Does Brandon hate barbers/hair stylists?

[one winged jhereg]

So I've noticed a trend in Sanderson works.  Good guys (especially the heroes we follow) have disheveled or messy or unkempt hair, or are bald.  Bad guys are usually very well groomed.  There are a few exceptions I admit (Dalinor I'm looking at you)  Has anyone else noticed this?  This leads me to believe that Adolin is the true unsung hero we should be watching in SA.  

[Toaster Retribution]

I just think its a coincidence. And Vin, Elend, Siri, Jasnah and Dalinar (as mentioned) all have styled hair as far as I remember. I suppose Susebron and Lightsong have as well. I think it depends on the character. Vasher for example is messy-looking. That is his style, that fits his character and his image. About Adolin, I think it fits the kind of carefree attitude he is trying to show.

[one winged jhereg]

Vin starts of with a horrible "boyish" haircut that she mentions Reen just hacked at, and Elend is specifically described with messy disheveled hair in the first few meetings between he and Vin.  Spirit and Serene go both lose their hair to the Sheod and Galladon is always bald.  As for Siri, Dalinar and Jasnah (and her mother too) they are the exception that proves the rule.  

[Cartographer7]

Vin and Elend may start with messy hair, but spend the majority of the series being some level of put together. It's an interesting thought but I don't think it holds up.

[Elenion]

On 8/8/2016 at 10:51 AM, one winged jhereg said:

So I've noticed a trend in Sanderson works.  Good guys (especially the heroes we follow) have disheveled or messy or unkempt hair, or are bald.  Bad guys are usually very well groomed.  There are a few exceptions I admit (Dalinor I'm looking at you)  Has anyone else noticed this?  This leads me to believe that Adolin is the true unsung hero we should be watching in SA.  

9 hours ago, Chull #445 said:

I just think its a coincidence. And Vin, Elend, Siri, Jasnah and Dalinar (as mentioned) all have styled hair as far as I remember. I suppose Susebron and Lightsong have as well. I think it depends on the character. Vasher for example is messy-looking. That is his style, that fits his character and his image. About Adolin, I think it fits the kind of carefree attitude he is trying to show.

I attribute it to these characters' backgrounds: most Sanderson characters don't grow up in ideal circumstances and spend their time dodging Investiture instead of doing their hair.

[one winged jhereg]

oh well, i wasn't that invested in this theory anyway   just looking for anything to provide proof Adolin will be the Big Hero of SA when it's all wrapped up

[Cartographer7]

2 hours ago, one winged jhereg said:

 just looking for anything to provide proof Adolin will be the Big Hero of SA when it's all wrapped up

Why is that? Just curious.

[Fedcomic]

On 8/8/2016 at 11:51 AM, one winged jhereg said:

So I've noticed a trend in Sanderson works.  Good guys (especially the heroes we follow) have disheveled or messy or unkempt hair, or are bald.  Bad guys are usually very well groomed.  There are a few exceptions I admit (Dalinor I'm looking at you)  Has anyone else noticed this?  This leads me to believe that Adolin is the true unsung hero we should be watching in SA.  

Just look at the dude's coiffure.  Brandon is a worthy exemplar in many things, but I think no one will ever accuse him of being immaculately styled.

[asterion137]

Many of his protagonists are outcasts of society.

[Sunbird]

@Fedcomic Maybe not immaculately, but it's not like he looks like a hobo or a slob either.

[maxal]

On 8/9/2016 at 3:54 AM, Chull #445 said:

About Adolin, I think it fits the kind of carefree attitude he is trying to show.

About Adolin, it may also be linked to the fact he has little pure Alethi hair. Since Alethi are modeled after Asian, I always took it most of them had sleek, straight hair which never get messy, but Adolin takes after his Riran mother... I thus suspect it isn't just his hair color which clashes but his hair type as well: they are naturally fluffy and messy. He needs a ton of hair product to put them into his stylish hair do, otherwise they just look unruly.

