Arcanist Lupus

The stupid thing is that the points are kind of valid - if the first panel hadn't been so blatantly confrontational, it probably would have been funny. Heck, replace the 2nd and 3rd lines of the third panel with "Sanderson's books", and the comic works. Also, the proper term for one of Brandon's fans is a Sanderfan, not a Sandersonian. Sandersonian is an adjective.

In theory, there are other cells of Reckoners. If that is actually the case, then the number of "closet Epics" would be significantly less than 1/3. It would be a normal organization founded by a repenting Epic, with an Epic spy thrown in. It makes sense that the spy would try and get placed in the cell with the founder of the Reckoners, if possible.

Except we already know that it's not that simple, because otherwise the Cognitive Realm around Sel wouldn't be so hazardous. My guess would be that the Cognitive space is created by thoughts, but defined by a world's magic, so if the world has no magic, it's cognitive space is too chaotic and ill defined to use for traveling. It would be like trying to see your reflection in rough water - light is still being reflected, but it's too scattered to actually see any shapes.

When the guards are looking at David and Megan in the elevator shaft, they hear the tensor: David and Megan then discover the secret room. But the secret room wasn't making any noise. So what did the guards think they were hearing?

Maybe, but he definitely seemed to be talking about getting to planets.

I can't hurt you, but you can't really hurt me either. All places are alike to me - I'll just walk back. It won't take significantly longer than usual. Walker's power is pretty useless offensively anyways. The best I could do is convince someone to walk with me, walk them someplace odd, and then leave them there. Which is kind of like Gateway's technique, except I have to convince my victim to walk with me.

Has anyone read the Just So Stories? I am the cat who walks by himself, and all places are alike to me. Basically, my power would be walking. I can walk anywhere (through walls, in the air, on the moon). Also, I am invulnerable while walking, and can walk indefinitely. Vulnerability - my powers don't do a single thing if I'm running or standing still. Also, treadmills don't count as walking because I'm not going anywhere. Also, even though I can kind of teleport (I imagine it to be less like teleporting and more like walking a path shorter than a straight line), getting anywhere still takes some time, because I'm walking Name: Walker. Possibly Strider, but that's already taken. Kibeth would work as well, but I figure if I was an Epic I would be less concerned with making obscure references to Garth Nix books. Costume - Traveling clothes, walking staff, and boots that are made for walking. Brand of evil - I'm detached from emotion and humanity. I see everyone and everything as beneath my notice.

I figured out that Prof was an Epic pretty quickly. I didn't guess Megan's Epicness immediately, but I figured it out as soon as Edmund mentioned that you can't gift to Epics, at which point I knew that Megan was coming back. Brandon really had me going there for a while. I was amazed he had the guts to kill the love interest in a YA novel. I didn't guess that Megan was Firefight. I was firmly convinced that Steelheart's weakness was that he could be hurt by someone who didn't want to hurt/kill him. I was sure that Megan was going to have to kill him, because she was the only one who didn't want to. I briefly pegged Cody as the spy, when he went to place the blasting cap right before the climax (it felt like a setup where at a critical moment the wrong thing blows up), but Cody shot him and he blocked it, which invalidated my weakness theory. Also, if Megan has a weakness, it has to cancel her regeneration (which is pretty dang powerful), not just her illusions. I don't think dust would do that.

I just got back from the Houston signing at Murder by the Book. Brandon did two readings - one from AoL 2 (Wax and Steris discussing the wedding), and the prologue of Words of Radiance. Is the prologue been covered yet? If not, I'll summarize what I remember. Let me know. I asked Brandon about world hopping. Brandon said that not every magic system could be used for world hopping, but that there were methods of reaching every planet. He then qualified that some of the minor planets might only be accessible by space ship. I hope you find this as interesting as I did!

I'll be at the Houston signing, so I'll see you there, LazerWulf!

I like to draw a comparison to the Series of Unfortunate Events, if Lemony Snicket included short side-stories about bunnies with bazookas.

Joel's father found the line, but couldn't get it to work. How did he know that it was a valid line? He drew it and went "yes, I think this is Rithmatic!" It doesn't look like any of the other lines, and he couldn't make it do anything. So how did he figure it out?

