Swimmingly

All over Newcago businesses are signs with little single-digit flip charts. They read, "x days since an Epic killed someone here"

Oops. My search-fu is weak, sensei.

During Vin's ascension, we see a remarkable enhancement of her Allomantic abilities, to the point that she wields and surpasses Surgebinder-esque levels of Investiture. Her Allomantic Pewter acts much as Stormlight does, healing her broken limbs and giving her incredible speed, and she slams about chunks of metal with more power than Szeth on a killing spree. She breaths in the gaseous Investiture like Stormlight, and, indeed, wisps of it begin to puff out of her skin. I'm theorizing here that what we're actually seeing is what happens with Surgebinders on a much larger scale. This is possible because the Shard is still intact, but, with Honor dead and shattered, fragments of him attempt to complete a mini-Ascension with an individual with a Cognitive aspect matching certain bits of Honor or Cultivation's Intent. Because those fragments are Splinters, not Shards, they are already partially sentient, but the Nahel bond fulfils the same purpose as a Shardholder, giving greater sentience and direction while slowly being subsumed by the Splinter's Intent. Interesting to note is that we also see a parallel in terms of the alien Investiture prevent use of the gaseous Investiture - Kaladin is immune to the Thrill, but when he does things out of hatred or a similar emotion (Odium's territory and possibly the method by which he influences people), he loses the ability to absorb Stormlight without conscious and painful effort from Syl. Vin cannot begin her Ascension until she loses the Hemalurgic spike in her. In conclusion, Surgebinding is simply the process of Ascension carried through a shattered Shard. It can be interfered with by alien Investiture, similar to the blocks on Vin's Ascension. If this is true, it also suggests that Stormlight is purely of Honor, which is interesting in itself.

In Mistborn, we see the remnant's of Leras's consciousness after the great majority of it has been invested in a cage for Ruin's power. It's a feeble, pathetic thing, near to a normal human in ability to affect the world - less, even, with no power of speech and possible illiteracy. Despite being but a shade, it's still a part of Leras, and holds the Shard of Preservation still, technically. In the Stormlight Archive, we see a massive, god-like spren, capable of commanding the highstorms, quite possibly the bringer of Stormlight and a deity worshipped by several cultures, left from Honor's mind after his body and power were shattered. The differences are great: Leras lived while the mist spirit did, but Honor died and left the Stormfather behind. The differences in power, and presumably intellect, are great as well. However, one similarity stands out. Both are described as shadows of their original selves, after the main consciousness was somehow destroyed, imprisoned, or broken. Both are tied to a weather phenomenon by which gaseous Investiture spills over the world. Are these two basically the same, Cognitive Shadows left by a broken consciousness?e

Magic that changes the weather to how I feel, or in a few specific cases, want very strongly. Of course, if everyone's giving suggestions to the clouds, whoever has the most emotion and/or willpower behind their request is going to come out on top - so, take emotion-altering drugs, gain specific kinds of weather control?

When your first thought upon smelling waffles is, "They have those on Scadrial!"

Out of curiosity, is that to shoot, to eat, to fly with, to bribe corrupt aristocrats with, or to give yourself a tool to carve soulstamps with?

When you wonder if electronically-stored browser history counts as "written in metal"

One miniature Shard bound to a flawless gemstone and containing a pocket universe filled to infinity with nothing but pure investiture?

Put it in a pocket dimension with nothing but badly-written and illustrated Harry Potter fanfic erotica in the style of Lovecraft. It will conclude that the only method of escape from the memories is to obliterate its mind, its senses, and any capacity to regrow them.

I think Odium's influence tends to turn people into generic baddies. The tragedy is seeing them change.

Oh come on. What is Hoid, if not a beautiful magical creature? Unicorns got nothing on him. NOTHING.

Hoid?

Good Omens is the chocolate vanilla swirl of fiction - dryly dark comedy, richly clever comedy, and the haunting sound of Douglas Adams chuckling in the echoes.

What governs the phrasing? Is there a distinct formula to follow, or does an element of originality and creativity affect power and effect? How does the language used to speak spells in change them, if at all? What happens if you have a speech impediment, get punched in the mouth midway through, or use ambiguous or contradictory phrasing? Is the universe a Grammar Nazi? Who can use the magic? What fuels it, if it needs fuel? Are there other magics/technologies in the world that hinder or compete with it, and how do they interact? To what extent does intent matter, and to what extent can you doom yourself by saying something while meaning the opposite? What social mores and taboos are a result of this - how is education controlled? What kind of setting is this in, and how does that interact? What is known about this magic? What is not known, but true? What is assumed, but untrue? What is known, but has exceptions? What is the most unconventional use for this magic you can think of, and who uses it this way? How did this magic come about? Does it have the potential for ethically dubious things written into it, and how does society react to this? How much does the average person of any given class know about it? What objects become powerful under this system - obscure dictionaries and collections of roots from forgotten languages? What is the usual fashion this magic is used, and why? Is there anything deeply broken about the magic? What is the worst thing that can happen using the magic? What makes it hard? What makes it weak? How does the average person level the playing field, if they can?

Yeah, in my head the wonder was more geological than biological, with huge chasm walls sweeping up into the sky and crustings of crem and plant life among the bones below, with much more even floors - this is much more spectacular, though - wonderful!

Maybe that's where Ruin's Investiture is doing the heavy lifting?

There's a pattern to this, I'm sure, a definite pattern to these puns. They pop up here, then there, dots on a mental spreadsheet leading me in no particular direction. It's a pattern, I'm sure of it, a pattern.

I'm imagining the Splinter cast reads reaction to that. Probably something like, "OhharmonytheresastrangemaninmyroomWHYDIDN'TYOUBRINGRENARIN?!"

My largest problem was that Feather's voice seemed way too quiet at times. Maybe I've just got bad earbuds, but sometimes I had it boosted up to full volume with only moderate ambient noise and I couldn't hear her. Of course, the pure awesome made up for that pretty well, but it's something to consider

Don't worry, I can still give you a guest pass.

Die Repeatedly

That notion is just ridiculous, Kobold. Just freakin' ridiculous. I resent any suggestion that I use blackmail to squeeze my precious green points from you fools. It's not like they help, anyway. My twisted green fishface goes where it will, and I can't control it, no sir. Just make suggestions. Guess who's on the naughty list?

Fly, Jimmy, fly!... Why are you just hanging there limply? Come on, Jimmy. Get it together. Good! You just thrashed slightly. Do that harder and you'll be flying in no time. The air is over here, Jimmy. Fly to me and I'll give you some. Just a breath, now. Don't get greedy. Time to fly again, Jimmy.

Nah, it's good. I just have them there so I can control emotions and speak to my dark god of destruction. Schizophrenia? What schizophrenia?