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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.

Would Nale make a good champion for Odium? Now that taravangian is Odium I feel like a more subtle choice would work better... Someone like Elhokar that Dalinar would have difficulty fighting on a non-combat level. But if we were choosing from the available fighting pool Nale would certainly make a fearsome opponent.

So, I know that not every minor character has to be someone mysterious. But I was looking through WoK recently and one small detail about Roshone’s steward, Natir jumped out at me: For anyone who’s read MB Era 2, you can probably tell which word jumps out at me here. It’s the cravat, which is a fairly common fashion accessory in Era 2 Scadrial. But this is the only time we ever hear of someone wearing one on Roshar. And we actually hear quite a lot about Rosharan fashion in the SA books, so it just seems weird. On the other hand, the scene is from Kal’s POV, and he presumably knows the word. So maybe it’s nothing. The only other things we learn about Natir are that he’s got slender hands and is married to a stern-looking woman named Alaxia. Not a super Alethi-sounding name that. We don’t ever see either of them again after WoK, so who knows if they’re still kicking around. Anyway, probably scraping the bottom of the barrel here, but just throwing it out there since we’ve got a tall steward wearing an article of clothing we’ve only ever seen on Scadrial.

The only problem that Kaladin has left that requires an ideal is not protecting himself; he's doing that already. It's not accepting that there are people who can protect themselves, that was part of his 4th oath. It's not about letting other people protect him; he has no problem with that in Oathbringer, and he's never really had a problem with it. The reason Kaladin has been so self-destructive with his behavior is because he feared failing to protect people. He's let go of that guilt now, so he won't have problem anymore. Kaladin's only remaining issue that needs to be addressed by an ideal is how to protect. in tWoK, Kaladin's father insisted that you cannot kill to protect. Kaladin killed parshendi to save Dalinar, and realized that he didn't know if killing parshendi was the right thing to do. In WoR, Kaladin realized that killing Elhokar was the wrong way to protect. In OB, Kaladin was finally forced to face his greatest problem: how is it right to kill people if they don't deserve to die. He sees the parshmen that he protected and can't kill them. in RoW, Kaladin tries to find a different way to protect. He becomes a surgeon, and tries to protect without killing. But he can't. Urithiru is invaded, and he has to fight to protect it. I don't think that it's a coincidence that Kaladin is going to Shinovar, the one place in all of Roshar that looks on killing as wrong, no matter what the circumstances are.

Nightblood?

I am realizing now that this is probably where not having the earlier chapters is creating the most problems. It's still better without them for the most part, but when Is is the one who knows what's going on in court, having her sidelined before she actually interacts with anyone other than Ro really makes things difficult. She knows the people but isn't physically in the same room as any of them 90% of the time. Then while Al is interacting with them a little more directly, he's not as knowledgeable about who anyone is. In theory, the early Is chapters were supposed to introduce enough of the political framework for the reader to be a little more informed than Al, and to notice things that he isn't equipped to recognize once he takes over actually interacting with people. But that fell apart a lot harder than I thought it would when I cut the early chapters. All the details are still there, but without that earlier framework, they're just coming across as random information...urgh. So...how to fix it...hm. Hah. These are the reasons I usually end up starting scenes like three pages too early. Because my brain generally believes that boredom is less problematic than disorientation, apparently. Either way, this is further proof that I still need a ton of work on my chapter openings. Both Mart and Adr (and the fact that Adr seems to have a crush on Ala) are mentioned in Chapter 7. I'm never sure how much those details not sticking is due to information overload and how much is due to WRS. The combination of the two is certainly not helpful, though. Li is mentioned a good deal in the court scene in Chapter 6, but we've all gone over how a lot of that isn't sticking like it should... This could all definitely use a little clarification about what R is assuming. Ultimately, Z is making the rounds to sort of gather the usual crowd to get out of there, which R recognizes. But like you said. There's no background about their relationship at this point. Sigh. Oops Hah. You should read some of the earlier drafts *cringe* I definitely at some point had it in my head that dialogue can't be more than a sentence long without people doing things. Which is why everyone seems to be doing a song and dance routine or is just really focused on breathing or whatever. I don't know why. Part of me blames my Fortunately, I'm aware enough now to be catching myself doing it eventually. But unfortunately they're still instinctive to add in. Like we need an action at every natural pause in conversation or something. Also unfortunately, I tend to not notice those things until I've let things sit for a week, so if I make any significant changes in my pre-submission edits, there' not enough break for me to catch as many. Hoping to stay a little further ahead on the revision schedule for Part 2 so that we have fewer issues with that sort of thing. See, this is how a lot of the seemingly irrelevant conversations were supposed to come across in Al's pov chapters. Where the base details we get in earlier chapters get some depth or additional color by getting another character's perspective on it, even we haven't seen them interact with it directly before. For example: Provide enough background information about Cag- conflict so that when we get to the court scene and the other nobles are all riled up about it, there's a "Wait. Is seemed really dismissive of that, but it seems like this is an actual thing." or alternatively "Right. I remember Is saying that all the nobles were all riled up about this. Sure looks like she was right about that." I'd hoped that the conversation between Is and V would be enough to create that connection, but apparently it wasn't. And the scene where she was talking to one of the nobles about it at the party before the tournament (which would have definitely been the clearest spot for that to stick) got cut. Hooray! So it seems like a total of one thing has come across like I was intending it to Guilty. Rambling tends to be how I eventually wander into solutions to my problems. And also sometimes just wander into more problems. I will be the first to admit that this is making all of our lives more difficult.... Basically step one for the next set of revisions is to trim back everything I possibly can to cut down the time between Al's audience with the king and R's chapter here. I'd kept some of it because I wanted to fill in some of the political framework, but without pre-poisoned Is's goals coming across well, I definitely get what you mean by it being unclear where anything is going. Partly because some things aren't explained and partly because the things that are explained aren't sinking in. I am tempted to throw a pre-tournament chapter back in to deal with some of that. Because not having that framework of the court from her perspective (and where she feels her place in it is) is really causing so many other things to nosedive. But am afraid of then losing the tournament excitement at the start. Blargh. Nope. That sounds about right...unfortunately. Hah. See, both the conversation with his adviser and the court scene were supposed to work on conveying this. Where he knows the facts of things, but hasn't matched names to faces or gotten to know how anyone actually interacts there in person. But they obviously need a good deal of work. Still for Ali's birthday festivities. But starting with the tournament didn't provide as much opportunity to make that stick either. Since Is is more focused on the tournament than her sister's birthday. It's mentioned, but it felt weird to shoehorn in a bunch of stuff about birthday parties when we're about to have a swordfight. It's also been, what, three months since that chapter? I wouldn't blame your memory on that one. I appreciate your mentioning this. When there are so many other things that aren't where they need to be (and where many of those problems are building on each other), it's encouraging to have positive first chapter thoughts brought back Fortunately, the big issue of Is- spending all of her time in bed ceases to be a problem from here forward. So that should be helpful. There's still probably more talking than there needs to be, but there's a lot more opportunity to make that far more engaging when Is isn't stuck in her bedroom hiding from everyone. Not confusing at all, and definitely very helpful. I still have to figure out how to actually fix the problems, but it's good to know that you're seeing similar things to what I am. Also bonus points to you for managing a coherent response under those circumstances. My brain does not work well on little sleep.

