#there just need to be more kholin brother moments i love them | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

myshipsareendgame · 3 years

Text

SHADOLIN BABY- A CONCEPT THREAD:

-one morning, after the war is over (basically all of our heroes survive), shallan gets a bit sick. she inhales stormlight and some of the fatigue still doesn’t go away. she recalls that she had a bit of wine the night before, but just a little, nowhere near making her get a hangover the next morning. she decides not to tell adolin anything, since she doesn’t want him to worry

-later, she goes to the doctor’s office. first, she approaches hesina so that she can schedule a meeting. “oh brightness! come in, come in! would you like something to eat or drink? i have some fruit and wine if you’d like” shallan just gestures her hand and says “actually, no. i wouldn’t want to drink anything anymore... there’s a small chance i am pregnant. it’s why i came here- to ask you to make a schedule”

-lirin is the one that helps her and promises not to tell anyone, kaladin especially, that she came here as she wanted to do so herself. they run some tests and later she comes to get the results, lirin hands her the papers along with a “congratulations!”

-that night, adolin comes back from training to find shallan sitting on the balcony, with a blanket wrapped around her. he gives her a hug from behind and kisses her temple. adolin asks her what she’s thinking of to which shallan answers with:

“we need bigger quarters.”

“what? they’re pretty big, we have enough space.”

“yeah, for the two of us, but we are gonna need a nursery in a few months” and adolin just gives her the biggest hug and kisses her whole face

-they decide to tell dalinar and navani first over dinner. they are both so so happy for them, navani cries but dalinar holds in tears. later though, when he is alone with navani, he gets very emotional and thinks of how proud and happy he is that his son would be a father

-next come renarin and kaladin who both immediately start crying and planning every big event of this child’s life. kaladin gets genuinely surprised that his parents kept the secret, since he thought they wouldn’t be able to. renarin teases adolin “you? a father? oh almighty” but he is so happy anyway

-shallan’s brothers are very happy for them, promising to be good uncles and take care of their niece or nephew

-jasnah and wit are both so proud of how far shallan has come and jasnah takes the rare opportunity and becomes the softest softie to ever soft... shallan is surprised, but nevertheless happy at jasnah’s reaction

-shallan’s pregnancy goes well, adolin starts singing to her tummy very early on and it becomes a nightly routine. he sings iriali lullabies that his mother sang to him when he was young. but he also talks to the baby everyday as well. shallan finds it endearing and eventually starts doing things like that too

-once her belly gets very big, it’s time for new clothing. since she’s often enjoying staying in and reading/drawing, she spends a lot of time in adolin’s shirts, while he goes out and designs new dresses for her that she wears during meetings and important outings during which she must appear

-gavinor likes to spend time with shallan and keep her company and she thinks its a good thing to get used to a child being around her. once they renovate the quarters and add rooms to it, she teaches him how to paint by painting the walls herself. it’s what starts gavinor’s love for art

-a month before she is due, kaladin and adolin are out in the city getting some new clothes when a messanger is sent to say that shallan is in early labor

-adolin and kaladin FUCKING SPRINT through the entire tower, and adolin is horrified outside the room because shallan is screaming and he is so worried

-both the davars and the kholins just drop everything they are doing at the time and come to see how shallan is doing at the clinic. though, the labor takes a few hours so some, like kaladin and renarin, stay with adolin in the lobby the whole time. others come and go, but everyone comes to check every once in a while

-finally, lirin comes out and offers adolin a hand to say “congratulations brightlord. your wife and daughter are in perfect health.”

-AND ADOLIN JUST FUCKING STARTS TEARING UP “I... I have a little girl? Wh-When can I see her?”

-meanwhile, shallan is holding her little girl in the bed. resting and thinking how she never loved anything so much so fast, she just wants to hold her and thinks “oh! mini me!”

-adolin comes in and just starts fucking crying, rushes over to hold and kiss shallan and thank her for bringing this child into the world

-then he turns to the baby and oh, she is the most divine creature to exist, she is a mini shallan and he just holds her by her little fingers. actually, the baby wraps their entire hand around adolin’s finger, which only makes it more adorable

-then it’s like that scene in friends when mondler get engaged and the others go “can we come in now, we’re dying out here!” and they go “come in!!!”

-the family comes in and take turns but dalinar goes first and just starts crying, EVERYONE IS CRYING. they’re crying, im crying, you’re crying. he has the same energy he had when adolin was born. he wants to buy everyone in urithiru a drink, celebrate the birth of his granddaughter.

-renarin and jasnah look at her and they have the same look on their face, they realize they’re gonna have another baby that isn’t directly theirs but they’re gonna love and cherish as their own. they’re going to spoil this little girl with math magazines, science and history books and ultimately let her know that she should grow into the best version of herself as she can be

-while navani goes to get little gav and wake him up from his nap, the davars get their turn. they are so delighted that their sister brought a new life into the world, almost being able to forget the rough past they had once they look into the child’s eyes

-navani comes in with gavinor and he is overjoyed with the baby, his little cousin that he will play with and protect

-navani is very emotional and talks about how similar she looks so much like shallan. her face is pretty pale, freckled and she has stunning blue eyes, but oh the smile. no doubt is it adolin’s smile.

-they notice kaladin is at the doorframe so they ask him why doesn’t he come in the room and our favorite grump goes:

“i just wanted to check if you are alright, but since it all is, i guess this should just be family now.”

“yeah that’s why you’re staying. i’m counting on you to take your role of an uncle very seriously”. and so kaladin takes the baby and with the first time he holds this little girl, he knows he would give it all to even try and be the best uncle to her

-then wit is the last one and shallan insists that he holds her and finally after inspecting the baby for a bit, wit says “alright. am i the only one who is going to address this baby’s hair. LOOK AT IT! BLONDE RED AND BLACK!!”. it’s a much needed moment of pure laughter in the room.

-when a nursemaid comes to ask for a name, adolin and shallan share a look, before nodding. adolin turns back and says “evi. my daughter’s name is evi.”

-later that night, shallan is resting while adolin is in the nursery and plays with the baby. playing consists of adolin sitting on a sofa and rocking her in his arms while she sleeps, but to adolin it’s the most wonderful thing. dalinar knocks and they have this very soft moment where they talk about how fatherhood changed dalinar and how adolin feels the same thing happening to him, right in that moment. but the real emotional kicker comes when dalinar says “i’m glad that’s her name.” they talk of how sorry dalinar is about everything and how he hopes that adolin knows how much he wants for them to repair their relationship. maybe it’s the emotions, maybe it’s the warmth of a newborn child pressed to his chest or the lack of sleep, but adolin accepts. dalinar somehow forces him to go and get some sleep and promises he would stay with the baby

-dalinar holds the baby and coos “welcome to the world, my little evi.” the next morning, they find dalinar on the sofa, sleeping in an uncomfortable position right next to the crib

BONUS: For all my rlainarin warrior out there, renarin would totally bring rlain to meet his niece and she would be so fascinated by his carapace. like kaladin, rlain would also feel an obligation to be an uncle to this child, further cementing the fact that rlainarin are in love with each other :)

119 notes · View notes

preservationandruin · 6 years

Text

Oathbringer Liveblog, Part Five: Chapters 119-120

I know these are only covering a few chapters at a time, but listen. Its the end of a Sanderson book. Literally everything is happening all the time.

Dalinar tells god to fuck off, Ultimate Unity Is Achieved (Temporarily), Radiants Do Cool Shit Constantly, Adolin learns the name of an old friend, Amaram Vored A Rock And You Can Guess How That Went For Him, and--as always--FUCK YEAH, BRIDGE FOUR.

The epigraphs change, to the postscript of The Way of Kings. The chapter is called Unity.

“Dalinar? What is this?” “You cannot have my pain.” “Dalinar--” Dalinar forced himself to his feet. “You. Cannot. Have. My. Pain.” “Be sensible.” “I killed those children,” Dalinar said. “No, it--” “I burned the people of Rathalas.” “I was there, influencing you--” “YOU CANNOT HAVE MY PAIN!” Dalinar bellowed, stepping toward Odium. The god frowned.

