#adolin as “son 1” renarin as “son 2”

[themoonstonechronicler]

Did i tell you guys about that one time i ranted to my therapist about the stormlight archive and explained what was going to happen in book five, and i told him about all of the characters, and he decided szeth was his favourite? Because I think about that a lot.

[cosmerelists]

Adolin asks: "Would you still love me if I was a cremling?"

A direct sequel to that time Kaladin asked that same question.

[Some Stormlight spoilers in this!]

1. Renarin

Renarin: Yes. Ever since Kaladin asked me this question, I've been contemplating it. Renarin: I would definitely still love my cremling brother, and I've already done some research into cremling diets and habitats so you'll be well taken care of! Adolin: Great! Uh.......your answer doesn't relate at all to your future sight thing, right? Renarin: [smiles beatifically]

2. Elhokar

Elhokar: No. You'd be ugly. Adolin: You wouldn't love me just because I'm an ugly bug?? Elhokar: Oh, suddenly this isn't safe space.

3. Dalinar

Dalinar: Of course. Dalinar: I will love you on any stage of your journey, cremling or otherwise. This has long been my philosophy. Adolin: You have a philosophy about me being a cremling? Dalinar: I meant--more the journey thing, but--

4. Sadeas

Sadeas: I would love you exactly the same amount as I do now. Dalinar: Awww! Sadeas: [glaring at Adolin] Adolin: [glaring at Sadeas] Adolin (hissing): I'll kill you! Sadeas: (hissing): Not as a cremling you won't!

5. Shallan

Shallan: Of course, Adolin. In fact, did you know that some male cremlings fight for territory? Adolin: Uh... Shallan: That means you can still duel! Adolin: Isn't that kind of...unfair, though? I mean, I would be a super-intelligent cremling, as cremlings go. Shalln: Hmmm...I could ask Sja-anat if she knows any enlightened spren currently inhabiting the body of a cremling who want to thrown down? Adolin: You would do that...for me? Adolin: That IS love!

6. Navani

Navani: If I can love a woman who is a crab, I can love a son who is a bug. Adolin: Awww, thank you!! Adolin: Wait what was that first part? Navani: Let's not spoil this moment.

7. Jakamav

Jakamav: Honestly, I would crush you immediately and with prejudice. Adolin: Still mad about the duel, huh? Jakamav: YES I AM STILL MAD ABOUT THE DUEL

8. Danlan

Danlan: Yes!! Adolin: Wow! Your enthusiasm is...touching? A tad suspicious? Danlan: You'll be able to get into SO many spaces in secret! With you on my side, I'll be the greatest spy EVER! Adolin: ...you're a spy? Danlan: I hope you'll be faster on the uptake as a cremling.

9. Jasnah

Jasnah: Do I have any way of knowing that it's you? Adolin: Yeah, you know it's me. Jasnah: How? Adolin: Uh...you just do? Jasnah: I just do? Really? Adolin: What if you...watch the transformation happen in real time and then you, like, ask me ten yes-no questions relating to little-known aspects of my history that a fake-Adolin would be unlikely to get completely right by chance, and I, like, dance back and forth for no and hop forwards and backwards for yes? Jasnah: In that case yes I would continue to love you. Adolin: I'm exhausted! Jasnah: That's just how love is.

10. Kaladin

Kaladin: Yes...but I won't be happy about it. Adolin: Meaning?? Kaladin: It would be SO much harder to protect you if you're a cremling! You'd be so small! So crushable! Kaladin: I guess I'd keep you in my pocket. Adolin: I am NOT living in your pocket. Kaladin: I'm your bodyguard! You'll live in my pocket if I SAY you live in my pocket! Adolin: I will BITE you. Kaladin: Cremling don't have TEETH probably! Adolin: I'LL FIND A WAY

[nevertheless-moving]

STORMLIGHT ARCHIVE AU MASTERLIST

List will be updated with links if/when AUs develop For my Star Wars AU Masterlist: Please See Here As always, people are more than welcome to play with any of these ideas! just please link back to me so I can see! Seriously if you want to write stuff in any form with ideas from any of these aus I will love you forever! 1 to 20: Words of Radiance AUS 21 to 30: Non Words of Radiance AUs (note: these might also be WOR AUs) 31 to 40: Post Winds and Truth Wild Speculation (that may or may not also be a WOR AU)

1 to 20 Words of Radiance AUS

[EDIT, Previous #1 Now #28]

2. High oath Hesina willshaper aus. This is actually many many AUs because the "Mom??" Reveal is great in all contexts. Concept, WOK Era Outline, Brief Fanfic

3. Renarin asks Kaladin for help with radiant stuff during WOR. Secret training. Everyone thinks they're fucking. Chapter 1 and Outline/Meta

4. Elhokar drunk orders kaladin to bedchambers, begs for help keeping away nighmare creatures. Kaladin nearly kills him before scary spren realization, then goes into serious radiant mode when syl gets ambiguously concerned. Everyone thinks they're fucking.[Note: I might be too easily entertained by this trope]. Kaladin is deeply pained by this but also has  people saving thing and really doesnt want to reveal the radiant thing to the whole camp. Earlier third oath. Eventual fucking optional, see above au, except with a bit more pity than vibeing for option a.

5. Crack. AUs 3, 4, and 9 at same time so people just think Kaladin is the Kholin Rhysadium. Bridge 4 offers government overthrow if he's being pressured. kaladin assures them that's not it. Now people keep trying to high five him. Kaladin with head in hands while Moash snarks over his shoulder "you know when i said fuck the lighteyed i didn't -" Kaladin definitely asexual in this one.

6. Hesina and lirin come to shattered planes, shocked/thrilled/emotional to find kaladin. Bridge 4 desperately trying to get approval of [bugs bunny meme our] parents. Lirin reluctantly adopting renarin who wants to learn about healing now for some reason. Blackthorn surgeon mutual loathing/ jealousy son swap hilarity. Lirin is having a time. 

7. Kaladin wasn’t on guard duty the night of szeth arrival. Still warned by syl about assassin, but has to dead sprint while glowing to get across camp fast enough, soft reveal to anyone outside. Only barely figures out wall running on the way over to crash in window just in time. Szeth freaks out and runs away after very short, mildly anticlimatic interaction. And now Kaladin has to deal with Everyone.

8. Kaladin further along in powers during initial szeth fight. Battle of champions degrading to slap fight when they run out of stormlight and get stuck on the plains. Concept/ Ask, Funny Severed Leg

9. Manufactured rumors about adolin/ kaladin. Effective political mudslinging for most of WOR. Shallan plays up things about her relationship with Jasnah to be a more appealing beard. [Previous #9 Is Now #33]

10. Kaladin has a meltdown in prison, breaks out of his cell. Just a little bit more stormlight...Shouts of alarm. Aaah glowing Assassin in white! Kaladin panics more. Adolin handles the situation like a champ. Kaladin maybe briefly kidnaps him.

11. Nale goes after kaladin instead of lift. Ohhh so many thoughts for parallels.

12. Syl immediately dive bombs pattern when kaladin and shallan meet. Really early radiant reveal but just to each other. Kaladin does not trust her but doesn't want to reveal his own status so just watches her super intensely...since she's also constantly watching him too, yes, this gets misinterpreted. See au 3 through 5 but more discreet. Veil is the one draggng him from the barracks for late night 'training sessions' [these are actually training sessions but veil flirts outrageously with kaladin when anyones in earshot. So.] that distracts things a bit.

13. Adolin, suspicious after the Assassin in White fight, was secretly following kaladin at night. Sees him step off a ledge into a chasm (I just reread the section and was like?! You glanced over your shoulder once?!). Adolin spends the whole night stewing in regret, anger, grief, guilt (I was there. I could have yelled. Should have done something. I didn't realize...I didn't know. I didn't know anything). Next morning Kaladin is on guard duty and adolin flips his shit, suddenly remembering that the whole reason he was suspicious of this guy was because he inexplicably survived a several hundred foot drop.

