#is he from the shalash interlude?

[shouldprobablybereading]

Who the fuck is Baxil?

[cosmereplay]

No bingo!!

[ID: A 5x5 bingo card titled cosmereplay's Wind and Truth bingo.

Squares that got checked off:

Embarrassing Shallan moment

Rlain & Renarin hold hands

Wit/Jasnah breakup

Cry like a bitch (centre square)

Fused Dalinar

Shallan meets Thaidakar

Szeth vs his sister showdown

Squares that didn't get checked off:

Leshwi POV

Jasnah meets Hessi in person

Rock interlude

Moash gets help from Shalash

Rysn & Cord at Horneater Peaks

Malata interlude

Bondsmith Thude

Szeth destroys Shinovar Oathgate with Division

Navani collects scholar Bondsmith squires

Sja-anat's enlightened spren are from deadeyes

Ishar Odium's champion

Squares that are coloured orange for partial credit (yes I know that's not how bingo works):

Kaladin tells Wandersail to Szeth (nope, he tells it to Nale)

Detective Adolin is on the case! (nope, he solved a problem of international law instead)

Szeth founds new Skybreaker sect (nope, but he does go to join them)

Lift interlude (actually she did get an interlude, this should be checked but I'm not going back to change the image lol)

17th Shard catches Hoid (Odium caught Hoid REAL GOOD)

Gavinor interlude (got some good Gavinor content but no POVs sadly)

Syl pulled completely into the Physical Realm (it seemed to be happening but wasn't made explicit so I don't want to count it fully)

None of them add up to a bingo, even with partial credit! End ID]

Slipping it in the night before the previews start, here's my Wind and Truth bingo card! Some are things I think are likely to happen, some are things I just think would be cool. If I hit any during preview times, I'll repost with my hits! After the book comes out I'll come back to it and see how I did.

Numbers refer to bonus predictions, listed below the image description.

[ID: A 5x5 bingo card titled cosmereplay's Wind and Truth bingo.

B column: Kaladin tells Wandersail to Szeth. Wit/Jasnah breakup. Rysn & Cord at Horneater Peaks. Fused Dalinar. Navani collects scholar Bondsmith squires.

I column: Embarrassing Shallan moment (1). Detective Adolin is on the case! Malata interlude (3). Bondsmith Thude. Syl pulled completely into Physical Realm.

N column: Leshwi POV. Rock interlude (2). Free centre space: Cry like a bitch. Gavinor interlude (5). Szeth vs his sister SHOWDOWN.

G column: Jasnah meets Hessi in person. Szeth founds new Skybreaker sect. Lift interlude (4). Shallan meets Thaidakar. Sja-anat's enlightened spren are from deadeyes.

O column: Rlain & Renarin hold hands. Moash gets help from Shalash. 17th Shard catches Hoid. Szeth destroys Shinovar Oathgate with division. Ishar Odium's champion. End ID.]

Notes:

1. Bonus if the embarrassing Shallan moment is related to Veil in some way (e.g., crush on Kaladin, she thinks she can play breakneck now but she still sucks)

2. Bonus if the Rock interlude is the establishing chapter of the eventual Horneater novella and puts Rock in danger.

3. Bonus if the Malata interlude includes gathering more Dustbringers/Releasers.

4. Bonus if Lift interlude includes her deciding to put down roots.

5. Bonus if Gavinor interlude includes thoughts about vengeance.

[kingjasnah]

Top 5 people from the Interludes!

1. rysn!!!!!!!!! shes my forever girl

2. so many legends were born in the interludes but how can i not mention our girl lift 

3. those two guys who followed shalash around as she destroyed art? we stan 

4. love that guy who was just there for a chapter to make shoes and heal orphans :( rip

5. omg axies the collector? guy who can spawn as many tattoos on his body as he wants? ugh so jealous 

[esseastri]

Megan Reads Oathbringer (part 11)

All right, now that it’s been 4 months and I’ve read all the other things, I realized that it’s, like, 5 days until this book has been out for a year and I should probably get the fuck on with it, so. Here we are.

Part 11 encompasses pages 828-934 (previous parts)

me in July: I’m almost done! I can finish this!

me, now: sweet christ I have a smaller novel’s-worth still to get through lord let me live

Aw, damn, I left off on Interludes, but I DON’T CARE ABOUT VENLI, WHERE MY BOYS AT

oh SNAP I WANT THAT, the ability to speak and understand all languages???? GRABBY HANDS

ah yes the “the alethi enslaved us so we should rise up and kill them by enslaving ourselves to this other, more horrible godlike being” narrative. my favorite.

sigh

why we gotta EXTERMINATE people?

I’m tired. of extermination plotlines.

Maybe. Venli and her lil light spren will stop? the extermination!? I’m here for that!

“There was an art to doing laundry” HONESTLY THO, HAVE YOU MET COLLEGE-AGE BOYS WHO NEVER LEARNED HOW MUCH SOAP TO USE? AMEN.

oh.

I forgot about Mraize. 

like, literally, 100% forgot about his existence. sorry alyx.

eyy, we found Shalash!

HE WAS LOOKING FOR HER?? IT WAS A TRAP??

admiralakbar.gif

...Mraize has a babsk? I didn’t think he was Thaylen????

“A resistance is not what we caught you mounting.” UGH. PICK THE HAMMER, YOU FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT.

Why do I feel like this is a “HE HAS CHOSEN THE BEAR. BRING FORTH THE BEAR” joke?

yeessssssss, VENLI!!! TAKIN RESPONSIBILITY!!!!!!!! I CARE NOW. I WANT HER TO BE BETTER, I WANT HER TO WORK THROUGH. GIIIRRLL!!!!

HOW LONG WILL YOU VACILLATE?

YESSSSS

gr oss? Tha nk s? for the melting flesh images??

yelch

PART FOOUUUUUURRR

that’s. so many POVs. What is this, a GRRM book?

also none of the POVs are Bridge Four and. WHEN WILL MY BOYS COME BACK FROM THE WAR.

wait, I could have sworn the Alethi had been fighting the Parshendi for ten years?? but Dalinar is talking to Gavilar EIGHT years ago?

Did I miss smthn?

Did I conflate the Shattered Plains with the Trojan War? I’m confused.

Lisa has done Math for me and found out that it was only 6 years????????? Why did I think it was ten??? I COULD HAVE SWORN IT WAS TEN????

“his job was to loom” heheheh

so... Dalinar is the nuclear deterrent and the nuclear threat all in one?

Dalinar, leaning into the mic: “The truth is... I am Iron Man.”

#Evideservedbetter2kForever

OH NO A BABY

TINY FIFTEEN YEAR OLD ADOLIN IS MAKING MY HEART SING

“I had this specially tailored” I LOVE HIM

OHHHHH

HE’S TRYING SO HARD TO IMPRESS HIS DAD I’M CRYING

“When censured, Adolin only tried harder.” I! LOVE! THIS! TINY! SUNLIGHT! BOY!

I wanna write fic where Adolin Kholin meets Luke Skywalker and the world literally EXPLODES IN SUNLIGHT AND SOFTNESS.

“Who could deny him?” CERTAINLY NOT ME, I WOULD DIE FOR ADOLIN KHOLIN TOO GOOD TOO SOFT FOR THIS WORLD

me, squinting: “which Herald is Ahu?”

my running method is to just suspect everyone of being a Herald. At some point, I’ll have to be right.

WHICH! HERALD! IS! AHU!

HE’S TALKING ABOUT THE UNMADE LIKE HE KNOWS THEM PERSONALLY, TALKING ABOUT HOW THEY LET THEM IN. WHICH!!! HERALD!!! IS!!! AHU!!!!

