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Well, I never made one of these, and as I like forums over staus updates for something like this I'm going to put it here. Hi, I'm Frustration, and this is my second Shardiversery, I first found Brandon Sanderson after my friend told me about Mistborn and Stormlight, I tried reading the Final Empire, but my first full Sanderson novel ended up being WoK. I found the Coppermind a little later because me and my friend who were both Cosmere aware, but increadibly uninformed, and were looking for answers. I didn't find the Shard itself until I found Shardcast while trying to find SA related Youtube videos. Two Years in review Now for the thanks @RShara was the first person I had any real interaction with on the shard, and we've crossed paths a few times since then, I have massive respect for her, and her sheer knowledge of WoB is what I aspire to have for myself one day. Fish then HemalurgicStickBreaker intoduced me to the community at large. During my second era here I met and greatly enjoyed the friendship of @Experience @Nameless @Mist @Vapor @Condensation @McWafy @Feruchemical Bowser @Ark1002 @The Awakened Salad @Channelknight Fadran @DancingQueen @Chinkoln @Danex @AonEne @Negative_Null and just so many more I can't even begin to list everyone but thank you ALLL! @LewsTherinTelescope also deserves a shoutout, I hope to one day be as good at theories as you I also have to thank the KotC, for dealing with my weird very new to RP self, I look back and cringe at my mistakes @Tesh @Blessing of Potency @phoenix2563 and everyone else thank you I'd also like a moment of silence for Freurcemical Bowser who is no longer with us. Current member statistics as of this post

to clarify: only nalthians are born with Breaths, however anyone can receive breath. if you have a breath (either natural born or received), you can use it for awakening and/or give it away. there is no location restriction on this, so you don't need to be on nalthis to do any of it.

It was hard to keep it all down. Hard to push his feelings back where they came. Rob felt even more of his emotions seep into the dark sphere, feeding whatever was inside. It could take his anger. Take his sadness. Take his pain. Again, he felt the cool sensation of numbness creeping over his body. Not calmness; calmness itself was an emotion. It was a void of feeling, one that hadn't consumed Rob yet, but one he welcomed all the same. "Aren't you tired of 'talking', Cassie?" He suddenly snapped at her, the mask slipping for just a second, before he stood up straight and let his anger flow back into the sphere. His next words were cool as ice. "All we do is talk. Talk to Doc, talk to each other, talk to the Voidbringers. We discuss plans and strategies and half-hearted promises to be better, but what's the use? When has diplomacy ever worked for us anyway? Does anyone ever try to talk to us?" He tried to continue but James started talking and Rob turned to him, took in the words. James, of all people, was standing against him. Rob watched him glow with stormlight, listened as his words seemed to echo through the room. An Ideal. And it was sworn in opposition to Rob. "Don't you dare use my ideals against me," he said, stepping back, another flame of feeling bursting through his words, then shut down again. He was slipping. The mask was crumbling. "I am loyal. I am dependable. I stand where others fall. Even if it means I do the things everyone else can't. Take the burden so none of you have to." He looked desperately back to Cassie. "You agree, right?" he asked. "You don't think I'm wrong, do you?" @AonEne @Wyndlerunner

MR52: Guard Duty Getting guard duty on the upper levels of Uritheru is probably about the most boring post you could have. But, at least today you’ve got a deck of cards to play with. How will you play? What cards will you gain? Do you even know what the rules are? Or what the name of the game is? How much will you bet, how much will you loose? We'll find out.... Welcome to MR52: Guard Duty! I’m very excited to be your GM for this game, but it is my first time so bear with me as I figure things out! (I am looking for a co-gm, pm me if interested) GM: @lotus Co-gm: @Illwei IM: TBD Signups will end Sunday, August 1st at 9:00 am PST and the game will begin shortly after that. Rules: (Link to rules dock HERE) Player list: Spectators: Quick links: Questions? Just tag me! Please let me know if I forgot anything in this post!

I am almost halfway through Lux… I started it last night..

Aw thanks guys It is nice, all you need is one good topic, or joining the right RP and you can count yourself as popular.

