#aro arcanum
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Aroace Kaladin is my favourite headcannon. Sorry he has no mouth, I cannot draw.
More versions under cut
I had so much fun drawing this, although wow Kal is hard to draw.
Anyway, my main blog is @jewishdainix. Go there if you wanna see me ramble about stormlight. I am so normal about these books.
#the stormlight archive#stormlight archive#arts arcanum#cosmere#Kaladin stormblessed#Stormlight archive fanart#Kaladin#Kaladin fanart#Aroace kaladin#Aromantic#Aro#Asexual#Ace
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if kaladin does turn out canon aro i hope you all know I’m taking full credit
#this is JOKE but also#idk guys i did send him that letter#and i will actually gloat#mostly i just like to think abt how cool it wld be if kaladin was canon aro... wow...#misc#aro arcanum
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right so after seeing me moan the other day that I’d never get to tell Brandon Sanderson how grateful I am for Kaladin coming across as so aro to me, @lupitup messaged me saying they’d be able to get a message to him through someone they knew and so I wrote over 1500 words,
anyway if you’d like to read it too, here it is!
oathbringer spoilers under the cut
Dear Mr Sanderson,
This letter, if you can call it that, is not intended to be unsolicited advice about your characters, nor even really a suggestion. I trust your plans for your own writing immensely and even if I didn’t I respect your right to your own decisions. Merely, I want to explain why from the point of view of an aromantic, the way you have so far chosen to write Kaladin Stormblessed is so incredibly important.
As someone who has expressed interest in writing an asexual character, I’m sure you are aware how little media representation asexuals are given, and how that amount decreases even further still for aromantics. (In fact, there are only two characters to my knowledge who have even been referred to as ‘aromantic’ by their creators, and neither have had the word used about them within the universe they existed in.)
Beyond our lack of ‘official’ characters to see ourselves in, aromantics often have a very difficult time finding any characters at all who we can relate to, since everyone is eventually, Harry Potter epilogue style, arbitrarily paired off so that the audience can be reassured they found their inevitable happy ending in the form of romantic love. Since otherwise, to the eyes of the world, they would have had no worth, love from friends and family not filling the aching gap they would surely have felt if not for the arrival of their perfect ‘other half’.
Even characters whom my community can initially relate to inevitably go on to alienate us. The loveless protagonists of each and every children’s novel that I enjoyed in the days before I knew what I was were all given a hint of a love interest in the last book of the series, just as reassurance that they were growing up. But I never grew up in that sense, and remained simultaneously more and less mature than my peers, never having seen that coming of age and yet achingly above it all. I imagine I seem, just as Kaladin seems to me, to be too old for my age and yet at the same time too unknowing, too naïve.
So even in the time after Words of Radiance and before Oathbringer, I was forever indebted to you for giving me Kaladin. Little details made my heart cry out in a kinship for him that I’d never been able to feel before; That it didn’t cross his mind that his men might start to get married, that he felt anxious at the idea of not knowing where his friends were, that compared to other characters of a similar age who were at the forefront of the books, he seemed painfully oblivious to the world of romance.
And then came Oathbringer, the book the world needed in 2017, that was hopeful in the face of the apocalypse and in my eyes, with its themes of belonging and self-acceptance and the healing power of unconditional love, inherently queer. This book cemented for me that Kaladin not only could be read as on the aromantic spectrum, if the reader so wished, but naturally lent himself to a reading of that manner. And I cannot express how ecstatic it made me not just to see my own traits reflected in him but to see them respected.
Never before had I been able to read about a character who reflected my own feelings without those feelings portrayed as something to grow out of. Never before had I been able to read about a character who planned their life around their friends in the way that we all do as children, and that aromantics continue to do our whole lives, never having the treasured way we regard platonic love usurped by the eventual first feelings of romantic love. It never even crossed my mind that a character could be allowed to feel that way and not be harassed into feeling differently. Never before had I read about a character who couldn’t stomach seeing people kiss without that character being, well, an actual child. Never before had I read about a character who dreaded their friends pairing up and leaving them (as it seems to me the line ‘he liked them both… just not together’ seems to imply) without it being revealed that the character in question was secretly jealous and wanted a romantic relationship for themselves.
Never before have I read about a character who shared my innermost feelings and not seen those feelings laughed at and ripped away.
For me the importance of Kaladin as a character this stands out possibly the most in one of Oathbringer’s final scenes, in which Kaladin reflects on his feelings for Shallan. First of all, I was overjoyed that Kal was allowed to defend himself against the person, or in this case spren, insisting that he had romantic feelings. In any other book he would have ended up either with Shallan or as part of a drawn-out love triangle, and any claims that he didn’t have feelings for her would have been disrespected, taken as lies to be inevitably disproven. In Oathbringer however, despite Syl acting as amatonormativity (the harmful assumption that romantic relationships are central to every person’s life and that everyone’s goal is to have one.) personified, a role normally portrayed as the voice of reason, it is she who is proved wrong and Kaladin is allowed the dignity of explaining his own feelings as soon as he begins to understand them.
