#have some spren names

[cosmerelists]

Top 10 Minor Stormlight Characters I Want To See More Of

Don't get me wrong. I will take 1500 pgs of Kaladin being Kaladin and Shallan being Shallan etc. etc. But there are some characters who just don't get very much screentime who I would LOVE to see featured in Stormlight 5. Here are my Top 10 picks!

[Contains spoilers for Stormlight!]

#10: Zu

I do love me some Windrunners, Lightweavers, and Bondsmiths, but I'd love to see some of the other Orders get featured too. Zu is a Stoneward (like Taln!) and she seemed cool in her brief appearances during the Shademar diplomatic trip. There's that bit about how she seems to be better at combat than her known background would suggest and how she seemed super perceptive...but mostly, I'm not gonna lie, I just want to learn more about Stonewards and cool ladies.

#9: Thude

I mean, since Stormlight 4 ended with [SPOILERS INCOMING WHOOP WHOOP] Venli finding the Listener community hidden away, I assume we'll get more from them in Stormlight 5?? I hope so! Thude in particular seemed cool: I feel like it was largely due to him that some Listeners escaped from Odium, and I'd just like to spend more time with those characters. Venli's mom too!

#8: Those two cute Ardents

I had to look up their names: Ashir & Geranid. They're the cute couple of Ardents who live on a Reshi Island and seem to be living their best lives? Ashir likes to eat sweet food and cook, and as a man this would be scandal were he not an Ardent. And Geranid is doing science experiments on flamespren. I would love to see what they're both up to these days!

#7: Axies the Collector

I just like learning about all the different spren, I think. And so Axies was a fun character to follow around. He needs to meet Kaladin so he can learn that imprisonment spren are real!

#6: Cusicesh

This is that big huge spren in Iri that rises out of the water at the same time every day and cycles through faces--we meet them in the Axies the Collector chapter. And I dunno! Something about Cusicesh just captured my imagination! What are they the spren of exactly?? Why are they so punctual?? What does it all mean?? I don't really expect to find out, to be honest, but I would love to visit there again.

#5: Azure

I know Azure is a major character in a certain other series, but she was a fairly minor part of Stormlight. But she was great! I don't know if she'll really be coming back--her heading off into Shadesmar felt final--but Nightblood is still on Roshar so maybe? I'd love to see more of her interactions with Rosharans!

#4: Malata

Here again we see my desire to just see more of the orders! We haven't seen much of the Releasers, and I'd like to see more. I don't want them to be written off as the "evil" order or something, and I think Malata is an interesting character.

#3: Dieno (The Mink)

Like, not only is Dieno a super interesting character in his own right, but he also provides a much-needed Alethi-critical perspective, I think. I'd definitely like to see him more in Stormlight 5!

#2: Cord

I mean, Cord was featured heavily in Dawnshard, but I'd say she's definitely more of a minor character in the main Stormlight series. And I'd love to see more of her! She's tough, cool, hopefully gay for Rysn...and I'm also a big fan of Rock, so I like seeing members of his family. I also appreciate that Rock & Cord have such different outlooks but still seem to have a really (rock?)solid relationship. Stormlight can use more healthy families, you know?

#1: Hesina

But the number one character I want to see more of and my actual motivation for writing this list is Hesina! I feel like Hesina has appeared quite a few times--certainly more than some of the others on this list--but her scenes usually also involve Kaladin and Lirin, and Kaladin and Lirin usually dominate the interactions. I am desperate to see more Hesina-as-Hesina, not just Hesina-dealing-with-the-father-son-drama-that-is-her-constant-background. I'd love to see Hesina interact with other characters too--I think there was been tumblr discussion of Hesina interacting with Adolin or more with Rlain: that'd be great! Honestly, I would take ANY Hesina POV section, as I'm not sure we've ever had one?

#morehesina2024!

[thatfoxnamedfinley]

Ten Heartbeats...aka The Way of Kings thoughts

Holy fuck my friends

holy FUCK

this is the longest book I've ever read while simultaneously being one of the best books I've ever read

Friends, students, juvenile delinquents. LEND ME YOUR EAR.

SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT, this is going to be a long one baby LETS GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooo

Them: Ok so everyone say their favorite character on three. Okay? One, Two, Three! -

Me: Szeth! Wait...er...I think actually it's Dalinar. Wait...but, Kaladin...er...and Syl too. Well, maybe...Wit...er...possibly Teft? Rock! Er...

Them:

The characters are EXCELLENT. Fascinating. Probably because the world building is so solid that they are able to all stand on their own in their own stories.

I know a big complaint is Shallan's parts in the beginning half (because we're so thirsty for Kaladin and Dalinar's stories) but I still really liked them. I know Capsule isn't the guy's name (spelled Kabsal I think) but I'm calling him Capsule. That's the one part I wasn't a huge fan of only because I'm not a fan of romance in anything I consume. There was a payoff at the end but still.

Now, I DO think that Jasnah CARRIED Shallan's chapters because a lot of what Shallan was trying to do revolved around Jasnah and stealing her Soulcaster and what Jasnah was researching and who Jasnah's father was and how intelligent Jasnah is. I actually found the philosophy of her killing those men in the alleyway to make Shallan more open minded to different ways of thinking to be quite brilliant. I also knew through other avenues of the story (Dalinar's POV) that what Jasnah was researching was major and the lore we would get from Shallan's POV would be invaluable to the world building. ESPECIALLY towards the back half when Shallan was drawing weird things and Capsule made his move to assassinate Jasnah (with bread and jam LMFAO bro)

The scene of Shallan running away from those creatures she was drawing was genuinely frightening, especially when she reached out towards the hand that was near her (in her drawing) and felt something there. I was like

And the soulcasting and that both she and Jasnah can do it without a soulcaster because...??????????? oh dont worry we dont know yet

And wtf is Shadesmar

like WTF is that place? WTF is there? What is it? A different plane? Are spren there? Are voidbringers there? Are not all spren good? Like, I know there are painspren and deathspren and rotspren and the question has continued to be asked if the spren are drawn to things or if they create them. But they seem to have limited intelligence (minus maybe Syl). But there's no reason to believe that maybe there are spren that aren't malicious; we just haven't seen them yet. They're in Shadesmar bitch

(side note, anticipationspren and gloryspren may be my fav, I can imagine them as little sprites with their hands raised in the air, lit af)

OH AND BITCH the revelation of the Parshmen being the VOIDBRINGERS????????????????? BITCH WTF

When it was mentioned the Voidbringers "hummed in song" I was like WAIT A FUCKING SECOND THERE'S NO FUCKING WAY

like WTF IS HAPPENING and when Jasnah was like "girlie, these bitches are ingratiated into every aspect of our society" Shallan and I were BOTH like

Kaladin and Syl. Baby boi and baby girl.

do not TOUCH me when Syl was holding up her little arms in front of the highstorm to try to shield Kaladin from it

When she brought him a leaf to make him feel better

Saying she tripped some men to get back at being mean to Kaladin and she was so proud of herself

At moments she gave Kaladin a reason to live and she was AMAZING. BOIIIIIII when she appeared a full woman next to Kaladin and the look on her face and the echo of his father's words making him go back and save Dalinar. Syl appearing like that honestly carried so much weight, especially when you find out she's an Honorspren. Spirit of oaths. Of promises. And nobility. And all of a sudden that moment and that battle had so much more gravity. I can close my eyes an imagine her hair blowing around her face as she watches Dalinar's banner fight to survive and the moment Kaladin realises he HAS to go help them....

BOIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

ok wait wait wait my heartrate is increasing let me travel back a little bit

Kaladin and the process of getting his Bridge Four homeboys to trust him was

Rock and Teft are LEGENDS. Rock being the first one to really see Kaladin as a leader was iconic.

I'm listening to the audiobooks (if you are unaware and this is a first book posting of mine you've seen) I'm a REALLY slow reader. I get distracted and I have ADD so I need to be moving and doing other things (even if it's just COLORING while I listen, I can't just sit and read but I'm trying to get better at it), and there's a bookmark+note I left on chapter 21:

"Rock, I fear, may be an actual legend"

I actually ended up liking Teft a little bit more than Rock by the end of the book but Rock being the first one to actually be open and willing to Kaladin's leadership made me really like him immediately.

I liked Teft a lot because he was the one constantly checking up on Kaladin and asking him if he was okay, giving him space when he needed it but still staying close to him and I thought that was really sweet. When you're depressed, sometimes someone just needs to BE there with you and Teft seemed to understand the burden of leadership. And of course it helped that he saw Kaladin glow like a flamespren on steroids after Kaladin survived a highstorm.

All due respect I'm so glad he survived the highstorm cause, *COUGH* prophecy *COUGH*, but Sanderson described him as basically flapping in the wind like a wet sock

I liked when they were doing the assault to save Dalinar (SADEAS YOU FUCKING BASTARD OH I'LL GET TO HIM) and Bridge Four was watching him fight with his spear and they were all watching in awe and the Teft snapped out of it like OUR BRIDGELEADER NEEDS US COME ON MEN

And they all charged I was like

I came around on Moash too eventually XD

Lopen was funny cause he had like 15 cousins that owed him favors and I'm like BRO WHO ARE YOU

Hoid being Sigzil's old master was a pleasant surprise. When he was telling that story to Kaladin by the fire I was like "Wait a minute is he also a Worldsinger?? He knows all this SHIT!" Then when it was revealed I was satisfied. A pleasant tie-in to that character that made the world seem more connected.

My working theory is that spren gave the Radiants their powers and they have to do like an "equal exchange" thing (like Shallan with that voice that wanted something) for their powers to fully manifest. I don't know that you're "BORN" with powers so much as chosen by a specific spren with a specific power. But girl, idk this is just what my brain is thinking after lying in bed with scrap paper like

Dalinar.

Stoic boi. Soft boi. Emotional boi. Pent up boi. Sadeas and Dalinar have this exchange in which he has this to say about Dalinar. From Chapter 26, ahem, let me read it:

"It's odd, how a leader's influence can affect his men," Sadeas said. "So many of these are like smaller versions of you. Bundles of emotion, wrapped up and tied until they become stiff from the pressure. They're so sure in some ways, yet so insecure in others."

[...]

"But don't you ever want to let it out, as you used to? Doesn't it pound on you inside, like someone trapped within a large drum? Beating, banging, trying to claw free?"

"Yes," Dalinar said.

[...]

"And the Thrill, Dalinar. Do you still feel the Thrill?"

*folds sheet of paper away* And not only does this sound like the beginning of a very intense gay fanfic (note that my bookmark note in the audiobook read as follows: Yo Sadeas, this pillow talk is WILD rn bro. "Do you still feel the Thrill?" BRO WE'RE ON A HUNT FOR A CHASMFIEND RN THIS IS *NOT* THE TIME MY GUY), but Navani echoes something similar later. Dalinar does too when they finally accept their feelings for each other. He says he HAS to live for something or else he spirals out of control. The Codes, Gavilar, the book. If he gives himself any "leeway on the leash" then he rages. I found that to be ever present in his character, always having to calm himself down and ESSENTIALLY do breathing exercises when people pissed him tf off.

I found Dalinar's POV quite captivating. A warlord, a feared warlord, who has visions of...crazy shit during these highstorms and really goes through this internal conflict of if he is mad or not and if he should abdicate to his son. His boon and curse are unknown to us from the NightWatcher (although alluding maybe his curse has to do with his wife as he doesn't even remember her name).

During the battle at the end with the Parshendi when Sadeas abandons him I had several thoughts and feelings during this

1.) Kaladin choosing to go save him was fucking EPIC. When Dalinar sees them charging back to them, a single lone bridge crew...using THAT as a hope and fighting through the army....GOOSEBUMPS BRO

2.) I think that Parshendi that said he had "finally found" Dalinar after searching for him was Odium. I really think this. The odd respectful saluting towards Dalinar...it was all so odd but it makes me feel what I felt since we saw his very first highstorm vision. Dalinar is chosen. A lot of our MCs are. For what, I don't know. But they're chosen for this Everstorm coming.

3.) SADEAS. You insidious POS. From Dalinar's POV, it was written so well that I actually thought Sadeas was an ally. Maybe I'm a dumb mother fucker. I did NOT anticipate Sadeas betraying him. I really didn't. It's a trope and I should of seen that shit from a mile away but I didn't.

4.) It's actually heatwarming how much Adolin loves his father. during his brief POV's he thinks about him a lot in a very loving manner and it's actually lovely to see that the relationships he has with his two sons are HEALTHY. In Chapter 12, Adolin states the reason he fights is that he can never forgive the Parshendi for bringing his father so much pain after the assassination of his brother. That's like...super sweet! He even states in the same chapter that he thinks his father is the greatest man alive. Seeing a loving, healthy dynamic between a father and his son was actually super, super special and unexpected. He still had moments where he challenged his father and Dalinar LETS him but he spends a lot of his time trying to understand his father's thoughts and I can't WAIT to see more of this dynamic as well as more of Adolin and Renarin (I have a feeling this dude will be a dark horse later) in later books.

World building is great. I literally felt like I was dropped into this world with no explanations, expected to figure everything out. While there are frustrations in that maybe, I really liked it. It took me about a week to work through this book (I read along with the audiobook, like someone was reading to me at night) and many a night was I awake til like 4am listening and thinking about it. In my bed all curled up, listening and imagining the world. Giggling sometimes, gasping. Clapping vigorously. I almost cried once.

THIS is how stories should be felt. Like I'm by a fire, wrapped up in a blanket given to me from another world, lost in the stories of the stars when I look up. One of the best experiences I've had with a book and I'm truly looking forward to the next book.

Until next time *salutes*

side thoughts pulled from audiobook bookmarked notes:

Dalinar giving up his Shardblade for Bridge Four and all of the bridgeman was kinda hot, ngl

Syl may be a GOAT

"Brightlord Sadeas," Wit said, taking a sip of wine. "I'm terribly sorry to see you here." LMFAOO WHAT A CUNTY ICON i love Wit

wait if men don't write how does Szeth know how wtf (Szeth is an actual baby angel and he may be the side character I want to know the most about. Super super interesting)

Teft kinda clutch

"What is that?" Gaz said, pointing. "Bridge Crew. Carrying what I believe is...yes, it's a bridge." Kaladin is lowkey a comedian

wait where tf did Gaz go later on

Bridge Four nodding knowingly when they see Kaladin talking to air LMFAOOOO I fear this bridge crew is iconic

[queen-kassiopeia-the-5th]

Dad-inar this, Father figure that. As much as we like to joke about this signing adoption papers for all the stormlight characters, and even actively doing so for Kaladin, Dalinar is a completely unfatherly person.

