#and seeing Silver in his dreams will awaken those feelings again and he'll 'wake up' because he knows something is missing in his life 😭

[anonyanonymouse]

Heyyyy guys. I'm with you 100%, I WANT Lilia's dream to be when he found Silver. I'll scream and perish and die if that's the case I am SERIOUS oh my god. But also um, what if it wasn't. What if Silver and Malleus want him to be in their lives so badly and Lilia's fantasy dream has little to nothing to do with them. Um. What are we going to do then.

[iviarellereads]

The Eye of the World, Chapter 9 - Tellings of the Wheel

(THIS PROJECT IS SPOILER FREE! No spoilers past the chapter you click on. Curious what I'm doing here? Read this post! For the link index and a primer on The Wheel of Time, read this one! Like what you see? Send me a Ko-Fi.)

(Dragon fang icon)(1) In which I have complicated feelings about this extremely badass moment.

Rand dreams he's being chased across a terrible desert by Trollocs, to the point of utter exhaustion. He sees a mountain, a bleak stone spire, and calls it the source of his desolation. He feels like he knows it, though he can't place how.(2) Part of him feels drawn to the mountain, and his limbs move to bring him closer to it, until he realizes it's not his own urge, and gets angry.

A voice calls upon Rand to "serve me", and Rand swears he'd recognize the voice if it kept talking. He yells a cuss, and a face looms before him that he can't bear to look at.

A hand reaches for him, and he throws himself over the cliff, but lands on his feet in a winter-brown field of grass. He can see a mountain that inspires no negative feelings, and a city between two rivers,(3) a city from a story, white and silver and fair radiating safety. He makes his way toward it until a cold, clammy feeling comes over him, and that face reappears. He can sense the cold hand reaching for him again, touching his collar, and he knows that if those fingers touch him, he'll go mad or worse.

Suddenly he trips, and lands next to one of the bridges to the island-city refuge.

He sees a great white tower and knows that's where safety and knowledge lay, but surely it can't hurt to stay in the city a moment. He turns a corner, and sees the tower at the end of the new street. Everywhere he looks, is the tower.(4) The people around him look of despair and he knows somehow he's the one who broke their hope. As soon as he starts walking toward the tower, they all become happy again and cheer him on, dancing and making music and pushing him toward the tower.

Eventually, he finally makes it to the tower, and the Myrddraal hisses that they've been waiting for him.

Rand wakes from the nightmare to note that the fire's been tended, and wonders if naming the Dark One in a dream, as he did, will bring the same attention as naming him aloud. He blames the nightmare on his hunger and the stress of the previous day.

Tam awakens as Rand gets up to check on him, and realizes that it wasn't a dream when he sees his sword at Rand's waist. Rand catches him up on everything that's happened. Tam is skeptical of Moiraine's words, noting that Aes Sedai don't lie right out, but they can manipulate words to mislead.(5) He does agree that if Rand has to leave, it has to be done soon, but says maybe he'll catch them up on the road.

Lan comes to tell Rand to hurry, there's trouble afoot. Tam tells Rand to keep the sword, he'll likely have more use of it than Tam will. Rand rushes out after Lan, to find Moiraine being yelled at by a crowd of villagers, mainly the ones who are well known for being unhappy with anything and everything. Mayor al'Vere and Master Luhhan try to calm the crowd with reason, to little avail.

Moiraine cuts in and reminds them that they are the descendants of a great kingdom, Manetheren. She tells a tale of the bravery of its rulers, King Aemon al Caar al Thorin and his wife, Queen Eldrene ay Ellan ay Carlan, and their and their citizens. During the Trolloc Wars, Manetheren was the Dark's fiercest opponent, and their main force had just won a great distant victory when they learned that their home was under attack. They marched day and night, not stopping even to clean their blades. They made it home just before the trolloc horde bore down on their mountain kingdom home.

“The host that faced the men of Manetheren was enough to daunt the bravest heart. Ravens blackened the sky; Trollocs blackened the land. Trollocs and their human allies. Trollocs and Darkfriends in tens of tens of thousands, and Dreadlords to command. At night their cook-fires outnumbered the stars, and dawn revealed the banner of Ba’alzamon at their head. Ba’alzamon, Heart of the Dark.(6) An ancient name for the Father of Lies. The Dark One could not have been free of his prison at Shayol Ghul, for if he had been, not all the forces of humankind together could have stood against him, but there was power there. Dreadlords, and some evil that made that light-destroying banner seem no more than right and sent a chill into the souls of the men who faced it."

