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It’s so funny because the audiobook basically completely spoils than from the first Epigraph. Michael Kramer tries slightly to mask his Sazed accent but as soon as I heard “I am, unfortunately, the hero of ages.” I was like “is that Sazed?”
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Sep 16, 2023 19:25
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Dear thread, what should I read after Oathbringer? I’ve also read Warbreaker and Mistborn original trilogy. Options: 1) Rhythm of War - another huge book, would catch me up to where the series is now 2) Elantris - the other main Cosmere standalone I haven’t read 3) Mistborn Era 2 - might be a change of pace
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Sep 16, 2023 22:28
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smackfu posted:Dear thread, what should I read after Oathbringer? I’ve also read Warbreaker and Mistborn original trilogy. Mistborn Era 2, Elantris isn't the best and Rhythm of War is a bit of a slog.
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Sep 16, 2023 22:39
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MB era 2 next, then RoW in my opinion. RoW is a much weaker book than Oathbringer so it's good to put some space between them. Maybe start RoW after book 2 of wax and Wayne, then go back when you need some actual happenings during the tedious and overlong middle parts of RoW
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Sep 16, 2023 22:42
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socialsecurity posted:Mistborn Era 2, Elantris isn't the best and Rhythm of War is a bit of a slog. Agreed.
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Sep 16, 2023 22:52
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smackfu posted:Dear thread, what should I read after Oathbringer? I’ve also read Warbreaker and Mistborn original trilogy. Era 2, which is complete. Elantris is considerably weaker writing. If you haven't read Edgedancer or Dawnshard, now is a good time for it.
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Sep 17, 2023 03:05
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Dawnshard is a pretty drat fun little story, worth a check post Oathbringer. Make sure and read Edgedancer first, not ESSENTIAL, but it has a fair bit of crossover.
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Sep 17, 2023 09:22
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Dawnshard and Edgedancer are also very short books, just 269 and 272 pages, respectively!
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Sep 17, 2023 09:45
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Thanks for all the suggestions, going with Era 2 as a change of pace.
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Sep 17, 2023 11:52
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I just finished Yumi, and I really enjoyed it! It was a good book, and the back half moved along very, very quickly. Like I said earlier I didn't mind the amount of Hoid's voice and involvement in the story as I did in Tress. It was a bit less obstrusive. Now, here's some of my thoughts about the Cosmere going forward, and relation to writing style. Only the tiniest of Tress spoilers, but I'll put it up anyways. I feel like maybe I've voiced this in the thread before, but when I heard in an interview that Mistborn Era 3 is going to be a ~1980s-esque setting that made me a bit nervous. I've become really invested in the Cosmere after reading all of these books. My impression on starting Wax and Wayne was like 'oh it's fun he's writing a western, what a cool little digression before getting back to the epic high-fantasy that I love.' It made some of the technology that appeared in Tress a bit baffling, and the fact that he felt like he had to obscure 'it's just a laptop' and 'it's security monitors' as some arcane thing before just coming out to say it didn't help. I dunno if I get as excited about magic-powered laptops as I can someone launching themselves through the air with a sleeve full of glass daggers, or conjuring their big-rear end magic sword out of thin air to turn the tide of a battle. I also really, really like the tone Sanderson writes with, and I hope that in 'modernizing' everything he doesn't lean too-far into stylizing it. It's very possible that I'm creating a worry out of nothing - I thought Wax and Wayne were good, and got a lot of joy out of the ending of Yumi, so even if the tone/setting is radically different he still knows how to write what I like. Just not what I'm normally looking for to scratch that high-fantasy itch. Am I crazy? Is that weird?
