#i live in tdr !!!!

[platonicau]

💌 sinegard four doodles from the dragon republic (i miss them)

[crowwowo]

TDR & TBG SPOILERS

hello Rinezha nation i figured out DaVinci Resolve ☺️

listen with audio !

Forget Her - Jeff Buckley

i hate them so much they’re in the afterlife happy living in a cottage btw

[asha-mage]

WoT Meta: 'Salvation and Rebirth'

One thing that is fascinating to me about The Wheel of Time is that, despite the fact that the two of the biggest influences on Robert Jordan's cosmology are traditional Hinduism and Protestant theology (in general but especially American Protestantism), as near as I have been able to determine on my 20+ re-reads his world has neither a concept of karma or heaven.

Karma- the belief that your deeds in your current life will impact your rebirth in your next life (to vastly simplify)- is very Big Deal in Hinduism (and several other related religions, such as Buddhism- another big influence on Jordan's cosmology) and yet it is entirely absent from anyone's belief system in the WoT. No one seems to attach strongly to the idea that terrible deeds in your past life might be the source of your misfortune in this one, or that the reason to do good things in this life is to ensure a better rebirth next time. People hope for rebirth into a better life all the time, but they treat this as a capricious whim of fate, not something their actions might reasonably impact.

Interestingly though, some characters do subscribe to semi-related idea, not from Hinduism, but Christianity: Godly living. This is the idea that all troubles are self inflicted, and that if you just work hard, live virtuously, and embrace God ('walk in the light') nothing bad will happen to you ('you wont attract the Dark One's attention'). But their is no serious suggestion that this might be tied to past or future lives, and also the series takes great pains to demonstrate that it's wrong. Bad things happen to seemingly good people all the time (including Our Heroes), and if their is rhyme or reason to be found in it, it's usually the result of a working of fate so vast that the characters involved can not perceive it with their limited knowledge and view. This is one of those central themes of the series that I find so compelling and one Moiraine lays out in TDR (and during her confrontation with Logain in the show): The Wheel itself is not good or evil, it just is, and it weaves fate to a design so intricate and so massive that the human lives pulled about within it are given as much care as....well, as the loom gives to a single strand in a tapestry.

In the same vein the idea of a heaven- an enteral paradise, even just an intermediate one between rebirths, is also absent from Jordan's world building. Their is a belief that your soul will return to the nebulous 'Light' upon death if you where a good person and be taken by the Dark One if you where a bad, but no one seems to equate the 'returning to the Light' with being rewarded for good actions with a paradise where all their desires and needs will be meet, and where they get to chill out until, presumably, its time to be reborn. The idea of Heaven- that earthly suffering being rewarded after death with eternal salvation is a Big Deal in pretty much all Christianity but especially Protestantism, which fundamentally is/was about the idea that salvation could not be gate kept by earthly institutions and was solely the providence of God to deny or grant. The closest you get in Jordan's world any kind of afterlife is the World of Dreams, where the Heroes of the Horn (and only the Heroes) await their rebirth. But that can't properly be called a Heaven- not when nightmares walk it, and the conflicts of the living world can easily, and frequently do, seep inside. Not to mention any mortal can reach it without having to die- by just going to sleep.

And which, on that note, the very idea of the Heroes of the Horn is contradictory to the idea of an eternal salvation. In a system where their is salvation after death, the Heroes would be rewarded for their valor and heroism with eternal peace. Instead their reward is endless lifetimes of adventure, which means endless conflict but also endless legends and stories, as well as the chance to keep making the world better, righting wrongs and putting fate back on track. In this way the Heroes of the Horn are clearly inspired by the idea of the Dashavatara from Hinduism- mortal incarnations born specifically right the ship of cosmic order when fate/the world is getting out of whack. But interestingly, in Hinduism the Dashavataras (and the other avatars) are all Gods taking mortal flesh, and so inherently divine. This is an idea, once again, that many people in Jordan's world believe to be true (most notably the Prophet and his followers) but isn't- Rand isn't the Creator in the flesh, or a vessel of the Light. He's just a person, one whose heroic nature and kind heart earned him a place as a Hero of the Horn, but still mortal beneath all else that he is. And that fallibility, that reality that he isn't a God, that he can bled, be hurt, die, even turn to the Shadow- is a core part of understanding Rand's character arc.

