Get out your bottles (small or otherwise), because this week’s a long one. And a difficult one, if we’re being honest. Adolin and Kaladin are both struggling with some pretty heavy issues in their own ways, and Past!Dalinar is deep in the throes of alcoholism. It’s not easy to see our favorite characters in such hardship, but of course they must hit bottom before they can start clawing their way back up.
Reminder: we’ll potentially be discussing spoilers for the ENTIRE NOVEL in each reread—if you haven’t read ALL of Oathbringer, best to wait to join us until you’re done.
We actually don’t have spoilers from other books this week (for the first time since Nightblood and Azure showed up). There are a few little mentions of Warbreaker, but nothing that we’d consider a spoiler. So even if you’ve never read anything else from the Cosmere, you should be fine.
Chapter Recap
WHO: Adolin; Past!Dalinar; Kaladin
WHERE: Shadesmar; Eastern Alethkar; Shadesmar
WHEN: 1174.2.3.4; 1166; 1174.2.3.4 (Chapters 93 and 95 are the same day as chapter 91; Chapter 94 is roughly seven years ago)
Adolin wakes up in Shadesmar, and he and Azure and Kaladin do a kata by the edge of the water. They collectively assess their supplies then realize that they’ve drawn the attention of some anger spren.
Seven years ago, Past!Dalinar is on another bender. When he can’t find any booze in his room, he yells at his sons, but Renarin returns with a small bottle of liquor for him and Dalinar weeps for his losses.
Back in Shadesmar, Kaladin is struggling with his depression. They hike for several days along the “river” before finally reaching one of the lighthouses where they hope to barter for passage across the sea, as well as gain some more provisions.
Beginnings
Titles
Chapter 93: Kata
Adolin sighed, then started a morning kata. Without a sword, he fell back on the first kata he’d ever learned—an extended sequence of stretches, hand-to-hand moves, and stances to help loosen his muscles.
Chapter 94: A Small Bottle
Renarin had returned, timid as always, his spectacled eyes wide and his hand trembling. He held something out.
A small bottle.
Chapter 95: Inescapable Void
Then that numbness would claim him and make it hard to do anything at all. It would become a sinking, inescapable void from within which everything looked washed out. Dead.
Heralds
Chapter 93: Talenel—Herald of War. Dependable/Resourceful, Stonewards, Soldier.
Ishar—Herald of Luck. Pious/Guiding. Bondsmiths. Role: Priest.
A: Adolin as Soldier—which his role most certainly is at this point—is enough reason for Taln to be here. I think he’s also displaying his dependability and resourcefulness in this bizarre situation. I’m a little less certain of Ishar’s purpose; I can’t help wondering if it has something to do with Azure, though I couldn’t say what. She, along with the spren, definitely gives a fair bit of guidance to the team, so maybe that’s it.
L: Shallan is displaying a lot of resourcefulness as well, taking stock of their possessions and all.
Chapter 94: Paliah—Learned/Giving, Truthwatchers, Scholar
A: This one seems pretty obvious. Renarin displays the attribute of Giving, and he will eventually become a Truthwatcher. (Yes, I know, his spren is corrupted and we don’t know what effect that will have, but he’s still, as far as we know, a Truthwatcher.)
Chapter 95: Jezrien—Herald of Kings, Protecting/Leading, Windrunners, King
Vedel—Loving/Healing, Edgedancers, Healer
A: The Windrunner for Kaladin—especially when he’s busy being a Windrunner—is pretty common, though he’s doing very little protecting or leading. I can’t help remembering the Prelude: “There, in Jezrien’s eyes, Kalak saw anguish and grief. Perhaps even cowardice. This was a man hanging from a cliff by a thread.” And later, “He seemed so cold. Like a shadow caused by heat and light falling on someone honorable and true, casting this black imitation behind.” I can’t help wondering if Kaladin’s state of mind here, anger hovering on the brink of deep depression, is reflective of that scene long ago.
Icons
Chapter 93: The Shardbearer for an Adolin POV
Chapter 94: Inverse Kholin Glyphpair, for a Dalinar flashback
Chapter 95: Banner & Spears, for Kaladin
Epigraphs
Taxil mentions Yelig-nar, named Blightwind, in an oft-cited quote. Though Jasnah Kholin has famously called its accuracy into question, I believe it.
