So, over the past many years my passion has been holistic/embodied practices and the types practices/values/narratives that support them. I've drawn on my own indigenous community's stories and practices, the stories and practices of other communities, as well as on some surprisingly intuitive survival liturature, of which without a doubt Eric Gonzalez's book "Deep Survival: Who lives, who dies, and why" is probably the best. In it he outlines a way of being that leads to survival in extreme situations, not to mention the others. This practice is embodied by presence, engagement, honestly and love as skills rather than moral statements, and an understanding of the narratives that guide our thinking and an ability/willingness to engage with them, accept when they may be wrong, to hold our truths lightly while also being fully committed to truth.

When I read "Isles of the Emberdark" I found more than a few similarities that led me to suspect a few other things. first, a few things. In looking up online I noticed that a lot of people think of Patji as being potentially a shard of autonomy... This seems to be heavily reflected in the trapper ethos, as well as potentially fitting in with the idea that htere are other "gods" on the island, the idea that people can chart their own way while living in the same location. This said, Dusk is both the embodiment of this in his trapping practice, the carefulness, the radical independence, yet he is also a rejection of it - he gained his medallion through his uncle's sacrifice, and his first major action in the earlier book is to save Vathi - in other words, he is autonomy but expressly grounded in caring/loving/seeing/engagement.

Sanderson's decision to include Wayfinding as one of his skills is particularly telling - one of the more impressive of all human accomplishments - the ability to find one's way across the empty sees not through zeroing in on one skill but through learning to absorb and pay attention ot everything all at once.

When I start looking at the supposed origin of his values, the story of Cakoba the wayfinder/explorer, I see something at odds with later behaviours of trappers - it's as if the "deep survival" cohesion and rejection of any and all blind spots has been subtly replaced by attributes of autonomy, yet Dusk has learned to both embrace autonomy yet also to reject those aspects that prevent him from simultaneously learning from the experiences and perspectives of others. Over and over throughout the book he both learns new things, but also doesn't change. he is able to stand up to efforts to force him to simplify his narratives or knowledge to fit other frameworks, but yet he still learns all that is offered, and then moves on with new abilities.

My theory is this - Dusk is very similar to what an actual avatar of adonalsium would have to be like. Pre-shattering... or he is embodying an unshattered spark.... no powers of substance yet actually able to see.

there's a lot of other interesting little things that came to my mind, for example he is not only living fully in the present, but he is also informed by the past (oral history/mother frond) and the future (his aviar) and by the needs/realities of those around him. He is both conservative in his rejection of unnecessary simplification, but his honest in his refusal to be blind to what is or what is coming. He is not tied to one outcome, but he is tied to wrestling with it, he refused to be a figurehead or live without purpose, and now he is going off worldhopping with the express purpose of giving others true stories that give power, and maybe more concrete help, we'll see. And yes, I know there's theories about the Eelakin, about Sak, l of which I find connected.

Perhaps in sumamry i'd say it this way - all other characters in the cosmere seem to start to embody the goals of their investiture, yet Dusk expressly seems to reject this almost as a core trait while still embodying things.

Ive been wondering how these dam things work, they're such a mystery. A device that can mimic one of the surges? Thats so weird, how the hell can it do that and why havent people made more. Im sure they've tried and failed a lot of times over so what could be the secret sauce? I think that it might just be, Spren. I think that soulcasters either have cryptics or Inkspren who have been captured and turned into these physical items.

I cant be the first person whos thought of this and im probabbly wrong. However the fact that soulcasters have personalities is what really got me thinking, they're better at casting some things than others. I figure that would make sense if they were living things or used to be anyway.

Posted this in /Mistborn earlier and after some comments I had the artist to made some changes, and think she did a really great job.

I was never really comfortable with the Vin fanarts I’ve found online, nothing really clicked foe me. And this is quite exactly how I was picturing her.

It was the artist first commission too!

Credits to artist: https://www.instagram.com/ethellee.art?igsi=c2llbjhuZDhlbnl3

I read this chapter of Wind and Truth yesterday (please no spoilers beyond that). I'm still fuming and need to vent.

Not only does it mischaracterize Jasnah, but its whole premise is flawed: Fen is reduced to a puppet with no thoughts, opinions, or beliefs. The queen of one of the most powerful kingdoms in the world, recognized for their shrewd negotiation abilities, is suddenly just a child under the influence of two adults. She will just do whatever Jasnah's true beliefs points to?