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Sep 17, 2023 15:23
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Stormlight Words of Radiance Chapters 70-75 & Part 4 Interludes (Second half of Part 4) So millennia has passed without Rayse killing another (after the Sel duo mentioned in the first missive, I guess?), that really puts a timeline on things. Makes me wonder if the Alendi/Rashek were the first instance of someone going to the Well, or if there was some cycle that Rashek and then later Vin broke. And as much as this timeline information does seem to preclude it from being Sazed, the nonintervention oath does sound a bit like him. At least whoever it is is OK with roasting Hoid. I am curious about the spren around the Chasmfiends and skyeels, because they also remind me of the ones around santhids. I'm curious why Shallan doesn't make the connection. Makes me wonder if skyeels have gemhearts, and these spren surround any creature with gemhearts, especially the way they seem to change after the Chasmfiend dies later on. Teft mentioning the Envisagers to Sigzil reminded me of that chapter in WoK where he talks about them. Teft thought they were dead, but I'm thinking that it's the name of the group that Amaram is part of. I had originally assumed that Amaram's goal was to bring back the Voidbringers but it sounds like that's just part of the package for him, and he wants to bring back the Heralds instead. So far he's got one broken Herald in Talenel, a bunch of new Heralds and Radiants that don't really know what they're doing, and a fuckload of destruction coming up. Great job. Speaking of Amaram, he's literally going to the victim (Dalinar) and telling him to make peace with his bully/abuser (Sadeas). It cannot be overstated how much of a piece of poo poo he is I really liked the Chasmfiend battle. The incredible shrinking Shardblade. The hiding in a fissure. The half baked plan. The Shardblade reveal. The fact that they worked together with the holograms. Kaladin going into its mouth to stab its brain. Kaladin obviously doesn't really understand spren except for Syl so he needs the Stormfather to let him know that yes, Shallan is a Surgebinder. Not sure who the two massive glowing forms were though. That seems important though. But the Stormfather is wrong, or lying, about Syl. Kaladin remembers hearing weeping, and Pattern later talks about the "death" of spren really being them returning to a mindless state. He says they hadn't been able to help other spren "come back", but their bonded people were gone. Kaladin isn't gone, so that will make a difference. I really did like the dialog and interaction between Kaladin and Shallan. I said it last time, but she really is showing Kaladin how deep in his hole of self destruction he is. When she told him the story of her life and then still smiled, that seemed to have an effect on him more than anything Syl ever said. Shallan smiling reminded me of Kelsier smiling to keep the Lord Ruler from winning the mental battle. Kinda love that Kaladin brought back the gemheart, just to top how insane it seems to everyone that they even survived. Kaladin and Shallan are legends already. I like that Dalinar sees through the lies, though he only suspects Kaladin of being a new Radiant. I am looking forward to Kaladin talking to Shallan about things, though it may be painful for him while he still thinks he killed Syl. Shallan would have good news for him though. Also looking forward to seeing if they can find the center of the Plains. Shallan was smart enough to have them leave their Parshmen. Not sure that matters when there's thousands in Stormform now. Well, I understand why Jasnah (who is not dead) wanted to kill Elhokar's wife. She's corrupt and turned Alethkar into France right before the revolution. And then turned it into France during the revolution. Shame about Pai, but every revolution needs a spark. Lhan really hosed it all up, trusting that she'd fall in line or whatever he was hoping for. Kinda funny that the named ardents are basically all just plot devices. Kabsal was an assassin trying to kill Jasnah, Zahel was just Vasher, and this guy was so loving lazy he just let a revolution start on his watch. Checking in with Eshonai, still screaming internally, still not trusting her sister, still waiting for the Alethi... what was the point of this? Maybe recognizing that Venli may have used this form already? OK? OK so Taravangian went too the Nightwatcher, got a boon/curse where his intelligence/compassion are different every day and he has an inverse amount of each compared to each other. And he went loving nuts one day and mapped out a plan (diagram) for the world to save it. Cool. I am a little disappointed that Szeth is still listening to him, old habits die hard I guess. He's definitely closer to going rogue. Hopefully his next visit to Alethkar furthers his crisis of faith. It is more than intelligence though, considering he was able to predict that a bridgeman would bond with a spren. He also has information about some unique spren. Moelach who caused the Death Rattles, and Nergaoul who causes the Thrill. Their effect is also location based, which explains why the Alethi are so gung ho about battle. They have a spren literally giving them battle highs. Some of my thoughts about the Honorblades seem to be confirmed, though Szeth said seven, not eight. So Szeth has one, Taln has/had his, then someone else has one, and then now one of the two that allow Regrowth is gone. Lift could do Regrowth, but she has a spren, so that is a little confusing. Maybe they get the Honorblade after being the first of their Order to swear all the Ideals? Not sure how much I like that. Is Shallan's blade actually an Honorblade? Pattern did say she said the Words, but also said she wasn't a Radiant yet. Kaladin did mention it had some strange pattern along its edge. And Shallan could shrink her Shardblade, which I haven't seen anyone else do. I don't understand why Lin Davar would have an Honorblade though. Then there's Mooncheek Darkness, but I don't know enough about him or his blade. Progress so far: 
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Sep 17, 2023 15:45
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Great stuff as always
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Sep 17, 2023 16:56
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smackfu posted:Dear thread, what should I read after Oathbringer? I’ve also read Warbreaker and Mistborn original trilogy. Mistborn Era 2 is a good idea. Just be aware that there's a huge Stormlight Archive spoiler in The Lost Metal (the last book of era 2) , so it might make sense to read that book after finishing Rhythm of War.