14. Kaladin barely manages to hold it together just long enough to out himself as radiant right after prison. Part One, Part two

15. Kaladin does NOT hold it together after getting arrested.

16. Kaladin swears third oath early. Next few weeks involve a lot of hiding glowing bridgeman squire antics and gaslighting people about kaladin's intermittently light eyes.

17. In the initial confrontation with Szeth, Kaladin pushes a bit harder about the radiants being back, Szeth spirals a bit more, crashing realization that he isn't truthless...

17a.  Earlier radiant reveal: szeth surrenders the honor blade and then immediately collapses into the ground. Kaladin drags him and the blade upstairs. Has to reveal himself now because 1) kaladin what the fuck how and 2) the assassin is mumbling about radiants. 17b ANGST: szeth surrenders the honor blade and immediately kills himself with kaladin's weapons. Kaladin takes honorblade, collapses on way back because it's draining his stormlight, maybe messing with sylbond. When he wakes up hes injured, surrounded by lighteyes and a handful of his men...handles it badly because Very Specific Shardblade Winning Trauma. Crazy two nickles moment. Downside: cries a lot in front of people he'd rather not have cried in front of. Upside: dalinar believes him about amaram now. Public windrunner powers, but obscured Radiant reveal because glowing assassin sword is very clearly granting magic powers. Weird interactions of honorblade bond and nahel bond. Lot of interesting fallout from Dalinar having his very own Mystical Assassin now.

18. Kaladin sends Syl to spy on the 'horneater princess', one sided radiant discovery. When she sends pattern to spy on bridgeboy, he somehow notices. Shallan does not handle it well. 

19. Something something people put together all the impossible stuff Kaladin's done with all the impossible stuff the Blackthorn did as a youth, combined with one of bridge four drunkenly talking about their best theories for the Captains 'mysterious backstory,' combined with Dalinar literally calling Kaladin son and seemingly overnight the warcamps are convinced that Kaladin is Dalinar's bastard child.

20. (COLLABORATIVE with @gnecrognomicon) Instead of being thrown in prison, Elhokar orders Kaladin be strung up for the Stormfather's judgement. Part One, Part Two

21 to 30 Non Words of Radiance AUs

22. Way of kings au where the beggars of alethkar are rounded up for the war effort. Jezrian, of course, ends up on bridge four.

23. Kaladin time travel au to way of kings only the transition is a bit like a spren going through the cognitive to material realm transfer. Not all there. Heartwarming bridge four bonding slightly to the left - sure the mans crazy but he just looks so...disappointed when we dont help with the injured, and he shares his food like an idiot. How does someone seven foot tall and stronger than a chull make axehound pup eyes. We're not following him though. He's not our lead - holy heralds balls is he glowing??  Bit more of a symbol than a friend, but a symbol that you take turns holding at night because he has such bad nightmares and also hes clingy. 

24. COLLABORATIVE / stone soup with @sweetteaanddragons : adolin and kaladin time travel to way of kings. Kaldin brooding about how to escape AND save all his men AND the world until adolin barges in and buys everyone. 

'Thank the almighty,' Kaladin thought with almost painful relief, watching Adolin argue haughtily with a growing swarm of Thadeus's lighteyes. 'I never thought I'd actually appreciate having a rich friend.' He would, of course, rather die than admit this. "I had it handled," he growled, when the two finally managed to speak inconspicuously, each weaving amongst a thousand confused former bridgeman, speaking quietly with several, until they were able to meet in the middle with reasonable subtlety, all things considered. "That's great, Kal," Adolin said cheerfully, clearly not buying a word. "Say, how would you feel about doing some, you know..." He waved a hand, earning a raised eyebrow from Kaladin. "Glowy stuff for my Father," his voice dropped from a subtle hush to a slightly conspicuous whisper. "So he doesn't disinherit me. I did not have permission for this."  Both pairs of eyes flicked to the side, the Blackthorn's towering figure approaching like a Stormwall. "Uh. Sooner rather than later perhaps."

26. Oathbringer/row au. Adolin doesn’t kill sadeus. Mostly just excuse to dunk on Sadeus for trading one (1) shardblade for mythical warrior who can make his own shardblade. oh look more of your former slaves are glowing now. and THEY make shardblades too!

27. Elhokar and Kaladin time travel from Elhokar's death in oathbringer to way of kings. Part one, Part Two

27B. Elhokar solo time travels back from Oathbringer death to Way of Kings

28. Moash tells kaladin about beef with elokhar early. This derails the entire plot of the series. [EDIT, This au was previously #1, before I abruptly realized it was WOK, Not WOR]

31 to 40 Post Winds and Truth Wild Speculation

31. Szeth kaladin pity fuck time travel au words of radiance. Bridge four roasts the shit out of kaladin. Kaladin is doing everything in his power to avoid implying "knowledge of future" which makes the timeline of their relationship deeply confusing.

32. Szeth kaladin time travel au post book 5, they get their memories back in the high storm right before canon first meeting. Szeth sort of stumbles in, halfheartedly attempting a confused assassination.

33. [EDIT: Previously AU Number 9] Kaladin time travel back to wor, book 5 gone wrong. Deeply terrifying from outsider pov. Captain of the Kholin guard, bridgefour leader, is suddenly Full fourth oath windrunner talking about how humans are the voidbringers, they actually need to support the parshendi in bringing one last controlled desolation, and then kill the heralds and also god. Don't worry not our god. Different god. Our god is already dead. If someone else travels back with him then it swings around to a lil bit funny.

34. Post winds and truth, pre sunlit man, crossover with the twilight of mistborn era 2 (i think the cosmere timeline could make sense but if not, oh well). Kaladin gets a boon from his god(s). Requests to learn more about mental health. Has to go to another planet to do so, because mental health research on Roshar sucks. Scadrial's god seems (relatively) friendly and their planet has developed antidepressants AND wellness seminars. Shenanigans with Very Old Wax and the gang.

35. Jasnah, Dalinar, and Renarin (surviving Kholin Radiants) travel from End of World to right after Gavilar's death. Crack. Outline

All of the above (plus other fandoms if you keep scrolling back) will be tagged with 'my au' The above, plus my canon stormlight and other cosmere meta, technically canon compliant fanfic drabbles, or other things that i've written but don't fit in an au will be tagged 'nevertheless cosmere'

[gentrychild]

AU where Kaladin gets to take a nap, however it needs to happen to get him a break

1 - Dalinar accidentally knocks out Kaladin with a door and because he had been nagging at him to please, just please, take a nap, no one believes that it was an accident.

2 - Honestly, Kaladin wouldn't have been knocked out cold if he hadn't been severely exhausted but do you think people are acknowledging that fact? No! His own sons are telling everyone that if you dodge on nap time, the Blackthorn himself will put you into a coma.

3 - Bridge Four burrito blankets Kaladin, transports him back to camp and there is always one man next to the sleeping order with order to knock Kaladin out again with a frying pan if the commander tries to leave his bed before the begs under his eyes disappear. Syl approves of this plan.

4 - Kaladin sleeps for three days. Well, technically, he did wake at some point but he saw Dalinar running after Renarin and Adolin and he decided he could sleep some more.

5 - The sheer gossip about that time Dalinar forced nap time on Kaladin finally dies down three years later only to Dalinar to accidentally do it again. He considers throwing himself into a coma just to escape his sons' mockery.

[thedarkeyedcaptain]

top five people who have brothers? (adolin or shallan, dalinar counts, you count, etc)

I got another very similar ask, so I'm gonna answer this one ranking the ones I like the most as people aka on an interpersonal level

1. Tien (you didn't specify that they have to be alive hehe): I know I was not deserving of him - not then, not now, not ever. I will never not be thankful to the almighty for giving me such a wonderful little brother. I'm not sure I will ever be able to forgive him either. Tien should've had a long long life. And maybe he would've had one, if he'd been born into a different family. If he'd had a better older brother.