Secondly… that ‘something’ Kaladin says he does feel for Shallan? Within the aromantic community we’d likely call that a ‘squish’: essentially the platonic parallel to the traditional crush and characterised by strong non-romantic feelings for a person that you desperately hope will become a friend. The majority of aromantics you speak to will have at some point mistaken a squish for a crush before they had the language to more accurately describe themselves and their attraction. I myself had the same experience with a boy a few years ago as Kaladin does with Shallan, even down to believing I had romantic feelings based on how nice and friendly I thought his smile was.
I could probably talk for much longer on the subtle facets of Kaladin’s characterisation that allow me to see myself for the first time reflected back. About how his interest in Tarah’s clothes almost more than her face amuses me so much because I’m reminded of the countless times when I mistook aesthetic appreciation of garments for physical attraction towards their wearers. About how him having to be told by Rock about Peet’s flirtation with a barmaid hits home because I’m oblivious to my friends’ romantic endeavours until they tell me explicitly that they are in fact romantic endeavours. About how validated I felt that Kaladin internally refers to public displays of affection as ‘nauseating’, a phrase that’s sometimes only half as blunt and offensive as the ones I’d use to describe my physical state when I have to witness upsettingly romantic acts.
I could talk too, about how your portrayal of romantic love, especially in more recent books, manages not to alienate me from your works by never assuming that the emotion is a one off destined thing, better than any other, or even inherently meaningful and therefore always fated to end in a relationship. How red flags (like Kabsal’s strange willingness to leave his life behind for a girl he had just met) are treated as dangerous rather than romantic. How characters like Dalinar and Navani are allowed to find their ‘one true love’ for a second time. How Shallan and Adolin are allowed to be friends, have silly fun, and cheer each other on in a way so refreshingly free from clichés that I felt able to root for their relationship.
But I’ll simply repeat: Thank you for Kaladin. Thank you for a character that as a young adult, struggling with depression much like him, I found myself able to relate to in another way, one that is even more rare and more precious to me because of that. Thank you for, even if inadvertently, making space for people like me in your fiction and allowing me the privilege of my method of escapism legitimising my experiences rather than jolting me back into my real world alienation and loneliness. Thank you for giving me a hero who shares some of the traits I hate the most about myself. Thank you for the books that have become central and significant and cherished in my life over the last two (almost three!) years. Thank you for Kaladin Stormblessed.
I hope the conclusions I’ve made here have in no way offended you or infringed on the way in which you view your own characters. I only mean to express how they seem to me and why that means so much. Thank you for reading this.
(I’d also like to apologise for the length of this letter. To explain that a little: I think about most of the things I’ve said here almost every day of my life and for the longest time have had no way to express my gratitude to you. Also, I tend to get carried away when I write. I’m sure you can relate to that.)
Yours sincerely,
[REDACTED]
#kaladin#aro#aro arcanum#mine#there ya go#oathbringer spoilers#long post#i use my real name in the letter but u guys cant have it#bc even w just first and middle u get google results#cosmere
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he’s aro
#cosmemes#kaladin stormblessed#stormlight archive#cfsbf#aro arcanum#i believe that's the tag i heard about once#in other news i'm all done with the cosmere books#blue talks#hope no one else has made this
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so I promised I was gonna do some fic recs so FIRST UP, THE GREATEST HITS OF @evikholin!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Electric Blue
ok so like... this was a gift for me and all... but also??? quality Bridge Four punk band au w/ the seeds of a sappy domestic Kalarin and really what more can u ask
Geshli’s First Storm
guys. Bridge Four and Kaladin in particular just. adopting a Listener baby yep she’s Ours now and Geshli is a beautiful baby pls make her canon Now
Dalewillow
Kaladin getting Renarin a baby axehound and pretending this totally isn’t their axehound baby who has two gay dads!!! Renarin jumping out a window for no reason and giving Kal a heart attack!!!
Broken Nose, Broken Man
tired of seeing Adolin done wrong??? come here to see a beautiful big brother helping Kal through some Fun Trauma Times!
The Lives of Men Like Us
au where Kaladin met the Kholins as a child, leading to Renarin doing his best to follow him from the start!
The Most Eligible Bachelor in Alethkar
actual!!! aro!!! Adolin!!! content!!! look if Elli’s gonna have to make all the aro content in this fandom herself, it’s sad but at least we’ve got the best aro content maker out there
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Aro windrunner and trans truthwatcher for @windwatcher!
