Pathfinder

The spren issue I would see as getting to know them and their proclivities lol. So for instance if it was Ivory, a reasoned explanation regarding boundaries I think would suffice. If it was Pattern, (and assuming he isn't worried I will kill him like with Shallan), then I would put forward research into an experiment. When I would like to be alone, or be alone with my wife, Pattern can see how he experiences the world as a sprenblade in the living room without moving from the spot I leave him till I come back. Then he can tell me all his findings after. Wyndle I think would be horrified by the idea and voluntarily leave. Syl is a prankster, so it would more be a matter of directing her pranks elsewhere onto someone else. Perhaps a pesky neighbor? Glys I would imagine would know what is coming, so would give space voluntarily. The stormfather doesn't want anything to do with humans, so I highly doubt he would bother to watch. Whatever the skybreaker spren are could be reasoned with that voyeurism against the explicit permission of those involved is illegal and thereby they cannot engage in said practice. Timbre I think would be respectful. That I would just have to ask. I don't think we know enough about ash spren or stone spren (if that is what they are called for stonewards) for me to say. That was fun to write lol.

If you are using the realistic attainment of a power source as a limiter, then mistborn and feruchemy is also out. The metal only acts as a gateway for mistborn. If you are on earth, then there isn't any preservation or harmony, so there is no power to flow through the metal. So you would just give yourself metal poisoning. Regarding feruchemy, if no preservation, ruin, or harmony, then there is no spiritual DNA for you to have access to these abilities, so that is out as well. So I would rather approach this as hey what power would you enjoy having if you could pick whatever power you want, without having to be concerned at where your power is sourced.

Well a human straight male can still objectively comment that another human straight male is handsome. But in regards to your point, then potentially Kandra would be the most suited to judge as they could physically look like any race or sex involved, and have possibly experienced living as any race or sex involved, so could most objectively comment. (also they would not only look, but have have fully functional parts of those individuals, so if anyone could truly understand where someone is coming from, it would theoretically be a kandra)

Someone in the CR (to the best of my recollection), cannot hear, nor see what is going on in the physical realm. They see flames that represent people, and stones that represent things. If that person touches the flame, they get an impression of the person, but still not what that person is doing or saying. They can come to some conclusions (such as Shallan having known that the men were on the deck, and putting two and two together that the sailors were being killed due to their flames being extinguished), but although that is informative, it is not full "spying" that I was referring to. I am wondering if someone can from the CR take a peak at what is happening in the physical, and if they can, do they make a reverse "investiture bubble" representing themselves like when they are in the physical peering into the cognitive? These are the things I was wondering lol.

Having trouble with his name, I think Telrii? The noble in Elantris that sold everyone out to one up the other noble. He was corpulent if I recall correctly. The ardent in oathbringer that introduced the rebel ardent to the queen's retinue. Ummmm, oh! the ardent researching food with the female ardent researching spren. Jasnah's versitilian "sister" who is actually a male baker. I will add more as I think of them.

Just watched Parasite and it deserves all the hype and ratings it got. It was very well done.

This does make me wonder, since an Elsecaller can both peer into, and fully enter the cognitive realm, could they do the same in reverse? As in fully enter the cognitive realm, and then peer into the physical? I know they can manifest the physical in the cognitive, but could they "spy" from the cognitive realm, and if so, how would that look?

Yep, it is a natural outgrowth like with the metals Khyrindor (paraphrased) Do the Honorblades reflect the natural pairing of Surges, or did Honor decide which Surge pair to put in each Blade? Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased) The pairs are natural to Roshar in the same way as the metals on Scadrial. When Worlds Collide 2014 (Aug. 9, 2014)

It is a theory I have seen before. That doesn't mean there is anything wrong with you coming to the same conclusion. There is quite a bit to support it, but it has not been confirmed yet. I wish you luck with your theory!

