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butterflydm · 3 days ago

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WoT 3x08 Deep Dive (additional book spoilers)

Spoilers for all of s3 and through the books in A Memory of Light.

So, much like linking has been made more dangerous in the show (in the books, being in a circle protects you from burning out) and swearing to the Dark One is made more dangerous (we saw how Melindhra died in this episode), visiting the Aelfinn has also been made more dangerous -- in the books, the Eelfinn were a risky trip, but the Aelfinn doorway was used relatively frequently with no mention of people vanishing and not returning that I can recall.

Are there only these two doorways or will we find another Aelfinn doorway in Tear? Will Mat get his prophecies or does he only get his boons?

This change from the books to the show also fits in with how we have deadlier villains and more deaths than the books, so it all ties together thematically.

Why did Alviarin vote for Siuan instead of Elaida, now with book knowledge: Why did the Black Ajah vote for Siuan instead of Elaida?

Maybe it does come down to viewing Elaida as more reckless and more of a loose canon than Siuan. The Black Ajah has their fingers inside every Ajah of the White Tower, and now that Elaida has gotten this answer from the Aelfinn, Alviarin knows that Siuan is potentially destined for a short stint as the Amrylin. The Black Ajah learns at some point that the Dragon has been reborn, though they have less information than Siuan and Moiraine were working with in terms of the timeline. I believe that it's implied that the Vileness* was the Black Ajah using the Red Ajah in order to try to find the Dragon Reborn, but they had to cast a much wider net than Moiraine and Siuan, because they had an even less firm grasp on how old the Dragon Reborn was.

(*which led to Thom's nephew being gentled, which led to Thom leaving Morgase's court, and being able to save Rand and Mat in Bree)

Though both Ishamael and Moiraine do hone in on the Two Rivers at roughly the same time, converging together in 1x01 but with Moiraine getting just enough of an edge that she's able to get the Dragon (and his companions) out of the Two Rivers, though that leads to its own complications.

Alviarin also may have been voting for maximum instability, because that has been a long-term goal of Ishamael and the Black Ajah throughout the course of the last three thousand years. The show version of the Black Ajah has been more effective than the book version -- we learn in s1 that the location of the Dark One's prison was lost, due to Tower books that were burnt by darkfriends, and the White Tower believed that the Dark One was imprisoned at the Eye of the World when it was really Ishamael who was sealed there.

More knowledge has been lost to time, like the knowledge of how to tie off weaves. It's all part of the show making the villains more effective than they were in the books and thus a harder challenge for the heroes to overcome (and requiring more sacrifice).

Voting for Siuan here sets Elaida's enmity towards her even further into stone, essentially given Alviarin something to use against Siuan whenever it becomes convenient. And Alvairin likely was able to lean on 'logic' (and, being Black Ajah, lies) in order to get Elaida not to hold the vote-switching against her.

Now that we've seen the formal Aes Sedai shawls in the show, I wonder if we're going to see them more and more as Elaida's reign goes on and the divide between the Ajahs deepens, just as happened in the books.

When Alviarin casts her vote for Siuan, we really see Liandrin's frustration -- I'm guessing she knows that Alviarin is the Highest of the Black Ajah and that her vote is going to mean every Black Ajah Sister (apart from Liandrin herself) is going to fall in line and vote along with her.

Kerene was, I assume, not Black Ajah so I wonder if her standing up in Siuan's favor meant that Liandrin was off the hook of needing to be a Red Sitter voting against her own Ajah. Or if there were yet more Black Ajah Sitters who could have stood up if needed.

Hearing that title of "Watcher of the Seals" feels even more ironic in this version than it did in the books. I mean, in both cases, the White Tower didn't know where the seals were but in this case, they're all getting broken way before the Last Battle happens.

I was sad that we were given yet another example of Egwene and Rand failing to communicate instead of getting a scene to close out the Aviendha and Rand thread that we've had this season, but putting a more positive scene with Aviendha and Rand here would probably make Aviendha's question to Egwene later feel jarring, and it's clear that the show wants to hammer home the death of the Randgwene relationship, so I'm assuming that's why that was prioritized.

I do feel like we got too little of Egwene's inner life this season, but hopefully we'll get more from her next season, when she has a chance to talk again to people she trusts.

On the topic of finding Rand a teacher, there are two main options -- we're getting Asmodean in s4 and he will be Rand's teacher, or Lews Therin is going to be Rand's teacher. We do catch a glimpse of what I assume is LTT in this episode, though I didn't catch it myself until it was pointed out by a great gifset. It's a great blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment for both the audience and for Rand himself -- that distant figure on the horizon that disappears in a blink of an eye (it's right before Rand's conversation with Moiraine).

I could go either way -- I do enjoy Asmodean as a character, but now that Sammael is dead, the Shadow does appear to lack a general, so they might want to put in Demandred to serve that purpose.

Egwene and Aviendha's conversation has a double-meaning for book readers, of course, because Aviendha's words are actually more about herself and less about Egwene (maybe they will become friends in the time-skip between s3 &4, but they've shown no particular friendship up to this point -- Elayne and Perrin were the only wetlanders that Aviendha had a positive relationship with in 3x01 per what Mat said).

"There is no choice in what has already been seen. It is the Aiel's duty to follow him but you are not Aiel, Egwene. He has lain with a Shadowsouled and promises a future of destruction and madness. Yours is a future you can choose. Is he worthy of your strength?"

