I'm looking for a quote about Syl

[Sceptrell]

 

I (very) vaguely remember Kaladin was reflecting on Syl's wondering at everything, realizing that if it was childish, everyone could benefit from having a little more child in them. For the life of me I CANNOT find the quote and I've been searching for nearly two hours. Help?

So far I've this:

From chapter 64 of words of radiance, so the quote probably comes after that. 

"A little cremling that was creeping along the edge of the room. She

stood over it, eyes widening at the stark red and violet color of its shell.

Kaladin smiled. She was still a spren. Childlike. The world was a place

of wonder to Syl. What would that be like?"

(This irrelevant, but shouldn't this be children instead of childs? "We made snow forts as childs"(ch37 of Oathbringer))

Thanks in advance

Edited November 14, 2024 by Sceptrell

[Sceptrell]

"Syl took off to begin poking through the room, looking at each table.

Though he’d once seen her fascination as childlike, he’d evolved on that

idea. She was just curious, desirous to learn. If that was childlike, then

everyone needed more of it."

A guy on reddit found it for me, props to them

 

I never realized how often Brandon describes eyes as childlike, like almost every instance of "childlike" in all his writing is referring to eyes

 

 

[Treamayne]

31 minutes ago, Sceptrell said:

I never realized how often Brandon describes eyes as childlike, like almost every instance of "childlike" in all his writing is referring to eyes

It comes up often in SA, because it is a Shin stereotype (even when not describing a Shin, it's the cultural perception of rounded eyes).

32 minutes ago, Sceptrell said:

A guy on reddit found it for me, props to them

Congrats. I hadn't gotten to RoW yet, but for everybody else, here's the rest of the reference - RoW Ch 12:

Spoiler

A few other Windrunners and Radiants he knew were in attendance, though not many. Mostly it seemed to be common folk. Perhaps a higher than normal percentage of soldiers.

Syl took off to begin poking through the room, looking at each table. Though he’d once seen her fascination as childlike, he’d evolved on that idea. She was just curious, desirous to learn. If that was childlike, then everyone needed more of it.

She was fascinated by human beings. In a room like this one, Kaladin would often find her standing on a crowded table—unseen by the occupants—head cocked as she tried to imitate the mannerisms or expressions of one person or another.

 

[Through the Living Shadow he/him]

On 11/14/2024 at 2:50 PM, Sceptrell said:

I never realized how often Brandon describes eyes as childlike, like almost every instance of "childlike" in all his writing is referring to eyes

Like @Treamayne said, it’s related to the Shin, however, the actual reason it is called childlike is because non-Shin Rosharans developed a - forgot the name o’ it tho - part of their eyes that would make them narrower. I also forgot the exact reason, but… smt to do with light.

However, this grows with age, so the children would not have it.

[Treamayne]

10 minutes ago, SpiritOfWrath said:

a - forgot the name o’ it tho -

Epicanthic Fold

[Treamayne]

2 hours ago, Sceptrell said:

So non-Shin Rosharans generally look like a group of very diverse Asians? (Yes there are other ethnicities with epicanthic folds like Native Americans, but yes) 

Yes~ish. Most Rosharand would not look like any currently known race IRL. Perhaps it would be easier to say thta most Rosharan natives would seem, to us, to be mixed race. WoBs (some Edited for relevance) :

Spoiler

Quote

Questioner

So knowing that you're not likely going to get a chance to choose your own casting in Stormlight Archive, if you did who would you choose for Dalinar and Kaladin?

Brandon Sanderson

Oh boy, choosing Dalinar and Kaladin? I have no idea. The big problem with casting Dalinar and Kaladin is neither are Caucasian, and so... Like, casting the Alethi is going to be a really big challenge for the filmmaker. Do they just be like, "Alright, we're making everybody white because we don't know what else to do." Or are they going to because-- are they going to find a bunch of half-Asian, half-Middle Eastern actors? Because that's what the Alethi would look like to us, right? And so, how do you find an entire culture of people who have those specific-- I have no idea. Maybe they'll just go with Hispanic actors for them or something like that, I don't know. I have no idea. It would depend on what they decide to do for the ethnicities.

White Sand vol.1 release party (June 28, 2016)

Quote

Questioner

If you could have any actor play Kaladin, who would it be?

Brandon Sanderson

The Alethi are not Caucasian. They are, in my head, a blend of something Middle Eastern and Asian. My model for Kaladin (I chose a headshot, just so I can have it in my head, just to get the general feel), is part Hawaiian, part Japanese, part Arab. And so... we'll see what they can come up with. I'm interested. But I don't have a specific actor chosen.

Arcanum Unbounded release party (Nov. 22, 2016)

Quote

Questioner

If you ever get the go for a movie or TV show, who do you want to pick as Kaladin?