LISTEN, I JUST WANT TO KNOW EVERYTHING ABOUT THE HERALDS. GIMME A BOOK ABOUT THE HERALDS, BRANDON!

GIMME THAT JUICY GOOD BACKSTORY, BRANDON!!!

me: why is there a map with the sea but Kholinar is on it???

two seconds later: OOOHHH DUH IT’S SHADESMAR

wack y fun!

ARE DREHY AND SKAR OKAY???? THEY DIDN’T COME WITH???

ARE THEY OKAY?

OH NO OH NOO I’M GONNA WORRY AOBUT THEM FOREVER

Adolin, say hi to your swwooooorrdddd

....the Oathgate has souls?

what?

Fearspren: gross.

I knew they were all bigger on the inside, as it were, but. #yikes?

“Kaladin’s not well.” “I have to be well.”

BRB SOBBING ABOUT KALADIN

I’M!

HE’S SO STRONG

I’M! HELP!

GIANT CLAW? UNMADE!!?? LET’S KILL IT. IDK IF WE CAN BUT CAN WE TRY??

“sword lady” HEH

ok well, at least we know Drehey is alive, since Shallain bumped into his soul, which is both TERRIFYING and REALLY COOL

YOU’RE NOT NOTHING, ADOLIN, YOU ARE EVERYTHING AND I LOVE YOU.

*long keening noises*

I FELL ON THE FLOOR

“Hey,” Adolin said. “It will be all right.” “I survived Bridge Four,” Kaladin growled. “I’m strong enough to survive this.” “I’m pretty sure you could survive anything. Storms, bridgeboy, the Almighty used some of the same stuff he put into Shardblades when he made you.” Kaladin shrugged. But as they walked onto the next platform, his expression grew distant again. He stood while the rest of them moved on. Almost like he was waiting for their bridge to dissolve and dump him into the sea. “I couldn’t make them see,” Kaladin whispered. “I couldn’t...couldn’t protect them. I’m supposed to protect people, aren’t I?”

GUESS WHICH PART BROKE MEGAN

GUESS WHICH PART DUMPED MY HEART ON THE FLOOR

ANYWAY, I’M CRYING

THISISFINE.PNG

“I’m frightened. I talk when I’m frightened.” I LOVE HIM.

ADOLIN’S HELOIGN HIM HE’S MAKIN HIM TALK TO DISTSRAT HIM AND MAKE HIM JEEP WALKING AND I”M

I LOV A SUNSHINE BOY

SO MUCH

...is Vivenna okay?

oh shiiit, Adolin is? king????

sort of? almost??

oh man, he’s gonna be SO GOOD AT IT!!!! LOOK AT HIM TAKING CHARGE AND TAKING CARE OF EVERYONE. HE’S SUCH A GOOD LEADER, HE’S GOING TO BE SOOOOOO GOOOOOOODDD AT THIS!!!!

that chapter was a Lot

OH NO A SZETH CHAPTER

I’ve only been asking for this for tHE WHOLE BOOK

but now I’m gonna be MORE SAD

.......idk how I feel about the soul-after-image thing. it’s interesting, but I’m still a lil weirded out by Szeth...you know...being alive?

huh. Vasher knows about the magic fish? So....does this validate Lisa’s theory about the fish and the birds from that other cosmere thing I can’t remember bc I haven’t read it?

holy shit, that’s a LOT of skybreakers.....

...who have been around the WHOLE TIME???? WTF

So...Szeth can hear the Spiritual Realm.....and is going to bond a spren, of the Cognitive Realm...and is in the Physical Realm... so does that make him the Avatar, Master of All Three Realms?

(while he may have a lot to learn, I believe that Szeth can save the world)

hm. they’re so...regimented. militaristic. ritualized. They’ve got tests and rules for getting in and it’s all very well-put-together. and it’s WEIRD compared to everyone else stumbling into their Ideals. Is this what is was like before the Recreance? or is this just the Skybreakers being Skybreakers?

why are there kaladin flashbacks in the dalinar book, why, brandon, why must you hurt me in this way

Brandon: *mentions Tien* Me, softly: “no”

HE REALIZED HE COULD KILL AND THAT’S WHAT TERRIFIED HIM

THISISFINE.PNG

I’M EMOTIONAL AND KALADIN IS SAD AND I’M UPSET

Also, Syl just. grabbing his arm and snuggling him is VERY GOOD, SHE IS VERY GOOD, AND SHE SHOULD BE WORSHIPED FOR BEING SO VERY WONDERFUL

“It cannot be holy. If it truly were, it would have burned me away long ago.” I’M SAD NOW, THANKS.

I have weird emotions about people losing their faiths, and Szeth’s character arc has been particularly. compelling to me.

“Here’s what you have to do: fight him and win!” has the same energy as that obnoxious Assassin’s Creed “tip” that’s like “the trick to staying alive to is get your enemy’s health bar to zero while keeping your above zero” and I’M SO PLEASED.

ooohh shit

he drew Nightblood

which I feel is NOT RECOMMENDED

# Y I K E S

Skybreakers take the “lawful” part of DnD alignments to a very unhealthy extreme

tbh they’re a lil fucked up, ngl

Skybreakers make me uncomfortable, is what I’m saying.

“he had never mastered the ‘sleep anywhere’ skill the grunts bragged about” NEERRRRDD

WHEN WILL ADOLIN REALIZE HE’S A REALLY GOOD LEADER??? SOMEONE TELL HIM, I WOULD BUT I’M TOO FAR AWAY.

oh that makes sense

I was confused for a hot second about how Vivenna knew Adolin’s kata, but she probably learned it from Vasher who...also...taught Adolin. Duh.

“I’m just a woman who has been constantly out of her league since adolescence.” Viveennnnaaaaaa, darling. You’ll be all right.

also that makes total sense--the Horneater Peaks? If they’ve got a portal, it makes sense they’re so much more in tune to the spren. Easier border crossings.

PEOPLE live in this realm? What the??

I don’t know Nazh, but the fact that he has an embarrassing tattoo due to Horneater lager bad decisions DELIGHTS ME

hm. idk why I’d sort of assumed that Dalinar went to visit the Nightwatcher before Gavilar died, but. maybe I’m wrong. Maybe it was a consequence of Gavliar’s death. 

“the other one” GET FUCKED WITH A CACTUS, PAST!DALINAR 

OOHH

SOFT BOY

Renarin is such a Good

also, Dalinar HUGGING is SO GOOD KEEP DOING THAT THAT WILL HELP

“Humans, you must stop your emotions. They are very inconvenient here.” I think, Pattern dear, that Shallan rather thinks emotions are inconvenient everywhere.

mmmmmmmmmmmmm

HERE WE ARE AGAIN

ANGER IS ALWAYS THE FIRST STAGE OF DEPRESSION

HELLO, KALADINMEGAN BRAIN, IT’S BEEN A WHILE SINCE YOU WERE SO NEATLY SPELLED OUT BUT HERE WE ARE AGAIN

“You’re not angry at anyone, you’re just looking for something to latch onto. Something to feel.” To stave off the darkness of unfeeling and anger is easy. It’s irrational and warm and so easy. So it’s always the first one to go.

“It would continue until numbness seemed preferable.” GOD YUP. THERE IT IS.

It’s still really validating and really, really unsettling to see your brain problems spelled out so succinctly.

oh lord

“Men he loved, killing each other.”

