#Perrin x Faile

[mashithamel]

[asongofstarkandtargaryen]

I saw this meme and it reminds me of Faile and Perrin so much:

[pillowfriends]

Faile/ Perrin tbh

[lanfear-is-my-darkmistress]

People are waiting for the Rhuiden and the Tower coup scenes. But I'm personally aching for the Tanchico plot and Moghedien having her obsession with Nynaeve and being collared.

[ancalagonthegolden]

Rand x Perrin. Rand was missing and Perrin was worried. He went asking different people, but almost all of them were either rude to him (like Wise One) or so caught up in their own business that they didn’t care about Rand.

Yet Perrin always felt a burning under his skin, knowing that Rand needed him.

And when the facts of the kidnapping appeared, Perrin immediately said that he would come for Rand alone if needed and bring him back. He also thought that everyone would go on a rescue mission. But Rhuarc explained to him the politics Aiel, and why only little part could go. Berelain also cared for Rand only because she knew she would be killed if she lost his protection (few nobles were already killed). Meanwhile, all of Cairhien was dancing, singing, and drinking, as if no one cared about the Dragon at all—whether he was present, missing, or dead.

Perrin has his own problems these days. Faile is angry with him without reason, Berelain is stalking him obsessively, and he’s confused, exhausted, and lost. But still, he puts everything aside because Rand is the most important thing right now.

What did it matter how much land had to be reconquered - or even how many people died, though that thought came reluctantly, painfully - stacked against Rand, the Dragon Reborn, being taken prisoner to Tar Valon?

Robert Jordan shows us how little the Dragon Reborn means to others. And only a few truly cared for him. Also, Perrin took Rand's sword with him. I find it to be a very beautiful and sentimental gesture, as if keeping a part of Rand with him. He did something similar with Faile's horse later, holding its reins as if ensuring that when her horse was safe with him, it meant she was safe too. At the battlefield at Duma's Well, Perrin went straight into the battle with one thought: "I need to get to Rand." Chopping through everything around him, praying that the figures in cadin'sor were men, he repeated to himself, "I need to get to Rand."

[demi-shoggoth]

2024 Reading Log, pt 1

It begins again!

001. The Seed Detective by Adam Alexander. This was the book I was actually looking for when I stumbled upon and also picked up that awful Curious History of Vegetables. This book also has information about the history and folklore involving various vegetables, but is written by someone with a basic respect for science. Alexander is involved with seed saving networks, and a fair amount of the book is him discussing how he got a type of seed he very much likes, or untangling the history of a heritage variation. It’s a quick read and charmingly written.

002. Dark Folklore by Mark Norman and Tracy Norman. The book consists of five chapters, each covering a bit of (mostly British) folklore, and they’re basically organized in order of most to least insightful. There’s a good analysis of the Old Hag and other lore surrounding sleep paralysis, a fun miscellany of weird or magical lore related to British churches and clergy, and a look at the traits that folkloric ghosts have that reports of individual hauntings do not. And then there’s a pretty limp chapter about urban legends that’s mostly just Slenderman, and a final chapter on legend tripping and dark tourism that is basically “this is a thing that exists”. Rarely have I read a book so short that runs out of steam so quickly. It feels like this was finished to a deadline, and suffers for it.

003. The League of Lady Poisoners, written and illustrated by Lisa Perrin. This book is gorgeous. Fully illustrated in gothic style, and with the pages in a pretty, shiny, arsenical green. As the title suggests, the book consists of biographical sketches of women who killed or assaulted with poison, although the book also goes out of its way to talk about the idea of poison as a “woman’s weapon” is a meme rather than a statistical reality. A number of the stories within I’ve heard before (which isn’t a surprise, considering how many books from the bibliography I’ve read), but some of them are new to me, and some quite shocking. Queen Ranavalona I of Madagascar, for example, who may have killed as many as 20% of her subjects through the use of trial by ordeal.

004. The Story of the Universe in 100 Stars by Florian Freistetter. This is a popular science book translated into English, this time from German. As I’ve said before, I’m a sucker for “History of the World in X Nouns” formats for nonfiction. The stars covered here are not all stars—they include black holes, planets that have been mistaken for stars, and even forgotten constellations. Freistetter does a good job of covering all sorts of different types of astronomical lore, and even discusses some fringe hypotheses (like cosmic radiation being the cause of global warming, which he makes sure to debunk extra hard). The biggest flaw with the book, I don’t know whether is an issue with the English translation or the original. The numbers are all wrong. Things like the Earth being 0.8 light years from the Sun (as opposed to 8 light minutes), or the mass of the black hole in the Milky Way being 4 times the Sun’s mass in one chapter and 4 million times in another. It’s a shame, because I really liked this book otherwise, and hope that it gets a paperback edition with some better proofreading.

004a. Epidemics: The Impact of Germs and their Power over Humanity by Joshua S. Loomis. This book failed the vibe check for me. The title is a pretty good summary, although substitute “humanity” for “white people”. The book is almost entirely concerned with European and post-colonial American history and how it was impacted by disease. It therefore feels quite blinkered. The discussion of malaria, for example, focuses a lot more on how European powers were able to come in and partition Africa once quinine became available than the actual suffering of the African people (although it at least gets that the impoverished state of Africa today is due to a history of being looted). There are a number of times where it looks like it’s embracing a “Christianity versus Islam clash of civilizations” narrative, and the introduction blithely states that “most people haven’t lived through an epidemic” (obviously, this was written pre-COVID) as if the developing world or the AIDS pandemic didn’t exist. When I got to the book promoting conspiracy theories that Russia had created genetically engineered super smallpox, I gave up on it.

