#I think it's cool because the reading stone is like a portal in a way. it teleports the words closer... wow.....

[laterreurofficial]

Okay I’m so obsessed with the exposure syndrome stuff so may I suggest. A horses’s eyes don’t properly communicate with each other. It’s why they can startle when seeing something if they’ve only seen it from one side, because it’s technically that eyes’s first time seeing it.

Ah, so Max would have binocular vision dysfunction and his world would be constantly blurry?

I love how ironic that is given the horse's miraculous is a pair of glasses. Maybe the only way to temporarily 'cure' it is to be transformed? Who knows. Maybe Max will just make himself new lenses for his glasses or program Markov to be able to perform eye surgery on him.

[homestuckreplay]

has anyone else noticed that homestuck is getting kinda long?

(page 1145-1148; some thoughts on pacing and accessibility)

Jade’s bass playing to grow or move the lilypads works, and was well foreshadowed – in addition to both her bass playing pages where the garden atrium grows because of the amp in there (p.822, 1026), Jade captchalogues the bass (p.823) and the narration specifically notes ‘You take the PORTABLE AMP from the WALL SOCKET too.’ It feels like Act 3 has been entirely leading up to Jade entering these ruins.

In ‘[S] Jade: Pester John’ (p.1073), Bec guards the mystic ruins on Jade’s island, and a glowing white spirograph in the ‘same’ location mapped onto Prospit. So it’s a fair guess that the white spirograph was also present on ancient Earth, and may have been the cause of the ruins’ construction. And that means it might still be within the ruins, and could act as a portal to Skaia, which would allow Jade to go there while she’s awake. If she did that, could she travel to Prospit and find her own dream self? Or is her dream self only present on Prospit when her waking self is asleep? Either way, I think these ruins will be Jade’s backdoor into Sburb.

I love all three of these Jade pages for the visuals – 1145 because it’s cool when two panels match up into one bigger one (and interesting to think about why this was chosen instead of one bigger panel – maybe because one is Jade and one is the amp, and they’re two separate focal points?) and 1146 because Jade imagining herself as a frog as she jumps over lilypads is so fun and silly. I checked Wikifur and apparently amphibians such as frogs are classified under scalies, which is different to her interest in a ‘proud snout’, ‘the hunt’ and ‘claiming the night’ (p.797) but still fits with her desire for ‘a more visceral sapience’ and escaping the confines of humanity. So I feel like Jade doesn’t have one specific fursona, and wants to keep her options open with different animals.

And 1147 is just incredible – the glowing green symbols look like something from a hacker movie, like Jade’s entering a digital space, but at the same time we know this is physical stone and ancient hieroglyphs. Those things being meshed is very cool to me, and it makes me wonder just how much of all human technology was originally from Skaia. The mesmerizing soft glow gives the page a dreamlike quality, a reminder that Jade doesn’t have a plan, she’s just following instructions from her dreams and acting on faith.

John told Dave ‘i think you should use your copy of the game to help [rose]!’ on page 294, and it has taken 854 pages and over half a year in real time for him to install the game and help, but they are finally making this transpire. I was saying yesterday how Jade challenges Rose, and today I’m saying that Dave doesn’t challenge Rose at all. They have great banter, but Rose always has a leg up on it – and I think she types and/or thinks faster too, as she gets in her ‘Go on.’ before Dave can finish his ‘where making this’ sentence, when usually he’s the one to send a bunch of messages in a row.

Here’s the thing. I am speaking directly to Rose Lalonde here. Hi Rose, I understand that your house is burning down and things suck right now and you should not have to be the person who has to micromanage all your friends and deal with this entire situation alone. However. You are being dumb as shit by not giving Dave some basic instructions on exactly what to do the second he loads the game. You know that kid is not gonna read your GameFAQs. You know he can dish out those giant long monologues but he cannot take them. Please Rose, for your own safety and possibly the future of humanity or something, give the guy like three bullet points.

...no? Sweet Bro and Hella Jeff reference instead? Okay then.

This update also comes with a newspost, which I’m going to quote in full below.

That's my cue to disappear. Time for me to vanish into the animation abyss for a while. Let's give it a week, tops. If you're one of those people who has trouble keeping up with all the updates I bury you with, maybe now's a good time to catch up. And if you're one of those people who's finding everything going on in the story to be somewhat confusing and overwhelming, then maybe now is a good time to go back and reread it all. I'm pretty sure about 95% of all MSPA readers huddle somewhere beneath this umbrella. (/news 8 January 2010)

I have been thinking about the update frequency, and thought I was projecting because I definitely put an above average amount of time into Homestuck, but maybe this is a bigger issue. People only have so much time in the day, but some people do have more time than others. Relative to other webcomics, Homestuck asks readers to put a lot more time into it, a lot more frequently – both because the updates come fast and because the story is complex. It rewards people who do put a lot of time into it, because the small details, patterns and parallels, time loops, etymologies, and opportunities to predict and even influence (via user commands) the story encourage people to stay up to date, to read closely and reread often. The more effort you put into reading Homestuck, the more you get out of it, and that’s incredible, but it’s definitely made by and for people who have a lot of leisure time. So, young middle class people, especially teenagers and college students who don’t need jobs, and people who are socially isolated for whatever reason, will be way overrepresented. (I do this project because I love it and I do it by choice, but balancing this with work and school and relationships and my other major hobby is not easy especially with what’s felt like a recent increase in update frequency!)

This quality also makes it more competitive with other webcomics – someone might have time to keep up with, say, 20 webcomics that post a once per day or three times a week strip that stands alone or is part of a relatively simple story. If that person wants to follow Homestuck, they might have to drop down to 15 or even 10 other comics, because this one takes up such a disproportionate amount of space. This idea of creators putting out constant content to stay afloat on a transient internet, such that it could be a full time job to keep up with it (and sometimes is – there’s franchises that have in-house lore experts because creators themselves struggle to keep track of stories) will become huge in the future. And when we can all only pick a couple pieces of media to stay up to date with, life gets harder for smaller, newer and part time creators, who can’t provide that yet. And yeah I’m probably part of that problem.

I might also disappear for a few days to work on end of act 3 stuff! or I might not! if I have anything to say in the meantime or any fun asks then I will post. but at the absolute latest I will post on the day EOA3 drops and if I don’t do that then send an ambulance to my house.

> John: Ascend to First Gate.

[amalthea-13]

hello this is more fandom + headcanon related than a serious thing

I wanted to ask your opinion on stolas's powers + his role, like he had two roles in life 1.have an heir 2.read the stars/be a prophet (i may be misremembering)

we know he can turn people to stone and can create portals both w/o his grimoire. what other silly spells do you think could occur? also what do you think/would want to happen with the whole stars thing?

personally, i love the idea that stolas memorized the spell how to turn other creatures, specifically imps, in to human disguises because of that episode where blitz jokes abt it

ohh i think it'd be fun to see stolas teach IMP about other spells that they wouldn't have known bc they only focused on traveling to the world + i think seeing flashbacks of stolas teaching octavia would be nice

My Thoughts/Headcanons on Stolas and His Future

Casually pulling myself out of bed from writing a 9 page essay that's due tomorrow because I haven't had a good ask in a hot minute! However, hello all, it is I, Amalthea, the Ultimate Stolas Kin and Stan and let's get into some more chill stuff so I can relax my brain a bit! TYSM!!

Stolas's Powers

When it comes to Stolas's powers, I have been very, very passionate about my desire for him to have his powers back in some way in the future. To other Stolas Stans or Stolitz Fans this may not be a top priority, but I am a writer myself. Between fanfics, my personal novels, poetry, and song writing, if someone cut my hands off and I couldn't write, they may as well kill me.

I have a big issue with Stolas not having his powers since he is often shown expressing himself with them and emotionally relieving himself through them. Outside of Blitz, Stolas's powers were one of the few other safe places he had and to see that robbed of him???

As an artist Mastermind made me physically ill with grief just because I knew what it was like to have your craft stripped from you. As a child, I was often grounded from writing or my personal box FULL of my manuscripts would me taken away from me for days at a a time.

As I said earlier, I would rather die than not be able to write. That's just an impossible reality for me.

However, I have cried over this topic long enough.

Personally, I do think Stolas could have spells and such memorized for the sake of utility. In Truth Seekers that fucker got to Earth as fast as possible and in the very first episode of the series we see Stolas see Blitz in the human world through the bubbles in his tub.

Headcanons

When it comes to head canons I do not have very many for Stolas, but I think he's a lazy fuck sometimes lol. I feel like he enjoys floating things to himself to avoid leaving a place of comfort or his bedroom.

Now for Stolas to read prophecies he has to be either on Earth or use his grimoire to his lil pocket dimension to view the stars up close as we see he does with Octavia. Personally I think if Stolas gets back to Earth he could read the stars with or without his powers due to him having been at this for years now.

I think if anything it'd be oh so cool to have him be the only one aware of an incoming threat and fighting for his life to inform Andrelphus. Blitz and Loona being confused but Stolas literally doing everything in his power to inform the other royals, but like as he is about to, Andrelphus somehow gets to him and they have yet another fight.

I think it'd be neat to see Loona learning from Stolas how to do magic, but I don't think it'd last long. Stolas is to fragile to metaphorically adopt and mentor her. Even if Blitz asked he just would feel guilty for enjoying himself. I don't think Stolas will want to take on a paternal role for Loona until Octavia is back in his life.

I think he'd teach Loona about human disguises then teach her nothing else unless absolutely necessary. I do think there will be a wall between them every time where he ignores her not to be mean but to punish himself.

I do hope this all answers your questions! <3

[ecargmura]

Wonderful Precure Episode 48 Review - The Wolf Pack

This review contains major spoilers--read at your own risk.

I can’t believe I guessed the twist right. It does make sense, though, given that he stands up on two legs despite being a wolf and his mouth doesn’t move. Subaru’s revenge was for the wolf friends he lost due to humans and that he wanted to live with the wolves, but lost his chance when humans started hunting them down. His idea of revenge is to terraform Animal Town into a giant forest and he probably did succeed. It’s crazy how the scenery changed in just one episode.

Despite all the twists and reveals, I still don’t get how Subaru died. Did he die with the wolves or something? Like how did his spirit manifest and manage to merge with what’s supposedly Gaou’s fang? Will that be explained in the next episode? His revenge feels more like a personal vendetta against humans—he’s a hater of his own kind in a way.