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Sep 17, 2023 18:01
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pik_d posted:Stormlight Words of Radiance Chapters 70-75 & Part 4 Interludes (Second half of Part 4) Do you see romantic attraction between them? And if so, how do you think this ends with regard to Adolin?
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Sep 17, 2023 19:47
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CapnAndy posted:A question for you: Back in the day, that Kalladin/Shallan sequence in the caverns gave birth to a lot of shipping. Yes there was absolutely some flirting going on, I can totally see them being shipped. Obviously when they're in the fissure, but also before then Shallan asks him to carry her and she can "even get a reed to whip you with". Which yeah sure. Nothing to read into that. I'm not sure where Brandon wants to take their relationship, but even if there are some romantic feelings between them, I think Shallan and Adolin stick together. I think there's a lot to be said that they talk on each others level a lot more than Shallan and Adolin do, and they have polar opposite spren (well, when Syl comes back, which I'm sure she will based on what Pattern said). I'm also curious how she reacts when, and I do think it's "when", he tells her that he killed Helaran. That certainly won't help her opinion of him.
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Sep 17, 2023 20:21
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pik_d posted:Stormlight Words of Radiance Chapters 70-75 & Part 4 Interludes (Second half of Part 4) The epigraph from chapter 64 in the first book references this. “They come from the pit, two dead men, a heart in their hands, and I know that I have seen true glory.” —Kakashah 1173, 13 seconds pre-death. A rickshaw puller. True Glory is the title of the chapter where they return to the camps.
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Sep 18, 2023 02:41
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eszett engma posted:The epigraph from chapter 64 in the first book references this. That's really cool. A few things could refer to True Glory, the defeat of the Chasmfiend, that they survived, or seeing the Stormfather, that one funny joke about needing saving from their own puns
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Sep 18, 2023 04:49
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WoK Interludes Part 2/Start of Part 3 - Brief thoughts Finally back into it. These notes are  not safe for pik_d GHOSTBLOODS! GHOSTBLOODS! GHOSTBLOODS! The interludes were good. Well, Rysn was kinda boring. Didn't really do much for me. Axies was weird and interesting. My first thought when there was talk about body modification was "Kandra?" but I guess there's just a race of shapeshifters on Roshar as well. The Szeth stuff was very good. I assume the new master at the end of his portion is someone working for Kelsier and the Ghostbloods. At first, I thought it was Kelsier but then the guy kept saying "our master" so I assume he's just a Ghostblood lieutenant. And MORE Ghostbloods in the first Shallan chapter!! Her family butler was a Ghostblood?! I'm excited. I'm into it. I'm sure people reading this the first time (as well as pik_d) are very much "ooooh what is this mystery" and I'm like "ooooh what are you plotting Kelsier?" I'm excited. I'm into this. Hell yeah more time with Shallan and Jasnah - two of the best characters in this book. I'm only sad that the other portion of Part 3 is going to be Kelsier and not Dalinar. I'm excited to keep going but at the same time, I I'm not even half way done with this book. It's been... a somewhat exhausting journey thus far. I'm still waiting for something, anything, exciting to happen. Honestly, this portion was probably the most I perked up since the book started, but for unique reasons. Side notes - (pik_d safe) Fabriel/soulcaster magic - as we've seen at this point, it seems like "we turn one thing into another thing" - that feels suspiciously like a more powerful version of Shai's soulstamps in Emperor's Soul. Also, something that continues to annoy me is the often repeated use of terms in a very "wink wink nudge nudge we're going to keep saying this without explaining it - aren't you curious what it means?!?!?!?!?" Specifically in this case with referring to Szeth as "truthless." It got mentioned multiple times in the interludes and Szeth keeps repeating it and I just get annoyed when I get to the fifth or sixth time people use a term without giving some meaning to the word.
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Sep 18, 2023 18:54
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Mordiceius posted:often repeated use of terms in a very "wink wink nudge nudge we're going to keep saying this without explaining it - aren't you curious what it means?!?!?!?!?" Different property and medium, but my wife is going through this exact thing with Amazon’s adaptation of the Wheel of Time. I don’t mind explaining some things, but eventually there needs to be trust that the show (or books in your case) will explain these terms once they become more than just set dressing. Or you realize you’re reading the Malazan Book of the Fallen and you get only what you can figure out by the end of ten books.
