Wyndlerunner

2 hours ago, Mason Wheeler said:

Never try to go meta on a trickster...

The Sandy-man is a slippery fellow. Give him an inch of wiggle-room and suddenly your fishing haul is devoid of a fine Silverpike

1 hour ago, mdross81 said:

That’s plausible enough. Makes me wonder whether Yolish Lightweaving is somehow more volatile/powerful, just like Khriss suggests that another Yolish version of a surge was in the RoW Ars Arcanum. 

That's definitely plausible. Perhaps combining 2 magics with the same fundamental purpose leads to an exponential growth in the capabilities of a magic?

Brandon was asked what Shard is the source of Ashyn's magic, to which he responded Cultivation

I'm not too concerned about what this development means for WoBs. With Brandon doing livestream q&a's fairly often these days, I doubt the quality or quantity of WoBs will go down in the slightest.

So, not sure if paraphrasing is still best practice after the new consent policies, but I'm gonna go ahead and post my question from the spoiler q&a

Tis indeed that time of year again. I thoroughly enjoy this show, with it's quirkily classic animation style and whimsically haunting soundtrack, it stands as a testament to short form animation, and the incredible things that can be done in a runtime of only a couple hours.

Sooo, anyone else concerned by the fact that Mat has apparently been recast for S2?

Long have I waited for this day... 

I declare myself satisfied.

On 8/20/2021 at 2:16 PM, AonEne said:

Yep, that works great! 
Aaaand the Shard deleted my writing ;-; 

Quote

I feel your anguish

5 hours ago, BenduLuke said:

How or where do you register for either? Where will they be?

FanX is in Salt Lake City, Utah, and I imagine that Dragonsteel Mini-Con will be somewhere in the same vicinity. I don't believe you can register for Mini-Con yet, but FanX you should be able to, given it's only a little more than a month away at this point.

On 7/23/2021 at 9:42 PM, Matrim's Dice said:

I know  Pretty psyched about it tbh

Edit: Beat The Hollow Knight! Took me the better part of an hour, but Phase 3 was easier than Phase 2 which was a welcome surprise. Am I the only one who felt bad for the Hollow Knight by the end of that fight?

Got the ending where

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The Knight became the new Vessel.

30ish hours and 56% completion rate, so I’m nowhere near done but this is a good milestone :D.

Congratulations! That tends to be the first ending a lot of people go for/get. There's a ton to do in this game, from the Grimm Troupe and Godmaster content, to the Dream Bosses. I hope you'll keep us posted on any other big achievements in this game you happen upon! Playing Hollow Knight for the first time is a once in a lifetime experience.

*2 years ago*

James reclined back against a large oak tree, the shade dappled as a light breeze swept through the boughs, and Theo sat down beside him. In the distance, seas of wildflowers sprung up around decrepit gazebos, and a river that curved too perfectly to natural cut its way through the landscape. Once, this place had been a botanical garden, but when the founders started realizing that they were losing more money than they were making, they closed it. Despite the long years since the garden's closure, nobody had quite been able to bring themselves to tear it down; so it had been left to grow more wild, and for that James was thankful, after all, this was his favorite place to come with Theo, who had proven himself to be James's best friend.

Normally, when they came here, they relaxed, they discussed books, anime, and all of those shared interests that had led them to bond in the first place. Today, however, Theo took a more serious turn. "James, what is leadership?" he asked, not an ounce of levity in his expression. James looked over at him and rolled his eyes, "Theo, just because you made first chair doesn't mean you have to start pondering the philosophy of leadership." he said, giving him the look that was supposed to signal when Theo was taking something too seriously. Theo looked back over at him with a wry grin, "thanks, man", he said, "but this isn't about that at all. So my question still stands." 

James looked up through the branches of the tree, shading his eyes against the sunlight, "I don't know, but I think a leader is someone who can help people become their best selves." He finally answered, prompting a good natured laugh from Theo, "That is so like you, dude. But I think your definition is missing something: A leader doesn't always make others happy. Sometimes leadership means having to do the right thing, even if it won't make everyone happy." 

That had been their last conversation. 

*The Present Day*

On 7/18/2021 at 7:21 AM, I think I am here. said:

“Find the Voidbringers who keep ordering attacks against us and kill them,” said Rob without a second’s pause. “Stop waiting for them to attack us, and take the first step.”

He stopped, hesitating for a moment.

“There’s another Radiant group,” he said, looking to Cassie. “In Seattle. They were in communication with Doc, asking if he had any Radiants he could send over. A whole other group. And they’re going out of their way to hunt down Voidbringers. Not just hostile Voidbringers, but ordinary ones too. Going about their lives, just like we do.”

He paused to let the words sink in, then continued.

“There are Voidbringers who want to continue the war, and then there’s this second group of Radiants. If we want peace, we have to eliminate both groups. No discrimination.”