One final thought on this (and the thing that started me thinking on the subject to begin with since The Fires of Heaven is where we are introduced to this idea for the first time in the books): there is something incredibly fascinating to me that to the characters in Jordan's world, the highest and most sacred oath you can swear is on 'your hope of salvation and rebirth'- which taken in the lens of our world are two fundamentally opposed ideas. For Christians salvation is eternal- the salvation of the immortal soul in Heaven free from earthly suffering. In Hinduism, rebirth by definition means continuation on earth, a chance to redeem past mistakes, to better the world, to make new good karma that will enrich your fate.

And yet, the characters in Randland don't view them as contradictory (or if someone does we never hear them voice that thought). Which makes me suspect that salvation and rebirth refers to the Prophecies of the Dragon and the hope they will come true. Salvation in this context is not the salvation of the soul, but the salvation of the world, the wheel, the pattern, fate- saved to continue on into eternity. Rebirth refers the hope you will get to be reborn again- which would only be denied to a person should the Dark One triumph and remake the world....or maybe even the hope that the Dragon will be reborn to save the world, to bring salvation to earth.

That would mean the oath came from a time when the Prophecies where fresh and new, before False Dragons tore countries asunder in wars and before hatred and fear of the Dragon had time to embed itself.

But by then, as often happens we are told, the origins, the why, where forgotten, even the tradition remained, and so no one realizes that, to this day, the most sacred of oaths, including the Three Oaths of Aes Sedai, are sworn in the name of the Dragon and on the hope of his coming.

[markantonys]

thoughts on the people of falme cheering over learning that the dragon has been reborn

1) their city was just getting blown up and now it's not. they're happy about this.

2) their city had been occupied by the seanchan for weeks (months?) and now it's not. they're happy about this.

3) the average layperson may not even recognize the dragon symbol; maybe they're just thinking someone's putting on a nice fireworks show to celebrate the attack being over.

4) but assuming they do recognize it, this is not unlike the immediate reaction to rand declaring himself in the stone in TDR. all the onlookers kneel before him and take up chanting "the dragon has been reborn!" it's not a celebratory moment, exactly, but it's far from a fearful one. it's only in the little coda afterwards that mat tells us the news is being met with both awe and fright as it's being spread; in the immediate moment, "awe" is definitely the main emotion.

5) there is book precedent for rand being welcomed into a city for whom he did a good deed, rather than being met with hatred or fear (illian). maybe the people of falme, in this immediate post-battle moment, care less about the vague future notion of the last battle and more about the fact that whoever's up on that tower did them a solid by helping get rid of the seanchan and the whitecloaks.

6) elayne noted that the people of falme act like they've been seanchan all their lives. perhaps their cheering for the dragon reborn who's just conquered their conquerors is meant to show a Series Theme about how the average layperson doesn't care about who's in charge or about what's going on in the world at large as long as their own individual life isn't affected too badly.

7) in the books, the idea that the general populace is afraid of rand/the dragon reborn really doesn't emerge strongly until TSR, after he's been publicly out as the dragon for more than 5 seconds. no reason to assume the show will never get to this idea just because it hasn't yet. this series has 1 million Themes and not all of them can fit in the first 2 seasons of the show. since everybody was going to be split up for most of this season, they chose "the vulnerability of isolation vs. the strength of togtherness" as the Focal Theme for the season and the big moment of togetherness in the final scene is the conclusion of this Theme. (and this was all necessitated in part by barney's departure; rafe said that the changes to mat's story are what made them decide to double down on the isolation theme for season 2.)

8) simple storytelling and Making Emotionally Satisfying Television reasons. season 2 was a very heavy season of isolation, despair, and loss (and i saw more than one mid-season critic review & show-only comment begging for some light because things had been so painful for so long). thus, they wanted to end the season on a note of unity, hope, and triumph, to give the audience some much-needed positive catharsis. the final scene being everybody screaming in horror and recoiling in terror from rand would've been, you know, kind of a downer.

9) even if the people are celebrating, rand himself is CLEARLY not happy. rest assured that the show is aware of the "it sucks to be the chosen one" Theme and is not going to make being the dragon reborn any less of a burden for rand than it is in the books (just in case the whole thing where he spent the entire season hating himself and having nightmares about killing everyone he loves didn't already give you that impression).

plus, just like in TGH&TDR, this season rand's inner struggle was only about being a male channeler because he had no idea his dragon reborn duties weren't over until the last few episodes. only now that he has officially taken up the mantle of the dragon reborn will it be time for us to see how much being the chosen one weighs on him. so, just the same timing as it was in the books. (and frankly, i think season 1's emphasis on rand having concrete plans for a future in emond's field which he now has to abandon already sold this idea more than the first 2 or 3 books alone did; as a show-only for s1 i was so upset about rand not getting to be a stay-at-home cottagecore dad, my show-only mom was so upset about it, and i've seen plenty of other show-onlys being upset about it too.)