Regarding Zakuro, it seemed that she already knew Subaru was Gaou and that the one she loves was actually Subaru who took on Gaou’s name. Though, it does seem that Gaou does like Zakuro, but not romantically. He did talk gently with her and did not get rid of her when she failed. Too bad he’s too focused on revenge to be even thinking about a happy future. Zakuro is fully on the Precure’s side now as she wants to stop Gaou. The way Friendy and Wonderful were hugging her were so adorable. Though, if she loved Subaru all this time, why did she have some sort of ‘thing’ for Satoru back in Episode 35?

The fight with the many GaoGaon wolves was cool. It was nice seeing them use various Kirarin Animal techniques. Poor Kirarin Rabbit, Hamster and Panda—ya’ll are the least used animals of the nine. I did like the creativity especially with how Tire Komugi made her grand return and how Lillian used Lillian Net to trap all of them and flip the tire over so they’re all trapped in the enclosure.

It did feel like Niko was used as a punching bag here, but it was nice to see her actually care about Mey Mey when he decides to go rescue the cat stuck in the tree. I wonder if Niko will try to get the wolves to live in Niko Garden at the end because it’s a paradise where even extinct animals live in.

I wonder how the Precures will stop Gaou’s plans as they’re all trapped. The preview for the next episode shows that the Precures are trapped in the tree while Satoru seems to be safe due to jumping into Niko’s magical portal with Mey Mey at the last minute. There’s speculation that Daifuku and Satoru might transform because the former was staring at a piece of the Mirror Stone. Oh gosh, since these trees are life energy suckers and that Satoru, Daifuku, Niko and Mey Mey are the only ones safe, it could be a good segue to introduce last-minute saviors to rescue the Precures, even if the transformation is brief. It’d be lovely to finally get human Daifuku because it’s definitely a waste to keep him movie-exclusive. I can’t wait for next week! What are your thoughts on this episode?

[dullyn]

Arthurian Retelling Book Review III

Far From Camelot by River Hale

This is an incredibly explicit book, rated R if we're following the movie scale. Therefore, this review is 18+ as a forewarning.

Also ignore the language I use for certain explicit stuff, I am trying to avoid angering tumblr, so some word choices are goofy.

Here's the spoiler free version if you wanted to actually read the book (I don't recommend reading it, you could read better 18+ stuff on like ao3 for free (and without having to read Merlin/Mordred sex scenes)).

Mordred kills Arthur due to Morgan's manipulations, Merlin is upset he failed to save Arthur. The Lady of the Lake teleports Merlin to like a different dimension that's just our world, he lives in this world for 1000 years. 200 years later, The Lady of the Lake teleports Mordred to this same world.

The two meet up in modern day in a dive bar because Mordred is in a punk rock band (he also has tattoos, piercings, edgy style, the whole nine yards), while Merlin is a bookstore owner who is friends with the owner of the dive bar.

They hate each other, they have sex about it, it is the most toxic and cringey thing I have ever read. The dialogue? The way the author describes their body parts? They also have sex every single time they have a conversation, like they will talk about their feelings about Camlann and then suddenly they are freaking nasty style. All of the dialogue reads like shoddy 80s p*rno films, and there's a weird BDSM-esque dynamic that is oddly reminiscent of the inaccuracies and terribly unethical stuff in Fifty Shades of Grey. Not safe or sane, sometimes not even consensual.

It seems like Merlin has a thing for Arthur for most of the book and then sleeps with Mordred as some weird stand in thing. Mordred in turn sleeps with Merlin about some weird daddy issue thing.

Morgan is Mordred's mother in this, she is so flat as a character. She is the most 2D villain I have seen in a long, long time. Her dialogue reads like a kids cartoon, all of the men in the story call her a "witch" or a "b*tch" at least once. Mordred and Merlin refer to her as both of those things constantly. There are only four female characters in this entire book, two of them are side characters that are reduced down to lesbian stereotypes, one of them is evil mother Morgan, and the last is the Lady of the Lake who gets four pages of booktime total. It feels misogynistic and stereotypical. Also Morgan is not Arthur's sister in this, so Mordred is not an incest baby, a small win I guess.

The conclusion of the story is a big battle, obviously, the whole Once and Future King Arthur thing plays out. For the entire final battle Merlin and Mordred are just thinking about how hot each other look or actively making out. Guys please stop.

Literally this is horrendous. The sex scenes aren't even good. There is such potential in the plot, and there are some parts where it's like "Yes! This writing is good!" and then it immediately devolves into shoddy sex again.

1/5 ⭐

Here is a content warning for you all, I pulled it straight off of the author's website:

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

FULL REVIEW WITH SPOILERS BELOW

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Strap in, this is a doozy.

We'll start with positives, there aren't many.

The way they go through the lake portal thing is actually pretty cool, its like going to the bottom of the lake and then the world flips and they can walk out of the lake back to Camelot from modern day. I thought it was a neat spin on the concept. There's an unreliable narrator view of Arthur is kind of interesting. Merlin thinks he's wholly good and a just king. Mordred hates Arthur's guts because of how he treated him and rejected him as his son. MORDRED GETS TO PULL THE SWORD FROM THE STONE!! This is because of the whole the true high king of Britain is the one who can and since Arthur is dead and Mordred is his only son (even as a bastard) Mordred can pull it out! Give that man a sword, not this version of that man, but like another one.

"'I think if I was a son he could've loved, he would've been a good father'" (p 309), Mordred talking to Merlin about Arthur. Thought this was a pretty good line, if only the rest of the book was like this.

Merlin names his pets after knights of the round table because he misses them. He named his cat Percival, and Percy the cat is the best character in this and shouldn't have to deal with those around him. This was kind of sweet and the only redeeming part of Merlin's character.

Also for a period of time while he was in the modern world, Mordred went by the alias of Lancelot, which is just a funny concept.

Now it's the bad stuff:

Worldbuilding

Somehow Camelot has not developed at all in 1000 years, permanently stuck in the early medieval era. This makes absolutely no sense nor is it ever explained. It is literally confirmed that time has passed and generations of knights have lived and died and yet they are still knights and horses and castles and peasants.

Merlin built Stonehenge and stored his magic in the rocks. The way he gets it out of the rocks is by doing the nasty against them with Mordred (I am not exaggerating this is literally what happens).

Concepts

This book is so weird about lesbians. Like it leans so hard into the cliches and stereotypes and its like the author gave the two girls no common sense.

"I kept my promise and spent nearly the entire day with the band yesterday - with the addition of Ava's new girlfriend Willow. Lesbians work fast" (p 79). Mordred thinks this to himself.

"She shrugs. 'One month is like six in lesbian years'" (p 239), Willow, Merlin's friend/Mordred's bandmate's gf says this line.

I just hated the way the author handled this. It seemed like these two characters had nothing else going on other than being lesbians, and therefore the author also made them impulsive to fit with the "U-Haul" stereotype.

Characters

Everyone keeps saying "bang it out" like literally every character has said this line. I hate it so much.

Okay back to the Morgan thing. She's portrayed as being like beyond evil, and while she is not related to Arthur, she does claim she is at some point to try and justify ruling Camelot. Therefore, everyone in Camelot thinks Mordred is a child of incest even though he isn't so that adds to the reason why he left? I think? I only say I think because this entire plotline was only addressed ONCE right before Merlin and Mordred start freaking it nasty style. Morgan tricked/magicked Arthur into sleeping with her to conceive Morgan (a la Uther/Igraine, Elaine of Corbenic/Lancelot, Claire/Bors, etc). She then uses Mordred as a pawn in her schemes and is a terrible mother to him. Adding onto the villainization of her, Morgan used to lock Mordred in the dark as a child to punish him, this is then revealed when Mordred refuses to let Merlin put a blindfold on him during sex.

You will see that everything important is mentioned immediately before or after, or sometime in the middle of, sex.

Mordred has a lip ring, and a tongue piercing, and nipple piercings, and 5 peener piercings, all of which are brought up frequently. He also has a massive shlong, which is also brought up frequently. Every time they mention it, it is in the most horrific dialogue possible. Mordred also is a full blown sorcerer and is immortal. He has so much magic, he can teleport, turn invisible, turn objects into other objects or even give them sentience, most of this is then used for sex reasons. Mordred has the most insane daddy issues i have ever seen, his fascination with Merlin seems to come from this on account of the fact that Merlin was part of the reason that Arthur denied Mordred being his son and heir.

Merlin and Mordred are such a rancid pairing. Like I can get behind toxic relationships (Sebile/Morgan my beloved) but this is just like creepy. They literally start their sexual relationship with Mordred convincing Merlin to give him a bj while Merlin is actively having a panic attack. There is so much weird cliche bad boy possessiveness, it is rampant. Genuinely they both remind me of like the "dark romance mafia boss" novels that are all over social media. Here are some examples:

"I'm the only one who gets to hurt him" (p 110), Merlin about Mordred.

"My voice comes out somewhere between a groan and a growl. 'You've been avoiding me and denying me this sight for two days'" (p 162), Mordred why are you growling?

There's also the insane amount of just weird and bad lines surrounding them. Here are some more examples:

"'I think I'm starting to love hating you'" (p 145), Merlin says this to Mordred. Then like two paragraphs later we get the line of Mordred going, "I give him my signature smirk."

"'Please, Merlin. Show me how much you hate me. Take it all out on my a*s'" (p 166), this is the only line you need to know exactly what this book is about.

Merlin calls his semen "his hate" when he's screwing Mordred. His pet name for Mordred is "little monster" I am disappointed in myself for finishing this book, it is in fact worth it for the ability to write this review though.

"'Now can you hurry? It's cold as balls out here.'" ; Turning his head towards me, he smirks. 'Are your balls cold, baby?'" (p 264), this is Mordred's POV. I hate this.

Mordred ties Merlin up with snakes during sex and the snakes bite Merlin and he likes it, (p 214). I cannot describe the absolute astonishment I faced during this scene.

There's a whole scene that involves Mordred asking Merlin to knight him with his wiener and then Merlin calls him "Sir C*cks*ut" (p 285).

I wish I was making that last one up. I'm not. It is a real scene that happens in this book.