—From Hessi’s Mythica, page 26Yelig-nar had great powers, perhaps the powers of all Surges compounded in one. He could transform any Voidbringer into an extremely dangerous enemy. Curiously, three legends I found mention swallowing a gemstone to engage this process.
—From Hessi’s Mythica, page 27
A: Hey, Hessi must be a Herald. Who else would dare disagree with Jasnah Kholin?
Well, okay. That isn’t exactly proof, but I couldn’t resist. In any case, if the second epigraph is connected to the first and the powers of Yelig-nar are what Jasnah questioned, she turned out to be wrong and Hessi is right. We didn’t really see much of Aesudan demonstrating Yelig-nar’s powers; she got the glowing red eyes, the black smoke the beginnings of the carapace, and iirc she managed floating off the ground, but that’s about all we saw. Odium later (chapter 118) tells Amaram that she “tried this, and the power consumed her.” Following that, though, we see Amaram swallow the gemstone and begin to display… well, maybe not all the Surges, but a bunch of them!
Side note on something that struck me: Hessi phrases it as Yelig-nar transforming “any Voidbringer” into that nightmare we saw Amaram become. It’s an interesting choice of word, and can be interpreted several ways. Since she’s talking about the past, one could assume she meant “one of those legendary Voidbringers, whatever they were.” Or, if she knew more, she might specifically be thinking about the parsh, even though they seem harmless at the time she’s writing. Or… it might be an implication about what a Voidbringer really is: anyone, regardless of species, who chooses to draw on Odium’s Investiture for power.
Relationships & Romances
Father could have slept on the ground, a part of him thought. Dalinar is a true soldier.
A: Adolin’s thoughts in the beginning of this chapter are … well, interesting. He’s waking up in a nightmare sort of place, after watching his city fall to the Fused and the parsh, and he’s feeling profoundly unnerved about life, the universe, and everything. I’ve written recently about how I thought he did a great job as a leader for this group, getting on with what had to be done no matter how he felt. I still think that. But this week, we’re getting into his mind when no one needs him to do anything.
He’s almost—almost—falling into self-pity. He’s feeling inadequate, and like most of us in that case, he’s reviewing his every failure and perceived failure of the last few months. As so often with him, he views his failures through the lens of his father’s expectations and (supposed) perfections.
Adolin thought again of the jolt he’d felt when ramming his dagger through Sadeas’s eye and into his brain. Satisfaction and shame. Strip away Adolin’s nobility, and what was left? A duelist when a world needed generals? A hothead who couldn’t even take an insult?
A murderer?
A: It’s easy to psychoanalyze the other guy, but isn’t this true of most of us? Not that we have the same position, nor the same cause for guilt, but… don’t we? We all have status and position that other people see, and we all have our own secret faults that give us a constant sense of impostor syndrome. Many of us—though certainly not all—feel a certain sense of having failed to live up to what our parents hoped for us. I’m not saying it’s a great thing, mind you; I’m just saying that Adolin’s feelings this morning are common to humanity. And he knows it:
“I’m being childish, aren’t I?” Adolin asked.
L: I love that Adolin can self-analyze well and realize when he’s being immature.
“So, forces moving in the world now make me look insignificant. That’s no different from a child growing up and realizing his little life isn’t the center of the universe. Right?”
Problem was, his little life had been the center of the universe, growing up. Welcome to being the son of Dalinar storming Blackthorn.
A: Except… it never was. Dalinar’s vicinity was, perhaps, the center of Alethkar, but hardly the universe.
L: Well, he may not have been the center of the universe, but I think he’s always been the center of Adolin’s universe, as many parents are for children. Adolin just seemed to come to this “my parent isn’t perfect” realization later than most.
A: I had the impression that he was thinking that the Blackthorn had been pretty central to All The Things, and as the Blackthorn’s son, he was part of that centrality. And face it, he was pretty important in Alethkar, but I don’t think he quite realizes yet that a lot of Roshar doesn’t care about Alethkar, much less the rest of the universe.. Until now, anyway; from the moment at the end of this book where Dalinar stands against Odium, a whole lot of forces in the Cosmere will be centered on Dalinar. Oh, Adolin. What you have to look forward to…! Anyway, I like what he does with it all:
Adolin sighed, then started a morning kata. … The forms calmed him. The world was turning on its head, but familiar things were still familiar. Strange, that he should have to come to that revelation.
