#why can't this awkward not-really-love-triangle just be an ot3 already

[maribel-bat]

carly for the ask meme! :3

Why I like them/why I don’t: Love her! Love her! I love Carly so much!! She just really stumbles her way into the narrative and they did her so dirty in the second half but like, she carries so much in the first half its fucking crazy. Also I have so many screenshots of her making expressions of all time because like...they really went hard with those. I think her character arc is compelling and I'm a big fan of failgirl girlfailures.

What I like about their appearance: The glasses! Tbh as someone who's drawn her more than once, those are always fun to draw, but the hair is also great. It's just one big chunky block and its really funny. She's so shaped.

Do I prefer their dub names or original names?: I'm torn honestly, because they both have a nice ring to it. Carly Carmine really gives off the kinda awkward bit with alliteration while Carly Nagisa is very pretty. I think its the dichotomy of Carly herself that makes me so indecisive.

OTP: It'd have to be Scoopshipping for sure. I mean, it's pretty much canon, and again, failgirl girlfailure and guy who is trying so so so hard and doing it very badly is just a hilarious recipe for Funny Things. Besides I also think reporter and celebrity is a fun dynamic, it's just entertaining to have her definitely not beating the Jack Atlas Bias Allegations.

NOTP: Can't pick a specific one. Just. Don't ship her with any of the obvious No's, thanks.

OT3: Hm. Maybe adding in Misty would work? Don't know how well Jack would share but her and Carly seem to have some compatibility. It'd be funny to see her trying to introduce the two of them like you introduce animals who don't quite get along yet but you really want them to. Yes she likes both of you. Please get over it already.

Favourite card they use: I have to pick Aslla piscu on principle. Partly because I'd feel bad trying to pick between any of the fortune fairies. I can't pick favorites!

Favourite moment they were in: Episode 31. The whole thing is so fucking funny.

Least favourite moment: Listen I could try to pick a specific bit but honestly, any of the love. triangle(?) thing. that she ends up having going on. Idk what to call that shit. It's just uncomfortable.

Something you associate with the character: this thing

also under the cut (because its not technically part of the askmeme) i want my dash and everyone to have a picture of the actual cat I own named Carly Nyagisa, thank you for looking at her

i could have grabbed a better picture but this was maybe two seconds before she completely fell off the cat tree in some sort of blissful ignorance of her surroundings brought on by the ecstasy of trying her damnedest to kill a feather toy and thus its the best picture.

[nightblink]

Blink Reads Oathbringer - Chapters 77-82

Some rather short chapters in this one, which leads me to believe that events are accelerating towards Shit Hitting The Fan very quickly, because things have been going far too well for the mission as a whole to continue that way for much longer.

Also, Shallan finally faces a truth.

Chapter Seventy-Seven – Stormshelter

….considering we're back to Kholinar chapters, the positioning of this new graphic, and what's happening in Kholinar, I'd say it's safe to assume that this Sja-Anat, Creator, Corrupter, The Taker of Secrets is the Unmade suffusing the core of the city. Well then. 'With one touch she corrupts.' uh. Not good, not good-

Oh, hey, we finally get a Truthwatcher's recording! They're…. shit, they're calling to attention the still-fighting 'parsh' and saying that something 'must be done about' them. That's- but how did you come up with the concept of enslaving them, of all things?!

Another everstorm. How many does this make now? I've lost count. Ooops.

Ayyyy, and he's meeting up with the rest of Team OT3! And for once remembers noticing how Shallan – or perhaps Veil – snuck glances at him. With OT3 glasses on, this is excellent material. Without…? Eeeeuuuugh. You can definitely see the psuedo-framework of a love triangle, but while Veil's eyeing Kaladin for his attractiveness (“brooding good looks”), Kaladin still has an idealized vision of Shallan in his head and hasn't gotten to the point of knowing her as a person where I'd be comfortable with them in a relationship.

Elhokar's gotten so much better. Even though I have a bad feeling that this will all turn south soon, I'm glad he's been doing so well recently.

I feel like between Kaladin's reports and the evidence shown with the loyalty of her men and the proof in the Wall Guard's defense, order, and discipline, Adolin's definitely considering offering to solidify Azure's position as highmarshal, even if he has to forcefully shut up those who'd complain about a woman not only fighting, but in command.

“You boys done comparing your swords?” Oh, Shallan's definitely thinking OT3 thoughts…

Hmmm. Kaladin describes some of the lighthearted banter between Shallan and Adolin as 'nauseating', and 'Kaladin liked them both… just not together.' Could be taken as romance-repulsion, but considering his own interactions with the both of them, it feels more like jealousy – though of their closeness/friendship or their romance is debatable (as well as for which one, which… more pairing fodder).