[tailsdollr]

You are the living embodiment of nostalgia with all this slendytubbies posting, TDR

I will never not care how weird or 'cringe' anyone might view this game as. I have, and will always love it. And I'm so glad that many others are finding my art and feeling the same joy that I do for it!

Slendytubbies will live on. If it has 5, 10, 100, or 1 fan. I am still gonna be here. 🤘

[butterflydm]

wot rewatch: 1x1 - leavetaking

Rewatching as prep for season two! These are going to be pretty spoiler-heavy for the books (will note how far) and kinda live-bloggy - I'm briefly pausing to note down thoughts but won't be writing out entire paragraphs. Just little notes as I go on.

Spoilers for the entire first season and some s2 spoilers plus through maybe The Dragon Reborn in the books. Maybe only The Great Hunt.

1. Fascinating how Liandrin's perspective on men and the One Power is the reverse of the truth. It's not men who make the Power filthy but the Power that makes men go wrong (because of the taint). I do think she genuinely believes what she's saying here though.

2. We get a lot of info from Moiraine and Lan here: we know there's an active prophecy, we know that the Dragon can channel, we know they should be 20 years old. We also see Moiraine's doubts and her wishful thinking both at play: she doubts/tests various parts of the prophecy but does not let herself believe he was gentled before he could ever be found.

3. The rumors in/out of the Two Rivers are interesting to think about - it sounds like the idea of ta'veren must be fairly widely known -- given that we know in TGH that at least one of Moiraine's eyes-and-ears is Tuatha'an, I wonder if the group of Tuatha'an near the Two Rivers that Egwene & Perrin run into (with Ila & Aram) is also the group that has Moiraine's spy, in the show canon. EDIT: we know from TDR about her spy, not TGH, lol

4. I am So Interested in whether or not s2 will get into the emotional details of Egwene not braiding her hair anymore.

5. It kinda feels like the show went more hardcore egalitarian for the Two Rivers than the books did -- we never hear anything about the mayor or village council and the women's circle is a rite of passage for womanhood as opposed to being a governing body.

6. Wolves! ❤

7. Some people apparently took Rand calling past-him a sap as him being... a Chad now? Very strange. He's obviously not being serious (and he brings Egwene a berry in this very episode).

8. The scene with the three boys is so good for establishing them as friends but also showing Mat is not supernaturally lucky here, and we see Rand and Perrin's concern and affection.

9. Enter our Mysterious Wanderers. It's a great dramatic entrance for our very Dramatic pair. Moiraine taking a good look around trying to clock all the twenty year olds.

10. So we get introduced to all the celebration and joy first... and then after Moiraine's intro, we get into the various emotional turmoils each of our younger cast are facing:

a. Perrin's marriage is somewhat troubled.

b. Mat's parents have created a troubled family life for him and his two sisters and he is basically the one raising his sisters even while having to deal with his drunk mom telling him he's a terrible person.

c. Rand and Egwene's relationship breaks up as they realize for the first time that they have grown into having incompatible life goals (a problem that will not go away even after their individual situations completely change).

Despite the idyllic scenery, the emotional undercurrents in the village are complex.

11. First we have Moiraine specifying that they need two beds and then we get the lovely non-sexual bath scene with Lan and Moiraine. I love how much we get to see Moiraine & Lan being platonic companions.

12. I like that Egwene and Rand truly care deeply about each other but that doesn't make their lives compatible.

13. Love how we go from the whistling background sound over the Fade to Fain actually whistling.

14. The next morning, we get Mat pawning the stolen bracelet -- this helps sets up why he steals the dagger later; Mat has an incentive to need money that isn't about being greedy. But then we also see in the later scene that his friends very much want to help him. And Mat shows deep emotional intelligence and concern with Rand as well.

15. Nynaeve gets knocked out as a Dragon candidate right away, due to being too old to be the prophecy baby. Sadly, in the process of figuring that out, Moiraine burns a bridge with Nynaeve (who already wasn't inclined to trust her).

