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Alderant

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Everything posted by Alderant

  1. Alderant
    As a person with depression, I can tell you that fatigue is very much an emotional issue. Besides, that doesn't need to be the only instance where emotional allomancy could have been used--for all we know, Brandon could have meant Hoid was using it to rile up the nobles he was criticizing as Wit! It would be a very Hoid thing to do. But that's my two cents.
  2. Alderant
    Wait...someone posted a Jasnahdin board? How did I not know about this? I guess I'll edit once I've read everything.... Okay. I'm not really going to say much since it seems the conversation is generally biased, old, and I don't want to start an argument. In my opinion, Jasnah doesn't have to be asexual to be independent; Jasnah doesn't have to be lesbian to be strong; Jasnah doesn't have to stay single just to stay who she is. I think that by saying that she shouldn't have a relationship or whatever, you're doing the character a disservice. There are many reasons why I think Jasnahdin could work, but this doesn't seem the place to mention them. But I do agree that romance is nowhere near the top of her priorities. @Razrback16 Nice reply. I missed yours on my read through of the thread, but well analyzed and my thoughts line up with yours.
  3. Alderant
    So...Okay, so your question is actually really complicated, and to go into the specifics would require more time than I have to give, so let me just kind of "clif-note" my thoughts on this. There's no reason this is explicitly a magical reaction. The greatest fallacy of a magical system is that the reader will then attribute everything a character goes through as resultant of said magic system. Remember that emotional allomancy can't control a person, only manipulate them--also, Hoid is a person that Shallan is really attached to, for a kind of bizarre reason. In a time of great darkness for her, he was a kindness that her mind latched onto. They only had one interaction that I know of prior to her arrival on the Shattered Plains, yet as soon as she saw him she practically glomped him and told him how much his words back then had meant to her. So we know she holds Hoid in high esteem, and it's a not uncommon real-world thing to want to get advice from people we hold in high regard. Have you ever met a girl who would say she wasn't hungry because she didn't want to embarrass herself by eating too much? That's pretty much all that's happening. We know Shallan has an appetite when she wants to, but she really respects Hoid. Also, keep in mind that emotional allomancy only affects emotions, not physical state, and hunger is not an emotion, but a physical warning of the necessity of nourishment. TL;DR - No, I don't think this was emotional allomancy, but rather real-world behaviors that are observable in modern society.
  4. Alderant
    @BitBitio I feel you, I really do. However, you must understand that entering a thread to tell people that their discussion about a topic that they clearly enjoy and want to discuss is irrelevant because you think "xyz" is important is going to rile some feathers. I stopped going on here for a long time because I got tired of comments exactly like that. There are many things about Brandon's books that are enjoyable--some really enjoy the worldbuilding, others are really intrigued by the plot, and then there are many, like myself, who enjoy in-depth character discussion. Much of the discussion revolving around the SKA debate is in actuality character discussion, not just simply shipping debate on which pair is better--many of us go into character theory, why they act the way they do, what the textual evidence says about that character, etc. If you have a thought about it, please feel free to comment and let us know. Many of us enjoy debate and discussion. But comments like that can only be inflammatory at best. If you don't want to post in a topic, don't. No one is twisting your arm to do so. That said... I don't think the Dawnshards are going to be majorly relevant until the back 5. Just my own thoughts, but Brandon is clearly gearing up for this Singer/human conflict, which I believe is more likely to be the focus of the front 5. The back 5 will probably go more in-depth to the heralds' and pre-heralds' history, since the Dawnshards seem linked to those. I could be wrong, but them's my apples.
  5. Alderant
    Gotcha. No worries. I just wasn't sure of your point in the last paragraph.
  6. Alderant
    @Zellyia It’s Kholinar—Kholinar is the city in question, Alethkar is the country. I agree with @Calderis on this one. I think Wit was trying to bolster the people’s spirits during a very trying time. Don’t find satisfaction and enjoyment from that creepy at all.
  7. Alderant
    Okay. Solid. I get where you're coming from. I don't agree, but I can understand why you think the way you do. Thanks for clarifying.
  8. Alderant
    Maxal dear, I don't think you're intending to be as abrasive as you're sounding here. This is kind of coming across as an attack, rather than the example you're trying to use. (I'm not trying to be patronizing--I'm really sorry if it comes across that way) I'm confused. Are we rehashing this argument?
