Use the Falchion

I remember this from the general post! I definitely agree with most of these!

I think the only two that are wrong are Yerin, Orthos and Eithan. Orthos doesn't really fit the Ideals of any Order, but the closest he'd be is a Skybreaker IMO. He sees himself as a dragon, and he upholds the virtues and mentalities of a traditional dragon. He tries to teach others (mostly Lindon) what this means, and he supposedly meditates on these ideals. Orthos, in the Stormlight world, would be one who has sworn himself to the ideals of the Blackflame Dragons, and ultimately chooses to embody what HE thinks they are at their most ideal level. 

Eithan, despite me calling him an Elsecaller earlier, is probably closer to a Willshaper with only undertones of Elsecaller in there. Eithan is FIERCELY independent and stresses under the confines of order. He's not an anarchist or something similar, like how we picture the Vroshir to be, but he also doesn't like the rules in structures of the systems he's involved with. He hates how Cradle has the "might makes right" and "it's lonely at the top" mentalities. He hates how the Abidan have an "if it isn't broken for us, why fix it or try to improve it?" mindset. He wants to change those, from the ground up. That's a Willshaper to me. 

MASSIVE SPOILERS

Yerin is also weird. She's an Elsecaller to me, in that she wants to be the best she can be. But I can see her as something of a Skybreaker towards the end of the series. I think post-Waybound, she'd be a solid Skybreaker. 

Star Wars Visions Season 3 was the first Star Wars trailer in YEARS to give me goosebumps! 

"Drum Show" and now "City Walls" have been added to my daily queue. 

So, the Kickstarter to the sequel to The Dragon Prince, called The Dragon King, is going live this upcoming week, and I'm curious to see how it'll do. I will NOT be backing it, as I haven't watched TDP since Season 4, and I've heard nothing but bitterness about how the show handled the final few seasons, but I'm going to be watching the Kickstarter, just for amusement and future data points. 

If it does get funded, I have a feeling the show's subreddit will implode, and it'll be hilarious. 

On 9/5/2025 at 7:52 PM, hephaestus said:

#2 there would suggest that he might be best served finding someone to do the "run the business" part of things.

If you can convince him to give up control, go for it. Brandon has learned his lesson too many times about giving up control IMO. (White Sand graphic novel, Mistborn movie rights, NOT giving them up for anniversary/leatherbound editions and realizing that making and signing those is a viable way for middle-of-the-road authors to make money long-term.) He's too much like Dalinar in that he's not going to give up control for a while yet. 

On 9/5/2025 at 7:52 PM, hephaestus said:

As for #3, I should think TOR would have to be happy enough with the money he's dragging in for them to not want to kill that golden goose by angering the consumers of the product.

Why would they anger the consumer? Brandon's hardcore fans - us, that's us on this forum dedicated to him and his works - are going to buy most of what he releases anyways. We're an audience they can consistently rely on. I think they'd need to worry if Brandon becomes a PR nightmare, but even then, it's not too hard for publishers to separate the author from the work and still make bank. (Ender's Game, Harry Potter, etc.) 

TOR is also a business, and a business' primary goal is to make money. Brandon makes them money. The more books Brandon releases, the more money they make. The more books Brandon releases within a shorter timespan, the more money they can make quicker. (The money then goes to allowing other investments such as new authors to become potentially viable solutions in the future, as now they have a safety net. It's the same way in the movie business I believe, and banking works similarly.) It's simple math. I'm not saying they're RIGHT for doing that, but it's easy to see where they're coming from. 

On the other extreme, you get Patrick Rothfuss, Kingkiller Chronicles, and what happened to DAW. DAW put all of their hope onto the KKC goose, and when it didn't lay any eggs, they went out of business. Of course, Brandon isn't Patrick, and TOR has so many more resources than DAW that it's not even funny, but the overall problem could be the same - TOR, by allowing Brandon to do whatever he wants and take all the time we deem necessary, would be losing a lot of money and could even go "into the red." 

