Comatose

Renarin and Rlain was one of the things I was most excited about after finishing RoW, so I am vibrating over the news. I have to say, it feels very validating for subtext to be acknowledged as intentional and legitimate. Often I find writers will include queer subtext without meaning to, or the worse ones include it just to string queer fans along with no intention of giving a pay off in the end - so it's just super exciting to know Brandon is foreshadowing this intentionally. For me the argument of a character being crammed full of two many 'isms' doesn't really carry much water (I didn't love Brandon's use of it in his annotation about Jasnah either). Everyone is crammed full of isms. Even the stereotypical "straight white cisgender male" is full of isms, they just happen to be ones that are associated with the hegemonic norms. Identities are intersectional, so I have no issue with Brandon exploring intersectional identities in his books. I think representation-wise this only becomes an issue if there is only ONE minority character meant to represent as many minority groups as possible. Here we have lots of characters with diverse race, gender, and sexuality identities, so I don't see intersectionality used in this way to be an issue. EDIT: It's interesting that the reverse argument never comes up - you never see characters with multiple hegemonic norms brought up as lacking individual character. I've never seen anyone say there's no room in Kelsier or Elend for individual characterization because of their straight white cisgender neurotypical male-ness, so I'm confused why it would be an issue for queer characters. Now I'm just excited for Renarin telling Adolin about his crush, because that's going to be just the most wholesome thing ever. I don't think it'll earn screen time, but I'm also head canoning brunch between Renarin and Rlain and Drehy and Dru because imagining them taking some time to fondly kvetch about the heterosexual nonsense of the rest of Bridge Four would just be super fun and relateable.

This thread has been very informative so I appreciate everyone who shared their perspective on this. It's been really helpful to me in understanding Shallan's plot line. One thought I had (as I'm a singlet feel free to refute this if I am off base) was Formless being less of a new head mate, and more of an instance of Shallan forcing herself to reintegrate in an unhealthy way that ignores her trauma and who she is? My sense was Formless was less a distinct entity and more what would be left after the collapse of the others (including Shallan). Not sure if that helps much in terms of the reintegration narrative but to me at least it kind of indicates that any reintegration that is happening is on Shallan's terms and based on what she needs at the time. I totally get the frustration though at having one of very few plural characters following a reintegration narrative and confirming biases that aren't true for everyone.

I don't think Szeth even knows Nightblood's name haha. I am definitely curious to see how the sword is behaving next book, but anticipate Szeth will miss any weirdness, or chalk it up to 'sword-nimi' being weird generally. EDIT: Nevermind - I think Szeth actually started calling it by its name in RoW - but I still think the point about him not knowing it well stands.

Glad my Kaladin came off okay - I have trouble relating to him as a character, and was worried that he wouldn't come off right. I did partly cheat though by taking things from Adolin's point of view :). Thanks!

I should have known someone else would have seen the similarities. I'll have to check out the musical thread in more detail :).

I could see Whimsy fitting the "mad god" archetype. My guess is any magic is bestowed or removed at random, or tied to random things (maybe some people develop powers based on the position of the moon, whereas others get it based on the direction the wind is blowing, and so on). I could see them being a great ally while you their attention, but a terrible obstacle if they grow bored of you. Dealing with them would be walking a razor's edge imo.

I think that the enemy is Autonomy, or an avatar of Autonomy. I note that Autonomy is the living shard that we know of which isn't listed in Sazed's letter, which to me makes it feel likely that Autonomy is the one hidden from Sazed's sight.

So I've done something like this before when I wrote "An Expert in Just About Everything" - that is reworking a scene from the books with different characters. ROW SPOILERS AHEAD. This time around, as soon as I read Chapter 12 of of Rhythm of War, I knew I wanted to do a rewrite of the scene with the roles reversed. While I love Kadolin's dynamic, I'm personally not a huge fan of writing Shallan off because I also love her individually, and her and Adolin's relationship. With that in mind, the premise of the following scene is that Shallan is deep undercover, and Adolin believes (incorrectly) that she is dead. I think this could make for some very interesting conversations down the road. In my mind, it would be less about the typical drama, and more about "okay, how do we make this work". Maybe if writing this inspires me I'll continue the narrative. For maximum effect, I'd recommend reading Chapter 12 of Rhythm of War first (and maybe Chapter 21), and hopefully you can pick up on the parallels. Anyways, here it goes ROW SPOILERS AHEAD:

I'm not sure if I would have time for it, but I would love to see another Mistborn RP start up. Mistborn: the Inquisition was very near and dear to my heart, and the Final Empire is SUCH a fun setting to RP in. I've also thought an Elendel era RP would also be very entertaining.

