My Sister @neranishin And I Have Projects. She Got Me A Piece Of Faux Fur So We Can Figure Out To Make

Sanderson fans, you can get an exclusive Stormlight Archive Pocket Companion on Bookstore Day‬ April 30th! Find a participating store here.

oh god I'm back

I know, I know. I said I’d just step out for a second. Maybe touch some grass. Maybe not scroll for hours through a website that is basically a dopamine slot machine designed specifically for me. But here I am. Again.

So, hi. I’ve been avoiding Tumblr like it’s a cursed artifact because every time I log in, I lose entire days to posts about sad wizards, incredibly niche fandom memes, and, let’s be honest, pictures of adorable cute animals. But I return to you now, at the turning of the tide, because someone at a recent book signing mentioned that I really needed to talk to y'all in some other way than an 'automatic repost from my own site.'

Fair. It was never you. It was always me.

Now, that said, I'm still talking about FULL NEGATIVE, the scifi book that I'm crowding over on Backerkit, because, well, it's still live, and will be until April 11. I am actively trying to convince you all to throw money at it in exchange for an absolutely unhinged space opera full of telepaths, betrayals, sexy spies, and—because I’m me—an aggressively overcomplicated plot full of feelings. If we hit our stretch goals, we get more cool stuff. YOU get a very cool book. (And there is a limited edition, numbered version of the hardcover available that will ONLY be available through this crowdfunding campaign. Once that window is gone, it's gone FOREVER.)

If you like X-Men, Star Wars, Jason Bourne, or just generally enjoy watching characters make terrible decisions in space, this book is for you. And if you don’t like those things… honestly, what are you doing here? Go, live a better life. Read something wholesome. Avoid the pain I am about to unleash.

So yeah. Click the link, check out the Backerkit, and help me make this book a reality. And if you see me reblogging cat pictures at 2 a.m.? No, you didn’t. I’m totally working.

Rithmatics: Part 6, 9 Point Conics and Triangle Centers

Note: From this point on we are drifting farther and farther from what we know from the book. The math is all solid, but its application to Rithmatics is much more speculative.

In rithmatics, the 9-point circle plays an important role in constructing lines of warding and identifying bind points.  We also know that there exist elliptical lines of warding and that they "only have two bind points."  Now, in math we are frequently told things like "You can't take a square root of a negative number", which are true in the given system (real numbers) but not true in general.  The construction for the 9-point circle, as described in the book, doesn't work for ellipses.  However, there is a generalized 9-point conic construction.  To understand it, we need to start with a little bit of terminology.

A complete quadrangle is a collection of 4 points and the 6 lines that can be formed from them.  For our purposes, we will be concerned with complete quadrangles formed from the vertices of the triangle and a point inside the triangle.  The 6 lines are then the sides of the triangles and the three lines connecting the center point to the vertices.

The diagonal points of a complete quadrangle are the three intersection points formed by extending opposite sides of the quadrangle.  If we have a triangle ABC with center P, then the intersection of AB with PC is a  diagonal point.

If you take the midpoints of the 6 sides of a complete quadrangle and the 3 diagonal points of that quadrangle, these 9 points will always lie on a conic. This conic is the 9-point conic associated with the complete quadrangle.

Note that if we choose our point in the center of the triangle to be the point where the altitudes meet (known as the orthocenter), then this construction is exactly what we have been doing to create 9-point circles.

There are four classical and easily constructable triangle centers - the orthocenter, circumcenter, centroid, and the incenter.  There are over 5000 other possible notions of the center of a triangle, but most of them cannot be easily geometrically constructed and they get increasingly complicated. 

Let's look at each of these 4 triangle centers and the conic they produce for a particular triangle. We will use a 40-60-80 triangle in each case for illustration purposes, but the results will be very similar for any acute triangle with 3 distinct angles.

Orthocenter: We already know about the orthocenter (that is what most of this series has been focused on so far).  For reference, here is what the 9-point circle for this triangle looks like:

Circumcenter: The circumcenter of a triangle is found by finding the midpoint of each side of the triangle and drawing in the perpendicular bisectors.  The points where the perpendicular bisectors meet is the circumcenter.  Note: This point is also the center of the circle that can be circumscribed around the triangle.

Unlike with the orthocenter, the lines we use to construct the circumcenter (the dashed lines in the diagram) are not part of the complete quadrangle, so we have to finish the quadrangle after we have identified the circumcenter.  The resulting conic is an ellipse.

Centroid: The centroid of a triangle is formed by finding the midpoint of each side of the triangle and connecting it to the opposite vertex.  The intersection of these median lines is the centroid.

The lines used to construct the centroid are part of the complete quadrangle, but we have the interesting situation where the centers of each side are also the diagonal points of the complete quadrangle.  This means that, regardless of the triangle used, we will only ever have 6 distinct points.  The resulting conic is an ellipse that is tangent to all three sides of the triangle.

Incenter: The incenter of a triangle is the intersection of the  angle bisectors of the triangle.  

Note that the lines used to construct the incenter of the triangle are also the additional lines of the complete quadrangle.  In addition, as long as the angles of the original triangle are distinct, the 9 points in the construction will all be distinct.  The resulting conic is an ellipse.