I'm not saying Brandon couldn't use more editing or time between releases, because I think that's true to an extent. (WaT could have definitely used more time in the oven, and someone to do a better diction edit than whoever did it.) But I also think that this will become less of a concern since Brandon will have 4-5 years to write a LOT of things and get them edited before releasing them. (If he finishes writing Mistborn 10 and Elantris 3 by 2028, he'll have 2-3 years to write more books before they have to show up on the slate. He could spend half of that time on Stormlight 6, have a leisurely revision process, and STILL have it done almost a year before its release.*) I also think the verbiage and syntax will be less of a concern for later books as they become more modern in their setting. The modern setting will match the modern discriptions, so there won't be as much of a dissonance between what is happening and how it's being described.  

*By my latest guesstimates and not counting secret projects that we all know Sanderson will write, I suspect Brandon will: 

Spend 2025 finishing up Mistborn 8. (Tailored Realities for DSNX)

Spend most of 2026 on Mistborn 9 before sprinting through Elantris 2 (Dark One or Skyward Legacy 2 for DSNX?)

Spend all of 2027 on MIstborn 10 and revising Elantris 2. (??? for DSNX? I think Arcanum Unbounded 2 would be pretty easy...maybe Isaac Stewart's book?)

Spend the first half of 2028 revising Mistborn 8 while also writing Elantris 3. Mistborn 8's revision would be "rushed" but since the trilogy would also be fully written, parts of the revision would actually be easier as a whole.

Spend the second half of 2028 revising Mistborn 9 and 10, and finishing Elantris 3. Then he could spend the final few months of the year outlining Stormlight 6 and the back half of Stormlight. (Mistborn 8 for DSNX)

Spend 2029 writing Stormlight 6 for a 2031 release date and revising Elantris 3. (Mistborn 9 for DSNX)

Spend 2/3 of 2030 revising Stormlight 6; spend the final third of 2030 writing something new. (Mistborn 10 for DSNX)

Spend most of 2031 writing and revising new projects for later years. (Stormlight 6 for DSNX) 

8 hours ago, SpartanBrigade said:

“You don’t think I know my own palace? I built it.” - Odysseus 

"Come Inside~" "Dang!"

On 8/24/2025 at 4:07 PM, TwinStorm said:

Anything Thanos says

"You could not live with your failure. And where did that bring you? Back to me" - Robert Downey Jr. to Disney after they cast him as Dr. Doom, probably. (At least according to the memes.)

"Sleepwalker" by Aries and Brakence

"Stephanie" by Nafeeisbougie (and its remix)

"Honored" by STIM

"War" by Elaya Amen

"nihilist blues" by Bring Me the Horizon (and the cover by Annisokay on YouTube)

EDIT: "Drum Show" by Twenty One Pilots

"I have not begun to take from you." - From Dreadgod by Will Wight. 

On 8/18/2025 at 9:04 AM, Nitpicking said:

He has a bond with Maya, but neither of them is interested in the Radiant oaths. Maya even mocks the First Oath in WaT.

Kaladin thinks he'd be able to bond a Radiant before his bond with Maya was really explored back in the beginning of RoW. 

From Chapter 12 of RoW

Quote

"You're a storming fool," Kaladin said. "We need to get you a spren. Why hasn't an order picked you up yet?"

Adolin shrugged. "I'm not a good fit, I guess."

"It's that sword of yours," Kaladin said. "Shardbearers do better if they drop any old Shards. You need to get rid of yours." [Sidenote - Kaladin has a point here. Even at the end of WoR, the FIRST thing that Dalinar has to do once he's bonded the Stormfather is get rid of the Shardblade he was using.] 

"I'm not 'getting rid' of Maya."

"I know you're attached to the sword," Kaladin said. "But you'd have something better, if you became Radiant. Think about how it would feel to-"

"I'm not getting rid of Maya," Adolin said. 

At this point in the story, Adolin knows Maya is a Deadeyes; she has told him her name and was resummoned back in about 7 seconds. No one knows anything else, nor has anyone been able to prove anything else. No Spren can confirm that Maya's name is indeed Maya (they don't until later on in the book), and Vyre clearly thinks what Adolin did during the Battle of Thaylen Fields is repeatable, as he's been practicing. As far as others are concerned, just like Kaladin says, Adolin is fully capable of becoming a Radiant, but his attachment to a sword (a budding bond that no one knows about just yet) is stopping him. 

