#Side Ladder

[nevertheless-moving]

Hesina Willshaper AU

Step one canon divergence: Amaram's army doesn't do the kind thing. Kaladin's listed next of kin are sent a letter stiffly informing them that their son is a deserter and, thanks to the highmarshall's mercy, has been sold into slavery.

Step two canon divergence: a light spren has started following Hesina around.

The letter reaches hearthstone.

Hesina cries the bones of the first ideal through labor pangs. Their wretched diamond lamp grows slightly dimmer during childbirth.

Hesina and Lirin discuss if there's anyway they could possibly find their son and pay his slave debt. They're not optimistic.

Hesina talks with her lightspren.

Lirin and Hesina talk again about trying to find their son, now that Oroden is starting to be weaned.

Hesina appears to have grown taller. No one but the two of them seem to be aware but they're worried other future changes might be more noticeable.

Hesina and Lirin realize that she can mold rock as if it was clay with stormlight. A spark of hope for freeing their son emerges.

The two leave town.

They find a slave market in the nearest city. They see other parent's sons, but not their own.

Hesina swears to free those in bondage. Stormlight starts coming easier.

They make a tunnel. Rebellion follows. Lirin is horrified by the violence (the violence is not actually that bad all things considered. a couple guards dead. some bystanders frightened. Fair amount of property damage as they rob the military barracks food supply, steal every sphere that's not nailed down. and also steal the spheres that are nailed down. (Lirin won't admit it but the stealing from lamps part is kindof fun.)).

Many of those they freed flee. Some return to slavery willingly, scared of retribution. Many decide to follow the Radiant woman who has vowed to see others like them freed.

The group proceed to the next town. They find another slave market. They make a tunnel. There is more resistance than last time, clearly they were warned something might happened. Hesina kills a man.

Lirin is terrified by what his wife is becoming.

Hesina swears to shelter those without homes. The lightspren forms an unbreakable hammer, perfect for knocking crem free from buildings. And for knocking down men.

A now larger motley group seeks shelter in a mountain town razed in one of Alethkar's many skirmishes over the last decades. Hesina builds homes. Lirin begs her to stay here, to stop fighting before she goes to far down this path, not to go to war. The slaves they've freed are split, many wanting to stay, hide, some wanting to fight and free more, with a radiant at their head, there's a real chance to change things. Hesina lingers, practicing, spends some time falling in and out of shadesmar.

Lirin and Hesina separate.

Lirin stays with Oroden and the noncombatants. Hesina leads those who want to fight to another city, still trying to find their son, still trying to free everyone's children.

The town settles into a routine. Hesina and Lirin miss one another. This is the first time they've gone longer than two days without seeing each other in the last 25 years, and the two days was only when Lirin had to travel to where someone had overturned a cart on the road nearby and Hesina had to stay and watch the children, too young to travel. besides that, it had been every day. they keep turning to talk to each other.

While the army is gone, the free town is attacked by those trying to reclaim her property.

Hesina swims deliberately through shadesmar for the first time. reaches lirin just in time.

Lirin accepts that not fighting won't stop the violence. (It breaks him just a little bit)

Hesina shouts that one person's freedom ends where another's begins. She vows to fight against powers which would rather see their people in cages then homes. A thousand light spren rise up to grant her strength.

(yes I know she's moving fast through the oaths. but she's always been a thoughtful woman and she raised two children who asked difficult questions and now shes mother to another several hundred. honestly she had already worked through some of these concepts before they became actionable on such a grand scale.)

Lirin vows to support his wife through whatever trials the Almighty seems inclined to put her through.

The lightspren, who has started to get some memories back, remembers Oathgate Spren not terribly far from here by physical realm measurements, guarding a hidden human city

the stone remembers the way the radiants once traveled.

The path to a kingdom in the sky is slow — there are many cages to break on the way.

Kaladin doesn't know it right away, because people weren't exactly telling slaves about the freedom riots, but slave wagons start having harder and harder times reaching the shattered planes after him.

Someone mocks Lirin for having a wife so determined to pursue the masculine art of war. Lirin gets pissy and decides to show them by learning to read and write to help support the administrative side of his wife's kingdom wide asskicking.