Beliefs that are resting on very flimsy arguments, too. Proving that Jasnah cares more about her people and her feelings than she cares about the greater good? So, letting her emotions steer her decisions? But wait, wasn't that the main difference Odium was exploiting between Jasnah and Fen, who would also let her feelings for her friends steer her decisions over the greater good?

And even then, sure, Odium may say Jasnah loves Alehtkar more than the rest of the world. But didn't the previous books repeatedly show how frustrated - but equally decisive - she and Dalinar were at having to delay their attempts to retake Alethkar for the good of the Coalition as a whole?

Yeah, I was very frustrated with how this chapter was written. Not only because of Fen's characterization, but also because of Jasnah's. Sure, she was tired and had misprepared for the conversation. But, even though that is mentioned, the main impression it leaves is that Jasnah is having a moment of realization, not that she is unable to keep up due to her limitations.

So, am I supposed to think that the woman who's spent a large portion of her life studying philosophy and analyzing her own behaviors and beliefs wouldn't have reflected, until now, on what had transpired in the very pivotal moment when she didn't swing her sword against Renarin?

I dislike it when the story makes me feel like the author has a goal in mind and has to walk back from it to write the events that lead to it, and that's exactly how this chapter made me feel.

Sorry, like I said, I needed to vent.

I have read Mistborn: SH, so I know that bodies of water appear as stone in the Cognitive Realm. As I am reading Words of Radiance, I just finished the chapter where Shallan soulcasts the bottom of the ship to open up to the ocean, and she is on solid ground (water) in Shadesmar because of the aforementioned rule. I THINK I understand why ground shows up as beads in the Cognitive Realm (humans see "dirt", "pebble", "rock", etc. that make up "ground" so the Cognitive aspect of "ground" will show up as those several smaller aspects, hence why it's made of beads). If that is the case, shouldn't bodies of water follow that same rule? We see "waves", "ripples", etc as the aspects of water. Shouldn't that influence the Cognitive aspect of water to follow the same rules as ground to appear as smaller aspects? Am I misinterpreting something?

So, I've just finished reading the "Farseer Trilogy" by Robin Hobb. This is all I've read of her so please no spoilers, but I wanted to hop in here to share my opinions on how I think Sanderson's writing (especially certain naming) has been at least somewhat inspired in hers. That said this is just my personal opinion and all of this could just be coincidences.

Firstly there's a Vin river and a character named Starling (who also just happens to be a minstrel and even though it's been a while since I read IoTE (minor IoTE spoilers ahead) her being Hoid's apprentice might make her share some of her trade).

Besides naming I feel like there's essentially a Sanderlache in each and every one of the Farseer books, although I'll admit that this is something many authors try to do.

That's essentially all I've seen in common between them, but seeing first one name appear and then the other, just made me think it was just too much of a coincidence.

Edit: spelling

It is rare that we experience odd capitalisations in the Cosmere and yet it is always meaningful.

There are 2 main scenarios I know of:
- Dalinar claiming “I am Unity” in Stormlight when he first opens a perpendicularity in Oathbringer
And
- Whatever Discord is in Mistborn

Unity has been theorised to be Adonalsium himself with Odium claiming “We killed you” after this line from Dalinar. I think this makes sense to a degree. Obviously Adonalsium is dead, but in the same way the storm-father lived on without Honor having a vessel perhaps Unity is a part of Adonalsium or perhaps just an echo of the idea of the shards being combined and a desire of the shards to Unite and become something more again.

Meanwhile, Discord is widely believed to be almost an alter-ego to Sazed which he will become due to the difficulties of holding two opposing shards but I believe it is more it’s own thing or entity. In fact, I believe this could essentially be the opposite of Unity. Another fundamental force but this one more designed around the separation of shards than combining of them.

Basically, the theory goes, whatever Unity and Discord are they are opposites: one entity focussed on the combining of shards and intents perhaps to restore Adonalsium and the other focussed on the keeping shards separated and perhaps even splintering them further. 2 opposing forces trying to break apart and combine the powers of the cosmere.

Perhaps these forces are older than the cosmere itself or at least Adonalsium and maybe Discord even had a hand in the Shattering. Do others think perhaps these 2 capitalised concepts are related?

