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It's that time of year.... I can still hardly believe it's been an entire storming year since I joined the shard There are so many people I need to thank and I can't believe I have had the honor of knowing over the past year, it amazes me, however my parents are making me go to bed now, so I won't be able to tell y'all just how amazing you are until tomorrow, but in short, just know that my experience here has been amazing with every single person I've met. You are all fabulous and lovely, truly, thank you.

Today I got a lego dragon for less than twenty dollars. Faith in humanity: restored.

Why am I making this update? Number one, to say how much I appreciate Ted Nasmith and Alan Lee's art for The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, and The Silmarillion. Their work is incredible. Second, there's a Russian rock opera based on events from the Silmarillion, and I need to share that. Finrod Zong It's an hour forty minutes long, and in Russian (duh), but it's great. You should check it out.

DatS 17 Mistborn spoilers:

When you get in heated arguments over the pronunciation of "Adolin"

"All I know is that when I first woke up, my very first thoughts were 'Vertical Gastropodical Inclination (or VGI): the action of a snail crawling up a wall'" - @Chasmessian

After a bunch of kerploofery, @Illweiis going to be my co-GM for the game!

DatS 17:

Interestingly, he does not recreate the visions. Glys is the one who does it and uses Light to do so, and it takes effort and tires him out pretty quickly. As for your actual question, I don't know, and am very curious on that too. Maybe Glys can make illusions (which only he and Renarin can see, for whatever reason) and "capturing" and "recreating" the vision is just that, memorizing and then recreating from the memory? But either way, this seems to be different from the visions themselves, which Renarin speaks about as if they can't be controlled.

"Wine before bread. Stroganoff before wheat germ. Journey before gustation. These are the Oral Words and I invite you to say them with me each week, here on Nohadon's Kitchen." Nohadon's Kitchen is made possible by donations from the Alethala Tourism Council, the Thalath Merchant Guild, and viewers like you.

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.

This is a slight follow up to DatS2.

Everyone seems to think that Dalinar will take up Honor since he bonded the storm father but I think Kalidin has a much stronger case. "Honor is dead but I'll see what I can do" Being called the son of Tanavast by the storm father and the sibling. Has embodied Honor for his entire life always choosing the honorable path no matter the circumstances. Has a growing following that has "faith" in him and use his brand as almost a religious symbol. Honor is Dead but I'm convinced we'll see what Kaladin can do. If Dalinar holds a shard it would be the shard of War. Hes the only character so far that has been chosen by both odium as a champion and by honor with the storm father accepting him. I predict. 1. Dalinar loses to Odiums challenger 2. Kaladin ascends to honor. 3. Honor kamikaze into odium leaving Both shards and Dalinar picking them up with his new shard making him the big bad and free to leave Roshar. Who better to carry the Shard of war than Dalinar? What better opposite to Harmony?

Death and the Survivor 1: (Mild RoW spoilers) If people like this I’ll make more strips. Probably unconsciously inspired by Calvin and Hobbes.

Hey everyone! So I, like many of you I'm sure, have been trying to successfully convert my wife to the Cosmere. Literally since I met her I've been trying to get her to read The Way of Kings but there never seemed to be a good time for her to jump into it - either she was reading something else, had too much work, or just couldn't commit to a 1000-page book whose series wasn't finished yet. However, we've recently figured out that she really enjoys being read aloud to - she likes the sound of my voice and it helps her relax after a long day (she's a high school English teacher dealing with teenage angst all day - please show her some sympathy here). So naturally, I finally sold her on tWoK and I've been reading it to her for the last few months, a bit at a time. At the moment, we're in part 2 and just read the scene where Dalinar experiences the first vision we see 'on-screen' where the Midnight Essence shows up and he fights it off with a fire poker. So here's another thing: my wife is absolutely hilarious and also has trouble remembering names (to be fair, Alethi names have a lot of -lin, -as, -nar suffixes), so I recently asked her to give me a breakdown of what she remembers each character as. Here's what she's got: Kaladin - Slaveboi - "He used to be soldierboi, now he's slaveboi, but I'm pretty sure by the end of all this he'll be shardboi" Shallan - Sneak - "She's so mean! She's just becoming friends with her to steal her magic jewellery. I don't like her." Dalinar - Jeffrey Dean Morgan - "He looks like JDM." Adolin - The Hot Brother - "He's kind of a slut right?" Renarin - The Awkward Brother Sylphrena - Manic Pixie Dream Girl Sadeas - B****boi - "He's the idiot with the bridges right? Yeah, he's a b****boi." Jasnah - Princess Jasmine - "She's a princess right? No? Yes - she's the daughter of Dead Kingy Boi." Gavilar - Dead Kingy Boi Szeth - The Michelin Man - "Because he's big and all in white!" "Tay, he's average size. Just his eyes are described as big." "Are you kidding me?" Elhokar - Boi King - "You're making sure to write these all as 'b-o-i', right?" Gaz - C***! - I know this board doesn't allow swearing - but she just straight-up shouted the c-word when I mentioned Gaz. The Stormfather - The Stormdaddy - "Make sure they know it's being said in an uncomfortably sexual way." Chasmfiends - Rock Lobsters Some early hot takes from Tay: - Dalinar killed Gavilar so that he could become king because he's in love with Gavilar's wife. - The shardbearer who Kaladin fights in the first chapter killed all of his men and enslaved Kaladin. - Sadeas is behind the cut saddle. - Kaladin and Syl are going to fall in love. - Kaladin is going to get a shardblade ("He's obviously going to get a shardblade Chris... don't mess with me here.") - Shallan already has a shardblade (!) - Shallan is going to feel too guilty to steal Jasnah's soul-caster OR "Princess Jasmine is going to catch her sneaking around and say 'Hey Sneak. Let's have a DMC about why you want to steal my magic jewellery.'" I also thought I'd pop back in on this thread every once in a while to update you with any fun observations she makes in the future, and thought this could be a nice place to share our experiences with introducing the series to the people in our lives and their reactions to us being insufferable and incorrigible nerds!