Navani and Raboniel have SUCH great chemistry. My head canon is definitely that Raboniel started to have a little flame going for Navani, and you can't convince me otherwise (please don't ask Brandon this - I could really do without the WoB lol). Also, I started as a Shadolin fan, became a Kadolin fan, and now I think I'm into Shakadolin as SAK. I just really like the dynamic of the three of them as friends even, and Adolin has SUCH strong chemistry with both of them. I also suck at decisions, so it's nice not to have to decide b/c Adolin has two hands :).

I agree Ogo - sexuality aside, I did not feel any form of romantic chemistry between them at all. I know some people dig the ship, and I can see some of the appeal, but it came way out of left field for me. I was firmly of the belief that the rumors of Jasnah and Hoid were just that, and were kind of a fun trolling moment, and I was really shocked when they were true. I am not sure who else I would ship Jasnah with, but Hoid definitely would not be high on the list of characters I thought of as possible romantic partners for her.

Ace or gay was definitely my takeaway. Although sexuality works a little different for Singers/Listeners, and I think a singer who has an aversion to the only form they experience sexual attraction in, that would basically match our understanding of asexuality. I think a gay reading definitely works as well. Here I am, just hoping against hope it might mean we get Corrupted Truthwatcher Boyfriends. Renarin and Rlain have had a couple of cute scenes, and it's touching that Renarin specifically recommended Rlain as a candidate for Sja-Anat's latest child.

So, as I mentioned on discord, I was listening to the Hamilton Soundtrack, and realized some of the songs fit Rayse perfectly. I changed the words a little to match setting, but most is left unchanged. This first one is sung to Dalinar at the end of Oathbringer, after Dalinar refuses to be Odium's champion: And here's one near the end of RoW, sung to Dalinar again. And finally, re: Tarav-Odium, to Hoid (this one needed more change):

Definitely good to keep in mind, thanks. I know I definitely did not to mean to imply her canon ace orientation was in any way less than a wlw reading - sorry if it came across that way. For the record I think ace Jasnah is great, like the OP said. I just also get the disappointment from people after she was revealed to be heteroromantic I guess. To your first point, speaking as someone who did not figure out his sexuality until adulthood despite living in a very accepting household with an accepting circle of friends, while Alethi society might be less overtly prejudiced, I think that the strict gender roles in Alethi culture would create implicit or subversive prejudices for same sex couples, and a storyline about a closeted individual definitely would still work, especially for a public figure in the ruling family. People stay in the closet (even from themselves) for lots of reasons. Its not just about protection from overt Homophobia.

I think that readings of Jasnah's sexuality are somewhat complicated by Brandon's annotation on the subject. I think that there is definitely textual evidence which supports a reading of her as a lesbian. Its a head canon I really like. I think she's a great character for queer women to identify with. That being said, I hope people don't get their hopes up too much about her coming out now that Brandon has explicitly stated she's asexual and hetero-romantic. Its definitely okay to think about what might have been, and discuss a wlw Jasnah reading, so long as people are managing their expectations, in light of Brandon's comments. I definitely agree that there is a lot about Jasnah that reads as having a complicated interior life, so I can definitely see her sorting through her orientation and how she interacts with gender internally despite her external confidence. I have a similar view of Adolin - so much of his expression of his heterosexuality is performative that I've often related his experience to my own before I realized I was gay. I know that's not the direction Brandon seems to be taking with the character, but there's a lot there imo.

Of the legal dramas I've watched, I consider "The Good Wife" to be the most accurate in terms of the practice of law, the moral and ethical dilemmas lawyers face, and the culture of law. The main character is in private practice, but she does do some Pro-Bono work. Suits is also decent on occasion, but tends to get caught up in the whole "angry men yelling at each other" thing too often, and is more about office politics than legal work. For books, Three Parts Dead involves "firms" that are like law firms, but instead of lawyers they are necromancers, and instead of arguing legal cases they do magic stuff. Despite the fantastical premise, I found some of the cultural notes very familiar. EDIT: I haven't watched it, but the RBG movie might also be something along the lines you are looking for.

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I caught up on all of the first campaign, 115 episodes, in under a year, and have since caught up to the live airings in c2 so its definitely possible.

After RoW I ship them so hard you guys. Corrupted Truthwatcher Boyfriends yes please!

Sorry I missed!

I'm gonna go to bed now team - I'll finish the rest in the morning - thanks for watching with me

Spoilers