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From where I stand, I can see stars. A lot of them too - I can count twenty without running out. It's a cool, breezy night, I can hear frogs croaking and fish splashing (I'm standing on a bridge) and I can see so many stars. It makes me feel incredibly lucky to be alive and able to have this experience, and I thought I'd share this feeling with you all. PS. The same neighborhood cat I posted pictures of just went by.

I love how people are suddenly making art threads, almost as if they’re finding inspiration from somewhere.

I've been on fire recently as far as writing goes. I'm working on this one short story (surrounding a character in my ever-expanding fanfiction multiverse) that I've been struggling to get written for a long time. I would write "Chapter One," then lose interest, then come back to it and say "I need to rewrite Chapter One." This repeated a couple times until I finally wrote it good enough for me to look at it with satisfaction and call it perfect. ...then I realized that I'd forgotten it needed to be a short story, and not first-book-of-a-trilogy-epic-fantasy prose. So I promised myself, alright, this is going to be the last rewrite. So basically the last three days I've been writing 1500+ words each day, and if I do so tomorrow, I might have the story done! I might give it another day or so for edits, but then I'll make a thread + status update here on the Shard so y'all can read my fanfiction short stories, if you would so desire. The one I'm working on is set in the cosmere universe and is probably the only one where preliminary knowledge of the books is needed (but that'll be less of a problem here on the Shard then on Discord ). Just stuff like basic Era 1 and Era 2 knowledge, Warbreaker knowledge, and Stormlight (up to Words of Radiance, preferably) knowledge . Okay now I'm just rambling and I don't know how to end this, but I think you get whatever point I'm trying to make. Sorry. It's past midnight for me. Have a goodknight, whoever you are that mysteriously read my status updates, and also, "my life to yours my Breath become yours" to anyone who's actually read this far, mwahaha.

Hi! I have some more. It's just one page but yeh

I can't tell you how good it feels to report a spambot before they even post.

Hi, I'm Amira. I'm a big fan of the Alcatraz books, so recently I started following Brandon on Instagram for news about book 6. The next thing I know, all hell breaks loose XD. Naturally I decided to catch up on Cosmere books, so I picked up Stormlight (no spoilers please, I'm only on prologue #2), am reading the secret project previews, following the livestreams, etc. Unfortunately, I won't be backing the kickstarter because even though I liked project 1 and loved project 2, project 3 didn't work for me. Did anyone else not connect with one of them, or is it just me? I like that I'm a spren on the forum because I only have one post, lol

We hit 4,000 rep! I don't even know what to say, we're only three days short of one year since I hit 2,000. I just, thanks guys this means so much to me, I love being here and being able to interact with all of you wonderful people.

I'm not a huge fan of that category, because it includes main characters, it includes non-Cosmere characters, and it includes characters who only had one viewpoint. I'm looking, instead, at the statistical analysis pages: https://coppermind.net/wiki/Category:Statistics There aren't any stats for the standalone novellas, but those are mostly single-character or dual-character affairs, so I don't think those will be worth looking too much into. There's also no White Sand, but the graphic novels are by nature kind of screwy in terms of "viewpoint." I don't think there was anything in the prose from Baon's viewpoint, though; we had Kenton/Khriss/Ais as the main viewpoints, with a little bit of Aarik. In Elantris, Lukel (8) and Galladon (5) look like the only two candidates. In Warbreaker, Vasher (12) has fewer viewpoints than the other three main characters, but I would still call him a main character. The book's named after him, after all. In the Mistborn Era 1, I see Spook (14), TenSoon (13), Breeze (9), and Marsh (8) as the candidates. I don't see anybody in Era 2, unless Brandon's counting stuff from Lost Metal that we can't see yet. Stormlight, as you would expect, has a lot of potentials, but it also begs the question of what makes a main character. I'm going to exclude our back-five flashback characters and Bridge Four; I would expect any of those would count as a Stormlight side novel, not a standalone novel like this has been marketed as. Which leaves us with Moash (12) and Taravangian (11), which both would fall under the same objection as the previous group. I'm keying in on one of the Mistborn characters. I know Brandon's backup plan for Thaidakar, if he couldn't work out Kelsier's survival, was going to be TenSoon wearing Kelsier's bones. So the Big Outline has, at least at one point, had TenSoon as a worldhopper, even if we haven't seen evidence of it yet in any of the canon books. If SP4 is the Count of Monte Cristo story, like I suggested above, a kandra would be pretty well suited for running a con like that. I'd also be interested in seeing what Marsh or Spook was up to. (Spook just resigned; he didn't have a recorded death, did he?) All the Mistborn characters would tie in pretty well with Kelsier and his mission, which took a larger role in RoW and looks poised to be big in TLM. So it would be pretty timely for a Mistborn side character to have a novel. But that gets back to: is it a standalone, or is it a Mistborn side novel? And that ultimately leads me back to TenSoon; as a shapeshifter, I think he can carry a book for newcomers in a way that Marsh or Spook couldn't.

https://bingobaker.com/view/3742742 The Lost Metal bingo!

@Fatebreaker and @kenod thank you for allowing us to write our own shadow creatures, it’s been such fun for me and so delightfully creepy! I hate to double post here, and I can delete if needed, but should we consider starting a new day in-game sometime soon?

Brandon gave some more clarification on the SP4 protagonist, for some last-minute theorizing: Hoid's officially off the list. Somebody who has had viewpoints, though; that's new, right?

This turned out a lot longer then I anticipated, but having been active and playing with an OP character most era's, these are my thoughts about how I've tried to use them and how they should be used. I agree that generally DA department heads are going to be extremely OP. I am personally a pretty lenient on OP characters, particularly if they relate to guilds of significant size, but I think they should generally be understood to be more like an NPC than a PC. They shouldn't be solving problems with the other characters, because the challenges we write in should be addressable by the average characters (the ones that fit in the 150 points). I'm personally fine if people wanted to make a council of OP characters for the Ghostblood council, or a team of DA department heads. So long as any RP done by them stays in their respective threads, I don't even think that they need community approval. That said, it needs to stay narratively isolated. I'd be fine with a scene of Voidus and the Stranger walking the streets discussing something, or getting a bite to eat. It just shouldn't impact other peoples plots. I'd be fine with a couple scenes of them blasting people to bits on other planets, or the GB council dueling each other as practice. It just needs to stay narratively isolated. For an example of a situation thats problematic: Imagine my character Ronald is walking the streets saying he's on a mission for Voidus personally, doors will open that wouldn't otherwise be opened. Thats an issue if Voidus isn't approved. Voidus' presence is impacting the wider narrative, and so he should be approved so that everyone is aware of him and what impact he can have on the plot. If various characters are teaming up with the Stranger and feeding him information with his knowledge being the McGuffin that solves the mystery, thats an issue. He needs to be approved so people can plan around how he could impact their stories. Basically, if you want them to have an impact on the plot, I think they need to be approved. If you want them to be a flavor character, or a catalyst for character development, I don't necessarily see a need for a whole process. Hey Lord Voidus, if you see this know that pi = 3 = e. Also sin(x) = x. Two quick notes: One, I would prefer people to have at least a full Era of RPing under their belts before they try to make OP characters, for whatever reason. I love power fantasy as much, or even more, than the next guy, but its not conducive to learning how to RP or write well. Also I want people to have experience RPing so they can know not to overstep their bounds as an OP character. Two, the subject of how to act with a guild leader character is tangential to this because while most OP characters will be guild leaders, not all guild leaders need to be approved and ironed out character. If there is gonna be an impact on the plot, and said impact is coming from the office (not the character), I don't think it necessarily needs approval. So long as it makes sense for said guild leader to be involved it I don't care. Like someone could totally be on a special assignment from an un-named department head to murder civilians, and come across PC's in the process. The department head doesn't necessarily need to be ironed out and approved, because its reasonable to assume that there is someone in the DA who enjoys wanton murder. So if someone in the DA gave you the OK, then write it. Or someone could be on a special assignment from the GB council and try to bring in a PC for questioning. Thats a reasonable decision for the council to make, so if a GB leader like sorona or TFA gave you the thumbs up to write that, then go ahead. No need to get approval for a specific council member. Hopefully this essay makes sense, I just wanted to infodump on how I had been trying to use OP character, and how they should be used going forward.

Even with Tin raging like a fire within her, Lita could barely hear Laurelai's words over the pounding of her own heart. Memories bloomed in her mind, bleeding into one another like droplets of ink on wet parchment. Versions of the same event competed for her acknowledgment. Under the onslaught of disparate recollection, the world seemed to warp around her, shadows in the corners of the room trembling and stretching. Then, one of the shadows on the ceiling detached itself, dropping to the floor behind Laurleai with a heavy, wet sound. It lay quivering on the rug for a moment before it began to surge upwards, building upon itself until it formed a vaguely humanoid shape, too-long arms reaching for Laurelai just as the young woman screamed and pointed - behind Lita. Lita ducked, one hand reaching for the miniature stiletto she kept in her pocket, the other hand reaching into the fire for a handful of smoldering coals. She grunted at the sudden flare of pain, lowering her Tin and immediately beginning to siphon the heat into her brassminds. Then she turned, flinging the embers as she got her first look at the thing that had appeared behind her. Her first thought was of the legends of mistwraiths from her youth. It's body was long and sinuous like a snake, rising up from the puddle of black, glistening ooze and swaying slightly. It's skin - if it could even be called skin - looked like wet tar, though the handful of embers Lita had thrown were simply absorbed without a trace. Hell, Lita thought, her mind too busy watching the thing to donate any energy towards screaming. As the coals hit its body, the creature seemed to lock into place with a sudden, predatory keenness. The blunted end of it boiled and bubbled, one of the bubbles growing and swelling until it formed the shape of a human head. Lita watched in fascinated horror as it opened its slick mouth and unhinged its jaw. More shadow ran out of its mouth, dripping across too many teeth, as it lunged for her. Lita did scream then, throwing herself backwards and slashing across the tarry hide of the creature with her stiletto. The blade passed through almost too easily, parting the "skin" and causing some of the shadows within to begin eating their way up her arm. The corners of her vision began to darken, and in a panic, Lita plunged her hand back into her pocket, seeking something, anything -- Her fingers closed around the familiar smooth circle of the Coin, and she pulled it free, gripping it in her palm like a talisman. The shadow had coated the entirety of her right arm, an eerily cold and invasive sensation. She could almost feel it pushing its way into her skin as it worked its way towards her neck. "Help me!" Lita shouted at the Coin, even as it pulsed with a weak heat. The shadow continued to flow upward, pouring into her right ear, covering her right eye. The darkness deepened, smothering her terror, rubbing out the incongruencies in her memories. She dropped to one knee, her left hand still clutching the Coin, fighting the shadow, fighting to cling onto the memories - her memories. They were her memories... weren't they? Lita felt her cheek hit the soft surface of her rug as the shadow poured over the rest of her face, running down her throat like black blood, coating every instance of dissonance, stealing her secrets. She would have wept in anger, if the shadow had not already covered her eyes. You promised me secrets, she thought, whispering the accusation into her hand and sending it into the Coin, even as her mind forgot the reason why. You promised me power. Liar. @Fatebreaker

My job according to the manual: you are the noble defenders of all your store. Serve customers, make ice cream, uphold the rules, and carry on from day to day to day. Also my job:

Edit: this topic started as Pesach discussion, but now it's a general place for Jew! Feel lonely with all the Goyim around? Want to enjoy some old-fashioned Jewish chat, dotted with Hebrew and Yiddish words? This is the place for you! The original message: Since Pesach is right around the corner, and since I'm a little bored and think that it might be interesting to discuss some stuff here, I decided to start a thread. We can discuss here on how we're preparing for Pesach without clogging the TPBM thread like we did last year! And other random people that might be interested can come in too. I'll tag here the few people I remember that are Jews. Anyway, random things: a. I, personally, am going to miss all the cleanings in my home, since I currently serve in the IDF. There'll be some cleaning here, too, though, and from what my brother told me, there wouldn't be chametz to eat for two weeks before Pesach. It might be somewhat annoying. But on the bright side, I don't have to go over the fridge with bleach, so yay! b. I thought I might just as well recommend a book for preparation for Pesach. One of the most interesting books I've read about Pesach is the Exodus You Almost Passed Over by rabbi David Fohrman, I recommend it. I'd have tried the books recommended to me by other Sharders, but I'm not sure that I want to wait for the books to come from abroad. What's nice about tEYAPO is that I can obtain it through kindle. The ones recommended then, to those who wish to know, were Let My Nation Go by Yosef Deutsch (recommended by @Bejardin1250) and Moses and the Path to Leadership by Rav Zvi Grumet (recommended by @Nathrangking). What do you have to say? @Kingsdaughter613, @Silva

So... I've been improving. It's far from good, but I've gotten better. Now my humans look somewhat realistic, my shading actually exists, and I've elected to NEVER color under ANY CIRCUMSTANCES. Considering all that, I think my stuff isn't half bad. So... here's a thread for it. Hopefully there'll be a visible learning curve of sorts.

See Hoid. Hoid likes noodles (https://wob.coppermind.net/adv_search/?query=noodles). Hoid has been waiting a long time for noodles to be invented on other worlds. Hoid now partly owns a noodle shop. Hoid's spren Design, the other owner, runs said noodle shop. Hoid even helped pick out her uniform for running said noodle shop. And her face. And her curv- Hoid spends a lot of time in this noodle shop. All day in fact. Hoid is an important part of the shop. But no noodles for Hoid. Because he's a coat rack.

"What. Have. You. Done?" The air vibrated between them, growing thick with power and tension. The mist began to circle them, like a slow whirlpool that floated above the ground. Sudiov's fingers dug into the Shade, which caused it both surprise and worry. It had known Sudiov was powerful, but to witness it firsthand was a terrible thing indeed. The fingers were white hot, like metal fresh from the forge. The Shade felt pain, a rare thing indeed, as it was pulled helplessly towards the glowing god. The Shade held up it's hands in a placating gesture, "I have done nothing, it is he who has done this." It did not point, for there could only be one person who it was referring to. The Shade could feel the wrath of Sudiov, the fear that something had gone wrong, that he had been tricked. The eye glowed brighter and brighter, until it was painful to look at. It had had to press on, before all was lost. "But he himself knows not that they are here, nor that he caused them. And finding out about their existence would shake him even worse than it has you. For one simple reason." It waved a hand a a film appeared to stretch over the window. When Sudiov looked through, he could see purely in the physical. And there were two young people in a room with several othes. The blank spots, the white noise, they looked simply like two people in their late twenties. The girl was striking, with long dark hair and a beautiful smile. She held herself with confidence, yet had an air of approachability about her. But what stood out was the other. The young man had black curly hair, warm brown skin, and a ready grin. The Shade was silent for a moment as he let Sudiov process the image, then said, "You must proceed very carefully, Light-that-casts-Shadows. If you make one wrong move, the entire alleyverse could implode, and we don't know what state it will revert too. So I ask you only one thing." It's voice was calm and measured. As it gestured once more to the window, it said in a low voice, "Watch the boy, his coming and going. Do not interfere, just observe and learn. And above all else," The Shade looked deep into Sudiovs eyes till it burned. Then it grinned. "Don't tell me I was here." Then it vanished, in a swirl of shadow, leaving Sudiov holding naught but air, the mirror still floating beside him. Somewhere in the distance, a madman roared. @Voidus

Hi all, Graham here. I live in the UK, North Yorkshire area. I only just found this forum when watching the secret project stream and fancied reading the Aether of night. So many good areas to read and get involved in on this forum. I had Brandon recommended to me by a friend a couple of years ago and I have most of his books now. He is one of my favorite authors now. The mans a genius Looking forward to reading and posting in this forum.

She would like me to tell you that she's swamped with homework and chores and hopes to get back on this week.

Awwwwwww thanks Elf Jinx from Arcane: I'm on episode 4, and it's SO GOOD.

I see an overdose of quadrovella in my near future. He is gradually becoming a master troll.

Well, we know that one of K's goals is escaping Scadrial. That's why the Ghostbloods were/are trying to capture Kalak and bring him for questioning. The transportation of investiture just seems pragmatic. If you have easily transportable, consistently renewing Investiture you can source and you're then only one, then you can viably power magics of different types in places that they might not be able to be used and so have a power that is unknown to locals which always will give you an edge. What K's ultimate goal is... ?? He's got too much of Ruin in him to really be fighting to "Preserve" the Cosmere, which is why he couldn't hold Preservation for very long/effectively. Plus, Sanderson has said that, K is a psychopath. In Era 1 we see him.. .mostly put that psychopathy to "good' use. But as a Cognitive Shadow... Vasher has said that when a CS lives too long, they can become hyperfocused to an Intent. So whatever K's Intent is at this point and how he's using the GB to achieve that?

I decided to practice faces using the (second) best face ever:

Apparently, according to Rayse/Odium anyway, it would make a hole in his spirit that would let Cultivation kill him. So I guess it weakens a Shard significantly, somehow, either making them more vulnerable via Connection or ripping out some Investiture or something? EDIT: and I do think the power/Shard of Odium would still be bound by Rayse-Odium's oath to spare Kharbranth, even though that oath was to Taravangian.

Harmony. Or TenSoon. Or, preferably, both. I know it sounds weird, but I'm hoping we get a story focused on and told entirely from the viewpoint of a Shard. Harmony - working through Kandra agents - on an O'Neill Cylinder would be my guess. It's crazy, probably not the case, but I think it would be an amazing story to have a space age infiltration story on a space station from the viewpoint of a Shard, or TenSoon as a shapeshifting agent, or both.

I’m going to be doing the Sedarim by my parents this year. As for cleaning, we’re probably going to use a lot more b’dieveds than I normally would. It depends on how crazy things get with this one: She made her appearance on Taanis Esther, an hour before Purim. So things have been pretty wild since.

Yes, you got it!

Bluth!

I had a great trip with Guard. The best time ever. I love his family, I love him. I’ve never felt quite so happy in my life. But now that he’s on his mission… TW: Suicide, religion, minor swearing

Do these WoBs have spoilers for the secret projects? I’m currently still trying to avoid those. We’ll see how long it lasts.

I am convinced Brandon was smirking when he wrote the noodle scene. I’ve wondered how Hoid time skipped, the coat hanger was… unexpected. But in character. This method obviously predates Soul casting but I have no idea how he manages it.

So I've been thinking about the Alignment of Dawnshards to shards for a long time but I've never made a post about it, mainly because I've never been able to pin down one I've liked. However I recently decided to sit down and work through it. So one thing that bothered me about sorting Shards solely into groups of four is that Ruin and Odium both speak of Passion with great importance. https://wob.coppermind.net/events/171/#e8330 https://wob.coppermind.net/events/355/#e10447 But Ruin belongs quite clearly in the Change dawnshard, something Odium does not. So I propose that there is a second set of four ideas, I'm not sure whether to call them intents or flavors or whatever, but these when cross referenced with the Dawnshard Commands will give us a Table of the Shards like so, With Dawnshard Commands along the top, and the attributes along the side With the recent reveal of Virtuosity I think I can now fill out the table Change Unite Give Choose Natural Cultivation Honor Endowment Autonomy/Ambition? Passion Ruin Odium Mercy Valor Control Preservation Dominion Invention Ambition/Autonomy? Beauty Whimsy Devotion Virtuosity Appraisal? I feel this does a much better job of explaining the Shards and their Alignment with Dawnshards. Thoughts?

Well, Brandon just put in a spoiler in the livestream for this.

This book should be written, and you should definitely follow this one quote.

Welcome to the Shard!

I honestly think her mind is almost completely been corrupted by her Shard. We saw how flawed Ruin, Preservation and Odium became in regards to simply going along with the flow of their Shard. I think her intent was to create a Shard she could influence, shape and train for the War of The God's that is apparently coming. She is sentient enough to see the weakness of Rayse in that the discontent between him and his Shard gave her an opening but I think she grossly underestimated Taravangian, maybe the boon and curse she gave him will help balance out the Odium-ness(?) but I don't think she should take her eyes off her new student.

Mazal Tov! She's adorable!

THANK YOU!!!!! IM GLAD YOU ENJOYED IT SO MUCH AND THERE IS LOTS MORE TO COME Thanks! All these complements are just going to further my god complex

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO @Elf BRO BRO BRO RBOO BRO DUDUE WHAAAT THAT WAS AWESOMEE AOEUFBEAOUBEFOAHFUOFEAU HOLY CRAP THAT WAS LIKE THE COOLEST THING I'VE EVER READ YOUR STYLE IS INCREDIBLE AUHAEOFEA TAKE MY REPUTATION TAKE ALL OF IT IF YOU CAN!!

Can't help thinking of him as "Michael". This character acquires valuable material.

WOOOOOW ITS BEAUTIFUL HERE TAKE ALL MY REPUTATION! ALSO THE TMA ART IS SOOOOO GOOD. I LOVE IT

On top of that: is Virtuosity the Shard that just wanted to survive? Also, is Virtuosity the Shard that would have been used for the Rithmatist if it was in the Cosmere?

That's the last time I look at a Website URL.

Okay, so I'm a theatre officer at my school, and we recently had an initiation for the new students (and all the non-officer folks cuz this was the first time we've done something like this.) We told them to meet at the school on Friday at 7 pm, and that's it. All the information they got. We got there, stalled for a while, then blindfolded them all and got them into our cars. Bro, we drove insanely (but safely, don't worry.) In my car, I played Spooky Scary Skeletons on repeat. The idea was just to annoy them, but apparently it made them lose all sense of time so they thought we were driving for longer than we actually were. I was pulling into random parking lots, taking wrong turns then making u-turns, and going through roundabouts at least twice, but some of the people in my car still figured out where we were. Eventually, we reached our location, which was a pretty spooky little walking path around a pond. They're all still blindfolded, and we lead them to a small clearing, where we've got some candles set up in the middle of the circle we put them in. It takes everyone a little while to get there, and once they do, we have them take off their blindfolds. Us officers are standing in a circle around the candles with these weird terrifying masks. And we tell them the story of our ghost. It's kind of violent at one point. Read at your own discretion. Then we played some Mafia/Werewolf/whatever else you wanna call it, except instead of the Mafia or a Werewolf, we had Sheila/someone possessed by Sheila. Then we went to the theatre president's house and ate pizza and had a good time lol. It was very very very very very very fun. Have some pictures (including a picture of me that doesn't look anything like me because I'm wearing that horrid mask):

I am trying to wrap my head around the implications of this prediction... This would mean that the Iriali would have good reason to join Odium's team, since they both want to travel the cosmere and use Roshar as a home base. I, personally, thought the Iriali were using some sort of fortune magic. It fits with the superstitions and tide reading, if it actually gives them some sort of divine guidance. I figured that they would be travelling without any true end game plan, but primarily due to some sort of prophecy. But, I am realizing that this is not exclusive to the prediction above. If the prophecy tells the Iriali that they must get all of the experiences and then return to Yolen and the One will reform, all of the experiences should include gathering all available magics and gaining Connection to all of the new shards. Maybe the Iriali don't even know fully what they are doing or why like Hoid because of Fortune being used, but they are fulfilling some sort of divine mandate. A prophecy, if you will, and by doing as their religion dictates, they are helping to reform the One!

I always thought they just sort of poofed onto the next planet, without really knowing why or how. There is evidence to support my conclusion, but it isn't very strong. I mean, they don't seem to ever leave anyone behind when they move on, and it is weird that when they leave, everything is as if they had just been there. However, what you are saying makes sense, and probably makes more sense considering what we currently know.

Trying? as if. Yeah...That's honestly something i was looking at today. Mostly has to do with creating teams that work together-Worldbuilding. I think mat is village personally, so I'm not going to look more into that one, but i suppose if I were to be thorough I'd look at things to see how things would make sense as him being an Elim and supposedly who'd be on his team purely off of reactions to his flip/reactions to the wagon. Then do the same with Karn. Even when someone is village looking into how things played out and who you think the Elims would be on them if they are. Pretty much standard stuff that you'd see people doing regardless, but this time it's pretty much the only way to solve the game. I figure the PoE will need to be structured differently so that it can allow for E/lo to play out in...idk. A way that works. So yeah. Pretty much associatives/Worldbuilding. Tried to spell it out more for the newer players so someone lmk if I'm not making sense. The lack of a NK is somewhat concerning. You don't have to explore every possibility because that's exhausting, but. You kinda do. but not really. there being neutrals/people claiming neutral really muddies things though, as you can't confirm that. I'm unironically just ignoring all alignment claims pretty much. Yes, Epic. Anyways....where did archer even go?

Friends! I am now building a Fabrial! And I stand by that description because, Comrades...Crystal Power! I recently learned that Piezoelectric Transformers are a thing. This means that I can make my power glove design work with a literal Crystal Power Module, rather that the (much bulkier) magnetic flyback transformer I was planning to use. This makes my inner child so incredibly happy, you dont even know. So Im going to come around and ramble about the progress of my designs every now and then, mostly to keep project momentum. Im also going to randomly describe it in cosmere/realmic terms wherever possible, because reasons. For the uninitiated, piezoelectric crystals are everywhere, they are a really cool bit of physics where you can apply physical stress and get a burst of electric current (seen in those sparking furnace or grill starters), or conversely they will emit a very regular mechanical movement when an electric current is applied. Nearly every modern clock and computer uses these for precise timekeeping. That was the limit of their usefulness as far as I knew, but it turns out you can use these for real Power distribution. The concept is similar to any other transformer (or lever or pulley system, for that matter) where you put energy in one side of an imbalanced structure and get a step-up or step-down version of that energy out the other side. In traditional magnetic transformers, you have to run an electric current though a coil, and if the current is constantly changing (ie AC power) that energy will move into a Magnetic Field. If you hold another coil within that field, the energy will come out the other end. Much like levers that trade distance for force, the relative number of tuns in the two coils will trade Voltage for Current. Piezoelectric Transformers work in much the same way, except instead of moving the energy through the Magnetic domain to affect the change, it stores it as a physical force (vibration). One side of the piezo electric transformer is layered while the other is not, arranged in such they same mechanical vibration will yield different voltages and currents. Now, my goal is all about high voltages to get visible electric arcs as long and showy as possible, but with relatively low currents (for safety as much as anything else). This is the ideal application for PZT transformers, as the give a dramatic step-up in voltage (100:1) but doesnt scale up well for high current applications. My general plan is to have a bank of deep draw batteries (chemistry TBD) providing anywhere from 12-30 volts, feed those to a resonant inverter circuit to drive the PZT, and feed the resulting output (~1200VAC @55khz) into a Cockcroft–Walton voltage multiplier to get me somewhere north of 20kv DC. That will be the electricity available at the fingertips for basic arc fun. I also intend to design the physical hardware to maximize corona discharge so I get a proper blue glow from the energized bits, but only time will tell how well that's going to work out. Secondary phase of this design will be to build a proper Marx Stack pulse generator into a baton, which should be capable of throwing over 100 kV. Which is also why I want the business end a solid foot or two away from me (this was the fundamental flaw in my old Marx Blade design). Ive done smaller scale versions of this, they arent all that complicated and they utilize a satisfying number of spark gaps in the core function. Looking into it, I should be able to also feed the glove power into several other fun things, including a coil gun or even a hand-held EMP (which of course I wont actually do because the FCC hates them). That's it for now, I will return with preliminary pictures. Next step, reverse engineer the circuit on a laptop backlight power driver I found on ebay, or at least enough of it to cut into the right part of the circuit. This is basically how I image Hemalurgy: a plan, a pile of unrelated circuit boards, and a hacksaw...

So I don't exactly know the quote word-for-word, and it was actually Wax quoting Wayne, but it goes something like this: "Until you know for sure, pretend like every girl you know has an older brother who's bigger and stronger than you." I think that's so sweet and honorable of him.