Djarskublar

Well apparently there was a question about Steelheart on Jeopardy. The 'question' was basically name the book where Chicago and Lake Michigan turn to steel, iirc. That's something I think I saw around here somewhere, I didn't see the actual episode.

I would say that gold vs Light healing depends a LOT. Gold is far more powerful when you want it to be, but you have to have the stores. And for both, you have to actually have the Investiture tapped/breathed at the time of a mortal blow or you are done. For a normal ferring that doesn't save all the time for their whole life (ew... that'd suck), it just isn't feasible to do that more than maybe once or twice your whole life, assuming you don't use it regularly to heal minor injuries. Light, on the other hand, is plentiful. Light is much better for your run-of-the-mill warrior proto-Radiant, gold is much better if you only need the power rarely. And gold is of course superior if you are a compounder or have access to blank gold stores. I personally think she could run the gauntlet easily up until TLR, who destroys any mortal except maybe someone else with a large powerset like Hoid is acquiring. It wouldn't even be difficult. Our current gamut of characters don't have both Surges and Plate, and without both it's not even a competition. Just hover outside of their reach and pelt them with coins. Anyone without Plate won't survive no matter how much Light they start with, and that includes Szeth. She would just keep drilling coins into them until they stay dead, since none of them have an effective defense against her coin shotguns. All it takes is one hit to slow down Szeth, not even a kill shot, and it's over. None of those would even get close to her. Shallan could pull some Lightweaving trickery, but it won't do anything other than prolong the fight, since she doesn't have the skill to fight and use effective illusions at the same time, or use Transformation at range. Anyone in Plate but with no Light can just be insta'd with a coin through the eye slit, which is easy with a couple seconds of atium. If this is post-Catacendre, then it'll take more luck, but she'd get it well before the Shardbearer could catch her. Btw, Sadeas is laughable, since he is carrying around a massive hunk of metal. Dalinar is the only one who could be dangerous, but you didn't say he has Light and knows how to use the Surges he has access to now.

I honestly don't remember if I'm first or second gen... My join date isn't a useful guide at all since I lurked off and on for years. I had things I wanted to say, but didn't want to make an account to, as I assumed, only write a post or two. Even though I found things I wanted to post regularly. I remember reading all sorts of (hilarious in retrospect) theories about where Shardblades came from, and thought that some of the theories could really be right... hehe. For the life of me, though, I have no idea when I started lurking exactly. I want to say it was before AoL, but I'm not certain. I don't remember when in junior high I picked up Sanderson and started looking at the forum. It was around then, though. If you want to go solely by join date, I guess I'd be 3rd or 4th, but I first posted like a week after SoS was published, so I'd say that I'm 3rd by that definition in spirit, but I'm technically a 4th. Makes me feel old and young at the same time... weird. If you want to go by notoriety... I'd definitely be a 4th, since I only made a few posts, then disappeared for a while. Dunno... I certainly feel like a 2nd though. There were already established members when I started lurking, and it was just amazing how much I didn't know that they did, which is also hilarious in retrospect since you can now acquire far more information than we had then in an hour of moderate reading around after you've read the books. Interesting thread for sure. I'm curious what some of the true 1st and 2nd people have to say about it.

You know you are a sanderfan when you argue over whether some minor unnamed character is actually WalDo or a Herald etc.. Also, when you can roleplay, discuss quantum physics, and fanboy/girl over a particular ship all on the same site.

Harry Potter: Sword of Shannara Series Kingkiller Chronicle WoK Elantris Warbreaker I think some people don't fully understand the point of these. It's isn't supposed to just be a one or two line summary, it also needs to be seriously misinformative without strictly lying. The OP definitely had the best ones so far.

Okay then, @Calderis, put it a different way to avoid any wiggle room from Brandon. Is there something at play beyond mere coincidence that the number 9 is central to Braize and that 9 of the Heralds broke? Is it more than just that there are 10 Heralds because of Roshar, and all but one broke, so if Roshar was 11 centric, how many would have broken? Nine or ten?

I had a passing thought that I don't recall any discussion or WoB about. Is it more than mere coincidence that the number nine is significant in some way to Odium and that nine Heralds left the Oathpact? If there's any RAFO's out there about this I'd like to see them. I've seen lots of discussion about related topics, but not this specifically. If it is the case that there is more going on here, I am at a loss as to what it could be. Maybe Odium could only influence 9 of them at once specifically? That sounds highly unlikely, but it's the only thing I can come up with off the top of my head.

