Malim

I agree that Connection doesn't seem to be enough on it's own, and that it is Identity that is the most important. I think of it like this: Connection is as if you have taken a fully immersive set of classes on a culture. You become fluent in the language, customs, history, etc on an intellectual level. You can communicate and understand fluently and without thought, but your sDNA hasn't changed. Identity, however is more than that. It overrides or represses your individual sDNA, and replaces it with something else. It fundamentally changes who you are, and who you have been. With that comes Connection, but on a deeper spiritual level with all that implies in the Cosmere. Now both Connection and Identity can be changed both with "magical" and "non-magical" means in the Cosmere. Sunlit Man spoilers: What does this mean for the OP's question? I think it means that Connection alone won't let you switch magical systems, but Identity will. In the case of SoulStamping, I think both are at play. In the case of an unkeyed Metalmind, only one is.

The Crystal Gryphon by Andre Norton. It's one of the books that first got me interested in Fantasy many moons ago. It is part of the larger Witch World cycle, but can easily be read as a stand alone. The Witch World itself has quite a few books in it, some by Andre Norton herself, some written in collaboration with her. Basically it is a world that she created for herself and others to tell stories about. Think the Cosmere, but one planet with the various books about different countries. Definitely worth a look in my opinion.

It might be possible to be born with the proper cracks in place, but as far as I know, we haven't explicitly seen it in Stormlight. We have seen it in the larger Cosmere though: Mistborn spoilers

A-Gold, F-Copper. Why? I'm not much of a fighter, I don't like heights, and frankly I don't care much about time skipping or emotional manipulation. At heart I am a historian and philosopher, and these two just seem to fit my mindset the best. A Coppermind to be able to store and remember things I've studied, and A-gold for personal reflection, growth, and possible life correction. You could even call the Twinborn a "Stoic" which would fit me even better.

The question to me comes down to how the Vessels handle the responsibility that comes with their position. Whether or not they are "gods" is of lesser import, at least to me. They all have immense power, and through their Investment on various worlds, they literally have the power of life and death over all beings that exist in those worlds. That power comes with a responsibility, at least in my mind, to care for, or at least not harm those in their power. I fully realize that some Shardic Intents are at odds with this. Ruin, for example is bound by its Intent to promote entropy at all costs. By doing so, it directly harms the beings under its care. This is not inherently evil, but is a consequence of its Intent. Odium, by extension, is in the same boat. Whether its Intent is Rage or Passion, the end result is the same, as in many cases pure passion can be indistinguishable from rage, in that both are strong emotions that can and do override all other considerations. Now, the same can be said of many, if not all of the Shards that we know. They are all bound by their Intent so strongly as to exclude all other considerations, if not when the Vessels took up the Shards, but definitely over time as the Intent changed them. So what do we have to go on? The Intent that aligns best with preserving life? That would seem to limit it to three: Preservation, Harmony, and Cultivation, with possibly Endowment or Devotion thrown in for good measure. Of these, we dont really know much about Devotion, Endowment seems to be more about playing 3-D chess with the Cosmere, Harmony is conflicted and finds it hard to act, and Preservation did empower and aid the Lord Ruler. Cultivation is about growth and change, but frankly, I think that she is more concerned with staying alive than actually caring for her people, same as how I perceive Honor was. To me it is a question of who seemed to care the most for their people. In this we only have two choices: Preservation, who took it upon himself to try and save his planet from destruction, and actively tried to console the spirits of those who died, and Harmony who seems to be actively trying to protect and promote his people from outside harm. Both are deeply flawed, neither are ones that I would necessarily want as my "god," but in my mind they seem to be the best of bad choices.

I am an insane addict to historical recipies, and while I can't pick a definite favorite, there are two YouTube channels that I hit up quite frequently for recipies. Townsend's and Tasting History. I've made several dishes from both, and have not been disappointed except by my own lack of skill at certain things. As far as my own recipie, there's Macaroni and Cheese Pizza.

Sure, I'm in.

