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thelivingautomaton · 1 year ago

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so lately i've been curing my brainrot by listening to audiobooks while i crochet, the result being that i have gotten really, really into the wheel of time (which i've previously bounced off of like, 3 separate times) and also been tweeting about it. anyway i have finished the first book and simply must scream into the void about it

jesus, okay, where do i even begin. let's talk about characters

so i KNEW that mat was gonna be The Character Of All Time going right in, i am self-aware enough about what kinds of blorbos i enjoy (read: cocky roguish guy who is actually a sopping wet cat of a man and uses snark to obscure deep-seated angst and/or doubt in himself, his identity, and his goodness). and i do have an affection for mat at this point

although ngl it kind of totally went over my head when i last tried to read these books that he is also? kind of a dick this early on? though to be fair he was having his soul eaten by an evil dagger for like, two-thirds of the book

that being said. what i did NOT expect was for the dark horse surprise contenders for Character Of All Time to be nynaeve and rand

nynaeve is literally the funniest, pettiest bitch ever and i love her SO MUCH. literally what if you were a preternaturally gifted healer and given a position of authority at a very young age so you had a complex about it, but that complex manifests itself as a bullheaded stubborn drive to Take Care Of Your People, and you are ready to throw hands with every magic lady Jedi on the way because you are fueled by Pure Unadulterated Spite at all times

every time she'd try to start a catty slap fight with moiraine and moiraine would just, like, sip her tea unbothered? now THAT'S comedy

sidenote, dear lord do these characters drink a lot of tea. do they have coffee in this nebula. do they have new world crops. i feel like someone must have mentioned potatoes. where was i

oh my god, rand. RAND. literally WHAT IF you were a farmboy from the ass-end of nowhere and you get pulled into this fantastical adventure like a hero from legend, but you spend 700 pages having all of your assumptions about the world and yourself systemically questioned and tested and broken down. and the whole time you're holding onto the hope of going home and going back to the way things were, until you experience the crushing weight of the Hero's Journey and the fact that you can never really go home (read: go back to the simple life and the way things used to be) ever again

EXCEPT!!! THAT THERE IS ALSO WONDER AND EXCITEMENT AND CURIOSITY TOO!!! like, obviously i loved all the times that rand and the other farm kids are agog seeing different parts of the world (especially the cities -- dude, i LOVE the setup for caemlyn) but literally one of my favorite scenes was when rand is on the spray sitting at the top of the mast and he just starts laughing aloud for the freedom and joy of it all. the journey will be long and terrible and arduous but it's so important to show that there are bright moments on the way too. i'm going to puke

also there's a few moments between rand and the dark one (ba'alzamon? bro idk how anything is spelled) that were so *chef's kiss*, like rand telling him "i belong to myself" or in their big fight when he screams that he'll never be a hound for the dark one. more generally i love the emphasis placed on the importance and power of people taking a stand, even if they know it's futile. ESPECIALLY if they know it's futile. (there was this line from moiraine like "the wheel weaves as the wheel wills, but i refuse to believe it weaves an end to all hope". waugh)

also i know the reveal that rand can channel was telegraphed from a mile away but i ain't even mad about it because i feel like the setup was done so nicely. you get a scene of moiraine explaining to nynaeve about how channeling feels the first time you do it (i.e. you have the greatest need you've ever known, then a week later your body has a delayed reaction that feels like a weird flu), you get rand and mat escaping whitebridge via improbable lightning strikes, then you get rand coming down with a weird flu. like, idk, i like it when creators set up dominoes and i as a reader can SEE the dominoes getting set up and i get to go like, hoohoohoo, can't wait for those to get knocked down!

