#might do some rereading but i gotta read the other pattern books first

[arodrwho]

octavia butler GOOD

[bruh--wtf]

A Message

Thomas x Reader

Summary: The reader goes through the Maze trials with a message, but she has no idea who it's from. That is until he enters the maze. And he helps them get out.

Part 6

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Warning: Spoilers obviously. This is based on the first movie. I don't know why you're reading this is you haven't seen the movie, but yeah, that's the warning.

"We'll talk later, yeah?" You say and he nods.

You see Minho talking to Thomas. You walk up to them. "You're not even a little bit curious?" Thomas asks as you come to a stop next to him.

"Not really, no," Minho says. You look between. The two of them. Thomas tries to take a step forward but Minho stops him. "So what's the plan? You wanna go out and dissect that thing all by yourself?"

"I will if I have to." You stare at the two of them.

"The others runner quit this morning," Minho says, looking over to the group sitting down. You glance over.

"Excuse me?" You ask. He looks at you and nods. You clench your jaw.

"After Alby got stung, they're not hurrying to get back out there," he explains.

"Damnit," you say under your breath.

"Why are you?" Minho asks Thomas. Thomas glances at you.

"I think it's time we find out what we're really up against," Thomas says. You nod slightly, and lick your lips.

"Meet me in the woods in half an hour," he says, walking off. You raise an eyebrow at his retreating back. Thomas turns to you.

"I kind of missed my window for questions yesterday," he says. You let out a breath and hang your head.

"I have a few questions of my own, actually," you say. He looks confused but you nod your head towards the tower.

Once up there, you grab a bin and place it down he looked very confused. You pulled the book out and hand it to him. It was in even worse condition than when you originally had it.

He hesitantly takes it. "How do you have this?" He asks. You shrug standing up.

"It was in one of the boxes when I first got to the glade. It's how I knew I wasn't alone." He gives you a confused look. You point to the cover. "Open it." He does so hesitantly. When he reads the message he looks back up at you.

"Do you think-"

"I don't know. I've had a familiar feeling with the other guys, like I knew them. But I, obviously, don't remember anything before the glade. It's kind of the same with you. A familiarity," you explain. "Alby's the only one that knows about the book."

"Yeah, Alby seems to be the only one to know alot of things," he says. You cross your arms.

"We have been protecting eachother for, literally, as long as we can remember. And when the boys started coming up, we knew we had to keep some kind of order. Keeping some things from them protects them. Look, Thomas, I'm only showing you this because of last night. Even Minho and Newt haven't seen this yet." He looks up from seemingly rereading the message over and over again.

"Do you really think this could be from me?" He asks. You swallow, looking at the book and shrugging.

"I don't know. But the comfort of having someone outside of here, might have just disappeared. I don't know if I want it to be from you," you say. You meet his eyes again. You were telling the truth. You were completely unsure.

"You should go meet up with Minho," you say, taking the book back and hiding it away in some of the boxes. You moved the book around alot, never wanting someone to find it.

"What about you?" He asks. You let out a breath.

"I'll be there soon." You say without turning back to him. You were positive that he stayed there for a minute before leaving.

After the "field trip" as Gally calls it, Chuck says the Keepers are meeting. You and the boys instantly run over.

"What the hell?" You say as you walk in. Newt stands up a little straighter.

"Nice of you to join us," Gally says. You glare at the boy.

"What makes you think you can call a meeting of the Keepers without us?" Minho asks, Gally gestures to Thomas.

"Last time I checked, he's not a Keeper. Mind waiting outside?" Gally says.

"He stays," you snap at him. You felt their eyes on you. Gally raised his eyebrows at you and you took a step towards him. "For once in your life Gally, just shut you mouth and listen."

"What's the point of all this?" Minho asks and you turn to Newt.

"We've got two hours till sundown, we have to figure out what to do with Alby," Newt says. You stare at him.

"You want to banish him," Winston says.

"No one wants to banish anyone. But he's stung. We have no choice," Gally says. You glare at him.

"What did I say about shutting your mouth?" You say. He glares at you.

"We have a choice," Thomas says and Gally looks at him.

"You say something newbie?" He asks. You look at Thomas.

"Yeah, we have a choice," Thomas repeats. "We don't have to banish Alby."

"Right. And how's that?" Gally asks. Thomas grabs the metal from Minho and hands it to Newt.

"We found this. On our 'feild trip'. It was in the griever," Thomas says. You walk over to Newt as he analyzes the piece of metal.

"Newt, it's the same letters as from the supplies," you say. He looks at you. "Whoever put us here made the grievers."

"This is the first real clue, the first anything you've had in three years, right, Y/N?" Thomas asks. You nod. "Newt, we gotta go back out there. Who knows where this might take us."

Newt looks up at Gally. "You see what he's trying to do, don't you? First he breaks our rules, then he tries to convince us to abandon them completely? The rules are there for a reason," he says. You nod in agreement.

"Yeah, they are. You're right for once.

"If Alby was here, you know he'd agree with me too. This shank? He needs to be punished."

"Wow, another right answer." They all look at you. Newt thinks for a second, and hands the metal back to Minho.

"You're right. Thomas did break the rules." You glance at Newt. "One night in the pit and no food." You smile a little with Gally getting agitated.

"Come on, Newt! You think that's going to stop him from going into the maze?!" Gally exclaims. You shake your head.

"You don't need to stop a runner from going into the maze." You look at Thomas. "Starting tomorrow, you're a runner." Gally shakes his head, going to leave.

"Wow," he says. Frypan reaches out to him.

"Gally-"

"No, no." With that Gally leaves. Frypan goes after him. Thomas looks at you and Newt.

"Thanks, guys," he says. You nod, and walk out of the council hall. Newt follows you. Guess you have a little explaining to do.

You jog to catch up to Minho and Thomas later in the woods. When you make it to the little shack, it was just in time for Minho to rip the sheet off the model of the maze. You let out a breath.

"Yeah, do the honors, would you?" You say. They both snap their gaze to you. You sigh, walking up to the table. "Don't worry, I'm not mad. Thomas should see this." Minho nods in agreement and Thomas looks back down at the table.

"It's the maze," Minho says. Thomas puts his hands on the table, observing the maze.

"All of it," you add and Thomas looks up.

"What do you mean all of it? I thought you guys were still mapping it." You nod, letting out a breath.

"That's to give the guys hope. But we've run every inch of this maze ourselves." He looks at you in shock. "There's nothing left to map."

"Every cycle. Every pattern. If there was a way out, we would have found it by now," Minho says. You look down at the map that you and Minho had started a little after he arrived.

"Why haven't you told anyone?" Thomas asks. You stand up a little straighter, taking a step towards him.

"Like I said. To protect them. They'd give up and if they did, we'd all be dead within a week," you say. The boys look at you. "Trust me. Alby and I considered everything. This is best."

"But, maybe now we have a real chance," Minho says. You look at him as he hands the metal to Thomas. "About a year ago we started exploring the outer sections. They have these numbers on the walls. Sections one through eight."

"Everynight the maze opens up a new section. It's a pattern. Today, six. Tomorrow, four. Then eight, then three. The pattern is always the same."

Thommas looks down at the dirty metal. The number seven.

"What's special about seven?" Thomas asks. Minho shrugs and you look at that section of the maze.

"Don't know. Last night, section seven was opened when you killed the griever," Minho says. You swallow. "Must be where it comes from. Tomorrow, we're taking a closer look." You snap your eyes to him.

"What? Minho-"

"This is the first change you've seen in three years, right? This is the first anything we've gotten! Whatever Thomas is doing, he needs to keep doing it," Minho says, glancing at Thomas. You look down and let out a breath.

"If you think you two are going alone, you're crazy," you say. Minho smiles slightly. "Tomorrow."

Then Jeff comes out, telling you all that something's going on. You quickly run back. When you get there, you see Chuck laughing.