Heh, thought you meant the Heavenly Ones at first and was so confused. Nah, she tries it and it doesn't work. RoW 67:

It is not the troubled Szeth It is not the *gags again* Jakamav

Wow I've sort of rambled my heart out so I am apologizing in advance if I don't make sense or give bad advice. as i go: pg 1 “R pulled A into a turn” whoa whoa whoa im diving headfirst into the deep end here. Are they dancing or are they walking out to the dance area? What's going on? -also where are they at?? -who is Mart? I mean… i can assume things but i feel like im on the outside here. Is he a previous crush Ali had? I see the joke you’re going for but i don't actually get it. -I guess R goes into Mart a bit in the next paragraph… but i still dont know who he is. edit: right, he's the Li heir. my brain just skipped over that. -also this feels like a 180 for R’s personality. Does he like Ali more than Isr? -okay so on my second read of page one, i dont mind all the talk about M. i did my first read while i was at work and i was just not fully engaged, hence my confusion. also there's all these dukes and heirs and its hard to latch onto everything. pg 2 -”tell Adr not to go flirting” see here is some gossip that i could get on board with. However, Idk who Adr is so it falls a little flat. Maybe if we saw Al and Adr interact this could work better. Idk who Li is either tho so again, my engagement isnt as high as it could be. Is Li a person or a place? Or both? “Wont want to risk even a drop of K blood” smh pg 3 “You were right, L must have wanted” im a bit confused here. I feel like i missed some interaction with Al and R. edit: okay, i remember this from three chapters ago, but only barely “It wasnt unusual for Za” agh im sorry im still having trouble with all the names. I think its because we’ve had a lot of POVs and im still learning who everyone is, especially all the minor players. “Having ignored D’s warning” but D just glanced at them? How is Al supposed to know what that means?? “Ill be staying for now” im confused >.< he says this like they were already conversing. I mustve missed something. I think its cause i dont get their relationship. I guess Z mustve thought R would go with him? pg 4 “What had he failed to do” i like this. I think you should have more of this sort of thing. It gives me a good sense of their relationship pg 5 “The best way to explain things to someone who” i like this too pg 6 “Next time” no! There is no next time! There is only now! i sense bad things coming. “He had obviously noted R’s glance” i think theres a lot of this that bogs the story down. Im always going to be more interested in the dialogue pg 7 “He took another drink...toward their right...banquet tables” yeah stuff like this can be condensed or cut. The gap between dialogue is too long i think. A lot of times i forget what was even said previously. Edit: upon my second read, it wasnt as bad. pg 8 “Who had said that he and Is werent close” oooh drama pg 9 -super intrigued in all this talk about Is because I know Al and R and Is. pg 10-16 -this talk with the king has interesting parts, but again, it feels bogged down with all the breaths, glances, etc. I like that we learn R didnt know how serious Is’s condition was and that we learn about what kind of leader R wants to be. I expect it won't go as he plans but I like it nonetheless. This whole section can definitely be cut down to make the conversation way more meaningful. Just remember that you don't have to describe every single thing they do, or every time they look away. I can pretty much imagine a lot of that on my own. Overall Good news is, I can definitely tell this POV apart from the others. R has a voice and Im into it. He’s probably the most intriguing character so far, seeing as he seemed like a jerk before but its obviously much deeper than that. I like that Is and others underestimate R when he is actually quite smart. I also like the idea of R trying to show Al the ropes of the court. I think even though I haven’t seen much of R, this chapter already puts him at the top of my list character wise. i love a misunderstood character lol. I’ve been having a rough time getting my thoughts across and thinking critically about things so… bear with me please. I'm gonna try to talk through the story and see where you lost me. This will get a bit rambly but we’re all ramblers here, right? Okay, so. A lot of my frustration with part 1 comes from the fact that I cant really see where this is going. Isr gets poisoned... and then what? I really do think the poisoning is a good hook. It's just the things that come after that make the stakes feel low. (i would like to note tho that the stakes are not low for Al, i recognize that) Anyway, onward. We watch this helpless duke try to save Isr even if he could possibly get blamed for the poisoning. Also good. He’s got a lot to lose. Or does he? What if you explained what he has to lose by helping Isr (if I help her, i could get blamed, then they wont support these roads that ive been building and i could have a whole army at my doorstep. Eff it. I’ll help her anyway) unless you already did say something like that and i just can't remember... i remember the "arrest me later" bit but not much else. Then there's a secret trial for Al with only the king and two others. Good. It was a nice intro to the magic. I want to feel al’s emotions more. I think after this is where you lost me because i cant remember what happens next… Al meets