#I REALLY HOPE THEY DIVE DEEPER INTO THAT IN SEASON TWO

[shadowgasp]

I go so insanely ballistic every time I remember that Crowley didn’t mean to Fall.

that he’s described in the book as “An Angel who did not so much Fall as Saunter Vaguely Downwards”

“An Angel”

“An Angel”

[testyqwcde]

Crack non-crack theory on Sauron's masterplan (Siege of Eregion)

Although I really enjoy the show, I can't ignore its plot flaws and inconsistencies. That’s why I try to come up with reasonable explanations for some scenes that don’t sit well with me. I was a bit let down by the Season 1 finale, as I had hoped Sauron had a master plan in motion. I imagined we'd be shocked to learn that everything, including the creation of Mordor, was part of his grand design. The only thing I thought he hadn’t accounted for was meeting Galadriel, who he grew fascinated with and wanted on his side. Instead, Season 1’s Sauron appeared to be a sad goo with self esteem issues (albeit in a charming Halbrand form) flowing with the tides of fates. I had high hopes for Season 2.

The Battle for Eregion was touted as one of the most epic moments in TV history, but unfortunately, it fell short, mainly due to the numerous plot holes that the showrunners seemed to neglect. I really hope that in Season 3, they’ll dive deeper and provide some flashbacks or explanations to clarify what actually happened in Eregion. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m eager to see Sauron portrayed as a manipulative mastermind—a control freak who bends reality and messes with people’s minds. I’m a firm believer in the theory that Sauron was pulling the strings behind the battle from the very start.

Two armies at different locations.

EP 7 starts with Celebrimbor having his morning coffee. When the camera slowly moves, it features the mountain that will soon be destroyed, as well as the sunrise. The shot transitions to the battlefield where Elrond's army is set to arrive.

The sunrise subtly reveals that the main gates of Eregion overlook the east, where Khazad-dûm lies nestled in the high mountains, its snowy peaks visible to the right.

The camera then shifts to focus on Celebrimbor, standing with his back to the path where Elrond will soon arrive. Elrond's arrival from the north-east makes more sense rather than from the north-west where Lindon lies. The choice makes sense, given that Elrond asked for help in Moria before going to Eregion.

and we do see his army coming to fight for Eregion at the dawn. Why at the dawn? Because Celebrimbor told us earlier the candle didn't burn an inch through the whole day.

Elrond's army arrives, but instead of the orcs near the wall preparing for battle, they begin running to the left, away from Elrond’s forces. Why this sudden shift? It's likely they are rushing to face a different threat—an army arriving from the west. Could it be Sauron’s fake army? Illusion cast on orcs? The orcs closer to the wall, who can see what's happening in the West, might mistake the sound of the horn coming from that direction. As a result, the orc army could have been split into two parts.

The woods on the shot 'hides' the main gates, and the scene seems to overlook a more western part of the city, with the snowy peaks of the Misty Mountains rising behind the city.

The detailed breakdown of the scene location can be found in this excellent meta

https://www.tumblr.com/apoloadonisandnarcissus/771115060662861824/elrond-and-adar-in-opposite-sides-of-eregion-in

Another piece of evidence supporting this theory is the sunlight coming from the west, as it is almost dawn—directly opposite to the direction of the sunrise that Celebrimbor faced.

It seems that the battle and the parley took place at different locations.

Where is Gil-Galad??

When Elrond arrives, he glances at Gil-Galad, seeking a silent nod of approval before he begins the charge.

All of them set on galloping in Adar's direction. Nobody is left behind.

Do you spot Gil-Galad? He's wearing mostly golden, armor and the golden helmet while all the elves near Elrond are dressed in silver armor. I can't see him lol

Could it be that two armies are charging simultaneously: the real Elrond alongside Gil-Galad, and a fake Elrond without Gil-Galad? The scene is a blend of these two forces attacking, creating a disorienting effect for the viewer. As the horses gallop at full speed, the camera suddenly adopts an odd angle, making it seem as though we’re observing the action through distorted lenses. This shift in perspective disrupts the sense of reality, leaving the viewer with a feeling that something is off or unnatural.

Hmmmm. Did we something similar?

It could just be an artistic choice made by the directors, but who can say for sure? The next shot shows at least 500 soldiers halting a cavalry charge at full gallop, all because Elrond simply said "Stop!" The way they stop is so perfectly synchronized, it almost feels as if they're being controlled by the same mind. We get Elrond's reaction to Galadriel bleeding and Adar's greeting, but it's a strange decision not to include Gil-Galad in the scene, especially considering his role. Wouldn't it have made sense for him to at least give his approval for the parley?

So why is Gil-Galad absent from the illusionary army? Simply because he never directly faced Sauron or his dark magic. Unlike Elrond and Vorohil who were on paths that Sauron had manipulated, Gil-Galad was outside of his influence. Sauron couldn't craft an illusion to involve Gil-Galad because he lacked the personal connection to him. However, Sauron was able to distort the perceptions of Galadriel and Adar because he had gained their trust and understanding, allowing him to manipulate their reality more easily.

Where is Vorohil?

Vorohil is a member of Team Elrond, so it felt odd not seeing him charging into battle alongside Elrond. We get a glimpse of all the main characters before they launch their attack, except for Vorohil.

I tried my best to find Vorohil but could not, sorry.

I initially mistook this person for Vorohil, but upon closer look, I realized it's not him. Vorohil has a rounder face and shorter hair

Later, we find them both in Adar's tent.

(Love this analysis of the tent scene:

https://www.tumblr.com/apoloadonisandnarcissus/763974317300187136/megathread-all-clues-concerning-elrond-sauron?source=share)

So when they leave, they have a weird conversation about Durin who is coming to help. Vorohil is supposed to be attacking the orcs with Elrond, right? And when Elrond rejoined his army after returning from Moria, shouldn't he have shared the news that Durin would be helping? So why is Vorohil left in the dark?

Furthermore, why Elrond is so certain that Durin will come as he speaks to his people after Elrond left?

My answer to these questions is that because Vorohil isn't real—it's an illusion created by Sauron. And Elrond in this scene is Sauron.

The real Vorohil remains in Moria, preparing for an attack alongside Durin when the latter convinces dwarves to aid elves. This explains why he is missing in the attack and he knows that Durin has recalled his army—not just that the gate has been closed.

The reason this information was shared in Adar's camp is to ensure Adar would be aware and could prepare for a potential attack from the dwarves. This is why the real Vorohil was shot with arrows—because the orcs, anticipating a dwarven assault, had positioned archers in the east.

Sauron masterplan

Sauron is just standing and watching Crimby to finish the rings during the siege and when two of his enemies having a parley? Seriously?

Celebrimbor is chained, he wont escape. Sauron might be dealing with more important affairs on the battlefield while casting an illusion here.

He has been standing there for a few hours when he suddenly woke up as if he was performing his magic tricks

He knew exactly when Elrond will arrive because Galadriel shared this information with Adar. You can find out more in this great meta https://www.tumblr.com/fatcatlittlebox/765976187504934912?source=share

Here is like ' finally, you are here. Why took so long?'

He also knew that Durin will try to help therefore he is trying to stop him by blinding his father with greed and by awakening Balrog.

His primary goal was to prevent Adar from forming an alliance with the Elves, stop Durin from aiding them, and buy enough time to complete the rings.

I really hope Sauron is portrayed as the powerful, calculated force he is, rather than being depicted as a mere pawn of fate, swept along by luck: Balrog got mad at the moment when Durin was about to leave, Elrond got so unusually sassy refusing to make an alliance with Adar ( funny thing, Adar got the ring but gave it back to Gal later) and Glug coming straight to Sauron offering to serve him.

High hopes for Season 3.

[yingdu-lover]

It's Kinda Nice to Help People Find Their Precious Thing : The timeless journey of love, regret, trust, death and hope through Shiguang's life in Link Click Yingdu Episode 1

part -1

It's a very personal rambling actually, not a very critically sound one, if you still wanna read, just letting you know, you are not alone, I went through a lifetime of emotions while watching this.

What’s wrong with the timeline? : Before discussing this, I want to talk about Lu Guang’s age. I have this formula,

Lg’s age : X + 3n, X= his original age, n= the number of times he has dived back in the past to reach the situation of our timeline where Cheng Xiaoshi survived season 1 and made it to the end of the season 2. I am presuming that ‘n times Cheng Xiaoshi dies’ stopped in our timeline, so let us denote our timeline as ‘n*’, which has successfully changed Cheng Xiaoshi’s fate. (For people thinking, where did I get that ‘3’ in my formula, the episode of the lost child in season 1 says that the kidnapping of that little boy happened three years ago, when Shiguang were supposed to be in Yingdu. Basically Shiguang first met and went to Yingdu in 2018.)

The first four minutes of the episode 1 (Successfully made me cry like a wounded hyena left in the middle of a cold desert): What timeline is it? It is one of those timelines of ‘n’ where Cheng Xiaoshi died. Cheng Xiaoshi dies in every nth timeline, except n*. The first time he dies, let us call that timeline ‘n0’. And the first four minutes, let’s suppose it is nEp-1. Is n0 = nEp-1? If yes, then why Vein is punishing Lu Guang for changing the past? It implies that Lu Guang attempted (and succeeded kind of? since he is accused of changing the past) to change the past before? Why would he? For what reason? I have an answer to this convoluted question – Vein is punishing a past Lu Guang (‘innocent’ Lu Guang who didn’t dive and do shit) for the deeds a future Lu Guang committed. Eh? Every theory I suggest contradict with the thing I say next.

Still what I feel is that the narrator Lu Guang who gives the ‘butterfly effect’ speech is not the one who dives in the given visual. The hesitation in the visual suggests that Lu Guang is diving for the first time. I don’t have galaxy brains to understand the timeline theory anyways. And it is probably too early to start guessing.

Basketball symbolism: Life, death, trust, partnership.

I think now we all understand that the basketball motif really stands for a deeper philosophy of life and companionship. And Haoling actually puts that theme in big fat words in case someone missed, “It is so precious to have a trustworthy partner in life”. It is not about basketball. The exposition of first 1 minute 25 seconds deals with it.

1:26 – I howled. That’s not the point. The point is that Vein is actually interested in shooting Lu Guang, he wants his life, not Cheng Xiaoshi’s, he just physically defeats him. (My poor kitty, what the fuck did you do to deserve this, if my theory is right then…). Cheng Xiaoshi fucking dives to take the bullet.

Now, um. Why am I re-watching this? Cheng Xiaoshi dies and transfers his diving power to Lu Guang, the basketball symbolism recurs. Qiao Ling is dead and captain Xiao is dead too. Good. Cheng Xiaoshi says sorry for some reason and asks Lu Guang to save ‘them’, it’s his death wish. So, I am presuming that Lu Guang started diving because it was Cheng Xiaoshi’s last wish to Lu Guang (I need ibuprofen). From my perspective, Lu Guang when he dives, he is not sure what he is able to achieve. He probably goes back to the past just to relive those moments, those three years again. If everything goes well (LMAO my audacity) and Cheng Xiaoshi survives in this Yingdu arc, I am presuming that is our story then will be directly continuing in the two seasons.

Now let us heal a bit. First of all, congratulations to all, Lu Guang is gay. I don’t care what anyone opines, he is gay. He is the owner of that freaking Shakespearean sonnet book and he is the literal tsundere, come on, guys, it should be canon now.