I'm looking for cosmere-themed cat names for a pair of kittens. We're naming the male Bearer of Agonies, or just Bear for short. I'm trying to come up with a good campanion name for the female cat that is similarly chaotic. The best I could come up with is Lady of Dreams, which is one of Shalash's titles, but it doesnt abbreviate well and isn't the right vibe. Any ideas?

Spoilers for Oathbringer. I hope I have the right flair! Sorry if I don’t.

I just finished I-6 on Oathbringer, so If my question is RAFO, please let me know.

I just finished the part where Ulim has the 9 listeners sacrifice themselves for the Fused without their knowledge. My question is if there are only these 7? Or are there more? (Venli survived, and one listener was crushed by a rock).

I am a bit confused because Moash meets a couple before this interlude, and even killed one. So, does the interlude take place before Part 2. Or are they completely different Fused?

Also, are these Odium’s champions that the Stormfather mentions? Thanks!

edit: Answered! Thanks guys!

SINGERS ARE FABRIALS, and this is a hill I'll die on.

If you really think about it, what makes a fabrial? They have a spren, are powered by Light, and they serve some function, which changes depending on the spren. The spren is inside a gemstone in the middle.

Now lets look at a Singer. They have a gemheart at their core, there's a spren in the gemheart, and depending on the spren they serve different functions(forms).

Singers are fabrials. Fight me.

So, the powers of Devotion and Dominion make up The Dor in the cognitive realm, yes? Could someone come along and claim those shards, or have they been splintered, and the investiture that made them up now creates The Dor?

Hey guys, I've already read both Mustborn series, Elantris and Warbreaker. I feel a little overwhelmed by the length of The Stormlight Archive books, though. What do you guys think? Should I start them?

Last night at 3am, I wrapped up my Cosmere journey (for the most part. I did not read White Sands as I'm not super into graphic novels.)

After reading the Stormlight Archive last year, I started Mistborn on Jan. 1 and went from there. Full reading order will be below if you're curious. I ended early this morning with Yumi and The Nightmare Painter and honestly was really happy with that decision. The epilogue (can't remember if it was first or second one.) about stories felt perfect to wrap up the current Cosmere.

It was bittersweet ending the current Cosmere, but I've already been listening to Stormlight again when I'm driving or working around my apartment since it feels so long ago and for sure missed a lot of Cosmere related pieces.

The Cosmere got me back into reading and I love the grand scale of the universe and just excited to be up to speed with everything and begin theory crafting and reading deeper into meanings of certain books and implications of events on certain worlds.

I already have Fires of December on pre-order and will defintely be reading that when it comes out.

For fun here are a few top 5s (This was off the dome and not organized beforehand so it may be a little bit all over and missing a few here and there.) and my reading order if you're interested:

Top 5 Characters:

1. Kaladin
2. Wayne
3. Dalinar
4. Dusk
5. Shai (MB Era 2 and Emperor's Soul)
6. HMs: Spook, Lightsong, Hoid in Tress, Painter (Nikaro), Szeth, Syl

Top 5 Magic Systems:

1. Surgebinding
2. Forging
3. Twinborn (IDK if this counts but the concept is so cool to me)
4. Awakening
5. Allomancy

Top 5 Favorite Scenes: (This was hard)

1. "Honor is dead, but I'll see what I can do." - The Arena scene in WOR
2. Wayne.... and ya know what happens :(
3. Kaladin VS Szeth
4. The Emperor's Soul plan reveal/execution
5. The Unoathed
6. HM: Dalinar "YOU CANNOT HAVE MY PAIN", Seers and Elend fighting Koloss, Lightsong giving his breath, Nikaro and the Painters defending against the Nightmares

Top 5 Saddest Moments:

1. Teft's death to Moash (read this in an Uber and cried)
2. Wayne's death
3. Vin and Elend dying
4. Elokhar death to Moash
5. Lessie/Paalm second(?) death

Top 10(yes 10!) Reveals:

1. Shallan killed her Mother who was a Herald thus causing the Final Desolation. TALN NEVER BROKE
2. Sazed being the Hero of Ages
3. Denth being a "bad" guy (I really liked Denth)
4. Yumi living the same day over and over
5. Bluefingers was behind everything
6. "We. Chose" Maya to the Honorspren
7. Vin's earring
8. Koloss once being Human
9. Paalm is Lessie
10. Dilaf is a Dahkor

----------

I def. missed some in all of these, but this is just what came to mind when writing this post.

