#ssp4

[onlycosmere]

[kainekron]

[radiantmists]

ADONALSIUM WILL REMEMBER OUR PLIGHT EVENTUALLY

[cosmereplay]

Based on RE Parrish's Nathaniel Hawthorne comic which you should definitely check out and like because it's hilarious (click here for a version with an image description)

Sunlit Man spoilers!

Here's my Brando Sando version:

[ID: A four -panel comic done in the same black and white cartoon outline format. The title reads, "Brandon Sanderson Comics". Panel one shows Emily Sanderson saying, "Good morning darling. You look kinda tired." From offscreen Brandon responds, "I couldn't sleep at all last night."

Panel two shows Brandon rubbing his eye, pushing his glasses askew. From off-screen, Emily says, "Pandemic?" He responds, "I kept imagining fucked up Threnodites."

Panel three is titled, "Last night..." Brandon lays in bed wearing a night cap with a fuzzy ball on the end. He imagines a young woman wearing a black brimmed hat and large white collar over a black dress. She has long straight black hair. She says, "My name is Solemnity Divine." Brandon smiles and says, "Heh heh... Yeah..."

Panel four shows Brandon imagining a thin man with a severe expression, wearing the same kind of clothing. He says, "My name is Adonalsium-Will-Remember-Our-Plight-Eventually." Brandon's eyes pop open and he grins an evil grin. He says, "YES" in big letters. End ID.]

[boreal-wood]

Okay but if you support Scadrial please kindly DNI

I don't care what you call it, the way they study less-developed planets is colonialism and that is NOT OKAY!

They literally withhold technology and information that could save hundreds of thousands of lives on EACH PLANET so they can exploit the native people for information and supplies

Let me repeat: they keep a monopoly on life-changing information to fuel their sense of superiority over the "simple-minded natives." (This is genuine language they use. It's sickening to even think about.)

No I don't care if Allomancy is "cool" or that they're so "technologically advanced" or "giving us a better understanding of Investiture"

There are better methods of studying Investiture than invading other worlds. Besides, yall know they're weaponizing their research wherever they can right. It's not some benevolent volunteer group of scientists, it's a literal military operation

TLDR; Scadrial is a colonialist planet and yall need to stop acting like they're so perfect

[treacherous-vigilante]

[kingjasnah]

adding "HAHAHA" authorization card to the list of things that shouldve been in the hoid box

[wyndlerunner]

“They called themselves the Alethi, but we knew them as the Tagarut. The breakers, it means. Those who leave only death.”

I expected this to be about the void bringers when Nomad starts his story. It’s actually so refreshing to see non-Alethi Rosharan POVs

[cosmerelists]

Do the Cosmere Secret Projects Follow the Rules of the Cosmere?

[Big spoilers for Sanderson Secret Projects #1, #3, and #4!]

A while ago, I wrote a list proposing some Rules of the Cosmere--aka, trends or themes that tended to crop up in most Cosmere works. Now that I've read all of the Secret Projects, though, I had to wonder: do they also follow the definitely ironclad rules that I once proposed? Let's consider!

1. Don’t feed the children

Summary of Rule: If you try to feed a hungry child in a Cosmere book, something terrible will happen.

Off to a bad start! I don't think this rule came up at all. I don't recall any children being fed, really.

2. Once Marriage is On The Table, Breakups Don’t Really Happen

Summary of Rule: Once characters get to the point of marriage, be they engaged or in an arranged marriage or just solidly A Thing, it is rare for them to break up.

Yes, the secret projects did adhere to this rule, I think! The best example is from Tress--I remember how SHOCKED I was when word came that the Duke's son really had gotten married. I was like, "How is that possible? Sanderson would NEVER allow a couple like Tress and Charlie to be broken up by Charlie marrying someone else!" And then, of course, it wasn't Charlie at all. Charlie stayed single...until he could get back together with Tress. In Yumi and the Nightmare Painter, the romance was pretty much between Yumi and Painter--not even death could prevent that. Sigzil sadly did not have a lot of time for romance in The Sunlit Man, so the rule didn't really come into play there.

3. Your enemy will save you...if the sexual tension is high enough

Summary of Rule: An enemy with enough sexual tension will often sacrifice themself to save the other person.

Honestly, I don't think we really had this in any of the Cosmere Secret projects? The only fierce enemies I can think of would be Tress & Crow or Sigzil & the Ember King...but there wasn't any sacrifice-to-save-the-other going on there.

4. Your fave is (accidentally) queer

Summary of Rule: Sanderson loves to write characters who are deeply deeply queer without seeming to realize it.

