FeatherWriter

If y'all would report spambots one of the admins will take care of them. It's much more efficient than trying to downvote them or something. As I believe has been said, the negative rep levels are already pretty well documented.

Like, our actual email or just a PM? I must have missed that part of the rules. Note to self: remember to check email, since I'm notoriously bad at that kind of thing...

Me? Nope. Not even a little bit. I was the captain of the Shallarin ship for a long time (Shallan/Renarin) and more recently I have come to appreciate Kalarin (Kaladin/Renarin) but Shalladin has always been a pairing that I've disliked for a plethora of reasons.

I feel like my experiences with the shipping prospects in part four are just me being dragged facedown across the pages by my ankles or something. WHY IS THERE CUDDLING. WHY IS THERE BONDING. WHY ARE YOU BEING STUPID ABOUT ELHOKAR. WHY ARE YOU FALLING FOR SHALLAN. WHYYYY.

Part four is just "Feather gets upset because Kaladin is being a dumb about everything."

Ah, that's Kogiopsis' fanmix! I'll have to let her know you enjoyed it!

Oh, if I didn't I should have. It's right here: http://shardling-secret-santa.tumblr.com/post/72918631540/a-gift-for-liseraptorknight Also, there was a thread about turning protagonists into antagonists and that seemed like the perfect kind of thread for me, so have my take on Antagonist!Shallan and Antagonist!Renarin: http://www.17thshard.com/forum/topic/8838-turning-protagonists-into-antagonists-for-fun/?p=142855 I may need some protection after those two little fics...

