Zelly

The Rosharan chicken/egg question: does logic attract logicspren or do logicspren help generate logic? I wonder if logicspren are helpful at seeing the Bigger Picture. Like they whisper in your ear, "Hey I bet thing A and thing B correlate" or "look at your page 2 notes again, ya missed something there". Or maybe it's related to Intent? Like if you want your fabrial to work mathmatically, you need to....have faith in your logic and numbers?

YA'LL. This sentence got me so excited about my crazy theory that music is like the underlying power of Roshar and maybe the cosmere. Also, I'm loving the dangerous mad scientist vibe from Raboniel. I can see Navani and her being an interesting duo.

I think it's one of Shallan's band of Lightweaver guards like Gaz or Vathah.....but it's not really them, it's an imposter: Mraize has a lightweaver of his own in the Ghostbloods. This person stalked one of the Shallan's group, observed them over time and learned their mannerisms, killed them, then took their place.

So driving home today I was pondering. With one other random person, there's a 1 in 365 chance of them sharing my birthday, correct? (If I'm wrong already we're in trouble). But it's not...cumulative probability or whatever. Like each person is a separate event, and 365 people together does not mean guarantee there will be someone with my shared birthday (right?) So my main question is: How many people would I need to gather to have a 98-99% probability that at least 1 other person shared my birthday? I'm not a mathy person, so if you're a math teacher (or want to be), this is your time to shine. Bonus points if you can explain with more words and less equations.

This conversation set off sooooooo many warning flags for me. Mraize is obviously setting Shallan up for something in this meeting. 1st thought is that he's a character we already know, or that Shallan especially knows. I'm not sure who this could be....A Herald? Someone she thought was dead, but had been hiding? A hidden figure from her suppressed childhood? (this seems the most likely to me) If not the above, then something has to be set up which has Mraize so confident in Shallan's future decisions.

Don't you love how everyone can take away something different from Death Rattles? I read it as maybe Honor had a chance to beat Odium or something, except that it would require sacrifices Honor was not willing to make. Like, "Odium will reign because Honor choose not to use/sacrifice/kill people." Or maybe even that he had a chance at killing Odium, but he would have had to do it dishonorably, and thus was not able to.

Guns Akimbo

So this took an even stranger turn in chapter 9. Shallan talks about her deep secret being unknown by everyone, including Pattern. I'm assuming that means before she ever met him and started lightweaving, she'd already done this terrible thing? And how young was she at this point??

The impression I got from ch 9's cryptic critic of Navani was that while it didn't seem to approve of fabrials in general, it really didn't like Navani's new jumbo conjoined fabrials. Idea 1) What if by linking hundreds of spren together, a new being could be created? We know that Investiture seems to breed sapience (or sentience...or both). If a hundred non-thinking flame spren are linked, then become self aware and unified, you've potentially got a giant rolling fire monster. Might be how Cusicesh was formed? (Also vaguely reminds me of Nightblood). Idea 2) All objects have spren/soul bead, but what about when that object uses spren? Fourth Bridge is a giant flying airship. It should, technically, start to view itself not as various wood planks, but as a unified thing. When that happens, how are the hundreds of captured spren incorporated? Do you end up with a higher spren, something like from Idea 1?

@Subvisual Haze So we've got Teft with true addiction to firemoss: constant cravings, using repeatedly even though it was negatively affecting his work, unable to say no even though he knew it was doing terrible things to his life I guess in media and culture we've gotten used to tossing the word addiction around when we actually mean dependence. I'll say I'm addicted to caffeine, but what I really mean is dependent. I'm a mess without it, but I'm not constantly thinking about, drinking more and more coffee, or skipping responsibilities. It's not the #1 priority in my life, taking precedence over family, work, etc.

Had to go look these up to think about the difference, but I agree. Although he may be edging towards addiction, based on this last chapter. There seems to be a fine nebulous line.

(Keep RoW stuff on the other boards. It's not much of a discussion if everything's in spoilers ) I swear there's a scene where Renarin heals someone (maybe Adolin in OB when he's visiting Gallant) and other person gets a flash vision/insight of a sort the ideal version of themselves, which is a big Spiritual thing. The closest that Shallan does is less with Lightweaving and more with art, like her portrait of Elhokar as a strong king. As if she is aware of that ideal form, but not able to apply it.