Brandon Sanderson

Kaladin is a hard one to cast. Because all of the Alethi are going to be hard to cast, because they're basically half Japanese/half Arab... So I'm not sure. I've been thinking for Dalinar lately, the guy who plays Drax the Destroyer. He's half Filipino and he has just the right look for Dalinar. You gotta look at him not in his make up for Guardians of the Galaxy. Get a little silvering hair on him. That's my latest casting choice. But I do not have a Kaladin.

Footnote: Brandon is referring to Dave Bautista.
BookCon 2018 (June 1, 2018)

Quote

grampipon

Considering inside the hardcover Words of Radiance is a giant, extremely high quality, official art of [Shallan], and she totally looks like the northern european stereotype. We might need /u/mistborn for this, because sometimes even official artwork is a mess [with regards to ethnicity].

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah, I've had a tough time pushing to get the images to work like I want. (Oathbringer's cover was more successful here.) The problem is that a lot of artists work from models, and it's hard to find appropriate models.

I've let Shallan slide because I know that if the films get made, she's likely to be cast with a Caucasian actress--and am more ready to make a fight over Kaladin, Jasnah, and Dalinar. So I don't particularly mind if people see Shallan as white, for various reasons--the main one being the one that's been brought up in this thread, I believe. The fact that Vedens, Alethi, and Horneaters aren't real Earth races--and can't really be cast with them. Shallan, having all three bloods intermixed, makes for a difficult description--particularly since I know the average reader is going to peg her as Irish in complexion because of the hair.

I would say that it's all right to imagine the characters however you would like, as it's your version of the story in your head. The Whelan art in book two is how I think most people will imagine her, and I'm fine with that--I wish I'd been able to get Kaladin looking a little more right on the book two cover, though I was successful with Jasnah on book three.

Enasor

How would you cast Adolin? He's always been one I struggled to pinpoint too due to his blond hair and his mixed heritage. Blond hair and blue eyes do bring in given imagery which seems to clash with the Alethi racial identity. Or at least, it does to me as a reader. So how would you approach it while remaining faithful to your work?

Brandon Sanderson

I actually think Adolin could be somewhat easier than others.

When we make the movies, I'll probably suggest that we make anyone from Shin, Iri, or Rira (all along the coast there) look Caucasian. The books can handle a lot more of a learning curve, I feel, than the films--and we won't have things like the Interludes to jump over to Iri to explore their culture. So a race of strange, golden-skinned and haired people who ALSO aren't native to Roshar (different from the Caucasians in Shinovar) might just be too odd.

The Rirans, which Adolin comes from, are already a mixed ethnicity themselves--not even Iriali, so it's fine to make them Caucasian. So Adolin could be cast white, if they really want to. Basically, I'm expecting it to be a bit of a fight to get them to cast four of the leads (Kaladin/Dalinar/Jasnah/Navani) as Asian actors. Maybe I'll be wrong, but from what I've heard from actors in Hollywood, directors and studios are hesitant about not being able to cast known names in big roles. (Ignoring the fact that's hard for Asian American actors to become big names if they aren't ever given big roles...)

So, I can imagine allowing them to go with someone Caucasian for Adolin and Shallan, in exchange for pushing the rest of the cast to be how I'd like.

In a perfect world, though, I'd want someone like Dave Bautista for Dalinar--and someone like Alex Landi for Adolin. (Note that I'm not a casting director myself, so I have no idea who could act the role the right way--I'm just judging based on what I've seen of them in the past.)

Badloss

How would you differentiate the "weird" Caucasian Shin eyes from the others in that case?

Would you go for Alita Battle Angel eyes or something to make the Shin distinctive?

Brandon Sanderson

No, I wouldn't do that. In this theoretical land, the Iriali and those around them would also have Shin eyes. That's basically how it is in the text right now. (Drehy, from Bridge Four, for example isn't Shin--but he's mentioned as looking like a person from "Western Roshar" which means Caucasian to them.)

Badloss

Why do people think Szeth's eyes are creepy and "child-like" if Caucasian eyes are more prevalent on Roshar than being a uniquely Shin characteristic? I read it as the eyes being an exotic and strange Shin thing, just like their animals and plants.

Brandon Sanderson

They are exotic and strange. A pure-blooded Shin is a rare sight, and the way I have it now, even westerners like Drehy are mixed breeds. Even then, someone like them would not be something you see often. But at the same time, it might not be as rare as you think. Like encountering an American when in Japan. Something that happens regularly, but they still stand out. And many people from the rural parts of Alethkar would never have seen one.

General Reddit 2019 (May 24, 2019)

 

Also, culturally, the Alethi are based on the Mongols during the Golden Hoard period (during and after Ghengis, during expansion and empire).