Which is the same vibe from the books at this point in time -- Aviendha sees her future in the rings and tries to run from it, just like how she tried to run from being a Wise One. She actively resents every moment when Rand shows himself to be more than she expected him to be, and yet also resents it when, for example, he says that wetlanders don't usually share lovers. Aviendha is an emotional mess right now and she is projecting all of that onto Egwene, and likely resenting that Egwene does get more of a choice than Aviendha feels like she gets in her own life. Egwene walked out on the White Tower in order to follow Rand, whatever her reasons -- Aviendha ran away from the Wise Ones for a time, but she can't abandon her duty to her people and she resents Egwene for her ability to choose where she goes and what she does.

"Duty" is a strong thread that runs through Aviendha-Elayne-Rand's plotlines this season. Where does your duty lie? Elayne longs for a taste of freedom but knows her duty will always take her back to the Lion Throne; Aviendha ran away in order to have some more time as a Maiden but now must learn how to put away her spears; Rand is trying to figure out the best way to meet his own obligations and duties to the world.

"There is no choice in what has already been seen." (Aviendha; 3x08) "The Wheel never gives anyone what they want. Least of all me." (Rand; 2x04) "You know, the only thing I ever wonder about is what it must be like to choose your own fate." (Elayne 2x04)

It does feel like they are setting themselves up to make the Avirandlayne romance more difficult next season, which might be the goal -- easily slipping into a solid relationship isn't very dramatic. I go back to Alanna's words from 2x01, "Things have to be messy before they are perfect". So, if we do get our s4, I am expecting messiness at the start of Avirandlayne, potentially centered around Aviendha having seen the worst of Rand due to seeing the fallout of his relationship with Egwene and yet also seeing him embracing his duty here in 3x08, as Elayne promised that he would.

And, by contrast, Elayne can potentially be the person who understands the hard choices that Rand needs to make and she actually feel perfectly positioned to be the one to hear him out about what happened with Lanfear, because she's also been tricked by one of the Forsaken into caring about them (though her trickery was more magical in nature, due to being down to Rahvin's Compulsion). In the books, Elayne is the person that Rand first confides in about what happened on Dragonmount (his epiphany).

For Aviendha, seeing Rand embrace his duty so strongly must make it feel even more glaring to her how she has kicked and fought against her duty and tried to run away from it for so long. Plus, she also learns that her entire way of life up to this point has been a lie (when Rand reveals the truth of Rhuidean), so there's also that for her to deal with in s4.

So, Thom's story about Elayne taking apart the clocks -- @markantonys reminded me that this was originally a story about Mat, and it got me to thinking about how they've moved a lot of these things around, to emphasis certain parts of character's interests or backstories or the journey that they will take going forward.

There's this example about the clocks -- originally a Mat story to explain why he liked to mess around with things and find out how they work. I feel like there's a pretty solid chance that Aludra and the cannons/guns storylines might be a cut side plot, so it makes sense to shift that interest in "how things work" over to Elayne, who is going to be our resident ter'angreal tinkerer, and who we've already shown has an interest in tinkering around with weaves.

An example from earlier this season was Moiraine getting the moment that Mat has in the books about carrying tons of knives on him and needing to remove them all before Rhuidean -- used in the show to illustrate Moiraine's paranoia and the need to have a physical weapon to depend on after she went through most of s2 shielded and unable to use the One Power.

And a big one from this episode is Min being the person who saves Mat's life after the doorway instead of it being Rand. Used to have Min fully redeemed from her earlier choices in the eyes of the audience, I would guess? I will probably always mourn that Mat got shifted from the Aiel Waste trip to Tanchico, though I will remind myself that I always have the books. I assume that the show probably feels like the Rand & Mat friendship was established enough with their time together in s1 & s2 and didn't need any more emphasis right now.

There's also moving Melindhra-the-Darkfriend from Mat's plot to Lan's, where it was used to tell us more about Malkier and to show us what happens when someone chooses to betray their Dark Oaths.

Not all of the shifted moments are Mat-related! I also feel like shifting the "learning Aiel culture" subplot from Egwene to Rand falls under this category and fits under the same general idea as the clocks one -- the Aiel are going to be much more relevant to Rand going forward than they will to Egwene, and the show is also interested in telling a story where Rand gets more invested in his birth heritage, including making him more deeply affected by his journey in the columns.

I bet there are other examples of this happening too, but those were the ones that came to mind most readily.

So, Elaida spoke to the Aelfinn and not the Eelfinn, so I am going to tentatively assume that they deal in questions and not needs, like in the books. What questions did Elaida ask? We know that she learned that she would become the Amyrlin Seat, so that's one of the questions. Given that she'd had that Foretelling about Andor ten years prior, I feel like she might have asked something about Andor. Would her third question have been about the Dragon Reborn? We don't really have any reason to think that she had guessed about the Dragon being reborn, so I'm going to guess not. I'd love to know her exact questions and answers because, knowing Elaida, I'm sure she interpreted them incorrectly.

With Nynaeve's block broken (in an underwater scene, no less), we've cut out yet another element of Ebou Dar. It really does feel like we've either already taken care of or eliminated a lot of Ebou Dar.

A brief recap:

Renna: dead

Seta: dead

Carridin: dead

Suroth: dead

Avilayne cultural bonding: accomplished

Matlayne friendship: accomplished

Nynaeve's block broken: accomplished

While I am definitely influenced by how much I dislike some of the events that happen in Ebou Dar... it really does seem like they've taken a lot of it off the board already.

And here's a question -- the way that Rand's storm in this episode is treated... this is a storm that touched as far as Tanchico. Do we need the Bowl of the Winds when Rand is capable of doing that?

Given the prophecy they closed out the season on, they appear to be leaning into "the Dragon is one with the land" theme, which might mean tying any downturns in the weather of the world directly into Rand's downward spiral, and make it so that it's Rand's emotional epiphany that heals the weather (hey, which would mean that Elayne, Aviendha, Nynaeve, and Mat could still be key to that plotline).

