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The gist for those who don’t want to read a massive post: Shallan is a Byronic hero. Female Byronic characters are rare and tend to be received more poorly than their male counterparts. Do you think this may have affected how some readers responded to her? Long version: I recently watched a great PBS video about Byronic heroes and it got me thinking about a certain Veden redhead. If any of you aren’t familiar, a Byronic hero is a character modeled after the characters of Lord Byron (and indeed Lord Byron himself). They are a contrast to traditional heroes in that they are more morally ambiguous. These are deeply flawed and self destructive characters who lie somewhere between hero and villain, but we are meant to root for them anyways. There was a section of the video in which they discussed the recent trend of occasionally seeing female Byronic characters. Traditionally, pretty much all Byronic characters have been male, and the vast majority still are. They noted that Byronic heroines often haven’t been well received. Which is interesting because male Byronic heroes have been hugely popular over the centuries. So, Shallan. I find the reactions Shallan draws to be fascinating. I know there are a lot of people who love, like, or are ambivalent towards her. But the large subgroup who hate her really, really hate her. Which is fine. It’s just interesting. I’ve seen calls for her to be killed, to have her head chopped off, to have a stroke. Commonly listed reasons being: Bad puns (Which, while bad, can’t possibly account for this reaction. Combined it’s like a paragraph's worth of puns in a 4,000+ page series). Some find her mental pathology off putting. But by far the most common is to give no reason at all. People just plain hate her. Can’t stand her. Annoying, loathsome, intolerable, cringe. Shallan happens to be the most Byronic character in the Stormlight Archive. (Most Byronic in the entire cosmere goes to Kelsier). Classic Byronic characteristics that I feel fit Shallan are: tortured by a dark secret from her past, morally questionable, self-destructive, traumatized, highly intelligent, sardonic, arrogant, manipulative, self-serving, enigmatic, reckless, self-indulgent, prone to substance abuse, an air of dominance while deep down she’s extremely vulnerable, an obsession with getting what she wants regardless of the cost to others, and a persistent inability to face her demons. This might be entirely unrelated to these strong reactions, but I can’t help but wonder if there is a connection. Shallan is a deeply flawed and messy character in ways that might have been more forgivable, or even appealing, if she were male. The more typical and expected male Byronic hero. Then again, it might have nothing to do with her gender. But I wish she were at least recognized and accepted for her Byronic nature instead of being treated like a traditional hero but a really crappy one. If you try to read Shallan like a traditional hero, she fails as a character. Shallan constantly makes bad choices and is very slow to learn from her mistakes. The narrative doesn’t necessarily punish her for bad behavior, and she doesn’t punish herself. Because she’s Byronic. I know people respond to characters for many different reasons, but does anyone have any thoughts on this?

I got a new pfp. so... yeah. *shrugs*

I'm done. I'm really just done. I hate that I keep coming down to this hole of depression every week without fail because I know that every time I crawl out, I am only fated to keep falling into it. There is literally no escape. Not for me. I hate that I'm scared of every little thing. That little, incessant noises can send me spiraling into a panic attack, that I'm so scared of marching band that I start shaking every day before it and then have to sit out because I'm crying so much. I hate being tired every storming day. Hate that I can never get enough sleep and that life just keeps pulling me along behind it without any rest whatsoever. I hate that my boyfriend lives so far away and that it'll be another two and a half years before I ever get to be held by him again. I hate my bliving life. And I'm done with it.

It kinda feels like your issues with her are mostly with her being young and largely unguided. She was suppressed by authority completely as a child, to which created further indulgence in private. And once completely free from authority she got kinda... intoxicated with it. She had a few months with Jasnah before the winds pleasure stuff went down. And after that she had concern about offending some people in some ways at some times. It seems like as she matures, she'll likely stop saying what comes to mind so immediately as often. And be less prone to such bouts of emotion. Though it should be noted that even Jasnah made a quip about Amarans mom being a slut (basically), which she immediately regretted. And she's the most refined character we've seen really. So I wouldn't predict that be gone entirely. Personally though. I can relate to her. She's too real to hate as a character. I share a lot of backstory with her. I know what it's like to be suppressed so long that it takes a long time to really decide when to quip, how much to drink, or otherwise how or when to indulge in things I never dared think about before. And without guidance it definitely seems to take longer to get a handle on it.