"What's going on?" Thomas asks. Chuck points to the tower where things were being thrown. Your eyes widen and you instantly start running over. Your eyes look around the ground a little bit. Newt moves you out of the way as a pot almost hit you in the head. You didn't see the book.

"I don't think she likes us very much," Newt says.

"Hey, we just want to talk!" Thomas yells.

"Leave me alone!" She yells.

"Ay! Just let us explain, would you?!" You shout. For a second nothing falls, then it starts again. You huff.

You quickly bolt to the ladder. "It's Thomas, it's Thomas!" Thomas yells. The things stop and you glance back at Thomas, then you start climbing the ladder. "I'm gonna come up, okay?"

Thomas starts following you, when you get up there, she was holding a machete at you. You flinch back.

"Woah! Okay, calm down!" She swipes at you, cutting your cheek. You glare at her, snapping the knife out of her hand. She flinches back as you climb up. "I'm not going to hurt you. However, if you do that again my mindset might just change." Thomas climbs up after you, noting the blood on your cheek.

"Where am I? What is this place?" She asks. Thomas hesitantly goes up to her. "Why can't I remember anything?" You ignore her as Thomas tries comforting her. You walk up to the mess of bins, mentally scolding her for making a mess of things. You start picking the bins back up, noting that the book was still there. You let out a breath, putting it back. Thomas looks at you for a second.

"Your name will come back to you in a couple days. It's like the one thing that-"

"Teresa." She cuts him off and you look at her. You raise an eyebrow.

"You remember your name already?" You ask. She nods.

"Yes. My name is Teresa." You look up at her. Thomas looks at you and you shift a little.

"Okay, Teresa, I'm Thomas," he says. "But, you already knew that, I guess, huh?" He asks. You swallow. And she looks at you.

"I'll go. Just wanted to make sure some things were still here," you say. She glances at the bins almost sheepishly. You chuckle.

"Who are you?" She asks.

"Y/N." Thomas looks at you and then back at Teresa. You walk past him towards the hatch. "Try not to die, would you?" You ask, handing him the knife. He smiles slightly and nods.

You climb down, to see the guys all waiting expectantly. Newt runs over.

"What the hell happened?" He asks. You shrug.

"She knew Thomas wouldn't be a girl," you say, a hint of humor in your voice. You nod a Jeff. "Wanna patch me up?" You ask. He nods, and you go back with him.

That night, you were sitting next to a struggling Alby. They were discussing whether or not to inject him with the new things or not. Your legs were shaking and you stared at Alby, vaguely listening to their conversation.

"He's already dying," Thomas says. You look up at him. "Look at him. How could this make it worse? It's worth a try."

You look down at Alby when Newt looks at you.

"Y/N?" He asks. You look up at them. Two out of the five people in this room knew more about you now. Three, actually, but you weren't counting Alby at the moment. You look at Thomas, who almost seemed pleading. Teresa just studied you.

"Do it." Thomas rushes over, ready to give the injection to Alby.

"Okay." Just as he was about to do it, Alby grabs Thomas.

"You shouldn't be here! Traitor!"

"Get the syringe!" Thomas yells. You grab it and stick it in Alby. A deflating sound erupts, and Alby calms down. You stare at him.

"That worked," Jeff says. You glance at him.

"From now on, someone watches him around the clock," Newt says and you nod in agreement. Then Gally walks in.

"Hey. Sundown, Greenie. Time to go," he says, looking at Thomas. You look at Thomasas he walks out. Then you look back down at Alby. Then you walked out, seeing Gally taking Thomas to the pit.

"Everybody saw her recognize you. And I'm betting, you know who she is." He opens the pit and Thomas goes in.

"Gally. You know we can't stay here forever, right?" You hear Thomas say. Then Gally walks away. Then you go up to the tower, grab your book, and bring it into the council hall. You were scared someone would find it in the tower. A little while later, you walk up to the pit. Thomas didn't see you coming, due to you not having a light.

"Thomas," you say. You hear a bit of movement.

"What're you doing here?" He asks. You smile a little bit. But it fades.

"Be honest with me Thomas. Do you remember anything else?" Even in the dark you see him shake his head.

"No. I swear, I don't. I don't know why my name is in that book. I don't remember Teresa. I don't remember anything," he says. You nod, looking down.

"I've been here for three years. Whatever you're doing that's causing change. I need you to keep doing it. I do trust you, Thomas. But I'll put you in that maze again if you show that you'd hurt any of those guys," you say. He stares at you for a minute before nodding.

"I wouldn't do that. I just want to get us all out of here," he says. You nod slightly, looking down. "I trust you too, Y/N." You look back up at him.

"Good. Because you need to trust the people you're running with," you say, tapping the bars and standing up.

"Do you only trust me because you think I wrote that message?" He asks. You look back down at him.

"Like I said. I don't know if you wrote that message."

"Yeah, but is that why you trust me?"

"No. You could have left me in the maze. I wasn't exactly in the right mindset. I was freaked, and I'm sure I would have died if you weren't there. I trust you because you didn't leave me," you say. He looks up at you.

"Yeah, well, whether or not that message was from me, I agree with what it says. And, I'll live up to it," he says. You look down at his shadowed figure for a minute.

"And I'll return the favor," you say.

"You know how you said you felt a kind of familiarity?" You nod.

"Yeah?"

"I know what you meant. Because I guess I feel it too." You stand there for a moment, not knowing what to say to that.

"Goodnight, Thomas." Then you turn, walking back to camp. That night you saw Chuck sneak out to Thomas. But you didn't call him on it. You knew he felt close to the boy. You kind of felt the same way.

[bookwyrminspiration]

hello hello its been a few days but i, the dream nonsie, am back! (also my name actually means "dream" irl 👀) personally, i think a silveny flavored popsicle would be cinnamon-y as u said, but also... sparkly? in a way? not- not like actual glitter, thats disgusting, but.. when u eat it it just *feels* magical. not sure if im making sense lol ^^ aww, glad my crazy dream made you happy! :D ask word limit is getting close so imma continue in another ask if thats okay with you! <3 1/?

hello!! welcome back--i gotta admit I was not expecting this, but it's so nice of you and I really appreciate it <33. I hope you don't mind me compiling this all into one post, that way it's just a little more organized. you're entirely welcome to send as many asks as you want, so don't worry about continuing in others! I don't mind at all!

1. oo that's a really cool name meaning!! I always think it's interesting to hear what other people's name mean, or they meanings they've chosen to associate with them (as some have more that one). Quil doesn't really have a meaning, so I love hearing others'!! The only thing I miss about my dead name is the meaning, tbh, because it was pretty !!

also, I can totally imagine the cinnamon/sparkly popsicle. when you say that I immediately think of sparkling water for some reason, like it's not a taste it's a feeling. you put it in your mouth and it's an experience. you're wild dream was probably the highlight of my day!! something about it just stood out and I kept coming back to think about it. long silveny popsicles can do that to you, i guess

2. oopsie! my bad! when someone says writing I usually just default to the wings au, because that's the writing most people know me for. but!! i'm glad you like all the analyses I've done! I don't think they'll be stopping anytime soon--it's like everytime I answer an ask I get two more, which means there will be a steady stream of them for the forseable future. I really enjoy doing them, so I love hearing that people enjoy reading them! they're mostly just me rambling until I find a pattern or connection to latch onto, and then I build from there. and depending on the ask I might grab a book from my shelf to reference something if needed

also: thank you! The wings au is a pretty big project I've wanted to take on for a while, so it's absolutely thrilling to see people interact with it and talk about it--even if they haven't read it. There's absolutely no pressure on you to read it, just so you know! Honestly sometimes baffles me that I've gotten fanart and so many asks and comments on it, enough so that people who haven't read it still know what it is. like?? my wings au?? silly little idea I had all because of one stray thought one day?

as for writing it while taking college classes: yes! that's what I've been doing! I think i've had a combined total of like three weeks of break since January (i don't get summer), but aside from that i've had four or five classes while writing the au. Actually was taking an A&P class (which are notoriously difficult, even more so on summer schedule) this summer while working on it, which was wild. But a lot of the excited comments and theories and general interaction helped motivate me to keep going.

