Tesh

Hiiiiiiiiiiiii it's my Shardiversary!

It's been seven years now, I think.

Gonna keep this short cause I'm really not active on here much anymore, but I'm just going to thank a few people.

@The Awakened Salad HEY NERD. I love you. Just. Yeah. You're really really cool. You know how I feel about you. I can talk to you about anything, and you're just one of my absolute favorite people ever.

@AonEne HEY NERD. I love you. You're also super duper cool, and it's always fun to pull the "I know a mod and his dog attempted to initiate relations with me" card. (I don't do anything with it, I just show it to people I guess. I think I mention you more than I mention my aunt knowing Emily really well? Anyways.) I'm really going to miss being close to you next year, but we made it work before then and it will continue to work. Thanks for just. Always being there.

So grateful for the FAB squad as a whole, you two really are just two of my closest friends and I hope it stays that way for eternity. (My ghost will haunt your ghosts.) (I feel like that's a reference to something but I'm not sure what.) (Might be a Skyward quote actually?)

@Knight of Iron Koiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii. Thanks for being awesome. I'm always so thrilled when you DM me. I love talking to you so much. Thanks for being my Hollow Knight buddy.

@Ed Venture HEY NERD. (I could great every single one of you like that.) Okay so here's an example of how Vennie is the best human being ever. She lived down the road from me this last school year. When I was moving out to come back home for the summer, I invited her over so we could hang out one last time before I left. I was expecting her to just kinda hang out while I cleaned and we'd talk or maybe watch something, but she just showed up and asked how she could help. And she then proceeded to clean the majority of the kitchen. (My two roommates who left early didn't do much cleaning.) AND when I left the next day, I had mentioned that morning on Discord in a random channel having gotten a cut on my finger and thinking it was infected but having all my first aid stuff packed, and she ran by to say bye and just. Brought me a bandaid and some antibiotic stuff from her job. I have nothing for praise but this wonderful lady, I'm going to miss her so much next year. (I'm going to a different college.)

@DramaQueen HEY NERD. Thanks for being such a great roommate! You're crazy and I'm worried about your quantity of free time, but I have so much respect for you for just. Doing it. You're really cool, and I'm going to miss having you around next year. (I have to live with people I don't know????)

@King Oreo Hello my child. Thank you so much for all the memes, and all the pictures of your critters, and of course for sharing all of your art! I love you so much, and I'm so grateful to have you in my life. Talking to you always brightens my day.

@Mist @Condensation @Vapor Hi nerds!!! Sorry for grouping you all together, but I wanted to mention all of you and I'm going to bed very soon. But you all are so cool??? Just you're all genuinely so thoughtful and kind, and so fun to be around. I'm also going to miss being close to you all, but I'm so grateful we got to hang out so much this last year (even though it wasn't anywhere near enough). (Tell the cats I love them.)

And of course a shout out to everyone who has touched my life, especially the Knights of the Cosmere roleplayers back in 2017 and the original TUBA group. Thanks for letting me know what it's like to belong. I'm eternally grateful.

Until next year! (Unless I just totally leave by then, I really don't know what will happen.)

Bought and started reading my first Sanderson book (tWoK) seven years ago on the 16th.

Which is. Wild. I was in sixth grade at the time so it's been a part of my life while I've been growing up and just. Worked towards becoming me. Still got a ways to go but I'm going to assume you guys know what I mean.

I don't think the Cosmere will ever have as big a role in my life as it has in the past. This site is where I connected with so many of my current friends, it got me into reading adult fantasy and not just YA and middle grade, it helped me pursue writing. Those things were instrumental in who I am now. I'll be honest, I don't like a lot of Brandon's newer stuff as much as the older things like Elantris and The Way of Kings and era one. I still consider The Way of Kings one of my top three favorite books.

I was at Dragonsteel in November and that was incredible, but mostly for the people. I love the stories and the characters but there are stories and characters I love more.

I wish I could've told lil twelve year old Tesh that Dragonsteel was a thing that would one day exist and that you'd be able to go and hang out with some of your favorite people in the world.

It's nearly 1am and my brain isn't overly coherent.