16. The Wisdom cleaning the sacred pool fits very well with Nynaeve becoming a "servant of all" aka Aes Sedai (just like Egwene surrendering to the river is a mirror of surrendering to saidar). But also the Wisdom is really the only 'leader' that we get introduced to in the Two Rivers in the show.

17. I am very curious about if the issue of the Old Wisdom comes up again when Nynaeve is in the White Tower. Nynaeve does seem aware here that Listening To The Wind is connected to the One Power.

18. Again, I love how the Rand, Mat, Perrin friendship feels substantial here and not just because they're all the same age so they hang around together.

19. Love getting the themes here of rebirth and how the reincarnation aspect of the lore feels present in people's everyday lives.

20. Nynaeve being separate from all the other villagers so they can't see her pain. My heart!

21. Now that we've set up Life As It Is, it's time to break it so that the main story can start. Lan brings the news about the Fade & Trollocs and Moiraine confirms that she doesn't know which of the four kiddos is The One (a good thing, as it turns out).

22. Some good character work during the fight:

a. Nynaeve trying to protect and heal her people.

b. Fain just sauntering off without a care.

c. Mat going back into danger to save his sisters.

d. Perrin doing something to make him terrified of the violence inside hinsrlf.

e. We see that there's more to Rand's dad than meets the eye.

f. Rand defeats the Trolloc but at a cost (his dad getting horribly injured).

g. Egwene & Nynaeve both willing to fight back, even when they just have belt knives.

h. Once Moiraine and Lan are able to turn the fight (and we get some lovely choreography of then working as a team and seeing how Warders aid their Aes Sedai), the villagers take heart and really together against the Shadowspawn.

23. Overall just a good job showing how traumatic an attack like this would be.

24. Anyway, it felt clear to me that part of the reason our kiddos don't argue much with Moiraine after the battle is because they're all pretty shocked and traumatized. None of them have ever experienced anything like this!

25. I hope the implied flashback for Moiraine & Siuan in s2 has us getting the prophecy onscreen but it was still cool to hear Moiraine telling them about it here.

26. There's a great shot here of Moiraine facing Egwene and Rand and we see all three of them in shades of blue. Meanwhile, when we swap to Perrin and Mat, Mat has a tiny stripe of blue but the two of them are more earth-tones. Channelers vs non-channelers? Rand puts on an earth-tone coat as they leave - because he's going to be in denial?

27. Right now, Moiraine is saying they need to get to the protection of the White Tower (meaning Siuan and her attempts to ready the Tower). And that's a wrap on episode one!

[zealouscanonindeer]

Just finished TDR!! I actually didn't enjoy the second season too much (what do you mean I have to go to Brazil and leave Adil in Sefer) but s3 and the ending was so worth it.

Thank you everybody who answered and made sure I didn't end up dying 😅

Also baby Nafisa is so cute😍😍. Dad! Adil just seems so precious.. Now I have to write a fanfic with Nafisa getting into trouble and living up to her namesake. Noor's (MC) genes definitely won.

This family.. 🥺🥺

[chamiryokuroi]

Hey there! So I sorta dropped out of the comic fandom after TDR was finished as was wondering if anything of note has happen with Timbern since?

Absolutely nothing anon 😔 we Timber fans are fighting for or lives because of no new content

[sixth-light]

TGH/TDR vs WoT season 2: what's in and what's out pt 2 (worldbuilding)

This time we're doing concepts and settings introduced in TGH/TDR (or introduced in EoTW but not in S1 of the show).

Introduced in EoTW but not S1 Caemlyn Andoran politics inc. Tigraine's disappearance

Tar Valon was substituted for Caemlyn in S1 but I believe it has been confirmed as a setting for S3. In terms of information viewers need to remember, Andoran politics only *really* start to matter when we kick off the Succession plotline & I expect will be scattered throughout future seasons until we get to the main event in S5-6 or so. If Slayer is in S3 (I think this has also been suggested) then we could start to get some infodumps about the whole Tigraine & Luc disappearance drama there. (Side-note: I think show-only people are going to find it hilarious if Rand has an uncle Luke (Luc).)

