I Live Near Atlanta And Labor Day Weekend Is Approaching, Aka That Time Of Year That Atlanta Turns Into

So I just started reading Mistborn...

and I really, really want to introduce Vin, as we meet her right at the beginning of the story, to Lift. They wouldn't trust each other at all at first and for quite a while, but they would cautiously work together because it is better than the alternatives. It's possible they would see each other as rivals, but I want Vin to eventually take Lift under her wing like a little sister and they can be awesome magic scrawny teenage girl street thieves together. They could get up to so many ridiculous shenanigans and steal *everyone's* dinner... 

F is for Frillbloom.  For more on frillbloom, visit the coppermind!

So I saw @ultimateinferno theorizing about this, and I want spoilers hidden under a cut on my blog, so I’m making a new post rather than reblogging to add to his excellent theory/meta. There are *major Rhythm of War spoilers* mixed with theorizing under the cut.

Ultimateinferno makes a good argument that Lift is the one who is eventually going to deal with Taravangian!Odium. This is *perfect*.

Lift’s “I don’t want to ever change.” You know what? If she kills Taravangian she’s going to get the opportunity to absorb Odium and ascend. Either her boon is going to give her the strength to resist taking the power so that she can deal with it some other way (maybe she could team up with Rysn??? I wonder what kind of affect shattering Odium would have...) OR she *will* take the power, but because of Cultivation’s boon it won’t affect her ability to think clearly.    

Heh, although, Lift, as she is right now, but with the power of a shard might be a whole different kind of problem. As Yanagawn points out, “She often does what she isn’t supposed to.”

My immediate thought was of the sarpenthyn Shallan saw at the not-a-zoo that one time! These critters: https://coppermind.net/wiki/Sarpenthyn

I haven’t heard anyone talking about the land octopi yet

Rithmatics: Part 5 - Curvature, Ellipses and a Guess at the Blad Defense

Let's start by considering a snippit from one of the diagrams in The Rithmatist:

(Note: full diagram can be found at http://brandonsanderson.com/books/the-rithmatist/the-rithmatist/rithmatist-maps-and-illustrations/ )

Now we have a problem, namely, circles don't all have the same curvature. In fact (a slight simplification of) the idea of calculating curvature is to determine what radius circle would best approximate the curvature of the line at that point. A circle of radius r has constant curvature 1/r.

The basic idea here is reasonable though – apparently, lines of warding are stronger when they have a higher curvature. You can think of an ellipse as a circle that has been stretched along one axis. This means that if you start with a circle and then stretch it, we can talk about the resulting ellipse being stronger than the original circle where it curves more and weaker where it curves less. Here is what that diagram might look like if we add in the relevant reference circle:

Assuming this interpretation is correct, there are some important implications. The biggest is probably that the size of the circle used to form a defense matters. If you have two otherwise completely equivalent defenses and one of them is a scaled up version of the other, every point in the wall of the smaller defense will be stronger than the equivalent point in the wall of the larger.

Note: There are at least two potential underlying explanations for what is going on here. One option is that there is a certain strength inherent in a portion of a curve of a given curvature. This is the assumption that I am going to work from here. There is also the possibility that there is a fixed total strength for any closed curve of warding and that this strength distributes itself based on curvature. If we stick to circles and assume that strength and curvature are proportional, the two notions are equivalent. The second option is intriguing, but leads to rather messy calculations when we start looking at more interesting constructions. If I stick with this long enough we may eventually get there. I have no idea which option is correct or whether there is a third one I haven't considered.

One way to think about this (and this is almost certainly an oversimplification of things) is that it might take approximately the same amount of chalkling effort to destroy the entire dark blue segment as to destroy the entire dark green segment in the figure below:

 The important take away is that it should be easier to break a small hole in a large circle than it is to break an equally sized hole in a smaller circle. This means that when you are drawing your initial circle for your defense, you should be actively thinking about how large you really need it to be. It also means that even the weakest point on an ellipse could still be stronger than the wall of a much larger circle.