LG79/AN10 Day 3: Attempted Murder Kethri stood guard during the highstorm, sitting right outside the cave. Looking out, he didn't see the person sneak up behind him until it was too late. BAM, a blow right to the back of the head. He shouted in pain, and tried to twist to see who it had been. Thankfully, the extra armor of Warform had protected him, but it still hurt! The person disappeared back into the cave before he could see which of them it was. He rubbed the back of his head, and stormed inside. Somebody had it out for him, and he would find out who. --- Thane watched Kethri come in. He started shouting about how somebody had tried to kill him while he had been keeping guard. That got people talking real quick. Who had been missing? Who was the attempted murderer? Did that mean all the accidents that had happened so far, hadn't been accidents after all? Moirin called everyone together. "I've known for a while that there are some among us who seek to do us harm. We need to find them, and begone with them. If any of them would like to come forward, we'll deal with you more mercifully than otherwise." Nobody came forward. Everyone looked around at each other, and most hummed the rhythm of Anxiety. But Thane could even hear one or two people singing the rhythm of Betrayal, and that stung. It was not often sung, and when it was it was a cruel thing. Thane quietly hoped they could resolve the situation quickly, and make good on their escape. They still had to cross most of Alethela. --- Ivory Dragonfly was attacked, but survived! Village Stash Player List The day will end in about 47 hours, at 12AM EDT 7/27/21. Additionally, if @Fuchsia Ostrich, @Azure Mouse, and @Melon Dingo do not post today they will either be removed or replaced, depending on how many pinch hitters I have.

I am now a waffle cook. Fitting, considering I normally have waffles for breakfast.

Rashek was 1,500 years ago and did use the stormin Well of Ascension to become the LR so he would be more of an outlier than the rule so it would still be abnormal for a commoner to become the Governor And as Aspiring said Rashek saved humanity from destruction continuously for 1,000 years with all his programs and hiding the Atium. That line in TFE was supposed to sound egotistical then and than make sense in HoA when you realize that he did do a lot for humanity

*2 years ago* James reclined back against a large oak tree, the shade dappled as a light breeze swept through the boughs, and Theo sat down beside him. In the distance, seas of wildflowers sprung up around decrepit gazebos, and a river that curved too perfectly to natural cut its way through the landscape. Once, this place had been a botanical garden, but when the founders started realizing that they were losing more money than they were making, they closed it. Despite the long years since the garden's closure, nobody had quite been able to bring themselves to tear it down; so it had been left to grow more wild, and for that James was thankful, after all, this was his favorite place to come with Theo, who had proven himself to be James's best friend. Normally, when they came here, they relaxed, they discussed books, anime, and all of those shared interests that had led them to bond in the first place. Today, however, Theo took a more serious turn. "James, what is leadership?" he asked, not an ounce of levity in his expression. James looked over at him and rolled his eyes, "Theo, just because you made first chair doesn't mean you have to start pondering the philosophy of leadership." he said, giving him the look that was supposed to signal when Theo was taking something too seriously. Theo looked back over at him with a wry grin, "thanks, man", he said, "but this isn't about that at all. So my question still stands." James looked up through the branches of the tree, shading his eyes against the sunlight, "I don't know, but I think a leader is someone who can help people become their best selves." He finally answered, prompting a good natured laugh from Theo, "That is so like you, dude. But I think your definition is missing something: A leader doesn't always make others happy. Sometimes leadership means having to do the right thing, even if it won't make everyone happy." That had been their last conversation. *The Present Day* Rob's proposition sent a tangible chill through the otherwise temperate room, and James could practically feel the color drain from his face. "Rob," he said, quietly, unable to keep the horror from his face, "That's suggesting we commit mass murder. In fact, it's nigh unto genocide!" James had always tried his hardest to be a force of mediation; someone who could provide a level of emotional steadiness to any issue. At times, he'd been called a 'people pleaser' or a doormat, he'd been so determined to help others achieve what they wanted. Not now though, in this moment, the chill in the room shifted, from icy pragmatism to cold steel, the steel of James's determination. "I know you feel hurt, Rob, and I know you feel like we're caught in a cycle." James met Rob's eyes, grim, pained, but willing to do what needed to be done, "If you attempt to go through with this, I will do what it takes to stop you." His memory went back to that day beneath the oak tree, and the words of a dear friend. "Because I'm a leader... and that means doing what's right, even if it means I can't make everyone happy. As much as that hurts, I will do it." James inhaled Stormlight in what felt like a massive amount, and even in the daylight he could see the wisps of Light rising from his skin, bright like luminescent smoke. These Words are Accepted The Nightwatcher said, reverently. The Fifth Ideal of the Bondsmiths, the truest burden of leadership, and at the same time, its greatest honor. Thank you, Theo James thought, You were, as usual, right. "Please Rob, don't go through with this." he said, calm, but firm, "This isn't who you are. Stonewards aren't supposed to be emotionless, they're supposed to be dependable, loyal, stand by the people who care about them." James didn't know how he knew that last part, but it seemed like something Rob needed to hear. @AonEne