 Rob's proposition sent a tangible chill through the otherwise temperate room, and James could practically feel the color drain from his face. "Rob," he said, quietly, unable to keep the horror from his face, "That's suggesting we commit mass murder. In fact, it's nigh unto genocide!" James had always tried his hardest to be a force of mediation; someone who could provide a level of emotional steadiness to any issue. At times, he'd been called a 'people pleaser' or a doormat, he'd been so determined to help others achieve what they wanted. Not now though, in this moment, the chill in the room shifted, from icy pragmatism to cold steel, the steel of James's determination. "I know you feel hurt, Rob, and I know you feel like we're caught in a cycle." James met Rob's eyes, grim, pained, but willing to do what needed to be done, "If you attempt to go through with this, I will do what it takes to stop you." His memory went back to that day beneath the oak tree, and the words of a dear friend. "Because I'm a leader... and that means doing what's right, even if it means I can't make everyone happy. As much as that hurts, I will do it."

James inhaled Stormlight in what felt like a massive amount, and even in the daylight he could see the wisps of Light rising from his skin, bright like luminescent smoke. These Words are Accepted The Nightwatcher said, reverently. The Fifth Ideal of the Bondsmiths, the truest burden of leadership, and at the same time, its greatest honor. Thank you, Theo James thought, You were, as usual, right. "Please Rob, don't go through with this." he said, calm, but firm, "This isn't who you are. Stonewards aren't supposed to be emotionless, they're supposed to be dependable, loyal, stand by the people who care about them." James didn't know how he knew that last part, but it seemed like something Rob needed to hear. 

@AonEne

On 7/5/2021 at 5:14 PM, Nameless said:

Well, I beat the pantheon of Hallownest. 

Your skills are very impressive, you must be very proud

Brandon I believe intends to keep the Beyond a sort of unknowable. It's not likely the concept will play majorly into the Cosmere's plot. The fact that Adonalsium was killed, at least in my mind disqualifies it from being a capital G God.  

I also think part of the reason Brandon hasn't really talked a lot about what exactly the Beyond is comes from preference to let the reader decide what it is. I personally do believe in an afterlife, so I've always viewed the Beyond as a classical, 'heaven'-esque, style afterlife. But, if for example, someone doesn't believe in an afterlife, the Beyond can be simply an end to existence. If it makes sense, I see the Beyond as being Brandon's way of leaving the details of what happens after death up to the reader's individual preference and interpretation.

7 hours ago, AonEne said:

Cassie looked up sharply when James moved between them, glaring, and frowned back. "Violence? Dude. I wasn't exactly planning on it." One hand moved unconsciously in a flicking motion, as if to bat away his worry. "Why, you got some Bondsmith future-telling that says this is gonna go bad? We can't be that far gone yet." She winced at her word choice and backpedaled. "We're not gone at all. Whatever that means. Whatever this is, we'll deal with it." 

James nodded in response to Cassie's remarks. "She's right, we're not gone yet. I can't help but feel that if this division among us continues to spread, it will only lead us into darker places." He turned and looked at Rob, trying to keep his expression that perfect mixture of empathetic and stern, "Let go of the Stormlight, Rob, nobody here is trying to hurt you."

@I think I am here.

36 minutes ago, LewsTherinTelescope said:

One thing I'd like to note: truespren in general did not exist prior to H&C settling on Roshar (implied in this WoB, implied even more in RoW when Syl mentions "Honorspren—all of the intelligent spren—were something new to Roshar. Well, new as in ten-thousand-years-old new"). Though we don't know how they were made (whether it was a natural consequence of the Shards investing + whatever already makes spren, whether H&C made them directly, etc), and Syl wonders on that herself. Probably not a shocker, but you didn't directly mention it, so wanted to be sure it was said

You know, to be honest, that is kind of a shocker. I binge read RoW over the course of an obsessive 24 hours, so smaller lines like that were probably lost in my mind compared to some of the more 'in your face' reveals in RoW. That's super interesting, and definitely works with the thought of at least Honorspren and Cultivationspren having been directly formed by the influence of H+C. 

40 minutes ago, LewsTherinTelescope said:

Note that the Stormfather's status with regards to the Shattering is unconfirmed, though I personally do agree with you it's likely he existed in some form. The highstorm and Stormlight both existed pre-Shattering, but we do know the storm has drastically changed, so it's possible the Stormfather postdates the Shattering and there was a different mechanism before. (My stance is that the Stormfather was just the Cognitive aspect of the highstorm until Honor came in and did weird things to him and basically Awakened him, almost, because of how he talks about being "just a wind" at the time of things like the Ashynite arrival.)

Yeah, that's also true. I do assume Adonalsium did create some spren, since he did directly create the whole Rosharan System, I assume that the Dawnsingers were either directly created by Ado, or evolved naturally with the tools that had been given them, which in the case of forms, definitely requires spren of some variety to be present. 

45 minutes ago, LewsTherinTelescope said:

So yeah, in my opinion it's a combination of the two theories you had. The power has to be left intentionally in a way that can form spren, and at the same time, the heavily-Invested nature of Roshar pulls the Realms a bit closer, allowing the proper interactions between Cognitive and Physical beings that we see, as opposed to just lumps of power slowly becoming aware and floating around the Cognitive.