Nunavik

Xi'an

Auckland

Natchez

I hope it works out, and I wish nothing but the best for you. I am definitely not a teenager anymore, so if you will forgive an oldster, I will give you the same advice I give my teenage daughters: This. Chinkoln said it perfectly. Anybody worth your time will respect you for who you are. If they don't, they're not worthy of your crush. The teenage years are tough. We all either are in them, or went through them. It is hard to figure out the line between being "clingy" and being social. The secret is that I guarantee your crush has the same difficulty. If you are yourself, and he responds with interest, then text, and text as often as you want. If he doesn't, then take it as a sign that he's not for you. It's hard, but being true to yourself is the best way, not only for younger people, but for old fogies like me. Good luck

Shallan is secretly a brunette. This overarching lie attracted Testament, who not only felt an attraction to the untruth, but was also Shadesmar's best stylist. The truth spoken addressed the danger that the dyes and chemicals used could make Shallan's hair fall out. She broke that truth when in a fit of rage, she started wearing a wig.

Spoilered for size.

There are in fact female Inquisitors that we have seen on screen, it just wasn't very noticeable. Of course this is after TLR had gone beyond.

Any Nahel bond: Navi with benefits.

My headcanon is that it's the point where the Spiritual Realm touches the Cognitive. In Mistborn, it seems to be the point that souls are drawn towards, and in Shadesmar it draws light and shadows towards it. No real evidence for this, but it's my crackpot theory.

I have always had... a soft spot I guess, for Lin Davar. Yes, he was a despicable person who did terrible things, but in a way I feel that I understand him. To me, he is one of, if not the most, tragic character in the Cosmere. His fall started with one of the most selfless acts I can think of: his defense of his daughter. He basically walked in on his wife and her friend trying to kill Shallan. He fought against them, and was wounded. He still fought, and probably would have fought to the death if Shallan hadn't summoned Testament and ended things. When she did, what was his response? He cradled her, tried to soothe her, hid her actions, and most importantly took the blame. Not only from society as a whole, but also from Shallan's brothers. What is more, he kept her secret about being a Shardbearer safe to prevent her from being targeted again. He didn't even try to claim the Shardblade, or get Shallan to use it again when to do so would have made his own social position secure. Even at the end, he kept those secrets safe. What was his reward for doing what any good father would do? He became reviled by everyone, including his own family. He bore that to his death, and never tried to explain what really happened. The closest he came was with Helaran when he told him that "you don't know what you think you know." That broke him and let Odium in through the cracks. He became filled with hatred, and fell. And yet, even when he fell, he felt remorse and sorrow. He tells Shallan so when she met Hoid for the first time, and frankly I believe him. He knew that he had fallen, and he regretted it deeply. And yet, the one thing that he could have done to get some modicum of respectability back from others, namely betraying Shallan, he never did, or even considered. Of all the characters who deserves a redemption arc, he tops my list. He deserved it more than Roshone, more than Moash, more than even Dalinar in a way. He didn't get one, and the irony is that the person who ended that possibility was the person who he gave up everything for. As a father who likes to think that I would be as much of a defender of my daughters, this is the ultimate tragedy.