It's a quiet night in Alleycity. For the last few months, all it's been are quiet nights. The days of heroes fighting spiked demons and ancient abominations are over, and the heroes won. New guilds have sprung up where the old ones fell, and the Big 3: the Ghostbloods, DA, and TUBA, remain ever-present in the public consciousness, working in the background, never drawing too much attention to themselves. And why should they? Times are good. The economy is booming. And for once in its tumultuous history, Alleycity seems to be at peace. Good for you. You were always someone who stood out from the rest, either through your Investiture, your tools or your personality. In a world of NPCs (), you itch for adventure, wish that you hadn't been born too early to fight evil. Maybe it was the drinks that attracted you. Maybe it was the thought that you'd meet a special someone. Or maybe you just had nothing else to do on this quiet night. No matter the reason, come midnight and you find yourself in one of Alleycity's many entertainment venues, surrounded by bustling nightlife chatter, the clinking of bottles and the deep bass rumblings of the jukebox in the corner. Maybe you're seated at the bar trying to con a mark, or perhaps you're watching the live-entertainment from an out-of-the-way table. That's when it happens. "Oh - hey!" "What's he doing?" "Get off the stage!" A thin man with wide eyes clambers onto the stage and lurches for the head musician's microphone. There's a high-pitched squeal from the speakers as he snatches it from the singer and tweaks the setting. The music abruptly stops. People start yelling at them. The man ignores them and grasps the microphone with trembling hands. "I - I need to warn you," he says, his voice amplified by the mic. "You have no idea what's coming. Please! I need to say this before they -" The bouncers begin climbing onto the stage, but their work is cut out for them when something small flies out of the shadows and into the man's neck, dropping him. A figure clad in black can be seen in the corner, holding some sort of ranged weapon, and they run to try and escape the building. Screams begin to erupt, and some people begin to rush out of the building. To them, their bubble of safety is popping. For you, however... maybe this a chance to be like the heroes you once heard about. To utilize your skills, to have an adventure, and - if you fancy yourself good enough - to solve this midnight mystery. Once and for all. Now... what do you do next?

Heralds Madness The Heralds are insane, and that seems to a plot point of increasing significance with Kaladin’s focus on mental health in RoW, Ishar’s plan being dangled as a plot thread for the upcoming KoW. However, a lot of unclear with the herald's madness. I don’t think it’s been confirmed but it’s collectively accepted that a major part of the problem is a ‘magical’ inversion of their divine attributes/purpose. However, what’s causing this isn’t clear. There are so many factors at play that could be screwing with the Heralds heads: Normal PTSD from millennia of torture + war Immortality related Cognitive shadow decay (brain trying to handle millennia of memories) Spiritweb impact of 'breaking' during the oathpact Spiritweb impact of actually abandoning the oathpact BAM being bound Honor's death/shattering Guilt over abandoning one of their closest companions to be tortured alone ??? (Nale specific, but bonding to a Highspren is making him worse) The heralds seem to think that this is purely a result (1) PTSD. Kalak says that they shouldn't be 'getting worse' anymore. Nale tells Szeth at Thaylen Field his loss of compassion is directly torture-related Ash told Adolin that "thousands of years of torture" is what made the heralds insane. Ishar seems only to make the ideal = lucidity connection when Navani swears her ideal. Ishar also says he needs to be sane to fix the oathpact, not that fixing the oathpact will make him sane. I don’t think it’s actually on the herald's radar that they have a 'magical' problem. The source of the magical insanity can't just be the impact of abandoning the oathpact or breaking since Taln seems to still have the 'inverted attribute (resolute/dependable - comatose and cowardice) and he never participated in either of those two things. The cognitive shadow memory problems are definitely an issue but it doesn’t make sense as a root of the herald's ironic madness. I think it's something later, probably BAM being bound and/or Honor's death, that is causing the 'curse'. Heralds are closer to Nahal spren than humanity at this point, per Kalak, and also directly connected to Honor (like the Sibling). What happened to the Sibling and all the spren was drastic and completely uwpredicted. Heralds getting uniquely broken (on top of trauma + memory problems) fits with the other effects we've seen. Furthermore, while, the heralds do seem insane even in the original prologue (Kalak's anxiety, he sees cowardice in Jezerin’s eyes) but it’s nowhere near what we see in modern Roshar. Jezerin is leagues more put together, and while anxiety does seem to be part of Kalak’s madness, but I would argue that his magical anxiety seems to be specifically social anxiety (he’s at his most fearful surrounded by crowds at Gavliar’s party and the Trial) as an inversion of the social organizer role willshapers seems to have had. What we saw in the prologue than the completely reasonable fear of torture driven by PTSD. Finally, on a meta level, this would also help tie two of the major plot threads (Dalinar’s plan to fix the Heralds and Adolin/Shallan’s quest to release BAM) in KoW.