Free to use for everyone, just credit me in your bio :) Happy pride! Other icons already done under the cut.
Aro Lightweaver
Bi Lightweaver
Ace Elsecaller
Ace Skybreaker
#ace sketches#cosmere#The Stormlight Archive#windrunner#truthwatcher#aro flag#trans flag#arts arcanum
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- Claudia is a disaster lesbian and has a crush on one of the guards that Soren is friends with and asks him to talk to her and then he comes back to tell the guard said
- when Rayla realized she was demiromantic, she told Rauaan and Ethari and they were obviously supportive and they took her out for ice cream (or whatever they have in Xadia)
- Corvus and Opeli definitely adopted Ezran and Callum after Harrow's death but never told them
- Claudia came out to Viren but he was too busy with Aaravos to notice
- Runaan definitely calls Ethari “my love” aH-
- Earthri does Runaan's hair every morning without fail. it’s a daily ritual of theirs and sometimes Rayla just barges in during this moment which eventually leads Earthri to teach her how to braid his hair since she wanted to try too
- Claudia is autistic
- Earthri stress bakes. one time he baked like five loaves of bread because he was nervous about something and Runaan was like babe are okay-
- due to the fact moonshadow society doesn’t show affection much sometimes when Callum surprises Rayla with like a hug or cheek kiss she just blue screens for a bit. Rayla.exe has crashed and Callum is like what did i do-
- Soren and Rayla get a rival relationship but it’s like. very playful. always competing with eachother
- Janai and Amaya adopt Soren and Claudia just so Amaya can spite Viren. thats literally it
- Rauaan only is soft with Ethari and Rayla on occasion, but thats canon. what ISN’T canon is he pushed Rayla away most of the time due to the fact he was raised like that and thinks he turned out "fine" (spoiler alert. he didnt.)
- he also said has little flower trinkets made by Rayla over the years on a shelf somewhere
- if you're close to him, you will never stop hearing abt how amazing Rayla is. Soren has almost killed him because oh my god Callum THIS IS THE EIGHTH TIME TODAY
- even though she doesnt understand a word he’s saying Rayla will absolutely sit through Callum talking about magic for hours on end because she loves her boyfriend
- Janai and Amaya just become everyone’s gay wine aunts
- Viren is Ezran’s godfather (sadly)
- Claudia used to read to Ezran when he was little
- when janaya slowdances, Janai presses her lips to Amaya’s neck and hums the music. it’s Amaya’s favourite way to feel the vibrations
- Nyx is June from Avatar: The Last Airbender but with a different filter, change my mind
- Rayla would hands down be a brunette if she were human and light blue eyes
- Claudia looks like Cruella de Vil, fight me
- Sarai was a bisexual
- Aanya’s mothers made a box of their belongings for Aanya if anything happened to them and she found said box and she keeps it next to her throne
- Callum calls Rayla “moon” or “moonlily”
- Rayla calls him “birdie” “dove” or “oversized bird” bc of his wings also dumbass
- Claudia pokes Aaravos’s cocoon from time to time just because she’s bored
- Claudia being the main villain for the rest of the series (or the second arc) and Soren being the one to pull her out of the darkness
- Kazi is the enby, ace and probably aro representation of the dragon prince
- Callum and Claudia, once they finally reconcile, have an amazing bond as well now he doesn't have a crush on her. They can get to know each other (the new versions of each other) properly, Callum helps Claudia connect to an arcanum, they geek out together over magic, they just enjoy joking around together and they have a much healthier relationship than they ever had
- Soren was there when Ezran took his first steps
- after his mom died, Claudia and Soren became big pillars of support for Ezran. he’d go to Claudia after nightmares and they’d stay up late whispering about magic
- Harrow’s mother passed away in his teens
- Claudia qoutes vines on the daily
- Viren had a thing for Harrow
- Castillo is trans
- Lujanne is wlw
- Soren is a pansexual icon
- everyone goes to therapy
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Jackson the Fair
Gender: Male (Cis)
Age: 26
Sexuality: Gay
Hair Fur: Gray and White (tuxedo pattern)
Eye Colour: Green and Blue
Height: 5’10
A Khajiit from a small, quiet town in a war-torn world. He is a cat from a background of
thieves but he himself is a sorcerer. For some reason, he decided that he would be the one
to defeat the Grand Wizard and restore peace to the land. He has been chosen as Hecate’s
champion, but the honour has come with some unfortunate side effects.
