Iarwainiel I

Excellent thread @Schneeente !

These are my top 3 (as of now):

1. Dalinar - He impresses me as the best character I've ever read in any work of fiction, in whatever my brain interprets "best" to be: noble, disciplined, ethical, strong, humble (in the SA books, at least, though not in his flashbacks), willing to admit he's fallible but trying anyway, and all this is only deepened by what we learn about his tragic past in Oathbringer. I love the way he interacts with Gallant too; how people treat animals is a very telling thing. Dalinar has been my favorite from the first time he appeared in Way of Kings, and TBH if he dies during the series, I'm done at that point. But since one of Brandon's sons (Dalin) is named after him, I'm hoping that won't happen, or at least not till book 10. (I'm tempted to put Dalinar for my #s 2 & 3 as well, but I'll respect the thread and not do that.)
2. Lift - She is just so wild! Funny but also compassionate, seemingly shallow but then you get a glimpse that her heart is deep and tender. I love her use of language, which is one of the things we're supposed to notice about her - - she reminds me of Wayne from Mistborn 2nd Era, and both of them are delightful.
3. This one is difficult - so many possibilities! - but I'm gonna go with Adolin - I like how Brandon has subverted the trope and not made him a spoiled rich kid, like most of us probably expected at first, but that he's actually a good guy. And I hope hope hope that he's able to help Maya to wake up, and that that results in all the other deadeyes waking up too.

This thread is frustrating me, LOL!

I want to give EVERYONE reputation for their post here, but arrrggghhh only 20 per day allowed!

Oh well - - there's always tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that, and ...

Thanks @Experience for tagging me!

1. It's been so long ago (January 2011!!), but IIRC I joined because so many people were posting interesting stuff & I wanted to be part of the conversations.

2. This community has given me inspiration and laughter and tips on great music and books and videos (the MarbleLympics!!) and ... and ... just the joy of knowing there are so many people with such high ideals and values: it's like the best of humanity right here in our tribe of Sander-fans.

3. One of the most moving things I've experienced here on the forums happened a few years back. Someone had started a thread on "What religion are you?" a couple days earlier. By the time I had read through the first several pages of posts, I was just sitting here crying: Everyone was so accepting and supportive of each other, learning what other faiths do for family holidays, asking questions and getting friendly & knowledgeable answers, absolutely nothing negative or judgemental or divisive. And I thought to myself, "THIS is how the world should be." I don't know of another community like the 17th Shard, and I'm so happy we all found our way here!

EDIT - 2 more great memories:

For Brandon's Words of Radiance tour, someone here on the Shard asked for volunteers to create a "Tour Archive Scrapbook" for our favorite author, and I organized it for the Dayton Ohio event. It was amazing - people wrote handwritten notes on cards I printed out (with the KR logos, of course), and the archive organizer gathered stuff from all the stops and created a huge scrapbook (several inches thick!). Brandon posted a photo of him & his family with the book. It was so cool to know I helped that happen.

Actually meeting some of you at the Oathbringer release party 3 years ago! I bought the little 17th Shard pin to wear ... now I need to go find it & wear it tomorrow in honor of the million posts! :-)

Just wanted to say that this thread is so wonderful & is an example of the good things that happen here on the Shard: people being themselves, being honest, being vulnerable to the extent they're comfortable with, and everyone learning and caring for others.

OK, OK, enough drippy sentimentalism from the old lady. ;-)

We know from the Syl interlude that

I keep remembering how Tien made him feel better, and it makes me think that he might have a future role as mentor/big brother not only to Oroden but also to Gavinor. Those of you who deal with depression, would that make any sense at all? I can imagine how too much responsibility would be yet another crushing weight, but helping children develop could also be a joyful and hopeful thing - help Kal get outside himself. But then he'd also be reminded of Elhokar, every time he looked at his son. I dunno - it's not even a theory, just a wild idea, & maybe a bad one? If so, apologies for being insensitive.

I think it would be cool if Adam or someone over at Brandon's blog would write a short "Congratulations" piece about us getting to a million posts, and link to a new thread here on the Forums where people could post their own messages of Congratulations - - and if they're not already members, they could join then & swell our ranks. Our 17th Shard community truly is a wonderful thing!