Or maybe we'll get the Bowl of the Winds plotline as written but... Rand created a storm in the Aiel Waste that the characters in Tanchico were reacting to. That's a pretty big weather event.

We also once again have Rand doing the more 'philosophical' battle while someone else does the 'physical' battle, foreshadowing the kind of battle that Rand needs to fight at the end of the series. All of the incredible power that Rand has exists to get him to the point where he can make that philosophical choice (or present it to others, in this case); the power isn't the point.

The choice is.

People making the choice to let the Light shine through them and stand up against what's wrong. And that's exactly what Siuan tells Elaida and the rest of the Hall.

For Elaida, and for Lanfear... the power is the point.

That's the difference between Elaida and Siuan. The difference between Lanfear and Moiraine.

The prophecy that we end on. We didn't hear the very first line in the show, and that line makes the prophecy more ominous.

There can be no health in us, nor any good thing grow For the land is one with the Dragon Reborn, and he is one with the land. Soul of fire, heart of stone, in pride he conquers, forcing the proud to yield. He calls upon the mountains to kneel, and the seas to give way, and the very skies to bow. Pray that the heart of stone remembers tears, and the soul of fire, love

It feels very significant that, in a season where Rand was breaking off his previous romantic relationships and believing that he needs to embrace Moiraine's more ruthless philosophy about how he should engage with the world, we end on a prophecy telling us of the importance that the Dragon Reborn remember compassion and love.

"Remember who you are, Rand al'Thor, no matter what you may become," Nynaeve says to him in 3x01, as they part. But Rand hasn't had anyone with him to remind him of it -- he and Egwene weren't talking about anything, each of them silo'd off into their separate worlds, touching and yet not connecting. Both of his closest friends were gone. Nynaeve was gone.

But it is important that Rand be Rand, just as much as it's important that he be the Dragon.

So, yeah, it does feel noteworthy that we're reminded of the importance of Rand remembering love right after he's had a definitive break-up with both of his previous significant romantic entanglements.

Because as long as Rand is on a path that leads to him putting away love and empathy, he is on a collision course with disaster and the doom of the world, even though he thinks that he's doing the right thing and putting fewer people in danger.

For us book readers, we know that Rand following this path could end the world as surely as agreeing to go with Lanfear world.

We watch Rand willingly vanishing into his own prophecy here, and that is just as dangerous as him denying the truth of the prophecy.

As Aviendha said at the start of the season, there needs to be balance.

Given that all outside of the show indicators and in-show hints do imply that we are going to be getting Rand's polycule (Avirandlayne definitely, and maybe also Rand-Min, though that has not been touched on at all since 1x07, despite the show having opportunities for it), s4 also feels like the time we'd be moving into showing it.

I don't want to get too involved in speculating, both because the show has done an excellent job of swerving me in a lot of places and because we don't have that renewal yet, but a little bit of speculation -- the implication is that s4 will be the season of Avirandlayne. Rand's emotional entanglements with both Lanfear and Egwene have been cleared out (at least for him) and though he's determined to keep it that way, our ending prophecy (and Rand's own nature) implies that love is going to be a key aspect for him going forward.

We know that Aviendha's stance on romance is that it's just Too Much to expect only two people to share the emotional weight of a relationship, you need more people than that. It's also really obvious to book readers that she definitely saw Rand in the rings in the show, just like she did in the books. Her reaction to seeing him in Rhuidean and then the way she keeps poking at various things afterwards. Subtle enough that it flew under the radar for non-book readers, but very much a "if you know, you know" situation. The very first thing she asks Rand in their cultural exchange is whether or not wetlanders share lovers and she gets testy and takes it out on him when he says that they don't usually.

So that is Avirand set up to mostly do a slowburn situation for s4.

As for Rand, though he seems determined to try to stay away from love now, we also know that he is an extremely heart-first sort of person. His relationship with 'Selene' started out as transactional, but his feeling got involved because Rand isn't built for sleeping with people and not developing feelings (which she took advantage of). Josha talked about this in an interview of his that was released after the finale aired -- Rand loves easy, and it's actually good and important for the world that his heart is full of love, because that is what ends up saving the world in the end. The Dragon Reborn needs to care. It's incredibly important that he not become stone, that he not become steel. But he believes the opposite right now, so that's the challenge that the show is putting in front of him for s4.

How is Elayne going to come back into things?

(are we going to end up with a throuple Far Snows situation in s4?)

Elayne & co will probably want to meet up with Rand & co as soon as possible, to warn him about the collar being in the hands of the Black Ajah and/or the Forsaken, and Elayne needs to be in Rand's plotline for any romance to kick off between them.

Elayne, Thom, and Mat are all people who can be extremely helpful for Rand's upcoming "conquering nations in the wetlands" arc -- Elayne and Thom to help with politics and Mat to help with military matters. This is actually one of the reasons that I figured Moiraine might die in 3x08 -- because Rand already has teachers lined up. But Moiraine is also positioned as much less politically-savvy in the show than she was in the books -- she tells Siuan that she never would have managed to become Amyrlin Seat because she makes enemies too easily, and she's mostly been on the road for the last two decades. So Moiraine will probably wrangle prophecy and One Power related things, with Elayne & Thom being politics, and Mat being military.

While I do like both Bashere and Ituralde in the books, I'm kinda hoping that Mat will basically absorb them in the show as far as plot lines go, because they both kinda exist to steal Mat's potential plots so that he can go off and do random shit instead.

So, in terms of what has been set up for s4 (expanding on what I said in the show-only post):

I think that Couladin will take the Aiel to attack Tear, as opposed to Cairhien, because Tear seems like it's going to be one of our main locations next season.

