Use the Falchion

Finally beat Unicorn Overlord this weekend! Ended up romancing Rosalinde, then beating the game again with Yanha and doing Post-game stuff, before going back to my Roselinde playthrough for redoing the Post-game level and beating the Colosseum. Overall, I'm very happy with Roselinde's romance. I've seen a few other characters, but few characters are romantic in their supports rapports, have a nice confession, AND have a cute ending IMO. (Roselinde, Celeste, and Melisandre are the best that I've seen.) It helps if said character can benefit from the Ring of the Maiden incredibly well, but that's not entirely necessary. I'll probably go through the game again to get the few characters I missed and romance someone else - probably Celeste or Melisandre, while also working on new team compositions, but I'm pretty happy with my time in the game for now. The biggest things missing from this game is a solid post-game or NG+ content. I'm fine when a game has one or another, but this game really only has one post-game level, which is great for training, but that's it. My best end-game teams: I'm not ready to go back into Unicorn Overlord, Cassette Beasts, or Fire Emblem Engage just yet, so I'll look around for my copy of Three Houses and see if I can romance Shamir again. (It's almost always Shamir or Marianne.) I was going to romance Rhea, but Shamir and Byleth have the whole "babies ever after" ending I just can't get over.

My thoughts exactly!

Yup yup! I read each book as it came out years ago, starting with Book 2 or 3 I believe, but I never read the final book. I bought it, but I've put it on the backburner because I didn't want the series to end. I also have the first book of the Ashes of the Sun trilogy, and I've read the prologue and maybe the first chapter a year or two ago, and I've been itching to get back to it. I won't allow myself to read anymore of that until I finish Shadow Campaigns first, and I won't let myself do that until I finish a few more books on my list. I'm trying not to buy anymore books, but I'm halfway through a decent-at-most LitRPG series that's been calling me. So it's looking to be: Sixth of the Dusk reread (tonight) New Progression Fantasy series Book 2 LitRPG Series Books 3 & 4 Decent-at-best LitRPG series books 4 & 5 Shadow Campaigns Book 5 Ashes of the Sun Book 1 All-in-all, I could probably get to Shadow Campaigns by April 1, especially since my school district has Good Friday and "Easter Monday" off, but we'll see. I have a few Kindle samples to try out as well, and the reading of Secret Project 5 may put a wrench in things.

I read the first three books (aka the "original trilogy" before Brown turned it into a 7-book series) and I loved them! I haven't really felt the need to revisit them, which isn't uncommon. Only two authors have made me feel that. (Sanderson and Will Wight.) But those who get into the series LOVE IT. Reading a lot of LitRPG stuff this week. I finished 6 books during this Spring Break while ALSO playing the ever-loving-stuffing out of Unicorn Overlord and still being relatively social, so I feel pretty accomplished. Crown (Unbound 9) and All the Skills 3 were the two highlights of the 6 books so far, and I eagerly await the next installments in these series in September and August respectfully. I've got a few more things to try out, and then it's onto some Flintlock Fantasy and Epic Fantasy by Django Wexler I've procrastinated for far too long on.

I lowkey happy that Brandon's Mainframe endeavor isn't as successful as he'd like. Mainframe aka Audible-exclusive products, while a decent idea, mostly wasted its stories and mediums. Not only do they miss an entire market by being Audible-exclusive, but most were told like how normal books read. Compare Lux and that one Legion: Death and Faxes to The Original and Dark One: Forgotten. The latter two are told in a way where the format aids the story, while the first two are just stories that happen to be audio-exclusive. Lux would have most assuredly sold better if it had a physical release as well. Had Mainframe succeeded, Brandon probably have put the Secret Projects on Audible sooner, and we would not have gotten the victory recently gained if so.

Just discovered an artist by the name Rj Pasin, and I'm digging his album Isekai and his single "Consider," which introduced me to him. Isekai leans heavily into the Future Bass genre IMO, while sometimes crossing over with rock. The album is labeled as "Dance," and it's Dance in the same way that Future Bass can be IMO. (So, electronic, feel-good vibes.) If you're a fan of Hyper Potions, then you'll really like this album! It also has two songs, named Fire Emblem and Fire Emblem 2.0 on this, so it's clearly one of my albums of the year. "Consider" feels more like rock and trap and "boss music" music, with a focus on the guitar and bass beat. It reminds me a tad of Polyphia, with rhythms and melodies closer to what you'd hear in New Levels New Devils with the base-line from Remember That You Will Die. Overall, I HIGHLY recommend it.