[squints] Huh. So, going with the visions, definitely nine Unmade… but do they predate Odium, and were changed by his influence, or are they, in essence, Splinters of his?

Oh, shit, two Unmade in Kholinar? UM. Ashertmarn being the other one, basically encouraging hedonism/The Revel, as opposed to the Corruptor, Secret-Taker.

See, the way Kaladin describes it, I feel like he and Shallan are growing into friends, if rather rockily since neither of them are actually any good at it? And Veil-Shallan is confusing her “goddamn he's hot, I'd tap that” feeling(s) with actual I-want-to-be-with-you attraction. It's not quite a love triangle, but I worry that it's going to cause serious complications nonetheless.

Shallan's adopted family isn't the same as yours is, Kal, let her be with her differences. Besides, in giving them purpose, and a different avenue to explore their lives, even those you knew like Gaz aren't the same as they were before.

Ooo, that's… I'm with Adolin on this one, you do not want to let the city fall. Not only would you lose the tactical advantage of the Oathgate, but all those people! The refugees, the Kholinari! For once, Kaladin is thinking of the practicalities; Adolin is considering his home and people.

….that cremling is an important tidbit, isn't it. I'm wondering if the 'bug' means they were bugged.

Ahhh, and here's Shallan thinking about her personalities basically as people separate from herself, once again (which. They're not, they're part of you, even if you can't bring yourself to realize that – the part that wants to be a hero, the part the thinks Adolin too predictable, the part that wants to live unconstrained by the responsibility and structure that you carry with you. It's still a facet of you, even if you've given it a face so you don't have to 'deal' with things yourself.)

tbh, I want to see the Impossible Falls. Sanderson, please tell me there's a sketch of that later in this book.

(Your father's son, in more ways than build and blood – and part of that is the Blackthorn, even with how terrible he was. The sun scorches even as it provides.)

...honestly, if he saw the picture of Kaladin on the page after, with Veil's touch of lust in its strokes, he'd probably just agree.

[hums very happily at Adolin confirming Shallan's skill as learned effort and worthy of praise, noting her hard work] She needs compliments like that – things that confirm that her skill is beyond just the innate, but attributable to practice and the dedication that she's put into it. It'll help her self-confidence and feelings of worth in herself, Shallan, as well as reinforcing a good viewpoint, especially so when he speaks of Radiants – her – creating art once the war is over.

I'm so glad that Evi taught her sons that it was all right to touch, to hug and to have physical contact – Adolin himself seems a very tactile type, even beyond just my headcanon, and can you imagine if he was deprived of touch? He's probably not granted it much beyond his immediate family anyway, which makes me doubly glad that Shallan is accepting of this particular idiosyncrasy of his.

Oh, Shallan. Those abysmal feelings of self-worth are only making your personality problems worse, and infecting your relationships besides…

Ooooo, he's noticed, even though she doesn't realize it. “Who do you become?” indeed.

“Thank you for being you, Adolin.” '“Everyone else was taken already,” he mumbled.' E x c u s e  me while I go scream about this man and his own tendency to change himself to fit the situation and how his own feelings of self-worth likely suffered though all the rejections of him.

….I was going to be good about this and then she described him as being like a sunrise which is literally part of my character tag for him on l-c and-

And we're back to the slipping of personality. Hello again, Veil-Shallan. Gotta agree with you on that one, sometimes the storm and rain are preferable – both literally and metaphorically.

Huh. This openness and vulnerability…….. huh.

“Maybe.”

Maybe.

Well, I have to say that I agree with Vathah here. Better cremation than being soulcast into a statue. That's just creepy. I wonder how that particular tradition started, though, and if it's only practiced in Vorin lands, or all across Roshar?

!!!! VATHAH'S A SQUIRE. VATHAH'S A LIGHTWEAVER SQUIRE. AWESOME.

Chapter Seventy-Eight – The Revel

Another Truthwatcher recording, and the Radiants can somehow deprive the Fused/Parshmen of that 'Voidlight' energy? How? Where does it come from? Does it act in the same way as stormlight, or does it differ from stormlight in about the same measure as, say, hemalurgy does from allomancy? I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS, BRANDOSANDO-

'Shallan would be easier [to abandon].' a) Veil is ruthless, but we already knew this. b) This is a reflection of Shallan's thinking, and I worry that she's subconsciously – or even consciously – wanting to subsume her own personality with the ones she's given life to, since she thinks they're more 'worthy' than her true, broken core self.

