Eri

With the recent resourcepack with the temporarily revoked new mapgen (src), it turns out that changing the world height limit with a resourcepack is possible. And I think it could go beyond the current max, only the mapgen would not build there. So with a resourcepack we could make fit Urithiru in the world.

9 hours ago, VanillaDCocoKing said:

The world download will be made available to all volunteers when completed, and probably to others, though not through this site.

Wouldn't it be more convenient to do it as Realms or other kind of server? If people download the world and build individually, how do you plan to merge their creations? I guess Worldpainter can do it, but what if two people try to build the same city?

Also, please, please do the End (or Nether) into Shadesmar!

If it's Java, I could help with building, depending on how often my MC will crash (it does that a lot), I'm not great at it, but not terrible either + I know the setting reasonably well (= read the books about 3 times and know how to use the wiki) + I know how fortifications work (= watch Shadiversity a lot).

4 hours ago, Flyingbooks said:

Hmmm... And it says "ask for K or N." Could those be Khriss and Nazh?

Isn't it officially confirmed that they are Khriss and Nazh?

2 hours ago, Winter Wolf said:

Any speculation on what needed to be done to make it possible? 

Why wouldn't it be possible? The Returned aren't presented as undead (cough, Twilight, cough). I mean, yes, they are brought back to live, but they have all normal functions, like breathing and eating and they bleed. and while they do run partially on the Investiture, they are more like fairies (=not quite human, not quite spitit) than undead (=dead but running around). 

All Returned can have kids, same for the Heralds for example. Yes, that's an unusual take on the undead trope, but IMO it makes sense in-setting.

2 hours ago, Hoiditthroughthegrapevine said:

Not content to be Stormblessed the Hero, and the father of Clinical Psychiatry, I forsee our boy Kal inventing penicillin, figuring out how to do soulcast organ transplants, and solving the ecological disaster that is brewing from the wholesale slaughter of Chasmfiends and the Everstorm blowing the wrong way. Why not. 

[Generally, this all.]

Don't forget he'll be the first one to be a dual-order Radiant.

But then, I have literally zero opinions on Kaladin that are not controversial, so..

On 7.02.2021 at 11:59 PM, AquaRegia said:

I don't think we have ANY evidence of the existence (or lack thereof) of eternal souls for ANYONE, human, animal, spren, or otherwise.  Nor do I expect any.

I'm pretty sure we have a confirmation in more than one WoB that canon answers to this kind of questions (Beyond, life after death and CS being an actual soul not just a simulacrum-like imprint, general eschatology) won't be ever given. Which, in my opinion, is a good decision. Nearly all books I read that tried to tackle this area ended up… not that great and often a little cringy. 

I really liked Venl as a character (the start was boring a bit, but I like her as a person)i.

I love Navani, her science, her sismance with Raboniel. And her becoming a Bondsmith. I like the Sibling too and I get why they disagreed and I think they had all the right to do so, but the situation (mostly Moash) forced them and now it's awkward for both them and Navani, which is very interesting.

I didn't like Kaladin swearing the 4th Ideal, I really don't like that Kaladin followed his character fault (overprotectively took Teft from the Fused which had a big chance of getting them both killed and the situation seemed like Teft would be a lot safer given to the Fused) and it turned out it had been the right thing to do and Teft died besides that, not because of that and generally, nothing bad came out of it. (But I don't like Kal as a general rule.)

I'm totally OK with the Wit/Jasnah thing, though I'd be same level of OK without it. I just… it's not that I don't care, because it's good. I just don't have a preference about it. (Though I don't think this relationship will last, unless they both change how they approach it, ie start trusting each other more.)

I loved the "Shallan killed her spren" twist, but I hoped that more drama will come out of it.

I found Moash quite boring and I'm still not in the "storm Moash!" camp. He would one of the less interesting to me characters now, if not for the fandom reactions around him.

I still find the interactions between Shallan's personas, and the personals themselves, rather boring.

A couple days ago on the Discord I came up with the theory of Kaladin being a direct heir (ie: eldest sons/children line) of Tanavast. This would fit with Lirin&Hesina being his actual parents, and also with Lirin too having this "moral code above all else" thing going on.

But I agree that it would be a little too tropey for Brandon, unless he can find a good spin on it.

However I also like the hypothesis that this "son of Tanavast" refers to Kal's bonding with Syl, it's a very elegant reading of it.

