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Guys I plan to leave the Shard on maybe Wednesday (no I'm not telling you when school ended/ends). My Shardiversary is encompassed by the summer. So ig I have to say something. If I forget you, it's because I'm not following you (I think). @___/Mippo, I've enjoyed getting to know you. Although you don't say enough insane things to make the one liners, you still say lots of funny things that make my day. You are a great sausage. @Through the Living Hopper, you helped me figure out this strange site, and for that, I am in your debt. I also appreciate your pfp. I laugh sometimes when I see it. It strangely reminds me of my little sibling, who looks like a Cryptic running in her nightgown sometimes. @AltonicKeys, you created the Battle for the Sandwich and the Shard wouldn't be the same place without it. Thanks for almost a year of crazy Sandwich-stealing. @Bird Furious, I didn't know you that long, but the time that I did know you was awesome. We all miss you Haly! I don't think that you'll see this, but thanks for your time on the Shard. @ChipsAHoid/[redacted], I'll try not to make this too long. Wow! You've almost lasted a year as both a Shard/irl friend. It's been amazing to have a friend (still sounds strange to say). Storms you're insane. Thanks for introducing me to the Shard/Stormlight, and being the only person in years I feel comfortable talking to. It's been surreal, truly. Thanks for being an awesome Sandernerd/ marimba player/absurdly kind and witty person. Thanks for making me laugh so hard my face hurts. Thanks for a year I'll never forget. Thanks for giving me hope. @CoderDrag0n8, the official ORV Bondsmith! I'm reading it, seriously (not sarcastic). And it's awesome. You're a pretty cool flavored concrete-snorting, fae king, book wyrm, etc. I know there's stuff I'm forgetting please don't kill me no no no. Anyway, the Shard is not the Shard without you and therefore you are the Shard and the Shard is you (don't question my logic it makes sense trust). @Conure1243, you're the most unhinged guy I know (and that is truly one of the best compliments I could ever give). Or maybe the entire world is insane, and you're the only sane one. You never know. Anyway, I love you're amazing quotes and your art that makes my art feel pathetic (which, it is), but that's beside the point. Conure's art is awesome. If you haven't seen it, go look at it because it's insane (and much better than my passable stick figures). I am honored to be the sandwich on the floor. @First of the Tide, the Shardblade you made for me is awesome! I know you're not active on most threads, but that doesn't change how much I've enjoyed talking with you. @GG0z, I still think of you as a 'New Sharder', but you've proven your activity by now. It's very fun fraternizing and being insane together on TLPL. I look forward to hopefully seeing you after summer. Congratulations on me remembering you! *spawns celebratory thunderclasts* @Honors Spectral Image, I believe you were my first Shardbuddy! Thanks for tolerating a year of insanity and confuddling comments! You're super awesome! @Ink and Embers, you're the first Brit I've ever known, and now my opinion of Britain is high. You're so funny and kind and just all around awesome! Thanks for being so nice! I love it when we're both on the Shard at the same time. @KaladinsSenseOfHumourSpren, I enjoyed meeting you this year, particularly on the Let's Be Radiant thread. Somehow, I've seriously multiplied my sanity by negative two this year (yes because my sanity was in the negatives before; also, no I'm not terribly sane now but it's an improvement), and I think my oaths had a lot to do with that. Understanding myself and all that nonsense. So, thanks especially for refounding the Knights Radiant. And just being yourself in general. You have more humor than Kaladin, trust me. *sends snow* @Kansas Stormcursed, I wish you were on here more often, but I hope you're having fun! You (like pretty much everyone on the Shard) are super awesome. When I first joined on July 5, my parents kicked me off shortly, and the only Shard username (besides Chips and his sister) by the time school startedwas you. Needless to say, I was momentarily very confused because I thought it was a reference I didn't get, but here we are! Thank you for contributing to this awesome year! @PianoSavant/[redacted], I know you don't post on here much, but that doesn't mean that you aren't an amazing Sanderfan! I love your banner---particularly the taynix art! It's beautiful, seriously. Wish I could see you more often. @The Great Wyver, I miss you and all of your absolutely big windy delectable platter of meaty liquids! Super sad that the Shard is blocked (surprised it hasn't on mine yet but am very happy). Hope you're doing okay! @Through The Living Ash, you're another one I miss. I really appreciated your Ashkalodaness (although I suppose I never learned what Ashkaloda even means). I hope you have an awesome life after high school!!!!!!!! @Through The Living Ketek, Master of Keteks, thank you for letting us be insane nerds together. No, I never joined your cult, but that was because it was too late by the time I noticed what was going on. Don't kill me...please. Fellow engineering nerd, fun acquaintance, and good friend overall. @Through the Living Shadow, yippee for like 70,000 name confusions! I survived! Thanks for your kindness, wit, and wrath. Well, it depends on how you define wrath. I wouldn't describe you as a 'wrathful spirit'. I read your writing, it's good too. @Through The Living Star, we're so similar we're practically clones! Except you're nicer, saner (yes you are don't argue), and better at writing! Also you speak Chinese and play ultimate frisbee and do all sorts of cool stuff. Anyways, stay super cool and awesome and don't leave over the summer bc I'll be sadddd. And try not to die. Too much. I'll miss youuuu. @Verdance, congrats on graduating high school!!!! And you're still on the Shard, so I continue to benefit from your presence. And I actually kinda thought about your username a little, and decided to go on a walk (with a Sanderson book). And now instead of sulking, reading, and being depressed, I stare out at nature, sulk, read, and am depressed! (It's better actually so thanks). @Vielence, I miss seeing you more often and hope you're doing great (and getting your much needed warrior cake)! *sends some as a 1 1/2 month late birthday present*. I have definitely enjoyed your often amusing comments! And update: I found Spartan, he wasn't following me (what a sane guy), which is why this part is a little later. If there's someone else I'm forgetting lemme know so I can clear up that terrible mistake @SpartanBrigade, you're the most awesome 148-year old guy I know! (well, so says your birth date). I've enjoyed the magic and the too juicy steak and the too buttery lobster. All in all, Spartan, you are a really nice guy and thanks for existing! Update 2: I also forgot @Usseewa, thank you for letting @----- (no I want my head attached, like Vie said at some point I think) change your username back. It's been simply awesome. Thank you for your persistent kindness and insanity. Storms that took a while. I'll miss you all. And no I'm not dying. See you August or smth (I might be able to sneak on and marvel at the amount of notifs at some point in the summer, but I won't be active until then).