Allan Swiftrunner (Therigust) <Wizard101>
Gender: Male (cis)
Age: 16
Sexuality: Bi
Hair: Green
Eye Colour: Red
Height: 6’
The right brain of the Runner twins, him and his sister, Morgan, are orphans. Their parents
were notorious thieves, high ranking O’Leary members before their suspicious death. The
pair always were total opposites, Allan intending to continue in his parent’s footsteps and
remain in his home-world of Grizzleheim, but his best friend convinced him to try and make
an honest living, getting them both enrolled in Ravenwood. However, he never left behind
his stealing past, frequently getting detentions.
Calamity Jade (Diviner) <Wizard101>
Gender: Female
Age: 17
Sexuality: Lesbian
Hair: Black
Eye Colour: Purple
Height: 6’2
Calamity is a bit of a wildcard, hailing from Wysteria. She’s half-fae, from her mother’s
side, and her ears are pointed at the tips due to that. She’s mischievous, charismatic, and
confident, able to bluff her way out of any situation. She prefers to act before she thinks,
sometimes getting herself in more trouble than she can get out of.
Molly Goldenblade (Conjurer) <Wizard101>
Gender: Female (Cis)
Age: 20
Sexuality: Lesbian
Hair: Golden
Eye Colour: Green
Height: 6’1
Molly’s from Marleybone, but she’d never tell you that. She holds no love for the world and
ran away when she was fourteen, never looking back. She’d been in Wizard City ever since,
jumping between there and Aqualia whenever she had the time. She was happy on Cyclops
Lane, even happy with her school and her teacher, unlike most other Conjurers.
Morgan(a) Moonrunner (Necromancer) <Wizard101>
Gender: Female (Cis)
Age: 16
Sexuality: Too Busy (but straight)
Hair: Black
Eye Colour: Blue
Height: 5’8
The left brain of the Runner twins, her and her brother, Allan, are orphans. Their parents
were notorious thieves, high ranking O’Leary members before their suspicious death. The
pair always were total opposites, Morgan always planning to distance herself from the past
and become a scholar and master of every school of magic (save for shadow). Never
relenting, she graduated Ravenwood, Wisteria, learned under Alhazred, studied old texts
from Celestia, learned all she could from the destroyed Dragonspyre academy, and
currently was studying at Radiance Reborn, after which she intends to apply to be an
apprentice at the Arcanum. She is rather cold and emotionless, but will bail her brother
out of trouble when he needed help.
Marcus Dragontamer (Thaumaturge) <Wizard101>
Gender: Male (Cis)
Age: 32
Sexuality: Bi
Hair: Brown
Eye Colour: Blue
Height: 6’3
Marcus was always a shy, timid man, which only worsened with the disappearance of his
sister. He was born in Wizard City on Colussus Boulevard, and never moved from there. He
graduated after his sister, something that didn’t bother him, and stayed in his quiet life creating ice sculptures. His father never fully moved, still remaining part-time on Colussus
Boulevard while teaching and away at his own castle when he could. Marcus was fine with
that, since his younger sister still lived only across town.
[REDACTED] Nighttamer (Pyromaner?) <Wizard101>
Gender: Female (Cis)
Age: 32
Sexuality: Lesbian
Hair: Brown
Eye Colour: Green
Height: 6’3
Present whereabouts unknown. Previously the professor of pyromancy, scion of Bartleby, a
saviour of the spiral thrice alongside her father. Previously a bold and brash woman with a
love of magic, she never stepped down from a challenge and fought endlessly to protect
the Spiral and her inhabitants. After moving from Khrysalis to Marleybone due to breaking
up with her girlfriend, her personality began to change. She disappeared three months into
living at the new location, causing significant distress for the school forcing them to find a
new professor. Her current status is unknown, possibly deceased. Last known whereabouts
were at [REDACTED], [REDACTED] with [REDACTED]
Wolf Lightsong (Sorcerer) <Wizard101>
Gender: Male (Cis)
Age: 16
Sexuality: Gay
Hair: White
Eye Colour: Orange
Height: 5’11
Never knowing his real parents, Wolf was raised by monks in Mooshu. He was taught how to
sense auras, exorcise onis, and keep his inner peace unsettled. Having met Allan on a trip
to Grizzleheim, the two wrote each other for years before Wolf got them both enrolled at
Ravenwood. He shared a dorm with Allan and studied under Arthur, never getting the
education he truly needs to be the best he could be.
Willow Diásimos <South Park>
Gender: Female (Trans)
Age: 10 (Current Timeline)
Sexuality: Straight
Hair: Brown
Eye Colour: Green
Height: 4’8
Willow is a victim of circumstances in the definition of the word, having the most
inconvenient superpowers one could have while living in the most redneck town a girl could
live in. Having a horrible home-life, a not-much-better school life, and a mediocre personal
life, she doesn’t have the best shot a life. She has a group of close friends who would fight
to the death at her side and had before. While she wasn’t out to all of them, the ones she
was were her heroes.