3. it's not dissapointing at all! I don't expect for anyone to read it, it's not something you have to do in order to interact with me and the stuff on my blog. it's just something I happen to be doing so if you like it you're welcome to engage with it! I actually don't read fanfic very often either, which may be surprising as I write it. Occasionally I binge a bunch of fics in a certain ship when I'm in the mood, but that's only once every few months. Ships just don't hold huge appeal for me, so I don't find a lot of fic that interests me. Also wow! mine was one of the first you've heard of?? that's a huge accomplishment to me, thank you! Where did you hear about it? I honestly don't know where people find my au, so I'm curious.

speaking of reading fanfic, Nattie's (theunmappedstar) fic is one of the few I've read! I haven't talked to them in a while, but they're very accomplished and it's an honor to be considered alongside them in terms of writing!

as for committing to mine, feel free to take your time! no rush! it's always going to be there! although I will say it does just keep getting longer, so be prepared for that. I update every two weeks on sunday, so you've got time. if you do read it, I'd love to hear your thoughts. truly, comments and just hearing what people think are the best motivation. it also enriches the story! I never know what's going to stick out to people or what they'll remember, so hearing from people gives me ideas for scenes in the future! I have a general idea of where this au is heading, but a lot of the details have been impacted by theories and comments. You absolutely don't have to though, just if you'd like I'd love to hear

4. thank you so much <33. I'd love to get back more into traditional art, as i've been focusing on digital recently. I just love how watercolors look! I actually have a few art requests from an embarrasingly long time ago (April) that I'd like to do in a traditional style. I also just haven't posted as much art recently, so I'd love to get back into that. Coloring and lighting were mostly me just winging it, trying to imagine a few colors that would look nice next to each other and then just going for it. Also, i cant even count how many times I would accidentally switch up the light source in in the middle of a piece. I actually took an art class a few semesters ago, so I have leftover supplies from that I could use for some keeper pieces! I've had a few ideas, so hopefully your encouragement can help me get back into that <33

the writer and artist thing: thank you!! both writing and art are interests of mine, so it's so cool to get recognized for both!! I remember when I started posting art I was doing it as a "I'll do this for now until I get to the writing" thing and then i accidentally became fairly well-known as an fanartist and i was just there like wait a minute this wasn't supposed to happen. But I love it!! I love doing fanart and I'd love to do more. But I also love writing! i have some ideas for aus and other one shots I'd like to do when the wings au is done, not that I'm trying to hurry that along. I thoroughly enjoy working on the wings au, and i'm not in any rush to get through it.

and don't worry, you have nothing to apologize for!! i'm glad you feel comfortable talking to me! You don't need to be concise or anything, you're welcome to take up as much space and use as many words as you'd like. I think it'd be a little hypocritical if i didn't believe that, considering how long my responses to the asks i get are (partially why they sometimes take a bit to answer). it was very much so a fun read!! I really appreciate you and wasn't even sure how to respond to everything in a way that conveyed that. I absolutely blown away by how genuine and sweet you are

i really loved this ask, and I've reread it several times because it's just so kind. thank you so much <33

[seenashwrite]

(1/2)I've completely lost my ability to focus right now, except for hearing Dean saying, "You're awesome, sweetheart," on a loop. I've reread your many treatises on the subject, finally finding the one where someone asked you, "If not sweetheart, then what?" You seemed to believe that he would use "baby" or "sweetiepie" because of his love of his car and pie. I would object to both of these, because I believe that, for him, both Baby and Pie are proper names. (Brother and Angel similarly so, but

Cursing my name? For reals!? 

Nah, I kid. I know it’s not hate. And I do apologize, RE: that first part - I obviously was not clear, that’s on me. ‘Cause those ain’t my recommendations. Noooo.

I wanted to convey that it was interesting to me how, putting aside that he only uses “sweetheart” sincerely for Baby & Colt, even if he was using it as an endearment for, um, living things of a twue lurve nature, well….

Dude don’t use it all that often. Not when we compare it to things he no doubt, balls-to-the-wall loves, such as the Impala and pie [and alcohol, but “my lil’ whiskey sour” don’t quite do it for tinglin’ the nethers]. Thus, it got a raised eyebrow from me, how people don’t seem to have the knee-jerk of “sweetiepie” or “babydoll”, derivatives of things he does talk about/refer to adoringly on the reg. Tell me if that’s not making sense, I’ll work on phrasing it better.

Now, having said that - imagining either of those coming out of Dean’s mouth makes me wanna throw up, go eat, throw that up, then mainline Pepto so I can do it all over again til the thought is purged from my person.

All right. Let’s build a profile on Dean’s behavior & verbiage with legitimate love interests, based on what we know from canon, then see if we can’t drill down on a plausible nickname or two.

On an aside, I titled the document containing the draft of what’s below  “Endeanments” and I hate myself.

Here’s how this breaks down in my head, so that’s how it’s laid out below. Should the Mrs. or anyone reading this wanna skip ahead, you do you. Scroll til you see the heading.

I. Thing Of The First: What Do We Want & What Do We KnowII. Which Romantic Interests Do We Focus On?III. What Are We Looking For & When We Find It, What Do We Do?IV. What Else Do We Have At Our Disposal To Flesh Out Our Profile Of “Dean In Love"’s Verbiage?V. Thing Of The Second: Nash On Nicknames/Endearments For Unnamed Characters -  A.K.A.: Where I’m coming from on this, just so’s y’all can do the whole “Consider the source” thingVI. What Has Worked In The Nashhole Writing RoomVII. Thoughts On The Examples Given In The Ask VIII. Nash’s Three Key Pieces Of Advice For Pulling This Off

And Before We Get Cranking, RE: That Other Post

So here’s the meat & potatoes of what I said when somebody asked my thoughts on what Dean would use as a genuine term of endearment:

I’d bet money that for the actual contenders [both the ones I haven’t yet researched & the nonexistents/potential true loves/soulmates/blahblahblahs], they’d most assuredly be friends first, they will not be a hunter [not a hunter proper, at least, though knowledge of is not a deal-breaker], and any endearment is gonna be something that’s a riff on their name [a la “Sammy” or “Cas”] or related to a specific situation….. she knocks over the sugar bowl, so she’s “Sugar” until enough glares shut that shit down…. things like that.  

I. Thing Of The First: What Do We Want & What Do We Know

This whole shebang is based upon the premise that an author gives a shit about accurate characterization of Dean within the context of a legit romantic relationship. 

We gotta have a profile in mind regarding the broad strokes of what this chick would be like if our writing of his behavior/the things he says - such as, ta-da! an endearment - is gonna ring true.

All we can know is what’s in canon, and bless the wiki and all their transcripts because no one has to re-watch all the seasons to answer this. #hallelujah  

II. Which Romantic Interests Do We Focus On?

The bed-‘em-and-book-it chicks are ruled out, see above, RE: legit love premise.

In the draft of the answer to the other Q that’s referenced in the Q linked above, I have it fleshed out more than I do here - although it’s not completely episode/quote-by-quote sourced - so if y'all wanna know the reasoning behind why I deem these four and only these four ladies of the “legit, Dean was really into them/this had the potential for true love” category, I can share it, but I can’t promise when.

I have no idea if he had an endearment for any or all of these ladies, is my point, y'all feel free to do the deep dive in that respect, 

----> ETA later: We did the deep dive. He called Lisa “Honey” when she was dying; unrelated but kind’ve, when he was pretending to be Bela’s husband and she fake-choked on shellfish (also “dying”), he called her “Honey”, too. There ya go.

