FeatherWriter

I'm still not completely sold on the spren are of Cultivation theory, but I suppose that my theory works with it as well. But yes, Honorspren are regular spren who have picked up splinters. Hmm, maybe Syl used to be a windspren but got transformed into a Protectionspren or Leadershipspren or whatever. I always wondered why Kaladin couldn't tell she looked different from regular windspren. Maybe she's still looks like one. Syl is to Windspren as Returned are to Humans. She probably looks a little different, but not enough that a human would notice.

Yes, but there was something more as well. Otherwise Vin would have Ascended the first time she took in the mists on the night she killed the Lord Ruler. She wasn't ready at that point. I'd guess at some point during Book 3, she became fully in tune with Preservation, so the only thing standing in the way was her earring. Once Marsh took care of that, everything else fell into place.

I also have a strong feeling that the Highstorms (or whatever causes them) are related to the impermanent seasons as well. In order for their seasons to work like ours - planet tilt and all that - Roshar would have to be really off balance in a very unstable way. I have a feeling The Weeping, the period at the end of the year with light constant rain with one highstorm at the middle - is more important than we've given it credit for being.

Hmm. To match up with Chaos' Principle of Intent, it could be that those who are most in sync with the shards intent that get the most connection with the shards' messages and powers. So Dalinar is getting the visions from Honor because he is extremely honorable. Kaladin gets smaller ones too: riding the highstorm is the one I'm thinking of, and it struck me as similar to Dalinar's because Bridge Four had to hold him down during the highstorm to keep him from going out and couldn't wake him up. So that would mean Vin was chosen by Preservation because she has a strong sense of preservation. Which works, because throughout the books she's very much about protecting and keeping things safe, from self-preservation at the beginning to a wanting to protect Elend and the crew, to a sense that she needs to preserve all of humanity, at which point she was able to take the shard.

Silus, am I allowed to give you awesome points for that link? Because it deserves some. If not, have a cookie.

Okay. I just had a wierd thought. (And it works with my Honor like Adonalsium theory, so I like it). The idea that only the Honorspren (what I call bondable spren, including the symbol heads, because I think Syl is actually a more specific type) are splinters falls short because, like Chaos said, why do they go back to acting like regular spren when their not bonded? What if the Honorspren aren't splinters? What if they have splinters? It bugged me that the spren as splinters were sentient because the Divine breaths aren't sentient, they attach themselves to sentience. So spren are spren, but certain types (Honorspren) have splinters! When they're not using that splinter to bond with a human, then they just act like normal spren. Returned are different from other humans because they have splinters. Honorspren are different from the other spren because they have splinters. Seems like we made a similar mistake when we thought the Returned were splinters, so why are we making the same assumption?

Commonly Espoused works for me. It's a good theory and makes sense! I wonder if we could get a list of Espousable theories somewhere. I'd love to look through them sometime...

I'm not allowed to be happy Silus. TV Tropes has ruined my life. Also, you're welcome for the link. I've been told it's like rickrolling but you're trapped all day.

I'm with Chaos on the Preservation/Ruin thing. Sorta. I think the shards probably work better together, since they were originally two parts of the same whole. In a weird sort of metaphor, it's like rock paper scissors. If Preservation beats Ruin and Ruin beats Preservation, you wouldn't want to play the game because it's pointless. But if you've got both then they just become tools. You can use Preservation when you need to and Ruin when you need to. Like the old saying, "Too much of anything is a bad thing. Everything's better in moderation." Did that make any sense at all?

I was a WoT-er too. I picked up Mistborn first, then Elantris, then Warbreaker. I've been obsessed ever since.

Sorry, Puck, perhaps I was just super naive the first time I read, and this time will be better! Also, AWESOME POINTS? For me?

I don't know about Teft. Rereading, there seems to be a lot more to him than meets the eye, but I don't really feel the scholar/write a book vibe from him. I like the idea that it's Shen. That'd be a really fun twist.

Alright, as soon as I finish WoK, I'm re-starting Elantris!

Well, to be more clear, I read Elantris once, but it was as soon as I finished the Mistborn trilogy, and I didn't really like it as much. I never really connected with Sarene or Raoden, but I suppose I should give it another shot. Also, *ducks spike* I knew it!

Oh, yeah. That was me... I finally finished it too! There's so much great stuff in there. Also I think I've decided that unless he ever outright states that it never happened, I am holding to the belief that somewhere down the road, Sazed figured out the put-souls-in-bodies thing and gave Vin and Elend another, more peaceful life somewhere away from everyone else. Because that is just sickeningly heartwarming. If anyone deserves it, it's those two. But not Kelsier. I'm fairly sure Saze would never trust Kel to keep a non-intervention policy. As soon as Kel got re-incarnated he'd jump on the first train to Elendel and widely proclaim "Hey, it's me, the Survivor! I'm back from the dead again!" Cue Sazed facepalming and sending the kandra off to kill him again before he causes more trouble. (Random note: Can shardholders still facepalm? Maybe it's nexuspalm or something...)

I know I've already told you, Chaos, but the line about there's no way Preservation would be some kind of loser mist spirit is HILARIOUS in hindsight.