2. Rock: self-explanatory. I love everyone in bridge four but Rock was the first one to help me, so he'll always have a special place in my heart

3. Renarin. I wasn't sure how to feel about a light-eyes wanting to join bridge four, and I'm still unsure about it. I know by now he is very genuine about it, but it still feels somewhat....mocking. Doesn't change the fact that he is just a good dude overall. Not too loud or annoying. A bit quiet and awkward but very determined. Moash joked once that Renarin is a bit like bridge four's axhound pup and I'm not sure I can disagree. He's a good kid either way.

4. Adolin. Okay. After many months of trying to convince myself to hate him (and also a few of genuinely disliking him) I can finally admit it. Adolin Kholin.....is a good guy. He's honorable, he's charming, there's a reason he got around so much (and it isn't just his status). Good job Dalinar on raising some pretty solid lads 👍

5. I suppose Dalinar. I am sure that there are more Bridge Four members who had or have brothers, but no one there likes to talk about their past and I can't think of anyone else at the moment. Dalinar is not a friend like all of the above, but he is the only other person with a brother I can think of who I can interact with comfortably. He listened to me regarding my suspicions about Amaram, even despite all signs pointing against it. He allows me to call him sir, even if it is technically a honorific far below his station. It is no surprise his sons turned out so well.

I am sure you are now wondering about why I didn't include Shallan. She has brothers after all - I am very aware of that, considering I killed one of them. That's actually part of the reason. As I already mentioned before this list is about how well I can hang out and chill with them, and things with Shallan are.... complicated. I always feel a bit awkward with her (considering, you know, I killed her brother. And also with how horribly I misjudged her at first glance). I admire her a lot, and I do hope we can become genuine friends, but we aren't quite there yet. She has some views I fundamentally disagree with, which doesn't help. Also, whenever she talks to me I feel like she's somehow...mocking me? like she's telling a joke I'm not in on. Don't like that very much. (Though considering her interactions with Adolin I think that's just who she is as a person.)

[pocketramblr]

Ask game! Time traveling AU where Kaladin is sent back in time but he is lost in the capital or wherever the Kholins are. He desperately tries not to get adopted by them but he fails.

rip kaladin and his easily adoptable state

1- ok so enlightened spren fabrial magic whatever means that Kaladin is elsecalled across time and not just space, oops. He lands in Kholinar and is confused because this is not what the city looked like last time he was there, and then he gets told he's years in the past and he's more confused. Syl's with him and shes like 'huh.'

2- Kaladin's first thought is that he needs to get to Hearthstone and prevent the bad everything that's gonna go down there. but he has no food and limited money (and has to keep that on him for stormlight) so he's stuck in the city for a few days before he can go. On the second day, he hears that Dalinar Kholin is back in the city and acting Very differently as he prepares to go to the shattered plains. Kaladin, hoping that this is because the guy also time traveled and is acting accordingly... goes directly to see him. Syl has to manifest as a blade twice to get him in but it finally works. Kaladin strides in and talks to Dalinar like he's known him years.

3- Dalinar has NOT time traveled- the sudden change was brought on by the Nightwatcher deal, so he has no clue how this guy with a shard-spear got here or how he knows him. However, he draws the conclusion that whoever this guy is, he did know him- but the Nightwatcher took his memories of him too, which must have made him important. Dalinar adds two and two and gets five, figuring that this kid must be his illegitimate son or something, and he needs to quickly become a better father to all three of his kids

4- Kaladin does not notice this, he's too busy trying to catch Dalinar up and figuring some of his memories were left behind in his bond, since the Stormfather couldn't travel back like Syl did. Annoying, but he can make do. He thinks about who he can trust to write for him, sighs, and goes to Jasnah, requesting she take down the notes Dalinar is going to need on the Plains- she does it in exchange for him telling her everything he knows about Radiants, since she's already bonded Ivory but isn't at a very high oath yet. He tells her to go to the Plains with Elhokar because if left alone her brother is going to just. be the worst. and maybe if she pushes him more he can avoid getting murdered. He also suggests getting a ward, as the young lady Davar in Jah Kaved is also a Radiant and even younger than him. Also, humans are the real voidbringers and the world will end if they can't make peace very quickly on the plains. Good luck, he needs to go to hearthstone.

5- Dalinar is very put out that Kaladin won't go with them to the camps- yet, Kaladin promises to return after he goes home and saves his brother, something Dalinar can relate to. He finally relents but only after asking Kaladin to take Renarin with him, as he can't go to the Plains. Kaladin's like 'oh cool yeah', Dalinar is like 'oh good he can bond with his other half brother too on the way, better for the family, and keep an eye out for Renarin', Adolin is very sad that the hot strange guy who compliments his fashion and told his dad off for being rude won't be coming with them but will survive i'm sure, and Renarin is baffled that Kaladin agreed, and more so when he's then quietly asked if he's seen a floating red crystal spren yet or if they're going to have to swing back through Kholinar on their return.

The first highstorm after Dalinar and crew leave the city, Kaladin drags Renarin up to the roof, waits for the wall of stormlight, and then lashes them both up to get to Hearthstone asap, ignoring Syl when she asks if he thinks he'll run into a younger version of himself there, or if the younger version disappeared when Kaladin arrived in the past.

[shooty-shooty-whacky-whacky]

so there’s a playlist i made of all the branderson songs people have sent me, the list of which character/world each song corresponds to is under the cut (because the Spotify mobile app keeps cutting off the playlist description), and i’ll reblog with the link because i know tumblr is weird about that 

Alethkar

Glory And Gore, by Lorde, from @idontknownothin (15)

The Blackthorn:

Catastrophist, by Trivium, from @citystudies (7)

Cloud Nine, by Sirenia, from @citystudies​ (8)

Collapsing, by Demon Hunter, from @citystudies​ (8)

Desert Dreams, by Falconer, from @citystudies​ (8)

Fist By Fist, by Powerwolf, from @citystudies​ (8)

I, by Tyr (2)

My Confession, by Kamelot, from @citystudies​ (8)

Shepherd of Fire, by Avenged Sevenfold, from @citystudies​ (8)

The Sky is Red, by Leprous (6)

Stand Up And Fight, by Turisas, from @citystudies​ (8)

Unchain Utopia, by Epica, from @citystudies​ (8)

Unified, by Amaranthe, from @citystudies​ (8)

Voodoo Doll, by Lord Of The Lost, from @citystudies (8)

Dalinar

Above The Clouds Of Pompeii, by Bear’s Den (12) [note: more about Dalinar’s relationship with Adolin and Renarin, anon specifically said “a Blackthorn/Adolin/Renarin song”]

Dear Wormwood, by The Oh Hellos, from @theawkwardbooklover (11) [note: specifically, “perfect for the Dalinar v. Odium showdown in OB”]

King, by Lauren Aquilina, from @storm-harbinger and @discount-ripley (13) [note: “not in relation to him atcually being king. In terms of him being a better man for his sons. Rising to be what he once was for Adolin and doing it again for both of them later in life.”]