Redemption is a powerful thing that resonates with people. It's also freaking difficult. Nobody talks about Szeth, but wow he murdered a lot of innocent people for less reasons than Moash. I'm more curious about his redemption arc since it's less about redemption and more about vengeance on those who caused him to need redemption?

Interesting topic! I immediately thought of a scene from WoR, when Kaladin had been in prison for awhile. There are spheres outside his cell and he is desperate to get the Stormlight. He succeeds in drawing stormlight, but it was difficult for him because he made conflicting promises and his ideals were unstable. In the scene, he has NO real need for stormlight. He is not hurt, fighting, or anything else. He is sliding towards the void and just wants to feel alive. Which, yeah, sounds a lot like addiction. If it is the case, I wonder if Teft will be the one to confront it.

I.....like how his character is written. Yeesh. I have confusing complicated feelings for Moash. He is much more terrifying than he used to be. The whole "seduce you into the void of apathy" thing is dangerously contagious. I want maybe not a redemption arc for him, but a reawakening.

I'm guessing she did something innocent as a child, but with terrible consequences. Like lightweaving an illusion to trick someone, except it went all wrong and set in motion the downfall of her family. I'm sad that the impression is that whatever the deeper truth is, it's apparently painful. Like, even more painful than murdering her own parents. Is this just Shallan or all Lightweaver truths/oaths not just a reflection about themselves, but a dark one? It'd be nice for her final truth to be something like, "Despite my deeds I'm not a bad person."

Real theories: Shallan becomes queen at some point. RoW epilogue will be Wit doing his usual philosophical musings.....but to Cultivation. Music and sound are really, really important to everything. I'm just not sure how this plays out. The Sibling can only be "awakened" from Shadesmar. The one from my signature: 7/3/18 Going on record, I'm saying Cultivation's name is related to Pog or Hawaii. Galbiso? Alua? Haleakala? Extra wild chaos theories with no real basis: Someone is going to attempt to destroy the Roshar solar system by destroying the sun. The rebel Parshendi will settle on Aimia and build their own culture/life there. Something something something those 3 three moons are still suspicious. XD

Nightblood seems to get full and sleepy after a certain amount, so I'd guess it'd food coma pretty quickly. Bit like a larkin?

Rambling stressed teacher venting below (I feel like I post one of these every Fall and Spring )

I make a lot of random recipes I find online (to the despair of my mother who doesn't understand why I can't just use her and grandma's recipes. They're good recipes, but also pretty bland. Nice for like.....cornbread....but not much else). This is one from the Interwebs that I have made that I FREAKING LOVED: Teriyaki Salmon with sriracha cream If you like fish and you like a lil spice, go for it.

It struck me that these beginning chapters of RoW are very similar to those at the beginning of OB. Kaladin has traveled to Hearthstone and is dealing with people and problems there..... Shallan/Veil are investigating Urithiru murders/plots that tie with the Ghostblood demands... A member of Sadeas is killed/found dead.... Not really sure how'd it take the story forward next if it was a trend....Kaladin could get captured by the Fused and become more understanding with them as they traveled? Shallan confronts another Unmade? Someone presumed dead reappears suddenly (no ideas on this on). Dalinar/Navani/Jasnah explore his visions more..

I'm more concerned that the city seems to be on fire in several areas. Also the buildings have those dome shapes which make me think Emul/Azir?

OMG I looooove this cover. I'm guessing the ground is like waves because in the physical realm it's actual water. The orange diamonds look like fairly normal cubic crystal formations? Could the strange tower be: (Or was that in relation to the big plateau on the Shattered Plains? I think it was called "the tower?") I've got nothing as to why Adolin's hair is like that. Unless we're reading too much into it? Is it suppose to be white, or it is just a trick of the light? Also.....Shallan is holding a gem of some sort........mmmmmmmm strange gems.....black sphere?

Sorry, didn't come out the way I meant. Not dropped "officially", I meant when people use a shorter variant like LBGT+. The acronym has been reeeeeally fluid over the years. Which is not a bad thing, but it does contribute to confusion.