I’M UPSET

(and the very tiny garbage part of my brain goes, ‘see he LOVES Moash’)

ADOLIN TAKING THE REARGUARD BECASUE SOMETIMES KALADIN NEEDS LOOKING AFTER I’M EMOTIONAL

Syl had a different Kaladin before Kaladin?? Wild.

and GOD but the symbology of the LIGHTHOUSE in Kaladin’s chapter. I’m. <3

EEEYYYY NAVANI!!!

she made them carry their own chairs, GOD THE MEANING BEHIND THAT, I LOVE HER

“Elhokar and Adolin are safe somewhere.” ABOUT THAT....

LOPEN, PLS

Bridge Four’s unwavering belief in Kaladin is SURE A THING. I love them SO MUCH.

also, god, MY BOYS, here they are, eating all the food and being ridiculous losers at a formal event I HAVE MISSED THEM SO

god, fuc you Ialai. ofc she didn’t carry her own chair, fukin JERK

good to know the assholery of the Sadeas name is being upheld, even after his death

god, every time Taravangian is mentioned, my gut just clenches, he makes me SO NERVOUS

GOD YES OH MY GOD, LIFT VS ROCK EATING CONTEST PLS GIMME MORE

I have forgotten that I love Sebarial. Petition for him to show up more often.

OH GOOD HE’S HAVING A BAD DAY. EXCELLENT. HE’S MUCH BETTER WHEN HE’S STUPID

...unless he’s super smart today and just pretending to be stupid.

fuck

IT’S SO HARD TO TELL WITH HIM ARGH

ANYONE ELSE HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THE DISCUSSION OF INVADING SHINOVAR WHEN SHINOVAR IS THE ONLY PLACE THAT DOESN’T HAVE A REPRESENTATIVE AT THIS COUNCIL???? JUST ME? OKAY.

also they keep talking about Shinovar as a redoubt and a haven, but....didn’t the Everstorm--going the wrong way--destroy Shinovar? Has anyone checked??

Navani is so clever and it’s brilliant.

“Taravangian was talking about having you tour Vedenar personally”....alone....so he can MURDER YOU. BAD IDEA. ABORT MISSION.

KALADIN HAD AN OLD LADY SLAVE FRIEND WHO DIED AND I’M SAD AGAIN DAMNIT

“He’s got battle fatigue. We have to watch him when he’s sitting around doing nothing, not when he’s got a specific mission.” MMMMMMHHHMMMMMMM

the future is forbidden, but not to Truthwatchers, sooooooo... is. this “Oracle”. a.......... Herald? PERCHANCE.

(He’s not, but I AM SUSPICION INCARNATE)

Weren’t they lying at the beginning and saying that Shallan was an Elsecaller? Because Odium thinks she’s an Elsecaller for some reason. And I wonder...who he’s spying through and where his attention is focused and who told him the lie?

KALADIN JUST WANTS TO SAVE HIS DAD IS THIS TOO MUCH TO ASK

aight, which world does canned food come from? How far ahead is the mistborn world whose name I can’t remember right now but it begins with an s SCADRIAL YEAH THAT ONE how far ahead is Scadrial in technological progression? Where does the Stormlight Archive fall on the mistborn timeline?

ADOOOLLIINNN. TALK! TO YOUR SPREN!!!

THEY DON’T KNOW??? THE BOYS DON’T KNOW? HOW THEIR MOTHER DIED?

HOW DO THEY NOT KNOW?

oh my god

that

god, that’s a huge lie to believe for so, so long. ohhh my goddd

someone has been writing down all the Unmades’ names, right? So I can look them up in the Coppermind later and be confused and try to work out which is which and what they do and how terrified I should be of them? cool thanks.

HELLO DARKNESS, MY OLD FRIEND

HE’S GONNA TELL US SECRETS!!!!! ARE THEY USEFUL!? WILL I LEARN THINGS ABOUT THE HERALDS!!!!??

I have one (1) priority in this establishment

...why does Syl have color

who is she

also LIGHTSPREN/REACHERS??? COOL AS FUCK OMG

“You don’t fly, you fall the wrong way.” Hehehehehehe <3

I HAVE MISSED KALADIN’S SELF-DEPRECATING JOKES THAT ARE FUNNY BUT ALSO VERY PAINFUL god, I love him. I love him so much. idk if y’all know this about me.

...ok, but the punny banter between Kaladin and Shallan is SO NICE Why do they have to be mean to each other so often why can’t they just be terrible sarcastic pun buddies?

“In that polished breastplate and striking figure, with her talk of chasing bounties and traveling worlds. She’s deeply mysterious.” CAREFUL, SHALLAN, YOUR BI IS SHOWING.

“The feeling was friendship, but neither of them had ever experienced it.” 

NOPE

NOOOOOOPPEE

WHO WANTS TO BET THIS SCENE IS SHIP FODDER DEAR LORD

Kaladin, darling, that shit is SO UNHEALTHY, DO NOT ENCOURAGE THIS

god

also like. darling. no. “I wish I didn’t have to care” DARLING ALL YOU DO IS CARE WHO WOULD YOU BE WITHOUT CARING

THIS IS GOOD FOR NEITHER OF YOU STOP

DO NOT ENCOURAGE THAT IN HER AND DO NOT WISH THAT FOR YOURSELF, jesus

lord, ok, well, I’ve read 100 pages, so on that disappointing character note, I’m going to go to bed.

[preservationandruin]

Oathbringer Liveblog: Interludes Three

Our spread this time is Venli, Mem, and Sheler. We don’t know who all of these are, but Venli is back again. 

I yell about Parshendi gender and gender in general (listen. listen. gender is fake), we get a look into Mraize’s house staff, a motherfucker makes a real big mistake in the Herdazian army, we get a beautiful inversion of traditional mythological imagery, and I love Timbre. 

Odium’s grand purpose for Venli meant turning her into a showpiece. 

So this is great. She’s basically telling the Parshmen and Voidbringers about what the humans did to the Parshendi. Her new form is called “envoyform” and it’s very tall, and gives her the ability to speak and understand all languages. She’s telling a version of the story that emphasizes that the Alethi feared that the Parshendi would cause an uprising among the Parshmen and they couldn’t stand having “slaves” who could think. 

Not strictly true, but I highly doubt that wasn’t going across Alethi minds. Odium is giving the parshmen an origin myth through her--the listeners were the last of a generations, sacrificing themselves to free their enslaved brothers and sisters. The narrative is that Venli is the last of the Listeners. 

Well, there’s Rlain, too, but she doesn’t know that. Anyway, Odium--like Gavilar--is portraying the Listeners as dead, dying, gone “into the songs,” an artifact, and fragment. That’s such bullshit. They were a living, breathing culture, not a fragmentary setpiece to be played with as a talking point. 

Interestingly, Venli notes that the Alethi parshmen act very much like the Alethi. I’ll bet that has something to do with like, Connection? Like how Dalinar can figure out how people speak. Anyway. It’s been too long since I’ve read the Mistborn Two series to remember the specifics of like, the connection medallions. 

So we get the strata of Voidbringer society--lowest are the normal Singers, then are Regals like Venli, who have bonded a Voidspren, then at the top we have the Fused. 

Also, the fact that all the eligible fighting men were sent off to war has made conquering Alethkar much easier for the Voidbringers. She notes that the Parshmen still have far to go--they need to be instructed about the Rhythms, they act like humans, they call Regals “Brightness.” 

That lopsided dress looked ridiculous. There was no reason to distinguish between genders except in mateform. 

