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Fish613

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  1. I'd forgotten that line about Mercy - interesting. I agree it's a stretch, but it's as good as anything else for now.
  2. Thanks! That sounds plausible, and I agree that there's no real indication of which Shard that could be. Which he is not above at all - I can't be the only person who read Harmony's comment to Wax in Chapter 19 as rather meta: By the way, I really liked your Firepower Index!
  3. This is part of the conversation between Marasi and Moonlight in Chapter 20 of TLM. Moonlight goes on to give two other options: destroy all the others, which is what Odium is doing; or crowd the others out by copying your one, which is what Autonomy is doing. It seems to me quite possible that the "Air of mystique" and "Steal the others" options are foreshadowing for other Shards that we haven't really met yet. Which Shards could those be? "Air of mystique" might relate to the as-yet-unknown "Survival Shard". I've had a look at the Coppermind and we only really know a little about this one from WoBs: There is a Shard, whose name & intent are not yet known, whose original plan was to just hide and survive, though over time they've realised that may not be the most desirable course of action. "Steal the others" doesn't seem to me to obviously fit with any of the Shards we know about. If I had to pick one, I'd pick Ambition based purely on the name, but we know that names can be a little misleading as to what the Shard is actually doing (e.g. Autonomy isn't exactly promoting true autonomy...) A wild theory, that I'm not sure I believe, could be that it refers to Hoid. We know he doesn't hold a Shard, so it doesn't work exactly, but he's certainly working hard to collect as many forms of Investiture as he can. I'm really liking my theory that these are foreshadowing, but I don't know for what. What do other people think?
  4. That's exactly what I was thinking and why I asked the question. Add that to the fact that AFAIK only Radiants hear their shardblades screaming, and AFAIK Relis is not a Radiant. I guess the follow-up question is whether there are any other instances in the books where a Radiant and a Shardbearer are touching the same dead shardblade at the same time - it could be that this would happen every time in that situation (though I still don't know what the Shardbearer would actually be hearing).
  5. As the previous poster said, a lot of this kind of information is in obscure places and you need to piece things together to get the full picture. The most "Cosmere-aware" bits of writing (by which I mean the bits which fill in the wider picture of the universe, beyond the specific story) are: Mistborn: Secret History, especially Part 3, Chapter 3 The Ars Arcana (explanations of the magic systems at the end of every book) The essays for each planet / system in Arcanum Unbounded The letters in some of the Stormlight Archive epigraphs which shards & other knowledgeable people are writing to each other I gather The Lost Metal is also quite Cosmere-aware, but it's only been out for a few days and I haven't read it myself! I managed to find the following specific examples from books for you: See Mistborn: Secret History, Part 3, Chapter 2. Not sure if it's specifically stated, but it's implied in the Way of Kings epigraphs for Chapters 18-19, and a certain character (it will be obvious if you've read it) discovers something similar in Rhythm of War Chapter 114. But as you guessed / realised, a lot of what is known about the "behind the scenes" / broader story comes from things Brandon has revealed at different times. You may already know this, but just in case you don't, there's a brilliant resource compiling & indexing these called the Arcanum, and if you really want to dive into the rabbit hole (and don't mind risking spoilers), look there. Warn your friends that they may not see you for a few weeks
  6. You might be interested in this Word of Brandon: My understanding was that Feruchemy was a balance of Ruin & Preservation's power (with Hemalurgy mostly linked to Ruin and Allomancy to Preservation, though we have other WoBs confirming that both shards could power all three metallic arts).
  7. Very curious about this - thanks in advance for anything anyone can suggest. When Radiants wield a dead shardblade, they hear the deadeyes spren screaming. When Kaladin touches Relis' blade during the duel in Words of Radiance chapter 47, Relis hears something that makes him shout "What is it? What is it! No, I didn't kill you!" I don't understand what Relis heard - his response suggests it was something more specific than screaming. I also don't understand why he heard it given he seems to not be a Radiant, and I can't think of other examples of non-Radiants hearing shardblades. I can't find anything on the Coppermind, Arcanum or this forum. Is anything known or speculated about this?