Will Yalb meet Shallan again? If so, will this introduce the now Dawnshard infused Rysn to the Knights Radiant and Dalinar? Since Dalinar is a Bondsmith, would it be possible for him to Connect with the Dawnshard somehow? What would happen if they did Connect? Could they, combined, defeat Odium? I personally don't think so, but who knows what the Shard is capable of.

Needed to dig this up to post this WoB from earlier in the month: I'm quite pleased that it fits with my timeline theory on the previous page. Aside from just clearing up the general idea of how much time passed, I think this completely refutes the idea that the gemstone archive was mostly recorded during the Recreance. Maybe a few of them were, but there's no way they made a snap decision to abandon Urithiru, did research on what was happening with the Sibling, and.... everything else... not to mention setting up the whole gem archive thing, all over the course of "days".

Unfortunately, Do is also under orders from her father and uncle. And as the mage-healer who was involved with helping her survive the assassination attempt, he also has a lot to lose if said charade fails and his involvement (or her uncle's) comes to light. Though even playing up that aspect would probably help with the engagement level (to jump to other issues for a moment). Hmmmm... See, that's funny, because in my head, the firestones would come across as less magicky because they're more common and more practical. Almost like flipping a light on. Or turning on the stove. You might not understand how the electricity makes it work, but you know what to expect when you flip the switch, and can trust it to do what it's supposed to. Whereas the healing stones would be more like medication, where it will probably do what it's supposed to, but it very well might have some unexpected or unpleasant side-effects. So to me it makes sense to be more cautious of the healing stones. But part of that is not having had a good chance to show the real range of what magic is capable of or how it can go wrong. And I'm sure that having the capabilities and limitations of the magic system bouncing around in my head for literally years probably has something to do with it. The important thing from this is that some spellstones are more complicated or require more background knowledge than others, which seems to be coming across. That will be coming back in a couple more chapters. Yeah. This needed to be made much clearer at the beginning, but I can't figure out a place to make it obvious in a way that feels realistic. Ultimately, she sees her purpose in life as doing everything she can to serve the kingdom. In addition to behind-the-scenes things like helping with her mother's research or acting as a sounding board for her father's political thought-processing, she sees that as requiring her to create a public image of strength, control, and capability to represent the royal family well and to avoid being recognized as a weak point of the royal family and used against her father. Because she's spent most of her life watching her father mask his weaknesses and watching the more vicious members of the court try to capitalize on them. After the poisoning, she's confronted with being suddenly unable to represent the family in the way she thinks necessary, and is afraid of becoming a further point of vulnerability for her father, or for screwing up the things he has been working toward if members of court try to leverage the assassination attempt for their own purposes. So it's a whole "How am I useful or valuable to anyone if I'm incapable of doing this thing that has been a foundational point of my identity for so long?" thing that is also a "I'm hiding my actual issue of being unable to deal with my own vulnerabilities behind the more palatable issue of wanting to better serve the kingdom" thing. But I'm pretty sure that most of that is...not coming across. Because starting out with the tournament (while a more exciting scene than other potential options I've come up with) doesn't have her directly interacting with any of the people she's trying to put on that initial front of competence for. And after that she's in a bit of a pity mode and hiding away from all of the people who might notice she's not entirely in control of her life at the moment. I tried to have some of it come across in 5(?) when she mentions being afraid of being used against her father, and a little in 7 when she snaps at Ali about feeling useless and her diversionary tactics of framing things in a way that makes her pretend she has more control over her pain and emotions than she actually does. But there needs to be more clarity at the start for it to come across like I want it to, and a lot of the subtleties are missing altogether. Ultimately, I am not hugely surprised by a lot of the frustrations with Is- through this round of revisions... some of the key motivation foundations are still missing and I have yet to find a good way to get them across. Psshhhh. That's never stopped me (obviously). Thanks so much for the additional thoughts. My problem-solving process benefits a lot from these sorts of working-through-issues conversations, so even if they don't bring up specific solutions, they're extremely helpful.

