kaellok

This comment might sound sarcastic, but I am very serious. Poems don't really 'do' anything for me. Language does, though. And rhythm. And patterns. What I love about your poem is that there is absolutely no rhyme scheme to it at all (except for the third and fourth lines of second stanza), and yet there's a very definite rhythm that is mostly constant, as well as pleasing. Language is really neat and cool and you've something interesting with it...which I guess is what poetry is sort of about...about something silly, which makes me happy. (I like silly things. I am silly just to be silly. My stabby-sister has stabby-stabbed me a few times because of this. Usually with knitting needles. Once with a knife, but it was an accident that she actually got me that time. I'm rambling now.) Anyway, it's been really hard for me to avoid giving unsolicited editing advice regarding your poem (which, again, I happen to like your poem, and unsolicited editing advice is basically the worst), so I am going to just stop typing now.

I was immediately reminded of this GalaxyQuest quote:

Vin is...complicated Until this can get moved to Cosmere Theories, spoiler tags! Mistborn Spoilers. Big ones.

I was born in Kansas. Seafood is terrible; like, awful. Just....awful. I moved to Seattle. Seafood now is not good, but I guess I can eat it. If there's not any other option. And there's no tentacles involved. /shudder. Stupid octopus on my plate still haunts my dreams. Yeah, seafood should stay in the sea. And Lift ate a Roll, so that she could become Awesome.

Not sure if you guys are replying entirely to me, but I'll respond as if you are! Because I generally assume everything is about me anyway For me, at least, I was trying to group people into similar magnitudes of power. While there is definitely a difference in overall power from an Elantrian in Elantris vs a normal Mistborn, it's not nearly as much as the difference between the next scale up/down on the list. I don't know much about the God King of Halladren, and honestly forgot about him, but it may very well make sense for him to be on the same power-level magnitude as TLR--else probably on the Mistborn/Feruchamist combo. I wasn't sure where to place the Heralds, because we hear about how amazing they are--but what we've seen really doesn't match up. They may also belong on that line. I'd say Nightblood is same level as Stormfather, and super-shame on me for not mentioning it before. My question with this is, does that include Slivers and powerful/unique spren like the Stormfather and Nightblood? Because I could see it going either way, really.

The Cosmere started with 16 Shards, of which at least 3 have been Splintered, and 2 have joined into one. Which means we have ~12 intact Shards left. Harmony is clearly the most powerful known, as it's a two-in-one. Odium was the cause of Splintering 3 of them, which is a pretty big deal. Below Shards we'd have Slivers (The Lord Ruler) and powerful spren (Stormfather, the Unmade). Next category would be Mistborn/Feruchamists (someone who is both). Then we get into the wobbly category! The greatest single expression of magic-users on a planet--ie, Elantrians in Elantris, Mistborn with full metals, Radiants with plenty of Stormlight, Feruchamist with lots of full and interesting metalminds, etc. So, it'd probably look something like: 1: Harmony 2: Odium 3-12: Every other Shard 13-26ish: TLR, Stormfather, Nightwatcher, all the Unmade 27: Hoid 28: I don't know of any Mistborn/Feruchamist combos besides TLR. But if they exist, they go here. 29: Kelsier, Vin, full-power Raoden, the Heralds, etc. 30: Your full-metal mistings, low-Light Radiants, out-of-place Elantrians, low-metal Mistborn, etc.

Read through the first page of the article you linked. Then saw there were 7 more and bailed, since each page was approximately 4,000 words long My thoughts: By far the largest flaws with the Star Wars prequels is dreadful and terrible acting/writing/dialogue. Even if Lucas was setting out to create some massive epic on scale and scope never before seen in cinema (and not likely to be repeated ever), it failed because of horrific decisions he made and that actors (whether talented or awful) were unable to breathe into life on screen. If Sanderson is trying this, I think it's incredibly more likely to be successful for two reasons. First, the chiastic pattern is native to book/storytelling format, and in part relies upon it (see point 5 of the 7 'rules' listed on page 1 of the essay.) Second, Sanderson is actually a gifted storyteller, and Lucas is not (at least, not when it comes to movie storytelling.) Lucas's gift and genius (aside from the alien fungus that has attached itself to his face and supplanted his entire person) is as a movie producer. tl;dr: Maybe. But Sanderson is actually good at what he's doing if that's what he's going for, and Lucas wasn't. So, Sanderson is far more likely to be successful at it than Lucas.