Introduced in TGH Cairhien Daes Dae'mar Illuminators The Choedan Kal (not named) Ogier politics and culture The search for the Car'a'carn Seanchan/the Hailene The secret of the a'dam/sul'dam The Black Ajah The Accepted test

Still missing from the show but first introduced in TGH: Ogier politics and culture(differences between steddings), the existence and location of the Choedan Kal, and the Illuminators. The Ogier stuff may or may not EVER be relevant. The Choedan Kal can & should be introduced to up the stakes from Callandor when it proves too dangerous, although may get easter egg mentions prior, quite possibly as a Lanfear back-up plan. The Illuminators - again only necessary when gunpowder and its potential for weapons start to become relevant. They could be introduced in Tanchico if the plot goes there or as refugees from the Seanchan. (NB: I think show-only people are also going to be REALLY sideswiped by that whole plot, gunpowder weapons are so rare in the popular perception of epic fantasy. It's going to make WoT really stand out.) Another note: in the show the fact that the a'dam can be used on sul'dam remains a secret from the Seanchan and was not presented as an empire-shattering discovery, and the lore has changed so sul'dam are just very weak in the Power. I think there's a chance that in the show it becomes something known but suppressed in Seanchan rather than a genuine/complete rediscovery. Given how long channelers live that would check out; the books never make anything of it but Alivia is old enough that when she was born there were still a few free channelers in Seanchan. The 'Consolidation' was not a short victorious war but a multi-century period.

Introduced in TDR Tear (the city/Stone), Illian, and Ghealdan Darkhounds Wolfbrothers losing themselves Wolves and the Dream/prophetic wolf dreams Wide-scale ta'veren effects Tel'aran'rhiod Forsaken controlling nations (including specifically Illian, Tear, and Andor) Grey Men Callandor/the fall of the Stone Mat's luck Set-up for the Tower Coup Egwene as a Dreamer/Egwene's prophetic Dreams Balefire Fireworks as weapons

As with characters, there's a lot of worldbuilding from TDR that hasn't come into play yet! I think this is mostly for pacing reasons. On the other hand, we actually got a lot of Tel'aran'rhiod in S2 which aligns with TDR, a book where characters spend about half their time having prophetic dreams (or so it feels like).

Mat's luck and Egwene's Dreaming abilities - these are solid/obvious S3 arcs for these characters that they didn't have time for in S2. No question we'll see them next season, I think, although Mat's luck might have more of a slow-burn introduction than just suddenly working.

The Forsaken - have only just all been released! We'll certainly see them taking over nations in the next season or two.

Darkhounds, Wolfbrother lore, Callandor, fireworks as weapons - I think this has all been held back for pacing. Famously Perrin's plot needs to be spread out to give him stuff to do in later seasons. He might not get prophetic dreams though since it's a bit of a repeat of Egwene's Dreaming and never goes anywhere much.

Similarly, it's a Big Deal when Rand gets Callandor and then it...stays where it is for five books, that's not good TV pacing. I suspect he will pick it up just in time to try using it and fail against the Seanchan. And we don't need to think about fireworks as weapons until Mat is in a place to take advantage of the possibilities.

Balefire, widespread ta'veren effects, Grey Men - these are all things which pose the question 'why aren't they being used all the time' once they're introduced, and the latter two will be quite hard to effectively and efficiently do in a visual medium. We'll get balefire eventually but at a much higher power level for our characters, and the other two we might never get at all.

Tear and Illian - genuinely no idea when we'll get to these cities! Illian we may never visit as not a lot happens there that has to happen *there*. We'll go to Tear (the city proper) at SOME point but...depends on a lot of things exactly when.

[kaibutsushidousha]

Do you think there is a significant difference in the character writing between Danganronpa 1-2 and V3 ?

You see very contradictory opinions about this, some claiming that the V3 characters are more stereotyped (in the more general argument that the writing is "bad on purpose" to serve the final twist because TDR are bad writers) and some saying the opposite, that they are more developped and human.

V3 discourse having every possible opinion on the spectrum is nothing new but I wonder if you see some internal consistency/principle in the writing of each cast as a whole and wether that differs between each game

Sorry for not having an answer that's longer than the question. I just don't feel filling this out by going character by character would add much to anything. But the internal principle is that each game has different themes and character writing is done in service of those themes.

Go do a DR1 character's Free Time and there's a high chance you'll find them expressing concerns for their future because DR1 goes big on the idea of the fear of leaving high school because it's hard to find hope after graduation. Go do a DR2 character's Free Time and there's a high chance they'll expose a major vulnerability of their past because this game's whole cast was designed to be victims of manipulation who did horrible things when their weaknesses were prodded. Go do a DRV3 character's Free Time and there's a high chance they'll reveal an unverifiable belief or lie that played a big part in defining who they are because V3 is about the fictions that enrich our lives.

