aemetha

Maturing. It never stops developing at any age. 25 isn't a hard rule either, it's more like 21-25 years. The reason for the preoccupation with age differences can largely be attributed to procreation. Young people are supposed to make babies with young people, because young people are more fertile than older people, of both genders, and their offspring have less developmental issues. Evolutionary drives force young people together. Yes, sometimes people with an age gap fall for each other, but society will never approve of it because deep down the basis of human behaviour is the perpetuation of the genetic line. As far as people are concerned, it is abnormal behaviour, because it is contrary to the optimal pairing. We can assign all the societal excuses to that we want, they will only ever be a minor factor compared to the evolutionary one. Sorry people, I know we want to think we are more evolved than that, but we are not. We eat, sleep, procreate and raise children just like every other creature on our planet has since life developed.

It's from the WoB I quoted earlier in the thread.

Okay, that makes sense. So, if I can attempt to paraphrase your take on it: Lift has an accelerated metabolism overall, allowing for faster conversion to glucose. Lift can convert glucose from food to stormlight. She can draw on her short and long term reservoirs (not that there is much of a long term one for her) to convert glucose to stormlight. Which is nice and tidy, addresses the issue of her metabolism being slower than the time it takes for stormlight to leak, and her ability to store stormlight presents a practical benefit to her condition which is otherwise largely a limitation. It also addresses @Calderis concerns about stormlight always needing to leak from a human - she is not storing stormlight, she is storing glucose, but can choose to convert that glucose into stormlight when required, at which time it would leak as normal.

Well, that would mean she metabolises glucose into stormlight. That would make more sense. The only problem I have with it is that Brandon specifically said she could choose to metabolise food into stormlight instead of sugars (glucose). Wyndles commentary can also be understood to mean that she chooses to convert too much food to stormlight and insufficient glucose is being taken on to contribute to the long term reservoir.

Right, here's the thing though. Fat storage is what is known as the long term reservoir. Glucose is converted into triglycerides with three fatty acids which is then stored in the adipose tissue. This happens after food has been broken down into glucose though, so by Brandons commentary on it, this occurs after she was required to make the choice of whether it converts to glucose or stormlight. It would, physiologically be a much tidier system if she did in fact convert glucose to stormlight, rather than convert to stormlight instead of glucose. We do, but she generally does this because she's used it all, not because it leaked away. She has a tendency to use it any time she has it. Whether that is by necessity or not is ambiguous. Well, to be fair, a human body can't convert food into stormlight either. She apparently does not have a human body. The point that puts me so over the edge with this theory though is that it takes more time to metabolise than it does to leak, comparing the timeframe given by Brandon as the fastest for her to metabolise stormlight, and the timeframe we know the other radiants have before it leaks away. It could never accumulate to a usable quantity if that is the case.

@Calderis that still doesn't make any sense physiologically. She may be able to choose to metabolise stormlight instead of glucose, but she cannot choose to not metabolise at all. Most of the time we are in a fasting phase of metabolism, the food having already been converted. Food doesn't just sit in the body until it is needed. It is converted (metabolized) into usable parts and then stored during the short absorptive phase, for later use in the longer fasting phase. There is also the issue that it takes longer for her to metabolise than any other radiant can hold the stormlight. In such a case the stormlight is not practically usable unless she can store it until she needs it. Even the accelerated metabolism described by Brandon is slower than how long it can be held for. The only logical way to reconcile these issues is if Lift has the capacity to store stormlight.

Because it isn't enough for Hoid to want to bond the spren. The spren must also want to bond Hoid. Hoid's background and nature is most appealing to a cryptic. An honorspren for example would very much object to his willingness to let the world burn and propensity for lies and half-truths.

No, this can't be the case. It's completely impractical and not at all in keeping with what we've seen. In other surgebinders they have been described holding stormlight for a period of time equivalent to holding ones breath - in fact, they hold their breath precisely to maximise the length they can hold it. In Lift's case it takes her longer to create stormlight than the length of time it would take for it to leak away. We see her use stormlight for much longer gaps between eating. Yes, she does keep looking for food, but that's because she needs to replenish what she used, not because it leaked away. She has to have some capacity for storing stormlight for it to work for her at all.

Yes, this is what I am getting at. Metaobolizing stormlight from food only makes sense practically and physiologically if Lift posseses a storage reservoir for stormlight, which if the case confers upon her an advantage far in excess (in my opinion) of her limitation of having a small time delay in initially accessing stormlight after having run out. It's a genuine boon rather than a limiting peculiarity.

Yes, it does mean that, and slower. That's addressed in the WoB at the end.