But these books have played an incredibly important role in who I am now, and that means that they'll always be a part of me. And part of that is broadening my horizons in terms of what I enjoy reading, and like I've moved beyond things like Harry Potter and Percy Jackson, I'm moving onto new things now. I still regularly reread Percy Jackson, and I still own more Brandon books than books by any other author, so they're far from left behind. But I'm still moving forward.

Like I never considered myself a fan of horror, but Neil Gaiman is my top author this year by a lot and I've fallen absolutely head over heels for Sandman. I also never thought I'd read this many comics!

I guess another thing is that I've found books that showcase the experiences of more people than Brandon's. I use Storygraph to track what I read (BECAUSE I LIKE GRAPHS) and last year my second to top genre (behind fantasy) was LGBTQ+. None of Brandon's books would fall into that category (yet!). But as Brandon does get better at inclusivity, I'm finding myself liking his writing (and honestly just hard, epic fantasy in general) less.

It's kinda hard acknowledging that even to myself because of that huge impact they've had on me, but that's the truth of the matter. And it's okay. Just unfortunate that I moved to Utah after the peak of my obsession.

TL;DR Brandon's books have fundamentally changed me as a person, and introduced me to fandom and therefore to my best friends in the world. I'm never going to discount that, but I've also changed a lot as a reader and a person and I've found a lot of other things that I enjoy more than a lot of his more recent work.

I did not mean for that to be so long and my brain isn't working anywhere near well enough to reread that for coherency, so ENJOY!

And my Shardiversary is next month, and I'm not really active enough on here anymore to totally justify doing those. So the one next month may be my last one, who knows.

Oh I can't forget to do the mental health awareness month post though.

If I sent this on Discord it would reach a more relevant audience but it's going here for old times sake.

Anyways, see ya! I'll be back on the 1st (probably) and the 17th!

This is one of the first places where I'd send updates on my birds for years. When I shifted to Discord that kinda stopped, but when I got Kaladin I remember asking on here for name suggestions. 

Figured I'd update people on here, even though most of the people who were around when I got him I mostly talk to on Discord anymore. But he passed away this afternoon. His health has slowly been getting worse for about a year now. He was a wonderful little bird. I'm at school, but my family did their best to give him the best care they could while I've been gone.

There's really not much of a point to me sharing this here, but I guess that he's kinda just been such a big part of my personality that it feels necessary to just let everyone know. 

He would've been four this April. 

I didn't expect Good Omens to burrow into my brain like it has.

I keep feeling like I'm forgetting something really exciting and then I remember. 

It's not even anything really overly specific about the show that my brain keeps getting excited about.

Just getting large surges of happy chemicals.

I ordered the book though so I'll be reading that over my break.

Anyways, highly recommend the show. It's just so unique and so fun and so good and YES. 

And I am four days away from being done with my first semester of college so that's fun. 

I MISSED MY SHARDIVERSARY!!!

I literally thought about it that morning and then forgot.

Anyways.

At least I remembered today.  

So... It's been six years now. 

That's crazy.

I was in sixth grade then (no one found out, it's fine) and now I'm about to graduate and go to college.

This community and these books have had such a huge impact on me. I talked quite a bit about that when I posted my Sanderversary so this time I'm going to mention some specific people.

@The Awakened Salad You are the best half of STAELSAHD, the best leader of The Awakened Salad Co, and the best friend I could ask for. I wish that our time zones and schedules didn't hate each other so much so that we could talk more, but... Despite that, you're amazing. Thank you for introducing me to The Owl House and many books. When I started talking to you it was like I had finally found out what it was like to have a true friend who I genuinely feel comfortable talking to. Befriending you was the first step for me to realize that it was possible for me to actually have real friends. Thank you, thank you, thank you. (And one day I will meet you and we can watch tOH together and it will be awesome.) [insert sanderavalanche gif here]

@AonEne ENE! The F of the FAB squad, the head of the Bene pantheon, an original member of The Knights of the Cosmere, an original member of TUBA, and now the best 17th Shard mod. (I'm not biased at all.) You're just... You're really cool? It's hard to convey how cool you are. Also you're kind of the mature one out of the three of us which is super weird but I'm also very grateful for that. You're incredibly wise, intelligent, thoughtful, nerdy, and just fun to talk to. I absolutely cannot wait to see more of you next year. Thank you for being my friend, and thank you for being awesome. 

