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Sylveris

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Everything posted by Sylveris

  1. Tbh, I never found Harmony to be an accurate name for the combination of ruin of preservation, given that the former tends downwards while the later is a zero sum trend. If Harmony was Cultivation+Ruin or even Cultivation+Preservation+Ruin (so basically a sine function :p) it would be more fitting. I guess Sazed holds the shard of Controlled Descent imo
  2. Was Son of Tanavast confirmed to be a unique title for Kaladin? I always assumed it was a term for humans/Radiants/Windrunners. (first because he sort of adopted them, second because he led them, and the third because they were the 'closest' to him)
  3. I'm a native Hebrew speaker, and I'm fluent in English (there are days in which I use it more than Hebrew , sometimes I even think in English rather than Hebrew for no reason). I leart Arabic in school, but while I can still read it, and understand a little bit, I can't really hold a conversation. I know bits and pieces of most Western-European languages, though probably not enough to actually talk in any of them. I also know how to read the Greek alphabet, but can't really the language itself (at least it was enough for reading sign when I went to Santorini ). I would love to learn more languages so I could actually speak/read in them, but with army and uni and work I don't really have the time right now. Also, I always found it funny that people found Hebrew to be so complicated, given that I'm used to it, but I can understand it, since its structure is completely different from most other languages (it's actually pretty well-structured, with three-letters roots with a basic meaning which can be inserted into various templates in order to create pretty much all noun and verb in Hebrew). Also, Semitic languages' lack of vowels probably doesn't help... There are only three short vowels in Literary Arabic, and Hebrew and Spoken Arabic got all five short vowels but no long vowels what so ever (which results in the accent of most native Hebrew-speakers when they speak English). Also, most of the time the vowels aren't even written, and you just recognize them by familiarity (thanks to the templates mentioned above).
  4. He also said before that not all shards have complete opposites, so it might be the closest they have for an opposing shards (for Honor at least, for Autonomy there is possibly Dominion which sound like an even better fitting opposing shard). (Also, in my opinion, even Preservation and Ruin, which are the closest shards we know of to be opposites to each other aren't a perfect match (a duel shard of Ruin and Cultivation would be the best opposition to Preservation)).
  5. Honestly, is this whole argument really worth it? Race as a definition is very problematic and depends on one's point of view, and therefor Racism is even more difficult to define (in a non-ambiguous and widely enough accepted way). In the end what those who mentioned racism in the first place meant is that Kaladin is negatively-biased and has a lot of prejudice against lighteyes. You can call it racism if you think it fits, you can call it 'eyeism', but right now this argument is going nowhere and a battle of semantics can't be won when talking about such ambiguous terms and definitions. Just my two cents.
  6. Which is exactly why I said that while I understand why he develop his hatred, and that it is a normal human thing, it is not an excuses for his beheivor towards lighteyes, especially thous who not only didn't do anything bad to him (the clerk in the begging of WoR for example) but also toward thous who did good things for him (Dalinar, as mentioned many times before). As Pathfinder said earlier, after Dalinar paid for his and his men's freedom with one of the most expansive items in the world, he offered them a choice whether to join him or go on their way, yet Kaladin chose to stay. Despite that, he spent most of the book claiming that Dalinar would betray him just because he is a lighteye, even through Dalinar never gave him any reason to believe he would, other than being a lighteye. (He even ends up being the one during the betraying... until he comes to his senses just in time, in one of the greates scenes in the book!)
