Mulk

Direct quote from Honor in one of the visions he gave Dalinar: "Odium killed me." So, we don't know the how yet, but Honor/Tanavast is dead, and everyone in position to know says so. Part of the shard's power is merged with the Stormfather now the rest is splintered.

Kal and Syl remind me of some people I knew a long time ago. Best friends of the opposite gender, who were pretty much incapable of seeing each other in a romantic light. Romance would be a downgrade for them, honestly, a complication, and nearly impossible anyway. In any case, she wants him to get laid. There's no hint anywhere in there of her wanting to be the one who does the deed. I'm fairly sure Brandon gave the answer he did because he had a hard time taking the question seriously. I really don't think Kal is fit for romance at this point. I'd rather he stay out of it, at least in the first five.

Advanced Dungeons and Dragons.

That needed to be said as well. Adrenaline has made people capable of seemingly superhuman feats of strength in real life. Why not on Roshar as well?

Some of them are no doubt lawful stupid. The rest range from evil to good most likely depending on the Skybreaker. The problems are 1) they see themselves as bereft of a waypoint to guide by, 2) they are ruled by a man who is insane, and 3) the being who is the ultimate source of their power is dead. Of those, 2 is the biggest problem. A more reasonable and less insane leader probably wouldn't lead them in that direction. Storms, even Szeth is more reasonable. People tend to follow those in power, even if they make bad choices or command immoral things. That's been the subject of behavioral experiments on more than one occasion. It will be interesting to see who all decides not to follow Nale into his chosen path, if any. If it's very few...well, that's the Milgram experiment all over again. To the topic itself, to many of the questions on the quiz don't really reflect what I'd do. For one, I don't paint. At all. I can't even draw recognizable stick figures! Almost half the questions I just picked something at random. I wound up with Lightweaver and Stoneward almost equally. that seems to be how these quizzes work for me. 2-3 things almost identical followed by other(s) no where close. The personality stuff, I skew heavily introverted but everything else is about 50/50

We had snow in Austin, Texas too. Was pretty amazing. All gone now though...

I lost my taste for "literature" in high school because of stuff like this. Especially when you start ripping apart works wherein the author specifically disclaims deeper meanings and things of that sort. The one that really took the cake was Lord of the Flies (side note: I don't know the author's position on symbolism or deeper meaning in the work). I had to write a paper on all of the color symbolism in the book. Basically I wrote five pages of utter (expletive) referencing just about every single appearance of some specific colors and got one of the better grades I got in those classes. At that point it was like "well obviously reality doesn't matter in this class." There are days I wonder if Shakespeare was the world's first troll. You know, just sitting around making stuff up and knowing audiences would eat it up in spite of how much utter crap he would throw in. Does he have some wonderful scenes? Surely. He's writely (sorry, couldn't resist, I'm a dad!) remembered for his work. But some things like R&J just...ugh.

lol. perhaps. Or maybe since those who killed allomancers don't want to be identified with the mists that give mistborn their name they wanted it different. Remind me to steer clear of you if/when I rise to some allomancy rank...

it's a mistborn term Basically it's someone/something specifically to kill allomancers - I think I can say that without spoiling anything for you if you've not read them

He's a loser who couldn't beat the game himself; wish I had that kind of money to fund my game habit #LizardWizard4lyfegangsign

Harmony is the combined shards of Ruin and Preservation, but they themselves are 2 of 16 shards from a being/power called Adonalsium that was split a very long time ago. He's also a shard that is pretty much stuck where he is - Sazed/Harmony won't be going anywhere anytime soon that I can see. Redness typically indicates corrupted Investiture, so some shard other than Harmony is at work. I haven't actually read the book you're referencing (I've had trouble locating Shadows of Self and Bands of Mourning in bookstores; books tend to be sale/impulse buys for me and I don't online shop much) so I can't go into too much more detail. As to the whole of the cosmere...well, in Stormlight Archive all you really see are a few people here and there, maybe an item (maybe not - not confirmed) from Scadrial, so there's really not much overt connection at this point. I'd read both the first two SA books before I read anything mistborn, and even having read mistborn there's not much to see at this point. I think all we really know 100% is that at some point down the road Brandon Sanderson is going to start tying things together more closely and then write some cosmere-wide books with a group of works to be titled Dragonsteel. I mean, I'd guess Harmony and Kelsier and others from Mistborn will figure into the cosmere as a whole eventually but it's pure speculation at this point. Welcome

Honor says that all of the visions he gives Dalinar are things he has seen except the very last, and that includes the Recreance as it was not the last vision given. There have been no Desolations since the Recreance, everyone agrees on that. So, yes.