So first to make sure I understand what you are saying correctly. Your theory is that the entity named "The God Beyond" could potentially be an actual entity that exists within the confines of the Cosmere? And that entity could be shown to not be the idea of the capital-G God? (using your terminology) If that is what you are saying, I believe the reason you are getting the responses you are getting, is because that would be the stance of some in-world scholars. I could have sworn that there was a WoB that stated that within the Cosmere there was never a greater "being" than Adonalsium, but all I was able to locate is that all magic within the Cosmere is shard based, and ultimately sourced at Adonalsium. So if this entity "The God Beyond" did actually exist within the confines of the cosmere, could be proven to be the entity that people refer to as "The God Beyond" and not just some entity pretending to be it, and proven not to be the idea of the capital-G God (using your terminology), then by its nature individuals like Dalinar, Silence, and Wayne (I think he mentioned it?) would be proven wrong. This would not intrinsically mean individuals like Jasnah as an atheist would be proven right. Just the entity known as "The God Beyond" would be proven to not be that idea of the capital-G God. There could still theoretically be a "The God Beyonder". Personally I do not think "The God Beyond" could be an entity within the Cosmere, and be proven to not be the idea of the capital-G God, because I feel that narrative has already occurred, and is still occurring. It occurred with Dalinar in Stormlight. His faith in the Almighty as Vorinism represents it was proven false. But Dalinar did not lose faith. He knew in his heart that there was still something out there that was to him the idea of the capital-G God. Just Vorinism mislabeled it persay. Or more accurately he ultimately disagreed with their representation of it. So the idea of the capital-G God always existed for him, and didn't change. His idea of the capital-G God was not proven wrong. It did not die. Just the representation he chose to assign to it. Now he assigns "The God Beyond" to it. If "The God Beyond" was shown not to be the idea of the capital-G God, that again does not mean Dalinar was wrong, because the feeling he holds in his heart is true to him. His faith is true to him. Just because whatever entity is present is proven not to be "it", does not intrinsically mean "it" does not still exist out there. So I guess the TLDR version is the theory that the God Beyond is not actually a capital G God is perfectly valid. The reason I think it has not gotten more traction is as you have said, and others have said, Brandon has said he will never confirm or deny it. By the theory of the God Beyond being shown to not actually being the capital-G God, it would be clearly denying it, and result in characters like Dalinar seeking what they see as the "true" entity that is the being with the capital-G God. Conversely characters like Jasnah, assuming they had the same personality traits as her, would react the same way she already did with him. With compassion and understanding. Jeff (paraphrased) Was Adonalsium’s power original to Adonalsium? Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased) Yes. As far as anyone knows, there was no predecessor to Adonalsium. Good question. DragonCon 2019 (Aug. 30, 2019) Phantine Are there any magic systems in the cosmere that aren't shard based? Brandon Sanderson This depends on definitions. The effects of Adonalsium permeate everything, and Adonalsium is also the source of the Shards. It is possible to find a magic that isn't DIRECTLY powered by a specific shard, however, though most of these would have been set up before the shattering and would be much smaller in scope than things like Allomancy and Surgebinding. /r/fantasy AMA 2013 (April 17, 2013) dgenio8 (paraphrased) If the force opposing Adonalsium is an entity like him/it (?), have we seen any magic that is related to this entity? Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased) No. All the magic you see come from the shards of Adonalsium. Lisbon signing (Nov. 7, 2016) edit: I went back over your post a few times more just to be extra extra extra sure, and I saw this line. I believe we have confirmation that Brandon's Cosmere will only be focused on the Cosmere itself. If the God Beyond was an entity within that reality, but outside the Cosmere, (as in for example if we were only looking at a city within a state, and there is an entity in the next city over influencing the city we are looking at) I think that could potentially be, but again I think that would result in those that believe in The God Beyond as they believe it to be, would mean it was false. Which would then go back to my post above.

Sorry, I don't fully understand what you are saying, so to clarify my post. All it was intended to say was Drehy was based on a real character in Brandon's life. Like Skar. Just saying that was the reason for the character's inclusion in the story. The intention was not to argue for or against any point in this thread. Either side in this thread or anyone here can use that information as they wish. Anything stated regarding that information is not intended to be connected to me in any way. Post not intended to say that due to it being a real life character, how Drehy was portrayed is ok. Nor am I saying it is not ok. Just saying Drehy is based on a real life character. Hope that helps. edit: even more just in case. I am not saying Drehy being a real person being why he is included in the story, is arguing or disputing what you said about using Drehy to say "hey this person is gay". Again, not my intention to argue in favor for or against any argument in this thread. Just adding information. Hope that helps

I don't think we know whether that is true or not. We never saw anyone perform it on screen with pewter, but I also don't think it was ever explicitly stated as not possible. My assumption is someone would have to be burning pewter non-stop for a long time depending on the limb (finger versus arm), and would definitely depend on the organ (going to need some medical life support for heart, kidneys, etc)

Taravangian and Co traveled to Jah Keved that was having a Civil War. His humanitarian efforts resulted in them naming him as King. Jah Keved has an oathgate and Taravangian was operating from there. Kharbranth itself does not have an oathgate.