005. Ocean Life in the Time of Dinosaurs by Nathalie Bardet, Alexandra Houssaye, Stéphane Jouve and Peggy Vincent, illustrations by Alain Bénéteau. Another popular science book translated and made available in English, this one was originally published in French. The first half of the book is an overview of various marine reptile groups, mostly but not limited to the Mesozoic, and then the second half discusses particular fossil deposits that are rich in marine reptiles. There is definitely more European bent to the species illustrated and deposits discussed—the fauna of the Western Interior Seaway, for example, is barely mentioned. One of the most notable things about the book is the use of a single illustrator for almost all of the paleoart in the book, which gives it a very unified artistic vision. Personally, I liked Naish’s Ancient Sea Reptiles more (like Naish, I think in terms of phylogenetics, and having a single author, Ancient Sea Reptiles has a more strongly unified narrative voice), but both books are good.

[mommymothma]

Still thinking about Mon Mothma x Kleya

In fact I was thinking about it so much I wrote a little drabble. It's also available on AO3 as a part of a series where I will be posting some Mon Mothma content.

Rated M, some explicit sexual content

Mon Mothma collapsed, wiping sweat from her brow.

She watched her chest go up and down with her strained breathing. Her legs were numb, her skin hot. 

"Should I go again?" Kleya asked, peeking her head up from its location between Mon's legs.

"No, I… need a break." Kleya nodded, crawling up beside her.

They laid in a pensive silence, neither sure of what to do. 

This was how it was.

Mon would come meet Luthen, buy something or not, then she'd give Kleya the signal. A small flick of her wrist.

Later that night Kleya would knock on the door, and since Mon had made sure no one was home they… well they had some wine. 

And then they ate out, figuratively speaking, of course. 

"You always have this look of regret on your face afterward," Kleya said, "it's depressing."

"I'm sorry, I'm just…"

"Worried about the rebellion. Your family, your daughter, Vel."

"Not today," she told her, "I'm sad because we have to do this in secret."

"Well, the public wouldn't appreciate the show," Kleya said with a smirk. 

Mon rolled her eyes, straining her neck to look at the other woman.

"You know that's not what I mean." 

"I know."

The silence resumed briefly.

"What if it's all for nothing? What if we fail? The empire could strike us down at any time and we'd have no idea. Or worse, we could win, then fail to establish democracy. The very thing I claim to be an expert in."

"It's not going to fail."

"You don't know that."

"I do. No one puts this much into everything for it to fail. But Mon, you'll run yourself dry before you get to see it. Slow down."

Kleya had the 'I don't believe what I'm saying" look in her eye, but Mon chose to ignore it. 

"I don't want to kick you while your down," the other woman started, "but you and your husband, you're not… you know?"

"Hmm?"

"Intimate."

"No."

"Okay."

"Why?" 

"No reason." Mon Mothma just looked at her, wondering what was going on behind those beautiful eyes.

She had realized her bisexuality at a young age. It was part of her bonding experience with Vel. It often felt like they were the only two women in the galaxy who held this truth, but every now again they were surprised by the Kleya's and Cinta's out there. 

The sense of belonging she had with Kleya was very different from the one she experienced with Perrin, or Tay. 

Kleya's was gentle, and intimate. They were their own little community. They're their own people.

The absence of a man made it feel like an equal balance of power in both partners. 

"If we win," Mon started, "I could make a better galaxy for us."

"If we win," Kleya countered, "what will you do about your family?"

Kleya said "family," but she meant daughter.

If her daughter didn't change, if she remained a traditional imperialist, Mon Mothma had no plan for her. In her ideal galaxy, people like her daughter simply didn't exist.

That fact killed her inside. 

How could she resent a child?

She couldn't. Which was why a part of her was rooting for failure. Let her daughter be right, let her be the successful one.

But it simply wasn't to be. 

Success wasn't everything. 

Money wasn't everything. 

Marriage wasn't everything. 

"Could we go again?" Mon asked, stretching an arm over to Kleya. 

The girl took it, holding it tight and kissing her finger tips.

"Of course," she whispered in reply. 

Mon smiled, propping herself up on a shoulder to get a better angle for kissing her. 

She let herself drown in Kleya's touch. She wanted the other woman's body to suffocate her. She wanted to get lost in it. 

She quickly found her hands on Kleya's breasts, then down her stomach. 

Kleya held her hip, her other hand holding her sturdy.

Mon climbed on top of her, using one hand to cup her face while the other extended below the other woman's belt line. She massaged her Kleya's clit, the other woman humming with approval. 

Mon took a deep breath, allowing herself to get lost. She pictured herself somewhere nice, Alderaan perhaps, or Naboo. She was staring out a large window.

It was raining, but the light type of rain. A gentle rain. Just enough to moisten the earth, enough to make it smell fresh. 

Someone came up behind her. Her immediate thought was her daughter. Finally convinced of the Empire's evils. Of Chandrila's exploitative traditions. She expressed her love and appreciation.

But she still wasn't happy. So she pictured Kleya instead.

She showed up in red robes, her hair done up professionally. A bottle of wine bigger than her in her arms, a grin on her face. 

And Mon smiled a bit too.

"Mon, please," the other woman begged, grasping at anything she could. Mon continued her circulations. Her fingers had gotten cold during their break, but Kleya didn't seem to mind. She writhed at their movements. 

The words sat at the edge of her tongue, she could feel them. But she didn't know how Kleya would respond. 