Since the book is in first person it reads like the character speaking to the audience, that's just the style of the POV kind of. However, there are some scenes that feel like they explicitly break the forth wall or it's like things are stated way to blatantly and like, no one thinks to themselves like that? Examples:

"To be clear, I still hate him more than I've ever hated anyone. And that's why this is all sorts of complicated and fucked up" (p 152), Merlin thinks this. It's unnecessary for this line to exist the audience is already aware that their relationship is messed uppp.

"Look at me being all mature and shit" (p310), Mordred thinks this. It feels so random.

"That's just great. I'm officially so fucked up that anything deviating even slightly from pure animosity from my father gives me the ick" (p 312), Mordred thinks this to himself. I don't think I ever actually was immersed in this novel enough for any line to take me out of it, but this was just jarring.

The End

They go back to Camelot to resurrect Arthur and kill Morgan and save the kingdom and whatnot. Mordred gives up Excalibur and the chance to kill Morgan by himself to prove to Merlin that he loves him, BOOOOO. They pause resurrecting Arthur for exactly an hour, to freak nasty in a cave. They are in the middle of battle and Merlin is talking about how sexy he finds Mordred.

Mordred is in the middle of being tortured with magic by morgan and he gets like locked inside his body and so merlin breaks into his mind and they start confessing their love for each other. Odd choice. During this it is clear that Mordred has no internal self value, he only thinks he is finally worthy of redemption because Merlin loves him and he thinks Merlin is wholly good. LAUGH. Merlin? Wholly good? LAUGH.

In the middle of the last battle, Arthur proclaims Mordred his heir, there is literally no discussion of this, it is only done for a "potent quotable" soundbite and dramatic shock value. Especially if you read to the end because Arthur doesn't even make Mordred his heir until the end of the second epilogue, which happens years after the end of the book. In fact, Arthur still doesn't really like or trust Mordred very much even after the end of the final battle.

Mordred and Arthur kill Morgan together. Literally they both stab her with their swords at the same time. It is dumb. After this, Arthur gets recrowned king and is taking the throne for the first time in 1000 years and Merlin and Mordred are making out on the floor of the throne room.

The first epilogue is 20% Mordred showcasing his competence as a potential prince, 80% Mordred and Merlin doing the nasty in an pillory. In the second epilogue, Mordred gets crowned prince of Camelot, him and Merlin freak nasty beforehand. Then they watch Mordred's old punk band perform a show via magic, which is so so so random to just chuck in at the end?

Uh yeah. That's the book. This was a long review, there was a lot to point out I feel. Yipes.

I give it:

1/5 ⭐

[klunkcat]

2024 Writing Roundup

tagged by @goodlucktai MWAH <3

Words Posted:

92,074

Additional Words Written:

the sheer magnitude of my google doc file count consisting of half buried wips and also rambles about my own dnd character would kill a small child

Fandoms:

TMNT

Trigun

its weird bc I was into like several things this year but also nothing stuck in my old brain soup so here's hoping 2025 makes me more deranged in new and exciting ways

Highest kudos + Highest Hit One-Shot:

I think forget me nots tbh for both lol

New Things I Tried:

collabing! if you somehow missed the gioverse collab fic thing w me and rem and tai and sol, well.

Fic I Spent The Most Time On:

absolutely the thing that buries me I have genuinely had this as a wip in my docs for over a year

Fic I Spent The Least Time On:

that is impossible to tell because I obsessed over all of them for different reasons I fear. maybe the 'kitchen counters' chapter in live to let you shine because I was in a fugue state of insanity

Favourite Thing I Wrote:

sun digs its heels was an ode to my poor baby kitty cat so I think that one

Favourite Thing(s) I Read:

BRO. SO MANY.

If I have to narrow it down...

we know im the number one taizi stan thats the loml but the gioverse truly pulled me into a creativity spiral i have not felt in forever so please read raised on little light immediately. only going up from here is the portal duo vibe forever along with can't help but become the sun. made me cry, worlds were changed.

I was not expecting my fave fic writer from years ago to come back with a sequel to underdark let alone this absolutely insanely good banger of a post rise movie fic along with the current follow up. the way mikey and leo are in this made me feel. agony? I think agony. anyways @plothooksinc 's stuff is really emotional and action packed and gets the characterizations right in such a specifically intense way.

take one for the team by @remedyturtles made me clinically unwell actually, and of course deathwish because sensei is actually i think the depressed millennial of all time. the way rem writes punches me straight through with an emotion I do not know how to name so there's that.

creation of a philosophers stone is so unique to me and about a dynamic with mikey and draxum that I never see really delved into? idk this is some incredible stuff by IgnisCanis

for something completely different, houses like tombs absolutely wrecked me. jjk content is always heartbreaking in this way that knocks me over but this one is so unique. damn.

I really need to remember to bookmark stuff more often because I definitely read way more than this and I have likely forgotten some life changing stuff but what can we do

Writing Goals for 2025:

write more tbh! I have a million google docs but it would be cool to finish more things

New Works:

hadestown au with tai will be real i s2g as will the daemon au, which I am keeping alive with my bare hands thanks. I am currently working on a sequel to running on low which I'm determined to finish sometime in the next few months i hope

With new trigun season coming out.... ambiguously soon... I'm sure I'll be overcome and crazed there, and will definitely finish the thing that buries me asap too

Tagging: 

tagging @byrdybyrd02 and @camsthisky if yall havent done one of these already! and of course anyone who wants to :)

[markantonys]

pulling together some of the s2 images we have so far! there's a LOT of stuff in the two teaser reels, so i'm focusing mostly on the shots from those that i can connect to the new promo images (which are especially helpful since we know what episodes they came from). sorry for the long post, i tried to do a read more but then for everything under the read more the images just displayed one by one instead of 2 or 3 in a row the way i'd formatted them and it looked bad.

first, rand. predicting that some of the first things we'll see from him is dream torment by ishamael (likely the source of the wheel shot) and meeting lanfear while alone and vulnerable:

then he'll go to cairhien and meet up with moiraine and lan, and have his lord arc (and get a fancy outfit):

then duel turak at falme in 1x08 (likely after receiving sword lessons from lan, which could be the Lan Shirtless With Sword shots we have several of):

i think these scenes with moiraine (and lan) are from the early episodes where she still has her s1 outfit and hair:

then she gets a fancy new outfit for cairhien (potentially the crying-in-the-bath scene), which could be where the beach scenes take place - but cairhien is landlocked (though it IS on a river), so maybe she keeps this outfit for the rest of the season and these beach scenes are at falme? i will say that i'm pretty confident the daylight beach scene is the same outfit as the cairhien promo pic, but not confident that the evening beach scene is the same outfit.

on to perrin's plotline. we have several shots (i've just included one) from a scene of his party encountering the seanchan in daytime and being made to kneel. loial is still free here.

loial appears to be getting captured here at night, and there's also shots of perrin's party fighting seanchan at night. the same scene?

we know loial is in seanchan captivity by 2x05, so all the above scenes must happen during or before that episode.

aviendha fights a whitecloak at night, which we've been thinking is the adaptation of the book scene where perrin frees an aiel from a cage (there IS a cage just behind avi here), and thus perrin & co would also be involved in this scene. could be the same nighttime fight scene as above, a three-way fight between perrin & co, whitecloaks, and seanchan? or it could just as easily be a different scene - if so, i'd guess in the second half of the season after loial has been captured and as perrin gets closer to falme.

we do know that the seanchan and whitecloaks will clash in falme, and in a market-y location that looks somewhat similar to the promo pic of perrin and aviendha:

overall, it seems like whitecloaks, seanchan, and aiel will all be heavily involved in perrin's plotline, which is great setup since all those groups are significant parts of his storyline at various points in the future.

from what we know so far, the girls' portion of the white tower plotline seems pretty straightforward and similar to TGH. egwene has novice kitchen duty in 2x01, then later prepares for a journey (with liandrin i'd imagine) and is made damane.

nynaeve takes the accepted test in 2x03 (side note: i'm extremely skeptical that portal stones and the flicker scene will make it and imo they should be cut even though they're cool, so i think the "what might be" episode title is for this episode, referring to the alternate life/lives nynaeve sees in her test, and perhaps rand can still see some alternate lives in his ishamael-tormented dreams). at some point she trains in the sword with warders, probably because she wants to be able to protect herself while being blocked. do we think that brown belt indicates she's an accepted, or is that still a novice outfit and this scene is set before her test?

the picture of elayne could be investigating in a basement while black ajah hunting? i also thought maybe the ways en route to falme, but it doesn't really look like the s1 ways.

mat's storyline is trickier to figure out because we have very limited shots of him so far. we know that in 2x01, he is crying in a room. from descriptions of the scene shown at cons, we know he is imprisoned by liandrin at some point in s2. seems likely enough that the below image is him in captivity, although it's also possible he could be at an inn or something there (feeling guilty for abandoning his friends) and gets captured later in the episode.

the only other images we have of him are these two of him wearing his exact same outfit from season 1 and the crying-in-a-room scene and standing against a generic background:

falme seems the most likely option - the stonework on image 1 looks similar to the stonework in the perrin & aviendha picture, and the arch in image 2 could be a falme arch like what we see in the perrin & aviendha and seanchan vs. whitecloaks picture. alternately, picture 2 could be tar valon since i think there were some white stone arches in the streets of that city too. if it is tar valon, it could be either a) early in 2x01 and we see his capture onscreen, rather than the episode opening with him already in captivity, or b) after he gets out of liandrin's clutches.

how will he get out of liandrin's clutches? maybe he breaks out on his own, or maybe siuan gets wind of what's going on and intervenes to make liandrin let him go - this could also serve as an event to strengthen siuan's suspicions of black ajah in the tower, leading to her creation of the wondergirls task force.

i will end the post here since i hit the 30 image limit haha

[apocalypticavolition]

Let's (re)Read The Great Hunt! Chapter 10: The Hunt Begins

This post probably has spoilers for the entire Wheel of Time series, so if that's not what you're into, don't keep reading.

This chapter starts us out with the Horn of Valere icon again, which... hell even if you shouldn't be reading this post because of the spoilers, you can probably piece together why a chapter called "The Hunt Begins" has it.

He kept his mouth shut, though. It was Lord Ingtar’s command; as friendly as he had been to Rand, he still would not appreciate a shepherd giving advice.

