FeatherWriter

Well I don't think Shallan killing Pattern would be intentional. The Nahel bond's a finicky thing and when it's in danger, so's the spren. I mean, Kaladin nearly killed Syl this book and those two are incredibly close. This wouldn't be Shallan like, murdering Pattern outright, just if she slips up in her oaths or doesn't keep putting effort into the bond, it could suffer, and Pattern would be in danger. The Stormfather and Pattern seem to see it as only a matter of time unitl the humans break their oaths and kill the spren again. It's up to our heroes to prove them wrong and show that they could be honorable!

Yep, I'm with you guys. It's even possible that Renarin did not understand why his eyes were healing until afterwards when he accepted that he is a surgebinder. And, even if he did understand that it was Stormlight that was healing him, I think extrapolating from "this healed my eyesight" to "I would be able to recover from a Shardblade hit" is a stretch at best, and well... kind of unthinkable at worst. Even Kaladin, who was very experienced with using Stormlight to heal even grievous injuries, was shocked to realize that he could heal from Shardblade hits. The idea that Renarin would even guess that he might be capable of that seems farfetched to me.

If I have swayed even one person to realizing how amazing Renarin is than all of these essays have been worth it. Though lbr, I'd write them even if you all thought I was crazy. (Well, crazier than you already think I am. ) I live a Renarin Kholin appreciation LIFE. I actually am in agreement with you on all of those points! It's not that Shallan isn't empathetic, because, like we both said, there's lots and lots of evidence that she's a very empathetic person who really cares about the people around her! All of those points are super vaild. Like I said, I've always considered Shallan's kindness and empathy to be one of her strongest characteristics. Which... is what makes her interaction at the end so interesting (and heartbreaking). Because she is in a situation where she's so overwhelmed that even this excellent positive character trait of hers, something she does so instinctively with everyone else, has disappeared. It's very revealing about her character when we see what changes about her when she's under pressure. And, like we said above, she compartmentalizes and drops into absolute survival mode. Shallan stops acting like Shallan. And that says something about her. Also, you can't really hold the breakdown against Renarin. I mean... he's not in control of himself when the writing-thing takes over. It's not like he's writing those things of his own volition. Honestly, the fact that he goes with her and tries to complete his mission, knowing that at any moment the storm might hit and he could lose control around other people who will see what he is, is incredible. He does try to get out of it, to get away and hide like he's done before, and he tries to warn her but she doesn't let him leave and she doesn't listen, so he sticks with it and tries to push through. Like dang. I just... Renarin.

I actually ended up talking to Brandon about this when I met him. It's definitely a stim-toy. Theories that it might have further significance I can see, but it's basic function is to give Renarin something to keep his hands occupied with a soothing motion. Brandon consulted a few different ASD people when writing Renarin's character, one of them a very good friend of mine. I've read the notes that were sent to him and stim behavior, especially the use of small fiddly objects like this, were dicussed quite a bit. I got to chat with one of the other Renarin brain-reference people at the signing and talking about stim behavior and the box was a topic that came up quite a bit. My true reasons for asking Brandon about it were... somewhat more self-interested of course, haha. I wanted to make one! Probably two actually. One for myself, and one for Ellie! I mean, it makes sense that my IRL-Renarin should have a Renarin box, right? So, I asked about some specifics. It's small, and it has a sliding lid, which has a spring to snap it back closed when it is released. Also, Brandon said at the signing that it was polished wood, but the actual book says it's metal, so I think he got it wrong, haha. In fact, that word is missing from the quotes above. It actually says:

*applause* Everything I wanted to say and more! When we found out the reveal at the end of the book that Renarin's had a screaming shardblade and has been thinking he was insane the whole book, I just broke down in sobs. He did so amazingly in this book and my heart just broke for everything he went through. I'm just kinda... whaaaa? Renarin knew he couldn't really get hurt? What gives you that idea? Because the Renarin I saw was terrified of what he was doing and did it anyway. I mean, this is a rigged fight where Renarin has probably already seen that Adolin is unable to concede. It's a shardblade fight and Renarin went in without his plate. The only reason they didn't hurt him at first was that they were using him against Adolin. If Adolin hadn't cooperated, I have no doubt that they would have tried to maim Renarin in order to force him to stay in the fight. (Bold, as usual, is mine) And Renarin is well aware of how dangerous this is. I mean, he has a seizure in the middle of the fight, he's so overwhelmed and scared. He gets so overstimulated that he can hardly move afterwards or during that part in the middle when the Shardbearers go to focus on Adolin. Not to mention that crushing little line where he definitely thinks he's about to die and thinks there's nothing he can do to stop it, which causes Kaladin to rush across the arena to save him. (Be still my Kalarin-shipping heart. Also a noteworthy callback to the moment in practice when, while sparring with Kaladin, Zahel turns and rushes Renarin to throw Kaladin off. And Kaladin reveals that he's instinctually willing to die to save him. This ship sails itself, I swear to Harmony.) ANYWAY, back on topic, heay, there's... definitely no way that you could really say that Renarin knew he was safe or not going to be hurt. I'd say any fight in which you resign yourself to die is one with an aspect of danger to it, wouldn't you?

I agree that Shallan and Pattern are probably going to have some contention and/or distance in their relationship after that last scene... however I don't think Pattern's going to call her out on this. Remember, Pattern's the one who talked about her killing him. I... I think Pattern believes that coming to find a Nahel bond was something of a suicide mission, to tell the truth. I have a feeling he is resigned to her mistreating him. He expects her to use him like a tool. I think he liked when she was nice to him, but he also knew that she was repressing the memories of what really happened, and that everything was going to change after she accepted them. I probably believes that her kindness was something temporary that is now gone. And that's what I think might be the saddest part of this whole ordeal. Pattern is going to just... endure his relationship with her. I'm hoping Shallan surprises him and gets over her problems with him and reaches out to reconnect. I feel like that's something he wouldn't expect from her and it might make them closer than they were before.

Heh. Feather does dumb things and pulls all nighters woooo. I am so good at sleep. I am the best at sleep. I win.

Well then, mini fic in the thread. I like! Well... assuming that I'm reading this correctly and this is Friendship!Shalladin and not shippy. It could go either way I suppose, but it works very well as "wow we were so silly back then, it's much better with us just being friends" which... is exactly how I like my Shalllan and Kaladin relationships! (But... you killed Adolin.... *cries*)

Glad to see I'm helping win people over to liking characters! Especially because... Shallan was one that I needed help liking again after WoR. She's a great character and I think she's really trying to do the right things and be a good person, but one of her flaws hit me in the face and made me unable to like her for a bit. I got... invested and couldn't forgive her for some of the things that she does at the end of WoR. (People familiar with me and my character preferences can probably guess what this was). Eventually I had some friends who helped me remember all of the wonderful things that Shallan did and all of the reasons why I loved her in the first place. I love her flaws, because the kinds of characters that I like to read about are those who are having to overcome their issues and grow from them. Characters who struggle in order to do the right thing... and sometimes fail to do the right thing and have to deal with the consequences. I just got into a bad place when Shallan's flaws caused her to hurt a character that I really love (yes, that one) and I had a very hard time forgiving her. Thankfully enough, I've got friends who talked me through stuff, and brought me back from the brink of writing Shallan off until she ammended her behavior (which is good, because she really is a great character.)

*whistles* Well then. Agree to disagree, I suppose. I agree that Shallan's actions are understandable, but I would still very much argue that they're not okay. Is she in a stressful situation? Yes. Are there reasons she made the mistakes that she did? Yes. But I would still argue that, understandable though they are, they're mistakes. She did something wrong because she was under pressure and it got to her and the situation is revealing some of her character flaws. A friend of mine ended up talking about this with me, and I loved the way she said it: Part of the reason I was so shocked by Shallan was that I considered her empathy and kindness to be one of her strong points, looking at scenes like Jasnah killing the attackers in Kharbranth (Shallan is horrified, even though they're terrible people and even decides that Jasnah is in the wrong) and especially after seeing the way that she interacts with her brothers, putting their needs before her own and actively seeking to do things to make them happy. To see her like this, snapping orders, writing off someone who is obviously suffering and distressed simply because they're not useful? It's so very un-Shallan, and the fact that that's what she defaults to when she's stressed is... heartbreaking. As for Renarin's usefulness, I'm... not going to go into all the reasons why I disagree here, mostly because this isn't the topic for it, and also I get very emotional about all of the wonderful things Renarin does and goes through in WoR and I'm in class, so crying would be pretty embarrassing and would probably get me some strange looks.