Kaladin

Army Of The Night, by Amaranthe, from @citystudies​ (9)

Battle Drums, by Kayzo,  from @citystudies​ (9)

The Black Halo, by Kamelot, from @citystudies​ (9)

Burns To Embrace, by Kamelot, from @citystudies​ (9)

Challenge, by Cellar Darling, from @citystudies​ (9)

Control the Storm, by Delain,  from @citystudies​ (9)

Crimson Bow And Arrow, by Epica, from @citystudies​ (9)

Go Alone, by Hell or Highwater, from @citystudies​ (9)

Going Down Fighting, by Unleash The Archers, from @citystudies​ (9)

Halls And Chambers, by Falconer, from @citystudies​ (9)

Honor, by Atreyu, from @citystudies​ (9)

I Will Not Bow, by Breaking Benjamin, from @citystudies​ (9)

I’m Not Afraid, by Emigrate, from @citystudies​ (9)

In Our Hands, by Lord Of The Lost, from @citystudies​ (9)

Live or Die, by Apocalyptica, from @citystudies​ (9)

Man Of The Hour, by Falconer, from @citystudies​ (9)

The Proud And The Broken, by Kamelot, from @citystudies​ (9)

Razorblade, by Amaranthe, from @citystudies​ (9)

Resist And Bite, by Sabaton, from @citystudies​ (9)

Shattered & Hollow, by First Aid Kit, from @mybreathbecomeyours (13)

The Spark of the Archon, by Native Construct (1)

Straight Out The Gate, by Tech N9ne, from @citystudies​ (9)

Testify, by Falconer, from @citystudies​ (9)

This Means War, by Avenged Sevenfold, from @citystudies​ (9)

Thorns, by Demon Hunter, from @citystudies​ (9)

Unknown Soldier, by Breaking Benjamin, from @citystudies (9)

Until The World Goes Cold, by Trivium, from @citystudies​ (9)

Where Is The Edge, by Within Temptation, from @citystudies​ (9)

Kelsier

Who Will Save You Now, by Les Friction (5)

Mistborn, Era 1

Beautiful Apocalypse, by Kamelot (5)

Under Grey Skies, by Kamelot (5)

Mistborn Era 2

Short Change Hero, by The Heavy, from @idontknownothin (15)

Shallan

Foreigner, by Leprous (16) [note: specifically "Veil after she realizes the food she was giving people in Kholinar was actually hurting them"]

Spensa

Torn, by Kamelot, from @citystudies (10)

The Singers

Bound by Gravity, by Haken (17) [note: specifically "their original loss of forms to escape Odium"]

Saving My Face, by KT Tunstall (4)

Starlight Brigade, by TWRP (3)

White Sand

Mirage, by Lindsey Sterling (14)

[kingjasnah]

i love (hate) how apparently dalinar is better at being a dad to kaladin than his own children jdhkajkdhaks. dalinar no!!!!!!! lin davar of course still takes worst dad of the year but with this dalinar may have usurped lirin's bad parenting. im in pain.

ok cheers for this ask cause this made me Think. i....am reforming my opinion of the way dalinar benched kal like remember this line from holy grail chapter 12

1) boy didn't realize how pointed that might sound from someone dealing with the fact that his dad killed his mom but 2) can't help but wondering if dalinar was really just....commanding officering it up. like it's undeniable that dalinar cares about kal and i will continue to get emotional about it but (this is awful) i feel like he was able to have that Frank conversation with kaladin because they have a more removed relationship than his literal sons do. adolins a highprince now! though he does kinda fall under dalinars command structure it's not like dalinar can treat him like one of the men who serve under him anymore. even with renarin, in the first two books especially dalinar tried to treat him like a soldier. im not saying he doesn't care about his kids i just think he might not know how to express that care when you know, not literally their general.

[butwhybother]

Rhythm of War part 1 reactions. Rhythm of War spoilers!

I thought I might as well do a re-read before the novel comes out. And here are my (not necessarily sensible) thoughts.

I'm sorry if the keep reading link doesn't work on the app. When I checked, it still worked on the browser though. It seems to work now and I don't know how I did that.

Prologue

Gavilar is a DICK. I cannot emphasize this enough.

Does Gavilar have life sense of first heightening?

Currently trending in Kholin family: murder.

Chapter 1

Well, I guess Kaladin can no longer go around saying 'but nobody would recognize me here.'

Hey Lirin, that mental stuff you can't cut out with a scalpel? Your son has it too. You should go talk with him. And not in a 'I told you so' kind of way.

Chapter 2

Which ability of the ten do the Fused not have?

What teleporting?!?!

Oh no, Kaladin is not one of those punchy guys! He's always been more of a spearish chap!

FIFTH lashing?!?!

Awww Adolin found the perfect someone to play dress-up on. Syl can just materialize whatever new clothes he can imagine. 'how about some boots to go with that outfit?' 'you mean like this? *poof*' 'excellent, now let's embroider it on top.'

"sleepless nights had returned." Is this insomnia, or is Kaladin pushing himself too hard? Or both? Or something else?

Yes, Shallan, you can remember! You can do it! ...sigh.

Oh, Shallan. 'look, I'm being kidnapped. Finally, yay!'

"Lie down. Pretend to be dead for awhile. Get up. Easy." Sleep sure sounds morbid coming from someone who has been dead twice over, Syl.

Kaladin is proficient at dual wielding morbid and upbeat.

"Gagadin!" Ahhhhh! My heart is melting!

Kaladin brought Lyn home. More than once. Ohhhhhhh.

Chapter 3

Oh Navani, you made it happen! The flying ship! And you named it the Fourth Bridge! And the bridge is right there in the deck! My heart's gonna burst!

Lirin Stormblessed. Ha ha ha. Nickname turned family name. Imagine if your Tumblr handle became your legal name for your parents and descendants.

Chapter 4

No, good guys don't lie. Mmhm.

Chapter 5

"Heavenly Ones" sounds like a nice name. Reverent. Worshipful.

Kaladin sounds like a young man going to youth group and hoping that the nice girl he talked to last week is there again.

Perpendicularity is cool, but what if bad guys walk through it from Shadesmar?

Chapter 6

You can use Oathgates to travel to Shadesmar? But then how do you get back? Spren at Theylen city didn't allow it...

Moash, "that murderer," "the traitor." Good to know everyone know what Moash is.

"Let me get close, and I'll show you how good I am" Doesn't that sound like a really creepy pick-up line?

Ah-ha! Frost from too much stormlight!

Chapter 7

I really didn't expect allomantic metals other than aluminum to be important on places other than Scadrial. Very surprised to see Rioting and Soothing metals have effect on spren and stormlight.

Ialai's like, 'I'm a patriot working for the good of Alethkar!' and Shallan's like 'no, I'm a patriot working for the good of Alethkar!' and Mraize is probably somewhere, snickering at how well he played them both.

Anti-Radiant fabrial! It's different from the cube thing that Wax and Wayne came across, but they both are essentially magic-sucking devices.

It's amazing how much of Fused/Singer rhythms Kaladin can interpret. He didn't do this before.

A villain from a previous book meets a quick and unexpected death. This seems familiar.

Chapter 8

A fire is more of a problem for fancy houses than plain houses. Interesting!

You're wrong, Moash. Vengeance does not mean peace, and peace can be had without vengeance.

Choose death over life, end the journey, don't take responsibility for your actions. Moash is some sort of Anti-Radiant.

Allomancy?!?! What is this, gold?

When Shallan shows people a "different and better you that could be" picture, they get all inspired and then die (2 out of 3). When Renarin does it, Moash gets freaked out. (Adolin didn't get freaked out.) I'm not sure which is weirder.

Chapter 9

Moash how dare you plant these voices in Kaladin's head!

Who would want to sit in a tiny room where you can't walk around or even stand up? Oh wait that's what getting in a car is, every time.

The more I learn about Soulcasters, the less sense it makes.

Who's writing to Navani? Who put the tiny ruby there? And also, Navani needs to be open to the idea that her secret pen pal could be neither woman nor ardent.

Yay Shallan Adolin snuggles :)

Chapter 10

Kaladin, please stop beating yourself up. You're making me sad.

Chapter 11

Steel push and iron pull works on fabrials!

They've discovered artform? Eshonai tried so hard to find artform...

Chapter 12

It sounds like the artifabrians need a system for giving credit to the researchers/inventors and allowing them to gain profit and respect. Sharing is nice and all, but nobody wants somebody else to take your invention and reverse engineer it and monetize it or steal credit for it.

Somebody hug Kaladin and be there for him, please. Thank you, Syl. Thank you, Adolin. And thank you, Kaladin, for accepting help finally.

Kaladin often seems to envy how other people handle their lives and troubles. He doesn't see how they're broken and hurting inside though. Adolin is extraordinary in his perceptiveness.

