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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.

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.

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!

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!

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.

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.

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)

“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.

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.

I have great news! As y'all know (or know now), I have been accepted into college, and the college just accepted my residence application. Now, I must study to prep.

Thanks everyone I appreciate it I kinda really needed to hear that I’ll try not to shut down or silence or up play whoever is me at the moment and I’ll try to get back comfortable in my own skin

Hell hath no fury like that of a trans girl after being stuck in a boys dorm for a full week, and it’s only been a day… someone’s getting jumped by the time I get to day seven

"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

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.

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

I am so thankful for the people in my Stake We had our Stake General Priesthood Meeting today, and I had been asked to have a talk ready for it. The prompt was just to share an experience where I’d been a peacemaker. So I wrote and practiced a talk on sharing the gospel and standing up for it. When I showed up, our stake president started talking about how the theme of meeting was about loving those around us. My immediate thought was “Oh. I’m screwed” I prepared a talk on the wrong definition! So I still had to go and do it, and somehow that was still like top 2 out of the talks I’ve given(I’ve had some bad ones because social anxiety). But I was so relieved cause after the meeting when we were all talking I had all sorts of people come up to me and tell me I did good. A few even said they misunderstood as well. My Stake is amazing. *I realize this makes no sense whatsoever to some of you*

This one was interesting for me. I both loved and hated TSM. As a standalone book I think it was terrible, as while the plot was interesting the character and emotional beats felt really flat. As a part of the cosmere it was amazing and I loved it, as it revealed so much about how investiture works and how to look at the cosmere. I've honestly decided to just think of it as a canonized WoB rather than a book unto itself.

“Professor Plum, you were once a professor of psychiatry specializing in helping paranoid and homicidal lunatics suffering from delusions of grandeur.” “Yes, but now I work for the United Nations.” “So your work has not changed.” —one of my favorite bits from Clue

This may seem confusing at first, but will make sense when you finish reading. First, you have to know Binary, and how to convert it to normal base 10 numbers. In binary, everything is a 1 or a 0, and instead of, for example, a 1s 10s and 100s place like in base 10 (normal numbers), it has a 1s, 2s, and 4s place with the value multiplying by 2 each time instead of 10. For example, let's decode 0010101. The 1 on the right is in the ones place. Current total: 1 The next number to the left is a 0, in the twos place. Add nothing. Current total: 1 The next number to the left, a one, is in the fours place. Add 4 to the total. Current total: 5 The next number to the left is a 0, in the eights place. Add nothing. The number to the far left is a 1, in the 16s place. Add 16 to the total. Current total: 21 There are now no more non-zero numbers to the left, so we are done. 0010101 (binary) is equal to 21 (base 10). Now that you know how to convert from binary to base 10, you can begin creating a single Brickish letter, represented by one word "brick", except the case of each letter matters. An uppercase letter maps to a 1, and a lowercase to a 0. For example, bRiCk would be 01010. Now, to actually create a letter. Each letter gets a number, which corresponds to its place in the alphabet. If you can't figure out what place in the alphabet a letter has, or what letter in the alphabet a number becomes, sing the ABCs in your head and count on your fingers. For example, the A=1, B=2, C=3, D=4, etc. To make a letter in Brickish, first find the letter's number. Then encode that number into binary. If the resulting binary number is less than 5 digits long, pad the left side with 0s. For example, 101 would become 00101 to make it 5 digits. If you do this correctly, it should never be more than 5 digits. Now, map that number to the word "brick", where capitals are 1 and lowercase letters are 0. For example, 00101 becomes "brIcK". YAY! You just made a letter in brickish! Now, formatting. Letters (bricks) are separated by spaces - brick brick brick Words are separated by newlines. brick brick brick brick brick brick brick would be 3 words. Now of course, you will never see a normal all-lowercase "brick" in Brickish, because that maps to a 0, and there is no 0th letter of the alphabet. Here is a full example of decoding the Brickish letter "BrICk". Convert to binary. 10110 Convert to base 10. 16 + 0 + 4 + 2 + 0 = 22 Sing the abcs and finger count to find the right letter. 22 maps to the letter V. DONE!!! Finally, the last thing you need to know to be fluent in Brickish: how to convert base 10 to binary, to create a word. Let's use 19 as an example. First, we create the left most digit in the 5 digit binary sequence, the one in the 16s place. If your number is more than 16, that digit will be a 1, and subtract 16 from your number. Current binary: 1, current number: 19-16 = 3 Now we do the same thing for the 8s place. 3 is less than 8, so we put a 0 there. Current binary: 10 Now the 4s place. 3 is less than 4, so we put a 0 there. Current binary: 100 Now the 2s place. 3 is more than 2, so we subtract 2 from it and put a 1 there. Current binary: 1001 Finally, the 1s place. 1 is equal to 1, so we subtract one and put a 1 there. Final binary: 10011 THE FULL PROCESS OF CREATING THE WORD "hey": H is number 8 in the alphabet. 8 maps to 01000 in binary. 01000 maps to bRick in brickish E is number 5 in the alphabet. 5 maps to 00101 in binary. 00101 maps to brIcK in brickish. Y is number 25 in the alphabet. Let's go through the process of turning this into binary. 16s place: is 25 more than or equal to 16? Yes. Subtract 16 (new number 9) and put a 1 there. Current binary: 1. 8s place: is 9 more than or equal to 8? Yes. Subtract 8 (new number 1) and put a 1 there. Current binary: 11. 4s place: 1 < 4, so use a 0. Current binary: 110. 2s place: 1 < 2, so use a 0. Current binary: 1100. 1s place. 1 = 1, so subtract 1 (new number 0) and put a 1 there. Final binary: 11001 Now that it is in binary, we just need to map it to capitals and lowercases of the word brick. 11001 maps to BRicK. FINAL RESULT: bRick brIcK BRicK It seems like a long process, but you will get faster at it.