"He must pick it up, the fallen title! The tower, the crown, and the spear!" Pickup up the spear seems to be a relatively clear reference to our boy Kal. But apparently he must also pickup a crown (like Jezrian), the tower (Uritheru?), the fallen title.... shard maybe?

Me: "Hey, it's not my fault that you refuse to accept reality." Fadran: "It's not my fault that reality is unacceptable." Truth (upon learning about bagels): "This is too much for me. I will call it donut 2: electric boogaloo." Noam: "Idk I think of making out as just romantic cuddling with face contact" Fadran: "the watermelon people stole my darned paddleboard!" Fadran: "She gets paid in children" Vennie: "love is like putting green beans in the microwave, and a then a stick of butter in the green beans" Me: "Please don't sacrifice your children to Ms. Frizzle." Fadran: "Wait by infant do you mean the human kind?"

YES!!! It is the mischievous Nightblood My bonus clue was going to be (STORMLIGHT/WARBREAKER)

It is not the 'relaxed' Serbarial It is not the plotting Bluefingers. This character is funny This character is a follower This character prefers a certain color This character has been in allegiance with at least 3 different people This character hates evil (you have one more bonus clue after this)

If Kaladin were to ascend would he still be bound to his radiant oaths? That would be wild honor... But sworn to protect those that can't protect themselves... He'd be the god hero of the cosmere

LG79/AN10 Night 4: Chaos Reigns "YOU'RE EVIL!" "No, YOU!" "You tried to kill Edith!" "No, YOU DID!" "GRAHHHH" "SHINUUUUU" Thane looked around at the complete chaos the camp had devolved into. People were accusing people left and right, and it didn't look like it was going to come to a consensus. One guy started shouting at the sky, telling Odium to come down so they could kill him. Was he... drunk? Thane honestly had no idea, and quietly hummed to the rhythm of Confusion. Out of nowhere, a lightning bolt struck the ground. Or more specifically, it hit a singer. The shouting and fistfights stopped, as they stared at the singer who had just been fried by a freak lightning bolt. And then they went back to arguing. Thane, deciding it was much too violent for his liking, went over to Moirin who had started cooking. "We'll let them get it out of their systems, and hopefully they'll able to be logical again once the highstorm hits today." Always so wise, Moirin was. And so he helped Moirin cut up some vegetables, and throw it in the large pot they had brought with them for some simple stew. --- Oxblood Beagle(4): Tuatara, Hyena, Lion, Vulture Charcoal Hyena(4): Dragonfly, Rhino, Heron, Beagle Amber Vulture(1): Scorpion Mint Heron(1): Flamingo Cream Tuatara(2): Azure Mouse, Emerald Falcon Nobody was exed! Melon Dingo was killed for inactivity! They were a Dullform Rebel! Player List The turn will end in 23 hours, on August 1st at 12:00AM EDT. Day 5 will most likely be late in coming, because my brother has a graduation party, and I have no idea when I'll have time to get it up. If you want, I could move rollover one time a few hours earlier, so that I can get the day up, and then rollover would move back to being at noon in Eastern time. Let me know in thread.

Ivian was tired--but he also felt very fulfilled. He'd finished decreeing a number of laws providing extended rights to all citizens; and later today he was going to negotiate trade deals between a number of noble estates. In a week he'd have border disputes settled, a marriage overseen, and federally-supervised province militias established. Recently, a merchant's caravan discovered a series of ore veins not far from the capital; Ivian had bought the deed from them for no small sum of money, and was currently searching for miners to work them as well as people to certify as official minters. Hopefully he could increase circulation of currency over the course of a few years. Still... for now he had a moment to catch his breath. Ivian fetched a glass of wine to sip and collapsed onto his throne. In less than an hour he'd have the peasants lining up to make petitions, so it was probably best to get what rest he could.

Imma be camping for the next three days.