On Adolin's side, he'd have to give up a friend in Maya, and he's not going to do that, so it's not worth considering. 

1. Pokemon Gen 2 (Specifically Silver/SoulSilver because that's what I grew up with.)

2. Fire Emblem Awakening

3. Mass Effect: Legendary Edition

4. Xenoblade Chronicles 3

5. Kingdom Hearts 2

6. Custom Robo

7. Sonic Adventure 2: Battle

8. Samurai Warriors 4: Empires

9. Disgaea 2

10. Ultimate Spider-Man

11. Fire Emblem: Three Houses

12. Persona 5 Vanilla

13. Fire Emblem (Blazing Blade)

14. Persona 5 Royal

15. Pokemon Gen 3 (I'll take both the original and the remake, please)

16. Insomniac Spider-Man series (Probably)

17. Star Wars Jedi Series (Probably)

I'm wanting to play through Fire Emblem Awakening, since I know how to speed through that game, but I'm torn as to whether I want to romance Nowi, Tiki, or Aversa.

On one hand, I like Nowi's Marriage Quotes and she joins the earliest, meaning I can get Nah and Morgan SUPER early.

On the other hand, I like the idea of Tiki better. Sure, she joins later, but I think her Supports are overall better, and I like the idea of Sorcerer!F!Morgan having a canon reason to use Book of Naga and Goetia. 

On a third hand, I love Aversa and giving Morgan Shadowgift, because it's hilarious to see a Sage, Dark Knight, or Tactician use Mire from across the map. (Sage is the best IMO, because you can use Magic and can Heal; and if you add a few Rally Skills like Spectrum and Heart, then you've got an All-Purpose-Unit.) But romancing Aversa requires me to get to the Endgame, and by that point, I don't need Morgan anymore. 

Or I can pull a switcheroo and be F!Robin and romance Priam. Yeah, I like to do that. Sue me. 

Or I could just get back to grinding out my latest Fates Revelation playthrough, but I don't want to do that right yet...

Or I could do some damage in a new (or old?) playthrough of Engage, but that's like going through Fates, in that it's a lot of work for a little investment unless you're dedicated at that moment in time. 

Honestly, I just want a new Fire Emblem to come out, but I'll settle for Dark Deity 2 in a couple of weeks...

On 8/12/2025 at 6:05 AM, Nitpicking said:

No, he isn't a Radiant because he absolutely refuses to even consider a Radiant bond.

It's a little of both, because it would involve giving up Maya. The Kaladin thinks the Honorspren would like Adolin if he gave up Maya, and he won't give up Maya, so he's not considered nor would he consider it. 

5 hours ago, aetherbound said:

Byleth - Bondsmith
Claude - I could see Bondsmith, Willshaper, Truthwatcher, or even some Edgedancer
Lorenz - Skybreaker
Raphael - Stoneward
Ignatz - Lightweaver
Lysithea - Elsecaller
Marianne - Lightweaver?
Hilda - Willshaper?
Leonie - Edgedancer/Stoneward
Seteth - Windrunner
Flayn - Edgedancer, Elsecaller, or Bondsmith, I don't really know where to put her
Manuela - no
Hanneman - Truthwatcher
Cyril - Skybreaker
Catherine - Skybreaker
Shamir - Stoneward?

Claude is a Truthwatcher for sure! Granted, all of the House Leaders are Bondsmiths IMO, since they all unite their Houses, but if Byleth takes the role of the Bondsmith, then Claude is a Truthwatcher. 

Leonie is an Elsecaller since she wants to be the best Mercenary she can be. Her aspiration to become the next Bladebreaker puts her there IMO. 

Hilda is a Lightweaver. She's artistic and covers her motives and feelings in lies and manipulation. 