with his old teacher who is suspicious and then goes to a council meeting where I cant remember a thing. Also Isr is awake and she is in bed for like 20 years. ← wasnt meant to sound malicious lol So, the political situation. I feel like there's a lot of info or maybe it's just that it didn't stick with me because it's so early on in the story, but it definitely didn't hook me like it should have. There's a lot of characters that I had trouble keeping track of. Overall It’s just a lot of information to absorb in only a few chapters and it's hard to feel invested. It feels like there's a lot going but at the same time, it doesnt. So idk how to explain that. Okay, i thought about it. I think i get the same feeling about this as I did when i tried to watch fate/zero. the idea was exciting. the first bit was exciting. then, it was just these guys walking and talking, exposition galore. i feel like after Al's meeting with the king, a lot of talking happens but not a lot of action. I.e. the council meeting, Isr in bed, all of Al's scenes, even the dance was just talking. Nothing really happened. I might be wrong in this (i probably am) because I cant remember everything that's happened, but that's how i feel as of now. I know that this story is largely political right now, but it doesn't feel intriguing like it should. I think at least with Al you could get away with all the loads of info by having him be equally confused. R notes that Al doesn't understand how the court works and i think you could realllly lean into that in Al's POVs. He's been in seclusion for a while, right? (i cant remember if you stuck with that) He probably is having trouble remembering everyone's positions and names. That would be relatable. But also he is in a position of leadership so he should know everyone else, right? Idk. If you did stick with Al not being around for a while then suddenly showing up, then I feel like that plot point got abandoned because it isn't really mentioned much. I guess maybe i got the wrong impression with where the story was going back in the first chapter. Wait. I dont even remember why the duke is here in the first place. Was it just for that tournament? Oof. My memory has not been the best these days. So, I went back and skimmed the first chapter and it was good! You've got a solid start there! I forgot how promising the first chapter was. All in all, I'm going to say the politics ruined it for me. They were too confusing at the start. Too much for my small brain to handle right now. A lot of this is also WRS. So there's that. On the brightside, Im still interested in seeing where this goes, despite all the harsh things I've said. I hope i didn't confuse you too much and helped even in the most miniscule way. It's seven am and i've been up since 2pm yesterday

The imortal words

Overall, no real concerns with this chapter. It's a little light on progression with the plot, but two problems are solved and there's some good emotional impact between C. and S. I'd say the second chapter has a little less impact than the first. We can guess at most of what happened when the mayor took his son, so it's a little repetitive to find out about it again through C and T. The second half is better, with the fan and T's realization. pg 7: I thought the interaction with S. was really good, and showed a lot about how C is growing up. Also, of course there are more ashen items. Interesting to see where they all are. pg 7: "And it’s probably illegal." --Doesn't the mayor sort of define that in this town? pg 13: nice revelation with grandpa, but can non-ashen even enter the house? I can't remember from before.

LG79/AN10 Day 4: And Edith Refused to Die The highstorm raged, battering on the small structure the escapees had found in the side of a hill. Water leaked from the ceiling, and a child cried softly in the corner. Thunder boomed, and as the darkness closed in on Edith, she started in his sleep. Right before she got stabbed through the chest with a sword. She bellowed in pain, and looked groggily around herself for her attacker. She thought she saw a figure move away into shadows. Storms, she didn't even have any spheres for light at the moment, as they were all outside being reinfused. People aroused to her shout of pain, and Thane came over with some bandages to come and help. Just like before, if it hadn't been for the armor of warform, Edith would have died. Even as it was, she could still die of blood loss if she didn't tend to the stab wound. --- Abaram was displeased. The little pieces of crem were resisting her efforts to end their sad little lives. After all, the only reason most of them were still alive was due to her whims, after all. She eyed Moirin. Did that woman even sleep? She seemed to always be careful to either be awake or have someone near her awake, never leaving an open chance to kill her. But someday she would slip up, and that was when she would strike. --- Thane walked outside as the storm began to fade. He needed to clean off some cloth to put on Edith's wound. After he finished doing so, he went to walk back into the hut, only to find unusual patterns painted on the door. Thane frowned, unable to make heads or tails of what it meant. Probably a crazy Artform making what they saw as art. --- Plum Rhino was attacked, but survived! If @Amethyst Scorpionand @Melon Dingodo not post this turn, they will be killed off. Village Stash Player List The day will end in 47 hours at 12 EDT, 7/30/21.