These days, I look in the mirror and find myself a man of lies. I must apologize in advance, I am feeling seriously depressed right now and that is making me dramatic and eloquent; I feel like taking this seriously. At some point I was always going to have to make this decision, and it's not one that I am enjoying making, but I don't really have a choice. This was going to happen eventually. I am terrible at keeping secrets. Some of you may be aware I have some very loving, very conservative, very controlling parents. I have simultaneously defended and complained about them many, many times, but in the end, they love me very much and want what's best for me. Well, they have discovered this 17thShard account that I have, and they do not like it. I cannot say that everything I have said on here is true. I have time and time again expressed opinions on religion, gender and sexuality, mental health, and other topics, and I can't really say that all of it is true. At my core, I lie through my teeth, supporting things I do not truly support, condemning things that I do not condemn, because if I don't, I won't have any friends. You all would dismiss me as hateful and ignorant and never speak to me again, because in some ways I am. I certainly don't hate any of you. I really can't believe that all of this is just some mental illness or something like that. Regardless, I can't keep pretending to support it in any capacity. 2 Peter 2:4-10 mentions a person from Genesis, Lot, who lived in the city of Sodom, an ancient city legendary for its degeneracy and violence. Lot was a follower of God who lived among these people, even becoming an arbiter or judge among them. In Genesis 18, Abraham barters with God, who is planning to destroy the city for its sin. After some time, God agrees that if ten righteous men can be found in Sodom, the city would be spared. Immediately after, the account cuts to Lot. Two male angels have been sent to his house to warn him about the coming destruction. Lot asks them to stay the night in his house for safety, but they refuse, accepting his food and sleeping in the courtyard. Later that night, a mob arrives at Lot's house. Their intentions towards the angels, or strangers, are not pure. Lot literally is in the process of bargaining away his daughters to the mob, but the angels blind the mob, and everyone escapes. 2nd Peter mentions what Lot was feeling: he was greatly distressed, because he loved all the people around him and yet wanted nothing to do with them. You all are not Sodom. But I certainly feel like Lot. I cannot continue existing here on the Shard. Feel free to ban me or wipe my account, I can't say I won't care, it will hurt a lot. But I have already made this decision. After my father specifically violated my privacy, going through my posts, he was immediately shocked at what he saw. Lies. Beautiful lies, from a lonely little boy clinging desperately to some sort of friendship. Very, very convincingly. I cannot justify his anger. I am only glad he held his temper back physically, which he has not done in the past. He is watching, reading through everything I have said, joking or serious, lies or truth, and I'm about essentially stand trial for it. I would like to reiterate that I am 18 years old and would like to be allowed to make my own decisions, but I also would like to have a house and a bed and food and water, and it has been made very clear that enjoying those privileges is not compatible with any form of disobedience. Maybe I really am a hateful monster. I lie to everyone around me, just to cling to them and get something from them. Even when I try to show love, it's almost another form of manipulation. Are we all manipulating each other? On my way to the library where I am typing this, I passed a mother bird protecting her eggs, sitting a short ways away from the railroad track I was using to travel. I stopped, and watched as any time I drew nearby, she would puff herself up and screech at me. It took me a minute to register that I was the threat. I was the looming, dangerous monster who had not thirty seconds ago been screeching harsh lyrics in the woods at the top of my lungs. Why wouldn't she be wary around me? Everything I touch turns water into blood, I don't look away when the bough breaks, I don't really love, I just hate being alone. I am so very happy my parents have taken away my autonomy, my agency, my knives, so I can't hurt myself. And I hate it all the same. And when I return to some form of logical sanity, I just remember how self centered I am. It's not about me. I'm in this love hate relationship with absolutely everything in my life. And when it comes time to decide between the two, I will become the villain to you all. My parents will still see me as deceptive, hateful, cowardly, rebellious, and godless. You all will see me as nothing more than a hateful bigot. There's nothing I really can do to change all this; again, I need a place to live. And in truth, I don't support anything LGBTQ. I really can't say that I believe everything the Bible teaches and say "happy pride month" in the same sentence. A fountain cannot spout both fresh and salt water. That doesn't mean I see any of you any less, if anything, right now I am the worst person on the planet in my own eyes. None of my scant morality, precious philosophy, or arrogant theology means anything without my faith. I cannot continue straddling a line, I have to choose between one or the other- and when my life is completely meaningless without Christ, I will choose Christ. No matter what any of you think of me, I still love you all, I still respect you all, I still appreciate you all. This is goodbye. Whether something I have said here violates Shard rules or not, I will not be returning. Thank you all so much for these few months. I sincerely wish you all the best. - Noah.

