sugjesstive

I think beginning with the Stormlight notebook pages could be an amazing first step. It's relevant, and important in-world — and something that certain readers just can't experience. Yet.

Hey, super excited to see this thread! Know that I'm down to help out with this overhaul/project, if and when the time comes! Quick note, for the sake of transparency: I don't quite work for an SEO company; I actually work for an IT company and do 100% of all the marketing, which includes our website management + SEO + alt text + meta descriptions + blah-blah-blah. Now, just shooting the rust, but I definitely recommend hashing out an order/process plan for how you'd like to go about getting this done, in an ideal world. (For example: The forums will, by far, be the most difficult place to introduce alt text because every single new post can include an infinite # of images. Whereas the Arcanum and Coppermind will have lots of photos, but not many new posts — so the scale of the projects will remain consistent.)

WOW, horrifying. This is exactly how I pictured this scene! (But with more badass lighting! And more external screaming, from me!) All the hard, rough angles in the Cryptic's body are also a really nice [and unexpected] touch. I love the lighting, the severed hand on the table nearby, and the back of Dalinar's gorgeous head. WOW. Amazing job!

Your exact issue regarding all the oaths being broken at the same time was discussed in one of the Shardcast episodes from this year... though I'm not sure which one because I binge them all out of order. Definitely an episode that included Ian and Grace. Some of this inability to communicate might have been affected by Ba-Ado-Mishim's binding, which may have occurred around the same time. Many (all?) Radiants summoned their spren as Blades before breaking their oaths. They didn't know it at the time (perhaps due to BaM's binding), but this would turn their spren into deadeyes in Shadesmar, making them all unable to communicate what was happening as others continued to lay down their Blades and break their oaths. This inability to communicate helps explain why NO Radiant was warned about what would really happen to their spren. The Radiants knew that breaking their oaths would destroy their bond, but they all figured the spren would go back to Shadesmar. Instead, they were trapped in the Physical realm as Blades, and turned to Deadeyes in the Cognitive realm. Perpendicularities are unique to Bondsmiths, no? Perhaps there were not many Bondsmiths at the time? And honestly... If there were... WHAT WERE THEY DOING? I'd like some answers lol. I don't have a neat answer about the Oathgates. Without Blades, I don't think the Gates would function, or allow travel into Shadesmar... But this would necessitate every single Radiant breaking their oath prior to attempting to use an Oathgate. I think there are a few important factors about the Recreance that we still don't know. "All the Radiants broke their oaths at the same time" could refer to a process that actually took weeks, and not the events of a single day. But it's left intentionally rather vague.

I don't know that there is any quality, free software that will help you achieve good alt text. :/ (Side note: Good alt text is genuinely something I would prioritize over having just any alt text!! While alt text is great for SEO, its primary implementation should be for accessibility. If the alt text is bad, you may be making your site less accessible for those with visual impairments, who could be using screen reader tools.) In an ideal world, with unlimited resources at your disposal, I would suggest that you have a human being go through every single image >after &/or alongside any software that you might use for alt text. ...If this sounds unfeasible (like it did for our company!), you could consider outsourcing the job to a marketing/SEO team. If that also doesn't sound feasible, maybe you could wrangle a bunch of us Shardies to help — similar to NaCoWriMo. It's a much easier job when there's a team working on this, if you're going to go the manual route. (You'll want to break down exactly what kinds of images take precedent, and create a process for how you'd track it and get it all done.) Final note: When trying to add alt text for the company I work for, I have this Hubspot page bookmarked for best practices.

I work in branding/marketing and graphic design, and personally, I love the new looks for the logos. Cohesion among the 3 of them will allow people in the fandom to recognize that the 3 websites are run together! I didn't know that you guys also ran the Coppermind, somehow, until this year. It's particularly smart to give new, dedicated logos to the Arcanum and Coppermind. No direct visual reference to the cosmere = no problems with copyrite laws! The flat styles are also just visually satisfying + modern. Great choices! I happened to finish the Shardcast episode today where you guys were discussing the Part 2 Epigraphs in Rhythm of War, and your excitement had me CACKLING! Y'all are ballers. I spend so many hours a week listening to your voices in traffic (I drive a lot from NJ to NY). Thanks for being the best!