From an offensive standpoint, this means that the small circles and Mark's crosses added to your opponent's main circle are going to be much harder to affect than their main line of warding. They aren't just in the way – they are actually stronger.

We will talk about ellipses in more depth in future installments, but for now let's close with a guess at what the Blad Defense might look like. All we know about it is that it combines four ellipsoid segments in a non-traditional manner and that it is strong enough that some people think it should be banned from competitions.   

Shallan's Journey: Chapter 1, In Which an Experiment Goes Wrong

Shallan grimaced as Pattern formed into a sword in her hands. She still wasn't completely comfortable with the idea of wielding a sword, but it was what needed to be done, so she would do it. She, Navani and Jasnah were running experiments on the portals at Urithiru, trying to get a second one open. Prior to Jasnah's return, everyone had been completely stumped, but between the knowledge Jasnah brought back from her time in Shadesmar and her abilities with the transportation surge, she brought new energy to the project. Their current working theory was that they would eventually need Jasnah and Highprince Kalinar working together to permanently reopen a portal, but they wanted to make sure they had things right before Kalinar bound it open. If this worked, Shallan would use the portal to briefly visit Jah Keved and then promptly return to Urithiru. Jasnah was physically sitting in the tower, but was mentally in Shadesmar monitoring and guiding the portal. Shallan slid Pattern into the sword slot and was excited to feel the portal unlock – finally, actual progress! She rotated the fabrial and, as expected the stormlight in the lamps faded. That, however, is where her expectations broke down. As the lamps faded, the room itself seemed to fade until she seemed to be floating in a black void. Once she got past the initial shock she called out “Oh storm it! Pattern, are you still here? Something seems to have gone wrong...do you have any idea where we are?”

Shallan closed her eyes against the overwhelming darkness as she lost her self in the contemplation of what to do next. What would Jasnah do in this situation? She sighed. Jasnah would know how to navigate Shadesmar, and that wasn't something she could do. As Shallan pondered this, she felt a tapping on her shoulder, startled, and whipped her head around hoping to be able to see something in the inky blackness. She was relieved to see pattern glowing gently, “Mmmm, didn't mean to startle... you were getting lost...”

“Well, yes, when we think hard on something we can get lost in those thoughts.”

“Yes. Dangerous here. Lost in thoughts in Shadesmar is lost entirely.”

Shallan considered this. “Pattern, I'm not sure what you mean.”

“Mmmm... Thoughts are Shadesmar... A lie, but a good lie. If you get lost in thought in thoughts you are lost.”

Shallan shook her head. “I'm still not sure I follow, but I'll try to be careful. Do you have any suggestion as to what we should be doing next? How can we get back to Roshar?”

“Look. Your truth is what you see.”

“Look where? Pattern, the only thing I can see is you...”

Pattern took her hand and pointed with it. As Shallan squinted in that direction she could make out... something. At least it wasn't pitch black. “Ok, how do I get there?"

“Mmmm... Lightweavers aren't for traveling... Lie? The best lies become like truth...”

Shallan looked over at Pattern with eyes narrowed in thought as she tried to make sense of what he was saying. “Do you mean that I just need to be sufficiently convinced that I am already there and then I will be?”

“Mmmm.... not sure... perhaps?”

“Well I guess I don't have any better ideas...” Shallan took a deep breath to center herself and tried to focus on believing that she was at that point in the distance that was something other than inky blackness. She quickly realized that as long as she could see that she was still surrounded by darkness, she was not going to be able to truly believe it, so she closed her eyes tightly and tried to block out her skepticism.