unsurprisingly since rand and nynaeve are my two favs i also am enamored with their dynamic. maybe it's because you're in rand's head the most in this book, and so it's the closest you as a reader are to seeing a straightforward platonic relationship between a male and female character? but okay like, listen. nynaeve is the FIRST PERSON (maybe the only person rn??) rand shares his fears with re: tam not being his dad and him not knowing who he is. and nynaeve immediately reassures him that it doesn't matter, she saw tam and kari with him and she KNOWS they loved him like any father and mother

or like, the scene when rand overhears lan and nynaeve having their whole Dramatic Star-Crossed Romance (which is like, cool, but also, can't wait for lan to get over his TTRPG Tragic Backstory [affectionate] and kiss her already), and the chapter ends with a line like "Rand closed his eyes. He did not think the Wisdom would like it if he saw her cry." good GOD!

how old are these kids supposed to be anyway. like i know nynaeve is older by a few years and she's...24? so are the rest 18-20ish? oh my god you guys, they're KIDS

i'm sure i will have more thoughts about the other characters as these books progress and shit continues to pop off and Get Funky (especially relevant vis a vis perrin going full wolf mode and egwene learning how to be an aes sedai). also i love how often it's repeated that people from the two rivers are The Most Stubborn People Alive, and how rand holds onto that as part of his identity (re: envisioning hardy two rivers soil)

now let us talk about the world because OH MY GOD

one of the things that definitely stuck with me was the secret hidden lore re: "this is actually post-post-post apocalyptic earth", cf. thom telling stories about "lenn flying to the skies in an eagle made of fire" and "salya walking among the stars", because it is so fucking insane as a concept and jordan does it REALLY WELL, in the sense that any references to "our" earth are so oblique and indirect that they're barely comprehensible, which is as it should be if these books take place a whole two ages later

but it's also such a perfect excuse/reason to deliberately echo and make homage to myths and stories that we as readers are familiar with, the most obvious being the legend of artur hawkwing (and also half of our main cast having arthurian-esque names). something something george lucas saying that it's like poetry, it rhymes

the part that really dropped me flat on my ass though was when perrin and egwene and elyas are leaving the tinkers and elyas LITERALLY recites anglican catechism at them ("as it once was, so shall it ever be, world without end"), reader i screamed

that being said. i do kind of wish there was more Weird Religion Bullshit. i mean it makes sense that the cosmology and people's theological beliefs are pretty universal (given that it's a Canonical Big Deal Historical Event that the embodiment of evil punched a hole in reality and made magic evil and fucked up for men forever), but like. where is the variety! where is the spice! where are the religious freaks! give me religious freaks!!!

however this is ameliorated by the fantastic variety in cultures/societies/stories, and also the overarching theme of "the world has moved on from what it once was". like, everything with loial (also strong contender for Supporting Character Of All Time) talking about the groves and how different the world is from what he'd read about in the stedding! the entire scene with the green man (which still makes me feel completely fucking insane, just btw)! perrin and egwene at the ruined statue of artur hawkwing! moiraine telling the people of emond's field about manetheren! WHEWWWWWWWWWW

like, it really does give you this sense of history and loss. but also i hope that as the books go on it gets more into, like, "okay, the world has moved on and nothing will ever be as it once was. so what are we going to do with the world we have? how are we going to keep it safe and let it grow?"

sidenote: the tragedy of listening to the audiobooks is that i can't flip back to look at the map or the glossary if i start getting a little lost 😭 help i just want to get everything Right in my head

i also feel like jordan does a fantastic job of like...getting the reader further and further into the more fantastical or impactful elements of the world step by careful step and pacing out how he escalates the characters' importance to the world. does this make any sense.