Because it takes place in the future...? I don't see why it having to do with Dragons has anything to do with it being nonindicative of a future Cosmere novel. Dragons were important in the past, yes, but they also still exist in the future. Writing future-era stuff is going to be complicated no matter what it is, so I don't know why dragons specifically have anything to do with it. If you're worried about it because dragons are incredibly long-lived and may have seen multiple cataclysmic events in the Cosmere, there are several solutions around this IMO, most of which Brandon already implemented with the Secret Projects: 1. Don't bring it up if it doesn't relate to our hero, or keep it vague. Nomad doesn't talk a lot about his past adventures and history, so we the readers don't know everything either. We can piece together a lot, but since not all of it has a set timeline, we're left guessing and Sanderson has wiggle room. 2. Write from the perspective of someone who wasn't present. Tress, Yumi, and Painter have no idea of the larger Cosmere. As such, it's easier to avoid Future Cosmere spoilers and timeline stuff. 3. Have it take place on a planet that isn't very connected. None of the Cosmere Secret Projects take place on influential planets in the Cosmere, and as such they avoid a lot of the intergalactic politicking. Setting the story on a planet like this means that you can reference the politics and have Cosmere connections without it being too spoilery. Or at least that's how I see it. Brandon may revisit one of these strategies or do something different. But regardless, none of this means that he can or can't use dragons. Because Aethers are still important and being examined, even in the future. And because Brandon likes them. Tress is all about Aethers and it's easily one of the farthest along of any currently released Cosmere novel. (Only Yumi and Sixth are likely to take place around the same time. Sunlit takes place earlier IMO, since space-travel is still relatively new to Nomad.) See, if you wanted to take down my point about Aethers, you should have mentioned that Brandon calls it a series in the 2023 SOTS, not that it's not relevant. Despite that, I think your logic of "it's relevant in the past so it can't be important in the future" is a flawed one. Brandon will write what he wants to write. If he wants Aethers (which were prominently featured in two separate books only three months apart at best, happening in two VASTLY different eras of the Cosmere) or Dragons or even Aviars to be important in the past and the future, then that will be the case. Yes, both Aethers and dragons predate the Shattering. They also survived the Shattering and are still around as of Tress. Who's to say that they aren't thriving in the wider Cosmere a little later down the line than Tress? I agree with Kingmaker, but I'm not sold on The Grand Apparatus. To me, the Grand Apparatus implied the name of a place, not necessarily a title. The two aren't mutually exclusive, as Elantris is a city and a title; but to me, naming the book The Grand Apparatus would be akin to naming the Stormlight Archive Roshar. But who knows. Oh, that's a great choice! I'd love to see what Sanderson has in mind for Mythos, and the purple/burgundy feels like it could fit that color scheme.

Likely IMO: Dragon stuff - Brandon's talked way too much about dragons for them not to be involved. Possible: The Grand Apparatus - It's come up and I think there's a reason for that. I also think that this isn't mutually exclusive with the dragon stuff. Possible: Original Aether World - Brandon's also talked a tad about this and how it's inspired by Indian mythology, and how he thinks that will be the next big mythological trend or whatnot. To me, Sanderson would be pretty silly to notice and/or predict a trend and to not jump on the train before it leaves the track in this case. Still, I think we'll get something set a little closer to the past than the present or future with that book/series. Possible: Iriali stuff - We know they'll be important for the future of the Cosmere, and maybe this is where we find out why. Maybe the Grand Apparatus was a place meant to be the perfect home for all of the Iriali or something like that. Less Likely: Kite Magic book and Kingmaker. Those seem a little more YA and too fleshed out. Granted, I'd love it to be either one of these, and I truly do think they'll both be published someday, but I think those are Secret Projects for another day. Less Likely: That one "Beastly Cosmere" book that Sanderson hinted at in 2022. I could be this, but in the livestream tonight Brandon mentioned that SP5 is roughly 120k words, while the "Beastly Cosmere" book will be 200-300k words. Unless Sanderson managed to condense the outline into half of its original length, then I think these are two spearate things.

Cassette Beasts right now, waiting for Unicorn Overlord to come out on Friday!