[feyres-divorce-lawyer]

random check in.

reading tdr, rin needs a hug, i knew moag was sketchy, desperately need rin and kitay to make up, annoyed by how chaghan judged her for mugen when he and qara broke that dam. daji is hot as hell, sorry. vaisra and rin’s relationship is kinda icking me out ngl. predicting that hesperians are gonna become the new villains somehow. and nezha’s so cute gushing about arlong.

ok good i have your attention

the bombing continues. casaulties are up to the three thousands last i checked. 45 gazan families, not people, families have been removed from the gazan census. humanitarian aid still can’t make it to people, they’ve ran out of food and now electricity. and oh yeah, information abt the crisis is being purposefully shrouded while israeli propaganda is readily available. asking alexa or chatbots abt how the palestinians are faring results in bs abt it’s to sensitive for children (alexa) and it’s a complex issue that can’t truly be explained (chatbots) but if asked how israel is doing, it’s bs abt how the country is just protecting itself. we are living in a literal dystopia. it seems history isn’t learned for avoidance, but rather inspiration. i hate it here. free palestine.

[vyl3tpwny]

hey uh sorry to bother but what’s ur music setup? (computers, monitors, midi pads, keyboards, instruments, software, etc. and what brands for them?)

i really want to get into making digital music and have been looking at what my favorite artists use. i’ve been very hyperfixated on making digital music lately…

thanks :]

i can't possibly put down everything i use in one post so here are some essential thing i use

mac mini m1 (2020)

novation sl mk3 49 key

ableton live 11 suite

scarlett 8i6 interface

sm7b microphone

shure mic arm

sennheiser hd600 headphones

and the main plugins i use outside of ableton's included ones are

vital, every fabfilter plugin, serum, every valhalladsp plugin, and tdr limiter 6 for mastering stuff

[meyonherown]

I finished The Dragon Reborn three weeks ago and there is this one thing Robert Jordan choose not to do that i keep wondering about. Of course some stuff pisses me off and some makes me quite happy/glad. But this aspect makes me wonder if i'm missing something or-?

We spent a huge deal of time in Perrin and Rand's head and how they deal with major change/transformation of their lives. But also trauma or just self-loathing or confidence issue. Which I do like (to spent time with this thoughts)

And so in TDR we've got a bit change of character in how Egwene behave with other people compared to book 1 for example. And because we didn't spend much time in her head in Book 2 we just have to deal with this complete change. We see her being afraid of seeming belittled or being insecure or being less powerful than...

And I'm like, as a reader,. I see how R. Jordan keeps making his character refer to major event of Book 2 that has impacted Egwene and we are supposed to accept her behavior. (or comprehend her behavior through that lense) 

But much of what we have seen was actually through Min, Nynaeve pov. And tho, there is absolutely not way to finish book 2 and not feel any sorrow or pain for Egwene, in book 3 I was again and again reminded of the fact that I just wish we also had long moment of Egwene's inner thoughts and struggle at THAT time (end of Book 2)

I don't dislike being in Egwene pov chapters but also I just can't seem to care as I should. 

[cgadzfna]

Hi👋🏻 I saw that you were answering a poppy war related question so I was hoping to get your thoughts on something (sorry if the question sounds dumb). Do you think Vaisra was using Nezha as a means to gain Rin's trust? Was Nezha only getting closer to Rin for this reason initially (in the poppy war and dragon republic)?