THEN WHY DO YOU GENDER YOURSELVES EVEN WHEN OUT OF IT??? WHY DON’T GENDERS ONLY APPLY TO MATEFORM?? WHY DOES EVERY CULTURE IN THE COSMERE STILL HAVE A MASSIVE LEAN TOWARD THE GENDER BINARY WHEN NOT EVEN EVERY HUMAN CULTURE IN OUR WORLD USED IT?? /nonbinary rant over

The Fused are still around; they’re dismissive of the singers and even the Regals. Also, we get that some of the Fused are just...very, very broken. One stares unblinking and always grins. 

Venli points out that they’ll need human slaves if they want the land to actually be productive, but Rine--one of the Fused--points out that any human could be a Surgebinder. Also, we get that Parshendi do have gemhearts--they are almost bone-colored, and gorgeous in Venli’s estimation. 

Also, the Voidbringers don’t know how the humans bond spren and more strongly than the Voidbringers do, without a gemheart. Rine believes that they need to be exterminated. 

Anyway, Venli hears--distantly--the Rhythm of the Lost. 

She’d always hated the Alethi, who had acted like they were benevolent parents encountering wild children to be educated. They had pointedly ignored the culture and advancements of Venli’s people, eyeing only the hunting grounds of the greatshells that they--because of translation errors--decided must be the listeners’ gods. 

Absolutely fair, Venli. She points out that despite the airs of the Alethi, the only reason they could manage art and beautiful things was because they,  unlike the Parshendi, had the resources. 

Venli has been keeping the little cometspren in a pouch with her gemstones. it likes exploring rooms, and pulses awe at everything. I love it and want thirty of them. It keeps pulsing out little bits of rhythms--awe, curiosity. Venli notes that she can hear the old rhythms, and asks if that’s because of the spren, and it pulses to Resolve. 

“What are you hoping to accomplish? Your kind betrayed us. Go find a human to bother.”  It shrank further. Then pulsed to Resolve again. 

I love it. 

Over to Mem. They--whoever they are--are doing laundry. She’s going into the intricacies of getting blood and grease out of fabric without fading the color--which, especially before modern washing and drying, clearly was a bitch and a half. She’s Veden, it sounds like. Pom, her new assistant, is apparently gorgeous. 

Women like Pom didn’t usually end up as washgirls, though she did tend to stare daggers at any man who got too close. Maybe that was it. 

Harold...

Oh, she works for Mraize! That explains why there are bizarre bloodstains on his clothes. Anyway, they go in to a room with Mraize’s stuff--including tapestries of the Heralds--and Pom goes strange. And then attacks one of the tapestries with a knife. 

HELLO, SHALASH!! 

I was wondering if she would show up again. Anyway, Mraize is surprisingly chill about it--apparently, he was trying to draw her out. 

“Ancient one, would you care for something to drink?”  Pom narrowed her eyes at him, then hopped off the chair. She walked quickly to Mraize and used one hand on his chest to push him aside. She pulled open the door.  “I know where Talenelat is,” Mraize said.  Pom froze. 

Oh man. Apparently, whatever was in Mraize’s suit was called aether, and he praises Mem highly, approves a huge raise for her, and says she’s a genius. 

He’s dangerous and strange and amoral, but damn, I can’t help but like Mraize. 

Back over to Venli. She’s being carried over the land by the Fused, and thinking about how much Eshonai would have liked this. Venli, on the other hand, appears to get airsickness. They’ve reached Kholinar, so this will be interesting. 

If any of these motherfuckers hurt Gavinor I will be furious. He’s three and he’s been through enough. 

Apparently, here she’ll be truly practicing her oratory. 

We skip again, to Sheler, being told that he has three choices by a herdazian general.  I LOVE HERDAZIAN JUSTICE LISTEN TO THIS: 

“You have three choices.” The general’s manacles clinked as he twisted his hands in them. “First, you can choose the sword. Now, that might be a clean death. A good beheading rarely hurts. Unfortunately, it won’t be a headsman who gets the chance with you. We’ll give the sword to the women you abused. Each gets a hack, one after another. How long it goes will depend on them.”  “This is outrageous!” Sheler said. “I’m a lighteyes of the fifth dahn! I’m cousin to the highlord himself and--”  “Second option,” the general said, “is the hammer. We break your legs and arms, then hang you from the cliff by the ocean. You might last until the storm that way, but it will be miserable.” 

Apparently, this asshole was caught robbing and murdering civilians, and also raping women (“a resistance is not what we caught you mounting.”). So I have zero sympathy for him. 

Anyway, the third option is “the hog.” You get greased, and you wrestle a hog. Apparently, you don’t die if you do this. Of course, Lighteyed Shithead goes for that one, although I was hoping for the sword. 

Oh. Sheler was in Amaram’s army. No wonder he’s a horrible person. 

Obviously, the Herdazian general was too frightened to actually kill an Alethi officer. So they would humiliate him by making him wrestle a pig. They’d have a good laugh, then send him away smarting. Idiots. He’d come back with an army.

They chain him to a wall, douse him in oil,  and then the fun starts. 

“I’d say ‘good luck,’ boss,” the Herdazian soldier told Sheler as his companion ran off, “but I’ve got three marks on you not lasting a full minute. Still, who knows. When the general was chained down here, he got out in less.”  The ocean started to churn. “Of course,” the soldier said, “the general likes this kind of thing. He’s a little weird.”  The soldier dashed back up the bank, leaving Sheler locked in place, doused in pungent oil, and gaping as an enormous claw broke the surface of the ocean. Perhaps “the hog” was more of a nickname. 

This is the best inversion of “chain a young woman to a beach for the sea monster to eat/ravish in a weird twisted rape metaphor” (I’ve. read papers on the sexual undertones of these myths)--”chain a sexual predator to the beach and take bets on whether he survives.” 

Back over to Venli. She’s named her little spren Timbre, which is adorable, and I love it. It explores every corner of every room it’s allowed--it’s a little explorer. Just like Eshonai was. 

Anyway, Venli is kept to a stormshelter outside of Kholinar, not allowed to leave. She wants to go explore the city. Venli has to tell Timbre to stay inside, because the Fused want to kill it and ones like it. 

Meaning it almost certainly can be a Radiant spren. I love Timbre! 

Venli rested her head on her arms. “I feel like a relic,” she whispered. “Already I seem like a cast-off ruin from a nearly forgotten day. Are you the reason I feel like that, suddenly? I only get this way when I let you out.”

Timbre starts to pulse to Pleading and Peace, as Venli thinks about Eshonai, and Demid. Everyone who worried about her ambition. Who died, in the end, because of her ambition. 

“I’m the wrong one,” Venli said to Annoyance. “I can’t do this, Timbre. I can’t resist him.”  Pleading. “I made this happen,” She said to Fury. “Don’t you realize that? I’m the one who caused all this. Don’t plead to me!” 

Annoyance and fury at Timbre, or at herself? 

But Timbre sticks to resolve, and--for the first time--we get a gendered pronoun--”she.” Hm. 

Timbre hides under the bed from Everstorms ahhhh I love her so much. 

Anyway, the Everstorm comes around every nine days--the Odium number again. Odium doesn’t like it when she closes the window during Everstorms. 

How long can you keep being two people, Venli? She seemed to hear Eshonai’s voice. How long will you vacillate? 

A good question, Ghost Eshonai. Anyway, Venli is now talking directly to Odium. He says she isn’t telling the story well enough, and as she speaks to him she is literally being burned apart. He threatens to destroy her if she keeps being distracted. 

Yikes. Doesn’t sound like a nice boss, Venli. Not that we expected him to be. She wakes and her fingers are bleeding from how she’s clawed at the stones. Yikes. Timbre pulls her out of her horror by humming Peace, but Venli can’t hum it herself. 