In the end, they were promised aid, but none came. Eventually the host fell, and Eldrene knew the moment Aemon died. In response, she channeled more than anyone can, and burned herself out to take out a significant portion of the trolloc army.(7) Moiraine tells all this, reminding the people before her that they should weep for the loss of that people to the cowards they are today.(8)

As the crowd disperses, Rand thinks to himself that this is the real beginning, leaving with Moiraine and Lan, and he has no choice except to leave, but he vows to return to Emond's Field someday.(9)

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(1) Who or what do you think this stands for, in this chapter? (2) Hey, we know a mountain! This doesn't sound quite like that one though. What kind of desolated place might Rand half-remember in a dream? What have we been told by reasonable authorities that the Dragon did near the end of his life? The hopelessness of this place could track with the sort of place the Dark One would be more involved in, the kind of place where one Lews Therin Telamon might take a hundred men to try to burn the DO back out of the world. (3) In the prologue, it said the creation of the mountain diverted a river, which split in two, forming an island between its two channels. I wonder if this is related. (4) Well, dream logic could mean a lot of things. But, how interesting that this tower is where safety and knowledge are, and Rand wants to go there, but as soon as it can't be escaped it becomes rather more ominous. (5) Frankly, don't trust anyone 100% at their word, but the Aes Sedai have no small bit of the Fae, or perhaps the Sidhe (note the closeness of the words), in them. There are lots of ways to leave a piece out or make something seem more important than it is, without lying, to influence the interpretation. Why, I'm doing both of those all the time in these summaries. >:D (6) Ba'alzamon sounds an awful lot like Beelzebub, doesn't it? Lord of the flies, father of lies. A fun wordplay to use. (7) Huh, that sounds a little like what happened to LTT in the prologue.

(8) Now here's where I get a bit tetchy. First, if you're not reading or rereading with me, I gotta tell you to go read (or listen to) this speech for yourself, it's worth it. See, this is an unbelievably powerful speech. Don't get me wrong, it's utterly iconic. The audiobook is narrated, in this chapter, by Michael Kramer because it's from Rand's point of view, but there exists out there a narration of this speech by Kate Reading, who does the women's POVs when they come in. (It's barely a spoiler to tell you the audiobook casting, right?) Anyway, she read the Manetheren speech once, and it's one of the most moving readings of the series IMO, and I know all that's coming. But, I have a "but". I think it's a bit rich that this stranger knows their history, while the only remnants they have are a few place names that have themselves morphed over the years, and a cultural stubbornness. It's part of the point being made, but I wonder at how differently it could've been handled to not seem like this white lady walking into a rural brown town (for have you noticed how much redhead Rand stands out with his grey eyes? though skin colour hasn't been mentioned, it's not a far stretch) and wagging her finger at them for not knowing their own history, as if everyone outside does or something. (9) Oh, Rand, you really don't know the hero's journey, do you? You can never really go home again. You can visit the place, but you and it will both have changed in your absence, so much sometimes that the place is uncannily unrecognizable from what your memory held. The journey has already begun, and I love this little knife to the heart.

[evanoracronwell]

Sunrise

Malex Cupid 2021 by @malex-cupid​

Day 3: “Do you know what today is?”

Also on ao3

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It is the sound of the phone ringing that awakens him.

With a grunt, he rolls over the bed until he reaches the nightstand and picks up the device, when he sees the notification on the screen the smile opens on his lips, and any irritation at being woken up disappears.

I'm already on my way home.

I can't wait to see you.

Love you.

Alex.

Alex, his beautiful and irresistible boyfriend.

And fuck if Michael would ever get tired of that word.

Smiling like a teenager, Michael answered the message, and as soon as he pressed to send he heard the growl coming from his feet on the bed. Wrinkling his nose, he looked at the beagle spread on the bed with his face completely mashed from sleeping.

"What is it, girl? It's not that early, it was almost time to get up anyway. We have a lot of things to take care of today"

With an excitement that made Buffy snort indignantly, Michael got out of bed and goes straight to the bathroom to take a quick shower and finish waking up.

Today was a very important day.

It was the first Valentine's Day that he and Alex would spend together, as a couple.

And well, honestly speaking, it was the first Valentine's Day that Michael would celebrate at all. He had no idea how to make it work. But it had to be perfect.

Because Alex deserved nothing but perfection.

So he changed his clothes and get ready to start the day.