I have to question You consider yourself an ally And you listen to Albert Mohler regularly The same Albert Mohler who’s rap sheet includes but is not limited to 1: Decrying a memorial for a trans activist 2: Saying in regard to trans folks, “we cannot affirm someone in a delusion” 3: Opposing the repealing of the “don’t ask, don’t tell policy” which banned openly queer Americans from the military 4: Opposing birth control for women 5: Proclaiming that married couples who choose not to have children are rebelling against God’s order 6: Being so thoroughly opposed to gay marriage that he signed the Manhattan Declaration, a document calling Christians to fight against queer and reproductive rights among other things. The Catholic Church had a significant hand in writing the Manhattan Declaration, and so emphatic was his opposition to queer/reproductive rights that he signed on despite believing the Catholic Church to be “a false church” and that accepting their doctrine would be to “compromise Biblical truth” 7: Proclaiming that Muslims are motivated by demonic power 8: Supporting America converting the people of Iraq to Christianity in the style of old colonial powers I know there’s a policy against politics I respect that I would argue that this isn’t politics Politics is discussing where to send foreign aid Politics is discussing to what degree regulations should be implemented on the private sector Politics is debating big vs small government This is not politics The ability of two consenting adults to marry and choose whether or not to have children is not politics Women’s access to reproductive care is not politics Freedom of religion, all religion, is not politics The ability of trans folks to exist is not politics These are basic human rights And an ally who listens to someone like Albert Mohler is Concerning

Honestly today was kind of crazy for me I have so many emotions I've stopped feeling them But it rained and I ate ice cream under a metal swing in a park in a thunderstorm then drank tea in a friend's kitchen and did Maths and hugged people and found a random bright pink pen And I think everything will be okay, in the end We're all people and we're all a little bit in love with everyone And I think we'll be okay.

D-Day Take a couple minutes to remember the sacrifice of all the men who fought this day, 82 years ago

I've recently noticed an uptick in the amount of interest in the double eye chart, especially as it relates to Truthwatchers due to their position opposite of the Bondsmiths. And indeed I think this is warranted. And I intend to look into it. Now going over Truthwatchers, first I want to go over their position on the chart, and in particular the orders connected to them. They sit in the position opposite the Bondsmtih, while also standing between Edgedanncers and Lightweavers, just as Bondsmiths are between Stonewards and Windrunners. Why do I bring this up? Because I often took too long looking at the comparison between Windrunners and Edgedanncers, each having a spren named after one of the Shards, Honorspren and Cultivation spren, together with Lift being able to use Progression while under Urithiru's suppression to believe that Progression is Cultivation's truest surge, and what made Truthwatchers special. And while I do still believe Progression to be Cultivation's truest surge, I no longer believe it to be what truly makes Truthwatchs tick. Instead I want to propose that the upper and lower halves of the chart are not simply opposites, but mirrored. It is not the surge they share with Edgedanncers that makes Truthwatchers special, but the one they share with Lightweavers. In WaT Szeth makes the following observation He calls Truthwatchers the oddest of the orders, something usually reserved for Bondsmiths, and the surge used immediately afterwards is that of Illumination. Additionally what this Honorbearer demonstrates for us is clearly the power of Fortune, seeing things as they are and as they could be. The only other order that is described with this attribute is that of the Lightweavers. Indeed we can see other examples of this such as the Truthwatcher who wrote the following in the gem archive I therefore propose that just as Bondsmiths hold the powers of Connection, Truthwatchers hold the powers of Fortune.

*Me looking at my notifs and immediately getting a feeling of dread when I see there’s FORTY THREE IN ONE HOUR* *me seeing WHY there’s so many* WHO THE STORM REPPED ME AND WHY

You know there is nothing like a little kids gap tooth awed grin to brighten the rest of your entire day *me swinging in between railings on the stairs bc I’m bored and still watching chilluns* *swings forward and tucks legs to go faster* *swings off and lands in a half crouch to absorb the force* I wasn’t doing anything special or particularly cool and yet a little girl looked at me with that grin they always use and goes “whoa” And just like that all my less fun feelings disappeared Due to one little kid smile I love kids