Suddenly, she felt herself fall and land on...something...she didn't recognize. When her brain caught up that things had changed and she was once again in a new situation, her eyes snapped open and she quickly sat up. As she looked around, her eyes grew wide – where on Roshar was she? She was definitely outdoors and seemed to be on the ground, but it wasn't any kind of ground she was familiar with. For one thing, whatever vegetation she was sitting on didn't seem even remotely inclined to retreat back into the rock...which...didn't exactly seem like rock, it was too soft. There did appear to be large rocks standing around though... Did she end up somewhere in Shinovar? Shallan knew that they at least had plants that didn't retreat, and maybe this soft stuff was the soil she had read about... She reached into the bag of supplies she had packed in case something went wrong to pull out her sketchbook. Drawing often helped her make sense of what she was seeing. As she did, she thanked the Almighty that her bag hadn't gotten lost somewhere in her unusual journey. That thought reminded her of her traveling companion. She looked around, but didn't immediately see him and, as her heart started racing in panic, she called out, “Pattern? Did... Did you make it here as well?” She was highly relieved to her a sudden buzzing above her and to see Pattern's tangled mass of lines floating down as she looked up.

“Mmmm... still with you... still don't know where here is. Here is a nice pattern though.”

“A pattern?”

“Mmmm... big rocks all around in a circle with rocks on rocks, but maybe some missing.”

Shallan raised her eyebrows as she carefully stood with her bag and sketchbook and began to slowly walk around in wonder investigating the area she had so unceremoniously landed in. She didn't know as much as she wished she did about the Shin, but this seemed like something that might have been sacred to them at one point. It also seemed abandoned and was impressive enough that she should have come across it in her studies. “Pattern... Either we have discovered some long lost sacred site in Shinovar, or...” here she took a deep breath, “or we aren't on Roshar anymore.”

Whrrrrrrrrthwick! Whrrrrrrrrthwick! Whrrrrrrrrthwick! Whrrrrrrrrthwick!

Dumbledore looked up from his desk and frowned at the little silver device that had just started going off. He had many similar devices in his office to alert him of strong magical disturbances at key locations. This one suggested that something significant had just happened at Stonehenge. Thankfully it was just whrrrthwiking - if it had been shrieking that would have meant dark magic and likely that Voldemort had decided to come out of hiding. This, however, was just intriguing. He glanced back down at the paperwork he had been filling out and shrugged. It could wait. He looked over to his phoenix, “Fawkes, my dear old friend, would you be up for a visit to Stonehenge?” Fawkes chirruped and cocked his head. “Something seems to have happened there, and, beyond the fact that I am curious, it would be prudent to investigate.” Fawkes stretched his wings and trilled as flew over to Dumbledore who stood reached out for his tail feathers. They vanished in a flash of fire.

Oathbringer Speculation: Timbre

The descriptions of Timbre would fit with the name “lightspren”. We know that she communicates with Venli by pulsing to different rhythms. During the first shadesmar boat trip, Shallan speculates that the Reachers/lightspresn are using vibrations (ie pulses) to communicate.

This suggests that Timbre is a Reacher, but I suspect that she’s not just any Reacher. We meet Ico in Shadesmar and learn that his father is a deadeye and his daughter “ran off chasing stupid dreams”. Then Timbre tells Venli that her own grandfather was lost to human betrayal. Putting all of this together, I strongly suspect that Timbre is Ico’s daughter. I’m not sure what implications this will have for the future. But it’s a thing.

Citations: (Note: Page numbers come from the Kindle edition.)

What was that small spren that had crept out from beneath Eshonai’s corpse? It looked like a small ball of white fire; it gave off little rings of light and trailed a streak behind it. Like a comet. (pg 340) 

“The copper vibrates,” Shallan said. “And they keep touching it. I think they might be using it to communicate somehow.” (pg 931)

 “Wait!” Adolin said. “Ico, I saw something moving back there.” Ico locked the door and hung the keys on his belt. “My father.” “Your father?” Adolin said. “You keep your father locked up?” “Can’t stand the thought of him wandering around somewhere,” Ico said, eyes forward. (Pg 946)

Ico speaking:  “My daughter used to work there, before she ran off chasing stupid dreams.”  (Pg 948)

Timbre pulsed to Irritation, then the Lost. “That many? I had no idea the human betrayal had cost so many of your people’s lives. And your own grandfather?” (pg 1196)