That's why it'd be at 6:31, so technically he didn't announce it, but he can still let his fans know first. (Again, this is VERY unlikely, but it's an amusing train of thought.) Eh, I don't think that'd stop him much, but that's also just me.

Probably something to do with the Kickstarter, maybe also a shadow-drop of Dragonsteel Prime. If it's anything beyond that, then I can't really imagine too much. Maybe if a Mistborn movie deal has been officially struck, and the news goes out at 6:30 Mountain time, so Brandon will announce it at 6:31? Or how about a cover reveal for Wind and Truth? Honestly, there are several things it could be, but I think we should keep it focused on the Kickstarter.

I will never not trust Brandon to have a secret project hidden away from us now.

Due to last year, Brandon Sanderson and Will Wight. Both are incredibly consistent and at times incredibly fast writers. Will has released 23 books just entering his 11th year as a published author, with 2024's book already written and in revisions. He'll probably have another book out this year as well. And if he doesn't, then I think we can expect 3 books next year, just like how he released 3 books in 2023 to make up for only releasing one book in 2022. Will is a big fan of Brandon's, and I think them working together would help Brandon appreciate some of the rising subgenres of fantasy like LitRPG and Progression Fantasy. Imagine one of Brandon's worlds but with Will's writing output and sense of adventure. Brandon's magic system but explored in a way that leaves some of the mystery, even if it is treated as a science. Will's word and output, guided by Brandon's expertise. Outside of that, I used to say that I'd love to see Brent Weeks, Brian McClellan, Brandon Sanderson all working on something, since it'd be a fun collaboration of the B-Team. Yes, this was fully for the pun. But now I just want to see something interesting from Brent these days and for Brian to finish his latest series. The final collaboration I'd love to see with Brandon would be with Leigh Bardugo. Brandon and Leigh are actually the same age and seem to sell pretty closely. I think she'd be the best collaboration for Brandon maybe not in terms of style, but as a good way to reach those potential fans that the other has. Realistically, how I think it could or should go. (Set in a post-Skyward Legacy world) Brandon creates the world and magic-system. He has a meeting with Will, Leigh, and Janci Patterson to go over the world, brainstorm story ideas, and help them come up with plots and whatnot. They'll meet one more time after that, preferably one-on-one with Brandon. Will would write his story about some change-of-eras aspect of the world, something big happening between continents that our heroes are dealing with. Leigh would write a smaller story set on one of the continents, using a magic system that Will touches on but doesn't go into depth about. Janci would write whatever she wants because she can do no wrong something. After they finish the first of their respective books, Brandon would go through each of them, and then Sanderson's continuity editor would go through them. (I think that's Karon, but I'm not entirely sure.) After that, he'd help them come up with an outline for their series and leave them to it. Any issues or problems after that would first be handled by Dan Wells since he's VP of Narrative. I'd love for Brian to be in this meeting, but he's fine doing his own thing and I'd personally like a different author who's able to contribute more at a slightly faster rate. Maybe Sabaa Tahir?

Random theory going off of that and the old "Mistborn serial killer" WoBs that may be out of date: Kelsier finds out how to make a Mistborn and employs them in wiping out any of Autonomy's remaining agents or attempts at taking over Scadrial...for a time. Unfortunately, by the time of the story, the Mistborn has now gone rogue, and Kelsier is using the Ghostbloods to stop them. (Or so it seems - in actuality, Kelsier is using all of this chaos to bring out Discord, hoping it'll prompt his old friend to be more proactive.) Meanwhile, Harmony thinks the Ghostbloods have gone too far and that the Mistborn is really just the symptom, with the Ghostbloods as the cause. Our main protagonist will be swept up in the events of the story and must play both sides while finding out...something. The above is me just spit-balling. Feel free to discard it or take from it what you will.

