#kari al'thor

[iliiuan]

Trying to think how Rand escaped detection in this hunt for a newborn boy. I think perhaps one crack in the search is that they are looking for a mother with baby, and Rand's mother died. Also, of course, they're not realizing his mom would be Aiel. Did Tam suspect his child could be the Dragon Reborn? Did he avoid the listmakers on purpose, or did he simply slip through the cracks? Did he lie about the place and time of Rand's birth? Did Tam retreat before the call even went out? How did he transport a newborn, Kari, and a wet nurse alongside a retreating army? With no one mentioning them to the Accepted taking names? It sounds both incredibly easy (the search was incoherent and sloppy for reasons of secrecy), and a bit of sheer dumb luck that they weren't noticed.

[fishalthor]

endless amount of favorite character aesthetics: mother's day edition

"She had been an outlander, and Rand remembered little of her aside from a smiling face, though he did put flowers on her grave every year, at Bel Tine, in the spring, and at Sunday, in the summer." "I remember Kari al'Thor cradling that child in her arms with as much love given and delight taken as I have ever seen from any woman with a babe. Her child, Rand. You."

↳ kari al'thor. the wheel of time by robert jordan

[caracarnn]

FULL NAME. rand al'thor NICKNAME. shadowkiller? ALIASES. idk but he has titles for DAYS PRONOUNS. he / him SIZE. 6'6" AGE. he's 23 at the end of the books ZODIAC. n/a- SPOKEN LANGUAGES. the new tongue

𝐏𝐇𝐘𝐒𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐋 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐒 ―

HAIR. wavy red hair that reaches down to the back of his neck. it curls at the ends FACIAL HAIR. he keeps himself clean shaven. EYES. blue/gray. they're described as stormy a lot. SKIN TONE. fair skin BODY TYPE. he's got the body of a fighter after all of his training. VOICE. he has a deeper voice and it's commanding when he wants it to be. DOMINANT HAND. right. POSTURE. at the beginning he's much more conscious of his height, he hunches a lot. But as time goes on he gets a straighter posture, a much more regal and intimidating posture SCARS. most of his everyday things are Healed by the Power by Aes Sedai. But the Heron marks on his palms remain, the two large wounds in his side are pretty big marks and by the end of the series. SPOILER ALERT he's lost a hand BIRTHMARKS. not sure I have to think about this. MOST NOTABLE FEATURES. His striking red hair, stormy eyes and noble features.

𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐋𝐃𝐇𝐎𝐎𝐃 ―

PLACE OF BIRTH. on the slopes of Dragonmount HOMETOWN. emond's fields, the two rivers. SIBLINGS. one half brother PARENTS. tam & kari al'thor - adoptive parents / janduin & tigraine - birth parents

𝐀𝐃𝐔𝐋𝐓 𝐋��𝐅𝐄 ―

OCCUPATION. the dragon reborn? king? high lord? CURRENT RESIDENCE. he has to move about. too many people are out to get him. FINANCIAL STATUS. he's very wealthy due to his Aiel heritage, the Fifth of all conquerings that they take. He's wealthy due to his status as king and high lord, which involves tribute. but he grew up very modestly. DRIVER'S LICENSE. doesn't exist but bro is a great horseman CRIMINAL RECORD. I mean the high lords in Tear would LOVE to pin some things on him, I'm sure

𝐒𝐄𝐗 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄 ―

SEXUAL ORIENTATION. heterosexual for book canon. ( 👀. iykyk ) PREFERRED EMOTIONAL ROLE. the emotionally responsible one. this doesn't always work out PREFERRED SEXUAL ROLE. more dominant TURN OFFS. don't be evil. no betrayal. bad hygiene lol TURN ON'S. trust. a deep connection. assertiveness. LOVE LANGUAGE. acts of service and quality time RELATIONSHIP TENDENCIES. he can be closed off. he can be private. but he also wants to be there for his partner no matter what

𝐌𝐈𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐄𝐎𝐔𝐒 ―

CHARACTER'S THEME TUNE. my body is a cage - arcade fire / power is power - sza / the man who can't forget HOBBIES TO PASS THE TIME. horse ride, archery, training in the aiel way, sword training, reading, playing the flute, sketching, writing LEFT OR RIGHT BRAINED. I'd say that Rand falls between the two. SELF-CONFIDENCE LEVEL. it really depends. if it's a physical confidence - that's something he doesn't much think about. if it's another kind of confidence then that's something that wavers badly. he has little self confidence and is full of doubts but does the best he can

tagged by: @luckhissoul & @adversitybloomed tagging: @tothedevilsshow @2wanlake @sparelove @forwardlion @cairhiens @withinkandquill @malumxsubest

[valandhirwriter]

Favorite side characters, any media. Go!