@Knight of Iron K O I ! You are also super cool. I'm so grateful for your friendship. You're the only reason I ever beat Hollow Knight, you're so thoughtful in your friendships, and you're getting really storming good at thinking about things critically and challenging your assumptions, and it's so cool watching you learn and grow. Life has not been very kind to you, but you keep pushing through, and I'm so so so glad that you're in my life.

@DramaQueen You, my friend, are just as awesome as everyone else on this list. It's so fun to talk to you, and I'm so glad that we were able to connect and get to know each other better. Honestly, you're not really the kind of person I generally see myself being friends with, but... we are! And it works! And I'm so glad that we are. Hanging out with you has always been so fun, and thank you for introducing me to a bunch of super cool musicals. I can't wait to be roommates next year and to come up with some great cosplays and for you to meet Kaladin and everything else on our list.  

@Ed Venture Vennie, I love you to death. You're such a neat person, even though your sense of humor is mildly disturbing. Thank you for your help with all of my random questions about college, and for just always being there for me. It means so much. I can't wait to see you more next year. (I haven't forgotten about dress shopping.)

@Vapor You are such an incredible person. I'm amazed every time I talk to you by your resilience and bravery. You're so cool, you have awesome hair, and hanging out with you is always a joy. You're such a kind and delightful human being. 

@Condensation TELL SPOOK I SAY HI! You are also amazing. I know we don't talk very much, but I always feel comfortable around you and it's so easy to talk with you. You're awesome and you've got this. I really hope to see more of you and Vapor next year as well. 

@Doomstick I know we're kind of more casual friends, but when I do chat with you it's always great. Thanks for being my first friend on Duolingo, and I hope that we have the chance to ski together again a few more times in the future. (I'll read Bluebear at some point, I promise.)

Of course there are so many more people, but these eight have probably had the largest influence on who I currently am. To everyone else, you're also awesome and it's a joy and a blessing to know you and have you in my life. The community I've found through this site rivals no other, and I have genuinely made life long friends. And it's so nice knowing that it'll always be incredibly easy to find someone to discuss Sanderson books with.  

Until next year!

Hey guys! Just wanted to let y'all know that I just posted the mental health awareness thread for 2023! 

Please stop by and show your support by changing your profile pictures green for the month of May! And it'd also be great if some of you would be willing to spread the word around a bit. Most of the people who follow me are no longer active.  

Okay so I missed my Sanderversary. 

On April 19, 2017, I bought my first Brandon Sanderson book. (I found the receipt a while back which is the only reason I know the date.) I started reading it that day.

And now I get to flex that my first Sanderson book was The Way of Kings and that I read it when I was twelve.  

So... Yeah, it's crazy. These books have been such a huge part of my life for the last six years. I've grown up so much since then. (And I still have a lot more growing up to do, trust me.) The Cosmere has completely reshaped my understanding of stories and of fantasy in particular, and Brandon honestly is just a great person. The books are no longer my entire personality as they were when I was in middle school, but they have made up a lot of who I am now. And even if at some point I move on from them (unlikely), that mark will always remain.

And honestly, I'm just so grateful for Brandon. I love how much he has grown as an author, especially when it comes to representation and diversity in his books, and how he's been handling that of late. As a queer, autistic, AFAB individual, it means the world to me that my favorite author is an open supporter of these comminities I'm a part of, and is not only standing up for us (specifically in relation to the LGBTQIA+ community), but also is seeking to accurately depict us and others in his works of fiction. 

Representation. Means. Everything. 

And the more I've come to understand bias and how representation can affect that, the more I've come to appreciate Brandon. Because no one really does it like he does, especially with how open he is with his fans about it. I especially appreciate how he's acknowledged his past shortcomings, such as his lack of female characters in Mistborn, and that he has been open about them, as well as the fact that his desire to improve in these regards is clear in his newer works.

He's not perfect. I disagree with the way he approaches a lot of things, especially his work with his charity and the way he handled the Kickstarter. But when it comes down to it, he's honestly just a good human being. And I'll never forget how kind he was when little seventh grade me came to a signing and asked "do you care how many books you sign?" and he said no and then proceeded to sign all fifteen books that I brought. I look up to him in a lot of ways. 