I went to Youth Conference on Friday and Saturday, and one of the this we did was a hike up to a view over the valley. On the way up I just chatted with some of my friends, about random things (including Stormlight) and didn’t think too much of it. When we got to the top, some other people who I didn’t (and still don’t) really know walked up to us and said, “We were right in front of you on the way up, and could hear you talking- you guys are totally the main characters in your story.” And then they walked away. So… achievement unlocked, I guess.

The Honorblades are weapons The Heralds got Surges from their Blades They were provided new bodies for each return Those bodies were very good bodies with superhuman abilities so useful in combat The Heralds get supplied with the current language upon their return (Taln speaks contemporary Alethi) They get a convinient head start to form and train armies in each Desolation The Dawnshards were available to them, at least for some time What does it tell you about the planer if what is called a backup plan for an eventuality is better thought out, better prepared and works better than the primary plan?

Do we not have multiple quotes from Waxillium that he can defend himself against bullets only if he knows they are coming before they are fired? Well, this is what I was touching upon. They have armies, albeit small ones. Is there a real difference between large scale combat against, for example, bandits and a small war? Is that what is currently going on in Syria a war? Were the countless colonial military campaigns in Africa war? I feel forced to make a salvage attempt. Did Waxillium actually shoot him, or did he kill as a Coinshot and merely created an unopposed projectile against another Coinshot by explosive disassembly of a cartridge?

Asking Brandon not to do side projects is like asking the High Storms not to blow. Even if we got them faster they might not be as good because he'd be burnt out and I think the time working on other projects allows him to experiment and improve aspects of his writing. I think his time spent writing the Wheel of Time, the challenge of writing someone else's established characters and working with Harriet as an editor really helped him as a writer. Not that he wasn't good before, but I think that experience was valuable for him as an artist. I wouldn't want him to finish anyone else's books again, but if he wants to do other stuff that's cool. The OP isn't wrong. I doubt he'll finish the Cosmere saga. With both his Cosmere and non-Comsere works he tends to expand on what he originally thought he'd write. Brandon "I accidently wrote an entire book" Sanderson. MB Era 2 wasn't even going to exist then it was 1 book, then 3, now 4. Skyward is not only a book, but 4 books and here's a ton of novellas. Reckoners is done, maybe a novella, actually I wrote so many novellas it's a full novel. I've limited my expectations to SA 5 and W&W 4 and that feels good. I can't be mad about it, he's the most open and honest major author I know of as far as what he's working on and the progress he's making on it, why he does the things he does.

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.

Cover art!

DatS 14:

DatS 12:

DaTS 10!!