Thanks for the ask, @do-androids-dream-ao3acc, but you are aware, how dangerous it is, to ask me such big things?

Tam al'Thor from Wheel of time

Who is this: In WoT Tam is the father (or rather foster-father) of Rand al'Thor the Dragon reborn. Tam raised the baby that he found on the battlefield after the Blood Snow so well amd with such love, that the revelation that he isn't Rand's father comes as a shock, and even after knowing the truth, Rand still considers Tam as his father. Tam has his own role to play during the series and proves an important balancing factor for Rand in the days before Tarmon Gai'don. With Tam the author broke the trope that heroes slated for death (which the Dragon is) will either have no family any more, or be estranged in some fashion. While Rand's biological parents are dead, he still has a family in Tam, who will be deeply impacted by the loss of his son, and bears that knowledge with such a quiet strength, makes the fact that the Dragon will die at Tarmon Gai'don all the more poignant. Late in the books Rand is asked, what is different between his last incarnation as the Dragon (Lews Therin) and now, and Rand replies: "I was raised better." Showing that Tam's down-to-Earth upbringing did a world of good for the man who is supposed to save the world but also maybe break it again.

Quote: "All we can do is the best we can with the life that's given to us. And take comfort from it. But no matter what happens, what pain we face, what heartbreak, even death, the Wheel keeps turning. Always. And we try again. Maybe do a little better than the last time."

Pet Headcanons I have:

1. I cannot see how Tam could find a baby, freshly born on the slopes of Dragonmount and not guess something. Moraine in New Spring thinks that no one will admit to a child born on the slopes of Dragonmount because that detail of the prophecy is too well known. Tam also evades the initial Aes Sedai search, in spite of the offered money to all children born during the days of the Siege. So, I believe he saw something or at least believed that the baby boy could be believed to be the Dragon Reborn.

We know that Tam had an interessting military career, from the Whitecloak War to the Blood Snow, and I honestly still think that there were more adventures he had than we ever get to know.

Tam's family: We know Tam left the Two Rivers as a young man and came back years later with a wife and child. The child obviously Rand. But Rand never remembers grandparents, and after the death of Kari al'Thor Tam raises his son alone, much as the women of Emond's field strongly think he should remarry. We do not see any other female relative helping, nor get any mentions of the wider al'Thor family. So I have this headcanon that Tam's choice to leave had something to do with the loss of his family. His role in the pattern necessitated him leaving, living outside the Two Rivers, finding the child, and bringing it back, everyone thinking that it was Tam's son. If Manetheren had to fall and be forgotten, so it might shelter the Dragon Reborn in it's youth, Tam needed to be propelled out of his home. And by not having a family to ask questions later, there were no chances anyone could learn that Rand was indeed a foundling. So I think that something happened to the entire al'Thor clan, leaving Tam to carry on alone.

Fanfic I would love to read/write about him: Tam fought in the Blood Snow, much as my other favourite Wot character did: Lan al'Madragoran. We know in canon they did not meet, as Lan wonders how Tam came by a heron-marked blade, and whether he had a right to it. An answer that is only given in the Last Battle itself, when Lan sees Tam fight. Meaning Lan's Malkieri and the Illianer Companions did not interact. Now, I would love to see a story, where those two actually meet in the days of the Siege of Tar Valon, maybe fighting Aiel together. A small story would be great, but a story where their meeting propels them both on a different path - that would be great. A Tam/Lan pairing even better. But that would be ta'veren levels of AU, and writing in WoT might still be way beyond my skill level.

Eskel from he Witcher

Who is this: Eskel is another Wolf Witcher, that readers first encounter when Geralt brings Ciri to Kaer Morhen, and Ciri gets frightened when she sees his face, because of his scars. Eskel is one of the Witchers who trains Ciri in Kaer Morhen, and Ciri has a vision about his death during her time there (among other pyromantic visions). In the games Eskel is a supporting character, trying to help Geralt with his memories and ultimately fighting in the battle of Kaer Morhen.

Quote: I'm a simple witcher, Wolf. Don't fight dragons, don't fraternize with kings and don't sleep with sorceresses…

Pet Headcanons I have: 1. In the games there is a throwaway line about Eskel coming from the Mountains, something that grew into my headcanon about Eskel's background and people.

Eskel's scars - I feel that the explanation we get in the games is rather sloppy storytelling and doesn't make sense of several levels. So I still hold onto my own stories about the scars, that I had long before the games came out.

Big Brother: in my head canon Eskel is the older and more reliable brother of Geralt, sensible, steady and less given to temper. A bit of a big teddy-bear in some aspects, but also a grounding anchor for his younger brothers.

Fanfic I would love to write about him: Ummm… already wrote a bunch.

