Personification

Wait, am I the monster?!?!?!

But only when you think of it from the perspective of "what Shards do we know that are connected to change". If you were to ask me in a vacuum what words connect to change, I probably wouldn't say cultivation and certainly not endowment or ruin, and given any of the three as starting points I likely wouldn't say change. They fit really well, but only knowing both sides (and knowing that Ruin=entropy in context).

Sure, but also, Cultivation, Endowment, and Ruin are also all tangential to Change, and EVERYONE seems to agree that if the theory of groupings is correct, that is where they go (with the small exception of Ruin for the Destroy faction).

I mean, so is Preservation. All we have is tangents.

This is one of the many reasons I love Judaism. The answer to "what about this modern issue that nobody could have anticipated until a few decades ago?" is "Someone thought of it centuries ago." shockingly often.

Mistborn Stuff:

Oh, also, does Navani being Mother of Machines confirm a return to New Phyrexia?

I bet this is why he is so anxious for Scadrial to develop instant noodles. Also, to get the thread somewhat back on track, there is evidence that plant-based protein is hard to come by on Roshar (or at least parts of it) in Dawnshard, as the Hexi nomads value wormy grain highly (and consider grubs plants) because they have no other way to get protein.

Counterpoint: Brandon isn't always perfect at color pie stuff. I would honestly put Cultivation as Simic (though I'm not perfect at color pie stuff either, so take it with a grain of salt). Also, as has been pointed out, their are five colors in magic. I do have one though: Adonalsium: WUBRG Also, on a more serious note, the groupings don't work as well for the purposes of categorizing Shards in a way that might reflect the actual Cosmere. The types of divisions don't align. For example, Ambition is Black because that is one of the personality types that defines Black mana, Odium is Red because Red is emotions, not because of the freedom/individualist side of Red, Ruin is Black because the power set fits into Black's color pie, not for ideological reasons (Ruin arguably has no ideology by the time tFE is happening, he is just a force), and Autonomy is honestly probably WUBRG because the word is ambiguous and Avatar nonsense. Also, Wisdom and Ingenuity haven't been confirmed, have they?

I was going to correct you for overstating it, but then I realized that I, as a vegetarian who keeps Kosher, have basically had that exact conversation. Maybe he knows so much about the interactions of aluminum and investiture because he always needs to ask restaurants to put foil under everything? As an aside, it is always nice to see another Jewish Sharder. The 613 is a nice touch.

That is what I meant, too. The other part was me somewhat comically pointing out that only people who have read Mistborn would think of it, but at the same time the only reason the theories are structured like this is that we are forcing parallels to alomancy, so everyone who is looking at this theory has almost definitely read Mistborn.

I decided to finally read Alcatraz.

I don't see entropy as an "outside force" really. Entropy is the dissipation of energy. It is the object slowly losing itself. In fact, in pointing this out I am moving towards Ruin being a Pushing Shard, as entropy is the energy moving away from the object, though it could still be pulling, as it acts kind of like allomantic aluminum. Endowment means giving gifts. The idea that people are "naturally endowed with something" implies that either some deity actively chose to give the gift (as is the case with Edgli herself and the Returned) or is a somewhat poetic way of saying that they are a "gift" of nature. You can't have an endowment without a giver. The Breath is a gift, Endowed by Endowment, not a natural aspect of humans. I agree that Dominion is external, but it isn't about land. Dominion is about control, whether over people, land, or something else. I also agree that Devotion, is usually about bonds between people (though it can be to a cause), but I think that this is why it is External. You have to be devoted to something, much like you have to have dominion over something. Both are about relationships to an outside object. I pretty much agree with your reasoning on Honor, and I actually agree that a Knowledge Shard would go into the last spot here, but I think it would be Internal, as knowledge is internal and individual. This the problem with the Push/Pull dichotomy. When there is no source of the force, they are effectively the same thing, so the meanings are muddy. Yeah, I think that is why everyone likes Survive so much, it just immediately resonates with Mistborn readers (i.e. everyone who subscribes to a theory that is 90% based on our fandom's collective obsession with making everything fit into the pattern of Mistborn's magic system even though Mistborn was written before Brandon really knew what he was doing with the Cosmere). I also like it, my only thing is that I'm not sure how consistent it is with imparting on Hoid the inability to harm animals, and it is a bit far removed from Preservation.