I'm not talking about the time when he was an alcoholic, by the way, or even the fact he soent so little time with his children because he was off comitting war crimes, to the point of not even remembering Renarin's name (though that does contribute to that).

Dalinar isn't at all compationate. He sees his sons having a hards time and doesn't do anything about it. I'm not saying he doean't love them or care for them - he does - but he watches from the sidelines as they struggle. Renarin with his epilepsy, feeling constantly not good enough or unworthy because he can't fight, and then being uncomfortable when he got his shardplate and shardblade, and just brushing it off. Even when he becomes a Radiant, and still feels out of place because of his corrupted Spren, Dalinar just kinda keeps avoiding him, even when Renarin has a vision he doesn't really want to go see him about it. Sure, we can say he doesn't trust Odium and believes the visions to be from him, but he doesn't even try to comfort or encourage Renarin, who is out there fighting alongside him in this war. The obly time he complements Renarin, btw, is in his own thpughts, when he heala Adolin in Oathbringer finale.

Samw with Adolin. He sees his son struggle with relashinships his entire life, frothing at the mouth at the idea of battles and duels, much like Dalinar was at his age, and what ultimately ruined him, and he doesn't try to explain this to Adolin. He doesn't offer him advice, sympephise with him, hear out his concerns. Even when he was a child, we see Dalinar really notica Adolin when he shares interest in millitary tactics or fighting, even though his inner monologue is affectionate, he slips his mind the moment the topic shifts from war. He even scoffs at Adolin was wearing a differently designed uniform, which he complements years later in RoW, or adressing his as Father instead of Commander.

He isn't fatherly rowards other characters as well. He shared his grief with Jasnah, when she reads him the Way of Kings, but he doesn't offer her condolences or support or even a shoulder to cry on, following Gavilar's funeral. He can see Kaladin is way over his head and still ignores it and doesn't inquire how to sort things out, if he can reliece some of the duties off of him, because he's the Stormblessed, and when Kaladin breaks, he dissmissed him immidiatly. No care, no offer to listen to prevent the issues in the future. Even when he sees Kal clinging to the side of the tower as Dalinar passes via a Higstorm vission, and Kaladin is litteraly dying before his eyes, he extorts him for information, and then thinks "well, he's got most of the situation under control".

Even with baby Gavinor, he practices swordfighting with him, but when the child is triggred by something, due to his horrible trauma and wants to go to bed to be alone with his thoughs, Dalinar looks at him in bed, clearly knowing the kid needs compation and support, and offeres him nothing. Just goes.

He isn't fatherly. He's a strong leader, and thinks like a millitary man, which makes sense, but he's very much not a father figure

[lord-of-hollows]

The Darkest Timeline: Roshar

Hear me out.

Thid is not what I believe will happen in Wind and Truth, just what I view as the worst case scenario, and why I feel that scenario works in the story.

After all this is part 5 of a 10 part series. There's surely gonna be some kind of wrench thrown in the works.

Odiums loophole is not to force a draw or anything like that. It's what comes after the fight. If he wins then has a fused Dalinar, then orders Fused Dalinar to do something so heinous he refuses, well then the contract is voided and so is the force binding Odium to the Rosharan system.

The Ghostbloods attack Adolin, killing him. Shallan is pretty clearly foreshadowed as a worldhopper and I think it only makes sense if she doesn't have anything to come back to, namely a husband. This also means her brothers aren't safe either.

Szeth steals all 10 Honourblades from his people and binds enough to acquire all Ten surges (the only ones technically unaccounted for are Talns and Ishars, Hoid has Talns and Ishar has his) this will allow him to convince Dalianr to let him serve as champion. He dies to Odiums champion, El, powered up by Yelig Nar.

Kaladin swears his final ideal. Just as Moash manages to push his spren killing dagger into Syl. Or maybe even after Ishar has managed to pull her into the physical realm. Kaladins arc moving forward seems to be him inventing therapy rather than fighting the front lines. Perhaps he'll regain Jezriens blade for Windrunner powers but he will not be an action hero in future like he has been. He'll become a retired side character giving the Heralds mental health treatments. A new Honourspren will try to bond him, he will refuse.

With Adolin dead, Rlain with the Singers and Dalinar a fused, Renarin is left to manage the Kholin dynasty. The boy is soft and gentle and not cut out for Alethi politics.

With Dalinar a fused, the Stormfather is made a deadeye. The consequence of this is the highstorm stops moving probably at or near somewhere incredibly inaccessible. Roshars ecology will never recover. Crem is basically required for plant life. As such the Tower will be the world's only source of light.

And to make this as bad as possible the epilogue will have Wit strutting about saying "Just as planned."

Bridge 4 is retired permanently, it's members being divided up among other areas of the Coalition army.

Book 6 begins with Dalinar refusing something Odium ordered and being dumped on Roshar again, like Taln in the epilogue of Book 1.

[peachdoxie]

Wind and Truth chapters 3 & 4 thoughts!

The Wind told me, before she vanished, that it was the change in Odium’s vessel that restored her voice. I wonder. Perhaps it is the new storm, making people begin to reconsider that the wind is not their enemy.

Hmm. This seems to imply that the in-world Knights of Wind and Truth was written after the events of Wind and Truth, or at least after Words of Radiance.

Strength could be a matter of perception sometimes. And today Shallan found she could choose strength.

Jasnah's words still echoing within Shallan, nice.

Maya was obviously paying attention. She wasn’t completely healed—her eyes were scratched out and her coloring was a wan brown instead of vibrant green like others of her kind—but she was getting better. She no longer wandered off or just stared blankly during conversations. She was also starting to talk more and more.

Yay!

“Some of us learned you could capture spren in gemstones,” he explained. “And Mishram—for all her power—is a spren. The Radiants prepared a flawless heliodor the color of sunlight, and they trapped her inside, then hid her prison. Not in the Physical Realm, and not in Shadesmar.” He bit his lip, then forced out another part. “In the Spiritual Realm. Melishi hid it there.”

Well, that probably explains Dalinar and Navani's adventure into the Spiritual Realm as mentioned in the blurb.

His pattern slowed, then finally he laced his fingers together. “Very well. Though, you know when I said I was sure you wouldn’t get me killed?” “Yes?” “I should like,” he declared, “to make a retraction.”

I fucking love Pattern.

I have read that in the ancient days, the Wind often spoke to both human and singer. It would then mean that the Wind stopped talking not because of Odium, but because of people who began to fear her… Or to worship the Storm instead.

Fascinating ancient Roshar lore

“Ah, Wema,” Wit mumbled, turning the page. “You’ve finally noticed what a catch Vadam is? Let’s see how you screw it up.”