  7. What I think some people meant (and I agree with them) is not that they don't understand why Kaladin hate Lighteyes or that they think his opinion of people like Amaram and Sedaes is unfounded, rather, what we have a problem with is the fact that during most of the books, Kaladin automatically assumes that any Lighteyes he meet is a snobish, silver-spooned lair and a cheat at best. When Adolin saves the camp follower during WoK (the first time they see each other, without knowing each who is the other), even after seeing him selflessy saving her, all Kaladin can think is that Adolin most have had some personal reason to help her, that it couldn't be altruistic(even though Kaladin was about to do the same thing, help her for no gain). Afterwards, all he think about Adolin is that he was a snob because he treated Kaladin like a message boy, paying him an emerald broam so he would deliver a massage to Reral (and to be honest, given that Kaladin was a slave at the time, Kaladin was far lower than a massage boy on the social scale). An even worst example is the one given by others earlier on this thread, regarding Dalinar. While Adolin simply did the good/right thing, Dalinar did the unthinkable, trading a Shardblade for the lives of a few thousands bridgemen, and then proceeded to appoint Kaladin as the highest-ranking darkeyes officer in the camp and trusting him with the protection of his family and the king himself (which isn't unthinkable, and was done before, by Dalinar as well, but is still a great honor). Yet, all Kaladin can do is keep on thinking that he will turn on him at any moment, even though he is the one doing the betraying, with his involvement with the assassination plot. In the end, I can accept Kaladin's "base" opinion of Lighteyes being quite low, it's just human, but what I can't accept is him projecting his experience with few specific individuals onto a huge group of people, especially when some of them did more for him that most darkeyes would. (And he probably met like about 1% of them in his whole life, and I'm pretty sure that most of those he did meet haven't done a thing to him, bad or good). It might not be racism, but it is still prejudice toward a whole social group based on personal experience with three individuals and their underlings, and is undeserved towards the rest of the group (especially with more than enough counter examples). Regarding Kalsier, first of all, the nobles-skaa relationship is far worse in any way possible (you don't see Brightlords raping and than killing darkeyes as a social norm...), and even then, not all of them are evil basterds. Also, people like Sadeas and Elend's father would have likely been evil bastards even if they were lower-born, the title just gave them a greater opportunity. Finally, I have to say that even through Kelsier was right at the core, his actions weren't necessarily the best. Also, in Mistborn we are given Elend as the exception, but in Stormlight it is far more balanced, while not everyone is Dalinar, Sedaes is hardly the norm... It is far more realistic, and true to both lighteyes and darkeyes. Most people are in the middle, that's why it's the middle. And to answer the three itself , I personally never loved nor hated Kaladin, my opinion of him usually move between liking him and being annoyed by him. On one hand, he got some of my favorite scenes in the books. The Tower, the chasm sences (which I really like), the battle against Szeth and more. His supporting cast is also fine, although I never really liked Lopen, his humor doesn't appeal to me, and I always preferred Rock and Teft. On the other hand, his depression can really harm my enjoyment of him. While it's fine (even great) in small doses, adding to his character, making him both more unique and a realistic human being rather than a generic hero, sometimes, especially in the middle of WoR, it can get really difficult to read. It just creates the feeling that his arc is not progressing, or even going a bit backwards, and with a book this long it is quite the problem. Hopefully it would be better next book, because I still like him, and some of his possible plot points are really interesting, but I wouldn't mind if he would have less focus this time around. Edit: Lol, so many posts since I started writing this comment, took ages to write on my phone (Never again! ). Might not be as relevant as before... Edit2: Also, wanted to add that despite everything, Kaladin DOES seem to improve by the end of WoR, so there is hope it would only get better...
  8. You do know that other surges manipulate Spiritual bonds, right? If I'm not mistaken, there is a WoB somewhere describing Gravitation surge as manipulating spiritual bonds between objects, and neither Skybreakers nor Windrunners have Transformation. Also note that I said it exist in on form or another on other shardworlds, not that it common all over the cosmere (as a fact, it's called Lightweaving on Yolen, and the AAA called it 'the most simillar variant', suggesting there are other variants of Lightweaving in the cosmere). Illumination is described as 'the surge of light, sound and various waveforms', while Lightweaving is described as 'manipulation of light and sound in illusiony tactics', which is covered by Illumination, suggesting that Truthwatchers, who can control light and sound, can make illusions, and therefor Lightweave. On the other hand, Transformation is described as 'the surge of soulcasting', aka the ability to change the material from which the object is made to another (and the definition of 'transformation' is changing the form or attribute of an object/person/etc.), which, at least for now, doesn't take any place in Lightweaving. e.g. Shallan can Lightweave a shield in front of her self, but should some on shoot an arrow at it, the arrow will just go through it and hit Shallan, since it's just a trick of the light, an illusion, and not a real object Shallan create. Edit: btw, there is a difference between Lightweaving and Illumination, just like the difference between Basic Lashing and Gravitation, on is the Surge itself that the Radiant as access to, and its general (theoretical) power, while the other is a more specific implementation of the surge.