Alright, so I suppose I should try to introduce myself, despite the fact that I have already spammed the General Theory boards with my nonsense (Watch out Stormlight boards, I'm coming for you next!). That and Chaos suggested that I do so. And from the "meet the staff" post by Shiv, I am now convinced that he and the other admins are Inquisitors and are after me! (Don't spike me, guys!) My name's Alyx (Yes, spelled like the Alyx from Half-Life), but you can also call me Feather. I'm in high school, and an aspiring author. If you'd like to see some of my writing (not that good, I'm sure) you can find some on my deviantart. The Sovereign States audition is probably my best. Be warned, there is Twilight fanfiction up from the dark Pre-Wheel-of-Time days. I shudder to remember that phase. I'm a bit of a grammar nazi, so don't take it personally if I correct you; it's kind or a knee-jerk thing. I love languages and speak French fairly well, and I want to learn more. I'm considering becoming a linguist or translator as a profession. I love the Alethi language, their alphabet in particular and am trying to learn to write it. It takes lots of practice! As you can read above, Wheel of Time is what pulled me out of my crazy Twilight phase, and it's also how I heard about Brandon. When I heard he was finishing the series, I picked up Mistborn and was hooked. I've read all of his books multiple times - except Elantris, which for some reason I never got into. Maybe I should give it another shot. Don't ask me to pick a favorite, because it's whichever I'm reading at the moment! I also love to read aloud, and I read to my sister on occasion. So far, we've read Warbreaker and Mistborn 1, and we're working our way through Well of Ascension. (Elend just got deposed! Oh no!) She maintains a firm belief that Kelsier is not dead, and it's become something of an inside joke that Kelsier is actually behind everything that's going on. Kelsier is leading both Cett and Straff's armies. Zane is also Kelsier (Look the scars match!). And Hoid? He's Kelsier too. Makes me eager for when we get to Hero of Ages and "Kelsier" starts giving Spook advice. I suppose that's me in a nutshell. Any questions?

I've been thinking about the safehand and standards of modesty in Vorin cultures for a while. I've come to the conclusion that the safehand is about the same level of modesty as the midriff- not completely off limits, but expected to be covered in proper society. It's also a fairly good similarity in regards to the male-female biforcation. Men can walk around shirtless, but women are expected to cover up. Also it's common for the prostitutes to leave their safe hands uncovered and the waitresses at the less-than-family-friendly establishment Szeth was in were un-gloved as well. Just interesting I suppose.

That's very true. Brandon does such a good job of showing that the symmetry thing is saturated in Vorin culture, but without being hamhanded about it. I think it's all so pretty though. I've kinda started subconsciously checking names and such for symmetry whenever I meet a new character.

Alright, got it, thanks Silus. I guess my brain just automatically filed "three lashings = one power" and with Soulcasting sounding like Windrunning my brain just kinda jumped to conclusions. Little off the wall question, you can probably file it under "silly": If Kelsier ever traveled to Roshar would he join the Devotary of Sincerity? The whole "There's always more answers to be found" thing sounds a lot like "There's always another secret."

Okay, that's reassuring. At first I was afraid no one was posting because y'all were afraid to tell me how silly or stupid my theory was. I suppose I'm going to espouse this one now...

Dang it! Stop making me question my questioning of my assumptions!

I'm fairly certain that the lighteyes thing is related to Stormlight and the Radiants like Silus said. Szeth mentions that his eyes change color when he's wielding his shardblade. It's said that receiving a shardblade will physically change your eye color, as young Kaladin talks of winning a shardblade so that he can be a lighteyes and marry Laral. Also, when Teft gives Kaladin stormlight while he's unconcious after the highstorm, we see that: And yet, in the next Kaladin chapter, when Sigzil is talking about the crew thinking Kaladin is secretly noble, he uses the word "lighteyes," to which, Kaladin informs us:

All of the Silver Kingdoms Epoch nations are Alethi palindromes. (remember the "th" "ch" and "sh" sounds are each one letter in Alethi) Even Valhav- someone mentions it in the book as such. Kabsal maybe? I would assume that the h is there for English pronunciation purposes. Although I think Natanatan should get extra credit because it's a four part palindrome (each mirrored half is also a palindrome) One of the names for the Almighty, Elithanathile, is one of the longest single-word palindromes in the book. All glyphs are vertically symmetrical, and the written Alethi script is horizontally symmetrical around the line on which it is written.(except for vowels for some reason, they don't have a bottom connecting line). Many lighteyes names are very close to being palindromes; Kabsal mentions that Shallan's name is only one letter off. Four of the major cities; Akinah, Thalen City, Vedenar, and Kholinar; are built around naturally radially symmetrical rock formations. These exact shapes can also be reproduced in other natural ways, including cymatics, as Kabsal showed Shallan with his powder-on-a-metal-plate demonstration. The "ketek" form of poetry is somewhat of a palindrome with words instead of letters: something extremely difficult to do. Two appear in this book. One is the ketek from which we draw the names of the parts, "Above silence, the illuminating storms - dying storms - illuminate the silence above." The second is found in one of the epigraphs, “Radiant / of birthplace / the announcer comes / to come announce / the birthplace of Radiants.” I'm a little obsessed with catching the symmetry of everything. I find it beautiful and fascinating.

I don't know if there's a reason behind it. I know that there are some cultures which view different hands as clean and unclean, I just assumed that the safe/free hand thing was just an extrapolation from that. However, knowing Brandon, there actually is something big behind it.