A small group of cloaked figures ventured into the Industrial District of Luthadel. Nothing was too remarkable about them, except perhaps that they had more ash than usual smeared around their faces and near their eyes. The next morning, several skaa known to have connections to the underworld were found dead, holes ripped in their chests. These killing were different from the random beatings doled out by the nobility, and the local skaa elders met to discuss the issue. Welcome to LG 80: Skaa Tenements! Signups will end a week from today on Monday, August 30 at 5:00PM EDT. @Elandera will be my IM. Rules (doc form): Quick Links: Player List: Rule Clarifications:

Oh it's Hoid isn't it Im gonna sound so stupid if im wrong lol

Have you ever walked right into a trap because you trust someone too much? I'm so freaking gullible. Gosh darn it.

Spoilers for Hero of Ages

Ironsides had moved to her chair. She couldn't handle standing anymore. Pilots, good pilots, were dying because she had walked them into a trap. A trap she had foreseen. The radio besides her crackled. She tuned into the comm line, fearing the worst. "Report?" she said weakly. "Good news, Admiral!" Pegleg's peppy voice said into the line. "We gottem!" Ironsides straightened. "Who?" "Me and Lemon- he's a cutie- shot down Vandal and Bad Wolf. Looks like those Krell stuck with their sus name choices." Ironsides relaxed, a smile almost coming to her face. But then she understood that only two out of ten had survived. Only seven had even had a chance. "We're on our way back." Pegleg continued. "See you soon!" The line went silent. Ironsides stood and walked to the hangar where the remaining members of Shard Flight would return. When she arrived, Pegleg and Lemon were already there. They opened their cockpits and Ironsides' heart shattered. Inside were not humans. She wasn't sure what they were. Crab looking somethings that no doubt were Krell, but she had never seen- Ironsides screamed. "Oh, hello!" the one on the left said, in Pegleg's voice. "Nice seeing you, Judy." "What is the meaning of this!" Ironsides sputtered. "Where are Wolf and Vandal!" Neither of those were phrased as questions. "Oh, we weren't lying." said the other, in the voice of Lemon. "We shot them down. Wolf pulled some fancy light-lance trick but they're long gone anyway." All puckering sounds that Lemon had once endearingly made were gone. As if reading her thoughts, Pegleg continued. "It was a pain to impersonate your species. So... aggressive." Pegleg visibly shivered. "But the disguises and translators were necessary. As were the adoptions of human characteristics, though I must say I'm disappointed no one responded to my flirts." Ironsides was beyond furious, but she could do nothing except slump to the ground. The real Pegleg and Lemon had to be dead, if they existed at all in the first place. "But the real victory here," Lemon said, "was breaking you, Judy. Now we'll be free to send an all-out attack that you won't have the strength to command." They closed the cockpits and took off, leaving Judy Ivans on the floor, broken. Alta was doomed, and it was her fault. Devotary of Spontaneity was exed! She was a DDF Pilot! Elandera was attacked, but survived! Vote Count: Devotary of Spontaneity (3): Archer, Elandera, Elkanah Archer (1): Devotary of Spontaneity The Krell Commanders have won! Congratulations to Archer and Elkanah for an efficient game. I guess it's a weird time for SE where not many people are signing up for games, which is tough for the GMs and the people who do sign up, so thank you for making this game even possible to be ran. I'll post my full GM thoughts later today, but I have to go in about ten minutes Here are the doc links: Master Sheet Dead/Spec/GM Ramble Doc Player List:

I think Rhythm of War offers a couple counterpoints: -Rhythm of War, chapter 15 -Rhythm of War, chapters 84 and 89, epigraphs These, plus Hoid's displayed use of Investiture for memory storage, imply a few things. Over time a Cognitive Shadow will warp, just like a Vessel, to be more in line with the power suffusing them and a human (or human-adjacent) mind is implied not to be able to deal with the amount of data that multiple lifetimes provide. Kelek writes that the centuries blur together for him, so it seems likely that external storage (or expanded mental capacity) has to be employed to avoid degradation or replacement of memory. I find it not unlikely that sheer age/information overload might account for some of the Heralds' mental states and the warping to align more with their intent isn't unlikely to be responsible for some of it as well. We also know from a WoB that Cognitive Shadows are affected by people's perception of them: So the Heralds are plausibly experiencing at least four different things that might take a toll on their mental states. 1, they've simply lived too long without a mental out, like memory storage 2, they're warped by the Intent of the power that made them Cognitive Shadows 3, they are affected by perception and as major historical and religious figures there's a lot of thinking about them 4, they spent a long time dying, being tortured, being reborn, repeat So while not every Cognitive Shadow is at risk of going quite as bananas (fresh from Shinovar), point one should apply to any mortal who lives for too long and points two and three would be potential problems for any Cognitive Shadow. So age alone might not cause insanity, per se, but I'd say it definitely looks like a probable cause of mental degradation. The Sibling was meant to be the bridge between men and spren, not men an Honor. That's an interesting idea, though to me it looks like Deadeyes are more closely tied to the Cognitive than living Nahel spren are, an unsummoned Deadeye is in the cognitive, an unsummoned Nahel spren is in the Physical. There's also a difference between being bodily brought into the Physical, being manifested as an object in the Physical and transitioning Realms. Syl spent a long time nearly mindless in the Physical without dying, for instance, and I don't think that a Deadeye would necessarily fare any better than a live spren if bodily brought into the Physical. I don't think the effect on the Heralds can have been instantaneous, I'd hazard that they were injured in a way similar to the spren, in that they've aquired a blockage or frailty that hinders healing or exasperates damage. Honestly, it fits thematically that all the entities touched my the imprisonment lost their minds, quite literally for the singers and Deadeyes, more figuratively for the Heralds. The sealing of Mishram also didn't cause the Nahel spren to precipitate out as Blades, so I'm not sure I follow the Investiture state thing, especially when Shardblades predate the Recreance. That doesn't really make sense to me. Most of the Nahel spren didn't have every mature spren bonded at the time of the Recreance, so several types should have had members who noticed that the Pure Tones were gone. The Sibling can also hear Cultivation's Tone still, though this might be because Cultvation helped them regain it while Honor was busy being insane, though then Cultivation should have helped the rest of the spren too, which would still end up with a discrepancy in what Tones the spren could hear. I also find it likely that the normal Rhythms exist between the Tones of Honor and Cultivation and if Melishi managed to block those from all spren the Listeners would have been without too. ¤_¤

Do y'all know when you get like a writer's block, but it isn't a real writer's block; it's just that you're writing an absolute slag heap of a fight scene and your fingers are moving so slow it puts iOS download times to shame? 'cause that's what's happening right now.

Well I'm going to be honest. I don't have a whole lot I can add to this. I am a man of few words. Its hard for me to get my true thoughts and feelings portrayed accurately sometimes. I have pretty bad social-anxiety, and just anxiety in general, as well as sever ADD, and though I was never diagnosed with OCD, I feel like I am with certain things. I don't struggle with or have mental Illness, though I have a few family members who had had it. I am also only in Highschool and lack confidence when it comes to words. But I just wanted to say that I love Shallans character. I personally kind of enjoy her jokes, even when they become a little too much. I'm not saying that I love her character more than say Kaladins or Dalinars, But she is among my favorites. Dalininar is actually my favorite SA character. He was masterly put together in OB. OB was the book that made The SA my Favorite series ever.(Mistborn a close 2nd). But Shallan though...she's awesome. I don't think she deserves all this criticism. The only problem I had with Shallan was in WoK. I still liked and and found her chapters neccesary but I did find myself longing to get back to Kaladin, and to continue reading about how Bridge Four came to be. And Bridge Four is just about my favorite thing from any & all of Brandon's books. I love the Humor, unity, love, and kinship that is Bridge Four. Anyway, sorry for getting tangled in other topics when this is about Shallan. I guess my main point in all of this is that I love Shallan. Shallans awesome and a great character, and anyone who says otherwise will...um...I dunno. Did I mention I'm slow with with words? Anyways. I am Pro-Shallan! ps: People were mentioning addiction earlier, and I jus want to say that I love Teft. Seeing him striving to overcome his self-pity and self-loathing caused by his addiction, and learning that it is possible to love himself again was very tender and inspirational. I also love the role of the spren in helping their broken companions overcome their problems and become whole. Phendorana and Sylphrena are stellar examples of this. I think this shows that when struggling with an addiction or some form of mental illness (or any of the other problems mentioned), that it is 100% necessary and essential to have support from loved ones. pps: Sorry again for not staying completely on topic! When I do manage to get my thoughts down its not always as organized and smooth flowing as I would like. ppps: I just want to applaud what @Jash said at the very top. (2nd comment)

I would like to thank school for distracting me from my 3 year shardiversary ten days ago.

