Veiled

If Ruin's nature is what keeps him from seeing the future then why does burning his body allow one to see the future?

Patience; it's one of the most basic aspects of divine nature in several irl philosophical schools. I thought of this while considering the Shard without a planet but it wouldn't necessarily be that one.

I haven't been through the last 8/16 pages yet but, so far, in the debate about if Adolin is "broken enough", no one has mentioned how he constantly berates himself for not being good enough. Do you realize what has to happen to a person for such persistent self-loathing to set in and, moreover, how it eats a person alive once it has? Brokenness is individual. The importance of perspective comes up several times throughout SA. It isn't our perspective of his brokenness that matters, it is his own. Also, the way he isn't able to stick to one woman until it's someone he feels he doesn't have to have a special connection to (and then he does form that connection accidentally with that person) speaks to some subconscious intimacy issues, probably revolving around his mother's death and his father's emotional abuse. That's indicative of trauma rather than, as some have suggested, something he doesn't have bitterness about. Furthermore, people can be very skillful at hiding their emotions, even from themselves. Why do you think he understands Shallan so well? You think because Sanderson doesn't spell it out as clearly he can't be going through what is actually a very common coping mechanism? His outburst is easily read as convincing himself he doesn't feel guilty for the murder that -don't forget- he thinks about every time we get his POV and is very quick to write off, like he doesn't want to think about it. Same for the other things he's been through. As soon as he thinks about them he dismisses them like he would a Shardblade. That kind of repression can cause very deep cracks in a person's psyche. And finally.... Some will feel threatened by this, some few may feel liberated, most will simply feel that it should not exist. I needed to write it anyway... I know we're just talking about a work of fiction here but studies have shown that reading literature increases empathy. This talk of if Adolin is "broken enough" exemplifies not empathy but almost callousness and I would ask that those of you making such arguments pay close attention to not just what you read but how you read. And also that you be grateful that you, ostensibly, haven't had the kind of personal struggles that would allow you insight into this topic. Clearly you devoted a great deal of time and thought to these books. Why expend so much on something if it doesn't change you, doesn't make you a better person? Isn't that the whole point of this saga? Literally crying actual tears. My soul needed this. Why can't real life be like literature? Also, I agree with the previous commenter that you should write. Though, I'd call this "moving" rather than "cute". This isn't consistent with what we've seen from other characters. Windrunners, at least, seem to outright contradict it. Kal, Teft, Sig, their moments come not when they feel like they deserve it but at moments of self-doubt when they focus instead on doing what they can to help others.

What about the possibility they aren't actually music spren? Some spren haven't even been identified. It could be a mistake of Rosharian humans' understanding. I'm new to the cosmere, only having read SA, but that seems like something Sanderson would do. Not saying I believe this but it's the second possibility I considered and no one has mentioned it yet, so...