For sake of simplicity, assume full spoilers for the Cosmere to date of writing. Abstract (TL;DR): An observation made in Rhythm of War led to the craft of a falsifiable hypothesis, and a logical, in-universe experiment that can be crafted to test the hypothesis. If the hypothesis is eventually proven true, it allows numerous real-world harmonic and acoustic phenomena to be applied to phenomena derived from Investiture in nearly seamless fashion, from the bottom up. Scope: There is a critical distinction that must be made regarding the scope of this work. I am not here to assert specific frequencies etc. in terms of raw numbers, e.g. A=440 and similarly derived phenomena. As is with all (western) music, especially for those not of the 2nd Heightening, things will be described and derived, generally, from principles of harmonic relativity. With that in mind: Observation: Rhythm of War, Chapter 15 Epigraph: A light blinking in a regular, one could say intervallic period, could be expressed as a number, one that can be converted into an, albeit low, frequency in Hz. Label this frequency as f2. Take a measurable source of the Pure Tone (for now using real-world terms as opposed to Realmatic, this should clear up shortly), in this case the Pure Tone of what is Investing the logicspren. Take that and use it as a constant, label it f1. Hypothesis: Fundamental, f1 will have a neat mathematical relationship with the pulse of the logicspren, f2. Specifically: If this mathematical relationship holds true for the logicspren, it can then be extrapolated to say any localized, periodic oscillation of Investiture is a direct translation from the source Intent's frequency. Therefore, this gives birth to a new principle of Realmatic Theory: The Harmonic Series, when translated into musical terms, reflect the series of phenomena known as overtones. This topic alone is a rabbit hole unto itself, so to avoid falling in, let me quickly annotate an additional constraint to the scope of my portion of the discussion; The Harmonic Series, and thusly the possible consequences of Invested action, go on upward infinitely and forever. My discussion on it should not. Let's take the real-world term pure tone, referring to merely the waveform of a given fundamental pitch, or tone. Pure Tone, in the Realmatic sense, likely refers to the combination of two things: The Realmatic Fundamental; the Realmatic equivalent to the real-world pure tone. The infinite Invested Harmonic Series resonating off the Realmatic Fundamental in totality. Below is the same diagram of the Harmonic Series from before, now representing the whole of Realmatic Pure Tone, with the Realmatic Fundamental traced briefly (shoutout to MS Paint): Subharmonics and Everyday Sounds: Every sound we hear has a frequency. From the shining overtones of an immaculate choir, booming low brass, and the rat-a-tat-tat of a snare drum; to the whirring of engines, human speech, and rapping one's knuckles upon a desk. There are essentially entire subgenres of music dedicated to making definitive tones out of manipulating ordinary sounds digitally. What are the other implications of this hypothesis, if correct? Singer Rhythms: The lateral move of applying this notion of subharmonics to the Rhythms Singers use adds a layer of complexity, as Rhythms seem, per the text, to be almost universally asymmetrical. How then, do they attune to somewhere in the sequence of the respective Realmatic Pure Tone? Let's first analyze the form that is the Singer Rhythm: Like real-world rhythmic patterns, Singer Rhythms have an internal structure, and can be ever repeated. Take, for instance, a relatively simple real-world rhythm that could feasibly mimic that of a Singer Rhythm: This can easily be split into two sections: This may produce, when sped up in a similar fashion to that of the hypothesis' logicspren, or that of Gabe the Dog (R.I.P.), the presentation of two oscillating tones. Tones that, if sped up further, oscillate fast enough to form a dyad, or interval in musical terms. Dyads, like a properly resonant (lower case) pure tone, or Realmatic Fundamental, also end up 'ringing' their own Harmonic Series, with the segment, or overtone, that becomes acoustically strongest depending on the delta, or interval, of the frequencies in the dyad. The dyad formed through the expression of the Singer Rhythm, for this framework to hold, would have its strongest overtone be in line with somewhere in the sequence of Realmatic Pure Tone, be it the Realmatic Fundamental, or somewhere else in the Pure Tone. Resolution of Ambiguity: This model, however, produces an complex, yet solvable, logistics problem. If one gives each Intent a specific, unknown to us for the purposes of this work frequency aka Realmatic Fundamental with which Pure Tone rings out of their own infinitely scaling Harmonic Series, one will inevitably run into overlap. That problem suggests the possibility of recipes for in-universe confusion like powers not working as intended, or deriving the wrong Invested Art altogether. The distinct lack of those problems being prevalent at any relevant scale in the Cosmere suggests the system already found a solution. I propose that this solution too mimics real-world phenomena, in this case harmonic context. For simplicity's sake, let's take a segment of the series that comprises a Realmatic Pure Tone, and analyze the role of shared frequencies between Intents. In other words, as the Harmonic Series goes on forever, any given Realmatic Pure Tone contains common chord tones with others: Each of the chords presented here are sharing one tone. Meaning, put in Realmatic Terms, this ambiguity can be solved with a combination of Intent and Connection. F major is different from C major is different than A-flat major. Dominion is different from Ruin is different from Odium, or whichever combination is deemed relevant; despite any similarities or overlap. Throw this back to the Singer Rhythms. It's no wonder that humans cannot be taught them, they lack the right Connection and/or hardware in the form of gemhearts to attune properly. The Novel Nature of Hybrid Shards: Hybrid Shards, such as Harmony, are said not to be a combination of its original Intents, but more of a novel being, or Pure Tone, derived from them. Take the Realmatic Fundamental of each Intent involved in the synthesis. Once together they form, like asymmetric Singer Rhythms sped up, a dyad. But rather than changing the tones forming the dyad to align with differing portions of Realmatic Pure Tone; the dyad rings out, of which the strongest overtone formed becomes the new Realmatic Fundamental which will then ring out its novel Pure Tone. Alternatively, some interaction with combination tones of some sort better reflect the phenomena. However, the specifics of the math even in relative terms, and the descriptions of underlying mechanisms in that realm escape me. Perhaps that is where my ability as attempted Realmatic translator meets its limit. Regardless: I am fully aware of the sheer massive scale in terms of new information, let alone recontextualization of existing canon, that lies above. I commend beyond measure anyone willing to go through this journey of a post, bearing with my own attempt at putting knowledge we have under new contexts and lights. I can only hope the Surges of Illumination and Progression, so to speak, have served me well. As with many other theories out there, there's bound to be mistakes, misconceptions, and/or misapplication of concepts and ideas. Regardless of perceived innate error-this has been some of the most fun I've had writing in my entire life. Journey Before Destination.

So I wanted to share a quick thought I had from my scripture study lately. The particular thought actually came during my mission, but I recently reread the verses in question. In particular it has to do with the Fall of Adam. As you all know one of the defining beliefs of the Church is that the Fall was a necessary part of God's plan, and it allowed us to have agency, children, and a knowledge of good and evil. One of the things that had always confused me however, was why God couldn't have created Adam and Eve in a mortal state directly. They already had agency and a knowledge of good and evil in the pre-mortal world, it just seemed unnecessarily complicated to me. Well after years of studying off and on I found the answer in 2 Nephi 9. In particular verses 6, 8, and 9. This for me gave the answer, as it revealed something about the nature of death, in that it by nature separates us from the Father, and that the Resurrection is what is needed to bring us back into His presence. Indeed Samuel the Lamanite teaches as much in Helaman 14:17 So in other words, mankind needed the ability to die in order for Christ to preform the Resurrection, however God couldn't create us in a state where we could die, as death separates us from God, and it would be unjust to do so unless a violation of the law was made, requiring the Fall of Man to occur as a violation of the law. I know it's just some small thing, but it genuinely was one of the most impactful moments for me, as it showed that constant scripture study can answer some vexing questions, but I'd like to hear your thoughts. I'm also working on another post for here, so watch out for that.

Have you guys ever wanted to say something and not be able to find the words? Because that's what I'm doing right now. I want explain my feelings to people, like all the weird things going on in my head, and I just can't express it. Plus there's those fun words from Darkness that scream that everyone's gonna hate me and I'm gonna sound crazy and it's just a spiral. I'm not quite sure what to do...

