Use the Falchion

It's certainly not unpopular at all. Many people I've seen around the interwebs HATE the idea of other people writing in Bradon's worlds. There was a very small but still noticeable section of readers who dislike the Skyward novellas because Janci wrote them and/or couldn't get into them because Janci wrote them. This would be increased by an order of magnitude for anyone who's not Isaac writing in the Cosmere. But I think having other, very qualified writers in the Cosmere at specific points in time allows for Brandon's legacy to be secured earlier just in case the unthinkable happens, and it gives Brandon a little more leeway to do what he wants with the Cosmere by offering up the co-written stuff as a compromise for publishers. Brian and Brandon talk about this in Brian's Page Break podcast episode featuring Brandon. Apparently, Brandon has since switched over to Isaac being his successor, but it might have been said just to make Brian a little more comfortable at the moment.

And the bios keep coming! First up, though, a correction. Yesterday I made a note that someone said the website was using the name "Arval" for English and "Larva" for Japanese, but we stuck with Larva. Today, after visiting the website myself, I can confirm that it is indeed Arval. As such, we'll be sticking with that from now on. Now, today's bio is Hubert's. There's nothing really new there, but we do see a nice HD version of his headshot. According to Redditor SatsumaFS, who I believe did the translations for the Three Houses bios a few years ago, Hubert's Bio reads: 『ファイアーエムブレム無双 風花雪月』公式 on Twitter: "【キャラクター】 #ヒューベルト CV：#小西克幸 アドラステア帝国の貴族・ベストラ侯爵家の嫡子にして、幼少時からエーデルガルトに仕える腹心。 彼女と目的を同じくし、その実現のためにはどのような手段も厭わない。冷徹に見えるが、心には激情を秘めている。 #FE無双風花雪月 #FE無双 https://t.co/GWXoNSvBRU" / Twitter Hubert's design looks far less "obviously evil" here and more akin to "going through an Emo phase." I like it all the same, but it's pretty amusing to me nonetheless. Now, none of the above is new, but I do hope someday we can see Hubert's siblings - he's the eldest son, not the only child! Anyways, that's the bio for today. Let's see if they're releasing bios every day until the release, or if this is a couple times a week thing. If it's the former, the roster is going to be a LOT bigger than what I think most expected. If it's a few every week, then it would be roughly the same size as expected. We have roughly ten weeks until the game's release. If we got a bio every weekday, that'd give us roughly 50 characters - the 34 playable characters from Three Houses (subbing Byleth out for Shez at this point in time), plus Monica, Judith, Rodrigue, and Randolph as seen in the game to bring us up to 38, plus Holst, that Almyran, and possibly Caspar's father to bring us up to 41, and it's not impossible to stretch a little more to get up to 50 or so. (Add Byleth back in, and make Ladislava, Rhea, Jeralt, and the Ashen Wolves playable, and you're closer to 50 than ever before.) Otherwise, if it's usually on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday like for Three Houses, then we could just see all the regulars return and split it up by house + Church. Either way, we'll soon find out! EDIT: Serenesforest has a great breakdown of the trailer along with some released interview snippets that add more context to the story. One major piece is that Shez actually encountered Byleth a year before the story of Three Houses, and spent that year honing their skill for a rematch. Then, they saved the House Lords from some bandits and ultimately ended up joining Garrag Mach as a student. So the purple-haired person talking to Edelgard in the first trailer is most likely Shez. (I CALLED THIS! PEOPLE THOUGHT IT WAS LORENZ BUT I WAS NEVER CONVINCED!). There are some other good breakdowns making their way through YouTube as well. I highly recommend PhoenixMaster1's video.