It could be over if she uttered them.

Or it could just be starting. 

"Fuck Mon!" Kleya held onto Mon's shoulder, her grip tightening and releasing as she orgasmed. Mon watched every moment of it, unable to restrain herself any longer.

If nothing changed they were both doomed to the same fate. Darkness. 

"I love you," she uttered, and Kleya stopped breathing. 

Mon was suspended in silence for what seemed like decades. She wasn't sure it would ever end.

And she was okay with that. 

"I love you too." 

[wheeloftimepolls]

Welcome to the great Wheel of Time POV poll! Because of the enormous number of characters, this has been whittled down to the 16 most frequent POV characters (out of everyone with 12 POVs Morgase is the only one included as she had the greatest word count; sorry Padan Fain). I'll update this post with links to each poll as they're posted. Polls will last for a day. Remember to vote for your favourite POV which is not necessarily your favourite character! The brackets are as follows:

ROUND ONE (05/03/23, 6PM GMT):

A. Rand al'Thor versus Galadedrid Damodred (X)

B. Elayne Trakand versus Nyneave al'Meara (X)

C. Siuan Sanche versus Perrin Aybara (X)

D. Morgase Trakand versus Egwene al'Vere (X)

E. Moiraine Damodred versus Gawyn Trakand (X)

F. Lan Mandragoran versus Min Farshaw (X)

G. Aviendha versus Faile Bashere (X)

H. Cadsuane Melaidhrin versus Matrim Cauthon (X)

ROUND TWO (07/0/23, 6PM GMT):

I. Rand al'Thor versus Nyneave al'Meara (X)

J. Siuan Sanche versus Egwene al'Vere (X)

K. Moiraine Damodred versus Min Farshaw (X)

L. Aviendha versus Matrim Cauthon (X)

ROUND THREE (09/03/23, 6PM GMT):

M. Nyneave al'Meara verus Siuan Sanche (X)

N. Moiraine Damodred versus Matrim Cauthon (X)

LOSERS' FINAL (11/03/23, 6PM GMT):

Siuan Sanche versus Moiraine Damodred (X)

FINAL (13/03/23, 6PM GMT):

Nyneave al'Meara versus Matrim Cauthon (X)

Have fun!!

[cannoli-reader]

Towers of Midnight was dumb and so was Gathering Storm.  Like, WTF had been going on for two years and 11 books up until then?  Hell, the very first book title references a storm! So does the 5th, in a way.  The Shadow began rising in book 4, but the Storm did not Gather until 12?

The titles allude to the themes of the books (hence the epigraphs), and themes are something at which Sanderson was ... not good.  But the others do make sense, even if they are somewhat obscure.

For the record, these are my theories on the themes:

Eye of the World - Jordan stated that the term is from an American Indian name for a hurricane.  Hence the dedication of one book to a group of friends who were with him when the Eye of the World walked across the water.  He’s referencing a hurricane they all endured together.  But for the book, it alludes to a storm, which is an often-used metaphor for strife and conflict in the series.  It also alludes to an expression that “the eyes of the world are on X”, used to mean that what a person or group does, or how well they succeed, with have effects and implications for more than just those immediately involved.  It’s not that everyone is watching or aware, just that the effect will resonate, and that fits what the main characters are up to, to a T.  

Of course, it also obviously refers to the physically manifesting pool of saidin, but Jordan had to name it that for a reason, which is to fit in with the title of the book.  It’s a cool phrase he learned and thought would fit in great in a fantasy novel.  

The Great Hunt - Obviously a reference to the in-universe Great Hunt for the Horn of Valere, and Siuan telling the party that sets off from Fal Dara under Ingtar that they are the true Great Hunt.  It can also be seen as the real True Great Hunt not being for the Horn at all, which is merely ancillary to the truly important weapon against the Shadow, the Dragon Reborn.

Rand’s arc in this book is about him becoming the Dragon Reborn and the leader of the struggle against the Dark One, and foreshadows his mission going forward highlighting the ways he will succeed and the ways he will fail.  He does not do a lot of conventional leadership, or undertake a massive command of many troops.  What he does do is accept the responsibility for people’s safety in a struggle that is over most normal people’s heads, when he promises to get Hurin back safely to the real world from the portal stone world.  He inspires people to reject and resist the Shadow, as he does with Ingtar. When he is in proximity to politics and intrigue, he succeeds best by actively rejecting the Game of the Houses, staying out of it, and rejecting all invitations to play.  Remember, however good her intentions, it is a Darkfriend who accepts the last one on his behalf.  This aspect will be one of Rand’s failures, as in the middle of the series, he attempts to play Daes Daemar, and gets into a lot of trouble doing so.  Also, when the Horn is sounded, and Rand rides out with the Heroes to fight the Seanchan, he becomes separated from the group and duels Ba’alzamon by himself, foreshadowing how he will need to leave the leadership and conflict at Tarmon Gaidon to others, but his seemingly separate struggle will still govern how the wider battle plays out.  Also of note is that Rand can’t do it without Mat & Perrin, who are needed to sound the Horn and carry the Dragon Banner, in order to get the aid of the Heroes.  And while we don’t know the exact consequences, using the Horn with the wrong motive is suggested to be very dangerous, or at least counter-indicated. The “right” motive Rand uses is rescuing a friend, namely Egwene, and while she is the only name he can cite, he is aware that he is needed to rescue more than just her.  Likewise, he will find his proper mentality to defeat the Dark One at Tarmon Gaidon through his relationship and understanding of Egwene.  