12 hour shifts lend themselves to that, what can I say? XD

Jezrien didn't wear a crown

The bouncer talking to Cole continues patrolling the tables, his sleeves rolled up to reveal pewter braces on his arms. He crosses a table and freezes when he sees Aderet crawling out from beneath another one. Instantly he’s kneeling by her side, taking in her crumpled dress, her frail voice, the way her tears muddle up her makeup slightly. He listens to her words with wide, grey eyes, his face contorting in anger. The last thing Aderet feels as she faints is the bouncer catching her and gently laying her down, then yelling for a healer. From Cole’s vantage point on the stage, he’s able to see everything that happens next with surprising detail. The bouncer he was just talking to stands up from the fainted noblewoman, and with one hand — his previous regard for neatness gone — he grabs the table she was under by the rim and flips it over, his muscles beginning to expand. Glasses of half-completed drinks bounce, then shatter on the floor, and the the tablecloth flutters to the ground beside the overturned table. There’s someone else beneath the table, someone in a shirt and dark pants right next to the same dark coat and hood the assassin wore. With a start he gets up, points something at the bouncer’s leg. There’s a glint of metal before the bouncer collapses on the floor with a crunch, screaming and clutching his knee. The assassin points the metallic tool he holds upwards and the lightbulb above him shatters, darkening the venue slightly and sending shards of glass across the floor. The screams of the civilians start again. The bouncer claws at the floor. Blood pools from beneath his leg. The assassin turns on the crowd, pointing the tool at them but not yet firing. “Get out of the way!” He yells, gesturing with his other hand for the crowd to part. People begin to rush and move, terrified.

I'm gonna do the same thing with Wyndle! Lift will be on a lunchbox, and they shall be a set.

When you slap some cosmere stickers on your devices and water bottle. (I don't know why I decided to put chibi Eshonai on my water bottle, but I did.)

I think we can safely assume she reached at least 3 Truths with Testament, given that she used Testament as a Blade to do The Deed. Yes, that Bond was damaged, but not "broken"; I, and many others, think it likely that the Blade she summons during WoR is in fact Testament. Later, with Pattern, more Truths were spoken. It's especially challenging to draw general conclusions about Radiants from Shallan, as she's such an unreliable narrator.

There could be a unique ecology in the misted mountains. Influxes of both of Shin and Rosharan organisms, adapted to micro climates with widely differentiated pressure, humidity and temperature. Seperated by inhospitable terrain and protected from human and singer interference. The Andean Cloud Forests with flying eels and giant crustaceans. I hope we get to 'see' it.

If Main goal is accuracy, then better powder is also Main goal. It is because how important is muzzle velocity. Slow bullet is going down much more than fast one, shooter need to take much larger corrections in the fly, also bullet is much more affected by things like wind. Not even mention lower range. And faster bullet can less Likely be Pushed by Coinshot, because IT gives him less Time to react. No, those guns are not against Allomancers. They are much more Likely for civilian use - remember, Basin don't experienced ANY war, so is logical they don't improve weapons. But now flying thread existed, so they would need weapon strong enough to shot down flying machines - this mean much stronger eplosives and faster projectiles.

Vin needs to have a pragmatic side and she is a killer.

DatS 11

Death and the Survivor 6 Aka. The one where Marsh is happy, Kell is angry, and the con artist gets conned. Also, we introduce Hoid and

Fadran: Emi says I love her more than you do Queen: Well she's wrong. Apparently my powerful love for her is too strong for her love-meter to read Fadran: Impossible. If her love meter was broken, then Vapor would make her explode Queen: Hmm maybe it's just my awesomeness that it can't deal with Fadran: Wait. Shouldn't we both love Emi the same? Being the same person and all. Queen: Yeah so why doesn't it break from you? Fadran: Perhaps Emi knows something that we don't know Queen: Like what? What would make her love meter break for me but not you? Fadran: ...because I love her more Queen: But we should love her the same Fadran: Then you'd better step up your game

Okay, so it took a few more hours... Blatant RoW spoilers:

Death and the Survivor 3 (RoW spoiler in background)

Death and the Survivor 2:

Some character sketches for D&tS. (L to R) Marsh, Ene, Kell, Ati, Hoid, (RoW) Saze, Shai

"One of us is gonna have to get shot here, Queen, and I'm not sittin' sus in a parking lot by myself." - Yours truly

I wonder if Shallan maybe describes part of the method of Heralds procreating back in WoK: The use of the word "cultivated" here is rather suspicious, no? Maybe with Cultivation's help a Herald could snip free a portion of their soul to create offspring?