Spoiler

Quote

Questioner

I teach at university, and I had to grade a paper about Way of Kings. It dealt with Colonial and post-colonial structures, religion, fashion, and language. Did you do that consciously or subconsciously, especially the colonization part?

Brandon Sanderson

It's very conscious, that part. The Alethi are in part, based on the Mongols, particularly when the Mongols invaded China, then became Chinese culture, which I find a very fascinating period in history, where the Mongols became a Chinese Dynasty, they actually also became an Arab dynasty over in the Near East. It was just this really interesting thing. So you've got colonialism before colonialism happening there. And I was very aware with the subtext of the Parshendi being a major theme of a people that didn't just enslaved a people, they enslaved them and took away their minds, that I couldn't shy away from dealing with these topics and these concepts. You see as the series progresses, it becomes-- You've got people like Kaladin who are essentially good people, but not understanding at all even their own biases, which is how we all are. These are things I want to deal with, because I find them interesting. They're important now, but it's, I think, important to how humans work and interact and see the world. Because I think this has been happening since the beginning of our history as human beings. And so it's something that is fascinating to me, and something that I think a lot of us wrestle with, and I wanted my characters to deal with that.

Bonn Signing (May 15, 2019)

Quote

Sebtub

I've you say in other interviews that the Stormlight Archives was your go at a big epic everything's-on-the-table fantasy series. But was there any particular series or religion or myths that inspired the story?

Brandon Sanderson

There's a whole bunch going on. You will find a whole lot of Eastern shamanism, like shinto or things like that, built around the idea of everything having a spren. That is one obvious influence.

Another one is Plato's theory of the Forms (from the Phaedrus, I believe it is), and this idea of different realms of existence directly became Realmatic theory, which is the Physical, Spiritual, and Cognitive of the books. He just had two; I ended up with three. But you can directly trace that to Plato.

A lot of the Alethi culture came from me wanting to build something based off of my research into the Mongol people, particularly during the time of Genghis Khan. But I took away the horses; you don't have cavalries on Roshar to the extent that you would on Earth. And I thought that was really interesting, because most people who base anything on the Mongols go with the whole horse lords things to the point that it's become a cliche. So I'm like, "What if I strip that away, and I'm forced to look at other nuances of their culture?" Particularly, I love the moment (trying to remember what the name of the dynasty was) where the Mongols conquered China, and then basically became a dynasty in China and became basically another Chinese government. The Chinese were used to this idea, that different people take over, the bureaucrats start serving them instead, and the big machine that is China keeps going with a new Dynasty in charge; now they're Mongols. That's really cool to me. And this idea of the Alethi as this famous infantry, this conquering infantry, that (also kind of you see this in Dalinar) have to, in some ways, settle down and rule an empire now that they have one. That's really cool to me, that's really interesting. And that's probably one of the most direct things you can point to Mongol culture for, is this idea. But also kind of, I feel like when people do a warrior culture in fantasy, too often 1) they all feel alike in some ways, and I didn't like that. I wanted to do where you were reading through the eyes of people who were from what I thought was a nuanced, realistic warrior culture. And you didn't realize until you were partway through the book, you were like, "This is a warrior culture! This is, like Klingons. These are the bad guys to a lot of people's eyes!" But it's more nuanced, it's not one note, and so you've got a lot of variety in the culture and a lot of people to it, and a lot of different opinions and perspectives that you may not even notice.

YouTube Livestream 1 (Jan. 11, 2020)

 

Hope that helps

[Returned he/him]

I don't have time to hunt down the quote right now (and other posters will probably supply it before I have a chance). But as for the "snow forts" quote, that's a line stated by Rock, and his Alethi is consistently and conspicuously imperfect. This is another in a very long line of his improper (but still understandable) grammar. By the rules of English grammar it should be "children", but because Rock often doesn't get his Alethi grammar right it's "correct" for his dialogue to be grammatically incorrect.

Edited November 14, 2024 by Returned

[Sceptrell]

Ah lol, mb. I was just scrolling through every mention of the word "child" and "wonder" in every stormlight archive book, but maybe I missed the quote.

I'll definitely find it if I scroll through every "Syl", but do I want it badly enough?

[NoDiscoBallz He/he (:]

I FOUND IT!!!!!!!

PAGE 167 OF RHYTYM OF WAR!!!!!!!!

[Sceptrell]

9 hours ago, SpiritOfWrath said:

Like @Treamayne said, it’s related to the Shin, however, the actual reason it is called childlike is because non-Shin Rosharans developed a - forgot the name o’ it tho - part of their eyes that would make them narrower. I also forgot the exact reason, but… smt to do with light.

However, this grows with age, so the children would not have it.

So non-Shin Rosharans generally look like a group of very diverse Asians? (Yes there are other ethnicities with epicanthic folds like Native Americans, but yes) 

 

Adding this to my list of conversation-starters...