But I guess that is where our disconnect lies. The WoB I posted earlier in the thread said that both pewter and gold healing are stopped the same way by an aluminum bullet. As in the healing stops. The pewter is only less effected at first because of pewter's ability to help someone "tank" damage, and not drop immediately. But the healing is still prevented in both cases. That's why I disagree with saying f-gold is healing magically/spiritually or however else anyone would like to call it, while pewter only increases the body's natural processes. if that was the case, then the pewter thug should still be able to "heal" whereas the WoB says he can't. We also see Wayne's healing work like the human body's natural processes. Blood and platelets coagulate, sealing the wound, and then the dead flesh/scab has to slough off for new healthy skin to finish the healing process. So for me, if f-gold is just healing magically/spiritually and having nothing to due with the body's natural healing process (as some have put forward to show it is different than pewter), then that scene to me runs counter to that. Which is what led me to my own conclusion, is that they both work on cosmeric healing principles. They both look to the blueprint of the spiritual ideal, filtered through the cognitive sense of self. They both use investiture (pewter via burning, gold via tapping) to heal. This manifests through the body's natural occurrences. Aluminum cuts off this healing in both of them the exact same way as the WoB says. The only difference functionally to me between pewter and gold healing, is you can only flare pewter so far, so your healing will take longer. With gold you can choose how fast you want to heal. There is a scene I need to pull up, where Wayne even says he taps healing far less so as not to waste it, and his wounds heal a little faster than they should normally, but he still needs to bandage them. Which sounds a whole lot like pewter to me. Vin heals faster than she should. It says so in the books. And it is not just her being more durable so she can walk around while she heals normally. She comments about it to herself. Wax does the same in the second trilogy. I think we are getting bogged down with wording. We are also told Tin enhances all the senses, but I think we all accept Tin works the same for allomancy as it does for feruchemy. Just with feruchemy you can pick which sense you increase, and to what degree, while with allomancy it is all of them and it plateaus. Just like pewter to me. here is the WoB again for reference. Both the bloodmaker and thug would be unable to heal around the aluminum till it is removed. Kurkistan What would happen if you shot a thug with an aluminum bullet or stabbed him with an aluminum knife? Brandon Sanderson Ah, that's a good question. The wound would not be able to heal around the aluminum, but once the aluminum came out and was gone from the system, they would be okay. Kurkistan Wait, is that a Bloodmaker, not a Thug? Brandon Sanderson Oh, you're talking about Thugs? It would work similarly, but it really wouldn't have a huge effect on them. Kurkistan Alright, because Peter was implying that there was some weird aluminum interaction with Thugs. Brandon Sanderson What was he thinking of...? There is some weird interaction but... Kurkistan In the wedding scene, Wax thinks they would have aluminum bullets to deal with Thugs, and I was like, "Oh, that's a typo." And Peter was like, "Oh no it's not..." Brandon Sanderson No, no. That would just be-- it's like I said: healing it until the bullet is gone, it's just the same as Bloodmakers. Footnote: Referring to AoL sample chapter commentary. Words of Radiance Philadelphia signing (March 21, 2014)

I may be misunderstanding what you are saying. The way the human body works normally, is when the body is injured, production of cells are ramped up. Blood flow to the wounded area is increased. There are many locations in the human body that produce cells and they increase in blood flow to the wounded area is what gets them there. So if the aluminum is preventing the boost from a specific area (lets say a gunshot wound to the leg), then the rest of the person's body is still producing the increased amount of cells, and sending those cells to the leg to heal it. That is the human body's natural functions. It's an entire body effort. Its not like if you get injured in your leg, there is only specific cells to help heal your leg, and are only produced at the leg. There are specializations for cells, but for external injuries there is a very clear function that the entire body works together to maintain. So if all pewter did was increase the body's natural systems, then the other parts of the body are still creating much greater numbers of cells, and those cells are still getting sent to the target location. It is kind of like saying you are cutting off electricity to a construction site, when the contractors use hand tools to build, and there is still an increased number of workers being sent to the site. Then saying the site cannot be built because the electricity was cut off so power tools cannot be used. You still have an army of workers with hand tools that should still be able to build that building in record time because so many more were sent to the spot.