Luna Prințesa-morții <Lumberjanes>
Gender: Female (Cis)
Age: Unknown
Sexuality: Ace/Aro
Hair: Black
Eye Colour: Red
Height: 5’8
An immigrant from Romania, she had been going to the Lumberjanes camp for as long as
Rosie has been in charge. A camper of Bennington Cabin, she’s confused by emotions and
struggles to understand feelings. She wears incredibly strong sunscreen and often dawns a
cloak, and her skin is constantly cold to the touch. She only talks to her cabin mates, and
their counsellor Paula, saying brief words otherwise. April and Emily believe she might be
supernatural, everyone else disagrees.
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@evikholin there u goooo!
wind aro- palette pulled from my own sky pictures
stormlight aro- palette pulled from the WoR cover
and bonus windrunner aro flag!
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hey! in your demi Kaladin post you mentioned aromantic Adolin. I was wondering if you could elaborate a little? bc I'm dying to know all your thoughts on the matter ps I love your blog!!
Sure! Same setup as before–spoiler-free above the cut, OB spoilers below
[Demi Kaladin post can be found here for anyone who’s interested]
I headcanon Adolin as allosexual and either aromantic orsomewhere on the aro spectrum—idemromantic is my favorite specificarospec identity for him, partially because I identify with that sense of “what’s really the difference between romantic and platonic?” and I can see some of my same romantic confusion inAdolin.
Adolin’s definitely not ace in my head, because we have plenty of examples of him being attracted to women (notably for their looks, but also sometimes for the game of courting someone who’s playing hard to get.) He gets distracted in the middle of conversations, whips his head around to look at them, flirts, comments on how a pretty girl watching him motivates him to do better, ect.
I’d also like to point out that the number of relationships Adolin’s had/how quickly they fail isn’t why I headcanon him as aro—it’s the way he doesn’t understand why they keep failing. He’s trying, he really is, but it just never works out.
The first time I had the thought was WoK ch 12, when Adolin explains how his latest relationship (with Rilla) ended. Namely, he invited another girl out to lunch while courting Rilla, apparently not realizing that it would make both women angry.
Here’s the thing: Adolin isn’t presented as a deliberate womanizer. He doesn’t make a habit of cheating on the women he’s courting, and it’s not like he was sneaking around and trying to hide that lunch date.
The only thing I can figure is he either (a) didn’t realize that he was in a serious enough relationship with Rilla that he couldn’t flirt with other women, or (b) didn’t realize that the lunch he went to with this other girl counted as cheating. In either case, it speaks to Adolin not quite understanding romance and the associated expectations, or possibly having trouble distinguishing between platonic and romantic attraction/behavior (thus the idemromantic headcanon)
Regardless, this sets up, basically right from the start, that romance confuses Adolin, which, while not in itself a lack of attraction, is a common experience for many arospec folks.
This trend continues through pretty much all of WoK—any time we catch a glimpse of Adolin’s love life, we find out he’s offended someone, usually without understanding why (certainly not being able to anticipate it beforehand.)
Then we come to WoR and the first time Adolin sees Shallan
Gorgeous red hair. There wasn’t a single lock of black in it. A slender build, so different from the curvaceous Alethi. A silken blue dress, simple yet elegant. Pale skin—it almost had a Shin look to it—matched by light blue eyes. A slight dusting of freckles under the eyes, giving her and exotic cast.
The young woman seemed to glide through the room. Adolin twisted about, watching her pass. She was so different.
“Ash’s eyes!” Amaram said, chuckling. “You’re still doing that, are you?”
Adolin pried his eyes away from the girl. “Doing what?”
“Letting your eyes be drawn by every flitting little thing that swishes by. You need to settle down, son. Pick one. Your mother would be mortified to find you still unwed.”
“Jasnah’s unwed too. She’s a decade older than me.” (WoR ch 37)
Ah, yes. The classic sign of a hopeless romantic. The immediate response to any mention of marriage is to align yourself with your ace/aro cousin who’s unabashed about not wanting to pursue any sort of relationship with any man ever.
Can we also just sit back and admire the fact that Adolin not only is chill about the causal betrothal to a woman he’s never met, but in fact has this to say on the subject:
“Of course, the causal betrothal wasn’t likely to work out—but a piece of him wished that it would. Letting someone else choose for him had a strange appeal, considering how loudly Danlan had cursed at him when he’d broken off that particular relationship.” (WoR ch 14)
He basically hears that he’s engaged to a stranger and says, “Hey, yeah, cool, Jasnah take the wheel.”