The marketing push has officially begun! This morning, a little over an hour ago, we got a new trailer for the game! In it, we see that our new Purple Haired protagonist is a mercenary named "Shez" and they are (because players can pick between male and female, although it looks like M!Shez is the default version) taking the place of Byleth, or rather, the Ashen Demon, at the monastery. This change will have ripple effects that sends Fodlan into a new age. We also see various clips of gameplay, some clips of cutscenes, and a few menus and screens! Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes - Mysterious Mercenary Trailer - Nintendo Switch - YouTube We now also have confirmation that Dedue, Lorenz, and Ferdinand (seen briefly in :55 I believe) are in the game and playable. Hilda's look is officially confirmed as well. Monica is also playable, but which Monica is still unclear. We also see a few new characters as well. We see a Wyvern-riding Almyran who might be their king and a legendary pink-haired warrior fighting a blue-haired older man (theorized to be Holst and Caspar's father respectively). So, if we're getting new NPCs, maybe the old ones wlll become playable? Battalions, Adjutants, and Meals are all returning, although we knew about the last one due to the above leaks. Class changes are also returning. We also know have confirmation that this game will have (at least) three different routes: Scarlet Blaze, Edelgard's route. Azure Gleam, Dimitri's route. Golden Wildfire, Claude's route. There's no mention of a church route, but Flayn is briefly seen and heard in the game, so it's not out of the realm of possibility. (I've seen some theorizing that the Church will be the ultimate antagonist for the game, and I really hope Three Hopes doesn't do that. It's so tropey and not very fun. Three Houses did it well enough, so maybe I should have more faith in the game, but the fanbase doesn't necessarily inspire faith...) The final bit of the trailer allows players to choose Byleth's gender (confirming that M!Byleth is indeed in the game), but I'm not sure if this is just for flavor text or if they'll be playable. But this wasn't the only bit of information about the game released! The Japanese Fire Emblem Warriors account started posting bios! I'm far too lazy to do the translation, so all credit goes to the fans and workers at Serenes Forest for the translations 『ファイアーエムブレム無双 風花雪月』公式 on Twitter: "【キャラクター】 主人公 CV：#畠中祐、#富田美憂 天涯孤独の傭兵。 剣で身を立てるべく気を吐いていたが、とある仕事でジェラルト傭兵団と遭遇。“灰色の悪魔”に敗北を喫する。雪辱を果たすため修業していたところ、森の中で士官学校の生徒たちと遭遇する。 #FE無双風花雪月 #FE無双 https://t.co/BJ1mJ2px9N" / Twitter https://twitter.com/FireEmblemMusou/status/151A mercenary with no relatives. They're determined to make it in the world through their blades, but encountered Jeralt's Mercenaries on a certain job. Lost in a fight to the Ashen Demon. While training to take revenge, they meet students from Garegg Mach in the forest.3884643602296832?cxt=HHwWgMCrzf-Ds4IqAAAA According to the fans and translators, Shez's bio reads: This lines up with what is shown in the trailer. We also got the bio for the unnamed deity who seems to be helping Shez on their journey - "Larva." Since the names and bios haven't been released in English yet, I can't say if that's how it'll be pronounced or read, but the Katakana (La-Ru-Ba) does line up. (Someone is saying that the website is pronouncing it Arval, but I can't find the Japanese website to confirm that at this time.) https://twitter.com/FireEmblemMusou/status/1513889676687421442?cxt=HHwWhMCtgfuotYIqAAAA 『ファイアーエムブレム無双 風花雪月』公式 on Twitter: "【キャラクター】 #ラルヴァ CV：#田村睦心 主人公の夢に現れた不思議な存在。 “灰色の悪魔”によって命を落としかけた主人公を謎の力で救うと、まるで頭の中に住まうかの如く語りかけてくるようになる。 時折、何かが欠落しているかのような素振りを見せる。 #FE無双風花雪月 #FE無双 https://t.co/FTudfMYJrb" / Twitter "Larva's" Bio reads: Clearly this character is the Sothis to Shez's Byleth, but is there something more? There are still so many questions! Ultimately, we got a lot of information this morning, and it's just what the doctor ordered! Due to the new characters and haircuts, we may even see more character bios in the upcoming weeks. I know Three Houses did 2-3 a week if I remember correctly. I don't imagine that will be the case here, but I can see one or two bios a week, each for a new main character or so. Anyways, I'll keep y'all informed!

That was my question that led to the trilogy discussion! I was so happy it was asked! Although, I did notice that Adam (and by proxy Brandon) skipped over my question of whether or not The Rithmatist is one of the worlds of The Apocalypse Guard... (Also, I usually just pronounce it "Fal-Shun," but I've heard it pronounced a lot of ways.) Bastile is punching a shark because punching sharks is tight! As for who the characters are for the Skyward trilogy, I'd bet that Kimmalyn is the main character, and the rotating list will be: Sadie Ned or a secret spoiler character Jorgen (he's Janci's favorite after all)