A: Unlike me, Adolin actually does something useful to deal with his emotions: he does something physical and familiar. I absolutely love that Azure comes to join him, matching him move for move; then Kaladin joins them too, less practiced, but still doing the same routine. The obvious reason for including this in “Relationships” is not yet obvious to the characters, but it becomes clear eventually. They all learned this as their first kata, from their first swordmaster, who will turn out to be the same person for all three. Sweet.
L: It’s also really cool to see because it’s a big bonding moment for them. Adolin and Kaladin have fought side by side before, but Azure was still very much on the outside.
A: Yes, I think this is a huge step toward the three of them becoming more “family,” or at least equals, in this escapade.
Adolin stood his ground. Almost seventeen now, fully a man. The other one, the invalid, cringed down. He looked younger than his … what … twelve years? Thirteen?
A: I was absolutely furious with Dalinar over this one. We knew how dismissive he’d been of Renarin ever since his neurodevelopmental issues became noticeable, but this! His sons have been traveling with him for weeks or months at this point, and he still can’t be bothered to even remember his younger son’s name, never mind his age. They’re just “Adolin” and “the other one.” Granted, he really hated the way Evi invented the name Renarin, so there’s that, but… still. And despite all the rejection, Renarin has the courage to step in and try to help:
A small bottle. “I…” Renarin swallowed. “I got you one, with the spheres the king gave me.”
…
Oh Almighty. Oh God. Oh God, please… I’ve started to hate my sons. Why hadn’t the boys learned to hate him back? They should hate him. He deserved to be hated.
Please. Anything. I don’t know how to get free of this. Help me. Help me…
Dalinar wept and clung to that youth, that child, as if he were the only real thing left in a world of shadows.
L: This broke my heart into a million little pieces.
A: Pretty sure I cried the first time I read this… and maybe several other times as well.
L: The relationship between Dalinar and his sons is so complex and real. It’s very rare to find a family without conflict, and this one… boy does it have conflict. I think that a good portion of Dalinar’s redemption hinges from this moment. Evi’s death and his guilt sent him into the depressive/alcoholic spiral, but it was his sons who drove him to seek out the change that would bring him peace. He becomes the very man that his mother always told them he was. What a wonderful tribute to her memory. I only wish she’d lived to see it. And speaking of Evi:
“What did she tell you?” he said, voice ragged. “What did your mother say about me?”
“The only honest officer in the army,” Renarin said, “the honorable solder. Noble, like the Heralds themselves. Our father. The greatest man in Alethkar.”
L: This woman was a saint.
A: Indeed. So ironic, that just moments before he was thinking, “How many lies about him had she stuffed into their heads?” We’ll never know how much of it she believed, and how much she said out of loyalty to her husband; honestly, I’ll bet she didn’t always know where that line was. But her consistent determination to always show respect to her husband, even when she was telling him she didn’t like something he was doing… to me, it’s a beautiful thing, and a big reason that she’s one of my favorite characters. She was an amazingly strong woman.
There was an insufferable spring to his step, like he was actually excited by this horrible place. Idiot Adolin, who probably didn’t even understand the consequences of—
Stop it. STOP IT. He helped you.
L: I really, really hope that the friendship between the two of them eventually gets stronger. I think Adolin is uniquely equipped to help Kaladin through moments like this, as someone who will understand and won’t immediately shut Kaladin out should he voice an outburst like this.
A: 100% agree. Adolin could be one of the best things to happen to Kaladin, as someone whom he can consider an equal in ways the rest of Bridge Four will never quite be.
Kaladin would have preferred to take the rearguard, but if he tried, Adolin positioned himself to the back again. What did the princeling think? That Kaladin would lag behind, if not minded?
L: Yeah, Kal, pretty sure that’s exactly what he thinks, and I’m willing to bet he’s right. Once again Adolin is displaying his care and concern through his actions and not just empty words.
A: This was both funny and poignant, because… well, that’s literally what was happening just yesterday, dude.
Bruised & Broken
They’d done it again! They’d taken his bottles. How dare they? Couldn’t they hear the weeping? … The weeping echoed around him. Children dying. Evi begging for her life.
A: We don’t know for sure how much of this is imagination and how much is echoing from the Spiritual Realm, but either way it’s destroying his sanity. (Or is it evidence of his sanity having been destroyed?) As much as this level of drunkenness is a tragedy, I can’t help understanding his need to drown it out.
For a time, away from civilization, Dalinar had felt like himself. His old self.