I've been meaning to come here and make an addendum... When I first made this theory there were several pieces to it that I was unsure about. Pieces which had a safe, easy answer or, alternatively, a more extreme and probably unlikely answer. Most notably, I'm thinking of the assertions that Shallan used Testament throughout Words of Radiance, including in the chasm and Oathgate. (if that surprises you, don't bother questioning me here--you can read the arguments for these ideas earlier in the topic) Ultimately, I figured it would encourage more discussion and be more fun if I posted a more provocative version of the theory. But after letting things stew for a while, I definitely think I've landed with a more conservative interpretation of events. Shallan Shardblade References Shallan uses her Shardblade(s) only a handful of times, and doesn't think about them many times beyond that. Here are all of them that I can think of in the first two books, with a few others... If you think I'm missing one that's of any note, please let me know! Not much to say on this one. It's the first hint that she has a Shardblade though. There's reason I've highlighted "ten heartbeats" though... And here's the next hint. Also not much to tackle... Worth mentioning that I think this is Testament speaking, rather than Pattern. But I've covered this, including basis for that opinion, in my original post. I suppose it's a bit interesting that she claims to have "promised herself" not to use her Shardblade. We never saw this in her flashbacks. Could be a very minor moment without much more to say, but it's also very possible that this refers to when she broke her bond with Testament. In light of something we see a big later, again don't forget about this repeated insistence that it requires ten heartbeats to summon her blade. Another mention of the ten heartbeats... I'll get to my point on this soon. The most exciting thing here, however, is that it's our first description of the Blade she used to kill her mother. (or at least that's very much what it seems to be) "A silvery sword". Nothing here, but including the quote for completeness. Okay, this is a juicy one. Especially because someone asked Brandon about it in December, as to whether we see Pattern or Testament here. Brandon RAFO'd but also said, "I think this one is pretty clear." Let's be clear: Brandon often says things are clear when they very much are not, or vice versa! But I think he's rigth about this one. It's notable, I think, that Pattern doesn't seem to be present. Further up the page, we see that he was. (It seems, at least, that he imitated Jasnah's voice to confuse Tyn.) But at the beginning of the excerpt I've quoted, we see Shallan call Pattern and he doesn't respond. It's simple to assume that he simply didn't answer... But at the end we also have Red claiming that a voice told them to come help her. This all suggests to me that Pattern left to get help, and wasn't present when Shallan summoned her Blade. This doesn't mean she couldn't have summoned Pattern. But I DO think it's a clue that's at least a big suggestive. The description ("briliantly silver") is a BIG clue. We saw in WoR chapter 3 that she killed her mother with a "silvery sword". And we're dealing with two quotes from the same book, which makes me extra comfortable with the assumption that attention was paid to continuity on this description. I think Shallan used Testament to kill Tyn. So why have I been harping on the ten heartbeats thing? I've theorized previously that perhaps Testament isn't subject to that limit. And of course in our pre-RoW reads of these books, it's easy to ASSUME Shallan is correct at the end of Words of Radiance when she says she doesn't need ten heartbeats after all. And, well, she is partly correct. Partly. When it comes to Pattern. But what if Testament does indeed require ten heartbeats? What if these insistences on ten heartbeats are not entirely wrong? When she says "I don't need ten heartbeats" (and then buys herself more time by Lightweaving a distraction) she isn't wrong. To summon Testament she does need ten heartbeats. Also worth noting that Testament doesn't scream at her. (unless there's some next-level mental blocks going on, which isn't impossible) My theory on this was that Shallan being Testament's Radiant means she behaves a bit differently than other deadeyes. Part of me wondered if we see the Blade appear in less than ten heartbeats here... But it's too hard to say, especially with her heart beating pretty fast. Actually, I guess I lean towards the assumption that she DID wait ten heartbeats. It takes me ten seconds to read that line from Taln with barely any natural pauses. A frightened person's heart definitely beats 10 times in about that long. But that's not proof it's not Pattern, so this doesn't tell us much. And here's the next big one--the chasm. Now... it's possible (in my opinion) to rationalize that this is the same "silvery" Blade. Silvery with a soft glow of garnet seems... not impossible. But I don't think this is the intent at all. This is Pattern. It's notable that it glows, like all "living" Blades we've seen, from a glyph. Contrasted with Testament, who is a dull silver with no such glow. (edit: eh.... well, Testament was alive when she killed her mother, so maybe this isn't quite right. maybe the idea is simply that Testament happens to be more silvery and Pattern glows a more distinct garnet?) And there's also the length-change thing, again strongly indicating Pattern. There's a few other references in this chapter that I haven't quoted. One at the very end of 72, but I think this is everything notable. So here's where she uses her Blade to open the Oathgate. Again, I've argued this could be Testament... But I think that's unlikely. It's probably Pattern, just as it appears. (despite the insistence that it's the Blade she used to kill her mother) Some have proposed this as another truth for Shallan. I was originally very skeptical of this, but... Maybe? I skipped a reference of her holding the Blade with Mraize, but zero details there. And here's Shallan reliving the death of her mother. This is Testament as a Blade of course, despite Pattern's lie. Another description of her Shardblade. "A long, thin weapon nearly as tall as she was." Unfortunately we don't see a description of the length elsewhere. Almost certainly Pattern here. Aside from the general sense that she seems to have moved on from using Testament at this point, we know that Testament's inkspren business partner found her far in the east somewhere in the timeframe of Oathbringer. If Shallan had used Testament in Urithiru (or Kholinar, later) then she wouldn't have been in the east still. (And if Shallan had used her since then, she would have been pulled away from the partner after being found--which obviously never happened) It's safe to assume there are no more Testament uses after WoR. There are several other Oathbringer references... some in Urithiru... One when she draws it to activate the Kholinar Oathgate. These can ass be dismissed. And here's Shallan stepping out of Shadesmar into Thaylen City. Long and thin matches the Patternblade description in OB 115, so safe to assume this is Pattern once again I think. Slight curve is a new detail we've never seen mentioned before. So Pattern also has a faint latticework pattern along the Blade. And there's not many references in Rhythm of War because Shallan spends most of it in Shadesmar. She draws it when dealing with Ialai, but there's no descriptions there. Testament is with her business partner at that point of course, so it was Pattern there regardless. And that's it. Shallan's Truths And then we come to the truths... One of the biggest things I was trying to explain by reaching hard with the original concept here was the timing of when Shallan gets Patternblade. The biggest issue that I'm left with, by walking back from the idea that Shallan used Testament to operate the Oathgate an didn't reach "level 3" with Pattern until "I killed my mother" in Urithiru... Is explaining how she had Pattern at an earlier time. Let me break it down... I'm pretty dead set on the idea that "I'm terrified" was NOT a truth spoken to Pattern. See original post for this argument. It seems to be a different voice that spoke to her there (surely Testament). Rather, the first truth spoken to Pattern seems to have been "I killed my father" at the end of TWoK. But we don't have any other clear truths from Shallan between that point and the chasm scene, where (as we covered above) she clearly seems to have utilized Pattern. Someone has pointed out "deeper truth" reference when she operates the Oathgate, where she sort of speaks a truth in insisting that her Shardblade is different. You COULD take that as her 2nd truth, giving her a Shardblade at the standard level JUST before she needs to use it. But it doesn't help with the chasm scene, and that one is pretty darn compelling to me. So what are our options? I'm wrong about "I'm terrified"... But I'm firmly against that idea. Shallan spoke some earlier truth to Pattern and "I killed my father" is her second. On one hand... this could explain why we never see a clear First Ideal exchange with Pattern. (though I've never seen a strong need for that) The idea here being that she regressed like Kaladin did with Syl in WoR. She didn't kill Pattern like Testament... just caused their bond to fade... ... until she spoke "I killed my father" and pulled him back out of limbo. But I really hate this for the idea that she has blanked out on TWO spren bonds prior to TWoK. That's just silly... and difficult to believe. Maybe Lightweavers get Blades at "level 2". Don't love this without more suggestive proof. Especially since RoW showed us Lightweavers who have a spren but no Blade. Maybe Lightweaver truths make them advance at different rates and she got to "level 3" sooner than we realize? When speaking "I killed my father" there's an interesting line about "stronger truths make a more powerful bond" (paraphrasing) Something about her bond to Testament is allowing Patternblade at an earlier point? This could go lots of different directions... Maybe it's a simple consequence of already bonding a spren up to some point. If second honorspren wants to bond a Windrunner (for who knows what reason) I'm inclined to think they could advance their bond swiftly and maybe even without Ideal reruns? Maybe it's a combination with #4 and truths count for more in such cases? Maybe Shallan being more Invested than usual makes it possible to have a Shardblade at a lower level? Maybe something else? I think I'm inclined to assume #5 at the moment... Maybe with a bit of #4 going on as well...?