Lu Guang holds his hand as if trying to say, “Please, don’t go”.

You are in acute denial if you say the visuals are not romantic. The white butterfly sits on the basketball he is holding.

That visual is so pretty! The butterflies remind me of tgcf ngl.

Bro, what kind of house does he live in. He is damn rich.

Cheng Xiaoshi : Partner, lets play basketball together again tomorrow. And the content smile Cheng Xiaoshi gives.

Still, somehow, The Eye is the most moving piece of animation I have ever seen, it feels like life with all heartaches and smiles present. I will carry this song with me till the end of time.

Oh, also. How are Vein fans doing? Just checking :D

This song is causing me physical angst.

I wish I can cosplay in my uni’s anime club’s event one day.

Okay so, a friend of mine pointed out that Lu Guang cosplayed as the hero of that RanXi chronicles when there was an attempt to dress Xiaoshi as the heroine. Ok.

Lu Guang checking that damn watch once in a while breaks my heart.

Parallel narrative, foil characters again – metanarrative, two-folded narrative embedded within the narrative (that girl’s story about perseverance, hope, regret, passion, taking the damn risk and further hope, story of RanXi chronicles and Lu Guang explicitly saying how he relates to the story of RanXi’s heroine)

Now I am saying again, I am Sapphic and Qiao Ling, that is Sapphic behaviour, my love, me and my Sapphic friends approve. “That girl is so lovely” the way she says it. AND YES QUEEN! Link Click never forgets to address social issues. Btw, I personally related to that girl when she was rebuked vehemently for voicing her career choice. My acceptance of what I really wanted to do in my life and pursuing it changed the trajectory of my life too. Life is not a flower path but “there are no regrets in dedicating your life to something you care about” – again it echoes the central theme of link click.

Also, (with a shiver) I am realising how the interpretation of the first and second season is rapidly changing (and I like it).

Cheng Xiaoshi, are you jealous?

The chibi shifts are so cute!

Lu Guang has this deep sense of lack of agency, understandable because it arises from the agony of the death of a loved one and this depressive existentialist mood makes him conform to the ‘power’, even though he can be rebellious but that threshold is only initiated with Cheng Xiaoshi’s active intervention.

Again saying, idk what kind of concept of queerness people (most of them who are not queer at all, how do they know what queerness is? How are you dictating?) have, but your friend’s image reflecting in your eyes when he brings a moral and ideological change to your mind and shatters your conformity, that surely is. This continuously happens in season 1 and 2, but we don’t get to know, you know why? Lu Guang’s pov was silenced deliberately. Without him soliloquizing, it’s impossible to know what his real emotional undercurrent is. The way Haoling crafted Lu Guang as a complex and delicate character, man. Man, I would die for him.

Btw, I too agree that putting a hand over his mouth is the second best option to silence him.

Ik it's bittersweet, but princess Guang-guang, don't run away from your fated prince! ( HOW THE FUCK AM I CRYING AGAIN)

this roughly wraps up to 34:30. I can't do more pain today, maybe tomorrow.

[sincerelyyadere]

Match made in mana/Lillian of Turin review [no spoilers] 6/10

reborn in a novel theme, male Yandere, two yanderes, soulmates, dependant on each other, Weak x Strong, submissive top, submissive yandere, fluff, miscommunication, hurt n comfort, slowburn, tbc

recap: MC was reborned as a character of a Novel she knows by heart, taking control over her life and changing the destiny that awaits her. But it seems the ML who was supposed to ignore her, does quite the opposite...

Plot: ★★★☆☆

Storytelling: ★★★☆☆

Characters: ★★☆☆☆

full review [no spoilers] ->

I almost dropped this one because realistically the real plot starts only when the MC finally meets ML, so if u want to read it, just bear until then.

This is a typical reincarnated into a book styled manhwa, but with how quickly the MC changes the decisions of the previous owner of her body, the story goes in completely different direction.

Okay, let's try to unpack this.

Firstly, some plot points were stretched unnecesserily and while some parts bothered me less than the other, the frustration of the people in the comments was more than visible, although i did not always agree with them.

Another thing is the MC's character. While i understand that she wants to change the future that awaits for her, in my opinion she tended to be a bit overly virtous and perfect, to be realistic. The character writing lacked here, seemingly leaving MC with no flaws, except maybe her not communicating her feelings and needs with others.

The 2nd season is out now, with a changed artstyle almost EVERYONE was complaining about in the comments, as well as the storytelling changes a bit. It didn't bother me that much, but i hope with next episodes it will come back to the level it established in the 1st season.

ALSO, THE FIRST TITLE WAS BETTER, IDK WHY THEY CHANGED IT TO LILLIAN OF TURIN

To really deep dive into this manhwa i would have to unpack every arc and choice made by the author, but i'm not here to do that.

So let me review it like this: This is a manhwa for those, who don't have high expectations for manhwa, just want to have a good time. There's no nsfw, usually fluff with some hurt n comfort and miscommunication. It's not special, but i read it whole which means it's pleasant to read either way. It's this sort of manhwa you need to build your own opinion on, cause the choices the author made leave so many things to discuss the opinions will vary very much so.

This manhwa is not for people who want some quick action, realistic characters or deeper themes. It's pretty superficial and flat in that matter.

To summarize: Good for some unbraining, bad for braining.

Peace out.

[ramsock]

I am a believer that arcane should’ve had another act or even another season. Don’t get me wrong I still love arcane for a lot of things and will continue to love it but I won’t lie and say I’m a bit disappointed that they didn’t dive deeper into things a bit more or expand more on the relationship between characters.

I wanted to see more of isha and jinx. I’m curious on how is it that Maddie and Caitlyn’s relationship started. Honestly I wish Loris had more of a speaking role and did more, like I wanna see more of him and Vi’s friendship. What about Jinx’s followers? Why isn’t sevika speaking more? I wanted to see more of Mel being a mage. Like there’s so much more to want but I can’t think of everything

I wished we had more but I can understand why the felt like ending it with just two seasons since it might be difficult to really make enough content to really satisfy everyone. I really hope that the next animated project they do can be just as great as arcane

[thatonesmartkidfromschool]

Imma be so honest... I found MM Tottmnt kinda dissapointing. Not because the show was bad per se but because it just wasn't what I was hoping at all.

I was really hoping for like. A full 26 ep season with silly hijinks, more slice of life and stuff like that, but also with am overarching plot that would finish off in the final episodes... I think that's what TMNT as a franchise is missing. Less CONSTANT action and more like. Teenagers doing teenager shit. They're the first (animated) Turtles who actually get to become a PART of society and I really think they should dive deeper into their regular lives. It's such a unique and fun concept that, up until now, has been almost completely ignored???

Like I said, the show isn't bad! At least the first half. The animation is great, we get new, fun characters introduced, and it's really funny! But like. Then we got the second story arc. 6 entire episodes that DON'T EVEN END UP BEING CANON??? Like that is SUCH. A WASTE. It would've been completely fine if it were canon but it's just NOT! They could've used these episodes to WORLD BUILD!! TO ADD CHARACTERS THAT'LL ACTUALLY BE IMPORTANT LATER ON!! They could've explored the Purple Dragons a little more.. they could've done the exact same thing but just MAKE IT CANON. It makes me so upset.

I just feel like there's so much wasted potential with these turtles. Please make something fun with what you've given them, writers. Please. ALSO let's all hope we get Casey in season two cuz I do NOT want to wait til 2026 to see them 😭😭😭

[beau-is-here]

Hazbin hotel makes the parallel between Charlie and Emily very clear. Hovever, this parallel goes beyond the princesses of heaven and hell when we look at their parental figures.

Through the examination of Sera and Lucifer's parenting and prideful decisions, one can see how not only the two farthest entities from each other - literally good vs evil - can be alike, but also how they can dictate the future of Hazbin Hotel.

I feel like it's already been established that Charlie and Emily are so similar. Their personalities, outlooks on the extermination, CHAREXTER DESIGN? "you didn't know" with their duet just ties it all together. But Lucifer and Sera? It might take a bit of explaining on my end…

Lucifer's relationship with his daughter, Charlie, has always been pretty strained. After Lilith repeatedly separated the two, Lucifer became depressed about not seeing Charlie, though he never acted on it.

At the beginning of episode 5, Lucifer has very adamant feelings about sinners; they suck. Because he had been cursed to only see the evil he had brought onto man kind (which i will dive deeper into later), all he sees is a worthless pile of rubbish, and he tries to warn Charlie about this. In a way, he is overprotective of Charlie, wanting to keep her safe from being heartbroken about the hotel if it goes wrong.

Much like Lucifer, Sera is separated from Emily, the other seraphim. Emily was devised that Sera had chosen to allow the exterminations, which led to distrust and betrayal between the two.

Sera also tries to sway the mind of Emily. Sera holds a hatred, or a prejudice, towards sinners, and forbids Emily from helping Charlie with anything to do with rehabilitation, going as far as to continually justify her own actions by saying that she had to do she could "keep heaven safe". She is overprotective as well, and projects her fears of Emily falling onto the younger Seraphim, much like how Lucifer projected his fear of heartbreak onto Charlie.

But wait, there's more. As we all know, Lucifer's prideful decision was giving Eve the apple of knowledge in hopes of satisfying his creativity. However, he ends up spreading evil into earth and ultimately getting "locked out of heaven" (just dance fans laugh please). Not only is he punished by being kicked out of paradise, but he also is cursed to the shame in only seeing the bad parts of humanity that HE had created. This is why he loses faith, despite having the opportunity to be its leader. Side note: this is what makes episode 8 so much stronger - Lucifer ends up defending the sinners of hell, showing his change in perspective over the course of the season.

Even though she is supposed to be virtuous and righteous, Sera also makes a prideful decision. This is her agreement to allow the extermination. She does this because her pride is threatened by the uprise of hells power due to Lilith's influence. Because she feels threatened, Sera's first thought is to allow a genocide to happen under her control. However, unlike Lucifer, she has no predetermined consequence. Instead, she suffers the guilt of knowing she has allowed this heinous act. This is why she so desperately hides it from heaven's population, because she is ashamed of her decision.

In conclusion, Lucifer and Sera are two sides of the same coin. While one resides in hell, the other "flourishes" in heaven. However, while Sera stifles the spirit and ambition of Emily, Lucifer changes his view on sinners through Charlie, and thus allows her to continue chasing her dream of the hazbin hotel. Or, in this case, to "shine in the spotlight". If Sera and Lucifer are such parallels, then I predict Sera to eventually make the same choice as Lucifer, and allow Emily to support Charlie in her mission of helping sinners get into heaven. Cause what Sera really needs is to have a change of heart.

[butterflydm]

wot deeper dive 2x8: what was meant to be

So excited to take a scene-by-scene look at this epic episode. This post will be dealing only with show spoilers and there will be another post later on that includes spoilers from the books.

I really loved season one, but season two has been richer, deeper, and so emotionally powerful. Have loved it so much. Posts that I'm planning to do in the next few weeks: I want to do a post covering each main character's s2 journey, I'm gonna do some speculation for s3, and I've got some posts planned on the imprisonment/control themes and the 'alone-vulnerable; together-shieldwall' theme that was so beautifully realized in the finale, and more.

But that's for the future.

For now, let's get into the show-only deep dive!