You could start the scene with Is arguing with Do about how she needs to get out and be seen to keep up the charade of normalcy. Do would likely disagree as her tending healer, wanting her to rest and heal more before going out. Then she goes to the park anyways and sees everyone there. I think this is great. Do it. Firestone still seems more magicky, just because it's magic you can see. You only see the effects of the energystone. It does imply though, that some magic has a darker aspect to it than others, which is intriguing. I see what you're getting at. I can't put my finger on it, but I was becoming annoyed with Is every time she refused help from someone, and then struggled and was in pain as a result of it. It's like I kept wanting to roll my eyes at her and to tell her, "you just survived an assassination attempt, and before that you defeated Ro in the tournament. No one is going to think you're weak if you need help walking afterwards or need to rest or whatever." I think my problem is I still don't understand her compulsion not to appear weak. Why is she so concerned about this? This is complicated for the part of the scene with May and Det, since they don't know about the assassination attempt, so she's also trying not to appear weak to maintain the ruse of normalcy. In this case, maybe play it more like the reader sees occasionally grimaces and other fleeting signs of discomfort, but Is doesn't really mention her pain or tiredness. We know what kind of state she is in, and that's she's trying to put on a brave face for her father. So we can see more of Is' toughness in a scene where we know she's hurt and feels bad, but acts like she isn't and doesn't think about it as much. Turn up her competence slider in working through the pain with grace. I'm starting to ramble so I'm out.

For all you Fellowshippers:

I hate my life, so I'm joining this game. Wheeee what could possibly go wrong.

It is beyond time to close these threads! [Placeholder for congratulating unknown winners? Maybe everyone lost? Everyone won? I do not know enough about Wheel of Time to guess at the result, but I can see everyone died!] As always, if anyone would like to try their hand at running a game, please get ahold of Wilson, Devotary of Spontaneity, Elbereth, Araris Valerian, or myself, or post in the GM Signups & Discussion Thread. Not only will we get you added to the list, but we'd also be more than willing to help out in any way we can. You can also ask questions and get some hints and feedback from everyone in our Art of Game Creation thread. With all the games that we've run so far, we have plenty of experienced GMs that can help you refine any game you're thinking about. If you would rather keep some detail secret, or are self-conscious about posting in thread (there's really no need to be; while we do slaughter each other, we are very polite about it), then I'm sure one of our fantastic committee members (Amanuensis, STINK, Sart, Fifth Scholar, Straw, Haelbarde, and Young Bard) would be more than willing to help you out in private. Thanks again to everyone that played, and we look forward to killing seeing you in future games!

Lord Ruler

I threw in Edgedancer, Dawnshard, and The to change up the lyrics a little. I probably should have had another T at the end. Oh well.