Provided you've finished Rhythm of War (or don't mind a very minor spoiler), you might find this topic of interest: We're about 99.9% certain that Cosmere healing will not terminate a pregnancy under normal circumstances because Spiritually-speaking there's nothing wrong with the mother and fetus' spiritweb is not the mother's spiritweb. Case in point: Lift freaks out when she gets her first period in Edgedancer and she definitely thinks something is wrong with her; her magic disagrees. Stormlight definitely can help ensure a child is healthier than they would be otherwise because we know that exposure to it generally makes Rosharans healthier than average so extra exposure from the mother being a surgebinder should be even better. Anything that's considered a poison can be healed by stormlight so things like fetal alcohol exposure could be virtually eliminated with just the passive healing. An Edgedancer or Truthwatcher could likely do even more with Regrowth.

I think the primary point that needs to be made at this juncture is that Shallan burying her trauma actually is "sucking it up and moving on." That's what it looks like. That's why sucking it up doesn't work: actually processing trauma involves months, if not years, of work and in 99.9%* of cases, requires the guidance of a therapist in order to make progress. It's just not something a person -- let alone the Earth-equivalent of an 18-19-year-old (my gods, she's young enough to be my kid) -- can do on their own. And in a world that doesn't even know how to treat mental health problems, there are no therapists for Shallan to go to. And given the level of trauma she's sustained, even with help it wouldn't be an easy road. Shallan is, in a manner of speaking, trapped in the lies her own mind tells her. She lacks the necessary perspective to even understand how to properly process her trauma. She needs help to dig her way out, but she doesn't know help is even possible, let alone who to ask for it. Can it be frustrating to read? Sure, and it's completely reasonable to get a little uncomfortable during her passages. But is it really fair to judge a teenager for failing to fix herself when even an experienced therapist would likely need years to help her untangle it all? I'm gonna go out on a limb and say no. It is not. And as frustrating as it can be for some people to read her POV sections, I invite you to take a moment and try and empathize with her, because living in that kind of brainspace is much, much more difficult than reading about it. *I'm one of the 0.1% of people who managed to muddle my way through on my own. It wasn't easy, and was only possible because I have an abnormally high level of self-awareness and ability to analyze myself. And it took years. I didn't really reach a reasonable level of functioning until I hit about 30, and I'm still not completely 100%. I'm finally getting some support for the ADHD and executive functioning disorder. The OCD is never going away; I just have my tics under enough control that I'm able to mask them well enough that it's rare for anyone to notice them.

.....everything you said about "sucking it up" could be said about Kaladin, Dalinar, ...and frankly, every character in the story. The story is obviously heavily focused on...and perhaps even just talking about, mental health and how important it is. She was basically tortured as a child, did you read the back story sections of Shallan's story? She was heavily abused, to the point that her mind was already fractured from a young age, where she has been trying to forget things that happened from even before her background PoV. Also, while as I don't love every aspect of Shallan's personality, I found her endlessly fascinating personally. I've always kind of summarized our three main characters as basically representing three major mental disorders/psychiatrics conditions : Depression (Kaladin); Addiction (Dalinar); and finally Childhood Trauma (Shallan). If you think any of these are easy to move past, I suggest...trying empathy. Trust me, moving past childhood trauma, no matter the circumstances, is not that easy. Shallan has also saved the day multiple times....so...I'm not sure even what you are talking about there. Shallan is broken. Kaladin is broken. Dalinar ...was broken (he seems to have...mostly solved his issues by the end of Oathbringer). Like, that's the way the books were written, choosing one character and telling them to "suck it up" seems needlessly cruel. Ask yourself this, say when Kaladin's mind breaks and he is unable to fight at several points in the books, would you think it appropriate to tell him to suck it up? And if you wouldn't say it to Kaladin, ask yourself why you are instead saying it to only Shallan.