General Bel Riose from Foundation

Who is this: In the books we get to know Bel Riose as "The last of the Imperials", an Imperial General of immense skill, born in the waning days of the Galactic Empire. He ultimately gets executed by Emperor Clean for treason. In the TV series we get more time with him, see the consequences of his earlier fallout with Cleon, and see how Bel Riose takes on the Foundation. We also get to see him as a loving husband, and get torn apart when he is forced to fire on the planet where his husband has crash-landed, and having nothing left to lose, turning on Cleon, and damn, if he doesn't give Cleon a long deserved beating. Of course Bel dies, in the explosion of the ships, thanks to the chain reaction his spaces navigator caused.

Quotes: "To those who fight and ask why."

Pet Headcanons: 1. His reasons for not refusing to fire on Terminus. It is heavy implied in the series that Bel Riose does not rebel, because he has seen the anarchy outside the Empire, and is convinced that even a bad Emperor is better than none. And I think most of us watching expected him to rise up, when Cleon orders him to fire on Terminus with Glawen still grounded down there. I believe that at this point Rios knew that he was doomed, and most likely Glawen with him, if one considers Cleon's nature. So actually firing that shot, knowing that it will Glawen a swift and clean death, was an act of love, sparing Glawen the suffering that would await otherwise. And I think Glawen thought the same when he told Bel to do it. Glawen knew, with his own death, Bel would be free to act against the Emperor.

He saw the space plan coming. I am utterly convinced of this. Bel had a respectful friendship with his spacer navigator and I think he knew her well. He'd have seen something coming, and maybe he let it happen, because while he himself wasn't a man to rebel, he saw why others would. I also cannot see the spacer, who has a really good connection to her General, and respects him, would quite betray him like that.

I think he studied some illegal things about Seldon and his theories.

Fanfic I would love to write about him: I would love to write an AU where things go differently, simply because Bel didn't deserve to go down like this. Full Stop. This would be the one where both he and Glawen survive. I'd also be intrigued by one where only Bel survived, though heck - that man would become a total problem for the Empire. Or an AU where Glawen was drawn more on Cleon's side and they both are seperated, even as Cleon still sends Bel against the Foundation, while keeping Glawen for himself. Very chaotic ideas on that one.

General John Dixter from "Star of the Guardians"

Who is this: General John Dixter is the youngest roxal General in the book series, and in love with Guardian Maigrey Morianna, though he knows she only sees him as a friend. During the Revolution he helps Maigrey escape, and find medical help, though she later ditches him and escapes on her own. John becomes a mercenary, trying to forget and rising to a respected mercenary leader. Even his rival, Lord Derek Sagan respects his military skills. John is drawn into that fight again, by encountering young Dion Starfire, and recognizing that this is the child, that Maigrey talked about in the night of the revolution. He finds and loses Maigrey again, in the following events, and ultimately becomes Lord Admiral in service of young King Dion, to rebuild the Royal Military in an honourable fashion. One thing that stands about John, outside his military skills, is that even as his love for Maigrey will never go anywhere, he never gets bitter or jealous about it. He knows she will never love him back, and he is a reliable friend to her, no matter what. Even including walking into the jaws of one Derek Sagan again, or facing torture at that man's hands. John shows an incredible strength of character during all of this, and in between all the blood Royal he often is the person with the best common sense.

Quotes:

Pet Headcanons: 1. In spite of Maigrey professing her hope that John found someone else in the intervening years, I don't believe she'd really have been all that happy with it.

It would have made one hell of a friendship had Derek and John each other, before John met Maigrey.

John sensed/felt/knew that Maigrey was not dead, which is why he never got over her.

John's incurable space sickness, is (as Dr. Giesk, the old creep rightly assumed) psychological not physiological and it links back to a trauma from his youth that he's surpressing in his mind (or that was taken from him by a Guardian).

Fanfic I would love to write about him: One story I would like to write, is about his life after the book events, maybe set during or after the MagForce7 books. A story where now that Maigrey is truly gone, John finds a new life, one not defined by his grief. I also would love some deeper story about John's work rebuilding the Royal Military. I would also like that story to adress a few inconsistencies about the Revolution, and maybe the source of John's space-sickness. But definitely a story of him finding love, when he did not expect that to happen any more.

tagging @do-androids-dream-ao3acc, @regis-favorite-raven, @tigerlyla-of-metinna, @andordean, and @ginstermoff to answer the same question.