LMAO Wit is reading An Accountability of Virtue from Oathbringer? Also looking up the title of the book makes the context of Wit's rant about virtue even more interesting. Also: fuck you Sanderson for apparently setting this moment up some one million words ago.

“Give it a try. It has the same fingerings as the one you lost and recovered, though not the same… capacity.”

Wit suggesting that the flute is abnormal in some way

“Long ago,” Wit said softly, “that rhythm guided humans across the void from one planet to the other. They followed it to reach your world.”

Interesting....

“The wind,” Kaladin guessed. “The wind was listening.” ... “When this world was created,” Wit said, “long before Honor, Cultivation, or Odium arrived, Adonalsium left something behind on it. Sometimes it’s called the Old Magic. Sometimes that term is applied to the Nightwatcher, who came—with Cultivation’s efforts—from one of those ancient spren. Listen to the Wind when it speaks, Kaladin. It’s weaker than it once was, but it has seen so very much.”

FASCINATING ancient Roshar lore

“Because this is the journey, Kaladin,” Wit said softly. “The last part of it. Listen to me: I want you to practice with that flute until you make the sound return to you. Because that will mean Roshar is listening.”

This feels very ominous to me and I'm scared

He raised his finger at that last word, and angerspren burst around his feet, like pools of boiling blood, as if on cue.

Has Wit ever drawn spren before? I can't remember.

He glanced at Syl. “This is where Jasnah is wrong about hope, smart though she is in so many ways. If hope doesn’t mean anything to you when you lose, then it wasn’t ever a virtue in the first place. It took me a long time to learn that, and I finally did so from the writings of a man who lost every belief he thought he had, then started over new.” “Sounds like someone wise,” Syl said. “Oh, Sazed is among the best. Hope I get to meet him someday.”

SAZED NAME DROP!!!!!!!

“That’s it, eh?” Wit said. “Just you becoming your world’s first therapist.” Kaladin glanced at Syl, who shook her head. “We have no idea what that is, Wit.”

Lmao

Kaladin felt a chill. “I’m… never going to see you again, am I, Wit?”

I REALLY do not like this. It's so ominous. What's gonna happen to Kaladin?

[natavinsmoke06]

So Honorspren are kinda getting around bringing Radiants back, Cryptids too, Highspren have been doing it for millenia, Inkspren? Seems there's only one whit our favorite queen ,there's some uh whatever truth watchers spren are and the special spren of Bondsmiths, there are whatever timbre is, and the dust ones... Yeah no wonder it take ages to convince them all to come back, I too would be a human racist forever, I don't hate or blame any spren for being negative to any human, plus the freedom that Sjna or however their name is written, their gift of being neither side is so interesting, again consider that for spren both sides have been using them and killing them, not wanting to be part of this is so valid

[cosmereplay]

Day 16: Hourglass

Rated Teen, Kaladin/Leshwi, Rhythm of War Part 2 of 4 (Find part 1 on tumblr or ao3)

Kaladin stared at himself in the mirror. Himself? Herself? Either way, he needed a full-length mirror to do this, and the only one he knew about was Adolin’s. Unfortunately, that meant Adolin was examining him critically from over his shoulder. Kaladin was wearing a Thaylen-style skirt and blouse, his (her?) safehand gloved, hair pulled back in his usual utilitarian tail. He looked like an hourglass, and he didn’t like it.

“I look terrible,” she said to the mirror, unable to keep a bitter cynicism out of her voice. She liked the glove, but the rest didn’t look right. He’d thought looking more feminine would make him feel better, but it just felt wrong in a way she hadn’t been expecting.

Adolin tapped his chin in thought. “I know you wanted to try something that was more familiar to you, but just because your mother wears it doesn’t mean it’s what you need. Who else do you admire?”

Kaladin immediately thought of Leshwi. It was her fault he…she…was in this mess. Why not borrow from her? He…she…smiled, taking a moment to picture the femalen he wished to court. Leshwi was beautiful. Alluring, even. Maybe the reason this outfit felt so wrong was that it seemed to exaggerate Kaladin’s proportions in a way that didn’t feel true to her.

“Leshwi has wide shoulders and narrow hips like me,” Kaladin said, “and yet her clothing is still so graceful. What about something like that?”

Adolin raised an eyebrow. “You want to dress like the Fused?”

“Not necessarily, but…” Kaladin waved his hands around fruitlessly, unable to find the words. “Leshwi looks like herself. She likes her body, she respects it, and that comes across in the way she dresses and carries herself. I want to be like that, too. I don’t want to hide my body.” Looking in the mirror, she held out the sides of the long skirt, exaggerating the shape. “This feels like hiding.”

She didn’t feel like she understood herself, let alone getting a point across, but Adolin’s reflection was nodding anyway. “Something graceful. Something true to your proportions. Okay…Yeah, I can work with that. I know a woman…” He wandered off, still muttering to himself.

Kaladin removed the offending clothing down to her underwear, and she looked at her body in the mirror. Her breasts had only grown slightly, and her genitals had only shrunk a little. She’d asked Syl why her body hadn’t changed much, if her identity was female, and Syl hadn’t known the answer. But looking at herself in the mirror, she realized. Just like Leshwi, she was perfect just the way she was. A warmth filled her, realizing she was already home. Without Leshwi, she didn’t think she would have known it was possible.

Adolin returned with what looked like an entire family’s laundry in his arms. “I happen to have a shiqua, so I thought that might be a good place to start. It's all one long piece of fabric, so we can even cut it up if you want. Do you remember when we were in Celebrant? The spren there would mix and match styles from everywhere. It’s giving me some ideas. I bet we can do something just perfect for you, Kaladin.”

In return, she smiled, feeling almost like she was floating. In retrospect, asking Adolin for help had been a great idea. “Okay, let’s try it,” she nodded. “And I’ve decided something else–I’d like you to call me Kaladi.”

“Pronounced like Kalami!”

“Yeah.”

“I would’ve thought you’d choose a completely new name,” Adolin said thoughtfully, “but I really like it. Okay, Kaladi, let’s get you graceful. Just don’t steal Shallan from me after, okay?” he winked.

Kaladi grinned. “Don’t worry, Adolin, I’ve got my eyes on someone else.”

[lost-boys-chapter]

I am continuing with the sa reread!! hopefully it'll speed up now bc the bartending ✨️chaos season✨️ (aka the euros) is over, so I should have more time. also am on holiday this week and convinced I can get through the entirety of twok by saturday. I'm almost to part 3. my thoughts are as follows:

who are the three guys in the ishikk interlude? I say this, knowing 2/3 of the answer. one of them is galladon, right? and another is demoux? I know one if them is the nale lookalike mentioned in the sa5 interlude preview? do we have any more info on why they're looking for hoid yet? I vaguely remember these three always confusing me.

are the epigraphs for p2 the letter from hoid to frost? the 'old friend' threw me off bc that's how sazed refers to everyone in tlm, but I'm increasingly sure it makes sense that it's hoid.

also, GOD, dalinar and adolin's opening chapters are boring. ik they end up being two of my faves in the rest of the series so I've been slogging through them but they just seem to....not be doing a lot. obviously a lot of the point of their chapters is that the vengeance pact is becoming long and drawn out, and more about sport than anything else, so it kind of makes sense thematically. but still, doesn't feel like there's a lot to sink my teeth into.