Hi, it's me, I had another RP idea. The inspiration for this came when I was driving through the countryside of Iowa and all of a sudden in the middle of nowhere was this gorgeous town with massive houses and gorgeous rolling hills. Just a small little well-to-do community. I started wondering what shenanigans might go on there in the seemingly perfect place and thus the idea for this mafia-based RP began. This RP is ridiculously open. Your character could have magic powers, they could secretly transform into a werewolf, or be a serial killer hiding behind the smiling face of a shop keeper, or maybe lead a cult. Anyway, I have no idea where the plot is going and that's the fun of it! Go ahead and toss character ideas out there, we'll see where this goes, I guess.

I'm re-reading Mistborn series 1 right now and I absolutely choke up like nothing else every time Kelsier leaves Vin - "You still have some things to learn about friendship, Vin. I hope someday you realize what they are." The bookend scene to this one in Secret History, where Vin turns the line around on Kelsier before choosing to go to the Beyond with Elend also gets me equally. Something about the way Brandon wrote these parts just really hits home, but I also feel it's super impactful to me just because Kel and Vin are among Brandon's best developed characters I wouldn't even say The Final Empire is my favorite book in the Cosmere, but I don't think anything has had the emotional impact that that scene and line has on me every time I read or hear it. Gun to my head, I'd probably choose Stormlight as my favorite Cosmere series, but I really can't say anything in it has ever made me cry like these scenes. On the tragedy scale, Vasher's backstory is also pretty sad, but since we don't really see it, I guess it hasn't impacted me the same. Wax killing Lessie didn't impact me the same way because I had no idea who either were, yet. Though I would say overall, I sense some melancholy in all of the Mistborn books that I don't really pick up in others. Anyway, I just wanted to get the emotions out there and off my chest, but also see what moments have impacted folks here in different ways. Am I forgetting something obvious in other books? Have you cried during other Cosmere scenes?

GUYS! I found this AMAZING animation by peu on youtube! He's given me permission to share it! Here it is:

Um ... hi I guess. I've been reading Sanderson for many years (around 6 years I think) but only decided to join here recently. I read The Final Empire on my own and had no clue about the rest of Sanderson books. An English teacher recommend The Way of Kings to me, and now I've basically read everything except Dawnshard. My sister also reads cosmere but none of my friends do sadly. Stormlight is probably the best, but I like Mistborn (era 1) more since that just has a special place in my heart. Stormlight isn't hard to get through for me, but I feel like I'm missing all the wider connections. Whitesand might be my least favorite cosmere series. I guess that is because I have trouble remembering the characters in it sometimes. My favorite characters are Vin and Jasnah. I'm not sure about least favorite. I'm not as into the tiny details of the cosmere (intent/command/investure) but I am curious about the marco things like the shards or planets. Also I am terrible at spelling, so sorry for writing any books or names wrong.

You were right! Who wants to go next? Anyone?

FINALLY FINISHED STORMLIGHT! HERE'S MY TAKEAWAY! so I completed it, after starting like... four months ago? I finished W+W3 on March 2 and started WoK probably about a week later, I got WoR in late April and I finished RoW yesterday. I'd say I made pretty good time. Nobody on here is gonna disagree with the following statement, but wow it is good, so in depth, plot-twisty, and easy to comprehend whilst also having a deeper side open to debate, theory, and thought. The characters are so human, with complicated incentives, desires, and backgrounds which all combine into incredible arcs, and the worldbuilding is incredibly, you know, built. And OH MY STORMS THE NAMES LIKE I CANT GET OVER THE NAMES I LOVE THE NAMES SO MUCH the character names the location names the object names I just really like them- (if you couldn't surmise that from my rant, haha). Excited to finish Cosmere as I still need Warbreaker and Elantris, though I also don't know what I'll read afterward... ah, the duality of Sanderson. Anyway this is probably getting too long for mu audience retention rate. thanks for reading, if you did!