Sorry for the delay! And I WILL get that buffer... I swear. If the end of the semester doesn't kill me first. There's a little bit of one stored up, but I wanna make it more. And I'm really sorry about the lost audio. I hate that•

Yeaaaaah... I'm guessing you kinda forgot how she treated him at the end of the book? Because it was kind of... abysmal. It's not that she didn't notice him. She definitely noticed him. And then proceded to be far meaner that I would have ever thought Shallan to be capable of. Like, distressing to me to the point where I couldn't think about her without suppressing the urge to growl. (Bold mine) I mean, I realize, she was under quite a bit of stress... but still. She told people around her out loud, where he could hear to gag him. That's really not okay to say to anyone under any circumstances, especially not someone who is obviously in distress. I was so livid with her. She's better than that. And also let's not ignore the fact that he was completely right about all of the storms coming and what was going to happen and she ignored him until Pattern told her exactly the same thing. Now, like I said, I've... started to forgive her and maybe not outright hate her for what she did but... it was pretty bad. A lot of that comes from friends helping me to come to give her some benefit of the doubt, but I still think she needs to apologize to him for the way she acted. I'm hoping she will at least. Of course, until then I will content myself with Kogiopsis' wonderfully kind version of a Shallan apology. (Have I mentioned that I have wonderful friends who will write me cute things to help me when I'm upset? Because I have the best friends. Kogi doesn't even ship Shallarin -- and yeah, it's not actually a shippy fic -- but it's so sweet and cute and kind and it's more the Shallan that I loved and not this mean, short-tempered person that she was in the climax.) I think the others in this thread have argued that Shallan's reciprocating the crush quite a bit too, so I won't go into that, but yeah, the way I'm reading it now, is that they're both... falling for each other. (I'm going to try not to cringe as I type that.) I'm glad it felt good and right to you and that this is a relationship that you're interested in. I'm glad there's people out there who liked those scenes I guess... because I really didn't. If Chaos ever gets back to uploading Splintercast you'll be able to hear my thoughts on those passages as they happen, but.. I wasn't fond of them. *aggressively pokes the Lord Ruler to keep uploading Splintercasts*

Sure, I can explain! (Sorry that I don't ship your ship, I always feel like I should apologize for that.) I actually did a meme thing on tumblr a little while ago where people could ask me about different relationships and I had two people ask me about Kaladin and Shallan, so if you want my full take on their dynamic and that ship, you can find that here. Listen to me talk about my issues with it and why I'm not really fond of it. (http://renarinkholin.tumblr.com/post/81151007731/shalladin-for-kaladamn-you-fine-and-an-anon) I can tell you here though, it's mostly Reason #3. Though I used to be very angry with Shallan that was more her treatment of Renarin than anything else, and I have since managed to heal from that hurt, so that's not it. I don't have too much of a problem with love triangles so long as something interesting is done with them -- though I'm wary and the idea that Kaladin's crush on Shallan will mess with his relationship with Adolin is cringe-inducing -- but I trust Brandon to handle a love triangle if he really wants to do it. I find it... boring and obvious, to tell the truth. I didn't see enough set up within them as individuals to make the pairing intriguing and the fact that they seem to be walking lock-step through every really overdone kind of romance plot thing is... vaguely annoyng more than it is interesting. I have hope that this ship will end up in a subversion of some sort actually, because that would redeem this plot for me. I know it seems a little strange to have a metatextual issue with a pairing, but well... it's just feels like I've read this before. It's the "prophecied hero" of relationship arcs. And I associate Brandon with taking those kinds of obvious arcs and twisting them around into something new and unexpected. (He twisted the prophecied hero for Mistborn, remember?) So I'm hoping he'll make something cool out of all of this stereotypical setup. But if he doesn't and this just plays out as a straightforward crush thing? I'm gonna be annoyed. To give you a different example: It's a little bit like Skye and Ward shipping from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. I didn't like that pairing because it was really obvious. Basically it hit the same buttons that Kaladin and Shallan do: main attractive male lead, main attractive female lead, stereotypical differences that they then bond through and learn to overcome... and a cast of characters around them that would make for much more interesting pairings. (And now I'm going into spoilers. Because I like what they did with this pairing, but it's spoilery to discuss.) That's the kind of thing that would make me interested in the Kaladin/Shallan ship. But until something like that happens and so long as there's no indication that this is anything other than a straight, classic set-up... I'll busy myself with other pairings.