We have several groups already implied to need to go to Tear:

Rand, to get Callandor

Elayne & co, to warn Rand about the collar being taken (Tear is the one place that they know he needs to go eventually, plus Elayne has a family friend there)

There was a cut scene about Leane, Verin, & Ryma leaving to go to where Siuan was born, so I think Salidar's location is being shifted to Tear, which is gonna make it a LOT easier to have all of the characters who visit Salidar in the books go there in the show too, while still being able to join Rand's plotline (or leave it, in the case of Egwene)

Lanfear urging Rahvin to go for Callandor

And then Perrin will potentially be doing his late-series "whitecloak trial" plotline, as well as possibly the wolf dream stuff.

So very tentative thoughts on s4 (fingers crossed for renewal!):

I was originally thinking that it might open with the battle for Tear but if that ends up being a Mat focal episode as he pulls together the Band of the Red Hand, it feels more likely to be slightly later in the season. Hopefully no later than 4x03, though.

4x04 feels like the most likely place for Moiraine to get sent through the doorway, unless it doesn't happen until 4x08. Those feel like the most likely "spots", because they always have a game-changing event in the fourth episode (Nynaeve revealing her power in 1x04; Selene being revealed as Lanfear in 2x04; Rhuidean in 3x04).

(Will Moiraine get doorway'd or Die For Real? idk)

Moiraine is firmly in "trusted adviser" space for Rand, but I'm curious how that might interact with Elayne's advice once she is reunited with Rand (hopefully early on in the season -- both the show itself and Rafe outside the show imply that love is key for Rand, but that doesn't tell us how quickly or how deeply that will be explored right off the bat in s4). It was Elayne's advice to Rand in 3x01 that made him decide to go to the Aiel Waste.

Is Egwene going to go to the "Salidar" location early on in s4 and then get raised later on, or will she only go there when it's time for her to become Amyrlin? (relocating it to much closer to Tear does make all of this a lot easier)

Moiraine making a point of saying that the White Tower "bending the knee" to Rand is a key part of him winning the Last Battle vs the show making a point of Egwene (future Amyrlin) not bowing to Rand and the show tying it to Lanfear's claims of never bowing to LTT sets up a potential point of tension for the future -- obviously Elaida would never do never "bend the knee" to Rand, but show has set up Egwene as not willing to do that either, which would mean the end of the world, basically.

In the books, this was kinda a focal point of what ended up being the negotiations between Rand and the Seanchan Empress, where the Seanchan prophecies said that the Dragon had to kneel before the Crystal Throne or the Last Battle would be lost. Are they shifting that to the conflict between Rand and Egwene instead?

(if so, I would imagine there would be a subversion or a twist involved at some point, which is kinda what happens in the books between Rand & the Seanchan Empress)

#wot #the wheel of time #wheel of time #wot on prime #wot s3 spoilers #wheel of time s3 spoilers #butterfly watches wot #wot meta #my wot meta #wot book spoilers #wot 3x08 spoilers #a memory of light #scheduled this to post a few hours after my show-only post

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bottomkeplerweek · 3 days ago

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Pretty sure this AMA awakened something in me when I first saw it

Important to note that that last clip comes right after a very long and serious answer about the lack of LGBT representation in the show which I think makes it funnier

[transcript under the cut]

Zach Valenti: Kepler, Zach Libresco, at the beginning of season three, it sort of appeared-- so this is the person who's asking the question-- it appeared to me, at least to me, to be very close to Maxwell and Jacobi, but towards the end of the season, it seemed like their closeness was more out of fear than loyalty. In your opinion, is this an accurate description of their relationship? Does Kepler actually care about Jacobi and Maxwell? Or are they just people he works with?

Zach Libresco: I got a lot of that information from the mini episodes and how people are recruited and what they're interested in, why they're on the project, so for our recently departed Maxwell, I think what brings her onto the project-- what gets me to get her onto the project-- is like the scientific advancement; the possibility of the resources at hand to make that kind of advancement and to have the license to do it when other people are saying 'you can't do it'. So what's enticing-- how I serve her, is being the person who says 'here, play with these toys. These are your resources. I trust your ethics. I trust you to do the job; I'm just gonna let you go and do it. So, there's affection, but it's more like I have the keys, and she makes the rocket go-go. For Jacobi, there's more of a... I think we... there's a lot more about the history of how much I ride him. I don't know if it's a... There's definitely a longer history between them, and more of 'I'm near an explosive, you're near an explosive, what's the right thing to do in this situation?' They've been through the worst together, in a different connecting way than Maxwell and Kepler have. Would you guys have thoughts on that as well?

Noah Masur: Yeah I think Jacobi has been Kepler's first mate for a while, even if they're not mates.

Zach Libresco: And he rose to that point, he did not start there.

[NEXT CLIP]

Zach Valenti: It sounds like they have, and will immortalize 'Kepler riding Jacobi hard'. Phrasing. Phrasing, Libresco.

Zach Libresco: Kepcobi!

[NEXT CLIP]

Noah Masur: All I know is... Kepler's been riding Jacobi hard for years.

Zach Libresco: And we're not saying that's canon, but we're not saying it's not canon.

Gabriel Urbina: Well said. Well said.

Zach Libresco: Great joke, Noah.

Noah Masur: What joke?

#the Bottompler agenda origins #kept in the whole bit about Maxwell at the beginning because I think it's super interesting #bottomkeplerweek #bottomkeplerweek2025 #wolf 359 #keplerposting #warren kepler #wolf 359 podcast #wolf 359 radio #w359 #kepcobi

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picturejasper20 · 1 day ago

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Hahaha, this trend is still on going considering the reaction that people had to Jack Horner from Puss in Boots The Last Wish. Idk if you were there for it OP but animation fandom went crazy about how ¨Wow, Horner is actually irredeemable villain, wow¨. And don't get me wrong, he was a fun entertaining character for the movie.