Nearly two months since the game was announced, and a little over two months since launch* and we've had nary a peek at the game...until now. Earlier today, Amazon Japan's page for Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes updated with some new screenshots! Despite very little being given, the shots hold some tantalizing pieces of information. https://twitter.com/SerenesForest/status/1512451692578619394/photo/2 https://www.reddit.com/r/FireEmblemThreeHouses/comments/tz5zr6/new_3_hopes_screenshots/ https://www.amazon.co.jp/-/en/dp/B09X1P12WX/ref=sr_1_18?crid=2A51NO3HFLPZG In the first photo we see Mercedes and Dimitri sharing a meal with Mr. Purple Hair at a location that is noticeably not Garrag Mach Monastery. The next one shows us the overview battle map with some sprites of allies. These all give us some concrete information alongside stuff we can't really parse out yet. Concrete Information: Mercedes in the game! Contrary to what some might think, this wasn't a guarantee. Mercedes to many was on the chopping block of Blue Lions characters in terms of playability. The general consensus was that each house would be given at minimum four units - the House Leader (confirmed), the vassal (Hubert and Hilda confirmed, with Dedue being highly speculated), and two other popular characters. For the Blue Loins, it was Felix and Ingrid, with Sylvain in third. Ashe, Mercedes, and Annette were all toss-ups after that. Seeing Mercedes in the game could mean that either many lists were wrong about who's in the game, or everyone who was previously playable has returned.** Purple Hair is playable. We see him hold the position that Byleth usually does, eating with students and being the main character for certain parts of the stage. Byleth is nowhere to be found in these pictures, and that raises a lot of flags and warning signs. Is Byleth asleep, like in Three Houses, and Purple Hair is filling in? Is this mysterious person the Player Character this time around, while Byleth is the enemy? Or is it something else?*** Meals are returning, and they won't just be at Garrag Mach. Incidentally, this matches up with a disproven "leak" from late February. In that "leak" there were mentions of supports and a new mobile area that we can see part of in the promotional material. The "leak" had some pretty interesting other stuff too, but the leaker was positive that we'd get a media blowout in March, something that clearly didn't happen. The leak may be false, but the inclusion of supports and a non-Garrag Mach base seemed to be completely right. I'll keep an eye out for any other confirmations from the leak, but we can chalk this one up to good luck and solid guessing, or maybe access to game testing. Non-Concrete Information: On the maps, we have blue pixel icons that tell us who is an ally and who is an enemy. We have several allies on the map, but it's impossible to tell who is who just yet. I've seen guesses for Ashe, Byleth, or even a new character. I could even potentially see Felix in one of them! But we'll have to wait for more information to see. Overall, just four new pictures gave us quite a bit to talk about! Hopefully we'll see some more screenshots and videos soon. A couple of screenshots, a trailer or two to go, and a Nintendo E3 Treehouse, and we should be ready to go by the time this game comes out! (Hopefully. Three Houses only had the February 2019 trailer and the E3 blowout IRRC with weekly character bios, but I think Echoes had a few trailers.) *roughly 80 days since announcement and almost 80 days until launch **I've been partial to this since the beginning, but it's not hard to see it the other way either. ***My crackpot theory today is that Purple Hair joins the opposite group that Byleth does. So, if Byleth in this case joined the Black Eagles, the Purple Hair joined the Blue Lions. This will lead to having players control two different and opposing groups, not unlike Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn. This would also determine who joins the player on the "Golden Route" first.

Ah, thanks for reminding me!

Dawnshard was written in a little over a month, so it's not impossible. A smaller novel without any major attachment to the Cosmere or the timeline may be just as quickly written, in theory. Either way, a lot of people on Reddit are speculating a Mistborn announcement, with that either being Secret History 2 (the most likely guess there), The Lost Metal cover art (it would certainly fit the timeframe IMO), or a movie announcement.

Stormlight Draft 1 at 5% Secret Project Draft 3 at 66% (aka 2/3 of the way finished!)

They also have a YouTube ad that seems to be some new footage, but it uses some of the script of the original announcement video.

I think so as well, although I'm more curious as to why this happens and how this will play into things. Part of me thinks that they're a splinter group unattached to Scadrial or Roshar, hunting Dawnshards either for some nefarious purpose such as destroying them or controlling them for their own means. Other random Stormlight notes: Roshar didn't explode, so that's nice. Kaladin (and/or someone else Sigzil cares about) is still alive, meaning this happens close enough to Stormlight Archive overall for Kaladin to be alive, or he has Ascended (which I totally support)

While I do think it's Ashyn, the thought of the story being set on Braize starring Gavilar just sort of popped in my mind. We know that Gavilar had probably traveled to Braize and had spheres filled with both Anti-Investiture and Voidlight I believe. He's a (relatively) minor character who plays major roles in Stormlight, and this could be the way of exploring how he got what he did without going into flashbacks. This woudl fit with the story being Stormlight-adjacent while also carrying big Stormlight and Cosmere spoilers, not just because we know Gavilar has died, but because if you read this before Rhythm of War, you'll also find out that Gavilar was a world-hopper (of a sorts) and was Cosmere aware and had found a way to create Anti-Investiture, things that may spoil some of RoW's big moments.

