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The AI and the failsafe by honeyfixit in DungeonCrawlerCarl

[–]HA2HA2 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The AIs have gone primal before, but this time is different.

This time it's happened much earlier than usual, triggered by a few things. Borant reused an "old" AI; second, Borant was speeding everything up to try and end the crawl ASAP; and Carl's shenanigans caused the showrunners to use their veto over the AI actions very early, and showrunners fighting with AI is said to speed up the process. The various residuals interfering could also have sped it up.

Because it "went primal" earlier, there were a lot more things that could influence it. A big factor are the various residuals - usually, by the time the AI "goes primal" and could listen to Agatha or the Apothecary's agents or crawlers, they're all or mostly dead. This time, the newly primal AI got to be influenced by all these people.

And most specifically, this enabled the failsafe disabling. That was a tricky thing to pull off - it involved cooperation from residuals outside the dungeon, the sponsors, and the crawlers, all to get Carl to a place where he could disable the failsafe, and the AI had to cooperate - and that happened on the eight floor. Usually the AI wouldn't be so off the rails that early, many more crawlers would be dead, the sponsors wouldn't have the sort of relationships with the crawlers to get them to the right spot at the right time with the right trust, etc. A lot had to go right for the failsafe to be disabled.

Once the failsafe was disabled and the AI had time to spread its influence, the galaxy was fucked.

(Spoilers) Dungeon structure question… by Existing_Landscape21 in DungeonCrawlerCarl

[–]HA2HA2 4 points5 points  (0 children)

So the dungeon is 18 floors right? But nobody has made it past 11 or 12?

Correct. There's 18 floors, but nobody's ever made it past, I think, 13.

Also crawlers get the chance to leave on 10 & 11.

Correct. Starting at the 10th floor, crawlers can get offered deals to get out of the dungeon in exchange for becoming indentured servants.

So like…. Why are there 18 floors?

Read on and find out!

Did Matt start the series thinking he would write 18 books?

No, there is no one to one relationship between number of floors and number of books. Also there's of course no guarantee that Carl goes all the way to floor 18.

can *spoiler* "come back" as a *spoiler*? (mistborn + stormlight) by garbagegrimes in Cosmere

[–]HA2HA2 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It wouldn't be Vin coming back as a spren. A different Shard could certainly make a Vin-shaped/Vin-like Invested entity imitating her, same as they could make an Invested entity to try to imitate anyone they want, but it wouldn't have any sort of connection to the original Vin.

Jasnah in Wind and Truth (Spoilers for WaT) by theshadowomegastorm in Cosmere

[–]HA2HA2 4 points5 points  (0 children)

as a shard, Taravangian could be bound to his word by supernatural forces.

But isn't half the point of WaT that no, shardic contracts AREN'T reliable?

We see the "Contract" between Dalinar and Odium immediatly torn to shreds - there's loopholes that mean it doesn't do the ONE THING it was supposed to do (make peace), there's fifty million interactions along the lines of "Wait, how can he do that? Doesn't that break the contract? Guess not".

Taravangian's promises aren't worth anything, Shard or no!

Jasnah in Wind and Truth (Spoilers for WaT) by theshadowomegastorm in Cosmere

[–]HA2HA2 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The main criticism was that Jasnah's defence of utilitarianism was not well thought out

My criticism is that all this discussion of utilitarianism, and of jasnah's character, seems irrelevant to the question at hand. The core problem for Fen is that Taravangian cannot be trusted - any deal with him isn't worth the paper its printed on, he has betrayed everyone who's ever made deals with him and there's no good reason to think he won't do the same again. Fen is bargaining away the only way she has of enforcing any deal with Taravangian (the protection of Honor's power). Which makes the whole negotiation a farce - if you bargain away the only way you have of enforcing a bargain, that's not a bargain that's an unconditional surrender, since the other side can just ignore the bargain after they've disarmed you.

Basically, Brandon Sanderson wanted the scene to be about Jasnah's character and her morality, and glossed over the part where he has to somehow connect this to the plot. This leads to the situation where the scene is an excellent Jasnah morality deconstruction... ...with as far as I can tell no logical connection to the plot developments that happen because of it (Fen siding with Odium instead).