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Sep 18, 2023 19:07
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Mordiceius posted:These notes are quote:Side notes - (pik_d safe) quote:Also, something that continues to annoy me is the often repeated use of terms in a very "wink wink nudge nudge we're going to keep saying this without explaining it - aren't you curious what it means?!?!?!?!?" Specifically in this case with referring to Szeth as "truthless." It got mentioned multiple times in the interludes and Szeth keeps repeating it and I just get annoyed when I get to the fifth or sixth time people use a term without giving some meaning to the word.
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Sep 18, 2023 19:09
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Mordiceius posted:Also, something that continues to annoy me is the often repeated use of terms in a very "wink wink nudge nudge we're going to keep saying this without explaining it - aren't you curious what it means?!?!?!?!?" Specifically in this case with referring to Szeth as "truthless." It got mentioned multiple times in the interludes and Szeth keeps repeating it and I just get annoyed when I get to the fifth or sixth time people use a term without giving some meaning to the word. Oh it'll be explained, don't worry. You gotta accept that a lot of these things are going to remain a mystery for a while and trust that Sanderson has a reason for holding the info back, and that even more confusing mysteries are going to come up. Hell I think even more than half way through WoK I was way, way confused of what even what was going on at the most basic level and was debating putting the series down. Very glad I didn't.
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Sep 18, 2023 19:09
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Grundulum posted:Different property and medium, but my wife is going through this exact thing with Amazon’s adaptation of the Wheel of Time. I don’t mind explaining some things, but eventually there needs to be trust that the show (or books in your case) will explain these terms once they become more than just set dressing. Or you realize you’re reading the Malazan Book of the Fallen and you get only what you can figure out by the end of ten books. Oh absolutely. I'm sure it'll all get explained eventually. I'm not worried about that. It's not a major complaint at this point, just more of a minor annoyance. The first couple times a term is mentioned, I'm okay without context, but once we're up to like 10 times of a term getting mentioned, I get a little annoyed. It's hard to form my own opinion on something when I don't know what it means, which then means certain actions, if taken because of that unknown term, also become somewhat contextless for me - if that makes sense. Again, it's not a major complaint, just a minor annoyance. Also another thought I had regarding this section (pik_d safe) - Szeth refers to himself a "Surgebinder." I think this the first time this term gets mentioned. It made me wonder - is there anyone else in the world with other "super powers" at this point? I know Kaladin and Shallan and Dalinar and I assume Adolin will all get super powers at some point, but currently Szeth is the only person we've ever seen use powers or even be talked about with powers. No Alethi seem to have any super powers - or else Dalinar would have talked about it. Anyone with any of these powers seem like they would be incredibly powerful in the way that the nations of the world would notice - so is Szeth the only one? And if so, why? CapnAndy posted:You're misremembering what the soulstamps could do, then. Shai can convince an object it had an alternate history, but actually transforming one material into another is expressly beyond her powers. She calls out how impossible it'd be to turn lead to gold, because "oh everyone hosed up and some gold got into the lead factory somehow and nobody noticed" strains plausibility well past its breaking point, but someone with a hypothetical gold soulcaster could turn anything into gold. Yeah, I moreso just meant that they're similar in that they both deal with "transformation" to a degree. One form clearly feels much much more powerful than the other.
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Sep 18, 2023 19:13
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Mordiceius posted:Also another thought I had regarding this section (pik_d safe) - Szeth refers to himself a "Surgebinder." I think this the first time this term gets mentioned. It made me wonder - is there anyone else in the world with other "super powers" at this point? I know Kaladin and Shallan and Dalinar and I assume Adolin will all get super powers at some point, but currently Szeth is the only person we've ever seen use powers or even be talked about with powers. No Alethi seem to have any super powers - or else Dalinar would have talked about it. Anyone with any of these powers seem like they would be incredibly powerful in the way that the nations of the world would notice - so is Szeth the only one? And if so, why?
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Sep 18, 2023 19:42
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Mordiceius posted:. Somebody fucked around with this message at 20:29 on Sep 18, 2023 |
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Sep 18, 2023 19:50
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Fix those spoilers ASAP!