[jaqobis]

rereading really is helping me pin down something i've been trying to put to words about the wot show, but it really does seem to rely on amatonormativity wrt making decisions for the storytelling. it's like, how rand and egwene need to have friction for s1 so they keep arguing about a breakup. how perrin accidentally kills a wife bc the writers thought it'd be too hard to explain why killing master luhhan would affect him. no sight of his family, despite [spoilers for tsr]. the replacement of kari al'thor at the eye with egwene. a lot of choices around siuan's writing. four episodes of randfear and not one mention of rand missing his parents or thinking about the revelations about his birth parents. perrin motivated by a guilty crush on egwene in season 1. nynaeve staying in the arches for lan (and a child) instead of opting to leave for duty. liandrin angering channeling out of her by taking a shot at lan. moiraine and siuan in the new spring flashback talking about domesticity and meeting the family. the alanna polycule. idk it's not Every decision or Every character obviously and this isn't a criticism, just something i've noticed

[iviarellereads]

The Eye of the World, Chapter 16 - The Wisdom

(THIS PROJECT IS SPOILER FREE! No spoilers past the chapter you click on. Curious what I'm doing here? Read this post! For the link index and a primer on The Wheel of Time, read this one! Like what you see? Send me a Ko-Fi.)

(Leaves and vine icon)(1) In which attraction is definitely in the air.

The young men enter the inn, and Min draws Rand aside to tell him that the woman that's just arrived is part of "it", what's to happen to all of them, and they're in more danger now that she's here.(2) Rand tells her it's impossible. Thom and Mat get impatient to go see Nynaeve and get this over with, so he leaves Min with a promise that Nynaeve means no harm to them.(3)

They enter the room where Nynaeve and Moiraine are sitting in chilly silence, Nyn tugging at her braid in frustration. Rand walks right in and takes a seat halfway between them, and the rest follow suit slowly. Lan and Moiraine are curious how Nynaeve found them. To this she replies that she can track as well as any man in the Two Rivers, and she followed their trail, though there was nowhere for them to go except Baerlon. Lan compliments her, saying few can track a trail he's taken pains to cover. She gets embarrassed and hides in her cup of wine.(4)

Moiraine asks Nynaeve to answer some of her questions, and Nyn asks why she should answer any questions or keep any of their secrets. Thom points out that the Whitecloaks would swarm the inn like angry bees if they knew what Mo was, and take the young folks with her for questioning.(5) Nyn points out that's just one more reason for the kids to come home with her. She doesn't believe a word of their story that the Trollocs are chasing the boys. There's some uproar as each in turn asks what their guardians thought of their leaving, and Nyn reiterates that they're all worried about the kids.

Rand speaks up to say that none of this changes anything. They need to keep going on. Nyn is about to tell him off, when Mo says that her use of the Power gives her protection. None of them can be hurt by a Myrddraal near her, and Lan can sense Trollocs a quarter mile away.

Mo asks Egwene to take everyone else and leave. They go out into the hall, Lan relaxing against the door once the rest move far enough away not to overhear. Thom keeps going to perform, and the youngins settle quietly.

When Nyn opens the door, some time later, Lan goes in past her, and she glares at Rand, who realizes the others have all slipped off while he was lost in thought. Nyn sees Rand, and she seems to accept that they think they need to leave, though she still hopes to convince them to come home.

Nyn says Rand has grown when he asks why she's there, and not someone else. She's as important to the town as the mayor. She tells him that the town was split on what to do about them, and she could see that it would be at least another day before they came to any decision. She knew somehow that it couldn't wait that long, so she came herself.(6)

Rand asks what Mo said in the room, and Nyn says more of the same, and she wanted to know if the boys were all born in Emond's Field, or if any was born away. Rand laughs nervously and says he hopes she assured Mo they were all born in the town. Nyn hesitates only a little before saying yes, of course. Rand realizes that if Nyn knows, then Tam's fever mumbling was true. He tells her what he heard from Tam, and she says that Tam left when he was Rand's age, and came back with a wife and a child, and Kari al'Thor looked at Rand with all the love any parent ever had for a child.(7)

Rand asks what Nyn is going to do next, and she says she's going to have a bath, and see about the rest.

=====

(1) A leaf, like woodcraft and tracking and Nynaeve's herbal remedies. (2) Oho, so Nynaeve was introduced as she was for a reason. What part do you think she has to play, besides the protective older sibling? (3) Clearly Nynaeve hasn't taken quite the precautions Lan and Moiraine did on her way north, she certainly wasn't likely to have done something like bribe Hightower, the ferryman, so that he wouldn't tell anyone where she'd gone. Make no wonder that Min's visions say they're in more danger with Nynaeve caught up to them: her goals didn't involve staying hidden, they only involved taking her kids home. (4) Nyn's not the only one a little flustered. Lan is quite shocked she could find anything to follow. And he paid her and her late father a compliment, unmitigated by criticism. (5) Since when does Thom defend Moiraine and her reputation? He's been her biggest critic on this trip so far, but here he is, defending her and her Warder and far too vehemently to be just for the sake of the kids. One of my favourite theories is how Ali on the Wheel Takes podcast has shipped Thom and Moiraine since Mo's "Master Bard" comment back in Emond's Field, it's subtle but there are pieces there to see if you put on 'shipper glasses for a minute. (6) So Mo waltzes into town and calls Nyn a child, hitting the pressure point she's already got sore from being in a position of authority so young for several years and looking young besides. Then Mo and the boys and Egg, Nyn's own apprentice, disappear in the night, and you might see here how Nyn is very much in the line of Terry Pratchett's witches as a Wisdom, since she protects what's hers, dangit. If the councils were gonna take too long, she was gonna take it upon herself to do the right thing and drag those troublesome youngsters back herself. Make no wonder why she's angry at Mo, but also look how soft she is with Rand after! (7) Blood isn't all that makes family. It's one factor that can contribute. Whether or not Rand was adopted, it makes no difference to how he was and is loved by his dad. I love how the story makes absolutely no question or ambiguity out of this.