relatedly, increasingly it does feel like kaladin is the Personality Hire of the original pov characters. like, he's got a lot less to say in terms of worldbuilding and setup for the general arc of the first half than shallan and dalinar, but he's the only real character who you care about enough to sink your teeth into the plot and properly root for on first read. I definitely felt that way to begin with and I still feel so on reread, so. you can also quite easily see him becoming marginally less relevant in later books so I wonder if part of it really is that he's just the first character you can really begin to love in this series. not saying I don't care for him in later books, obviously. but idk just a thought

rock my beloved !! I had completely forgotten he'd become a bridgeman by putting chull dung in sadeas' soup LMAO he's my favorite ever. also, when him and teft were asking each other's names and teft asked him what his real name was, I immediately said, out loud, 'numuhukumakiaki'aialunamor.' not sure what it says that I remembered this but forgot other characters' entire existence.

the other bridgemen make me 🥰🥰🥰 also. it surprises me on reread that sigzil was one of kaladin's biggest critics to begin with. it reads as kind of weird to me but I suppose the realities of bridgeman life would strip the fundamentals of anyone's character. still, I'm yet to read the sunlit man and we know how much I've forgotten regardless so maybe I've been shaped by fandom perception a little too much.

dunny :( I've not got to the bit where he dies yet but I remember his being the bridgeman death that hurt the most in twok so every time he shows up I get a fun burst of sadness. also for some reason I thought it was hobber who originally almost died, not leyten, but maybe I'm right and just haven't gotten to that part yet lol.

just remembered that lopen exists too. looking forward to him showing up.

and syl!! I love her so much, it's cool in retrospect to see what spren lose and how they slowly regain their sentience while moving into the physical realm to form a bond. seeing her confused about understanding abstract concepts is great. I was listening to the wind and truth predictions shardcast the other day and someone came up with a theory that the way windrunners are recruited might be turned on its head in era 2. in retrospect that would be super cool to see.

speaking of, that episode of shardcast also convinced me that syladin is a possibility, which ruined my day.

unrelatedly: navani is such a badass, that text post that's going around that's like 'navani really showed up at the shattered plains and immediately told dalinar that her son is a loser' is so so real lol. I don't think I originally liked her in twok bc I didn't understand her... purpose, I guess? this time around I'm like 😍😍 mine scientist lady beloved.

also, could the stormfather really not think of a better way to investigate a possible bond than random prophetic visions? though the one we see onscreen first with the weird midnight creatures is very cool in retrospective.

regarding flashbacks: I'm not super invested in kaladin's past, once you've read it once it's not difficult to remember what happens so I'm pretty much just skimming. but I think rereading it a few years older makes it a lot easier to understand that lirin is a far more complex character than I originally thought, esp regarding row. obviously he's got kaladin's best interests in mind, but I feel like his moral reasoning is a lot clearer on reread. I don't think hes a great person, but i dont think hes necessarily more flawed than a lot of other main characters. I don't exactly remember what happens in row but I remember he gets... worse. I'm interested to see how my opinion changes.

and finally on a meta note: I know the first arc is supposed to thematically parallel a ketek, which I remember being able to spot elements of between wor and row. I'm super curious to see if I can spot anything in twok which might be paralleled in wind and truth. I do think I thought of smth regarding syl earlier but I forgot what it was 🫠-- maybe something go do with the recreance questions we're hoping to get answered?

this has been a very long post for which I am sorry but I'm open to discussion points!! would love to hear people's thoughts on my thoughts lol. will inevitably be back with more lukewarm takes

[naomi-the-red]

I don’t know to what extent this has been presented before, but I’m getting the feeling that Honor was killed because he had big ol splinters of power that Odium, over the course of the wars, changed their rhythms to include his. Basically take a small fragment of himself to change the frequency such that, even if it’s not entirely in Odium’s control, is now outside of Honor’s direct influence. If the spren are more Honor/Cultivation than Odium, we’d probably see the same death we get with Preservation and the Scadrians. But where Preservation’s power was small amounts locked in people, Honor has massive stores of power that had their locks changed.

I think the Unmade’s names hint to this. I’ve read elsewhere that people think the amount of syllables is significant, and I’m thinking it may be related to the amount of each shard is present in each unmade. There’s probably at least one rule or general principle that complicates the relationships that can’t be divined without more info, but I imagine that the dual syllable ones are Honor-Odium (maybe Yelig-nar?), Cultivation-Odium (Re-Shephir?), and Cultivation-Honor (Sja-Anat?) and Ba-Ado-Mishram is a balance of all three.

If this is true of Ba-Ado-Mishram, it probably tells us why and how BAM was integrated into Roshar and why her death was so potentially devastating—she was connected to all three shards and all three magic systems.

When she fell she took Identity from the Singers, seems to have taken Connection from the Deadeyes, so I’m curious if she took Intention or something from Cultivation’s influence on Roshar (which we understand very little of). But that’s supposition of supposition so..

Just some thoughts from the preview chapters.

[stardustravens]

The Knights Radiant as The Fears from The Magnus Archives

Sacrificing yourself to a cause following trauma and gaining powers from supernatural entities as a result is a common thread here... Perhaps the Radiants are the positive fears that Gerry didn't believe in.

Windrunners - The Vast

Windrunners are a group of people who love to throw themselves into the sky. It doesn't get more Vast avatar than that. Vast avatars and Windrunners/Honorspren both have a duality within their members - some are having The Most Fun, others are running from something.

Simon Fairchild would be a Windrunner with very skewed Radiant oaths. Michael Crew would have begged for a Honorspren bond after being chased by Cryptics.

Kaladin, however, would be an avatar of the Lonely, given that it is heavily tied to isolation and depression.

Skybreakers - The Hunt

The Hunt fits modern Skybreakers very well - Nale's leadership leans heavily into hunting down individuals that are perceived to be guilty at all costs, and the order is heavily associated with law, police and corruption, with members trying to protect and ultimately causing more harm.

Daisy and Basira would both be Skybreakers, alongside Julia and Trevor. (Daisy/Basira would make an interesting Radiant/spren duo...)

Szeth, as a hired assassin, would be an avatar of the Hunt that has given over to it entirely in order to find his purpose. Alternatively, Szeth (especially whilst carrying Nightblood) could be an avatar of the End.

Dustbringers - The Desolation

Whilst many Dustbringers would likely hate this assessment of the order, it is quite an obvious parallel. The fire, the destruction, the volatility... it all feeds into the Desolation.

Agnes Montague, Jude Perry, and most of the members of the Lightless Flame would be Dustbringers. Tim could also become a Dustbringer.

Edgedancers - The Corruption

Edgedancers are one of the more difficult orders to place. Whilst their remembrance of the forgotten feeds into the Eye, they would be closer to the Corruption. Edgedancers are healers and field medics, complementing the Corruption's domain of disease and infestation. Their ideals are focused on being caring towards everyone, especially those who are otherwise ignored, and they were the most religious of the Radiants, linking to the more metaphorical aspects of the Corruption.

Avatars of the Corruption (Jane Prentiss, John Amherst) could potentially be corrupted/enlightened Edgedancers, which would be an interesting twist on the order and its ideals.

