Rushu42

I was actually thinking of composing a theory on this myself, but I couldn't figure out where to go with it. It certainly jumped out to me that the core trait of the Elantrian religions is Unity. On the same lines as @Halyo_Alex, perhaps there's some force working to reunify Adonalsium. I'm not sure if "unity" is explicitly mentioned in Mistborn, but that is the only system where two shards have been unified, so there's that. As for Warbreaker, I don't remember anything about unity, but that doesn't disprove the theory.

I really like the ecosystem of Roshar. Lots of fantasy books essentially just copy-and-paste England's climate into their world and call that good. It really impressed me that he could make such a vivid, realistic, and different ecosystem without swamping us with pages of explanation.

I don't have a copy of Edgedancer at the moment, but I seem to remember the two of them briefly meeting then. Even if they didn't actually meet, he would probably be aware of what happened with Nale. Most likely he was acknowledging her role in that.

Aln stepped down to assist him. Luckily, the metal was fairly pliable, and there was plenty of it. It did not take long for the terracotta form to be completely covered. Once it seemed to be contained, Aln stepped back to observe the effects that the aluminum had had. If the deadspot stopped spreading, or even returned to life, it would confirm the theory that the statue was indeed the origin of the draining. @Invocation @Gears @mathiau

¨Dr. Gears is back¨ Aln looked up from the book she had begun to leaf through (which unfortunately contained no mention of any life-draining statue). Sure enough, the man had returned, now bearing several sheets of the requested metal. Thanks Pel, she sent to her spren, and tucked the book into a pocket. ''Thank you,'' she said to Dr. Gears. ''You were impressively prompt. If we wrap the aluminum around the statue, it should hopefully contain its effects until we're in a better position to study it. What do you think?'' @Gears @mathiau

If you could pick one part of a Sanderson book to rewrite, what would it be, and what would you change it to?

Greetings, Drayal! I hope you'll enjoy yourself here - there're lots of things to get involved in. Are you more of a theorycrafter or a roleplayer?

Aln shivered as a tingling spread over her, and instinctively stepped away from the patch of dead plants. It did indeed appear to be spreading quicker than before, although it was thankfully still quite slow. At Dr. Gears' comment, she frowned. A psychic projection in conjuncture with energy-draining abilities? That didn't correspond to any system of Investiture that she knew of, unless it was a unique Aonic construction or something along those lines. Could the statue be sentient? It wasn't unheard of, but still very rare. It's possible that the mental projection was a defense mechanism built into the thing. The way it had absorbed her Progression, though... ''There's a possibility that this statue has some semblance of life,'' she told the others. "I attempted to use Progression on it earlier, and it seemed to seal several cracks. We should treat this situation with the utmost caution.'' Aln considered her options. Her hand absent-mindedly slipped toward an inner pocket to fiddle with ... something that wasn't there. She removed her hand with an odd sense of disorientation, and refocused on the problem. She could hardly leave an anomaly like this in a public park, of course, but it could be quite dangerous to bring it to the Guild without knowing its function. She suddenly remembered that she had left Ben there, and that unconscious guard. It's been a busy night, hasn't it? So much for a relaxing holiday. ''We should remove it to the Guild," she decided. "We'll need aluminum to contain it. I have some already, but not enough for an item of this size." She opened up her satchel and counted out spheres until her money pouch lay depressingly flat. Then she handed the money to Dr. Gears, meeting his eyes. "I need you to purchase as much aluminum as you can with this, and quickly. Preferably in large, pliable sheets, but we can improvise.'' It was risky, giving that much money to a new member of the Guild. She hardly knew anything about the man. Whether or not he turned thief, though, she'd soon know more. @Gears @mathiau

Now covered in dirt and sweat, Aln stared at the uncovered statue. The workmanship was remarkable, the proportions perfect. She leaned back on the Shardshovel, staring into the unnervingly realistic eyes. From her position at the bottom of the hole, the statue stood quite a bit taller taller than she did, and its raised arm only heightened the size discrepancy. Aln stumbled suddenly as the shovel in her hands vanished, and she craned her neck to look out of the hole. The unnamed Surgebinder must have left. His anonymity was far less interesting than the stone figure before her, however, and Aln returned her attention to it. She couldn't shake the feeling that those eyes were watching her. They were a bright blue, at odds with the rest of the statue, which was all the same terracotta brown. She felt a tingle of unease as she remembered the way that it had seemed to heal from her progression. It did seem eerily realistic. Don't jump to conclusions, she told herself forcefully. This requires further study. She heaved herself from the excavation and stood to face the others. ''What do you make of this?'' she asked, nodding behind her. ''Shall we take it to the guild for further study?'' @mathiau @Invocation @Gears

Taking the stranger's Shardshovel, Aln set to work excavating the statue. She positioned herself on the other side of it this time, making sure to keep the rest of the alley in her periphery. It was tiring work, and she had to be very careful not to damage the statue; even a dulled shardblade could likely cut it in two. @Invocation @everyone else in the thread

Of course. Adding you now.

Great! I'll add you to the PM.

Mistborn Secret History

Well, this certainly got more traction! I'm thinking that it would still be affiliated with the Scholar's Guild, but not run directly from the building, so it's up to you whether your character is a member or not. I'll probably make a second character to participate. And @Voidus absolutely. Conspiracy theories are super fun to write. I'll add you guys to a PM.

I've received feedback on this idea (thanks, @ZincAboutIt), and I was wondering if anyone would be more likely to want to join if there were also an RP element at play - say, if people created characters to roleplay in the office and chase down stories as well as writing articles. Is that just more work, or does it sound like more fun?

What sort of organizations would you be taking down? Would this be a plan to topple the guilds?

If I were to start the Alleyverse Post again, would anyone be interested in writing articles for it? I'm not sure I'd be able to keep up with both writing all the articles and editing it together, but I'd be willing to take on at least part of that.

Probably most of the people who play the game would already have read the books, but it would be an awesome reveal for the few that are playing it for the game rather than the fandom. Overall a really cool idea.

Aln stared at the terracotta hand. Did I just heal a statue? She felt a wash of excitement. I've never encountered anything like this before, she sent to Pel. Could it be some form of Lifleless? The effects of progression on an awakened entity have barely been explored in the other studies I've read. She glanced toward her satchel for a book on the subject, and started. A stranger was standing behind her, a shardblade in the shape of a shovel held in his hands. How long has he been there? From his posture, Aln inferred that he was offering the use of the shovel. "Thank you," she said, accepting it. "I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name." Say, she added to Pel, do you think you could maybe tell me the next time someone tries to talk to me from behind. "Sorry", replied the spren. @Gears @mathiau @Invocation @Elend Venture

I'm currently playing a game called Subnautica, which is excellent. Spoilers:

Thanks for the advice! Does it get a lot worse after the first book?

@Invocation

I've just started reading Game of Thrones, so we'll see how that goes. The TV show seemed a bit gory for my liking, but so far (500 pages in to book 1) it looks really good.

Emperor's Soul: Edgedancer:

@Claincy Thanks so much for writing this letter. It really opened my eyes to some issues that I hadn't known much about before. It also made me take a second look at some characters I've written - I fear that I haven't really done their disabilities justice. I wanted to explore how people see the world differently, but now I'm worried that I don't have broad enough experience to accurately portray their viewpoints. I'd hate to be accidentally promoting ableist views. Would anyone have any advice on writing a deaf character? I gave her a superpower which does cancel out some of the difficulties of being deaf, which I realize now was a mistake. I hope to be able to write her better in the future, as well as making my other characters more accurate.