Seteth is actually probably more akin to a Bondsmith than anything else, given his position in the church and true identity, but barring that, Stoneward. Seteth only cares about protecting Flayn, but he's also there for other students such as Hilda, Leonie, Bernadetta, Felix, and Ingrid when they need advice or assistance. 

Flayn - Edgedancer

Manuela - Edgedancer. She cares about life and life deeply. She's FAR more than just the hot mess that we see her as in the game. (Check out her supports with Seteth! They're ADORABLE.)

Shamir - Probably a Dustbringer. Shamir doesn't really have a code or ideal that she follows, but she's always in control of herself, and she tries to teach others self control and self-mastery as well. 

On 7/24/2025 at 2:28 PM, Teravangian said:

"Eithan...well, Eithan would probably want to be a Willshaper." Eithan is an interesting character and to all who have read the books, I'd like to discuss it further. He's clearly a Willshaper, Lightweaver, or Elsecaller, but which I'm not sure. Truthwatcher would be another option, if we look at the Osmanthus Aurelius side of him, but less likely in my eyes.

Why do you put him as primarily Willshaper, and to others, what are your thoughts?

Eithan wants to be free of the constraints of society in a lot of ways, be it from the politics of being the Patriarch of the Arelius on the continent, the Sacred Arts philosophy that you can't bring others with you as you advance and you MUST be alone once you get to the top, to spoiler stuff later on. Eithan is a community-focused individualist, an oxymoron that fits him. He wants to bring others into his little rebellion, but he also wants everyone to think for themselves in a lot of ways. That fits him, IMO. 

I could definitely see Eithan as a Lightweaver, although (BOOK 10 SPOILERS)

EDIT: As a fun thought, here's what Shards I think each member of Cradle would want or be best with: 

Lindon - Ambition or a Ruin/Invention mixture that would mesh will with his dual cores. Or maybe even Harmony later on. 

Yerin - Valor 

Little Blue - Devotion and Endowment

Eithan - Virtuosity and probably Ruin

Orthos - Dominion and Reason, interestingly enough

Mercy - Mercy, for the giggles. 

Ziel - Preservation

Mostly rereading Cradle right now, but I just got another friend into the series! That makes four friends IIRC, with two more I'm working on. (One I KNOW will love the series once he starts it, as he's a big Shonen anime fan; the other I think will like it since she's a big anime fan too, but we'll see.) 

The first four friends are fans of Sanderson, while the latter two will be introduced to Sanderson after they finish Cradle. 

SLEEPWALKER by Aries & brakence came out yesterday. I've been playing it on loop for the past few hours and it has me IN MY FEELS. I have, like, three or four different things this song is matching in my head, and it's messing with me in the best of ways. This may be one of my top songs of the year.

This year's Music Wrap Up will be quite interesting to me! 

11 hours ago, Nitpicking said:

I don't disagree with any of that. I just say that this means he'll never complete the Grand Apparatus, I mean his grand design for the Cosmere.

And I think he will because he's not getting sidetracked AS much as before. He's young enough to complete it and has mapped out about how long it'll take. (Until he's somewhere between 74 and 78 IIRC.) He's building a team that knows how he functions in case he passes before he can complete his legacy, and he's letting them stretch their legs in the playground so if they need to start running, they've got it. 

14 hours ago, Nitpicking said:

Except neither of them is working on any of the announced "Brandon main timeline" stories, like the Elantris sequels. They're doing side projects. I thought that too, but then Brandon (as you say below) couldn't let go of any of "his" stories, so they're just adding even more not-yet-written stories to the Cosmere.

True, but some of those are things that Brandon would want to write but doesn't have time, hence handing them off. That way, Brandon can focus on the stories that matter to the Cosmere. Yes, some of these are added in, but I'm also sure that some of these are stories that Brandon would have wanted to tell but knows he can't. Skyward Legacy and Songs of the Dead are the big non-Cosmere examples, but they matter because now Brandon can devote more time to the Cosmere. 