And all this foreshadowing is structured around the main characters all realizing who and what Rand is, including himself.  He is told outright at the beginning, but it takes his arc through the book to come to accept it.  He is told he is the second in command of the party, and while he refuses and resists, when he is cut off from the others, with just Hurin and Loial, he accepts the duty and takes an increasing leadership role with the rest of the group, culminating in his acceptance of Ingtar’s sacrifice and offer of a kind of absolution, and then asserting his succession as leader of the quest by ordering Hurin to leave Ingtar behind as well.  He likewise balks at the whole Dragon Reborn thing, obliquely seeking answers from Thom, fighting off Ba’alzamon’s blandishments in his dreams, and then seeing the alternative to his acceptance of the role in the Portal Stone lives.  He spends much of the book resisting saidin which interferes with his performance of the Flame and the Void, despite his need to use them for tasks such as fighting the grolm or retrieving the Horn, along with the revelation to the readers that Padan Fain can’t sense him in the Void.  This all culminates in him using the Void to defeat Turak, while successfully resisting drawing on saidin.  Finally, Rand proclaims himself the Dragon Reborn.  Not in the off page decision he gives at Moiraine’s demand at the end, but when he tells  The Dark One via Ba’alzamon, “I will never serve you, Father of Lies. In a thousand lives I never have...”  The prophecy says “above the watchers he will proclaim himself in flames.”  This is when they are above Falme, where the Watchers Over the Sea are based, per Vandene’s interpretation (though she assumed “above” means “to the north”).  When he finally does confront the real Dark One, Shai’tan addresses Rand as “Adversary.”  That is also how he refers to Rand when speaking to Demandred. That’s a basic summation of Rand’s role, the role of his soul through all the turnings of the Wheel of Time, to be the adversary who stands against the Dark One.  And that is what Rand declared.  He did not call himself by a random name, invented by a long-destroyed culture, he asserted his identity as the eternal enemy of the Dark One, who never has and never will serve him.  

The much shorter arcs of the other main characters have to do with realizing and accepting that Rand is the Dragon Reborn as well. Min and Elayne, of course, are witnesses at Falme, and don’t seem to have struggled with it at all, but Egwene has to adjust from seeing Rand as an ordinary man, and a friend, who needs her help and protection, to the reality that everything depends on him.  Perrin starts out offended by the changes in Rand, which he perceives as hubris or affecting a status not truly his, then figures out he can channel, and thinks of him as dangerous.  He notes the parallel with his wolf issues to Rand’s own problems, and then, when Hurin disappears, like Rand, he has to undertake a role he does not want, replacing Hurin as the party’s tracker.  When they arrive in Cairhien, he is able to perceive that Rand has grown into a leadership role, and finally, on Tomon Head, he accepts the truth by offering to carry the banner.  Mat’s arc is less visible, thanks to his lack of interiority, but he plays a role, as his willingness to support his friends leads to the dagger being taken, driving Rand to join the Hunt, in order to see it retrieved to save him.  His offer to make some aspirin for Perrin when he seems sick is probably what tips Perrin’s decision to reveal his ability to Ingtar - if Mat, who is mortal danger, is concerned for Perrin’s health, how can Perrin keep his secrets when it could cost Mat’s life? - and, of course, what might be perceived as a selfish impulse to save his own hide by adamantly Refusing the Call to Adventure, makes him the most suited to sound the Horn, because salvation from the various threats is usually Mat’s highest priority, next to which glory has zero appeal.

TL;DR - everyone thinks they are hunting the Horn, but they are hunting, and each in his own way, finds, the Dragon Reborn.  

The Dragon Reborn - Seems a misnamed book, because Rand is hardly in it, while Mat, Perrin & Egwene are the main characters.  Except all their missions whatever they think are the reasons they are doing it, all revolve around Rand, and none of them would have succeeded, or likely even survived, had Rand not drawn Callandor and slain Ba’alzamon.  Rand’s actions prevented the Shadow from getting around to checking their trap and finishing off Perrin & Faile, it frightened off the Black Ajah, preventing them from recapturing the Wondergirls or the Defenders of the Stone and High Lords from rallying to drive out the Aiel and corner Mat & Juilin.  Even by separating himself from Moiraine, he made it impossible for Belal to effectively target her for removal from the board, because he could not leave Callandor unattended with Rand out of pocket, and so he had to delegate Moiraine’s removal to the Black sisters, who laid a trap based on their perception of the supremacy of Aes Sedai, and the notion that no one would dare barge in on her private spaces (and possibly Liandrin’s recollection from Fal Dara that Moiraine wards her rooms, claiming a desire to keep out curious servants).  When Mat’s ta’veren luck overcomes Comar’s weighted dice, he has the urge to look at the doorway of the inn, probably because Rand was passing by at that moment.  Nynaeve spots him just before returning to be captured by the Black sisters, and so does Mat right before finding the place he has been searching for.

And of course, while Rand made the choice to accept his role in the prior book, the events of this one serve as a sort of transformative ordeal, through which he takes ownership of the job, and asserts his leadership.  At the beginning, he was still bound by the habits of the prior state of his relationships, letting Moiraine make the decisions and finding himself curtailed by the expectations of his Shienaran comrades turned followers.  When he goes off on his own, he gets a fresh start and a clean break and when the group is reunited in Tear, is able to redefine his old relationships and what they mean to him.  At the beginning of this book, Perrin goes to Rand to offer support in coping with his leadership issues.  In the next one, he will be going to Rand with problems, looking for answers or solutions.

