Subvisual Haze

I'm imagining a Cosmere-wide Youtube channel where wacky realmatic theorists stab strange objects with charged spikes to see what happens. Tonight on "WILL IT SPIKE?": we stab an identity spike into Khriss' iPhone to see if it changes the login PIN and facial recognition! Tune in, like, and subscribe!

Stormfather and Nightwatcher So tsundere!

I think the gem must form a temporary spiritual Connection between the dead spren and the wielder. Not a connection to the degree of Radiants, but just strong enough to summon and dismiss it. It's a temporary connection however, and relies on the gem to keep it functional. I think it's very likely that some sort of spren involved in Connection is trapped in the gem. If so, it's probably the tiny blue adhesion type spren we see when Kaladin uses Adhesion surge to stick two rocks together. Adhesion doesn't just stick objects together, it seem to temporarily create a spiritual connection so that the 2 objects are temporarily one object. It's kind of like the forgery magic system. It has the added benefit of being very easy to maintain though. Whether the spren is in the physical realm or dismissed into the cognitive realm, either way the passing Highstorms will provide regular stormlight to "recharge" the gem/spren/connection.

Great idea! In fact, I wonder if the 10 Honorblades recombined could function as a key to attune someone (and along with the investiture in the highstorm) to ascend and take control of the remnants of the Honor shard.

I would like to dub this genre "hope porn". I find it quite enjoyable and it's very easy to project my emotions onto the secondary characters who are in this awful place and state of mind when suddenly a charismatic savior appears among them and give them unexpected hope.

It is remarked that the Alethi are particularly tall even relative to other Rosharans. So there seems to be a height gradient east to west. It's likely something to do with the Highstorms then, the Highstorms slowly lose power as they pass east to west and have very little effect on Shinovar. !!!! What if this is the same phenomena behind Lift's short height? She probably asked in some vague way not to change (referring to her age/height) and somehow her Boon resulted in her metabolizing investiture directly out of food but conversely not using stormlight at all. The "immunity" to stormlight is stunting her growth relative to everyone else on Roshar?

He felt a little too much like an author self-insert or character clearly designed for nerds to identify with. Particularly in Book 2 when he was fighting for the affection of the girl against the bad boy character.

I agree that gravity is likely playing a part. I think the Stormlight itself may be playing a subtle part. We're told that plants can grow in the dark if illuminated by Stormlight, perhaps the near constant exposure to Stormlight is having subtle effects on human health and growth? Perhaps the fact that Roshar is a high oxygen environment also plays a part?

Half the cosmere calls it A-loo-mi-num and the other half Al-yoo-mi-nee-um. The inherent identity conflict on the cognitive realm causes the metal's unusual properties.

What is it with college and Bebop stories!? Me (playing Halo with a guy who lived in my dorm who was majoring in Japenese): So I heard you really love Anime? Guy: Oh God yes! [details his huge collection and all the shows he loves and offers to let me borrow anything] Me: I've only seen like 3 anime total, but they were pretty cool. What is your favorite? Guy: Cowboy Bebop! Me: Oh! That's one I've actually seen, that show was amazing! It was emotionally impactful how the whole series built towards [ending spoilers] Guy: WHAT!?

So steel spikes give one of the 4 physical allomancy powers depending on where they are placed. The chest spike seems logical for Pewterarm/Thug powers, as Spook also got Pewter powers when he was impaled in the chest area, so that seems right. Pewter making them strong enough to survive otherwise lethal spikings also makes sense. The eyes are interesting though. I wonder if the left and right eye grant different allomancy physical powers. Steel Push on one side, Iron Pull on the other? I wonder which one Kelsier has? And I wonder if other spikes have different functions on left vs. right side of the body. All inquisitors would also need a gold spike, which interestingly is dual purpose. The gold spike both grants the ability to use Hybrid Feruchemy (gold in this case) and also the spike itself would work as a metalmind for storing health. At least I think they all had gold spikes, it was remarked that they "rested" quite a bit, presumably charging their goldminds. A bronze spike somewhere would be necessary for the Seeker abilities that are so essential in Inquisitors. I'm guessing remaining inquisitor spikes were steel+bronze to grant the remaining physical+mental allomancer powers. The Lord Ruler's inquisitors had 11 spikes though. 8 allomancy spikes + 1 gold spike + ?. I wonder what the last two were. Presumably not further feruchemy powers as the Lord Ruler feared the potential effects of compounding being used against him. Could it be the more basic attribute stealing spikes like the kandra had (iron/tin/zinc/copper)?

They don't fight because they're both good people and would prefer to resolve their conflicts in a non-violent manner.

So the steel lynchpin functions like anti-rejection medications in organ transplant recipients?

Yep and just like Forgery I think the power of the lie is based on how detailed and probable it is. Rather than creating something purely false, you're creating an alternate perspective of the truth. In a way it seems very similar to alternate versions of self that an allomancer sees when they burn gold.

Yes, the wording there does seem rather purposefully ambiguous. It could also be read that Hoid previously struggled with mastering his Yolen based lightweaving power in a similar manner as Shallan. The question becomes whether the sentence "the shards here are very strict" is referring to just Shallan's current situation or Hoid's past experiences also.

It's so interesting how "apathy" has almost universally negative connotations in its current form, but its root Greek word apatheia meant something closer to serenity or peace of mind.