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.

ALL HAIL THE COSMIC BRICK!!!

I had rly interesting Convo with this one like 6 year old were I was explaining that despite me being a “boy” I was in fact a mermaid not a merman bc mermen aren’t cool enough for me and I love how since she was a child it was just funny and didn’t make me dysphoric at all

Uhhhhhhhhhhh yes hehe Ash Porfa call me Ash To try Heheheh I'm honestly having some very confusing feelings in the past few days. Past two maybe. Or three. I lose track of time, I thought multiple times today that it was already Friday... I journaled about everything a fair amount (I've gotten back into journaling as of a few weeks ago and have been doing it every day or nearly since). Like... where to start I mean also there have been changes that could be impacting it. I got a new med around the same time or a day before I started thinking about this. I also changed my presentation a bit (dyed hair, finally wearing shorts, other stuff too). Like also I'm wearing what i call to myself my depressing hoodie cuz it's black and either makes me more depressed or dysphoric when i wear it or that's just my imagination. oh yeah im depressed again tehe now that the worst anxiety has lifted im tired and depressed. yay... or maybe i was already tired and depressed idk. but uhh.... im just questioning everything about my gender and sometimes i hate it and idk and like for maybe an hour or less i felt strongly like Ash and was even gonna test run it with my dnd group, but then i backed out and like didn't feel it *as* strongly/intensely? And everything is weird *gahhhhhh* i considered genderfluid but idk i worry im just thinking im enby cuz im depressed or dysphoric or something else but i also have never liked having gendered terms used on me at least not the feminine one and i for the life of me cant remember/know if the masc ones bothered me or not, and that makes me worry im actually just cis/male and that all of this was a waste or smth even though ive changed SO much, for the better and some for the worse, but I finally feel human so that's good but i used to, and sometiems still, disliked when people used they/them pronouns on me (in a good-intentioned way, ofc). Then other times it was nice. Though also that was before I was out, and it was an alternative to the other... Sometimes I kinda want no pronouns or gendered terms, and sometimes not even a name. Maybe just cuz I don't like whatever i was/am using in that time. and i know there's such a thing as agender, and im not sure And i could be enby but they/she or she/they, right? (as opposed to they/them, or something else.) What if im masc... i feel a sense of either masc or like....... fem and enby, or masc enby or masc fem (like a girl but kinda masc. I think there's a word for that, demiboy or demigirl or smt or demiguy, right?) but......... idk cuz i just feel like im switching everything up every so often from music taste to clothing to my name or username or pronouns ughhhh my music taste has went from sabrina carpenter olivia rodrigo katy perry etc. to nirvana grunge stuff to j-pop to indie rock and random new stuff rock/metal (or, back to?) and my clothing/style is shifting too, and like... idk. And same with what colors of clothing i like, what types, and ughh it feels like nothing is real/permanent so why bother and why commit and why enjoy it too much if it'll go away/change? How can I say I'm a girl or an enby or whatever? How can I say "I like _____" (skirts, purple, fingerless gloves, hoodies, black, etc...)? My interests, too. Everything I like and enjoy or once did. Who I am. I'm so confused...