The Shadow Rising - Up until now, the conflict between the main characters and the Shadow has been a personal struggle, largely personified by Ba’alzamon in his pursuit of Rand.   It is in this book that the Shadow’s reach through the rest of the world is explored.  They are no longer simply content to chase the good guys.  We meet more Forsaken, Lanfear makes herself known, and we get a name for the Forsaken discovered in Caemlyn in the prior book.  With the help of the Aiel Wayback Machine, we are given a look at the scope of the fight against the Shadow as it has been fought over thousands of years.  The White Tower feels the threat of the Black Ajah’s infiltration, who are also tearing down the government of Tarabon, and Trollocs are infesting the Two Rivers.  And both Slayer and the bubbles of evil make their first appearances. 

The Fires of Heaven - The most obvious interpretation of this phrase is lightning, but it only appears twice in the book, both times during battles, and artificially summoned by humans.  Which touches on another meaning - as a reader in the real world, one is reminded of the myth of Icarus, who flew on artificial wings, ignoring warnings and got too close to the sun, so they melted and he plunged to his death.  Tamaile alludes to this in rejecting Liandrin’s suggestion to team up against Moghedian, saying who reaches for the sun will be burned.  The use by Rand and the Forsaken of lightning as a weapon, is also a form of humans seeking to master nature, and in each case, the weapon blows back against them Rand creates the conditions so he and his allies can draw lighting against the Shaido, only for Sammael to then use the same conditions to smash his own position, and foil Rand’s and the Maiden’s efforts to keep each other out of danger. The outcome of Rahvin’s lightning trap with enrage Rand and drive him to expand his repertoire and bypass Rahvin’s defense and other traps to attack him directly.

And this ties into the theme of the book, of overreach and usurpation.  To many people, human flight was seen as a usurpation of the place of higher beings, of attempting to violate their natural place in the world, and Icarus’ fate the inevitable outcome.  And this is a concept repeated throughout the book. We start out with Elaida, seen my most characters as a usurper of the Amyrlin Seat, who is herself finding her authority usurped by her inner circle of followers, on whom she seems dependent for their aid in deposing her rival and seeing her raised.  The topic of their discussion seems to focus on asserting their control over the rest of the world, especially the rulers, while attempting to ignore the most crucial factor, Rand.  From the Amyrlin’s study, we go to Caemlyn, where Rahvin has usurped not only Morgase’s rule over Andor, but her very will and bodily autonomy.  Rhavin has taken control of the Tower’s agent in place, and he meets with fellow political usurper, Sammael, with Graendal, his fellow compulsion enthusiast and Lanfear, who seeks to take control of Rand and his destiny.  Morgase, in turn, meets with High Lady Alteima, whose position in Tear was usurped by her rival with Rand’s blessing, and she reports on Morgase her view of Rand as a usurper in Tear.  Rand, in Rhuidean, is dealing with his own would-be usurper, Couladin. Couladin, Sammael and Rahvin, the three usurpers will be the main focus of his attention through the book.  In addition to thwarting Couladin’s and Rahvin’s claims to power they are not entitled to, Rand has to prevent Tairens from usurping rule in Cairhien and deny his own claims to the thrones of Andor or Cairhien.  

It’s not just political power, either.  A major part of Rand’s personal conflict will be about his efforts to take responsibility for the Maidens of the Spear, to take away their choices to risk their lives in battle.  Birgitte perceives a similar thing going on with Nynaeve, who attempts to take the blame for the outcome of her fight with Moghedian. Egwene imposes on Nynaeve, usurping the right to judge her choices and risks. She herself perceives Rand’s exercise of authority over the Aiel as a usurpation and most women see his new relationship with Moiraine that way.  

And of course, there is the whole adventure with Salidar.  By their laws, and their own admission, Elaida is the lawful leader of the Tower, and everything they do after the crucial decisions in this book is an attempt to usurp the Amyrlin Seat.  Fires of Heaven refers to usurpation and the dangers inherent in it, and while not everything has an immediate consequence, Lanfear’s attempts to control Rand, Elaida’s position in the Tower, Moiraine trying to subvert Rand’s power or Siuan’s attempt to use the Two Rivers women in her plots, Rahvin’s taking control in Caemlyn all redound against them or draw enemies, whether the corrosive influence of Fain, a blindside tackle, Two Rivers stubbornness winning out, or family friends coming for revenge.  They reach for the sun and are burned by the fires of heaven.

Lord of Chaos - This is a reference to a festival mentioned in the Big White Book, “The World of Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time.”  The festival is celebrated in many nations under different names and practices, but features an individual crowned as Lord of Lady of Chaos or Misrule or Fools, or what have you.  This person is selected from the lowest in the community and the elevation for the festival is a pretense, as they are treated with false respect, and the high or mighty have to serve and obey them.  But it is just a pretense, and at the end of the feast or the next day they will go back to normal and assume their proper places.  

This is demonstrated in the epigraph, describing inversions manifesting in nature, lions singing, hills flying, the moon sun shining at the wrong times.  The sort of person selected for Lord of Chaos are described - “blind woman, deaf man, jackdaw fool”.  And inversion is the theme of this book.  We have rulers cast down, like Siuan and Morgase, who is also attended by a former powerful lady, now the girlfriend of a bouncer.  One of the Forsaken is a prisoner and masquerading as a servant.  The enemy Rand perceives for most of the book is Sammael, who has displaced a king as the ruler of a country.  Omerna is a figurehead spymaster for the Children of the Light, whose true control over Amadicia is demonstrated when they take control of Morgase despite her having the protection of its king.  Salidar, despite selecting a legislative body and preparing to choose a nominal ruler, is run by a secret council, and the council themselves are shown to have feet of clay as a pair of their students lecture them on fear and leadership.  Several characters travel to Ebou Dar to meet a queen lacking in power, who admits to having to submit to the power plays of the Children and the Tower rebels and not being able to exert her own authority even in all parts of her own capital city.  