The wrong sister had died. The wrong sister lived.  Venli had schemed to return their gods.  This was her reward. 

Ouch. 

[cosmerenaut]

There's always another secret (pt. 4)

You think you know everything about Cosmere? Well, you, my friend, are wrong. There’s always another secret.

Through the good offices of polish fansite, drogakrolow.pl, I bring to you a series of posts listing some Cosmere easter eggs.  Some are well-known, other are not. Beware of spoilers!

If you have something else, feel free to add it in a reblog.

Roshar

The Way of Kings

Interlude I-1. The foreigners Ishikk speaks with are worldhoppers.  Grump is Galladon from Sel, Thinker (They call him „Temoo”) is Demoux from Scadrial, and Blunt is Baon from Taldain.

Interlude I-7. The Mistress is Herald Shalash. She destroys works of art of her.

The Thrill is of Nergaoul, splinter of Odium.

Death Rattles forhadow some events we’ve already seen.

Why have you forsaken us, Almighty! Shard of my soul, where have you gone?

Healer, why do you take my blood? Who is that beside you, with his head of lines? I can see a distant sun, dark and cold, shining in a black sky.

Three of sixteen ruled, but now the Broken One reigns.

The burdens of nine become mine. Why must I carry the madness of them all? Oh, Almighty, release me.

A woman sits and scratches out her own eyes. Daughter of kings and winds, the vandal.

The letter from epigraphs is from Hoid to Frost (Yolenese dragon). He mentions members of 17th Shard looking for him, mentions vessels of Ruin and Odium as well as Devotion and Dominion (Sel).

Taln’s Scar is visible from other Cosmere worlds. It is known as the Red Rip on Scadrial and the Starbelt on Threnody.

Shadesmar’s Expanse of the Vapors leads to Scadrial and Expanse of the Densities leads to either Sel or Nalthis. (Probably Sel, as there is alsoThe Expanse of Vibrance).

Words of Radiance

The letter from the epigraphs is from Frost to Hoid. He asks Hoid to stop interfering, because Odium being trapped in the Great Roshar System is the best thing that could happen.

Decryption of the pattern 15 of The Diagram: Hold the secret that broke the Knights Radiant. You may need it to destroy the new orders when they return.

Zahel uses metaphors with colours and flowers, he mentions a voice in his head that is missing. Zahel is Vasher from Nalthis.  

Ardent drawing Bridgemen is Nazh.

Iyatil from Ghostbloods is a worldhopper from Silverlight, though her ancestors come from Southern Scadrial.

Mraize is also a worldhopper – only from Roshar’s Thaylenah. He has a nice collection of alien stuff – a silver knife from Threnody, lock of golden hair from Nalthis, a Tear of Edgli from Nalthis, a vile of white sand from Taldain and a branch of tree with writings on it, probably from Sel.

Felt, an Alethi scout on the Shattered Plains who reports to Lyn during the Battle of Narak is a worldhopper from Scadrial – House Venture’s spy, the guy who spies on Vin for Elend.

The plague in the Purelake is a common cold brought by worldhoppers.

The Sword given to Szeth asks him if he wants to destroy some evil. It’s Nightblood.

In Interlude I-3 Rysn meets Axies the collector and receives a larkin – a creature that can drain Stormlight from someone.

We see another larkin being used by Nalan on Lift in Interlude I-9.

In the same interlude we can see a relief representing Herald. Shalash face is scratched out of it.

Nalan admits he hunts surgebinders because he believes he can stop the Desolation this way.

The man who told Shallan about her brother? Hoid. Not just that. Hoid using emotional Allomancy.

Rock tells a story of a white-haired man that came out of a lake on the Peaks. Yeah, Hoid. Sigzil reacts to that too.

Edgedancer

A guy who jumped into the mouth of a greatshell? Hoid.

The afterimages of Szeth Lift sees are caused by the fact his soul is not sticking to his body that well after his resurrection. A lot of time passed before he was brought back to life. Anyone Invested enough can see it, but Lift’s partial presence in the Cognitive realm helps.

Nale uses his Honorblade, so Shin don’t have it.

Arclo is Sleepless, the dysian Aimian race that observes the events – the texts on the back of the covers are written by them.

Arclo also mentions Axies the Collector.

[esseastri]

Megan Reads Oathbringer (part 8)

AAAAANND WE’RE BACK!

Hello, fronds, apologies for the brief hiatus, but I had to pause the reading/liveblogging because I was busy finishing my novel. YEP, I FINISHED WRITING MY BOOK, WHOOO! And then it was December, and there was Christmas, and traveling, and retail job at Christmas, and Star Wars, and what little time I had to myself I spent chilling because I was exhausted, but ANYWAY, I’M BACK, FRONDS, LET’S GET ON WITH THIS.

Part 8 encompasses pages 557-666 (previous parts) 

whooooops where did I leave off, OKAY INTERLUDES

Why...why are we doing anything near Aimia? Listen: Axies the Collector is cool, but two-thousand-cremlings-in-a-trench-coat was waaayyy too far over the horror line for me. I do not want more of this.

So...there’s a third storm? But this one is stationary and around Aimia?

MORE REASON NOT TO GO THERE

Whoa, that sure is a side effect of Soulcasting... #yikes

Or is it not soulcasting? Is it something Radiant?

Oh fuck. Fine. This is fine. You know, the previous Stormlight books didn’t have this much body horror in them.

Ahh, shit, wasn’t there an Oathgate on Akinah? I don’t want a direct line to  two-thousand-cremlings-in-a-trench-coat.

“the creatures that accompanied the spren” So...like......their Cognitive shadows? the versions of them still in the Cognitive Realm even as bits of them manifest visibly in the physical? Or...something else?

I’m sorry, did they just...die?

What the

What even is Aimia, really?

Mmmkay, actually, I don’t want to know. I don’t want to know the secret of Aimia, I am not interested in being EATEN by two-thousand-cremlings-in-a-trench-coat.

Genuis!Taravangian is an asshole. I’m not surprised, I’m just. Stating a fact.

!!!! Are his secretary and the Dustbringer a thing? Are they together? Get it, girls!

I still don’t trust the Dustbringer.

Aslo “the most likely to accept their cause” Why? Is the “cause” like...destroying the world? I don’t remember if we know the Diagram’s endgoals.

...There’s a danger line for the “too smart” end of the sliding scale? Smart.

Also his name is Vargo? Vargo Taravangian? hehehehehe

IT’S NOT ABOUT DESERVE.

I think I hate him.

Dumb question: if Taravangian wants to take over Alethkar--presumably so he can take over the world--then aren’t he and Dalinar working toward the same goal? They both want a unified Roshar. So why kill Dalinar instead of working with him? The logical solution is to work with him, since he’s more charismatic and has a higher chance of actually succeeding, and then kill him off after he’s succeeded in laying the groundwork, and take over from there?

Not that I’m encouraging this, I’m just saying: Taravangian needs to sort out his priorities.

“kill those children” seriously, fuck this asshole, what a douchecanoe.

Also Renarin the wild card HECK YES.

The farming question can be easily answered: Progression.

Not all the Radiants’ powers were battle powers.

“the part of the world that mattered” OH FUCK YOU. That’s not how it works. It’s not about deserve. It’s about having the ability to help, which gives you the responsibility to help. If you can, then you should. No exceptions. No “matters”. Everyone matters. Everything matters. Everyone deserves to be saved.

Except maybe Kylo Ren, but that’s a different story.

Buddy. Odium already made a deal. He wants out of it now. Also he’s not a spren or a god, so why should your pathetic rules hold him?