We’re back for another exciting edition of “Tay Falls Asleep Within 2 Minutes of Me Reading So I Have to Start the Chapter Over Again the Next Day”. We’re workshopping the name, but at least it’s honest. Since the moderators have kindly moved this thread over to the Rhythm of War spoiler boards, I’m not going to hide these reactions behind a mask of mirrors no wait, an invisibility cloak ack still wrong fandom… a spoiler lightweaving. Part III reactions ahoy! -- TAY: Chris, write this down so that I can tell you “I told you so” when I’m right. The Sibling is going to switch on Urithiru by plugging in sword ninny. -- TAY: Adolin should be the Bondsmith. He’s so much cooler and better at bringing people together than Dalinar. Plus everyone likes him. -- On the above note, Tay had much to say about Dalinar. Now that she knows his backstory, she’s not as quick to forgive him as many other characters are. Much like Adolin, she is kind of putting up with D-Man because the whole fate of humanity rests on his shoulders. But she’s still pretty mad about the whole ‘burning his wife to death’ thing. Can’t really blame her though. Be ready for some Dalinar roasting (pun intended) -- *Dalinar tells Jasnah he disapproves of her plot to get Ruthar out of his position* TAY: *angrily* Oh! Really, Dalinar? Nobody in this tent gives a *censored* what you think! Supercilious blowhard. After Evi, you never get to hold the moral high ground! Jasnah should call him “Uncle-who-knows-jack-*censored*-about-*censored*”. You found this entire experience “distasteful”? Know who else found this entire experience distasteful? YOUR WIFE. Oh wait, she can’t experience anything ever because she’s now dead. I swear, he could have vertigo from the pedestal he thinks he’s on. *Interestingly, I think Taravangian says something very similar to Dalinar in their chapter together in this Part* -- *Gavinor asking if his father was brave when he died* TAY: Oof. Little guy is asking the big questions. -- *Dalinar and Renarin are speaking to each other while Sigzil is Worldsinging* TAY: I mean, I think it’s kind of rude that they’re interrupting Schnitzel telling his campfire stories, but okay. These are the kind of guys who don’t clap when there’s a live band. -- *Dalinar is being a good dad to Renarin* TAY: HEY! Dalinar! Why are you only being nice to one of your sons! This is Radiant privilege and I will not stand for it! -- *At this point, Tay got excited about which characters we were in the Knights Radiant official quiz up on Brandon’s website. As you no doubt remember, we did this last year when it dropped – Tay was a Windrunner and I got Lightweaver, much to Tay’s laughter. This time, we did it for each other – answering what we believed about the other person. Tay got Windrunner again, but this time I got Truthwatcher.* TAY: It’s because I am consistent in my character and you? You are a fickle *censored*. -- TAY: Venli wants to remake the Listeners? Man, hasn’t she read The Great Gatsby? You can’t relive the past, old sport. *This may well be the first time she’s mentioned Venli. This is because Tay hates Venli. Like, “Shallan-in-the-first-book” level hate* -- TAY: Brandon Sanderson writes about fashion and people who are interested in fashion like someone who has never cared about clothes in their life. “Adolin did up his buttons. They were shiny and round and fashionable, the peak of Alethi style.” -- *Syl impersonating a Voidspren* TAY: “I’m really annoyed?” Oh my god, Syl is you. A polite Canadian trying to be angry. -- TAY: Is it just me, or does “The Pursuer” sound like a bad WWE character? ME: Not gonna lie, I’ve been picturing him as Triple H. -- TAY: On that subject, ‘The Lady of Wishes’? You can’t tell me that’s not the name of the mistress of a high-end brothel. -- *Points for Tay – she has guessed that Venli will free Lift… but she guessed it before Venli spoke her rejected Second Ideal* -- *On the topic of emulsification, Tay has helpfully put forth the idea that mustard would be an excellent emulsifier for Voidlight and Stormlight since it works well for vinegar and oil in a salad dressing. She frequently asks “Where’s the mustard” when Navani and Raboniel are on the topic* -- *Tayla is also being a real trooper in the Light theory chapters. While I found them fascinating, Tay has been instantly brought back to the horrid spectre of her grade 11 science classes… a class in which she was one percent off an A. As a result, I’m having to give her some Cole’s Notes on the progress Navani is making* -- *Discussing the Magnified Ones and whether Edgedancers could do that* TAY: So I could just make a tree appear and block a shard? That’s what I’ll do. Make a tree pop out of my skin. ME: You’d need seeds to do that, I think. TAY: Yeah but I’d be prepared. I’d keep seeds in my pockets and then BLAM! Tree-face. -- TAY: Wait, so Odium’s voidlight is violet? ME: Violet-black, yes. TAY: But his followers’ eyes are red. And their skin is red, black, and white. ME: Yeah. TAY: But he’s always described in gold robes? ME: What are you getting at here? TAY: Odium’s colour palette is all wrong. He needs to Stick. To. A. Simple. Colour. Palette. This is not on-brand. This is not how you raise an empire. Ugh. -- *Dalinar talking about how Taravangian is able to influence others* TAY: I like the idea of Taravangian being an Instagram influencer. “Take a burst shot of me as I commit this atrocity!” ME: “Do these burnt orange robes make me look fat? Be honest, Adrotagia.” -- *Tay has a pretty okay theory that Dalinar testing out his Bondsmith powers during a Highstorm will allow him to progress faster, due to the Connection and the closeness of all three Realms* -- *Dalinar in the Highstorm* TAY: I can show you Roshaaaaar. Shining, shimmering, wetness! -- *Chiri-chiri is mentioned* TAY: *incessantly sings this* -- That’s all for now, folks! Next one is gonna be a combined Parts IV and V because of, well, you know. Crem before cremlings!