[cannoli-reader]

Checking Eye of the World really quick and I got:

Two mentions of soft boots, worn by Mordeth & Lord Agelmar.

One mention of thigh-high boots, worn by Lews Therin.

Six descriptions of clothing as embroidered (I did not include the mention of specific embroidered symbols, i.e. the sunburst of the Children of the Light, and the Aes Sedai logo on LTT, because the focus is on the symbol being worn, not the fanciness of the clothing implied in the rules given). The embroidered garb was worn by Mordeth, Paitr, Gawyn, Elayne, Kari & Egwene. Two of those garments were dresses, Kari's & Elayne's.

Basically, there is a reason for each such mention. For Mordeth, the soft boots and embroidered vest is about how strange and out of place his clothing is. For Agelmar, and the Trakands, and Paitr, the point is to emphasize their wealth and nominal status, and in most cases, the incongruity of someone with embroidered clothes accosting Rand & Mat in an inn, or climbing trees in a garden. For Egwene and Kari, the instances are in the vision of Kari being tormented by Baalzamon and the epilogue when Rand is telling Egwene he has to go. In these cases, the point is idealize both women as much as possible to emphasize Rand's loss.

I didn't bother to parse out the other points on the list, because some of them are subjective, and frankly, the readers whine about clothing more than the characters do. I did note that the EotW has a higher ratio of mentions of clothes, clothing or cloth to pages than other books to which I also gave a quick check, namely, Tom Clancy's Cardinal of the Kremlin, Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl, and George Martin's A Clash of Kings. However, two of those are set in the real world, where we generally know what people wear from day to day and require less information from the books to set up the scene in our heads. We can probably guess what the military personnel on an aircraft, or a submarine, or the government officials at diplomatic meetings and in CIA offices are wearing, or what they wear at formal receptions. Also, a person's garments will often be described in more specific terms, because the reader knows what one would be wearing with it, i.e. a suit, or jeans. Furthermore, they, and Martin's work, are not about people traveling in unfamiliar lands and meeting people from classes they are not accustomed to. Just about every PoV character in aSoI&F is a noble, and thus fancy clothes are familiar and normal to them. In the parts of EotW set in Emond's Field, there is almost no description or mention of the clothing Emond's Fielders are wearing, unless it comes into action, like Egwene pulling down her hood to show off her braid or the opening wind pulling at the al'Thor's cloaks. The descriptions are of Moiraine's clothing, Lan's cloak, and Thom's signature gleeman's outfit. Things that stick out. The nobles in Westeros mostly talk to other nobles and don't notice the smallfolk, except functionally. They would note their clothes to see who the commoner works for. With their fellow nobles, they take the fancy stuff for granted, and note the colors and imagery utilized, to identify loyalties and allegiances.

In the hands of a competent author, clothing can tell you a lot about the characters or their backgrounds or economic situations. Hell, those other authors I mentioned do it. Just off the top of my head, Cardinal of the Kremlin has a Soviet spy meeting an informant in a clothing shop, and she enjoys shopping there, because of the garments available in the US that are not in the USSR. Her contact, meanwhile, is identified as having a personality type by her clothing choices, which in turn, is a clue to her motivations for spying. There is mention of the appropriate weather garments to be worn in a remote mountain outpost, a disgraced military officer is dressed as a civilian to drive home his disgrace, one spy guesses his contact is a person of importance by her nice clothes that are generally unavailable to ordinary people, Americans are easily identified in Moscow by their clothes, the wife and daughter of a high-ranking defector demand of the captain of a submarine carrying them to the west, that their clothes be laundered, because they are a bit out of touch and arrogant with their husband & father's position. In Gone Girl, Flynn contrasts the characters' lives in New York with the comedown when they move to rural Missouri. One narrator carefully chooses her clothing to hide her appearance when she goes into hiding, another carefully selects things to be worn on a television appearance to send the right message to a particular viewer. Underwear is left in a professional setting to hint at inappropriate activity taking place there. A client meets a famous attorney for the first time, and the lawyer dressing in something other than the common suit and tie sends a message to the reader that this is not your run of the mill lawyer, that he could be an unprofessional idiot or some sort of legal savant who doesn't wear the professional uniform because he doesn't have to, he is just that good. And GRRM is nearly as big on the clothing porn as RJ is. The garments of the people of Qarth characterize their lifestyle, and when Dany decides she's done with the city, she changes into her previous clothes and feels liberated. Sansa chooses her clothing to appease Joffrey and ameliorate her torment at his hands. The clothing Tyrion gifts Shae is part of her compensation for her services, and when she is told to put those garment aside for her own safety she isn't thrilled. Uniforms, livery and cloaks of particular colors symbolize people's status and the rise and fall of their fortunes. Varys is shown to be adept at disguises, and yet he does not fool Shae in one such effort, telling us things about both characters.