Nightblood started with 1000 Breaths, but is absorbing Investiture when used and I not all of it leaves as the smoke. Some stays and accumulates with time. I can't link an exact WoB, but I remember Brandon saying something along those lines, or at least that's how I interpreted it.

As I read this, the kidnapped women are his descendents via the lines that had shown a good Allomancy genes.

Why haven't I seen this topic earlier?

In order of controversy:

I don't like Kaladin, I don't think there's a single scene in his PoV I enjoyed. He's the least interesting and  and emotionally engaging PoV. I… he just doesn't work for me, I don't care about him and I'm sick of seeing the hype about him everywhere (hence: my profile). And no, I'm not a happy-rainbow-never-had-depression person. Also I think his character arc is (in terms of narrative quality) worse than other characters in SA (not that I am at the position to judge, but anyway).

I liked Shallan the most in tWoK and now after RoW, but in WoR she was boring, except flashbacks. I really liked her flashbacks. Her personas are boring too, because they aren't as interested in Cosmere lore as Shallan.

I don't have any strong emotions, or almost any emotions at all towards Moash, except secondary ones, ie emotions I have about emotions that other people will feel if his story goes this or that way. Which are strong, because people invest themselves emotionally in him, on both sides.

Harmony isn't that good. Sure, he's trying I guess, but the thing he did to Paaln (and to Wax, but mostly to her TBH) crossed the line.

Lift is actually funny. Spensa is great. Generally, teenage girls aren't all cringe.

I don't care much about Renarin's ships. I wish he had more PoVs, but romance is near the end of the list of "things I want to see Renarin doing". (Cool magic is probably on top, dealing with his insecurities in social life is second).

[RoW-related opinions redacted]

Rithmatist is actually really good. 

Steelheart isn't bad, it's just very unlike Cosmere. Same for Legion. 

Elantris is by far weakest of Brandon's books. It's still ok, but not very good and the only reason I'd reread it is to find more Cosmere lore in it.

Maybe this?

If I were in this position, I'd just make up the glyphs for those letters, inspired by the canon glyphs.

That's a great theory!

I was very much in the camp of "Gavilar is a CS now" after RoW, but never connected this to "Odium can do fun stuff with CS and BTW needs a champion". Also, the Death Rattle quote. I think it all fits perfectly.

5 hours ago, Aspiring Writer said:

What does this stand for?

AtLA = Avatar the Lasr Airbender.

5 hours ago, Aspiring Writer said:

Um, first the Mistborn one, I believe the sun is red because of the atmosphere and ash, not because it's actually a Red Sun. Does that change your analysis, or does the problem still exist? I'm curious, I love this stuff.

No, it's not a matter of astronomy. I know why it's red.

It's a matter of the light falling on leaves is red, and red leaves reflect all (well, technically probably not all, but vast majority) of it, so they don't get energy to do photosyntesis. Photosyntesis uses absorbed light, which hits a particle and... I forgot the detail. But as a result it makes sugar for the plant to use later and energy to use now.

red leaves won't absorb enough red light. type of the star doesn't matter. I believe if you put regular Earth plants behind a green stained glass, they'd die, like they die in darkness. Only a little slower. They need the right frequency of light to grow.

OK, thb [RoW spoilers]

5 hours ago, Aspiring Writer said:

But on to the main point, this is actually something I hear a lot, and similarly to you, it is said responding to someone trying to be critical about some media. When someone points out an error in one thing, some like to point out, in defense of that media, that some media they like has similar errors, or just errors in general. First, this is whataboutism, and is not normally used to advocate discussion.

I agree.

5 hours ago, Aspiring Writer said:

Not to say it shouldn't be used in discussion, it can be. However, this does not defend the piece of media, but instead tries to find the person's bias, in the best-case scenario, and tries to diminish people's ability to critically analyze media at it's worst. Example of the first when justified is if someone is okay with unlimited bullets in one movie, but then isn't okay in the next, showing a double standard.

Well, I don't full agree here. What if one movie is a gritty war drama, and another is a pulpy action? Different genres work better or worse with a given trope.

I'm not a "realism above all" person and am OK with unilimited bullets in many genres, but for, say, a realistic historical movie I would have a problem with unlimited bullets.

Genre matters.