Brandon confirmed recently how Alethi didn't care about skin color, but they did care about hair and eyes. It is why everyone keeps on commentating on Adolin's hair, because they stand out and nobody comments over the fact he is paler skinned than most Alethi (also confirmed by WoB). It sure stands out as well, but it is not important to them, so it never gets mentioned.

[Ari]

On 10/08/2016 at 6:11 AM, one winged jhereg said:

oh well, i wasn't that invested in this theory anyway   just looking for anything to provide proof Adolin will be the Big Hero of SA when it's all wrapped up

Adolin will be an awesome character whether or not he ends up a Radiant. In fact, there's worse arcs for him than having to come to terms with being the fianceé of someone more magical than he is, and find his own way to be relevant in a family where basically everyone is a Radiant or royalty or both.

[maxal]

13 hours ago, Ari said:

Adolin will be an awesome character whether or not he ends up a Radiant. In fact, there's worse arcs for him than having to come to terms with being the fianceé of someone more magical than he is, and find his own way to be relevant in a family where basically everyone is a Radiant or royalty or both.

The problem with Adolin isn't potential: as a character he has a lot of untapped potential. The problem lies with the fact he isn't a character the author feels he needs to focus on. Adolin is therefore doomed to remain a side character which implies we aren't going to dig into his personal issues in much depth. The author doesn't think Adolin needs a lot of pages to develop himself while I, as a reader, think he needs a lot more than he is currently getting if he is to truly become awesome.

It goes back to introverted/extroverted characters and the all-acknowledge preconception extroverted characters do not require development because they aren't withholding information. Adolin's conflicts are external, not internal and somehow, it makes him uninteresting for a front runner role because he lack secrets to uncover. 

It is thus I do not know how awesome Adolin's character will end up being. I'd love to read him having to deal with his lack of magical abilities, but he just doesn't have enough page time to truly have an interesting full arc to read.

[Cartographer7]

At the very least though, we know Adolin's not going to just fade into the background. For the near future, the fact that he (WoR spoiler)

Spoiler

killed Sadeas

ensures that he's going to get at least some focus.

Edited August 26, 2016 by Cartographer7

[Ari]

Adolin has had a lot of focus on him. I'm not sure that we've been reading the same book, lol. I didn't find him under-developed either. In fact, it felt a lot as if he actually was witholding information despite being an extrovert, but we'll see. He has plenty of potential for interesting character development from here.

[maxal]

18 minutes ago, Ari said:

Adolin has had a lot of focus on him. I'm not sure that we've been reading the same book, lol. I didn't find him under-developed either. In fact, it felt a lot as if he actually was witholding information despite being an extrovert, but we'll see. He has plenty of potential for interesting character development from here.

 It is great to read other readers perspective, I love this post. For my part, I thought he lacked focus in the sense many of his own story arcs weren't properly resolved and seemed to exist merely to serve Kaladin. For instance, why didn't we get closure on him being betrayed by his friends in the 4 on 1 duel? Had it happen to Kaladin, we would have gotten 4 chapters focusing on the aftermath, but since it is Adolin we have none. Perhaps it is the author's perspective nothing else deserved to be said, but I thought a lot was left out. How relationships play out is crucial when working with extroverted characters and while they may spill their beans more easily, finding out he had absolutely no friend should have been made a bigger deal. The conflicts with the existing characters are what is interesting when working with characters such as Adolin, but the author prefers to tell those form the POV of others, much to my personal dismay.

There is also the fact all of the best arcs I have envisioned for his character will certainly need more than 20-30K to pan out in a satisfying way. I'd be happy if he were to settled at 50-60K in terms of word count, but this is highly unlikely to happen. The Lift novella is likely to have more words than Adolin's entire arc in book 3 and she is a 13 years old girl... Sigh.

I too felt he was withholding a lot, about himself: not secrets so to speak, but anxiety and fears. Unfortunately, the author doesn't seem to think this is secretive enough to require a stronger focus. We'll see how it'll pan out, but it is never really encouraging, for those who love Adolin and had wish for him to grow into an important character, to read updates on SA3.