Rand demonstrating his keen leadership skills by being aware of the limitations of horses is both a good jibe at fantasy novels of the time (where horses needed less rest than the average car and had better range and mileage) and a nice way of contrasting how towards the end he won't be giving a fuck about anyone's limitations and push them all much harder than Ingtar is pushing these poor horses.

Rand tried to ride with Mat and Perrin, but when Rand let his horse drop back to them, Mat nudged Perrin, and Perrin reluctantly galloped to the head of the column with Mat.

I feel like this little bit of Mat being extra petty about this carries a lot of people's dislike of early Mat, because without the dagger he's actually not that bad even now.

Uno looked at Rand with his one eye, then shrugged and climbed into his saddle.

Uno isn't afraid to voice his opinion to his superiors 'cause he's a cool dude. He also is pretty convinced Rand is a lord too and thus could put Ingtar in his place - and probably has noticed the glances Rand's been giving the horses and is well aware that the boy agrees with him. I wonder how many of this ranging party specifically think that Ingtar being in charge is just the convenient fiction for this outlander lord who wants to pretend to be a shepherd. Like obviously Ingtar doesn't think that but Uno might...

“Do you like to run, Rand?” Loial laughed. “I do. I was the fastest in Stedding Shangtai. I outran a horse, once.”

That poor horse must have died of a heart attack shortly thereafter, what with the whole running at top speed and also having a huge thing like an Ogier keeping up with it.

It was not hard—there were few personal bundles among the supplies—but when he had it open, he let out a shout that brought every man in the camp erect with sword in hand.

Everyone of course just thinks Rand's bitching about the coats is him being pissy that Moiraine won't let him play at being a shepherd.

Also it's adorable how Moiraine thinks she's fulfilling prophecy with the heron-marked jackets.

I can always go naked, he thought bitterly.

*desperately presses random symbols on the nearest Portal Stone to find the nudist!Rand Mirror World*

“We didn’t bloody bring enough for you to be spilling it on the flaming ground.” The one-eyed man looked at Rand and left. Masema rubbed his ear, but his glare followed Rand.

So Masema's obviously pissy about this upstart foreigner Aiel-look-a-like putting on airs and terrifying everyone in the camp, but Uno's just doing whatever it takes to get a chance to challenge Rand to a friendly duel.

“I ask no questions, mind. If Lan Dai Shan and Moiraine Sedai want to say you are from Andor, from the Two Rivers, then you are. But Masema can’t get the look of the Aiel out of his head, and when he sees you. . . .”

It's really fascinating how Masema's perspective on Rand does such a huge 180. Bruh is an absolute fanatic about whatever his beliefs are, they just aren't necessarily logical evolutions from each other.

“I grew up with him, though you’d never know it now. You put this Aiel nonsense in his head on top of what’s already there, and the Light knows what we’ll have. An Aiel lord, maybe.”

Mat: Absolute savage and accidental prophet.

But they do let the Tuatha’an, the Traveling People, cross the Waste. And they don’t see Ogier as enemies, either, though I doubt any of us would want to go out into the Waste.

It's also a nice bit of realism that as soon as someone tries to simplify the Other as seeing the world purely in terms of themselves and their enemies, someone else can point out that no, it's not really that simple. It's not even really the case that the Aiel see the Wetlanders as enemies exactly, since they clearly could have engaged in warfare against them long ago and won.

When Rand finally settled down for the night, his head hummed with unwanted thoughts. Image of an Aielman. Moiraine Sedai wants to say you’re from the Two Rivers. Aiel ravaged all the way to Tar Valon. Born on the slopes of Dragonmount. The Dragon Reborn.

Bro can't even stay in denial anymore, though he does try a little. At this point it would literally take one more person calling him Aiel for him to snap though.

“Is this what a Darkfriend camp looks like? Smells a bit, but I can’t say it looks any different from anybody else’s.” He kicked at one of the ash heaps, knocking out a piece of burned bone, and stooped to pick it up. “What do Darkfriends eat? Doesn’t look like a sheep bone, or a cow.”

The one way in life that Mat isn't lucky is that if he can lose his dignity in literally any way, he absolutely will. It's where all his bad dice rolls go.

“We’ll waste no time burying Darkfriends,” Ingtar growled. “We ride south.” He suited his own words almost before they were out of his mouth.

Oftentimes, truly hateful vehemence comes from those who are closest to that which they despise. Just saying.

He reminded them of the charge the Amyrlin Seat had given them, to recover the Horn of Valere, and let nothing bar their way. He spoke of the glory they would have, their names remembered in story and history, in gleemen’s tales and bards’ songs, the men who found the Horn.

Ironically, we don't know the names of the whole party, so that didn't really work for them.

“I don’t like the smell of this place,” Perrin muttered as they came among the houses. Hurin gave him a look, and he stared back until Hurin dropped his eyes. “It smells wrong.”

Perrin the Yellow-Eyed Wolf Boy: Don't think we're the same, nose freak!

“Don’t frighten her!” Ingtar shouted. “Uno, we need information. The Light blind you, Uno, don’t frighten her!” The one-eyed man disappeared through the open door. Ingtar raised his voice again. “We will not harm you, good lady. We are Lord Agelmar’s oathmen, from Fal Dara. Do not be afraid! We will not harm you.”

I wonder if Lanfear really meant to be seen here to increase the sense of unease or if she was totally just going, "It won't hurt if I take a little peak at Lews through the window, these dumb third agers probably don't even know what up is, oh crap!"

“I fear the Darkfriends took them, Rand,” Loial said slowly. He grimaced, almost a snarl with his broad nose like a snout. “For the Trollocs.” Rand swallowed and wished he had not asked; it was never pleasant to think on how Trollocs fed.

Rand: They're okay right?

Loial: They. Were. Eaten. By. Demons. We're. Hunting. Demons. DEMONS!

He's so patient with the country boy.

“My Lord, you must see for yourself. The big stoneoak, fifty paces south from the landing. I cannot say the words. You must see it yourself.”

Jesus, it's like a Star Trek episode.

Mat waited until the last minute, when one of the Shienarans was untying the ferry, before he kicked his horse and crowded aboard. “I have to come sooner or later, don’t I?” he said, breathless, to no one in particular. “I have to find it.”

It's kind of a shame Mat didn't get any POVs in this book, because whatever the hell is going on in his head has to be a lot more interesting than the fandom gives him credit for. This is one of at least two big internal struggles we hear almost nothing about. Is he extra unhappy with Rand because he thinks that unlike him and Perrin, he's only benefiting from the adventure they're on? Does he think Rand's being selfish by being all, "Fuck you guys, I'm out" while Mat desperately wants out (he always does) but is forced to admit here that he has no future that doesn't pass through the Dagger?

“This is how we left home,” Perrin said suddenly. “At Taren Ferry. The ferrymen’s boots clunking on the deck, and the water gurgling around the ferry. This is how we left. It will be worse, this time.”

Likewise it sucks that we don't get any fun Perrin POVs just yet because he too is clearly going through all kinds of bullshit and Rand's even less aware of it than he is of Mat's stuff. "How can it be worse?" he asks, as if there's a Baerlon waiting for them only a week out. As if they have the world's most competent Aes Sedai/Warder duo at their side. As if Egwene is there, and Nynaeve to join soon, to help them think of home. As if all three boys aren't already changed permanently by what's happened but are nowhere near done with their transformations.

Rand's hilariously oblivious sometimes, you know? And so's Mat, since he agrees.

Then he recognized the two faces. Changu, and the other man who had been on guard with him. Nidao. Eyes staring, teeth bared in a rictus of pain. They had lived a long time after it began.

Poor bastards.

“Cut them down,” Ingtar said harshly. He hesitated a moment, then added, “Bury them. We cannot be sure they were Darkfriends. They could have been taken prisoner. They could have been. Let them know the last embrace of the mother, at least.”

Even Ingtar's had character growth this chapter! Is he already realizing that his extremism means he deserves the same ignominy and is softening himself in the hopes of mercy for himself? Is he genuinely uncertain as to Changu and Nidao's affiliation (perhaps they weren't in his sect of Darkfriends or even really were innocent) and thus erring on the side of kindness? Hard to say!

“Shienarans believe we all came from earth, and must return to earth. They never use coffins or shrouds, and the bodies are never clothed. The earth must hold the body. The last embrace of the mother, they call it. And there are never any words except ‘The Light shine on you, and the Creator shelter you. The last embrace of the mother welcome you home.’ ”

The Shienarans seem to have a very prototypical Earth Mother belief that will no doubt blossom into that very concept given enough time. It seems pretty early for that though; either Jordan thinks Earth Mother is very universal or he expected that there'd be some extra steps along the way (perhaps eventually the descendant organizations of Aes Sedai / Wise Ones etc. become the monopoly on the Singing?)

“Then who shot the arrow at—at the Amyrlin?” Rand swallowed. Who shot at me? Loial said nothing.

Lucky for Rand, Loial's not street smart enough to realize that his stuttering isn't a natural effect of the horrifying treatment of the corpses but because of a near slip. He's also not street smart enough to realize that Ingtar did the Dog Gate slaying, which further points to the innocence of these two poor bastards. But on the other hand I already said they were guilty so they're definitely burning in hell. Can't change my mind. Looks weak.

“They saved Lord Agelmar at Tarwin’s Gap,” he said. Several of the lancers nodded.

Ingtar's probably extra uncomfortable about this because his Darkfriend orders at the time were to get Agelmar killed or something.

Occasionally Rand saw what might have been a farmhouse in the distance, and once what he thought was a village, with smoke rising from chimneys a few miles off and something flashing white in the sun, but the land near them stayed empty of human life, long swathes of grass dotted with brush and occasional trees, with now and again a small thicket, never more than a hundred paces across.

Fascinating that the villages of Shienar, which presumably face all kinds of population problems what with the state of eternal warfare and all, manage to be denser and more prosperous than people living in this relatively decent grassland where there's no military pressures on them at all.

“It is not there any longer, Builder. When Hawkwing died, the ones who fought over his empire could not bear to leave a monument to a victory of his, even if it did not mention his name. There’s nothing left but the mound where it stood. In three or four days we can see that, at least.”

Maybe the bad juju of tearing down a perfectly good monument mixed with all the contaminating Trolloc blood led to them all dying out en masse, you know?