It also gets more complicated with narrative errors, because they can be more or less severe. Like, you can have a character that's a total Mary Sue, you can have one that' s kinda a Mary Sue but also cool and you can have a character that is kinda ok, but compared to other characters of same author is a Mary Sue anyway. The first is more of a problem, even if they all can be described with the same trope.

With those two clarifications, I agree. The fact that I like a movie doesn't make it free of any faults.

5 hours ago, Aspiring Writer said:

This shows they don't have a consistent standard when analyzing media. However, this does not remove the flaw from the movie. This does not make your position better, you're simply making your opponent's position worse. In the end, your film will still have a flaw. 

However, a less justified example is when someone says this scene in a movie is bad and then someone else brings up a similar scene from another movie (One that person probably likes or considers in high regard). First off, similar scenes have different contexts.

Indeed. 

5 hours ago, Aspiring Writer said:

You cannot say someone burning enemy soldiers in a war with fire magic is the same as taking your dragon and burning a city full of civilians to the ground and say they are the same because they both burn people.

...also, Azula and Ozai were better written and more cohesive in their being evil than Danerys.

5 hours ago, Aspiring Writer said:

 But now comes to the real meat of what we're talking about and why your point is incomplete. Yes, every story has its flaws. It is an unfortunate thing. However, saying everything has flaws does not make them equally bad.

I agree.

What I meant saying that everything has flaws was "it's unwise to get defensive about flaws in a thing you like, or to assume that the thing you like has no flaws, or should have no flaws". Not having flaws is not a prerequisite for people to be allowed to like a piece of media. 

Yet, often when someone says "this book/movie has this problem", people feel attacked and hear it as "this book is not perfect, therefore you are not allowed to enjoy it". I do it too. But it's stupid anyway.

And yes, as long as something doesn't hurt people or make you a worse person, everyone is allowed to like even dumb things with a ton of flaws. Especially when they're fun.

5 hours ago, Aspiring Writer said:

The severity and the amount of those flaws in a piece of media will determine how well written it is. A good piece of media will have lots of working elements with a few minor and maybe the occasional major error. A bad piece of media will have constant errors and plotholes that break the story and plot, or reduce the quality of it at the least, like making characters seem incredibly dumb. 

I agree. But it still can be a lot of fun.

[I cut the part about stuff I haven't seen. I'm rather out of the popculture loop, because... kids I guess? I'm not sure]

5 hours ago, Aspiring Writer said:

Sorry for taking what you said and expanding on it this much, but it's something I've heard a lot and had plenty of time to think about. This isn't really targeted toward you and more to anyone who would make that argument, which is why a lot of it probably isn't relevant to what you were exactly trying to convey. 

Yeah, but it's interesting to read. And thanks for the clarification.

5 hours ago, Aspiring Writer said:

On another note, I have seen and heard why you have problems with SA, and while I'm not going to argue against those, I would like to say they, like you said, are more subjective and not objective flaws, and can go both ways.

You mean Kaladin, don't you? 

Yes, I know, I know, a lot of ppl love him. They're all valid and if reading about him helps them in their lifes, that's great. I really mean it, it's not /s. I just wish they didn't downvote me this much on Reddit, because it's frustrating.

I generally don't think I like a lot of epic fantasy elements. I like SA, but it's not typical in a lot of places. Kaladin is, in may aspects, a typical epic fantasy protag: 100% good, heroic and stuff. I like good characters, I just don't like... I don't want how to explain it. I like characters that are good, but not predictable in their moral choices. I don't like when most of characters turn evil, but I like not knowing how a given character would turn. 

(Which is funny, because I have a lot of idealism, and... let's just say that after the Wonder Woman video my respect for Shad grown even more, even if his mental image of feminists is "a band of evil people who enjoy a man suffering". Not all feminists are like that. (pun intended) Also, he did something that requires a lot of courage from a guy.)

There are also other reasons I don't like him, some dumb and based on jealousy, some maybe wise and based on actually unfortunate writing choices (still better than any other author, but not great for Brandon). But indeed, let's not go there. I think I'm really bad at explaining my opinions, especially in a persuasive way.

5 hours ago, Aspiring Writer said:

Also, sorry if the long responses are annoying, I'm passionate about the topics and have a lot to say. Not sure if this will come to a surprise, but this is part of why I am trying to start a youtube channel as a little side project.

Nice. I like youtube essays and edutainment. I hope you'll post a link when you start it. (warning: if you have a high-pitched voice, I won't watch it regardless of how good it'll be, I just can't stand high-pitched voices, sorry.)