The other side of the coin are the lowly raised high, starting with, most obviously, Egwene, placed in the Amyrlin Seat as a figurehead, not intended to hold true authority any more than the festival’s Lord of Chaos.  Mazrim Taim goes from being a hunted fugitive, to the leader of a new power, who casts down Aes Sedai and orders them to kneel. Rand himself stands in for a monarch and deals awkwardly with power he does not intend to hold for long.  Mat is marching to take command of an invading army, in a role most people believe is simply a figurehead, but in truth is a diversion.  Rand pretends to attend Bashere’s troop movements as a mere figurehead observing a show, which is in preparation for a stealth attack. Perrin returns to the story, in the position of a blacksmith’s apprentice, risen to acclaimed lord of his community, and finds himself leading the rescue expedition pursuing the Tower embassy and Rand. 

People rise and fall over the course of the books, too.  Siuan goes from being below all the Aes Sedai, marginalized and dismissed for reasons of status, to being welcomed back as a peer and friend, only to discover that she stands at the bottom of their fellowship, where she once was at the top, and Delana takes note of the inverted dynamics of their friendship, only to shortly after fall under the control of a higher-ranking Darkfriend, who poses as her servant.  Mat finds his authority over his own men being eroded and taken over by Elayne, until he very thematically rejects the comforts of a palace for the freedom of an inn. 

Rand’s own experiences with Aes Sedai in the book rise and fall.  He approaches Verin and Alanna in power and authority, only to be bonded by Alanna, which up until that moment, has always been an act of taking control by Aes Sedai.  Except Alanna cannot control Rand, and ends the book as his sworn vassal.  Merana comes to Andor as the leader of the embassy, only to fall to Verin’s machinations and then Bera & Kiruna’s higher status, which also exposes the falsity of the leaders raised in Salidar, whose emissary would never be so deposed if their authority was legitimate.  And in the end, the whole embassy become the first Aes Sedai to swear fealty to a man.  The Tower embassy approaches Rand on a throne offering tribute, take him captive and treat him like a despised object, and end on their knees.  

We see, too, a festival, if not the Feast of Fools, taking place during the climactic portion of the book, with the people of a city abandoning their habitual demeanor and morality, all while unaware their ruler, and the savior of the city, has been carried off as a prisoner, while leading nobles are being assassinated.  In Ebou Dar, the Aes Sedai who should be in charge are marginalized and dismissed, while their lessers take the lead.  These putative leaders disbelieve in, and ignore their ostensible mission to hunt for uncooperative students, while their overlooked  and subordinated sisters seek the truly important goal, looking for something that can change the world, in the worst and poorest part of the city.  

Even Rand’s love life hews to the themes, with a confrontation between his actual lover, who lived with him as a partner, and the woman they perceive as having the de jure position as his romantic partner.  And both turn their back on him to explore their own relationship, while a woman affecting to be a platonic friend is able to get close to him and gain his acceptance of her in his life. 

The Dark One’s command to the Forsaken to “Let the Lord of Chaos rule” is perceived by most readers as an order to create chaos in the world, but the only action we know was directly ordered, was that they refrain from attacking or killing Rand.  By “Lord of Chaos,” the Dark One is not referring to himself, but to Rand.  He is ordering Demandred and the rest to leave Rand alone, to treat him like the Lord of Chaos and concentrate on their own affairs, and we can infer the reasons why, as being in a position of nominal power seems to entrap Rand, to constrain him and limit his options, while making him vulnerable to attacks, to assassination attempts, and even to slanders, cost him the respect of people who are supposed to follow him against the Shadow. 

Crown of Swords - Refers to the blades adorning the Laurel Crown of Illian, and also to the price and the pains imposed by power or success  Egwene deals with the headaches of paperwork, Nynaeve and Elayne discover in their negotiations with the Sea Folk, that responsibility is not always easily discharged.  Despite his victory over the Aes Sedai and crushing a pretender to the Sun Throne, Rand has to cope with the responsibility for deaths caused by his actions, with the trauma from his captivity, and even the rumors and attitudes that result from people not knowing the truth of his success, and seeing it as a threat or proof of wrongdoing.  Cadsuane is his version of the Sea Folk, an opponent who will not roll over as so many whom he has gone up against before this.  Rand’s greatest leadership success is with the rebel nobles, whom he wins over by eschewing crowns and scepters and fancy coats and approaches in a version of humility.   Mat pays another kind of price for proximity to a crown.

Path of Daggers - Comes from a Seanchan saying meaning that walking among the powerful is dangerous, and there are no safe places to step. Mat, currently not doing any walking, does not appear, just as Perrin was missing from the book about usurpation and overreach, during a time when he was anything but a usurper, leading with the consent of the governed.  But Rand, while campaigning against the Seanchan whom the title invokes, spends more of his attention dealing with the nobles in his entourage, and his military dispositions are as much aimed at them, as at their enemies.  Egwene is plotting against her own Hall in order to achieve true power within her faction, and key to doing so is her first ever encounter with outsider authority figures as Amyrlin.  Nynaeve and Elayne have taken command in fact and name of the embassy from the rebel Aes Sedai to Ebou Dar, and end up leading a column of refugees from the Seanchan, after getting the major feat of the bookm using the Bowl of the Winds to fix the weather, out of the way early.  The rest of the book has the price they owe the Sea Folk for that feat hanging over them, and at the end of their journey, Elayne is facing another stroll on the bladed pavement of a different height, in Andor instead of the Aes Sedai.  

