FuzzyWordsmith

So, there's a WoB that has got me thinking. https://wob.coppermind.net/events/100-rbooks-ama-2015/#e3380 2dark_22 RAFOed I'm sure, but you said you are planing 2 arcs of 5 books each in Stormlight Archive. Having read all of your published works (and some unpublished:)) I know your storytelling pace is astronomicaly quick. I'm positive you will end current desolation story in the first 5 books, since as I understod, other 5 books will be set in near future in SA universe. So I guess my question is; can you drop any hint will Odium survive to see 6th SA book:)? Brandon Sanderson Oh, Odium will survive. Now, whether the one HOLDING that power will survive...that's a different question. (Not quite a RAFO.) So, what do you think will become of Rayse? And additionally, who do you think would be a viable choice for holding Odium if Rayse dies?

This is very important. I feel that Moist von Lipwig is the sort of person Shallan was trying to be. The difference is that for Shallan, it developed into OSDD. Also, there's a WoB I'd like to put here for discussion, because it seems relevant. https://wob.coppermind.net/events/171-oathbringer-release-party/#e8200 LadyKnightRadiant [PENDING REVIEW] So you're really good at ending books, especially like post-climax resolution that I feel is always my real weak point. I always find that I tend to write things that end up sounding really, really cheesy. I feel like you have, like, perfected the, like, decent resolution that's not horrifically cheesy. I was wondering if you have like any tips on how to end things properly. Brandon Sanderson [PENDING REVIEW] It's all about promises, right, and I've talked about this a lot. Like, what-- remember that the ending, if you've earned it-- Cheesiness is based on whether the reader is on board with you or not-- Cheesiness is not like this intrinsic property of a scene. Cheesiness is, are they on board? Do they want this? Have you done a good job with this? So if you get people on board-- yeah.

So, perhaps I should clarify. For one thing, I think we have different understandings of evil. For example, I do not consider Szeth's actions in the first two books evil. I don't consider Szeth evil at all. I think what I am trying to say is that I feel it's about remorse. I would say that I consider Amaram less evil than Moash, because ultimately, Amaram felt remorse. Hell, even King T feels remorse on his dumber days. I cannot remember any indication of Moash feeling remorse. In his case, his nihilism and fatalism are excuses to avoid feeling remorse. I would be happy to reconsider if you can show me textual evidence of him feeling remorse. Wow, I said the word remorse a lot. Remorse remorse remorse.

So, my hopes for Syladin have been well and truly bashed. I'm sad now. https://wob.coppermind.net/events/171-oathbringer-release-party/#e8267 Questioner [PENDING REVIEW] Is there even the babiest tiniest little bitty babiest chance of Syl and Kaladin ever being able to be together? Brandon Sanderson [PENDING REVIEW] That would take a lot. Questioner [PENDING REVIEW] But itty bitty babiest chance? Brandon Sanderson [PENDING REVIEW] Itty bitty babiest chance? Sure.

So, the more I think about it, the more I think that shipping Vivenna and Szeth would be fascinating. If you think about it, they have some stark similarities. They were both bred for a role, and followed it to the detriment of their mental health, no matter what. Then they had a serious revelation, Denth's betrayal for Vivenna and Kaladin for Szeth, so they threw away the responsibilities put upon them by their leaders and became awesome under the tutelage of an Immortal mentor (Vasher and Nale). The parallels are there, and I feel like Szeth and Vivenna both have something to gain from that relationship.

I really hope Moash doesn't get a redmption arc. I am firmly of the belief that some characters should remain unredeemed. There are a lot of stories where defeat=redemption, or villains are redeemed in death, or by death, or after death. Some evil people should just stay evil and be remembered as evil. If every villain ends the story redeemed, they story gets old pretty quickly. And I do hope Kaladin kills has to kill him. There are far too many stories where the friend turned villain is not killed by the hero because of sentiment. At the end of the day, Moash is Kaladin's fault.

I understand, but WHY do people not like this idea?

So, a lot of people are expressing distaste for the theory that Shardplate is made of lesser spren. Why is this? Have I missed something? It seems logical to me, but a lot of people seem to hate the idea. Could someone explain it to me?

