Date: 2014-03-21
Type: Verbatim
Location: Collegeville, PA
Reporter: Kurkistan
Just got back from the signing. It was a ton of fun, met a bunch of Sharders and it’s really cool to see Brandon speak in person and to actually talk to him. He really is an awesome guy. :D
Anyway, you guys don’t want all this mushy stuff: Let’s get to the questions! ;)
Kurkistan’s first question was part of a longer conversation here .
Are the laws of physics in the cosmere Spiritually based?
They… The laws of physics in the cosmere are ours except where they have been changed by Spiritual influence. So I guess you could say “yes.”
What would happen if you shot a Thug with an aluminum bullet or stabbed him with an aluminum knife?—[Note: Brandon initially misunderstands the question, as you shall see.]
Ah, that’s a good question. And, um.. the wound would not be able to heal around the aluminum, but once the aluminum came out, and was gone from the system, they would be okay.
Wait, is that a Bloodmaker, not a Thug?
Oh, you’re talking about Thu— Oh, okay. Yeah, ummm… It would work similarly, but it really wouldn’t really have a huge effect on them.
Ah, okay. ‘Cause Peter was implying that there was some weird aluminum interaction with Thugs.
What was he thinking of… There is some weird interaction but—
< rudely interrrupts > In the wedding scene [in Alloy of Law ] Wax thinks that they would have aluminum bullets to deal with Thugs and I was like “oh that’s a typo” and Peter was like “oh no it’s not…”
No no… That would just be—it’s like I said: healing it until the bullet is gone. It’s just the same as the Bloodmaker.
< Various pleasantries from me apologizing for all the confusion >
If I get a Slider, a Pulser, and a Nicroburst in a rocket with a lot of metal, do I have FTL?
Hehehehe. You’re getting closer but you haven’t figured it out yet.
Are flamespren, are they all doing their own thing, or is there some Ideal of “Fire” sitting in the Spiritual Realm that they’re all based on?
Each spren is based on the Ideal of Fire.
And is that sitting in the Spiritual Realm?
Yes, we’re using sort of a Platonic Ideal, and that concept is in force, so < sounds hesitant > “yes”, but [spren] are manifestations of it.
So these Ideals in the Spiritual Realm: Divine Breath, does that heal by accessing some Ideal of Human Health: so a guy who had never had a tongue and doesn’t know how to speak all the sudden has a tongue and can speak? [Note: Talking of Susebron here]
You are… < LONG pause > You are, um, on the right track.
Okay…
Because the Breath is… eh. How can I explain this? You are, yeah… So… So each Breath is a shade of deity, right?
Yeah.
And each Breath incorporates into it this sort of idea of being endowed by the deity Endowment, correct?
Yes.
And so each Breath you hold brings you one step closer to becoming like that, and so what you’re saying is… is “yes”, kind of true, yes.
But it’s like within the Breath, not sitting off by itself—
Yes, yes yes exactly.
Last question: If Wayne was inside of a speed bubble and punches somebody who’s standing outside it, what’s happening with his fist and them: are they like sucked into the bubble, or what?
So, I have… So exiting a speed bubble, while it’s going, has weird ramifications on lots of things. It would be really hard to punch somebody through a speed bubble—
So would the surface like distend around his fist——< Illustrates with fist “stretching out” invisible film >
It’s going to steal your momentum, but if you actually managed to do it, then—yes. Anything in the speed bubble that’s touching through is counted as being as part of the speed bubble.
Okay, so the bubble would end here < Draws invisible surface in the air > and his fist would be out there < Illustrates by “punching” arm through the fake surface, demonstrating the fist extending past the bubble while he arm is within >, but still fast?
Yes.
Oh okay, thank you.
That’s how I would imagine it so far.
But the bubble does end at [the same place still, with the fist extending out past its boundary].
The bubble does end, yes.
< Makes pleasantries and goes to leave,
foolishly putting phone in pocket and so obscuring audio a bit
—[EDIT: Cleaned up last question based on better recording. Thanks :) ]
And when you’re punching through, it’s going to—your momentum is gonna’—you’re going to lose momentum and get a ricochet, because you’re lurching from—< notices Kurkistan (very foolishly) acting like he’s about to leave > anyway… I’ll let you figure that one out on your own.
Note: I did have a few more pleasantries in there, but cut them out for clarity’s sake. ;)
So that’s that. There were some cool questions other Sharders asked, but I’ll let them speak for themselves. :)
If you are viewing this on github.io, you can see that this site is open source. Please do not try to improve this page. It is auto-generated by a python script. If you have suggestions for improvements, please start a discussion on the github repo or the Discord.