I don't think I really talked about the opening scene in my previous posts about the episode, but I really enjoyed it! I hope that future seasons continue the theme of having the final cold-open of the season be something from the Age of Legends.

2. What they did with showing the close relationship with Lews Therin and Ishamael really plays well with how Ishamael feels a kinship with Mat and thus believes that Mat is vulnerable to the same kind of philosophy and influences that Ishamael fell victim to -- he sees that Rand and Mat are close in the ways that he was close with Lews Therin, and thus believes that Mat being Rand's downfall is what is most likely to tip Rand over to the dark (alongside Egwene, who is our modern-age Lanfear counterpart imo). I really love what they've done with this relationship and with how Ishamael essentially tricked himself into believing that he understood Mat when he was really projecting himself onto Mat, just as he's been projecting Lews Therin onto Rand.

And we get the symmetry of Ishamael asking for death here and being denied, and then Rand killing him at the end of the episode, like he wanted.

3. We get confirmation here that LTT sealed the rest of the Forsaken first and Ishamael is last. This is where we get another name drop: Sammael. So the names that we have for sure are: Moghedien, Graendal, and Sammael (plus Ishamael and Lanfear, of course).

4. It looks like the other Aes Sedai here are all men, which ties us into the discussion/argument that Lews and Latra were having in the 1x8 cold open.

5. "They say this seal is so strong, not even I could break it." And while the seals do appear to be weakened by this modern point in time, we saw the effort that Ishamael went to in 2x4 to break out Lanfear. He did that six more times in this episode before he went to confront Rand. He was worn out, y'all.

I do think it's interesting the ways that Ishamael's nihilism interacts with his behavior with Rand. Once he realizes that Rand is here, he knows that his plan for turning Rand to the Shadow has essentially failed. Because Rand's friends have come to help him, and because of Lanfear's betrayal, Ishamael knows that it's over. And part of him is grateful when Rand kills him, and relieved. He doesn't really believe that he's going to reach Rand on that tower and turn him to the Dark -- that's why he sets two back-up plans into motion: a) releasing the Forsaken and b) trying to get Rand gentled.

6. Lews Therin's resigned apologies to Ishamael here for trapping him into a Fate Worse Than Death vs Mat's frantic apologies to Rand after he accidentally stabs him with the dagger from Shadar Logoth -- Lews Therin has been forced into this because of Ishamael's choices, while Mat was tricked into hurting Rand (both here and back in 2x6, when he 'abandons' Rand).

And I love the pan-up and the reveal that the "Eye of the World" was the place where Rand and Moiraine were tricked to go in 1x8 to free Ishamael from his seal.

7. I missed the credits! Though I absolutely understand the team prioritizing getting a little more screen time in each episode, since they were forced to choose. The golden threads bursting out when Josha's name appears always give me chills.

8. Our episode proper starts with the Whitecloaks planning their attack on Falme. The way that the Whitecloaks get introduced with that fade-in from light is very intriguing. I'm not a military expert but Bornhald's strategy sounds pretty solid to me: non-military expert, lol. We can see that they're hiding in the jungle for now, and they plan to make the assault as quick as possible because they have to take out the 'witches' first or any assault is doomed.

The Whitecloaks estimate there are 28 damane with the Seanchan at this time.

I really like how we see the Whitecloaks' ranks shown by how their armor is designed. The costume design on this show has been so striking, this season even more than s1. There's an almost stained-glass quality to the bands on the armor, which helps enhance that 'church/inquisition' vibe that we are going to also get with the children swinging incense.

9. "But we have something they don't."

haha, you don't know how long it took me to realize that Bornhald was implying "we have the Light on our side". Which, funnily enough, the Seanchan ALSO believe! Both sides believe that they are the ones fighting in the name of the Light, not suspecting that here comes Rand al'Thor with the steel chair (of the Light).

But I really love how drenched this episode is in light, after a season that has been very dark (emotionally and frequently literally).

10. "The Watchers on the Waves called for help, letters to every queen, every king in the world, to the Amyrlin Seat herself, begging, but no one came."

This 100% explains the reaction of the people of Falme at the end of the episode, imo. They have been begging for help and no one has come, so they gave up hope and are just doing their best to survive each day. And then the Seanchan are driven out in a matter of hours and they see that huge-ass dragon on the tower (and this version of the story does have people knowing what a dragon looks like -- the book that Rand looks at in season one with the Karaethon Cycle has a dragon sketch in the pages (at 17:38 in episode 1x5 -- there is SO MUCH subtle lore in 1x5, y'all) -- so they know what it means when they see the dragon on the tower). They know exactly who saved them from their recent oppression.

It also ties into a theme from the books, where the different nations are so wrapped up in their own problems that they don't see the big looming apocalypse that is coming for everyone. Everyone was so busy with their own problems that they ignored the messages from Falme.

11. "These strangers are slavers and murderers. We fight them because we must."

Where's that "Heartbreaking: the worse person you know just made a great point" meme? lol. honestly, that's something that the show has been doing really well! Even people who are doing terrible things are not 100% terrible and are capable of making genuinely good arguments. And they believe in themselves and their cause. The Whitecloaks and the Seanchan are both scarier when we are seeing the True Believers in the cause.

12. And Dain brings up the prophecy here that "in Falme's greatest moment of need, the Dragon will return to us" which really gives me "King Arthur" vibes (which is fitting! one of the cool themes in the book is heroic archetypes and how the wheel turns myth into legend, and we also see the Heroes of the Horn bringing that theme into the show in the major way in this episode). So, once again, the people of Falme are going to know exactly who to credit for their big rescue and seem pretty primed to become strong supporters of the Dragon Reborn, given the information that we've gotten about the city.

Bornhald dismisses prophecy in general as "the lies of long-dead witches" and we intercut into Lanfear leading Rand & co through the Ways, which is a beautiful transition. That was excellent.

13. A lot of characters have mentioned the Falme prophecy but I don't think anyone has mentioned it to Rand, specifically. He's not coming to Falme to fulfill prophecy -- he's coming to try to save Egwene. Much like Mat's reaction to Rand was very much colored by how he abandoned Rand at the Waygate, Rand's reactions with Egwene are colored by how he abandoned her at the end of s1. We know why Rand made that choice, of course, but now he's seeing the unintended consequences of that choice.

14. Lanfear's full plan gets revealed over the course of this episode, not in a super in-your-face way, but clear enough to put all the pieces together of exactly how long she's been planning to screw over Ishamael and the rest of the Forsaken (... since the moment she woke up and learned that LTT's new incarnation was around). Some of the details of this plan go into spoilers, so I'll put it in the later post but, in brief: she's manipulated various pieces on the board to use Ishamael's own plans against him -- trapping Egwene and Nynaeve in Falme was an Ishy plan, but Lanfear was able to use Egwene's presence in Falme as a way to get Rand motivated to want to go there to rescue her and, incidentally, fulfill a teeny-tiny prophecy. After Rand killed Ishamael and was proclaimed the Dragon, she was planning to have Doman dump the rest of the Forsaken in the ocean and then she would have plenty of time to manipulate seduce her dearest Lews Therin Rand into loving her again.

And it almost worked! Well, I don't think seducing Rand a second time would have gone as well as she was hoping, but most of the plan really worked out for her.

15. It looks like the show just revealed here that Lanfear also has the Talent of being able to see fellow channelers even when they aren't embracing the Source. ("I can see it in you.")

I love Lan protectively trying to step in front of Moiraine even though he has zero chance against Lanfear. It's giving real "bless him, he tries" vibes.

Lanfear just yeeting them out onto the beach cracks me up.

It also was really great in terms of how it set Moiraine up not as one of the main players fighting in the battle, but as support from the side, smoothing the way. When Rand and the rest of them come down from the tower and are greeted by the grateful people of Falme, none of those people will know that Moiraine and Lan had anything to do with Rand's success. It feels like such a natural progression of her role -- in s1, she was the driving force that led them all to the Eye of the World... and that ended up being a massive screw-up. This time, they all find their own ways to Falme, and none of our main six young heroes are there because they're planning on fulfilling prophecy or fighting the Last Battle. They're there to save one of their own (first Egwene, and then Rand). "Think not of glory but of salvation". They didn't quote it, but the thought is there in the action of what happened in the episode.

16. "How can you think I'd ever trust you again?"

"I'm the only one who actually cares about you, Rand. Everyone else -- Ishamael, Moiraine -- they just care about what you can do."

Lanfear attempting to use her manipulating wiles on Rand. Of course, at the end of the episode, he's going to get a big reminder that she's incredibly wrong and there are a bunch of people who care about him for who he is, but even in this moment, he doesn't look like he's falling for it. And Rand didn't walk away from his friends at the end of s1 because he believed that they didn't care about him. He walked away from them because he believed that he was dangerous to them.

(and she tried to use this tactic on Rand in 2x6 as well, but she failed there too, though she may believe that she succeeded, because Rand does still extend trust to Moiraine in 2x7 when she asks him why he was leaving Cairhien and he tells her everything that he knows/believes, including very much implying that he thinks Lanfear wants to kill him after he's been proclaimed Dragon)

Lanfear lost Rand's trust when he found out who she really was and that she had been manipulating him for months. And I think she's massively underestimating what she would need to do in order to earn any of that trust back.

17. After the Maidens warn Perrin that they are getting Bad Vibes and are pretty sure that today is going to be filled with people getting killed, Perrin asks Hopper to stay behind, trying to keep him safe. Oh, Perrin, that never works. And Hopper has just as much right to be in the fight as you do.

18. Lanfear accidentally screws over her own plan because she can't bring herself not to gloat before her future husband Rand kills Ishamael. This is the big moment when we see how much Ishamael and Lanfear's plans are diverging from each other (and Ishamael sees it too). Ishamael had been planning to play the long game with Rand, keep him away from Falme until he was ready to be turned to the Shadow. Now Lanfear has jumped the gun and brought Rand at a time when Ishamael only has two of Rand's friends in hand (Egwene and Mat) and even those two have not been broken yet. He's not ready for Rand to be here! There's still so much work to be done!

19. After this conversation, Ishamael is aware that he's potentially fighting a losing battle. But he doesn't give up -- he sends in Fain to try to accelerate Mat's corruption; he prepares Suroth for the possibility of gentling Rand. He won't give up without a fight.

Ishamael does sound so intense when he talks about how Rand isn't going to "choose us".

20. ...is Lanfear wearing a dragon earcuff? I think she might be wearing a dragon earcuff/earring. That is not subtle.

I like that it seems like Lanfear believes that she's tricked Ishamael, at least in part, just like she believed that she'd tricked Rand a lot more successfully than she had (since he was very much still lumping her together with Ishamael when talking to Mat and Moiraine).

21. ...I don't ever really have much to say about the fighty-fight part of battles. The image of the Whitecloaks galloping out of the incense/fog was pretty cool.

22. Nynaeve really does have a very rough go of it in this episode. While she does manage to help, that help is in the realm of "get Elayne to the tower so that Elayne can do something". And while I understand the frustration from her fans... her block needs to actually be a problem for us to understand why she wants to get rid of it. This episode made her block a problem, one that she wasn't able to overcome at the last second when it was desperately needed. Much like Mat's low ebb this season was intentional so that we could get the amazing high of the Horn scene, Nynaeve is entering a low ebb. At the beginning of the season, she was showered in praise and special attention that she didn't want. Now she wants the power that had earned her all that praise and she can't reach it (this is similar to how Rand's lack of training needs to actually be a problem so that we understand why he needs to get some training).