The book ends with Rand, after the latest podiatric lacerations of Elayne’s public rejection, the Maidens’ cold shoulder, the disappointing Sea Folk Bargain, Cadsuane’s bad news and the assassination attempt by the renegade Asha’man, eschews the Path of Daggers for the time being, choosing to leave behind a leadership role and walking the heights, in favor of stealth and mobility, as set up by Moridin’s board game.  

Winter’s Heart - is about characters dealing with the consequences of their earlier choices and decisions, the way the coming of the season and its associated hardships, resulted from the quest to end the Dark One’s drought, which took parts of three prior books.  It’s about the consequences of hard choices, and features a kind of status, a lack of movement by the characters, as if snowed it, or frozen in place.  Rand plops himself in Far Madding, hoping to lure the renegade Asha’man into a trap, to both avenge his decisions in earlier books which seemed necessary, but are now appearing to blow back on him, using Callandor to fight the Seanchan and founding the Black Tower.  He has learned that he can’t keep relying on tainted saidin forever and wants to cleanse it, but is stuck by his insistence on following through with his trap, until he becomes the one snared in it.  

Egwene, likewise, is mostly absent from the book, as she waits for the day she has chosen to begin the siege of Tar Valon. Perrin, after choosing to leave Faile behind when confronting Masema, now has to deal with her kidnapping, and wait for others to bring word.  Mat is trapped in Ebou Dar, and while planning his escape encounters mission creep in the form of a large number of other people who also need to escape. Elayne has to pursue the Lion Throne with the weight of her prior choices to delay a return home in order to solve the weather crisis, and to reject the greatest source of help available to her by tearing down Rand’s banners.  Where she once traveled the world pursuing enemies and solutions, now she is bound to Caemlyn, by her duties as a would-be ruler.  The movement in this book is all on the relationship fronts, as characters make personal connections.  Elayne & Aviendha adopt each other, the Aes Sedai and Asha’man begin coming together, even if in initially adverse circumstances with broken power dynamics.  Mat meets Tuon, he saves Aes Sedai because of their connections to people he is connected with in turn, and he reaches out to the Sea Folk Windfinders, despite his antipathy to channelers.  While Perrin loses his wife, Berelain steps up to offer her help, if not always in ways he appreciates or welcomes, but that will be the beginning of a working friendship. Faile begins the growth of her leadership arc, by taking responsibility for her fellow captives, while having the endure and maneuver around the toxic and exploitative efforts of others to impose connections on her.  And of course, Rand’s relationships with his three love interests comes to a head, gains new levels as they bond him and he and Elayne conceive their children, and he finally gives in and formalizes a partnership with Cadsuane.  These relationships, these connections, are the heart, that subverts the stasis and entrapment implied by the winter. 

Crossroads of Twilight - Suggests transitions, crossroads being a place where you can change your route of travel and twilight being the change between day and night.  It suggests that as we head into the darkness of the emergence of the Shadow leading to Tarmon Gaidon, people are going to have to choose the final path they will take to that destination.  This book is the middle act in the penultimate arcs of most characters: Perrin’s campaign against the Shaido, Faile’s escape plot, Mat’s flight with Tuon, and Elayne’s campaign for the throne.  Egwene transitions between her leadership of the rebels, to her captivity among the loyalists, and Rand between his efforts to fight all his internal foes, and his reaching out to bring more of humanity into his coalition.  We see the relationships between male and female channelers changing, shakeups within the Seanchan Empire, Perrin move from his axe to his hammer, and Mat beginning his relationship with Tuon.  The book begins with a world-changing event, which most people don’t even understand the significance of, though they are aware it is happening. 

Knife of Dreams - is an metaphor for the margin of victory, and how the outcome of a battle can easily go either way.  While the main characters win several battles in this book, Tarmon Gaidon is not forgotten and looms over most plotlines, reminding everyone that defeat is still very possible, despite Elayne defeating Arymilla, Perrin defeating Sevanna, and Mat fighting his way clear of the Seanchan and defeating Suroth’s gambit against Tuon.  All three of those battles are won against superior numbers and power, by the leaders making extensive preparations, laying groundwork and gathering information, rather than the usual fantasy stand-byes of superior skill, power or a tricky ploy.  They might use deceptions and misdirection, but these efforts are only possible because of things they did in earlier books, and their willingness to put in the effort and attend to the small details that mean the difference in a very narrow victory. 

What are the Towers of Midnight, anyway? Or Winter's Heart? Or the Crossroads of Twilight?

[markantonys]

okay so mat and rand canonically behave the exact same way as a bickering couple. much to think about.

[asha-mage]

(In response to This Post)

(@not-a-darkfriend @defenestratedcow)

Okay. So, basically the idea has two parts. The first part is this:

The world MDZS and the world of WoT are not two separate worlds. Their ware one world, at radically different points in history. MDZS takes place in the early '1st Age' (our age), and Cultivation is like being a Wolfbrother: an ancient ability distinct from The One Power, long lost to history. By the time of EoTW, Cultivation is nothing more then a shadow of a shadow of a memory, save in one place: Shadar Logoth. Mordeth who went to the Finn to ask for a power separate but alike to the One Power, was granted 'The Old Magic'/Cultivation in response, but without context or knowledge of the dangers he became twisted by it, unwittingly turning to reckless Demonic Cultivation, which transformed Airdhol into Shadar Logoth. Mashadar is, in essence, a giant undead creature born of that misuse and the resentful spirits of all of the dead of Airdhol. This is one, short of the Choden Kal, the one power can do nothing to stop Mashadar: it requires suppression and containment by Cultivation, and their is no one living capable of doing that.

