Okay but excuse you, we need to talk about this

[FeatherWriter she/her]

Pokémon X/Y info under the cut. Not spoilers, but I know people are sensitive to that kind of stuff.

 

 

Okay, I knew Honedge was Nightblood-esque, BUT THIS IS GETTING A LITTLE RIDICULOUS.

 

[Kurkistan he/him]

Not to diffuse your rage, but soul-drinking swords have been par for the course in fantasy for awhile now.

[FeatherWriter she/her]

Oh, it's not rage. It was crazy fangirl excitement. I suppose the tumblr-speak kinda comes across strangely to those who are not accustomed to... everything being talked about like that. I think it's the coolest thing ever. I refuse to stop seeing Cosmere references - intentional or not - everywhere.

 

I really didn't care about Pokemon before, but now I kinda want it for Honedge alone... *doesn't have the requisite gaming system though, so it's pretty much a moot point.*

[Kurkistan he/him]

Ah. Rage is Excitement. Freedom is Slavery. War is Peace. Got it. 

 

*Backs very slowly away from Tumblr*

Edited October 17, 2013 by Kurkistan

[FeatherWriter she/her]

Haha, not all shouting is rage, Kurk! Cosmere stuff just warrants capslock sometimes!

 

And fear not the tumblr... It is a wonderful place filled with art and ships and currently, well, multiple thesis papers being written about the character development and motivations of quite a few of the Stormlight characters. Namely, Shallan, Renarin, and Kaladin. 

 

There is so much literary analysis going on in the cosmere fandom right now. I can't quite handle or respond to it all. But it's awesome.

[Mailliw73 he/him]

Hey Feather, I saw your profile on the Coppermind and checked out your content blog. Just wanted you to know, you have thoroughly convinced me of Shallarin.

[FeatherWriter she/her]

I literally just did a celebratory dance at my computer. WELCOME ABOARD THE S.S. SHALLARIN! 

 

Good to know I'm convincing someone. I'm getting attacked by these Kalarin shippers on all sides! Gotta keep up! 

 

But no lie, this whole "Great Cosmere Shipping War" thing is really coming up with some beautiful meta for our little fandom. While I don't agree with all the shipping arguments, Kogiopsis' and Lunarubato's analyses of these characters are really showing dedication and contextual awareness, which... you know is not something you get from many fandoms outside of tumblr. 

 

I almost feel like I should find some way to mirror all our different essays and mini-essays over here, but I haven't because I can't figure out a good way to display it over here. 17S is more about theories than literary and character analysis... I don't even know if anyone else would be interested.

[Kurkistan he/him]

But, but, theories!

 

*Crawls off into corner to scrawl incorrect physics onto the wall*

 

You know my feelings on this matter, Feather. 

[FeatherWriter she/her]

Hey, quite a bit of it isn't romance discussion. It's like "let's break down the real motivations and possibilities for character development and growth with textual back-up" which we're all pretty much agreeing on. And then differing theories on how those problems and issues are going to be solved in the future. Kalarin shippers think that Kaladin and Renarin's character growth arcs (struggling with the images of Vorin masculinity and concepts of brotherhood) would work better together, I think that Shallan's and Renarin's (subverting restricting gender roles and self-confidence growth) would. 

 

It is theorizing! Just... with character development and relationships rather than the magic systems! Which is really cool. 

[Mailliw73 he/him]

It is pretty cool, here check out Feather's Guide to Shallarin post. BTW, Feather I revived your Cosmere OTP post, sorry Kurk

[Kurkistan he/him]

Sorry if I sounded negative there, I was (mostly) kidding.

 

This is odd for me of all people to say, but I think that such in-depth character-analysis might take some of the enjoyment out of reading the books, at least for me. I feel comfortable "spoiling" all this magic-system stuff for myself because it's ultimately just the framework in which the characters and stories do their thing. But having theories and beliefs and whatnot that hinge on the core of the story is a bit more fundamental.

 

For instance: There've been a few WoB's that I was just "huh?" with, or tidbits that contradicted rather dearly-held theories of mine. But I can (usually) move on because I don't have any emotional attachment to those theories beyond, possibly, that of a passionate academic. But if my understanding of a character were to be betrayed, I might feel a bit more strongly.

 

Possible example: Right now I'd be willing to eat my hat if time-bubble object-acceleration isn't based on frame-of-reference. It's just what makes sense, and I see anything else as either contrived or contradictory. But I'd probably (after a long period of recovery) be fine with it if Brandon said it worked differently. I can't say that if I'd be able to get over Brandon "pulling a Mat" (to use a rather harsh example) with a character that I had a strong and well-founded a belief about the nature of, though.