Truthwatchers - The Eye

This one is in the name of the order, and its ideals - Truthwatchers seek knowledge, and sit back from the action, and observe, discovering and recording the truth of events. They even collected statements to form the gem archive!

The Archivist (notably Jon, but also Gertrude and the previous Archivists) and Elias/Jonah would be Truthwatchers, and the archival assistants would act as their squires.

Just... look at Renarin. He's already an Eye avatar.

Lightweavers - The Spiral/The Stranger

Lightweavers could represent both the Spiral and the Stranger. Their powers are built on lies, and deceptions, and breaking the rules of reality itself, which feeds into the Sprial. But these abilities also lean into concealed identities, the uncanny and the unknown, representing the Stranger.

Sasha would be a Lightweaver - whilst she is (at least partially) of the Eye, she had significant encounters with the Spiral and the Stranger, and her philosophies seemed to be aligned with the Stranger.

Elhokar's extreme paranoia would easily attract the attention of the Spiral. Shallan fits both the Stranger and the Spiral, given her past - perhaps Testament would be associated with the Spiral, and Pattern with the Stranger, marking her for both entities.

Elsecallers - The Web

Elsecallers would be linked to the Web. Elsecallers are often similar to the Truthwatchers in their scholarly natures, but are more commonly found in leadership positions.

Jasnah would easily be a Web avatar. Hoid, despite being a Lightweaver and Eye-aligned storyteller/observer, is subtly manipulative from the sidelines enough to become an avatar of the Web.

Willshapers - The Lonely

Willshapers were also difficult to align with a Fear. As adventurers with wildly varying pasts and a focus on the self, however, they could become Lonely avatars.

Peter Lukas, given both his isolationist and explorative tendencies, would be a Willshaper. Martin, however, is more difficult to place - he could easily fit many of the orders, but would likely become a Truthwatcher through his connection to the Eye.

Venli, isolated from the Radiants and the Fused in many ways, could become a Lonely avatar.

Stonewards - The Slaughter

Stonewards, once again, are difficult to place. Their focus on strength and athleticism could be associated with the Flesh; however, their powers are specifically unable to manipulate flesh. As frontline soldiers, they are most closely aligned with the Slaughter during war.

Melanie, being stubborn and defensive, would probably be a Stoneward, although there's potential for her anger to guide her towards the Dustbringers.

Bondsmiths - The Extinction

Bondsmiths are the leaders of resistance against an apocalypse in part caused by humanity, aligning the order with the Extinction. The destruction of Ashyn at the hands of Bondsmiths strengthens this connection - one world has already been destroyed by their actions.

Current Dalinar would potentially be marked by the Extinction; however, his Blackthorn past would lead to him being an avatar of the Slaughter also influenced by the Desolation.

[blindradiant]

I’m thinking of what Szeth’s complete arc might possibly end up looking like. I have a couple of related theories/speculations that I think would be super narratively satisfying

First, I think that young Szeth was a budding Truthwatcher. I made a long post about it once, but the short version is that Szeth’s approach to learning and problem solving feels very Truthwatcher-y to me. Also in OB, there’s evidence that he might have been in the process of bonding a spren at some point. In my Truthwatcher Szeth theory, his exile was the event that caused his new spren bond to break.

Then he was named Truthless, and lived that way for over seven years. Truthwatcher to Truthless is already tasty, but there’s another layer

The Fifth Ideal of the Skybreakers is the Ideal of Law. The way it’s described and presented in OB, the Fifth Ideal is also when the Skybreaker becomes truth. Just think about it. Truthwatcher, to Truthless, to embodying law and truth is such an incredible progression!

Of course, current Szeth isn’t there yet. He still relies on external sources to guide him and tell him what to do, because he doesn’t trust himself to see what’s right. There’s a lot of complexity there. But if he can grow toward reaching the Skybreaker Fifth Ideal, I think that would be really cool. He’d just have to work for it. But if there’s one thing Szeth is good at, it’s dedicating himself to a specific goal/objective. You could say he’s too good at those things

Anyway, I’m looking forward to finding out if anything I’ve speculated about is even close to how things eventually turn out

[cosmerelists]

Candidates if Honor One Day Gets a New Vessel

[SPOILERS FOR STORMLIGHT THROUGH RHYTHM OF WAR!]

So, there is a popular theory that even though Honor is Shattered, he won't be down for the count forever. In particular, people theorize that in the final stages of a Bondsmith's evolution, they'll be able to reforge Shattered shards. And in that case, Honor could be reborn anew! Let's say that there's merit to this theory, and that one way or another, Honor is reborn. Which of our current characters are the most likely candidates to scoop up that Shard?

1. Kaladin

I mean, not only is Kaladin Mr. Honorable himself with his Honorspren and Sense of Honor, but there has also been some possible foreshadowing of Kaladin becoming Honor's Vessel. There's his name, which means something like "Born Unto Eternity" (hmmmm...). There's the fact that he's referred to as the Son of Tanavast (Tanavast being the prior Vessel) and that Sanderson said there was a reason for that. 

So just imagine Kaladin saying something like, oh I don't know, "Honor's dead but I'll see what I can do" before Ascending. You see it, right?

2. Dalinar

In the theories I've seen, people expect it to be Dalinar, if anyone, who decides to Reforge the Shard (with some theories positing that he may one day try to reforge Adonalsium, as suggested by @imtheseventh here!). If Dalinar does go that far, then he may just take up the Shard himself, becoming Honor. Again, there is some potential foreshadowing of this, mainly when Odium says something like "He wasn't supposed to Ascend!" with a capital A when Dalinar gets a power-up. Plus, Dalinar is bonded with the Stormfather, the current Avatar of Honor. So not only does Dalinar have that close connection to Honor, but he always knows the guy who current possesses the remnants of Honor's power.

3. Syl

I've not seen this posited, but I could see it making sense. Syl often refers to herself as a fragment of god--she's the Stormfather's Ancient Daughter and a literal Honorspren. If spren can go through some sort of superevolution into a Shard, then I could see it being Syl. Then Kaladin would have Honor as his spren, and that somehow makes sense too.

4. The Stormfather

Let's say Dalinar does figure out a way to reforge Honor. What if he just uses Honor's existing Avatar, the Stormfather, and makes him into Honor? The Stormfather is already a piece of Honor's power, after all. And then Dalinar's bond would be with Honor, which again makes sense. It just feels like it's gonna involve Dalinar or Kaladin somehow.

5. Taln

Or maybe not. If we put aside Kaladin and Dalinar...what about Taln? If anybody embodies Honor, it's that guy. And if say, restarting the Oathpact has anything to do with needing to get Honor back into a non-Shattered form, I'm sure Taln would be the first guy to volunteer for the job. It doesn't seem like holding a Shard is a good gig, overall, but bad gigs happen to be  Taln's specialty.

6. No one

Or we could all be theorizing into the wind, as it were. Perhaps Shatterings cannot be undone, and Honor is just...gone. Kaput. I could honestly very much see this being true, but it sure is fun to speculate otherwise!