I like this way of phrasing this quite a bit! I also tend to agree there's some combination of the two theories, especially as I've reflected more after posting this. I'm all about that juicy, juicy synthesis. Thanks for your thoughts and feedback! I really appreciate it!

4 hours ago, AonEne said:

Shana wasn't following. Cassie bit her tongue and nodded to James, following in. It seemed that with every second that passed their family got less...she didn't know how to describe it, but she didn't like it.

"Hey, guys, thanks," she said, forcing a smile onto her face. "I'll just cut to the point - Rob, what were you and Shana doing in Doc's office?"

@Wyndlerunner @I think I am here.

James caught the look in Cassie's eyes and tried his hardest not to grimace. When had they come to this? When had their little family become so distrusting? He thought he noticed a slight smoky glow rising from Rob's skin as well. What in the name of Lights is going on? James thought, as his hand also instinctively went toward the pen in his pocket that became the strange, black Shardblade that had nearly killed him when he tried to use it. 

When Cassie leveled her accusatory question to Rob, James' jaw dropped, as he looked from Rob to Cassie, and mouthed to her "What in the world is going on?" But James thought he already knew the answer. A division was creeping amidst their ranks, and whether or not Rob's strange black sphere was the root cause, James seemed to instinctively know that a division among the Knights Radiant could only lead to dark times. What wicked thing of eminence creeps among my family? He thought, nearly speaking the words aloud. What he did do, however, was step between the two, and shot an intense glare at both of them. "I don't know the root of this, but I won't have this division lead to violence. Rob, let go of that Stormlight you're holding, before I take it from you." Can I actually do that, can I go through with that bluff? He asked the Nightwatcher, who simply replied with a curious, I don't know, why don't we find out? 

2 hours ago, mathiau said:

Seons don't exist in the CR anymore than windsprens do

I was always under the impression that was because there's always wind somewhere on Roshar, so they're constantly being drawn into the physical realm.

1 hour ago, Bejardin1250 said:

The Seons on Elantris are basically spren 

I do think there are a few key differences here, being namely that Seons do not exist primarily in the Cognitive Realm, and formed after the splintering of Devotion, whereas varieties of Rosharan spren are noted to have existed even before the Shattering. Then of course there's the interesting matter of only one Seon existing per Aon (whether or not there's a similar limit with the Skaze is unknown, yet given their parallel nature to seons, I assume they are also similarly restricted)

Spren are pieces of the Shards (particularly Honor, Cultivation, and Odium), but given that of those 3, only Honor is dead, I don't think that spren are necessarily just investiture without a holder, as that would imply that all the shards are dead

So, recently the fact that spren are super weird just kind of wiggled into my brain and wouldn't leave until I'd tried to parse it out. So, I devised a couple of theories that might explain why spren only manifest on Roshar, and nowhere else in the Cosmere. Individual Sections will be put in spoiler tags for length purposes, although I'd pretty much say if you've read Era 1 and 2, Elantris, and SA 1-4, you should be fine. If you have any ideas of how to streamline these theories, or any of your own feel free to post them! Really, I just want to talk about spren and figure out why they're weird in the ways that they are.

Introduction:

What is a Spren?:

This brings us back to the question, what is different about spren, and why do they only appear on Roshar (and to a lesser extent Braize)? If they are ‘ideas’ as Pattern claims, then why do they not appear on other sufficiently Invested planets with sapient life to imagine these concepts? At the moment, I have two working theories as to why this is.

Theory 1: Shardic choice

Theory 2: Spren exist because Realms interact differently on Roshar:

I apologize in advance to those of you who are more 'evidence' based theorycrafters. I simply didn't have the time or patience (or ebooks) to look up every WoB or quote referenced. Like I said at the beginning if anyone has other thoughts to streamline either of these ideas, or any ideas of their own about why spren only manifest on Roshar, I would love to hear it!

Just now, Use the Falchion said:

Same and same. 

Whether you Love Evangelion or hate it, you cannot deny that the music is just incredible.

4 minutes ago, Use the Falchion said:

“One Last Kiss” by Utada Hikaru

I'm not even an Evangelion Fan, but that song is just such a vibe. I love it

I have to agree. While it might not be quite the level of coolness it would have been to get a Mistborn movie/show reveal or tease, this will definitely put Mistborn, and Kelsier, into the public consciousness (which I have a feeling our Secret-lovin Survivor of Hathsin wouldn't mind the extra attention). As the old saying goes, "No such thing as bad publicity"

On 5/20/2021 at 8:08 PM, Nameless said:

I finally beat the third pantheon. Zote took forever to get past, but I changed out my charms for nail ones and beat it pretty easily.

(Spoiler for the boss of the third pantheon)

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I beat Sly on my first try. I got to him and was expecting to have to practice him a bunch, but I just beat him. So that's cool.

 

It would seem that you are the Nailsage now...

Well that's a familiar name! Welcome back. I actually can't recall if we talked much, but it's always good to see a familiar pfp from ye olden days of 2018 17th Shard.