And... Honestly, most importantly, these books led me to finding a community when I had none. When I was in middle school, I wanted nothing more than to have friends that I could talk to about the Cosmere. But, understandably, most kids in that age range don't really want to be friends with the one weird kid who just wants to talk about the giant epic fantasy bricks and who constantly pesters everyone to read them. But I came here. (Yes, I was too young. But no one caught me so hah. /lh) I found a community. I started a role play that continued for I think three years, I was the second member of TUBA, and eventually I got on discord and through the community that came together through the Shard, I met a bunch of people who are now some of my closest friends in the world. (I'll give some of them a shoutout next month in my Shardiversary post.)

I seriously just can't express how large a role these books have played in my life. (Though my list of how many times I've read each book in my about me may provide an idea.) 

But.... Yeah. Just... I'll always be a Sanderfan, in one way or another.

 

 

Oh also I read over half of Elantris today. This was only my third time reading it and I enjoyed it so much more than I remembered. Raoden is such a good bean. Also now that I've started fencing, the fencing scenes were so fun. I think I currently like it more than I like Warbreaker, which is kind of unexpected. My second to last time reading Warbreaker I read it in under 24 hours, but last time it just kinda fell flat. But I loved Elantris so much this time. I think the difference between those two for me this time around was my perception of the characters. The characters in Warbreaker (sorry for reusing the same phrase) just fell flat for me. But Elantris felt far more driven by the individual characters. The characters felt less like plot devices, I guess.

Anyways.

Elantris was fun.

I have the tenth anniversary edition too so I got the fun little scene with Hoid doing Hoid things at the end.

...

It got far too late far too fast. Stupid sentimentality.  

Who decided I'm qualifed to go to college ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

If you are currently in a time zone where now is a good time to go to bed, please go to bed. Thank youuuuuuuu. 

Oh and also, y'all should watch The Owl House.  

I just finished Tress.

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

That is all.

Update: still obsessed with The Owl House.

That is all.

Wow.

Nostalgia.

June 30, 2017

It's been a while.

I'm still really really grateful for all of the connections and friends I made through tKotC. Everyone was just absolutely delightful to interact with, and I honestly miss it. But I definitely don't have the time to revive it right now.

But yeah.

I started a tumblr blog for my art! It'll just be Owl House and Hollow Knight for the foreseeable future, though eventually I'd like to figure out how to draw other stuff.

This is my inktober stuff.

https://at.tumblr.com/pencil-lines/inktober-stuff-october-got-super-busy-for-me-but/f9ft36p71j34 

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Anyways.

Just finished Thanks to Them.

I'm no longer even remotely emotionally stable.

I'm torn between absoulte joy and love of this show and every single one of these characters and the people who worked on this show and a burning hatred of Disney because those cremlings shortened the season so fricking much and AHH.

Anyways.

You all should watch The Owl House.

It's my absolute favorite show ever.

I love it a lot. 

If you can't tell by my drawings.

AHH

Anyways, goodnight!

Thank you all for being amazing.

<3

Okay so

I wasn't on here for a bit.

And I came back and had over 90 notifications. 

Basically all of which were status updates.

So I'm gonna turn off my notifications for status updates so I'll just see if people mention me and stuff. So if you need me to see a status update for some reason just mention me. 

Also I'm Quirrel now.

I think this was @DramaQueen's old pfp on Discord.

It's trippy.

But I'm keeping it for now.

Sorry if it's confusing.

You should play Hollow Knight.

*zooms away*

Well it's 9:57 in the evening and I want to go to bed.

But it's also May 16th.

Again.

Somehow.

And, somewhat unfortunately, this takes precedent over sleeping a reasonable amount.

First and foremost.

AHHHHHHHH WHAT THE ACTUAL FREAKING HECK HOW HAVE I BEEN ON HERE FOR FIVE YEARS????

I've been on here for five years.

I uh... technically joined when I was 12, but we don't talk about that. Or any of my early posts. 

A whole hecking lot has changed over those five years, and a lot of it in no small part thanks to this site and the amazing people I've come into contact with. You all got me through a really rough patch (AKA middle school) and then about two years ago I got onto Discord and just got to know some people even better.