Dalinar is LITERALLY GIVING OFF GLORYSPREN. Amaram has to shield his SHITTY RED EYES from it.

“I did kill the people of Rathalas,” Dalinar shouted. “You might have been there, but I made the choice. I decided!” He stilled. “I killed her. It hurts so much, but I did it. I accept that. You cannot have her. You cannot take her from me again.”

YEAH! SHUT THE FUCK UP, RAYSE. YOU DIDN’T KNOW DALINAR KHOLIN LIKE YOU THOUGHT YOU DID.

“Journey before destination,” Dalinar said. “it cannot be a journey if it doesn’t have a beginning.” A thunderclap sounded in his mind. Suddenly, awareness poured back into him. The Stormfather, distant, feeling frightened--but also surprised. Dalinar? “I will take responsibility for what I’ve done,” Dalinar whispered. “If I must fall, I will rise each time a better man.”

I LOVE DALINAR SO MUCH.

Renarin and Jasnah are sprinting through the ward, Renarin struggling to keep up. An entire stream of gloryspren flows by them.

“I know what you are,” Jasnah said. “You’re my cousin. Family, Renarin. Hold my hand. Run with me.”

And they head down, down to the glowing light.

And with all the gloryspren glowing around him, Dalinar notices--Odium looks small.

Syl looks over to the sea of beads. She pulls Kaladin tight.

“Maybe you don’t have to save anyone, Kaladin. Maybe it’s time for someone to save you.”

Dalinar reaches through the worlds. He reaches into the spiritual realm. And he hears Evi’s voice, forgiving him. Venli asks what he is.

He says he’s Unity.

And he fucking combines all three realms into one holy FUCK, Dalinar.

OH MY GOD, HE OPENED HONOR’S PERPENDICULARITY. THAT’S WHAT IT IS. THAT--IT ALL MAKES SENSE. ONLY DALINAR HAS THE REMNANTS OF HONOR’S POWER. ONLY HE COULD DO THIS.

UNITE THEM. PEOPLE, YES, BUT ALSO THE REALMS. FUCK!

Taln grips onto Ash’s hand. And he says her name.

“How long?” He asked. “Taln,” She gripped his hand in both of hers. “I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.”

He goes outside, and sees Thaylen City. The wall, the soldiers in breastplates and chain.

And he thanks Ash. Because , in leaving him, they gave humanity four thousand years of progress. She begs him to hate her. He doesn’t.

Teft gasps. His spren asks him--can he feel the words? He says he’s broken. And...he swears the second ideal, in the most heartwrenching form:

“I will protect those I hate. Even...even if the one I hate most...is...myself.”

Renarin and Jasnah reach the last level of the city. Renarin warns Jasnah about Amaram’s soldiers--and she runs straight towards them and wrecks them, soulcasting people and swiping with a Shardblade. Fuck yeah, Jasnah!

And then he looks up, and sees a column of light piercing the sky.

Navani leans into the light, laughing like a fool, gloryspren flying around her, brushing her hair.

“No!” Odium screamed. He stepped forward. “No, we killed you. WE KILLED YOU.”

And Kaladin, Shallan, and Adolin split out of the pillar of light, just as Amaram was about to fight Dalinar. The explosion of Stormlight from Dalinar also sated Nightblood, meaning Lift and Szeth are alright, although their skin is stained-grey from Nightblood’s hunger.

Dalinar realizes--Elhokar is not coming through the column of light. He grieves, for a moment. He accepts that grief. And he stands up. And he does better.

Kaladin Stormblessed stepped up beside Dalinar before the rubble of the wall, and Shallan Davar stood on the other side. Jasnah emerged from the city and surveyed the scene with a critical air, while Renarin popped out behind her, then cried out and ran for Adolin. He grabbed his older brother in an embrace, then gasped. Adolin was wounded? Good lad, Dalinar thought as Renarin immediately set to healing his brother. Two more people crossed the battlefield. Lift he had anticipated. But the assassin? Szeth scooped the silvery sheath off the sword and slammed his black shardblade into it, before stepping up to join Dalinar. Skybreaker, Dalinar thought, counting them off. Edgedancer. That was seven. He would have expected three more. There, the Stormfather said. Behind your niece. Two more people appeared in the shadow of the wall. A large, powerful man with an impressive physique, and a woman with long, dark hair. Their dark skin marked them as Makabaki, perhaps Azish, but their eyes were wrong.

The heralds, the Radiants--Dalinar did unite them. Odium is gone, fled into nothing. Dalinar is thinking--you know, there should be one more--but oh well. Stormy notes that the last might not have been found yet.

Oh no, Dalinar’s watch got broken! He starts sending out orders. Renarin, to the Oathgate--and to stop the thunderclast from destroying it, and opening the portal so reinforcements can come.

Shallan needs to lightweave an army--the Thrill will make the men easier to distract. Jasnah is holding the giant fucking hold in the wall--THAT’S THE COVER OF THE BOOK--Kaladin is guarding Dalinar. And settling a score with Amaram. Lift and Szeth are getting that FUCKING RUBY--although Lift needs food.

Dalinar heads toward the water, to try to deal with the Thrill.

Kaladin, of course, shoots into the sky immediately. Of course, he can’t stop being down on himself, because he’s Kaladin. Still. he does get to fight Amaram.

...who immediately falls to his knees. And just when I think this will be a very, very boring fight--Kaladin notices that Amaram is coughing. Like he’d just...swallowed...something....

Over to Adolin, who is completely healed. His first complaint, when Shallan asks how he’s doing, is that he really liked this jacket!

...Oh. She made an illusory version of him that was a windrunner. Given his self-esteem issues and feeling inadequate compared to Kaladin, that...can’t be great.

He summons his shardblade--braces for a scream, although there is none--says he’s sorry, thanks her, and goes into battle.

Lift and Szeth head off to try to get that GODDAMN ruby, Nightblood humming all the way. And Amaram gets up and INSTANTLY makes me furious again:

Those red eyes cast a crimson glow through the helm’s slit. “You should thank me, boy,”

SOMEHOW Amaram has decided that he is the SOLE EVENT that FORGED KALADIN, that MADE HIM INTO THE MAN HE IS NOW. Bull fucking shit. That same self-important assholery that makes Amaram so hateable is coming through again.

And he’s dual-wielding Shardblades, of course. because why not. Syl is just like “don’t worry, he’s only human!” and that’s when Yelig-nar’s smoke starts to envelop him.

Dalinar is heading towards the Thrill. He says “hello, old friend,” and then he walks into it.

Shallan pours out stormlight, creating every person she’s ever sketched. Pattern is humming, louder and louder. All of her drawings--everyone she’s Connected to, because that’s what her drawing is. Her father and mother step from the illusion, and Shallan freezes and starts to fail--

--and then Veil takes her left hand, and Radiant in garnet Shardplate takes her right. Others try to crawl up--but no. That’s enough. They retreat into Stormlight, and hundreds and hundreds more soldiers surge up from the light.

Adolin sees Jasnah basically toss men around like toys and is like, alright, Jasnah doesn’t need help. He runs off to help Queen Fen and her husband.

Jasnah, meanwhile, is abusing the closeness of the three realms to make her Soulcasting much, much easier.

Lift swears as the Fused with the ruby takes it into the sky, and Nightblood wants her to teach him swear words.

LET! NIGHTBLOOD! SAY! FUCK!

Szeth takes to the air and takes her down, grabbing the ruby--and then three more Fused head toward him. Whoops.

Back over to Adolin, who’s met up with Navani! She asks about Elhokar--Adolin says he’s sorry, and holds her while she cries.

Jasnah mends the entire breach in the wall with her Soulcasting. And then just dusts her hands off. Adolin starts working on putting a stable defense together. And Adolin heads off to help the soldiers fighting one of the thunderclasts.

Back to the Kaladin vs Amaram duel! Amaram is fighting, dual-wielding swords--the one bought with the blood of Kaladin’s men, the other given as payment for Bridgeman lives. A crystal just fucking SPROUTED FROM HIS ELBOW. Kal’s also running interference for Dalinar from the other Fused, too.