Yay! I have avoided stupidity for one more day 1. this character is very skilled at their preferred craft

"It was glorious," he remarked. "Say, do you happen to sell a sandwich with a pretty big pickle in it?"

Lmao, you've avoided that because it is indeed the well-travelled Hoid Im surprised I even got that far

Yes, she's absolutely awesome! And right on time my friend, I was just about to call it a day. So the stage is rightfully yours, have fun!

Ah crap its The Stump! I love her!

Happy storming Birthday!

That's the game! Expect the aftermath in like two minutes

The way I see it, there are two relevant sources of Identity: Breath and Awakener. If an Awakener blanks their Identity and puts them into something without wanting to make it retrievable by anyone, the Breaths themselves will still be keyed to their regular Identity. If they intend for anyone else to take them, the Breaths will instead key to their Blank identity, and anyone who finds them would be able to take them. They shouldn't dissipate if the clock is still in one piece, like Breaths in Vivenna's shawl were. And if it breaks: Why would they dissipate? A door without a lock is still a door.

What's the difference between a piano, a tuna, and a pot of glue? - @I Am A Fish WOO HOO I AM A PROFESSIONAL METAL EATER LEZ GO -also @I Am A Fish

I'll leave the first hand experience to you. Though please tell me what it was like

When you glue yourself to a chair to experience what a full Lashing feels like.

Yes, no nameable reason is definitely a better way to phrase it. Thanks! She does get a slow start in book one, but people continue to have the same reactions to her, or even stronger reactions, over 3,500 pages later which I don't think can be explained by her slow burn narrative in the first half of WoK.

Um... Adolin is going to be Odium's champion. 1) He's the best fighter on Roshar and the most emotionally difficult to kill. Easy choice for Mr. T. 2) Like most villains, his hobbies are fashion, collecting exotic weapons, and political assassination. 3) Shallan feels safe around Adolin, but she feels hot around Kaladin. So that's going to end well. 4) This series is about how broken people can become heroes. We need to consider the opposite how someone pleasant and balanced can become evil. 5) His final confrontation with Shallan/Kal/Dalinar/Renarin is the conclusion of every emotional arc and thus the series.

I find Soulcasting to be pretty fascinating in general, so I've taken some notes here and there. There is one Lightweaver who is mentioned to be even a little bit better at Soulcasting than the others, Beryl. Shallan calls out her proficiency in the text. Shallan goes on to think that the problem might not be with her, but with Jasnah's method. And I think there is something to this. In TWoK, Shallan has an argument with Jasnah about belief which I feel highlights their different approaches to things. Jasnah convinces the soul to change with commands, but Shallan has only ever had success when she inspires the soul of the subject to change. This I feel accounts for her Spiritual Transformation of the deserters and for the transformation of the Wind's Pleasure. Shallan appeals to the core belief of the ship, to protect and care for its crew, to make it desire to change. She appeals to the souls of the deserters and of Elhokar, showing them in turn what they could be, if they tried to change. That "intrigues them enough" to want to try. Her infamous failure with the stick is probably an example of Shallan failing to convince the stick why it should, in fact, want to be fire. A figurative seed, in this case. Her other 'successful' attempt, in TWoK, was with a crystal goblet that I'm pretty certain was simply bored of being a goblet; she barely had to say anything to persuade it. When Formless Soulcasts the doorknob, she also notes that things barely care if you ask them to change in Shadesmar. In OB, Jasnah observes that it's much easier to Soulcast with the three realms so close to each other (or at least, that is the implication): So I would guess that Soulcasting may have something to do with that. Jasnah through the Cognitive and Shallan through the Spiritual? Just based on their characters, that feels more or less right. As for why Shallan is bad at Soulcasting normally ... I could probably muse about that all day. Maybe it really is because she's using the wrong method for her mindset. However, I do agree that it probably reflects her own inner turmoil. It could be a little of all of these? When Shallan is briefly Formless, she had at least made a choice about who she wanted to be, even as Veil and Radiant fought her over it. I tend to think about it the same way I personally read Kaladin as ignoring Adhesion because he's afraid of emotionally connecting to people. Having made a definitive choice at the end of RoW as to who she wants to be (a Knight Radiant and not a Ghostblood, Shallan over Formless, etc.), I wonder if she will suddenly have more success with Soulcasting?

Today I hard reset my chromebook. After spending a solid half an hour backing up all my downloads, preferences, and whatnot onto my google drive, I slew everything that remained all so I could sign into my school account. But now everything looks wrong. My bookmarks bar is too thick, my fonts look wonky, and all my icons are just a tad bit larger than they used to be. That's all well and good, though. It's a factory reset; worse things have happened. Like, say, when I went to copy back all the stuff I backed up to my drive... it'll probably take 15-20 minutes-ish, but for a second there, I swear the progress bar told me that it had "five thousand hours and fifty-one minutes left."

If you don't want to read about characters dealing with their mental health you might be reading the wrong series. There are plenty of reasons to dislike Shallan, but if you've got a problem with reading about how she deals with her trauma then you've got a problem with the story BS wants to tell about her. It is an essential component of her character arch. Frankly it doesn't sound like you have a lot of ways you can relate to her, and maybe it's a good thing you're reading about how she deals with her trauma; stories like this are a great tool of empathy for all of us, and the expression "suck it up" can be really toxic. Shallan might have to save the world, but, for example, to a parent with the same issues as Shallan, their child might be their world. Mental health doesn't get to take a back seat no matter what (subjective) amounts of responsibility are on someone. Edited: tone

I made another animatic! SPOILERS BEFORE YOU WATCH: Mistborn 1-3, 6, and Secret History

"If you chance to meet a crab, do not let it stay! Quickly turn it upside down and then just walk away" -Connie

Double posting but I don’t care because I beat the Path of Pain!! It seriously took me 6 hours across 2.5 days and was pretty much as bad as I thought it’d be. Charms were Hiveblood/Grubsong/Longnail/Quick Slash/Voidheart The only thing that kept me going was that with each attempt I could see myself progressing. The difference between dying here and dying there was actually really motivating because it was visual proof that I actually could do it. The reward itself is a bit disappointing but the satisfaction is enough of a reward by itself

Nope iirc, in the scene Hoid finds his decapitated head floating and expresses surprise because he thought his head would grow a new body.

I assume Rayse didn't consider it / wasn't working through Gavilar because Ulim was privy to and helped instigate his ,assassination which you would imagine Ulim the only spren of Rayse in physical world wouldn't do if they were and you would assume Ulim would know. I'd imagine Gaviliar knew because was working with axinewieth (wrong spelling) who is terris and who I'd guess is working for "Trell", Trell maybe working with Rayse or to undermine Rayse in this case - no idea I could be completely wrong and I accept that possibility. To say he is the central figure is a stretch, imo, the prologue is great at raising questions, how ? Why? What ?Who ? Where ? When ? But they have multiple focuses Gaviliar is only one aspect of those questions raised, not the entirety of there focus.

Personally I think there won't be a dual of champions, I thing Todium will look for a way to get Dalinar to renege on the agreement before the contest occurs. (I don't have any good ideas how he will achieve this) If we knew 100% that there was going to be a dual, knowing that Todium said the way he saw to beat Dalinar was subtle, then I'd throw my hat on Renarin. (Who I don't see Dalinar killing,) and for all those who quote the suckling child death rattle for evidence for Gavinor i also think could substitute Renarin into that. (Altho i don't think that death rattle applies to the contest of champions ) @AquaRegia if the champion was going to be Gavilar why would Rayse never of considered it ? And why would Gaviliar agree to being Todiums champion ? Also why I seen compelling evidence Gavilar may not be dead or maybe a CS, him showing up 5 books and 10 years(a guess later, out the blue, wouldn't be great writing. Also has anyone ever out right asked BS was Gaviliar really dead or if he was a CS etc ?

I don't think there's going to be a clear champion or duel or anything that's to be expected. A big theme of RoW was that you approach a game with no chance of losing. That there's going to be a punch across the card table when your opponent isn't expecting it. And Rayses goals were far different than Tara's goals. Rayse wanted freedom to dominate other shards. TOdium wants to ensure that Roshar is still standing. I don't think TOdium will nuke Roshar to get what he wants compared to Rayse who has caused permanent damage to multiple planets for his own goals I think we'll see something more complex resulting in a compromise of conditions that we don't really expect. We might not even see a 1 vs 1