FeatherWriter

Well, I mean, that is what happened. How much effort Renarin actually put forth towards perpetuating this story and actively framing Dalinar can be questioned, but the fact remains that Renarin knew he was having the visions, and I'm sure he knew that Dalinar was suspecting himself, and he hid behind that lie. If I had to guess, he probably didn't intentionally frame Dalinar the first time it happened. He probably didn't know what was happening the first time the visions took him, honestly. But then everyone suspected Dalinar, including Dalinar himself, and he probably was too afraid to come forward and confess. And I mean, I have trouble faulting him for it, honestly. Like, first of all, he's seen the way the entire warcamps have turned against his father, whispering that he's mad and has visions. He's a respected general who conquered pretty much all of Alethkar, and they all still treat him horribly. What would they do to the quiet, outcast younger son who everyone already thinks is "creepy and weird"? (Thanks, Shallan.) Beyond that Dalinar, Adolin, and Navani have decided that Dalinar's visions might have been okay, because they're seeing the past. Renarin himself makes that distinction in the first book. Renarin on the other hand? He's explicitly seeing the future, something outright forbidden by Vorinism. That's got to be terrifying for him, thinking what the ardentia and everyone else might do to him if it came to light. (I'll be fascinated to see how other people react now that Renarin's powers are known). He doesn't even think he can trust his family with this secret, because what if they think he's evil or corrupted somehow. Renarin's like the survivor in a horror movie who got the zombie bite, and thinks if anyone finds out, they'll turn on him and realize he's "the enemy." He doesn't have his father's confidence or strength of reputation to protect him. The only way he can think to protect himself is by keeping it secret. So, when everyone finds the marks and assumes they're just a new development in Dalinar's visions, he lets them. And, I don't think it's too out of the question that after that happened, he might have tried to ensure that everyone kept thinking that, perhaps by using Dalinar's knife. As for hurting his family, yes, it did make Dalinar's visions even more suspect, but Dalinar's already been dealing with that whole issue fairly well. Adolin's thoroughly unsettled by the idea, but there's not much he can do about it. Dalinar pretty much just takes it in stride. If they all just think it's a part of what Dalinar's going through, well, they've already accepted that he isn't mad, so they just have to accept this too. And they do. The idea of Dalinar scratching the symbols isn't something that really hurts Dalinar at all throughout Words of Radiance. Maybe it might have in the long run, but Renarin was found out before that happened. I've got a feeling if anyone started actually coming after Dalinar for being a wicked future-seer, Renarin probably would have said something. He tends to be pretty self sacrificing when his family's in danger, but so long as it was still all under wraps, he let them keep thinking it wasn't him. Sorry, I, as a moderator, am now scolding myself for dragging us somewhat off-topic, but I'm also apparently incapable of writing anything short when Renarin is involved.

I like how this thread is talking about like, Invested objects vs superhero weapons. Meanwhile I'm sitting over here twiddling my thumbs and trying not to reveal the MCU/Cosmere crossovers and connections I did before. There were two. Both were troublesome for very different reasons. I mean, listen, it's not my fault that I've got a thing for quiet younger brother princes who grew up with scholarly and magical tendencies in a society that glorifies a strong, warrior masculine ideal. Who have popular older brothers, surrounded by friends, who exemplify what a warrior prince should be. And while the younger brothers care about their older brothers and love them, there's probably some latent jealousy that they're the outcast and others don't like them the same way. Who then discover a horrible secret that they may actually be the enemy of their entire society and everything they've grown up with and cared for would be at risk if other people found out. I'm not saying that Renarin might see himself as "the monster that parents tell their children about at night" but if seeing the future is "of the Voidbringers," well... (I'm leaving. I will see myself out. I will go be garbage somewhere else now.)

I probably lean towards this interpretation, though I like to think that he probably started carrying around chalk just in case. This thread actually makes me wonder if he intentionally went for Dalinar's knife at one point. He's terrified of being discovered, suspicion has already fallen on Dalinar. It's a perfect set up. Maybe Renarin waited until he felt the vision was coming on, snuck into Dalinar's room, and then made sure he had the knife in hand when the vision took control of him. Try to reinforce his cover story...