Look, I'm not over here trying to definitively prove "Kaladin is attracted to guys and if you think otherwise you're 100% wrong." The purpose of puling the "handsome" quote was just to disprove the idea that "Kaladin never talks about how attractive other guys are." You're right, it's not 100% canon proof that Kaladin likes Adolin that way, and it wasn't meant to be. You can headcanon Kaladin as straight. It's probably more likely to be endgame, yes. But that doesn't mean that it's not valid for another person to think that he's not. You don't need "evidence" to assume that a character is not het or cis or whatever. You don't need it any more than to assume that a character is straight. Here's what I see here: chemistry. Y'all can write it off as bromance if you want, but I don't mind taking it to a romantic level. But the Kalarin and Kadolin relationships have a lot of dynamic and are incredibly interesting to explore. I mean, I'm a multi-shipper, like I said. There really isn't any ship for me that's a be-all-end-all anymore. I still like Shallarin as I'm sure surprises no one, I can appreciate some of the dynamics of Shasnah and Shadolin. (Don't get me started on Shalladin, but that's pretty much the one exception. Not a fan of the Kaladin/Shallan dynamic over here.) I mean, I'm het. I prefer het pairings. There's a reason I went for Shallarin over Kalarin for the longest time. I'm a girl who likes guys. The pairings that I enjoy reading the most about are guy/girl pairings. But... like abalidoth said, there's already an inundation of straight couples in the genre. So when I find a dynamic that's good and can give my friends some possible representation, heck yeah, I'm gonna appreciate that. There's fun ideas to explore there and I'm going to have fun exploring them. If it's not your cup of tea though, that's fine. Just, don't be surprised to find out that your way is not the only way to read and interpret these characters.

Too late, I am already sending the entire group out after you... to give you a hug because you're reading Scroungers eeeeeeeeee.

It's completely different characters and plot! Sydney Scroungers actually takes place about four years before the events of the movie, so there aren't even any spoilers! You're certainly not the first person to read it without having seen the movie, (in fact, I think Quiver still hasn't seen the movie ha.) The only thing that might trip you up is a little bit of the worldbuilding, but if you watch a trailer like this one, and perhaps this featurette about Drifting, that... should be enough to give you a crash course in what you've got to know. If you've got any worldbuilding questions, feel free to ask me! And I'm glad you liked Beneath the Bells! It's probably one of my favorite fics that I've written. It turned out almost exactly the way I wanted it to!

I've sent the next few to Eric, and I'm working on getting a buffer up! He should be posting new ones soon!

