harmony is the Shard of Ruin, The Shard of Preservation and Sazed. While Harmony does not have the exact same properties, Most Christians believe the Trinity can’t be separated, and Shards clearly can be and Ruin and Preservation are not separate “persons” but powers. Still, it's an interesting comparison. I could see Pathian/Surviorist theologians use term “trinity”. Back to Mormonism, one of the most well know part of Mormonism is the Golden Plates. Mormons believe that Joseph Smith, a Mormon prophet found golden plates with the Book of Mormon on them. In the book of Mormon proper, a variety of metal plates are also used to write down stories. What does this remind you of? It reminds me of the metal plates used through out the books to hide and protect writing from shards. Kwaan, Spook and other write important things in metal plates. Even in era 2, I think metal plates are used for important things like constable badges. The church of the Survivor started in a similar way as Christianity. In Survivorist theology Kelsier died and came back to life and met with a chosen few, similar to Jesus in Christian theology. But what makes Survivorism truly parallel Mormonism is what happened in The Bands of Morning. One of the cores of Mormon theology is that after his resurrection Jesus went to the Americas to teach to the peoples there. This is exactly what happened with Kelsier, after his real resurrection (not the fake Kandra one) He went to the other side of the world and taught them the metallic arts and it seems a new religion or at least new religious beliefs. This is such a strong parallel that I am surprised I have not seen any one post about it. Thoughts? anything I got wrong?
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  50. @MPHRD There are many ties between the Mormon religion and the cosmere in my opinion (so many in fact that I don't know if I am just reaching and drawing parallels when there are none there). To correct a few things though 1. Anyone can become a God and gain their own planet. Well not just anyone. Also this may be kind of confusing, but this isn't doctrine. It is generally believed, taught and understood that a man or woman by receiving and keeping convenants/ordinances and living a good life that they can undergo apotheosis and become a God. This idea comes from the Joseph Smith's King Follett discourse. What many people (even within the LDS church) don't understand is that very few things in the church is doctrine. Much of it is peoples ideas that members generally accept. 2. The Trinity. In Mormon theology it is the Godhead and it is believed that they are three distinct personages. Very different from "The Trinity".
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