And that's the point of Jordan's "clothing porn". It's not porn at all, because it's not gratuitous depiction. It's not just in there for the pleasure of clothing enthusiasts, it has a purpose, to tell you things Jordan wants you to know about the characters. The clothing tells the readers that Moiraine is somehow special and both her kesiera and Lan's cloak tease the fantastic elements of the story. Thom's cloak is described as patched by Bran before he appears, but then Rand notes that the patches are for decoration and the cloak itself is more sturdy and warm than Bran's description led him to think, which is both a hint at Thom's nature and shows how observant Rand is. We know there is something off about the Myrddraal, because its cloak does not move in the wind. Mordeth's clothing is from an entirely different age, in addition to being impractical for the treasure hunter he claims to be. Elayne and Gawyn's rank and class are signaled by wearing clothes fancier than Rand has ever seen, as their casual everyday wear, that they climb trees in, and Elayne uses a scarf that would be a prized possession for a woman of Emond's Field, to bandage his minor injuries. That last denotes, in addition to her wealth, her compassion in prioritizing helping someone over her possessions. Agelmar's clothing is mentioned to contrast with the militaristic surroundings, but as with Thom, it's merely superficial and the fact that his martial nature is readily apparent under the velvet and "soft boots" really emphasizes that aspect of his character.

tl;dr (always an issue with the "too much description" crowd): the clothing descriptions and mentions are a feature of the story, not a bug, not a distraction.

THE ROBERT JORDAN CLOTHING PORN DRINKING GAME

We’ve all jokingly talked about RJ’s affinity for clothing. Now let’s make a drinking game! 

Take a shot if someone’s wearing soft boots 

or thigh-high boots

take a shot every time an article of clothing is described as embroidered 

take two if it’s a dress

take a shot every time a character thinks about clothing 

take a shot every time a character whines about clothing 

take a shot every time an article of clothing is mentioned 

take a shot every for every accessory mentioned 

take a shot every time a character thinks about how his/her clothing affects what other characters think 

feel free to add your own! 

[wafflelovingbatgirl]

Tam al’Thor finding Rand’s mother in the snow and keeping the baby, 979 NE, colorized

[jaqobis]

man i really love this comparison!! it's not one i've thought about before in much detail, but it's such a good insight.

i also really love how rand has no innate connection to the aiel way of life despite his father being aiel, and how rj went out of his way to avoid that narrative trope in general. i want to add though — rand very consciously avoids delving into aiel culture in ways i find really interesting. he does try to learn some things — how to fight in a more aiel way, some of the ways of speech and niceties, how their leadership tends to work, etc etc — but he's extremely conscious of the fact that his only connection to the aiel are parents he never knew and prophecy no one asked for. he specifically avoids dressing like an aiel because he's already claiming identity through the bloodline/prophecy and knows it isn't really earned.

egwene embraces aiel dress and culture because she wholeheartedly wants to learn about and from them; rand comes to the aiel out of a need for their strength, and leans away from behavior that he figures would essentially be appropriative and manipulative of him. (not to mention the dimension of him identifying wetlander not just because of where he was raised but because that makes him tam and kari al'thor's son, specifically.)

I really love the narrative choice to have Egwene dive deep into Aiel culture to the point that the Wise Ones say she’s ‘Aiel at heart’ and offer for her to become a wise one and marry a future chief. And all the while, Rand, who is Aiel by blood and arguably has greater reason as the car’a’carn to learn about their culture, often refuses to examine their culture on deeper levels and still fundamentally misunderstands key aspects of their tradition and culture months and year(s?) into knowing them.