[Ari]

I think the difference is that Adolin's friendships are superficial, wheras Kaladin's are real. Adolin is finding out, like Kaladin already knows, that most other lighteyes are superficial and not worth knowing, lol.

I think we probably have a pretty similar perspective on this, just that I'm not as bothered by it, knowing there are eight books for Adolin to build deep relationships. He's one of those extraverts that isolates himself with friends that don't really relate to him and needs to "find himself" by making new connections. It's on of the reasons that like you I'm shipping him and Shallan, I want them at minimum to be besties if not actually get married.

[maxal]

6 hours ago, Ari said:

I think the difference is that Adolin's friendships are superficial, wheras Kaladin's are real. Adolin is finding out, like Kaladin already knows, that most other lighteyes are superficial and not worth knowing, lol.

I think we probably have a pretty similar perspective on this, just that I'm not as bothered by it, knowing there are eight books for Adolin to build deep relationships. He's one of those extraverts that isolates himself with friends that don't really relate to him and needs to "find himself" by making new connections. It's on of the reasons that like you I'm shipping him and Shallan, I want them at minimum to be besties if not actually get married.

Precisely. Adolin's friendships are superficial and he is just starting to realize this while Kaladin already knows. Therefore why does the focus remains on Kaladin whenever the story broached those subjects? It seems to me Adolin's POV should be use more often (and would be more interesting) as we barely have his thoughts on the matter (while we do not need to further expand on what Kaladin thinks on the matter): a few sentences here and there, but we aren't getting his mental dilemma. We are merely being told he feels for having no friends, but it isn't expended on whereas every single thought Kaladin has is the subject of a tight focus even if they aren't tied to secrets or anything. This is why I say Adolin lacks focus and, unfortunately, based on what the author has said, this will not change. While Brandon likes Adolin and is pleased as to how he is turning out, he still believes he doesn't need more focus or more page time. He feels the few chapters he has are enough to flesh out the character. My perspective, as a reader, is different as I feel too much was left out. If I take Kaladin, for example, I am very little questions to ask: everything was spelled out already, but Adolin? I just don't have the right pieces to finish my puzzle, but what bothers me even more is the fact the author doesn't think there is a puzzle to begin with. Thus Adolin is just a good, normal, solid guy without much to worry about: there is just nothing to explore, nothing to focus on. Such a discrepancy in between how the author views his own character and how I, as a reader, view him is baffling.

There is no telling if Adolin will even play a role within the back five... We must keep in mind he wasn't supposed to play a role in the first five to begin with, much less the back five. I thus do not have any hopes of keeping on reading him pass the next three books. If he is around, he'd probably be a very minor POV-less character. I have to accept the fact Adolin does seem to be one of those characters the author feels compel to write about: he just doesn't seem to think he is interesting enough. At this point, it probably is personal preferences as to the kind of conflicts and characters the author enjoys writing and Adolin obviously is outside his niche. Sadly. 

I think Adolin is one of those extroverted who is afraid to fail and, at the same time, is craving for relationships. Thus, he tries to conform himself to others expectations thinking it will help him fit in better and thus succeed in his much needed relationships. As a result, while he talks to everyone, while everyone knows him, he has no friends at all and when push to shove, he is faced with this grim fact: nobody loves him. I had so wanted a fantasy author to try and tackle extroverted issues: it was so refreshing to read the making of one, I'm just disappointed to know it just won't be explored much further. 

I guess I am bothered by it because I find Adolin, at this point in time in the series, to be a more interesting character to read, especially considering how his story arc ended in WoR. I expected him to get a larger role going into book 3, so to find out the next book would, once again, focus tightly on Kaladin and not at all on Adolin, has been a huge disappointment. 

There are several reasons why I ship Adolin with Shallan: I want him to succeed in a relationship, I want the nice boy to get the girl as opposed to the dark mysterious dude and I do want them to have a flock of golden and red haired children in the back five