It’s actually really handy for the Radiants that the thunderclast tore the Gem Reserve asunder--because now there are all these infused Gemstones all over the battlefield. Nice.

Oh, shit, Amaram has pulled out one of those Shardbows.

Amaram stood near his horse, where he’d unhooked a massive Shardbow that used arrows as thick as a spear’s haft. Amaram raised it to loose again, and a line of crystals jutted out along his arm, cracking his Shardplate. Storms, what was happening to that man?

He sold his soul for power, and now it’s taken his body, too. Kal dives Amaram, summoning Syl as a short spear--how appropriate--and charges Amaram.

Dalinar is in the thrill, and it’s happy to see him. I guess Nergaoul, despite being “mindless,” apparently, can still recognize people.

He had imagined it as some evil force, malignant and insidious, like Odium or Sadeas.

ODIUM OR SADEAS. I love how those two are put on the same level here.

Nergaoul remembers the times that the Thrill receded from Dalinar as times it was abandoned. Oh, Nergaoul. What was it, I wonder, before Odium grabbed it and twisted it?

Jasnah, meanwhile, cuts through a Fused’s head without even turning to look at it. She says she’s gonna do her best to stop Shallan from getting herself killed, given the rate at which Shallan is eating through Stormlight.

Lift and Szeth (and Nightblood) are just a great comic dynamic, especially now Lift can hear Nightblood. Lift has an idea for how to steal the ruby.

Shallan is still holding onto Veil and Radiant, and she’s burning herself out. Somehow, she’s managed to make her illusions actually fight, a little. She thinks she might be using Soulcasting as well as Lightweaving. She’s getting drawn more and more into it--

And then someone--probably Lift--asks if she could, uh, stop hugging herself for a minute to help.

Back to Kal v Amaram! Amaram is still talking like himself--this weird hybrid-monster kept the most monstrous part of Amaram, his mind.

FUCK, whatever Amaram is now can change stone into liquid. He traps Kaladin’s feet and snaps both of his ankles--fuck. And then he starts gliding across the ground.

is that...abrasion and friction? Does Yelig-nar mimic dustbringer powers? I don’t know. Kaladin chucks a rock at a Fused getting too close to Dalinar, and throws another rock at Amaram’s horse to get the Shardbow away, too.

Well, he’s fought people in Shardplate before. Syl suggests he try stabbing Amaram in the face as well.

And then Kal is up against a Fused and Amaram. Fuck.

Back over to Adolin! He is looking up at the thunderclast, summoning his Blade.

He felt something. A stirring on the wind. “You want to fight it, don’t you?” Adolin asked. “It reminds you of when you were alive.” Something tickled his mind, very faint, like a sigh. A single word: Mayalaran. A...name? “Right, Maya,” Adolin said. “Let’s bring that thing down.”

SHE TOLD HIM HER NAME. AHHHHHHHHHH IM SO GLAD THAT THIS IS HAPPENING IM SO GLAD THAT ADOLIN’S KINDNESS HAS RESULTS IM SO GLAD THAT, EVEN IN A SMALL WAY, MAYALARAN GETS TO DO THINGS THAT SHE WANTS AND CONVEY HER EMOTIONS, I’M SO HAPPY

Adolin finds a small boy huddled in the house, and gets him out of there, trying to distract the thunderclast, jumping through windows and running.

A hand in Shardplate reached out of a building nearby, grabbed Adolin, and pulled him inside.

WHAT

Back to Dalinar. He talks to the thrill, accepting what he was. Thanking it for giving him strength, sometimes--and it makes a happy sound, it crowds closer to him. Nergaoul almost reminds me of an animal of some sort, reacting to someone being nice to it. Dalinar admits--he understands Nergaoul.

Venli is creeping away, feeling sick, the rhythms going crazy in her, fighting. She manages to grab onto one. The Rhythm of the Lost. The only one of the old rhythms she heard. Timbre thrums to the same rhythm, vibrating through Venli.

Lost. What had Venli lost? Venli missed being someone who cared about something other than power. Knowledge, favoritism, forms, wealth--it was all the same to her. Where had she gone wrong? Timbre pulsed. Venli dropped to her knees. Cold stone reflected lightning from above, red and garish.

Her eyes aren’t red at all. And she starts. She starts swearing the words. She gets almost through them--to Journey--and then a Fused crashes into her. But Timbre isn’t in her pouch.

Instead, she’s in her gemheart. She’s keeping the Voidspren in there captive. Venli storms into the cabin of the ship, grabs a sphere. Ruby, glowing.

She finishes swearing the first Ideal. Odium, you thought you killed the problem sister. But by doing that, you made the other one a problem too.

Fortunately, the dude who grabbed Adolin was one of the Thaylen Shardbearers. They are teaming up, now--Adolin can hit, while the man--Hrdalm--has Plate and can take hits. Unfortunately, the Fused pounce for Hrdalm.

And Adolin throws his Shardblade to kill one of the fused. “Alright, Maya. We’ve practiced this.”

Unfortunately, he’s cornered now with the thunderclast. He summons Maya back, hits again--but it flicks him against a wall, and he definitely broke a rib. He starts counting again.

AND MAYA COMES ON SEVEN, BECAUSE HE NEEDS HER. AHHHH.

Maya’s also started bugging him in his mind--he gets knocked through a roof and is picking himself up, and she’s brushing against his mind to do it faster.

Fortunately, before Adolin does anything else stupid, Renarin runs up. He reminds Adolin that, uh, he can’t heal and HAS NO ARMOR and then charges the thunderclast. Renarin’s healing is so fast that, apparently, being crushed can’t slow him down for very long.

Adolin gives Maya to Hrdalm so that he can use her, and Hrdalm’s response is great in respect to their various religions:

“Great Honor in you, Prince Adolin,” he said. “Great Passion in me at this aid.”

Szeth notes that the Fused don’t expect him to have trained, when learning to use the Honorblade, with all of the Surges. And he and Lift pull a switch--one pouch with a fake gemstone, the other with the real one. With the help of Shallan and an illusory rock, of course.

I can’t believe the Fused thought they could out-steal Lift.

Szeth notes that the closer he gets to Nergaoul/the mist, the louder the whispers in his head become. And Lift goes into the mist to help Dalinar.

Amaram is screaming in pain. Kaladin’s fighting the other Fused and doing his level best not to let it distract him.

Well, there are amethysts growing out of his face, I think that might be part of why he’s screaming. He’s leaving flaming tracks--that seems to support my claim about Yelig-nar imitating Dustbringers’ powers. Dalinar is in trouble--meanwhile, Amaram is hiking off to get his fucking bow.

There’s something weirdly funny about this human-parshman hybrid screaming in pain, and then his opponent flies off and he’s just like. welp. gotta go get my bow. Oh well.

Oh, shit, Amaram can superjump. Not sure what’s letting him do that, but I think a good bet would be “Yelig-nar, obviously.”

Shit, he can do Lashings too. Clearly, paying attention to which surges he’s using isn’t going to do me much good.

Also, for fuck’s sake, Amaram still is going on about honor:

Amaram grinned. “Odium promised me something grand, and that promise has been kept. With honor.” “You still pretend to speak of honor?” “Everything I do is for honor.” Amaram swept with a single Blade, making Kaladin dodge. “It was honor that drove me to seek the return of the Heralds, of powers, and our god.” “So you could join the other side?”

Amaram admits that he hurt, after he killed Kaladin’s men--but then he realized, it wasn’t his fault, was it? Nothing was his fault.

Same as Moash. Same as he tried to do to Dalinar. Nothing’s your fault, give me your pain. And give me your responsibility, your morals too.

“I made you, Kaladin!” Amaram’s red eyes lit the crystals that rimmed his face. “I gave you that granite will, that warrior’s poise. This, the person you’ve become, was my gift!” “A gift at the expense of everyone I loved?” “What do you care? It made you strong! Your men died in the name of battle, so that the strongest man would have the weapon. Anyone would have done what I did, even Dalinar himself.” “Didn’t you tell me that you’d given up that grief?” “Yes! I’m beyond guilt!” “Then why do you still hurt?” Amaram flinched.