  9. @Sphinx, since when Lightweaving is compounding of Illumination and Transformation? I'm pretty sure the technique is only Illumination, and the Lightweavers mastery of it gave them there name, but remember that other shardworlds as Lightweaving as well, its just the cosmere term for creating illusions with magic (light and sound)
  10. @Eri, All we know for sure is that Honor was bad at seeing the future, and that Odium and Cultivation where likely better than him at it. If Truthwatcher are indeed more Cultivation oriented than Honor oriented, than it makes sense that from all the orders, Truthwatchers will be able to see the future. The whole thing about seen the future being of Odium is likely more of a religious superstition, since in-world WoR did say that Truthwatchers were secretive, while voidbinding=futuresight was more of a common knowledge (be it true or false)
  11. Firstly, its in the wrong forum, it should be under the WoR board. Secondly, Edit: partly ninja'd
  12. I was actually sad when she died, especially since I read the annotations with the book, which makes her POV far more clear, and confirm that she really loved Lightsong and he loved her, and for some reason I always feel bad when characters die/separate before they at least understand what the other character feel for them. (In this case the closest thing to that was Lightsong telling Blushweaver that he did care for her just before the vote). And I also didn't had anything against her actions, which while annoying and ultimately manipulated, made sense when (both hinted in the text and confirmed in the annotations) the vision she saw on the future when she died was of war that will destroy her homeland, the same war Bluefingers tried to start, but after Returning all she knew is that a war was coming and she should prepare, but couldn't remember the exact details.
  13. If I remember correctly, someone asked Brandon about both the shash and the Kalad/Kaladin and he said that the shash is intentional while Kalad/Kaladin is a coincidence.
  14. If I remember correctly, while he technically could fixed his arm, his lack of stormlight efficiency meant that he needed far more stormlight for this, which he needed to fight Kaladin. That at least what Kaladin is thinking when Szeth run away from him, the WoB you gave didn't say he couldn't heal his shardblade-wounds, or that his powers worked way more differently that Kaladin's, only that his understanding of how his powers work was different than what Kaladin do.
  15. Didn't said it was the same spren, just that is most likely was of the same type/order. WoB says that the death of the bonded human has some kind of an effect on the spren, so maybe another spren was chosen to bond Reanrin instead.
  16. Feather, as other said in this thread before me, the biggest problem with shipping Kaladin in a gay relationship is simply the fact that he didn't expressed any romantic or sexual interest in men, while he definitely showed interest in women (there is Tarah, who most likely had something romantic with him, before he did something that ruined the relationship, and not to mention his thoughts about Shallan after the chasm scene, I mean, he his daydreaming about her voice). Also, a man describing another man handsome doesn't mean he is gay... I mean, I know more than one men who are *definitely* not gay, but doesn't have problems describing some actors as "handsome", it doesn't mean they are in the closet. I think that both Kalarin and Kadolin ships' only hope is as a bromance ships, which is great on its own. Not every relationship a charcter have need to be romantic, after all. There are some bromantic relationships that are even stronger than normal relationships (à la JD and Turk from Scrubs), thous kind of relationships can express care without anything sexual in it. Also, regarding they sort of denial, both Adolin and Kaladin are in a desperate need for a friend, Adolin just discovering that anyone he thought was his fried didn't really cared for him in any way (one of his "best friends" fought against him in an obviously unfair fight), and Kaladin needing someone who didn't see him as his commander (like his friends in Bridge 4). They both started the relationship with some kind of a prejudice, Kaladin hating lighteyes and thinking Adolin is a spoiled brat, while Adolin thinks that Kaladin is way over his head and is just a darkeye who shouldn't have bossed him around in the Tower. They both later discovered that they did like each other, but like good males, were stubborn about admitting it. To me, it all look like great setting for a great bromance, with nothing romantic or sexual in it, that is, if Adolin won't lose himself after the murder and the fact that they are both obvious smitten by Shallan won't get in the way.