So, I generally like this theory (I currently think it is either this or that the Dawnshards are four Commands and that their are four other Intents, which combine to make the sixteen shards), but I disagree slightly on your assignments. In the Change column, I agree with your Shards, but I think Endowment and Cultivation both have to be External. They both imply change from an outside force. Ruin, however, is Internal, as it is about the thing dividing itself. I would say that E Pushes, she forces gifts upon you, while C Pulls, she brings out and enhances your natural inclinations, moving them in the desired direction. I am not sure which Ruin is of Pushing or Pulling, if the theory is correct, we'd need to see the last member of the group. In the Unite column, I think Honor is internal and Devotion and Dominion are external. Honor is about the self, even if it about how the self responds to others, while Devotion and Dominion are both entirely about external relationships. I would say that Devotion and honor Pull, while Dominion Pushes. In the third category, which everyone seems to agree has something to do with feeling or action but nobody can quite put their finger on the name for, I agree with your groupings almost entirely, but I think Ambition Pushes, because it literally (in a sort of figurative way) pushes you forward towards your goals, while Odium Pulls, as he has been shown to draw in emotion and act like "the Void". I also agree with Survive being the fourth one (it is funny how quickly the Shard has come to a consensus on this), either that or Maintain, and I agree that it was Hoid's. Assuming my theory that during the shattering four of the now Shards were the actual Dawnshards and the rest helped, I think that Preservation was Survive (or Maintain), Cultivation was Change, Honor was Unite, and Odium was the one that everyone sort of agrees on the general idea of but can't quite name. ------ On the other hand, if the Intents are four other powers like the Dawnshards, perhaps Passion is one of them (I generally think they would be infinitives, but that is a different side of theory), and Odium is Feel/Act/Desire/Whatever x Passion and Ruin is Change x Passion, which would explain their italicization. Of course, Ruin being Change and Passion doesn't really add up, but whatever. Maybe Passion replaces Push or Pull (or Internal/External) so you get Passion/Dispassion (or something) on one axis, and another binary on the other. Isn't random guessing with minimal data fun!

But Brandon has said that Rysn is the Dawnshard, but also that she is incapable of using its power. I imagine that four of the original Shards were Dawnshards, and each had three other future Shards working together with them to harness the power. These four groups of four worked together to shatter Adonalsium. I thank that Hoid was a Dawnshard, but decided to give it up because he didn't want to be a Shard. I would assume that if Rysn actually knew what she was doing (and possibly got some other way to manipulate investiture) she would need to work with at least three other people (who also know what they are doing) in order to actually use the Dawnshard.

I think that you are on the right track here, but I think the jealousy is not about Huio being quiet and thoughtful while the Lopen is loud and boisterous. The problem is that Huio is also pretty outgoing and likes to blurt out his cool ideas, but he is terrible with Alethi, so he can't really do so. Bridge 4 spends a lot of time with the scholars, so Huio is a nerd, surrounded by nerds, genuinely curious and bursting with insights about what is around him, and he is unable to share any of it and forced to stay with the soldiers because the only guy who can understand him well is kind of crazy, doesn't care about the same things, and can't be trusted as a translator. Huio isn't really a quiet guy, but the fact that he seems like one is the real tragedy.

In fairness, pre-death Kel would also hate Kaladin for being a class traitor or whatever. Honestly, he'd hate Vin, too.

This song takes place between WoR and OB, so major WoR spoilers:

Good one. I also agree that bee orchid-->Edgedancer is the best fit, though the first one I came up with was Stoneward and Devotion to Duty.

I know. It was a reference to the name of a fairly popular podcast (which I don't actually follow).

Or possibly my Bridge 4 brother, my Bridge 4 brother, and me.

*Looks at profile picture* Yeah, that checks out.

This popped into my head a long time ago, I think because someone made a "how the Knights Radiant do X" thread, and I came up with some of these, but then I forgot about it until recently, when I thought it might be a fun idea. Here are xkcds that I associate with different orders of KR. Each order has at least one, but some are more of a stretch than others. Please suggest others that fit and critique my choices:

So, if you guys want originality, I made a new template based on a scene from the Overlady Reads (I am OK with people making new ones with it if you like it as long as you @ me, but you also might want to check with Overlord Jebus because he's, you know, in it). The Overlord did give me permission to post this.