Any confusing/boring sections? There wasn't anything particularly confusing, but this chapter was uneventful. I feel like the conversation between Is and Al was a missed opportunity for some meaningful dialogue between them. Is spent a lot of time being tired and in pain, but also not taking steps to lessen it other than using the spellstones. Thoughts on characters? May had the strongest characterization in this chapter, and also the best lines. I don't know what it is, but I feel like your supporting characters tend to hog the spotlight and get the best scenes and lines. Your protagonists end up looking bland and ineffective compared to them. Also, your protagonists spend a great deal of the scenes doing inner monologue, when they should be interacting with the world and people around them. I think they need to get out of their heads a bit. Give them more dialogue, and juicy dialogue at that. Points of interest or engagement? I wasn't engaged for most of this chapter. It became interesting when Al and Is finally got to have a conversation, although that was also very short-lived and unexplored. This chapter lacked conflict, at least in terms of the POV character. Is refusing help and feeling bad isn't compelling conflict. We need more than that for her POV chapter. I want to see her get upset at May or Det, or even Al. Or maybe she allows herself to be upset at her dad in front of Al. As I go- pg 1 - "She opened her eyes and stared at the spellstone," I think this would be a great place to actually describe the spellstone in detail for the reader. I just see a random gemstone in my mind. - "The feeling of the spell traveling up the arm that held the stone and through the rest of her body at a steady pace without her being able to do anything to affect it was unnerving, to say the least." This sentence drags a bit. - "...she asked, switching to massage the other leg. Is nodded once and switched to the other leg." This reads strangely, almost like Is has 3 legs. pg 2 - "The girl had never been comfortable with any magic beyond firestones." This seems so odd to me, since a firestone is so much more "magicky" than a strengthening stone in my mind. It's not like you can really see anything happening with a strengthening stone, but I know that's not the point. - "...paranoid that magic might somehow ooze over the border on its own to cause chaos." Great characterization line. pg 3 - Wow, using the energy stone seems horrible. Like stabbing yourself in the heart with a syringe of adrenalin. Seems a bit like black magic or something. pg 4 - ..."or Is was too tired to notice anything out of the ordinary." Wait, isn't she wired from the energy stone? - "She walked back through the gardens with May, which automatically meant also walking back with De." You can cut the "automatically" and this will flow better. - "For the most part, the arrangement left Is free to pace silently..." The "for the most part" isn't doing anything here, other than weakening your sentence. I would cut it. pg 5 -..."but Al cut in before she could say press the matter." It looks like the "say" needs to be cut from this sentence. - There are a lot of names on this page to keep track of. May, Mal, Der, Isr, Sha, Cer, Gi, Ro, Al, Neri, Det. pg 6 - too tired to think any more of it until her cousin's enthusiastic "enjoy your evening" trailed after her. Haha, yes, great humor and characterization here for May. pg 7 - "Was that a May-shaped shadow silhouetted against the wall?" I love this. May seems like the pushy, overly flirty friend that means well but also oversteps their bounds. pg 8 - "So much for her plan to avoid letting anyone see her slow, painful ascent of the stairs." Good characterization of Is, but also somewhat repetitive. pg 9 - "She refused Gin's offer of a hand under her elbow." Right now, it seems like Is' main personality trait is to refuse help from others. Are we going to find out why? I would like to see more about who she is. - "What is the king planning?" This seemed to come out of nowhere, but I'm glad for some juicy conflict-related dialogue. pg 11 - "Even a supporting hand on her elbow would be helpful to take a little of the weight off her legs." It's one thing to have Is constantly refusing help from others, but it weakens that when she is wishing she hadn't refused help and wishing that someone would just help her. It sets up a hypocritical sense to her thoughts and actions. She spends a good part of this chapter refusing to allow others to help her, and then wishing they would, and thinking about how nice it would be if they did. It's like she's playing the stoic and the victim at the same time. pg 12 - "Al glanced toward the stairs once more before bidding her goodnight and turning down the hall to his rooms." I would have liked to see this happen on screen, with the actual dialogue. I feel like Al and Is have had precious little time to talk, and it would be nice to get some more characterization from both of them. Don't cut short their already brief interactions.

Nex-im are Surgebinding while we have Brandon's confirmation that at least some of what Renarin is doing is Voidbinding

... Rashek did sort of kinda do a lot, with the storage caverns and trying to save humanity and ruin driving him insane as he hid the atium.

Heeeeeeelp, I don't have any art inspiration.

I'm not sure if this is a meme, exactly. Is any picture with poorly superimposed words a meme? Does that mean all Geocities websites from the 90s were memes?

I’m bored. Anyone want to start an RP where you need to brake the fourth wall every third post or else your character looses function of a vital organ?

Out of curiosity, when something is melon-flavored, what melon do you think of? Like, what's the "default" melon in your mind?

HELLO TESH HOW ARE YOU TODAY? ALSO YOU'RE AWESOME you may now resume your regular Sharding

Skyward

I don't think this is the case. I would say that we do get a predominance of blades in actuality but an equal number in people's memory. I have few reasons to support this: Plate sticks out more inherently because it can't go away like blades do. It's easier to get a blade once you have plate (see Dalinar). People with Plate and Blade are at the forefront of things so they get talked about more. Under certain circumstances there's an advantage to keeping the fact that you have a blade hidden.