Yeah, to no one's surprise I'm on Abalidoth's side here. I mean, during WoK I was never much of a person to pair Kaladin up at all. I wasn't interested in any of the options there. Much as I adored Kaladin, he didn't really seem to fit well with the rest of the group, even speculatively. After WoR though? Kalarin and Kadolin all the way! I'm sure I've extolled the virtues of both of those ships elsewhere, but if y'all really want me to repeat them here, I can. Let's be honest though, Kaladin's chemistry with both of the Kholin brothers is fantastic and outshines any of his other relationships, in my opinion. Though, while we're on the topic of Renarin (though who are we kidding, I'm always on the topic of Renarin), I think it sets kind of a bad precident the idea that he would be gay just because girls don't like him. I mean, that's kind of the exact opposite of how this thing works, isn't it? Romantic orientation is about who you like and who likes you, not about who doesn't like you. Also Renarin has been fleshed out quite a bit, as someone like me -- who is obsessed with him -- will tell you. I was pretty much the captain of the Shallarin ship for the longest time, though after WoR I've started flitting between both Kalarin and Shallarin depending on the mood. They'd both be good matches for him. And for Drehy... I will get the Lopen/Drehy ship off the ground, you just watch me. They would be adorable and I will ship this ship you can't even stop me. ...I'm actually giggling a bit over here. I'm guessing that you'd forgotten that the very first time Kaladin ever sees Adolin, back in WoK, he describes him as "handsome"? Okay Kaladin, we see where your priorities are, ha. Also, Kaladin and Adolin's bickery friendship is seriously perfect. It's petty, it's witty, and they take every opportunity to poke at each other... but when it comes down to it, they've got each others' backs. That teamwork and bonding in the dueling ring? Adolin sitting in the cell while Kaladin served his time? And then the two of them trying to go back to "oh yes we are rivals, bicker, bicker, definitely not friends here nope." Like, quit it you two. Stop being so adorable this instant. After a while you just get the feeling that they're trying a little too hard to keep up the insults and the jibes, you know? As for Renarin, Kaladin definitely describes him with some fairly positive terms as well. "Slender limbs and delicate fingers" anyone? (I'm pretty sure that's Kogiopsis's favorite line right there, and she's been captain of the Kalarin ship for years.) And you can't deny that Kaladin's the person who has managed to understand and connect with Renarin the closest out of all of the characters thus far. That joining Bridge 4 scene (Chapter 41 of WoR) was so amazing. Kaladin just handled everything perfectly, like wow. Kadolin and Kalarin forever, y'all. As for Lift shipping... can we try to stay away from pedophilic shipping? Kaladin, Renarin, and Adolin are all over 20 and she's 13. That's way too young to be considering for at least another 10 years, please. And yeah, the years are slightly longer, yeah, but still.

(Oh also I feel really terrible but you mentioned the "cliffhanger" at the end of Beneath the Bells) Heh. Um. Well, there probably won't be a sequel to that one because it wasn't supposed to ncessarily be cliff hanger-y.

Great fic! It's got my recommendation, definitely! I love the characterization of Yalb here!

Haha, I tend to be the opposite. I mean, I've got plenty of OCs and original ideas, and I do write for them (I just put away a 6,000 word short story in one of my original worlds that was very satisfying to finish.) I live for reactions though, and knowing that there's people out here who are going to love seeing these things. Very often I write things FOR other people because I know what my friends like and I know what they'll enjoy seeing. That's actually what's helped with my original writing, in that I have some people who are actually really excited about my original characters and the stories about them, so I get inspired to write those so that I can share them privately with my little reading group! ...dang I really need to get back to work on the actual novel of Called Forth one of these days though, ha. Also it needs a better title. Struggles of a writer, right?

Oh definitely, you're abolutely right! And I got a little defensive of my fangirl persona, but trust me it's not the only one that's out there. Much as I wail to see Renarin going through difficult situations, I adore seeing him being pushed to grow and being forced through difficulty in order to become a better person. It's my more scholarly, mature-analysis side, which isn't quite as much fun to play up on the forums, but it's definitely there! I mean, I write fanfic, and I've written fanfic of Renarin going through really hard situations to see him grow. I mean, currently I'm making the poor boy get dragged into Bridge 4 during the events of Way of Kings, which is a very fun concept to play with... but is about as far from coddling as you can get. Of course, if anyone else were to write something like that and I were to read it, I'd moan and wail and clutch him protectively and ask "how could you do this to my poor baby!" But deep down, I like seeing these kinds of growth arcs, and I like being upset for him, and I like seeing him being tried and tested in order to become a stronger and more confident person. He's got a Braize of a growth arc set up, and it's going to be awesome to watch (if painful to go through!) *salutes my --Writer twin* Glad to see I'm not the only one who never shuts up about Ellie, Weiry!