Well, I'm going to be offline for the next three days, just so you guys know. I'll see you when I get back. I have a short story that will be published on Thursday, so enjoy that, I guess. See you!

Tau is so much better. It'd make learning the unit circle far easier. Half the circle would be tau/2. Way better! In basically every physics formula, it's always 2pi. That really should indicate that 2pi is the correct one. I mean, when the hell do we even is C = pi * d? Use the radius! The radius is the important one. You might say, "But Eric what about A = pi*r^2?" To which I'd say, A = 1/2 tau*r^2 is very symmetric with the kinetic energy formula. That 1/2 should be there anyway, due to integration. In fact, I thought that one argument against tau was that the standard normal distribution had a single sqrt(pi) rather than sqrt(2pi), but nope! It does have a 2pi. I guess the integral from -infinity to infinity of e^(-x^2) has the sqrt(pi)... So anyway, I'm a math professor who loves tau. I'm not at all a fan of pi day, and I won't stand for this pi propaganda merely because "well then we can have pie on pi day". Lame. I spend pi day in my math tutoring center explaining why tau is superior.

Dear 17thShard, I, Coder or the Drag0n8 family, will be away until further notice. I will return at approximately mid-sunday my time, and shall depart this world approximately 1:30 today my time. Goodbye and Good Luck, Coder

Alright guys, I changed my name! Thanks to @CoderDrag0n8@Usseewa@Conure1243@Keteᛕ@Aeoryiand @GG0z (sorry if I forgot anyone) for helping me find a new name!

Hi guys This very well might be my last post. I'll try to get on tomorrow but my parents are having a hard cutoff, I think. I'm writing this in response to all the pms and stuff I've been getting. I have problems, and those are a result of me being me. I can't lie, it's not in my nature. I can't lie to myself anymore. And I have the courage to write this now that I'm leaving I guess. Seriously, this is more for me than you. Don't feel the need to read it, particularly the whole rant. I'm just trying to understand myself, I guess. I don't think this is useful to you in any way. I needed to write it anyway.

Yea, as a trans person in the UK, JK Rowling is a big concern. Legislation was recently passed saying everyone has to use the public bathrooms of their AGAB; the main pressure group pushing for this received over a quarter of their funding from JK Rowling. On a more personal level, she's essentially the reason my parents are ... as they are in regards to trans issues. They, like a whole load of other people, first encountered the whole thing through reading what JK Rowling had to say about it, as a profiling public figure, so it gets fixed in people's minds as the first thing they learn and it gives a whole massive platform for transphobes to air their views. It's been ... interesting. She keeps getting more and more popular and then the money goes to fund support for anti-trans legislation and it's all kind of complicated. One of my autistic trans friends has a long-term special interest in Harry Potter and has a really complicated relationship with it as a result. Supporting LGBTQ+ people is great! Thank you for being better than, like, 50% of the population, genuinely. No one's going to stop you doing what you want to do, and no one's trying to "convert" you or try and crush all the joy out of living. It can be good to learn about the different effects of hobbies, though, but if we stopped everything that contributed to climate change (for example), we'd have to stop respiring. It can just be good to learn, though.

The mods will interpret the rules as they decide. Until then, I'm going to address the one outstanding thing here. Let's use an example: Perhaps you've heard of JK Rowling, the author of the hit series Harry Potter. Perhaps you know that she has allegations of transphobia against her. But do you know what specifically? As you can probably tell by the example, there's a lot of kinda... bad stuff here. Perhaps worse than just the term "transphobia" can describe. Now consider this: When you're buying a Harry Potter book, guess who's getting paid? Now I'm not telling you to stop reading Harry Potter or whatever, you can make your own decisions, but I do really think that it is important to realize that the full picture is much more than meets the eye, and that you have to be mindful of who you choose to support. Verdance, I don't think anyone is forcing you to stop listening to whatever you want to listen to, or doing whatever you want to do. And no one would leverage the label "ally" against you in order to manipulate you into doing something. But Spartan has a right to be concerned here. You can say one thing, but if you're supporting someone who is known for doing terrible things within the LGBTQ community, you're not really helping. So just be mindful.

Hi, umm I was recommended by Usseewa to join this thread yesterday, so here I am don’t really know what to post here yet, but I’m sure I’ll figure it out

Grad Cap for today (I'm graduating)

so… im trans a girl my pronouns are she/her i came out on cgd Something about it makes me really want to post in this blog this feels like something one of you would post meaningful poetry about but i am not a poet, so I will just dump some words here … *can’t find any* *decides to recycle past words for some reason* hmmm I’ve been staring at that quite a bit. it feels… really good *recycles again* Yes, that is very wrong formatting. Quoting is… weird on my device. so I am a girl. that feels really good… *continues* ummm as I’ve said, I never have conclusions *tosses in more recycle*