Well, my fraternal grandparents live in Forks, Washington, so maybe I could say hi sometime when I make the trip out there. And yes, the Forks, Washington from Twilight. They moved there before the books came out, and were kinda mad about it when they did come out. It went from quiet small town to loud, touristy small town. Funny story, they have totally capitalized on the tourism, of course. Everything is 'get your Twilight ___.' There is a small store with Twilight trinkets, a sign nearby mimicking fire danger signs that is for vampire danger near the supposed border line, and even 'get your Twilight firewood here'... Kinda sad, but hilarious. But yeah, good luck to the two of you. Best wishes and all that. (to reference my prior post, you sound like someone very useful to me, so I'll be very nice )

Oh, I totally get that there would be conflict, there just isn't much room for one of the more common/stereotypical types. Man, now I wanna learn more about you. We should hang out some time, if we live anywhere near each other. Unfortunately, you probably live thousands of miles from me, since that's how luck works... Is it okay to say that there is too much variety in the people who visit this site? Why can't we all live within 20 miles of each other? I'd love to meet everyone, really. I'm one of the lucky ones that lives in Utah, where the largest portion of us live, so more opportunities, but still.

That sounds wonderful. I'm not in a relationship right now, so the closest I have is my family, I guess. My mom in particular is super picky about lots of things, so that isn't an option on that front. Man, I don't think I can even express how mixed my jealousy and faith in humanity is with you two right now. That sounds like an excellent base for a relationship, since there are fewer opportunities for fights on that front. You both get exactly what you want. *light shines in eyes with imagining life like that*

SOMEONE ELSE GETS IT!!!1! I seriously was fairly sure there were only a couple people in existence like me. We would have made interesting roommates. But yeah, if/when I get a home, it could literally be ~400 ft2 or maybe even less, and I wouldn't mind. Room for a bed/dresser, utility things like a toilet/shower/washer, a small kitchen, and a corner for a computer. I'm good. Materialism is literally incomprehensible to me. The strange thing is that I'm like this because I'm actually a hoarder, so I just don't get stuff to hoard in the first place. As for your wife, tell her that it just means she can get whatever she wants and you won't have any complaints about it, beyond price considerations.

If something is kinda taboo, I tend to like it. I am a big anime fan, I love metal music, I read a lot (which is sadly kinda taboo these days...), and I enjoy the kind of video games that piss other people off: perma-death games, especially rogue-likes. I dislike sports as a general medium, since most of them are ridiculous. Trying to control a ball better than someone else is silly, and being able to run/jump/slide/throw farther is just too one-dimensional. True combat sports are the only ones I have respect for, and then only the ones that 1. aren't staged and 2. don't leave one of you unconscious afterwards. Basically, that boils down to martial arts and kendo/fencing. As for me myself, I either have a very strange case of depression, or I am a high functioning psychopath. I'm not really sure how to describe it. Cold-hearted might do the trick. but it doesn't go far enough. I just don't care about anything in general. I have very little ambition, and don't care about anything that won't contribute to my ability to enjoy my hobbies. I guess you could describe me as the guy that would live in a micro-home out of preference, because I don't need anything more. 'Stuff' is extraneous to my existence. I don't understand why people buy things beyond food/gas etc. After paying my bills and making sure I can eat and get places, I don't need to buy anything else. Everything else gets saved, and a small portion gets spent on hobbies. There is no reason to pay for anything else. The same applies to people. If I don't think they will be useful to me, they get ignored. If I think they will be useful, I'm nice to them. Note: I'm nice to y'all

"mound"... I kinda mind that misspelling. It implies some strange things.

Tag me too. I'll play if I happen to be on.

Yesterday was my birthday, so no more of being a (insert censored word(s) here) teenager. Of course, I'm past the point where a birthday makes me feel different from what I was before, but hopefully this one will change how other people perceive me somewhat... Then again, I don't think it will affect those I know, and people I don't know always seem to take me for a 24 year old, so maybe not. @Slowswift Looks like it was a nice concert. I only know one of their songs: Heavy. I was surprised at how well they hide their spikes. As members of Collective Soul, I'm sure they are full on inquisitors!

Really powerful energy manipulation. Physics breaking manipulation in that I can retrieve energy lost to entropy and re-use it. It would make me effectively immortal, too. Any damage I take can be repaired with the right activation energy and vector manipulation (at least, I think it can, someone is free to correct me on that). Even getting hurt would be really hard, since I can remove the kinetic energy from anything that might hurt me in the first place such as a bullet or explosion. I could fly by making air push me and then bleeding off the fricative heat generated, assuming I can't just move myself. I can just boil the brains of my enemies. Fry electronics. Control communications tech completely, including amplifying wifi signals to reach me anywhere