I certainly agree with Brandon not being a household name (yet), but I've met quite a few people IRL who have heard of his name. Some were from part-time jobs, while others were in social circles I'm in and consider friends. However, I didn't discover that they knew about Sanderson until I brought him up in most cases. (One friend has read the Mistborn trilogy and Stormlight and that's it, while the other has only read Skyward and Starsight.) Another one of my friends was finally convinced to read Sanderson this year not because of me, but because several of her coworkers raved about him, so hearing it from two completely disconnected sources really convinced her. My sister has a few friends who have read Sanderson coincidentally (they recognized the books on her shelf - gifted by me - when they visited her house), and I've met them to talk about him for a few minutes. All of this to say that, like many things in life, experiences vary from person to person. Now time for today's unpopular opinion: Janci Patterson should be allowed to write a YA Mistborn book or trilogy. Janci has talked about wanting to write one as a dream project but hasn't asked Brandon (who admittedly would probably refuse at this point in time), but I think this could work out for everyone. Janci's work in the Cytoverse has been pretty stinking well-received from what I've seen, to the point that there are people who have liked Janci's work better than most of Brandon's work on the series.* Her style also matches very well with Brandon's meaning that it wouldn't be too far of a leap for many to go from one series to another. Brandon has also made some slight comments about how if a Mistborn movie is made, that his publishers and/or the studio would want a new book to go with the movie, not unlike how A Dance With Dragons came out a little after the first season of Game of Thrones aired; but the publishers apparently want to market Mistborn 8 as "another story set in the Mistborn world" instead of "the eighth installment in this series." I think Janci writing a book or a trilogy in this world would actually be a great compromise. The publishers get a spin-off under Brandon's name, Janci can reach a larger audience to market her other books thus furthering her own career, fans get more Mistborn novels, and Sanderson can keep his Era theming for the books he writes so as to not really mess up his plans. Heck, I can imagine this being quite the hype-machine if they decided to pull a Skyward Flight and release them in the months leading up to Mistborn 8 and possibly the new movie (depending on when it's released). This would of course be a ton of work, and I'm not sure either side would feel fully comfortable with it. Still, I think this would be a situation where they'd have to risk it for the biscuit, and the payoff in terms of sales, exposure, and overall promotion would be worth it. Brent Weeks would probably be a great co-writer or guest writer for a separate Cosmere novella, and I'd love to see Brian McCellan write a Stormlight novella someday.** (I could totally see him rocking a short story or novella about Young Dalinar pre-OB flashbacks. Like, his first real taste of the Thrill and first few true battles...yeah, Brian would rock that.) *Again, experiences vary from person to person. I've read posts about how some people like it better than Cytonic and Starsight, while others couldn't get into Sunreach or ReDawn at all because it wasn't written by Brandon and/or Janci's style and characterization didn't match and/or because it was YA. Janci working with her own characters could negate some of these feelings for fans, and the fact that it would be Cosmere would mean that other fans who don't care for Brandon's non-Cosmere works may pay attention to this one. ** ...and now my Dream Novella of Young Dalinar and Young Navani is turning into a split POV novella co-written by Brian and Janci, where Brian writes all of Dalinar's action scenes and battle mindset up until he meets Navani. Then Janci takes over for Navani's mindset and some of the political machinations there. Brandon comes in to smooth over the story and characterization, and then to write the climax of the novella, and we can call it a day. The problem with this is that I can't really see Brandon allowing someone else to write Dalinar for him willingly. But things can change...

It wasn't about being offensive by intent, but to him it felt like Brandon was basing things off of what he heard or felt people of and traditions in Japan were like, not what they actually were. This bled into the linguistics as well. He said a couple of things that probably aren't worth repeating, but the crux of it was that it felt like orientalism, or the "othering of Japanese and Chinese cultures and peoples." which is ironic considering how little Brandon knows and reads/watches manga/anime and also how much Brandon respects and knows of Korean culture. It was cringey to him, and while he is curious enough to want to continue the story, that feeling never fully left him. I did mention Brandon's time in South Korea as well as pointing out that Brandon is very open with his inspirations and the fact that this was indeed a rough draft that may need some revisions later on. But even Brandon would admit that sometimes, despite his heart being in the right place, some things just don't land or sound well to others (his first portrayal of someone on the autism spectrum in Elantris, Mat in Wheel of Time.) It's probably not unlike some of the unfortunate implications in the Lunar Chronicles, or the annoyance for me (and several others) about how Americans are portrayed in anime or Japanese movies at times - annoying enough to pick out and say "that's not at all what we're like/how it's like/etc," but not enough to stop watching or reading. (Like, the first Psycho-Pass movie had a philosophical discussion that was supposed to be in English, but was so unintelligible by me and my friend, we thought the speakers were actually talking in a completely separate language.)