Oh yes--this rule is eternal, and the Secret Projects did not disappoint. There's Yumi herself, Miss "Oh-my-god-I-just-saw-a-goddess," our (second?) favorite bisexual queen (does Sanderson know he made a lady bi again?). And then in the Sunlit Man, there's an exchange that I'm not sure is actually an accidental queering since it seemed so blatant, when Rebeke was asked if she was now "The Sunlit Woman" and replied "No, the Sunlit One." Is there a way to read that other than as nobinary/genderqueer?

5. Don’t trust the underling priest!

Summary of Rule: If betrayal is happening, it's probably the fault of the nearest underling priest.

Honestly, I think the only "priests" we had were in Yumi, and if anything, this was a deconstruction. The "head priestess" would be Liyun, I think, and she was horrible and abusive. The "underlings," Chaeyung and Hwanji were actually far more supportive and actually told Yumi some about what was really going on. So I guess in these books you should trust the underling priest(esses).

6. (per @twitcherpated) If there are same gender siblings, there will be a romantic triangle involving them.

Summary of Role: If there are two brothers and two sisters, they will inevitably be romantically linked to the same person.

I agree with this rule addition proposed by twitcherpated, which does crop up over and over again in the Cosmere. But in the Secret Projects, I think the only same-gender siblings we had were Rebeke and Elegy, and I don't think it works with them. Like, I suppose you could imagine a love triangle with Sigzil...but I don't really buy it. Rebeke was interested in Sigzil, but he didn't reciprocate, and Elegy was too busy loving the thrill of murder to have a romantic interest in Sigzil herself. I guess they both did want Sigzil to themselves, in a way. So maybe it does kinda work?

7. Hoid is there

Summary of Rule: Hoid likes to show up wherever plot is happening

Yes! The Secret Projects 100% adhere to this rule. Hoid is the narrator in Tress and Yumi, and he shows up briefly in The Sunlit Man. Hoid will not be stopped.

[piano-hoarder]

This was supposed to be about the Great Gatsby but it's literally just Hoid during every secret project.

[therealsoulking]

aiodscvlnfopianvozi ncvr

I thought you fuckers were joking about Adonalsium-Will-Remember-Our-Plight-Eventually

Y'all are telling me Brandon Sanderson actually did that, that's an actual name of a character?

[onlycosmere]

Questioner: What is the biggest editorial change you have ever made to one of your stories from your arcanists who said, "Oh you can't do this because of *inaudible* or for canon content?"

Brandon Sanderson: I'm not sure if I can come up with the biggest. I can list a couple of them that I did change.

They have a lot of influence over Sunlit Man and my weird little tiny planet, my Little Prince planet, that you're traveling around. Getting me to do that accurately... to the point that, at some points, I'm like, "Yeah, I'm gonna give a magical solution to that." And they're like, "That's fine. Know that physicists will complain." And then they did. But then they got mad... not mad, but they're like, "But there is a magical reason."

I only have a full arcanist team on a couple of books so far. They've been involved in all the Secret Projects. They're working with me on Stormlight Five. This is just me finding the people who ask the questions that make me go, "Huh, I hadn't considered that," and then putting them to work to be doing that on my behalf. Really, most of what they do is not say "no," they say "we would like an explanation; you should make sure that this is included." And once in a while, it makes me pull back on an idea. But they're usually really small things that are gonna cause issues for the future, and things like that. I just met with them on Stormlight Five, for instance, and they gave me a few pointers on things. They'd say, "You probably should explain this. You probably should not use this line, because people are gonna explore that and extrapolate that direction." And I'm like, "you are right."

Most of the cases, they're like, "What is this?" And then I explain it, and they're like, "Great. You have an answer. We can move on." You'd have to ask them, but I'd say that one out of ten times, I don't have an answer. But those one out of ten times are really handy for them to be asking those questions that I don't have answers to. Because I have to go do this for all of you, and I'd better have the answers by then.

[nightblood]

I think it's fitting that the Sunlit Man gave us a standard unit for Investiture and had Aux give measurements to Nomad since Sigzil complained about not being able to measure Stormlight precisely when they were testing Kaladin's powers.

[madxmellon]

Part two of my commissions for the 17th Shard! I'm still beyond overjoyed to have been given such an incredible opportunity to draw one of my favorite scenes from the Sunlit man, and one of my favorite characters from cosmere, period!

[syl-stormblessed]

the real zellion really was the friends we made along the way

[ultimateinferno]

With proper Space Age Cosmere just over the horizon, from what we've seen, Sanderson is very good at making the cultures he already had us fall in love with fucking infuriating from an outside perspective. Like damn, with Sixth of Dusk and The Sunlit Man, Scadrians are a bunch of fucking bitches, aren't they?