10 hours ago, Aspiring Writer said:

... Why did you italicize "the even a"?

I did? IDK The post editor went weird on me and did some strange things. This editor + my mouse = the cursor jumps to random places sometimes.

10 hours ago, Aspiring Writer said:

Also, I said having even a little writing talent because the Mandalorian i

If you're explaining to me, maybe read the spoiler tag ;D
I'm not saying you're wrong yk.

10 hours ago, Aspiring Writer said:

Also, I'm sure Fadran isn't actually mad. He just likes the show, and like everybody who likes the show, tends to not like admitting its flaws because that would mean they like something bad, which for some reason is unacceptable to them. I like the CW Batwoman show (Well, someone's coverage of it, and it's ironically. It's hilarious.), and boy, that has some awful writing. Almost everything in it is bad. Never understood why people can't admit a show they like might not be that high-quality. (Writing-wise, of course. Mando has the set design and CG down.)

I don't think there's any show or book that I wouldn't find a way to complain about, even on pure technical / verisimilitude level. This includes AtLA (Uncle Iroh the creepy pervert), SA (ok, it's not purely technical and partially about opinions), Mistborn (Red sun. Red leaves. They wouldn't be able to absorb any light and do photosyntesis) or basically everything. 

OTOH, saying that something has "a writing level of a typical first draft" is a strong statement and it's normal that it could make people feel like they need to defend themselves.

PS: your signature has a typo: it's Dalinar, not Daliner.

11 hours ago, Aspiring Writer said:

Then I suggest you start killing everyone with even a microcosm of writing talent and the dignity to admit they have it, because if you can't say you can write better than the Mandalorian, do the universe a favor and don't write.

Hey, I can't say I can write better than the Mandalorian and I ... well, sometimes write something. Like, that one time. I wish I did it more.

But seriously, I think this discussion isn't going in a good direction.

18 hours ago, Aspiring Writer said:

Are you referring to Gambeson?

Yes, I think it's this. 

As for Mandalorian discourse, didn't watch. My biggest dissapointment recently was "the Dragon Prince" (yes, it's a kids show...) which everyone hyped about because it was made by the people who made "Avatar the Last Airbender". But while [controversial opinion] the visuals were awesome, [another one] characterisation and narrative structure and generally most of the story stuff besides its bare bones were... mediocre, at best.

On 11.01.2021 at 9:37 PM, Omi the Counselor said:

Elithanathile. And maybe that means something, maybe it doesn't. El's a real mysterious boy.

Huh. Elithanathile menas "one who changes" and while it is mentioned as one of Honor's names, I believe it means Honor as much as "Stormfather" means Jezren or Kalak, ie a cultural messing up of the actual lore. DS spoiler: 

Des El's name refer to it? Maybe. (Also, I have no idea how to do inline spoilers).

Edit: I'm sure the "El means God" is there too, but I think there's also some in-world linguistics here. Des it mean this in proto-Rosharan too? Maybe.

I got an idea. You know what might be even better than Syl perma-Dying?

Pattern perma-dying, Shallan reconciling/4-Idealing with Testament (which she is close to) and kicking the but of a very surprised Moash or whoever killed Pattern. (She wouldn't kill Moash, he belongs too much to Kaladin's arc, but she'd totally trash him). And Shallan-Testament relationship would be... difficult. And great to read.

I love Pattern more than Syl, he's awesome and funny and all. But this would make a good narrative.

TBH I doubt both Pattern and Adolin would die, Shallan is not some Kaladin to be kicked down this hard by the story all the time.

40 minutes ago, CosmereComrade said:

Well, brandon sure does like killing of wives/mothers to give people tragic backstorie

This.

Another point into Adolin dying theory: Brandon also likes sometimes flipping genders in a trope. So one husband dying, and the score is clear again, can go back to killing wives.  /s (Actually Brandon gets better all the time, also in stuff like female characters, so I hope there won't be a lot more dead wives, especially after the double one. Or unnamed dead mothers. )

9 hours ago, CosmereComrade said:

Okay, so, with RoW published and asuming most of us have already read it well and are discussing about it, I think it's time to create a little game that can go on to the day book 5 is published, as in, a character dead pool.

The rules are as follows:

1.- Submit up to 5 characters you think are going to die in book 5 (mainly to don't make this too long, while mantaining a clean vorin number)

Adolin.