I discovered EPIC: The Musical earlier today, and I'm having a blast...listening to the same three songs over and over again. "Just a Man" is my favorite and the one I've listened to the most. I heard part of it first in a triumphant context, so I thought it was a triumphant song...and then I saw the animatics...I still love it though. "The Horse and the Infant" has me utterly convinced of the "Child Champion" theory for Stormlight. I mean, I was before, but I now believe that there can be a LOT of emotional depth to it for Dalinar and others. "Get In the Water" is the one I've listened to the second-most. I heard the Morgan Clae audition version first and now I'm sort of upset that her version isn't the official version. (Or at least not yet, if one can hope.) The original version has Poseidon as sort of smarmy to me. The emotion is cold, but it almost feels like "I'm trying to hide revenge behind 'it's just business' and it's working" to me. The Morgan Clae version is pure silent, barely contained rage. There's almost a desperate need for revenge in there. It's just better in almost every way. (The second "get in the water" line from the original stands up to the Morgan Clae version, if only because it portrays a completely different tone, emotion, and character than the Morgan Clae one.) Other than that, "New House" by Toro y Moi "Pink + White" by Frank Ocean (which really should have been on my 2023 music list) The first half of FPS by Drake and J. Cole. I originally heard most of J. Cole's part from this silly animation about the switch in the second half of the song, and now after listening to the whole thing...I can't help but agree with it! They really didn't need the second half, to the point that it actively brings down the song IMO. "SDP (Interlude)" by Travis Scott. I saw a Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse AMV with the song and I've been hooked ever since. "this is what winter feels like" by JVKE is also really good!

I think these two are the same event from two different perspectives. I think both will be about the Night of Sorrows, which will be the outcome of the Contest of Champions. But I also think the first one may be about the destruction of Shinovar. If both are about the Night of Sorrows, then the first one is from the viewpoint of Taravangian as he watches Kharbranth being destroyed. The second one, if it's about Shinovar, is from the perspective of Szeth as a potential Dawnshard (or simply unchecked Surges from...say...and Honorblade or 7?) as he watches Shinovar being destroyed. For context, I believe that the Night of Sorrows is an unending Weeping period that will happen once the Highstorms stops sweeping across Roshar, and will result in massive amounts of flooding. Isn't Adolin already the head of House Kholin since Dalinar is the King of Urithiru? I do agree that this will have something to do with Kaladin and Dalinar, but my personal theories are getting in the way of what may actually happen. What I want - Kaladin to become Honor, as I feel like that would be a more satisfying ending to his arc in the front half. What this Death Rattle and your interpretation are telling me - Kaladin becomes King of Urithiru. I don't think we'll see this in the first half, but I could see this being Renarin's persective if Adolin and Dalinar both die. Yup, Child Champion theory Either Moash's ending, or something to do with how to break a Nahel Bond. Something to do with the dude at the lighthouse who watches the sea? Contest of Champions outcome, Night of Sorrows begins.

It's a relatively popular theory I've seen on the Shard and less so on Reddit, but I personally don't think it would happen. First off is that Dalinar no longer has any guilt about Gavilar's death. He got rid of that when fighting Szeth in WoR. Secondly, Navani's abuse at the hands of Gavilar would be all the motivation Dalinar needs to beat him. Third is that we've seen several people come back from death already, and I've seen some complaints that doing such a thing too many times makes death cheap - Gavilar would be just another example of that. Personally, I think Dalinar's arc in the next book will be about letting go of control. Wit admits that Dalinar is far too good at finding and keeping power, and it's something we've seen him do for three of the four released books. I think Dalinar will need to let go of control of the moment and the fate of Roshar and learn to leave it in the hands of others.

Storms Upon Stone (The Way of Kings) Lies Upon Light (Words of Radiance) Bonds Upon Blood (Oathbringer) Rhythms Upon Reckoning (Rhythm of War) Truth Upon Tragedy (Wind and Truth) Kelsier and the Final Empire Elend and the Well of Ascension Vin and the Hero of Ages Wax and the Alloy of Law Marasi and the Shadows of Self Steris and the Bands of Mourning Wayne and the Lost Metal A Bond of Nightmares and Paint A Truce of Marriage and War

Started The Brothers Sun with my dad, and I'm having a blast with it so far. It reminds me of Arrow Season 1 in the best of ways, and the cast is delightfully cheesy, charming, and oh-so earnest. My friend and I have been watching The Wheel of Time Season 2 together via View Party stuff, but we haven't been able to talk due to Christmas break and trips. We'll reconnect in two weeks and hopefully finish up. I've seen most of the season but I do need to see the last final two episodes since I saved those to watch with him. After WoT is Echo. I'm really hoping it's good, but I won't get my hopes up.