like, baerlon -> whitebridge -> caemlyn is a steady stepwise escalation in Experiencing A City. and the one-two-three combo of loial explaining ta'veren to rand + rand overhearing a farmer gossip about queen morgase and her family + the repeated references to seeing the false dragon in caemlyn all leads perfectly into rand falling into the garden and the entire chapter with elayne and gawyn and morgase. (side note: this chapter was fucking incredible, good god i am obsessed with royal political bullshit.) OR having all these moments of the characters with moiraine to establish her nature, then providing an immediate contrast with the introduction of elaida as the "other" aes sedai. DOES THIS MAKE ANY SENSE AT ALL. it's dominoes, baby

okay i have a few other miscellaneous thoughts

i fucking love how unapologetically trope-y these books are. it is so crunchy. not just vis a vis the hero's journey, but also, like, all the repeated motifs? spooky symbolic dream sequences? excerpts from in-universe writings and poetry? Foreshadowing Via Fortune-Telling? chef's kiss

also, dude, i love that robert jordan really dropped all of the fucking symbols for the next who knows how many books into three paragraphs via min. he knew the girlies would go crazy for this. AND HE WAS RIGHT

same goes for the whole concept of ta'veren, like i know on the surface it's kind of a goofy concept that you are Assigned Main Character At Birth by the wheel/the pattern, but also like. this man knew people on tumblr would be obsessing over characters doomed/haunted by narratives 30 years after these books were published. his third eye was OPEN

in a bizarre way so much of the story elements and pacing feels like a d&d campaign. mat is the rogue who picks up stuff he really shouldn't. perrin is a barbarian that accidentally took a level in druid. lan is the dm's npc blorbo with the intricately detailed tragic backstory that gets dumped on the players all at once (this is affectionate i swear). do you see what i'm saying

hi i love these books a lot already and i can't wait for them to get even more insane. thanks 4 ur time

#wheel of time #the wheel of time #wot book spoilers #but not really cos this is all the first book. i just don't know what other tags to add and i want this post to Find Its People #also i'm just now realizing how appropriate it is that i crochet while listening to these books #because. you know. the wheel weaves and whatnot

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gmanwhore · 2 years ago

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I. Wrote a thing. @otherworldlyoddities45 it's the blorbos.

Gimothy felt exhausted. The past…however long it had been had gone by in a blur. He highly doubted that he'd ever be able to unsee Zircon getting kidnapped right off the stage, right in the middle of why xe loved most. And knowing xe had been trapped in a tube was just awful. Raven knew what it was like to be trapped, but he didn't, not really. He just knew he never wanted that. What made it worse was that even with all that horrible stuff, there was that little voice in the back of his head to add to to it. Some of those people never stood back up. He was a murderer now. Yes, he was saving someone so incredibly important to him and so many other people but there were no people who had died because he went on a rampage. How did the night go so wrong?

His head felt light, just like he had felt during the concert. Was he panicking again? He couldn't feel much, just bad. He felt so bad and bad and bad and bad…he could feel himself crying but he didn't quite know how he could possibly feel it through the numbness. He leaned against the wall, sliding down so he was sitting with his knees up in front of him. Sobs racked his body as he tried to get all the bad out of his system.

The tapping of Raven's cane was surprisingly loud. It usually was quieter, but she had used so much energy and was probably just as tired as he was. She sat next to him, and without a word he threw his arms around his dear friend. She held him close with shaky hands. Soon she was crying too. It made sense, she had just been back to a place she never wanted to see again, seen people she was deep down terrified of. He didn't begrudge her tears. They just cried together on the floor of Gimothy's spaceship, the one home they both would always have that would never feel like a cage.

They couldn't cry forever, of course. Eventually they fell silent, still holding onto each other. Gim finally spoke, his voice cracking.

"...Zircon taught me how to play guitar."

Raven smiled slightly down at him, her glittering black eyes inviting him to continue. He wiped his eyes and nose with his sleeve and did so.

"I can't even remember how old I was. I just saw xir playing and wanted to learn so I asked. The first time I picked up my guitar the C string broke and xe said 'C string down!' and I got confused and said 'No, the floor is down!'. We still talk about it. It's just…I have no one else close like that, not even my parents. Xe has always been there, you know? Zircon's the only person who could ever know what I really am, xe is the only blood relative I have that knows me and talks to me. I almost lost xir and I…I…"

He broke down into tears again. Raven just stroked his back.