Death and the Survivor 8

Shallan and Adolin will make their DatS debut this week, so... Here are their character sketches.

Ladies and gentlemen – this is it. This is the final post that we’ll have in this thread for the next… three years? Ah, Idos Domi! What a long time to wait! Kelek’s breath! Well, either way, you know the old saying – something about the journey being the good part? Like, it comes before the place you get to? Ah I forget it. Either way. Here’s Mrs. Goatbringer’s final thoughts on Rhythm of War! -- ME: *reading along normally* “Which master-” TAY: Witch master? COOL! What an awesome title! Like the Witcher, but the WITCH-MASTER! ME: No… like, ‘which master do you serve’? There are many potential masters, so which one? TAY: Oh. *Pauses* TAY: I like mine better. -- *Navani thinking to herself about what Jasnah would do if she was trapped in a horrible situation* TAY: What would Jasnah do? Navani, you spent the last three books complaining about your daughter and now you’ve got some respect for her? -- TAY: What if singers are tone deaf? ME: You know… I have absolutely no idea. -- *After Navani shows Raboniel how to make anti-Voidlight and she then uses it to make anti-Stormlight, lying to Navani* TAY: Make this meme: -- *The High Judge and Restares is revealed to be Kelek* TAY: Kelek! He will teach us bronze! I’ve been waiting for him! -- TAY: Oooh, Shallan’s got a magic axe. ME: It’s a dagger. Were you even listening? *pause* TAY: Maybe not. -- TAY: So she kills Restares, then Lightweaves the trial in Adolin’s favour? She’s getting all she wants in one fell swoop! *pause* TAY: Heh. Swoop. Because Mraize has chickens. -- *Talking about the Contest of Champions* TAY: Oh man, is this going to be like Bridgerton? With its duels and sexy, sexy testosterone? -- TAY: I think Navani and Raboniel are sapiosexual for each other. Calling it. Leave your war criminal husband, Navani! -- *no prompting* TAY: Kaladin is just too good for Dalinar. -- ME: You know that people are kind of disappointed that you don’t use the nicknames for the characters anymore? TAY: It will make them feel better that it took me four separate thousand-page books to get these names right. -- TAY: Wait, why aren’t we making these nerds pay to listen to my reactions? This should be a Patreon. Or an OnlyFans. ME: “OnlySafehands”. TAY: And I have a nice one too. -- *Raboniel describing Braize* ME: “the place is barren, devoid of life. Merely a dark sky, endless windswept crags, and a broken landscape. And a lot of souls. A lot of not particularly sane souls.” TAY: Oof, Raboniel. Why are you describing my personality? -- TAY: Navani listening to Raboniel is me watching Janelle Monae. She’s getting feelings she didn’t know she had. -- Simply noting here that Tay correctly guessed that Maya would absolve Adolin at his trial. -- TAY: So what did shart do? ME: Wait – what? TAY: Sha-art? Shnart? ME: … Sja-anat? TAY: Yeah, her. Shart. ME: Good god. -- TAY: Bow chicka-wow-wow! Roland bout to git invested with a tower! ME: Who? TAY: Roland. The listener who is Kaladin’s friend. ME: Rlain. It’s Rlain. -- TAY: *censored* you, Lirin, you *censored* piece of *censored*. -- *Quoting Venli* ME: “I’m a selfish, impotent, sorry excuse for a listener.” TAY: Hard agree. -- *You know what part* TAY: *whispers* I hate Moash. I hate him so much. -- TAY: *singing* This is where therapy would have helped you, Kaladin! -- *Kaladin has armour now* TAY: Wait, what!? ME: Kaladin just said his fourth ideal… it’s kind of the main climax of the book. TAY: Yeah no, I was building up to it but then there was a funny Tik Tok and I had to watch it. How did it happen? -- TAY: Kaladin’s like *makes ‘driving fast’ noises* on his way to becoming a radiant. He gives himself such flack but he’s done good quickly. -- TAY: What the actual *censored* is a sky burial? Do they just drop kick them into the air? -- *scene with Dalinar and Ishar* TAY: I hear you’re in need of a gonnegtion. Heh. Meyer Wolfsheim. He was the original Bondsmith. -- *Tay is a little incensed that the Windspren just become Kaladin’s armour* TAY: Honk honk honk! You can become a shield for Kaladin now! -- TAY: I am very upset about this whole “Navani being a Bondsmith” thing. -- *Moash in the room with Navani* TAY: Navani, murder this *censored*. -- ME: "Journey before destination, you bastard." TAY: Okay, that was pretty hardcore. -- *reading some part* ME: “I can barely make sense of what you said.” TAY: Me, reading this book. -- TAY: Hah! Man, I am here for a sword-ninny spin-off! *pauses* ME: Are you really? Because if you are, I have some great news for you. -- *End of the book* TAY: And we are no closer to Dalinar winning back Tayla’s affection. -- *Biggest revelation Tay has had about Stormlight* TAY: Wait – crem isn’t poop? From cremlings? ME: What? No, crem is like, liquid rock that is dumped by the Highstorms. You thought it was… poo? TAY: … yes? ME: For four books. TAY: In my defence, crem is said a lot and in most of those contexts, it could be referring to poop. The crem is poop from cremlings and they’re like pidgeons so they poop a lot! ME: *stares into the camera* TAY: Why did you like ‘crem before cremlings’ then? If it’s not like ‘poop before poopers’? -- *Kaladin’s healed scars* TAY: Hah. Slaveboi got botox and a retinol peel. -- Tayla’s big desire for book five: Adolin gets treated with some damn respect from Dalinar for once, and he awakens Maya and bonds her. -- And there you have it, cremlings! (her catchphrase takes on a whole new meaning now, doesn’t it?) We have come to the end of the extant Stormlight Archive books! As hinted earlier in this post, Tay might have a listen to Warbreaker at some point, but we’re not going to jump in now. Most of our reading happens at bedtime, so she wants to listen to something that she’s not necessarily going to lose sleep over if she sleeps through it (did I pick a bad expression there?) So, we’re reading The Wheel of Time, the book series that actually caused us to first meet – but that’s a story for another time and another message board. Maybe we’ll see you for some novellas, maybe not, but either way, we’ll see ya in 2023 for book five. And remember: Crem before cremlings. -- BONUS: *Tay reading this thread* TAY: Haha! Man, I’m hilarious!