Oh. Duh. Somehow I didn’t connect Listeners and gemhearts? But of course they do. How else would they bind spren? They infuse their hearts.

Oooohhhhh snap, they done got possessed.

Aw, Venli...things not going your way anymore?

Idk, I should feel bad for her, but I don’t? She brought this on herself. And on her friends. And on her sister, who is still dead. This is her fault.

“The listener gods were not completely sane.” I mean, idk what you expected.

Though, neither are our gods, so I guess we can’t talk.

Seriously, what did Alethkar do to them?

Oh. Wait. Where was Jezrien from? King of the Heralds, right? Prooobably his idea to make the OAthpact? His fault they were bound? That’s probably what Alethkar did to them...

Oooh, the new epigraphs are from the library at Urithiru! Heck ye, Radiant archives!

Though Taln and the Stonewards need to take a chill pill on the self-sacrificing front, apparently.

(Eks would be a Stoneward, pass it on)

Wait, no, hold on--the whole of part three with no Moash pov? But I’m WORRIED about MY BOY.

I’m unnecessarily suspicious of literally every guard that’s not Bridge Four. But particularly of this Rial guy. What is he, Bridge Thirteen? I don’t trust him. At all. He’s too...glib? with Dalinar to be a proper bridgeman. Around other bridgemen, fine, but with Dalinar? I don’t trust it.

I’m with Navani. “The greasy man is...unfitting.”

ooohh, Dalinar...... he “reminds him of friends from the old days.” Tho, bud, how many of those died, betrayed you, or left to become ardents?

Dalinar should know by now to just...not trust people implicitly. Always question.

I really, genuinely can’t imagine how awkward Kaladin and Shallan’s excursion to Theylan City was. Didn’t they fly? Shallan was probably all SCIENCE!! about it and Kaladin was definitely grumpy “let me fly in peace” boy. Nerds.

Sorry, hold on--you’re counting on Kaladin “Impulsive” Stormblessed and Adolin “Disaster Bi” Kholin to make sure Elhokar doesn’t do anything stupid? That’s like asking two kittens to babysit the new puppy.

“I can’t afford to lose you.” AAaaahhh

omg, no, don’t give Kaladin land. What will he do with it? Turn it into the Land of Misfit Bridgecrews?

Five times...so what’s it been, 50 days? Not even? That’s so little time!!

“Or is someone else receiving [the prayers] instead?” ...Isn’t that just the most chilling thought.

There has to be an explanation beyond “The Heralds are nuts” for Shalash to be erasing herself from visual records.

I’m sorry, rockbuds blossom? and have fragrance? Stop and smell the rockbuds?

“I am a diplomat.” Yeah, and I’m a rockbud.

How is Taravangian such a good actor? Or is he really this emotional on days when he’s not a raging asshole of a genius?

Aw yis, non-hereditary monarchy! I love!

“Does it involve punching someone?” It’s Dalinar, so, what do you think?

“Stone-sinew, Herald of Soldiers.” But...Taln’s focus is bone? Ishar is sinew?

I suppose “Stone-bone, Herald of Soldiers” would be a little too ridiculous-sounding...

brb, changing my url to “stone-bone-herald-of-soldiers”

“It was as if Odium had a grudge against this one in particular.” SAD ABOUT TALN FOREVER: THE MEGAN STORY

I s2g Dalinar is the most Extra son of a bitch in all of Roshar.

HOw do I prove I’m not trying to take over your country? I know! I’ll let you stab me through the chest! This is the BEST IDEA.

oooooooo Tension, maybe?

TENSION!! THIS SHIT IS SO COOL OMG

Also his special power--resonance? right?--is listening and that’s delightful. Or...I’m guessing that’s what it is.

Heck ye, Renarin!

“Strength and passion, the Vorin way.” In other words...Honor and Odium....hmm

So it’s Kaladin, Elhokar, Shallan, Adolin, Skar, Drehey, and...who? Some other bridgemen? It’s gonna be a fun roadtrip, tbh.

Buddy, Shallan ignoring her problems IS a problem! Don’t support this impulse! Don’t encourage this!

omg of COURSE Adolin hates flying. Nerd.

“No wisecracks about missing boots?” No, because that wasn’t funny.

“First assess the area for danger, get the lay of the land. Then gawk.” I LOVE MY SON SO MUCH, WHAT A TRAVEL NERD, BUT ALSO #SAME BRO

...we knew that Elhokar had a kid, but every time I’m reminded of it, I get really weirded out. He’s not old enough to be a dad.

PLease meet up with Moash. Please. I’m dying. My crops are failing. My skin is dry. Help me.

the advantage of living through Bridge Four is that you can sleep well anywhere? Well, I mean. I GUESS That’s an advantage. Sort of.

OH of COURSE it’s an Unmade. We do have eight more of those to encounter and deal with.

Whose is this though? Kaladin’s? Or are Elhokar or Adolin finally going to manifest?

(This is assuming that my theory about there being one Unmade for each order of Radiants to defeat is sound.)

Elhokar is trying so hard to be good.

Also Shallan is mean to Kaladin again, news at nine. *rolls eyes*

So, it’s going to be Kaladin’s Unmade then.

Elhokar, you know that the more you tell yourself you’re going to fail, the more likely you will? Stop it. Have confidence.

“Adolin made you want to laugh with him.” Yeah, he doesn’t punch down.

Also, the Kadolin is REAL, and I’m living.

Kaladin really is too good for this world.

I’m sorry, the fancy lighteyes’ gated villas have guards to keep the refugees off their perfectly manicured lawns? Fuck that. Fuck them.

“I needed someone I’d trust with my life, or more. So I brought us to my tailor.” THIS CHILD IS A DISASTER AND I LOVE HIM

Oh snap! we’ve made it halfway through the book!

“Even his voice was adorable.” HONESTLY, people who don’t ship Shadolin: how? It’s so pure and good and supportive and wonderful!

How did Aesudan know the parshmen were voidbringers? And why did she order them killed only to desert the city?

I suppose fabrials do trap and use spren, right? So it makes sense that the yellowgold...voidspren? would be offended by that sort of...I guess, spren enslavement? Sort of? But why are they so concentrated here? Which Unmade is it and what does it do other than corrupt other spren? and influence people.

How To Corrupt Spren and Influence People, a new bestseller by Odium, found in stores near you!

“I am the only one here who has confronted one of the Unmade directly.” Yeah, you, the Kholin bros, and most of Bridge Four who protected you while you did your thing. But sure.

Kaladin, when will you stop seeing your brands as part of yourself and let yourself heal?

Aw, I’m proud of her, admitted Veil is--oh. “They are both equally fake.” Hon, no... please. Talk to someone about this.

Aharietiam, or as I like to call it, “that other stupidly long and impossible-to-pronunce “A”-word.”

Sorry, but the fact that Shallan takes pleasure in pissing Kaladin off-- “he glared at you in the most satisfying of ways” --is really....gross. Uncomfortable. I’m not here for it.

Like, yeah, teasing is fine, but like... if it strays over from teasing into Actively Pushing Someone’s Buttons Just to Make Them Angry, then it’s BAD, okay? It’s really bad. I can say from experience: it’s very bad.

Well, I mean, that explains why no one’s come back from the palace.

“As a connoisseur of things that have killed me...” honestly. what are we up to now? Poison bread. Shipwreck and drowning. Run through with a sword. Dear god, child, you need to be more careful.

Kaladin making bad puns and smiling is giving me life though. Petition for more.

So, the Skybreakers and the Windrunners did not get along? Justice vs. Honor, I suppose...not unexpected. Especially is one is corrupted.