My Expat friend in Japan was...not as enthused about this story as many of us here. I was curious about what his reaction would be, and I figured it wouldn't be as glowing as some of ours, but he was not happy with this story at all. And I don't blame him. I initially shared a lot of his thoughts, but those faded as the story went on. I did point to some of Sanderson's influences to read, and he said he'd get to it later, but I don't think he'll be buying these books from Sanderson, despite liking Mistborn and the Stormlight books he's read so far, unless SP 4 makes up for the ground that SP 2 & 3 lost.

Overall thoughts: Virtuosity Shard name-drop was awesome, but I'll admit I'm still not entirely convinced that is the Shard's name. Design was hilarious and totally inappropriate. The Your Name inspiration became clear to me when the spirit offered Yumi a boon, but it became abundantly clear by the final chapter. However, I did feel it was going to be more of a Prince and the Pauper situation. When I saw Design, there was a moment I thought that Painter's world may have been in the Cognitive Realm while Yumi's was the Physical Realm, and they're doing this sort of push-pull with each other's magic. (I have no idea how that would work, please don't ask me.) I believe this takes place at or around Era 4 of Mistborn, or at least near Era 3. Hoid is talking to someone with technology roughly around our time (fighter fighters, nurses (so no magical healing but good enough technology), keys and apartments, electricity, etc) who is also very Cosmere-aware, so that limits when he's talking to whoever he's talking to IMO. Brandon mentioned that the book was going to be Yumi and Painter learning about each other's magic system (and probably appreciation for each other's lives); knowing this makes me feel like Brandon could be less info-heavy on the front-end of the book. The beginning of this book made me feel like Szeth's info-dump at the beginning of TWOK. I think maybe at least for Painter, stating that using Bamboo was easier for him without stating why could be a good way to open up the conversation later on. But Brandon's the writer and he knows this story best. I'm just going off of what we've been given and what he's saying. If Yumi and Painter don't meet by the end of the book, I would like a sequel where they travel to meet up please and thank you very much. The switching between characters reminded me of Elantris, where it's always three characters in a distinct order. (I think. It's been a long time since I read Elantris.) I can easily see this being animated and being beautiful. Lastly, if this is inspired by Japanese culture, I think maybe having a Japanese American (or at least Asian-American) reader for either Yumi or Painter, or ideally both, would be greatly appreciated. Overall, I'm 110% onboard with this story and on the hype train. I'm now a little sad we have to wait until next year to read it, but I look forward to reading it all the same!

Mechanical guides and historical technological guides, medicine books, and a few old devices like an old laptop & computer, my dead PS3, and other various devices. These will be used to make a start-up company that I'll sell to House Landrian (for a good percentage of the company's stakes and holdings alongside some technological promises*) after asking Wayne for funding. I may pack some "time travel" or "zombie apocalypse" guides in order to make sure I can survive the era as well. After that, I'd bring some comics, books, and movies like Star Wars and Marvel/DC (and Power Rangers) so I can hopefully get those started there and see how the characters change over the years. Lastly, I'd pack the rest of the Cosmere (preferably in eBook format on a device that requires both a code and thumbprint) so that I can warn Harmony of things happening on other planets or things that have happened on other planets. Or maybe I'll just do parts of it, like medical tech and entertainment (and music) in order to make a comfortable living and then stay out of the way of the main characters. Or if I can only bring one thing, I choose to bring Wikipedia. *I'd give up 50% of the stakes and shares I'd ask for if they can find a way to make me a Fullborn. I'd prefer it not be Hemalurgically based, and I'd probably not use it nefariously on this world, but I'd like some powers that I can take off-world and would guarantee I could survive any dangerous situation and save others while doing so.