[the-vibes-are-off]

The Stormlight Archive Volume 1: The Way of Kings’ Review: Chapters 5-8

link to contents page - https://at.tumblr.com/the-vibes-are-off/hey-hey/96xd9ohihrzs

Right, well, you know how I said in my previous post that my COVID test was negative? Yeah so I was swiftly clowned and I am now SICK right on essay season. I have dug out crusty dusty old HP Pavilion to do work but I’m essentially only using it for Tumblr so. My partner is officially in another country now (I know you’re going to read this so pls come back I am dying) so I cant even be babied 24/7 due to the time difference. On season 4 of Criminal Minds already tho so ....

In terms of reading, I am officially back and LOVING it. I am limiting myself to 4 chapters in one setting because that’s how much I want my review sections to cover and writing this takes longer than I thought it would tbh. Lets get to it! 

Spoiler Free Zone:

The split narrative is like definitely managing my problems with maintaining my attention. I will say that since Kaladin’s story line, although definitely interesting don’t get me wrong, would probably get boring if it was all I was reading. I’m more a magic and lore and pretty women fantasy enjoyer than a grr fight fantasy enjoyer since my like gritty lit enjoyment comes from different genres.

Loving the direction that Shallan’s plot line is going in, I’m glad Brandon doesn’t just give the characters what they want straight away and there is at least the illusion that they’re working for something even though its obvious they’ll achieve it eventually.

Mostly, I’m just loving the characters they’re introducing in Shallan’s story, maybe not so much SOME people (a certain person specifically I dislike is beginning, BEGINNING to grow on me) as they’re just so lovely and cute and nice and ugh we love to see it.

*** SPOILERS INCOMING ***

Spoiler Zone:

I’m saying it now, I did initially think Jasnah was just a bitch tbh like I get she’s all important and up her own ass or whatever but she doesn’t appreciate art??? I get Shallan like couldnt just get what she wanted but like .... come on. I was so mad when she just started shouting n shit when Shallan was waiting in the alcove like get a grip pls. However.... turning a boulder to smoke? I had to tab that as cool, like that was just a smart idea to clear it and a cool fckn power to have 

Shallan wanting to steal tho? I love her, a true icon as she should steal from the bitch. I literally just tabbed it love this bc ? Slay like what else could I do. I’d steal it too 

aaaaaaaaand then were back to Kaladin actually just getting fucking shit on at every turn yet again. mf has to carry a bridge?? and then get shot at with arrows?? my goodness give this man a break 

The spren getting a name tho like Syl is acc like carrying Kaladin’s arc for me I want to know what is going on there I am trying so hard not to spoil it for myself

From an arts and humanities student standpoint, I did tab Shallan describing how she views her art and the process of creation as like fleshy and human. Like in both studying and writing poetry I relate to capturing a person or a place or a moment on paper 

And then 2 cuties that I simply had to draw attention to in Brother Kabsal and Yalb. They are iconic and I adore them the end :*

Tab Count:

Cute: 2

Fights: 1

Sad: 1 

Death: 0

Cool: 0 

Wtf wow: 1

Wtf why: 0 

Slay Quotes: 0 

Love this: 2

Hate this: 0

Tab Total:

Cute: 3

Fights: 4

Sad: 1

Death: 2

Cool: 4

Wtf wow: 2

Wtf why: 1

Slay Quotes: 3

Love this: 5

Hate this: 1

PS: If anyone actually reads this far down comment (or post me if you’re feeling generous) your fave tea to drink when you’re sick because I’m going through maybe 10 cups a day and I am swiftly running out....

[redwinterroses]

OC and Mudlark meandering under the cut :)

So.

In Mudlark, my MC is a ~19-20yo girl named Jade Stellato, who grew up in a threadweaver colony on a planet called Keris, a relatively backwater world that hadn't even been settled for very long so things were pretty low-tech.

(Think 1930s/1940s in terms of how much technology impacts every-day life, but the technology that DOES exist is still futuristic. Like, farmers probably still often use draft animals to plow and harvest, but everyone's got the equivalent of a smartphone. Long-distance travel is more or less out of the question, but you've got satellite internet. Every teenage gearhead has posters of spaceships and hover cars on their bedroom walls, but the planet doesn't have interstates. They have the technology, just not the infrastructure for heavy machinery, etc.)

Threadweavers are people who can interact with and manipulate the "threads" that make up reality (uhhhh atomic theory plus laylines. mm-hm. Sanderson's spren minus the personification aspects. Something like that) and depending on where you are, you're either considered a skilled worker and valuable to society, or potentially a witch or a terrorist. It just depends. Keris is spread-out and colonial enough that every area kinda makes its own rules, but generally is considered weaver-friendly so there are a lot of threadweaver settlements there. The particular colony Jade grew up in was pretty strict on gender rules for what sort of threadweaving was appropriate. Women were supposed to stick to things like medicine and agriculture -- "natural" elements, while men were led more into manipulating inorganic things like stone, metals, etc.

So Jade is in training to go into the medical field, and she's not bad at it, but she really doesn't enjoy it. And one of the things she regularly gets in trouble for is doing things with metals -- shaping little tin dishes for her kiddie kitchen, making beads and stuff, etc. Then she discovers engines and machinery and it becomes a whole THING.

All of which is brought to a messy and screeching halt when the As Yet Unnamed Experimental Corporate Cultists swoop in on her settlement, steal every threadweaver they can subdue and murder the rest. She loses both parents and her brother in the chaos and only survives because she was out in some farmer's back pasture up to her elbows in a tractor engine.

She and the other few refugees get shipped back to the intersystem planets and pawned off from agency to agency until she's had enough and strikes off on her own, ending up scraping together a living as a "mudlarker" -- someone who trawls riverbeds and beaches for valuable scrap to sell to pawnbroker types. The city she's in at the time is pretty unfriendly to threadweavers and it's illegal without a license, so she keeps under the radar and only uses her ability to manipulate metal when she's sure no one is watching (but it does come in handy to find more valuable items in the silt and sand of the river.)

Jade is tall and stocky, and strongly-muscled, with thick freckles over every inch of her skin and dark brown hair that would be wavy if she let it grow longer than a few inches. (She cut it at the first refugee center and has kept it short ever since out of convenience.) She whistles absently whenever she's deeply engrossed in a project, has a fascination with birds (Keris had no avian species), and realized at about age sixteen (when a classmate tried to kiss her at a harvest bonfire) that she's ace.

She deeply, deeply misses her parents and her older brother, Quin. She hopes they might be alive somewhere, but half hopes that they're not -- no one knows exactly what the As Yet Unnamed Experimental Corporate Cultists do with the people they take, but no one ever sees them again, and the AYUECC is powerful enough to be above the law of any planetary system. Conspiracies about brain transplants, human experimentation, and an attempt to breed an army of unstoppable threadweavers come up any time they're discussed.

Jade's story is going to open with her learning of a place simply known as Haven -- a planet hidden from the AYUECC and beyond the claim of any multi-planet confederation, where threadweavers are protected. And there are supposedly two guys at a dive bar two neighborhoods over who can take her there.

So! That's my protagonist. <3 ty for reading, if you got this far!