If she doesn't have the Stormlight with her, she can be stuck like anyone else, same as Kaladin would have trouble if he was in the air and suddenly ran out of Stormlight. She had to flee abruptly using up her Stormlight both to heal what should have been a fatal wound and to exit to the Cognitive Realm. Without Stormlight, she has to transfer using a perpendicularity just like anyone else. In any case, once she was there, she probably set herself to learning what she could from the spren before transferring back right away. So I'm of the opinion she probably could have transferred back earlier than she did but chose not to until she had more complete knowledge from the spren.

I'd throw in as well that it is possible they were feeling some of Taln's pain for all 4500 years as he was tortured, and they had all already broken to torture.

I was 19 when I married. Now, given I am the guy so I'm not the focus of the thing (a fact I got to hear many times before and after the wedding), but I was mostly saying to myself don't lock your knees, don't faint, don't mess up the words. And a whole hell of a lot of holy crap it's TODAY. OMG I'M GETTING MARRIED. It wasn't the most enlightened or romantic of thoughts. However... I'm 43 and still married, same woman, three kids and more than half my life later. Make of that what you will.

I only see one possible flaw with the conclusion and that is that the Stormfather and the Nightwatcher are both likely imprinted/Invested by Honor and Cultivation in a way that other spren are not which means the Sibling may not actually be on their level. I lean towards him being it as he's the only other "major" spren we've seen in the books that might possibly fit the description, so far as I can tell, but I'm not married to the idea.

At least one of the Kholin brothers dies. Sja-Anat's betrayal will be forced into the open and she is eventually destroyed by Odium; after she has gifted the KR with nine corrupted Nahel spren (so eight more after Glys) to help counterbalance Odium's influence with the unmade. Kaladin will eventually fight Moash in the contest of champions, winning a tight battle in which he swears the fifth ideal. Dalinar takes up Honor's place in full by the end of the front five as Odium is sent back to Braize for a time. Kaladin will end the series unmarried and uninvolved romantically. Shallan will still be married if Adolin survives; she will have mostly resolved her identity issues if he lives. If he dies...I see her drifting off into an uncomfortable limbo Azure and Zahel will meet up and finally agree to a long term relationship Nightblood will kill either Szeth or Lift (or both) and experience a crisis of self; Zahel will regain possession of his "friend" afterwards Jasnah will become the greatest ruler in the history of Alethkar, having retaken Kholinar and established an equitable peace with the Listener people who survived Jasnah will also declare that she will hand over the rulership of Alethkar once Elhokar's son is of age The world will not fully be at peace, as the Everstorm will continually attempt to return the Fused, but the surviving Listeners will have mostly learned from Venli how to bond lesser spren to avoid being taken against their will Many of the remaining Heralds will have died by the time the final battles happen, in the same way that Jezrien did. Ishar and Nale will both have gone over to Odium, but will have been betrayed by Odium to a death like Jezrien's to try to force the Oathpact to be over. Taln will have recovered his wits by the the end, either from healing or sheer Awesomeness. He will agree to go back to Damnation for as long as he can handle it one final time. Ash will be the one to send him back and then will send herself back as well. Together they will hold for fifteen years. Taravangian's work with the Diagram will have been shown to be a massive work of disinformation on Cultivation's part to mislead both Mr T and Odium into thinking that it serves Odium's interest when in reality it's shaping what T does in such a way that he inadvertently causes Odium's stratagems to fail. Wit/Hoid will be a knight of the Third Ideal by the end of the front five, but will once again be able to exit the system once Kaladin wins. When the back five starts, Jasnah is about to hand over the king/queenship to Elhokar's son. Wit will return because of his fortune/luck sense. Odium is back and this time manages to take out Cultivation, but Dalinar takes up Cultivation before it can be splintered and then uses their combined strength to overcome Odium, taking his shard as well. The surgebinding wars occurring around this destroy Roshar not in totality, but in a way that forces the inhabitants to leave. The remaining Heralds are released from the Oathpact. Lift becomes the new self-proclaimed Queen of Awesomeness and Feasting after having distracted Odium's attention (leading to his death) with a well timed comment about his butt and stabbing him with a Shardfork. This is all totally true and awesome.