Otherwise, hmm, let's make some guesses... Navani, Shallan, Leshwi... Syl.

9 hours ago, CosmereComrade said:

2.- Make an argument on why you think they are going to die (because it will be a good plot point, or because of the way you picture the character arc...)

• Adolin: he's just the expendable one. Non-magic user, happy, not crucial to the plot (like, say, Dalinar). I really like and enjoy him, but feel like he's gonna go.
• Navani: She's the second Bondsmith, we don't need two. Also, too many main characters make book slow down. I wish Dalinar died instead, but this doesn't seem likely. There are many characters I'd wish dead instead of Navani, but we're talking bets, not hopes.
• Shallan: Not many readers like her (though I do), also she generally completed her character arc now. And killing Adolin and not her would be too sad, and not in an interesting way.
• Leshwi: She's a noble antagonist, looks very likely to die heroically for Kaladin (in the "redemption equald seath" trope). Also, she's a Fused, so essentially, she cannot live being a good gal, because she has to steal bodies to respawn.
• Syl: I initially wanted to steal the Hesina idea, but a) we know spren can be perma-killed. b ) people would loooove seeing Kaladin go all the way from square zero again c) he will bond a new spren ofc d) probably Notum or whatever his name was, or at least one of those we've seen e) losing Syl would hurt Kaladin more than losing his mom f) I think Brando Sando realized that too much of dead mothers is a cliche. 
  (Yes, they are all mostly female. I can't think of more main male characters that don't seem essential to the plot. Maybe because I focus on fellow women and remember them better. Maybe.)

9 hours ago, CosmereComrade said:

3.- Make a guess on how the death will be.

• Adolin: sacrificing himself for Maya, somehow. I have no idea about the details. Anyway, in a cool fight.
• Navani: something humilating? Probably tricked by Tod.
• Shallan: together with Adolin, HoA-finale-style.
• Leshwi: sacrificing herself for Kaladin, probably killed by Moash
• Syl: Moooaaash! With anti-Light. Also, we'll get a Stormfather reaction gif chapter.

(Note: While this is not a trolling post, much of it is in the vein of "Brando Sando, I beg you, prove me wrong, show me that you're better than this".

Except Adolin and Syl. I think those deaths could make powerful moments and are worth it. Even though I'm not a fan of Kaladin's PoV. But when I thought of Syl, I loved how unexpected, yet logical this death would be in this story. And Adolin... he just feels too much like an extra.)

10 hours ago, AquaRegia said:

Thank you so much, EVERYONE, for all your fantastic responses!  I laughed at many (especially the punches), and understand all of them.  I you all!

What I heard from @Eri was "Kaladin seems to have all the same problems I do... but he ends up as a rich, powerful, famous, popular superhero, and I'm still a piece of crem.  What does that say about me?"  I think that's an understandable feeling.  But it's also possible to say "here's a person like me who made it... so maybe I can too."  Sometimes attitude is everything.

Yes, this.

Except I'm not sure if it's attitude, or just  I have a different way of connecting with characters than most people. Unless a character (even a PoV one) is very similar to me in their way of thinking (and Kaladin isn't, for example because he's an extravert), I see them as a different person, not project myself into them or see them as "I could be this". I see them as "other people are like this" kind of real person.

May be a Renarin-spectrum thing, may be just me not being a nice person (which is true anyway), IDK. 

BTW I am better now and less a piece of crem than I've been, but still, no magic fairy, no fanclub, not many friends and they fail to intervene a\with OP magic with exact right moments. And I have a great love life (happily married for 15+ years), instead of off-screen break-ups  

Thank you for this analysis anyway, it was really insightful. 

That's interesting, I posted something very similar a couple days ago.

I'm not that hyped about this ship, because... IDK. I don't much care about Rlain, because I barely saw him on screen. Also, I guess I feel kind of left alone by Renarin, because he turned out less similar to me that I've assumed. I really enjoyed reading about Renarin (especially his insecurities) and don't want all the things I found myself in to now be replaced by warm fuzzy shippy stuff. I mean, I don't actively dislike this ship, I'm just indifferent to it. I'm generally not a big shipper.

Anyway I wouldn't post (I try not to post to whine about stuff), but I saw the idea to call it ℝ^2 and it's the best ship name ever! ♥ (until someone makes a ship that can be nicknamed "free group" or some other math object cooler than this)