WoK, 435. In which Tukks, oddly, uses soil in a way that Rosharans do not. So, you brought up an excellent point, and there is actually a WoB to back you up, so I think you're onto something. https://wob.coppermind.net/events/181-stormlight-three-update-4/#e3779 Argent In The Way of Kings, Chapter 54: Gibletish, Dalinar has a brief conversation with Brightlord Hatham, one of his ardents, and a few other people. During the conversation the ardent uses the word "soil" in a way most Rosharans wouldn’t. After the conversation he tells Dalinar of "our goodwill toward you" and that "we will speak with you again." The odd use of the word "soil" combined with what could be a vague reference to the ardent’s associated with a group other than the ardentia has led some of us to believe he might be a worldhopper. Plus, we know Nazh is around in the area, or will arrive soon. Is there truth to this idea, or are we overthinking this? Brandon Sanderson Alethi use the word "soil" on occasion in their language to mean "dirtied" or similar. It's a holdover from an earlier time. But they don't associate it with the ground, and if you see it used instead of stone like in this quote, it should indeed raise an eyebrow. Argent Sooo... I mean, my eyebrow was already raised. Let's not bait the RAFO too hard, and drop the worldhopper part - is there more to this particular ardent than meets the eye? Wait, hold up. How can "soil" be a holdover from an earlier time if Roshar was always a rocky place? Or did you mean that it's one of those words that carried over from Yolish, or whatever other language people spoke before they migrated to Roshar (like "hound")? Brandon Sanderson It is similar to hound, which is one of the ones that Hoid pointed out as an oddity. But people did not migrate from Yolen to Roshar. Roshar was inhabited before the shattering of Adonalsium. Argent Hmm. I am rusty on my Roshar history, I'll have to review what we know the topic. I know Roshar existed before the Shattering, and it was presumably populated, but I didn't think there had been humans there. They don't feel native. I've been working under the assumption that the Parshendi were native (maybe), but the humans came from somewhere - the Tranquiline Halls myths also kind of support that. Or have I missed something? Brandon Sanderson Technically, what I said doesn't actually contradict anything you just said. But just to be extra safe: RAFO. I have to keep a FEW secrets safe from you people to come out in the books. Footnote: Resolved in the OB tour. It's a worldhopper but not Nazh. In summation, excellent observation.

So, here's the thing. A thick skin is one thing, but imagine that two people you love are killing each other, and the only way to stop it is to kill one or the other. Growing a thick enough skin for THAT to not phase you stretches the bounds of human capability. And it's not exactly him remaining idle. It's him going into shock. Those are two very different things, and to say he's just remaining idle seems a bit dismissive to me.

So, there is a WoB that might help. https://wob.coppermind.net/events/222-words-of-radiance-houston-signing/#e5616 Questioner (paraphrased) Can you write an unknown Ideal [in my book]? Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased) They are still rough so this might not be the exact wording but: "I will stand when others fall." This strongly suggests Stoneward. If this is a Stoneward Ideal, we actually see Adolin exemplify this in some scenarios. The strongest would be Facing down the thunderclast. Which he does fully expecting to die. In Stonestance. That last bit could be coincidence, but it makes a certain amount of sense. He is universally described as solid. Edgedancers are at least a little flighty.

So, I bolded the bit in your post that I think is the source of your problem. You seem to want Kaladin to fail and be infallible at the same time. What happened in the book is that Kaladin is only human, and it shows. The problem with the scenario I bolded in your post is that in that scenario, it's not Kaladin's fault that he fails. It would be a failure, technically, but not because he failed. That situation seems no different to me than if he had just saved everyone with no problems.

So, my two cents are that Syladin has always appealed to me. I do understand this sentiment, but the next quote kinda explains my feelings. Also, there's this WoB: https://wob.coppermind.net/events/100-rbooks-ama-2015/#e3388 RobotAztec can somene be born half-parshnedi or maybe even half-spren?? Brandon Sanderson The Horneaters and the Herdazians are both descendants of Parshendi/human interbreeding. Spren do not reproduce biologically. As such, the term "half-spren" is basically meaningless. You could argue that the Parshendi, when bonded to spren, are part spren--as are many creatures on Roshar, if they have a spren symbiosis. Note the phrasing, emphasis mine. He did not say cannot, he specifically said do not. It feels like there might be something there. We know that gender has a very strong effect in the cognitive realm. And Syl is explicitly female, not femalen. And even then, they are shapeshifters. If they can do something as drastic as turn into leaves and flowers, changing some internal physiology doesn't seem out of the question. Of course, there's the fact that they already have a relationship more intimate than anything any other characters in universe have. They also have no problems with public displays of physical affection. A lot of times they are together on-screen in Shadesmar, they are in physical contact. Would it be difficult? Yes. However, I do not think it is even close to impossible. And in fact there is a plausible way it could happen: Silverlight. We know there are entire populations of humans living in the Cognitive realm. I would not put it past Kaladin to settle in the Cognitive realm with Syl. I can picture them having a little cottage near a perpendicularity so he can regularly go back and forth for supplies. It's a lot easier to make work than people seem to realize.