[liltumgrum]

Modern aMerican Football au Stormlight

Kholin: a family notorious for their skill, domination and violence in professional football

Dalinar: a retired player turned coach. Has had many scandals including drugs/alcohol, a wild divorce case, suspected murder, and constant brawls. In his older age he has been attempting to change his public face and prioritizing the health of his players. He has high expectations for his two sons... all that Dadlinar stuff.

Adolin: a college football player who is widely liked. He plays the part of perfect son, but dreams of transferring to fashion school. All of his attempts to be apply have been denied because of his family reputation and how everyone kind of assumes its a practical joke. They don't take his genuine interest and intelligence into consideration. They think he would be wasting his athletic potential by pursuing anything else. Dalinar also probably shuts down or intimidates anyone that might consider letting his son change career paths.

Renarin: basically a bench warmer on the team. or a water boy. They only let him on because of his family name. He deserves better and is majoring in philosophy/literature.

Kaladin: His family are war refugees. He suffers from ptsd and depression from the violence he experienced and the death of his younger brother. He was raised with the expectation of being a doctor, but fell in love with sports and the teamwork after moving to America. It served as a coping mechanism. His high school coach, Amaram, sacrificed his teams safety to win a bet during state competition. Kaladin won the game for them, but was injured and cast out of the team. His record is permanently tarnished because of a fight he had with said coach. Now he is a field paramedic for his college's team and fighting to make more safety regulations for young players.

Shallan: A transfer journalism student from Europe. She thinks American football is stupid. But she also thinks some of the players are hot and makes fan art of them. Shes interning under Jasnah, a football commentator, and general critic. Who she also totally doesn't have a crush on.

Syl: I like the idea people have for her in a modern au being Kaladin's long distance internet friend.

Pattern: I think Pattern could basically be the same but rather than a magic spren thing, he is another part of Shallan's psychosis.

Moash: Came from a similar situation as Kaladin and they bonded heavily. He became extremely jaded upon seeing the privilege shown to certain players, Elhokar, and general racism in society. Infuriated with what they could get away with, he decided to take justice into his own hands. This led to a falling out with Kaladin, an attempted murder, a warrant for his arrest, and getting in with the wrong crowd. He now suffers from drug addiction, and is unable to seek help. He regularly harasses and stalks Kaladin.

Teft: a physical therapist/chiropractor hired by the college team. Has taken Kaladin under his wing.

Wit:... I cant decide what for him. I think it would be funny if he was like a frat boy, but isn't actually enrolled in the school. He's just strangely there. Everywhere. Also somehow was in Europe and knows Shallan. Is Jasnah's boyfriend bc that's too cursed not to include. He could also be a commentator.

Maya: lol what if she was Adolin's lucky football? Poor maya

That's all i got for now. Would appreciate any ideas on Szeth. Maybe he's an unprofessional football (soccer) player? They scrimmage against him and he kicks their butts solo. Russian assassin? Both? I have no idea ya'll

[phoenixradiant]

What, pray tell, do you mean by "Maiph has been to the 'beach' before but it wasn't real and doesn't count"? Mind beach shenanigans? Illusion? Something else?

Hey, thanks for the ask! So the gist of it is that she experienced Cellic's memory of a beach. Full context is, in fact, full, and so will be below the cut.

Context for the context, bullet points edition:

Thaccia has a large assortment of largely unused magic items (Which is actually really odd considering enchantment is not a magic native to the continent, and so stuff like that has to be imported), and while sorting through them one day Maiph found a pair of essentially sending stones and gives one to Cellic so they can talk even when he's gone.

Cellic has visited the beach three times (all as part of the same assignment), but it's been a long time, so his memory is fuzzy.

At the end of act one, Cellic accidentally shatters his sending stone.

About halfway through act two, for plot reasons Cellic and Narra make a pilgrimage to mythological tree that supposedly functions as a panacea, nature's weaponsmith, and ultrawise sage. Basically no one knows where it is or how it works, and how Cellic figured out is a long story that surprisingly enough involves Narra's mother.

Alright so the tree is magic and the vessel for the home of some kind of vaguely celestial being (if I tried to explain the entire cosmo-mythology here this post would be long enough that it could stop a bullet if you printed it out and folded it up). Narra enters and reaches a turning point in her character arc while also resolving a pressing plot problem, and then she leaves. Cellic was mostly just there to escort Narra, but after she leaves the tree remains open (think the tree portal at the end of the Prince Caspian movie) and he feels a gentle tug on his mind telling him to enter. He does so and gets his butt kicked by said vaguely celestial being. This butt-kicking is conducive to his growth as a person. I promise. Anyway afterwards he's given a gemstone that houses a lesser aspect of the celestial being that'll help him "remember what he had once known" (uh now I think about it it's like a spren but without a name and with less personality).

Alright, so how does any of this have to do with Maiph and beaches? Well the gemstone Cellic got is the exact same size as the sending stone he used to have (coincidence? I think not!), and he keeps it on the same place (the back of the gauntlet of his shield hand). He touches it out of habit and it works like a sending stone, and it specifically connects to Maiph's (there is a good explanation for this, but again, would take forever). She answers out of habit and their minds are both transported to a kind of dream realm, only with this stone the dream realm is constructed based off of Cellic's memories of a particular beach. The reasoning for this is that beach is where Cellic had had a conversation with Relpir exemplifying the very traits he'd lost, the very truths he'd forgotten, and so it's where the spirit in the stone chose to put them. Cellic and Maiph and the Spirit of the Brand spend a lot of time there trying to figure out what the issue is. It gets resolved eventually (but it's like a climax moment so no spoilers lol), but until Cellic relives that memory and regains that part of himself that had been broken, the memory of the beach is fuzzy and indistinct, and the sand doesn't shift, it's all one piece like a great mound of stone, and the sea doesn't smell salty, and the wind is stale. It's only an imitation, based off a memory of something better. Just like Cellic's present emotional state.

I feel like it's important to note that this remembrance, despite the emphasis I'm putting on it, is only half of how Cellic grows. Part of the message of his arc is that while where he was was certainly better at the start than the middle, he was still clearly not okay. It's just that he begins by fighting his fatal flaw first, and then rebuilding his virtues on top of that victory. The order is a bit funky, but I think it'll work well enough.

And while I'm making disclaimers, you might also point out that a question about Maiph spent way more time talking about Cellic. This is true for two reasons: 1) Cellic is a protagonist. Maiph exists to further his character just like Radiaten exists to further Narra's and Lutian exists to further Kar's. 2) Maiph has issues. She actually spends the latter half of act I and most of act II specifically pondering who she actually is. She used to be her parents' daughter, then when they died, the healer's apprentice, then when she finished that, Cellic's loosely-defined s/o, but when faced with the increasingly likely possibility that he's dead now too, she has a kind of "what now?" moment and she and Lycoris spend a decent amount of time helping the other understand themselves. She and Cellic still end up a thing, but both of them have much clearer ideas of who they are as people, rather than defining themselves solely by those around them (specifically one another). And here, why not a third reason while I'm at it? 3) Cellic spends a lot of time helping Maiph out too, there's just less murder involved and so it comes up less in discussions of events. It's still there but (just like several other characters who I haven't seen fit to even mention yet) it's not as crucial or attention-grabbing. What shows up here is not perfectly proportional to what happens in the book itself.

So yeah. That's the gist of it.