The highprinces lead a fairly successful misinformation campaign about the slave riots, lots of accusations of rampant violence, the dregs of society lashing out, you can probably imagine

The ongoing rebellion is large enough that word trickles to the bridge crews, encouraging bridge four's hope for escaping, while also making it substantially more daunting, as the crews are even better guarded than canon.

Rumors of a female radiant swirl around. Most people assume it's a woman in shardplate with some sort of tunneling fabrial, which is still pretty crazy, but several major players Take Note

A very large and tired huddled mass of people reach Urithiru. there's just enough squires, and two new willshapers with their own oaths, to make tunnels through the shattered planes and reach the oathgate without being seen by the alethi armies

the parshendi army is another story, but some are willing to take a chance listening to the neshua kadal, and come with them.

The political implications of Dalinar freeing 1000 slaves is slightly more complex, especially considering the rebellions have been impacting Sadeas the hardest

About a week after being freed, Kaladin hires a spanreed intermediary to write home and find out if his hometown is alright (again, a lot of misinformation and rumors about the violence of the riots)

Is informed by Laral that his family left town looking for him shortly before the riots started, were presumed dead

Kaladin is under the impression that 1) his parents are dead because of him 2) the Rebellion is not the righteous fallback plan that he and the men were hoping it was.

Hesina has many reasons to go to the shattered planes. Nearest part of the trade network for food and necessary goods. Many slaves to be freed from there, and a part of her still hopes to find her son, even thought its been so long. Home of Alethkar's political leaders, the source of Alethkar's slavery.

I have spent. A LOT of time imagining many possible reunions between kaladin and his mom in my highly specific high oath hesenia au. She has a couple faces she could wear when visiting the planes. Brightlady. Radiant. Cagebreaker. Queen of Urithiru (not her real title, they're tentatively trying the Listener council model, but they know what the Alethi will understand). Even darkeyed mother, if she and Lirin approach slowly from a different direction. Honestly, pleased as I am with all of the above, a lot is flexible, the key here is kaladin going "MOM??" In some fashion One possible Reunion Here

Thank you @sorchasolas for conversation and the urithiru ideas and for leading me to actually write all this down <3

#stormlight archive #my au #stormlight au no 2 #hesina cagebreaker #the stormlight archive #stormlight au #Hesina willshaper au #ok for the growing taller thing: hear me out! #like she's a tall woman #she can reach the crem on most rooftops with her crempick #like 95 percent of the rooftops #and that 5 percent of rooftops that she can't quite reach she always forgets to bring a stepstool #so she's a tall woman. but her Identity is that of an even taller woman. #do you see my vision #Lirin leaves to bring her the little stepstool because she always forgets when she's hired to clear the baker's building. #but she doesn't need it #he had noticed...but he had honestly just assumed he had gotten shorter. musculoskeletal atrophy happens to men of a certain age. #he's on the younger side but the heralds know it's been a difficult few years. he didn't bring it up but neither did his wife #now he's looking at his wife and is: #Lirin: I am certain you needed a ladder to reach this roof before #Hesina: I did? Are you sure? #Lirin: yes I'm sure you always—Hesina! #Hesina: what? #Lirin: i am. CONFIDENT. that for the last 20 years my eyes have been level with your chin. #Lirin: not your... #Hesina: not my...? #Lirin: #Hesina: #and then they go bone #ok i'm done thank you for listening <3

[butraura]

the way Eddie charges through and shoved Bobby out of the way to get to buck on the gurney….. I’m gonna be sick.. and then Bobby immediately tells him to get off bc he has to drive…. And then Eddie is wiping his face as he gets in the ambulance (like ok it’s raining and you don’t specifically see him wipe his eyes but it DOES feel different)…. and then the urgent “chim, I’ll take over!” leaving no room to argue because Eddie wasn’t letting buck go… and then Eddie is the one to shock him…and then him staring at buck in terror as he’s wheeled away… and then of course the ever popular “do more!”….