I'm having trouble getting the next chapter of my Shallan in HP land crossover right, so I've been rereading Shallan chapters trying to figure out why things aren't working.  It's getting there.  In the mean time, have some Pattern thoughts:

“The pattern seemed impossible to capture. Its complex repetitions twisted down into infinity.” (pg 67)

Our dear friend Pattern is a fractal. This much is clear. It takes a while, but Shallan finally gets around to asking Pattern if he has a name beyond the one she has given him. His response:

“Name is numbers. Many numbers. Hard to say. Pattern...Pattern is fine.” (pg 215)

Fractal patterns that are on some level infinitely complex can often be described by seemingly simple equations or sets of rules.

Theory/ Headcanon: Pattern's true name is a mathematical description of his fractal form. The fractal exists in multiple dimensions and his appearance in the physical realm is just one tiny slice of his full form: the intersection of the fractal with the physical realm. His apparently changing patterns are not actually his pattern changing, but instead him moving so that the intersection changes and we get different views of him. His ability to shrink corresponds to moving so that his intersection with the physical realm is smaller.   

Now I really want to know Pattern's true name.

Ohhh... this looks like fun...

Cinderella's fairy godmother is a lightweaver who sent her spren to the ball with Cinderella to maintain the illusion.  The midnight curfew is there because she could only infuse her spren with so much stormlight and the illusion will fail when it runs out.  Maybe the spren stays with the glass slipper and uses the little bit of stormlight it still has to continue maintaining just that part of the illusion...

Princess and the Pea is an easy one, relatively speaking. The princess in question is a tin-compounding Twinborn who got stuck in a touch loop at an early age. The easiest way I can think of for that to work is that she doesn’t know she’s doing it - perhaps she fundamentally doesn’t understand...

Oathbringer thoughts: Eshonai

What if, just maybe, part of the point is that we are supposed to be angry and bitter about Eshonai’s death? Maybe, given what we know right now, it is supposed to come across as completely pointless. 

It seems like no one (except Timbre and sometimes Venli) cares. Eshonai’s death happens off screen and the only reason we get confirmation that she is dead is that Ulim guides Venli and Demid to her to retrieve the plate. We learned all the way back in WoK that scavenging from corpses goes against Listener culture, and yet here we are with Venli being forced to do so anyway. The only reason we even find Eshonai’s corpse is that Venli is being forced to do things that go against her culture. Eshonai is dead. Their culture is being erased. 

There are various parallels between the Listeners and the native peoples of the Americas. Far too often their plights are ignored. Indigenous women are murdered or go missing at disturbing rates and yet it almost never makes the news. Their deaths are horrible and pointless and it seems like no one cares. When they do get talked about it is almost always (at least from what I have seen) as an after thought. Much like Eshonai. Maybe that’s part of the point.

But you know what? Even with Eshonai dead, this isn’t the end of her story. Just because her death happened off screen doesn’t mean that will continue to be true. One of the next two books is going to give us Eshonai flashbacks. We are going to get to know her and her world better. And, I suspect, we are going to get to see that awful battle from her perspective and be with her as she falls into the chasm.  

Ulim says it looks like she drowned in the flood waters, but my guess is there is more going on. She had plate, a blade, and storm form. We know she was at least somewhat trained with the plate and blade. Kaladin and Shallan survived spending a high storm in the chasms when they were both a mess and Kaladin didn’t have his powers and Shallan was wary of hers. Eshonai should have had the tools to survive. I can imagine a heartwrenching scene coming where Eshonai knows that she could save herself using the power that she has in storm form, but fighting that power and rejecting it. Or Eshonai being given the chance during that first Everstorm to become a fused and choosing to die instead. Some kind of intense internal struggle where she makes the choice to die rather than give in to something she can’t accept. 

Her death will still be tragic. We can (maybe even should) still be angry that she died, but until we get her flashback chapters I’m going to cling to the hope that there is more going on than we currently know.