Yes, i have been talking about this a while: A good part of animated series nowadays have the main villain who dies or gets captured in some way. -In Amphibia The Core gets destroyed by Anne -In The Owl House Belos gets killed by Luz -In She-ra 2018 Horde Prime gets vanished by Adora

And so on

Redemption arcs have become more common in animated shows in the past few years and some of them don't have the best execution to be honest, often taking place in the last two-three episodes in a show. So, i can see why people complain about that in a way. However, the thing is that there is almost always some type of irredeemable villain, including these shows that lean towards more to doing redemption arcs. As much as people like to whine about it, killing the main villains or imprisioning them is still the status quo in western animation.

The only exceptions to this (that redeem their main villains) that i can think of are Steven Universe and Danny Phantom A Glitch in Time graphic novel, which the later was inspired by SU. Outside of that nothing else comes to mind at the moment.

Does anyone else remember that period when kids cartoons & their internet fandoms were pretending it was a Subversive Twist for a cartoon to have an irredeemable villain who the heroes kill. Like, for a while people totally forgot that “the heroes kill/imprison the evil villain” is actually the standard for kid’s cartoons. People lost their minds so much over steven’s universe or whatever that they forgot that it was an exception, and the vast majority of kids cartoons love having irredeemably evil villains who die or get imprisoned forever for the happy ending.

But I still remember this silly period of internet discourse, because I find it extremely funny.

If 2010s internet cartoon fandom watched Snow White and The Seven Dwarves : “omg the evil queen is irredeemably evil and then gets killed during a fight with the heroes?????? This is sUCH mature storytelling….. it’s so dark and subversive, how they acknowledged that some people just can’t be redeemed…. Omg so realistic…. This is how you know it’s really for adults… ”

#animated series #steven universe

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changingplumbob · 2 days ago

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Day Sixteen - Kara Group 1/2

Waken up everyone! Time for another day in the villa. And not just any day, the final day as a group for the Kara group before we have the whole cast challenge, final dates, and the first commencement ceremony (elimination sounds harsh when I love them). As normal coins were flipped for if teeth were brushed and wheels were spun for which type of shower contestants would have.

Like Donna Noble said in the last episode of Doctor Who I watched, the dice don't know what the dice did last time. Each of the six contestants landed on yes for teeth brushing, so confidence all around today for the group.

Room orders were randomised as some are closer to the dining room than others, but after showers breakfast was served! After being instructed to eat full autonomy took control of our group members and Deanna. Room doors were locked (you know what sims are like with computers) and Deanna complimented each sim in the order they sat down to eat to prompt conversation.

Evelyn and Kennedy rolled being in the lower floor rooms and got to breakfast shortly after Deanna, securing the spots beside her. Sarah decided to show great minds think alike, sporting the same shirt Deanna wore for her cold weather outfit in high school. You say potato, I say conversation starter. Arista then had to do some mermaid noises, but everyone already knows her occult status so they were unfazed.

More people slowly arrived for breakfast and the conversation picked up. Poor Nicola was tense, she had gotten shampoo in her eyes! OUCH! But of course a good compliment made her forget the pain for a while. Mariela once again pulled Deanna into a hug before starting to chat. A girl will do what a girl will do.

After most had eaten Sarah headed off to watch some TV while Mariela stayed chatting with Deanna. Arista cleaned the dishes and did a congratulatory dance to celebrate the triumph. Kennedy and Nicola headed up the stairs for a table tennis match while Evelyn decided to take time to quiz Arista about mermaids. After all, she wants any fantasy books she writes to be somewhat accurate in mermaid depictions.

Rather than leaving the villa the contestants head to the top floor where chairs have been set out in an odd configuration. Today Deanna and Devin are joined by their little sister Artemisia (Emisia to family, Emi to friends).

Devin: Since this show was brought to life around the idea of family having a say in challenges, we let Emisia choose one

Emi: *evil grin* Today you will be taking part in... a staring contest. First to blink loses. You will go in pairs, I will join the three winners for a semi final and then the last two standing will battle it out. Up for grabs, not that you should want it, is a solo date with Deanna. I say up for grabs because if I win overall no date for any of you! To bad? So sad. What are we waiting for?

Deanna: *sighs*

First Match: Evelyn vs Kennedy

Evelyn: Huh... not sure how I'll do but I'll try my best!

Kennedy: She's serious? *groans in despair* This is so awkward

Winner: Evelyn

Second match: Nicola vs Mariela

Nicola: It's not healthy to avoid blinking. Are there eye drops on hand if we get injured?

Mariela: Everyone must know I'm not the most... socially adept person here. Bit panicked to be honest, but I'll try my best

Winner: Mariela

Third match: Arista vs Sarah

Arista: * laughing * Oh I used to play this with my siblings all the time!! They insisted I was cheating because my glasses kept the wind out of my eyes (aka they couldn't blow directly into my eyeballs.) It was a moot point anyway, because I never could keep my eyes open

Sarah: What? For real? That's the challenge?

Winner: Arista

The semi-finalists square up. It's Mariela vs Artemisia, and Arista vs Evelyn. With focus and precision both Artemisia and Evelyn appear victorious.

The final match, Evelyn vs Artemisia. The winner… Evie!

Nicola: I hate this

Kennedy: I'm just glad it's over, y'know? I hate staring like that all direct for so long *shudders* I'm glad Evie won because I did not want to do that more than once

Sarah: Not fair, I have dry eyes. It’s a medical condition

Nicola: Well we tried

Kennedy: And we never have to do it again

Arista: Well at least I didn't doze off in the middle of it this time. That's a win for me!