#insane #like you don’t understand #Eddie was on top of the ladder so has to go take the time to get down but as SOOON as he was down #he SPRINTED TO BUCK’S SIDE #and pushed Bobby out of the way #pushed the captain out of the way #to see Buck #shut the fuck up #911 #buddie #buck x eddie #911 6x10 #911 6x11

[puppyeared]

sketches for sleight's van, the Magicmobile ^_^

#I had a lot of fun designing this!!!!! #i used the volkswagen kombi van as the base model and drew inspiration from modded cars with high rides #to kinda mimic those old horsedrawn caravan wagons.. i tried to keep functionality in mind so the tire covers on the chassis have #grips for where you would put your feet if you were to get in the drivers seat kinda like those huge freight trucks.. and since the ride #height is a little high theres a pool ladder attached to the back to mimic a caravan and to help ppl get in from the back #also exciting coming up with the stage side door.. i dont know exactly how it would work but i imagine the handle at the top #has to be turned and pulled in order to set up the stage.. and then theres a locking mechanism to keep it in place..?? #theres also a stage curtain right behind the door where sleight would come out to do his performance so thats fun!!! #i dont have much to say abt the interior except i forgot to include the ladder which would help reach the skylight #the skylight is a little domed and i riffed that off the kombi camper too but its to contain his butterflies before and after shows ^_^ #the hatch is inspired by the net stormdoor at my aunts house.. kinda like chicken wire?? and then there are flowers and pupae #idk if im ever gonna get around to coloring this but im happy finally getting my ideas down and turning it in my head lol #my art #myart #my oc #oc #sleight #concept art #interior #laikas comet oc #fan character #doodles

[varpusvaras]

I can't believe I only now thought 'what about 17' in Up that Mountain.

He gets one panicked crying message from Cody about how they lost Fox. 17 doesn't get more out of him, so he tries Ponds, because Ponds is not a fucking idiot. Ponds tells him that yes, they did, in fact, lose Fox, but...he isn't sure in what way. Fox is not on Coruscant and Thorn is now the Commander of the Guard, and Fox's name is not even in the GAR database anymore. So, uh, they assume that he is dead? But then there is the problem that they don't have the body, so they have double lost him. And something about this is making Ponds a little suspicious because if there is no body, is he actually dead? He has seen people get into worse situations and come out alive. None of the Guard seems like they are bothered either? They all liked Fox, so wouldn't they be?

17 is getting a headache. After the call he goes to get a drink or something, and Shaak Ti walks past him in the hallway. She smiles at him and then, for some reason, congratulates him, saying that he must be very proud and happy. What 17 is, is really fucking confused.

Meanwhile, on Alderaan, Fox wakes up in cold sweat. He thinks he has forgotten something really important.

#fox during breakfast the next morning: oh no #anyway 17 is really fucking done with these damn kids #he's not sure what he thinks about fox's choice of spouses at first but at the same time he is like hell yeah climb that social ladder #bail and breha are really nice to him bc this is the closest thing they will have for in-laws on fox's side #that are maybe a bit more personal than just having a million brother-in-laws #anyway 17 attends the wedding and is definitely not even a little bit emotional. and even if he is it doesn't show #since he is very busy keeping the rest of the party in check #sw #tcw #bail/breha/fox #alpha-17 #commander fox #commander ponds #commander cody #Up that Mountain #No order 66 au

[k-k-armadillo]

I want to put Baby in my pocket

YOU CAN

#pokemon #baby the sneasel #kkartmadillo #i used fleece with a bit of stretch its very forgiving #getting the ear feather in is rlly fiddly #id recommend turning the head right side out and using ladder stitch so the 3 shape doesnt get inverted

[trophywifejimgordon]

not shipping, exactly, except that it is, but... goodsir/hickey works so well for me. what if there were these two characters who were foils. and, what if they both started out as minor players against an initial drama of wardroom officers who eclipse the sun?

goodsir is a surgeon, not a doctor, and an assistant surgeon at that, while hickey is a lowly caulker's mate; they both go unseen, and they both want to go unseen, until circumstances make that impossible for the people that they are--goodsir becomes the only one left, the last doctor, while hickey's dubious survival instincts kick in for him and he starts to do what he thinks it takes to survive. and then they're thrust onto this greater stage with everyone who ever overlooked them, but once there, they see each other.

goodsir sees through hickey's flattery and guileful presentation the first time it's turned on him, and he doesn't even bother to conceal it. hickey looks at goodsir and immediately clocks his potential, or at least his usefulness. and... there's a kind of peace in all that. what if there was a kind surgeon in this unkind world, and he found the one person who didn't expect or want that kindness to translate into subservient niceness? what if there was a man who was less a man than a collection of stolen traits and careful deceptions, and he found the one person who could see through all of them? at the very least, one imagines it might be freeing.