*clears throat* I believe someone called for the fandom monster? This seems like the perfect thread for me... See, the most fun kinds of horrfying and tragic AUs are those which are closest to canon, the ones that could almost be plausible. And oh are there some wonderful ideas we could toss around... It's funny. Kogi and I ended up coming down almost exactly the same way on an Evil!Shallan. I'm unsurprised. Kogi and I have very similar thoughts on a lot of things... Shallan See, Shallan is almost on the verge of villiany herself. She's an accomplished liar, involved in the underground, and she's broken in ways that even she has difficulty admitting. She tells herself that she's doing what she has to in order to survive, in order to protect her family, in order to save the world. She shows herself willing to sacrifice those ideas of right and wrong when she steals from Jasnah, putting her needs above her morality. As Pattern keeps showing her more and more scenes from her past, forcing her to remember, to relive, she has a harder and harder time pretending she isn't a monster. She blames him -- irrationally, she knows -- but blames him nonetheless. If it wasn’t for him, she wouldn’t be a Radiant. Her mother wouldn’t be dead at her hand. None of this would have happened. Pattern does as he must, showing her the truths, making her confront them but it drives her further and further away from him. She keeps up the illusion of the girl with the lighthearted wit, but it is an illusion nonetheless. Inside, the truths of her past are making her colder and colder. Pattern accepts this as a matter of course. He was told time and time again of the cruelty of humans. As Shallan begins treating him less like a person and more like a tool, he accepts his role with a suffering endurance. This is the price he knew he would have to pay in order to come to the physical realm. Things seemed nice for a while, but those days are long gone. Shallan speaks to him when she needs a sword or a lock picked or a code broken, and he obeys quietly, waiting for the day when she will inevitably kill him and find the revenge she seeks. The only other person who sees this hardening in Shallan is Mraize, who not only recognizes it, but encourages it. He marvels at the talent of his little knife, as she accepts that which she was always meant to be. He knows that he is winning her over as Veil becomes the reality and the girl known as Shallan becomes a mask for her to wear, a part for her to play. She joined as a way to betray the Ghostbloods, but their reasoning has wormed its way into her, and Mraize’s honeyed explanations and persuasions – so at odds with this broken face – are making her compromise, bit by bit, until she is well and truly theirs. It isn’t to protect her brothers anymore, it isn’t because she wants to find out about them anymore. She continues following their orders because she know longer knows what she is without them. The first time Mraize asks her to kill, she can’t even feel shocked. Only a hollow reminder that it will not be her first time. Nor even her second or her third. The images of her mother, of the lover, of Tyn rise to the surface of her mind. That which was once so carefully locked away Pattern has pried open and let free. There is no blood with a Shardblade. Pattern stays perfectly clean, as though he has no part in the things she does, as though her sins cannot stain him. She resents him for that as well. When the time comes to go through with the act however, the memory which fills her mind is not that of her mother or of Tyn, but of the man who never raised a hand to her, who took the blame for her first murder. She always thought Balat was the one who would emulate their father, but Shallan finds him within herself, even as she thinks back to kneeling on the ground beside him, a soft song on her lips, and a sparkling silver chain slowly twisted tighter and tighter after the poison could not end it. After something like that, what more could Mraize’s orders do to stain her soul? She feels only the slightest bit of remorse when she hears the name, a bare nod to the fondness she once felt. Tyn could not finish her mission, but Veil has proved herself more competent than Tyn ever was. Jasnah Kholin must not be allowed to continue. The Elsecaller interferes with their work. ---- Maxal, as is unsurpising to everyone, we disagree on Renarin's characterization. See, the thread isn't necessarily good characters being evil... so much as it is protagonists becoming antagonists, right? So, how about antagonist Renarin, hmm? Let's give that a try. Renarin – Because I Enjoy Making Myself Cry The ardents were correct: seeing the future is a terrible curse. Renarin has learned to be alone when the highstorm hits. His father always preferred to have those close to him help keep him from hurting himself when his visions came, but Renarin’s visions are those best suffered alone. Dalinar was not aware of himself when he saw the messages from the Almighty; he left his body behind. Renarin was always trapped, horribly aware as the control of his body was taken from him. He screams as the vision takes him, collapsing to the floor, his fingers seeking out the charcoal in his pocket. He learned to always carry something with which to write. The broken fingernails and blood-streaked fingers had taught him quickly that when the visions came, the glyphs would be written one way or another. He suffers through it, enduring the terrible images of what is to come, praying to the Almighty to release him from this horrible nightmare. His hands move of their own accord, scrawling glyphs into the floor. He feels tears run down his face but cannot do anything to wipe them away. It will be over soon, he hopes. He prays. But in the moment, it seems endless. Those images, those horrible truths he is forced to watch. They cannot be real. This cannot be the future. And yet, he knows with more certainty than he knows his own name that the things he sees will come to pass. Kaladin comes to find him after the storm passes and the vision fades. The former bridgeman rushes over as he finds Renarin trembling on the floor, clutching his head. The charcoal piece has been flung as far as possible from him, his first action after regaining control of himself. As Kaladin draws near however, Renarin cries out, trying to push himself away. “Renarin,” Kaladin says carefully. “The storm is passed. Are you still in a vision?” Renarin can only shake his head, still trying to put distance between himself and Kaladin, but feeling too weak to get away. He’s going to see, he’s going to know, it’s going to happen… Kaladin hesitates, not wanting to upset him, then sees the glyphs laid out in shaky handwriting around the shaking prince. Bridge Four, Leader, Death. Bridge Four, Leader, Death. Bridge Four, Leader, Death. “Is this… me?” Kaladin asks carefully, taking another slow step forward. He knows Renarin isn’t in a vision anymore, but something is terribly wrong, and it’s Kaladin’s job to help make it right. Renarin can only nod before loses control of himself for the second time in one hour, this time to sobs rather than images. At some point he realizes Kaladin’s arms are around him, his hands rubbing smooth, calming circles on Renarin’s back. “It’s okay, it’s okay,” Kaladin says again and again, and though Renarin knows they aren’t true, they help. He doesn’t know what is happening exactly. Is Kaladin his bodyguard, and he the lighteyed prince? Is Kaladin his superior officer, and he a still-new member of Bridge Four? Are they peers, two Knights Radiant of equal standing? Or have they reached the point where the roles and ranks and rules no longer even matter? “It’s me,” Renarin whispers, still holding on to Kaladin like a lifeline in the storm. “It has to be me.” Kaladin stiffens, though to his credit, he doesn’t let go. His voice catches slightly as he asks, “Are you sure? Is there any other way?” Renarin shakes his head slightly. “If I don’t… all is lost. Everything, Kaladin.” The two stay silent for a while, before Kaladin finds his voice again. “When?” “I don’t know,” Renarin mumbles. “Soon. Maybe a few weeks.” Kaladin considers that for a moment, and Renarin isn’t entirely sure how he will react. Will he be mad? Try to stop Renarin from going through with it? Will he try to kill Renarin before it could happen? “The others will blame you,” Kaladin says, sounding somewhat distant. Focusing on what would happen to Renarin afterward as a way to avoid thinking about it, perhaps. “You might have to run away. They might chase after you.” “They will,” Renarin says hollowly. “I saw that too.” --- He knows as soon as the moment comes. A sick lurching sense of déjà vu overtakes him. It’s like watching a stormwall out on a flat plain. Nowhere to hide, no way to fight back. Nothing to do as that inevitable destruction bears closer until it is upon you. They’re in the midst of a small fight, nothing Bridge Four and the Kholin shardbearers can’t handle, but Renarin knows. He steps back, pulling himself away from the fighting. “K-kaladin!” His voice breaks over the name. Kaladin turns toward him, looking to see if he’s been hurt or something, but the look on Renarin’s face tells him enough. For once, Renarin wishes Kaladin isn’t the one who can always understand him. The weight of understanding settling across Kaladin’s expression seems almost more painful than the idea of what is about to happen. Renarin finds that he’s holding a knife. He doesn’t remember picking it up but he must have sometime in the battle. In a way he’s thankful for that. This way he doesn’t have to force Glys to be a part of this. His hand trebles as he looks down, the lights reflecting off the blade shaking and flashing. Kaladin calls for the men to hold the line as he steps out as well, letting Adolin take over command. Renarin’s brother looks back to see if they need him as well, but Kaladin waves him back. As Kaladin approaches, Renarin takes a step back, wanting to throw the knife as far from himself, wanting to tell Kaladin to run away, knowing that if he does, all will be lost. He’s seen what will happen, he knows there’s no way out. Everything is happening exactly as he saw. “It’s now?” Kaladin asks quietly. Renarin nods. “There’s no other way?” Renarin shakes his head. Something wet slides down his cheek as he does so. “Kaladin, I can’t. I can’t do this…” Kaladin takes hold of his wrist, stilling the knife’s trembling. “You’ve already said you have to. I’m not afraid to die, Renarin. If the choice is between me and the world, I know which choice I would pick.” “I don’t…” “Yes, you do,” Kaladin says. “We both do.” He raises Renarin’s hand, placing the knife right above the embroidered crest on his uniform. “Right here. Push straight in, right between the ribs and to the heart, then pull it back out. It’ll be quick. I’ll barely feel it. Take my stormlight, you’ll need it to run.” Renarin can feel the moment press closer and closer. When he hesitates, Kaladin pinches his arm sharply, and Renarin reflexively gasps, pulling in the stormlight Kaladin was carrying. Adolin notices them, sees Renarin holding a knife to Kaladin’s chest. “Renarin! What are you—“ The moment hits. His grip tightens on the knife as he feels the choice he needs to make. Kaladin nods, just once. The knife goes in.