“I’ve seen an old map,” Rand replied in a tight voice. “I know about the nations that aren’t there anymore. Maredo, and Goaban, and Caralain. But there wasn’t any Hardan on it.”

Well that's very confusing, because all of those nations collapsed before Hardan. Must be a shit map.

Crops failed, or trade failed. People failed. Something failed in each case, and the nation dwindled.

I wonder if the Dark One's been able to affect the weather to some degree or another this whole time and only once the first seal broke was he able to pull out the "eternal winter over the whole land" gambit. It would explain just how badly humanity's been doing the past thousand years, with the long game finally paying off.

We are being swept away, humankind. Swept away like flotsam on a flood. How long until there is nothing left but the Borderlands? How long before we, too, go under, and there is nothing left but Trollocs and Myrddraal all the way to the Sea of Storms?

And so Ingtar explains why he fell to the Shadow - but even without all of the upheaval Rand brings, we've already got some clear rumblings that the game was going to change and that Ingtar's giving into despair was a personal failing. Elayne was being set up to be an Aes Sedai queen of Andor, ruling for hundreds of years and hopefully keeping the land unified. Pedron Niall wanted to restore Almoth to its former glory - under his hand, but still. The Seanchan invasion would have, without interruption, restored "civilization" to a good deal of the wilderness.

Also points to Ingtar for some realistic blind spots in another way: he assumes the Borderlands will be the last to fall even though the most recent national failing was Malkier.

There was no gate in the one opening he could see in the wall, but he supposed it could be blocked easily enough with a cart or wagon.

Honestly with population density and armed banditry being as rare as it is, blocking the gate may genuinely not be something these people feel they need to resort to.

Cairhien did claim this land, once the last King of Hardan died. All the way to the Erinin, they claimed it. They could not hold it, though. They gave up the claim nearly a hundred years ago.

Well if the Cairhieniens wanted it, and the former Hardani wanted it, what exactly was the issue? Were the tax collectors just unable to make it this far north consistently?

The table was set for a meal, ladder-back chairs gathered around, some plates already served. A few flies buzzed above bowls of turnips and peas, and more crawled on a cold roast sitting in its own congealed grease. There was a slice half carved from the roast, the fork still standing stuck in the meat and the carving knife lying partway in the platter as if dropped. Rand stepped inside. Blink.

Look I'm just gonna say it. The blinking and the flickering is some of the top tier Wheel stuff and people would have been infinitely more forgiving of the slog if it involved more of it. Even if the only thing flickering about Elayne's bath scene was that every time she blinked the fragrance of the soap she was using changed, people would have eaten that shit up and rated Crossroads of Twilight 7 out of 5 stars.

Rand could not move. The flies buzzing over the table sounded louder. His breath made a cloud in front of his mouth.

The flies are pretty strongly emphasized in this sequence, which make me wonder if they're connected to whatever weird magic Fain was using in this scene.

Also worth noting that originally this was supposed to be Lanfear's trap, but that this got changed. Frankly it's a damn shame she couldn't take time out of her stalker ex practices to quickly kill Fain before he became an actual kerfuffle.

Suddenly he was tearing at . . . something. He did not know what, or how. Cobwebs made of steel. Moonbeams carved from stone. They crumbled at his touch, but he knew he had not touched anything. They shriveled and melted with the heat that surged through him, heat like a forge fire, heat like the world burning, heat like—

Fain really breaks the magic systems, doesn't he? It's way less coherent than the established magical systems And yet Rand's use of saidin manages to take care of things.

Those black clothes, blacker than black, had never been worn by any human. The wind flapped an end of the cloak caught behind the body—which it did not always, he knew too well; the wind did not always touch those clothes—but there had never been any eyes in that pale, bloodless face.

I love how terrifying this early Fain stuff is, which really just makes it all the more frustrating that he completely loses all relevance as the series goes on. Book 7 Fain could never be this cool. Book 14 Fain couldn't even get into the same sentence as. These other Fains. What was Jordan planning on doing with him? Why did he lose the plot so thoroughly? Will we ever find something in his notes that makes it make sense?

We'll probably never know. Oh well. Next time: more hunting!

[daisyjules1011]

Television on in my living

This is the first time my eyes hurt, not from the bluelight

But from the horror glimmering in it

Ghastly images of humans who look and feel like me

One for the money, two for the show, three to get ready

And the forth one was killed

Someone beside me says it's a sorry sight

Moves on to watch NFL and what not

All the story tales in the world live inside a small box

How so different they seem

We are all flesh and blood

Bones beneath skin and a heart beneath the armour

Some of us die from boredom

Some of them die of starvation and waste

The reporter with her face carved of stone exclaims

'The hostages were showered in gold and platinum'

Then killed in broad daylight with barbs made of silver

Skip the channel and you are saved

For us how easy is it to escape

The portal to escapism lies in our hands

Their hands are filled with sticks and stones and guns

So young, yet so old

So full of hope, but the eyes are filled with doom

The fat monster with his sticky hands and shiny shoes

Sits atop a jeweled throne

Brandishing statements about what he would do

Just for a second I believe him,

Because it is easier to believe than face the reality

Making proclamations in comfort is nothing revolutionary

I do it to, so does my dad, and the guy across the street I see everyday

All of us share the earth, we were told

Then why do we get it for free while they have to fight for it?

I have five homes across the world

There's a child of 3 who belongs to no one

No country, no homeland, and no mother to call his own

Things that are nightmares for you and me

Imaginations that haunt your teen

Is a normal day for the child of three

I can't do much I say, after all what power do I have to make any change

We delude our ourselves,  make ourselves weak, play the victim card,

Break our bones and refuse to mend

Just so we don't have to fight the war

Just so we can say 'I'm powerless'

How do I tell my daughter that this world is pretty and kind and generous?

When she turns on the TV, she's gonna call me a liar

How do I tell my son that the men are strong and powerful and virtuous?

When he turns on the TV

He's gonna give me a look soo murderous

I'll tremble in fear

------

In a faraway land,

A mom sings a lullaby

While a child falls asleep to the sound of a gunshot

How can I enjoy a glass of wine if it reminds me of blood

How can I read in bliss, when words are stolen from their lips

How can I feel the sun on my back, while there's someone shivering in the cold

How long can this land hold the grief and suffering

The soil is sick with blood

We are the gen-z crowd, we proudly convey

We are meant to care about deeds and feats our parents didn't even think about

But when it comes to action, we are as useless as a broken condom

The millennial and boomers in here, you haven't done anything much either

Because some of you started it in the first place

I believe that by writing this poem

I'm doing the world a favour

That I'm someway, somehow doing my part

There's that damn delusion again

Always creeping up in the wrong places

So you didn't put in a brick in the fire

That doesn't mean you didn't stroke the devil

That doesn't make you innocent

We wave white flags all around

Ask for peace, ask for love, ask for humility

Did any of you get it?

Bright Sunday morning

Reading the body count like it's a math problem

When did we become so emotionally stunted

We care about our nails and hair and suits and house and cars and perfumes and all the bullshit things that don't make any sense

But if someone asks us for a pen we'll stab them in the eye and call it a prank

--------

It's very simple the universe follows our lead

The universe doesn't make us, we shape it

By our thoughts, by our actions, the way we speak to each other

And frankly the current state of affairs isn't surprising to me

The world has seeped our energy, it seems

We label callous behaviour as cool

And if someone dares to speak up

They are called intense and aggressive and too much

We shun them into silence

Send positive thoughts, mediate, the stars look so pretty tonight

Such bullshit!

My earth is failing and you ask me to look up at the stars!!

No, i won't sit and listen,

I won't forgive and forget,

Won't turn the other cheek or a blind eye

We have been silent for far too long

Our activism has made us weak, given us a reason to not do anything

So I won't sit and listen

I won't forgive and forget

I will be positive not because I want to ignore the venality and depravity

It's because my treacherous heart still believes

[pillowfriends]

General Thoughts on WoT Books 1-3

THE EYE OF THE WORLD

Reading time: 38 days, audiobook

Rating: 3 stars

It took me a very long time to actually start caring about this book in any way. I thought the lore was sort of interesting and the setting felt like fantasy in its purest form, but since the plot was "characters walking around" and I didn't particularly care about any of the characters (except Nynaeve) and thought they were almost all dumbasses (including Nynaeve but affectionately), it was hard to get through.

I know the precise moment that changed - chapter 48. The "I'd like to be your Warder" Egwene/Rand conversation followed by the Nynaeve/Lan confession knocked me the fuck out and that was the first time I really felt an emotional connection to the characters.

I was pretty confused about some aspects of the ending and to be honest I still am! I've heard that's pretty normal so I'm not too upset about it. It definitely made me intrigued enough to pick up book 2.

THE GREAT HUNT

Reading time: 9 days, physical + audiobook (Kramer and Reading)

Rating: 3.5 stars

Similarly to EotW, I was really forcing my way through this book at the beginning, but luckily once Nynaeve and Egwene's plot picked up I was fully invested and zoomed through it. a lot of the other plotlines were kind of forgettable for me, although the portal stone stuff with Rand and Selene was cool.

The climax of this book was epic. SKY BATTLE WITH ISHAMAEL. MAT SOUNDING THE HORN. banger. I was definitely much more engaged in this book than I was with the first, and had more of an emotional connection to "my girls" - Nynaeve, Egwene, Moiraine and Lan.

THE DRAGON REBORN

Reading time: 15 days, physical + audiobook (Rosamund Pike)

Rating: 4 stars

I. Love. The White Tower scenes, every single one of them. definitely my favorite part of the story so far. Mat's storyline was... fine, boring, whatever. I think Rand not being there made me enjoy the book a lot more.

Until the ending, I was really vibing with this book. I got pissed off at the ending because 1) it was a copy-paste of the way the first two ended and 2) no one other than Rand did literally anything. (Okay technically Moiraine did kill a Foresaken with balefire which was badass, but it was also like one sentence and then she was knocked out for the rest of the climax.) Unfortunately, at this point I was too invested to stop, so I just had to hope Jordan wouldn't keep recycling the same ending.