"I doubt anyone would ever let anything happen to Zircon. Xe seem to be in wonderful hands. This was a fluke. I am certain it won't happen again, and even if it does xe is protected."

"What is xe isn't? What if I lose xir forever? I'll never have someone like that in my life again!"

Raven took a handkerchief from her pocket and wiped Gim's face off, doing her best to smile.

"You won't. Not for a very long time."

Gim sighed shakily, rubbing by his ears. A loud ringing had started in them. It faded quickly, like it always did.

"I hope you're right."

"I hope so too."

They were both silent for a few moments.

"Raven?"

"Yes?"

"Do I have to worry about losing you too? I know…I know that I age slower then you do, and your whole…problem…"

Raven gave him a severe look, not angry and not disappointed but still pointed.

"Gimothy Timbles. You were just sobbing over possibly losing someone you care deeply for. Do you think you are even close to emotionally prepared for the answer you will be given?"

"No…"

She sighed and shook her head, rubbing his shoulder.

"Let's drop this subject for now. There are better ones to pursue, such as whether or not you feel up to eating beans and possibly frankenfurters."

Gim looked up at his friend and smiled.

"Only if you are up for rose tea and tiny cucumber sandwiches."

Raven couldn't help but laugh as Gim helped her to her feet.

"I will handle the boiling, you the slicing?"

"Sure thing, ma'am."

Gim made sure Raven was supported against him as they walked towards the kitchen. Her steps were heavy, and her breathing was still ragged.

"Do you think you are up to it? I can cook if you want…I don't mind."

"No, no, let me. It's a mostly stationary job, yours will be far more strenuous."

"Cutting bread is the least strenuous thing like…ever."

"Boiling water isn't?"

"You got me there."

The two began their tasks, each working quietly. Raven asked Gim to bring in a chair and he did with no comment. She was tall enough to keep an eye on everything sitting down. Soon they were both settling down to a nice, if rather clashing meal. Gim did find that cucumber sandwiches did improve greatly when they were dipped in baked bean sauce, and Raven did have to admit a little more meat in her diet (even though light foods were much more becoming for a lady) was a good thing.

They washed the dishes together, and got ready for bed side by side as always.

"Raven, are you sure you're ok? You did a lot of fighting back there, and you did say turning into a flock of Raven's in particular takes a lot out of you…"

Raven did look tired, her elegant nightgown looking more like a curtain hanging around a skeleton then it's usually birdlike elegance. The little of the flesh part of her face that remained was sallow and corpse-like. Her eyes looked dull and glassy, and the shake in her taloned, scaly hands was only getting worse.

"Gim, we are going to bed. I will be fine."

Her voice carried an edge of annoyance, so Gim dropped the topic as they finished getting ready for bed. They both laid down next to each other, instantly finding their favorite position to sleep in: facing each other, embraced, Raven's head rested on top of Gim so her mask didn't poke him. Neither had nightmares when they slept like this. It was almost like they were each other's charms against the horrors of life.

Gim woke up first. It was already late in the day; his clock said 10:00 am and since they were on Earth that meant the morning was almost over. He looked up at Raven, and saw she was still dead asleep. He did panic for a second because she was breathing so shallowly and he couldn't find a pulse, but her chest rose and fell so he calmed down. He only cried a little so that was good. Once he had determined that she was ok, he pulled on his housecoat and slippers then left the room, closing the door so nothing would disturb his friend's sleep.

He went down to the kitchen to make breakfast, deciding first to call Corey to say that he and Raven would be by later to check on Zircon and say hi and maybe hang out a bit now that the situation was over. He was glad she didn't pick up, he wasn't quite in the mood for talking but he did want to know her and Sylvan a bit better. He might even talk to Gerard and be able to know him, too. It's not that he didn't know them, but he had only met them briefly before…oh, he couldn't think about it.