Feeling chilled even in the middle of summer when it's hot out can have a few different causes, depending on what's going on--listening to really, really good music, beginning symptoms of heat exhaustion, etc. The quotes that hoser provided are all directly related to the use of Stormlight. While they may not immediately rule out your theory, I think they do make it much more unlikely than likely. Which is weird, because I think that using crystallized Stormlight to form Shardplate is very, very plausible as an idea.

Sanderson has said multiple times that he has based his magic systems on actual physics, based off of real-world properties. In fact, you can very easily think of Investiture as a type of energy. Mechanical, thermal, electrical, radiation, Investiture. Although, Investiture may require a break-down into Allomantic, Hemalurgic, Stormlight, etc. A particular system (generally-speaking, not Realmatically) is said to possess energy if it has the ability to do work, and work shifts energy from one system to another. We know that Investiture can be shifted from one magic system to another (see: Why is Vasher on Roshar?) We don't know what the actual effects are on the magic system itself. ie, we know that Endowment is net-neutral, since the energy returns once it is expended, but if Stormlight is being used to power an Endowment system, does the energy return to Stormlight, or to Endowment? Further, is Stormlight net-neutral, -negative, or -positive? We know that Endowment is -neutral, since the energy returns to Endowment when expended, but Hemalurgy is net-negative, because more energy is expended than is gained. So, in that sense, I absolutely think that it is very probable that a kind of "Heat Death of Investiture" is possible within the Cosmere, unless there is a source that is creating energy. As that kind of goes against the whole laws of physics, I doubt it--and also doubt that it will matter, since we're talking a lifespan of billions of years, or longer. Another way to look at the question is for each person to be imbued with a bit of Investiture, and so possibly reaching the point to where all Investiture is spoken for and there are no magic systems (because there's no free-range energy to tap; it's all stored in human 'batteries.') This would probably happen on a world-by-world basis, depending on how they are Invested. For instance, on Scadrial, humans must have that bit of Preservation in them in order to be alive and sentient. On Nalthis, once a critical mass of tapped Investiture happened, I would expect drabs to be born, rather than made, and the Returned would disappear entirely. Actually, in all cases, the greater users of magic would disappear long before we saw any change in the populace. All of that is depending on there not being other, Adonalsium-related, Investiture things going on with life in the Cosmere, and since there is, we know my argument is flawed. tl;dr: Investiture is just energy of a different name/type. And Sanderson follows the laws of physics. So eventual Heat/Investiture Death of Cosmere is inevitable.

I present to you this website, but be warned, billions of hours of time have been lost by people across the globe as they wander into and around TV Tropes.

Yes. Lots and lots of good stuff in it. It's also a fairly easy read with multiple levels (so it's enjoyable whether you ate reading it the first or third time, because there are lots of things it's easy to miss that aren't necessary, but adds to the experience) without being dense like Tolstoy (or even Tolkien.) My sister couldn't do audio and had to read my hard copy version fora first read through because she was missing too much while at work (compared to Mistborn, which apparently wasn't that much of a problem.) Stormlight Archive is epic fantasy done right, if you like to enjoy your books and stories rather than suffer from/through/because of them.

While I love Sanderson, there are absolutely authors out there writing books that are every bit as good as him. Michelle West writes books with characters that are just as strongly realized (and sometimes more) in fantasy setting that feels every bit as real--but Sanderson does action waaayyy better. Mira Grant, although writing horror, has evoked the absolute strongest feelings and reactions in me to characters ever, bar nothing. Jim Butcher's had a few really, really good books that pull together strands from a dozen or more novels for great pay-off (Changes is the finest novel he's ever written, and is just so damned good; I also felt that Cold Days was incredibly strong.) So, there are definitely things as good as a Sanderson book--even if few are reliably better. What I love about Sanderson is that in every nearly every category that you could break a novel into (plot, story, pacing, action, word choice, characterization, world-building, believability/internal consistency, tension, etc.), I'd rate him as at least "good." It's hard to get all those damnation slider bars up there, and even though many authors have a few that are higher, they dip lower in other areas as a result. Also, zucchini is amazing and delicious and one of like 4 vegetables that I actually enjoy. I propose we call it the "Broccoli Standard" instead (or Asparagus, Cauliflower, or Brussels Sprouts, as each and every one of those is literally the devil.)