23. Oof, it's hard to watch Renna with Egwene. We do get clarification that the dark facepaint is for going into battle.

Renna cutting off Egwene's braid... much like the tree she forced Egwene to burn down, she's trying to attack something that she knows brings Egwene comfort.

Egwene's eyes when she's feeling at her shorn braid. Baby!

24. I've been finding it interesting to think about What's Up with Padan Fain. So far this season, he's stayed within Ishamael's orders (to our knowledge) but when Ishamael orders him to give the dagger to Mat, we hear the whispers of it calling to him. Once Ishamael is dead, does that free Fain to follow the call of the dagger? Because when Mat was under the influence of the dagger, he still was not a fan of the Shadow. Different kinds of evil. The evil of Shadar Logoth scared the Trollocs enough that they weren't willing to chase our people into the city. I will keep an eye on future developments!

25. Poor Mat has been having a Fucking Time of it. First, he has to watch Rand leave, knowing that he's apparently fated to kill his best friend with an evil dagger. Then he gets hit on the head and wakes up across the continent? With a scary lady who insults him? Then ol' flame-eyes is here and his eyes aren't flame anymore and Mat is just so exhausted and tired and he takes this tea that gets REAL trippy and depressing and tells him that he's destined to be awful forever. And then he's locked up alone in a room. And then... Padan Fain shows up???? With the dagger from Shadar Logoth?????

The one Mat is destined to kill Rand with?

Like... he has been having a time of it.

26. Oof, hard to watch Nynaeve torturing Seta. I understand why Elayne needs to keep looking away. Nynaeve wants so badly to find Egwene and save her. We actually get a lot of ruthlessness from the ladies in this episode -- Nynaeve with Seta; Egwene and Renna; and Moiraine's willingness to "kill a thousand innocents if there's even a chance [Rand] will live". But I think the show did a good job of showing you why each of these characters is driven to be so ruthless at this moment in time.

27. Rand confirms with his own eyes that Egwene is here in Falme, as he sees her and the other damane being led out of the kennels. And he sees the gag in her mouth -- I wonder if part of the reason for that part of the costuming was to make it easy for Rand to see from far away part of the indignities that are being forced on Egwene (obviously, he also saw what horrible conditions she was enduring in her cell back when Lanfear showed him Egwene, but now he knows for certain that what Lanfear was showing him was true).

28. Mat and Fain's conversation with Fain here is interesting because I think Mat is figuring it out -- so many people keep telling him over and over that he's destined to do the stupid thing; that he's worthless; that he's going to be like his dad; that he abandons his friends. Padan Fain is saying the exact same thing that Liandrin was saying (you abandoned your friends for the dagger). Having his old peddler from back home showing up to say the same things that the Aes Sedai who had kept him captive for months had said... that's kinda suspicious, bro. That kinda seems like someone else is supplying the script, bro. Because Mat is not in the same kind of despair here when he's listening to Fain as he was when he was listening to Liandrin. He's paying attention to who the messenger is (and who sent the messenger), not just the message itself.

The first time through watching this scene, it can feel like Mat is trying to convince himself when he smiles at Fain and tells him that he's not going to touch the dagger. But... he doesn't touch it. Instead, he inspects the room and comes up with a plan to escape that doesn't involve touching the dagger. It wasn't just bravado, when he was talking to Fain. He meant it. All these people, they keep telling Mat that they know him better than he knows himself. That they are the ones who really know his inner darkness. That they can guess what he's going to do next.

And Mat... he decides right here, I think, that he is going to prove them wrong. Maybe he WAS always terrible in his past lives? Well, then he'll fucking do better in this one. He makes the decision to do better BEFORE he learns that his past lives weren't rotten, and I think that's so important.

29. Moiraine and Lan's scene here is very sweet. I think this was a really sweet capstone to Lan's journey through the season and an affirmation of Moiraine trusting and allowing Lan and Rand to help her at the end of the last episode. Though the main culmination of the "alone we are vulnerable, together we are a shieldwall" comes in the fight against Ishamael, Moiraine has been very much a parallel with Rand this season in how she's been pushing people away so that she can face the danger alone, so her literally allowing Lan to share in her burden is a lovely little illustration of that same point. Plus the weaves and music here are just gorgeous. I really do love the intimacy here, between a man and woman who are fundamentally connected but not in a sexual or romantic way.

Meanwhile, Lan's journey goes back to a similar point as Mat's, I think, in that he accepts the idea that Moiraine views him as inferior and says he wants to help her anyway, before he gets rewarded with learning that she sees him not as an equal but as better than her. "Okay, what if this horrible thing, this thing that I don't want to believe could be true... what if it IS true and then I keep on doing the right thing anyway?"

Though I've never had the issue with Lan's storyline that I feel like I've seen some other book readers have. The only time his story felt 'slow' to me was through my first watch of 2x4 and even that changed when I did my rewatch and saw how much we were getting told about Alanna & her Warders and how it was leading up to Alanna getting folded into all the big plans. But, yeah, my main interest in Lan was never how many enemies he could kill per minute and the show has made him a much more interesting character to me than the books did.

30. I suspect all this 'getting the Horn' stuff might have been expanded on if we'd gotten ten episodes but there's enough information there to make it clear that Lanfear (as 'Selene') gave them the Horn so that her future devoted husband Rand would get his special toy before he fought Ishamael. Heists can be fun but we did get the info a couple of episodes ago that the Horn was barely being guarded, so that also tracks with it being easy for a 'slave' and a 'guard' to be able to sneak in and grab it.

...the Seanchan uniform actually looks really hot on Ingtar.

31. Perrin finds out here that Egwene is in Falme, and he instantly pivots to that information -- Egwene has been captured by the Seanchan; we have to help Egwene. We know that Perrin has been worried that all of them being isolated away from each other makes them vulnerable and here is proof! Obviously, if Egwene is here, then she has to be the priority over the Horn.

"The Horn of Valere summons the dead heroes of the past. It's the key to the Dragon winning the Last Battle."

Yeah, the show was very clear about what the Horn does. Even if you miss Ingtar's line on an initial watch, a rewatch would instantly clear it up (especially with the knowledge of what it does when Mat uses it). The fascinating thing is that Ingtar NEVER SAYS that the Dragon needs to use it, but that's clearly what Perrin assumes (and a lot of show-only reactors assumed it too, and were surprised by Mat being able to use it).

I like Loial's little speech. He shames Ingtar right out of his determination to leave the city with the Horn.

32. The way that Renna and Egwene's power struggle comes to a head in this episode was really effective I think.

We see Egwene not being able to bring herself to attack until she sees the Whitecloaks, and she takes care to place her fireball where it will only hit Whitecloaks and not any cilivians.

33. I have to admit, the view that certain book fans have that Rand did nothing in this episode are baffling (Nynaeve didn't do 'nothing' either, but both she and Rand ARE going to, I'm sure, seek ways in the new season to do more because they were both clearly frustrated by being 'blocked' from what they wanted to do). Rand did less than he wanted to do, because he got shielded -- motivation for him to want to search out some training next season, because there were several moments this season when his lack of training has been pointed out! -- but in both the Turak scene and the Ishamael scene, Rand ends the fight almost effortlessly (once he's free to do so, in the Ishy scene).

Turak and his guards stood literally no chance against Rand -- he raised his chin and looked, and over a dozen people died (but only the ones with weapons, not the Voice who wasn't a threat). I'm sorry, that is power. The idea that Rand indulging in a sword fight would have shown more power than what he actually did is ridiculous. He would have been a cat playing with a mouse instead of just killing it (and every show-only reactor that I've watched so far has had a BIG reaction to Rand doing this).

We've been shown throughout this season with the Forsaken that the less effort channeling takes and the more casual that you are with it, the more powerful you are. And that's exactly what Rand shows in this scene. Not only does he create and send the projectiles, they are precisely aimed to only target combatants.

Which means that Rand gets to see another aspect of Seanchan culture here -- the main slaves of a High Lord kills themselves when their lord dies. It really does show how deeply the brainwashing goes in Seanchan culture. And you can see that Rand is disturbed by the violence that he just did, but he has to move on, so he does.

34. I really do love how Josha embodies the physicality of Rand's channeling. He does move to channel but it feels very natural, like an extension of himself. It was that way in s1 as well. Rand channeling just... idk it hits different for me than any of the other channelers we've seen, as beautiful as the weaves can be.

35. "The Forsaken fought amongst themselves as much as they fought the Dragon," feels like a very important note for s3 -- the six Forsaken that Ishamael released are not going to be going after Rand together. Just as Lanfear ended up undermining Ishamael's plans, with the goal of killing him, getting rid of the other Forsaken, and living happily ever after with Lews Therin Rand, the other Forsaken will each have their own agenda too. So it's not complete doom and despair that they've all been released.

36. So even as Lanfear is making plans to dump the rest of the 'Chosen' in the ocean, Ishamael is busy at work releasing each of them, one by one. We learn here that Lanfear has been manipulating events in Moiraine's storyline from the very beginning of the season.

Ishamael brushing the dust of the remaining seals from his hands as he talks to Suroth: a+, lol. But to make matters even worse for him, he learns here that Turak is dead and the Horn has been stolen. And everything was looking so rosy for him before Lanfear showed up!

Ishamael's "shit, Lanfear betrayed us" back-up plans:

step 1: free the rest of the Chosen

step 2: get Rand shielded ASAP

step 3: Maybe seeing Mat and Egwene in dire straits will be enough to turn Rand to the Shadow? (it's confirmed here that Ishamael made sure to have Egwene ordered to the tower where "the whole city can see her")

*fails*

step 4: okay, we'll gentle him and then work on breaking him once he's less dangerous

*fails*

step 5: maybe I just kill him?

*fails*

step 6: well, guess I'll die. At least I screwed over Lanfear on my way out. The rest of the Forsaken will have to handle things from now on.

37. I love Mat working out a way to use the dagger without touching it. Also it kinda cracks me up that he ties the dangerous thing to a bedpost because... um... Lanfear tied Rand to a... I think that's maybe only funny to me. lol

We see here that Mat understands how the dagger works, probably a lot better than Ishamael did or Fain does. It nearly killed him last season! He's aware of how dangerous it is... but also how useful it can potentially be at the moment.

And I love that Rand's stubborn 'ACTUALLY, Mat is amazing and one of the best people who has ever lived, so jot that down' attitude from 1x7 gets proven correct here. Rand knew Mat better than anyone else, from what we saw at various points in s1, and now his certainty that Mat Is Good, Actually gets to be proven (including, very importantly, Mat himself... until the Accidental Stabbening gives Mat a brand-new guilt complex).

38. We can see here that the fireballs coming down from the damane in the tower are hitting ordinary citizens as well as the Whitecloaks -- not everyone is being as careful as Egwene.

She sees it too -- that's what makes her spit out her gag and refuse to help anymore. And this moment (among some others) really sells why this addition to the costuming works because Egwene actively and literally reclaims her voice here.

And the Whitecloaks attack on the tower work, killing many of the damane and sul'dam at the top of the tower.