I stand by these chosen few and the order in which I’ve placed them, the reasons why have to do with character autopsies I do/have done for my big story, ergo would have to be another post or fourteen. Moving on.

Here’s my ranking for “Legit, Dean Totes Felt Something” characters:

4. Jo3. Cassie2. Lisa1. Carmen

All of these ladies, no matter if nothing ever got off the ground [Jo] to the what-might-have-been [Cassie] to the long-term relationship [Lisa] to the dream ideal [Carmen] have some stark, can’t-miss-‘em, key characteristics in common  [intelligent, mature, value family, etc.] but I won’t go into that here. 

They’re as solid a guide as we’ve got right now, and not just for doing this nickname postulation exercise - I’d also recommend peeps who wanna reeeeeally drill down on an O/C love for Dean to utilize these characters as a jumping off point. R/Is are, of course, going to be [::coughs:: should be] more nebulous in their attributes.

Take home message is that he had a great deal of respect for all of them, so anything that would have to depend on tone because it walks a fine line, you may wanna axe it from the list as an everyday sub for their name.

III. What Are We Looking For & When We Find It, What Do We Do?

You are looking for any nicknames/endearments he assigned to them.

If he did use an endearment with them, do the following:

(1) Which of those 4 is your Dean love interest most like?

(2) Picture Dean calling your character whatever endearment he called them

(3) How’d that work out for you?

And if not, to speculate upon what he would say….. guess what?

(1) Which of those 4 is your Dean love interest most like?

(2) Picture Dean calling them whatever endearment you’ve chosen

(3) How’d that work out for you?

That is your litmus test. Wash, rinse repeat.

IV. What Else Do We Have At Our Disposal To Flesh Out Our Profile Of “Dean In Love"’s Verbiage?

Plenty.

We’ve got the ability to make the profile more robust because of the cooooooooopious amount of evidence on the flip side, what he zeroes in on with the bed-’em-and-book-it type of gal, what his verbiage is like with them, the peeps he doesn’t intend on keeping around for long. 

Bonus: that recent ep of what he was like under a love spell. Take what we saw, scale down the intensity, fiddle with it where appropriate - meaning, ‘86 anything that was alike in all the men they charmed, as that isn’t evidence of “Dean In Love” coming to the surface, it’s evidence of the spell’s structure so as to elicit specific behaviors in victims.

Second thing you can look at in terms of nicknaming habits are people for whom he has no romantic inclinations. The easiest cases in point being Sam and Castiel, a.k.a. Sammy and Cas. Off the top of my head, for whatever reason, I recall him calling Gadreel “Zeke” prior to the stolen identity reveal.

So Dean’s a “-y” adder and a name-shortener, consistently with Sam and Castiel, however many times with Ezekiel/Gadreel, and there’s likely more examples, godspeed on that research journey, I ain’t your girl.

I am also 100% - and I know y’all are, too - that he’s a biiiiiiig proponent of situational nicknaming, and while it’s usually snark [think “Batman” for himself, “Harry Potter” for Mick, etc.] it still goes to pattern. I’ve got so many of these in the CASPN decks, it’s unreal, and maaany, possibly most, of them - as noted just now - are TV/movie/music/book-related. [I know this because I’m trying to pull them out as I go to stick them in their own “Deanisms” deck, because if the decks ever go “public” for sale, they can’t have copyrighted content in them]

Again: here we’re looking at a broad stroke in his verbiage, to get a feel of his go-tos, his habits in what he calls others.

V. Thing Of The Second: Nash On Nicknames/Endearments For Unnamed Characters -  A.K.A.: Where I’m coming from on this, just so’s y’all can do the whole “Consider the source” thing

I don’t lean into the whole nickname thing. It’s not a purposeful effort, as in, I’m policing myself or when I edit I’m taking them out. It’s just not a reflexive brain-to-keyboard thing for me. I don’t often have characters calling each other by name/nickname/endearment, particularly when it’s just 2 people in a convo, unless it’s a heated convo, a la “DAMMIT NASH!” and “EAT ME, SHITBIRD!”

Longer the fic, trickier this gets. Somebody’s gonna have to address our nameless-faceless protag at some point, and as has been established copiously during my tenure in this fandom, I hope Y/N and her pouty, lip-nibbling, everything-she-does-including-fart-is-done-softly self would die in a fire, ceiling optional, so believe me: I *do* co-sign substitute monikers.

It’s too far to scroll up, here’s what I said about his nicknaming pattern —>

and any endearment is gonna be something that’s a riff on their name [a la “Sammy” or “Cas”] or related to a specific situation….. she knocks over the sugar bowl, so she’s “Sugar” until enough glares shut that shit down…. things like that. 

We talked above about him riffing on the person’s name. The situational thing I mentioned - I’ll tell y’all what I did for this, RE: the sticky wicket of when it’s a mini-series/series. [Personally? I think most one-shots can dodge this issue altogether, though certainly YMMV]

VI. What Has Worked In The Nashhole Writing Room

Now, I haaaaated writing the smut thing of mine when I lost a bet, so I plotted it to hell to keep my sanity, and it expanded to 5 g.d. parts. The smut part of it is *riddled* with the tripest tropes that ever troped [part of said bet’s terms], so I’m talking about the story part of it here. 

Dean and the protag had a touch-and-go, volatile sitch going on for the bulk of it, ergo chances high due to intense emotions that somebody at some point was gonna have to address each other in at least a tense manner, if not one of anger.

And she was tough as nails, a sniper called in to assist them on a hunt, and she would’ve ended him if he dared call her anything even in the realm of too cutesy-shmoopsy on the reg. It would be in conflict with what I’d built her up to be, bottom line, and likely suck the readers out of the story. 

Here’s the dodge I came up with, keeping in mind the situation is she’s a sniper:

“So, we have a decision to make,” Dean said through a partially chewed bite of his burger.

Was he actively trying to be gross? He thankfully swallowed before continuing.

“I’m not in the mood to drive all the way back to Jody’s, then have to share a bed with Sam in her guest room,” Dean began.

Okay. He was talking to me.

“I think the best thing to do is head to the bunker—”

I looked to him, aghast.

“—and we’ve got plenty of room, we can pick up a toothbrush for you when we stop to fill up—”

Did he not notice the big black bulky thing I’d thrown in the back floorboard when they picked me up? I was never not prepared. There was already a toothbrush in my backpack. And a change of clothes.

And a Glock.

“—then we’ll all be fresh daisies, get you home tomorrow. Whaddya say, Snipes?”

Oh god. He’d nicknamed me. Had my letting him win a staring contest actually infused him with enough bravado to try and make friends? Convince me to stay in what Jody had described as essentially a really large basement?

They end up in love - but the sub for her name isn’t lovey-dovey, and it doesn’t have to be, the dynamic between them is vastly more important [more on that later]. 

In another one in the ol’ draft folder - and it’s not a romantic dynamic, but the nickname dodge happens because she’s unnamed - here’s how that’s gonna work. In an earlier scene, it’s mentioned that Dean was giving her a hard time via the Patsy Cline song “I Fall To Pieces” [spoiler alert: it’s the story based upon THIS thing, you’re smart cookies, you’ll get the reasoning behind it]

And you’d remember. It’s not something you’d forget. I know this because no one else has. Dean still calls me “Cline” - let me rephrase - he bellows it, with glee and snort-laughs, though I suppose there’s worse things to be called. He’s called me those, too, over the years, he doesn’t disappoint. And Sam still narrows his eyes at left my knee, watches my gait for any unevenness or wobbles, and it doesn’t matter what I say, he’ll believe he messed up the articulation til the end of days.

Tangentially-related, in “Build Me Up, Buttercup” - the nutty AU-ish thing that actually started because I was riffing on the sweetheart situation and it mutated - there’s a chunk of conversation between The Woman In Black/The Masked Vampirate/The Apprentice [—-> hint, hint, hint: we *can* refer to folks without using a name/nickname] and Dean on this very topic, of what we call others in lieu of their given names. Mini-spoiler: Even though she’s written 3rd person O/C, and even though she does end up as someone’s love interest, you’re never gonna know her name.