The windspren are corrupted here too. Syl might not be able to even masquerade as a normal windspren if she'd be setting herself apart by sheer virtue of non-corruption. Again with the smell of mold, though, this time in the wake of the Everstorm as opposed to association with Parshendi or chasmfiend blood! Hmmm, not there's another question – is it just greatshells that have a mold-smell to their blood, or is it all of the standard Rosharan fauna, because that could be an indication of whether they're bonded to spren or not.

Kaladin notes that Azure looks 'very Alethi', but I still have that niggling suspicion of Nalthian in the back of my head, and we know that not only are Returned able to use Stormlight as sustenance in place of Breaths, but they'd be nearly the only non-Rosharan Cosmerans generally taller than even the Alethi...

The people under the influence of the- Ashertmarn, the Reveler, the incarnation of hedonism and gluttony – are definitely under the influence from what we can tell, there's definitely the feeling that these people wouldn't be acting this way if they were 'themselves'. They're drunk on it; most likely, this Unmade's touch is what was affecting Aesudan.

'They moved like fish in a school' – for all that Veil disdains her true, core personality, Shallan's way of viewing the world and her method of description still slips through, informing one as to who the base is that the mask is built upon.

“We were only doing what she asked.” WHO. The queen, the Unmade?

….so. Azure refers to her sword as a her, and doesn't deny anything when Kaladin calls the sword a Shardblade. Points granted towards her being a Radiant.

“I flew.” [SNORTS] It's not as if the truth sounds like anything other than a joke to these people who don't know of Randiants, so why not?

“They're Alethi” - With the way she said that, I'm counting it as points against her being Alethi, even if it turns out she is and just spent time amongst Westerners like Kaladin is thinking, but I'm especially suspicious when she asks her question.

...well, shit. And here we were maybe just about to get some answers. These POVs are bouncing back and forth really quickly, and that's not striking any confidence that this is going to turn out well…

...well. That inner ring is just delightfully creepifying. Thank the Heralds for Pattern, as the Unmade's influence was threatening to break through even Shallan's cracked-yet-fortified mentality (though now we have more confirmation that Veil is there in an attempt to avoid truly facing what she's done).

!!! Voices! Voices that aren't the Unmade speaking to her, and her shadow pointing the wrong way – some sort of influence from Shadesmar! She's lucky that whatever-it-was warned her too. The Mindnight Mother was one thing, trapped beneath Urithiru and just really starting to spread its tendrils, but this… that has been accumulating power, and if she'd sprung the trap they'd all be doomed.

Chapter 79 – Echoes of Thunder

Okay, so the Truthwatcher proposes that the Unmade can be captured, given a 'special prison' and 'Melishi'. But. wtf is Melishi?

Ooop, there's another colour saying, and Azure used it instinctively, like we've seen Zahel/Vasher doing and confusing the hell out of all the Alethi around him. Yeaaaah, I'm pretty convinced that you're a Nalthian of some kind or another.

“Who are you?” That's a long story and perhaps not appropriate when the Voidbringers are attacking, you two!

'his own men' Because of course he's already adopted them and been thinking of them as 'his men', even when he's not their commanding officer – though he yells out orders as if he's the Highmarshal or Prince himself.

EHEHEHEHEHEHEHEH. It's going to blow his cover like nothing else, but come on – try to Lash a Windrunner, will you?

….or, amazingly, managing to use only his senses – that have adjusted to flight – and not any Lashings that would alert the Voidspren.

Oh but I am living for these midair clashes

Oooooo, so, for the Fused/Voidbringers, it's not the spine that an opponent should aim for, but whatever that 'brittle' thing is around the area of it's heart – a gemheart, most likely. Mmm, but while Kal managed to avoid the attention of the Voidspren, there's not way that his stunt (much less surviving said stunt) managed to go unnoticed.

….ooop. Looks like you're standing out as the first to kill a Voidbringer on the Wall, Kal, even before Azure. HEHEHEHEHEHEH. And of course he slips back into command-mode like he's back with the Kholin army, rather than amongst a ragtag group defending Kholinar.

[squints at Azure] ….that cloak… did you try to Awaken it.

AND ANOTHER COLOUR SAYING. YOU'RE A NALTHIAN, I SWEAR. You're just really good at outwardly looking like an Alethi, enough to convince all the Wall Guard.

HEH. At least with that proclamation of authority, she's now decided to listen to him – maybe even trust him.

We shall see.

Chapter Eighty – Oblivious

...that title isn't referring to Kaladin's very-Demi perception, is it? [ba-dum, tiss]

[blinks furiously while attempting to figure this out] So. This Ba-Ado-Mishram must be one of the Unmade, given the last input from the Truthwatchers and the obvious intent now to capture her, since she'd the one prolonging the conflict and providing the source of power to the Parsh(men?(endi?). But that 'she provides Voidlight' - !!!!! that doesn't come from Odium himself, but one of the Unmade?