@hoiditthroughthegrapevine - Thanks for the recommendation - I'll check it out! EDIT: Just did - Stride piano!! This style was one of my dad's favorites - we listened to Fats Waller & Art Tatum all the time! Thank you SO much for bringing this wonderful music into this thread. BTW, the little Brahms waltz on my list was used in the "Hunger Games: Catching Fire" movie! The scene where Katniss is dancing with President Snow. I was surprised & so happy to recognize it there!

@FriarFritz - Agreed re: "Baba Yetu"! An amazing song! Have you checked out TIn's latest? "Sogno di Volare" (below; this video chokes me up every time!). Also, can't believe you were the first one to post from "Kaladin" - bravo, sir!

I love threads like this - I learn so much from all of you! :-)

These are IMO 3 of the most beautiful melodies of all time - disclaimer: they are not pop music, & the photos in the videos are kinda awful so just focus on the audio which is mostly OK.

• "Abends Wil Ich Schlafen Geh'n" (you can stop at 2 minutes) https://youtu.be/e64mZN6EYY4?t=19
• "Ar Hyd Y Nos" (Welsh male choir - a classic) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejxyhtx20sY
• Brahms - Waltz, Opus 39 # 15 (1 min. 39 sec. - so simple, so exquisite) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Hux5fVzfJg

New songs I love but haven't been around long enough for me to call them 'all-time favorites:' "Baba Yetu" and "Sogno di Volare" by Christopher Tin - highly recommended. He also interacts with his fans a lot - reminds me of Brandon in that way.

Thanks everyone for posting here!

9 hours ago, Trutharchivist said:

Umm... it's Urithiru. I read it "oo-ri-thi-roo". I mean, Urithuru isn't symmetric.

LOL! My brain was really not in gear, was it? Thanks for this! And thanks for agreeing re: the "oo."

On 9/10/2020 at 0:44 AM, Halyo_Alex said:

I am so unbelievably upset.

Tay why have you done this.

Tay please.

I'm surprised that the audio books would pronounce it that way. Guess I'm glad to be a hardcover reader & get to make up my own pronunciations. I've always pronounced the start of Urithuru the same as the beginning of Lt. Uhura's name in Star Trek - like "oo," so it's "oo-ri-thoo-roo." How would one even think to pronounce it like "you"? Do they pronounce the final syllable the same way, so it's "you-ri-thoo-ryou"? Weird ... But as Brandon says, we're all co-creators & there's no right or wrong pronunciations, so it's all good.

9 hours ago, Goatbringer said:

We decided to skip Soilencourager for the time being, just because Tay wanted more Kaladin/Dalinar/Shallan action – but mainly she found out that Pattern wasn’t in the novella and wasn’t super interested in it.

First off, prayers & wishes that Tay's back gets better soon.

• I do hope you can at least give Tay a summary of Edgedancer before you get to Lift's parts in Oathbringer - otherwise when she says "more food" to Dalinar it's not funny at all, and we all know how your wife loves funny parts. I think Tay will enjoy Wyndle as a "Shardfork," amongst other passages. Oh, and the Dysian Aimian! I bet she'll think that's really cool, & (maybe) want to go back through all the books looking for odd cremlings (or am I the only one to have that urge?).
• Re: Gavilar: Not so sure he was a budding Bondsmith, but that's all I'll say 'cause spoilers. The whole scene of Gavilar's assassination keeps getting more and more complicated, so Tay's question is on all of our minds. Have you reminded her that slave-Szeth was previously owned by Liss the assassin (prologue to Words of Radiance)? "Always another secret..."
• Tay will have a much better idea what spren are after the trip through Shadesmar later on in OB. I predict she will chuckle at why Anticipationspren look like they do in the Physical realm.
• Great observation re: how being with someone who is in a "flow" state is key to building relationships!
• Also great: "Brightlord Tacocat" - - hahahahaha!

Crem before cremlings!

Theory 1 (& FYI I am wrong 99.9% of the time on these): The Sons of Honor are/were being hunted & killed, not by the Ghostbloods, but by the Seventeenth Shard (not us!! - the in-universe secret society). My second guess is the Ire.

(Related) Theory 2: Ialai was killed by a Forger who disguised themself to infiltrate either her own personal staff or Shallan/Adolin's core team.

Sooooo excited for the RoW release!!

8 hours ago, Realmatic Shadow said:

I sincerely hope that end of Oathbringer gets at least some reaction, or we may just have to curse them

Nah - we'll just reassign her from Windrunner (Tay's result on the KR Order quiz) to Darkdoer ... or maybe Windbreaker, if that phrase has the same colloquial meaning in South Africa that it does here in the US, LOL! This thread has given us too much enjoyment.