Not spoilers, because these stories are already “out there”, you also never learned/will never learn the names of the chicks in Hello, I’m Gone; The Lore You Know; It; The Once Demon Barber From Robintree; A Delicate Desiccation; The Bell-Watcher’s Daughter; A Fluff By Any Other Name; and who friggin’ knows what-all in the stack of quickies I’ve accumulated.

VII. Thoughts On The Examples Given In The Ask

Back to what you said….. and shit, Imma c/p it here, if anybody’s made it this damn far, I won’t ask they scroll up: 

All right, in no particular order, just as things hit me…..

It’s about 7:30 a.m. here in Nashland, this is rotten and off the top of my head, but I could totes picture seeing pumpkin in a Halloween fluff, like - something happens with a pumpkin, it’s dropped or she slices open her hand trying to carve it, is like “[something something] and don’t start calling me pumpkin” and he’s like “Nah…. Punk.” ‘Cause, again - he loves a situational riff & he’s a shortener.

Agreed on princess, I co-sign your gut, he’d say it sneery/as a cut-down on someone who’s afraid to dig in, get a little dirt in the skirt on a hunt or something.

Darlin’ is tricky, because Dean’s not Southern/doesn’t have a drawl unless a touch of Jensen slips out…. and honestly, he’s not got much of an accent from what I’ve heard, though remember that’s going through a Dixieland filter, so consider the source. Might I offer a sub for it? See how “doll” works.

Well, honey’s hitting closer to sounding like him. I’d go “hon”, though, RE: being a shortener. “Hey, hon?” is more casual than “Honey”, and “Honey” also might run the risk of popping a reader back to… [forgive the Rocket inclusion]: 

Full quote is “Honey, there ain’t no other men like me.”, but y’all knew that. It’s not on the OH HELL NO list for me, Honey/Hon’s definitely a contender.

But speaking of pinging my “OH HELL NO” radar - 

[gasps] Oh, Whoozies…. oh my Whatsis…. sugarplum?

[shakes head vehemently] 

* UNLESS* Y/N is a violet-hued fairy in ballet slippers, and they are battling a baby-chomping sentient Nutcracker. But even then, he’d call her ‘Plums.

Sweetie… hmmmm….. you know what might be worth a go? “Sweets”. I could hear “Hey, Sweets” coming out of his mouth. If you could figure a way to make it a lesser of two evils, that’s even better, like…. he pats her on the ass and calls her “sweetcheeks” and she’s all “Oh, but no”, so he downshifts to “sweets”.

“Puddin’“….. erm….. My knee-jerk is no. If it were suuuuper situational, perhaps. I’m drawing a blank on what the situation would be, though, because my mind immediately pops to that episode at the spa…. I just….

I’m hearing it in my mind as if somebody was writing a story where it’s basically a re-hash of that episode - Oh but (tee-hee) this time Y/N got the roofied pudding, and now Dean’s gonna drive her nuts never letting her forget it! Tune in for next week’s episode of Supernatural, guest starring Ordinary McTypical-Chick as Puddin’! [/announcer voice] [cue laugh track], and then I’m all……

 Round up on the “Give ‘Er A Try” list:

Honey —> sure why not; “hon” may be better

Sweetie —> ehhhh, probably situational; “sweets” could be worth a try

Pumpkin —-> sooooo situational; and if go there, would 100% roll it into “punk”

Darlin’ —> ehhhh; “doll” suggested sub

….and wasn’t mentioned, but unless it works your personal nerves, from my POV, “babe” doesn’t pull me out of the story if it sneaks into Dean’s dialogue, a la “Hey, babe? You already toss some shells into the trunk?” 

Nash’s Three Key Pieces Of Advice For Pulling This Off

1. Who is this person on the receiving end of the nickname - know this, and it’ll narrow down your choices;

2. Do it like Dean: if they have a name, go “-y” or shorten it, or take a situation/circumstance and spin it;

and, possibly the most important -

3. Limit, limit, limit

Make your own parameters for amount of times this is happening in a given piece. I’m just throwing #s - like, = 500 = 0,  501 - 1K = 1, 1.1K - 2.5K = 2, something like that. Take away the pressure of it by making “rules” and you’re free to get your brain back to the story.

Because here it is, y’all - and I’ve said this in other posts - the best thing you can do for yourself or for those you beta is to stop after every scene or paragraph or page or “x” amount of words, whatever your pref is, and ask yourself about what you’ve just read/written:

Who cares?  - A.K.A.: Is ____ advancing the plot/the interpersonal dynamics, or not?

Regarding non-nickname stuff: Does it matter that we know about her morning routine? That she had oatmeal because she was out of bagels? The make and model of her car? Her co-workers’ names? Her co-workers at all? What her cat is like? What her cat is named? Her cat at all?

And the same applies here: Does an endearment matter in this particular sentence/moment? I care about the relationships between/amongst the characters, how well they’re grooving with each other [or not], how that weaves together, how it’s integral to the plot, how it impacts the action/the task, how it plays into the climax and resolution [or lack thereof].

Is it ideal to have things coming out of the mouths of the characters we all know ring true? Absolutely. And that’s the other “who cares” here: BIG cares if things that are “un-Dean” creep in. As the adage goes: “When in doubt, don’t”.

So, when stuck on this element, figure out something else to do with the sentence…. and I’d start with 86′ing the nickname. Bet you money most of the time, the message of the sentence will read exactly the same.

You got this. 

Thanks for the Q, hope I helped in some fashion and that the curses either wane, or perhaps reach new, interesting heights and volumes, depending on the level of said helpfulness.

[pagesoflauren]

A Thousand Years (vampire!Jack x reader AU) - Part 11

“Please,” Y/N sighs, her hand coming to rest on her face in exasperation, “I’m not looking to steal anything or-or hurt , I just need to get in contact with him.”

She had spent weeks trying to find the right medical school in Belgium, going through about a dozen departments and people who don’t speak English before finding the apparent only secretary on the entire campus that could understand her.

“Sorry, miss,” she apologizes again, “I can only say he graduated in 1997.” “Okay,” she sighs, “thank you.” “Of course. Good day.”

The line goes dead and her head falls onto the table as her shoulders heave. She feels Ash dig his palm between her shoulder blades. “Chin up, love. What happened?” “They can’t disclose any information other than his graduation year,” she sighs. “Is it a privacy thing?” Lily asks. “Yeah. Something about needing consent because he’s now a medical professional and has access to private records and all,” she explains. “I mean, I get it, I probably should’ve known better than to call them.” “But it wouldn’t have hurt, at least you tried,” George consoles, trying to keep her hopes up. “Shouldn’t there be a registry or something for vampires?” “You really wanna submit an application and wait for approval and then dig through files and files to find the right one?” Maeve asks rhetorically. “That’ll probably take months,” Ash adds, turning his torso to face Y/N.

Y/N huffs. “You’re right. Maybe I should just get him a new record player or something.” “No way!” George says, “This can’t be the end, there’s gotta be something else.” “What else is there, George?” “Well, I know Garrett hoards a bunch of crap in the basement of his house,” Ash states. “Yeah, Jack does the same.” “You can look through there.”

Y/N’s nose wrinkles.

“What?” “Well…spiders.” “Oh come on!” Ash exclaims, drawing some attention from the students at the surrounding tables in the cafe, “You gotta put on your big girl pants and just do it! Is Jack not worth it?” “I don’t know, to be honest.” “Oh shut up, you know he is.” She’s quiet for a moment as her friends look at her expectantly. “Shit, you’re right,” she groans.

Y/N tiptoed into the basement after Jack left for work. She made sure to feed Socks to keep him occupied so that he doesn’t wander in after her.