He hated that person.
L: Ah, the duality. He wants to be that person again, but he hates that person. He can’t pull himself out of his own spiral long enough to see what—or who—else he could possibly be. And he doesn’t manage it on his own, either. He’s going to need supernatural assistance.
A: It’s made harder because everyone around him admired his old self, or at least respected him. He was the man that Gavilar needed, and the only reason the quest for kingship happened. Everyone who pledges loyalty to Gavilar does so in part because of the Blackthorn; no one else sees the torment he’s experiencing over the realization that the Blackthorn was sort of a horrible person.
Because the darkness was coming.
It fed off the pain of defeat, the agony of losing men he’d tried to protect. But it could feed off anything. Life going well? The darkness would whisper that he was only setting himself up for a bigger fall. Shallan glances at Adolin? They must be whispering about him. Dalinar sends him to protect Elhokar? The highprince must be trying to get rid of Kaladin.
L: Oof. This is so, so relatable. Depression is a terrible thing and it can feed off of nothing at all. That’s the worst part. You know, intellectually, that these things your mind whispers to you aren’t true. But knowing and feeling are two very different things.
Then that numbness would claim him and make it hard to do anything at all. It would become a sinking, inescapable void from within which everything looked washed out. Dead.
Within that dark place, he’d wanted to betray his oaths. Within that dark place, he’d given up the king to assassins and murderers.
L: Poor Kaladin. He’s made mistakes, yes. But he’s always so hard on himself, harder than he is on anyone else. He’s willing to overlook a lot of flaws and mistakes. But only for others. Hardly ever can he forgive himself.
A: It’s so painful to read about Kaladin like this; I can almost understand the people who complain about “whiny Kaladin”… except that it’s so realistic. Depression is all too real. I personally think Sanderson did a better job than most (in my experience) at portraying a character who suffers from actual depression, rather than just the “emo dude” that you get too often in books.
“It just feels like… like we’re abandoning Kholinar. And only I care. You were talking about how to get food, find a way to the Horneater Peaks, this perpendicularity or whatever. But we’re abandoning people to the Voidbringers.”
“I care too!” Adolin said. “Bridgeboy, that was my home. It—”
“I know,” Kaladin snapped.
L: I really love that Kaladin is talking to other people about this. So often he takes all those emotions and smothers them inside instead of airing them out, especially if he knows they’re irrational. This is a good step for him, and one I’m happy to see.
A: He wouldn’t be doing it if it weren’t for the angerspren, I think; they make it very obvious that someone is angry, and it’s dangerous for them here. It doesn’t take long to work out who, and so he sort of has to defend himself and accept their help to deal with it. The beauty of it is that, whatever the motivating force, he is talking about it—and he’s even talking to the whole group, which is healthy for them all.
He could see too many sides. Parshmen angry at being enslaved for years, attempting to overthrow a corrupt government. Alethi protecting their homes from invading monsters. Elhokar trying to save his son. The palace guards trying to keep their oaths.
Too many eyes to see through. Too many emotions.
L: With great power comes great responsibility, and for Kaladin, with knowledge comes the pain of understanding the true horrors of war.
A: There are drawbacks to being able to see other people’s perspective; sometimes it’s hard to do what you think ought to be “right” because you can see exactly why the other person disagrees. I can’t help thinking that this is going to continue to be a challenge for Kaladin, because you can’t lose the ability to empathize with the other guy.
L: Well, this is a first. Let’s talk a little bit about Syl in this section for a change.
“I bonded a Knight Radiant. … I bonded him soon after I was born. He was an elderly man, kindly, but he did fight. In one battle. And he died… I wasn’t ready for the bond. Spren normally weather the loss of their Radiant, but I… I lost myself when I lost him.”
L: I can’t imagine how difficult it must have been for the spren who lost their Radiants like this. Their friendships are deeper than a “normal” friendship is, due to the bond. They can sort of sense one another’s emotions, it seems, and the spren at least understands quite a lot about their Radiant’s state of mind (though that doesn’t seem to work the other way). That loss must be an awful shock, and the spren do seem to grieve similarly to some humans.
Squires & Sidekicks
A: I sometimes have a hard time treating Adolin’s sword as a spren; she feels like more of a sidekick.
“What do you think of all this?” Adolin asked the woman with the scratched-out eyes. She didn’t respond, but he often talked to his sword without it responding.