A line which dampens all waves in the area? I like it. If this is the case, I wonder whether it has to be tuned between sound and lines of vigor. If it can, then can it be tuned to dampen light?

What he said. Also, Joel's meeting with the ShadowBlaze (assuming, of course, that that is what it was) was not nearly impactful enough to generate the reactions of the Rithmatists. Even atheist Rithmatists don't speak of what happened to them in the chamber. I don't think Joel's experience was enough to generate that response in every Rithmatist. Therefore, I conclude that something else happens in the chamber to make you a Rithmatist.

Hmm... If you assume that the properties of the line are based on the angle of the plane that intersects the cones, then a parabola actually has more in common with lines of forbiddance than lines of warding. Curved lines of warding could be pretty interesting. Also, I wonder if you could do anything interesting with reflecting lines of vigor off of a parabola?

Can arcs be used in lines of warding? If so, then it stands to reason that non infinite hyperbolas and parabolas could be used as well. It's worth noting that a line is technically a conic section as well, and lines of forbiddance aren't infinite. On the other hand parabolas and hyperbolas are probably harder to draw than circles and ellipses, while having negligible benefit.

I got the impression that that's what they were doing. (except maybe the acid bit.) Of course, the presence of the Forgotten probably complicates the situation horribly.

Certainly Fitch is dual-wielding chalk in the duel with the Forgotten. (Which, by the way, is both hilarious and incredibly cool at the same time.) I actually envision the cross being drawn with one hand, but in three pieces. Draw half the vertical line, then draw the horizontal line, then finish the vertical line. You'd have to be incredibly precise, but it would probably work.

Possible vulnerabilities that I could come up with (or poach from you guys above me): I think the most likely theories are Intent of shooter, and combination of Epic and gun (either from Deathpoint's active attempt to kill him, or by "charging" the gun when he killed it's owner). If it's intent, then they'll need some sort of From Russia with Love scheme. (The Mists of Avalon uses a similar and possibly more applicable scheme to kill the Merlin). If it's the combination, then they'll need to enlist another Epic. I personally think that combination is more likely than intent, because a) the bullet has no intent, and it's the bullet that hurt him, and b ) Rithmatics has a large intent element, and Brandon doesn't like repeating himself.

Not the same way the legos are. http://imagineomit.blogspot.com/2008/10/new-julian-beever-chalk-art-plea.html'>here are some more examples. They only look right if you're looking at them from a particular point of view because some of the lines have to be distorted to create an illusion of three dimensions. here is the lego drawing from another angle. Melody's bear, on the other hand, looks like a bear no matter what angle you look at it from. Some times it looks like an upside-down bear, but it's always a bear.

We know that more complex and beautiful chalkings are more powerful than simple and ugly ones, but how does that scale? Or to put it another way, if Melody drew this, how many wild chalkings would it be able to smash? Also, how would perspective chalkings behave?

There were a number of comparisons drawn between the Forgotten and charcoal.

Depends on your intent. Remember that the lines only work if you intend them to work.

He did have a coin. If you check earlier in the thread, a bunch of us have already given our thoughts about it. As for your other points: 1) It can't be possible to insure your child becomes a Rithmatist, because of the fixed number. If you can only become a Rithmatist if one has recently died, then if all the Rithmatists are healthy then there's no way short of murder to become one. 2) I agree that the church leader is unlikely to make the decisions. If they were, then someone would have figured it out, and started bribing church leaders. 3) The room probably isn't necessary, else how did the first Rithmatist become one? But if it isn't necessary, then why do the Shadowblazes use it? 4) Possibly, but if we go with the one-Shadowblaze-per-Rithmatist assumption, then they'd continually have to replace it.

Incidentally, if all Rithmatists are made "fourth element removed", then perhaps the reason Joel was not made into a Rithmatist is that they need him to have whatever the fourth element is. Just a random thought. Also worth noting is Nalizar's line (pg 360, hardcover) Presumably, "they" is whomever decides who become Rithmatists, and given Nalizar's relation to human civilization, I doubt he meant a human group.