“After fleeing the Oathgate platform, she'd met up with Vathah” - you mean, after he dragged your broken body away from the base of the platform. Jfc, but Radiants can tank some serious damage. And '[g]oing back home would have left her too much time to think' – too much time to be Shallan, thinking of the Unmade and whatever-it-was that addressed you from Shadesmar and even perhaps needing to face who you really are underneath all the masks, mmm?

...methinks your informant/contact is compromised, Veil-Shallan.

[winces] Yeah. Not in the way I'd thought, with the cult, but a more “normal”, yet no less deadly influence. Of course there would be gangs that prey on the weak and manipulate the desperate.

Oh ho ho. So Veil has a limit – she wanted to be the Hero, but when that dream/mirage collapsed, so did she, leaving Shallan – the core, the Real One – without mask to divert away the pain of a death she's going to mark herself responsible for. Veil's the 'streetwise one', the 'darkeyes', the one who tries to be the folk hero, but at her core she's still Shallan – and Shallan only has her mind and imagination with which Veil draws herself; there's not real experience or reality behind the fiction of 'Veil'. Shallan keeps her Veil-mask's speech patterns when she talks to Muri, too, reinforcing the image of Veil as a mask, no matter how strong the created-personality is.

Oh, Shallan. The trauma never stops for you, does it? You tried to paint yourself as a hero, but it backfired in our face spectacularly.

Chapter Eighty-One – Ithi and Her Sister

...have we heard about an Ithi before. Who is this, what is it referencing-

Truthwatcher recording again – I think this makes mare recordings from them than from any other order thus far. As to the 'unintended side effects'… that'd be dullform, I'd bet a handful of spheres on it.

[hums and smiles] A regal name indeed.

Oh Beard. [cackles] Gotta keep up with the story, even if the details shift a little...

!!! The walls are covered in a metal that Kaladin doesn't recognise? Is it aluminum? I bet it's aluminum, isn't it. On top of that, they were brought by Wit? Yeaaaaaah, I see what you're doing here, Sanderson.

But as an aside, Azure has had dealings with Hoid before, and didn't mention what she called him.

She also doesn't pause in jaw-dropped wonder like everyone else when he mentions the abilities of the Oathgate. Mmm, you know and definitely are more than you're letting on, Azure.

Chapter Eighty-Two – The Girl Who Stood Up

Sorry to burst your bubble, last Truthwatcher recording, but… that's not gonna happen. This war will last a while yet.

Shallan's fragile shield is cracking, breaking, leaving her with nowhere to hide – and finally admitting to herself that the masks are a lie to pretend even to herself. It almost seems a harder truth for her to admit than the fact that she killed her mother.

Wit. Thank god you're here, Shallan needs someone with her right now, some point of contact, no matter how small, or she's just going to curl up and wither away.

“I haven't lived her life.” “No. You've lived a harsher one, haven't you?” Another truth that she'd prefer to run from, as that life was suffering, that life broke her – she'd much rather be an assured, streetwise con, but that's not who she is. No matter how much she tries to Be The Mask, Veil isn't truly real – a part of her, yes, but not the separate, competent person she'd rather be, if only so she wouldn't hurt so much.

Oh no, no, don't you start suppressing this again-!

Oooo, more details about the story. Wit knows an older version, less changed by time, doesn't he; or perhaps even the events that became the story in the first place?

'“Skip?” Wit said, aghast. “Skip part of a story?”' Thank the heavens for Hoid injecting some small measure of levity into this moment. Shallan needs as much light as she can get, even while facing the darkness she tries to repress.

Oh. Oh, Hoid. From freezing in shock at her hug in the warcamps, and now to this.

[hums] Not quite Prometheus or Pandora's box, but there's a little bit of those feelings – the bringer of light, of terrible storms but of a brightness that changed the world forever.

“I see only one woman here, and it's the one who is standing up. Shallan, that has always been you. You just have to admit it. Allow it. … It's all right to hurt.” [breathes out low] W i t. Oh, Shallan, he's right, and finally you're hearing it aloud. You can live, you are worth protecting, even if you can't see it right now yourself. Perhaps not soon, but now that you've heard it… perhaps you can work on accepting it.

Adolin. You stayed up all night with worry for her, didn't you? And even that hug – reassuring yourself and her, you're making yourself The Stable One once more, but you can tell there's something wrong, can't you? So once again, you go for the levity rather than pushing her to explain.

Hah – and then the real levity approaches, because honestly, Kaladin at the head of yet another group of people that he's managed to adopt? Priceless.