Hi! Great question! This took longer to reply to because I had to think over everything. Yes, Vaisra used Nezha to gain Rin’s trust, but I don’t think that gaining her allegiance was his conscious motivation for getting close. In TDF, the first thing Vaisra does upon Nezha’s release from the Federation war camp is send him to go ‘pick up an old classmate’, asking if she would come with him [Nezha] specifically. Nezha states Vaisra didn’t even ask if he was okay first, which reaffirms the fact that he only cared about putting himself ahead, in this case by ‘obtaining’ Rin by utilizing Nezha’s former connection to her. Later, when the Hesperians arrive and knock Rin out, she wakes in a locked room, with Nezha specifically, not anyone else. Yes, Vaisra was in a meeting, but I don’t doubt he specifically placed Nezha with Rin in order to get him to manipulate her (whether he knows it or not) into later relenting to the Hesperians’ demands. And it works. She understandably freaks out initially but Nezha calms her down with platitudes and reassurances (I would die before letting them hurt you, etc) and eventually when she meets the Hesperians she does relent to their demands, in part because she trusts Nezha and his promises. And Vaisra knows that. However, I think Nezha’s conscious motivator was that he genuinely liked Rin and wanted to get closer to her. They’d formed a temporary ‘battle bond’ during the Battle of Sinegard and she saved his life. It was that moment when their relantionship changed and he was able to open his mind to seeing her as an ally and not a nuisance for the first time. Afterwards, throughout tpw, i do think his motivations were genuine in that he wanted to be friends. During tdr however, after that scene with Vaisra in tdf, I think all his actions were underhandedly motivated by a desire to keep her allegiance, whether he realized it or not. Vaisra wants Rin. Nezha will do anything for his father. That desire to please is imprinted onto his subconscious, and although he genuinely likes her and their relationship developed mostly ‘naturally’, from both of their perspectives, his actions were always colored by that underlying motive of carrying out his father’s goal of gaining her trust. You can’t separate Nezha’s desires from his father’s because although he has his own wishes, he will always submit to his father’s will. Vaisra likes rin. Therefore, nezha is ‘allowed’ to freely like rin. Vaisra wants Rin on their side. Therefore, Nezha is free to flirt, cajole, comfort or get close to rin since it will ultimately help his fathers goal (also because he wants to, but his desires always take a backseat). Do I think nezha was fully aware that he was actively carrying out his father’s will in his actions? No. From his perspective, his actions and feelings were genuine. But the only reason those actions and sentiments were expressed at all is because Vaisra ‘allowed’ them to be, because it fits within the confines of their goal. Just like the Dragon, Vaisra subconsciously dictates all of Nezha’s actions. That familial loyalty and duty is embedded too deep to ever be extricated from his character. So yes, I think Nezha may not have been fully aware he was developing their relationship for his father’s purposes, he genuinely thought it was real (and it was as real a relationship as they could have had), but in the end, he was acting in his father’s desires anyway. After all, when Rin says they could have been enemies since she was a former militia soldier, he simply smiles and says “aren’t you glad we’re not?’ this is after they’d fought at Sinegard, saved each others’ lives, became friends and then subsequently lost each other. Yet he doesn’t deny that they would’ve been enemies, doesn’t apologize. he would’ve fought her. he wouldn’t want to, but he would. And when she no longer benefits them? Nezha’s hand might be on the blade, but it’s Vaisra’s voice in his head, the combination of duty and filial ties driving him to betray her. Nezha is simply the puppet and vaisra’s hands have always held the strings.

[butterflydm]

wot rewatch 1x2: shadow's waiting

Continuing my pre-s2 rewatch with the second episode, Shadow's Waiting. <3

spoilers for all of season one plus through The Fires of Heaven in the book series

The way the Whitecloaks are set up here does feel like Rafe & co were pulling a lot from how they were portrayed in New Spring, where the newly-raised Sisters get warned that an arrow in the back kills Aes Sedai as easily as anyone else. But this cold-open is brutal and also sets up the stakes for Moiraine later in the episode - this is the kind of death she would get from Valda if he were able.

Valda's special bird breakfast was a gift from the "Lord" to congratulate him on his "victory". Which Lord? Presumably not Bornhald, given the way he behaves around Valda later. The victory is, presumably, the capture of this poor Yellow Ajah Sister.

Since I was recently thinking about forkroot in my story... I wonder if it'll get introduced via the Whitecloaks in the show. Ronde was a Yellow's eyes-and-ears in Amadicia (Whitecloak country). But I don't think the Whitecloaks have forkroot yet, or he would have just dosed Egwene with it when he has her prisoner.

I love the credits sequence so much. <3

The scenery is just so gorgeous.

It makes a lot of sense that the kiddos don't challenge Moiraine until after they've both a. reached a measure of safety by being on the other side of the river and b. saw what happened with the ferry. They are village kids and the ruthless calculus of war is not something they've had to think about in their lives. Of course they'll think "there had to be a better way".

So now all the kids have a chance to breathe and to actually think. Rand wants a plan so that they can try to keep each other safe if that stops being a priority of Moiraine's -- and that is a worry of his that kinda does get proven true at the end of the season when the Red Ajah is sent after Mat by Moiraine.

Poor Rand is also very much not ready to think about one of them being the Dragon especially because, well, he's already suspecting that it would be him and desperately not wanting it to be.

And Egwene is already embracing the idea that maybe it is one of them, so maybe they can help save people.

Mat trying to break the tension and play peacemaker.