But I guess what I am trying to say is the body's natural systems involve sending a greater supply of white blood cells, platelets and blood to the wounded site to prevent infection, and promote coagulation to seal the wound and allow new skin to grow. What happened to Wayne to me is literally what the normal human body does, just accelerated. Which would fall in line with the concept of storing "health", thereby making you more susceptible to illness (weakening your immune system), and then tapping a large amount of heath in a moment (strengthening your immune system), resulting in a speedy healing. To take this further, to me the same applies with Tin. When burning Tin in allomancy, all your senses are augmented at once, to a certain level, that can only be increased to a plateau at flaring. Touch, taste, smell, sight, and etc. All at once. Conversely feruchemy requires each sense to be stored in a separate metal mind. One metal mind for sight. Another for touch. Another for smell. Pewter covers a bunch of feruchemical abilties that require separate metal minds and in some cases separate metals. Just to me, again the only difference is the plateau. As I said earlier, if that is the case, then why does aluminum prevent pewter healing? The body's natural repair system involves sending white blood cells, platelets, and red blood cells to the wounded site. If the aluminum bullet is localized (which it is, confirmed via WoB), and pewter works differently from gold, by only strengthening the body's natural repair system, then the cells (white, platelet, and red) should all still be able to be produced in greater numbers from other parts of the body, being flooded to the wound, and heal. Aluminum negates investiture. Not natural bodily functions. I will put a separate TLDR version of this If Pewter and Gold a functionally at their core different in how they take care of the body, then I think the scene with Wayne, and how the WoB mentions Aluminum disagrees with this. I think pewter and gold both function the same way that all cosmeric healing functions. To me the only difference between pewter and gold, is gold you can tap as much as you have stored to heal as fast and as extensively as you want. While pewter plateaus, and you need to maintain bodily functions long enough for that healing to overcome the injury.

So my wife and I gave a bunch a shows a shot. The October Faction even though we loved the parents, we could not stand the kids or any other characters. Just couldn't pull us in so we gave up on it. We gave the Witcher three tries (saw the first episode, gave up. then tried the second episode, still couldn't get into it, but decided to give episode three a shot, and then just gave up completely). We watched Locke and Key all the way through and although we love the world building, and the keys, the actors and actresses just fall flat for us so we probably are not going to continue if a season 2 is done. Finally The Outsider is a winner for us. Love everything about it and focused on every episode. Would highly recommend.

I guess, but for myself, if that is the case, then it brings me back to the question I posed earlier. Why does Wayne when healing grow scabs, and require the giant back sized scab sheet to be ripped off before he can finish healing? My understanding of cosmeric healing is that the spiritual is used as a blue print, with the cognitive acting as architectural notes on subsequent remodels. But in order to return the actual structure to the blueprint, you still need to physically fix it. Which sounds an awful lot like what pewter does to me too. (side note, that is the first time i came up with that metaphor. I am actually kind of proud of that, blue print, and architectural notes on remodels lol)

Just a tidbit of information that I am not sure if it will affect anyone in this thread how they see the situation with Drehy but I feel it is relevant. (to clarify, not saying this piece of information should make the treatment of Drehy ok, or not ok. Just adding information). Drehy is based on an actual person in Brandon's life. That person is also actually gay. And I believe the person that Drehy is involved in, is the real life partner of the real life person (who we see upset and in tears near the end of Oathbringer because he thought at the time that Drehy went down with Kholinar and is dead).

Do you mean the scene where Nale and Lift are at Stump's orphanage for the climatic battle?

Just to clarify, I am not trying to convince you to see Edelgard in a better light, and Rhea in a worse light. My intention was Edelgard's "worser" actions that I believe led you to see her so unfavorably did not take place on her run because Byleth was there bringing out her best. Just like (to me), Rhea's "worser" actions occurred in Crimson Flower because Byleth didn't inspire her to be "better". It is brought down to a defining moment. Same with my Age of Apoclypse example. One moment. One choice of the protagonist completely changes the other character's entire arc. So I will be happy to go at length in spoilers if you will like, but the TLDR portion is I feel Dalinar had the capability to change and be better all along. There are scenes that show as much. That shshshsh saw in Dalinar what no one else did, but it was there already. The tradegy for me is that in the world Dalinar was in, he did not have the time or space to nurture that side. That is why who stepped in, stepped in. The fact (to me) that she said it could have just as easily gone the other way, says to me that it had to be Dalinar at the end of the day that had to change. That he had to be the one to bring out that side of him. To be clear not saying he is not responsible for his actions. Just I do feel Dalinar was always capable of changing, and the Dalinar we know now and love was always possible and present. I think had circumstances been different, the Dalinar we know and love could have come to be on his own, without the memory loss.

