Argent

I am not comfortable with moms who are too cool. Such thing is of Ruin.

Ah, yes, the land of the beautiful giants whose names have more letters than some alphabets. Welcome!

Always happy to be appreciated.

Oh, that's a country we don't get many people from, I think. Good to know the fandom is expanding globally! You have a few options. You could just tag people with @<username> (e.g. @Gisarme) and it will send them a notification. You could quote entire (single) posts with the Quote button at the bottom left of each post, or queue up multiple quotes to be included in your reply by marking them with the + sign to the left of the Quote button.

Chapter 16: Wrapped Three Times I've been neglecting the first chapter of each batch, because I usually read it in the train, and I can't really switch back and forth between the chapter and the forum. So some quote-less thoughts, after the fact: The Stormfather laughing was weird to me. The Stormfather essentially telling Dalinar "you are not high enough level to know this" made me chuckle. It's a problem I've been wondering about, how Brandon will solve the issue of Dalinar having this super knowledgeable being to chat with. It looks like the solutions will be "you need more XP", which... could work. Dalinar & Jasnah atheist bros? Sign me up, please. Also, Dalinar asking the right questions about religion. I feel like he didn't defend his side as well as he could have - i.e. that they still share a lot of the same values, even if they disagree on where said values come from - but he can be forgiving, he is new to the ways of the heretic :3 Oh, look, yet another monarch who doesn't want to unite with Dalinar. Y'all are gonna make the Blackthorn come back and become united. For a moment when I read Evi's name there at the end, I had to do a double take on it. I was like "wait, he is not supposed to hear it yet, did Brandon make a mistake", and then hooboy. That's some scary mojo there, Dalinar, don't be like that. Chapter 17: in Shadows I don't think you Khen kill him :8 Oooh, that was terrifying. For a few seconds there I was really worried. That's clever. Also, I like the term "higher spren" better than "true spren". Syl > Stormfather. I am curious about the mechanics behind this. I don't think we know enough, but it's a very interesting topic. Not much else in this chapter to talk about. Confirmation that the spren is a voidspren, and that it doesn't control the parshmen directly. Kaladin taking care of the group is actually really sweet, given his history with previous slave groups. Get you some more squires, Brightlord Brooding Eyes, your Order is known for them! Chapter 18: Double Vision Aww, a Shallan chapter? I mean, I love her chapters, but right now every character I read about is my favorite character, and we've switched PoVs with every chapter in this batch! Oh, look at you, using language constructs and all. You smart Cryptic you. When did that happen though? It's been some time since I read Words of Radiance, but I thought sound was one of the things she couldn't figure out. She had Pattern imitate voices for her. It never occurred to me to wonder why Pattern can't fly - and neither can Wyndle, for that matter. It makes sense for Syl to fly, because of her ability to control Gravitation, but I feel like there are many other spren that also fly or float - gloryspren, for example. lol That's, um. One way to put it. lol Nooo, give me new spreeeeeen! Hmm. Ah, yes. I too am a darkeyes like you, with my eyes that are not light at all, and we share so much, including frequently... drinkening... yes. I wonder if that's just straight up whiskey or something. Brandon did say that the Alethi like putting the "wine" label on pretty much anything alcoholic. Adorable scene though. He is going to cheer. I am actually surprised she picked up on it. Oh, Shallan, you've grown so much since the Kabsal days... NOOOOOO OOOONEEEEE cracks his knuckles like Adolin, No, his name is just so difficult to fit in the Gaston song... Man, the world is better with spren in it. Just, objectively better. Uhhh. Shallan, this is alarming. This is some scary stuff going on. HOW DOES THAT MAKE SENSE TO YOU, YOU DUMB GINGER!? God. That's it. I am done with you. Give me Jasnah. Now that I am done with Shallan, wine plot is so much more interesting. Horneater white is probably just rubbing alcohol, let's be honest here. Well then. Iiinteresting. So we are probably not dealing with someone trying to frame Adolin specifically, or anything, just someone - or something - that mimics murders. I am kind of beginning to suspect a supernatural element to this now.

Nope. The only unpublished content we can discuss is the one that's either directly accessible from Brandon's website, or the two White Sand (prose) / Aether of Night available via both a forum request and Brandon's email. Stuff people can reliably get their hands on in a reasonably time frame, in other words.

Oh yeah, that's right. Been some time since I read TES.

Yeah, you are getting it. I don't know how aware you are of the laws of magic in the Cosmere (or how much of the Cosmere you know about), but there is something special about the magic systems on Sel, and it results in a lot of its magics integrating locations - maps and landmarks - somehow. Aons feature a representation of the Atad Mountains to the east/right, the Sea of Fjorden to the north/up, and the lake Alonoe in the middle; Soulstamps contain a crude image of the Rose Empire. And so on.

I had a theory a while back where, tangentially, I looked for the Heralds: I revised said theory recently, and I did a more up-to-date passthrough, including educated (in the context of the theory) guesses about where the missing Heralds might be:

The long vowel thing is an Arelish convention - you take the name's base Aon (Rao for Raoden, Ene for Sarene, Kii for Kiin, etc.) and you pronounce them properly (with two long stressed vowels), while all other vowels usually remain closed. So RAY-OH-den, sar-EE-NEE. Shai is not from Arelon (or Opelon, which is very similar culturally), so her name doesn't necessarily follow the same convention.