Eat shit, Amaram.

Nice try, manipulating Kaladin, but you protested too much. You spent so much time spouting justifications. How long have you rehearsed those? Could you even convince yourself?

Kaladin points it out--Odium will never, never give Amaram peace. There is no absolution to be found there. Just the illusion.

The highprince’s entire chest had collapsed inward. There was no sign of ribs or internal organs. Instead, a large violet crystal pulsed inside his chest cavity, overgrown with dark veins. If he’d been wearing a uniform of padding beneath the armor, it had been consumed. He turned toward Kaladin, heart and lungs replaced by a gemstone that glowed with Odium’s dark light.

How does that power feel, Amaram? Kaladin keeps pointing it out--if you’re truly guiltless, if you truly believe the sanctimony you spit, why do you still hurt?

And Amaram is furious.

And he makes a mistake--he jumps into the air. And if you’re fighting Kaladin? You never go into the air. He manages--he slams Syl, a spear, against the gemstone at the heart of whatever Amaram turned himself into. And it cracks.

Kaladin floated downward toward him. “Ten spears go to battle,” he whispered, “and nine shatter. Did that war forge the one that remained? No, Amaram. All the war did was identify the spear that would not break.”

Amaram is howling, clutching his gemheart--which goes out. And the area goes down into darkness.

Unfortunately, the Fused are still coming.

Meanwhile, the thunderclast is collapsing. Renarin and the Thaylen Shardbearer have cut off its legs and one arm--that’s good. Glys is trying to give Renarin advice--- Light. You will make it go with light.

He summons stormlight, and the thunderclast’s eyes fade and it settles, dying back down. Renarin’s still worried--he saw himself dying on this day. But he’s alive.

Shallan, Veil, and Radiant are losing their army. But one figure doesn’t vanish like the others. Long black hair blown free of braids, she steps in between the trio of Shallans and the enemy.

Jasnah Kholin has arrived.

Also, at that moment, Shallan--the one who looked like Shallan-Shallan--was a fake, and Radiant was the real one, which alarms Jasnah for a moment. We’re cycling through names for Shallan with incredible speed. They finally, finally reach the top of the wall.

Renarin is heading for the Oathgate. He notes that while his fits seem to have stopped, he still sees the world differently--in our terms, Stormlight doesn’t heal autism because why the fuck would it? It’s not an illness.

Twelve Fused are hovering over the Oathgate. Renarin heads into the spanreed room, and reports that Urithiru has also been attacked. Strangely, the Kharbranth faction has fallen completely silent. Unsurprising.

So he turns to go open it himself--and is startled and surprised when nobody tells him not to. Renarin gets new fits, now--ones where it looks like stained glass spreads around him, forming panels of images. What he sees...it makes him smile.

“You’re wondering why I’m smiling,” Renarin said. They didn’t respond. “Don’t worry,” Renarin said. “You didn’t miss something funny. I...well, I doubt you’ll find it amusing.” Light exploded from the Oathgate platform in a wave.

I’m gonna take a wild shot in the dark, here, and say: FUCK YEAH, BRIDGE FOUR.

YEP Bridge Four has come through, let by a Knight Radiant with a Shardspear.

Teft.

Shallan is still lost in all three of her, but she says that after she rests, she thinks she can settle down to being one. Rock starts nagging Renarin about getting his uniform ruined, Lyn rats out the fact that Rock got hurt when he tries to pretend it’s nothing. Fortunately, they’re near Kal--they’re getting stormlight again.

“Kaladin is close,” Rock agreed. “Ha! I feed him. But here, today, he fed me. With light!” Lyn eyed Rock. “Storming Horneater weighs as much as a chull...” She shook her head. “Kara will fight with the others--don’t tell anyone, but she’s been practicing with a spear since childhood, the little cheater.”

I love all the little ways people--Renarin, Kara, Lyn herself, everyone really--violates gender norms.

Rock hugs Renarin--Ren is a little uncomfortable, as this was not a time he was okay with just being...randomly grabbed for a hug (big mood, Renarin), but he’s so, so glad Bridge Four has arrived.

Dalinar is drifting in the Thrill. And Lift comes in, pressing the ruby into his hand. Dalinar remembers what Taravangian said about luring in spren, trapping them.

And, for the last time in his life, he embraces the Thrill. He embraces Nergaoul. He thanks it, and it is so, so happy to be praised.

“Now, old friend, it is time to rest.”

Kal is fighting like eight-on-one. He doesn’t have to win, though--he just has to survive.

Meanwhile, whatever Dalinar is doing, it’s making Nergaoul thrash and writhe, and the Fused are running. And then it implodes, and the Everstom grows still.

AND GUESS WHO FUCKING ISN’T DEAD:

A scraping sound came from nearby, and then a violet light flickered in the darkness. A shadow stumbled to its feet, dark purple light pulsing alive in its chest cavity, which was empty save for that gemstone. Amaram’s glowing red eyes illuminated a distorted face: his jaw had broken as he’d fallen, and gemstones had pushed out of the sides of his face at awkward angles, making the jaw hang limp from his mouth, drool leaking out the side. He stumbled toward Kaladin, gemstone heart pulsing with light. A Shardblade formed in his hand. The one that had killed Kaladin’s friends so long ago.

AND HE’S ABOUT TO STRIKE AMARAM DOWN, AND KALADIN SAYS “BRIDGE FOUR.” AND AN ARROW SLAMS INTO AMARAM FROM BEHIND.

AND ANOTHER SHOOTS HIM RIGHT THROUGH THE GEMHEART, AND ROCK IS GLOWING ON THE RUBBLE, WITH AMARAM’S SHARDBOW.

Sometimes, Kaladin doesn’t have to save everyone. Sometimes, it’s time for them to save Kaladin.

Dalinar is crying as he cradles the gemstone containing Nergaoul. It’s over. It’s over.

#oathbringer spoilers #stormlight archive liveblog #dalinar voice: unite them #shut the fuck up rayse #radiants being radiant #herald sighting #god do i hate meridas amaram #adolin kholin is a ray of sunshine #FUCK YEAH BRIDGE FOUR

22 notes · View notes

moiraineswife · 7 years

Text

Autistic Jasnah

Okay, but autistic!jasnah is is important to me.

(apart from being like...super likely. Jasnah has poor social skills, special interests in her research projects, black and white thinking, comes off as emotionless/very withdrawn, very logical patterns of thinking and reasoning, and she’s related to Renarin as well, who is autistic in canon, making it more likely she is as well, since there appears to be some kind of genetic link with autism)

But it’s also important because: we definitely, definitely need more lady autistics in fiction.

We definitely need more older/adult autistics represented in fiction.

We definitely need more nuanced, flawed, complex autistic characters.

She’s effectively an autistic superhero. Can we take a moment to appreciate how fucking badass that is? Okay. Thanks.

But her being autistic presents another wonderful opportunity: autistic representation where more than one autistic character is actually presented, and there are two autistic characters who actually, like, interact with one another. What a concept.

But also, like....the possibilities with Jasnah and young!Renarin. (IF Jasnah is the only other autistic Kholin...and I’d, like, aggressively volunteer Navani as another, but, for the purpose of this hc, I won’t be greedy atm)

But, okay, Jasnah interacting with little!Renarin and everyone else is...a little bit....unsure of what to do with him, to put it frankly. He’s SO unlike Adolin, boisterous and loud, and constantly giggling at everything, and talking non-stop. Renarin is quiet, and withdrawn, and doesn’t seem particularly interested in playing with, or in the same ways, his brother does.

Adolin is a good brother, even at that age, and he tries to include Renarin, share his toys with him, let him join in on his games, and introduce him to other kids to play with. But it’s pretty obvious pretty quickly that Renarin is just like nopenopenopenopenope not here for this, and Adolin, who is a considerate soul, even at a young age, lets him sit by himself somewhere quiet, and peaceful, with a few little toys Adolin doesn’t really understand as being fun (little puzzles and cubes and boxes, and stones that are shiny and smooth and feel nice, that can also be Organised) because it seems to make his brother happy.