She’s surprised at how organized Jack is. There’s a few boxes labeled “1990s” towards the back of the room, which she’s relieved to see. Maybe it’ll be easier to find that letter than she originally thought. She navigates her way across the room, stepping over boxes and ducking under some clothes hanging from the pipes so that they don’t wrinkle in boxes.

“Stupid jacket,” she mutters to herself when a sleeve hits her in the face.

She finally makes it to the boxes, pulling one to the floor and sitting down next to it. She digs through the contents, finding Backstreet Boys and *NSYNC albums. She laughs to herself before replacing the box on the shelf and grabbing the next one. In it, she finds a neon orange jacket and a colorful windbreaker, along with a denim jacket and some old bands shirts. She folds the clothes again, trying to imagine Jack putting up a grungy front in the 90s while also listening to dramatic boyband songs. She pulls out the third box, squealing when a spider crawls out and disappears under another stack of boxes. She shakes it off before opening the flaps through the box, finding exactly what she needs on top.

It’s almost heartbreaking that the stack of letters on top, but she could just be overthinking. She imagines Jack coming down here when she’s in school, reading and rereading these letters, clinging on to what he has left from his friendship with Thomas. She feels an ache in her chest, interrupted by Socks meowing from the door.

“Hang on, baby, don’t come in,” she says, hoping to God he’ll actually listen to her. She quickly flicks through the envelopes, finding one from Belgium and taking a picture of the address. She carefully places the letters back in the box where they were, lugs the box back on its place in the shelf and hurries to the door to find Socks beginning to come down the stairs. “No, no, come on,” she says, using her hands to scoop the feline up, “Oof, you’re heavy aren’t you? Getting fat from all your food?”

Socks seems to meow in protest and she laughs.

“Are you getting your dad to feed you a lot more when I’m away? Hm?”

He meows again and she sets him down on the coffee table before picking up her laptop to search the address from the envelope, finding the landlord and her contact information. She looks at the clock; it’s almost 8:30, not too late, but it might be late enough. She decides if anything, she can leave a voicemail. She dials the number and waits as it rings, anticipating a voicemail message before a woman with a French accent answers the phone in English.

“Oh, hello. Um, my name’s Y/N.” “Bonsoir, madame. My name is Bernice.” “Bonsoir, Bernice. Um, I was wondering if you knew a man by the name of Thomas Morrison.” “Oui, I did. But he does not live here anymore.” “Yes, I know, but I was wondering if you knew anything about him?” “Um, not much. He left in 1997, I believe. And he worked in the medical field, um…”

Y/N hears her mumbling to herself, trying to find the right word.

“Pédiatrique. Children.” “Oh pediatrics?” she asks, looking for confirmation. “Oui. He worked some nights in a hospital nearby; he would walk me to my car when I was leaving the office and he was going to the hospital. Here, I’ll tell you the name…”

Y/N types out the name as the letters come to her through the phone, sighing in relief that Bernice has so much information. “Is there anything else you need, madame?” “No, no. Merci beaucoup, Bernice. Merci,” she says, a smile on her face. “De rien, Y/N. Bonsoir.” “Bonsoir.”

Y/N hangs up and cheers as Socks stares at her with wide, confused eyes.

“I’m so close to finding him, Socks!” she explains excitedly.

Socks doesn’t do anything other than rub against her legs in a request to sit in her lap. She moves her laptop to the side and picks up a book so that the space is open for Socks to lie there. Around midnight, she goes to bed, cuddling into Jack’s pillow and pulling to duvet up to her ear in an attempt to get warm.

Jack returns from work around two in the morning, the house dark and quiet apart from the two heartbeats and breathing patterns that come from Y/N and Socks. He hears Y/N softly snoring as he quietly climbs the stairs and smiles when he sees her sleeping, the yellow light of the lamp on the bedside table casting a familiar yellow glow on her. He sheds his clothing, pulling on a pair of sweat pants and a sweater to cover his torso so that the jarring icy feeling of his skin doesn’t awaken her. Clicking the lamp off, he climbs under the covers next to her, feeling the warmth that had gathered in the little cocoon of blankets. He slides up behind her, burying his face in her hair and breathing in the smell of her shampoo and wrapping an arm around her waist.

“Goodnight, my love,” his whispers, pressing a kiss under her ear.

A few days later, Y/N stands at the counter while Socks waits patiently at the corner where his food bowl will be placed in front of him, tail swaying back and forth against the floor. She’s almost done making his food when she hears a faint meow. She looks up, then at Socks, whose tail has stopped moving. She ignores it, thinking it was just her imagination.

She hears more meowing and they seem to be coming from the hallway, not the dining room. She finishes making the food and places the bowl in front of Socks, who begins eating. Walking over to the hallway, the sound gets louder when she stands in by the front door. She unlocks it and opens it slightly, enough for a blur of orange to bolt past her into the kitchen. She shuts the door and locks it before rushing to the kitchen to find another cat, a tabby one, eating out of Socks’ bowl. Socks’ eyes are wide and he’s looking at her. What the fuck? he seems to be saying Who is this and why are they eating out of my bowl?

Y/N doesn’t know what to make of the situation when she hears footsteps coming down the stairs, “I hear an extra heart beat,” Jack says, poking his head between the banister rails. He comes into the kitchen and sees the extra cat.

“WHAT THE FUCK!” he shouts.

Socks looks confused, Y/N looks a little guilty and their unexpected dinner guest is still eating.

“SOCKS YOU LITTLE SHIT, YOU BROUGHT A FRIEND?” “No, it was me, I let him…her…it,” Y/N’s waving her hand as she says the pronouns, not knowing which one to settle on, “in. I heard meowing and opened the door and it just ran in.” “What?” “I didn’t know it was gonna run in!” “Well what’d ye think it was gon’ do, eh?” Jack says, his accent getting thicker, “Deliver a package as part of some new cat unit at the post office? Ask ye ‘f ye wanted to become a Jehovah’s witness!?” “Jack Andrew Lowden do not talk to me that way!” Y/N says, her brows pulling together. “Yes, dear,” he says, looking down and his voice lowering. “We can take it to the vet,” Y/N says, “have it checked out, make sure it isn’t injured and then leave it at the shelter there.”

Jack sighs, scratching the back of his head, “Aye. We’ll just let ‘em finish first.”

“It’s a boy,” the veterinarian says after running a few tests. “He’s about eight months. We gave him a good wash and vaccinations, though I recommend showering thoroughly and washing your clothes and the area he walked around as soon as possible to prevent flea infections. You said your cat already has his vaccination?” “Yes,” Jack says, “He got it done about two months ago.”

“Great. There shouldn’t be anything to worry about. Now, we do have space in the shelter, but, forgive me for any assumptions I might be making, but you both seem like very competent pet owners and if you’d like to take him in, we’d gladly let you off the hook for the vaccinations and the bath.”

Jack quickly looks at Y/N, who’s only looking at the kitten.

“Um,” she says, tugging at the sleeves of her sweater. “We’ll take him,” Jack says, grabbing Y/N’s hand. She looks up at him, smiling. “Thank you,” she says happily, jumping up to kiss his cheek. “Wonderful,” the vet says, “Let me go get the paperwork and you’ll be on your way.”

Once they filled out the paperwork and ushered the cat back into the carrier, they were on their way home. Y/N and Jack followed the vet’s instructions and hopped into the shower, giving themselves a thorough scrub and put in a load of laundry. Jack cleaned the kitchen floor and washed Socks’ food bowl, since fleas posed no threat to him.

They sat in the living room watching reruns of Unsolved Mysteries and debated on a name for the new addition to the family.

“Maybe we can name him Junior,” Y/N giggles. “Why Junior?” “Because look,” she says, picking up the Scottish fold munchkin and holding it next to Jack’s face, “You’re like twins. Gingers and Scots.”

Jack’s face turned into a scowl while the kitten held a sweet, innocent looking face.