General Note on the above comments - I think many people fail to understand what the Order/Book/Flashback chapter's goals are - it's not that Oathbringer was a book about Bondsmiths or RoW was a book about Willshapers - the book/flashback tie is meant to indicate "this is the book where we start to explore the surges for this Radiant Order" - and we did that. We see Spiritual Adhesion and how Bondsmith's Surges differ from Windrunner/Stonewards due to the CR/SR aspects those surges take. We see how Cohesion works for Willshapers in RoW. Goal met. Concur. Done is done - we can say what we dislike and why, but there is no "fixing" what is published. That said, I can see why WoK!Prime was not published and am very glad we got this version of Roshar over that one. He said that he had armor spren from both his first and second set of ideals Sigzil never had Windrunner Armor, he has windspren in his Skybreaker armor. It was very well established that the windspren that become a Windrunner's Plate start following them after the third ideal. We see Kaladin's Windspren deflect the highstorm winds to protect the captured Alethi in OB Ch 31 and his Platespren manifest in Shadesmar as they follow him on Notum's ship in OB CH 108. Likewise, we see that Sigzil's Third-Oath bound Windspren are still following him in WaT Ch 147: WoK: No comments WoR: Shallan ignoring Soulcasting because of Stick and Jasnah's admonition to not pursue it alone felt more like a gimmick than an extension of Shallan's story. .It felt like Brandon was saving Shadesmar for later. . . and he was. Which is fine, but the Watsonian reasoning falls flat for me. I also wish we had seen more Kaladin/Lighteyes interactions in his role as Captain - but overall the book is solid. OB: Easily the worst of the five for me - almost entirely because of Shallan (with a side of Lirin who makes my top-3 hated characters in SA). Kaladin has depression and SAD and we feel that he struggles with these conditions while they do not define him. Everything about Veil and Radiant in this book feels fake - like a person that had read about DID once is trying to fake having DID. I've stated in other places the long descriptions and do not feel inclinced to repeat it here since it is tangential to this topic. I wish Doors of Stone (which still does not exist, and likely never will) had not prompted Brandon to change from the plan for book 3 to be Stones Unhallowed - saving Dalinar's flashbacks for Book 5. RoW: I liked RoW, even if it was Die Hard on Roshar. I loved the lore and worldbuilding and artefabrian reveals. I wish we had gotten some Windrunner vs Skybreaker content from the Azimir front. Shallan's sections continued to be the weakest component of the story to me, made more tolerabel by being in Shadesmar and some good Spren information; though I wish Felt, Stump, and Godeke had gotten a bit more rounded in these parts - again it flet like intentional blinders because Edgedances and Truthwatchers are reserved for the second arc. WaT: I still need to do my first re-read of WaT, so it is the book I have internalized the least. I understand why Brandon wanted to include linguisitic drift in the story - I just wish it had happened either in RoW (we had a 1 yr time skip) or in Book 6. The fact that people speak differently from WaT ch 1 than they did in RoW Ch 117, when it is "the next day" is what I find jarring (not the lingustic drift itself). I also found Jasnah's debate with TOdium to be unconvincing. Jasnah has been built up from first intro as an intelligent and eloquent speaker with much practical experience in debate, but that she somehow fails to call out ad hominum, and other glaringly obvious logical fallacies undermines the entire scene as Diabolus ex Machina - designed to get the result the story wanted, even if the path there was false. I'll reserve other thoughts for after a re-read...

LG112 - Aftermath: At What Cost? (Writeup contains spoilers for the outcome) ~ Divergent has been killed! They were a Vanilla SE Player. But we all knew that. Now for the main event. Hoid Slayer(man) has been executed! At the start of the game, Hoid was an SE Player PseudoGM. At the end of the game… Hoid was an SE Player PseudoGM. The Roleplay Characters have emerged victorious! Free at last to live out their lives in peace. Congratulations to @xinoehp512, @Qianweilian, @coco.pudding, @Verdance, and finally, swooping in at the end to save them all, @Araris Valerian! Thank you to @Through the living Wahr for being an amazing co-GM. He more than pulled his weight. I wasn't planning on having a co-GM going into this, but I would have been in a bad spot without him. Thank you also to @Jo and the Bush for helping us whenever problems or mistakes arose. And thank you all of you, this was an amazing game to watch and it's probably my favorite (as much as I love LG105, I think this one surpassed it). You did so well with the rules, and I couldn't have hoped for a more dynamic game. Thanks especially to those of you who stuck it out the whole 30 days. See you all in the next one. Documents: Players:

Clicking 'Mark Site Read' makes me happy because all the annoying notifications clamouring for my attention go away, and I get to live in peace. There shall be no 2000 notifications here.

I find it horribly ironic and honestly kinda fascinating just how far my voice has shifted from what it was when I originally joined Like, initially I was chaotic and childish and kinda stupid. That was for a variety of reasons, but that tone is just…not here anymore? I want to present like that. To yap and be energetic. It’s fun, and I assume that’s what people relate with me. For some reason tho, I just can’t Sorry if you miss that person. Honestly, I don’t know if she’s coming back (this is stupid and angsty, I know. I just needed to say it)

The inevitable moment that I found this while sorting through artwork has come...

I just got back, I need to go to bed But there is something about eating tortilla chips at like, 10 PM, that is so fricking addictive. Like, I am crawling on the floor, dehydrated and about to die, but I can stop whenever I want. Hello, and Goodnight. I may be awake for like, 2 more seconds on PMs, but I AM NOT reading my notifs, ill let them move from 92 to 500 when I wake up tomorrow.

"Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end" So I guess ive decided that ill be leaving the Shard. I feel like I must move on to the next stage of my life as I soon leave for a mission and then on to college. I don't think I'll be returning to the Shard, so I wanted to say Thank You to all the people who have been so kind to me and made my time on the Shard enjoyable. I can't put into words how much my time on the Shard has meant to me, becoming a place where I could laugh, create, have fun, and honestly escape life for a little bit. I just want to briefly (or maybe not so briefly) thank those who have made my time on the Shard enjoyable First off @Experience thank you for introducing me to the Shard and getting me to make an account in the first place, youre awesome!!! @Channelknight Fadran thanks for making an amazing Great Houses RP that sparked my love for the Shard and kept me coming back @BlueWildRye, @Lotus Blossom, @Through the Living Hope, @The Stormfather thanks for making the hunger games so freaking awesome, I will never forget the memories made and stories told @strmblsd thanks for making me lose the game so much (btw you just lost the game!) and also being fun in BftS @Ink and Embers, and @NerdSandwich thanks for making the Battle for the Sandwich so much fun, even though it has slowed down significantly @Edema Rue I didn't really know you too well but from what ive heard from other sharders and my brother your amazing! also thanks for being awesome in hunger games. (I officially dub thee not a nerd) @Through the Living Elan I don't think ive ever told you this but I look up to you so much. your super awesome, and I am grateful the times in the hunger games with you, all the times youve made me laugh, and your strong faith that youve displayed @Through The Living Glass thank you for being so so awesome whether it was during the hunger games, in BftS, or in TLT I will always remember your awesomeness. thanks for making the shard a more enjoyable place @strmblsd, @Vyzkel, @BlueWildRye, @Through The Living Glass, @Doomslug the Arcane thanks for being the og battle for the Sandwich group, you guys made stealing the Sandwich so delightful and I looked forward to taking it back every day And to anyone that has made my experience on the shard the amazing time that it was, Thank you so much!!!!! Bon Voyage and Adios!!! @Unintelligenius singing out