Part of me wishes Kaladin had gone with Rock. Rock's goodbye sounds so final. It makes me sad.

Chapter 13

Why is Veil, rather than Radiant, pushing for truth and remembrance?

Wow they have a refrigerator now.

Gallant is letting Adolin ride him? Do all ryshadiums find Adolin just so irresistible? Also, this probably means Dalinar's been neglecting Gallant. Shame on you, Dalinar.

Mraize is holding Breaths, isn't he? At least of first heightening.

'Why do you keep sending on missions I want to accomplish and rewarding me with knowledge that I hunger for? Waaah!' That's Shallan here, pretty much.

Chapter 14

A disease that killed ten percent of human population. Wow. Literal decimation was not enough for them.

Chapter 15

Maybe Kaladin likes Zahel for the same reason dogs and little children like Vasher.

I had assumed Parshendi had soulcasters. This is totally different and so cool. Stormlight and music.

Rlain was so happy! And then not. It's frustrating, I know that Kaladin is trying, but Rlain has a point. Don't just settle.

Interesting that Kaladin compares Zahel to a masterpiece painting here. Kaladin compared himself to a painting earlier.

Aww Kaladin's been getting some practice time with Adolin at being a swordy fellow!

Kaladin almost got a hug from a snuggly sheet! It's S.W.Y.T! Snuggle When You're Thrown! Also, he destroyed a lot of laundry. Zahel's gonna get bad reviews. One out of five stars, all my laundry came back ripped into pieces or badly bleached, will never hire again.

Chapter 16

Szeth is little bit like the Stormfather. He knows things, but it doesn't occur to him to tell people what he knows until asked directly. Is he becoming spren-like?

Oh! So the Shin tradition of following a dying man's request has basis on deathrattles.

Navani. Gavinor. Adolin. I think I might cry.

I nominate Adolin Kholin as the highprince of boots. (My BFF would like to note how appropriate this would be, considering who the highprincess is.) And psst, Adolin! You can totally go with the cape now, you're a highprince. I believe in you!

Heavenly ones, the Singers. Curious how many words they've taken and use that their enemies use to describe themselves. They didn't bother to call the Parshendi Listeners before.

Chapter 17

Nooo Jasnah the enemy wants you and Dalinar away from Urithiru...

Chapter 18

"the older wind runner had given Kaladin a tongue-lashing at the mere suggestion." Is that like a basic lashing, full lashing, reverse lashing, or something completely different? Ahahaha I'm so funny

Lirin sold his sense of humor for money. All Kaladin got was scars. (Really, he said so himself. See the chapter in Words of Radiance where Adolin picks up Shallan for a date and Wit is the driver.)

Why does Kaladin becoming a surgeon make me feel so sad?

Chapter 19

Roshar is going Stormpunk!

Dalinar, stop sending Adolin carelessly into danger! Your son is not immortal! He is not invincible! And this time he won't have Skar and Drehy with him!

Dalinar doesn't count Navani as people. That's a super special introvert privilege there.

Dalninar Navani kiss 1. I'm keeping count.

[mxlxdroit]

shallan davar and ambiguity

the title isn’t about her being ambiguously bi.™ there’s no ambiguity there, y’all

the split/mixed opinion on shallan in the cosmere fandom is interesting because usually in branderson’s books u know who’s good/bad/morally questionable but it’s ok/morally questionable and it’s not ok. look at other protagonists:

vin- will kill you, but still principled, moral, and likeable. stunningly well developed and sympathetic. her motivations make sense, she’s complex but not confusingly so, and throughout the series, you know that rooting for her and hers is rooting for good

kelsier- will kill you and won’t feel bad about it. he’s not a moral paragon, and vin, elend, dockson, etc know this. overall, though, his goal is to free an enslaved majority of the population, overthrow a tyrant, and make sure that there’s a contingency plan for after the revolution, which a lot of literary rebels forget. bloodthirsty? yep! does what he wants because he has his own moral code that’s kind of independent from anyone/everyone else’s? yep! sets himself up as a pseudo-Jesus including starting a cult around an idealized version of himself that any and every one of his friends can attest did not exist? yep! isn’t dead even though why isn’t he dead he should be dead? yep! has no qualms about hating and wanting to kill a large group of people? yep! but overall, the cause he leads and articulates is good

kaladin- won’t kill you (eh maybe it depends) and also prevents you from killing anyone else. depressed™ (both generally and seasonally, i think. he needs a diagnosis, therapy, and honestly probably meds, but i think he would deny that if u told him :((( ) and severely lacking coping mechanisms, which for many people in this here fandom makes him relatable, and has a heart of freaking gold despite being abrasive and not liking the upper classes because they’re the source of his problems and have caused the deaths of the people who mean the most to him (again, v relatable). makes good decisions that inadvertently make things go bad for him, but keeps trying anyways

adolin- getting there.™ not terribly smart, but loving and loyal and lovably goofy. is an alethi male stereotype but also transcends that by having other defining characteristics and motivations. cares a lot about his family aww

renarin- uhhhh so socially awkward but super smart and usually right. he isn’t a model of an alethi male- he can’t fight- which means he doesn’t fit in and it’s hard for him to make friends even in groups of outcasts. same, my man.

dalinar- HONOR HONOR HONOR literally gets the stormfather to be his spren. he does epic stuff, can kill you but probably wouldn’t, cares for his sons, makes mistakes but mostly because honor just vagues at him and expects him to figure it out somehow, and is trying to unite a society that is centered around military conflict and social division to save the world (he isn’t there with the social equality thing yet. hopefully he gets there eventually)

raoden- annoying to a lot of people apparently but again, trying to save people’s lives, cure a terrible illness (though a lot of that comes because he becomes personally invested in it. he wouldn’t have done so otherwise). he learns to have empathy for other groups of people and is just generally the Good Guy in the story

alcatraz (idk if any of y’all have read the alcatraz vs the evil librarians series but it’s a gem and it was actually my introduction to branderson! elementary school flashback here)- rude but in a funny and mostly self-deprecating way. ***SPOILER*** he does choose his own life over his father’s, but he is 1. a teenager and 2. yeah sure he shouldn’t have but it was kind of necessary for the series and is darkly realistic (aka kids’ book? who cares). the smedrys are actually more morally ambiguous than a lot of the protagonists in branderson’s adult books. so maybe this doesn’t really prove my point but ANYWAYS

here’s the thing though: shallan is different partially because who? is ? she? what even is her personality we don’t actually know. she goes through serious trauma at a young age and cannot trust ANYONE in her life, so she learns to repress pretty much every part of herself so she can keep living and functioning. she has a weirdly developed morality, partly because she looks up to jasnah kholin, partly because she’s hiding her real personality from herself, partly because of her upbringing/socialization, and partly because she’s had to do terrible things and can’t process them in a healthy way. her unclear motivations and weird, nebulous personas make her hard to understand and evaluate, either as generally good or generally bad. she isn’t a reliable narrator of her own life or her emotions/motivations in the present (which, honestly? i relate to... a lot), and that makes it hard to judge her character. if she is/becomes a villain, who is it in relation to? might it be justified in some ways? what are good and bad on roshar, beyond the morality codes of an ancient magical/military society? what is good when honor is dead? AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAhhh ugh

also no i haven’t read any of oathbringer so if any of this is answered please don’t tell me thanks

[kidrat]

1) I love your blog with all my heart 2) Regarding that post about how all the characters subtly subvert their archetype's tropes: where does Dalinar fit in?

1. Thank you so much that's so sweet!

2. I’d say Dalinar is almost the same as Kaladin, in that he’s not the generic hero he seems. You expect him to be a manly, confident soldier when really he is clueless and just trying to be a good person.

To be perfectly honest in any other book a character like Dalinar would also be unlikely to love and support Renarin as much as he does and would probably favour Adolin. In my opinion the prime chapters on Brandon’s website suggest this too, and I’m really happy that changed in later drafts because Dalinar’s love of his sons is one of my favourite things about him.