Completely agree on wanting more time dedicated to the mental state, but I suspect it would have been overkill for a lot of readers. Partly because of exactly where I felt differently than you did, that it seemed to me like these chapters did an excellent job of sucking us down into Kaladin’s clinically-depressed fugue state. Thanks, I hadn’t figured out what about these chapters felt so true to life for long-running depression to me, but I suspect it’s exactly what you said: that it felt more like watching somebody else feel things instead of feeling it myself. That’s what it feels like, to me, to be in the almost-apathetic state where inability to sleep effectively, horror from impotence in the face of friends being hurt, and the crushing weight of everything, all compounded over months leaves you distanced from yourself. Like you’re left kind of watching your life numbly instead of doing and wanting and feeling things. It’s nicely accentuated by the moments of incomprehensible pain from his nightmares, the constant self-doubt and -castigation, and the erasure of self in order to function to perform his duty when needed. I can see where it might feel more like these scenes were telling about depression than showing us Kaladin’s experience with depression, but that felt real to me.

Guys, it’s a Koloss Head-Munching Day Miracle. While Tay was kind of keen to wait on the Graphic Audio version of Rhythm of War, she realized that it’s going to be, like, a year before all six parts are released and we can listen to it all in one go. As a result, I am currently reading to her (and imitating the excellent voice acting from the previous Graphic Audio versions), while Tay does some sound effects when prompted (she was very good at imitating the red chicken from the Lift interlude). All this to say: we’ve started Part III of Rhythm of War, and since this is not in the designated RoW section, all of Tay’s reactions and theories will be covered by the Shroud of Spoilers. Again, just to be absolutely clear, please do not read the below if you have not yet read Parts I and II of Rhythm of War. Happy reading! And there you have it, folks! Will Tay’s predictions about Taravangian come true? Will she get progressively more annoyed at Venli? How will she react to the flashbacks? FIND OUT NEXT TIME! Crem before cremlings. *Bridge Four Salute*

GOAT! YOU FORGOT THE CONTEXT! Oh, right. This is a no-context thread... SCUD

Fadran: No one here is capable of going to hell Stick: Challenge accepted

Hello fellow mind-readers, just wanted to let you know that Tay and I have started book 2 as of last night. Shadesmar is henceforth to be known as The Spooky-Spook.