It was somewhat infuriating yes when he didn’t bother to try to understand them, but a good choice narratively. Rand’s Aiel blood and the connection to their prophecy through his Aiel blood is the key reason why early series Rand is able to wage war and conquer nations, but it’s just blood, a tenuous connection. It doesn’t make Rand anymore able to understand the Aiel and their culture. Fantasy books are full of the trope where a ‘lost child’ returns to their culture and is able to integrate seamlessly, it feels natural to them, like their culture or way of life was innate. I like that RJ turns this on it’s head and says what we know from real life, that culture comes from socialization and there is nothing innate about it.

It also shows an important distinction between Rand and Egwene and their journeys. In many political situations, we see Rand try to use his power (political, prophetic, saidin, and Ta’veren) to get his way, his status as a legandary figure automatically awards him fear/respect. Whereas Egwene is constantly put into positions of inferiority (Wise One’s apprentice, and puppet Amyrlin) where she has to work for respect and influence. Therefore, (in addition to difference in natural curiosity) you see Egwene being much more interested in learning about Aiel culture because she needs to know these things to gain the respect of the Aiel Wise Ones, in a similar sense she dives into the intricacies of Aes Sedai politics in order to get the better of the sisters who are trying to control her. We do see Rand make political moves but most are based in his existing power and status as the Dragon Reborn.

[queen-serena]

"I remember Kari al'Thor cradling that child in her arms with as much love given and delight taken as I have ever seen from any woman with a babe. Her child, Rand. You." The Eye of the World: Book One of ���The Wheel of Time’ - Robert Jordan

[caracarnn]

information

basics

full name: Rand al'Thor

nicknames / aliases: the dragon reborn, car'a'carn, coramoor, shadowkiller, he who comes with the dawn, lord of the morning, prince of the dawn, defender of the light

height: 6' 6

age: verse dependent but 19+

zodiac: this doesn't exist in his canon

spoken languages: sometimes he can know the words and such of whatever it was that Lews Therin knew.

physical characteristics

hair colour: deep red

eye colour: gray-blue

skin tone: fair

body type: muscular but not BUFF

dominant hand: right

posture: he used to slouch and such because sometimes he was always embarrassed about his height BUT then when he became the dragon Rand got a far more kingly posture (thanks moiraine)

scars: he has two unhealing wounds on his side, two heron brandings on his palms, he's got scars on his temples from his crown of swords, other things have possibly healed from Healing. He also lost his hand

tattoos: not exactly tattoos but he has dragon markings twining around his forearms and ending on the backs of his hands

birthmarks: n/a

most noticeable features: in the books it's been noted that his eyes are striking, his features are noble and his aura is intimidating

childhood

place of birth: emond's field , the two rivers

siblings: one half brother Galad Damodred

parents: tam & kari al'thor (adoptive parents) janduin/tigraine mantear (birth parents)

adult life

occupation: the dragon reborn? lol High Lord of Tear & Cairhien (for awhile anyways), High Lord of The Two Rivers, Prince Consort of Andor, Chief of Chiefs?

current residence: always moving around. he has to or he's gonna get killed

close friends: mat, perrin, nynaeve, egwene,beslan, rhuarc, there are others...500 maidens? lolz, alivia

relationship status: verse dependent but he ends the books with 3 girlfriends

children: he's expecting twins at the end of the book and there have been some other viewings regarding this

criminal record: I don't think he has one although I'm sure that there are SOME THINGS

vices: isolating himself, death - WAIT ARE THESE VICES idk what his vices are? he drinks a bit? smokes tobbac A LOT

sex and romance

sexual orientation: heterosexual

turn-ons: nurturers, strong women, good conversations, people who are pretty up front about things

turn-offs: being made to do things he doesn't want to do, being told he's doing something he's not, mind games

love languages: physical touch, time spent together

relationship tendencies: he gets committed and he won't shy away from how he feels. He won't even put up a doubt ON HIS OWN FEELINGS however he is very...clueless about other people's thoughts and feelings. He won't know unless you wave it like a HUGE SIGNPOST in front of his face. once he's in a relationship however he's very determined to make his s/o feel loved. he spends time with them but never wants them to see any of the darker parts of himself or the broken parts

miscellaneous

hobbies to pass time: horse riding, training in fighting and in swords, traveling, playing the flute, drawing (thanks lews), reading READING READING

mental illnesses: he has dissociative identity disorder. suicide ideation. self harm. extreme paranoia. bouts of depression. ptsd. - all untreated. all raging rather unchecked. Most are caused by his severe ptsd.

self confidence level: I think at times he can be confident but he really struggles. Some people claim that he's arrogant but honestly he isn't. he feels less than up to par more than anything. he just won't talk about it.

tagged by: @luckhissoul tagging: @never-surrender @poeticphoenix @forwardlion @malumxsubest

[captain-noir]

really not feeling how much they’re shortchanging rand in favour of every single character. it wouldnt be so egregious if was only the EF5 but even stepin, a one off named character from the prequel is getting more characterization than rand. the logain procession should have been the MOMENT for him but even that was spun around to be centered around mat alone. i dont know if this the result of the show being centered around moiraine and by extension the aes sedai or the dragon reborn mystery, but we’ve only got three episodes to go and the next one's A plot is the aes sedai/logain stuff with mat getting the b plot

[alectology-archive]

Her parents disapproved of her relationship to a soldier, but could not stop it due to Tam's position; they did disown her after she married Tam, though.