[slayerlevampire]

ask game time and I'm gonna be weird--

Neil Watts with 5, 15, and/or 25

Eva Rosaline with 1, 13, and/or 20

And just 'cause, Dr Robotnik with 21, 23, and/or 26 >:3

Weeeee let's gooooo

Neil Watts

5. What's the first song that comes to mind when you think about them?

- Cancer by MCR, and probably because of our crackship lmfao

15. What's your favorite ship for this character? (Doesn't matter if it's canon or not.)

-SPEAKING OF THE CRACKSHIP, Wattley, of course, (Wheatley from Portal x Neil Watts for those who don't know) if not just for the fun times. Though Rosawatts is a close second because they're sooo cuuuute

25. What was your first impression of this character? What about now?

-He's a loser, and he's still a loser but now he's my special loser. And tragic.

Eva Rosaline

1. Why do you like or dislike this character?

- I love Eva because she's a great foil to Neil for one, but that's more why I like both of them, and she's just so cool and collected. A good head on her shoulders, and her fascination for jellyfish is adorable.

13. What's an emoji, an emoticon and/or any symbol that reminds you of this character or that you think they would use a lot?

- 🥕🍅 carrots because of the replacement cussing, tomatoes because I think if she'd got into memes any she'd do the whole "booo, tomato tomato tomato 🍅 🍅 🍅 " thing often lol

20. What character is the ideal best friend for this character, the amount of screentime they share doesn't matter?

- It's probably boring of me to say Neil, but it's true! They're just, ya know, real great for each other, whether just as friends or maybe more. And maybe I'm biased, and maybe it doesn't help that there's not many titular characters I can see her hanging out with lol

Dr. Robotnik

21. If you're a fic writer and have written for this character, what's your favorite thing to do when writing for this character? What's something you don't like?

- Ugh, I just love writing for Robotnik in general. (The live action Sonic movies version of him, specifically, that's the version I always deal with for those who don't know.) I do more roleplaying than fic writing, so I'll use that more for my basis, but I adore writing moments he gets to be genuine. Which is NOT often at ALL, lemme tell ya. Whether that's for genuine hatred or sadness or happiness or anything, I love it. I guess more specifically I like describing the way he's looking at someone for whatever reason, eyes squinting or upper lip twitching, things like that. I'm a sucker for imagery. As for what I don't like, well, not really anything lol. I adore anything about writing him.

23. Favorite picture of this character?

- Don't know how to answer this one! I don't really have any pictures of him saved since I have a new phone. I love pretty much any fanart with him in it though!

26. FREEBIE QUESTION!!

- I would have assumed Freebie Question meant you gave me one you came up with yourself, but since you didn't I guess I just get to say what I want lol. So I'm gonna go with my favorite AU! My favorite AU I've ever written him for is a vampire AU where he's a vampire and Agent Stone is his drudge. I have made so many OC's for that AU alone that I have remastered and repurposed since then, too. Second favorite is probably the one where he's a siren but at this point I'm just a sucker for any sort of Monster/Cryptid Robotnik lol. And as for other AU's I've read, there's this really cool (abandoned I believe) fic on Wattpad (shocker) where he's this powerful dark elf. And as for here on Tumblr, I can't pick a favorite tbh I adore them all that I've seen thus far djddjeidjisd.

[cedarbookhs]

I don’t think it was that specific - The Famous Five dates back to the early 1940s, and from what I can overhear in libraries, kids are STILL going bonkers for series like Wings of Fire. Mary Pope Osborne is still publishing Magic Tree House books and my seven-year-old niece is way into them. I think what you’re describing is just different reading levels, early grade vs middle grade, and the transition that millennials made from 90s EG to 00s MG. Since early grade books are shorter, to keep younger readers’ attention spans, they’re a lot more serialized, cause it takes more of them to fill the same hours of reading. It’s also not like there weren’t longer kids’ books in the 90s. Yes things tended more to the literary/historical/slice of life genres back then, but before Philosopher’s Stone (97) you still had things like The Golden Compass (95) and The Giver (93). The success of HP definitely did make publishers home in more on that longer, older market though, no question.

One of the big differences between series before and after The Pottering is interdependence. You can read a random A-Z Mystery and be fine, storylinewise. They don’t depend on sequence. Part of that is down to the shift in popular genres I think. It’s hard to write a very short fantasy book, and tedious to have to reintroduce your world every book if you have a bunch of short ones. It was done – Magic Tree House is technically fantasy, with its Arthurian magical roots, and those roots only got more prevalent in the (you may notice longer) Merlin Mission stories of the 2000s compared to the original run that ended (before being revived later) with High Tide in Hawaii. But the exposition is light there: the thing travels through time because Morgana Did It. I think Mary Pope Osborne was actually a bit ahead of the curve there, with the four-book arcs that add a certain reward to reading in order, but don’t strictly require it. Magic Tree House is a masterpiece of formula. We all know that.

And then there’s The Secrets of Droon. Oh, Droon, you wonderful, possibly mishandled anomaly. A full on high portal fantasy plot that, had it started publishing just a few years later than 1999, probably would have been a five-to-ten longer-book epic series, but because it was the 90s still, it ended up as 44(!) little novellas that SEEM like Magic Tree House stand-alone morsels, but God help you if you don’t know that Sparr awakened Ko in book 22 and was turned into a baby, but only until 28, and that Eric is stabbed by an ice dagger and turns evil in 33, and, and I didn’t read them in order so I was lost on the overarching plot until I read it on Wikipedia just now. I could tell as a kid that if I did them in order it would be cool, but tracking down dozens of little books is, uh, hard.

There’s got to be a term to describe that like. Extremely specific era of children’s literature where all the books were novellas printed on low quality paper, pumped out on a near monthly basis, and made for series that sometimes stretched into hundreds of books

Animorphs. Goosebumps. Bailey School Kids. Babysitter’s Club. Magic Treehouse. Series that plague public libraries and second hand book stores to this day. A genre that was nearly wiped out overnight by the success of Harry Potter, and the newfound desire for kids to read long form literature

It was like pulp fiction for kids

[iviarellereads]

Wheel of Time full series spoiler thoughts on TGH 13-22

A probably semi-regular weekly bonus to my reread blog, since sometimes you realize things on reread that just make you need to yell in a full spoiler space.

I really do love how portal stones became such a thing and then were entirely abandoned. I'm not heartbroken they dropped them for the show because after TGH and the one use to get to Rhuidean in TSR, they get completely ignored forever. They're cool! They're incredibly cool and used to great effect if you can read the word "flicker" again without your eyes glazing over. But, there are other ways to work around the things they do in the books.

I will never not-laugh at Perrin thinking he's accepting his wolfbrother-ness in book 2. Oh, sweetie, this is all gonna put you right back off them again, just you wait.

Verin's first explicit lie to the reader. brb thinking about her fate again while someone mysteriously cuts onions near me.

Rand recognizes the Ogier tree song because his Lews Therin memories are starting to leak, and it's the same song of growing that they sang in the AOL.

The Trolloc monument raises some questions about whether RJ really thought out his whole thing or did a massive retcon, IMO. If the Dark won this world, why does anything in Creation still exist? I thought the whole point was that the DO winning one would win them all.

LANFEAR!~ Baby how ARE you? Been keeping hydrated? You're looking FABULOUS!

I actually kind of like both this and what the show did, changing the lesson with Nynaeve and the air-sword to Liandrin in the show. I mean, here it's establishing Siuan's connection to the Wondergirls, which IS important. And, it doesn't help that they only had limited time with Sophie Okonedo for the show. But, the Liandrin version establishes her connection with Nynaeve specifically, and the way they're set up as foils.

Sheriam! How odd your trajectory shall be. Odd enough, in fact, that as of my writing this Ali of the Wheel Takes podcast still thinks Sheriam's the double-agent, not Verin.

Lanfear and Rand's shirt. Another point the show took directly from the book and just gave a little twist.

Innkeeper Madwen comes back during the Cleansing, though in someone else's POV to observe the Choedan Kal activation. Curiously, Caldevwin only appears in this book, I would've thought he'd be a prime candidate to join the Band later.

AAAAAAHH so besides Adeleas and Vandene, THE BOND TRANSFER SETUP. I have a strong feeling they're going to skip it in the show, Mo will release the bond (that's what she asked Alanna about in season 1, after all) and give Lan a reminder to live for Nynaeve, who will make sure Rand completes his destiny. If other parts of the story stay intact, Mo will have seen herself and Nynaeve at Shayol Ghul with Rand if all goes right, AND it mirrors the way gentling/stilling works, where the loss of the Power means you have to find another reason to live. Stepin couldn't find another reason to live, but Lan already has one, if he's willing to seize it. I don't know exactly how they're going to do this, but I really feel they're going to skip the Myrelle of it all and have the only unconsenting bond be Alanna's to Rand.

I'm still not 100% on what it was Vandene said that Mo thought was important. Perhaps that the seals are weakening more widely? Or her not knowing about the Vileness with the Reds after the Aiel War.

[mrsmothmom]

I recently had to deal with some horrible people invading my stream with them saying some not so nice things to me and about others.