A: I had to include this, because I love the way he unconsciously accepts this odd-looking spren as his sword, at least in this thought. When he thinks about it, it’s still a little awkward, but when he’s just musing… he talks to his sword like he’s always done. She just looks different here.
L: I love this too. Adolin’s never cared about appearances (except when it comes to fashion anyway), and this is just another example of that.
A: Isn’t that funny? But maybe it makes sense. Fashion is a hobby for him; it’s fun, but it’s not an essential characteristic. It’s a matter of having a good tailor and enough money to spend. Because he’s had the opportunity to indulge the hobby, he knows just how superficial appearance can be, so it doesn’t matter all that much to him. In other people, anyway!
Flora & Fauna
The thin peninsula wasn’t barren…. Growing along its edges were small, brittle plants that looked like ferns. … Most were black, but occasionally they had vibrant colors, blended together like stained glass.
A: I think it’s funny that there actually are living growing plants, however fragile and oddly colored, in the Cognitive realm.
L: I wish we knew how these survive here! There’s no water…
Tight Butts and Coconuts
“I made a list of our supplies.” … “We have my satchel, with charcoal, reed pens, brushes, ink, lacquer, some solvents, three sketchpads, my sharpening knife, and one jar of jam I’d stowed inside for an emergency snack.”
A: LOL! Three cheers for the jam!
L: Hopefully not poisoned this time. I’m surprised she can still eat the stuff after that experience back in The Way of Kings.
“Wonderful,” Kaladin said. “I’m sure a pile of brushes will be useful in fighting off Voidspren.”
“Better than your tongue, which is notably dull lately….”
A: I could be wrong, but IMO this sounds very much like Shallan ordinarily expects Kaladin to have a snappy comeback when she makes a smart remark at him. I know we, your friendly neighborhood bloggers, have disagreed on this in the past; what I see as “treating him like an equal” others see as “punching down” because of her higher social standing. Of course I’m reading this from my perspective, but I really do think she normally enjoys the “witty badinage” she and Kaladin have had at times. One or two of her brothers were able to play the word games with her, and they frequently hinged on rude puns or lighthearted insults. Finding an equal in Kaladin—and a guy who’s far more her equal than her brothers ever were—would have seemed normal to her. Not “normal” in the sense of “this is frequent in society” but in the sense of “this is what I was used to in my isolated life.” Ah, well. JMO.
Cosmere Connections
“… we have maybe one day’s worth of water and three meals for four people. Last time I crossed Shadesmar, it took four weeks.”
A: Well, that’s not good… So of course Kaladin (still feeling guilty about the people he left behind) thinks they should try to go back through the Oathgate, which isn’t really one of the options.
“Our land, every land, is three realms. The highest is the Spiritual, where gods live—there, all things, times, and spaces are made into one.
“We’re now in the Cognitive Realm. Shadesmar, where spren live. You are from the Physical Realm.”
A: And there you have Realmatic Theory in a nutshell. My big question is, if the Spiritual Realm is where gods live, does she mean the Shards? And if all things, times, and spaces are one there, how is Odium bound to Roshar? Or is he (oooooh, maybe) blocked from the Spiritual Realm, and bound in the Cognitive? That’s my only guess.
“There’s another way to transfer between realms,” Azure said. “I’ve used it.” … Finally, she sighed deeply. “Story time?”
“Yes, please,” Adolin replied.
A: And we all say with Adolin, YES, PLEASE! And she tells them she comes from “a far land” and that’s it for background. Rats.
L: We’ll probably get the rest of that backstory when Sanderson eventually gets around to writing that Warbreaker sequel, so I can see why he’s being close-mouthed here.
A: At least she does tell them about travelling in Shadesmar; about Cultivation’s Perpendicularity in the Horneater Peaks (yes, that’s probably how Hoid got here, and that’s probably who Rock saw climbing out of the lake); and that there is supposedly another perpendicularity which is “unpredictable and dangerous, and appears randomly in different places.” Most readers have assumed that Honor’s Perpendicularity is in the highstorms, but I don’t buy that; the denizens of Shadesmar know about highstorms, and they’d hardly call that “unpredictable,” much less “appearing randomly.” I suspect that it’s wherever the Stormfather wants to put it at any given moment, and might be involved in those few times when Kaladin was able to converse with him – tied to the barracks roof, and in the chasm with Shallan. But at this point it’s all speculation.