I also think Dalinar did fit his archetype a lot more when he was younger but maybe after I’ve finished Oathbringer I’ll change my opinion on that.

[gentrychild]

Since you're limiting I will only send two: an au where Adolin gets to stab more people who deserve it

1 - At some point, between his father seemingly losing his mind, Sadeas being Sadeas and his tailor retiring, Adolin's brain says "ENOUGH! KNIFE TIME!" and every time someone starts to get stupid around him, he stabs them. Elhokar wants to arrest him but an ardent (or whatever is the English name for priest on Roshar) tells him that during the time of the first king, heroes were blessed with the Stormfather in knowing who to stab, and how this is actually a good thing, and how in any case, no one will manage to wrestle that knife from Adolin anyway. It's actually bullshit because the ardent is tired of the corruption in this country and wants to see what a privileged boy with a knife will do about it.

2 - Sadly, he doesn't manage to get to Sadeas but when Kalinar starts to say stupid things like "I trust Sadeas with my life.", Adolin stabs his father in the shoulder. Then, on the battlefield, he stabs Venli, saving my girl Eshonai.

3 - Then, during the very epic duel and when Kaladin says "Hey, I want to kick Amaram's ass!" and Elhokar throws a fit, Adolin throws his knife from the other side of the arena and it stabs Elhokar's foot.

4 - Adolin calmly asks Amaram why he didn't help him while four people were trying to kill him. Amaram starts saying a good excuse and screams because Adolin's just stabbed him. Kaladin, who is dangerously close from liking this lighteye, says what Amaram did to him. Everyone goes "That's impossible! He's lying!" and Amaram is "Of course I didn't do AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH-" because Adolin now has stabbed him through the chest. No more Amaram. Adolin and Kaladin are now best friends.

5 - After stabbing Sadeas, Adolin puts down the knife and says that he will try to calm down with the stabbing. Renarin immediately picks up the knife, a mad glint in his eyes.

+ 1 - For the entire AU, the Blackthorn is running after his sons and asking them to please, not stab people. Many people are convinced is the rosharian equivalent to karma.

[rlainarin]

how to write Renarin Kholin

1: his jokes are cutting. his jokes are burning. his jokes are vantablack dark. his jokes are bitter as poison. sometimes, even you shouldn’t know if he’s joking or not. maybe he doesn’t know either.

2: he’s so damn hungry. this boy Wants and this boy Needs. he’s too much and half-starved and he’s too afraid to ask for more. he will grab at anything he can reach, set his claws in it and make it His. you can’t have it. you can’t take this from him.

3: this is the Blackthorn’s son. he was raised to be a weapon. he fell in love with it. the Blackthorn was Gavilar’s blade, and Renarin would be Adolin’s.

4: they ripped that from him and told him to be small now. he learned to be small. he is small and silent, made of nothingness now. an unheard, unseen ghost. he pretends to be content, and grateful, as he should be. he has a blood weakness. he is Weak. he must be grateful. that is the place of the Weak.

5: tell him he’s good. tell him tell him tell him please. he doesn’t know how to be good. tell him how. let him be Good.

[pocketramblr]

Ask game, please! This is probably OOC but during the event of the first book, or maybe a little before, Adolin flips the bird at his father and decides that he deserves nice things, such as beautiful clothes instead of stuffy uniform and also some stabbing. Renarin approves of his brother being happy. Please.

We can let Adolin snap earlier, as a treat.

1- the reason is this- he wears that lovely embroidery he did, and Dalinar makes a comment about not being a fop (read: gay (remember homophobic blackthorn flashback??)) in earshot of Renarin, who Adolin knows is gay because they're good brothers ya know. And Adolin, who's already resisted stabbing Sadeas once that day in defense of Renarin, snaps. "Is that really the worst thing I can be, Father? I'm perfectly capable of remembering honor in my command, in dueling, in keeping my head while also holding a needle on occasion. You keep the code as much as you wish, Almighty knows it's better than being a drunkard, and I'll practice something called moderation."

2- and honestly Adolin feels back afterwards but like he can't back down?? Because he's not going to look weak or like he's putting his father over his brother, even though Renarin doesn't need him to do this. And, well, it feels good in a way- Sadeas isn't a problem because he wears fashionable silks, he's a problem because he's reprehensible and murderously greedy. If Adolin can be a shining example of honor just as fashionable as him, won't that highlight Sadeas's problems better than his father's ways?

3- Anyway, Navani just shrugs when Dalinar complains to her. She's seen worse in the way of father son relationships and Adolin seems willing to work with him still on everything he's just wearing what clothes he wants. Elhokar is jealous of feeling that freedom under ever closer expectations and disapproval. And, since Adolin participating in trends again means that he becomes something of a leader in them, influencing the rest of the camps, and Sadeas somehow keeps finding himself behind, which he finds annoying.

4- he holds out hope that this is a sign he can turn Adolin against his father though, get a blackthorn 2. He's half right! Unfortunately for him, this means when Adolin comes to his secret meeting to hear him out about ousting his father, he comes armed with a knife and uh. Well. Anyway. You know :)

5- so while Kaladin is sneaking down into the cavern to get spheres for his men, he finds Adolin down there hiding a body. Sadeas's body. And his first reaction is "oh storms no, I'm not getting blamed for this too." Adolin is offended because he wouldn't throw this random guy under the bus, but Kaladin points to his forehead and you know, that everyone would believe Adolin (he doesn't recognize who this is at first, just saw the blue eyes under the hooded cloak), Adolin is like "ok true, but I still wouldn't." Kaladin asks if he even thought this through, and Adolin said he didn't, he just meant to defend his family- but now that he's thinking more clearly, it's likely someone will be called from the princedom to take over, maybe Amaran. (Kaladin: ew. Adolin: wait you don't like him either?) Kaladin figures this guy is crazy anyway and tells him the story. Adolin completely trusts him and reveals his identity, then points out there shouldn't be many bridge runs from Sadeas camp until there's a new leader, so perhaps Kaladin will have some time to meet with him in secret and they figure something out? Kaladin figures he has little left to lose and can at least set his men up well, and agrees.

[libralita]

Oathbringer Chapters 1-3

I’m not okay in the slightest

“Part One: United” Unite them.

Chapter 1

Ironically the first chapter in the United part is called “Broken and Divided”.

“And yet, Dalinar felt as if he knew nothing.”

I know the feeling, my dude.

“So he came here, into his visions. Seeking to pull secrets from the god—named Honor, or the Almighty—who had left them.”

Honor is dead.

Ay, Dalinar can now hear any vision at any time. That’s nice.

“The Everstorm would return, and would soon hit Shinovar in the far west. Following that, it would course across the land.”

That won’t be good.

“Nobody believed his warnings. Monarchs in places like Azir and Thaylenah admitted that a strange storm had appeared in the east, but they didn’t believe it would return.”

Y’all are fucking morons.

“A golden light, brilliant yet terrible. Standing before it, a dark figure in black Shardplate. The figure had nine shadows, each spreading out in a different direction, and its eyes glowed a brilliant red.”

“This was the enemy’s champion. And he was coming.”

FUCK!

Interesting how Odium’s champion is bathed in golden light. On a completely unrelated note the king’s colors are blue and cold. Just sayin’.

THE UNMADE IS BEING MENTIONED! HELL YESSSSSS!

Or the monarchs will start pissing themselves and the Everstorm will divide them even more.

““All right,” she said. “We’ll do it. Somehow we’ll make them listen—even if they’ve got their fingers planted firmly in their ears. Makes one wonder how they manage it, with their heads rammed up their own backsides.””

Navani Kholin is the best.

““Highprince Torol Sadeas, sir,” the woman said. “He’s been murdered.””

Sucks.

Chapter 2

“Wages were based on a man’s rank”

Wait, what???

“And a highprince was left lying here in his own gore for half a day, Dalinar thought. Blood of my fathers.”