Today’s band drama: It’s a little long and complicated but it’s quite a story So- the older news The staff member for front ensemble (my section) isn’t gonna be here during band camp (yeah, the 12 hours of band every day, that part) We didn’t have an instructor last year and it was bad. Being self taught wasn’t great. Because of this, last year’s section leader who was supposed to be my co-section leader for front ensemble and Percussion Captain quit cuz that was really hard on her last year and she didn’t want to deal with it again Now, this kinda threw the whole structure into disarray. We figured it out, I’m the sole section leader of front now and Percussion Captain and it’s all good. Now, the new stuff Yesterday she decided that she was rejoining actually and not quitting. Now, I didn’t mind, the more the merrier and she’s a good player that would benefit the group to have. However, this morning she learned that she wouldn’t be section leader or marimba 1 (highest seat and hardest music) so she got really mad and left her class to go fight the band director about it. Naturally she didn’t win but I don’t know the details. But like… what part of quitting do you think means you can randomly decide to come back last minute and be back as a leader? The entire point of leading is being dependable, what’s stopping you from changing your mind and quitting again? And what part of getting mad and confronting the director do you think is gonna help you, you’re not acting like a leader. She was talking about how nobody deserved it more or did more for the section then her, and that may be true for last year but this line is mostly new and she hasn’t done much for this new group. Besides, you lose your right to lead when you abandon a group. The people you lead give you the power to lead them, consent of the governed. If you cut those ties when you quit, your group loses faith in you. Plus the section has been used to me leading until now, in a style far different from hers, it just doesn’t work that way Anyways, if any of y’all made it this far, have a fun fact Parking spaces are usually 162 square feet They do NOT feel that big No I didn’t waste 10 minutes researching parking square sizes dw abt it

ICANTUPVOTE!!!!

I’m going to finish this, even if you never see it. And if I return, yall are 100% going to get to see it.

You're looking at the two dimensional projection of the three dimensional space - the Z axis is completely missing from this map and you can't accurately estimate distances between stars. While Roshar and Scadrial might look fairly close on the XY axes, on the Z axis they might be separated by dozens or hundreds of light years and the opposite might be true when considering their distance to the Drominad system. And while we know this image represents a real sky visible from some location in Cosmere, we don't know where it is and how far away from other stars is that place.

Book too big. Make book smaller. It's hard to review because it's so big and has so many different storylines. I enjoyed the lore dumps of the new visions and Tanavast POVs. Kaladin's mission felt too videogamey go defeat the guardians of the temple to unlock the triforce type of thing. I felt like we didn't get enough of where people lived in Shinovar. The big loophole in the contract being capturing the capitals was a little disappointing. It was confusing how Taravangian can kind of fudge things in that regard, but Hoid is like "we can't change the laws that would be cheating". El didn't do much after a big buildup. BAM literally didn't do anything after a big build up. Rhlain and Renarin freeing her was a nice touch calling back to when she was trapped. I thought the ending worked well. Having Shallan playing Hide and Seek in the Visions felt a little redundant. We see the visions through Dalinar and then we see them through Shallan. I was definitely poisoned by Brandon saying the book would wrap up the front 5 arc and it didn't except for Dalinar. Looking forward to the Voidlight archives (Warlight whatever). Dismayed that it might be another 6.5 years before the new release.

“Spite and gayness.” - @Kansas Stormcursed, June 2026 THE NEXT DAY but no one else posted so I have to edit ”merp is merp.” - @Shatter, 2026

"Oop! My head exploded again. Glad I learned to speak through my neck and hands after last time." - @Conure1243

Marsh's ability appears to be extremely strong when compared to the small amount of things likely stored in the metalmind to begin with; the Bands are likely filled to the brim with whatever it is that they're filled with and thus resist steelpushing more

On today's list of questionable decisions: I've decided to do Believer by Imagine Dragons at karaoke next weekend...we shall see how it goes Also, small update, new record for simultaneous joints effed up! (It's most of them)

Howdy folks I’m not entirely sure what I am or if I even belong here First I thought I was straightforwardly bi, then I thought I was biromantic/asexual, then demisexual And now I really have no idea I’ve been trying to do some research to varying degrees of success As best I can tell, I experience both romantic and sensual attraction but have little to no interest in sex itself And romantic/sensual attraction only with people I’ve already known for a long time and already gotten close to So Yeah I don’t know lol It’s complicated

somewhere around pentagon... Duo is coming for me... If I were a vessel of a Shard, I would go insane... or I would be dead