(All this, remember, is in contrast to Shallan, who can barely talk around Adolin, who goes on one walk with him and is already thinking about starting a family together (WoR ch 49). She’s clearly flustered by her attraction to Adolin and wants more—decidedly not for practical/political/economic purposes. Meanwhile Adolin thinks she’s pretty, and that an arranged marriage would be easy. It’s a striking contrast, especially considering Dalinar is himself a hopeless pining mess–so it’s not that Branderson is setting up some weird “men are way more chill about relationships than women” dynamic. (See also Kabsal legit falling for Shallan while using her to assassinate Jasnah.))
Speaking of ch 49, that’s their first real date. A date at which Adolin
smiles at the serving girl and stares at her ass, “but he didn’t seem to notice that he’d done anything wrong.”
lets Shallan entice him into talking about defecating in Shardplate
remarks about how this conversation feels like a conversation with “Wit in a wig” - and yet this is the girl he falls for over anyone else who provides a more overtly (or even subtly) romantic dynamic
Is relieved that he doesn’t need to follow the same old scrips of “guy boasts, girl coos, we all do this pointless little dance to say we want to pursue this relationship.” Like, look, I’m no expert on romance, but it feels like he’s trying to replicate something he doesn’t understand. Clearly he’s figured out a routine that works well enough to start courting someone, but it doesn’t feel natural to him—and he’s done this enough times that he theoretically could have tried something new. But no. Apparently he starts every first date with the exact same story. This just screams, I have no freaking clue what I’m doing.
They then proceed to talk about ecology, economics, and politics, which. Wow. I’m swooning over here, guys. Really.
[OB spoilers start below]
The rest of their relationship continues in much the same way. Shallan is very clearly smitten with him, and Adolin is initially intrigued and “refreshed” by how different she is from all the other girls he’s courted. He grows to care for her deeply, but they still do comparatively more sword training and hunting down eldritch horrors and “Adolin stands there and indulges Shallan as she gets scientific” than your average love story. They’re equals, they focus on practical concerns, and while Adolin’s relationship with Shallan is deeper than any other we see, it’s not qualitatively different from, say, the way he trains and jokes around with Skar and Drehy, or the banter and support in battle/duels he has with Kaladin.
It’s not that their relationship is un-romantic, but if you take away the betrothal and the sexual attraction/kissing/ect, Adolin’s feelings toward Shallan could very easily be taken as a close platonic relationship in a way that Shallan’s really can’t.
Some highlights from Oathbringer:
ch 13 – In which Palona prods Adolin into bringing Shallan dinner (note that this wasn’t a spontaneous romantic impulse on his part), Adolin and Shallan trade insults, and Adolin goads Shallan into eating the spiciest of men’s food (seriously, this feels like two dudes daring each other to eat a ghost pepper)
“I’m not good with relationships, Shallan.”
“Is there anyone who actually is? I mean, is there really someone out there who looks at relationships and thinks, ‘You know what, I’ve got this’? Personally, I rather think we’re all collectively idiots about it.”
“It’s worse for me.”
Adolin follows this up by joking about being jealous when Shallan talks about past flings—after he’s already reacted to her talking about Kabsal by saying, “Woah, dude, no way! Tell me more!”
H o nestly. Adolin and Shallan are literally swapping stories about their failed relationships in a weird game of one-upsmanship. And they’re still relatively new to their relationship, so a little bit of jealousy/insecurity would be understandable. In fact, Shallan has been worried about Adolin’s attentions wandering, but Adolin’s just worried he’s going to screw this up.
And then finally we get to the culmination of their romance in OB ch 121. Adolin is still confused by romance, and is ready to step aside so Shallan can have what he thinks she wants. (He’s wrong, obviously, but it’s sweet and also really telling that her feelings largely determine the direction of their relationship.) And the core of their relationships? The foundation it’s all built on, why Shallan ultimately chooses Adolin? He knows her. He’s spent all this time talking to her, connecting with her, being a friend.
So, yeah. There’s an argument to bemade for idemromantic/gray-aro Adolin who has a borderline romanticrelationship with Shallan. There’s an argument to be made foraro Adolin who is in a romantic relationship founded on no particularromantic attraction on his part and a mutual understandingthat they aren’t your average lovebirds. There’s an argumentto be made for queerplatonic Shadolin in which they have a sexualrelationship that’s platonic from one side and (partially?) romantic from theother. Or any other number of combinations.
But you can pry aro-spec Adolin from mycold, dead hands.
#oathbringer#adolin kholin#aro arcanum#stormlight archive#cfsbf#oathbringer spoilers#(below the cut)#anon#answers#aro stuff#aro adolin
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@arokaladin
An aro kal story just for you. Based on my own experience.
Kaladin sat in the edge of Urithiru and looked out over the landscape not really seeing what was in front of him.
Syl floated around him and laughed. “Thinking about Shallan again?”
A knot formed in kal’s stomach at the joke.