Heh! That reminds me of a joke I've told a few times to people. How do you write an instant classic? Write a bunch of lovable characters, then kill most of them. Plot is irrelevant, just look at The Book Thief. I haven't played Undertale, but that sounds interesting. That is exactly the kind of quality storytelling I'm looking for. I have seen some examples where death is managed acceptably. I don't even usually mind if they do what you said and kill off one beloved character just for the sake of plot/character progression. At least they died, so it's a step in the right direction. It is pretty lazy writing, but it is a less common kind of lazy that brings it closer to good writing. Also, thanks for the pointers. I kind of felt the same way, but I wasn't sure, so even though you weren't sure either, we can be unsure together and roll with it

So to preface my argument, I want to provide context for why I'm making this. I watch a lot of anime, and recently I started watching YouTube videos on various aspects of the creation and critical process involved with them so that I am more informed. After going around with lots of topics, I realized that nobody is really talking about death. It is a problem in many media, particularly anything on TV, be it movies, shows, or games. I started considering starting a YouTube channel specifically to discuss this topic (and anything else that comes to mind later). Before making that step, I want to see if what people think of my argument, and what other opinions are. First, there are two different aspects to cover: death of characters and characters killing. With many stories, characters simply don't die when they should, and it removes tension from the story. Others add specific character deaths in a manner that lets you know that characters in that story can die, and it ramps up the tension in any fight. Excellent examples of both sides of this coin are Bleach and Star Wars: the Clone Wars. In Bleach, Renji is nearly killed repeatedly throughout the first couple of arcs, to the point where I realized that practically nobody important was actually going to die if they had any real characterization. I dropped it at that point, since it had lost the last drop of tension it had. On the other hand, The Clone Wars is very good at killing characters when necessary, especially considering that it is supposed to be a children's show. Around the start of the show, we are introduced to five clone troopers that the series mentions and/or follows for the rest of the series, and by the end of the series they all die. A couple of them die in the episode they are introduced. In another episode a bit later, they all get the backstory of their training together, making the previous two deaths even more meaningful beyond the fairly basic attachment we formed during their introduction. We see the remaining three pretty often until another dies to blow up a Federation ship from the inside. This occurs mid-way through the series, and serves well to remind the viewer that there is nobody immune to death in the series (that you don't know will show up in future movies, anyway). The last two die horrible deaths in the last season as one of them has a glitch that activates Order 66 early so that he kills the Jedi general that is his commanding officer. He is immediately put down like a rabid animal to prevent him from killing any other Jedi nearby. In the process of investigating the cause of his friend's death, Chancellor Palpatine frames him for trying to assassinate him, and drugs him into a delirium. After being cornered by Obi-Wan and Anakin, both of whom he had fought with several times, other troopers join them and kill him on sight. This is not the only example of important, long standing, and well developed characters dying in the show. In addition to this, a LOT of unnamed characters die all the time. It is a war, after all. An important thing to note with almost all of these deaths is that the show isn't afraid to show them happening. You see clones stand up from cover or charge across open ground and get laid out by a blaster bolt to the face all the time. The camera rarely cuts away to avoid showing death, and I appreciate that. This show isn't the A-Team where everyone apparently has a reverse lashing at their feet all the time, since that is the only area any bullets ever hit... In short, characters sometimes need to die to maintain suspension of disbelief and to maintain tension. If nobody ever died in this show about a war, it would be pointless-- regardless of the fact that it is largely targeted towards children. This argument also applies to villains, and a villain that can't die or be permanently incapacitated is boring (looking at you, Batman <.<). In the other situation, many, many pieces of fiction have the serious issue of ignoring the impact killing has on people. I can't even count the number of shows, movies, books, and games that I have seen where some protagonist kills someone for the first time and doesn't even hesitate or consider it afterwards. That is, frankly, a load of complete crap. Take a moment and think about how you would feel after killing some random person on the street. If you can honestly say that you wouldn't feel something, then you probably need some serious psychological help. It isn't even difficult to add this small bit of characterization to a character. How do they react to killing? Do they feel only mild disgust? Shock? Self-hatred? You can establish their feelings in literally a couple seconds of screentime or with a couple lines in a book. It is practically free characterization, so I simply don't know why it isn't capitalized on. I don't feel like I need to provide a specific example of this, since anyone should be able to come up with an example of their own, and any I provide may not be known to them. As an example of this done right, I think that the second episode of Hai to Gensou no Grimgar is perfect. While the show itself isn't my favorite, this episode is my favorite individual episode of any series, and is also my favorite fight of all time in any medium. From the characters slipping in the mud, to their inexperience showing in their terrible swordsmanship and accuracy, this fight was real. It was certainly not without faults, suffering from the 'lets take turns attacking' trope, but it was way, waaay better than many fights I have seen. That fault can also be partially explained by their fear of this goblin they are fighting. Two moments of this fight really stuck out to me. The first was after one of the characters stabbed the goblin in the shoulder and is completely grossed out at the fact that his sword cut into the bone. (Ignoring bones and just chopping stuff into pieces is another peeve of mine.) He literally stops for a moment and looks at his trembling hands and dripping sword to contemplate that fact. After the fight is over, another of the characters has to pry his bloody dagger from his clenched up fingers to drop it into the mud, while yet another of the characters passes out from the experience without ever actually trading blows with the little beast. The choreography of this fight was solid, the characterization was truly superb, and I can forgive its faults. The only actual complaint I could see really holding weight is the fact that it kind of beats you over the head with the idea that the goblin is its own person and doesn't want to die. I can't say I mind, since it is a consideration that is rarely, well, considered. Random mooks don't live to throw themselves on your sword. This is by no means the best fight I have ever seen, but it is my favorite, since it so perfectly encapsulates my point that random people, regardless of age, aren't going to kill lightly, even if it is so they can eat the next day. The emotion and tension are palpable in this scene, and when I showed it to one of my brothers, even out of context it stunned him. I think this thoroughly shows my point that a fight's quality can be greatly enhanced by adding that emotional impact on a character, and lacking it can potentially strain suspension of disbelief. We have just been conditioned to ignore this aspect because of how rarely it is done right and how often other thoughts in the character's mind take precedence. Even when this aspect is considered, it frequently results in an 'I hate myself now' arc that feels overblown, lame, and drawn out. So what are your thoughts? Am I just getting too hung up on these ideas? They have been something of a peeve of mine for many years now, and i would love it if anyone knows of other excellent treatments of either aspect. Also, can my argument use any trimming, tightening, or expanding?