You all are amazing.

Time to start the list. 

@The Awakened Salad SALAD. Thank you for being the other half of STAELSAHD, for putting up with me despite all of my many erm... moments of being a crummy friend, and for forgiving me. Every time I look at the moon I think of you and your 42 elbow-ed arms reaching down to pat me on the head. You're one of my best friends and I don't know what I'd do without you. And I know that I most certainly wouldn't be where I am without you at this point. And thanks, of course, for watching Barbie movies with me in the ungodly hours of the morning. Honestly, those are some of my fondest memories. Dragons!!!

@AonEne Eeeeeeeeeeeeene. I can't even put into words how awesome you are. Like dude. You ROCK. You're one of my closest friends, and the FAB squad just wouldn't be the same without you. I mean, then we'd just be the AB squad, and that'd be weird... But you're just so kind and amazing and funny and I love you so much. Hanging out with you in person is always a joy, and VCs are always an adventure. Thank you so much for coming to the anthology release, and putting up with my weird ramblings about stuff. You're amazing. Avi!!! Also I've been on the Shard longer than you so HAH. 

@Knight of Iron Koi. I gave you your nickname and I'll be forever proud of that fact. You're such an amazing, kind, considerate, and thoughtful friend. I love talking with you so much, and just... You're amazing. Thanks for the help figuring out Hollow Knight, and for talking about random stuff. You're one of the best people to talk to about Random Stuff. Honestly, you're just a really cool person and I really really value our friendship. 

@Ed Venture Vennie! I LOVE YOU. I love talking about musicals with you, and often times the more serious aspects of life and stuff. You're honestly just one of the kindest people I've ever had the pleasure of interacting with. I can't wait for the day when we'll be able to watch a musical together. It will happen some day, and it'll be so much fun when it does. 

@Channelknight Fadran Fadrinooooooo. THANK YOU for going to all those awesome writing things with me. You're so much fun to hang out with at them, and your chaotic energy is infectious. Thanks for yelling at everyone to play Hollow Knight. I suck at it, but it's fun, and I wouldn't be playing it if you didn't talk about it all the time. 

@DramaQueen Have I ever told you that you're just a really really cool person? You're such an amazing friend and I just love talking with you. You and Fadran are adorable and I can't wait to be your basement gremlin. We'll go see musicals all the time and drag Fadran to all of them so that he will actually have to listen to them.  Tell Petri I say hi! 

It's not letting me tag people anymore for some reason so I might just have to do that in comments. 

@Condensation I love talking to you and hanging out with you and just... you're cool. It was so much fun to hang out with you that night in March. I don't have much that's very specific to say, just I love you and you're such a good friend.

@Vapor VASPIE. You are the bestest bowl. And, once again, hanging out with you that night in March was one of the best nights ever. It was just a blast. I love you so much. Tell Chowder I say hi.  

@Mist I haven't really talked with you much lately, but you're such a cool person. Meeting was really cool, and I hope we can see each other again before too long. 

@Doomstick Shortie. Thanks for coming and visiting me this winter! That was such a fun day and I'm really glad I had that opportunity to hang out with you. You're a huge fricking nerd and just an all-around cool person. DFTBA!

@Hentient ALSO DFTBA. Thank you for being the cameraman at Fadran's birthday party! I really hope I can meet you in person some time soon. (Wait I just realized that you'll be at the same school as one of my IRL friends from where I live.) You're also a super cool person. Tell Toto I say hi! And DFTBA!

@S4S You're one of my oldest friends from here. You've been there since the beginning. And I'm so sorry you were there at the beginning.  You're also a super cool person (is it just me, or am I friends with a lot of really cool people? Maybe I have a knack for finding you all.) and a super talented writer. Talking to you again after two years was amazing. I can't even tell you how cool that was. All I can really say is thank you. 

@Firerust You've also been around for quite a while! Thank you for carrying on KotC for so long. You're also a very talented writer, and a very good friend. And, like with S4S, talking to you again after those two years was an incredible experience. Thanks for hanging around.  

@King Aragorn of Gondor You're also super cool!!! Talking to you is always so much fun and I always tend to stay up later than I mean to when I do.  Thanks for being awesome. Tell Bucky I say hi! He's such a good birb.