I’m still fresh and new to streaming and don’t have mods. How am I supposed to combat this?

buckle up

if you're a streamer reading this, and you have a tip that i haven't mentioned here, please feel free to reblog and add on~

how to deal with assholes

part 1: you are the dad of this rodeo

never forget the most important part of streaming. you are in control. you turn the stream on, you turn it off. you have all the power.

with that out of the way, let's talk about chat moderation.

part 2: a viewer is never more valuable then your time

when new streamers encounter people who are kinda mean, they sometimes feel like they have to put up with it because no one else is watching. this is incorrect.

you do not have to put up with anything - this is your stream and this is your community (even if that community is just you for now). tell mean people to be cool or move on. that is always your right.

part 3: ban them

if someone comes into your stream and makes you and your community uncomfortable, ban them. ask questions, think deeply, feel feelings about it later.

when you ban them, their messages for the last while will go away. they can appeal later and cry about it on their own time. if you ban by mistake, simply unban them and apologize. nice people who enjoy your stream will understand. rude people who don't care about you will be a problem about it. you don't want people in category 2 in your stream anyway.

part 4: what you react to is what you get

the bigger your reaction to something, the more of it you will receive. twitch is all about reactions (just ask xQc).

therefore if people are being mean, they are doing it to see you react. they want evidence that the bullying is working. therefore...

do not let them see you sad

do not let them see you mad

do not let them see you cry

do not argue

do not negotiate

the best reaction you can have to a group of rowdy bullies is the stone-faced enforcement of your power.

part 5: what to do, step by step

in the event that your stream is overtaken by a whole group of assholes (maybe just some bullies, maybe a hate raid), i encourage you to take the following steps:

stop, take a deep breath. all problems are solvable, and all disasters recoverable. do not let panic take over

go on break and mute your mic. don't give them the satisfaction of seeing you upset (the more overwhelming the attack, the more abrupt your break should be - don't bother explaining why you're leaving. if you have time to say anything at all, say that you'll be back in a moment and nothing else)

put chat in emote only mode

put chat is sub only mode

if you can, run some ads (if they're gonna be assholes, you might as well get paid)

if there are an actionable number of people causing the problem (read less than 30 or so), ban them by hand now. you can do more advanced clean up later if you need to. if it's too many to ban, you've gotta end the stream.

once the folks have been cleared out, get back on stream, apologize to your real viewers for the interruption, restore chat and continue on your way. don't bother giving air time to assholes. when it's over, it's over.

if you are too upset to continue stream, don't.

if you use a stream bot, stream deck, or alternative (touch portal, deckboard, etc), you can set many of these actions to a button that you can press to automatically go into SOS mode. i strongly recommend this.

part 6: aftermath

your community will move on as soon as you do. take a moment to calm down, decompress, and remember that those people don't know you and their opinion means nothing. don't let the community dwell on it - that is what they want, for you to be sad for as long as possible.

if you've got a whole ton of bots clogging up your followers, use commander roots tools to clear them out:

part 7: prevention

prevent known bots and assholes from crawling into your stream by using commander roots tools (to pre-ban folks) and sery_bot:

part 8: other security measures

never stream live from a public (as is people you don't bring in can appear) discord channel. if you are live, make sure you have total control over what appears on stream

never click links without checking them off-live first. what your friend thinks is harmless fun might be ban-able by twitch TOS

avoid streaming your entire desktop

people are not entitled to everything they want right when they want it (NO MATTER HOW MUCH MONEY THEY GIVE YOU). people who care about you will wait until your ready and willing do say / do / answer / preform etc. etc.

set community rules and hold everyone and yourself to them.

put disclaimers on links to gift / donate / tip you saying that everything is considered a gift and is non refundable or exchangeable.

part 9 (FINAL): respect yourself

it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks is ok. all that matters is that you feel safe and comfortable. remember:

hit them with the biggest hammer you have, and never look back.

i hope this is helpful. godspeed.

[pugwitharug]

M3 Playing Minecraft

idk if anyone else has done this yet but I was just playing Minecraft so you all get to suffer, GN reader, also yes you're dating someone because Minecraft is better with a Player 2

☠️Felix Escellun☠️

Months after the main story has ended and the LOS is gone and you've decided you want to stay in Astraea, Felix is committed to helping you find a way to reconnect with Earth. Through a mix of experimenting, nearly dying multiple times, and a pinch of fairy dust, you manage to open a wifi connection to Earth! It's probably through a tiny portal that you have to put in a weird mechanism to keep it going without making Felix pass out, but you spend the next five days on your bed scrolling through everything you've missed

One night you're tired of looking at social media and decide to relax with some Minecraft. You boot it up on your phone and Felix watches out the corner of his eye while reading as you tilt your phone screen. He asks what you're doing and you say you're playing a game, and that he's welcome to watch

At first he declines the invitation, a faint blush on his cheeks, but he can't help but be drawn to it as you hop around, make a house, mine some stone. Of course he's not that subtle about it and you quickly teach him how to play, save your world, open a new one, and hand your phone to him. Once again he declines, but with your slightest push he'll take the phone and start tapping away. Next thing you know, he's hooked and you're not getting it back

Or it's a Modern!AU and you bought it for him for Christmas lol

I feel like, he'd really...like the Nether. Idk why, maybe it's because it's a form of Hell or something like that, or if he just likes Pigstep

He's complaining about villagers and their prices. He keeps asking you if there's a way to negotiate and you keep telling him there isn't. You hear him mumbling to himself about how "these people don't know the real worth of emeralds..."

You know, he'd probably like the mansions in the dark forests. Says it reminds him of Blackthorn, without all the familial trauma

He doesn't wanna work to make a house so he just finds a village or mansion and takes it over lol

I think he prefers creative mode. He wants to get whatever he wants without having to do all the hard work. Plus flying is fun

He'd also LOVE the new cave systems. He could explore a cave system for hours on end. He just sets it to creative, chugs a shit ton of night vision potions, and he's off. You don't see him again for many Minecraft days

He's going through to The End but not to fight the Ender Dragon. He'll do it, but only because that'll get him to the End Cities. He eats that up like groceries

He's also summoning the Wither. You can't stop him

He screams at creepers suddenly appearing at your door. It's hilarious to everyone but him

Please hold him while he plays. Snuggle with him, kiss the top of his head when he kills a monster. His cheeks flush and he makes that adorable little squeak

He'll get you a bunch of the black flowers you get from the Wither (I think?) and puts them in clay pots all around your shared home. He'll also want your help in fighting the monsters in the mansion so you two can take it for yourself and make it your own

⚔️Anisa Anka⚔️

If you're not doing a Modern!AU let's just assume Felix makes a portal and you get to take the mechanism home with you and you live in connected bliss with your SO

You somehow manage to find a space to put the mechanism in the corner of your shared room and definitely take advantage of your new connection with Earth

Anisa of course wants to know about all your cool Earth things. What a Twitter? How do they put birds into your shiny screen thing--oh right it's called a phone. Why do you want to craft mines? How would you even manage to do that?

She all but jumps for joy when you offer to teach her how to play. She wants to know how everything works now, but you encourage her to just keep to the basics and learn everything as she goes

You see her pupils dilate the first time she sees/hears a sheep. She asks if all Earth sheep have their eyes like that. She's a little sad when you say not exactly cuz she thinks they're adorable

She defends villages against raids. It takes some getting used to but she knows her way around a sword

Caves? Caves. They all love caves I'm just gonna say that cuz the caves are dope as hell

Definitely loves to adventure! She creates maps and hangs them up in her Minecraft house, trying to map out the infinite world

Speaking of house, she'd probably just stick to wood and stone. Nothing super fancy, just something to get the job done. She unfortunately doesn't have the time to play Minecraft all day

She makes a jukebox and runs into the jungle to find a bird and vibe with it. It helps calm her down

She tames a cat (after like an hour cuz they're slippery) and names it after you

She also decorates your shared house in all your favorite things. Favorite flowers, favorite paintings, favorite carpet

Please I love her, my wifey

🐱Sage Lesath🐱

Like Felix, he denies being interested in the game, but you know he is. Really he thinks he's being subtle but you can see him staring

He won't admit it but he's jealous that you're paying more attention to your phone thingamajig than him. He headbutts your shoulder until you pet him

His chin resting on your shoulder, he watches you play for a while. He'll tap the screen to mess with you but stop if you tell him to. He also asks what you're doing a lot, like what is that animal and why do the swords look like that and hey that enchanted sword is Zenith, but wouldn't you rather have a different sword in your hands? ;)

Eventually you just ask him if he wants to play. He laughs it off at first, but when he sees you're actually being serious he quiets down. He asks if you're sure, he doesn't wanna mess up your world or your phone

Please pat his head and tell him it's alright

He plays on your world for a while to get used to it, then he makes his own world

He likes climbing the mountains, trying to find his own way up without adding any blocks. He likes the challenge

I think he'd also like flying. Once he gets the elytra he'd climb the mountains to fly around as well. Crash lands in so many trees

Dirt tower to find out where the hell he is cuz he refuses to use a map

He also just puts a crafting table, furnace, chest, and bed in a cave close to the ground and calls it home. He's not creative enough to make a nice house

That being said he'll immediately move into your house if you make one in the same world. Kitty cat wants to be close to you

He'd be the miner supreme. Great at not dying by fall damage, stockpiles ores like no other, ten iron and diamond pickaxes in his inventory for every case. He'll spend hours in the caves and in the deep dark (if it's out yet idk I haven't found it)

You tame cat after cat in order to find a white one and name it Sage. You swear you see a little tear in your boyfriend's eyes

He used to just wanna destroy everything like a griefer (haha get it cuz he used to be a Griefer hahahahahahahahahaha) but now he wants to explore the infinite world with you. Find temples and monuments, harvest amethyst, get lost in mineshafts. Anything, as long as it's with you

[doctorofmagic]

My thoughts on What If... Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands?

The very title of the episode sends a shiver down my spine. And this is where we’re going to start.

~ long post under the cut ~

A year ago, I wrote this post as an attemp to dive into one of the most important traits in Doctor Strange’s personality: love. Stephen is a being made of love, made to love, no matter which interpretation you have when you watch Infinity War. If you don’t read comic books, you’ll understand the moment you meet Donna. You’ll begin to understand how her death reshaped his entire subjectivity out of fear of failing, being powerless and unable to control everything around him (especially death), thus the arrogant and yet a disaster of a man we all know.

Where do I even start? Stephen loved her sister deeply and felt responsible for her death. And then, slowly, he also lost his parents and his brother. He fell in love with Clea but he also pushed her away. He loved Zelma platonically and lied to her, which was enough for them to break their bond. He felt attracted to Kanna but screwed things up, even though they remain friends. He was forced to kill the Ancient One, the only father figure he had ever since his father died. And lastly, the only person who would never leave his side... also left. Yes, even Wong. Stephen has SO much love to give but he’s also afraid because he’s cursed. He truly believes his love in poison. And would you look at that? What If really delivered a story where this is actually true.

What If Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands?

The level of understanding when it comes to the character is... inconceivable. What could possibly reshape Stephen into following a dark path but love? The very premise of the whole episode. This is so much more than a love letter. This is literally too much, in all senses.

Fine, let’s begin.

What if the best of intentions has very strange consequences?

No. You used the word “strange” for the pun but this is not the word. Nah-ah. I’d go with ATROCIOUS, for starters. Things are gonna escalate so quickly, my friends.

Seriously, tho? Christine is SO SO SO SO beautiful, they’re so cute together. I have this feeling that MCU!Stephen was quite toxic because of his arrogance and this is why they didn’t work out. But WhatIf!Stephen???????? He’s always praising her, teasing her in a healthy way, respecting her and listening to her. HE TRULY LOVES HER, I’M GONNA CRY ALL OVER AGAIN, PLEASE, NOT THE CRÈME BRÛLÉE, PLEASE

I’m going to leave this shot here because we need to go back to it later. Hold that thought.