Ok. I told you in the previous thread that I would explain why I hate Moash as a person after you read RoW, so here goes. Much of this has been touched on by other posters, but at the risk of repeating, I owe you an explanation. I don't hate Moash for killing Elhokar or Teft, or Phendorana for that matter. All of them were valid military targets at the time of their demise. While I personally hate that these things happened, (Phendorana hit me especially hard for some reason, even more than Teft) I can't hate Moash on a visceral level for them. It is war. In war you may be called upon to kill or maim people you respect. (Not going to judge the larger morality of war here, but as long as war is a fact, the above is too.) I don't care about "kicking" Gavinor, as frankly I didn't read it that way, but more as moving him out of the way. I hate Moash because of his thought process. Forget Elhokar. He had relatively valid, if misguided, personal reasons for doing so. He tried to talk Kaladin into killing himself, not because he wanted to "save him," but because he didn't want someone alive who could prove him wrong. This is borne out by his actions in Urithiru. When Kaladin almost went to Odium, Moash could have killed him to save him. He didn't, instead he tried to make it happen. He killed Teft simply to prove to himself that he could do so without regret. When he did, he felt vindicated. Yes, you can say that he was under Odium's influence, but the kicker is the vision he had in Hearthstone when Renarin used Lightweaving on him to show him his "perfect" self. When confronted with this, Moash didn't show remorse, or sadness, or regret. Instead his first act was to yell out that "No, you said you would take my pain!" Compare that to Lin Davar, who was also under Odium's thumb, but in a few moments of clarity did show some remorse and sorrow. (I'm thinking of the flashback scene in WoR where he talks to Shallan about how he is sorry that things have become the way they are. The carnival scene with Hoid I think?) Yes, I know that Moash is an addict in many ways, and that this sickness does color his thoughts. But I also have a lot of personal experience with addiction (that I won't go into here) and in my experience, even the worst addicts have fleeting moments of regret and remorse. Moash doesn't. His only regret is that he still has the capability to feel, and even that is fleeting and something he thinks he has conquered by killing Teft. He says as much. Now maybe he is still in the first stages of addiction, where the whole point, at least in my experience, is to rid yourself of feeling, but it has been a year. He either is stuck in the first stage, which I doubt, or he is choosing to be who he is. It is that choice that I hate. It is that choice that I can not forgive. That is why I hate Moash on a personal level. Basically, I don't hate the addiction, if that is what it is. I don't hate the history or feelings that led to that addiction. I don't even hate the actions other than on a character or narrative driven level. I hate the choices. I hate the reasons. I hate the continued doubling down even when (magically induced or not) absolute clarity is given to Moash. I hate Moash because he could be better. He could be redeemed. I hate Moash simply because he never will be redeemed, and not because it would be impossible, but because he never will take the first step. Not because of addiction, or force, or confusion, but because even in his moments of clarity, he doesn't want to. That shows his true character, and to me that is unforgivable.

Did Melian and Thingol have any children? That would work. Sorry for the continued hijack of the topic. I second the question about a dedicated Legendarium thread.

When you're out with friends and order a Goldschlagger even though you hate it just in case you can burn the flakes...

Excellent Shardcast as always. What I love about Sanderson is that while he does include non Heteronormative characters, he doesn't hit you over the head with them. Everyone seems natural, to the point that an older reader like myself sometimes misses them and has to have them pointed out by my daughter (who is openly Bi and proud of it.) To me that is perfect. It drives home the point that while these characters are non-traditional, they are regular people. To me that is the goal of inclusion: Yes, this is not "traditional," but so what? It's just as natural as the fact that some people have red hair, and some have brown. I can only hope that this style of inclusion keeps becoming more commonplace.

There is something else I wonder. In the contract between Odium and Taravangian, it was essentially being enforced by Cultivation, even though she wasn't a party to it. How? As Rayse said, violating the contract would leave him open to an attack from her, and it is heavily implied that she would not pass up the opportunity. That seems to be moot now since Cultivation basically placed Taravangian into Odium, or at least started the events that led to that happening. She seems quite content with the current state of affairs. From Harmony's letter, it seems that no other Shard either wants to, or currently can, attack Odium. There is no enforcer. I think that if Taravangian wanted to break that agreement, he could probably do so with immunity, at least in the short term. The only question in my mind is why he would want to. It costs him nothing to keep it, and as an individual, he has no reason that I can see to break it.

Didn't we see this same thing with Dalinar? When he was practicing with his powers on his soldiers, didn't he see a connection line between himself and the foot soldier he was practicing on? This could be the link between commander and subordinate, but could it also be the link between observer and the one being observed? There is a principle in science that by observing something, you inherently change it. (Can't remember the name of the principle offhand.) We have seen something similar with observed Flame Spren in the Interludes. As pieces of a Shard, it could be that both Syl and Pattern are picking up on that Connection. Have we seen any other instances of this Connection at play in Dalinar's POV?

I honestly dont know how to reply to this given where you are in the series. At the end of OB, I was exactly where the OP is. I didn't like Moash's actions, but I did feel that they were justified in a very real sense. I felt sympathy for his actions and feelings. I felt that his logic was fairly rational, if misguided. In any sense, he was no worse than Dalinar or Szeth. Then RoW. I don't even want to say why my opinion changed, because I want @Jash to go into it clean, but please ping me when you have read it, because I would love to go in depth with you as to my reasons.