I disagree with this one--that song is so definitely Dalinar. I can describe the song in three words: Grand, Epic, Boring. (I like it, and I like Dalinar; it's just so totally not Kaladin at all, imo). I like Nightwish's songs better for Hoid. The perfect song doesn't quite exist, but End of all Hope comes close (there's at least three or four others that also come close). While I like the choices for Shallan, and have no problem with them, I think 99 Luftballons captures her personality incredibly well, too. Aggressively cheerful about horrifying and terrifying prospects (and largely because of them. Nuclear war and end of the world at a time when it seems so very, very possible/probable and all.) For Szeth, I give you Mass Effect 3's Leaving Earth. Having it be his anthem changes things so much vs if you played the ME games as religiously as I did, but still--so good, so fitting. So mournful and tragic, smooth and flowing, interrupted by blaring waves of anguish and death. Also, really, Szeth is very much like a Reaper to the Rosharans, so it fits.

There's actually been lots of discussion on this topic, and it seems to ebb and flow like the tides of the oceans Here's a couple things that we know, that people sometimes forget or begin equating with each other. 1. There will be 10 books. 2. Each book will have a 'flashback' character. This book will be 'their' book, as WoK was Kaladin's and WoR was Shallan's. This character will not necessarily be alive in the 'present,' or may not survive the end of the book. 3. Each book is, separately, dedicated to one of the Orders of the Knights Radiant. 4. We will almost definitely be seeing far, far more than only ten Radiants by the end of Book 5. After all, we're already seeing Squires by the end of Book 2. Hell, we've seen more Heralds by the end of Book 2 than Radiants, and I highly doubt that trend will continue. Considering there used to be hundreds of them, it would just seem--well, really wrong to have only ten by the end. So, just because they're a Radiant doesn't mean they'll get a book to themselves. Because so far points 2 and 3 have been the same (Shallan's book was also the Lightweaver book), people tend to assume that this will hold true for all. Two data points is not sufficient to make good predictions. I find it likely that Adolin will not have a book. There's already a lot of Kholins in there, and it seems like much of what we would see through his eyes would be redundant (seen already by Dalinar or Renarin or Jasnah or Eshonai.) Also, I'd lay money that Eshonai will be a Willshaper. Edit: Forgot one thing. A Herald is associated with each Order of the Radiants. The Heralds are still alive. It's entirely possible for a Herald to also become a Radiant. Heraldry and Radianthood are entirely separate, and granted by entirely different (if similar) mechanisms. And the man who thinks of himself as Taln might be crazy, or might be a Herald. We don't know, and Brandon seems to enjoy us not knowing a little too much.

Have an e-cookie for an interesting theory! Now here's why I think it's probably wrong (sorry, I destroy/ruin everything; it's what I do). 1a. "The Nightwatcher is Evil" evidence that we have has a parallel in the real world, too--Christianity vs. various 'pagan' religions. Due to the current incredible dominance of Vorinism, and knowing that it replaced something before it (the Nightwatcher is referred to in combination with the Old Magic, after all), I don't think this stands as evidence of the Odius connection by itself. It just stands as evidence that humans hate that which is Other, and will label it as evil. 1b. Specific to Dalinar, he went to the Nightwatcher and received a curse and a boon. He may be referencing that trip as a cause of the visions. Or throwing it out as an unlikely possibility. Think of statements some people make like "I don't care if they're black, or white, or blue, a person is a person!" Obviously people aren't blue, but by including that as a possibility it's supposed to make their argument stronger. Dalinar is trying to decide whether he's going insane or not--I think that leaves the possibility of extreme rambling and thoughts. 2. There's a WoB that addresses the Nightwatcher. I'll paraphrase, because I'm too lazy to search for it (but not too lazy to type this up in thoughtful detail; go figure). "Q: Is the Nightwatcher to Cultivation as the Stormfather is to Honor? B: You're on the right track." To me, this implies that there is definitely something else going on with the Nightwatcher, but I find it more probable to due to Cultivation still being alive than mixed with Odium. (Although, I guess it argues equally well for you.) 3. Cultivation came to Roshar with Honor, and before Odium (there's another WoB somewhere that Honor and Cultivation were romantically linked before Honor's untimely Splintering.) 4. A WoB that I tried to actually find is that the Unmade are actually Splinters of Odium. I couldn't find it, though. But the Coppermind has it listed as truth, for what it's worth. Which is as much as this e-cookie! Have another! There's also a fixed number of Unmade, and that number is not 10. I have a great memory for WoB, just..can't...seem to find them. Anymore. Because I don't just wreck everything, here's a little something more for ya that helps link Cultivation and Odium: a1. When asked, Brandon said that the parshmen were not originally of Cultivation, not originally of Odium, and not of Honor (took multiple questions to get those answers.) Additionally, we know that there's parshmen blood in some humans (like Rock). Also additionally, we know that both Cultivation and Odium have played around with the genetics of living things on Roshar so that they can, like, live. And stuff. The way the questions were asked and answered, it seemed like it was all separate actions and not cooperative, but--vagueness, ya know? Like, to me it sounded as though Odium modified the peoples so that he'd have a way to get his magic into them so that he could influence them and cause terrible destruction. Cultivation did things because she likes flowers and life. (Again, though, tremendous paraphrasing and assumption.) Also, I went back looking for a couple WoB because I decided I should spend at least 10 seconds searching. Found this thread I don't remember seeing before. It's talking about some of the same things as you (nature of the Nightwatcher.)