Mariela: I am zero percent surprised! It's a shame I couldn't get over my nerves though

Arista: You blinked because it got awkward?

Mariela: A little, it was like Artemisia was grilling my soul

Artemisia: Did I pick this challenge? Yes. Did I pick it because I was good at it? No. I wanted them to panic. But anyone who wants to date Deanna needs to deal with my particular brand of evil and scaremongering

Evelyn: Oof, my eyes... but it was worth it!

Lucky Evie will get to go on the date!

@abbysimsfun, @ashubii, @pixeldistractions, @ravingsockmonkey, @sanitysims, @sleepyselkiesims

#DatingDeanna #DatingDeannaRound1 #sims 4 #the sims #simblr #my sims #ts4 #active simblr

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yes-no-maybe-soo · 2 days ago

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hi hi hi! this is @syslut :3 i just recently followed your lovely blog and i’ve always loved how passionately you talk about our dear loverboi.

on to the point: do you have any theories sylus’s upcoming main story branch?! 👀👀👀 saw your tags here :3

i am so excited and lowkey anxious; i smell angst 😭🤚

Aaaa thank you so much for your kind words ❤️ It means so much to me that you guys enjoy my yapping 💞 (love the @/syslut username btw!)

Ok so re: the main story and angst, these lines from Sylus' birthday event have been stuck on my mind for days and made me more and more anxious the longer I mull them over

(And there's also these lines from Greedy Heart)

I've consumed works of fiction since I was a wee thing and in my experience lines like these never herald sunshine or rainbows. On the contrary they often foreshadow that one or both characters are pretty much cooked... same as when a character in a show says that today is their last day before retirement. You know the dude will be dead by the end of the episode ;-; I get a similar feeling of dread here.

That is not to say that I believe that Sylus or MC will (perma) die or anything, especially not in the upcoming branch. The game is still very fresh with lots more content to come, not to mention that you can't really kill off main characters in an otome gacha (thank god). However, I do believe that the angst we will get will still be extremely painful. Paperfold are masters at the art of twisting the knife and giving us all PTSD.

My prediction is that something bad will happen to MC — she'll be abducted, injured, maybe even temporarily killed, or all three — and we will get to witness Sylus be properly enraged and afraid. We haven't seen him in either state yet, since very few things truly get under his skin. Most of the time he is nonchalant or even bored in the face of threats. He projects nigh invincibility to his opponents and even to MC. He has no discernible weaknesses... or at least, as far as his enemies are aware (for now).

But we know better. The only times we've ever seen Sylus approaching a state of anger or fear have involved MC. He gets upset at himself in battle mode if MCs health is low by the end of it, and he also yells out in alarm for her to "look out!" if he sees her about to get hit by Wanderers. And recently in his birthday card he was visibly worried for her when she fell. The writers have made the fact that MC is Sylus' weakness clear even before Sylus himself stated it outright. And now that he has, I am 99.9% certain that it will be utilized in the plot at some point. Like I've said before, the LADS writers seldom include stuff like this without some sort of intent. It's not just meant to be wholesome fluff imo. Maybe it will even lead to Sylus actually being (temporarily) defeated in order to save MC?

However, whether this will happen in the upcoming branch I am less certain about. It might be too premature for that. But I'm not ruling it out completely.

What is basically 100% certain though is that something angsty will happen, and that we will be in pain. My reasons for believing this are

The main branches for the OG3 were all angsty.

We have been fed a suspicious amount of fluff and sunshine lately. Which will make the angst hit even harder. Which, knowing Paperfold, is exactly the plan. They're lulling us into a false sense of security.

Angst or an intense situation of some sort would be a great vehicle for character development for both Sylus and MC, as well as for furher deepening their relationship.

The main story and branches have involved lore. And you know what LADS lore means right? Exactly. Emotional suffering. For both the characters and us.

It's a bit tricky to guess what said angst or lore will be though since for one we don't know at which point in time the branch will take place. Will MC still have the same opinions and feelings re: Sylus as when she left him in the main story? Or will enough time have passed that they are more intimate? Weren't the latter the case with the OG3? Or am I misremembering?

Furthermore, in the case of the OG3 their branches were based off the third anecdotes. And seeing as Sylus still doesn't have that... well, his will clearly have to be based off of something else. Unless they decide to drop the anecdotes at the same time? Please God let that be the case! We are so lore starved over here... not to mention free companion starved... 😓

My best guess right now is that the Beyond Cloudfall myth will come into play somehow. Maybe MC will regain some memories, or maybe Sylus will finally reveal his dragon form?

As for theories outside angst, I think it's pretty safe to say that we will learn more about EVER and the Eye of Aether, or at least aether cores in general. Most of all I want answers regarding what is up with Sylus' right eye. Who put the aether core there and when? His eye has clearly been special for a long time, as far back as in Beyond Cloudfall. I'm doubting we'll be getting a definitive answer for that here though. LADS likes drip-feeding its info and lore after all.