  9. Alderant
    My big issue is with the fact that you contradict the explicit text when you assert that unless they are being touched by a Radiant, they are unaware. The conversation with Dalinar, quoted below, says that Oathbringer remembers Dalinar when it was won, and when it was given up. See here (I've bolded the relevant part): Obviously, the day Dalinar won it was well before he became a radiant. This implies a level of consciousness on the part of the deadeye prior to being touched by a Radiant, and the fact that Maya jerks unnaturally toward Adolin when he tries to summon her, then screams at him, seems to me to be an indicator that hearing the screaming has to less to do with the Radiant, as much as the summoning itself, and that the Radiant is more of a conduit. I digress though, I don't want to hijack the thread and don't want to cause an argument. I think I understand where you're coming from, even if I don't agree.
  10. Alderant
    Two points: Syl calls the Stormfather her father, because he is a cognitive shadow of Honor. Syl is an honorspren—a splinter of the Honor Shard, so she can reasonably call him father, though whether or not that is actually the case is subject to debae Second point: Dalinar manifested Honor’s Perpendicularity through his powers as a bondsmith, which, since he’s bonded to the Stormfather, brings him the closest to being the holder of Honor’s Shard Roshar has right now. It wasnt his own perpendicularity, but was connected to the power of Honor he held as a bondsmith. In manifesting the perpendicularity, Dalinar brought the three realms together, and so Adolin, Shallan, Kaladin, Syl, and Pattern were able to join the physical realm because the distance between realms was practically nonexistent. Hope that helps!
  11. Alderant
    I agree on that point. And there is some significance, but I will amend that statement to say nothing explicitly states that Adolin is the sole cause, as has been the popularly expressed opinion.
  12. Alderant
    I’ve never stated that Adolin didn’t have a part to play in what’s going on with Maya. In fact, I’ve stated the opposite—that perhaps Adolin’s behavior toward his blade has influenced her to hate Adolin less and therefore made the scenario that occurs during the perpendicularity possible. I just am reticent to ascribe Adolin as the sole cause, especially since there is an effective Cosmere singularity occuring at the same time. @Calderis, looking forward to hearing your thoughts. However, I would like you to consider and look for evidence that states that the blade is not screaming by being summoned, because textual evidence appears, to me at least, to point otherwise.
  13. Alderant
    Where are you drawing that conclusion from? We've had exactly two viewpoint characters who wielded shardblades, only one of which has actually been to Shadesmar to interact with their spren, and the "communication" you speak of (assuming you're referring to the name drop) happens under extremely unique and special circumstances (Honor's Perpendicularity being summoned by Dalinar). So from that aspect, you're exactly right that there is something unusual going on, but nothing explicitly says that Adolin is the cause.
  14. Alderant
    Well, look when you can. However, I will point this hole in your theory out. Maybe your research will prove me wrong or right or neither, but the biggest flaw to your argument here is your assertion that the blade is not screaming until the Radiant touches the blade. For example, we have the shadesmar scene where Adolin tries to summon Maya and she screams in response: If Radiant proximity were all that was required, Maya should have been screaming the entire time Shallan and Kaladin are nearby. Physical touch doesn't appear to be part of it, since Maya screams without touching Adolin (assuming Adolin is a "budding" Radiant, which I do not believe he is). Secondly, your assertion that a Radiant lends extra life to the blade does not disprove my point--if anything, it actually strengthens it, since my argument was that the Nahel bond--a presumably significantly stronger bond than a simple blade-bond--allows the Radiant to hear that scream, where as the blade holder does not. The blade bond is significantly weaker than the Nahel bond--if it were as strong, as your words imply, then the shardbearer should also theoretically have surgebinding, which they do not. Additionally, the Stormfather himself confirms to Dalinar that the deadeyes are aware of their owners. Finally, there is this WoB that says that dead spren still have some consciousness:
  15. Alderant
    Calderis, not sure what your point here is. I was pretty sure that the screaming is only heard by a Radiant because their existing Nahel bond allowed them to be closer to the Cognitive realm (through their living spren) than the average shardblade-bonded Rosharan. Like, the screaming is always there, a Radiant is just able to hear it, where as a shardblade owner is not. We know from WoB and from the text that deadeyes (the shardblades) are aware of their owners (the Stormfather confirms this to Dalinar, as well as the ship owner's comment about his relative going to his owner) regardless of their Radiant-ness, and that the act of being synched to heartbeats brings a flicker of cognizance back to the spren. I'm not trying to start an argument, but where are you drawing your conclusion from that "most dead blades" aren't alive enough, and where is your evidence that the screaming doesn't occur unless they're being touched by a Nahel bond? Because your statement runs exactly opposite to how I've always interpreted this.
