Leuthie

One can call oneself amazing and smart, but if no one else agrees, is it so?

By definition, honor is something others see in you.

Transferring Breath isn't Awakening. It's simply a part of the nature of Breath. You could pull it out and call it its own magic system. That system would be end-neutral, but its also very limited. Having Breath gives you more abilities, all related to awareness and, if I'm remembering right, all passive...but that's it. Anything you do actively with Breath requires Commands and Color. Energy is pulled from outside, used, and returned to the system.

My take has been that spren bind with attuned individuals or processes. Both spren and bind target share aspects (Physical, Cognitive and Spiritual) both ways. The spren gains more powers ( the ability to interact with the Physical, for example), while what its bound to gains something from the spren. The only clear example we have so far is Syl and Kaladin, with Syl gaining Cognitive ability and more Physical interaction from Kaladin and Kaladin gains his Windrunner abilities from Syl. With more examples we'll know more, but that's my take on it right now.

Syl fights off deathspren from Kaladin's PoV during the Highstorm. Any reason she would if spren don't have an effect on what they are attracted to?

The logic is spurious to begin with. I don't know what "touched" means, nor do I know who or what is doing the touching. And where does WoB say there are spren that are Splinters? Closest I've seen is that spren are similar to/related to Seons and the Aons in Seons are Splinters.

Further thought: the newly posted reading of a Dalinar vision in WoR mentions Its possible that spren must be "touched" by someone or something with power to become more. In the case of Syl, she could have been a windspren "touched" by something (possibly a Splinter of Honor) then sought out an honorable person to bind with. The bond results in a Windrunner. Other "touched" spren may result in other KR varieties.

I guess my explanation was poor. End-positive: Energy is gained and used. Most magic systems take Energy from Shards and use it to Create. Once used, the Energy is returned to the Shard. The time it takes for that Energy to return is irrelevant. Even if it take a thousand years for a Burned metal to return, it isn't lost. End-neutral: Energy is simply transferred, temporally (as with Feruchemy, store now use later) or other (assuming there is some other end-neutral system with purpose of moving Energy around without loss). End-negative: Energy is lost and not used. Hemalurgy takes from one and gives to another. In the transfer, the receiver gets less than was taken. What was lost is never retrieved without use of a different system. Biochromatic Breath is interesting. Ultimately, its end-positive. Energy is never lost. Breath isn't Energy, nor is it lost (normally). Breath is a piece of the Soul (Cognitive and/or Spiritual) that can be transferred to others. That transfer can be considered end-neutral since nothing is gaoned or lost, just moved from one place to another. This can also remove any end-negative discussion about Nightblood, since he's destoying souls, not removing Energy. The perks one gains from having more Breaths all deal with awareness. They don't require Energy; better described as having more Soul. The closest thing to Energy in the process is color. To Awaken, color must be drained from nearby. No color to drain, not Awakey. This draining was seen, but its nature was never explained in Warbreaker. I would speculate that lost color gets input in some other form, elsewhere. WoB has mentioned fields of flowers from which lots of dyes are made...

Shardblades were obviously created to destroy things like Midnight Essence and Thunderclasts, with their ability to kill people being a side effect. Did Odium create them to destroy his own creations? Were Midnight Essences and Thunderclasts not created by Odium?

Feruchemy doesn't require any input from the local power source. All power is supplied/stored by the user. It should be able to be used anywhere. Definition of end-neutral. Allomancy requires a power source. When you burn pewter, the extra strength you gain has to come from somewhere else. On Scadrial, it comes from Preservation. Can Preservation power this from anywhere? If not, can Dor be used on Sel or Stormlight on Roshar? Can metal found on Roshar or Nalthis be used? (I think that's been answered in the affirmative)

I would say its more likely either 1) Cultivation is actively holding him there or 2) he has developed hatred (unavoidable as part of his Intent) for Cultivation or Roshar itself that is holding him there. Narratively, it would be interesting if the Intent he chose specifically to hold him to the task of Splintering Shards keeps him from finishing the job.

Hemalurgy might not work on Sel, but there might be a technique to take sDNA from one person and graft it on another that does work on Sel. Being Cosmere aware and knowledgeable about how Hemalurgy works, one might figure out how to create a magic system without even being a Shard. One might then call themselves The Seventeenth Shard...

It demands a system that takes Shardic power and uses it to give the Cognitive aspects of things more power/freedom/independence. How about: Cognitive aspects of Spiritual forms created by actions, beliefs, concepts, etc. They aren't actualized because actualization requires all three Realms. They only exist in two. By bonding with an entity that has a Physical aspect abd is attuned to the action, belief, concept they represent, the Spren can actualize, becoming visible to the Physical, interacting with the Physical, even passing on certain powers to he Physical.

My guess: You can consider Shards to be the architects and engineers of a magic system. They are also the maintenence staff. After Splintering, the mainenence staff is gone. Over time, parts of the magic system will change due to the lack of maintenence (we know how what people think can change the reality of things, being one example of how systems can change without maintenance). The structure should stay intanct for a good while, but, eventually, even that will rot away (the Reod is a good example of the structure of a magic system beginning to rot). I think that analogy fits.

With further thought: Spren aren't independent entities. They are actually an aspect of what they represent

WoB somewhere says we've seen 3 shardblades: regular, honorblades, and szethblade.

It seems more like they're shadows of Cognitive entities that find their way into people's perceptions under the right circumstances. Further, certain actions (honorable actions, creative actions, songs/rhythms, symmetry, measurement) allow Physical entities to align themselves with these Cognitive entities, giving the Physical entities certain Cognitive powers and the Cognitive entities Physical form.

Rock can see Syl. Spren are Cognitive entities. They can be seen because our minds are a required element in decoding what comes through our Physical eyes. Often times our minds get it wrong; especially if some other info is thrown in from elsewhere. Remember that Shallan can't see her Cryptic Spren...but she does draw them...and without even intending to. Her eyes don't receive any Spren info, but the part of her mind that draws stuff does.

They walked away. From the PoV in the Prelude, it was the torture between Desolations that broke the spirits of the Heralds, not the Desolations nor their roles in them.

The Heralds

Cognitive alignment. Song/rhythm, Symmetry, Trance...all ways to align your Cognitive aspect with something. Syl aligns with kaladin via his Honorable actions. What about more mundane Spren? Align with them using an above technique...

Identity plays a role in general. Geography has been a unique trait to Sel. Clarification, not disagreement.

I have to add that, at several points, Dalinar feel.nausea after or instead of the Thrill during battle. I attribute this to his Honorspren fighting whatever it is that causes the Thrill. Opposing Intents (Odium and Honor) and opposing personal intents (proving one's own worth fighting others and protecting others) causing two opposing magic systems to battle over who gets to make Dalinar awesome.

I actually think the Thrill is Odium's little silent contribution, making spreading Hate much more effective and enjoyable. Lighteyes have a little capt...Odium in them. Hence why Odium reigns. Yes, that would mean Dalinar has been "powered" by Odium as a youth. As an older man he's Ben moving away from Hate and toward Honor, killing his Thrill a bit. Kaladin gets power from Syl, from Honor. Similar effect, different source.

Very possible. If Odium has access to all these "storage" places, he can change what's stored there. Change the heroes through torture. Change the weapons some other way.