After he left a message we went about making what he referred to as "cowboy tacos". He's picked it up sometime on his first visit to Earth, cooked bacon that was then cooked into a pancake. Comfort food at its finest. He made himself some coffee and steeped some tea for Raven. It was weird, she still wasn't up yet. He usually woke her up by getting out of bed. He made sure everything was set up before he went back to the bedroom. She was still asleep, curled up on her side. She looked less serene and more upset now.

"Ray-Ray?"

He crept closer. Should he wake her up? She still looked as bad as she did yesterday…He opted for gently holding her hand. She shivered at the touch just slightly but stayed asleep. Gim watched her, his expression worried but happy since at least she was alive. She was just worn out after everything, he had to remind himself. He didn't want to start breakfast without her though.

He decided to get dressed in his favorite clothes: loose brown t-shirt, brown slacks, and a tie-dye bandanna around his neck. He snuck back out of the room and headed for the entrance, putting on his big brown cowboy boots, long leather coat, and of course his cowboy hat. He looked at himself in the mirror and nodded, pleased with how he looked. He still had storm cloud coloured circles under his eyes, and he looked as worn out as Raven did but he still looked pretty ok. Cowboys always looked a bit rough, right? He debated bringing his shotgun for protection, but he couldn't bring himself to touch it. He'd done enough.

It was just starting to warm up. It was Spring, the part that comes just after winter but just before the trees bud. Since Gregory (his ship) was in a forest, most of the snow hadn't melted, but it wasn't all that cold. The sun lit him up and made him feel warm, and the snow was just slush under his boots. He thanked Raven silently for waterproofing them. He had suffered through enough cold and wet feet before it since he refused to wear anything but his boots. They fit his perfectly. He also would never admit it, but he had to keep his cowboy aesthetic up.

The whole space cowboy thing had started when he was very young. He wanted to know everything about Earth he could, and a couple of the books his parents could get their hands on was about the Wild West. One of them was a children's book about a brother and sister who traveled through time, and the other was an adventure story about outlaws. He had fallen in love with cowboys then. They were strong but sensitive, they looked so cool, they were so brave…they were adventurers just like him, always looking beyond the horizon for new pastures. Apparently there were no K'merii cowboys, but he didn't believe that. It would be perfect…someone from his planet, riding through the open prairie, lamenting the people they've left but knowing they'll haunt them forever…it was poetic!

The love had remained as he grew up. No one had dissuaded him, but it wasn't something people brought up much. He did, though. Any chance he got he would tell everyone all he knew about these wonderful people, these legends that trotted across his mind. They didn't quite fit in either. Why else would they keep searching for something? Maybe they just needed other cowboys. This just led to him imagining a cowboy herd, which even as an adult made him laugh. Still, when he left for his own greener pastures, he clung to cowboys. He bought himself the perfect outfit. He even made the coat himself, and dyed all the fabric for his clothes to fit the dusty browns his heroes wore. His spaceship was his horse, the universe his prairie. All he needed was the adventures.

He had them. He traveled everywhere he could. His first destination was Earth, though, to the Wild West. There wasn't a lot of the Wild West left, but he did see big horned cattle in one place and saw an actual rodeo in another! He was disappointed that his heroes were long gone, but look! People still loved them! They still loved the idea of being a wanderer who deals justice to those wronged everywhere they go. They still loved the outfits, and the wonder of the wild blue yonder. It warmed his heart. He even found copies of his favorite childhood books. They still sat in a place of honour in Gregory so he can read them whenever he wished. He really needed to read them to Raven one day.

Speaking of Raven, he wondered if she felt the same way about the Victorian Age as he did about cowboys. She always referenced being a "proper lady" and being elegant and lovely, not matter what. Was that her version of the dashing hero? A lady in full control of herself? He liked that. He liked that they both liked something in that way. He'd have to bring that up with her.

He returned to Gregory, and took off his boots and coat. He left his hat on, he didn't want to end today's adventure and taking off the hat would signify that. He just strolled into the kitchen, feeling so much better after reminiscing and getting some fresh air. Raven was up now, sitting at the table with a book in her hands. She set it aside as soon as he came in.