*takes a deep breath* Alright so my thing with Renarin is, A) he became my fave character from just Way of Kings because who he is and his struggles are ones that really resonate with me. Words of Radiance then took all of those things and turned them up to 11 and now I melt into a sobbing puddle of Renarin emotions every time I think about it too much. True, he's not often in the spotlight, and if you're not paying attention to him, he can be easy to dismiss, or worse, misinterpret his intentions. But when you look closer (or, like me, dedicate hours upon hours to every tiny thing he has ever done) there's an incredible person behind the actions. I've seen people say he's reckless or foolhardy, and they seem to read it as kind of a selfish desire to prove himself while putting other people in danger because he's not competent enough to pull it off. Yet, I see almost the opposite. Renarin, as I read him, is an exceptionally selfless character and one who thinks (quite tragically) very little of his worth. Renarin doesn't rush into danger because he wants to be a star, he rushes in because he cares deeply for others and wants, just once in his life, to feel like he contributed something. He sees himself as worthless, a drain on everyone's time, and thinks he'd be better off dying in defense of those he cares about. He thinks if he could just do something worthwhile, his life would be a small price to pay. Of course, his father and brother, who love him quite dearly, worry for him when he does this sort of thing, because they don't see him as worthless at all (awwwww). He and Dalinar have a conversation that breaks my heart about this, and it's obvious to me how little Renarin values his life. He can't see that he deserves to be cared for, since he 'can't contribute.' (Bolding mine. Notable as the exact moment my heart shatters.) So that whole thing won me over to his side very strongly in the first book. Then comes everything in Words of Radiance regarding his visions. He thinks he's going mad, he thinks he's committing blasphemies against his will in seeing the future. He's terrified and he can't tell anyone, because future sight is "of the Voidbringers," so he does everything he can to make sure no one ever catches him in the midst of a vision. His Shardblade screams at him and he doesn't know why, yet he summons it and just tries to pretend that everything's normal because he's surely petrified what would happen if anybody found out. Meanwhile, he joins Bridge Four, and despite the fact that he's a lighteyed prince, he happily does menial work and drills and wears his lowborn spearman uniform with pride, because at least it's something he can do. He has such a desperate need to be useful that even being assigned to do dishes is something that makes him happy. This boy, he breaks my heart, it's too adorable. He's calm and respectful around the members of Bridge Four and starts to find a place with them. Kaladin worries that he's going to be a "lighteyed headache," another stuck-up princeling, but Renarin is anything but. And as for the end, I've got some theories regarding what exactly is happening with Renarin's visions, but if there's one thing I can say, it's that when Renarin goes into those visions, he's not in control of himself. Actually got confirmed Word of Brandon on that one. It just makes sense. If he's scared of being discovered, why would he choose to carve obvious symbols where others could find them? If he's ashamed of his lack of Alethi masculinity, why would he willingly turn to a feminine act of expression like writing? Answer: He wouldn't and he didn't. He was compelled to do so, not in control of himself as the visions took hold. So Renarin in the end of the climax is not him whining and uselessly giving up (though Shallan seems to see it as such). No, Renarin in the climax of Words of Radiance is him undergoing a horrifying ordeal as the Everstorm rips his free will away from him, causing him to reveal the fact that blasphemously he sees the future to those around him, as he screams and collapses to the floor, hands frantically scratching out symbols with a will of their own. As his control over his body is taken from him, he's also inundated with visions of doom and, what I assume are, the Everstorm bringing about the end of all things. TL;DR: All together? To me, Renarin is a character who undergoes great difficulties and hardship, an outcast from his society who wants desperately to fit in, a young man burdened with a terrible secret that his beliefs tell him is the wickedest of all sin, someone who would give his life in an instant if he thought it would give even the smallest bit of aid to those he loves. And despite all the things he deals with, he is a person who is kind and humble, brave in the face of a multitude of fears, and exceptionally clever and intelligent, even if he can't see it himself. For those reasons, and many others I haven't even touched upon here, he is my favorite character in anything of all time, and I would be hard-pressed to find someone I care about more. I'm only monstrous in my fanfics, Khyrindor. Speaking of which... July is swiftly approaching. Muahahaha. I would sell my soul, firstborn child, and like... at least $20 for Renarin point-of-view. BRANDON PLEASE. I BEG OF YOU.