Prepare yourselves for the extended groaning as Kaladin CONTINUES TO BE DUMB ABOUT EVERYTHING.

I actually quote that WoB above in the theory that you're thinking of. The way that I'm seeing it, Brandon hasn't said one way or another whether the Beyond is completely inaccessable to shards. It seems like it could just be really difficult or simply requires more knowledge than Sazed has. However, despite this, there is ample evidence that shards can interfere with souls before they go to the Beyond, which is what I'm positing is happening on Roshar.

SPOILER WARNING: While this theory does contain spoiler information for many of the cosmere books, the main theory itself is only concerned with Stormlight Archive and all cosmere spoilers (including Words of Radiance) are in spoiler tags. Feel free to read the theory and peruse and open spoilers as you feel fit! Disclaimer: This is not the kind of theory in which I gleefully proclaim that I have “figured it all out” and have indisputable evidence to back up my claims. This is a shot-in-the-dark, guesswork kind of theory. A “wouldn’t it be cool if” kind of theory. Got it? Basically, I was in cosmere chat and was suddenly struck by an idea. See, we still don’t know much about the Stormlight Archive and its overall plot. We know that Odium is a bad guy and he is trying to accomplish something. We know that the Knights Radiant are returning because of some reason. We know that there’s three shards but we don’t really know what each of them are doing or have done or what their goals are. As far as what the big arcs of this series are going to be, what the main goal of our antagonist is, we’re actually sitting quite a bit in the dark. At the moment, the series is concerned with fairly small scale things, arcs relating to individual characters or single countries or such. But there’s hints and stirrings that this is going to get big. So, here’s my humble guess: There is something wrong with Roshar’s afterlife which needs to be fixed or solved. This will be a major part of the plot for The Stormlight Archive. There’s a few different reasons why I’m coming up with this. I’m going to put these things in spoiler tags just to keep things neat and organized, because I dislike huge blocks of text. Some of them have spoilers within them, others just have info. Textual Reasons 1.The Tranquiline Halls (no WoR spoilers) 2.Braize and Damnation (one WoR quote, not really spoilery) 3.Other Cosmere Afterlife Hints Metatextual Reasons 1.It Hasn’t Been Done Before 2.Brandon Is A Troll There’s more I could get into her with all of this, and perhaps this thread will bring up some of those discussions, but I think that’s enough for an opening post. Fanfic writer that I am, I’ve been tossing around possibilities of situations if this does turn out to be the case, some heartwarming, some tragic – because this is me after all, and I’ve got to live up to my reputation as the fandom monster right? So, thoughts, opinions, more evidence, disputes, theological debates? What are you guys thinking about all of this? Do you think it’s possible? Do you think it’s likely? Do we all just really want to see Tien and Kaladin reunite? Give me some of your responses! Update: July 2016 Hello to all who have come to check out this theory post after it was on the Featured Theories news (thank you, @Windrunner, I am extremely flattered). However, there have been a few books released since I first typed up this theory way back in... 2014 was it? And boy were some of those books doozies when it came to this theory and its implications. So, here's a quick update on how this theory is faring thus far: 1. New Information (Bands of Mourning and Secret History spoilers!)