  17. I was planning to write an insightful post on how much I like Shallan when I woke up, but now I come here and find that kaellok wrote almost everything I wanted to say (well, except the part about Lift and Stick, didn't liked them as much as the rest of the forum, apparently), so kudos to you!
  18. IMHO, taking Song of Ice and Fire as a precedent for this kind of things is not a good thing.... It doesn't matter that it was OK in the middle ages, it still feel weird for us, in the modern age. (I'm pretty sure 14 is considered pedophilia, or at least some other kind of chronophilia).
  19. Shaggai, it only means she's 14 instead of 13, since a Rosharan year is 1.1 Earth year.
  20. I didn't said there should be no gay fantasy protagonists, only that they are less likely. Like I said, I won't mind reading a book with a gay protagonist, but I believe it will be far more interesting read if written by a gay author, simply because the author will write far more believable characters. If Brandon is going to write a book with a gay protagonist, he will need far more practice writing this kind of character, I mean, just look at how much he improved writing female characters. I just think that if Brandon started to write a book with a gay protagonist / reveal one of his characters to be gay, it won't be written as good as he can, and might even get negative criticism for it (like he got from some reviews for the Final Empire and Elantris, that said he put women in bad light and didn't know how to properly represent them). So. in the end, I think that if Brandon is going to write LGBT characters, he should start with minor and secondary ones, at least until he get good enough in writing them so they could be the main characters without harming his writing. (After all, one of the best things about Brandon is his characterization and him creating believable and interesting characters, and suddenly writing an unrealistic gay character just so it will be a gay character is against his best qualities).
  21. Regarding the LGBT thing, while I won't stop reading a book simply because the main character is gay, it won't be the reason I will read it in the first place. I definitely doesn't have problems with gay people, given that my uncle is gay and I spend most of my time visiting the big city hanging with him and his boyfriend, but I think that as someone who likes romantic plots (as long as they don't take over the story), one of the things that help me relate to a character (which is pretty important to enjoy a book) is its romantic plot, and I know that as a straight guy, it easier for me to relate to B/G stories (and to some extant G/B and even G/G ones). I think this is true for most people, and I think the reason most author write straight characters is that most of them are straight and so are most of their readers (given that 9 out of ten people are straight, its statistics), so I think it just a combination of authors writing characters that come more easily for them and readers wanting characters they can easily relate to. And, to be honest, I think it will be far more interesting read to read a gay character POV written by a gay author, since just like how male characters are easier for men to write and female for women, it would be far more natural and done properly. Regarding the Kaladin shipping, my choice (like in the Shallan topic) is Shallan. I just really like their interactions, and feel they really fit each other, and I LOVED the chasm sceen. (And, to be honest, I remember amusing myself with Shalladin and Shadolin when I finished WoK, I was actually surprised when I first got to the forum abou the strength of the Shallarin ship, the two of them never seemed fitting for each other). Another pairing that I think will work for Kaladin is Jenet (who I think together with Laral should really be in the poll), I just really liked her short part in WoR, especially her interaction with Kaladin, she just feel really like the lighteye virsion of Kaladin (instead of a [formerly] darkeye who is educated and act like a lighteye, holding a lighteye position, she is a low-level lighteye who desn't seem to give a damnation about her social status and just do what she likes), so I think they are opposite in just the right things, and could work really well together. For Laral and Tarah, I think both of them are issues that Kaladin need to work through, no matter with who he will end up with, but I got a feeling that if either of one is a romantic option, it is Laral, since his relationship with her ended quite suddenly and unexpectedly (after her father's death) and might still have a chance to return romanticly-wise. Tarah on the other hand, we barely know anything about, beside that Kaladin think he messed up really bad with her, so if there is anything there remains to be seen. Regarding Jasnah, while I don't think she will have anything romantic with Kaladin, I could see them learning to respect each other in the future, maybe ending up as friends, it's just the romantic side that doesn't seem likely to me. And lastly, Lift..... just... no. I don't know, it doesn't feel right to me (regardless of the 8 year age deference, which is kinda critical when she is 13...). On the other hand, a future pairing between her and Renarin, in the back five when they suppose to be the main characters, sound really nice and interesting!