#i said 'they're thrust onto the greater stage' but what i meant was 'goodsir is thrust; hickey scrambles' #because he can't imagine not making it to the top of that ladder when it counts #the terror #goodhickey #...? #harry goodsir #cornelius hickey #text post #i was going to put all this in the tags of another post but it got too long and i thought i'd save us all the headache #so here it is: my first original post in like two years #to clarify on my point about goodsir's niceness: i don't think that his being nice is a facade like hickey's is #i DO think that he has a bitchy side that doesn't always get to come through #but which hickey would be rather amused by #and vice-versa! i don't think hickey's all bad. he just so rarely has the opportunity to be anything but what people expect from him #if goodsir has already seen through the saint he can see through the sinner as well

[lord-radish]

imagine thinking that trans men are inherently bad or evil or predatory on the basis of gendered privilege and societal power structures. cringe

#transmasc discourse #like the idea that trans men gain male privilege and kick down the ladder to beat on the queer community is astonishingly stupid at best #the idea that transphobia or queerphobia as a whole doesn't affect them because they're Assimilating With The Oppressors is like #man fucking what is up with people yknow #gender essentialism is fucked up and it's the same force that's beaten down on bi ace and transfem people #the fact that this has turned into 'trans rights but only for the women' by some dumb-fuck shitstains is awful #no. trans rights for all. #like let me explain what I mean here: trans men aren't seen as men by transphobes #it's not 'oh you're a fella? crack a cold beer and let's bash some gays'. passing as a man has just as much risk to it as passing as a woman #because a man who will attack a trans woman as someone who is not a woman will most likely attack a trans man he does not see as a man #with the same violence he might level against a cis woman #that's just on the masc side. i can't speak for any violence against trans men by cis women but I can see how cis women discredit trans men #by claiming them as Lost Lesbians and Sisters In Arms who've been lost due to the Trans Agenda #like people shit on bi people because they have 'passing privilege'. but we know that bi people face homophobia #and other issues about their orientation. the idea that trans men get their Boys Will Be Boys card is to focus on a tiny selection #that *potentially* has the power to he a shithead - like a queerphobic asexual person or a malicious bi person #and paint an entire group of diverse people as literally the worst interpretation you can imagine about them #like consider that you have your own issues and/or biases in regards to people you like and want to hang out with #and stop calling entire groups of people invaders and oppressors whose entire goal is to upend the community #and turn the power of queer people against them #i understand how it feels to feel powerless and to have somewhere where you feel supported and safe #but if you're going to see pain and hate in every group who shares your experience but gives you an ick for whatever reason #there's a solid chance that the Righteous Crusade against them is - in fact - your own personal dislike wielding a modicum of power #that essentially functions the same way that hetero- and cis-normative standards and people have rejected you. #it is essentially you becoming the bully. and just like bi and ace and transfem people before I won't stand for it #trans men are my people.

[mrsterlingeverything]

How am i supposed to have a regular workout routine when my back is always doing something

#im like incapacitated after moving that ladder around the sides of 3 buildings #cuz i couldnt actually climb on the second one they had weird fragile wooden shingles

[everybodysaycbx]

#again theres probably more exo songs i missed but oh well #also still no japanese songs on here bc you still cant convince me they remember any of their b sides from their japanese album #besides bird ig theyll still bring it up occasionally #these songs at least half the members dont remember im 99.9% positive #id love a game (if this is on the new ladder season ill laugh so hard i cry) where they have to guess the song out of their own songs #theres no way the exo members remember a good 1/4 of their discography

[pennaraptor]

intrepid adventurer

#he stepped down to the other side of the ladder unprompted for the first time #winston #cockatiel #video

[dlstmxkakwldrlarchive]

(throwback) 090806 kbs golden ladder challenge recording

#090806 #onew #lee jinki #jinki #shinee #juliette era #brown hair #fantaken #side profile #shinee month throwback #smiling #kbs golden ladder challenge

[gaynarutodude]

America would lose its mind if the non-violent queers, poc, leftists, etc., were even 30% as violent & dangerous as news sources portray them to be!