“We look nothing alike.” “True, you’re very grumpy and he’s sweet looking.” “Oi!” “I’m kidding.”

They spent the next few days trying to think of a name, while Socks had taken the kitten under his wing and taught him to steal and hide Jack and Y/N’s socks. “Maybe we should name him Socks Jr.,” Jack says, beginning to pull the couch away from the wall to grab the socks behind there.

“No,” Y/N says, “Socks should have his own identity. Plus he’s not that much of a junior for Socks.”

She watches as Jack’s face twists up in confusion before he bends down to retrieve something. He pulls out Y/N’s navy beanie with a pom at the top, her go-to piece of headgear when the air gets colder near the end of fall.

“Hey, I’ve been looking for that!” Y/N says, “how’d that get there?”

Just then, Socks returns with one of Jack’s socks and the kitten following him, who immediately runs over to Y/N and begins jumping for the beanie. She giggles, sitting on the couch and setting the beanie down, watching as he hops on and circles the hat before lying on it.

“Oh, you like my beanie, don’t you?” she asks, grabbing the kitten and holding him above her, “Maybe we should call you Beans.” “Beans?” Jack asks, his hands full of socks that had been missing for a month. “Yeah, cuz he likes my beanie,” Y/N says, sitting him on her lap. “Socks and Beans,” Jack says thoughtfully, “maybe we can feed him beans on toast instead of cat food instead, too. Just to reinforce the name.”

Y/N laughs, cuddling the kitten in her arms before Socks meows indignantly at her feet, adamant to not be forgotten. “Aww, don’t worry, Socks,” Y/N says, scratching behind his ears, “You’re still my baby.” “Yeah, don’t worry, she still likes you more than me,” Jack grumbles. “Don’t be such a grump, then maybe I’ll like you more,” Y/N quips back, laughing when Jack scowls at her. “Jeez, you meet a girl in a bar and she stays for your cat and makes you adopt a kitten.” “Yet for some reason, you’ve let me stay,” she says cheekily as Jack chuckles and presses a kiss to her forehead.  “Of course. Can’t have any other bartenders making you crappy drinks, can I?” 

.

.

.

A bit of a filler; sorry for the lack of Jack in this chapter but I’ll try to get something up tomorrow to make up for it!!

Tagging: @albionscastle :)

[preservationandruin]

Words of Radiance Part 3 Part 2

Forgot how quickly I can get through these once I get going. Sure, it still takes days, but I might have this done by the end of the weekend at least. 

Shallan snoops, Adolin plans a duel, Kaladin seems to be getting better, and then not any duel but The Duel happens and now everything is pain and suffering. 

Shallan’s trying to pinpoint the location of Urithiru, noting that every map places it close to but not in their own lands. Pattern effortlessly starts translating Dawnchant, because it’s a Pattern. Pattern is indignant that the Alethi substitute in an h and pretend words are symmetrical anyway. The Shin note that Urithiru was their path to the outside world at times, with its “stones unhallowed.” Pattern is curious about the anatomical differences between genders and why they’re so slight and Shallan still really doesn’t want to be talking about this. We learn that Pattern peeped on Sebarial bathing to learn more and Shallan is dying. She runs out to meet Adolin, passing Palona and Sebarial apparently having a spa day. 

Also, Shallan is very good at developing rapport with anyone who’s been in her presence for a decent amount of time. Also apparently she’s stealing Sebarial’s coach, which he likes because it gives him an excuse not to go anywhere. Also, we get information that Navani still is cold toward Shallan. 

Cut to another flashback--Shallan and her brothers. She has managed to coax some life back into them, somehow. Also, Balat is now exchanging letters with his girlfriend that he’s too embarrassed to have Shallan read. However, she does manage a dirty joke--basically, she and Wikim are making more and more ridiculous metaphors about love, and Balat is getting indignant. Also, Wikim was carrying blackbane for a year, almost ready to commit suicide, but he gives it to Shallan as a sign that he won’t. And then her father tells people who Jushu owes money to that they can take him, and when Shallan questions him he actually yells at her and, for a moment, seems to hate her. So Shallan tries to exchange her necklace and her brothers’ knives for Jushu’s life. He takes the daggers and gives her her brother back. Also, her dad’s emotional abuse of Shallan gets really bad here--he beats a maid in front of her room when she disobeys, lets her see it, and tells her that he won’t hurt her, but if she does anything to anger him, he’ll hurt someone else. 

Anyway, present-day Shallan is meeting with Adolin for lunch, in a very jarring change of tone. Adolin, waiting for her is--of course--looking at fashions.Dalinar let this boy dress in nice clothes. It’s awkward at first--Shallan is trying to act refined. Also, Renarin is a wine enthusiast but Adolin just doesn’t really care. She follows along the expected lighteyed beauty awed by chasm runs for a while, but then...

“What if you need to poop?”

The best part is that Adolin literally continues on with his normal story for a bit before realizing. So we get the details about shitting in shardplate. Adolin flat-up accuses Shallan of being Wit in a wig, which is a hilarious mental image. Shallan actually gets Adolin to crack up as well--like I said, good at rapport. 

She also gets Adolin to tell her a lot about what’s going on in the camp now, which is crucial information. Also, Shallan sees something moving--living--inside the highstorm, and Adolin lowkey has to pull her inside. Wonder if it was the Stormfather? 

We get an epigraph about the Willshapers, who were the “uncut gem” among the radiants, given to exploring and being erratic, and I’m not going to lie, that sounds a lot like Eshonai, give me Radiant Eshonai Brandon please. 

Sadeas approaches Adolin again, and I really don’t think Sadeas knows how close Adolin is to actually killing him. I think he assumes it’s just hotheaded temper and doesn’t have substance. Adolin says “don’t call me son” which just makes me think of Hamilton. CALL ME SON ONE MORE TIME. 

The negotiations with Eshonai are supposed to be soon, but...yeah, that’s not going to go well. Can’t remember much of how it does go, but...yeah. Another message on the wall from Renarin: 32 days, seek the center. He’s trying real hard to help, here. It was made using Dalinar’s knife--Renarin was being canny. We also learn in the epigraphs that the Radiants had executed ones of their own for various reasons--fraternizing with “the unwholesome elements” being named. Which is interesting. I wonder what it means--talking with Parshendi? Something like that? Also, Renarin now wears a Brige Four uniform, which is great. 

So Adolin takes Dalinar’s place in the negotiations with Eshonai, which in retrospect is good, because she’s fundamentally changed since last time. Eshonai doesn’t attack, but she does basically play into their beliefs that the Parshendi will fight until the end and can’t be reasoned with, which in the long term is more destructive. 

Back to Kal, for a second--he’s practicing his Windrunning--and then over to Shallan. She’s in Sadeas’ camp and noticing how it’s just generally shittier than the others. She’s a dude this time--with both hands covered in gloves, of course. We also get that Amaram is a traditionalist, and I keep wondering why on earth Gavilar thought he and Jasnah would be a good match. So Shallan disguises herself as a darkeyed maid and slips into his house, and we switch back to Kaladin. Switching gravity still is tricky for him, and Syl yells at him to start with the basics. Meanwhile, Shallan has learned that Amaram knows the name of her maids, and she distracts him from going in his room so that she can get in there and get what she needs. The room is full of maps--much like Shallan’s own. She takes Memories of all of the maps and starts piecing together his script. She also realizes that he’s trying to bring back the Voidbringers. As was Gavilar, although she doesn’t know that. Meanwhile, Kaladin realized that this means that the sky is his now. 

Shallan is imitating Amaram, then back to the messenger, and she even does have a message for Amaram--wanting to draw his Blade. This gets a musing from Amaram, as he starts basically babbling about how great Blades are, and summons his--and she recognizes it as Helaran’s blade. Meanwhile, Kaladin is getting the hang of Lashings and finally feels alive again. Amaram lies to Shallan and says that he killed Helaran, which she believes. Kaladin is hovering high above the Shattered Plains, with Syl. Also, Shen tells Kaladin his actual name--Rlain--and that he has to leave, and Kaladin lets him, although he’s sorry. 