The truth is that Brandon is going keep adding things to write because he's a creative person and likes writing new things. It's how he trained himself, hopping from one project to the next, and it's what keeps him engaged. He's not the type to sit down and just "finish the Cosmere" because that's what expected of him. That would drain him and create a worse product. He's also not going to spend time writing books he promised when he has time to write a secret project (as much as I wish he did), because that wouldn't refresh him most likely. 

14 hours ago, Nitpicking said:

(Isaac mentioned some time last year that he wasn't actively working on his novel at that time. IIRC.)

From the State of the Sanderson 2024

Quote

Book of Nails

One of the questions I often get asked is how my Cosmere book is progressing. For those who haven’t heard of it, Book of Nails is set on Scadrial and follows the adventures of Nicelle Sauvage, aka Nicki Savage from the Era 2 broadsheets--though the novel presents events as they actually happened rather than in a sensational serialized story written by Nicki.

With the addition of a few art directors to the creative team, I’m starting to reclaim a little time to work on the story. This year I received amazing feedback from a beta read we held for the first part of the book. Additionally, I’ve been running chapters through members of the department and Brandon’s writing group. There’s a list of changes to make, but I’m confident in the story’s direction and can’t wait for you to see it. I’ll be working through feedback and making revisions over the next several months.

On 7/18/2025 at 1:43 PM, Nitpicking said:

I've thought for years that Brandon should do for himself what Harriet did for Robert Jordan: find collaborators to finish the series. He'd have to write about twice as fast as he currently is to complete every book he's got solidly planned, let alone the "optional" ones like the Threnody sequel. Find two up-and-coming writers and farm out books to them, under the support team (led by Peter Ahlstrom) and finally Brandon's supervision.

I don't think he'll actually do it, and of course that is 100% his decision, but it means the Cosmere won't be completed unless Brandon lives to be 100 and retains his full writing capabilities into advanced old age.

He's already done something similar to that, with Isaac Stewart and Dan Wells. Brandon hired Dan because he needed, in his own words, "a second brain" to complete some of the projects he'd like to get to but doesn't have time. Isaac has his own Mistborn book written and has been slowly revising it over the years. Brandon now trusts Isaac to finish the Cosmere if he dies, rather than joking about Brian McClellan carrying the torch. (Personally, I think it should go to Will Wight. Wight is a fan of Sanderson, a fast writer, and is experienced in writing in different subgenres of fantasy and sci-fi. Honestly, I think Brandon should team up with Will anyways.)

Brandon's already outsourced a lot of stuff as a "time triage" so he can focus almost exclusively on the Cosmere: 

He passed off the Cytoverse to Janci Patterson. 

He passed off Songs of the Dead to Peter Orullian.

He was looking for a cowriter for the Alcatraz sequels so he could finish them with the proper amount of respect.

He's working with Dan Wells on lots of things, some of which are probably projects he doesn't have time for. 

Right now, Brandon's doing what he can to make sure he can finish the Cosmere. The complications are:

1. Sanderson's a VERY ambitious man, so he's always looking to build and explore in new ways. This takes time, resources, and energy that could be used for writing. 

2. Sanderson's not just a writer - he's a businessman. He has a business to run as well. Employees to look after, meetings to go to, things like that. What started off as a way to offload all of the non-writing things has transformed into something that takes a massive amount of time to run. And the resources taken to run it are tied into what he releases. 

3. Tor wants money. Brandon's talked about how Tor will want to release things ASAP, even if Brandon and Dragonsteel aren't entirely ready. This leads to crunches and overtime. Sanderson is just getting to a place to combat that, as of 2023 or 2024 I think. 

4. Brandon doesn't want to be just an editor, rubber stamping his name on books and releasing them. He (usually) wants to be involved with the process all the way through. 

I like your theory! 

Unfortunately, I don't think Adolin will be a Bondsmith for a few reasons:

First, Adolin represents the boots on the ground, Muggle-viewpoint of Roshar. People like him for that. Sanderson likes him for that, or he'd be a Radiant by now. I can't see that changing. 

Second, Adolin views Oaths and Promises as separate things, and he clearly values one over the other. Unless Promises can overcome Oaths for the Nahel Bond, I don't think Adolin will give that up. (Granted, I DO think that Adolin is doing something with Maya similar to a Nahel Bond.) 