Isn’t Ishar...Bondsmiths? Herald of Luck? Are you sure?

“He is now as mad as the rest. More, perhaps.” Yeah, I got that vibe from Edgedancer.

Shit. Of course he set himself up as a god-king.

(He and the Lord-Ruler should make t-shirts.)

Dangit, Ishar founded the Oathpact, so bang goes that theory about Jezrien and Alethkar and the listeners.

“The Stormfather hated to be misquoted.” Pppfffft.

HECK YE, Bridge Four got a sword!!

Also omg Navani invented alarm clocks. Bless her.

She packed him lunch! BLESS THESE ADORABLE NERDS. God, they are ridiculous.

Dalinar hitching a ride to Azir with Jasnah and her just going, “Byyyeeeeee” and leaving him alone is HILARIOUS to me.

I wonder if the color of the gemstones in the epigraphs correspond to the radiant orders. Like, if the Windruners recorded in sapphire, and the Lightweavers recorded in garnet, etc.

Okay, I went back and checked, and that seems legit. I’m going to guess that’s been #confirmed by people who finished this book earlier than me, but listen.

“covered by a magnificent bronze dome” Lift voice: “boobies” Me: snrk

SPIRITUAL ADHESION!? WTF THIS IS SO COOL

OMG, he brought them an essay, that’s magnificent. Especially because they all had to write essays to apply to be king. Or.. Prime? WHATEVER THAT’S HILARIOUS AND I LOVE AZIR SO MUCH

hello, I love Jasnah, this is news to no one, but girl wrote an essay in rhythmic meter and *melts*

...the Azish parshmen negotiating for pay is...very Azish of them. And the Alethi parshmen gathering for war is very Alethi. And the Theylan parshmen sailing off into the sunset is very Theylan of them.

HA, Dalinar just said the same thing in the next paragraph, go me.

LIFT ATE HIS LUNCH, I LOVE HER, HELLO BBY I’VE MISSED YOU

“The crazy spren who lives in the forest.” 1. I love Lift a lot. 2. uuhhh...we know the Heralds are crazy, and I assumed Odium was crazy, but Cultivation, too?? Is ANYONE here sane anymore?

oh wow they agreed.

didn’t...see that coming. Not with so much book left.

OOOHHH SNAP HE REMEMBERS. HERE WE GO HERE WE GO AAHHHH

Every time I’m reminded that Adolin is only, like, 24yo, I have to tell myself that I was about that old when WoR came out and he’s not actually a child.

Anyway, 12yo Adolin is a gift. “Neat!” this kiddo aahhh

“It was gratifying to see how much one could accomplish in both politics and trade by liberally murdering the other fellow’s soldiers.” PUNK!DALINAR NEEDS TO LOOK AT HIS LIFE AND HIS CHOICES AND RECONSIDER HIS WORD CHOICE AT THE VERY LEAST

hugs are un-Alethi. this is why they have so many issues. they are emotionally constipated from lack of hugs.

“The other son” fuck you, punk!Dalinar

also “she’d never be a great scribe” yeah, that’s ‘cause she’s left-handed, you Vorin jerks

haaaa, he has a point. That even if he and Gavilar know that he wouldn’t ever betray Gavilar for the throne, Gavilar’s advisors aren’t stupid and will find reasons for Dalinar to be...elsewhere.

“Storms, I don’t deserve her, do I?” NO YOU FREAKING DON’T

tbh, I’m not even sure present-day Dalinar deserves her. Like, he’s better now, but he’s still... a soldier. He’s still a strategist. And Evi deserves a soft, gentle person who loves her.

Evi deserves the world, tbh, and I’m Upset because she’s going to die and I’m going to be Sad.

[preservationandruin]

Interludes 3

Here we’ve got a set of Interludes--Lift, Szeth, and Eshonai. Yay, Lift! Also, seeing what Szeth is up to. I’m gonna admit that my reading might slow down a bit because the prospect of my anxious ass reading through Kaladin’s emotional low point coming up is making me do things like find any excuse to not keep reading, even though I’m sure it’s not as bad as I remember. So if upcoming updates are slow or I skim those bits, that’s why. Anyway, Interludes!

Lift tries to eat dinner and gets rudely interrupted, Szeth is having a bad time, I analyze the similarities between Steel Inquisitors in HoA and Stormform, and Eshonai has a plan and then sabotages her own plan, although I’m not sure she knows that last part. 

Lift is robbing a palace. The other people are all taking it very seriously and Lift is just like “wow all these buildings look like boobs” which already sort of...sets the tone for Lift in general. We get the group who are trying to rob it while they choose the new Prime Aqasix (my brain is trying to figure out how to pronounce that. Curse you, english-normative brain, for having such trouble with q sounds that are not followed by u). Lift also says that at the moment, she’s been ten for three years, placing her age around 13. She’s so small. She also notices Nale in the shadows, and is alarmed. We also meet Wyndle, and Lift starts insisting he’s a Voidbringer. 

Lift is also a better thief than all these dudes combined, and sure, some of that comes from her Edgedancer abilities, but I’m pretty sure even if she weren’t a Radiant, she would be a very good thief. She’s certainly quieter and faster than the others. We also learn that the Primes have been being killed by Szeth--one didn’t even last two days. Yikes. Taravangian is serious about this whole destabilization thing. 

BRIEF INTERLUDE THERE IS A DOG WITH A RAINCOAT OUTSIDE HE IS VERY CUTE, AND VERY GOOD. A BLACK LAB IN A RAINCOAT IS A WONDERFUL THING anyway back to Lift. She’s upset at the fact that some of the people she’s working with would kill people--in her mind, that takes away the entire challenge, if you can just kill things. Wyndle drops that Lift visited the Old Magic and was blessed by their “mother.” She also gets seeds to grow to get herself into a window, and notes that it makes her hungry--probably because she burns calories in order to Surgebind. We also get that she doesn’t drain Stormlight from spheres--I’m not sure if she just can’t, or if she never learned to because she didn’t need to and doesn’t do it subconsciously because, again, she doesn’t need to. Either is interesting. 

Lift has Reshi heritage, but didn’t grow up there--she’s from Rall Elorim, a place called the City of Shadows, that apparently has a bad reputation. We also get more information on the Azish government, where everything runs on bureaucracy. Also, apparently Wyndle fusses over Lift and her being at such constant risk of malnutrition, which is a real concern. Lift also shows real talent at pretending to be a servant when she has to go unseen. We also now get Lift’s MO: she sneaks in, and eats people’s dinners. She specifically picks the hardest possible places to sneak into to do this. Lift also mentions that she wanted to be here to try to get the other people out of they got into trouble, because “someone has to care.” 

Lift also threatens to prune Wyndle while sneaking into the official rooms to find the dinner. Lift also considers herself pure of heart, which is wonderful. I love Lift. Lift also, Wyndle notes, shouldn’t be able to touch him or see him no matter what, and wonders what she asked for. She doesn’t answer him, and he theorizes that she exists partially in the Cognitive Realm. The others start getting caught, and Lift manages to sneak in while the guards are distracted. She slides straight under the table. Wyndle also gives us this: 

“Mother has given up on your kind. I can feel it. She doesn’t care any longer. Now that He’s gone...”

That’s gotta be Cultivation and Honor he’s talking about there. After Honor died, Cultivation apparently gave up on humanity--but she also did give Lift this incredible ability, so maybe she’s still holding on to some hope. The people consulting are actually trying to pick the worst application, because they know being Prime is a death sentence and nobody actually wants to do it. Also, Lift notices a painting of the Heralds with one face scratched off--more of Shalash’s work. 