39. While earlier, we saw that some of the Whitecloaks were helping pull civilians out of the way, once again, not everyone on their side is being that careful -- the Whitecloak archers shoot Seta, dressed as a damane, but they also shoot Elayne, dressed as an ordinary citizen. Both the Seanchan and the Whitecloaks are causing innocent people to get caught in between them and die.

And I do think it's clear here that Nynaeve is overwhelmed and scared, not angry. That's why she isn't able to reach the power. Her block is now officially a problem for her, one that she has a very good reason to try to get it fixed next season. This is a similar lesson to what they've been showing us in Rand's storyline: raw power isn't enough. You also need control, or other people will be able to control you.

40. And that ties into what Egwene does too -- both Mat and Egwene think outside the box in order to find clever solutions to their problems in this episode and not be limited to what their captors thinks they're capable of. They both choose an unlisted option.

She seizes control over herself and her situation, because she understands her power now. Egwene, Mat, and Moiraine all reclaim themselves after having gone through a long, rough period of being put in a situation where they feel inadequate and broken down.

And Egwene figured it out by being clever and putting together the information. We also get more confirmation here that only channelers can see weaves.

41. Reunions! Mat and Perrin's reunion here is very sweet. It's also much more straightforward than the more complex and fraught (though just as sweet) relationship between Mat and Rand. Perrin and Mat share a good long hug! Mat holds his shoulder for a moment! But when the hugging is gone, they pull away from each other and don't constantly stay all over each other like Rand and Mat were in their initial reunion scene in 2x6 (or like Rand and Mat will do in their upcoming scene, post-stabbening). So I love that we see that Mat and Perrin are very good friends and they love each other and... and it's not quite the same as Mat's friendship with Rand.

42. Poor Egwene really is so burnt out, emotionally, by her experiences and so traumatized, and we can really see how exhausted she is by everything that happened. She needs some real processing time.

I'm glad that we got Rand's apology to Egwene here, even if I think she's maybe only half-processing it at the moment.

43. I love how quickly Mat gives out the info of "Rand is alive, he's here, he's headed to help Egwene" to Perrin here. And that he takes another dig at Rand's hair, lol. When Rand regrows his hair, Mat gets the credit for it, lol. I also miss Rand's curls, Mat! You are not alone!

44. Ishamael is talking here like he's knows that it's over. He does not expect his appeal to Rand here to work -- like he told Lanfear, it's too soon. Egwene isn't broken. Mat isn't broken. He doesn't even HAVE Nynaeve or Perrin in hand. "Maybe next time it'll be different," Ishamael says, because he already knows that his primary goal of turning the Dragon to the Dark has failed.

I love the echoes of this scene to the one from the cold-open.

45. "You're his only hope" vs "betrayer of hope". I talked about this in one of my earlier posts I think, but the contrast still hits me hard.

Here we have Ishamael, blaming Lews Therin for his fall to the dark (and the stories say that it was LTT's 'fault' that Lanfear turned to), but it wasn't LTT's fault. It was Ishamael's choice. And it's Mat's choices that make him different from Ishamael.

But, yeah, this is another of those things that just gets extra weight to Mat and Rand's friendship vs Mat and Perrin's or Rand and Perrin's.

46. Dain and Perrin meet on the battlefield and get to fight back-to-back for a moment. I think everything with Perrin & the Whitecloaks & Hopper is well-done, but it's tough to talk about. Hopper does get a lovely send-off, as he see him leaping the way that he did when he told Perrin his name. Also, the tension between Dain and Perrin the next time they see each other (narratively, they have to see each other again, with all this set-up) is going to be fantastic.

Hopper's last sending to Perrin is so beautiful. And it's so easy to understand Perrin's rage here, just as it was easy to understand Egwene's need to kill Renna.

47. I like how Elayne (in agony!) is doing her best to help Nynaeve get to a place where she can help Elayne. She really takes charge of the situation and is able to bring a level of calm to it, even when she's under significant distress herself.

Nynaeve is trying so hard to channel here and she can't even embrace the Source. I do think that her 'block' probably got some reinforcement when her most recent use of the Power directly led to Ryma's capture.

(speaking of Ryma, since we don't see her in the tower or on the ships, it's entirely possible that, as a brand-new damane, she was still in the kennels and can get freed after the battle here is done; I would like that for her very much and - if they do decide to have the Wondergirls go back to the White Tower, Ryma could be the one to take them there, as she delivers the news about the Seanchan. That's one of the few reasons that I can see for the Wondergirls to think it will be safe for them to go back to Tar Valon, after they hear Moiraine's news, tbh)

But, yeah, I'm glad that Nynaeve can't just Bruce Banner "I'm always angry" at her problems. That her block is now something that is causing her distress in times when she desperately needs to be able to channel.

48. Mat blowing the Horn is such a beautiful moment. Time slowing and the music changing and the effects of how the Heroes appear. This is a moment of intense despair for everyone and Mat blowing the Horn here turns everything around. I think they did a really good job in making this the turning point of the episode. Mat blowing the Horn did bring back the hope of winning. It didn't win the battle, but it gave back hope. Instead of Mat being ~just like~ Ishamael, he is instead Ishamael's opposite. Instead of betraying hope, he creates it.

And it's such a joyous moment. Mat gets to have his self-worth affirmed by an outside source, gets to feel connected to something bigger than himself, after feeling alone for most of the season. It's really beautiful.

Just... gorgeous. And when Mat remembers and is able to get that validation that he is not destined to be a 'damn prick', just like his father, that he isn't rotten to his core... witnessing him going through that moment is so lovely. Cannot say enough good things about it, A+ television.

49. We also see that, after Mat says that he 'remembers', that he's handling his weapon differently, more familiarly, and he can now speak the Old Tongue. So we can see the impact that remembering his past lives has on him.

And, of course, we see here that Uno is one of the Heroes of the Horn! It's a nice hint to viewers who maybe weren't listening to Ingtar earlier that the Horn brings back the dead. Because we definitely all saw Uno die.

50. And, of course, being magically-fast ghost warriors, the Heroes absolutely can make sure that they only target active combatants and that no civilians get caught in the cross-fire.

Uno saving Perrin. <3 And then lending him a magic shield! Useful! I'm guessing it probably also fades away after the Heroes do.

And once the arrow is out of Elayne's leg, everyone is on their way to the tower.

51. Rand is able to push himself to his feet, despite the effects of the shield on him, and tell Ishamael, point-blank, "I will never serve him. In a thousand lives, I never have. I'm sure of it."

Ishamael knows that his main plan is a bust. It's only back-up plans and failsafes from here on out.

52. Mat's throw is a really good throw! Unfortunately, Ishamael is a trickster too, and it goes right through the illusion of him. This moment is incredibly traumatizing for Mat who only literally just now regained his sense of self-worth -- while we are going to end up with our heroes triumphing over Ishamael and the Seanchan and saving Falme... they all end up damaged and traumatized by it.

Mat just clutching onto Rand here in the wake of accidentally stabbing him. Oh, wow, it really gets to me. And Rand's anger is 100% (and very appropriately and accurately) focused on Ishamael.

And Ishamael is so distracted by this moment that he doesn't realize that Egwene has gotten up from where he threw her.

53. I love how delicate Elayne's healing weave is. And the wound left behind looks very nasty. And Rand getting healed by Elayne and then seeing the sun shining in her hair. What a way to be introduced to someone for the first time! They save your life like that and are literally wreathed in sunlight.

54. Moiraine and Lan getting on the same (ruthless) page when it comes to supporting Rand/the Dragon. And we get to really see Lan let loose with his fighting as Moiraine lets loose with her channeling.

55. I was honestly a little nervous about the idea of them actually doing a sky battle because I could not possibly picture how that would not be cheesy. I trusted the show's team but... I was nervous. What the show did was not at all cheesy. It was heartfelt and epic, but not cheesy.

I love how everyone works together to make it work. The team did such a good job of playing out this theme of having the characters be isolated and showing how that made them vulnerable, and then rewarding us with this beautiful coming together. They can be there for each other and protect each other.

And I'm confused about anyone feeling like this takes away from Rand because... they all contribute so that Rand can strike the final blow -- because Rand is the only one who could have done that part. Moiraine freed Rand from his shield and Elayne healed him, Egwene and Perrin were able to block Ishamael's attacks, but Rand absorbed Ishamael's attacks into his own weave to strengthen it, and then he wove the One Power directly into his sword and we can see the results -- instead of getting back up again, Ishamael crumbled to dust.

Ishamael himself was aware that he had lost as soon as Rand was unshielded, imo. He makes another attack after that, but it's clear that he knows that he lost. There's a reason that Ishamael's first big move in the scene with Rand is to get him shielded by the damane. That's the only way he even has a chance in this fight and he knows it. Egwene isn't able to go on the offense against, Ishamael in any way and we can see what a toll it's taking on her to hold up her shield against him - holes develop in her shield before Perrin shows up.

Minor Cauthor note: I love how after Rand gets rocked by being unshielded and he realizes that Mat got pulled away from Mat, he grabs Mat's hand again. Cute, even in the middle of a pitched battle.

56. Our poor traumatized babies! Let's count up the trauma:

a. Rand felt shielded and helpless for much of the fight and now has a wound in his side that Elayne wasn't quite able to heal. He's also very aware that his lack of training is causing big problems. And he's got a heron brand on his hand now.

b. Egwene is deeply traumatized from her time as a slave.

c. Nynaeve spent this entire battle feeling helpless and her only contribution was bringing Elayne here so that Elayne could heal Rand. Nynaeve may even blame herself for the state Rand's wound has been left in, wondering if she could have healed him fully if she'd had access to the Power.

d. Perrin just lost his new wolf BFF in a traumatic way.

e. Mat stabbed his best friend with an evil dagger (after spending months being psychologically tortured).

f. Elayne has a pretty nasty leg injury. Also, she has to be the most confused person here, by a mile. She likely knows about the prophecies and the Dragon Reborn as general concepts but had absolutely no clue that she was accidentally stumbling into the middle of them. She's gonna have so many questions.

57. But this whole section really is beautiful. Just... I love the fire-illusion dragon so much. Moiraine is always So Extra, all the time.

58. This is the first time any of them have seen Rand channel! Even though they can't see the weaves, they can see Rand walking through Ishamael's attacks without flinching, they can see his sword glowing red, and Ishamael turning to dust. And they heard Ishamael call him "Lews", probably.

It's also another incredibly intimate stabbing, though in a different way than Mat 'stabbing' Rand was. He looks directly into Ishamael's eyes the entire time and, afterwards, he stays focused on Ishamael until he's turned to dust.

59. Yeah, Falme looks pretty all-in on the Dragon Reborn. He saved them from the Seanchan and (given what the dude in Atuan's Mill said) he also saved them from the Whitecloaks. At their greatest hour of need, the Dragon really did come to save them. We also get the confirmation here that these Aiel Maidens, at least, believe that Rand is the Car'a'carn that they've been searching for.

60. At this point in time, Lanfear is feeling pretty damn happy with herself. Step one of her plan was a complete success! Ishamael has been taken care of. Lews Therin Rand has been publicly proclaimed the Dragon! Her happy ending is within her grasp!

Then, as Lanfear is basking in her victory... she discovers that Ishamael took action when he realized she was betraying him. We meet "softly, softly from the shadows" Moghedien and see her stand toe-to-toe with Lanfear. All of the Forsaken are now loose.

Love the vibe they've given to Moghedien.