I’m struggling to shed a tear.

“orange-eyed woman” Weird.

“Highprince Sebarial and his mistress, Palona.”

YESSSSSSSSS!

“Sebarial, along with Aladar—who had been summoned but had not yet arrived—would have to form the foundation of a new Alethkar. Almighty help them all.”

Hey now, Sebarial will create a glorious, hilarious world.

““Well!” said Palona, hands on hips as she regarded Sadeas’s corpse. “I guess that’s one problem solved!”

Everyone in the room turned toward her.

“What?” she said. “Don’t tell me you weren’t all thinking it.””

I mean, yes, everyone in the fandom thought that.

“Navani rubbed Dalinar on the shoulder. “I wouldn’t have put it as Palona did, but he did try to have you killed. Perhaps this is for the best.””

Palona and Navani are going to become an unstoppable duo.

“His sons, steady Adolin and impenetrable Renarin.”

IMPENETRABLE RENARIN YES.

“But now that he was gone… well, why shed any tears?”

HAHAHAHA!

“Along the way they’d picked up Highprince Aladar, a distinguished bald Alethi with dark tan skin. He was accompanied by May, his daughter: a short, pretty woman in her twenties with tan eyes and a round face, her jet-black Alethi hair worn short and curving around her face.”

A daughter, ay? I smell a love interest. Also short black hair? Vin is that you?

““Sebarial, I name you Highprince of Commerce. Account our supplies and establish marketplaces in Urithiru. I want this tower to become a functioning city, not just a temporary waystop.”

YEAH!

““Our ultimate goal is the preservation of all Roshar,””

Sorry, Preservation is busy at the moment, would you like to leave a message?

“I will find a way to do what my ancestor the Sunmaker failed to do through conquest.”

Sunmaker? That sounds like a Warbreaker name.

Chapter 3

“Dalinar didn’t need guards.”

Reminds me of Adolin when he was against the bridgemen guarding him.

Oh god our first look at young Dalinar.

“A young spearman wept on the ground nearby, screaming for his mother as he crawled across the stone, trailing blood. Fearspren mixed with orange, sinewy painspren all around. Dalinar shook his head and rammed his sword down into the boy’s back as he passed.”

Hello, tears.

“This man didn’t get a chance to cry for his mother.”

Tears.

“One of the straps that held the shield to his arm had broken.”

Kholins, apparently, hate straps.

““Raid those buildings,” Dalinar said, pointing at a line of homes. “Let’s see how well they fight while they watch us rounding up their families.””

Stormfather…

BRANDON I DON’T THINK I SHOULD BE HAPPY THAT ONE OF THE MAIN CHARACTERS GOT SHOT WITH AN ARROW. STOP THIS IMMEDIATELY.

“noting the blue tattoo on his cheek.”

Ghostbloods tattoo?

Young Dalinar makes me super uncomfortable.

“ Sadeas already had the local highprince’s head—and those of his officers—up on spears.”

Getting all Game of Thrones, are we?

“When they’d started all this, he’d still been gangly youth.”

I can’t imagine Sadeas being gangly.

Dalinar recruits people like Kaladin.

“He glanced to the side, where Sadeas’s soldiers had rounded up some weeping women for Sadeas to pick from.”

AHHHHHHHH. I thought I hated Sadeas before…

Ah, so Dalinar doesn’t have his Shards yet, guess we’ll see how that happens.

[preservationandruin]

Words of Radiance Part 2

Viewpoints here are a weirder spread--Shallan, Kaladin, Adolin, and Sadeas. Not sure how long this will take me to get through or how many sub-parts the liveblog is gonna be, so bear with me!

Shallan takes control, Kaladin tries to work with what he has and meets a worldhopper, Renarin jumps off a roof, and people talk way too much about Amaram for either my or Kaladin’s liking. 

Epigraphs here are snippets of the Listener songs, which is probably why we had to get the Eshonai chapters first--so we could tell what they were talking about. In any case, Shallan is travelling with Tvklav’s crew--who I’m pretty sure are coincidentally the slavers who sold Kaladin. Because sometimes I feel like Sanderson’s world operates on the Dickensian premise of “everyone knows each other by coincidence.” Shallan is curious about the Frostlands’ natural vegetation. She also tries having conversation, but it doesn’t really work, in party because (rightly, given the situation) people don’t trust her.

We also learn that Jasnah kept, in her personal trunk, a drawing that Shallan had done of her. Shallan ends up mourning both Jasnah and the fact that all of her sketchpads--something she dismisses, but essentially her life’s work--are gone as well. 

More sketches--this time of various fighting stances. Nazh has written that he had to steal the scroll these were on and that the bottom half was eaten by an axehound. Nazh leads an interesting and fraught life. 

Cut to Adolin talking to his blade, something I still think might be significant. At the very least, I hope that spren can hear him and takes some comfort from having a human talk to them and trust them? We also get the story that nobody took Adolin seriously and that the guy he won the Blade from wanted to duel Adolin to embarrass Dalinar. Didn’t quite work that way. The Plate Adolin got from his mom’s side. Also, Adolin refusing to name his Blade is also important. Also, this: “I appreciate what you’ve done for me. I know you’d do it for anyone who held you, but I still appreciate it. I...I want you to know: I believe in Father. I believe he’s right...” 

Okay, I know I’ve gone on about Edgedancer Adolin before, but one of the things for the Edgedancers definitely seems to be paying attention to the people and things people take for granted. Like, say, the fact that your shardblade fights with you. 

Anyway, immediately after that we get the fact that Adolin can’t fucking read, not even glyphs. Navani voice: please get married so that I stop worrying about you not being able to fucking read. Also, Adolin is worried because they haven’t heard anything from Jasnah’s ship--WITH GOOD REASON. Also, Adolin insists that breaking up with Danlan wasn’t his fault--apparently she’d been saying something to her friends--but given that it’s Adolin it’s kind of hard to tell. 

Also, Renarin and Adolin run through Adolin’s list of good-luck charms for duels---talk to the sword, eat chicken before you duel, wear mother’s chain--and Navani is skeptical and the boys are Highly Indignant that Navani is skeptical. Also also, Adolin likes pissing off the guards because he doesn’t like Kaladin--thinks something is “off” about Kaladin. As always, he’s not wrong. But he is being petty. 

And then Adolin just crushes the other dude because he’s Adolin Kholin. He beats him so badly that the judge tries to stop them, but Adolin points out he didn’t break any rules. On the other hand, this probably didn’t endear Adolin to people--meaning that they were more likely to let slide that fucking 4-on-1 that Sadeas attempts later. Renarin thinks it was awesome, and Adolin gives him the blade. Which, uh, I mean, from Adolin’s point of view it was the best thing to do, but reading this again a) Renarin is notably hesitant to take the blade (Glys talking to him?) and also grimaces when he takes it and holds it (it’s screaming). But, unlike Dalinar or Kaladin later, he keeps holding it. 

Also, Adolin’s brutality here wasn’t planned, it was just something that happened and that he’s confused about later, feeling drained. He did get the Thrill. I’m not sure what’s going on there, but it might not be good. 

Back to Shallan, where she’s using Pattern to spy on the slavers to try to figure out how to deal with them. She also notes that these people don’t treat her like a real person, but instead as a means to an end, much like Kabsal, and she loses a bit of her temper and also mildly terrifies Tvklav. She realizes that Tvklav and the others don’t know she’s a timid rural lighteyes, and she also realizes that she can make them see her in certain ways, not just by copying Jasnah. 

Honestly, this entire trip to the Shattered Plains does a lot more for Shallan’s lightweaving than studying with Jasnah, I think. Nothing like being thrown into a fire to teach you to deal with it? Anyway, the deserters show up, and we cut over to Kaladin. The lighteyes sparring grounds is somewhat disappointing to the bridgemen, who expected something cooler. 