Why, hello, Spren of Spren.

@Goatbringer Thank you SO much! And I'm so glad that you've had much-needed rain in South Africa - your drought has been horrible (I have contacts on some of the farms; such hardship).

• Lift: Yeah, Lift gets better over time ... the first time she meets Dalinar is one of the best. :-)
• Shadowfiends: Not sure we're gonna see these, but wow! What an idea!
• Asthma inhaler = sucking in Stormlight: Yasss! Brilliant!
• "Crem before cremlings:" Love this; gonna steal it starting now.
• No reaction to Syl's "He is mine! I claim him!" or "Stetch forth thy hand!"? Guess she really isn't into poignant one-liners.
• Glad she's liking Adolin more now. I think most of us have changed our opinion of him over the series. Hoping things will really upgrade for him & that Maya will wake up in RoW!
• Order of the Windbreakers? So their superpower is ... breaking wind? HAHAHAHA! I am totally in that order, whenever I eat spicy food. ;-)

Ah, my week has taken on a definitely more fun tone because of this thread!

My fellow Mind Readers - Salute! Crem before cremlings!!

On 3/1/2020 at 10:31 PM, Honorless said:

The Desert Spear and other following sequels to the Painted Man. Book 1 started out very strong, with the fear and callous disregard of the world stoking the main character, Arlen's anger in a very relatable way, another main character is introduced here, Rojer, in a very visually stunning sequence. I actually recommend reading the first book. Book 2 is not badly written, it's a kind of villain's perspective that's really unpalatable.

I skipped to book 3 and the whole thing turned out to be a disaster. There are demons, and studs who fight them and there are some "strong female characters". The sexism in these books don't just exist in the world that it creates. It gets really bad after a while.

I agree with you entirely. This series is waaaaay violent - I got through book 4 (of 5), but I had to skip lots of parts because real life is hard enough without having images in my head of awful stuff that happens to fictional people. It's a shame, because the magic system and worldbuilding were interesting, and Brett is a decent writer. But he said in interviews that he wanted to write books that were violent and (as you said) very sexist, so it was intentional, not an accident. I wish the publisher or someone would put out a "PG-rated" version of the series, because I'd probably buy it & like it.

On 8/29/2020 at 1:04 PM, Use the Falchion said:

He inspired - and will continue inspire - a generation. Rest In Peace, Bondsmith. Rest In Power, King. 

"Bondsmith" is perfect - thank you for thinking of this!

Chadwick Boseman's death is a shattering loss. Speaking only for myself, "Black Panther" was the one MCU storyline that I was excited to keep with going forward; for the rest, I felt such deep closure after "Endgame" that more movies seem anticlimactic, at least to me. So now I think I really am done with the current MCU, and I'm fine with that - I'm also happy that others will enjoy future movies ... actually, it will be kind of a relief, not having to radically avoid spoilers, LOL!

One thing that amazes me & I have a lot of respect for, is that someone HAD to know what was going on with Boseman's health, and NOone leaked it to the press: not the healthcare workers (we can say "of course," but it would have been tempting), not the cast or crew (wardrobe, limo drivers, assistants, even food service - they must have noticed things), no one. They all respected his privacy, and in this day & age, that's a remarkable testimony to what they thought of him.

"Black Panther" was more than a movie - it was a phenomenon, and it makes me proud that it was the sci-fi/fantasy genre & community that gave this phenomenon to the world. We are the idealists who can imagine a better world and work to bring it into being.

Wakanda forever!

Not sure if anyone else has suggested this yet but ...

Why are we assuming it was the Ghostbloods that were hunting Ialai & eventually killed her? Maybe it was, but there are at least a couple other secret societies that might have wanted to see the Sons of Honor eliminated.

(Waiting for these preview chapters is teaching us all patience, LOL!)

I'm re-reading the Hunger Games trilogy; also been wearing my Mockingjay pin; still need to get some gold eyeliner to wear.

@Goatbringer -

TAY: Lift? Is Zahel Lift?
ME: *laughter*

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! Tay, thank you SO much! I needed a good deep laugh today & you came through for me

Also - - if she likes Pattern, what will she think of Wyndle?!?

Thanks so much for sharing these with us Goatbringer! !