Eh... It's just the most commonly posted theory. It shows up at least once every couple months, I swear... I guess that means it's a good idea at first glance. There just aren't any good reasons to think it actually will happen, and several to think it won't. I certainly don't condemn anyone for posting it, since it shows they are at least thinking. I just like to redirect that thought away from the same ruts. As for trading around power, that is a thought. I don't think it will happen either, but it is at least more likely. I can at least imagine scenarios where it could happen in the current state of things.

Short answer, maybe, but will probably never happen. It is a topic brought up extremely often. The only part of the usual fare is that you didn't suggest is that Hoid would be the one doing it. I personally don't think he even wants Mr A back together. As far as I can tell, there isn't anyone that we have seen so far that has the slightest interest in the recreation of Adonalsium. Besides that, you would have to go through a LOT of Shards that don't want to give up their power, who acquired it in the first place by killing Adonalsium. So yeah, it might be possible, but I am extremely doubtful that it ever will. I am not even convinced that it's possible since I haven't seen any really good arguments for it, even with how often it is brought up.

He could have stolen the scepter for several reasons. 1. Keep it out of someone else's hands. 2. Experiment with it to see what he can get it to do. 3. As you said, use one Selish system he already has to power another. 4. Opportunism. It may have been a convenient time to steal it, and he knows it might come in handy once he has figured things out. Basically, him stealing it doesn't tell us much. It would be nice if it did, but it doesn't really. To bring this back on topic, I think Hoid does have some allies. Or at least people he can go to for aid that won't turn him in to the 17th Shard. He apparently was involved in founding some of the knowledge preserving organizations on some planets. For example, the Worldsingers. Now, as to whether he has a crew of people specifically working with him, Kelsier style, has yet to be seen. It is a possibility I hadn't considered before, so thanks for pointing it out.

I would like to note that it is probably not Odiumspren he is referring to there. It would be more likely the Radiant spren that are not purely Honor or Cultivation spren. They are a mix, and therefor a corruption by that definition. This definition is specifically not talking about evil, and I don't think Odium corrupted existing spren, he made new ones. He doesn't want his Investiture mixing with other Intents, even if it isn't directly attached to him any more.

At the DT signing, he read from a couple of his drafts of Dark One, and mentioned that he isn't sure yet if it will be cosmere or not. It depends on how it turns out, since none of his drafts have been working for him so far. Even with massive setting changes. One of the drafts was pre-industrial, and the other was more modern. Don't count on an electricity based system, in other words. Sorry to burst the bubble. I dunno if we can count on any plan being accurate for another 10 years or so. They are tentative at best, since it's obvious the plan is subject to a lot of change.

A solidly powerful mistborn (or someone with a duralumin medallion) can control a horde of koloss. How comparable is that to Sauron's mind control? I only know some basics about the expanded stuff for LotR.

Gratz on becoming a beta reader. It's something I'd be interested in, but not for Brandon. The books are too good to spoil like that. And then I'd have to avoid the theory forums to keep from laughing at all our silly ideas. Wish you the best with that. If OB has your seal of approval, we know Brandon didn't screw it up