  22. Kobold King, I was just about to write that I'd take Ruin+Cultivation (through probably Cultivation first), when I saw your post two-before-last... Anyway, combining Ruin and Cultivation (which can be probably called Change, or something along thous lines), could result in a shard intent which is focused mostly on change, it creates on one hand and destroy on the other, but ultimately balance itself, but doesn't run to Harmony's problem of not doing anything. If I'm not mistaken, Brandon said on one point that on some aspects, Cultivation and Ruin are more compatible opposites than Ruin/Cultivation and Preservation. On the question of whether or not I would take a shard in the first place, I guess it mostly depends on the situation. I guess that if there will be no outside reason to do so, I won't necessarily take it, since you do loose yourself in the end, but if I could find a reason to do it, I will.
  23. Shard of Logic. in my mind I see having a duality with a Shard of Passion, where one require the user to be as clear-minded, passionless and knowledgeable as possible, enabling him to manipulate the way the world work around him (maybe like changing physical and chemical properties of objects, or the very essence of the object [kinda like soulcasting]), but every little emotion (including pain, hunger, etc.) can harm the process (which takes time), and either prevent the magic from working or even changing the results (so you wanted to make the guards weapons too heavy for them to lift, but instead they became magnetic, sticking to their armors). On the other hand the Passion magic can be the opposite, quick unexpected changes, directly related to the user's mood (a depressed user might start a rain storm, an angry one might start setting things on fire, etc.). I think it can result in an interesting world where some places are safer and more static, with a strong Logic influence, while the rest of the world is an ever changing wilderness inhabited by Passion influenced beasts and humans.
  24. I really like your observations! A few points by me: 1. Ym is most likely a Truthwatcher, since if I remember correctly, his spren told him he should "use the light" or something along thous lines when Nale came. Also, his spren is described like "specks of light", while Wyndle is described like growing vines and crystals. This can still work with your suggestion that maybe the spren looked for another candidate after Ym's death, since as you said Renarin cured his sight sometime during the book. 2. I think that you may find a pattern if you take the theory that each order as a certain percentage of Honor and Cultivation, with Bondsmiths and Truthwatchers as the "purest" orders. If you look at it like that, then we got 2 Honor-oriented Surgebinders (Kaladin and Dalinar) and 5 Cultivation-oriented Surgebinders (Ym, Lift, Jasnah, Shallan and Renarin). If, in the abstence of Honor, the Stormfather is in charge of the Honor-oriented spren, and he forbid them from bonding humans, while Cultivation is ether approving, or at least not against it (she might be the mother Wyndle refers to), it explains why there are more known bonded Cultivation spren than Honor spren. Also, it might explain why there is one (known) honorspren bonded, but no highspren. Honorspren act according to what they view is right, and Syl might see breaking the Stormfather's word and bonding Kaladin as the right thing to do, while highspren act according to the law, and if the Stormfather's word is the law, they will not break it, no matter what. On the other hand, each group of Cultivation-oriented spren act as it sees fit, with the Cryptics sending Pattern, while the Jasnah's oil-spren acting against what his people think they should do.
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