He took Buffy for a walk even though the dog was clearly outraged about getting out of bed so early on Sunday morning.

He cleaned the whole cabin, feeling extremely proud of the home he built with Alex.

Now completely renovated, the cabin barely resembled that house that Alex had inherited from old Jim.

The couple's bedroom had been painted a light color, the bed replaced by a king bed, the wardrobe custom-made by Michael himself. The chair in the corner where Buffy always took refuge to sleep when she wasn't in bed with them.

The bathroom had been enlarged and adapted to Alex's needs, the treat they had done to themselves by buying a hot tub, and that they spent hours and hours in the water relaxing after a tiring day.

The living room now has a huge and comfortable sofa, armchairs and a television.

The kitchen had been renovated and modernized.

Everything was so perfect, so ... theirs.

The photos were scattered around the rooms. Showing captured moments of happiness between him, Alex, and the whole gang.

After so many years, Michael finally had a home to call his own.

And most importantly, a home with Alex. What made it even more special

With the house clean it was Buffy's turn to face the terrible shower, and the cowboy could only laugh while the dog whimpered as if she were suffering the worst torture at the hand of one of her fathers. But there she was, bathed and smelling the baby scent of the products they bought at the pet store, and with a pretty red bow that Isobel had made to buy for the dog.

And that was exactly why today had to be just perfect.

Because after eight months of living together, he would finally ask the hand of that beautiful man in marriage.

"Okay girl, now you behave yourself because Dad needs to go out and buy things to make dinner. Your daddy will be here tonight." He smiled when he saw how Buffy immediately reacted to Alex's mention. "That's right, girl, he'll be back today."

Michael had also changed a lot, months ago he had opened his own mechanical garage after old Sander decided to retire, the place had undergone a major renovation and was nowhere near the old Junkyard. Michael even had employees working with him, well ... just two kids that Michael was still training and teaching everything. But they were good kids and above all, hardworking, and after all, Michael never even imagined that he would have his own business.

As he drove to the market downtown, Michael found himself thinking about how much life had changed.

After Alex finally left the air force, he got a job at a private security company in Washington, but luckily he could work remotely, they paid extremely well and it made the job too perfect for Alex to turn down, so now taking the few trips he took to personally attend a few customers, Alex was always at home.

When parking the truck in front of the market, the cowboy smiled when he saw his sister standing at the front door waiting for him.

"You know when I said I was coming to the market when you called me, it wasn't an invitation for you to join me." Michael grunted, rolling his eyes as he grabbed a shopping cart and Isobel joined him in the aisles.

"Please, as if you could keep me away. Now tell me, how are the preparations for the big night?"

"I already cleaned the whole cabin and bathed Buffy and yes, I put on the bow you brought her yesterday."

"Great, my niece has to be beautiful. The candles?"

"I have already spread some of those aromatic candles around the house, I will light them as soon as I hear his car pull over. The delivery man left the flowers for me just before I left the house, they are already in the water and I will finish fixing them when I return home."

"Your clothes?"

"Washed and ironed."

"The ring?"

"On my nightstand."

"Your heart?"

"Coming out from my mouth."

Isobel laughed out loud at her brother's terrified look and hugged him around the waist, laying her head on his shoulder as she watched Michael go putting all the items in the cart.

"Michael, he loves you. Nothing is going to go wrong tonight, trust me. He will say yes. There is no couple in the world more perfect for each other than the two of you."

"We really are perfect together, aren't we?"

Isobel laughed again at her brother's silly passionate look, but she still agreed, because in fact there was no couple more in love and more perfect for each other than Michael and Alex.

"So, what's the menu going to be?"

The small box in his trouser pocket seemed to weigh a ton, making Michael's nervousness increase by the second.

Well, it turns out that cooking seems a lot easier in the videos he had seen on the internet than in practice. Not that Michael was not a good cook, he was, but he understood a lot more about cooking typical daily foods, yet he couldn't deny that he did an excellent job.

A few hours later and he had a perfect gorgonzola risotto, a rare grilled steak with a sauce of herbs and vegetables sautéed in butter. The table was already prepared with candles and a flower arrangement, beautiful, but small so that it wouldn't disturb them to look each other in the eye.

With a shower already taken and perfumed Michael looked in the mirror, that was not the kind of clothes he used to wear, dark gray trousers and a light blue shirt, but it was worth it, especially when he knew how turned on gets seeing him like that.

Perfect.

Tonight had to be perfect.