The second part of the idea, the more lengthy one, is this:

Basically, many WoT characters are MDZS characters reborn, but not MDZS characters of Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji's generation, but rather characters from the generation /back/. In the same vein, Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji, and their 'circle' are destined to be born post WoT in the 4th Age, to help guide and shape it.

To explain what I mean more directly:

Lan Mandragorn and Nynaeve al'Merea are Qingheng-Jun and Madam Lan reborn. In their previous life, where Lan/Qingheng-Jun didn't grow out of his messed up ideas of duty, love, and power, he really thought that 'marry the woman I love to avoid her being executed, then seclude myself because of my shame and failures denying my wife love and freedom, and my sons a father ' was a reasonable response to their situation. Nynaeve fierce and loving and full of fire, denied freedom as well as the chance to watch to love and guide her sons, of course subsumed despair as a result, refusing to live as a caged bird for anyone's sake. Their canon arc is as a result, largely redemption: Lan learning to move passed his messed up ideas of love duty and power, places his faith and trust in Nynaeve, who does the same in return. Their reward is not just a restored Malkier, but a chance to truly be their and love their children (who will include two sons of course, with a remarkable resemblance to each other, who will share in both their father's intense sense of duty and sentimentality.)

Faile is Yu Ziyuan reborn, and unlike before where she married a man who she did not love and who could not love her in return (being hung up on his childhood friend to the point of taking in said friend's son and raising him as his own) for power and prestige, Faile set out to shape her own destiny. She found a man to truly love her, sometimes overwhelmingly, in Perin, Jiang Yanli and Jaing Cheng are (two of) their children in this timeline. Without cause for her bitterness, and with a true partner to helpher, she does a much better job of raising both, and though at their core their still the same (and Jiang Cheng specifically Is Very Much Her Child and also Very Saldean) Yanli is much stronger of will able to assert her power (as the future Lady of the Two Rivers) and Jiang Cheng is more capable of patience and moderation when needed, having learned it from his (new) father.

Now to show my hand as a filthy ChangMian shipper: Jiang Fengmian was a minor Saldaean Lord who Faile's parents (and specifically her mother Deira) badly wanted her to marry. But after Faile ran off to become a hunter for the horn, Fengmian decided to do the same, eloping with his childhood friend and retainer Wei Changze to become mercenaries together. That choice, to commit himself to the man he loved over a lifetime of projecting his regrets onto his own children, and pinning for a dead man, raising Wei Changze's son in penance for failing him, earns him true happiness with said man he loves. After several misadventures (and their own slow burn) they ended up in Seaenchan, post-fracturing of the Empire, and Wei Changze the leader and protector of a small rebellious port town turned independent city state. Their they are raising their son. (And insisting bald faced that he is both of their biological child, impossibilities of that aside).

Elayne's twins? Wen Qing and Wen Ning reborn. Elayne's unification of Cairhien and Andor's crowns has stabilized her rule, and Wen Qing will one day inherit her crown. To that end Elayne and Faile are trying, very very subtlety arrange a marriage between Wen Qing and Jiang Cheng without letting anyone involved know that's what their doing, since it's hard to tell who would go more ballistic: Wen Qing (at having no say in her husband), Jiang Cheng (at being sold like cattle), or Perrin (at having his son's future used as a political gambit). The fact that Jiang Cheng and Wen Qing are very obviously smitten with each other and have no intention of ever admitting it to themselves or anyone else, drives both their mothers insane.

Finally, the Big One: Wangxian.

Wangxian specifically, are Heroes of the Horn, souls spun out again and again to make new legends and help shape the future. Like Birgitte and Gaidal Cain they are always spun out together, and also like Birgitte and Gaidal (who are the OG hate-at-first-sight/enemies to lovers), Wangxian are the OG slow burn/childhood In every life they fall madly in love, but take time and proving it to both themselves and each other. Sometimes they are a tragedy. Sometimes a grand epic. Always is it a long and hard road to loving each other.

In the 4th Age, their a Prince of Malkier (sent to the White Tower to train with the Warders) and a young Asha'man solider, sent to the Black Tower after it was discovered he was born with the Spark. They meet of course, when Wei Wuxian is sent to the White Tower for his Required Exchange Student Credit, and tries to sneak out into Tar Valon only to be caught.

[mashithamel]

Doing my pre-season 3 reread of The Shadow Rising and I’m falling in love with Faile again. I love how she is always in Perrin’s corner. She has annoying moments (it’s The Wheel of Time, after all), but she is consistently supportive, caring, and loves Perrin so much.

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[wheelofdisasters]

Perrin: *propping feet on the table* So I hear you have a thing for bad boys.

Faile: What? No.

Perrin: *taking his feet off the table and cleaning it* Oh thank goodness.

[pillowfriends]

I can't believe Perrin's solution to his marital problems was "I need to accept being sexually harassed, and also yell at my wife more." and it WORKED. Robert when I catch you -

[christophernolan]

Perrin: I wish Rand or Mat were here. They’re so much better at talking to women.

Also Perrin:

[spectrum-color]

“Rand took a deep breath. Perrin had such a serene marriage, with a smiling, gentle wife.”