SO SORRY to come at you 1 year later but I finally listened to this episode today. (Just finished it. 3 minutes ago.) And yes! Mercy killing! That play on words was on my mind the whole time!

Is Hoid using allomancy to enflame their hunger? Or alter their perception, maybe? (Emphasis in quote is mine.) (Or maybe, is Hoid manipulating their investiture in any way? That' a bit of a stretch, but I'm thinking about how Lift can uniquely metabolize food into investiture/stormlight.)

I also just learned that cursewords for doo-doo are autocorrected to rust. So sorry!

I loved this episode, guys! My thoughts: The Delvers are disappointing to an almost-concerning degree. (Keeping in mind I haven't read any cytonic novellas yet!) Chaos was very on-point with that beef. The delvers are terrifying and super-spooky in Skyward, and then when Starsight dramatically pivots to a completely different kind of sci-fi book, the Delvers are de-mystified and un-spookied. With all the incredible foreshadowing Brandon tends to do, I'm surprised how unsettling and unsatisfying the "pure tones of Roshar" thing is on a thematic, big-picture level. Other than being innately important to Singers/Listeners, and their physiology, I didn't think that music had any particular significance in the cosmere, or on this planet. THAT SAID: In my WoK reread (first-ever reread!!!) happening now, I'm noticing that Kabsal mentions cymatics a few times, and makes some strange magical music rust happen. I can't wait to keep rereading! Kaladin's complacency towards the class struggle in later books is probably the biggest beef I have, after having stewed (yesss) on this for a few days. Because Amaram and Roshone are no longer relevant, Kal's anger towards the caste system is made less important, especially throughout RoW.

I like this theory because it addresses the damn flute, which has been driving me wild for some time. I also casually wonder if the flute in particular will have anything to do with the pure tone(s)/rhythm of Roshar? Hmm.

Sorry to bump this thread so much later, but I'm currently mid-obsession over the pure tones/pure rhythm(s) of Roshar. Thank you for pointing this out! Prior to RoW, I feel like there wasn't a ton of obvious foreshadowing about these pure tones. However, I'm getting lucky during my rereads and am finding some tiny clues. Thanks again!

I wanted to thank you guys for your patience as my ass took 33 days to come back here and respond. (Life, work, Comic Con, and a few other things came up this month!) Thank you for your kindness! I look forward to any & all conversations about Raven (and mental health too) in the future, friend. ...A cookie from the Lord of Scars himself?! I must admit, I am painfully tempted. My favorites change constantly! In the world of Stormlight: Teft, Shallan, Pattern, Rock, Kal, Dalinar, Adolin, Renarin, SO MANY! Spaghetti thanks you for calling her cute! My LEAST favorite? Probably Moash/Vyre, or even honestly Kelsier (in terms of LATE world, beyond-the-grave stuff). Hated Amaram and Sadaes too! But that's what made them decent villains. For a while I specifically disliked Veil. But she grew on me by the end of RoW!

Hello 17th Shard! My name is Jess. I'm 29 years old, living in New York, and thrilled to finally be posting here! I've been bingeing Shardcast podcasts for the last 6 months, and right away, I could tell that Sanderson people are my type of people. It was only a matter of time until I joined this forum. I have already made a mental note not to accept ANY cookies. Random fun facts: I'm allergic to mosquitos. My favorite band is Bayside. My boyfriend's name is Jesse, so I make a lot of "Jess" puns. I'm attending New York Comic Con in a few weeks! And when I was 12, I started and ran a moderately successful BBRae (Teen Titans) forum. Introduction to Brandon Sanderson: Way of Kings in 2018! I jumped right into it after taking a looooong hiatus from reading, and it absolutely shook me. I really credit this book with motivating me to get my life together. I'd been suffering from depression and anxiety for many years; relating a little too hard to Kal and Shallan was disconcerting. I decided to go back to therapy; figured out a proper balance of medication. Life has genuinely been significantly better ever since. (After WoK, I inhaled the rest of Stormlight. Then all 6 Mistborn, and then... well. Everything in the cosmere. EXCEPT DAWNSHARD! I WANT A PHYSICAL COPY. AGH.) Thanks for letting me ramble! Here's a photo of my dog, Spaghetti, from last Christmas. She's a 1.5 year old jack russel terrier/beagle/piranha mix.