Rlain isn’t going to like what he finds at home. 

Adolin is dueling. This time, he aims to show not brutality, like the first time, or recklessness, like the second, but what a perfect master of the art of dueling can do. Also, Shallan shows up afterward to congratulate him, and Navani is still icy. Also, Shallan’s method of asking Adolin on a date is to tell him that the date is happening. Which is great. And then comes the angry highprinces. 

And Adolin offers that Relis doesn’t have to duel him alone. Dammit, Adolin, you overconfidant son of a bitch. I’d like to note that he does it because Shallan just asked for something spectacular, and because Dalinar wanted fanfare. 

I’d like to note that I sent a skype message ranting about it and here it is, in its full eloquence and comprehensibility: 

u kno when u reread a book and u see a character makin a mistake and ur like. u dumb moron. u absolute turd. u loser among losers.

Anyway, Adolin Does That Thing. I fucking hate this. 

There’s a drawing of Shallan walking and another person--Veil? look is right--walking. Gotta say, Veil looks badass, and I’m gay, I’m very gay, someone help. Epigraph tells us the Windrunners had squires and that they and the Skybreakers didn’t always get along. Anyway, Shallan--right after meeting with Adolin--goes as Veil to meet with Mraize and the Ghostbloods again. Mraize is very impressed by Shallan’s recapturing of Amaram’s maps, and Iyatil has a tendency to appear out of nowhere. Now that Shallan knows he was involved in Helaran’s death, she’s started to loathe Amaram. Welcome to the Hating Amaram Club. Mraize also has started to sort of grow fond of Veil--at the very least, he loves her drawings. He also realizes that she killed Tyn, and is vaguely amused by it. Mraize also alludes to the fact that he’s going to be hunting down Veil’s actual identity. 

She also does hide and listen further, worrying about if she’s being followed. Mraize mentions that they need to take the maps to “Master Thaidakar” and also mentions “Restares’ cronies.” He also mentions an “Old fool” who thinks he plays in world events but only hides in his city (Taravangian?? I don’t think so), but also mentions a “creature in Tukar” that’s different and maybe not human. Shallan waits until they leave and practices accents on her walk back. She also does find that her carriage was burned and the coachman killed. Good to remember that as nice as Mraize seems, as much as he loves art, you can’t trust him. 

Back to Kaladin, who is guarding Adolin, on a date. Also also, we get more of Kaladin Being Scared Of Horses. Anyway, Wit’s there. He’s being confusing, as usual, and apparently is irritated--or pretending to be--that chasmfiends can’t mantain intonation. Also, he drops a hint about knowing that Kaladin can fly. Anyway, Adolin has about the same reaction to Wit that Kaladin does. Wit implies that he kidnapped and tied up Adolin’s usual carriage driver. 

And Shallan finally is someone who makes Hoid speechless, by being delighted to see him and hugging him. Makes sense--if you show kindness to a young abused girl, she’s not going to forget it. We also get the comment that implies that Wit and Cultivation don’t get along-- “there’s only one [woman my age] around these parts, and she and I never did get along.” I mean, if I remember right there’s a WOB saying that Hoid calls her Slammer, so um, there’s probably a story there. God I want to meet Cultivation so badly. Wit tries to get Kaladin to flirt with Shallan to upset Adolin. Kaladin is unamused. He remains unamused throughout the carriage ride, because he’s stuck guarding them. Kaladin also gets to overhear the conversation about being able to challenge someone if you win incredibly enough. Which, turns out, was not a good thing for him to overhear. Whoops. Syl teases Kaladin about how bitter he is over other people being happy. 

The horrible horrible heartbreaking thing is that Kaladin is like 3 seconds from admitting he’s a Windrunner and stepping forward with it right now. He’s so close. And it’s not going to happen until the end of the book. And then, of course, Kaladin learns that Amaram has been put in command of the reforged Knights Radiant. 

Dammit, Dalinar. Your plan is good but your timing sucks. Kaladin was about to tell you! 

And then there’s Adolin’s duel. Of course. God, this timing is the worst! Dammit, Sanderson!

Adolin’s talking ot his blade again. We also get a line that I love from Renarin that I feel like people overlook? His advice on Sadeas: 

“When you corner him with a challenge, he will look for a way to escape. Don’t let him. Bring him down on those sands and beat him bloody, Brother.” 

Renarin did, for a moment, think that his father and brother were dead, that he was in charge of the House. He must really fucking hate Sadeas as well. Also, interesting that it’s this battle that he loses his mother’s chain--it probably doesn’t mean anything, but it gives the reader the distinct feeling that something’s going to go wrong in this duel

AND BOY HOWDY DOES IT. 

Adolin is so sure, so confidant, and then FOUR PEOPLE STEP OUT TO FIGHT HIM. 

This entire sequence is like concentrated anxiety until Kaladin steps in but the moment the duel ends it goes back to being concetrated anxiety. And he also notices that Jakamav is one of the duelists, although I note that he doesn’t have for certain knowledge of the person in King’s Plate. And Zahel starts yelling advice to him. Honestly, Adolin does incredibly well against four people who are out to try to cripple him. Against three, I almost would think he could have done it. 

Four...is a bit much. And then they learn that the judge has been bribed not to see the “I yield” sign. Which makes this go from “bad” to “Living nightmare especially for his family dear god can you IMAGINE” 

Renarin went out there with NO PLATE and a SWORD SCREAMING AT HIM trying to save Adolin I still think we should all just appreciate Renarin Kholin for being the bravest character in this series. Fortunately, the guy fighting him doesn’t want to hurt him, although the others leverage that to get Adolin to stop trying to surrender. Renarin does end up having one of his fits--again, screaming sword, makes sense--and this is just horrifying. Amaram refuses, because he’s a shithead not worth shit. Dalinar shames the entire goddamn area by demanding to know where Alethi honor is, and...

“Honor is dead,” a voice whispered from beside him. “But I’ll see what I can do.” 

THANK YOU, KALADIN. 

Shallan now automatically thinks “bastard” while thinking about Amaram, which, same. She also decides to get Pattern to try to distract the guy attacking Renarin--nice. Kaladin and Adolin go back-to-back to team up. Kaladin also lost the pointed end of his spear--whoops--and Adolin is being astonishingly excellent. So Kaladin realizes that he can lash himself toward people and superkick them. Also, Pattern was an effective distraction, although he also distracts Syl. 

They get one man to yield. Three left, the one with Renarin coming over here. Renarin is not having a good time but he’s put down his Blade. Kaladin’s doing great, until he runs out of Stormlight. Adolin, fortunately, grabs Jakamav before he can get Kaladin. Relis--the fucking coward--goes to kill Renarin, and Kaladin gets there first and catches the blade. 

And then screaming happens. It sounds like Syl--might have been an honorspren that made that blade, then. Relis, of course, flips his shit and literally runs out of the arena, so... it worked. Kaladin also gets Jakamav to yield via knife on faceplate and asking if he gets to kill his second Shardbearer. Adolin is laughing his ass off as Kaladin sits by him. It’s great. 

Anyway, it’s great for a moment and then Kaladin RUINS IT. Actually, I’m going to be fair. Elhokar ruins it. By being petty and not liking how liked Kaladin is. So Dalinar gets in a fighting match with Elhokar and threatens that if Elhokar insists on assassination, Dalinar will be his enemy. Also, Dalinar is pissed as fuck at Kaladin for giving Sadeas that moment to wiggle out of the duel. 

They still did get close enough to spook Sadeas badly. To the point where he admits he just wants Dalinar out of the way. And Kaladin tells Syl he’ll never trust lighteyes again. And that ends part three, holy shit.