Apparently Dan Wells and Brandon have previously used that name in both of their works and talked about it in Intentionally Blank. A quick WoB search tells me that he appeared in Alcatraz, or at least the annotations. As everyone else said, it's a mix of Jason Bourne and Project Hail Mary, Hitchhiker's Guide, and Brandon's Interdimensional Time Travel Tourism that's mentioned in Intentionally Blank. (Three of which Brandon openly mentions.) I liked the story! I think I like SP1 a little more, but this should definitely be a fun ride! (I also thought that the Interdimensional Time Travel Tourism would make for a fun boardgame and audionovella, so Brandon turning it into a full-fledged book is a happy surprise.) I DO think this is probably related to The Apocalypse Guard, so hopefully some of my questions about TAG will be answered.

I really hope it's not Knights of Woeful Truth(s). That's just a bad title IMO. Knights of Withered Truth is far better and far more evocative IMO; I also like Knights of Worlds Torn, depending on the subject of the in-world book. I'm still a fan of Knot of Woes if the book is about the Oathpact, or Knights of Worlds Tethered. if the book is about the Heralds, I'd like Knife of Winds Tethered, as an homage to Jezrien's Honorblade.

Stormlight 5 Draft 1 at 1%! Mistborn 7/Wax & Wayne 4 Draft 4 at 100% Skyward 4 Draft 1 at 100% (old news I think) Secret Project Draft 3 at 1%

When you turn a mild thought about what the next Kickstarter could look like (it was about the Apocalypse Guard being made into a trilogy and being released throughout 2024) into an evening theorizing about how that can be turned into something even more awesome. And then you planned out a hypothetical release schedule for 2025 as well. (2026 is looking to be a quiet year, but 2027 will be the best year for the Cosmere after 2023, looking at my incredibly optimistic and supremely naive estimates.)

Mistborn easily. Stormlight takes second place and Skyward has fallen into third, but it's still a close race between those two.

I think it's related to Reckoners and that whole YA multiverse but not The Apocalypse Guard itself. That being said, Brandon did say that TAG would most likely come out after Skyward 4, and with Defiant coming out in spring, I can see Spensa's adventure being released in March while this book is in April, making it technically true. Still, as others have said, it would feel wrong if Brandon published TAG without noting Dan's help in the mock-up or claiming it to be his entirely.

Someone on Reddit in a now deleted thread posited the idea of Brandon Kickstarting his own television show. I'm not sure that would work for live action, but I think it'd be fun to see an animated original story if at all possible. Yet even the face of Brandon's record-breaking success, I'm not entirely sure that he could draw enough funds for a project like that...depending on the goal, of course. This project worked so well for a plethora of reasons, not all of which could be repeated if Brandon went "hey, I want to make a show!" Maybe he can try after the WoR Kickstarter and Mistborn 8 come out. Anyways, what are y'all's thoughts on this? Could Brandon successfully create a Kickstarter for a smaller project, be it animated or live action? Or maybe as a fun project, we can all brain-storm future Sanderson Kickstarters that would be just as fun to at least the one who brainstormed them? ...although, the more I think about it, the more these two ideas combine in my mind. I can see it now - after seeing adaptation after adaptation fall through, Brandon decides to take his new adaptation idea straight to the masses with a Kickstarter! But he wants it to be a fresh idea, and he needs help! So, he goes to Brian McClellan and Janci Patterson, and pitches them the idea of a new shared universe between the three of them. Brandon builds the world and the story that will be adapted, Brian comes up with some prelude historic battles and stories, and Janci helps co-write some of Brandon's immediate history stories. Then the Kickstarter comes out, primarily for the show, but promising deluxe versions of the book signed by all three authors (?) if a certain stretch goal is reached, alongside a new original novella in the world by Brandon. And maybe even an RPG game. I call it Dark One 2.0 ...and now I've convinced myself that I want this... (Of course, the above idea would be a short-term series for Brandon and Co, just a fun project that helps expand the world of the adaptation idea they have but doesn't need to keep it going past the adaptation itself. Brandon has other stories he needs and wants to tell, after all.)

Definitely reading. I'd love to have the self-control to not read them, but that only works for series by Brandon that I already know I'll enjoy and he's already done some readings of. For example, I wont' be reading any pre-release chapters for The Lost Metal, and I never read the pre-release chapters for Stormlight books. (Outside of what Brandon reads at conventions.) But since I don't know these books and I want to learn more about them, I'll be reading the stuff.

An AR or VR Shooter ride where you go on a mission to take down a Reckoner and find yourself having to escape using that weird tech, and then find yourself in a new dimension and have to escape. Can't forget the curried food for the Roshar section, or the pancakes!