Third, Living Spren don't like humans that bond with Deadeyes. That's primarily why Adolin isn't a Radiant, and I don't think that the Godspren will change that. 

There's also the theory that Rock will become the Nightwatcher's Bondsmith. I like that theory as well, but I think yours has merit! 

Despite all of that being said, I think it's possible for the future to hold more Bondsmiths. I think it'd be funny if:

Adolin became the Bondsmith to the Nightwatcher, Kaladin became the Bondsmith to Syl (aka the Stormdaughter?), and Shallan became the Bondsmith to Sja-Anat. Add in Ba-Ado-Mishram as a Bondsmith to either Renarin or Rlain (most likely Rlain) and Navani keeping her bond to The Sibling, and you've got nearly the entire Kholin Family and their in-laws as Bondsmiths! 

When thinking about how to expand the company Dragonsteel is your new Roman Empire. (Most of it really stems from how intertwined they want to be with Brotherwise and what they want Dragonsteel to become. I know it started as a way to financially protect Brandon and his small team, as well as offload the non-writing work he had to do; but depending on how big they want it to grow and do, it can move in a LOT of different directions.) 

Also, when you theorize about what the next Story Deck stories could be. As non-spoiler speculation, I think we'll see Story Deck return for Mistborn 8 and again for Stormlight 6.

Finished watching The Residence with my parents last night, and we all really loved it!

14 hours ago, Just A Silvereye said:

Pretty much any song by Linkin Park

As an LP fan I second this statement. LP has a crashout song for nearly every scenario.

Feeling some deep, angsty anger and want to go back to AMVs from the early 2000s? "Dedicated," is dedicated to you! 

Feeling self-loathing? "No Roads Left" or "Burning in the Skies."

Want some comeuppance and schadenfreude? Listen to "No More Sorrow," "Two-Faced" or "LIES GREED MISERY."  

Feeling betrayed? You've got "Stained" and "LOST IN THE ECHO."

Going through a break-up? You've got "Waiting for the End," "ROADS UNTRAVELLED," and "Over Each Other." 

Greiving? Mike Shinoda's Post-Traumatic album is all about grief. 

And NONE of the above songs are from their first two albums, the ones people know them for. 

Bring Me the Horizon is great as well. 

For Christian songs, I love "Storm the Gates of Hell" and "Not I" by Demon Hunter. Throwbacks from my highschool days. 

Paramore's After Laughter is like Barbie (2024) - a mental breakdown and existential crisis disguised as a fun time. Although Paramore doesn't even hide it sometimes. (Listen to "Hard Times," "26," and "Tell Me How.") For younger, more angsty Paramore, listen to "Franklin" and "My Heart." 

Rise Against is also a great choice, at least their 2003-2009 stuff. 

"Unsteady" by X Ambassadors

"I Will Hide Myself Away" was a solid go-to in the early 2010s for me as well. 

Fire Emblem Warriors, Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes and Samurai Warriors 4: Empires. 

FEW - I was just in the mood to play it last week, and I've enjoyed the time I've spent with it. It's still not as good as Three Hopes, but it's better than I remember. I still have MASSIVE issues with the cast size and repeated builds, but once you get past those there's a decent game inside. 

Three Hopes - I brought it out because I wanted to get a better experience from FEW, even as I was enjoying my time with it. Right now I'm torn between finishing my Azure Gleam playthrough and starting a new one for easier access to training time to unlock classes, or doing what I've been doing and going to the Record Keeper to replay maps to grind for classes. I've also considered playing Verdant Wildfire, as it's the last route to play, but I don't care enough about the three characters I haven't unlocked to play it. (Claude, Hilda, Holst. Between AG and SB, you get all of the other Golden Deer.) 

Samurai Warriors 4: Empires - This game allows me to conquer Japan and ship both historical and fictional characters while doing so! I've also been inspired by some characters (both historical from the game and some original characters) for some worldbuilding I've been doing for a book series I want to write. (Background, characterization, intercharacter dynamics, and more!)