We can see here that those conflicts that Moiraine talked about between the Forsaken are clear and present. Lanfear and Moghedien are definitely not on the same page when it comes with how to deal with the Dragon.

Moghedien says that "him" and "all five of them" are now the other Forsaken's business and that Lanfear is to stay away from Rand in particular.

And she vanishes before Lanfear is set free and our last words of the season are Lanfear saying, "Light help you, Rand al'Thor."

Interesting in two ways! Acknowledgement of him as Rand, not Lews Therin, and calling upon the Light to aid him. I feel like it does a good job of setting up some very clear issues for the next season.

Hope we have a shorter wait this time!

[letsfaceitimhereforthecultstuff]

okay so i finally finished the first 2 seasons of 9-1-1, it took a lot longer than i'd anticipated due to other things like assignment deadlines and the app not working getting in the way but i did it

so here are the cliff notes (i might make more in depth posts in the future about some episodes because i have THOUGHTS)

cliff notes after the break i meant to add bullet points but i accidentally added a question instead and i don't know how to get rid of it (i'm currently on mobile) 🙃 so imma just use it

if the answer is no I don't need to know

first i gotta get this outta the way ... i'm not liking tommy i've only seen what 2 episodes with him in and i'm so sorry but he's been kinda mean (imma put that down to him being repressed maybe) but i'm hoping he gets a nice redempetion arc and it's not just brushed over because from what i've seen on here he's such a sweet guy but i did not get that from his first two appearances (maybe the writers just weren't expecting him to because a recurring character later)

i'm LOVING athena and bobby's relationship they're such a good fit for eachother i have been blessed to be able to witness it

it hurts so much whenever someone says "you're not their/a dad" to bobby like why would you do that

when did the writers and producers decided they wanted buck to be a queer character because I've been getting vibes already and it's led me to wonder which came first them wanting queer buck or fans wanting queer buck and them responding in kind

i'm enjoying the new dynamics that eddie's addition to the team has brought i love exploring interpersonal dynamics in my TV shows i also love eddie as a character and cannot wait to dive deeper into that man's psyche

speaking of interpersonal dynamics MADDIE!!! the ghost whisperer herslef [buck thinking a ghost called 911 HAD to be a nod to that right?!] anyways i love love love maddie i'm holding out hope for her and chim they've been through a lot and they deserve happiness

speaking of happiness when will they let chim live!?! - i know that's an ironic statement to make considering technically they've let him live twice - but they cannot seem to give this guy a break he's my guy also he's got a set of pipes on him in his flashback ep working at the kareoke bar singing garth brooks I keep thinking I've hit my peek with my love for this character and then they add something that makes me love him even more

if chim only has one fan it's me and if he has no fans then i have passed because that man means so much to me

they've been putting hen through the ringer a little bit too tbh but i appreciate that they're allowing queer people to get a little messy and make stupid mistakes but not villanising them for it and just being like these are things that happen in relationships sometimes you either work through it or you don't

i have been really appreciating how this show deals with queerness in general too its not this big flashy thing like "hey look over here we have some gays for you shiny shiny gays in our show" they just exist they're loveable they're flawed and they also just happen to be queer

okay imma stop before i ramble too much but if you wanna hear my thoughts on anything specific that happend in the first two seasons hit me up i love talking about this show and need more outlets for it

[crescencestudio]

Devlog #35 | 09.26.23

Hi everyone!

Hope the beginning of Fall has been kind to you all <3 To be Frank, it has not been Kind to me LMFAO. But I'll get into that, so let's dive in yippee!

Before I do, someone liked this post recently, which was such a throwback. It was before the full demo was out and everything!! I was so young and full of life. I'm going to sprinkle some comparison shots of the new assets with the old ones to break up the text and also walk down memory lane with me! (Full GUI not shown as I'm still waiting on the assets)

Chapter Cards (Left: After | Right: Before)

The "Progress"

I'm going to structure this devlog a little differently from the usual template. The main reason being, for those of you who didn't see, I have not been feeling Myself recently.

This month I found myself all out of sorts. While I felt like I was making progress and doing so much everyday read: fighting for my life, when I looked back on things at the end of this month, I didn't feel like I really did much.

On a higher level, I finished fulfilling Kickstarter physical rewards, opened a Kofi shop of the remaining merch, edited Druk's route and continued writing Etza's route, updated assets and code for the updated demo, and then general commission stuff (BGs from Vui, soundtracks from Peter, etc.).

But overall, Alaris felt largely like it was kinda sitting at around the same spot as it did when I entered this month. Which made me a little sad! I had wanted to make So Much Progress on Alaris because next month I won't be able to work on it really. Then, I realized I haven't taken a break from game development since I started it two years ago HA!!!

The Real Progress

Development for me has been back-to-back. Chapter releases every 1-2 months during my first half year of development, Full Demo release shortly after, Kickstarter shortly after, Full Game Development shortly after. When I was feeling burnt out from Alaris, I made intertwine. Then I was Heavily Involved in the development of two games shortly after.

All of this on top of my IRL responsibilities, which include a job, PhD school, and well, functioning as a normal human occasionally.

And then here we are at the end of September 2023, and I'm wondering why even though I creatively want to work on Alaris, I find my brain literally just getting too tired to think.

Etza CG (Left: After | Right: Before)

I think ever since the Kickstarter, I've put a lot of pressure on myself to consistently put out LOTS of updates for each monthly devlog. I don't want people to think I'm not working on things or I'm not committed to delivering after giving me their hard earned money. But now, with two years under my belt, I'm realizing that is... HMM maybe too high of a standard to put on myself for my first game ever. There are many much more seasoned developers than me who don't put that pressure on themselves (which is Good and Healthy).

So this month, I debated scrounging around and gathering all my crumbs to give you all a devlog that you'll be satisfied with. But I decided ultimately that wouldn't be good for me and would honestly not be the most transparent way to present the current process of things.

And so. Here I am. Head in my Hands. Letting you all know that while I'm not "burnt out," I am.... only human LOL (one human at that). And so some months, like this one, will just not have much progress to report. Not because I'm not working on it or any other deeper reason. But because it's physically impossible and unreasonable for me to be continuously pushing out a steady stream of content.

In-Game Sprites & BGs (Left: After | Right: Before)

Next month, I'lll be taking a vacation. It's actually my first Big, Official one in a Long Time! I'm very excited for it. And while I did initially think about working on Alaris while I was traveling on trains or things like that, I decided to respect my own need to be a Human and just take a break for once in my life. I don't even want to say I Might work on things, because that sentiment alone will pressure me to make some progress. So yes. Next month, there will be no devlog or updates. But please rest assured, I am "working on Alaris" by letting myself just Exist and Rest Up!

Not an Alaris screenshot but it is market research that deserves to be included because I played House in Fata Morgana recently and it was Phenomenal!

Thank you all for understanding and your continued support. I'm extremely appreciative to have such a kind and patient community. Hope you all have a wonderful October filled with Fall Treats, and I'll see you in November! <3

[whamgram]

I’ve binge read under my skin and the plot is absolutely amazing! I loved the chapters with faux charming Vox and jealous Alastor. it was fun watching the whole vox situation unfold because it made Alastor dive deeper into his feelings. That being said, I’m gonna be completely honest Vox wasn’t exactly what I would consider serious competition for Alastor. Let me clarify that in no way does the story need a love triangle. The situation with Vox was great because it brought something between Charlie and Alastor and they overcame the obstacle and have breached a new footing in their friendship/situationship. But at the same time, it wasn’t really a test because Charlie somewhat had her guard up with Vox so he was somewhat more of a minor misstep in their journey towards coming together. It got me wondering on what or rather who would be a major obstacle for these two and immediately my mind went to Vaggie because is there really any one in hell that could give Charlie a better option for a relationship that wouldn’t use her as a way to get under Alastor’s skin or even Lucifer’s? Not to mention that she has to be on her guard otherwise someone could try to use her for her status as the princess of hell. But you already tied up Vaggie’s relationship with Charlie and quite nicely I might add. (having her fall for Emily was believable and understandable because Emily has a similar mindset to Charlie.) That didn’t stop me from thinking about heaven. They’ve been awfully quiet in the story so far, especially considering the events of season one where Charlie led an assault on the exorcists and the whole situation with a sinner that killed Adam. Sure it’s proved that sinners can be redeemed but at the same time it’s proved that Charlie poses a threat. She challenged and changed the order of things. Something from what we know both her parents tried to do. I can’t imagine that heaven or rather all of heaven is going to take the fact that Lucifer‘s daughter is doing what he failed to do which is challenge the world order. And we’ve seen in season one that heaven is perfectly capable of scheming when they kept the extermination under wraps from all of heaven, with only the select few knowing. I can see heaven sending someone down to keep an eye on the princess. Interestingly enough angels are secretive and I would love to see some more of jealous Alastor squirming because Vox while a nuisance was an opponent he knew well, and he knew how to warn Charlie to be cautious. I guess I’m wondering how he would do against someone who he doesn’t know. And Charlie is enamored with heaven, probably because she’s half angel. I’m wondering how she would handle be charmed by an angel who isn’t what they seem, and the reality not all angels have pure intentions

Thanks so much! ❤️ You nailed it regarding the Vox arc. It was never intended as a legitimate love triangle. Alastor and Vox certainly saw it that way, but Charlie didn’t. She had zero romantic interest in Vox. He did charm her a bit in a similar way that Alastor does, but she quickly clocked this as an imitation. Like she said a few chapters back, she knew he was sleazy and was hoping he’d prove to her otherwise.

It’s exactly like you said, Vox was just an obstacle for them to overcome together. As a result, their relationship grew stronger and they both obtained a better understanding of their feelings for each other. And the irony of Vox unintentionally bringing them closer together? That’s my favorite part. 😆 He’d be so pissed if he found that out.

Heaven has been very quiet, haven’t they? 👀 Guess they’re busy sorting through all the paperwork they’ve been asking Charlie to complete. Their suspicious silence will be addressed soon.

I love your idea about them facing a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” threat from heaven. I obviously don’t want to spoil any upcoming story arcs, but I will say that I’ve had some similar trains of thought. Vox won’t be the only threat to their relationship. 😈

Thanks for your thoughtful message! I greatly enjoy the speculation.

[dbnightingale24]

Bad Habits

A Thomas Shelby Love Story

~~

Part 1

~~

Alright, before everyone starts yelling at me, I promise that the final part to my Ransom story is almost done. It's slightly longer than this one, and I'm being extremely picky about it cause I wasn't necessarily happy with the last one I posted. That being said, my husband and I binged all six seasons of 'Peaky Blinders' in five days, so now we have this. I'm also posting this one first because I used a different approach on this story and it's giving me extreme anxiety lol. I tried to capture the accents and the essence of the show, so I really hope you all like it! Anyway, here goes! Thank you, as always, to @fuckingbye for the amazing moodboard, I love you and will build a monument to your greatness.

Word Count: 24,549 (to those of you who are new: I'm sorry. To those who aren't: this is me being on my best behavior and you know it.)

Warnings: SMUT (MINORS DNI) , Swearing, Drinking, Drug Use, Depression, Religion, Fluff, Anxiety attacks, Cheating, Abusive Relationship, Angst (c'mon now, it's me), Family Drama, Child Trauma (if you squint)...I think that's it. It dives deeper into a lot of things in part 2.