And bonus points to “Yeah, well, I would call that quite remarkable.” / “Well, I would say the same about you.”

GODS. THE PAIN. STOP THE PAIN.

So in this reality, Stephen didn’t caused the car accident because he was checking his phone while driving. Also it was not the reckless attempt to pass the truck. Well, maybe it was the consequence of this act? The fact is, the car behind them loses control, which makes them crash. Does it matter? We’ll learn later that no, it doesn’t.

And yep... Christine dies. Have you noticed the shattered heart? Ah, the pain only gets better and better.

Again, Stephen blames himself. More than anything, this is so important because Stephen is all about guilt. We still need to meet Donna so we can add yet another layer of guilt. But the feeling exists. This is what corrupts Stephen’s heart and soul in all his iterations. This is what makes him the character I love so much. I love this SO. MUCH. In addition, his stubbornness to accept his condition. Man won’t take a no. This, this is Doctor Strange in character. Stop complaining about NWH Stephen, it’s pathetic.

Okay, “grief-stricken”, Stephen found the Mystic Arts and became a sorcerer. That’s when he learned about the Time Stone, the Eye of Agamotto and Dormammu. Nothing changes, he saves the universe. But time does not heal his deepest wound.

I love Wong so much. Every time Wong does something, the world is healed. Really. We’re going back to him as well but for now I’ll just leave this shot.

BUT STEPHEN, DOING SOMETHING RECKLESS? HE’D NEVAH

Aaaaaaaannnnnnd then he did.

He goes back in time. It’s been two years since he lost Christine. I think he reacted pretty nicely, despite the circumstances. Now let’s go back to that shot I said I was saving for later.

Stephen is so light-hearted here. Also, during the first time he lost Christine, he had no idea what “The Price is Right” was. He knows now, which means he probably tried to learn more about the show because of her, because of grief. HAHAHA MORE PAIN

AND THEN HE

AND THEN SHE DIES AGAIN

AND THEN HE KEEPS GOING BACK IN TIME

AND SHE KEEPS DYING

AND THE MUSIC

AND HIS VOICE

AND HE TRIES TO CHANGE FATE BUT IT CAN’T BE AVERTED

HE EVEN TRIES TO STAY AWAY FROM HER LIFE BUT SHE DIES ALL THE SAME, WHY

AND EVERY TIME THEY CRASH, HE FEELS THE PHYSICAL AND EMOTIONAL PAIN AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN, WHY

I’M-- *ugly sobbing noises*

Apparently, not.

And this scene when he simply... closes his eyes before she dies again...?

This is where this episode had me in endless tears. It got me the four times I watched it. I’m dead serious.

Okay, so, next the Ancient One appears to Stephen, explaining that Christine’s death is an Absolute Point in time. It cannot be changed. Stephen needs the accident to become the Sorcerer Supreme and defeat Dormammu.

And this is where Stephen starts his journey into darkness. “Nothing is impossible, you taught me that. I only require more power.” Disobeying the Ancient One, Stephen then travels in time, seeking the Library of Cagliostro. Now, if you’re not aware of that, Cagliostro was a sorcerer who studied time in comics, and later became Sise-Neg (there’s a recent post on this because of the new Defenders run). It’s funny to think that Sise-Neg also destroyed the world when he became a god, however he grew past his pettiness and remade reality. Stephen did not possess such power, as we’re about to see.

PS: “Stop torturing yourself, Stephen.” Naur but he should use this line like a mantra. Especially comics!Stephen.

Not gonna lie, tho. This place reminds me of the Temple of the Vishanti from T&T (of course I was going to insert T&T somewhere, it’s me).

And of course they’d go for a pun with his name haha. I don’t know how to feel about this, tho. I feel like the episode is too heavy and dark for comedy. But it is what it is.

Okay but why some books are in cages??????????? And wow, it seems Cagliostro also gathered knowledge about several fields of magic.

And then Stephen learns that, in order to break an Absolute Point, he needs to absorb more power. This is when I went “oh-oh, here we go”.

And for real, is this Shuma-Gorath? Why are they keeping his name a secret? Is this the same creature from the first episode with Captain Carter, right? RIGHT? It has to be Shuma-Gorath.

Of course he tries to be polite and ends up all hurt haha. O’Bengh warns him about love but he will not listen. “Love can break more than your heart. It can shatter your mind.”/ “Is she worth the pain?”. Please, this is Stephen. He eats pain for breakfast.

Also, also, let’s take a break. We’re finally going to get monsterf0cker tentacle-lover Stephen Strange. It will cost us everything but here we goooooooooooo (yes, I went frame by frame for your more obscure fanservice needs)

Gods, I love this sequence so much it hurts. Okay, here we go.

Shmebulock???????????

AND HE STOLE THE CAPE??????????? AND DREW THE LINE ON BUGS??????

The grasp this man is holding on me right now...

Some of you will understand. I’m with you.

And here are the grostesque ones. These are hard to take SS but I had to.

Animation, sound effects, OST? CHEF’S KISS TO ALL

And lastly... the tentacles. Yeah, if you’re new... this is a thing.

Fanservice. Fanservice everywhere. (low-key the reason I also waited to write this review, I wanted to enjoy this part so badly but I was too sad for that lmao)

Okay so. O’Bengh is suddenly OLD and DYING, until we realize that Stephen spent CENTURIES absorbing mystic beings. CENTURIES. WTF STEPHEN. He had nothing in mind but the goal to save Christine. And people wonder why he went insane???? I’m sorry, O’Bengh, but I can’t take you serious when you still call Stephen Sorcerer Armani. Oh, and also because you watched him absorb beings for centuries in silence lmao. But I guess I have to because you said that Stephen is split in two since the Ancient One cast a spell on him, splitting the timelines and making them exist in the same reality before he could travel back in time. I know, it’s complex. Anything for the plot.

And now good!Stephen has an evil!twin who wants to absorb him back in order to become whole and break the Absolute Point. Cool.

I said I wanted to talk more about Wong because I think people are not talking about him enough. Wong is so important in this episode. He’s the one who’s trying to heal Stephen after Christine. He’s Stephen’s anchor.

Also, THEY FINALLY USED A SPELL WITH THE NAME OF THE VISHANTI. HOORAAAAY

So, for the sake of our understanding, I’m addressing the characters as evil and good!Stephen. Let’s go. Evil!Stephen summons good!Stephen and gods, he still holds such a strong grasp on me... unbelievable. THE DEEPER VOICE BENEDICT USES???? PLEASE, DIDN’T WE HAVE ENOUGH?

Imagine his strength to hold so many beings inside him, fighting to control him. BRO, THIS IS TOO TOO MUCH

Fine, I’ll not post SS about the fight because I’d be here all night long but I WILL say this: NOT CLOAKIE!!!!! NAAAAAAAAAAUR

Also if you ask me if I recognize any of the spells? Maaaaybe the Flames of Faltine, the not-so-crimson Bands of Cyttorak and a little trick Magik does with her portals. That’s how far I go.

I’ll not comment on the “seducing yourself to stay in the trap”. I will not. I’ll just say that the first person Stephen thought of when “Christine” was talking about the crème brûlée was Wong. That’s it.

And finally evil!Stephen absorbs good!Stephen and releases... UNLIMITED POWER (I love when the stone goes red as if it was bleeding aaaaaaa)

I can fix him...

This scene here? Poetic cinema. (I love his wings so much)

And when Stephen says her name and the other monsters’ voices echo “Christine”, AAAAAACKKKK

AND OF COURSE CHRISTINE WOULD FREAK OUT, BRO. LOOK AT WHAT YOU’VE BECOME BECAUSE OF YOUR TWISTED LOVE. I’M NOT DOING FINE.

Oh, but it’s too late anyways because Stephen broke reality haha. This scene is interesting because Stephen is the only one who sensed and/or talked to the Watcher until now. I read an interview that the Watcher kinda showed up but it’s also about Stephen’s keen senses. Bit of both, let’s say. Still, man, 616-Watcher is not that cold. 616-Watcher would watch this and say “how about I intervene anyway?”. WhatIf!Watcher is brutal.

The way Christine looks at Stephen one last time also KILLS ME, DESTROYS ME, BREAK ME INTO A MILLION PIECES.

And this is where my soul left my body.

This is how they end the episode. This is how you leave me speechless and with teary eyes. This is how you give me a whole existential crisis.

This... this was brutal to watch. Really.

What can I say after this? I’m used to reading painful things when it comes to Stephen. Aaron’s and Cates’ runs are heartbreaking on so many levels. Hickman’s New Avengers is not easier. Coincidentally, What If? Magik Became Sorcerer Supreme and The End. And now Death of Doctor Strange. And yet, after everything I’ve been through, I’d never expect to watch something so brilliant, so tragic, so heartbreaking and unexpected in the MCU. Never. This is top tier content and this is my favorite character with SO MANY LAYERS and SO MUCH UNDERSTANDING. I can’t put into words how meaningful this whole episode is to me, or how deep it touched my heart and soul.

I’ve been struggling to find the proper words since then, I still can’t. All I can add is, I cried for the 4th time now. This is too, too much, even for Stephen stans. Even for the ones who are used to pain, regardless of which media you’re into: comic books, live actions or animated movies. This is literally more than I can take and yet I’m so, so grateful. The voice acting, gods, how did Benedict manage to create a better Stephen than the one he’s literally playing in real life???????????? HOW

This episode really took the max potential Stephen had to offer as a character, added tons and tons of layers based on his grief, depression, arrogance and need to control everything and created a tragic masterpiece. In 7 years of being a Doctor Strange fan, I've never read or watch something that could go this deep into the character. The closest I can think of is Mr. Misery and the metaphor of Stephen's depression. This is a whole new level of respect and understanding. This is more than a love letter. This is peak maestry. It’s perfect, it’s heartbreaking, it’s... gods, I can’t.

Sorry for dragging you until this far. Before I wrap up this review, I just wanted to remind you all that Stephen will appear again, he will smile again, he will be surrounded by people again. So this is not the end. It was painful but be brave. We still have a few more steps to take.