I've been going by Lord God Master of the Entire Frickin' Universe for a couple decades now. Even have some worshipers and a couple dozen souls left. After reading Kobold King's post, tho, I'm feeling a bit inadequate.

Why are you on Ragnarok, when Balmung is clearly the superior server?!

Do you REALLY think that a small minded and petty man like Roshone would leave Kaladin's family alone after he and Tien went off to war? The bromes would be needed more than ever after. When the bully publicly beats the tar out of the only person standing up to them, the result is continued cruelty, not a cessation of hostilities (eg, townspeople will continue to not pay Lirin, more greed driven thieves that are less scared of reprisal, etc.)

Ruin and Preservation worked together to achieve their individual goals. Odium and Cultivation may have done the same thing. Also, Stone Shamanate may simply be deceiving the rest of the Shin. It's not like we didn't probably see something similar to that happening with Venli and Stormform, after all. Also, when looking for the twist, Occam's Razor does not necessarily apply. I mean, am i right? Probably not. Is there some weird, evil stuff going on that is helping Odium? Absolutely.

A good deed done in the name or pursuit of evil is still a good deed. Similarly, an evil deed done in the name or pursuit of good is still an evil deed. Deliberately starting a bloody civil war and causing global destabilization of all governments is evil... and even if it saves the world, it doesn't change that the perpetrator of such massive atrocities is also evil. (It should be noted that i feel it is possible for both action and inaction to be evil. I believe taking a human life is always evil, but to NOT do so is, at times, more evil. Ie, killing a serial killer before they can kill again is less evil than letting them go. So, killing millions may be less evil than allowing the world to end and having everyone die, but you are still evil for doing it.)

Aww, it got correctified! Can i still had canon that Splinters are just man parts running around?

I just realized the title of the thread is man parts, not many parts. Which creates entirely different and not necessarily appropriate imagery in my head.

Deleted a bit more than i intended because phone, and lazy. Oh well. I think that IF she were to be radiant, that Skybreaker fits the best based on what we know. She followed the law and rules even to her own detriment, after all. She wanted to marry Kaladin, and encouraged him to become a person where that would be allowed. I find her story more interesting than Szeth right now, too, because i find tragedy more interesting than inanity, so that clearly plays a role, too, lol. @venture mistborn. She was young, like 14 when we last saw her? Of course she wasa naive idiot. Kaladin has been one or the other or both the entire time we have known him. That's part of what makes him so real to so many people.

He WASN'T good enough as a dark eyes. The way that bleeds over into literally everything in their society is the core problem Kaladin faces through 2000 pages of text so far. She clearly liked him, and showed it as openly and closely as their society allow (and maybe even more). As of now, I pity Laral, because after her father died, all she had were people intent on using her for her position (and i mean marriage with intent to make babies). Less deadly than what Kaladin faced, but sure to have been far more lonely and with little or any possibility of joy or happiness. I think a reunion between Kaladin and Laral will be interesting, but not romantic. Then again, I'm not sure Kaladin would be capable of romance even if the fate of the Cosmere depended on it.

Splintering can be voluntary or involuntary. A Shard could Splinter off a single piece, or a dozen, or more. Looking at purposeful Splintering (as in the Returned) is likely to be quite different than the forced Splintering (ie, killing of a Shard). Knowing how many Seons there are, or were, would actually be very helpful in knowing if there is anything more going on. The actual number probably has to do with the amount of power a Splinter can have before it's something more, but retaining enough that it is not something less, all while relative to the total amount of power available to a Shard. (Note: there is no terms for "more" or "less" that I am aware of. I just think that there's always a more fine and precise way to measure something than using only centimeters, meters, and kilometers, even if those are the most commonly used and generally sufficient.)