Good grief...you're so young it's ridiculous If you're old enough to handle LOTR, you're old enough for Stormlight. 12-14 ought to be plenty sufficient and certain readers younger. I'd probably have been fine at somewhere between 8 and 10, which is around the first time I really absorbed LOTR.

Skyrim is amazingly fun. I've dumped way too much time into it, though I'm only finally getting to the last DLC for it for the first time. I don't spend just a ton of money on game stuff, so when someone gifted me a copy of the Special Edition... Shadows of War and Shadows of Mordor are two games I really want to try some time.

I guess I love what Christmas actually is and hate what it has become. About 8 years ago I was laid off and that turned into the longest jobless period of my life, chewed up every bit of savings and retirement that I had. Still haven't recovered from that. It took six months to get my first interview, 9 to get my second. So I get where you're coming from. I completely ran out of money in February the following year and didn't get my first paycheck until mid-April. First - most jobs don't treat potential hires as humans with hopes and needs. And to give them the benefit of the doubt, it's difficult to have the time to personally respond to everyone interested, given the numbers of people applying for jobs a lot of places. Don't expect much back - the best you can do is continually put yourself out there. Open yourself up to possible moves as well, particularly to any cities where there are good friends or family who might help you get set up if you can land a job there. Second - do not be shy about asking for help. This includes jobless benefits and food stamps, but it also includes being honest with the people you know about where you are and how difficult it is. My parents came down twice and took us on the buy everything in sight grocery trips that run about $500 dollars. The church has a food and clothing bank they keep for the needy, that was open every time we needed it. Several friends didn't have much but gave us a tank of gas. And, finally, a friend in Dallas who is fairly well off sent me a paycheck, basically, to get me to my first paycheck, since it was three weeks after I started that I got my first check for work. They all did that free of charge. Some folks hit me up for tutoring (high school math, specifically) or piano lessons so they could "give" me money for services rendered, which is a huge boon when you're feeling useless. It's not because I'm some paragon of humanity that they did this - I know a lot of compassionate people, good folks who whatever their faults don't want anyone to go hungry. And we never did. Third - the fact you do not have a job is not a reflection on your worthiness for one, or upon you as a person. You can't let that get on top of you. If you don't have a strategy to deal with that, you need one, whether it be songs or books or a good friend or family member you go to, whatever it might be, cling to that. Because those feelings will come for you, repeatedly and often. If you listen, you'll stop seeking jobs, start to believe you'll never get a job, you'll lose hope. Whoever it is you talk to about stuff like this...you need to be 100% honest with them and tell them to stay on you. Nagging if they need to, take you out for a coffee or a meal and some laughs, or whatever, but don't leave you alone in that; and ask them to come knock on your door if you won't answer the phone. When I'm at my darkest, I cannot be allowed to sit alone in my thoughts. I'm married and have a family so I am almost never alone, but it needs to be said. Last - this is a rough time for you but it, too, shall pass. There will be peace. You will be okay. And several years down the road you'll remember the nature of these days and probably laugh a bit wondering why you worried so much, because it didn't, does not and never will help do much aside from make you need the doctor more often. The Lord be with you, as He always has and always will be. And if you need to vent privately, by all means, light up my inbox. I can't do much for you other than listen, but sometimes that was all I needed.