In Summary:  There are lots of ways that we could potentially construct a 9-point ellipse from a triangle.  Of these options, I would guess that the construction using the  incenter of the triangle is the most likely to produce valid rithmatic structures.  I lean this way because, as with the orthocenter, constructing the incenter also constructs the complete quadrangle and its diagonal points.  Furthermore, the 9 points of the construction will all be distinct (except in special cases). As such, we will explore 9-point ellipses constructed with the incenter more thoroughly in the next post. 

Kickstarter

Spacefunk!

Space is the place! A collection of science fiction stories and poems by authors of African/African Diaspora Descent.

Hey tumblr, I stumbled across this kickstarter for a sci-fi anthology featuring stories and poems by authors of African and African Diaspora Descent. It sounds cool and when I tried to dig up a tumblr post to reblog about it I couldn't find one, so I'm making it myself.

The kickstarter is running through noon eastern on July 19th, 2024. The pledge level for the ebook with over 40 stories and poems is just $10. For $30 there's an ebook bundle with this new anthology and their previous anthologies (Steamfunk!, Dieselfunk!, Cyberfunk! ,and Spyfunk!). There are also options to get a physical copy of the anthology, cool posters, and more.

If you are interested in sci-fi from voices that are currently underrepresented in the community, go check it out!

I’m in the choir at First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta. We performed the Vivaldi Gloria with our orchestra. Merry Christmas! (I think I have it set to start about 6 minutes into the video where the concert actually begins)

Monica Dewey, soprano Matthew Reese, countertenor Rolando Salazar, conductor

I sat down to work on the “Sh is for Shalebark” page and got the basic layout and text done. Then I started contemplating which kind of shalebark I wanted to draw.  I’m bad at decisions, so you get this instead... If you want to know more about Shalebark, the Coppermind page is good :-) 

My thought process on reading this:

Yeeesssss sibling interatctions!  

Mmm, if Lift were Kaladin's little sis, she would be the little sis of all of Bridge 4.  Since Rock is in charge of food, he would be her favorite big bro (or maybe uncle?...hmmm...either way works) and she would hang out around him and try to snitch food constantly.  Rock can see Wyndle and they conspire to try to keep her somewhat in line, but Rock is also never actually mad about her eating.   Sigzil takes it on himself to be her tutor and both starts teaching her to read glyphs and helping her understand her awesomeness by experimenting with it.  Lift isn't thrilled with his tutoring and sneaks off whenever she can. She learns much more about her awesomeness from the games she gets into with Lopen.  She catches Lopen glowing sometime and insists (with much stomping and pouting that isn't actually necessary because Lopen doesn't really need convincing) that he teacher her how to glow because that is so awesome!  At some point he sticks her to the wall and starts to laugh at her but then she becomes awesome and slides down the wall and past him making the bottoms of his shoes awesome as she goes past so that when he tries to turn around he slips and falls.  Lopen is briefly stunned and then bursts out laughing and congratulates her and from then on they are constantly trying to use their powers to get one over on each other.

http://therustyrobot.tumblr.com/post/102898558995/does-anyone-else-really-want-to-see-the-dynamic

does anyone else really want to see the dynamic between kaladin and lift

because I’ve been thinking about it all day and I feel like since most of the radiants so far are pretty tall and lift is. not. she’d want to see what all the tall people were doing so since kaladin’s the tallest she’d end...

mmm..  I distinctly don't need more projects right now, but I can tell you what would help get stuff that I have already drawn (and likely that other people have drawn) or am planning to draw anyway onto the wiki. 

 Make a "Welcome Fanartists!" page (or something like that)  that is easy to find from the main page. This page should first and foremost have simple detailed instructions for how to add art to the wiki.  These instructions should assume that the person has no idea how to edit the wiki at all.  If there is someone who is willing to add art that they are pointed to, you might include instructions for how to tell that person that your art is available to be added.  If there are any ground rules for what kind of art should/shouldn't be added, include it here.  

After that section, it might be useful to have a list of "things it would be nice to have art of" that fan artists can go look at when they feel like arting but aren't sure what they want their subject to be.  If you wanted to, you could have these grouped into a couple of different priority levels (perhaps: It's a disgrace that there is no art on this page, it would be helpful to have art on this page, this page has some art but could use more, this page could use art if it happens to be something you are excited about drawing).  If there is a way to have them in a table so they can be sorted by priority level, planet/book, or type of thing (maybe: people/plants/animals/things/other) that could be useful. That way if someone is thinking "mmm I want to draw a Mistborn character" or "I want to play with the plant life on Roshar" they can look to see what we could use.

Once you get that page functional, throw it to tumblr with a short list of pages that could use more art.

Cosmere artists! I seek your opinion!!

If there were some notice/notification on wiki pages which pointed out or asked for art to be given for a particular topic or section. EG the Shardplate page has no art, and would probably very much benefit from some, to help describe it. 

Would people be ok with requests like that, and would artists actually contribute more than they already do?

I just want to increase the contributions and make it a more informative source and make editing and helping out more attractive and easier? I don’t know what I’m doing tho really. Please help XD

Recess: That's right. They'd break recess and turn it into a session of advanced algebra instead. (Note: The same thing happens when you go to middle school or junior high. Sorry.)

Alcatraz Smedry (in The Shattered Lens)

From Alcatraz’s handy list of things Librarians would break if they could.

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.