"Ah, Gimothy. Wonderful to see you, how are you?"

"I am great! How are you feeling? You look a bit better."

Raven looked at herself, and sighed.

"Spread a bit thin, I'm afraid. I'm sorry for worrying you last night, I just was trying to keep you calm. I see now it didn't work."

Gim shook his head and set about warming up breakfast again.

"Nah, I get it. You didn't want to seem less of a lady, right? I don't blame you."

Raven smiled kindly. Gim returned it as he brought over their breakfast.

"I'm just glad you feel better."

"Thank you, and thank you for letting me sleep. I really needed the rest."

"Of course! If you need a rest, let me know! Oh! I called Corey, I said we were going to go over later today to make sure Zircon is alright and maybe chat a bit."

"Sounds lovely."

They both ate their breakfast.

"Is this…a bacon inside a pancake? Is it properly cooked?"

"Of course it is! You cook the bacon first, then cook the pancake around it!"

Raven looked just slightly repulsed, but only for a second. She didn't want to offend her dear friend.

"How…quaint."

Gim laughed, waving around a bit of pancake soaked in syrup around on his fork.

"Everytime you call something quaint it makes me want to do it more!"

"Oh joy. I so flattered you enjoy this so much."

"You made me eat snails once. And frog legs. And goose liver! Plus none of that's Victorian! It's French, I checked!"

Raven rolled her eyes and flicked back her hair.

"You enjoyed all of them, so said so yourself."

"Before I knew what they were!"

Raven huffed and went back to eating. Even her bites were elegant. Again, once they were done they washed the dishes together then brushed their teeth. It was already noon, but neither seemed to mind much. Raven excused herself to get dressed, then returned in-gasp!-bloomers and a blouse!

"Gim, would you be a dear and help me tie my corset?"

"Oh, alright."

He joking rolled his eyes and he walked over to tighten her corset.

"Tighter, please."

Gim put on his best Raven impression.

"Do you think that would be prudent in your current situation?"

"Oh, hush. Don't give me that look! Fine, fine, just tie it so it doesn't open, please."

He did just as he was asked, then stepped back to let her move around.

"Perfect, and thank you for your wisdom Mr. Gimbles. Now, when are we going to go?"

"Two? I dunno, I still haven't gotten a call back to see if it's even ok…"

"How about you call again, and I'll get my makeup done."

"What if I want you to do mine too?"

Raven raied her eyebrows, knowing this behavior all too well.

"It can wait until the phone call is done."

Gim sighed. He really wasn't looking forward to talking to someone who wasn't Raven. He was terrified that he would burst into tears over the phone and that was a very big no. He only cried with Raven, period. He could stall for a few minutes, and anyways there was something he was really curious about.

"Ray-Ray?"

"Yes, Gim?"

"Why do you like Victorian fashion and stuff so much?"

Raven sat on a stool and thought for a second.

"I liked how powerful the women were. Yes, they were still subjugated but they felt the strength to be heads of households and commanders of their own spaces. They were also so elegant, so flawless…I dreamed of a world where I could be like them. They were my guides when I was a child and only had stories of them. I remember…an older test subject told me about them through the bars of my cage. She said her mother had been like that. She knew what it was like. Every story left me in awe. These people were so intelligent, so well-mannered and genteel…I wanted to be that. So, I would pretend. It became a lifeline. They could tear me down and leave me ragged, but I was an elegant and proper lady and elegant and proper ladies never let people walk all over them. Is that a good explanation?"

Gim smiled, and nodded.

"Those ladies are your cowboys."

Raven smiled back, knowing what he meant.

"Yes, I suppose they are. Isn't that wonderful?"

"Yeah. It is."

Gim gave Raven a hug before he turned away to go make the phone call.

#mr. spaceman please take me along!; gimothy and raven

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