Anyway, that's really as far as I feel comfortable going with my theories and speculations rn. I apologize for the extremely long and rambling answer dhdjdfj I always get super carried away with topics like these 😅 if you guys have any theories, then please don't hesitate to add on to this ♡

#thank you so much for the question ♡#asks #hargreeving #syslut #sylus #lads sylus #love and deepspace sylus #sylus lads #sylus love and deepspace #sylus x mc #sylusmc #lads #love and deepspace

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olessan · 6 months ago

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Re: TLovM episodes 3x07-3x09

#critical role #the legend of vox machina #tlovm #tlovm spoilers #for my tags #tag edit: I typo'd season 2 instead of 3 you saw nothing #I can see why they've made certain changes like keeping Percy deader dead and longer vs all the deaths VM had in-game #and I am liking them bc it keeps you on your toes even if you watched campaign 1 and/or are familiar with it #bc all the in-game deaths can definitely make death feel trivial when they can get res'd easily by a high level party with resources #and for the show they have to make them stick more WHICH MAKES ME WONDER PROBABLY THE SAME THING EVERYONE ELSE IS #WHAT COOL NEW SHIT ARE THEY DOING FOR THE FINAL 3 SEASON 3 EPS #ALSO KASHAW!! OH NO!!! THE HIMBO!#I get the inkling that they're leading towards a thematically heavy moment in the last 3 episodes of the season based on a lot of what #happened in these three and OH BOY SHIT IS NOT GOING TO DE-ESCALATE MUCH BY EP 12 WHEW IT'S GONNA KEEP GOING #I bet Raishan infecting Keyleth is going to play into that as well if ep 12 ends with them confronting her #at least it looked like she may have infected her - an insurance policy bc if VM and Thordak have to find a cure then she can get it too #olessan oration #also RIP in pieces Thordak you magnificent bastard #also THAT WAS MATT SINGING IN EP 7 CREDITS??#also everyone being v cute in between all the serious goings-on

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glitchstrikr · 1 day ago

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"make V1 not fully an ass"

YESSSSSS. All this one ever wanted was to be safe, happy, and accepted. And he got none of that! V3/4 is actually really similar to V1 (Maybe because V3/4 is based off Solars code, who was technically a version of V1?). I can only imagine the similarities with how those two act.

Like, V3/4 is very gruff, very tired (after suffering for so long), and pretty much met his few goals in life. He's accomplished himself, and now just exists for the people around him (which, while sad, is kinda keeping his going at this point. Hence the breakdown episode when he could be useful anymore.)

In comparison, we don't know what exactly V1 has gone through since Oct 2022. What we can speculate though is that he's been outside, extremely damaged, for just under three years. He's had to have been suffering this whole time. There's no way he hasn't been. What happens when you suffer with no escape for too long? You give up. He's probably just as tired if not more so than V3/4. He was already resigned to his fate when Sun expelled him (last minute bravado act or not, he clearly was ready to die, and let his backup take over the job). Then Sun flubbed the spell, and now he's in practical hell on earth? That'll do wonders to someone's mental state.

Something else both have in common? They're protective. V3/4 its not hard to see this, with everything hes done for his family and new friends there. But V1? V1 didn't show it much, but he did care for Lunar. He wanted to keep him safe, doing check-ups to make sure Moon stayed down, shielding him from his past mistakes (tho that also had manipulation uses too). Yeah, im aware V1 hit Lunar, but also? We know he had a temper. Like, major anger issues seems to be a SAMS Eclipse trait, regardless of version. Heck, even Solar has a temper. Up until V1 started guessing about Lunars betrayal, started getting frustrated with Monty (aka temper flaring up to cover all other emotions), V1 didn't do that much to Lunar besides mean comments and the slap. I'm not saying he wasn't abusive; he very much was. I'm saying their relationship was more complicated that just V1 hating Lunar.

We also have the obvious attachment issues, Abandonment issues, antisocial behaviors, gruff honesty, fears of being trapped, and even their motivations being similar.

The only main different between them was their fire; after Ruin was dealt with, V3/4 kinda lost his flame. V1 had his up until he resolved himself to his fate, when Sun expelled him. And ofc, their moral limits. V3/4 has learned some moral limits that I doubt v1 ever had to learn. But V3/4 has said so multiple times; those are other people's limits, he just follows them for convenience. So maybe they aren't so different in that manner after all.

eclipse’s first life

do you ever think that, eclipse’s first life is still in that forest, mangled and broken.

Like, by now, it’s probably overgrown with vines and other things

do you ever imagine that?

#V1 is just confused about this nicer version of himself #MAKE V1 WATCH THE CHANNEL #Make V1 not fully an ass #eaps eclipse #sams eclipse #V1 Eclipse #V3/4 Eclipse #Make them meet #Actually #The show is somewhat set up for v1s return #Remember. Eclipse (v3/4) gave solar v2s dim code. Not v1s.#He could very well still exist. Somewhere.

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amelikos · 1 month ago

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The adventure is not over.

#comes back full circle from the last thing gibeon said at the end of ep 45 last year #since we know that lucius could see everyone's adventures thanks to zygarde #i wonder if he heard gibeon say that in ep 45 #(knowing gibeon genuinely thought lucius was dead this whole time gives so many layers to that line too)#(he was just. thinking about lucius and remembering their adventures with rystal)#or is it something lucius said spontaneously..#which shows that they both share the same wish. continuing their adventures #i like both interpretations #him knowingly saying this line in reference to ep 45 #or something spontaneous showing their similarities #once again. love is real and the three og explorers invented it #lucius #gibeon #hz045 #hz089 #character notes #episode notes

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vulpinesaint · 19 days ago

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watching supernatural for the first time did things to my brain chemistry but i think i have multiple things going on now that i did not in middle school which make me really newly poised to have a very engaging supernatural experience for this rewatch. for one i actually like rock music now. for two i am way more of a man

#the s1-7 rewatch i was forced to do with my family in 2021 doesn't count i was um. busy being a different kind of queer during quarantine #i started listening to the pretty reckless bc of supernatural! i was taking songs i liked from the soundtrack back then too #but like. i was listening to mcr and three days grace atp but i wasn't big into rock as a genre. much more ready to steal songs i like #speaking of which! song from the pilot episode on repeat on my spotify last 24 hours. shout out a gift to the world by loveless #i'm a fan #ready to approach this show with new perspectives on masculinity and rock music #(not really. i have no thoughts on masculinity idc. but i have more complex feelings about men. you know how it is)#spnposting

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paxesoterica · 2 days ago

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There are multiple Gundam timelines. The largest by far is the original, the Universal Century, which has been added to since 1979.