  8. Interesting tip - thanks. I keep a running list of things I want to read and I'll add this.
  9. There's a few reasons I'm not sure your example is the best one (e.g. two mathematicians can come up with exactly the same mathematics, but copyright just deals with works of art, and it's far less likely two artists would create the same art), but you're right that my proposal doesn't account for independent development. Do you have any suggestions? For my part, I'm ok saying that we can probably deal with that using the same approaches as real-world copyright law - Cosmere magic-y shenanigans are fun, but they may not actually be necessary. (See e.g. all the copyright claims in recent years about whether some musician plagiarised some other song - you line up a whole bunch of evidence about how similar the two actually are, you get the second singer to give evidence about whether they'd ever heard the first song etc.) It's like how the Lord Ruler [Mistborn Era 1 spoilers] .
  10. So who's the worst non-Rosharan character?
  11. I love this kind of question! I'm a lawyer in real life and I always think law is underused as a worldbuilding tool. I'm really hoping that in the far future of the Cosmere we see things like magical regulation - governments always find a way to regulate / legislate about stuff, and I can't see why magic would be any exception. In your implementation, would the creator reacquire copyright if their Connection level rose above the threshold again? I really like the idea of exploiting spiritual attributes to prove ownership. Like previous commentators said, Connection isn't all that well understood, and I think most of the uses we know about are connections between the user and other people, places, or "things" (e.g. spren). Perhaps Identity is a better starting point? If I create something it can be keyed to my Identity, and I can always prove I was the creator. Feruchemy allows us to have public domain (blank my Identity before I create a work) and maybe sell copyright (store my Identity and sell the metalmind, though you run into problems if you want to sell copyright in just one thing at a time). Hemalurgy messes with this, but 1) you can always check someone for spikes before you test their Identity; and 2) hemalurgy messes with everything, so as long as we're theorising about legal systems here, we should probably just ban it...
  12. Hi folks! Long-time lurker, (almost) first-time poster. From looking at some of the other recent introduction threads, I think I'm supposed to tell you that my least favourite Cosmere character is Moash (even though it's actually the Inquisitor baker who puts hemalurgic spikes in their cookies). I partly joined to share an alternate-universe fanfic short story that popped into my head mostly complete one day. It's in the Sanderson Fan Works subforum.
  13. Thanks so much! There are probably other ways of pulling off the scene without Khriss being so mean, but that's what came out as I wrote. If I had to rationalise it, in this alternate universe she really is a bit more mean, and the books which present her more favourably are her assistant trying to curry favour... Thanks!
  14. Hi all! The idea for this very short story came to me some time ago, and I sat down earlier this evening to type it out. Believe it or not, this is probably my first real attempt at creative writing for about 15 years, so I'll be happy to get any (gentle) critiques and ecstatic if you drop a comment to tell me you actually read it. Very minor spoilers for Dawnshard and Rhythm of War. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Out of the corner of her eye, Khriss watched the man shift from foot to foot. He opened his mouth and closed it once, twice, three times. She took pity on him. "Yes?" He started and straightened up. "Well, I was wondering... You see, you told me about the Dalinar and Odium’s agreement, and about Rayse and Taravangian, and Hoid getting - what was the word you used? Hornwalloped?" "Hornswoggled", she corrected him, setting her tea down on the side table. "That was it, hornswoggled. Anyway, I got all of that. I just need to know - what happened next?" "Next?" "Yes!" he burst out. "What happened next? I mean, you've been recording the history of the Cosmere for years! Literally thousands of years! I'm trying to help you, I really am, but how am I supposed to do that when you don't give me the full story? How can I do my job?" Khriss leaned forward in her chair. "Your job?" Her voice became firm. "I hired you. I decide what your job is and how I want you to do it." She gestured at the reams of paper on the bookcase opposite her. "I've given you unrestricted access to all of my notes. The history of the Cosmere from the Shattering to the present day. A complete taxonomy of the flora and fauna of Yolen. The Ars Arcanum, a collection of knowledge