Hey everyone. I kinda feel like I'm interrupting a little. Been away for a little bit, but I just need to say this I think. I started on this forum when I was feeling kinda better and hoped to be of more help here. But my meds have been messing with me pretty bad. I had been feeling better, or thought I was, then my anxiety starting coming back and now has surpassed what it ever was to begin with with. Luckily I see my doc today. Hopefully we can find out a solution. I feel like I've been on so many now, I can't believe any more are left. I'm not even sure what's me and what's the medicine at this point. I don't feel like I even know what's actually the problem. According to several different doctors, I'm like borderline for all kinds of stuff, but nothing definitive other than depression and anxiety. Makes it feel like a generic diagnosis, even though I think that's still enough on it's own. This week has been the first time in a little while that I wanted nothing more than just to give up. Just pack my things, get my girlfriend, then drive into the woods and disappear. I'm no outdoorsman, I'd definitely cry the first time I had to kill anything at all to survive, so that probably isn't a great idea. Still seems better than the alternative of sitting at work trembling and fidgeting because I can't sit still. How does everyone deal with these changes? The constant up and down?

*learning the song that the childrens you were in charge of had to learn* *Proceeding to have that song stuck in your head for the next TWO WEEKS*

@The Great Wyver All the powder you threatened to give Spartan...

Lol thanks guys. Should note that I am still around, mostly when I'm pinged. I'll rarely post or reply otherwise, but I am technically still here ish

Hi, everyone! I’m Irvin, and I’ve read 11 Brandon Sanderson books so far. The funny thing is, my first one is probably not a lot of others’ first. My first was… Infinity Blade Awakening HAHAHAHAHAHA I was so obsessed with the games on the iPad, that I just had to read the two novellas when they came out. The others I’ve read are the Mistborn Trilogy, 3 out of 4 COVID secret project books (the Cosmere ones), Warbreaker, Isles of the Emberdark, and The Emperor’s Soul. Wanna do Mistborn Era 2 next, but I also have other books in my backlog that I wanna clear first. Excited to join the community!

Coolness doesn’t matter. I can’t replace you, and I don’t want to. I doubt anyone can ever truly replace someone they lost. If they can, they never really cared. We all care, and there will always be a place here for you, if you choose to return

Topics:gender If you do not feel comfortable with any of the topic(s) listed above, read no further. I will not spoiler the text in this blog to accommodate for you. This is your only warning. Unfortunately we don't ever get to be pure, you know. Because there are people out there who influence us and who guide us. What does it mean to be trans? The definition is easy enough to find: Someone who's gender identity does not align with that assigned at birth. But that's just a word salsa Being trans isn't about just being different. It's about a journey with many steps, one that can't be skipped. Admittedly, the way I looked at being trans has evolved over time. Originally, I presumed I had the courage to simply become a dynamic force and get straight to presenting feminine, and wearing feminine clothes. I thought that it would be simple, getting through the steps. But over time, that warped into something different. I couldn't become a dynamic force, because I was shaped by the social structure around me. I could not even alter my gender expression a bit for fear of others noticing. So it became a waiting game, like a spider in a web. I never once wore any gender affirming clothing outside of locked doors, and I never once used a different name outside of tightly controlled spaces. And there are so many other changes, like how initially I focused on how good it would be later on and now I only focus on how I can make my position slightly more inline with who I am. Gender isn't really a clear concept to me either. I found that androgyny is more comforting to me than hyperfeminine styles, even though I consider myself transfeminine. It became a representation of a position where I would merely be more happy. Whether it aligned well with labels became completely irrelevant. There is a part of me that worries that when I encourage trans/cis people to question their gender or affirm their gender or guide them with getting started that I am detracting from this vital journey of self discovery. I really hate people who impose things on others, whether or not it is in the best interest of that individual. And I don't want to become someone like that, because I took an oath to myself that I would never become those people that I hate It is incredibly hard to tell when you're overstepping a line, because they are not drawn well. In the same way, there is a part of me that wants to share the joys of being trans with the world. and then there is a part of me that needs to remember that I don't get to decide when other people take their journeys it's hard to show restraint sometimes, especially since no one rewards you or even notices what you don't say[/s], which is arguably harder to figure out that what you do end up saying. It takes a lot of discipline, a skill I am attempting to improve. That's enough for now.