“No.” He said firmly
“Come on” Syl said pushing him “You can tell me.”
Kal laid back covering his eyes with his arm. “I don’t. Syl stop. Please.”
Syl frowned and floated down to his stomach. “Did I do something wrong?” She asked confused.
Kal paused trying to find the words. “I just.... I don’t feel like that. People crush on others. I think I’m just looking for friends.” Kal looked down his chest at Syl. “I like being around shallan. But as much as I like being around Adolin or dalinar or you.”
“Aww you have a crush on me.”
Kal let out an angry breath sitting up again. “No! That’s what I’m saying. I don’t get crushes on people. I...” he sucked in a breath pulling in some storm light. He let it out slowly. “ I don’t like those jokes Syl. They make me feel like I’m more broken then I am.” He looked down the tall tower avoiding looking at Syl.
Syl floated into his eyesight. “I’m sorry.” She said softly. “I didn’t know. I was just...” she trailed off. “I will stop kaladin.” She said more firmly. “Cause you aren’t broken. I mean you are amazing! And I don’t want anything I say to make you feel otherwise.” She smiled at him.
“Thank you.” He smiled back “Now want to help me get to the spire over there?”
And off they went.
#aro#aro-arcanum#aro arcanum#cfsbf#cosmere#kaladin#actuallyaro#aro content#arokaladin#syl#i dont like the end there and he doesnt use the word#i like to think he overhears jasnah using it#and is like !!!#maybe ill write that later
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every stormlight update I’m just like [forces myself to stop thinking about the possibility of Kaladin getting into a relationship before I ruin my own mental health]
#hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh#aro arcanum#mine#idk i dont wanna tag as too much else so i dont make tags negative#but like hey fellow aros [scream noise]
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I got bored and made stormlight archive themed aro icons, use them if you want!
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you: shallan is the centre of the love triangle in Oathbringer. she has to choose between Adolin and Kaladin and she picks Adolin
me, an intellectual: Kaladin is the centre of the love triangle in Oathbringer. he has to choose between friendship and romance and he picks freindship
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Kaladin and relationships: AKA why I read Kaladin as on the asexual and aromantic spectrum
So first off, personally I read Kaladin as asexual and arospec. Initially my reasoning was that as an aromantic asexual myself I get certain vibes off him, and there are a few scenes in the first two stormlight books which back my interpretation up. And then Oathbringer came along, in which Kaladin was even more relatable than ever, and previous assumptions about him were sent packing. Honestly at this point there is an awful lot of evidence for Kal being aspec, especially when compared to Shallan and Adolin, two characters his own age whose thoughts about relationships really don’t match up with Kal’s.
I’d like to explain my thinking:
(I’m going to assume anybody reading this will understand the vocabulary I’m using, but if not there’ll be a short explanation of some terms under a readmore at the end of this post.)
I’ll begin with Kaladin’s sexual orientation, as I think that’s simpler to explain. Kaladin contrasts a lot with Shallan, whose crushes are very physical. Shallan spends a lot of time being overjoyed with how hot people are, and while I’m not saying she doesn’t also respect her crushes for other reasons, her first impression of Jasnah is how ‘beautiful’ she is, and she goes on to think about her chest a lot. She clearly finds people sexy, whereas Kaladin... doesn’t. Adolin gets less page time than Shallan, but is still shown glancing at women’s bodies every now and again.
In Oathbringer, after prompting from Syl, Kaladin finally thinks about sex. In a humorous context. And is then immediately asked ‘Are you well?’, to which he replies he was thinking of a ‘painful memory’. Meaning that the one time Kal thinks about sleeping with someone, he makes a face. Same, Kaladin. (This is in OB, chapter 10)
Onto Kaladin’s romantic orientation. I’ll be analysing a few aspects of his attitudes towards romance.
- Missing romantic cues (ie. Not being On That Wavelength):
In Words of Radiance, Kaladin and his men enter a tavern. A ‘pretty’ woman who works at the bar smiles ‘brightly’ at Peet, right after Rock declares that Peet is their way of getting seats in the tavern. Kaladin does not appear to recognise this woman’s crush on Peet until Sigzil, who like Rock had obviously recognised this, brings up marriage. He then admits he hasn’t thought about his friends marrying, although he ‘should have’. (WoR, chapter 46).
In Oathbringer, an ardent repeatedly stares and sighs at Kal, and he doesn’t appear to think anything of this until Syl (a spren who in most situations isn’t as aware of human norms as Kal) points out that the ardent thinks Kal is ‘pretty’. (OB, chapter 10). Not noticing other people’s crushes, feeling embarrassed about this, and not regularly thinking about romantic concepts like marriage are all common arospec experiences.