 Agree wholeheartedly @Weltall - Mahler too, & IMO a bit of Bruckner, tho not sure Williams has said anything about the latter as inspiration. (Glad to find a fellow classical fan here on the Shard - I suspect there are a lot of us! These forums are the best - I find out about new music etc. all the time on the Entertainment threads!)

On 8/3/2020 at 1:41 PM, GudThymes said:

It is intentional. Scadrial is meant to be the Earth analogue in the Cosmere, Brandon has said that "if you can find it on Earth, it's likely on Scadrial" (or something very similar). It's much easier to tell a story if the audience is already familiar with the world, so Brandon deliberately chose to make the setting Earth equivalent, but not Earth.

This made me think of what John Williams said, back in the day, about the soundtrack he composed for the very first (1977) Star Wars movie. IIRC, he said that he chose to use symphonic music, instead of techno/synthesized, because the movie was otherworldly enough on its own - to have futuristic music would distract from the film itself. He felt that the traditional music would help people (remember it was the 70s) feel more at home/at ease in "a galaxy far, far away." I wonder if Brandon used American-sounding names for a similar reason - like a touchpoint of the mundane in the middle of a fantasy story. Interesting point!

Reading books (including audiobooks) allows me to co-create the characters' appearance and costumes, and the scenery, and everything else - I get to make up what it looks like. In that sense, I feel like movies stifle my creativity.

I first read the Rings in the 70s, before there were any movies, and for my personality I'm glad it happened that way. Still haven't seen the movies or even allowed my eyes to focus on any photos from them: I want my Frodo, my Gandalf, my Bag End, my Rivendell, etc., to be the images in my mind, not someone else's no matter how good.

However, I am SO glad that the movie versions were high quality and have expanded the fandom now & for years to come - happy to have all of you in the Middle Earth tribe!

I vote for either BigSkellyBois or RockySkellyBois, and I defs vote against Kalinar -- ewwwww; plus that would be sad because Kaladin especially in WoR really needs Dalinar to be a leader and father figure; remember that part before the army departs and

But Tay's reactions are just so off-the-wall, and that's what makes this thread so fun!

I am still SO eager for her to meet Lift! but that Interlude is a long way off.

Total respect for Tay and all other schoolteachers in these challenging times! and parents and children as well! They all need superpowers!

@Kasimir That Parker 45 looks awesome! What are you inking it with?

Glad to see that I'm not the only fan of Goulet Pens & the Nibsmith here on the Shard - it's a joy to support small businesses that have such great customer service!

On 8/10/2020 at 11:23 PM, DramaQueen said:

This intrigues me. What do you use these pens for? I tend to lose the pens I take to school, and sometimes even the ones I have just at home. So, when do you use expensive pens? How long do they last? Is it just for normal writing or more like calligraphy? Should I start getting fountain pens?

I use them all the time for just about everything - writing meeting notes at work, grocery and to-do lists, correspondence, etc. I rarely use ballpoints anymore - only when I'm needing to press through copies (which you should *never* press when writing with a FP - that has been a learning curve, LOL, but worthwhile).

You can get a decent FP for just $5 (Platinum Preppy or Jinhao Shark which is shaped like a shark!), so it's easy to give it a try & see if it's for you. They usually come with a couple ink cartridges, so you don't have to buy bottled ink right away.

I like writing with FPs because once you get the hang of it, the writing experience (even for a left-handed person like me) is just so *smooth* - the pen glides over the paper.

Also, there are literally hundreds (thousands?) of colors of FP inks to try! Some of them have shimmer (sparkles) and/or sheen (where the edges of the lines dry a different color, like red edges on teal ink). I love color! so FPs feed that need.

FPs can last for decades, but you have to fill them with ink (that's where the name "fountain" comes from - they have a little reservoir of ink inside, unlike a dip pen like a quill or calligraphy pen). The more you write, the faster you use up the ink, so how often you need to refill is gonna vary. Some FPs tend to dry out if you don't use them every day; Platinum brand pens are known for not drying out (I have 3 & it's true). And if you use a FP all the time, you need to do "maintenance" on the pen every couple of months, like flushing the nib with pure water to prevent it getting clogged.

Re: losing them - that is a concern. I use a pen sleeve in a pocket in my purse to keep them safe & keep them upright. Might be better to start with just using them at home, at first.

I tell my friends that FPs are the "new hipster item," though I'm no hipster by a longshot.

I hope this helps, & I do hope you give FPs a try!