He does feel quite bad, though, because even though Renarin is happy, he worries that he’s excluding him. So he has words with Aunt Jasnah because something in his smol, wise brain informs him she’s the one to talk to. She’s like a giant lady version of Renarin, he gets the same Vibes from them.

Jasnah is a little startled that she’s being sought out to provide this advice. But after about 0.5 seconds of Adolin talking she’s...Pretty sure she understands what’s going on.

She gets up and goes to Renarin who is, as is his wont, huddled in a little corner somewhere chilling and spends about....a minute with him and then she just...Knows. She knows that this little dude is like her. And she smiles, because she can help him.

First off, she takes Adolin aside, and she talks to him. He’s pretty young at this point, and she’s not very good at watering things down for kids, but he understands it’s important, and does his best, and understands most things. She explains about autism, what it is, just the basics, really. And then she explains to him that she is autistic, which he knows, in the sense that someone has said the words ‘Jasnah is autistic’ to him before, but he’s never really understood. So she explains.

Adolin’s eyes widen and before Jasnah has said it, he’s put two and two together and is asking in a soft, hushed voice, if Renarin is autistic took. Jasnah smiles at him. She tells him that yes, she suspects that he is. Adolin asks lots and lots of questions, which Jasnah answers. He wants to know how he can help his brother, and how he can make him happy and safe and comfortable.

Jasnah explains about not overwhelming him with his friends, even though she knows he wants him to feel included, he has to let him decide for himself if that’s what he wants. Same with playing with his brother vs playing on his own. She explains about meltdowns, and shutdowns, being non, or semi-verbal, and stimming.

Adolin absorbs it all like a very eager, dutiful little sponge, and she sends him on his way. (He definitely comes home one day with like...a million stim toys he’s gotten for Renarin to try. He definitely gave him the box he has in canon, it’s his favourite and he loves it. Adolin is v proud)

As Renarin gets older, and becomes more aware of his autism, and his differences, he gravitates naturally towards Jasnah. There’s an understanding between them. Even though they’re obviously different people, they have this one central similarity that builds this little foundation between them, and they get quite close.

Jasnah is obviously quite a few years older than Renarin is, and has various tried and tested methods of dealing with things, coping mechanisms, and helps him spot sensory issues, as well as providing scripts for dealing with social encounters.

Oh, and they definitely, definitely talk to each other about their special interests.

Renarin is someone Jasnah can ALWAYS tell all of the details about her research too (because he understands that all of the details are important to know, and that none can be missed out, in case it was vital, even when everyone else insists that a good 60% of what she’s saying is ‘unnecessary’ Renarin gets it)

And Renarin does the same thing with her. Seeks her out whenever he’s discovered something new about his current special interest and just Has to tell someone all about it, and of course she patiently listens to him. And definitely gives him the tools to further research it efficiently and accurately.

Renarin will also seek Jasnah out when he’s non-verbal. Even though Dalinar and Adolin sort of understand, or at least recognise what’s happening, and both refuse to push him into talking...He just feels more comfortable with Jasnah. Because she Understands, in a way that the others just can’t.

I JUST.

LET ME HAVE JASNAH AS AN OLDER AUTISTIC TAKING SMOL!AUTISTIC RENARIN UNDER HER WING AND HELPING HIM NAVIGATE AND UNDERSTAND THEIR WORLD IN A POSITIVE, PRODUCTIVE WAY. PLEASE. I have a lot of feelings abt this.

#jasnah kholin #renarin kholin #stormlight archive #brandon sanderson #jasnah is fucking autistic okay. you can fight me. brandon sanderson could descend into my uni room rn and tell me she's not #and i'd laugh at him. bc bro. /SHE IS/.#kholin family feels #pls god let them interact in oathbringer P L E A S E #they're also both radiants like ????? HELLO!?#just let me have them bonding okay #please god #i will give u anything #this means A Lot to me okay #ALSO I GOTTA TALK ABT ADOLIN BEING A V GOOD BROTHR #AND DALINAR BEING A V GOOD DAD #AND NEVER EVER ONCE MAKING RENARIN'S AUTISM ABT THEM #THEY JUST SUPPORT HIM AND TRY TO UNDERSTAND THEM IN THE BEST WAY THEY CAN #AND I JUST ;AOREIHCNR;OIECHREC #renarin's rep is so fucking good it makes me WEEP TEARS OF JOY #u can totally reblog this if ur allistic btw SPREAD THE AUTISTIC!JASNAH LOVE WITH ME #actuallyautistic #actually autistic #autistic headcanons #text post tag #someone pls pickle brandon's brains on this i must know

123 notes · View notes

nightblink · 6 years

Text

Blink Reads Oathbringer - Chapters 22-30

Chapter Twenty-Two – The Darkness Within

MRAIZE IT'S FUCKING MRAIZE SHIT SHIT ABORT MISSION AB O R T

She's definitely referring to Adolin as the whitespine here, hinting entirely unsubtly that she believes he (or at least a Kholin or one of their army) killed her husband. But does she have information we don't know about? Also, mark 2 for Adolin being associated with whitespines.

Go Adolin, that is exactly what needed to be said. And! Ialai's actually listening! She's treating Shallan like little more than a servant, though, and that is a very deliberate slight to her honor/authority.

!!! So. Ialai has no idea of Mraize's Ghostblood affiliations? Okay, okay, I'm now less on edge regarding this interview.

Oh shit, Shallan, he knows. Did you honestly think he wouldn't have that tidbit of information?

“You killed Jasnah.” Shallan. You just said yourself last chapter that you (a Radiant) could survive a sword through the chest. I'm amazed that you haven't put two and two together yet.

Ooooo. The “wrongness”? Was there some Ancient Evil in a Can that was unleashed when the Alethi came through the Oathgate? Well, no matter that or something else, “securing Urithiru” is a goal you can both get behind.

The little snub with the tea is perfect petty revenge (coupled with a bit of power maneuvering).

AMARAM. Goddamn it, I thought you were discredited! Only among the Kholins, it seems, Damn it. And Shallan still thinks you were the one that Killed Helaran. This is going to be a shitshow.

And Adolin's first thought is 'Kaladin isn't going to like this.' Ahhhhh, bless.

Adolin, you did well, even if you did almost punch her. You may not be good at politics, but you manage.

STORMS ARE BACK.

Chapter Twenty-Three – Storming Strange

Deceiving an honest person, Kaladin? [gasps] But hey, you and the Parshmen will be safe. With any luck, staying out of the storms will also mean they won't be exposed to Odiumspren of any kind.

Everstorm Count: 2 passes

Heh, he's a stubborn old man, Kal – you might not be able to slip this one past him. ...or not, that works too

The spren “have a destination in mind”. That does not bode well. Odium will need an army, not just a Champion, and turning them all in one place might be his plan rather than leaving them in smaller numbers with a better chance of getting overwhelmed by Rosharan forces.

Speaking of things the Parshmen stole from you, have you been checking back with the spanreed to- Ahhh, no, they took that too.

The spren! Stone/earth associations at the moment; perhaps flame, but that's colour alone. Still not entirely sure what kind of spren she is.

...I think she suspects, Kal.

Chapter Twenty-Four – Men of Blood and Sorrow

“Dalinar remembered.” That alone is enough to make me screech and bounce around the room, he remembers, he remembers-!

“not true golden, like the hair of the Iriali” okay Sanderson I will give you this but I'm still set on very subtle metallics, which is quite reasonable given the shared heritage between the Iriali and Rirans

Okay, so not a whole lot of memories returned, but still. INFO ON EVI. AAAAAHHHHHH-

“He didn't remember love” I have the feeling that that's going to change. You don't do something as drastic as going to the Nightwatcher to forget her loss if wasn't a pain that pierced deep.

What was your bargain with the Nightwatcher, We still don'y actually know. Sanderson, this better get explained later. Currently I'm of the opinion that the Nahel bond is interfering with it somehow.