And Lift just gets a dinner roll when Nale shows up. Lift fuckin books it, but Nale has started to figure out how she works. Nale also has something--looks like a larkin--that eats the stormlight from Lift. Also looks like he hasn’t been treating it well, either--its wings are tied and it looks sickly and in pain, which Lift notices immediately. Dammit, Nale, take care of your pets! He takes all of her spheres--he doesn’t know her actual ability to metabolize Stormlight. His mistake. 

I forgot that Lift literally bit a Herald. I love her. Wyndle manages to get Lift to pay attention to the half-eaten dinner roll while the viziers realize that Nale petitioned to execute a thirteen-year-old for theft. What the fuck, Nale. Lift gets a vizier to nudge the table just enough to clip the guy who holds Lift, letting her get free--and get the roll. Nale is very confused. And then her metabolism kicks in. Wyndle literally whoops during her Daring Escape (tm). Nale uses stormlight to try to get to her. And then starts despairing again. he was a gardener. Why is this happening to him. And one of Nale’s minions slits Gawx’s throat in cold blood, and justifies himself to Nale with arguing he’s above the law, which pisses Nale off so much that he lets go of Lift to slap the guy. Protip: don’t say you’re above the law to Nale, it won’t end well. Lift manages to run and get another roll, and almost escapes--and then sees that the other thieves also left Gawx, and realizes that the kid will be forgotten and abandoned. 

Someone has to care, so she goes back down, and finds the body. We get the oath--I will remember those who have been forgotten. Darkness catches her, but she brings Gawx back to life. He does say that she is an Edgedancer, and explains that they were once a glorious order, but were too concerned about small-minded things in his opinion. Like child thieves who nobody will mourn. We also get Lift realizing that Nale doesn’t care about goodness, and telling him he should try it--that she wanted to be like him once, but it wasn’t even like being alive. 

Every Radiant was broken, but I wonder what happened to Lift that she would try not to care. In any case, she’s Pardoned at the last minute, by Gawx, who’s declared to be the new Aqasix. Also, the Azish call Jezrien “Yaezir, Kadasix of Kings.” 

Lift just fuckin grins at Nale, who makes a very snide remark about Jezrien: “May he lead in wisdom. If he ever stops drooling.” He has a lot of salt contained in that very stoic facade. 

Anyway, speaking of Skybreaker things, Szeth. His mental health is, um, deteriorating. He’s on “the highest tower in the world”--in Urithuru, I’m willing to bet. Is that confirmed? I can’t even remember. It’s been a long week, my guys, and I still have a short response paper to turn in. I’m tired. Szeth has deteriorated to the point that he’s blaming his victims for not killing him, arguing that they deserved their deaths because they didn’t kill him. That’s... a little fucked up. Okay, it’s in the text right here, he is in Urithiru. He’s having trouble dealing with the fact that he fought a Radiant, and that that means that the Desolations are coming again, meaning he’s not Truthless, but he has to be because of what he’s done, right? So he sets out to find answers on his own, trying again to kill Dalinar Kholin. 

Over to Eshonai, as we talk about people who aren’t doing well. She has found a strange spren following her, though--it looks like a comet, and sheds rings of light. Storm!Eshonai sees it as a horrid thing, which increases my conviction that it’s important--unless that’s how Voidbringers see all non-Odiumspren. Also, I love how Stormform just automatically invokes the “spikes are evil” aesthetic by making the Parshedi carapace spiky. She also accidentally attunes to a rhythm that makes her hear her own voice, screaming at her. When she heard it, she reflexively caught the cometlike spren and pulled it in close to her chest. 

(me, whispering in the background: radiant Eshonai that’s her Spren they found her too late) 

Storm!Eshonai’s gotten common people and Venli’s scholars to take stormform, and is trying to convince everyone in the entire camp to take it. We also learn that they still have spies, and Eshonai lies about her meeting with Adolin. She also tries to attune peace and hears Screaming again. Interestingly, the dullform member is the one who speaks out against it, using the rhythm of Peace. Dullform was the form they used to escape the gods in the first place. 

New Rhythms that come with Stormform are all hatred-related: Fury, Spite, Ridicule. Twisted versions of other emotions. Eshonai also realizes that Venli knew what the form would do to her, and I think we get a moment of actual Eshonai: 

“You could have destroyed us,” Eshonai said. “What if this form had done something terrible?”  Screaming. In her head. Venli smiled. 

Venli absolutely knew what she was doing. She might even know what’s happened to Eshonai--or actual!Venli is in as much pain as actual!Eshonai, and this is another Voidbringer-ified version of the personality. It’s still chilling the way Sanderson clumped the screaming and Venli smiling in the same line in short sentences, making it seem almost like flashes of images that all go together. Eshonai also acts to raise the Parshendi against the Five, using her new power to summon a small storm and accusing the Five of wanting to keep the power from the people. She also does set things to allow people not to take stormform if they don’t want to. We also get this: 

The new rhythms thrummed in her skull, though she stayed away from the Rhythm of Peace, with its strange screams. There was no fighting against what she had become. The eyes of the gods were too strongly upon her. 

That basically as good as says that some part of her is fighting it, or trying, but she’s Odium’s main conduit right now. She can’t avoid this--it reminds me of when Marsh was controlled by Ruin, in a lot of ways. 

Both methods of possession involve taking the investiture into yourself in a permanent way--the Inquisitor’s hemalurgic spikes, the hatespren that Eshonai took inside herself--and I’m willing to bet that both are really fucking hard to undo. Perhaps this is how possession in general works in the Cosmere--you need to take in a large amount of investiture of an entity with a large amount of power. Probably only a Shard can do this. Also, you can take in lots of investiture without being possessed--lerasium didn’t offer Preservation control, the Returned aren’t controlled by Endowment as far as we know. I suspect you have to create the investiture/magic with possession being an intended side effect, which most of the good-aligned gods of the cosmere wouldn’t do, because free will is important. 

Also, Eshonai notes that she can’t explain why she didn’t choose her own division first for the transformation, other than that they would have known her too well. But I suspect it’s also inner Eshonai trying to prevent her friends undergoing this. Venli does say that they will need to kill the unwilling, and Eshonai says to wait until after everyone is transformed. She also notes that she effectively controls the city, although Venli is going to try to seize control, and that alarms Eshonai almost as much as the realization that Eshonai loves having power. She even has a moment when she realizes that none of this is like her, that something is wrong, but the new Rhythms push that out. She also notices that Abronai, the one who mantains mateform but avoids its distractions, would have been dangerous because he has too much self-control. 

...Much as Eshonai herself has. She doesn’t realize she’s going to sabotage herself, does she? She’s already starting--she’s avoiding executing those who don’t transform and avoided transforming her unit, who were smart and independent. She also instilled a fear of the old gods into her own division that is now working against the Voidbringer. She also thinks that she’ll have to execute them--and Thude, her friend, points out that Eshonai’s own mother is in the dissenters group. Eshonai hadn’t realized. Her mother is singing one of the old songs. 

This is the moment where Eshonai lets Thude and soldiers he trusts look over the soldiers there. She says she’s rounding them up easily, but...leaving them all under the supervision of people who know her tactics the best? Unsupervised? She says Thude is trusting, but he was just the most skeptical of her that we’ve seen anyone be. She gathers everyone up. 

And then she gets the report that whoops, the dissenters have escaped. Venli notices that she’s not surprised. 

Voidbringer Eshonai: 0 Parshendi Eshonai: 1

And there’s our interludes! Wow, those had a lot going on.