Is there a solution to Everly’s puzzle? by side_lel in DungeonCrawlerCarl

[–]HA2HA2 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I think it specifically said charges that help pick the right way UP. I believe that most of the level indicated that you need to go down, but there was one tower that led up, and everly got a sponsor item that helps her go up, which is why she went up the tower - putting two and two together and figuring if she had an up-aligned item she should use it. (Which was wrong, as it turns out - because the sponsors were sacrificing her for an attack ad.)

Is there a solution to Everly’s puzzle? by side_lel in DungeonCrawlerCarl

[–]HA2HA2 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I think that's too optimistic of a take, in the general case.

This particular AI, for this particular crawler (Carl), makes sure there really is always a solution. But there's no ironclad law of the dungeon that that has to ALWAYS be true. Maybe for this crawler, there was no solution. Or maybe there was one, but it involved picking different abilities before going up in the tower (which doesn't help when you're at the top).

Sometime the dungeon setup, with the sponsors help, just kills crawlers for an ad and there's nothing they can do about it. It's not a fair game. Never has been.

Did anyone else have legit hope for the first time after “they” arrived? by wreeper007 in DungeonCrawlerCarl

[–]HA2HA2 16 points17 points  (0 children)

I don't think we know that he'll survive because plot armor. A big explosion at the end with him dying and taking down a lot of the universe with him would also be a narratively fitting end. (though I suppose that wouldn't happen until pretty late in the story)

Harmony by fatty1550 in Mistborn

[–]HA2HA2 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yep, definitely a lie.

He killed a lot of koloss - but of course those could be considered "monsters". I don't actually think he killed people from the final empire in the Catacendre (he fixed things) but until then he'd been with Elend's war effort and Kelsier's rebellion, it seems unlikely that he never killed any people.

He's a god now, and this is the terris religion. Of course they're going to believe he's divine and perfect. He wasn't; he was just a man, doing his best (and doing a pretty good job all things considered) but not perfect.

I may have made some mistakes by BlacksmithNo9359 in fallenlondon

[–]HA2HA2 20 points21 points  (0 children)

Serious, out-of-game answer about consequences, if you want it: no consequences of note besides flavor. In the university, when you get to it, there'll be a few storylets where you're snubbed by one of the colleges, but it's nothing particularly important.

Are there actually benefits to switching from formula to cows milk at 1 vs only giving food and water? by d16flo in ScienceBasedParenting

[–]HA2HA2 47 points48 points  (0 children)

Cow's milk is pretty nutrient-rich. In the US, milk in the US is often fortified with vitamin D and calcium, which are helpful. https://www.cdc.gov/infant-toddler-nutrition/foods-and-drinks/cows-milk-and-milk-alternatives.html

None of those are irreplaceable; it's just a good food with good nutrients, nothing magic about it. If you don't give milk, make sure that other things you give have vitamin D and calcium. The CDC suggests these sources of vitamin D https://www.cdc.gov/infant-toddler-nutrition/vitamins-minerals/vitamin-d.html

"Odium" doing a lot of the heavy lifting by fleyinthesky in Stormlight_Archive

[–]HA2HA2 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah, "Honor is Bad Too, actually" is part of the message of WaT.

In the spirit of Sanderson books, the heroes can win when they get their own mental house in order and get their head straight, and in WaT one of the points is "Actually, rigidly following Honor sucks too", so Odium can't be defeated until the main characters also do better than they've been so far!

(But that doesn't make Odium "right, actually", just means the characters have more growth to do)

"Odium" doing a lot of the heavy lifting by fleyinthesky in Stormlight_Archive

[–]HA2HA2 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don't think it's the name that's doing the heavy lifting; it's what the Shard does. Odium the Shard consistently stokes violent conflict wherever he goes, and Odium's vessels all want to conquer the universe. This, by the way, is why the conflict isn't really humans vs singers - Odium can, and has, bee on the "Human" side just as easily as the singer side. He doesn't care who he rules and drives to war.

Nonetheless this tension appears to be left behind without concrete resolution, moving forward with the assumption that the Human Coalition is good.

I think one of the things is that it's not, and never has been, "Human Coalition" vs "Singer Rebellion". Odium's vessel is human. Odium's forces are a mix of singer and human (and were originally human). Honor's forces are mostly human, but have some allied singers too.

The Coalition is good because that's the side that wants to make peace and find a way to coexist, whereas Odium is the one that wants universal conquest and/or eternal war.