Song(s) That Inspired This Chapter: I Only Know How To Go Too Far

I do not give consent/permission for my works/stories to be posted elsewhere. I do not condone this type of behavior, this is for entertainment purposes only.

~~

His eyes meet yours from across the room and you know you’re fucked. You should’ve stayed away. Yes, it’s your sister’s engagement party, but you knew he’d be here. The way your family loves the Shelby family...you knew. You knew he’d show up and would be looking for you. Still, you came and you know it’s because you miss him. God, you miss him like crazy.

Thomas fucking Shelby.

“Oi! Come over here, love!” Arthur calls, drunken smile on his face as he makes eye contact with you from across the hall.

“You stay away!” you laugh as he makes his way to you.

“Lets have a dance, eh?” he suggests as he finally reaches you.

“You, Arthur Shelby, shall not lay a finger on me tonight, or any other night,” you smirk, grabbing your glass and taking a swig from it.

“And why is that?”

“Tommy ‘ll kill ya,” you giggle, nodding across the room to where he’s sitting with his wife, Grace. 

“He has no say in it now, does he? He’s married.”

“As if that ever stops the Shelby men,” you tease and he flips you off.

“One dance.”

“Not tonight, Arthur. Besides, a man of your status seen with a woman like me? What will the people think?”

“Who cares? I know how I’ll feel,” he smirks and you burst out laughing.

You really have missed the Shelby men.

“What’s so funny, eh?” Thomas asks, causing you to jump cause you didn’t even notice that he had made his way over.

“Nothin’,” you giggle, feeling the burn of Grace’s glare on you, “what ya doin’ over here without your lady, Thomas?”

“Just wanted to see what ’m missin’ out on.”

“I think I’ve found someone more agreeable to my needs,” Arthur smiles as he makes eyes with a woman across the room, “if you’ll excuse me,” he nods as you start laughing again while he walks off.

“So, you’re fucking Arthur now?”

“Watch it, Thomas,” you warn, cutting your eyes at him before taking another sip of your drink.

“You used to call me Tomcat.”

“What do you want?”

“Come with me.”

“And if I don’t feel like it?”

“Come with me,” he demands in a harsher tone and contradictory smile, before starting to walk out.

You roll your eyes as you grab your glass and bottle before following him out. 

You’ve known for a while that it angers him that you don’t fear him in the slightest. You also know that it irritates him that there’s no reason for you to be scared of him; you two have been through so much and have known each other for so long...

~~

The rest is on AO3. For whatever reason, Tumblr won't let me post the whole thing on here -_-

Here's the link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/49359964

~~

taglist: @emerald-evans, @autumnrose40

[sadquickchristmassnowman]

do you know significant dates for community episodes like for example december 10th for comparative religion (idk does make sense)

yes I think I get what you mean.

so, actually, for seasons 1-3, I’m pretty sure the dates the episodes aired, for the most part, line up with when the episode is meant to take place within the community universe. it's convenient that american networks have a similar schedule to the american school year, so it makes the timeline of shows set at schools line up pretty well with dates in the real world. this is no longer true for seasons 4-6, as they were likely pushed to midseason (making the season start airing in january/february and still end around may, making it half as long). so, for example, the season 4 halloween episode aired on february 14th, 2013. the halloween episodes for seasons 1-3 all, obviously, aired very close to halloween.

I do have some specific examples that support this, if the simple fact of the school year and network schedule lining up isn’t enough. as you said, in 1x12 comparative religion, they mention multiple times that it is december 10th. that episode did, in fact, air on december 10th, 2009. same with 2x11 abed's uncontrollable christmas; they mention that it is december 9th, and the episode aired on december 9th, 2010.

all this yapping to say: for seasons 1-3, a lot of the episode air dates are likely compliant with the in-universe set date. although, I do doubt that they had specific dates in mind for every single episode. it's just not super relevant. but, if you really wanted an estimate, I would consult this list of community episodes, which includes the date each episode was aired.

but, to more directly answer your question, I'm going to try to compile a list of episode dates I'm 100% sure about.

1x12 comparative religion: december 10th, 2009

2x10 mixology certification: december 4th, 2010

2x11 abed's uncontrollable christmas: december 9th, 2010

4x05 cooperative escapism in familial relations: november 22nd, 2012

not as long as I would have hoped, but ofc it's entirely possible there's things I missed.

to dive deeper, here's a list of episode dates I’ve speculated:

1x05 advanced criminal law: october 15th, 2009 (in contemporary impressionists, abed says that he and troy made a deal: "october 15th, friends don't lie to each other." this parallels their story in 1x05, and the 5th episode of season 1 being in october makes sense logistically in the canon. this episode also aired on october 15th, so it lines up in that way too. this episode does span across multiple days, though, so october 15th would just be one of the days included in the ep)

2x04 basic rocket science: october 16th, 2010 (this episode aired on october 14th, 2010, which is a thursday. they mention in the episode that it's a saturday, and the 16th is the saturday closest to the air date)

2x19 critical film studies: march 24th, 2011 (this is the date this episode aired, and is the generally accepted date for abed's birthday)

3x07 studies in modern movement: november 12th, 2011 (the episode aired on november 10th, 2011, which is a thursday. again, the mention in the episode that it is a saturday, and the 12th is the saturday closest to the air date)

3x10 regional holiday music: december 8th, 2011 (following the trend of the two previous christmas episodes, which took place on the last day of classes. again, this episode spans multiple days, so december 8th is theoretically the date of the episode's final scene)

5x11 g.i. jeff: november 20th, 2013 (this one is a little rougher. jeff's actual date of birth is a whole other can of worms, but it was originally listed as the same as joel mchale's, which is november 20th. a lot of people accept this as jeff's birthday. although, it is a little hard to justify for me, for one specific reason. if season 5 is supposed to span across an entire school year, and there's only 13 episodes, episode 11 should logically be sometime in the spring, not in november. so, either there is a months-long gap between episode 11 and episodes 12 & 13 (in order to make the finale line up with the end of the school year), or season 5 is only supposed to cover the first semester of the 2013-2014 school year. but, again, that is kind of weird, giving that all the other seasons cover the entire school year. the air date, however, is april 3rd, 2014. so. I could go on and on about theories on backtracking in the writers' room and whatever else, and I will if you want me too, but for now I think I've written enough. believe what you want about this one)

holiday episodes are kind of a whole other issue. you have to take the date of the actual holiday, the air date of the episode, and logically how the celebration would interfere with an actual school day, and try to extrapolate a canonical episode date. (ik I put the season 3 christmas episode in the list above, but I'm more sure about that one than any of the episodes I’m about to list) idk if you even want me to do this, so I’ll try to make it quick.

1x07 introduction to statistics: aired on thursday 10/29/2009, halloween was saturday 10/31/09. ep is centered around an after-school party, so I’d guess it's actually set on friday 10/30/09.

1x16 communication studies: aired on thursday 2/11/2010, valentine's day was sunday 2/14/2010. I’m pretty sure the dance is on a school day, so I’d guess it's actually set on friday 2/12/2010.

2x06 epidemiology: aired on thursday 10/28/2010, halloween was sunday 10/31/2010. I'd guess this dance was on either friday or saturday, although I have no clue which one. so, I'd guess either 10/29/2010 or 10/30/2010.

2x15 early 21st century romanticism: aired on thursday 2/10/2011, valentine's day was monday 2/14/2011. the episode description says it's set actually on valentine's day. I tried looking at liverpool v. man u soccer games, but the only one in the spring of 2011 is on march 6th, which is the opposite of helpful. all I know is it's set on a school day. maybe they actually did have a dance on a monday, or maybe it was the friday before (2/11/2011). who knows.

3x05 horror fiction in seven spooky steps: aired on thursday 10/27/2011, halloween was on monday 10/31/2011. based on vibes alone I think this one is set on a saturday, but idk. so, I’m guessing saturday 10/29/2011.

I'm not going to list the halloween and christmas episodes from season 4, because the season 4 timeline is so irrevocably fucked up. (it's the first time the show was pushed to mid-season, so the air dates don't match up with the canonical ones whatsoever, jeff "graduates a semester early," but they celebrate christmas and go into the spring semester while he's still attending school, etc etc etc). in conclusion, I wouldn't recommend trying to make any sense out of any season 4 canonical dates. whatever.

seasons 5 and 6 don't ever really mention specific dates (as far as I remember), and, like I mentioned earlier, they are half-length seasons, so the air dates don't really match up with the school years anymore, so it's all kind of up in the air. you could potentially try to go in and analyze things further, but I'm not going to do that right now. I could do it in the future if someone really wants me to, or if you guys think it's worth doing? but in this moment I don't think it's worth it. I’ve already written WAY too much to answer a simple question LMAO. anyway.

I do want to reiterate that there Probably aren't specific canonical dates in mind for most of these episodes. but yk. it's fun to speculate I suppose. I hope this was somewhat helpful, and I am once again opening the floor to anyone who has anything I missed 💯💯💯

[sarucane]

OFMD Spiral Parallels 39: Wearing Fine Things Well

Intro: What I love most about how season 2 builds on season 1 of OFMD is the spiral narrative structure. Ground is repeatedly and explicitly re-trod from season 1 to season 2, but in season 2 everything goes deeper than season 1. Meanings are shuffled, emotions are stronger and truer, and transformation is showcased above everything. The first season plucks certain notes, then the second season plucks the same ones--but louder, and then it weaves them together to create a symphony.

---

These are two scenes that are really, really direct parallels, right down to the staging, music, dialogue, and colors. That's lovely stuff you can get from the various gifsets and videos around tumblr, so I want to talk about the way these two scenes parallel and spiral deeper into the character's emotions. Because both scenes actually highlight the same character dynamic: the biggest obstacle to these guys' relationship is themselves, and how often they are just not in the same emotional place. In the first scene, that results in wistfulness, a lost opportunity to reach for more. But in the second scene, that results in hopefulness, a starting point for reaching something that both men agree they want.

In the first scene, Ed and Stede meet to talk about what happened at the party that day. Ed is feeling crappy and disillusioned. He tried something he'd idealized for a long time, and it went badly. He feels like he failed a test, and at the same time that somehow the test failed him.

But Stede repeatedly reinforces what, to him, is obvious: Ed's perfectly worthy of care, and not having done well in the aristocratic world doesn't reflect on him in any way.

Then the scenes move to something Ed's holding. In the first scene, Ed's shy and almost cruel to himself, calling this important memento "a tatty old thing," pretending to himself and to Stede that it doesn't matter as much as it does.

In the second scene, Ed has also just emerged from an unfamiliar situation. He's been fishing for the first time--and more than that, he's actually had a serious and open conversation with Fang for the first time in decades. Ed has started understanding something beyond being "not a good person" today: he started to get that the real problem was he "wasn't a good guy."

That day ends with Ed meeting Fang's challenge and catching this fish. In the first scene, Ed just begun to understand what the shape of his life won't be going forward; in the second, he's understanding what it will be.

In the second scene, Ed is the opposite of shy about what he's holding. It's a tiny fish, but it means a lot to him--and he's comfortable enough with Stede to communicate the full emotional importance of this (perfectly respectable if rather small) fish.

And then we get to the romance zone. In the first scene, Stede--high on his success overthrowing the rich assholes, and responding to Ed's clear sadness--is the one who initiates this, probably without realizing it.