This is just something I wrote right now If it doesn’t make very much sense I apologize I’m really tired and running a fever It’s mostly just an explosion of thought Also note that this isn’t addressed to anyone here It’s aimed at another group of people (Yes Coder I know I should add paragraphs and indentation)

A lot of the major points of contention have already been mentioned, so I'll add that there is a lot of great stuff in WaT but that the execution was poor. Lots of great individual moments but poor connections and structure between them. Especially when compared with other SA books. A lot of stuff is technically there, in a check-the-box sense, but it was a less elegantly written book than the earlier volumes (a problem I feel has been increasing across Cosmere books, generally). Judged only by itself, it's maybe a 3 star book, 4 depending on personal taste and generosity. Judged as a SA book against the other four, it's probably more firmly a 3. Judged as a SA book and the scope of expectations it set up, I'd rate it as a 2.x. "Fine" is a damning assessment of a book which caps a well-regarded flagship series. A lot of the dialogue was weak, but more significant for me was how much most characters speak in the same way now. Gaz and Shallan should speak differently, and they used to. Characterization suffered a lot, particularly in more subtle writing that the previous books had. There was filler and bloat which was mechanically imposed. People can argue about what constitutes "filler", but it became clear long before the climactic portion of the book that none of the separate plot threads were going to resolve, or even change much, before the others-- the fighting at the Shattered Plains was not going to be over any sooner nor any later than the fight in Azir, nor the spiritual realms exposition, nor anything else. It drained a lot of the tension and investment to know that none of the characters' situations were going to really change for the next few hundred pages. The buildup for plot events was enormous, but much of what actually happened was pretty flat in comparison. El's huge, game-changing stratagem for which Taravangian was willing to pay such a high price was... bring more soldiers to the front (and it failed!). The contest ended up being a pretty minor and dull event. Some of that is by design, I think, as its conclusion was meant to repudiate the cycles of violence and conquest that had governed Roshar since the Desolations began. But it also lacked a lot of strong narration-- there weren't moments like Kaladin leaping onto the Tower, or Dalinar walking alone out of Thaylenah with only a book in his hands. Exposition dumps abounded. Dalinar and Navani's stories over almost the entire book were nothing but watching a historical documentary about Roshar, and that also removed them from events. The Shinovar portion was just a tunnel, with Kaladin and Szeth moving from points A to B to C to D to E (etc.). Few, if any, decisions for the characters to make, few surprises, little suspense. The fight sequences were cool and exciting. But I really expected more than that for two of the series' most important and dynamic characters-- in terms of character development and depth of presentation, there was nothing for them on par with Way of Kings or Words of Radiance. A lot of the novelty and creativity about Radiant powers had already been used or was already reserved for future revelations, and the power inflation of characters had already reached extreme levels. That's not the book's fault, but it still makes for a rougher comparison to other SA books. And some characters were just removed from the field entirely. There is a lot to like about WaT, and I suspect I will enjoy it more on re-reads than I did during my first pass. I don't think that anyone who loves it is wrong to do so, but I don't think that it should be that shocking that others feel differently. There's quite a bit of rough around the gems, though the gems are as valuable as they ever were.

“When we step outside, we step into God’s classroom.”—Elder Gong ”Touch grass.”—also Elder Gong Also, one of my favorite verses from 2 Nephi 9 is verse 48.

It is a dim night. Not dark or stormy, the moon lights up the scenery outside your window quite well, but you are exhausted after a long day. You open a secure private browser, the process taking an irritating amount of time, and log onto a secret forum, BlackWeb. Nothing much has happened since you last visited, except a user you don’t recognize, anonymous account 228B22, has posted a new thread. ”Horror. It has a bad reputation, like metal or certain corners of the internet, but there are certainly pieces of art from the genre that are worth your time in some sort of way. What media from the horror genre abroad has struck you, whether good or bad, profound or shallow, terrifying or unsettling? Discuss.”

happy QUEER MONTH =3 ima go to pride fest with my lesbian besties and the crush also if yall care i cut my hair to shoulder length and bought a lot more baggy clothes eventually i want a pixie cut but i don't want to give my mum a heart attack

I need a vote. Should I go on my High Adventure on my birthday? (for context, my high adventure would be a survival camp-out thing where we’re given limited gear, some scriptures, and told to go have fun and not die) *don’t worry, we’ll be watched over by adults, they just won’t intervene a lot* But I won’t have my phone, and I won’t get to see all my friends who aren’t in my ward. So like, my only option for celebrating my birthday would be getting tossed in a lake(at least until I get back) Thoughts? Im leaning towards going on the high adventure

lately, ive been trying to romanticize my life more because i struggle with moderate to severe depression and i felt like maybe romanticizing everything could help me reframe and one thing that's really helped (and also helps when i'm anxious) is listening to classical music. like. all the time listen to it while i'm doing my makeup listen to it while i'm doing my hair listen to it while i'm getting dressed while i'm doing my nails while i'm making food and it has helped a surprising amount. idk. it makes me feel like i'm in a cute lil period drama and it's also like super calming i recommend giving it a try