Cremlings! It has been far too long since we have graced this board with Tay’s witticisms about Slaveboi, JDM, Sneak, and all of our other favourite characters. Allow me to be the first to apologise for the lapse, but it’s been a long, slow journey through the last part of Oathbringer. However, I am very pleased to let you know that as of a couple of days ago, Tay finished book 3… and is thoroughly exhausted by it. It will be a while before we contribute to this board again, but I thought I might add this post today so that you guys have a little pick-me-up in the hand-wringing, nerve-wracking last four days before Rhythm of War drops. Without further ado, here are Tay’s contributions from Parts II to V of Oathbringer! -- *Kaladin is flying around with his big spear energy* TAY: *under her breath* You idiots. The skies are mine so suck my *censored* -- *Stormfather is being ornery with Dalinar* TAY: The Stormdaddy is such a sulky *censored*. He’s the kind of guy who would get a haircut, then get mad that Dalinar didn’t compliment him right away. -- *I am explaining to Tay that there are boards dedicated to theories around Book 4* TAY: Do you call them ‘Uritheories’? ME: … no, we don’t. TAY: You should call them Uritheories. You should tell them that I said that. -- *Jasnah is getting the transcript of her memoirs sent to her via spanreed* TAY: You’re gonna wanna write this pearl down. *pauses for effect* Jasnah should call her memoirs ‘The Princess Diaries”. Heh. -- *Navani is distracted by something and makes a flippant comment about Jasnah* TAY: PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR DAUGHTER NAVANI AND BE NICE TO HER! -- *Our Main Characters find out that Talenel is the actual Herald, not just some madman* TAY: So wait – you’re saying that they should have been feeding Talenel grapes and fanning him with palm fronds this whole time? -- *Mraize offers to help Shallan cover up any murders done in the name of the Ghostbloods* TAY: Okay I’ve got a golden nugget for you. Mraize is a pretty good employer. Hear me out! ME: What!? TAY: HEAR ME OUT! He only asks Shallan to do what she’s already doing, pays her by saving her family members, and offers covering up murders as part of her employment package. Can you imagine how much less stressful my job would be if I knew they would cover up my murders? -- *Odium meets with Dalinar in the visions* TAY: *sighing* Not sure I’m not Team Odium. Why wouldn’t you want to fight for passion? That seems like such a good thing to be the god of… not, whatever the opposite of passion is. I guess that’s Shallan. She’s the opposite of passion. Editor’s note: this is not the first time Tay has agreed with a villain in a major series – she felt like Thanos was very misunderstood. -- *Kaza’s interlude* Usually with interludes, I’ll describe what happens and Tay will say yay or nay to them since she isn’t interested in things other than our Main Characters. However, when I described how one of the Sleepless kills Kaza and the entire crew of First Dreams, this was what she said: TAY: Oh, that sounds cool. I wanna see people dying. Not sure that helped with her growing perception as an Odium sympathiser, but hey. -- *Kaza standing on the bow of a ship* TAY: See her now as she stands on the bow of a ship headed to a new land! In Aimia you can cast some souls! -- *I ask Tay what she thinks destroyed life on Aimia* TAY: *full of confidence* Oh, I know what did it. The dead sprens did it. Not the Dawnshards. Dead spren washed over it like an ocean of corpses. Then everyone on Aimia killed themselves. -- *Dalinar fighting Fen’s son* TAY: So this is Dalinar’s Strat? Just to get stabbed? -- While there were no zingers at Evi’s fate, we both are of the opinion that it is a little upsettingly cliché – the whole Fridge Horror trope of women being killed only to add to the character struggle of the main male character. Sanderson certainly has some great, progressive female characters, but it’s kind of a bummer that this trope wormed its way into the series. -- *Taravangian Interlude where he tells them to kill the singing children* TAY: Man, I guess I’m also Taravangian too. -- *Discussion on safehands* TAY: Hey, tell this to your