When Alex parked in front of the cabin all he could think about was how much he missed Michael, after four days away, all he wanted to hug his boyfriend and get into the hot tub for hours.

Upon opening the door, however, Alex felt his heart skip a beat.

"Do you know what today is?”

The room was lit only by two lamps that barely gave any light, leaving the rest of the lighting responsible for some candles. And flowers, white roses because Michael knew it was Alex's favorite, scattered as buds and petals everywhere. And right there, in the middle of the room, the most beautiful of all men.

Michael looked at him with a smile on his lips and his eyes were already watering.

"Michael ...?" Alex asked confused but thrilled as he dropped his backpack at the entrance to the cabin and took a step closer to Michael.

"It's Valentine's Day Alex, our first Valentine's Day together. And I've spent a lifetime wishing for this day, but never really believing that it could truly happen. Thirteen years ago you gave me a place to spend the cold nights, a guitar, and one of the most beautiful smiles I've ever seen in my life. " Michael started talking, staring at Alex, who was still a little confused, walking towards his boyfriend until he stopped in front of him. "You showed me that there was good in people and that there was a place for me here, on Roswell. On this planet. You gave me hope, Alex, hope that I could be happy, hope that there was more to people than just cruelty and second intentions. You taught me what it is to love and be loved in such a pure and intense way that it stayed with me, saved in my heart for more than a decade. Nurturing and comforting me every time I felt alone and lost. "

The cowboy smiled and touched Alex's face, who was looking at him so beautifully, his eyes already wet and shedding silent tears, both of them barely moving in fear of breaking that moment so sublime. Michael, speaking in a whisper as if he was afraid to wake up from that dream he felt he was living.

"There hasn't been a single day in my life that I haven't missed you, that I haven't thought of you, and most of all, that I haven't loved you. I'm yours, Alex, totally and completely yours, body, soul, and heart. I am yours to do anything you want. I always have been and will continue to be until my last breath, and beyond that too. I waited more than a decade to finally have you in my arms, and here we are living a life that I never even dared to dream of being possible. But we're here, celebrating our first Valentine's Day together. But I want more. "

With a beautiful smile, Michael took the box out of his pocket and saw how Alex immediately choked and sobbed as Michael went down on one knee showing him a beautiful and delicate silver band.

"I want to celebrate every Valentine's day with you, I want to start a family and see kids running around in our backyard, I want to adopt more dogs, I want to grow old by your side Alex. So please, could you make me the happiest man in the world and accept being my husband?"

Feeling completely overwhelmed with all the emotions he felt at that moment, Alex felt unable to even breathe for a few seconds while looking at Michael.

The beautiful and irresistible, Michael.

The eternal love of his life, Michael.

Kneeling at his feet asking Alex to be his forever.

"There is nothing in this world that I want more than to be your husband."

It was Buffy's bark that woke him, the small, plump beagle was lying on the sofa and Alex laughed when he saw her adorned with a red bow with the words "be my valentine" in white. Looking back at the man kneeling in front of him, Alex smiled so delighted and in love that Michael didn't even dare to blink for fear of losing that vision.

Alex never thought it possible to love that man more than he already did, but here was Michael proving him wrong.

Alex answered in a hoarse and choked voice and then threw himself into Michael's arms causing them to fall on the carpet in the middle of the room, between tears and laughter they kissed in love while Buffy barked and mumbled as if she were also celebrating the news.

"I love you, Michael." Alex murmured against Michael's already red and swollen lips after exchanging long, passionate kisses.

"I love you, too, Alex."

When the next day dawned, Michael grunted when he felt the light coming through the window waking him up. But the sigh coming from the man between his arms made him open his eyes and smile.

Last night had been perfect, much more than he had imagined.

Alex had accepted his proposal, they had eaten dinner while talking and listening to the soft melody that Michael had selected to play, and then they had spent a long time immersed in the hot tub where Michael sank into Alex's body, loving every bit of skin that he could touch. Only later, they went to bed and it was the cowboy's turn to ride Alex passionately, taking all the beautiful moans out of that mouth that he loved to kiss.

Now, holding the most important person in his life in his arms, Michael sighed contentedly as he brought his body closer to Alex, wrapping him tighter in his arms, and then smiled seeing the ring adorning that beautiful man's finger.

Alex, his fiance.

Alex, his future husband.

Yes, Michael smiled feeling his heart overflowing with love and happiness.

He smiled feeling the warmth of a new sunrise touching his skin and bringing all the promise of a long and happy life with Alex

Life couldn't be more perfect.