I think it gets a representation of the vase as the person who reconstructs it. Brandon has discussed this I believe in the "ship of theseus". If you replace a piece of the ship, but still see the ship as the ship, then it will still be "the ship". This will continue till over time every single piece of the ship was replaced with a different part, till technically no part is original, but since it is still seen as the ship of theseus, then the cognitive aspect will still be the ship of theseus. But in your example, all knowledge that it was the ship of theseus was lost, so even though you reform it with still the same component parts, if the ship is now referred to as the ship of bart (lets say), it would gain the new cognitive self of the ship of bart, regardless whether it looks exactly like, is made up of and functions the same as the ship of theseus it once was.

Although mentioned briefly, and we don't know how factual this is, it is mentioned in Stormlight that once upon a time they had a similar structure. Hence the whole Highprince of War, of Information, and so on. It also seemed to be taken from how the Radiants might have structured themselves once upon a time. Brandon has said the skybreakers for instance were very much like military police. As to settings defaulting to monarchy, I think it wouldn't be a stretch and would be rather interesting if Brandon told a story in a society functioning in the Athenian democratic tradition.

I was more going on what we have seen, and in comparison to Renarin, it seems pretty limited to me. Renarin has Glys actively warning him of things to come, and then literal "tv screens" pop out of the ground and show him exactly what is going to happen. And this happens on multiple occasions. Meanwhile, from what I recall of the book, a Returned gets glimpses, that have to be interpreted, or uses paintings to trigger a warning they do not fully understand. So my intention was to compare how they both function in the books, and what we see them at, rather than their potential.

So, lot to catch up on, and lot to say so I just quoted you all as what I have to say can apply to everything without directly touching on any particular point. For the most part, I don't mind spoilers to things. There are some notable exceptions, but usually knowing how something will go before hand doesn't bother me, and sometimes enhances the experience because I know what to pay attention to so I do not miss it upon viewing it. With that in mind, to better understand where you are coming from, I read the spoilers for Rhea, and then re-read for Edelgard to have it fresh in my mind when I replied. I think I can say this without spoilers when I say I believe what it comes down to it is the Japanese version of the hero trope. Now I am not saying that in a negative manner (for the most part, as there is an aspect I personally disagree with). This trope for me functions as such: The protagonist is an amazing person. He or she is good, kind, intelligent, and truly inspiring. The hero's presence in other people's lives is transformative. Their existence shapes the very progression of the lives of those around them. Now I agree, the people in our lives help shape us, and can change us for the better or for the worse. Just I feel in Japanese Anime, and some american media, this is taken to a bit of an extreme. Literally as I was speaking about this concept to my wife, I watched a video on youtube about alternative versions of characters in comic books. Beast from the X-Men came up. In the comic books, Hank (Beast) was always a voice of reason. Intelligent, compassionate, and peace loving. For in a superhero comicbook/cartoon, to have a character that avoids violence, and seeks accommodation in a very Ghandiesque manner I always felt was beautiful. Hank did have a dark time, where he experimented to try and expunge himself of the mutation. He failed and took it as a hard lesson and grew as a person accepting his mutation and others in the same circumstance. He then championed understanding and equality. Now enter his evil counter part, Dark Beast from the Age of Apocalypse storyline. The Age of Apoclypse storyline tells us that if Professor Xavier died before meeting/getting to know Hank, the character would take a dramatically different path. Hank would not have learned morality and compassion from Professor Xavier during his experimentation part in his life. Not having such a person in his life, led Hank to become cruel and sadistic. Experimenting on innocent people in horrific and torturous ways. This bothers me. It removes the agency of the character. It disregards (to me) the character's personal development and growth. That if it wasn't for Charles, Hank would become his worse self. It makes Hank to me, nothing more than a switch that Charles flipped for him to be a "good guy" This is why I think I had a very different experience of Edelgard via Crimson Flower, than you others have had on the other runs, or Silver Snow. The protagonist siding with Edelgard, brought out her best traits, while his/her absence from Rhea brought out her worse. The rest I will spoiler just in case, though I feel if some of you have no intention of playing Crimson Flower, then it cannot hurt anything to read it lol. So you can see why in that case I would see Edelgard in a far more favorable light than Rhea. Now I am not upset at the game for doing this. As I said, it is a prevalent anime trope (just see Dragon Ball Z, Bleach, Naruto, Tokyo Ghoul, I could go on and on) and over all I did enjoy the story. I also understand why they did it, so you can feel justified fighting against a "big bad". Just personally it still strikes me as a tad unbelievable. People can bring out the best in each other, but I feel it kind of has to be there to begin with in the person to be brought out. And if it is there to be brought out to begin with, then there is also a good chance that person could still bring it out in other circumstances and not be so utterly beholden on this one person to change them.