shard people: do you think Sanderson created safehands because they are what he wants? You know? Like how some guys go crazy over feet? Think he’s all into handies? ME: I’m upset that this topic has been broached. -- *Tay likens the Stormfather’s visions to getting high* TAY: Stormdaddy party tricks get lit in a hurricane bru. -- TAY: Can you swallow a sphere to get Stormlight? ME: I guarantee you you’ll have an answer by the end of this book. -- TAY: I think I’m an Alethi. ME: What makes you say that? TAY: I would murder people for my cats. -- *Dalinar comes out of his rage-killing by smashing some dude’s head into a pulp* TAY: Big mood. -- Dalinar’s speech to Sadeas and his generals after he decides he’s going to go full scorched-earth on the Rift was so exceptionally badass for Tay that she got me to read it aloud to her family. -- *Szeth is back and calling Nightblood “sword-nimi”* TAY: Wait – is he calling it ‘Sword Ninny’? ME: No, he’s saying ‘sword-nimi’ like it’s a sign of respe- TAY: Doesn’t matter – it’s Sword Ninny now. -- *Overhearing Tay talking to our cat in the other room* TAY: Cosmo! Who’s my little Voidbringer? -- *Nightblood is making fun of Szeth for listening to the commands of his ‘magic rock’* TAY: The abject beauty of a magic sword looking down on a magic rock. -- TAY: Oh! I’ve got a good one! I have two memes you have to make for me about Taravangian – the one where he’s doing the mathematics in his head, and then the one where he’s doing the conspiracy theory on the wall. ME: I guarantee you those memes already exist. Lo and behold, they had the conspiracy one, but they didn’t have the math lady meme so I made one: -- *I described how Taravangian wrote the Diagram on every surface of his room* TAY: Why do you write like you’re running out of time? -- *Odium destroying Dalinar’s vision with Venli* TAY: Odium is like a shark. He investigates with his mouth. You know. Violence. -- TAY: Veil is me. I, too, choose my outfits based mainly on pockets. -- At one point a couple weeks ago, we were driving somewhere and made sure to avoid a stalled truck that was holding up traffic on one route. Turns out, it had been fixed and drove onto the route we were then taking to avoid it. It was vaguely funny, but then Tayla said this: TAY: Tayla attuned amusement. She then made a sound like a turkey being strangled and I nearly crashed the car from laughing so hard. -- *Odium gives Dalinar back his memories of Evi, but he’s already been getting them back* TAY: Haha! Odium! That’s all you got? Why do you think I haven’t been sleeping for six months? -- *Adolin gets stabbed by the Fused in Shadesmar during the fight at the Oathgate* TAY: *on her phone* Wait, Adolin got stabbed? *pauses* And he can’t heal himself, right? Ah okay I should actually pay attention to this part. *Puts phone down* -- *Skar and Drehy reveal they saved little Gavinor* TAY: Bridge Four Nannies: we protect those who cannot protect themselves. Our packages also include pickup from school, help with homework, and defense against the Unmade. -- *Odium’s discussion with Taravangian* TAY: Aw man, Taravangian is Boromir. He’s a villain, but all he’s doing is for the people of his city. -- *Jasnah becomes queen* TAY: *banging metaphorical pots and pans* Jasnah is SMASHING THE PATRIARCHY. HERE. FOR. THIS. -- *I had trouble remembering the name of the main female character from The Boys (that show on Amazon Prime that’s vaguely like BrandoSando’s Steelheart)* ME: Yeah, you know – uh… Shiny Girl. Dawnshard? What’s her name? TAY: Starlight? ME: Yeah, that’s her name. Shiny Girl. TAY: You have to tell them that you confused her name for Dawnshard now. -- Additionally, Tay wanted me to point out to you that because of my accent, she initially thought I had been saying Dawnshart, much to my chagrin. -- Speaking of Dawnshart Dawnshard, I’ve already read it – but Tay’s going to be taking a break from Stormlight for a while. Hope you guys have had a fun time reading these posts and we’ll be back… maybe some time next year for Rhythm of War. On that note – AHHHH GET EXCITED Y’ALL! ONLY A COUPLE DAYS NOW!!! And remember when you're reading Rhythm of War in a couple days time - Crem before cremlings.