  16. Alderant
    The Highstorm--the thing that recharges the spheres--is Honor's perpendicularity, the same thing that Dalinar summoned on the battle of Thaylen Field. As far as destiny goes...I'm honestly not sure what your point here is. When I mentioned destiny previously, I was specifically stating that the "little connections" between Syl/Kaladin and Shallan were more aftershocks of a connection made in the SR, rather than a foreordained occurrence that was bound to happen. Destiny and foreordination are two terms usually used hand in hand, and what I was attempting to describe was the opposite. Dalinar, Syl, Szeth, Shallan...none of those are Windrunners or tied to "air". Dalinar is a bondsmith bonded to the Stormfather himself, Syl is a spren, Shallan is a lightweaver, and Szeth is a skybreaker. I'm not sure what information you're drawing from here.
  17. Alderant
    I'm along these lines of thoughts as well. Do we have a timeline confirmation that Lopen and Kaladin were far enough away for squireship to be ineffectual? We don't know exactly how far away a squire has to be from his radiant in order for the powers to fade, and it is not implausible for the scene with Lopen to occur either A) while Kaladin is returning to fight Szeth (placing him relatively close to Lopen) or B ) while Kaladin is returning to the Shattered Plains to warn the warcamps and/or move the rest of his men, especially since the order in which scenes are written does not always match up chronologically with the scenes around them, as @RShara noted.
  18. Alderant
    Given that I am hardly a realmatics expert and find much of it confusing, what I'm about to say should be taken with a grain of salt, as this is my understanding of realmatics. I've always kind of seen the spiritual realm as kind of like a pool connecting past, present and future, as well as people and place. In the spiritual realm, past, present and future all happen concurrently, so a connection formed in the future could have a sort of "ripple" effect, kind of like if you dropped a rock into a pond. Those ripples would then spread throughout time, creating tiny, subtle connections you would see formed in the present and past, since all three are happening right now. It's not destiny, as much as it's evidence of something that is happening. <I'm not sure if that made sense. Metaphysics hurts my brain...> So with that rough explanation out of the way, I had always interpreted that scene to be Syl mimicking something she'd seen, or trying out a new face. I never would have made that connection without Brandon explicitly stating that Syl was turning into Shallan. We know, from ample textual evidence however, that Shallan is kind of akin to Tien in Kaladin's mind in terms of significance. Regardless of if romance is involved, the fact that Shallan is the only other person, apart from Tien, that Kaladin specifically states drives the darkness away is hugely important. In my experience with depression, people that do that are few and far between, and usually become people that you hold very tightly to. I would also like to reiterate that Syl's gravitation toward Shallan should not be taken lightly. She repeatedly asserts that not only should Kaladin pursue Shallan, but that Shallan is better for Kaladin. That Kaladin is happier with Shallan. In fact, most of the time it is Kaladin who squashes the idea, even at the end of Oathbringer. Personally, I think it's largely self-pity. He doesn't think he deserves her. He's messed things up in the past, and she deserves someone who can give her better. Adolin is, in his mind, a perfect candidate for that, and she already seems to love him. And he tries to convince himself that that is true, but like the Jiminy Cricket she is, Syl continues to try to push Kaladin toward something better.