Off topic! I made a lil' guy on a skateboard! I'm bad at any type of art,btw

currently achieving my dream of being a cute pinterest girlie slow and steady but it is happening and i am so happy i feel so cute

Sadeas never would have wiped the Parshendi out, he was against Dalinar's expedition. He would have kept doing bridge runs until the Listeners summoned the Everstorm. So now the humans lose their best Radiants, don't get to Urithiru until Jasnah returns, they don't have a Bondsmith with a Connection to the Thrill, so Theylenah falls, assuming they can even get a Windrunner to open the gate. Szeth is never defeated, and so he continues to kill monarchs which causes a greater amount of social unrest. He also never goes with Nale, so Lift doesn't have anyone to help her in Edgedanncer, which means Nale continues to kill Radiants around the world, which further weakens humans ability to fight back. There's no one to save Elhokar, so he dies, assuming Sadeas lets him live that long, which likely fractures Alethkar as the various Highprinces fight each other. There are no visions so no coalition is made. Basically everything other than Azimir ends up in the control of either Taravangian or Odium. However Taravangian doesn't have any bargaining chips and thus looses the upcoming battle, and Odium wins.

Guys i've been trying to be more healthy recently some examples are: 1. eating lunch daily ... yeah nothing else LOOK GUYS AT LEAST I'M TRYING yeah and so who knows when school starts back up again, but I've been trying this summer but today I was doing this fun climbing/repelling (which means jumping of a cliff (with a rope)) thing and it went until 3 and now it's almost dinner and uhhh my lunch was 2 chewy bars T^T ok guys I tried

Holy. Crap. After starting the first draft in grade SIX, finishing it in 8th and then rewriting it to work out about 11 of the pov characters and lower it to only 2 people who could reasonably be called protagonist and a year and a half of actual writing of this version, I finished my book. Aside from 3.5 glaring continuity errors that I need to fix, and like editing typos and all of that stuff. I think in the next few months its genuinely possible that it becomes available to be bought, at least online, through usage of some very generous publishers who actually accept submissions without my having an agent to contact them for me, but that will be a whole other thing that I have to do before it does. Most certainly will not be available in bookstores near you unless like somehow Tor gets notified or smth idk but with some of the different organizations that can be contacted online, I can probably get it at least on their respective website's store within the next...while... The Chaos Between, by [Redacted until actually available at which point it will say my name on the book] is (pretty much) done.

We've known it's possible to push on metalminds since The Final Empire-- we saw Vin do it to Rashek's bracers (which were even harder to push due to their piercing his skin). It comes down to Invested objects resisting being affected by other Investiture, and a more Invested object resists more and so takes more strength to affect. The Bands of Mourning were extremely Invested (well, before they were drained at least) and so they would take a lot of strength to affect. Far more than an everyday era 2 Allomancer could muster, apparently. Sazed's metalminds were very small (you're referring to the bag of rings, I think?) and so would hold far less Investiture, even when full, than the Bands did. Marsh was a more concentratedly powerful Allomancer (as all were in era 1) and also may have had enhanced steel Allomancy (I don't recall if we know how many relevant spikes he had, but we know you can stack Allomantic power by adding more) and may have had some of Ruin's own power to draw on (though I think that latter possibility is pretty shaky). So, Wax's maximum Allomantic strength was less than Marsh's, possibly far less, while he also had far more Investiture resisting his efforts than Marsh did.

This is a thread where we will post about the best moments of any Sharder who decides to/ has to leave the Shard, most likely permanently. List of fallen soldiers: @Verdance @NerdSandwich @Through The Living Glass @Rynturning_Light @I Am A Fish @Kansas Stormcursed @Bird Furious @Mist @Vapor @Condensation @Channelknight Fadran @Thaidakar the ghostblood @The Great Wyver

New name, seeing how Verdance's contest is no more.

Hi Everyone. I've recently read Mistborn, Way of Kings, and I'm currently reading Words of Radiance. First, I joined this page because I'm tired of FB, IG, etc,. where ego is bigger than content and folks are just mean AF. I found 17th Shard and thought, "Hell yes!" Second, since I'm a noob, I wanted to be able to go more in-depth in a safe environment with folks who are passionate about what they are talking about. Folks like me: super friendly neurodivergents with a love of unloading the tidbits of their special interest. Next, I'm interested in the art--not to create myself, but see what others have done. And last, I'm 47yo single-mom with a 10yo who is very interested in RP. If I can get her into the Cosmere, maybe the RP is something we could do together. It's not really my thing, but I find the Cosmere fascinating, so I could attempt RP with her to have a shared activity. --HeddaMc

Hmmm. I am guilty of being TERF up until essentially this year, and so i am trying to hard reverse, but at the same time, I am not about to not enjoy books written by people who were antitrans. Our art supercedes us, and I definitely do not support Mohler in nearly every way, I certainly don’t recommend him, I just teeter on the knife edge. Narnia, Ender’s Game, Harry Potter. All worth your time, and available at a local library for free :3 thank you for your grace and kindness. I will continue to try and grow in openness.

One of my friends expressed a vague interest in reading the Cosmere. I wrote them a three-page suggested reading order. I really hope I haven't scared them away.

i think i might be bi

help apparently im being brave today but i will probably chicken out and not post this or at least hide it within 5 minutes so despite my pronouns field (which i wanted to be “screams in frustration” but the field doesn’t like jokes) i am assigned male at birth. and assumed cis since then but looking back for at least a year and a half i havent wanted to be iv really wanted to be a girl and I’ve realized and started actually going down that path when i got to the shard i anonymously followed this thread and others and it’s been tumbling to here and me being trans im just gonna post this right now cuz I’m about to chicken out. help