All other timelines are considered alternative universes, most of which don't interact with each other (with 3 exceptions), and are generally limited to 1 TV series and sometimes a film sequel.

AUs like The Witch from Mercury are generally recommended when starting out, since they're standalone stories, but a number of folks (including me) started with G-Witch and then watched the original show, Mobile Suit Gundam (1979), sometimes nicknamed 0079 by fans, so it's up to how you wish to proceed.

UNIVERSAL CENTURY OG

Mobile Suit Gundam (TV Series; 1979)

Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (TV Series; 1985)

Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ (TV Series; 1986)

Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack (Film; 1988)

The Universal Century has a lot of animation associated with it, but a good way to start is with its original story arc, which spans a period of 14 years across three TV series and one film. You might find it funny to know that, despite the infamous rivalry of Amuro Ray and Char Aznable, the only character who appears in all four entries is Captain Bright Noa.

ALTERNATIVE UNIVERSES PART 1

Future Century

Mobile Fighter G Gundam (TV Series; 1994)

After Colony

Mobile Suit Gundam Wing (TV Series; 1995)

Mobile Suit Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz (OVA; 1997)

After War

After War Gundam X (TV Series; 1996)

Cosmic Era

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED (TV Series; 2002)

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny (TV Series; 2004)

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Freedom (Film; 2024)

Anno Domini

Mobile Suit Gundam 00 Season 1 (TV Series; 2007)

Mobile Suit Gundam 00 Season 2 (TV Series; 2008)

Mobile Suit Gundam 00 The Movie -A Wakening of the Trailblazer- (Film; 2010)

Advanced Generation

Mobile Suit Gundam AGE (TV Series; 2011)

Post Disaster

Mobile Suit Gundam IRON-BLOODED ORPHANS Season 1 (TV Series; 2015)

Mobile Suit Gundam IRON-BLOODED ORPHANS Season 2 (TV Series; 2016)

Ad Stella

Mobile Suit Gundam the Witch from Mercury Season 1 (TV Series; 2022)

Mobile Suit Gundam the Witch from Mercury Season 2 (TV Series; 2023)

Each of these timelines is a separate continuity, but new Gundam shows can and will build on and/or re-examine themes and concepts from previous works; while none of them are required viewing for the other shows, that learned experience can potentially enhance re-watches.

The Future Century is the first AU, and among the most radically different variants of Gundam. The Ad Stella (along with two others listed below) is among the shortest AUs at 25 episodes (most other TV series are around 48-52 episodes), and the first (but not last) to have a female protagonist. The Cosmic Era, conversely, is the longest with two 50 episode TV series and a sequel film (and a couple of spin-off OVAs not mentioned here).

The official Gundam youtube channel Gundaminfo currently has The Witch from Mercury and SEED Destiny available for free viewing, and regularly rotates in other series and movies, typically on a monthly basis.

ALTERNATIVE UNIVERSES PART 2

Correct Century

∀ Gundam (TV Series; 1999)

Regild Century

Gundam Reconguista in G (TV Series; 2014)

Universal Century (Alternative)

Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX (TV Series; 2025)

I mentioned above that there are 3 exceptions to AUs not interacting with other series, so I separated them from the others for a more in-depth explanation.

The Correct Century (also known as Turn A Gundam) was envisioned as the culmination of all Gundam shows that came before it (i.e. everything from the late 70s-late 90s), and it makes blatant references to them. It is debatable whether that applies to any Gundam shows after that time, but, in my personal opinion, it's not worth worrying about too much.

The Regild Century is the successor to the Universal Century, taking place over a thousand years after that timeline. Whether it takes place before or after the Correct Century has varied between different official sources, but, in my personal opinion, this is also not worth worrying about too much.

The Universal Century of GQuuuuuuX is essentially a what-if? story, wherein Char Aznable became the pilot of the Gundam instead of Amuro Ray, and wherein the Principality of Zeon won the One Year War instead of the Earth Federation. As a current ongoing show, if and how it will interact with the original timeline is currently unknown.

UNIVERSAL CENTURY REDUX

0068 UC-0082 UC

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin (OVA; 2015)

Mobile Suit Gundam (TV Series; 1979)

Mobile Suit Gundam: Cucuruz Doan's Island (Film; 2022)

Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team (OVA; 1996)

Mobile Suit Gundam: Requiem for Vengeance (OVA; 2024)

Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket (OVA; 1989)

Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt (OVA; 2015)

0083 UC-0122 UC

Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory (OVA; 1991)

Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (TV Series; 1985)

Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ (TV Series; 1986)

Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack (Film; 1988)

Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn (OVA; 2010)

Mobile Suit Gundam Narrative (Film; 2019)

Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway (Film; 2021)

0123 UC-0153 UC

Mobile Suit Gundam F91 (Film)

Mobile Suit Victory Gundam (TV Series)

This list includes the OG Mobile Suit Gundam saga, as well as various prequels, sequels, and side-stories. They have been sorted into three different time periods for clarity, though it should be noted that the first period is largely focused on stories of the One Year War.

That completes my primer on Mobile Suit Gundam anime. It is not inclusive of redundant compilation films and TV re-cuts, nor manga, nor videogames, as these are beyond the scope of this text, and should be sought out at the reader's discretion.

I hope this data is useful.

Gundam fans, please tell me the best way to get more into the series because it's confusing. I've seen The Witch From Mercury and I'm watching Gquuuuuux but I'm not sure about the order for the earlier series.

#text #anime #mecha #mobile suit gundam

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