(Not technically a RoW meme, but most of the discussion around this took place in the RoW spoiler boards so I thought here was the best place for it)

I have Major Depressive Disorder, which means I don’t get bouts of depression like some others were saying they do, it’s all the storming time. I fight through the gloom occasionally, but like Kaladin, it finds its way back when I give it the slightest chance. I absolutely love reading his viewpoints. I don’t have PTSD, exactly, no severe trauma, though I have chronic pain that’s been suggested it could be causing something similar, but the symptoms seem different from what Kaladin goes through. Yet, I identify so much with his struggles of self-worth and not feeling like he can save those around him, even though that’s not the same struggle I go through. I feel like I can’t provide for my family due to chronic health issues, and I feel like I can’t be a friend to anyone because I can’t be there for them. So much of Kaladin’s struggle resonates even though his is a more extreme version.

My dad. Is awesome. So we'd been sitting around and watching some tv, but instead of paying attention, we were cracking jokes, like We're on Disney+, so Star Wars started playing. Once the Millennium Falcon shows up, my dad just says, "Hey look, it's the Millennial Falcon." Needless to say, I found it hard to breath for about two minutes. Anyway, I hope you found this as funny as I did.

Just wanted to say here that no one here is actually the "villain". The author is just writing on the side of Dalinar and the Knights Radiant. If Sanderson was writing from the side of Odium, Dalinar might be the villain. However, many people who were not "good enough" turned out to be a good ruler like Dalinar. I believe that all the posts above is true, and that all these themes are part of what Sanderson is picking as a "theme" for this series. The series suggest many things about our lives and as Sanderson finishes the Stormlight archive, we may have a new view of a theme throughout the series. I do believe that each book is expressing different theme/themes, supported by the previous themes to develop more level and layer upon this. Each book also serves to contradict/support previous themes to develop the theme that there is no one thing that is prominent, but multiple themes and choices made and sacrifices needed, and the consequences that may follow Thank you all for sharing, I learned a lot

As far as telling kaladin to suck it up I totally agree he should. His own self-righeous ideals about shardblades and eye color really hindered his progress throughout his life. And yes childhood trauma is very tough to overcome but she's had the world handed to her on a silver platter the least she could do is not get her salty ass tears on the plate. Like I said, Kaladin too. Being broken is only a reason to not find a purpose. If one is thrust upon you like these two have had put your petty problems and quarrels aside and sad times and do your duty. Stop making it harder on everyon else. Also the character discovery and self journey are important, yes. I just feel like the points that are emphasized are very irksome points and stuff that anyone else that has gone through similar problems as Kaladin and Shallan wouldn't falter where they do, instead finding more purpose than problems in the current events.

Thanks, I will definitely dive into WoBs. I'm not touching the Coppermind again until I finish RoW since I got spoiled because of a misuse of the TimeMachine option xd

Oh, actually Secret History is included in Arcanum Unbounded in the Spanish edition. Thanks for your answer I will dive into that!

There is more than one type of depression and it varies between people. While I don't have anything that gives me mental breakdowns, I have my own issues with depression that, while they do go away, also do come back a lot, which the book does make a point of. And seeing as I read this book during my depressed scene aka now, I can confirm that a lot of it is relatable. (There's a thing called SAD (Seasonal Associative Disorder) which I have noticed that I am heavily affected by, so it does go away when winter ends, and then comes back. Every year. Same damn time. And I'm pretty sure I was depressed as a kid and didn't realize, cuz what kid knows they're storming depressed. Depressed was my normal.) Kaladin in this book was great. Still think his strongest appearance is WoR, but this book continued his long and harrowing journey, giving him some respite before forcing him through, and boy, the more I think about it, the more connections I can make to my own life. He likes fighting, he loves it, Vasher outright says it. However, it takes a toll on him, tires him, and he needs to take a break doing something else he somewhat loves. This is very similar to me during my depressive episodes, where I'm doing something i love (writing), but it tires me and takes a toll on my mental health and I need to take a break and recover by doing something else I love (Literally anything else. Read, youtube, movies, shows, anything, just stay away from the stress inducer.) His struggle with his parents does not perfectly mirror my own, but to some extent, his parents are dismissive of his condition. My parents, while unaware of how bad it is as I refuse to tell them, are fairly dismissive to it, as they refuse to understand the why or that even their child can go through depression because 'that's for crazy people, you're not crazy' (Despite my sister admitting she goes to therapy, provided by her job, and taking anti-depressant pills, so both their kids are depressed. Wonder why.) Adolin pesters him and makes sure he isn't alone, as he knows that he needs the company to improve his mood. While I have no friend to do that because of stupid quarantine, I do have a friend who invites me on walks and I force myself to go with him even if I'm too sleepy/tired/angry/depressed to. Having talks with him does lift the burden, and being able to talk about your problems makes it so much better. (Also, while Sanderson doesn't show it much, You can be depressed and still smile and laugh. He has Syl make Kaladin smile a few times, but rarely laugh, which does happen with people you are genuinely happy to be with, it is not just acting/faking as he implies. It's harder, and it's more fleeting, but it does happen.) So, Kaladin's depression was the most relatable and dare I say realistic I have seen/experienced, at least compared to my own experiences. While not at the sheer level, I too get moments of just not being able to do anything. And ironically, that made me quite happy while reading, because boy, if there's something that can put a smile on my face, it's good writing. Now if only I can find my own Syl in the form of a boy/girlfriend/any significant other, that would be great.