This is by no means everyone. I'm missing a ton. However, if I did miss you, this is for you: YOU'RE SO COOL AND SUCH AN AMAZING HUMAN AND THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE. 

The Shard has honestly been a huge part of my life, and generally for the better. Thank you all for being here with me for it. Thank you, thank you, thank you. 

It's now 10:36.

AND NOW I'LL LEAVE YOU WITH A QUOTE FROM THE ANTHROPOCENE REVIEWED BECAUSE IT'S AMAZING AND EVERYONE SHOULD READ IT. 

"I think two of the fundamental facts of being a person are 1. We must go on, and 2. None of us ever walks alone."

Thank you for walking with me.

It's that time of year again!

Happy mental health awareness month!

*is totally not reading tWoK for the twelfth time in five years*

Hahahahaha guess who's having urges to reread the entire Cosmere literally two weeks before AP tests hahahahaha definitely not me.

SCUDDING STORMS AP TESTS ARE IN TWO WEEKS.

DANG IT.

*dies*

Well

I missed my Sanderversary. 

Because I've been very busy.

I saw a sea turtle today.

Anyways.

Five years ago, I bought and began reading my first Sanderson book. It was The Way of Kings, and I cannot tell you how much this changed my life. It's still one of my top three favorite books of all time. (The other two are The Anthropocene Reviewed and The Book Thief, if you were wondering.) 

But... Yeah! 

After I finished tWoK, I got halfway through WoR and then joined the Shard, so thanks to that, my Shardeversary is in less than a month. 

Alright I'm going to bed now. Night!

1. I can now crochet tiny octopi and they're amazing and I love them. @King of the Oreo send me the pattern. I have now made ten of them and I am planning on making far more.

2. Kaladin's adorable.

3. I got stabbed last night at fencing really hard and now have a giant bruise but it was a whole hecking lot of fun.

4. I'm planning on rereading a few classics that I love (and maybe a few new ones or maybe just Frankenstein), then rereading the whole Cosmere because I FEEL LIKE IT.

5. Y'all. The Frankenstein musical. Is AMAZING. I've listened to it three times today alone.

6. AP tests in a month. Hahahahahahahahahaha

*dies*

Guys.

I got to use an arming sword tonight.

I mean it was a synthetic one, but STILL.

I did also get to hold a metal one, which was fun. We didn't swing those ones around much, though, cause they only had one metal one. 

It was so much fun.

Hello hi yes I'm back with another book recommendation.

If you are in the US, you have got to read Lies My Teacher Told Me by James W. Loewen. (If you're not in the US, it'll just show you how incredibly racist and biased the US history curriculum is in US high schools is! So It could be fun for you guys as well.) 

You have to read it.

The author takes the twelve most commonly used US history textbooks in high schools and analyzes them for the things that they leave out or lie about. And then he also talks so much about super interesting things and it just adds so much nuance to what's usually taught in schools and it's just so good.

He also talks a lot about why this is such as issue (racism and whitewashing history are a couple big ones) and why this leads to a lot of people finding history boring.

Stuff like this is why I personally love history. I have had an awesome teacher who was willing to dive deep into things, go beyond the curriculum, challenge common misconceptions, made us question, think critically, and just AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I love it so much.

Just, please, take the time to at least look into this book. It's written in a super entertaining way, it's jam-packed with information, and it will honestly make you a better person.

(Oh also, I love the term "whitewashing history." It's so interesting. Cause there's the "whitewashing" where you cover up the "blemishes" or the "imperfections." The things that make (in this case) the US look bad. Then there's also another meaning. "White"washing history. Focusing on history from the white European perspective. Ignoring or invalidating other points of view. (I've had people recommend to me An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States although I haven't read it myself yet, so that might be worth looking into if you guys are interested in this.))

So yeah.

PLEASE READ IT.

If you find history boring this might change your opinion.

At the very least it will leave you a better informed citizen.

Lies My Teacher Told Me, James W. Loewen.

(Also my psych teacher (he used to teacher world history as well) said this is one of his all-time favorite books, my AP World History teacher uses this to help teach Columbus, and my AP US History teacher listens to the podcast.)