In the second season, Ed moves into the romance zone, first by complimenting Stede's shirt, then by directly referencing the moment their relationship really shifted. Back in the first season, Stede did this pretty much unconsciously (which makes it, if anything, more charming: he doesn't want something from Ed, he's expressing what he really thinks about Ed)...

In the second season, Ed does this as a signal. He was the hurt party in their breakup, so Stede doesn't move back into romantic territory until Ed signals he's ready. And this is where it gets to the scenes somehow hit exactly the same notes, while also meaning completely different things, the first season entering an emotional holding pattern while the second season dives deep into seriousness, though alao ending with a holding pattern.

In the first season, Ed totally steps in for a kiss here, and then sees Stede open his mouth to say something, and goes "oh shit wrong reading," and draws back.

And while I want to scream "you idiot" at Stede, at the same time they really do have different ideas of their relationship here, and the only real way to resolve something like that is to talk about it, which both are too shy and insecure to do at this stage.

In the second scene, again a kiss is cut off. But while in the first scene this was a sign of missed connection, in this scene it's actually a step towards a deeper connection. Because the next thing Ed does is talk.

In the first scene, they're too nervous and insecure with each other to talk to each other about what they want. But in the second scene, both Ed and Stede are able to express themselves. And in a fantastic display of character development, Ed actually plows right past Stede saying bullshit like "Yeah" and "I know," the kind of pleasantries they exchanged in season 1.

In the first scene, Stede and Ed muttered at each other and low-key panic, both rocketing from completely comfortable to deeply nervous, unclear on what the other person or they, themselves, wants.

In the second scene, they actually talk. There's still a lot that's amorphous here to both of them, but they're not plowing through or running away. Relationships deepen when conversations are at their most awkward and vulnerable, just like this.

In the first scene, Ed is more disappointed than Stede that they didn't kiss. He internalizes his feelings, his body language moving inwards once his back is to Stede. He doesn't feel safe enough to express that he's interested in Stede at all, let alone create a situation where he'll feel safe within a relationship.

In the second season, Stede is also disappointed that they didn't kiss more here (dude's been keeping half the crew awake with moans of "oh Ed," god knows he's gone from shy and confused to thirsty af). But-- while he at first tries to skim over the incident, just like last time--when Ed explains what he's thinking Stede understands. Because while the cut off kiss of the first season was him and Ed avoiding advancing their relationship, this cut off kiss actually deepens that relationship. Ed doesn't want to rush into anything with Stede right now because he wants to be with Stede, and for the long haul.

And so, healthy boundaries in place, they can both relax with each other.

The first scene may not have been when they first kissed, but it was the true starting point of their adolescent first season romance. They both left the conversation knowing there was something there, between them, even if they didn't know what. The scene ends on a note of pure angst and tension.

But the second ends with comfortable joy. It's also the beginning of a new phase of their relationship--but this time it's not a couple of idiots stumbling around in the dark. It's the beginning of a grown-up romantic partnership.

[littlemisssquiggles]

Do you think ozpin and qrow could some how be friends again/ qrow trust ozpin again

Hello there anon-chan! Thank you for the inbox!

In all honesty m’fam, this was a subject matter I was hoping the series would’ve covered after V6. After that season, I was hoping that part of Qrow’s development moving forward would’ve had him reconsidering his entire relationship with Ozpin; touching base on things such as how they first met and really giving the audience a further deep dive in their history together. This would then ultimately leed up to Qrow realizing that he was wrong for how he treated Oz after the reveal, learning to forgive him again and the two would essentially reboot their friendship with deeper feelings of trust and understanding.

Judging from the events of V6, a lot of Qrow’s feelings about himself were synonymous with his ties with Oz. There was no doubt that Oz was someone Qrow revered and thought of highly.

It’s as he told him back during that season. No one else in his life---not his clan, not even his own sister---ever believed in him due to his misfortune semblance. According to Qrow, he was cursed. But it was Oz who made him gain some confidence in his own self worth by making him believe in the good he could accomplish even with the type of semblance he had.

Words alone are not enough to surmise my disappointment in the fact that right after the writers teased the history and meaningful dynamic that Qrow and Oz shared together, they just dropped it after V6. Instead of making Qrow focus on his bond with Oz, they instead awkwardly did everything they could to have Qrow not discuss Oz.

Instead they had Qrow pining over his relationship with Clover for two seasons. Clover---a character he barely knew and just happened to develop a small kindred comradery for like a couple of months versus Ozpin who he has known FOR YEARS. Probably since he was even a student at Beacon and had remained loyal to well into middle age. Like seriously?

Don't get me wrong, I liked Clover as a character. However I honestly hated how he was the focus

Qrow wasn’t even allowed to focus on his friendship with Winter since even their rivalry dating back to the events of V3 was pushed aside in favour of Clover who only first appeared in V7.

Don’t get me wrong. I actually thought Clover was a decent character. However I really didn’t like how he suddenly became a person of massive importance to Qrow when the two barely knew each other.

If Clover shared the same past with Qrow or the two were actually good friends/rivals who knew each other dating way back to their academy days then I can get behind why Qrow cared that much about him after his death.

But no. There were other characters that Qrow shared deeper bonds than Clover, like Oz, and yet, all Qrow focused on between V7 to V8 was this one dude. I will never understand why the Writers chose this route to go for Qrow. It just felt so off and misplaced; at least to me.

Shout-out to my fellow Snowbird shippers since we too were robbed of any potential further development between Qrow and Winter since that it seems their dynamic was replaced in favour of one brewing with Robyn Hill.

So, in a nutshell anon-chan, I do think Qrow can trust Oz again and rekindle their friendship. However, it’s up to the CRWBY Writers to implement that into the story canon. Thus far, they haven’t done a good job on having Qrow focus on his ties to Oz. But who knows? Perhaps we’ll get something in that epilogue series that was recently announced by RT. RWBY Beyond.

Hopefully that series will drop some crumbs on the aftermath of Qrow and Oz’s relationship, finally giving closure to of us who were wondering about it.

LMS (2024)

[dreamingbrownie]

2024 fic wrap-up: Daemyra / House of the Dragon

Welcome to part 1 of my 2024 fic wrap-up! For ease of rebloggability in the individual fandoms, this is going to have three parts: House of the Dragon, Merlin fics, and some miscellaneous.

Part 1: House of the Dragon!

My big House of the Dragon series Dragons will rule the realm revolves around an early marriage between Rhaenyra and Daemon before she could have been married off to Laenor. The whole prophecy theme tied to the Long Night crept into that story, which lead to me writing a complete do-over of the War of the Dawn but pulled 250 years early into the House of the Dragon era. Jon and Daenerys snuck into the second story because this is their war and also I love the parallels between these two couples. Big fat TW for the pregnancy topic and Rhaenyra's difficult, changing emotions around it, obviously canon levels of violence, Daemon being a loyal little bitch and a family man at the core; in many ways, this is very much a fix it story for House of the Dragon Season 1, second half. Also added canon Starks because they fit in so neatly into the politics.

Part 1 is What the stars couldn't bear (this is essentially a lot of smut with the political plot of saving the Targaryen family from itself as the narrative frame) and part 2 is What few still understand (this is the Long Night story.) Part 3 is in the making.

Summary What the stars couldn't bear:

“Will you marry me,” she said all in a rush, hope more than a question; fuck tradition and all the rest; “Daemon, will you,” and she didn’t get to the end of asking twice. So occupied was she drowning desperately in his kisses that she didn’t register the shock in his eyes until he pulled back for long enough to stare at her. She had taken him by surprise. This was sweeter almost than the reverence with which he kissed her forehead. “Rhaenyra. Gods, yes, did you ever doubt I would? Zaldritsos, do you think I would let anyone touch you? Never. I will marry you in the tradition of our house-“ “On Dragonstone, Daemon, we could go right now-“ “I have to talk to your father first,” he groaned, all agony. Fear gripped Rhaenyra. Somewhere far overhead, the heartbeat of dragonwings disturbed the mild night. She had no doubt that Caraxes would take her on his back. But she would never leave Syrax behind, not when her father would disinherit her or worse: banish Daemon again. This was why they were hiding in their soap bubble summer night dream. “No – No, he’ll be so angry, Kepus, he will tear you from me!“ “Never,” Daemon growled, on fours above her, and kissed the stars out of her field of sight.

25,162 words, oneshot.

Summary What few still understand:

A King claims a dragon in the twilight of his life, a Prince and a Princess are called North, and House Targaryen stands divided. Winterfell has called for aid, a full five generations before they will do so again. If Dragon Dreams are warnings and time is as see-through as water, what is the price of trying to change the story going to be?

95,197 words, 11 chapters, done.

What I loved most about writing this series is the family dynamics, giving Viserys a sort of redemption which I wanted to write since Season 1, Laena and Rhaenyra's friendship, and exploring a straight relationship in a way that defies gender roles in the way the show does and keeping some others, as the show does, to stay away from the Not Like Other Girls trope. I've written so many stories about gay men that this felt like something I could really sink my fingers into: If you're a woman writing the perspective of a female main character, that does things to your story. (Also this was my way of finally fixing GoT season 8, I suppose. About damn time.) Blood of my blood dives deeper into the pregnancy-and-birth-theme of House of the Dragon, so big fat TW for that again, also while keeping the inversed gender roles of Rhaenyra as Queen / Crown Princess and Daemon as her supporting, non-ruling husband who mainly is a father to (in this story) their eight children and a warrior / general in his own right. What does that do to their respective responsibilities and their dynamic as a couple? I wanted to spare them the pain of losing Visenya, so this is what this was. And because as a friend once told me, I cannot keep the politics out of my love stories, other TWs include the usual canon levels of violence seeing as this story diverges that day after Viserys' death in that the Greens take a different approach to getting Rhaenyra to fall in line after Aegon. Special mention for Rhaenys getting her revenge. Summary:

“Hello, uncle,” Aegon said, pushing past Otto with no regard for the soldiers so pressed dangerously close into the handrails of the bridge. They were all out of breath and sweaty in the merciless afternoon sun. Daemon gripped the pommel of Dark Sister praying for patience. No, he wanted to see what the usurper had to say for himself; he was even wearing the black crown of the Conqueror and his blade. “Where’s my half-sister? I have come to speak with her.” “My wife has just given me another beautiful daughter. In this family, we do not ask the woman to rise off the childbed to curtsey for a Hightower cunt.” This is how the Dance of Dragons starts: the Greens make a monumental mistake.

8,397 words, oneshot.

A cousin-story to the Dragons will rule the realm series was Of cats, wolves, and dragons. Another canon divergence: Luke lives, and Jace comes back with a mountain cat kitten from Winterfell for Rhaenyra. Skips right over all the civil war, takes a sharp left and ends on Rhaenyra ruling the realm peacefully as rightful Queen. This is a lot of fluff sprinkled with some angst for flavor. Implied Jacaerys/Cregan/Baela there at the end.

Summary:

As a show of the North's allegiance when war crests on Dragonstone, Lord Cregan Stark gives a kitten from beyond the Wall to Jacaerys for his mother Rhaenyra, rightful Queen of the Seven Kingdoms. Snowball grows to the size of a direwolf and never leaves Rhaenyra's side ever again. Six years later, Lord Stark comes to King's Landing to bend the knee - and to collect the debt.

14,689 words, oneshot.