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Sep 18, 2023 19:53
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your spoiler block is broken
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Sep 18, 2023 19:53
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Sep 18, 2023 20:08
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Fix those spoilers man now everyone will know [spoolers] That Renarin is secretly Kaladins brother who was adopted by Dalinar [/spoilers]
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Sep 18, 2023 20:15
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Do people not preview their posts
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Sep 18, 2023 20:26
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Sep 18, 2023 20:29
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acumen posted:Do people not preview their posts there's a whole emote to answer that 
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Sep 19, 2023 02:04
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Random thought - (Way of Kings/Emperor's Soul spoilers) - Could you soul stamp something to believe it has been soulcast?
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Sep 19, 2023 03:24
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Mordiceius posted:Random thought - (Way of Kings/Emperor's Soul spoilers) - Could you soul stamp something to believe it has been soulcast?
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Sep 19, 2023 03:56
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Mordiceius posted:Yeah, I moreso just meant that they're similar in that they both deal with "transformation" to a degree. One form clearly feels much much more powerful than the other. While Soulcasting can do some insane stuff, it does lack any of the finesse of Forgery. Jasnah couldn't soulcast a closet into a palatial bedroom for example. Soulcasting is the hammer to Forging's chisel.
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Sep 19, 2023 04:17
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Soulcasting is weird in that most of the transformations result in a single material at the end, some are clearly different. WOK spoilers It is capable of making food and, more importantly, blood. Maybe you could make a simulacrum of grain that is just a matrix of carbs and proteins without being made of actual cells, like with a Star Trek replicator, but blood soulcasting seems to produce blood that is actually blood (or works the same as blood). So maybe there's more to learn about soulcasting, maybe it has limitations we haven't explored, or maybe it's not as limited as we currently believeCapnAndy posted:You're misremembering what the soulstamps could do, then. Shai can convince an object it had an alternate history, but actually transforming one material into another is expressly beyond her powers. She calls out how impossible it'd be to turn lead to gold, because "oh everyone hosed up and some gold got into the lead factory somehow and nobody noticed" strains plausibility well past its breaking point, but someone with a hypothetical gold soulcaster could turn anything into gold. I'm not sure this is strictly true, based on everything Brandon has said about soulstamps. I think it's more that transformations like that are gonna be really hard to pull off, not impossible. In The Lost Metal, I forget if the Elantrian transformation required an infusion of raw power to pull off, or if that was only needed after (sorry I can't look it up right now). But if it's the former, that implies that implausible transformations might be able to be finagled if you give it more gas, right? But IMO the weird unexplored aspect of soulcasting is that it can make aluminum, but its a one-way transformation only. That feels like it shouldn't work! Slanderer fucked around with this message at 02:12 on Sep 20, 2023 |
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Sep 20, 2023 02:02
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Slanderer posted:Soulcasting is weird in that most of the transformations result in a single material at the end, some are clearly different. WOK spoilers making food and, more importantly, blood. maybe you could make a simulacrum of grain that is just a matrix of carbs and proteins without being made of actual cells, but blood soulcasting seems to produce blood that is actually blood (or works the same as blood). So maybe there's more to learn about soulcasting, maybe it has limitations we haven't explored, or maybe it's not as limited as we currently believe
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Sep 20, 2023 02:09
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Tunicate posted:Brandon's reaction when someone asked if soulcast blood is human blood, is soulcast meat human meat? was pretty funny, because he just realized that chouta was solyent green and needed a quick way to deny it. This? lmao https://wob.coppermind.net/events/171-oathbringer-release-party/#e8161
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Sep 20, 2023 02:13
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Slanderer posted:I'm not sure this is strictly true, based on everything Brandon has said about soulstamps. I think it's more that transformations like that are gonna be really hard to pull off, not impossible. In The Lost Metal, I forget if the Elantrian transformation required an infusion of raw power to pull off, or if that was only needed after (sorry I can't look it up right now). But if it's the former, that implies that implausible transformations might be able to be finagled if you give it more gas, right? Yes, it required a lot of the 'special sauce' as it were. Something rare and very valuable even among world hoppers.
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Sep 20, 2023 03:12
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M_Gargantua posted:Yes, it required a lot of the 'special sauce' as it were. Something rare and very valuable even among world hoppers. I’ll need to look up the relevant WoBs, but it might also be making up for the investiture deficient in that transformation. Also need to see if he ever came up with better lingo around investiture, because wrt the metallic arts, he conflated investiture (potential) with the ability to use investiture. Very annoying.
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Sep 20, 2023 03:45
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Slanderer posted:I’ll need to look up the relevant WoBs, but it might also be making up for the investiture deficient in that transformation. yeah he comes up with all new terminology and then ends up with a word almost as overloaded as just calling it 'magic'
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Sep 20, 2023 07:44
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