- Having fewer crushes than other people:
In total, during Kal’s entire life, he’s had two ‘crushes’ (quotation marks because you can make a strong case for them all being squishes). Personally, I’m counting Laral and Tarah for now but not Shallan, which I’ll explain later, and Kaladin cites Tarah as his first ‘real romance’ (OB, chapter 99), so it’s unlikely he himself even counts Laral.
It’s impossible to know how many crushes Shallan and Adolin have had in their whole lives, but it’s definitely a higher figure than Kaladin for both of them. Shallan has had feelings for four people in the series so far (Kabsal, Jasnah, Adolin and Kaladin), while Adolin has courted... pretty much everyone. At least six of the girls he’s had feelings for are named.
The extremely small number of crushes Kaladin has had compared to similarly aged peers is honestly enough in itself for Kal to self identify as grey-aromantic, since that’s a common reason for people to use that label.
- Confusing platonic and romantic feelings:
This could just be as a result of asexuality, but Kaladin’s crushes come across as much less intense that other people’s. The chapter in which Tarah finally appears (OB, chapter 112) is a good example of this. He implies his feelings for her grew over time, and eventually picks his job over the biggest romance he’s ever had.
Kaladin also manages to mistake his squish on Shallan for a crush for a long time, basically interpreting ‘I admire this person’s strength, like their smile, and enjoyed cuddling with them’ as ‘I have romantic feelings for this person’, which a) is adorable and b) ...Kal honey no that’s a squish. In Oathbringer he has this conversation with Syl after Shallan ‘picks’ Adolin:
‘I don’t think I loved her, Syl. I felt... Something. A lightening of my burdens when I was near her. She reminds me of someone.’
‘Who?’
He opened his palm, and she landed on it, forming into the shape of a young woman with flowing hair and dress. She bent down, inspecting the rock in his palm, cooing over it. Syl could still be shockingly innocent-wide eyed and excited about the world.
‘That’s a nice rock’, she said.
The implication here is clear; Shallan’s positivity reminded Kaladin of how his brother used to help him through his depression, and he mistook this for romantic feelings. In the above passage he indicates his realisation to Syl (who honestly acts like the embodiment of amatonormativity in this book.) by showing her a rock, something Tien used to love.
The confusion Kaladin feels about whether he feelings are romantic or platonic is a common experience for some grey-romantics, but could also be interpreted as him having not realised he is aromantic yet.
- Being romance repulsed:
There are several examples of Kaladin being uncomfortable around PDA throughout the series, but the most obvious is in Oathbringer when Shallan and Adolin’s affection is described from Kal’s PoV as ‘nauseating’. The passage then goes on ‘He liked them both... just not together.’ (OB, chapter 77). The implication of not liking them together seems to be that he wishes to spend time with his friends without having to deal with romance, and the detail that he feels nauseous when faced with it explains why.
It’s possible to read this passage as Kaladin feeling jealousy either because he has feelings for Shallan or because he is single, but due to his own realisation later on that he doesn’t have feelings for Shallan, and since he never expresses interest in a relationship with anyone else, that can’t be the case. ‘Nauseating’ would also be a pretty weird way to describe jealousy, and Kaladin honestly seems like he’s just made uncomfortable by the romantic affection itself, which is again a common arospec experience.
- Caring deeply about his friends:
Although its obviously not a uniquely arospec experience, the importance Kaladin places on his friends and his relationships with them is very relatable to me as an aromantic. At one point he expresses sadness over the fact his men will begin to have lives again, since if he doesn’t ‘know where they are’, how can he make sure they’re safe? (WoR, chapter 41)
It seems Kaladin has a very aromantic attitude towards friendships, wanting them to come first and for his group of friends to remain each other’s first priorities even after marriage. It feels as though, due to lack of or differing attraction, Kaladin never switched to what society sees as an ‘adult’ view of relationships, still viewing friendships rather than romances as the relationships to plan his life around and focus on.
To clarify, all of this is my own opinion, formed by being aspec myself and reading Kaladin as a person like me. If one or two of these examples seem wrong or like a reach to you it’s probably because it’s the combination of them that make me interpret Kal as I do, and this post was meant to explain how they all fit in to that interpretation.
Vocabulary under the cut:
Alloromantic: not aromantic or on the aromantic spectrum
Amatonormativity: the harmful assumption that romantic relationships are central to every person’s life and that everyone’s goal is to have one.
Aro: slang for aromantic.
Arospec: on the aromantic spectrum, could be aromantic or grey-aromantic.
Aspec: on the aromantic and/or asexual spectrum
Romance repulsion: A feeling of extreme discomfort some aros get around things like PDA/getting asked out/romance in the media etc.
Squish: someone you want to develop a friendship with/a friendship crush. Important to a lot of aros.
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