I really like the way this is put here, actually. I see a lot of people in this thread talking about how fanfiction is a tool, how it's value is in the fact that it can help improve original writing. While that's true, I think Zerovirus is on to something with this thread that fanfiction has merit of its own right. Obviously I'm probably biased. Quiver already mentioned that he's read my fanfiction, so obviously I'm a fanfiction writer. I'm not much of a fanfic reader though, actually. I read the stories that my friends write, because I know that my friends are good writers and I know that their ideas of characterization line up with mine (talking Cosmere fanfic mostly). However, I've had some fics reccommended to me that were very excellent and that I thoroughly enjoyed. On a day to day basis though? I'm not the person who goes out and searches fanfic to read. I just don't have time. I've got writing to do! The ways that I use fanfiction are things that you can't do in original writing, they are unique to fanfic. Things like alternate universes or canon divergence or character appreciation. It's a mind exercise almost, and a way to test my skill and knowledge of say, Stormlight Archive. I love these kinds of "what if" questions. What if Kaladin ended up becoming a surgeon and made his way to Kharbranth? What if Renarin had Radiant powers that he was hiding in The Way of Kings? Or, for the story I'm somewhat working on right now, what would happen if Renarin somehow ended up in Bridge 4 during the events of The Way of Kings? (Answer: lots of sadness.) One of my friends is currently writing a statusswap SA story: what if Kaladin were the lighteyed prince, and the Kholins were darkeyes? That's a VERY fun sort of concept to play with. Or for things like an alternate universe, we start to really dig into the meat of the characters. What makes Kaladin, Kaladin? Can we pull him out of his world and still make him recognizable? Who would he be if his life were different? What about the other characters? Renarin, Adolin, Shallan, Dalinar, who are they really deep down at the core of their being? What is the part of them that makes them themselves? What are the things that would not ever change about them, and how would different situations bring those out? Or, to go a step further, let's take things like crossovers. One of the ways I like using crossovers is to show parallels between characters and narrative arcs. People like to toss out the Fullmetal Alchemist and Stormlight crossover quite a bit. How would the Kholin brothers work if they were in Ed and Al's situation? Or what if it was Kaladin and Tien? In my experience with writing fanfiction, I try to ask interesting questions about the characters and stories that I love and then answer them in interesting ways. In some ways it's easier to write. Knowing the world and knowing the characters means that you can simply step in and start to play around with things without so much of the setup. It sometimes clears the air to get down to the deep, interesting aspects. I mentioned to a friend that while I was in two RP campaigns and one was much easier to write for than the other. One was a D&D story set in an unfamilliar kind of setting. I found myself floundering trying to create all of this context and play a character in a world that I didn't fully understand. The other campaign was The Sydney Scroungers, a FATE Core campaign set in the Pacific Rim universe. The SS group was able to hit the ground running because we knew what was going on. Oh, we're playing a Firefly-like smuggling group in the Sydney area a few years before the movie takes place? Awesome. We know the kinds of things we can do and what tools we have to work with and we can just go with it. I could look at that setting and think about "What would be interesting? What about a piloting cadet who's not Drift compatible? What if she was a programmer who created an AI to be her Drift partner? What if she's in the underworld because she hijacked a Jaeger to test it and is on the run, trying not to get caught?" And there you've got the base concept for Sylvie Mansen. Other players have characters who have been caught up in Kaiju attacks (Scissure in Sydney and Onibaba in Tokyo) and are still dealing with the fallout of those events in their lives. We took a concept with cool worldbuilding and we got to build onto it from there. So yes, you can learn a lot from fanfiction that helps original writing -- I'll say that instant feedback in particular is wonderful. Having a ready-made audience, people who already care about the characters you're writing and will talk to you about what you're doing with them is a great way to improve skills and boost confidence. But, there's a lot to fanfiction that is unique to it, and it's a worthwhile endeavor of its own right.

I'm trying guys. It's the end of the semester, I'm getting swamped, and editing these takes time. I'm sorry that you guys have to wait sometimes, but editing 3 episodes a day on top of work and school and writing is... well, not always feasible. Bear with me, okay? Trust me, I'm not letting this project go, but it might be a little bit slower than originally planned and I'm sorry about that. Also, my computer's being glitchy and is trying to delete parts of the files, so these may be a little strange sounding.

Well, at the moment Audacity is giving me hell. :c Sorry guys, but I've gotta fix these bugs. Everytime I try to edit, it randomly deletes snatches of my recording which is DEFINITELY not good. I've gotten the next two done, but this third one is fighting me hard. I'm gonna try to fiddle with it tomorrow, okay? Sorry about the delays on these!