SarChasmFiend

So I like to write parody songs, normally for wheel of time, but when I heard “I’m just Ken” from the Barbie movie, I couldn’t stop putting Shen’s name in instead, so I had to write the whole thing. I don’t have the ability to record anything right now, so if anyone does and wants to make this song a reality, do itttttt. I’M JUST SHEN: Doesn't seem to matter what form I take Always been a slave, No one knows that I’m a spy, oh-oh, I I have passion surging in my veins, Rhythms in my brain, All my life I’ve been so dull, Treated like I was a chull [Chorus] 'Cause I'm just Shen No, I’ll never be one of them Am I just destined to pretend that I’m not who we all came here to face? I'm just Shen Where they see war I see my friends What will it take for them to see the man behind the scary carapace? [Verse 2] I wanna know what it’s like to be free, Let me out of this prison Is it at last?Am I deceived, or are those the rhythms? And is my moment finally here, to fulfill my mission? I'm no singer… [everstorm] Can you feel Parshen-ergy? Feels so real, Parshen-ergy Can you feel Parshen-ergy? Feels so real, Parshen-ergy [Chorus] I’m bridge four Nowhere felt like home before Found my family in the boards of bridges that we carried soaked in blood Im bridge four Where I saw hate, I found much more What will it take to end the war? Just put all of your dreams and hopes in us [Outro] I'm Rlain (He’s Bridge Four) And I'm back to fight the war So, hey, check me out, yeah, I'm Rlain My name's Rlain (He’s one of us) Gimme that fleshy hand to clutch Hey, Roshar, check me out, yeah, I’m Rlain Oh yeah, I'm Rlain I hope you at least get a kick out of this.

Almost done. I’m so sucked in. Really enjoying it!

This isn’t really about the prologue, rather the book itself. I’ve been thinking about the interludes. Most of the interludes have shown themselves, so to speak. We have seen why they are there. If we don’t see in that book, we see it in the next or the novella in between. Kaza is actually the one that got me thinking. He has these breadcrumbs, and so many have come to fruition already, proving their usefulness. All except for two, that I could find. Chiri chiri and axes. so obviously chiri chiri’s interlude was there as the continuation of the rysn through line that has been there from book one, and he did that to obfuscate the goings on of dawnshard in the background, but there were still some promises made. I think we’ll see more progression from the Larkin in book five, probably leaving the really badass stuff for the back five. Axes, however, might be important for the first half. Less, axes, actually, more cusicesh. I don’t know how, but that is a promise that has not even been talked about since book one in text, and I’m beginning to think it will come out in book five. My opinion is that this is the last of the interludes needing wrapped up in the front half, and rysn is going to be our link into the back half, when she becomes super important in her dawnshardness Quick aside, honor did say that the dawnshards were important to the humans cause, so perhaps Rysn will come to play more in five, but because the sleepless mentioned she would be all but useless with the power, I have a feeling this is for later use. what do you think?

Having just done that, I highly recommend it. Going one into the next is rewarding

Oh, man! I caught up. I’m on my third reread and going through chapter by chapter with you. Keep it up! I’m enjoying getting your take on everything. (You’re following way better than I did on my first time through.)

I like this theory! I saw someone else use that death rattle as a theory for how Kaladin’s final ideal might go, but this is a little more simple. I don’t know if this part of Sigzil’s arc was planned that far ahead, but it’s very possible.

It just occurred to me that this could be where that convention originates, in-world. The softer letter that breaks the symmetry of the Gods name. And to be as symmetrical as that is heresy. I love this.

Bro. Hofstadter is my favorite ever. I’ve actually been lucky enough to email back and forth with him. GEB is my all time favorite book (until SA 10, I’m sure. Hahaha)

Strap in, this might be a weird one. This is more a theory on the themes and inspiration of the world rather than anything having any bearing on the way the story may unfold. That said, I begin. so I’m on my third reread of SA. My life and personal psychology have directed me towards audiobooks as my main source of consuming the written word, therefore I have not actually read the books with my own eyes, which In this case is important. It was not until my second read through that I began to catch the importance of symmetry. Not seeing the names left me with a random set of syllables to hear, rather than a pattern of symbols to read. So when Kabsil tells Shallan about how her name is perfectly Vorin, it stuck out the second time and I began to look more deeply. It was then that I noticed all of the Heralds naming conventions etc, and then that I put that in conjunction with the keteks in my mind. Shortly after someone pointed out that the hava has a similar function, as it offsets the symmetry of the person. Now, I’m a word guy. I love words, all kinds. And one of my favorite words is “cancrine” which is a *kind of synonym for “palindromic.” It means running the same forward and back. Just as a word or phrase can be cancrine (go hang a salami I’m a lasagna hog), so can a piece of music (the cancrine fugue by Bach) or poetry (a ketek). The word cancrine, at its root, means “of or relating to a crab,” as crabs can move either direction unimpeded. Which brings us back to Roshar. for one, everything is crabs. Effin crabs effin everywhere. But the HUMANS think that perfect symmetry is heresy, something they should not aspire to. Because they are not native to Roshar? Hmmmm. It also reminds me that Honor is all but symmetrical, so is it that even their God did not have a symmetrical name? This very well could be an accident on Brandon’s part, but if not, it could all be one big freaking pun about humans not being able to assimilate with Roshar because of the ecology. that is all.

So he’s definitely read the name of Adonalsium, but not the word shattering (in context). I asked what he knew about that name and he got bent out of shape because he “doesn’t want to know what might be important later.” *facepalm. I’ve looked through arcanum to find the earliest mentions of Adonalsium, but they already assume we know about the shattering. I came into the fandom already knowing about it, it’s actually what got me interested, so it seems like such a long wait for him to find out in a book. Hahaha

My best friend is dipping his toe into the cosmere. He’s read era one and is crawling through Elantris, though he’s starting to pick up the pace. He’s so in for the long haul that he has drawn up an insanely strict spoiler policy. One of the things we’ve agreed on is that I’ll give him WoB’s in context, as he makes his way through. I’m dying to talk about Adonalsium though, and There’s no way I can wait til he gets to secret history, and I’m sure Brandon said something long before then. Hoping someone can give me a better idea of an actual timeframe when the the first time we heard the shattering story from Brandon. thanks!

I had a feeling it was something to this effect. How fun! I’m excited for more random fun things like this!

Follow up question: I love being a skaa, and all, but what is that flair actually based on? Just curious as I’ve seen quite a few different tiers