Thank you for making this post! Kaladin is my favorite character in whole freaking cosmere, and his arc in Rhythm of War was phenomenal from beginning to end. I commend Brandon for writing depression and battle shock so accurately. I'm an author and most of my books deal with dark moments within characters, hence I understand. While I haven't ever faced PTSD, four years ago when I was 14, an incident left me in a black space for years and it still shrouds my mind. It sometimes also manifests in form of sparse episodic depression, and I also have mild SAD. But that's not how I fell in love with Kaladin. His character journey has been best described than any other character for me, a perfect journey which still surges towards its destination. This is a man whom you can relate, not matter how powerful he is, and during his darknest times, you find yourself with him- feeling, reeling and crying but accepting that you DO understand what is going on. Healing is difficult but it is possible. For every night that hides our tears, there's a morning which bathes us in fresh light to breathe better. Kaladin is that light for Stormlight Archive. What I don't understand is people labelling him with words like weak, pathetic, sniveling and galling in many threads I've come across. It's wondrous to know that they find themselves 'acceptant' over a character burning his wife to death or mercilessly killing his own soldiers, or even poisoning while given excuse of personality disorder or people being commended for prejudicing for whole life only to be giggled over because he'd become friend to a hero- I am astounded that people find it difficult to not understand how conflicted Kaladin is because he can't protect anyone. Almost everyone, no matter how atrocious their deeds are, are being given redemption arcs and hailed mighty great by whole world but a character who is presenting you an after-effect of discrimination, abuse, slavery and depression is being called as an impossible read? Yes, I like other characters but that doesn't mean I like what they have done. There are many things which are far irredeemable by any means and the only salvation is to take a journey in right direction. But a character whose journey has almost always been in right is being assaulted substandard verbatim? You cannot expect a hero to be always swooping in and taking charge. You cannot expect a hero to dress well and flash a charming smile. You cannot expect a hero to be hypocrite past his own deeds. You can but expect a hero who will be real to you. Nevertheless, I always know we fans have our preferences and their dislike for characters is alright but at least provide valid imputation for your commentary-- don't label as something which is not 'right' by a character. We all have our heroes, and for me, that is Kaladin Stormblessed. And yes, he breaks many times more, he shatters, his soul fractures but he joins himself, picks himself up and rises again. That is the Life, the Strength and Journey.

Ha! Same. I was mentally saying "Space H. Coast to Coast" in my head every time that name came up.

Being left alone Like just not associating with anyone It's great, no one would ever know, and as soon as someone was near them, or interacting with them in any way, their weakness would deactivate

That was a great read, and in retrospect it's strange that I never thought of the Rosharan humans as an invasive species on Roshar's ecology. I would note however, that being an invasive species doesn't preclude one from being colonists.

I wish I knew more about math so I could really contribute to this conversation. Like I have no idea what Julia sets and Fatou sets are or whether they have anything at all to do with Roshar, but... Come on. Tell me that doesn't look like Roshar. Also, I like the sound of "Julia set behaviour is chaotic, while Fatou set behavior is regular/ordered." Sounds a bit like Honor and Cultivation to me. (By the way, RShara, if you see this, it might be helpful to add the summary to your first post so newcomers to the thread can get caught up.)