(A few other history books that I've read and that I've loved are Flyboys by James Bradley, Becoming Evil by James Waller, We Wish To Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families by Philip Gourevitch, and Asperger's Children by Edith Sheffer.)

(Also I'm only about 70 pages into Lies My Teacher Told Me and this is how much I'm already loving it.)

PLEASE READ IT.

I originally wrote this as a response to @Dannnex's status update, which can be found here, but a friend recommended that I post this as a SU myself so that more people will see it than just those who originally commented on Dannex's SU. This is just to share my point of view, not to attack those of you who have no issues with the kickstarter. Your positions on this are valid, too. 

And to be clear, I'm still getting the books myself. 

Okay, so, for me, I'm not thrilled about the kickstarter, and here's why:

1. This is a very large expense that was thrown on a lot of people with no warning whatsoever, and it's a limited time thing. A lot of people who aren't in a great financial situation are still going to get these books and boxes even though it isn't the best idea in terms of money. With more notice, it would have given the people in this situation more time to set aside some money to lessen the financial blow. For me, in order to get the hardcovers, I'm having to return a couple dnd books I got a few weeks ago so that I can afford them. If I had known about this in advance, though, I wouldn't have bought them in the first place. I'm a high school student, I don't have a job, and this is the last of my birthday money, so this isn't a huge deal for me, but I can't even imagine springing this huge expense onto, say, a college student, or a struggling family, with no warning. And I can't blame these people for, say, taking money out of their food budget to pay for this. Because I love Brandon's books too, and I also don't want to wait an extra year, or even more, to read these books.

2. Storms this stuff is expensive. Dragonsteel is asking people to pay $600 for these swag boxes that they aren't telling us what is in them. And that's okay to a certain extent. Surprise is fun. However, they're so expensive that they should be giving us some idea of what's in them. All we have is "yeah there might be a shirt or something." Plus, $50 for a book the size of AoL is really storming expensive. I get that they're not printing with a traditional publisher, and that the books are going to have extra stuff in them. But it's still a lot, especially with how successful this kickstarter is. And then $40 for shipping... Once again, it's a lot. I do understand the decision to ship all of them separately though. But if there was an option to just get all of the limited edition books in one shipment at the end of 2023, I would take that option myself and save on the $30.

3. A lot of people were really genuinely concerned for Brandon. I have a family member who is really close to his family, and if something was really going on there, it would have impacted my life as well, especially the life of my family member who is close to them. A lot of people were worried he was going to drop the Cosmere or something like that, and it's been so so so important in so many people's lives, including my own. And just the emotional stress his presentation of this put on me and so many other people... I know a lot of people were able to just brush it off. But some of us can't.

4. This kickstarter started two days after the end of The Project For Awesome, an annual charity event run by John and Hank Green. They have done this for fifteen years. For the first half of the livestream that they do (it's 48 hours long) the money goes to Partners in Health and Save the Children. The proceeds raised during the second half are going to a variety of charities and non-profit organizations nominated and voted on by the community. The P4A raised $3 million in 48 hours. Which is so storming incredible and it was almost a spiritual experience when they hit that number. And then the kickstarter. They got to $13 million in about 12 hours. And that just... honestly, it really hurt. And I know this is more of a thing that's specific to me, but that doesn't change the fact that it hurt. And yes, I know Brandon has a charity and stuff, but there is almost no information on it. He doesn't tell us how much he gives to it, keep us updated on what it's doing, or anything like that. Frankly, he doesn't need all this money. And at the very least he could give us more information on the Lightweaver Foundation. Then this wouldn't be as big of a deal for me.

I'm so excited for the new books, and I can't wait to read them. I'm so glad so many other people are excited too, but I can't be excited about the kickstarter itself.

Even just trying to say "YAY BRANDON GOT $20 MILLION IN FOUR DAYS!" leaves me with a metaphorical bitter taste in my mouth. 

EVERYONE HEAD OVER TO 

 TO WATCH THE 2022 P4A LIVESTREAM. DONATIONS GO TO CHARITY. IT'S A PARTY. 

Hank Green is on right now.

The fundraiser and stream will continue for the next 12-ish hours.

It's seriously amazing.

Over 2.5 million dollars has been raised over the last day and a half.