Welcome one and all to another edition of The Adventures of Slaveboi and Jeffrey Dean Morgan! Over the last month during our lockdown here in South Africa, I have read up to chapter 37 and here are some reactions: - First thing to note is that Tay has 100% gotten aboard the Shallan hate train. When we read the chapter where Kaladin and Bridge Four does the side carry and messes up Sadeas' battle plan, Tay was very excited to keep going. As soon as I read "Sometimes, when Shallan walked into the Palaneum," Tay shouted "No! Ungh! Why does it always have to be Shallan! She ruins EVERYTHING!" Thereafter followed an intense debate about whether we could skip that Shallan chapter to see what happens to Kaladin right away. We did so. - When Bridge Four is training and following orders from Kaladin, Tay likes to sing "I'll Make a Man Out of You" from Mulan. We then had a nice laugh imagining Teft, Rock, and Moash in concubine drag breaking into Kholinar Palace. - "Why can Rock see Syl? Is he some kind of mountain yogi esoteric boi? Like baby Yoda?" (a few minutes later) "Chris stop. I got distracted. We have to watch a video of Baby Yoda before we keep reading." - When Tay realized that Kal was going to be strung up in the storm: "Oh he's gonna go Super Saiyan! They're gonna be like 'hey die in the storm' and he's gonna be like 'b**** I am the storm'." - Reacting to the quote about Nohadon walking from Abamabar to Urithiru, Tay starts singing "500 Miles" by the Proclaimers. That was, interestingly, the song that she walked down the aisle to and what we walked out together to when we got married since we were in a long-distance relationship for years. Coulda used some Oathgates during that time, lemme tell ya. - At one point I had to explain the basics of Fabrials (felt a little like Navani talking to Dalinar). Went into how you had to lure a spren in with something that it likes and then trap it in a gemstone so that it could do the thing you want, like be a heating Fabrial. Tay got very upset at this, as she sees spren like little animals that are being confined in Fabrials, so she has decided to start an organization like S.P.E.W. from Harry Potter. She also insisted it was to have the same acronym and spent a few minutes coming up with "Spren... have a PURPOSE! Every - Where! Ha! SPEW: Spren have a Purpose Every Where!" Which I think is noble, but also sounds like it could definitely be a pro-Fabiral lobby as well. - In a quote in the epigraphs of part 3, Jasnah's notes talk about the Dawnshards. Tay felt like this was a comparable phrase to having an erection first thing in the morning. - Once we got back to a Shallan chapter: "Why must fantasy writers make redheads hot? Why do we insist on thinking that Ginny Weasley is somehow hot? She isn't hot. Fantasy writers: Stop trying to make Ginny Weasley happen." - Tay also pointed out how Shallan would often raise a hand to her 'breast' instead of her 'chest', thus subtly sexualizing her in a way that a character like Kaladin or Dalinar wouldn't be. I'm gonna keep an eye out for it, but I doubt there is any mention of Kaladin's breast. It was fun to imagine a sexualized Kaladin, however, going outside the Bridge Four barrack and stretching out his tight, muscley butt for all the lumberworkers to check out. - Probably the chapter that Tay has enjoyed most is "The Lesson" where Jasnah faces down the murderers in the alleys of Kharbranth. There was a lot of "Yeah!"s and "That's my GIRL"s and a notable "Princess Jasnah - THE FEMINIST ICON WE NEED!" happening throughout the latter half of the chapter when Jasnah was explaining her modus operandi to a shell-shocked Shallan. That's all for now! Wash your hands, ya filthy cremlings!

We got to the end of Part 2! Here's some of the greatest hits up until Dalinar's choice to abdicate. Navani – Michelle-Pfeiffer-that-white-gold – “Not Michelle Pfeiffer… make sure they know it's Michelle-Pfeiffer-that-white-gold every time.” Chulls – Crab-cows – “It’s what they are, Chris!” ME: *reading about Kaladin thinking about abandoning the warcamps* TAY: If he’s going to abandon his friends in Bridge Four I’m done. He will be Traitorboi to me if he does that. ME: Knobweed- TAY: Ha! Knobweed. Sounds like pubes. That’s what I’m calling your pubes from now on. ME: So now that you’ve heard all of them – can you guess who wrote the letter in the epigraphs? TAY: *defeated* I dunno Chris. Is it the Court Jester? ME: Yes! TAY: Wait – really? Oh damnation I’m good at this! *after Bridge Four has chasm duty for the first time* TAY: Huh. Guess I was wrong. I seriously thought Slaveboi would be attacked by a Rock Lobster down there. ME: *knowing smile* ME: *describes Kaladin doing his first kata with a spear on chasm duty with Bridge Four* TAY: Weird flex, but ok. ME: *describing Dalinar smashing things with a hammer when he’s thinking* TAY: That’s some Perrin Aybara stuff right there. ME: *says ‘Brightlord’* TAY: Hey Chris hey. If there’s a brightlord is there a dumblord? Heh. *pauses* Sadeas. Sadeas is a dulllord. ME: *reads the word khokh and linil describing Dalinar’s glyphpair* TAY: Did you say cock? *laughs uproariously* And it’s in the shape of a tower too! Ha! Legitimately interested reactions (oohs and aahs - not just being funny) to: - Dalinar thinking that there’s a pattern to the Shattered Plains. - The Parshendi having grown their own armour - How spanreeds work

341a. Bring the biggest crossbow you have. Now bring another one double its size.

161. Listen to old men in caves bearing gifts.

89) If you happen to be awesome, go and eat people's dinner's. Everybody. Especially famous or powerful people. Gods or king's are the best.

Taking a page out of Mad-eye Moody's book, I see. "Constant vigilance!!"