Oh no oh noooooo, it's Taravangian. What are you planning…

“this man had been a friend to Gavilar” - and Gavilar was likely part of the Diagram as well, in that case and considering the political and military power he wielded

Or. Or not. Five years ago must have been when it started, and Gavilar was two years cold by then.

NEW RADIANT NEW RADIANT. Malata. No indication of what Order she is, but to work the Oathgate she has to have a living Shardblade, so there's no question there that she is one.

And here I thought assassinations weren't very Alethi, Dalinar.

What a way to drop the chapter title, ooof. That's something for Dalinar to think on.

Navani with the power dress, awwww yeah.

[winces] And they're underestimating Taravangian immensely, as he probably planned.

DUSTBRINGER. DUSTBRINGER DUSTBRINGER DUSTBRINGER TELL ME WHAT THE OATHS ARE, TELL ME-

I… had not considered that she might have one of the other Honorblades rather than being a Radiant.

“Lore about people dealing with their curses, and seeking any cure for them, is practically its own genre.” And now I want a peek at in-world novels covering this.

Oop, and the Stormfather confirms that it's not the Nahel bond causing the memory resurgence. There goes my theory.

Well. That Tukari “god-king” seems… unhinged. He's not going to roll over anytime soon, and I worry that Dalinar might end up fighting a war on two or more fronts here. Negotiation isn't going to do anything.

No one believes that you won't attack. No one believes that you, in particular, have changed, and what reason would they have to do so? No more than they do to believe that the warring Alethi will do anything else either.

How much of a tyrant will you be, Dalinar Kholin?

Chapter 25 – The Girl Who Looked Up

The sketch-picture page preceding this chapter is really unsettling. Seriously, Shallan, you need a therapist.

The note before the chapter isn't particularly reassuring either.

Perhaps there is information here, and you just haven't delved deep enough to find it.

A theatre! Oh man, yeah, Pattern would love the theatre. THE BEST KIND OF LIES.

Acting out the play with stormlight figures! Excellent practice for moving illusions that are separate from the Radiant.

Bit of an Attack on Titan vibe going on from that wall and the lack of wondering about its origins.

Eyeless crowd? Creepy, Shallan. You'd better save some of that spherelight for your walk back too.

“All but one” WAIT. WHAT. A shadowy figure? Spren or human? Considering Shallan, could be either.

Aaaaaand she's slipping into Radiant's personality again. Again the name changes.

Why the different light-versions of yourself? To confuse the shadow? To light the room? What…? I'm confused.

Oh, shit- Yeah, spren. With extra body horror.

She's changing personalities even easier than before. It seems she's still consciously doing it, but she doesn't have to spend any time getting into the mindset of another personality anymore. It simply flows.

Rock? It attacked Rock? Like Shallan stabbed the Horneater called Ur at the bar. And after Sadeas, that mirror-murder was a soldier. The spren – it has to be this shadow-spren - it's looking for at least some physical commonalities in its choice of victim. It's not just murder it's reenacting either – just. Violence. Maybe there needs to be blood involved? Or an emotion like fear?

“I don't want to be blind anymore.” Oooo, another seeking secrets. This definitely won't be the last we see of you, Ishnah.

Chapter Twenty-Six – Blackthorn Unleashed

MORE EVI MORE EVI-

So the Heralds are still 'worshipped' in Iri, even if the names are changed, and they have a similar practice of burning prayers. The largest difference is the 'god' at the top of the chain – possibly split between Honor and Cultivation, or perhaps the origin of the Iriali's 'One' stretches all the way back to Adonalsium.

Oh, you'll know in a few decades what it takes to earn the ardent's displeasure, and by then you'll care more about it as well.

I love Evi already.

Dalinar “what are hugs” Kholin

AYYYY SEBARIAL~~~ not showing up. [snickers] Trying to play both sides to the end while not fighting himself.

Oh interesting. The Plate belongs to Evi and not her brother? Considering the accusation that they 'stole' it, it's not a question of which one has a more legitimate claim to the Plate, so it was decided that the Plate would go to Evi. Huh.

Ryshadium! And you tell that by that fact that they're followed by musicspren. That's… unexpected. Some connection to the Listeners and their Rhythms, or perhaps the Dawnsingers?

Oooo, Dalinar is not feeling charitable right about now – probably still mulling the possibility of fratricide over in his brain. “Stay out of my way” indeed.

[winces] He revels in the death and destruction and men fall by the dozens with burned-out eyes, so different from the Dalinar we know. This is deadly momentum – something had to change even before the night of Gavilar's death, a decision of some kind, or Dalinar would probably have looked to Herdaz or Jah Keved next and steamrolled onwards until he dropped dead.

…..that redness does not seem normal , even for the Thrill. I'm sensing something else going on.

Kadash? I though you said in the future that you left after the battle at the Rift? ...huh. There must be a second time they fight there, because you're still here.

“He felt sad to have to engage a Shardbearer, instead of continuing his fight against the ordinary men.” That's…. You're not addicted to the fight. You're addicted to the kill.

Slate-grey plate even way back then. Even before the Codes, you were never one for ornamentation.

Oh! That's Elhokar's Shardblade, Sunraiser!

'Bloodstance – a stance for someone who didn't care if he got hit.' No details on what that stance looks like? Come ooooon. Still, if it was an unarmed man against a Shardbearer, that's be one thing. Shards against Shards? This could get ugly.

This fight would be so brutally good animated.

Loving the change in setting when they get to the peak, and then the change in style that the terrain necessitates. The surge of bloodthirst in the Thrill, however...

[winces] That thirst for killing isn't abating, this is not good… and there's Gavilar. Within running distance, in possession of a heart that beats and things that Dalinar wants. This is it, this is when he considers, but it he actually going to go for it, shit shit shit, he is, shit-

And stops at the last second. Stormfather.

You do deserve shamespren.

There's it, that's the decision. 'I must never be king.'

Picture at the end of the chapter: Did we really need to see the oozing horror of that spren? Did we really? [shudders]

Chapter Twenty-Seven – Playing Pretend

Shallan curled up all comfortably is a good sign. The fact that the strange shadow-figure is definitely some kind of Odium-spren, not at all. Also not encouraging is that Shallan refers to “Radiant” as if she were separate.

Something is cutting off their lines of communication. Deliberately. Fuuuuuuuuuck.

I support Aladar in the use of some judicious ass-kicking.

YES GIVE US MORE ON THE NEW MAYBE-RADIANT. 'Spark' is a good name for a spren, but that bit about destroying things… We need to know what kind of spren the Dustbringers bond to. Now.

Oooo, so she's not on board with uniting the Radiants despite the fact that she is one? That's new – we haven't seen Lift or Szeth since Edgedancer, but this is the first new 'Radiant' to appear that's come and announced her dissatisfaction, even if it's to Shallan and not Dalinar the Bondsmith.

Ialai and Amaram. How are you two going to throw a wrench into proceedings this time…?

Oh shit. Oh shit.

“Everything I've done is for the greater good, Dalinar. Everything.” [Obi-Wan voice echoing in the distance] 'From a certain point of view…' Ugh, Amaram, you slime. Somehow you keep rising in power and authority and you do it all in “““acceptable””” ways. Can we punt your sorry ass to Braize to burn yet.

“Highprince.” “Highprince.” “Bastard.” THANK YOU ADOLIN

It's a good thing Dalinar “suggested” he leave and take a moment or he'd probably punch Amaram right there in front of everyone, then at least once more since Kaladin's not there.

Oh shit, you're telling him you suspect Amaram killed Helaran? Whoa. On one hand, I love that you're opening up and trusting someone, on the other, this could complicate things when it comes up that Kaladin is the actual one who won-

Adolin knows. And he's telling her in return. Ffffffffftttttttt-

And there she goes trying to repress the knowledge. Doesn't seem to be working this time.

Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck she doesn't remember drawing those pictures. Slipping one personality into the dominant state of mind is one thing, but this is even more worrying.

Ooo, going to bring your men sort-of into the plan? Whatever the plan is? ….please don't intentionally get any of them killed.