Ha! I get why they hired him for TROS - he made Star Wars popular again with TFA, and he brought a sense of magic back to the franchise. And after the reactions to TLJ, it made sense to go back to what seemed like was working, especially when other movies in the franchise were having such behind-the-scenes drama. It's just...they didn't understand what Rian was doing and they didn't grasp the ramifications of what they were asking JJ to do. (It also doesn't help that Chris Terrio was his cowriter.) Although hindsight is 20/20. JJ is great at rebooting franchises because he can distill down what made them so special in the first place, as proven with Mission Impossible and Star Trek. (With a weird level of success on the latter.) He proved that with TFA to me. But what he CAN'T do is finish stories well or use original ideas. TFA asked a lot of questions and basically repeated the core story of Star Wars for the fourth time (ANH, ROTJ, TPM, and TFA pretty much have the same goal and third act). Rian Johnson took the retelling of the OT and wrapped up the "rhyme" to ESB with the final battle on that one planet mirroring the escape form Hoth, and the ROTJ with the Throne Room battle. TLJ ends so openly because the cycle had been completed and thus broken, allowing for the next director and writer to bring Star Wars in a new direction. Unfortunately, they hired the one guy who isn't known for original ideas or finishing stories to come up with an original idea to finish a story. So what did JJ do? He decided to also cram two movies into one so he could get the outcome he wanted which just so happened to be the mirror to the outcome of ROTJ, and used his iconic "mystery box" to get there, seemingly not understanding that this is supposed to be the part of the story where he answers questions, not create new ones or retcon explanations from previous movies that end up undermining the themes of the entire trilogy. I could go on and on about the ST, but this isn't the thread for it. I'm trying out Ascendant by Michael something or other. Here's to hoping it's good! I'm also behind on a lot of other books I need to read, so hopefully I'll get back into the reading mood.

I would never! I'm all over the place with them personally. I find The Force Awakens a great fun movie. TLJ is the best best of the three in terms of how it actually carries on the OT stuff, has the best acting, and the best tension. But I fundamentally disagree with several things within the movie as well. (Mostly that Finn and Poe's plots should have been switched; Finn should have learned the differences between the Resistance and the F.O. by seeing how they sacrifice and what for, while Poe should have learned that his place isn't in the cockpit or on crazy adventures anymore but leading his people and being WITH them.) The Luke and Rey stuff was perfect. TROS is one of my least favorite movies ever.

I ate but I did give up some sleep lol! I haven't read Fairest. I can tell it's about fairytales, but is it like Cinder where there are no love triangles and it brings its own charms to the table? Honestly, my favorite couple was probably just Kai and Cinder. The couple from Cress was super sweet, but the other two were meh to me.

I wasn't expecting the hardest challenge ever, but even NG+ had some difficult moments and started off a lot harder. For Double NG++ it's not just easy, there's very little to work towards. That's the major problem. I'm having fun but I want more to do. I've tried the traditional FEW but the gameplay there isn't nearly as polished (No Combat Arts or spells, and most characters have a copy that plays similarly if not the exact same...and I can't stand Lianna's "The Enemy!" line or whatever), and I'm not a fan of Persona 5 Strikers on the Switch. (Probably my biggest game regret of 2023.) Still, these are quibbles at most and not real complaints. I'm still playing it after all,

I was playing Persona 5 Royal during the break, and the electricity cut out after I had been playing for about two and a half hours without saving, and I just...stopped playing for a week or so. I'm almost ready to get back to it though. Currently playing Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes. I beat the Azure Gleam when the game first came out, but I never had the urge to play the other stories. I finally beat Scarlet Blaze on NG+ during the break, which was nice. Now I'm back to Azure Gleam on the same profile, and the game is just too easy. I like it, but Shez can complete maps by himself and Dimitri is a BEAST. I'm never lacking for money and rarely need to buy resources. Now it's just about completing builds and getting some of the harder-to-get weapons.

Great series! I reread them every 4-5 years. My last reread was late 2022, and I ended up reading all four books in one day. It's probably my favorite non-Sanderson YA series, next to the Lotus War trilogy by Jay Kristoff...which I'm admittedly afraid to reread in case it doesn't hold up to when I read it in college... Just finished Blade of the Realm by Ron C. Nieto (Book 4 of 5) on Friday I think, and I've got a few other books I've bought that I need to finish...but I also promised my friend I'd read 3-Body Problem, so that comes first...maybe.