hugs SilverTiger So...I really hate the Christmas season. I hate "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire" (like, the only song I actively, truly despise and would rather take a hammer to my fingers than listen to it). Part of this is a function of my depression and part of it is I really hate how a lot of people act this time of year - how impossible it is to get anywhere, do anything, the general lack of thankfulness and so on. I hate being hounded for what I want. I hate being hounded to give things to those who want. Basically for me Christmas is the opposite of everything I want it to be. The fact that I'm a minister on weekends complicates matters further. Ministry unfortunately offers no respite from the ailing nature life sometimes has. I understand why some like me kill themselves. I'm not on that path (haven't had a suicidal ideation in a couple decades) and I think I pretty well firmly have myself in hand so I never will be, but...man, do I understand why they do it. This is the month of the year I wish I could burn off the calendar and just skip from Thanksgiving to New Years. I hate that I'm this way, but this is the way that I am and have been for years. I can remember loving Christmas and I don't know how to get back to that without avoiding people. Like, all people. Which I can't do. So, any hugs, prayers, good thoughts and whatever are welcome. I do my best not to come off like the Grinch but I'm having a lot of trouble this year so far.

@Ookla the Delightful; Shabbat Shalom to you as well.

pretty much this. Maybe not everyone but it's going to be a hell of a lot of people. I looked up depression on the WHO and it claims 300 million have depression. That's ~4% of the populace of the world at a time. I don't have the ability or the time to look up statistics on war-related trauma, near death by illness, accident, death of a child, abuse, violent crime or whatever else could break someone to add them all up but I think it's a safe bet that at least 20-25% of Earth would probably qualify as broken enough to obtain a bond if we lived in the Cosmere. Applied to the population of the Earth that's like 1.5 billion people or more. I don't know how many people live on Roshar but if 1 in 4 or 5 is a good working number, well, there's a ton of people available.

Thicker skin...I wish. I moved to Houston when I was 12. Kids weren't as nice there as where I was from and it cases it got bad. I've been dealing with depression since I was 13 and I'm past 40 so you can do the math. This was hard to post, and I almost didn't post it but I think it's instructive to hear from someone who has what Kaladin has to see what it's like. You probably know someone like this, going by the odds. And it won't look exactly like this but there are commonalities. For me the typical cycle looks something like this. Good things are happening for a while, I'm trying my best, and then something bad happens. Something not my fault. Sometimes not even happening to me but it affects me. A spiral starts. I start to believe I can't ever make it. I can't overcome. It will never be better than it is right now. And then I make a mistake. Something that is my fault. And it gets worse, until I believe I deserve the bad, and I start doing wrong or failing to do right and feed the cycle. The hell of it is, I know exactly what I'm doing, and I can't stop. The part of me in control no longer believes I should have what good I have. I look okay, even mostly act okay, but when your back is turned I tend to do things calculated to cause me pain or make it harder on me because I deserve it. The only real way up for me is love and compassion from friends and family who give it even when I'm at my worst. Like, you don't dig your own way out of depression. You need a ladder - a lot of times that's a therapist, but even if a therapist is part of it you need people close to you. I think that's why Rock needed to save Kaladin - why others had to come through and he had to fail. I can't even reach out at my worst. I can't tell people I'm hurting. I can't succeed when I'm hurting. I need someone to save me sometimes. I hate it, so very much. But it's reality - I need friends who call/text/message me just because. They are like my final line of defense. Kaladin has those things in Syl and in Bridge 4 now, so I don't worry much about him ever wanting to kill himself (or at least following through on it) but he won't be immune to spiraling down and locking up, no matter how good it gets. That's as far as I'm going to go down this track for now. For me, Kaladin is incredibly real. In a way, he's me. I can't be disappointed in him - this is what I do myself. I fail and it isn't always my fault that I fail, but I blame myself, do harm (not physical in my case) to myself, hate who I am at times...it's like Brandon interviewed me and squeezed every drop out of me that has to do with depression and wrote it onto the page in words far better than I could ever use.

The only thing I can come up with is that sometimes, a person who is dying and suffering from illness will have some lucidity right before death. So, perhaps he was going crazy as Odium brought him near death and had a brief respite from the pain/attack/whatever and was able to do this. Or (just occurred to me) perhaps Cultivation attended him and helped him pull together right before he died. I don't know. It is an odd thing, though.