Chapter Twenty-Eight – Another Option

Wait, wait, wait. No. Bad idea. Don't destroy (or try to destroy) your Oathgate. That is a terrible idea and have you run this past Gawx and Lift yet? Have you done the right paperwork for this?

At least he has Shallan's report on the murderspren now. It's not comforting that it has peepholes everywhere. Watching. Waiting.

Surge practice! You need it Dal, you're the most unfamiliar of the lot with your abilities.

Adding 'mink' to the list of Rosharan critters. But do we assume for now that it's furry like an Earth mink, or some sort of carapaced version?

“garnet-lit tongue” - probably an equivalent of what we know as silver-tongued

Yeah, everyone still thinks that you're going to use your new Fast Travel to conquer them. Considering your history as well as your country's, I can't blame them for the reluctance.

Bridge Four needs him, but not for a murder- oh. They found the sword. Oh. Stormfather is not happy about you even touching that, much less carrying it around

Oh shit is he taking it back to Ialai?! Yes, yes he is. Makes sense, but handing another Shardblade over to Amaram gives me bad shivers.

Speaking of which, FUCK OFF, AMARAM

[winces] He's not wrong on the point about hypocrisy, I have to give him that much (even if it pains me) and Dalinar needed to hear it. However, it's tying back to Dalinar's realization after his vision of Nohadon, when he found out that he must have written the in-book The Way of Kings once he'd already solidified power. I wonder if he'll realize that…?

Oh goddamn it, not Taravangian

They're talking… religion? And The Way of Kings. Taravangian is going to interpret some of those stories or morals in a vastly different way than Dalinar, I suspect. Either that or he'll confirm Dalinar's, and we the readers will be left screaming in frustration

Dalinar, Dalinar, he's advocating that the ends justify the means, do not follow down this path…

“But sometimes a hypocrite is nothing more than a person who is in the process of changing.” And you have changed so much from the man you once were, Dalinar. You don't deny that.

Wait, what.

The Stormfather confused is hilarious.

I am cackling over the thought of Dalinar storm-projecting to the other monarchs. Not accepting my invitations? Fine, I'll just barge into your head during a Highstorm! CAN'T KEEP ME OUT NOW~

Chapter Twenty-Nine – No Backing Down

Back to Veil again, and worrying about Shallan's mental state.

Her description of the thing she saw, that she knows is watching – the sound of a tunnel extending into darkness, the feel of breath on the back of your neck in a dark room – I'm definitely creeped out. Consider me creeped.

Do your soldiers know you as Veil, or do they only know Shallan? Ahh, just Shallan. So it remains that only the Ghostbloods know about your dual (at least) nature.

A fingering joke, are you kidding me. Well, at least he's taking her rejection with nothing more than an ah well.

Her personalities are delineating themselves, becoming more distinct and real unto themselves. But was it any of these main three – Shallan, Veil, and Radiant – that drew the disturbing pictures? She remembers what she does as those three, so what if there's another personality lurking, submerged, that she doesn't know about….? I am concern.

Yeah, I thought it might be the hanging rather than the bashing. Given the choice, it'll probably go for the more violent of two acts.

Well if that isn't a mouth to the void… [shudders] Shallan, I don't like the thought of you staying here alone, especially since this Hellmouth is somehow in your sketchbook and you don't know how it got there.

I am very concern about your personality shifts, Shallan.

Well, Pattern may have worded it in such a way that he overstated the danger, but still, good to see that Adolin is taking all the precautions he can, even if that means two men in Plate, a second Radiant for backup, and the entirety of Bridge Four.

Renarin is definitely sensing something too – this wrongness that permeates the city. But! B4 accepting him! Needling fun at him and treating him like any other part of Bridge Four! Ahhhh, Renarin, I'm so glad to see people other than your family appreciating you.

I'm with Drehy on this one. Fuckin' nope.

Down into the abyss, which… has colour down below? Mosaics of Honor and Cultivation? Was this once the true center of Urithiru?

Renarin's carrying a Shardblade which must be (is most likely???) Glys, but we get no visual description? Come on, Sanderson!

Truthwatchers and Lightweavers share the Illumination Surge. Perhaps their ability to sense the wrongness - “illuminating” the hiding shadow, if you will – is tied to that.

[winces] Jasnah is not going to be happy at finding the library she sought ruined.

…..oh no.

oh fuck

“One of the Unmade. Re-Shephir… the Midnight Mother.”

Okay, one: ten rubies says that this thing is the origin of the Midnight Essence that Dalinar saw in his vision of the past, back in the first book. Two: Renarin how the fuck do you know what it's called? Are the Unmade part of general Voidbringer lore in Vorinism? Three: time to beat a hasty retreat

Of course Adolin's going to dash right in to cover the retreat, Shallan, what did you expect?

And now we finally get a bit of description of the Glysblade(?) - “long and thin, with a waving pattern to the metal” - still no indication if curved or straight, but my current guesstimate is katana-like

BATTLE CLERIC RENARIN, FUCKYEAH

Shallan. Shallan what are you doing.

Fighting shadow with light. Yessssssss.

Well then. To fight or back down? You noted only moments ago that she could have swept you away with little effort. With light in the hands of a Lightweaver, will that be enough to do… whatever it is you're planning?

(Side note, what else am I a sucker for? Oh yeah, battle couples. Goddamn it.)

“The pain of an Ideal sworn, but not yet overcome.” I'm going to sound like a broken record with the way I keep repeating therapist. You need to face this and talk it out, Shallan, and with another, not-Pattern person.

“She was those women, those girls, every one of them. And none of them were her. They were things she used, manipulated. Illusions.” And Veil is among them as well. I'm. Not sure what to think of this, if she's thinking it in a literal manner or on a deeper level. It could be a sign of self-realization, or it might not.

Whatever it is, everyone is screwed if you don't manage to at least make it retreat.

[yells loudly about safehands as a sign of intimacy and trust and that's the method through which she's letting the thing in – and pressing back in return]

Chapter Thirty – Mother of Lies

That title alone is unsettling.

“not completely aware, not completely cognizant.” So, like pretty much all the other non-bonded spren in the Physical Realm, except this is definitely a Thing Of Odium. And it immediately tries to tear the Nahel bond apart.

!!! She's a true Splinter then?

It's gone all dark and Pattern's physically there in his larger form – I'd lay spheres that they're somehow halfway into (or at least dipping a toe into) the Cognitive Realm.

They bound her. One of the Unmade, and a Lightweaver of the past actially managed to bind her. But with all these shadows coming up into Urithiru… I doubt that's the case right now. She was freed, or broke free. And now she remains close, though deeper in the bowels of the mountain.

….you could hold a lot of stormlight in those gems.

#oathbringer spoilers #blink reads oathbringer

3 notes · View notes

preservationandruin · 6 years

Text

Oathbringer Liveblog Part Two; Chapters 44-48

Sorry for the delays! I have a life and it is busy.

Shallan seems to bond with another Radiant a little, we look in at Bridge Four new and old, Jasnah talks with Ivory, and we get a view into what’s going on in Alethkar.

The epigraph mentions that the writer has “many realms”--that’s interesting. Also they’re either speaking for a group of people or using the royal We--both are possible.

Anyway, Veil is lounging around with her boots up on a table. Also, we get a slang word-- deevy, meaning pretty cool, and Ishnah is trying to teach the dudes of Shallan’s gang how to be spies while Veil peoplewatches and drinks. We also get that “she’s grown some nice rockbuds” might be slang for “she has nice tits.” This information is courtesy of Gaz. Ishnah has them try to repeat people they saw in the tavern without looking again; when it’s Veil’s turn, she rattles off a long list of information. Veil is so absorbed in this that she almost forgets one of Shallan’s meetings.

One day, someone might realize that they never see Veil and Shallan in the same place. Of course, Shallan can fix that with illusions, but the question is if she’ll think to before someone catches that particular wrinkle. Interestingly, the personas are getting more distinct--Shallan is irritated at how much Veil drinks, Veil thinks Shallan’s preoccupation with scholarly questions gets nothing done.