Okay, so I maybe don't have a spare table at the moment, but I have definitely metaphorically flipped many tables in this discussion, right?

Ohhh okay. So pre-Catacendre, the Southerners were living super hot. Now that things are "normal" they think it's freezing. I didn't put that together! That makes sense. And yeah, considering the hints we get from Secret History I have a lot of questions about Saze and the Sovereign's relationship with the Southerners. There's a lot there we don't understand and I need more ammunition for my steadily growing mountain of salt.

Yep, sorry about the delay on this one. It was a combined effort in me being overwhelmed at work and then Eric forgetting to post after it was finished. So we both get to share the blame on the mini hiatus. I think we might move towards posting on Thursdays, just because it's much easier for me. Since we kind of got derailed from the schedule, that'll probably be the go-ahead from now through Secret History.

Ahhh, see and this was even one I wasn't too thrilled about. I felt like the "plainly shattered" was too obvious as a flip for "Shattered Plains" and it gets a little nonsensey in the middle where I'm trying to make grammatical flips that end up not necessarily terribly meaningful. But, for me, keteks are like grammar puzzles. And as a linguistics grammar person, I adore twisting grammar about and making it do what I want. There's some reversals that seem obvious to me. "Spearman became slave" and "Slave becomes spearman" are easy enough reversals that work well (with an added twist on verb tense to differentiate them just a smidge.) Other times, though, I think up a phrase I kind of want to use, and have to fiddle with it in order to make its reversal work. "If I add a verb here, can I use that as a noun in the flip?" "I have to take that article out, it won't reverse correctly at all, but does the phrase still work without it?" (A word to the keteking wise: articles are the worst and you should avoid them whenever possible. Those little "a" "an" and "the" will murder you when you try to turn them about.) So yeah, it's all about fiddling with the phrases and seeing if there's ways to make things work. When you figure out something really fun and clever, it all just starts to fit. Finishing keteks is the best feeling, honestly.

I forgot about this thread until it got bumped... ha. So a friend of mine requested something with Shallan, Kaladin, and Adolin for Christmas, and me being me, I decided to write a ketek for the three of them. I feel like my keteks are a little bit ridiculously long, in that their "five parts" tend to be... like full sentences. It's 53 words, but whatever. Long keteks are just more fun. Two Soldiers, Two Radiants, Two Lighteyes Families found broken in pieces Plainly shattering this light within Loved one became liar Spearman turned slave Proud prince defeated Raise Light up! We bind fate as fate binds us up Light raises defeated prince’s pride Slave turns spearman Liar becomes one loved Within light, this Shattered Plains’ pieces In brokenness, found family

For those names, it's my own intuition. There are some of the names that actually do have some insight into, but "kandra" and "MeLaan" I haven't heard anything about. For the most part, I try to match Brandon's pronunciations if I can, though Brandon has said many times that he doesn't actually consider some pronunciations more "canon" than others. Still, I like to match his if possible. If I don't know how Brandon pronounces a word, though, I just give it my best shot.

Of course, Bota! They're amazing! I admit I farm them for things I missed to put on Adonalsium quite a bit!

Hmmm one of these days, I'll actually get Eliane Casuana up and running in MBI. I made a deal with Chaos ages ago that I would... and then I ended up sticking her in a modern-day Elendel RP that has since run its breadth and stalled out. Hmm, how to adapt her (and possibly her brother Dier) to MBI though...

The Cosmere Fandom Still Worst Fandom event launches in July! Start thinking up your maniacal schemes now, dear fandom...

Wait there are other algebra limericks? I know this one: ( (12 + 144 + 20 + 3 Sqrt[4]) / 7 ) + 5*11 = 92 + 0 . Which is, for those following along at home: A dozen, a gross, and a score, plus three times the square root of four, divided by seven, plus five times eleven, Is nine squared and not a bit more!