didn't she ship them last update? You know what, that is better left forgotten this is much better. And Kal's lines are amazing.

Hello everyone! We’re back for another instalment of Guardboi – we’ve gotten up to the middle of Part 3: Deadly. The last chapter we listened to is Shallan getting ready to go on her “How do you poop?” date with Adolin. Here are some new names we learned in the past couple chapters: Eshonai – Captain Parshendi Venli – Captain Parshendi’s Sister Rysn – Crippled Khaleesi (this came after I told her that Larkins are referred to as “Dragon Bugs” by Isaac and Brandon) Here are some fun reactions: *Adolin’s first duel, he’s sitting there talking to his Shardblade (like a good Radiant should!)* TAY: Ungh. Of course Adolin talks to his Shardblade. He’s like a guy who kisses his knuckles before a fight. This was just the beginning of Tay’s full-on Adolin hate that’s been going on in the past few chapters. I think it’s cause she likes Kaladin so much and Adolin is bullying her homeboy throughout most of Part 2. Tay insists that it isn’t because she loves Kaladin (which I still think she does), but rather because “Adolin reminds me of every pretty boy, rich, jock idiot I went to high school with!” I just smile because Adolin and Kaladin become such homies and their friendship is one of the most delightful parts of the books for me. -- *After falling asleep through Ym’s interlude* TAY: So some geezer made a kid some shoes? ME: Yeah and then he gets shanked by a guy with a Shardblade. TAY: Should I care about this? ME: Only if you want to know that some guy is going around serial killing budding Surgebinders. TAY: I hope he kills Shallan next. -- *Tay noticed all the weird stuff that Kaladin was noticing about Zahel and started asking me who he was* TAY: Is he a bad guy? He sounds like a bad guy. ME: No! He’s a good guy. One of the best guys, I think. TAY: Oh, is this the one everyone keeps wanting me to meet? ME: Who? TAY: Lift? Is Zahel Lift? ME: *laughter* -- Shallan is crying in one scene: I look over at Tay and there’s a big, over-the-top eye roll. -- *Shallan and Adolin meet* TAY: They’re perfect for each other. I hate it. -- Speaking of Shallan: Tay LOVES PATTERN. She thinks he’s easily the best character and will avidly listen and laugh whenever Pattern has some dialogue. This is real, you guys. Pattern may be the thing that actually makes Tay commit to the whole ten-book series. She has started co-opting “LIES” into her everyday conversation, and appreciates when Pattern attempts to deconstruct metaphors, as she does it frequently with her students. For example, last night Tay learned a new slang word from her students: drip. Apparently, drip, means having a nice, expensive, impressive thing. To have a Ferrari is to have a drip… or be drip? Or be drippin? Not quite sure. However, this realisation happened around the time where Shallan is explaining to Pattern how Nohadon is a ‘symmetrical’ name… TAY: What!? No! I agree with Pattern! You can’t just say that a name is symmetrical when it’s not! Just like you can’t just say that ‘drip’ is cool now! A drip is a lame person! I’m so frustrated with language! Tay now believes that Pattern is too good for Shallan and wants him to find a cooler Radiant to bond with. She put forward Lopen or Rock as suitable candidates to bond with Pattern. -- TAY: Why is Shallan trying to help her brothers at this fair? ME: She’s a good person! TAY: No she’s not. -- *Wit showed up at Middlefest and is asking if spren speak to Shallan* TAY: So, this guy has come up to Shallan and has basically said “Yer a wizard, Harry.” Is that about right? -- Then, the other night we had some Horneater Lager and decided to watch Inception. At one point (you know the scene I’m talking about), Tay turns to me and very quietly whispers, “Surgebinding, Chris!” -- At one point, Tay pauses the reading and has a big old realisation – she is very much like Kaladin. I think she was a little annoyed with her quiz results (see above) that placed her in the Order of the Windrunners, but I think she’s very aptly placed. It was a scene where Kaladin is realising that he’s set a bit apart from Bridge Four and is feeling the weight of responsibility for all of these men who follow him. Yes, he’s set them free from their bondage under Sadeas, but he wants so badly to protect them, even though he knows that he’s not going to be able to protect all of them. Tay has this same thing, from time to time. She often makes a joke that she must have a tattoo on her forehead (that’s some big Bridge Four energy there) that says “TELL ME ALL YOUR PROBLEMS” since most of her students choose to confide in her and ask for her help with their various personal problems and issues. She wants so badly to keep them safe and make sure nothing in this horrible world is going to hurt them, even though she knows that they’re all going to have to go out there, make their mistakes, and be hurt by them on their own. That’s why I love these books so much – they’re not just full of awesome cinematic moments of mind-blowing fantasy, but they also provide characters that we can relate to on a host of different levels. Anyways, even though these posts are mostly happy-go-lucky laughing at reactions to characters and events, this one has ended on a somewhat sentimental note. Kind of reminds me, once again, that the journey is the most important part, and I’m having the time of my life listening to these books again with someone I love. Keep safe, Cosmerenauts! Only 85 days to go! -- PS: This interaction just happened before posting: TAY: Hey are we going to find out all of the bad stuff Elhokar did or are we just going to take Rayse at his word? ME: Rayse? TAY: Yeah… that Lighteyes with the Shardblade who Moash introduced to Kaladin? ME: Oh… Graves! That’s weird because Rayse is actually the real name of Odium. TAY: … ME: … TAY: Spooky-spook.