 

Is any of this making sense, or am I just a curmudgeonly magic-monger who should stop being a curmudgeon? 

Edited October 17, 2013 by Kurkistan

[Kadrok she/her]

Wait wait wait... are you telling me there is a place where even more cosmere literary analysis is happening?! Because I feel left out whenever these geniuses start churning out formula and physics, but I poop literary analysis for breakfast! (Wow. Mixed metaphors there... but... it kind of works). Where is this magical utopia?!

[Kurkistan he/him]

Not you too Kads! Not you too...  ( )

Edited October 17, 2013 by Kurkistan

[FeatherWriter she/her]

"But expectations were like fine pottery. The harder you held them, the more likely they were to crack."

The Way of Kings, Ch. 3

 

I totally get it, Kurk. I used to not be a theorizer at all, magic or characters or anything. I'd just take whatever came and be happy with it. Because when you start having expectations, you're gonna be disappointed when they don't come out like you thought.  I think I'm still that way, a bit though. I mean, if Shallarin doesn't become canon, I don't think I'd be any more upset than if Shalash turns out not to be Baxil's Mistress. It's just sort of another theory. And especially in the case of ships where the characters have not actually interacted with one another - which is the camp that both Shallarin and Kalarin find themselves in right now, the fun is all in finding the potentials. (Even Fruity's very strange Wit/Kaladin and Wit/Renarin ships have more canon interaction than Shallarin or Kalarin. *sobs*)

 

Aaah, and Harmony, Will linked to my post. Thanks for that! In the interest of fairness, I'll link to the major posts from the Kalarin camp as well, so you guys can see what I'm up against. Kogi's first response, her second, and Emma's first. (They're the group that did the recording from the signing in Beaverton BTW. All definitely cool peeps.)

 

Whoops, this post about Nightblood and Pokemon has certainly turned into a discussion about the Great Cosmere Shipping War, hasn't it. Oops. (Sorry not sorry)

 

EDIT: I should just go start a storming thread in the Cosmere theories board, shouldn't I? 

 

Edited October 17, 2013 by FeatherWriter

[Kadrok she/her]

Not you too Kads! Not you too...  ( )

Literally laughed out loud.

[Kurkistan he/him]

@Feather

 

Good work on the topical WoK quote.

 

I guess I just fear a bit of over-investment on my own part, then. I'll just leave you crazy kids to it and tend to my lawn.

 

@Kads

 

You laugh at my pain!?!  

Edited October 17, 2013 by Kurkistan

[FeatherWriter she/her]

I count "Ability to find a relevant Cosmere quote for most situations" among my greatest skills. Put it on the job apps, right? (You don't even want to know how many literary essays I turn in to my professors that have Branderson quotes in them...

[Mailliw73 he/him]

Yeah, even after those Kallarin posts, I still think Shallarin is a much better choice.

[Claincy he/him]

One of the minor bonuses of running non-canon role-playing games. If you think they should be together? Put them together

[FeatherWriter she/her]

For those wanting to know more about the "Great Cosmere Shipping War," I went ahead and made an actual post about it here: http://www.17thshard.com/forum/topic/4350-a-bit-of-character-analysis-from-the-flipside-of-the-fandom/.

 

So, all discussion about this should probably head over there! (Poor Warbreaker forum! I did not mean to throw you off topic so quickly!)

[Gamma Fiend he/him]

After seeing this, I immediately told me friend to get one and name it "Nightblood". And then read Warbreaker, of course.

[FeatherWriter she/her]

Matt on tumblr is running a team that has both a Honedge named Nightblood and... some kind of fairy type named Sylphrena. http://elementnumber46.tumblr.com/post/64846348480/beat-the-coumarine-city-gym-thats-a-good-place

[Ete'ni]

There is one anime - a pretty popular one - that has a sword that can change itself into an elephant. So I think it's a coinsidence. Or maybe not but some mangaka probably had a lot of fun.

 

oh, by the way the same manga/anime had a character that could change her weight at will... And a guy that could tranform into a dinosaur. And a lot of other wierdoes including one magnet guy...

 

So, I don't think they were feeding on Sanderson's inventions. They have their own resources.

[FeatherWriter she/her]

(Haha, yeah I don't think it's a deliberate shout-out. Just a very fun coincidence!)

[Ete'ni]

_{Well, it is fun but - just trust me on that matter - it's pure coinsidence. At least conserning Nightblood. There's even a manga/anime that base on a matter of sucking energy out of poeple. I think it came up around nineties, and anime came out 2002-2005 probably. At least that's what wiki says.}

 

_{Nah... actually "sandersonian" is a funnier matter...}