#the status-quo is so lucky to deal with Professor X leftism than Magneto leftism #for better or worse for all our sakes ig #if i were the Master of Magnetism tho? im pulling an Ultron and launching every nuke into space (the drama) #then kidnapping every country's government (executive and legislative) and placing them in my new tower of Babel #which is each government's seat of power ripped out of the ground and stacked on top of each other #the only way out would be a ladder directly on the side which hauntingly screams every step down the rungs #i build a grotesque Garden of Eden for the judicial branch to live in at the base of the tower

[boudicca]

just put my hand directly on wet paint if you were wondering how my morning is going

#there's no railing on the left side of the stairs and i have anemia it was that or i fall and take the painter on the ladder down with me #lose lose #p

[traumxrei-archive]

i was looking for everyone in the halloween log in screen and... (credit to alchemivich for the cleaned version of the art ^^)

where the HECK is leona kingscholar ??? i labelled everyone that was kinda hidden or in the background but where tf is our resident lion man ?? is he out there napping ? is he actually dressed up as crowley all of a sudden ??

maybe i'm just being dumb and he's somewhere really obvious, which, in that case, someone PLEASE tell me where he is bc i've been staring at this for 10 mins and my head hurts—

#/trau rambles #911 what's your emergency ? #uh yeah #we're missing a lion here...? #you're missing...a whAT ? #also i love cater just casually being dramatic on the side #and trey making sure he doesn't eat shit by holding the ladder #n then we have azul tryna woo riddle into a deal #+ the tweels watching from the sidelines #and then ruggie and silver !! classmate thingsss <33 #twisted wonderland #leona kingscholar

[bhaalsdeepbat]

most lesbians carry their swiss army knives. however, i have specially honed my body and my skills over the years so i need not carry a swiss army knife around, for i am the swiss army lesbian.

#bat rambles #someone's costume broke and not a single person brought a sewing kit with them to the performance #and the performer just knew i probably did so she brought her costume over to me #and i fixed it and #I'M SO SAD BC MY LADDER STITCHING WAS FLAWLESS #i had to sew a piece of dangling fabric in between the lining and fashion side #and i didn't have any pins so everything was loose and free handed #but you couldn't see my stitching nor could you even tell anything happened #so proud of myself but not a single person in the theater would have been able to appreciate it LMAO

[strohller27]

.

#i’ve been working through some stuff in my head #and I’ve realised that so much of my life I’ve occupied the spaces in-between #like I acheived certain things in my life because I was literally the only one who stepped up #but it was also like. I wasn’t the first choice for something I was always just what was available #or I tried to carve out something for myself and it ended up either being taken away from me or getting ruined somehow #like when I was in the pipe band I became drum major because I was literally the only drummer (not that anyone really liked me… #i was just. the only choice there was until someone else came along). #or when I moved up the ladder at the tutoring service it was during Covid and I had to work so much harder because #we just didn’t have a full team. #or when I had to do my undergraduate thesis by myself because also covid #and now having to do my research project basically 100% by myself because my advisor ‘‘can’t’’ advise me #(​except he can apparently write me some exam questions next semester) #idk I just feel like the extra frozen water on the side of the ice cube tray of life #and now I’m in Canada and I’m trying to make a place for myself #I want this to work out. I want to be able to solidify the life that I want without having to live on the fucking edge #I’m tired of staying in my ‘lane’ when my ‘lane’ has always been ‘standing on the side to let others pass’ #Listen up queers I am allowed to take up space and I am occupying this part of the lane #if you don’t like it then you can make your own fucking lane #I’m just trying to make a life in this ridiculous precarious world I don’t want to have to play it safe anymore #I want to get into a PhD programme and study what I want to study #I want to meet someone I can trust with myself when I’m fragile and someone who trusts me with themself when they’re fragile #I want to live in a house I don’t have to worry about losing and make enough money to live comfortably #I want to stop merely surviving and start *living* #and I’m going to do everything in my power to achieve that