So, @PhineasGage summed it up perfectly. However, I would just like to chime in. Long story short, I HAD OSDD type 1b. It was painful. Unpleasant. Reintegration was hell. This hurts. I have confirmation that Sanderson meant what he wrote. And it hurts. Any time I pick up a Sanderson book now, it will be with shame. The shame of an addict who is willing to betray his principles because he needs more. Because this ruined the cosmere for me. I do not mean to disparage anyone who loves it. I am in the minority here, and I know that. But this hurts. So much. It feels like one of the people I greatly admire, and hold high as a master craftsman has just kicked me in the gut and told me that I am worthless. Many will see this as an overreaction. That is your right. I am just being honest. It hurt me, enough to make me cry. Enough to make me remember every time I was bullied or otherwise treated as inferior due to who I am. Am I wrong to think a book shouldn't make someone feel that way?

But wait! Hoid can change how he looks! What if he made himself LOOK like his butt isn't nice to gain her trust? I bet he would know she finds nice butts on old men not trustworthy.

My issue is that this condition IRL is not about "mastering" the alts, it's about integrating them and accepting them as part of you. The Shallan he sees can't be the one at her core because that would require the other ones to not exist anymore and become part of her again. The fact that Adolin treats each one as a discrete individual suggests he doesn't actually understand her deeply enough.

This is best. pls more. Rated sixty warform out of daladin.

So, I just saw this. I'm really sad now. Like, really sad. Everything till this point was looking like we finally had a realistic depiction of a character with OSDD. Just like we had a realistic depiction of depression in Kaladin. If this is what he means, if she is genuinely better and the real Shallan at the end of OB while every bit of real life evidence points to her having moved backwards, then I have lost most of my faith in Sanderson as an author. I'll read SA 4, but depending on how that goes, I may drop SA. Hell, if he does something similar in his other series, I might end up dropping the Cosmere as a whole. This was really disheartening. I'm sorry if I offend anyone with this post, but as someone who has experienced OSDD, this really hurts coming from one of my favourite authors.

I would like to preface this by saying I do not mean this to be directed as an attack at anyone, whether on or off this thread. Rather, my problem is with human nature. It is apparently hard-wired into our brains to ignore facts that do not support our opinions. Our natural inclination seems to be to ignore anyone who disagrees with us. We seem to disregard logical argument in favour of ostriching. There is blessedly little of that in this thread, but some is still there. On both sides. I'm feeling a bit of burnout. You can only relive the painful nuances of OSDD treatment falling on deaf ears before it becomes painful. And this is so true on Reddit and Tumblr. This thread isn't really about Shalladin or Shadolin. It's about whether we think Shallan has progressed or regressed. The majority of this thread seems to be in the regression camp. As a result, not all of the people in the progression camp are necessarily jumping to explain WHY they feel she has progressed. This is opposite on places like reddit. I don't know the purpose of this rant, and I apologize for it, but can we not just discuss things civilly? I mean that not for this thread, but for the people on reddit and tumblr who attempt to gut whoever isn't on their side with a wooden spoon, the people who state their opinions as fact and don't even consider arguments for the opposition. At the risk of sounding like the most cliched idiot on the Shard, Can't we all just get along? Again, I apoligize for this rant. It's been a bad day, and I don't like it when people are mean to each other, or refuse to listen. If I have crossed any lines with this post, please let me know and I will delete it immediately. Goodnight, sweet dreams.

I kinda agree. The Mayalaran thread especially, but it seems like Adolin has become something of a Sacred Cow for some people. I just promoted myself from boatswain to first mate, so you're welcome to have my role. Beware of the "cat," she seems much too smart, and also talks. I don't trust her, but she seems to know where the ship is headed. I don't really want to start listing the crew of the Good Ship Shalladin, but I totally do I'm a terrible liar ALL ABOARD! I never got consensus that I get to be the Captain's Chicken. If anyone wants that position, they gotta fight me for it.

@insert_anagram_here That second bit wasn't me, BTW. It was As to the first bit, there's WoB, with links in my post.

Shallan-Radiant-Veil conflict + Twilight kind of romance = My inner goddess is dancing. --> http://www.cosmopolitan.com/entertainment/movies/a31028/57-things-anastasia-steeles-inner-goddess-does-in-fifty-shades-of-grey/ (Can´t believe I'm adding a 50shades reference) Ummm, I didn't say that, I'm pretty sure. Misquote? @Awesomness

I get that, but I find it's made even funnier if that turns out to be the case. If you think about it, there are noticeable parallels. And that would be a great reunion is Hoid and Cultivation were together on screen. It shows how paranoid Sanderson has made me if that is the sort of thing that I can't stop thinking of XD

I'm still convinced that the three different men was a reference to Cultivation having to choose between Tanavast, Rayse and Hoid. I did a post about it way upthread, but they seem to fit the respective character of Sailor, Banker, and King's Wit.

.......am I a bad person for noticing but not pointing it out cuz it was kinda funny?