  19. Alderant
    While it is an interesting idea, the fact that so much has to inferred just to make this work make this unlikely. Personally, I think that would rather undercut Dalinar's development in Oathbringer, since the revelation that, even when she disagreed so completely with his actions and ideology she still made him up to be the best of men to their sons was ultimately what broke Dalinar about her death. He realized the depths of just how much she loved him (and I think she really did) and just how undeserving of that love he really was. With regards to Renarin, I think it's dangerous ground to attribute all struggles or successes of a character to the magic system at work (this includes things like the Unmade and lightweaving). In Words of Radiance, Renarin tells Kaladin that his "sickness" was a form of epilepsy. This is a very real-world disease (one I had growing up, actually), and can be caused by something as simple as an "electrical glitch," so to speak, within the brain during the growth/developmental process. There is no reason to assume that his epilepsy was the result of mixed DNA with one of the Unmade, especially since Adolin appears to suffer nothing from the same union. With regards to Evi, I found her incredibly consistent within the book. Her running to the enemy was perfectly in character--she wanted desperately to keep Dalinar from becoming the monster she feared he was becoming, and she went to the city to beg them to accept the treaty. I didn't find that out of character in the slightest.
  20. Alderant
    I’m with you now. No worries. Like I said, this is something I’ve talked about a lot. I would still put her neutral, but I can see why you’d choose chaotic.
  21. Alderant
    Can you explain where you're drawing this conclusion from? As I understand things, she doesn't create Veil until well after arriving in the Shattered Plains, as a disguise for infiltrating the Ghostbloods. Veil doesn't even take on more human characteristics (independent of Shallan's normal ones) until several chapters into Oathbringer. Secondly, regarding your statement about WoR, there is no, as I see it, textual evidence to support your statement that she believes she has multiple personalities in that book. With regards to believing herself to have multiple personalities, I'm not sure how much you know about DID but generally speaking, the host personality in this case is unaware of the other personalities. They may be aware that they exist, but they do not usually share memories or thoughts the way Shallan does with her personas. I'm quoting this a second time because I want to address it specifically. In the battle of Thaylen Field, it is important to note that both Veil and Radiant are still Shallan. Oathbringer is an identity crisis for Shallan as she tries to balance who she wants to be with who she thinks she should be and who she believes she really is. What Veil and Radiant are, is they're really magically augmented masks--they have no life of their own and are wholly dependent on Shallan for their existence. What you're seeing at the battle on Thaylen field is a lightweaving projection of those two personas coupled, with Shallan's physical body--this is kind of akin to what Hoid did during his conversation with Shallan prior to this. However, if you go back to the Battle scene, you'll discover that Shallan is all three at once, not all three independently, which is what would occur if these were multiple personalities. Finally, there is a Word of Brandon on the subject: This is a strong indication that they are not separate identities, but are, in fact, all Shallan. I can go into more detail as to why, though for that I would first point you to my comments in the Adolin-Shallan-Kaladin thread and elsewhere on the shard, since I've talked about this a lot. If you still would like to see further analysis, I have an analysis thread that, as I reread the entire Stormlight trilogy thus far, I will be updating for a better understanding of the character.
  22. Alderant
    I agree with most of these; I just have a couple changes and clarifications: Szeth - Lawful Neutral. The identifying feature here is that the law, his law of being bound to whatever his master dictates, and then being bound to a specific law above all else, means that he by definiton will be good and evil and commit acts on both spectrums. Shallan - Neutral Good. She does not have multiple personalities—Veil and Radiant are still her, just her with a magically augmented mask on. I would argue that Shallan (as Veil) errs on the side of Chaotic Good, where as when she is Radiant she is more on the Lawful Good, which balances her overall in the “Neutral” zone, but still generally good. Also to add this one: Lift - Chaotic good. She continually breaks the law to fulfill her own ends, but generally works toward the good of her friends and those around her.
  23. Alderant
    It’s also important to not that when Maya seems to be coming more “awake”, giving her name faintly to Adolin, Dalinar had just summoned Honor’s Perpendicularity and brought the three realms very close together. It’s entirely plausible that, due to the way Adolin has treated his Shardblade historically and the closeness of the spiritual and cognitive realms to the physical, Maya was more whole in that moment than she had been until now, but we would need a much longer timeframe to determine if she is actually reawakening or not. At this point, there’s just not enough textual evidence to say yay or nay, especially since spren don’t follow normal patterns of life and death.
  24. Alderant
    Looking forward to your thoughts!
  25. Alderant
    @Dreamstorm You know, while I may not agree with the ship/conclusion, some of your points are actually interesting character points I hadn't considered. Especially the dichotomy about light/dark. Well done.
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