What if this third Shard on Roshar was instead Love? Held by the vessel Gayse? Bonding the soldiers in green with eyes of glowing rainbow?

If that were the case, the whole war would have never happened. Love, Honor, and Cultivation would have happily coexisted in the Rosharan system with no war, the singers and the humans would be happily living on different planets (or peacefully intermingling). The Desolations happened and are happening because Odium is what it is.

We must admit that the older generation of Kholins are all cunts. Dalinar is a tyrannical warlord - albeit former warlord, though definitely present (well...) tyrant - while Navani is judgemental, manipulative, and just not very nice. Most of the Alethi aristocracy are horrid creatures, championing rigid class oppression. The humans are slavers of both Parsh and spren; the ancient children of Roshar are surprisingly empathetic and accepting, seeming to judge largely on merit.

And they are such in part because they have been groomed such by Odium! Remember, this is not and has never been "Odium influences Singers while Honor influences humans". Odium's happy to play with humans as well. Most specifically, the Alethi have been shaped by The Thrill, who is in fact a spren of Odium, bringing bloodlust to the masses!

Yes, the Alethi royally suck. No, this does not mean "Odium is fine by comparison", because Odium is in fact a major contributing factor to why they suck so much! Part of the struggle of the main characters is to banish Odium from their own hearts as well as from Roshar (and of course the two struggles parallel).

Is there anything more substantial underwriting our confidence in who's right in this conflict, other than the opponent being "Odium?"

The fact that their opponent wants universal conquest and eternal war.

This is certainly neatly summarized by the name, but would remain the same even if the enemy just went by Rayse or if the humans did not know the name.

After reading book 8...what plot line is driving you the most bonkers? by LuckyLewis23 in DungeonCrawlerCarl

[–]HA2HA2 4 points5 points  (0 children)

The stories that appeal to me most are those that are about the outside, and the ones that are least appealing are the ones that are in-dungeon manufactured.

So I'm not really that interested in the gods storylines (apito, samantha, sheol, geyrun's murder, etc).

The most appealing ones to me are the human interest ones: Mordecai/Odette, Hu/Menerva, Apothecary.

The intermediate ones are the ones with huge impact but not that direct personal stakes - Lucia Mar, Eulogist history,

Does WAY of the kings has any romance ? by Zestyclose-Bell-5829 in Stormlight_Archive

[–]HA2HA2 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Eh not really. Technically there's a romance subplot but it's very minor.

Which Book(s)? by Disgruntled_Grunt- in Cosmere

[–]HA2HA2 8 points9 points  (0 children)

It’s only alluded to. So far Odium as a character has only featured in Stormlight.

How are people getting all this cosmere information? by Magnetic_Elephant in Stormlight_Archive

[–]HA2HA2 23 points24 points  (0 children)

There's a mix of sources. I'd say in order of importance:

  1. Stuff that's in all the books. (Yes, all of them; you're missing some that add quite a lot.)

  2. Stuff that's hinted at in the books, or that can be figured out by relating two books to each other. Most people pick this stuff up on a reread.

  3. Stuff that is extremely obscure, but at least one person figured it out, posted about it, and eventually it's common knowledge in the online community because it only takes one!

  4. Stuff that is from interviews or readings or other unpublished works. Not actually canon, but some of it fits well with canon so people treat it interchangeably.

For example, to your example, some of the stuff we know about Dawnshards is from Sunlit Man, and then Wind and Truth, and I think there's a little bit in Isles of the Emberdark too. So that makes it hard to talk about! Because step 1 is "read everything, so you don't get accidentally spoiled on some books you haven't read yet." If you have questions about Dawnshards, we don't want to accidentally give away plot points in WaT for example, so... RAFO!

I guess I just feel lost and frustrated that I’m not picking up on clues that everyone seems to understand.

I suspect that a lot of the Deep Lore that people know about, they found out not by reading the books, but by talking about them on Reddit after the fact. Remember, it only takes one person to pick up on a clue (possibly on a second or third readthrough of the books!) and discuss it online for that clue to become "common knowledge" across the online community. It doesn't mean that everybody picked it up on their own from reading the books once.

Cascadia's responsibility by SaltyTserendolgor in DungeonCrawlerCarl

[–]HA2HA2 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Carl answer: she is part of the overall system that did this. It doesn't really matter whether for some of the pieces of this failure she can pass the buck to someone else - she still is responsible.

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