Heh, you look at some of the fanart out there and... well yeah. Only means we gotta be more vocal, right? Wooooooo!

--Adolin Kholin probably at some point for real

I'd read it! I try to keep up with quite a bit of Cosmere fanfic. Send me a link if you write it and I'll try to give it a shot!

Here's my advice to you Khryindor, if you get obsessed with an idea, you should try writing it! Trust me, you're going to be able to do a much better job with your own idea than I am. For one thing, I am... not terribly metalic arts savvy and I am kind of only vaguely understanding what all is going on in that idea. I don't really understand tricky magic system stuff very well. I tend to leave the heavy realmatics and "game breaking combo" things to people who are much better at understanding those. For another thing, I usually don't take requests for a reason: I'm not good at writing other people's ideas. When I write fanfics it's because an idea has hooked me, it's sunk its claws into my brain and I just keep thinking of more and more things and it won't leave me alone until I put them down on paper. Now, occasionally, someone will say something around me that sparks an idea, but it's often more of my ideas than the original spark. The one time I had written a direct request was because I signed up for a secret santa gift exchange and got a very specific prompt: Thor and Loki visit Scadrial. Now, those are two fandoms that I care about a lot but try as I might I couldn't come up with fun situations that really intrigued me. I mean, I tried really hard to live up to what the requester wanted, but I still think it's one of my weaker pieces and it's for that reason that I don't do direct requests pretty much ever. And, on top of that, I also have a lot of my own projects that I'm working on. I'm currently working on a Stormlight fic that's stretching longer and longer as I keep having more ideas for it. Currently it's mapped out at four acts with an interlude, and I've just finished the rough draft of act one. I've also got tons of small stories I've been cranking out for my original story Called Forth that I'm working on. And editing Splintercast. And transcribing Scroungers. And there's that Renarin wine tasting fic I could do, or some bickery Kadolin, or perhaps the Vin and Elend reincarnation fic that I've had an idea forever, or perhaps the sequel to The Fangirl: Weaponized that people keep begging me for and that I started plotting for... Yeah... basically I have so many ideas that I'm already committed to and invested in plus the fact that I don't understand your idea as well as you means that any fic I even tried to write of it would be really terrible because I wouldn't know how to write it. I wouldn't even know where to start. Which is why I usually don't write requests pretty much ever. If you really like this idea, seriously you should try writing it! For one thing, the cosmere fandom needs more fic writers, and on the other hand, you know exactly what you want from this idea! It'd be good practice! Even if you've never written fanfic or any kind of writing before, I'd really encourage you to give it a go!

Oh, dearest Quiver. It is so very kind of you to visit me out in the Featherwastes. Inciting Malliw, the first and finest of my Featherblades, to a declaration of war? How kind fo you to let me know exactly where you are hiding, little arrow...

NO MORE DEAD KHOLINS 20-FOREVER I am so distressed by that Kaladin and Adolin chapter. YAY KADOLIN CUTES. NO KALADIN WHY ARE YOU BEING A DUMB.

It's a story that I write, Elsa. You might want to look at this post: http://www.17thshard.com/forum/topic/8530-the-newcago-court/page-17#entry141048

I, unsurprisingly, agree with Kogi. Shallan has a lot of psychological issues that she is only just now starting to work through. Shallan's brokenness is very different from Kaladin's brokenness, which he misinterprets as a lack of brokeness, when it is not. Whenever Shallan's past is mentioned, she blanks, even when we're in her point of view. We don't know how much time has passed, but we get the impression that there certainly is time passing. There are points where Pattern will mention her past and the next paragraph is a narrative elipsis, before the narration then continues as though Pattern hadn't spoken at all. The things that Shallan has done have scarred her deeply and while she has managed to cope and present a façade of a healthy mental state, she has achieved that in very unhealthy ways, which Pattern is seeking to help her break down and heal from. Sometimes I feel as though Shallan and her brothers believe that she's the one who "escaped" the abuse of the family. They think that she made it out unscathed, just because she wasn't physically abused the way the rest of them were. But the way Shallan was emotionally abused has left her indescribably damaged and with a lot of really terrible coping mechanisms.

Quiver, care to join me to defend the honor of Scroungers? *extends a hand*

Shroomite. Scrounger. Readers. *explodes*

*continued evil laughter*

*pulls Joe underneath wings and hisses protectively* Ssssssssscrounger readers...

Come with me, Lurth 2.0. I pledge you my protection as you read Scroungers. (And yes, there's definitely more!) Come join your original in the world of the tumblr fandom and the CFSBF chat with me.

Kobold, I like the way you think.