My guess is that it's the spirit of Nohadon himself. Hanging around in the cognitive realm post-death and now trying to help Dalinar behind the scenes by whispering thoughts into his mind at crucial moments.

I would actually guess they're bypassing spoken language and translation entirely and instead communicating ideas directly to one another. Similar to how Dalinar is able to communicate fluently with the Azish. Dalinar "hears" them speaking Alethi, they "hear" Dalinar speaking Azish.

I've always wondered if Honor's power might have been based on the moon Nomon rather than the planet proper. That might explain the drifting perpendicularity on Roshar's surface. Theoretically that would give him and Cultivation enough separation to satisfy the "not in the same place" requirement.

I thought it was a subtle indication of his pre-Ascension profession as a pimp.

I think Ambition's wounded shard may have temporarily hid on Ashyn. Between Arcanum Unbound and some WOBs, I think it might have played out like: Ambition starts out in the Threnody system. Odium attacks very early on, Ambition is severely wounded and flees leaving chaotic chunks of her power behind on Threnody. Odium can't find Ambition to finish her off, so he detours through Sel and splinters Dominion and Devotion. Ambition hides on Ashyn, hoping the close proximity to Honor+Cultivation will hide her. Odium discovers the location of Ambition, arrives in system to finish her off. He has no real plan to mess with Honor+Cultivation at this time. Ambition is wounded again, magical catastrophe strikes Ashyn, surviving humans seek shelter on Roshar. Unexpectedly Honor rises to Ambition's defense, now Odium is stuck on Braize by Honor+Cultivation's powers. Ambition leaves the system for parts unknown, is later finished off by an unknown 3rd part This chain of events would neatly tie up many tricky WOBs. Ashyn does not have a shard now, nor did it when Cultivation and Honor settled in the system. A shard could have briefly passed through though.

Dang, I think you're right on this. I just hit on this idea and searched to see if anyone else was thinking this way. Focusing on Maben is a bit of a stretch, but I kind of like this theory. Specifically I think Taravangian's inconspicuous maid Maben is the Herald Vedel incognito. Vedel was the Herald of surgeons and healers. She instructed new healers during desolations and the surgeon school in Kharbranth likely was founded by or dedicated to her. Her Divine Attributes are Loving and Healing. Her order of The Edgedancers were noted (in epigraphs and their oaths) to pay special care to the forgotten and powerless of society. It would be an interesting subversion/madness for Vedel to go from the instructor and expert healer of the many people into a simple nursemaid for a single King. She is still Loving and Healing (she's quite kind and gentle, patting Taravangian's shoulder when he's throwing a brilliant-jerk temper tantrum), but in a very different manner. I think it would also interestingly match with this WOB https://wob.coppermind.net/events/367/#e11589 Brandon might have been playing word games here (as he often likes to do in his answers). Taravangian may currently have both a Herald that is influencing him in Dova (Battar, or possibly a different Herald), and a different Herald in close (physical) proximity in Maben (Vedel).

Did you ever hear the Tragedy of High Prince Dalinar the Blackthorn? I thought not. It's not a story the Radiants would tell you. It's a Singer legend. Dalinar was a High Prince of the Alethi, so powerful and so angry he could use the thrill to defeat opponents with shardplate and shardblade... He had such a mastery of the thrill that he could keep the family he cared about from dying. The thrill is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural. He became so powerful... the only thing he was afraid of was losing his family, which eventually, of course, he did. It's ironic he could protect his wife from others, but not himself.

No, I'd say Moash currently is more the archetypical shadow of Kaladin's personality. In Jungian thought the shadow archetype is everything we dislike and suppress of our personality. It still lingers in our unconscious thought and can peak out in moments of great psychological stress. We tend to deny its existence (because it makes us realize that part of our personality is not as nice and kind as we like to imagine ourselves), and often project these exact faulty characteristics onto others during conflict. We've seen Kaladin's shadow present itself already. Mostly during his hopeless early weeks as a bridge slave, but also after his extended bout in prison. Depression and emotional burnout bring it to the surface for him. Instead of being proactive he followed orders, believing himself to be ultimately powerless to change the world. He became apathetic to the suffering of those around him because he couldn't deal with it (burnout). Anger for vengeance became especially prominent. That's also why I believe Moash has a clear potential to redeem himself. He's in a dark state of mind and has made bad choices but at his core he's not an evil or sadistic person. He needs someone to help him find hope again like Syl did for Kaladin. People tend to willingly forget: back in Way of Kings Moash actually spoke up for Dalinar as an honorable lighteyes. This was during the scene where Dalinar attacked Listener archers who were about to attack Bridge 4 and then saluted them. It was Kaladin who convinced Moash that all lighteyes should be regarded as evil. Sure Kaladin eventually came around and changed his mind on this, but he still bears some responsibility for encouraging that particular dark aspect of Moash's character.

This one deserves special emphasis because on re-read Taravangian quite explicitly spells out to Dalinar exactly how to capture a spren. If it were a worse writer I might dismiss this as simple plot contrivance, but since this is Brandon I think we can safely assume events played out this way for a reason. If anything, having Navani explain the process to Dalinar would have felt much more organic. Taravangian being the one to do it seems important (and likely a clue).