372. While challenging someone for a disadvantaged duel, specify the number of opponents should not exceed 2

Okay, time for actual thoughts. This was a really, really fun first game for me. I was in fact the Mistborn, obviously. I was trying to hint for a while that I was covering for someone else, because I didn't want to be roleblocked, which worked? I guess? I haven't managed to read all of the way through the evil doc yet (given how long it is), but I have a feeling things will make a lot more sense when I get nearer the end of it. I wasn't the one in contact with Adavantos. In fact, I was one of two whose role he didn't know by the time he died, I think (though I suspect he might have figured it out). I just wasn't comfortable telling anyone my role, and my character wasn't either (more on that in a bit). Plus I thought it would be better to stay in the shadows as a Mistborn, and given that at that point the only traitor who I hadn't killed was Wilson, I was a little bit paranoid that the kandra or Adavantos was evil. My kill list: N1: No one (I was nervous and didn't have any solid suspicions) N2: Polking (Adavantos had suggested lynching inactives, and polking seemed the most inactive of them all-- by random chance, Arrenae also targeted polking) N3: Bridge Boy (This was mainly for information. I trusted Adavantos more, and thought it would be really useful to know the alignment of at least one of the players up for the lynch on D1.) N4: No one (I think I got distracted? Also, at that point QF11 had started, and I was more concerned with that.) N5: No one (Was going to send in an order on The Cow, but forgot because of family and QF11.) N6: The Cow (only for inactivity and nothing else) (Arrenae also apparently targeted him as well.) N7: Araris (This was my only kill out of pure suspicion. Very glad I was right.) (At this point I had contacted Arrenae to see if she was claiming to be a Mistborn. I had been suspicious of her the whole game, so once she claimed, I immediately contacted Adavantos to see if she was his Mistborn. I was in fact hoping she wasn't, and planning on targeting her that night. But Adavantos confirmed that she was the Mistborn he was in contact with, and we talked for a little while before the cycle ended.) N8: Biggoron (blocked) (Here, Arrenae asked for a list of people I'd targeted. I composed one off of the top of my head without notes, but it was somewhat wrong. Due to this, Arrenae told Lopen my claim, and he then told me. I then revised my list to make more sense. Arrenae and I discussed our targets. The plan was to target both claimed Voidbringers (phatt and Biggoron), but Arrenae decided to target Alvron instead.) N9: Biggoron (blocked again) (by this point Lopen had revealed my role in thread, so I was pleasantly surprised not to be roleblocked.) Okay, last thing. I tried something interesting this game, which I'm planning to continue doing for at least 5 more games. Given that this game started right before November, NaNoWriMo was on my mind a lot. And what I'm doing for NaNoWriMo is interesting, but in its essence it involves six character viewpoints, except rather than being stiched together as in a normal novel (e.g. in Elantris you have rotating Raoden, Sarene, and Hawthorn viewpoints), each viewpoint is a discrete piece. Why does this apply to the game? Well, each viewpoint takes a very long time to write. The first was pretty short (only 10,000 words), but the second was 40,000, and the rest look like they're going to be of similar length. And 40,000 words is more or less the length of one SE game. So, what I decided to do was basically to RP each character in turn as I wrote them. But instead of normal RP, it would be a RP for the entire game, including discussion and analysis, amount of PM usage, etc. Part of the reason I decided to do it that way was because I wanted to write a scene where these characters play Mafia. I'm no longer sure I'm going to, but it'd still be really fun. Of course, I finished the first viewpoint far before LG15 ended, but it was still really fun, and I do understand my character more. And it worked out perfectly: my first character was also the newbie at the superpower school place. He's logical, intelligent, and willing to ask lots of questions in order to learn the ropes, but also somewhat shy. He would use some PMs, but do no RP, because he's not comfortable enough yet. This worked out very well for me. You'll notice that I never placed a vote until Cycle 9, and no one ever placed a vote on me. (I wouldn't be pointing this out, but I think it's going to be pointless given my character for MR10 anyway). I did send in kills, but largely they were others' suggestions. I played the newbie card, but not in the way that Biggoron did or that Kas is wary of ("I'm new! Don't kill me, please!!"). I was more of a bright young thing. I contributed occasionally, but I almost never stated an opinion, and never strongly enough to make people defensive. I downplayed my role in QF11 as much as I could (although, looking back, I really shouldn't have. That was a different game that did not count for this character.) And hey, I survived to the end! I guess it worked. I did get a little bit out of character when we got nearer the end of the game, because there were things I wanted to say that didn't really fit in with my character. Hopefully I won't be having that problem again. All in all, it was a great game, and I look forward to playing more in the future!

I've been getting a number of requests in PMs to share my suspicions with people. While I think that's okay, if a little odd, I would like to repeat that suspicions should be put in the thread. Not just in PMs. What happens if you die? Your suspicions, your way of voicing them, is lost. (Don't forget C&P from PMs is disallowed (unless Wyrm rules otherwise; this is a general SE rule, but can be overriden by the GM.)) So, imagine if you're unlucky and you just expressed your suspicions to a Traitor. Perfect. They don't ever have to share your suspicions with the thread, much less to properly represent them. And the Crew as a whole loses the benefit of your voice, and your perspective. Now, let's think of a better scenario; you're talking to a Crew member. But they don't quite understand some of what you're saying, and they don't really convey it well. And this has happened. Recall what happened in LG12 when the Elantrians' opinions were misconveyed by a Good-aligned Messenger (Seon Holder was the name of the role; Elantrians could not post in the thread and their words had to be carried by PM.) We ended up completely going down a wrong hole and lynching an innocent instead of the Cultist (Eliminator) who was up for lynching. And that's exactly my point: why leave your suspicions up to the vicissitudes of fate and the verbal skill of your interlocuter? Why not just put it in the thread so everyone can hear it directly from you? Why resort to a game of Chinese Whispers? So, let me tell you a story, guys. It's a great story; one of friendship and broness. Oh, and betrayals. It's a good story, a bit funny, just a bit sad. There was this guy called Kasimir, though on Roshar, his name was Kasimar. He was a cool guy, as far as I know. Had a great sense of humour. As it turned out, he was a Seeker (could discover factions; in the game, referred to as a Voidbringer). He cracked a lot of jokes with his bro Wyrm and all was well. One day, a whole bunch of people killed him. But it was okay. Because Kasimar was a Voidbringer, which meant he was too rusting stubborn to die and had 1337 PM powers while he was dying. With one more day left to live, he called out to his bro Wyrm with his dying breath and told him all his suspicions and findings. And then he died. Only to discover that his bro Wyrm was, in fact, a traitor: had, in fact, pushed for his death, and now, all that information was in the hands of a traitor who was planning to bring down Kasimar's faction. THE END. And this, kids, is how I met my forum-bro Wyrm why I will never feel comfortable with the idea of confiding suspicions just in PMs. And I am in fact going to refine my suspicions now, post 'em, add an extra thought on the Kandra, then get back to what I'm being paid to do. Edit: Spelled 'thought' as 'through'. Edit 2: Kas's New Thoughts On The Kandra: Kas's Current Suspicions/Questions: