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Why do I do this to myself? I have to work on my dissertation; I have to get the Genesis 1 post completed for the General Religious discussions thread, including the chart; I have to message several people, as well as finish a debate with someone online; I have to work on one of my Stormlight theories to post here - though I might do a Cosmere or Mistborn theory instead - that list isn't going to shrink itself, and it also has the unfortunate tendency to grow; I have to update my journal (not a Planescape reference) for what happened over the last week; I have to fill out the June Edit log for my writing, and update the internal links and list of the contents in the weekly logs for the end of May; I have to complete the post about my meta-setting to post in the Creator's Corner; I have to finish that bloody short story (and finish the outlines for at least two of the novels); I have to make more silly videos for my niece and nephew (I take my uncle duties seriously) on that note, I need to learn more magic tricks for them; I have to clean my workspace and room; I have to organise my files and clear up space; I have to finish rereading 1 and 2 Samuel, along with the associated commentaries; (I have certain elements of my personal life to get in order); I have to go to bed before midnight and try to actually be asleep before 03:00 am; ... I have to stop putting so many things on the plate, or at least prioritise them better; I needed to get that off my chest. ... So, how is your week going?

Theory: Hoid is not as good as you thought he was! Hoid has been roaming the Cosmere since the beginning of time, encouraging the main characters usually by way of storytelling and using his skills as an Awakener. Loyal fans will know that he was one of the group that shattered Adonalsium into the 16 Shards. He was offered a chance to become the Vessel of one of the Shards. However, he chose not to and in that way, gained something even more important than power: freedom. He was not bound by the rules of Shards and was free to influence events in the Cosmere as much as he liked. One of the first hints at his master plan comes early in Stormlight, in the Way of Kings, in chapter 54 on page 933. "... 'Adonalsium' Dalinar frowned more deeply. 'What?' Wit searched his face. 'Have you ever heard the term, Dalinar?'" This short exchange gives context for what Hoid says soon after: "'Ado-what?' 'Nothing,' Wit said. He seemed preoccupied, unlike his normal self. 'Nonsense. Balderdash. Figgldygrak. Isn't it odd that gibberish words are often the sounds of other words, cut up and dismembered, then stitched into something like them–yet wholly unlike them at the same time?' Dalinar frowned. 'I wonder if you could do that to a man. Pull him apart, emotion by emotion, bit by bit, bloody chunk by bloody chunk. Then combine them back together into something else, like a Dysian Amian.'..." This hints at Hoid's secret plan: To kill all the current Shards and assemble them back together into a new Adonalsium, with himself holding the power. Hoid had planned this all since the death of Adonalsium. I hope everyone enjoys this theory

I drew some fanart of Hornet, since I'm so hyped for Silksong, and I'm quite pleased with the result!

Lita woke slowly, feeling the dream slip away like the last grains of sand in an hourglass. The warmth of rich brown skin beneath her cheek shifted to linen, the rhythmic beating of a heart against her ear melted into the ticking of a clock. The clever fingers running through her hair disappeared, the contented, lazy grin fading into nothing. A black, endless eye, half-lidded in satisfied exhaustion, lingered just long enough to wink. Wake up, Little Lita. And Lita opened her eyes. She gave a tiny groan and stretched languidly, feeling both sore and impossibly relaxed. The bed was in complete disarray, sheets kicked onto the floor in a heap, pillows shoved halfway into the headboard. Lita sat up and ran a hand through her hair, which snagged almost immediately on a snarl of knots. She sighed, rolling her neck, and was pleased to find the knot of tension that had been plaguing her for weeks gone without a trace. Lita stood, and an echo of the dream shimmered across her memory, heat and shadow and a hunger like the void. Fingertips along her spine and her mouth on his neck and the white-lightning lance through her vision when — A shudder ran through her, enough to nearly cause her to fall, and she gripped the bedside table with a whispered curse. Her fingers brushed the cool, smooth edge of the Coin, which sat in a blackened ring on the wood tabletop. It was lucky the whole thing hadn’t caught fire. Lita picked it up; one side bore the Sun, the other the World. Subtle, she thought, then remembered the first part of the dream. It had been, arguably, the more important part. The part full of dangerous secrets, of information she’d have killed to know just a day ago. She held the image of the Shade standing before her, running his finger along her cheek, face filled with a melancholy longing that ached even now. “You are your own. And I am more envious of that than you know.” He wanted to help her - he wanted to help them all. But deeper than all of that, he wished to be free. Lita could still feel her own simmering rage at the Stranger, at how he’d moved her around like a piece on the board, stolen her life, built her a cage of dreams. But that was nothing compared to the Shade. She tried to imagine it, shackled to the whim of his creator, never completely free. Never able to slip the leash, no matter how much slack he was allowed. A nightmare - living forever as the shadow of another. Lita ran a hand along her ribs - nothing. Nothing but the faint pain of metal that should be there. She looked at the copper bands on her arms, all too aware that she must have tapped the memories in her sleep. And if she had them back, it was only a matter of time before the shadow creatures would come to fix the aberration. She would have to forget again. Damn this rusting game, Lita thought, slipping out of her shift and turning on the shower. At the last moment, she slid the bayonet off the bedside too. It felt ridiculous to shower with a bayonet, but she’d be damned if some black goop worm got the better of her while she was washing her hair. Lita sat on the floor of the shower, letting cool water run over her skin, and thought. She needed to leave herself just enough information to help unravel the Stranger’s world, but not so much as to alert his attention. And this young man she was supposed to wait for… “Rust and ruin,” she breathed, giving a tiny mirthless laugh. It was Reshilore. Of course it was him. He looked almost exactly like them both now that she thought of it. A bit softer in the jaw and cheekbones…softer in all respects, really. Sweet and harmless as a child. And Lita was supposed to… what. Unravel him? The thought gave her a cruel little thrill. Yes, she could do it. She would do it. She’d pull at all the loose threads she could find, unleash the hunger that the Shade found so compelling. And when he was free, perhaps he’d visit her again. Outside of a dream. Lita leaned her head back against the cool tile and felt a wicked smile spread across her lips. She’d have to forget everything to fill her Coppermind. But first, she’d have to remember it. …… There was something different about today. Lita had felt it as soon as she’d woken up, a sort of shimmering, liquid grace to the world. She’d felt it in her fingers as she plaited her long auburn hair over her shoulder - something she’d never done as far as she could recall. But today it felt right. She’d felt it as she selected her outfit, hand reaching instinctively for the deep purple dress she’d bought on a whim and never worn. Somehow it came as no surprise when it slid over her like a glove, back cut a bit too low and kick pleat cut a bit too high for a business dress. She grinned at her reflection, teeth white against lips red as claret, and stepped into her heels. Black today. Black and purple and the flash of gold as she slipped her coin into a hidden pocket. Mmm, yes. Definitely the right choice. Lita made herself a cup of tea, then stepped out of her little blue door and began to Alleytravel. The door to her office seemed to spring open at her touch, and Lita glided in on a cloud, setting her tea down and not even minding the stack of paper mounted in her in-tray. Then she picked up a little silver pen, glanced at the clock on the wall, and sent her newest agent an Alleycant message. “Good morning, Laurelai. Are you ready for your first interrogation?” The pen spun across her fingers perfectly. Lita arched her back in a luxurious stretch and smiled. Such a beautiful day - and it was about to get even better. It was time to go hunting. @Voidus

This thread is from before RoW was published

Someone tell me what I need to hear To be clear: I don’t know what I need to hear, I think I’m doing great, it’s not about anything like that Think of it as a sort of thought experiment on my part. Asking for ambiguous, but honest, advice of whatever comes to your mind.

Hey guys, not going to tag anyone since I'm not sure who, if any, is invested in my love life. My girlfriend finished the first Mistborn trilogy. She has more of a life than I do, so it took her a few months, buts it's done! She was sad about Vin's death, but not so much Elend's (except that Vin had to watch it), which is in contrast to me, who could care less about Vin, but feels a deep convection to Elend. She was also mad at me because I kept very tight lipped when she suggested that Ruin was talking to Zane. She doesn't like my RAFO's, but I can't bring myself to spoil anything. Anyways, I'm trying to decide whether to show her the shard, as she could easily discover spoilers for other books, but she might also enjoy the community on here.

This is what I meant by "2-D". I guess "projection" would be a better term. I was kind of mixing up terminology. Physical is a series of spheres separated by space, Cognitive is a series of projections of spheres stitched together, and Spiritual is a point. Don't know how to describe Spiritual dimensionally, as it's not clear how time works there. Foresight suggests that time is not the same there but it is not clear if the Realm itself is outside time.

I am and have been a cello guy for about 7 years now? wow i never realized it had been that long

Lita felt her pulse thundering like a runaway locomotive as she met the Shade's eyes. What did this mean? The Shade was helping her, betraying the Stranger's will? Could she even trust him? Was this all an elaborate ploy of the Stranger? Did anything even make sense? She managed to form words, though they seemed insufficient to properly communicate her confusion, "What are you doing here? What do you want?" The Shade leaned in close, his hand still cupping her face, "I am here at your invitation, of course. And what I want, is you, Little Lita." For what felt like the hundredth time, her breath caught in her throat and her heart beat even faster. She felt herself leaning in to him, as if their bodies could merge in to one form of heat and shadow and glinting metal. Her mouth opened slightly, and she felt her eyes locked onto the void and spike before her. And just when their lips were about to touch, he spun them both in a flurry of movement, resuming the dance. "I want you to break free of the collar put upon you by your oh-so-generous patron and help destroy the world in the process. For in doing so we shall save the lives of everyone on the planet, and more importantly set me free." At the last word his voice took on a hunger deeper than anything Lita had ever known. It was like standing at the precipice of an oceanic trench and hearing a rumbling roar from within. She felt cold fear creep down her spine like the touch of a shadow creature. Whatever this creature may say about helping her, this was his true purpose. And she knew if it came to it he would devour the world, and her as well. And she both loved and hated him for it. "How..." her voice came out as a hoarse whisper, her voice not wanting to finish the sentence. The Shade grinned, and the expression was both an invitation and a warning. Lita swallowed, then spoke again, "How am I supposed to do that?" The Shade's grinned widened even further, "Oh I was hoping you'd ask that." He spun her suddenly, then brought her close again. His voice was lowered to a whisper, and he glanced around the room as if he was looking for someone. "In this Lita we must use subtlety, and not power, for there is no power that can match him as he now is. And so we must be both patient and quick, aimless and focused, so that we don't draw his gaze." His gaze seemed to sweep over her briefly, and his grin took on a different quality, "Though in this dress, it would be difficult not to draw the gaze of every soul in the city." He swept her into another dip, and his face lingered over her for a moment longer than expected. "Tell me, Lovely Little Lita Attar, which knife is the sharpest?" Lita felt her mouth open, and then close as she thought about the question. After a moment she met his eyes and said with more confidence than she felt, "The one you don't expect." The Shade laughed delightedly and Lita felt a smile of her own begin to form. The sound was tinged in madness and hunger, but there was more to it. The Shade was indeed strange and alien, but there was something more human about him. Something knowable, something she couldn't fully explain, but she could almost grasp it. And if he had any humanity, he could be manipulated. Though of course it was not something to attempt lightly, not something of this magnitude. This was another knife's edge, but maybe, just maybe, she could be the one holding the handle this time. She just needed an opening. The Shade collected himself and spoke again, "Indeed, the unexpected blade oft cuts deepest. And so, you, Laurelai, and I are perfectly poised to wield the blade that will undo him. The One-Eyed God has faced heroes and villains, monstrous hordes and mighty armies, what then could a tineye and a forger do? Nothing. The key then is not to focus on him, but on that which he has made. And so all you need to do is pull at threads, hunt for secrets, let your Hunger run wild." Lita felt herself thinking about things she was hungry for and the heat in her responded. Stay on top of it, she told herself, use it. She leaned into him, and let the heat flow through her body, strong enough for him to feel it. "Any threads I should pull on in particular?" her hand toyed with the golden buttons on his waistcoat as she spoke. The Shade watched her fingers for a moment, then spoke, "Well, I know some that you might find of particular interest. You could talk to a young man who will come seeking your guidance, desperately seeking dark secrets he knows not of. He needs to be shown enough to reach his own conclusions, but not enough to draw the attention of our humble deity." Lita raised an eyebrow, "Passing me off to another man? Can it be you tire of my company already? Surely there's something I could do to hold your," Her fingers loosened his cravat, then traced down his chest, "interest?" The Shade held still, seeming to contemplate her words, before answering her. "You are not mine to give, Lady of Flame, you are your own. And I am more envious of that than you know." His tone was sincere, almost sad, and the ever present grin was gone. He lifted a hand and traced the line of her cheek, beneath her left eye. This is a Secret worth knowing, Lita thought, and she held his gaze so as to remember every detail. Then the Shade seemed to remember himself and the grin returned "And I'm quite sure you've held my interest since the day we met, and it hasn't wavered since. After all, I don't get all cleaned up for the dreams of the uninteresting." Lita felt a wave of pride at those words, and resented how much she enjoyed hearing them. She spoke with feigned innocence, "So, this is my dream then? Does that mean I'm can make it do what I want?" The Shade grinned wider at her words, "Indeed. You could make the ballroom a forest, you could turn the guests into birds, you could even make Forian your servant." Lita smiled, then snapped her fingers. The Shade's collar and the first three buttons popped open. He seemed taken aback, opening his mouth but unable to form words. Lita snapped again and her dress became decidedly more interesting, with tighter curves and an open back. Her hair was braided with fine golden chain and at her throat she wore a golden coin. "I think," she said languidly, "That I've had enough of waltzing through my memory. I'd rather go somewhere a little more," And she snapped her fingers a third time and the ballroom faded away, and they were standing outside a blue door in a little alley. She grinned and turned towards the door, placing her hand upon the knob, "intimate." The Shade stood there for a long moment, his expression held carefully neutral. Then at last he said, "Well, I wouldn't mind a cup of tea." And they both grinned and slipped inside without another word.

Hi guys! I'm trying to share less personal information on this site (i don't want people i know irl to recognize me, as i've shared some stuff on here that i'd rather some people didn't know. And also it always counts to be safe lol.) so if you see some posts or SUs of mine disappear, that's why. I will also be turning my art thread into a PM (cause i don't want people to recognize me by it). I will add everyone who's following it currently (as well as my shardbuddies). If you want to be added, you can say something on the thread or here :) Love you guys, sorry to post twice in a day!

I am the son of two christian priests and have grown up with the church being so integral to my life i cant imagine life without it. I have gone through a lot of difficult times and had lots of mental health problems and have doubted before but I have found that my belief in God has helped my get through these chalenges. I likley would have commited suicide in the past if I hadnt felt like I had god above to listen and care about my problems. I think that the modern problem with the christian church is how much hate there is. Jesus teaches us to love our neighbors if they are different in faith, political views, or even sexuality. We make it about who we are against and not about supporting everyone and spreading gods love. THe church has made me a better person. Also the book that decided me on chrstianitly was mere christianity by C.S Lewis. would reccomend it to anyone having doubt problems.

There is a website that's become super popular this week. https://huggingface.co/spaces/dalle-mini/dalle-mini. You type in words and the AI does it's best to generate art based on your suggestion. It is able to do a wide variety of art styles and is able to (I guess) google image search the people or characters you mention and identify them decently well. Say you type in Kaladin Stormblessed Muppet Perhaps you want to look at a courtroom sketch to confirm that Szeth Son Son Vallano wore white on the day he stood trial for (allegedly) killing a king. (hidden for size) Sometimes it's weirdly accurate and yet completely off at the same time. Like it started reading the coppermind article of who you mentioned but went down a wiki-hole and drew whatever if landed on instead. (MB & SA spoilers) It's terrible with characters who have no last name. If you include the book or series it will give you vibes. "Kelsier Mistborn Last Supper" (hidden for size)

I discussed this in the general reaction thread as well, but I want to make a topic of it. This last chapter has me even more convinced that Sebarial is a Ghostblood. Evidence: 1. The Ghostbloods meeting-place. It was in Sebarials warcamp, back in WoR. 2. Mraizes latest outfit was a Sebarial guard-uniform. 3. Sebarial was building himself a small merchant-empire in WoR. We now learned from Mraize that the Ghostblood objective is to become investiture-salesmen. Sebarial, who is commercially interested, would defenitely be a guy who could involve himself with something like that. 4. Sebarial puts up an act to hide how shrewd he really is. This aligns well with how much acting he would have to do in order to hide his leadership of a criminal organization consisting of brutal murderers and ambitious salesmen. 5. Sebarial joined Dalinar to fight the Parshendi in WoR. While we know Aladars and Roions reasoning for joining (it was the right/honorable thing to do), Sebarial just said that it would be interesting. An opportunistic and shrewd character like Sebarial would not join such a risky expedition just for shits and giggles. He suspected that there would be an Oathgate at Narak and wanted to be there when it was found. What do you think? Could Sebarial be Thaidakar?

Yep! It's my favorite colour. TPBM can't ride a bike.

I think this is a misinterpretation of the original WoB: The question is biased and assumes a mechanical means, that BS at first doesn't address, then RAFOs. (see below) City Age: Building Elantris So this shows that AonDor was used to build the city; which means the people that would become the modern Aonic peoples had to experience the Shaod to gain the magic. Timing We know that the Shaod is linked to the city, but correlation =/= causation. So, if AonDor existed first, then the Shaod had to exist first. But if the city may have been built before the Splintering of Devotion, then I think it's likely that the Shaod was used by Aona to select people that exemplified Devotion (and therefore had a connection to her**). I think that after the city was linked to the post Shaod state to provide the amplified power; so when the land changed (and therefore the magic changed) the amplification from the city became a reduction instead because the Connection was broken. However, I don't think the city actually had anything to do with continuing the Shaod selection that started with Aona. I do think it was possible that after the splintering the city was modified to ensure a continued Connection to the Dor that suddenly shifted to the Cognitive Realm. **Note: Examples we see in Elantris:

The wounding of Ambition was very ancient, probably 8000+ years ago, maybe shortly after the Shattering (Desolations on Roshar are 7000 years old - probably Rosharan years so ~7700 Earth years). But the flight to the Forests of Hell from the Homeland was quite recent, Silence's grandparents were among the first. So quite possibly post Mistborn Era 1. For some reason the Evil didn't become a civilization destroying threat for a very long time. Perhaps it was on a different continent than the Homeland and either took a long time to expand that far, or humans finally got ships good enough to reach there and accidentally brought it, or some fragment of it, back to the Homeland? Or maybe worldhoppers or some other external meddling made it worse? Or... well, why did Returned only start showing up on Nalthis like 500 years before Warbreaker?

WHAT IS THAT! GET IT OUT OF MY HOUSE! when you watch pride and prejudice.

I wondered about that same sentence... I am not sure if the Shaod itself was changed though. It seems more like the Shaod kept working but now linked people to a broken city of Elantris so they became zombie Elantrians not normal Elantrians.

It's not good for Roshar, but if saving Roshar destroys the Cosmere, then watching Roshar burn seems to be the hard but good thing to do. As for whether Hoid is good or bad: Too binary. He has his own motivations that we're not fully aware of. Those motivations seem to be compatible with the motivations of the protagonists of the story pieces that Brandon has been telling. This paints him as a protagonist thus far, but there's a 100% chance this won't always be the case. I can't imagine that the character that Brandon uses to tie us to his greater story is going to be a villain in the end. As for the theory: Hoid seems like he's positioning himself for something in opposition of at least 2 different Cosmere aware factions. This something is bigger than the concerns of individual worlds (hence the "watch Roshar burn" comment), but requires individual worlds to remain in-tact (hence why he's helping chosen factions on each planet). I have no answers here, but I've posited the idea that Hoid would end up holding Adonalsium (reluctantly) before, mainly because I see Brandon setting up the reformed Adonalsium as a hands-off story teller rather than an active entity in the world. I posit that Hoid doesn't really want to be an active participant. He wants to tell stories. So this idea that he wants to "destroy all Shards and reform them to get power" goes against his nature.

It looks really hard xD

Do people think Hoid is good? I don't think I've ever had that impression of him personally He told Dalinar that he would let Roshar burn to achieve his goals... like that's not good by any stretch of the imagination

Silksong looks storming awesome!

I'm going by canon pre-2012, or "real canon" as I call it.

Has time magically stopped passing?

A single point is zero dimensional, not one: one dimension is a line. I think the Spiritual Realm just doesn't have physical dimensions at all, they just don't apply: There's a WOB that the Spiritual Realm is not a place. I'm not even sure what's being discussed are Shades in the sense we see in Shadows of Silence - Nazh is from Threnody and says becoming a Cognitive Shadow is an important rite, with requirements and traditions, which certainly doesn't describe the contagious Shades we see (no rites or traditions, just being withered by a Shade makes you one). Secret History is far enough before Shadows of Silence that this might be Homeland Threnody.

Wahoo! That's awesome! YESS! That's what I was thinking. Pretty soon you'll see a composition pop up in the Fan works section I also play cello!

Agree on the inconsistency. In principle Jedi council member who went to direct combat shouldn't have been that easy to kill. I would point out that on Mistborn side, people bring up Fullborn as literally unstoppable killing machines based on their theoretical powers, yet the only one we have actually seen went out quite easily. So for the purpose of my argument I took just the powers as is. They regularly use those powers in lightsaber duels? So yes they do use it in combat? And regarding emotions, Sith use lightsaber form Dun Moch, which utilizes taunts and mental attacks to throw opponent off-guard (in Legends at least) so Jedi could be used to such attack. I'd also argue that Jedi telekinesis requires much less effort than what Mistborn can achieve with metals. And even regular people can resist rioting or soothing, i.e. strong willed individuals are not that much affected see Vin for example. Duralumin enhanced would break even such people though. Also if the person with force was a Jedi, soothing would most likely help them focus, not hinder them, as they are meant to be and stay serene. Vice versa for a Sith, who would be 'supercharged' by rioting. Well, it is relatively new. Technically both Revan and Exile used it quite often, and on multiple targets at once. So did Kylo Ren, and I think Vader as well in recent comics. The main issue on that is certain lack of consistency, in that powers are being added over time, and sometimes they retroactively create plot-holes in scenes (i.e. if Force user can catch a ship, why did Obi-Wan not hold down Jango's ship in AOTC? ) From that perspective, this entire discussion is potentially meaningless, unless bounds are agreed upon. My stance is that I take powers that are demonstrably learnable (e.g. not psychometry) and assuming Jedi knows them, as most Jedi demonstrate multiple abilites. If those powers were demonstrated by a padawan, all the better. Then I can assume Jedi/Sith are strong willed, and rioting and soothing has less of an actual effect through self-control which is possible, as Vin demonstrates in TFA. Ok, Jedi simply holds the lightsaber in hand through force, or guides it through air using Force and slices Mistborn in half. Not to mention lightsaber does not have to be made out of metal at all. Actually, control over emotions is not necessary to use force, Jedi do that to insulate themselves from the Dark Side. Disrupting their focus would make it more difficult, unless you pushed them too far and they tapped Dark Side, where those same emotions are actually helping them (see e.g. Luke in ROTJ, Rey in TROS). If that force user is Sith, it would go even worse for Mistborn.

But a few hours, and I will be released from mine chains for the long days of summer and the sweet relief of being unconfined by the unfeeling walls of the school system!

I think you are reading more into this WoB than is present. BS likes creative misdirection in his answers, he agrees that Sens can go off world, and he agrees that to do so requires the Seon to move into the Cognitive Realm, survive the conditions there and leave the area of Selish Shadesmar. However, he neither states nor implies that those are the only requirements (because that was not the question, so he could be misleading if he wants). This is not actually the case; in Secret History we see the guards worry that a Threnodite Shade can leave their system and e see that Alonoe disagrees. However, since we never actually see a Shade leave the Threnodite CR, we have no data on which was correct.

Why are fictional characters always 17 when they have to face something big? Examples- Kaz Brekker (Six of Crows Duology) Harry Potter (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows) John Mandrake (Ptolemy's Gate)

I FINALLY HAVE MY BLACK CARDIGAN Now i can finally wear the dark academic outfits of my dreams

It's National New Mexico Day! Take that, other states!

I know this is an old post, but thought I'd contribute to it. Thaidakar is almost definitely Kelsier. RoW says that Thaidakar is off world and can only appear via avatar, Kelsier is bound to Scadrial since he held preservations power. GhostBloods=Kelsier(Ghost) + Heimalurgy(blood magic). Hoid mentions punching him, he punched Kelsier at the well of Ascension.

My character is Nedwin the farmer, he grew up about 20 days walk from keywood He has life elemantal abilities but refuses to aknowledge that magic exists. Growing up rural he never has seen much magic in action and thinks the idea of it is stupid. His life abilities he explained away to himself by saying he had a green thumb. Everybody in town thought he was a bit odd ( he talks to plants to do the life magic) but being magic never had occured to him. One time on a trip to a town he got into a fight with another farmer about who'se carrot was whose and he accidentally created a little carrot demon that attacked the other farmer. A dragon saw this and dicided that it would be a big waste if he wasnt invoved in the school of dragons. Nedwin at first resisted but when the dragon offered a tantalizing monetary reward for him to learn at the univestiy nedwin caved. Nedwin is now in the school of dragons, cosvinced that it is all a sham. but finding it continually harder to believe it is I am willing to change any of this if it doesnt work with your vision

... You invented pancakism.

you sir, are a genius. Nothing else needs to be said. This music is phenomenal.

Friends and fellow sharders I have something that I must get off of my chest! I went on another date with the woman that I have been writing about these last weeks. Today we jumped into the unknown abyss and defined our relationship. We are officially though not publicly dating! I also may have kind of admitted that I liked her a lot and she may have reciprocated! This has been your PSA of the day.

Wow June went by FAST, stuff has been hecking busy! Also I forget to check the Shard for a week or two and I get so many notifications

God hiding Himself yet also making Himself manifest is a point repeatedly mentioned in scripture, and actually ties into one of the (as I see it) design goals in creation, and is a topic I would like to get into (seriously, the list of topics I want to cover is growing enormously). Still, I'm afraid I don't see how the universe is now differs from one that was created - I mean, I could listen to a piece of music and say it was clearly designed, but someone else listening could say it is just natural sounds, the rhythm and beat not requiring an agent, etc. And indeed there are lots of things I could point to which I could argue to be signs of design, and which others could say are not, but I don't want to get too far ahead of this right now - I need to focus on getting the Seven Days of Creation post complete before I go too far down any other rabbit hole. Suffice it to say I believe I can make an argument for evidence for God's existence from observed phenomena as well as purely philosophical reasons tied to the logic of origins, but for now I'm going to try to get that first post done first; I'm letting myself get too distracted right now, though I'm glad this sort of discussion is happening

If I may jump in here and try to address the question I think that I can add an additional perspective. @Ixthos was highly comprehensive as usual. I would like to address a question that is related and may lead to an answer to your question. What is spirituality? My approach will be far less mathematical than the previous response. One might say that defining spirituality is easy. You know it when you see it. Yet I'm not so convinced. In many religions this thing called spirituality gets tossed around. To some people it is a metaphysical reality that is sometimes superimposed over our own. To others it's like deja vu totally in the mind. Some people find nature to be utterly spiritual. Wise men would sometimes isolate themselves in the wilds of nature to achieve a state of spiritual enlightenment. There are those who look at art and find it spiritual. One of the great jewish philosophers of the 20th and 21st centuries was said that music was a spiritual force that moved him like nothing else. Others find spirituality in abstinance and asceticism. In short, it is not so easy to reach an answer. I think that a better answer depends on how one is looking at the question to begin with. This is where your question of "what is a spiritual experience?", becomes significant. Outside of a religious framework one should forget I think about the framework that we have been using. The word "spiritual" or "spirituality" is a vague word that means very little outside of religious bounds. You have said, "I am married to the most incredible woman, I've seen gorgeous views in nature, all sorts of amazing things." How do these things make you feel? Have you felt a sense of wonder or awe? If so then I think that you have had "Spiritual" experiences, you simply never called them that. Spirituality is a term that really only works in a single context. To know it you have to look outside of the term and burrow into the passion, feeling of oneness, smallness, and wonder that reach that place where words are not enough.

today is a good day.

I think the "A Herald..." quote indicates it was likely a Herald being the Stormfaker, and I can only think of one with the ability to pull it off. Ishar. He has the Bondmsith abilities necessary to forge Connections. He's been around a long time so is familiar with the Stormfather, and being basically a Bondsmith himself, he was likely aware of the vision. Or, maybe the one the Stormfather spoke to before Dalinar to show them visions was Ishar?