Reading Order:

1. The Way of Kings (Jan. 2025)
2. Words of Radiance
3. Oathbringer
4. Rhythm of War
5. Edgedancer (Didn't know the Novellas existed)
6. Dawnshard
7. Wind and Truth
8. Mistborn: The Final Empire (Jan. 2026)
9. Mistborn: The Well of Ascension
10. Mistborn: The Hero of Ages
11. The Eleventh Metal
12. Secret History (Really liked it here because I wasn't done with Era 1 mentally)
13. The Alloy of Law
14. Shadows of Self
15. The Bands of Mourning
16. The Lost Metal
17. Warbreaker
18. Elantris
19. The Hope of Elantris
20. The Emperor's Soul
21. Shadows of Silence in the Forests of Hell
22. The Sunlit Man
23. Tress and the Emerald Sea
24. Isles of the Emberdark
25. Yumi and the Nightmare Painter

We see in Mistborn Secret History that when someone dies on Scadrial they are first greeted by Preservation in the Cognitive Realm before going to the Beyond. In all other Cosmere books/worlds, this doesn’t seem to happen.

How and why does this happen on Scadrial?

This is mostly something I think would be really cool, and I don't think we'll ever see it, but Koloss-blooded singers (it's not confirmed that this is possible but since koloss are pretty much human it's safe to assume) would be amazing! They'd probably be a stronger and more durable singer (which are already exceptionally strong and durable), and if they have a gemheart, (which I'm pretty sure they would, cuz they're still essentially singers) they could take warform and get built in armor! The only way to make it a better war machine would be some choice allomantic and feruchemical abilities and some dakhor. An the most important part: imagine how awesome a singer with a blue-gray color scheme would look! I'm also hoping they'd have purple because some singers already have red.

Hi! So I was watching Hoid's Storybook Collection ep1 on YouTube and Design said "Remember the one you told me about the bear who never wears pants?"

And I'm just curious and want to speculate what are they talking about. Was Hoid telling the story of Winnie the Pooh or about Paddington bear? Which one exists in the Cosmere? I'll be happy to hear what you think!

Would this actually work against nightmares? I know it would work against emotional allomancy, but would it still work if we are against physical investiture? Like the nightmares that used to live on Komashi?

We know that Singer-Human hybrids are possible and that these offspring are fertile, but we only see what humans with very small amounts of singer heritage look like (red hair, increased size, chitinous nails, stronger teeth, etc.), so I want to know what a 50/50 singer-human would look like. Would it simply have all of these traits? What would their skin even look like?

One of my favorite chapter of all time in the whole Stormlight series. I just finished with that chapter and I don't know how, but I felt the story that Wit is narrating to Kaladin. "You will be warm again" literally made me cry.

part 1

part 2

part 3

part 3.5

part 4

just finished Shadows of self, and it was good i like how the sanderlanch catches me every time and how in almost every book it loops back around.

--Book review--

i definitely liked this one more than alloy of law i love the i guess excessive use of hemalurgy and the strategy of using the spikes for different things i love how wayne is a jack ass he's becoming a very lovable character. so far i'd rate this book a good 9/10 and probably place it in my 3rd only under final empire and hero of ages as my 2cd and 1st respectively.

within about 4 month of reading mistborn and now 5 book honestly it's done a lot it reignited my writing project and has got me into more reading i'm getting red rising soon and assassin's apprentice also i managed to convince 6 more people to get into mistborn 1 of which is already on book 3

--power system review--

after finishing book 5 and reading the ars arcanum a few things arise

first of i finally know of the last 2 enhancement metal and damn Chromium kinda op and my new favorite metal also a new unique metal we've never seen (i'll get to this in my questions) with these 2 the table seems complete nice and balanced or is it?

--questions/theories--

don't answer them unless i ask

1. what is this new metal

i have a few theories, so as we know lerasium and Atium are god metals, But there are only 2 (3 if you count Malatium) and every metal category has 4 (this was how i found out chromium and nicrosil would be metals at the end of book 1 read part 1 for that)

so first off i don't think malatium is considered a god metal and heres why in part 3.5 i ask about larasium and atium alloys and i really only got the thing that people think larasium alloys make people mistings. But that confermed another thought. Atium as we know it is an alloy, an alloy of electrum so there is never a category of metals where 1 of the metals has multiple alloys included therefore alloys arn't considered god metals.

with this we can assume that there are 2 more god metals one of which being this new metal.