I can't help but wonder about the physiology of Lifts unique gifts. Everyone else accesses stormlight by breathing it in. This is quite analogous with breathing, it must be constantly done. The same with stormlight, if the stormlight is not used it leaks away. Lift however accesses it by eating, which doesn't work like breathing at all. Lets examine what Brandon has said about it. https://wob.coppermind.net/events/3-firefight-chicago-signing/#e67 So here is the important words in that highlighted: Okay, so we need to examine what is involved in metabolising now. We like to simplify metabolism to us drawing on the fuel provided by food as it makes its way through the body. That isn't really what happens though, in reality metabolism happens reasonably rapidly and is stored for later use in various forms. When we eat food, our body enters the absorptive phase of metabolism. Proteins are used to create new cells, and glucose is used for fuel. Insulin is released which allows the cells in the body outside the nervous system to use glucose as fuel (the nervous system can always use it as fuel). Any excess glucose and proteins are stored (there is some conversion between different forms here, but that bit isn't really relevant) in the short term reservoir (mostly in the liver) and excess after that the long term reservoir (in the adipose tissue of our fat). When we stop eating, our body enters the fasting phase of metabolism. Insulin release is ended and the cells outside the nervous system instead use proteins as fuel. The nervous system continues to use glucose as fuel from the short term reservoir, and then from the long term reservoir once it's exhausted. So, it seems clear from the use of the word instead, that she wouldn't be able to store stormlight in exactly the same manner as we do glucose. That doesn't mean it isn't stored however. He uses the word metabolize a lot, and metabolizing has two phases. Metabolism doesn't really work without storage because it lacks the immediacy of breathing. Lift is described as taking 5 minutes to metabolize bread, obviously that's less than ideal in a pinch. So the question is, does Lift's peculiarity confer an actual advantage in that she can store stormlight, at least for longer than another surgebinder? I think it does. It's not emphasised that she is doing that, but there are explicit and implicit suggestions that she can hold stormlight for much longer than another surgebinder. Thoughts?

That's an agreement between Mr T and his aides. Odium has no part of that agreement and is not bound by it. If Mr T has violated a previous agreement he will have to address it with the stakeholders in that agreement, but it in no way invalidates his agreement with Odium.

Wow, that's a LOT of stormlight. They should definitely try and fight team Odium there next time, they wouldn't even need to bring Dalinar along.

I find it interesting that we have a thread extolling the normality of the only "hero" character we know to be unequivocally guilty of murder. A murder he almost committed publicly on several occasions might I add. No, Adolin isn't normal or well adjusted at all, it's just that his maladjustment is looked upon more favourably than others.

I think the revelation is a bit more than just an ancient injustice. First, they invaded with their god of the void. Then they stole their gods and spren, making them find new gods and spren of their ancestors. Then they fought desolation after desolation endlessly killing. Then after the last desolation, there was an unprecedented gap before a new one. During that gap there was no access to the heavy artillery of their side. Humans were clearly the dominant side at the time. Hundreds of years of fighting and skirmishing, they had to be on the brink of extinction. The Parshendi were on the brink of extinction after a few short years of fighting without radiants. So it's not just that they stole their homes in ancient times, they were exterminating an entire people. They avoided the extermination by enslaving them instead and then cast off the mantle of radiants while repeating that mantra so often heard at the end of a truly damaging conflict - never again. Anyway, that's a possible explanation as to why the origin story is such a big deal. They didn't just fall on the wrong side of fair and just in the conflict - they kept falling on the wrong side of fair and just.

Not particularly. Assuming they inherited a little emotion from the Parshendi, consider that the Parshendi spend very little time in mate forum, and are constantly amazed at the human ability to get anything done because they are always in mate form. This suggests a much stronger drive to mate than humans experience, when in the appropriate form. If the Horneaters and Herdazians inherited even a small amount of that drive, they would likely end up with larger families than is the norm.

"I will protect the right of others to make their own choices and bear the consequences of those choices"

Is this the WoB you're getting at here? https://wob.coppermind.net/events/190-rfantasy-ama-2013/#e4078 If so, he was certainly opposed and the force is still around, because the shardholders shattered him and are still around. He further clarifies. https://wob.coppermind.net/events/90-barnes-noble-b-fest-2016/#e4594 Is there something I am unaware of that expands on their being a force of opposition outside of the shards?

I would think "Incitement" perhaps.

This thread makes me wish I had a talent for art. Then I could draw Lift wielding her Sprenshardthrowingshoe.

There, I fixed that for you .

Well the problem with a Sprenshardbow is you'd need Sprenshardarrows to make the most of it. Spren can't divide themselves into separate weapons from what we know.

That's something I hadn't considered. I find it a very difficult argument to dispute though since it reinforces everything I keep saying about shards - they don't have free will. I agree 400%, she wouldn't have a choice, if the power is there to take she must take it. Have an upvote.

I think it's interesting that the Skybreaker consecutive progression marries up quite well with the different roles of professions that interact with the law. Oath 2: The police. Follow the letter of the law. Oath 3: A judge. Interpret the letter of the law by examining it in the context of how and why it was written. Oath 4: A politician/ruler. Write the law as a codification of what justice means in that community. Maybe it's consecutive because different levels of skybreaker assume different roles with respect to the law.

I think the only sensible projectile shard weapon would be a shardarang. It addresses the issue of throwing your weapon away quite neatly . Of course, in the case of Lift, it would likely be a shoe that by some miracle of cosmeric physics returns to the wielders hand. It also explains her penchant for not wearing shoes all the time, since you can hardly throw it if you're wearing it.