Anyway, there’s a meeting going on in the library, including May Aladar, who I still like, and a bunch of other scribes and learned people. Shallan also got so caught up in thinking about Veil that she basically just froze in the doorway for a few moments. Shallan, this way of life is interesting, but it’s going to become unsustainable soon.

The woman’s arrogance was what Shallan didn’t like--not, of course, that Adolin had been courting Janala soon before meeting Shallan. She had once tried to avoid Adolin’s former romantic partners, but...well, that was like trying to avoid soldiers on a battlefield. They were just kind of everywhere.

In case anyone forgot about Adolin Kholin’s train wreck love life. Anyway, Shallan almost considers that she might need another persona to deal with scholarly stuff and then starts panicking--because isn’t that who she is? Isn’t Shallan the scholar?

She’s starting to fracture.

Anyway, Renarin was sent to listen to the meeting--he’s clearly very uncomfortable, stimming and perched nervously on his seat. He noticed something important, but when he pointed it out everyone started lowkey mocking him--and Shallan got indignant for his sake.

“Surely, Janala, you didn’t just try to insult the son of the highprince.” “What? No, no of course I didn’t.” “Good,” Shallan said. “Because if you had been trying to insult him, you did a terrible job.”

She proceeds to viciously drag Janala. Unfortunately, Navani was probably going to do it better, and this does get her another Jasnah lecture. Anyway, Renarin seeks her out to say thank you, and also is surprised and happy that he can see Pattern--because Pattern can’t go invisible, just blend into things.

“Thank you.” “For?” “Defending my honor. When Adolin does that, someone usually gets stabbed. Your way was pleasanter.” “Well, nobody should take that tone with you. They wouldn’t dare do it to Adolin.”

I am here for the pair of them getting to be on better terms. Anyway, they’re both feeling that the gemstone center powers the entire city as a fabrial. He also gives her some tips on avoiding getting infuriated by Jasnah. Surge of Illumination Bros.

And Dalinar came to listen too--because he didn’t want Renarin to feel awkward. Nobody will make fun of Renarin for being “unmanly” for being there if the Blackthorn is also doing it.

...Back to Moash. Great. He’s basically being kept as a slave, now, by the parshmen. The Parshmen are giving out work to the humans--including the lighteyes, something that Moash relishes a little. He finds Guff, an old caravaneer who he knew. He finds a group in resistance--and realizes that even there, the lighteyes are still in charge.

He wasn’t broken. All of them were broken. Alethi society--lighteyed and dark. Maybe all of humankind.

Gang, I think Moash is having a bit of either an existential crisis. He just doesn’t react to anything, and signs himself up for the worst job he possibly can. That...doesn’t bode well. I’m worrying that he’s leaning toward a “so let me be evil” moment.

Over to actual Bridge Four, with Skar! He’s irritated--out of all of them, only him, Dabbid, and Rlain haven’t been able to draw in Stormlight, and he’s trying to push himself harder. Anyway, Sigzil is trying to logic out Lashings; Drehy has gotten it down, and they’ve been practicing racing with Stormlight--Drehy beat Lopen, who had the previous best time.

“You stopped for food on the way, Leyten.” Sigzil said. “Even Rock beat your time, and he was skipping like a girl the last third.” “Was Horneater dance of victory,” Rock said from near Leyten. “Is very manly.”

I. adore Bridge Four. Also, they’ve started explaining their pasts to each other; Skar explains that he tried to get into the army, but they wouldn’t take him because he was a “runt.” He’d tried to steal their armor to get in, and got branded as a slave.

Teft was an addict. Drehy had struck an officer. Eth had been caught planning to desert with his brother. Even simple Hobber had been part of a drunken brawl.

Anyway, Kaladin’s late, which irritates them. He does show up, though, with more hopefuls.

Kal: it feels wrong, having lighteyes at bridge four skar: other than you, and renarin, and any of us if we win Blades, and Rock technically is a lighteyes with his people-- Kal: fine i get your point

Skar points out that with Bridge Four, good-natured ribbing is the norm and what you have to watch out for is when they’re not being assholes. He and Lyn start commiserating about how much they want to be out there, being able to fight and fly with the others. He gives her a speech--a pep talk of sorts--and she actually manages it, becoming the first female Windrunner Squire of the group. He also realizes--he did something similar for Rock. He is about to go say that he’s going to join Rock’s cook crew--and Rock lets him get halfway through before he points out that Skar is glowing.

I! LOVE! BRIDGE! FOUR!

And, apparently, we’re at Taln now. Interesting. We get his whole prepared speech--teach you to forge bronze, soulcast metal, So much is lost between Returns.

Okay, we were at Jasnah--she’s reading over Taln’s words. Ivory is with her--we get more of a description of him. He’s dressed in a formal suit, and is jet-black with slight prismatic elements to him. His features are too angular to be human, more like a statue. Jasnah feels like she’s losing her footing--things she spent her life slaving away at are now common knowledge, like the Parshmen being Voidbringers.

We get a glimpse into what might have started breaking Jasnah.

Something stirred deep within her. Glimmers of memory from a dark room, screaming her voice ragged. A childhood illness nobody else seemed to remember, for all it had done her. It had taught her that people she loved could still hurt her.

Jasnah is unsettled and haunted by the fact that the Heralds--Taln especially--have been driven mad, because she can always rely on her mind, “except once.” That’s probably important. Ivory is called an inkspren; it’s mentioned that Ivory’s generation basically had to raise themselves, as there were no elders around due to the Recreance. Also, he’s apparently the only inkspren to have bonded someone, marking Jasnah as the only current Elsecaller.

He had taken the name Ivory as a symbol of defiance. He was not what his kin said he was, and would not suffer what fate proclaimed.

I love him.

Some other notes: Jasnah thinks that Shallan might need more challenges, instead of more structure--and honestly, that’s probably a better way of handling Shallan. Also, the honorspren apparently once tried to rule Shadesmar. Spren politics, y’all.

And Jasnah mentions learning something from Wit--something Ivory insists will cause another Recreance. it’s the same secret that the Stormfather refuses to tell Dalinar, isn’t it.

Moash, again. The epigraph mentions that the speaker/s “stand in the sea, pleased with our domains.” He mentions that he’s one of the more enthusiastic workers, because honestly compared to bridge work the hard labor he’s doing is easy. Also, Moash is surprised that the Voidbringers actually treat their human slaves well. It’s calmed himself down, some. Unfortunately, he’s not really facing the facts here...

What happened at the Shattered Plains wasn’t my fault, he thought as he hauled the sledge. I was pushed into it. I can’t be blamed.

Sorry Moash, you can totally be blamed for that. You didn’t have to join the conspiracy. You didn’t have to keep going with it once Kaladin intervened. You didn’t have to stop going to stew nights, Moash, you broke yourself from Bridge Four long before you fought Kaladin.

Anyway, he’s realized they’re moving toward Kholinar. He’s starting to admire the Voidbringers, too--rationalizing that they were sent back because humanity didn’t deserve to govern itself. The only thing that mars his picture of the Parshmen as an efficient, more caring and humane version of the human armies--is the fact that they’re still keeping parshmen as slaves.

That’s...wow. The slave parshmen are treated worse than the human slaves.

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss, I guess. Apparently, that group ‘brought a false god into their group’ and the speaker looks up at the lfying Fused.

Oh, god. That’s Kaladin’s group. That’s the group that Kaladin travelled with, and they’re being punished for it. We haven’t seen the little girl, but--I’m hoping that she’s not there.

God, they didn’t fucking deserve that. Moash sees them whipping a fallen parshman from that group, and walks over, yelling at the parshmen to stop being like humans. He catches a whip meant to hit him, and tells the parshman to ride in the sledge to heal his feet, and takes his place.

There’s still a bit of Bridge Four left in the guy. A bit who isn’t willing to let the world be shitty without a bit of fighting back.

No one dared to again raise a whip against the parshmen crew the rest of the march.

#oathrbringer spoilers #stormlight archive liveblog #FUCK YEAH BRIDGE FOUR #ivory

13 notes · View notes