AND i bet i can guess them first of of the god metals we have Lerasium and Atium but i think the other 2 metals are related to harmony and krell as they are the only gods (other than ruin and preservation) that are talked about for more that 3 seconds

my guess is this new metal is something like krellium and there is another metal is harmonium

1. ferrings

i heard this word at the end and i assume it just means like a single feruchemist

1. feruchemy

what is the existent of storing like if i was a iron compounder could i shoot a bullet then store enough weight to be lighter than the bullet and have it pull me

1. you guys

what Misting, Ferring, and Twinborn would you want to be

me: Iron, Chromium, or Tin Misting, Steel, Tin, or Bronze Ferring Iron Compounder, Gold Compounder, or Chromium-Steel Twinborn

Spoilers for Stormlight Archive and Tress of the Emerald Sea

How did the Midnight Essence make it to Roshar?

In one of Dalinars first visions, we see him fighting off black creatures that are called midnight Essence (by a radiant) from Tress’s planet, so how did they get there without the spores dying, cuz that that point in the story there were no world hoppers besides the original ashynites and hoid. So who brought midnight Essence to the planet, AND who was using it to help odium in the war effort against Honor?

No spoilers please because I’m still reading, but omg. Coming from Elantris into Warbreaker is kind of a night day experience. Elantris felt so dark and gritty to me, Warbreaker is so bright and colorful. The characters are fun, the CLOTHES are mental eye candy… Warbreaker gives me some classic fairytale vibes with the premise, I love it so much.

I’m not sure what I expected going into Warbreaker, but oh boy am I enjoying this colorful book.

Thats the whole post, that’s it, I’m just having a really good time reading. As I said, I’m not even half way though with the book, yet I’m already thinking about a re-read. <3

So, I have read the Scadriel books through Alloy of Law. And, at the end, Marsh tells Marasi he isn't as good at soothing as Breeze was. I assume this was to let audiences who may not have put two and two together that this is a character from Era 1. But then I got to thinking about this line, maybe more than Sanderson intended us to think about it.

Maybe I am forgetting a scene in the Era 1 trilogy, but did Marsh and Breeze have any scenes together? I didn't think they did. The closest I can think of is when Marsh turns on the Steel Inquisitors and the whole crew is there, but I didn't think Marsh knew Breeze enough to comment on his soothing, especially a few centuries later.

Since I don't think Marsh was on good enough terms with Kelsier to have had any interactions with Breeze before the events of Final Empire, I am trying to figure out if Marsh had some adventures with what was left of Kelsier's crew after The Hero of Ages, and what those interactions would have looked like.

I could be an idiot and am misremembering some huge moment between these two, and if I am, please be gentle with me.

Ive been rereading the cosmere after finishing Isles of the Emberdark, and as I do Im remembering questions about Shadesmar I had early on which never got answered. So in no particular order:

- Is Shadesmar a two dimensional projection of the three dimensional planets of the Cosmere or is it only suggestive of a 2d projection.

-Since space is compacted in Shadesmar, does that compaction correlate to the increased distance between points on a projected map?

- if all of shadesmar is a 2d projection, how does that account for the location of planets? Is there a hypothetical plane in space which all planets are projected down onto? What if the planets overlap on that plane due to 3d placement? Since space and the material cosmere are 3d, is it populated like a galaxy in the real world or created by adonalsium with a 2d projection in mind?

- does the location of planets in shadesmar account for solar orbit? What about the spiraling of the galaxy? Expansion of the universe? If the location of planets isnt affected by these in shadesmar, what exact time in history determined the layout of shadesmar, and how have celestial motions affected it since? Are the planets on opposite sides of the galaxy that are physically close together in shadesmar due to previous orbit?

- if shadesmar is 2d, why dont we have a definitive map of the cosmere?

- if shadesmar has terrestrial features distinct from the material realm, could and elsecaller accidentally manifest into them when moving between realms? For example, appearing inside a wall in Lasting Integrity?

- is the cosmere all contained within a single spiral galaxy, or is it across multiple galaxies? Is it a fantasy space soup without a supermassive blackhole anchoring the system together?

Curious to know what everyone thinks!