L: Hmm. This is definitely a big question, and one that we’ll have to keep an eye on going forward…
A Scrupulous Study of Spren
He hurled the sphere into the sea, where it skittered against its fellows.
A: Ummm… what happens to an object in the physical realm when its cognitive form is flung around by someone in Shadesmar? Seems like that should mess things up somehow.
L: That’s a good question, but somehow I don’t think that the exact location of the bead is what’s important. As long as it’s nearby. Now… what would happen if one of those beads were to break is a bigger question. Can they even be broken?
He was interrupted by a haunting screech. It was reminiscent of sheets of metal grinding against one another…
“What was that?” Kaladin demanded.
“You remember before we slept, how I said we’d be fine unless we attracted the wrong kind of spren?”
L: I just have to say that all I can imagine in regards to this sound is the Nazgul in Lord of the Rings.
A: Quite likely an apt comparison!
“What are they like? You said those sounds were from angerspren? Boiling pools of blood?”
“That’s the part you see in the Physical Realm. Here … that’s merely their saliva, pooling as they drool. They’re nasty.”
A: “Boiling pools of blood” is nasty enough as an image associated with anger. The thought that the actual spren are great big things who drool boiling pools of blood… Yikes. This reminds me of the bit in the “extra scene” with Jasnah, where they hear what sounds like a large nasty beastie near them; when Ivory tells her it’s a painspren and they need to leave now, she objects that painspren are harmless. Ivory responds, “On your side, harmless. Here, harmmore. Very harmmore.” Sounds like angerspren are also harmmore!
“We can barely see [the windspren] on this side. Did you know that? Some spren live mostly in your realm. I suppose the wind is always there somewhere, so they don’t fade like passions do.”
L: So does this mean that the spren that are representations of “physical” things (like fire or windspren) are all more present on the physical plane than the cognitive? Is it just some of them, or all? Syl’s second comment here about how passions fade seems to indicate this.
A: Hmm. I think that’s a fair guess. Things like rainspren and flamespren would still fade out when the rain stops or the fire goes out, but windspren and lifespren are pretty ubiquitous, so… yes?
Alcoholic Artwork
L: It’s painful for this otherwise interesting artwork to be placed here, before this particular flashback of Dalinar’s.
A: Hooooo boy. Isn’t it, though. I mean, I’m really glad they included it, because it’s quite cool, and details a lot of things that have been mentioned elsewhere. But… ouch. Right before we see Dalinar in the depths of full-blown alcoholism.
L: As someone who quite enjoys an occasional drink, I loved to see this chart. Interesting that sapphire wine tastes like whiskey! I wonder if the “wines” on Roshar are just various hard liquors for the most part. Maybe something like how every bird is a “chicken,” every alcoholic beverage of the spirits variety is a “wine.” I could be way off on this one, but it seems odd that there would be such variance in the alcohol content otherwise.
A: Yeah, I think Brandon has said “wine” is very much like “chicken.” They don’t actually have grapes on Roshar, IIRC, but they did on Ashyn, so all the alcohols are called “wine” and identified by color rather than by what was fermented or where it originated. Pink wine is probably the equivalent of wine spritzers, and violet is … maybe a strong rum? (Horneater White is obviously Everclear.)
L: Do we have any idea who the person writing in the margins on this is? Whoever it is, I like them. “I’ve had milk more intoxicating than this” indeed!
A: Heh. That would be our old buddy Nazh. I love his sense of humor—which I’m thinking is mostly Isaac being snarky! But I have to wonder, with the way most of Team Dragonsteel drinks (as in, not), who wrote the descriptions? I guess those can be researched like anything else!
Quality Quotations
“Um… you’re supposed to watch out for Cryptics.”
Pattern hummed happily. “Yes. We are very famous.”
* * *
“Humans, you must stop your emotions. They are very inconvenient here.”
Whew! That was a long one! Next week we’ll be tackling chapter 96 all on its lonesome, and join Navani for some political negotiations.
Alice is gearing up for a new school year (for her daughter) and volleyball season (also for her daughter). Expect to see lots of volleyball-related stuff here for a few months.
Lyndsey is exhausted from working a three day weekend at the Connecticut Renaissance Faire, but was very excited to see a Mistborn cosplayer wandering the streets of the shire! If you’re an aspiring author, a cosplayer, or just like geeky content, follow her work on Facebook or Instagram.