Kari accompanied Tam on his long campaigns during the Aiel War. She had two children: a girl who died of fever in infancy and a stillborn boy. After that, she could not bear children anymore. In late 978 NE, Tam found Rand on the slopes of Dragonmount, and she and Tam adopted him.

I am Sad.

Reading the wiki page for kari al'thor really does make me very very soft about her coming up at the end of teotw and rand doing his best to defend her. Rand is a mama's boy!!! It is very important for him to have a designated mom-figure in every book.

[stereotypedebunker]

one of the things that annoys me the most about Wheel of Time is how dead women - specifically Ilyena (Lews Therin's wife) and Kari al'Thor - are treated (kinda like how they're treated in other epic fantasy series) these two in particular are aggravating because in Ilyena's case she's the wife of the PREVIOUS Dragon, the main protagonist's forerunner/previous life/incarnation. she is an important person historically, not least because she was killed BY her husband in his magic-induced madness. and yet we know literally nothing about her as a person?? we have an idea of what she looked like, we know Lanfear was jealous of her, and that's about...it. we don't even know if she could channel!! like as much time as Lews Therin spent railing about killing her in Rand's head you'd think we would've had SOMETHING (then again that might just be further proof to the 'it wasn't REALLY Lews Therin in Rand's head' theory) as for Kari al'Thor. well, you have Rand literally citing his [adopted] father as the 'reason' he succeeded where Lews Therin failed. so Rand's victory against the Dark One is like specifically thanks to his upbringing by Tam, which, incidentally, included the loss of his [adopted] mother from a very young age, so young he knows basically nothing about her, and Tam either didn't talk about her at all or else Rand was just heartless enough not to consider the woman that would've raised him if she'd lived for longer than the first few years of his life. and no offense, but i think the absence of Rand's mother undermines the importance of his upbringing by Tam's values, because what about Kari's values?? tl;dr @joannalannister started a revolution with her Dead Ladies' Club and i admire her for it

[herenya-sedai]

diminutive names

A random thought: Most of the characters in WOT don’t use abbreviated or affectionate versions of their names (“diminutives”). Nor do they use such names for their friends.

Names are certainly abbreviated in the Two Rivers: Mat (Matrim), Bode (Bodewhin), Bran (Brandelwyn) and Tam (Tamlin). There are a lot of people  with one-syllable first names - like Con, Dav or Wil - that could easily be short for something longer. It’s also plausible that names like Natti or Kari are diminutives.

In Andor more generally, there are examples like Min (Elmindreda), Thom (Thomdril) and and Galad (Galadedrid). 

However, these are all abbreviated names that are used most of the time, by most people, to the point where it’s possible to be unaware that someone’s name is actually short for something else. They're preferred names, rather than affectionate names used only by family and close friends.

I can’t think of any examples from outside of Andor, but given WOT’s cast of thousands, that doesn’t mean there aren’t any! All the main gang are technically from Andor, so we find out a lot more about people from there than from some other countries. There are plenty of minor characters who could be using a preferred name that isn’t their full given name for all we know.

Aiel have “honey-names”, and it’s implied these can be abbreviated names:

Nynaeve; not Nynaeve al'Meara. Wetlanders liked to be called by only half their names, and Aviendha was trying to remember, however much it felt like using a honey-name. Rand al'Thor was the only lover she had ever had, and she did not think even of him so intimately, but she had to learn their ways if she was to wed one of them. (ACOS: 13)

Aviendha clearly considers calling Rand “Rand” instead of “Rand al’Thor” to be a sign of intimacy. I'm fairly sure we don’t get any other examples of what affectionate names for Aiel can look like - unless endearments like “shade of my heart” qualify - but there must be variations other than abbreviating. Aviendha’s name would be easy to shorten but lots of Aiel already have short names to start with. There also isn’t confirmation of whether honey-names are exclusively used between lovers or if they’re used in other contexts, eg. by a parent to a small child.

The Seanchan have a culture of renaming people, but that’s a different kettle of fish altogether. It’s a marker of status that means previous names no longer apply. Tuon doesn’t just address Mat as "Toy”, she thinks of him as this in her POV (compared with Mat, who calls her “Precious” but still thinks of Tuon), and does not understand why he would want to be called “Mat” when his name is “Matrim”.

I don’t find the lack of diminutives unconvincing, just interesting.