Also, Kaladin is plotting to kill Amaram already, which is THE MOST RELATEABLE but also not good for his oaths i guess. Anyway, Kaladin and the gang with him are supposed to be protecting the Kholin bros while they’re training, they get some backsass from Ardents, Kaladin backsasses back, and it works out. Kaladin is also left standing with Moash, which...okay, knowing where Moash’s character arc goes, I’m just going to be side-eyeing him the whole book, I apologize. We get a note that the numbers are still appearing--honestly Dalinar tell Kaladin it’s probably someone in there already so he stops panicking over intruders--and Kaladin starts getting irritated about Dalinar and Amaram again and Syl makes him admit that he does know that Dalinar, at least, is honorable. Amaram just has him fooled. 

Also, Kaladin is backsassing Adolin, and uses “Brightlord” for him--the title used for people he doesn’t respect as much. Adolin says that the only reason he hasn’t thrown Kaladin through a window is because he owes Kaladin his life. Renarin is just standing there, being awkward, holding his Blade--he had to hold that thing for five days. Yikes. 

Anyway, Syl doesn’t like the brothers, but only because they carry Shards (I hope. They’re good boys Brent). And we run into Vasher--I mean, Zahel, but it’s Vasher. Also, Adolin waited to bring Renarin until he knew Zahel was there so he could pressure Zahel into taking Renarin under his wing, and Syl drops the fact that she’s a tiny piece of a god, although it’s unclear how seriously Kaladin takes that. Back to Shallan, who is covering anxiety about the deserters with scholarship. She also sketches Bluth here--first a more true to life version, and then an idealized one with him in a proper uniform with a good weapon. Pattern asks about why people shit and Shallan does not want to be having that conversation. Pattern also says that Shallan--and presumably this is a Lightweaver thing--lives lies to make herself strong, but must speak truths to progress. 

Back to Kaladin, who’s talking with Lopen. Also, Kaladin uses the word “greenvines” to mean new recruits. And there’s another highstorm coming--meaning Kaladin is paranoid about the numbers again. Also they watch Adolin training, and we get this absolutely amazing exchange: 

“I’ve seen him summon that weapon before.”  “Yeah, gancho, on the battlefield, when we saved his sorry ass from Sadeas.”  I LOVE LOPEN. Also, Renarin’s training is beginning--he hasn’t been trained to fight, so there aren’t any bad habits for him to unlearn. And also this is the part where Zahel just tells Renarin to jump off the roof a bunch of times and also uses idioms that make absolutely no sense translated literally in Rosharan. Example: “I’m old, son. Repeating myself makes me eat the wrong flower.” I’m sorry Zahel that literally just sounds like a shitpost. 

And then Kaladin and Zahel have a conversation while, in the background, Renarin is throwing himself off a building again and again. Fun digression story, this part reminds me of a story from my mom’s family? She had 8 brothers and little to no parental supervision so some hijinks went down including the boys, at one point, deciding to play “who can jump off the highest object” which ended in the youngest jumping off the shed and breaking his leg. Don’t do these things unless you’re in Shardplate, kids. Kaladin discredits how well Renarin will do, but Zahel’s got a better idea of it. 

And also Zahel starts berating Kaladin for some of his nonchalance--like assuming he knows how to fight Shardbearers just because he got lucky against two. It’s turning into Sparring Bantertime. And then Adolin makes the mistake of further antagonizing Kaladin, they get in a fight, and Zahel calls Adolin the fuck out for challenging someone without shardplate when Adolin is in Shardplate because what the actual fuck, you could kill people. Zahel also says that Kaladin reminds him of Adolin, to which Kaladin Is Very Offended, and Zahel starts laughing at him. Kaladin also notes that the stormlight drained from him, and Syl points out that he wasn’t protecting anyone. 

Shallan flashback time--we get the fact that when Shallan thinks about her mother her brain shuts down. She also hasn’t spoken for five months, apparently--since her mother was killed. Helaran gives Shallan a drawing pad and charcoals and says that he needs her to come back because he’s going to be gone for a few years, and he’s worried about the others. And of course what Shallan automatically draws is the murder scene, which worries Helaran as well and he tells her to draw safe things instead of dwelling on the past. Shallan spoke for the first time in months to stop Helaran from killing their father. And Shallan sees her father in a furious rage, but he stops himself before he hurts her. I still wonder--did he just care about her more, or was he scared of her abilities and didn’t want to provoke them? Well, there’s not much way to know now. 

Shallan, again. The listener song quoted here does mention artform as a thing that exists. Anyway, we’ve just run into Shallan taking control of her caravan and leading them down to help another group against the bandits, because we’ve hit another moment where Shallan’s back’s against the wall and she becomes certain--and flat-up offers the deserters redemption if they help her help the other people. The leader doesn’t listen, but the others--including Gaz, everyone runs into everyone else out on the Shattered Plains, huh--do. Another new Listener form is mentioned--meditationform, meant for teaching and consolation, used by the gods for lies and desolation. 

Also, we meet Tyn here. Also, the leader of the deserters--Vathah--attempts to threaten Shallan, and Pattern spooks the living shit out of him by saying “you should let her go” while Shallan pretends to hear nothing. Also, Shallan frees Tvklav’s slaves, including using the line “I saved your life, you oily little man.” And Shallan also sees that the caravan survivors burned a prayer of thanks for the deserters who saved their lives, which is great. 

Back to Kaladin. Also, the listener song mentions stormform here, including the phrases “beware its powers” and “beware its end.” And it also says it “brings the gods their night.” So we’re getting heavy hints that stormform is really bad news. Also, Kaladin sees a red light out in the highstorm and thinks it looks like eyes. Creepy. Adolin is looking at fashions, Renarin is stimming, Elhokar is fretting. Kaladin is trying to unobtrusively be nosy. 

Also, Renarin geeks out about fabrials to Kaladin, and Kaladin wonders why Adolin is looking at fashion and Adolin gets defensive. No numbers appear--probably because Renarin is in a room with other people the whole time. Adolin mentions that the only Shardbearer in Sadeas’ camp other than Sadeas is Amaram, Dalinar jokingly comments that Adolin won’t be dueling him, certainly, while I am in the background yelling “KICK HIS ASS, ADOLIN! KICK HIS MISERABLE ASS!” 

Anyway now they’re talking more about Amaram. Can we stop talking about Amaram. You’re not going to get him to secede from Sadeas’s side. He’s a piece of shit. Kaladin also notices that when people mention Amaram, he gets upset and tense, UNDERSTANDABLY. 

And so Kaladin goes to tell Dalinar about Amaram, and Dalinar points out that Kaladin doesn’t have any proof. Syl is optimistic, saying that Dalinar listened--and she’s actually right in the end, Syl is always right, she’s the best--but Kaladin says that he didn’t. Syl is also very upset at the thought of Kaladin “finding his own justice,” as he puts it, and points out that this is not what he’s supposed to be like as a Windrunner. 

Also, Shen confronts Kaladin--which is an early sign that Shen is not a normal Parshman--and says that he isn’t really treated as Bridge Four, and that he’s basically still a slave, and Kaladin can’t argue with that and hates it. And then one of the palace guards runs in, panicking, and I’m pretty sure this is the Szeth attack. 

Listener song talking about “Nightform” which apparently predicts the future--there is the whole “Voidbringers see the future” thing. In any case, the “attack” was someone sabotaging the railing and balcony where Elhokar stands. Kaladin points out that whoever tried it was an idiot--or, more precisely, a coward, if they’re the same person who was behind the drained stormlight in the Plate. They want to make Elhokar’s death look like an accident, but they tipped their hand here--because the only tool that could have cut away at the balcony like that was a Shardblade. Kaladin also swears, here, that Dalinar can trust him--one half of the conflicting oaths that tear him apart in this book. Dalinar also assumes that bridgemen have no part in warcamp politics, which is...a bit naive. Kaladin does, as does Moash--lighteyes can engender deep antagonism in darkeyes without realizing. 

I’ll cut this here and get the rest of Part Two in another post.