Thanks for the notification! This is a big topic, and responding in full will take some time - I'll try to be thorough but brief for now, and I can go into further detail later if needed. My religious life affects me in overt and subtle ways, and likely in some ways I'm not even aware of. I was born into a religious household, though I myself hold some heterodox views on some topics, while in others I stick very close to the mainstream view, though I believe both mine and others eyes in the Church should keep our focus on God rather than on any given celebrity of the faith - people are people and will always let you down somehow. God knows my own flaws and failings better than I do. It's a bit difficult to say precisely how being religious affects me, especially because even among my peers I'm ... odd. Decoupling what is and isn't a part of my world view from what is just because of my ADHD, odd perspective, and other parts of my upbringing, from my religious beliefs is very challenging, especially because of the oddities in my religious beliefs compared to many of my Brothers and Sisters, who are still my Brothers and Sisters even when I (seldom) disagree with them. I tend to take a simultaneously spiritual and materialistic view of the world, especially as I personally believe the two aren't necessarily separate categories - that is an aspect of Greek thinking that I disagree with, and feel is too pervasive in the Church. For a long time I had difficulty reconciling the Seven Days of Creation with modern scientific views, and there still is a little wonkieness there, but mostly or perhaps completely have that reconciled now. I see God and the supernatural and spiritual in everything, but also nature as nature and governed by physics - again, the two are not necessarily separate all the time, and I think you can see the sunrise and say that it is equally the product of natural physics as it is a sign of God's love for us, just as you can say the laws of physics are the result of God's imposing order on chaos, the chaos itself formed specifically by God to produce randomness. ... and it is at this point where I had to stop myself writing for a sec before I launched fully into explaining my theological views, why God created Humanity, the nature of spiritual beings, the fall of man, and the nature and mission of Yeshua, Jesus. Needless to say, that may get a little much for the moment, but if anyone is interested PM me and I'll be happy to elaborate. To try to focus in on the core question asked here, having covered a few topics now and feeling more like I understand the question a little better, I would say it mainly has affected me by granting me peace. Peace in knowing God is in control, no matter what happens, how bad things become or how badly I fail or fall or am hurt. I have peace knowing that there is a purpose to existence and to humanity, peace knowing God and science are not opposites but that science comes from the study of the beauty of what God has done and that one can worship God by studying it and seeking to understand the pure mechanics of nature as well as its spiritual side without letting either one get in the way of the other. I have peace in knowing that all things work together for God, for those that love God, and that He is just and merciful, even taking into account how dark and terrible the world is. I have peace in Him. In the past, the present, and the future, my faith and hope in Him, and the certainty of how much everyone on the planet, people in the past and present and future, and creation itself, matters to Him, gives me peace. That is absolutely something that, all other things aside, I can say with absolute certainty is something that comes from my religious beliefs and faith in God, and wouldn't be there without it. God has everything in hand, and has not left this world broken, not walked away from a damaged creation, but has stepped in to help us, to suffer with us, and to save us - that He has done the work, the lifeguard who threw the rope and is pulling us back in, not requiring further effort on our part beyond holding on and trusting in Him. ... and I was getting into theology again. Though with this topic, I suppose it is hard not to. Anyhow, I hope that helps answer the question.

He is not. WoBs have confirmed that he finds them unimpressive.

While I do think there’s a strong possibility of Sebarial being a member of the Ghostbloods, I’m not convinced that he’s Thaidakar himself. Thaidakar is someone who has been Cosmere aware for a long time, long before the start of the series. The Ghostbloods have a lot of knowledge about Shadesmar, and its founding/leading member must have at least spent some significant amount of time there exploring things. If he’s not a worldhopper himself, he must at least be involved/acquainted with some knowledgeable worldhopper(s) who are aware of Stormlight’s value to people from other planets, which means they have either visited those places or learned about them in detail from worldhoppers. I’m suspecting that Thaidakar is some kind of big-time, shady merchant from Silverlight (or possibly an immigrant to Silverlight) where Investiture is well known and understood and is likely the number one commodity. Discovering how to transport Stormlight is like discovering gold in California (let the gold rush begin!) only Thaidakar is being careful to keep his discovery under wraps so as to monopolize the market.

Do we think that Thaidakar is a worldhopper as well? There's no hints in text that he is (except maybe for his seeming disdain for many Alethi customs which could be seen as the mockery of a foreigner).

Read all Shallan chapters in WoR with Sebarial while simultaneously thinking he is Thaidakar. That would be mind blowing. I like this theory.

I have a fear that the cookie wars have gone on too long and are wrecking the experience of new comers on the site. The intro threads have turned into a vicious battle field of recruitment, where people are flooded by devious posts to steal breath, have parts of their soul stolen, or fed pieces of investiture. I think that there needs to be a set of rules that the guilds follow in terms of recruitment on the intro threads so that the they can be used to introduce people to the website like they supposed to. People should be able to feel welcome on the site for what they contribute, and not just for their membership to your particular group. After thinking for a while, I though of a few guidelines that guilds could use to help make peoples entrance into the site more enjoyable. Here they are: Giving new people a reputation point if you try to recruit them. Making sure that you ask them a question about them, whether it be about what books they have read, or what their favorite character is, try to make them feel welcome on the site. If someone from at least two more guilds/groups has tried to recruit them, don't also post something trying to recruit them to a third place I would say that warning someone about the dangers of being in a specific group is fine, just don't make you post to their thread solely about how the other group is terrible try to follow the other bullet points above. Also, if your going to warn about how another group is trying to lie to them, don't use that as an opportunity to recruit them into your guild. I.e. Someone offers them a cookie, you reply with saying that they are trying to take your soul and they should try your completely safe investiture as an alternative. These points aren't supposed to be final, if anyone has anything that they want to add or discuss, please post something about it.