the most noble-minded scholar would feed their own grandmother to Nightblood to read." A thought struck her. "That reminds me - one of them did. Remind me to tell you that story some day." The man tried to speak, but she stopped him. "And that access has done wonders for you, hasn't it? Think what you've accomplished. You've used our partnership to do wonderful things, haven't you?" The man looked resigned. "Yes." "Yes, you have." She smiled as if encouraging a child. "Very wonderful things. Now do you really think for a moment that you would have accomplished any of this yourself?" The man looked down at the shadow cast by the orb directly above him. "No." "I would think, then, that someone in your position would be a little less demanding and a little more grateful." He stared at the floor. She waited. Slowly, begrudgingly, he spoke. "Thank you, Khriss, for letting me be your assistant." She sat back again. "There. That wasn't so hard, was it?" She picked up her tea and took another sip. "Now, to your question. I have not yet given you the continuation of the story for a number of reasons. Partly, it has not suited me to do so. Partly, there are secrets there which even I must be cautious about sharing. But mostly because I have not yet written it." The man jerked his head up again. "Not yet written?" He started pacing. "But - I mean - how am I - what - Khriss, how can I carry on the next phase?" Khriss sighed to herself. "You forget yourself again. The next phase will happen when I am ready, not when your people want it to. I told you, these are deep, powerful secrets, and I will not release them to the world until I can express them in a way I am sure will do no harm. Odium's grand design. A Bondsmith unchained. The significance of Ishar's experiments. Even Dawnshards - the Sleepless were not wrong about the damage those could do in the wrong hands, and the wrong word could bring about another Shattering. No, my mind is made up. I will transcribe those memories when I am ready to, not before." The man was still agitated. "But what am I to do? I've already promised them I'm working on the next phase! They'll be expecting progress!" "You'll just have to think of something to tell them. You're at such an early stage you can't quantify your progress. You had to finish up tidying the edges of the last phase. Another project came along. You'll think of something, I'm sure." "But - " "No more!" She waved her hand. "I have spoken. That is the end." He stared motionless at her for another minute. Eventually, he dropped his arms and slumped. "Fine. Whatever you say. I'll think of something." He laughed, bitterly. "I’m a good assistant." She beamed at him again. "Oh, you're doing simply fine! You're providing me with a safe, comfortable place to write and ponder the fruits of my long, weary labours and wanderings. And in return, I'm giving you knowledge you could never have dreamed of. I have to admit, I'm impressed by the use you're putting it to." "You are?" "Of course!" She thought for a moment. "All these years I spent working on the Ars Arcanum. I always thought that was going to be my mark on the world after I was eventually gone. My magnum opus. But you showed me otherwise. Humankind doesn't want power. Humans do, certainly, but the kinds of people who take it are seldom the ones who humankind would choose to have it. No," she gestured again to her bookcase, "what humankind wants is stories. Imagination. Inspiration. Not the limits of what is, but the boundless possibilities of what could be. The stories of the Cosmere, that is what will last, long after the Invested arts are forgotten. That’s what you do." "That's..." The man paused. "Khriss, I think that's the nicest thing you've ever said to me." Khriss tried not to show her surprise at the realisation he was probably right. "Remember, there is a reason I chose you as my assistant. I am no creature of Whimsy. If you were not the person you are, you would not have been able to use my gift as you have." She stood. "All I expect is that you remember it is my gift, and it is in my power to bestow it as I choose. Now, I believe we have no more business tonight." The man pulled himself up, nodded, and turned to the door. He stretched for the handle and stopped. "Oh, while I think of it, the Nalthiss essay...?" "Goodnight, Brandon." The man scurried out the door and closed it behind him. Khriss sat back down on her sofa, kicked off her slippers and put her feet up on the cushions. Her assistant was getting pushier. It occurred to her that it might be wise to have an alternative lined up, just in case. She picked up her Kindle and glanced through the list of authors she'd been meaning to investigate. Eventually, she settled on one. She opened the first page of The Name of the Wind and settled back.
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