Depends on when the event starts. But I try to get there an hour early. Sometimes three.

Obligatory disclaimer that you are the reader, so however you pronounce it is right. But Brandon says it so it rhymes with "hay" or "May", so I've started saying it like that too.

Yeah, I was chatting about this particular line with a few people on Discord, and I also think Brandon must've done it deliberately. It's something your beta readers will definitely catch, and so if you are ignoring their "this is confusing, Brandon!" feedback, you must have a good reason for it. What though, I can't imagine...

It reads like it, but it doesn't make sense for Adolin to not comment on such a drastic change in speech pattern. I know everything, including Radiant's persona, points to it coming from her, but Adolin's (lack of) reaction is a big no-no for me here. I also don't recall Veil thinking about Shallan in such detached way.

I assume you are referring to this bit? I am reasonably sure that's Pattern speaking here. As for the rest of your write-up... It's certainly one viable direction Shallan's character can go. Or this might be just a stepping stone for her self-discovery.

Chapter 13: Chaperone What a fun chapter! I don't think there are many things I can comment on specifically, but overall, it's just quality fun. I needed that. Pattern's "No mating!" calls are bound to turn into a meme before long (and I am waiting on the fanart). And his "dividing by zero" line almost had me laughing out loud. Just... what a fun a chapter! One tiny thing I liked from the chapter is that the setting sun is described as "casting ruby and topaz light". Not red and yellow, ruby and topaz - which is so much more in-world. I am a huge fan of those turns of phrase. Chapter 14: Squires Can’t Capture Instant sympathy! Hmm, what is this? The only sensible guess right now is one of those comet spren, but I don't think that's it. Also, did the voice come from it? Chapter 15: Brightness Radiant Oh, come on, give me Kaladin back! Adolin Kholin, progressive. It is easy to like him. Shallan Davar, not so progressive. Darkeyes are people too, baby girl, don't be like that! Oh, because of course he would. Should've seen that. Dueling is his life, of course he would be more than eager to share that with his betrothed. Oh, it's interesting that the Cryptics will send another. Also, Pattern's constant willingness to die, it's breaking my heart. Accept him already, Shallan! So, this is interesting. We saw some of this in Words of Radiance, but it's much clearer now that Shallan, or perhaps all Lightweavers, can (temporarily) change people, including themselves. Shallan in particular seems to be putting together a portfolio of personas - first Veil, now Brightness Radiant. Obviously this is a terrible coping mechanism, though it is something; still, it's going bite her in the rear sometime in the future (maybe she'll have to give it up as her Ideal?), and boy, is that going to suck for her. I'm excited to see her portfolio grow though. Uh, that's a very... formal Shallan. Don't like it. lol

You can take a breather, it's not amazing. There is a few interesting questions, but not many, and not incredibly interesting (e.g. I can't think of a single question that would change the way we theorycraft). So. Transcript will definitely go up as soon as Peter approves it, but I wouldn't hold my breath until then.

Team, was @Lurcher the only one recording the signing line on Saturday? We have full audio for Thursday and Friday (transcription pending Peter review and all that), but the Lurcher's Saturday recording doesn't cover the entire line because Brandon is a beast that cannot be chained in a mere hour of interaction with his fans.

I feel like we know this for a fact, but I can't find the WoB.

That's the thing, we don't know. It is described as silvery in color, but that could make it silver, aluminum, or something else. There has been a strong precedent for it being made of aluminum (at least partially), as it is known to have investiture-dampening properties (Brandon has described it as "magically inert"), and it's the one I am rooting for. Honestly, the only time silver is weird is on Threndody. I know Brandon has confirmed that the silver there is actual silver (not mislabeled aluminum, like some people thought at the time), and that silver has a bigger role to play, but I honestly don't like those. From what we have seen, aluminum is the one to watch, not silver.

Huh. Can't say I've seen anyone focus on the silver in her earring. My gut tells me this is all a bit... looking too deep for something that's not there. But you are not wrong, the silver would've had the effects you describe, and if there was truly nothing to the silver plating (as my gut tells me), then I can't possibly imagine why Brandon would RAFO it. So it does sound like there's something weird going on, even if it's as small as "we'll look into silver later in the series", but I can't put my finger on it at 2 AM...

Okay, on a different note, we hit a bit of a snag. Turns out I and @Pagerunner didn't fully understand @Lurcher (I am not a native speaker, Page, what's your excuse?!) - we thought we had green light to post the transcript, and that was not entirely true. So both of us have (temporarily) removed the Thursday signing line transcription while Lurcher sends it to Peter and hears back from him. We'll probably need to do something similar with the Friday recording (which we have and will work on over the weekend) and the Saturday one (if it's available). So, hold on to your pants, we may need to wait a few days until information becomes available (again).

For real though, that sucks. I mean, not the part where he recognized you - that's always a cool feeling. Didn't have time to ask, or?

I am pretty sure the two people are Shauka-daughter-Hasweth and Ali-daughter-Hasweth.

Or playing Guild Wars 2, @Chaos!