Here is where we get the difference between Egwene and the others -- it isn't that they doubt Moiraine and she doesn't, it's that Egwene gets an explanation when she expresses her doubts to Moiraine during their nighttime conversation. Moiraine actually walks Egwene through her thought process here so that Egwene will understand why she made the choices that she did.

Moiraine's explanation of the Oaths also puts Valda's "victory" from the cold open into perspective -- unless she knew her life was in imminent danger, that Yellow Aes Sedai could not use the One Power against Valda. Some "victory".

Moiraine must have been so relieved when she realized that Egwene can channel. It made it that much more likely that they were lucky enough to have the Dragon reborn as someone who would not fall to the corruption. Like, I 100% understand why Moiraine wants Egwene to be TDR but, in her eagerness to have the less dangerous choice as the Dragon, she treated the qualms of the boys too carelessly and dismissively. They all deserved the explanation that she was willing to give Egwene.

Poor Rand. Poor Egwene. I understand both sides of this -- Egwene was seeking familiar comfort but... you literally JUST broke up with him. Rand is not being an "asshole" to want some space.

Moiraine is demanding information but not giving them sufficient answers when Rand tries to press her in return. And tbh I think part of Egwene's anger here is because Rand rejected her last night and she's hurt over it. But Mat is the one who is able to talk Rand down and get him to play ball.

Once again, how similarly Rand and Egwene are costumed really stands out -- brown coat over a blue top. Mirrors! Co-protagonists!

The encounter with the Whitecloaks accomplishes several things: we see that the Whitecloaks feel free to act as an authority in lands that are not their own; Valda sees their faces so that he'll recognize Perrin & Egwene later; and we see that there are other Whitecloaks who appear to disagree with at least some of Valda/the Questioners beliefs (Bornhald telling Moiraine to seek out Aes Sedai healing). Plus there's a lot of tension in the scene because we saw the cold open.

Love the Manetheren song scene. And it's another example of Mat working to help the emotional state of the group. And I love hearing the story from Moiraine. I teared up on rewatch too.

Timing note: "I haven't seen any Trollocs for days", Lan says.

Again, we get to Rand and Egwene's further discussion and I can see both sides: Rand would like to be given space to process but Egwene wants reassurances that in a world that has changed so much Rand still cares about her. But Egwene has been the one sending mixed signals, not Rand. I understand why she has but it was definitely absolutely baffling to me when I hopped online and saw Rand being taken to task for holding on and being 'clingy'.

Perrin gets wolf healing and we get a hint here that Something Supernatural is up with Perrin but it's now been explicitly linked to wolves.

Love pretty much the entire Shadar Logoth section and Mat is a lot less randomly treasure-hungry and naive in this version. It accomplishes what it needs to do in splitting the party and there's a great creepy vibe.

It also gives us some nice character moments. Perrin and Mat's conversation about Laila is really sweet, and again shows us that Mat is very emotionally sensitive to others. And Rand and Egwene's silent moment together is also sweet.

Rand really likes to go the high places to think. Chills on the mountain in the first episode and seeks out a tower with the view of the dead city in this one.

Giving Perrin a weapon that is primarily a tool is also very thematic for him. That's part of the struggle for him -- between choosing a weapon that he sees only as a weapon and one that is primarily a tool but can be used as a weapon if needed. Knife here rather than a hammer but it still fits the themes for Perrin.

So many of the criticisms of the show baffled me and here's another one: did the people who said it was "too clean" watch past the big village festival? They are showing wear and tear already and it gets worse in upcoming episodes.

Poor horse. Being eaten by a tendril of darkness and dissolving into dust seems a rough way to go.

I also like the choice of darkness as opposed to fog, partly so that people don't associate the fog of the Heroes of the Horn with Shadar Logoth lol.

Party split successfully accomplished!

Weapon as tool: we see Rand use his sword not as a sword but as a crowbar to help him and Mat escape Shadar Logoth.

And Nynaeve (not dead) shows up as our surprise ending!

<3 <3 <3 <3

[iviarellereads]

Wheel of Time full series spoiler thoughts on TDR Prologue-4

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

Before we even start, can I just say, looking at the chapter titles reminds me of how much memory can skew the events of these books. I still knew what the outline of this book was, I hadn't merged it into another in the ~4 years since I last read the series, but I'd definitely, let's say, forgotten the distribution of events.

"Aiel had come out of the Waste just once in all the years since the Breaking." Isn't it funny, how not true that likely is. They had to have been set up in the Waste within the lifetime of Aes Sedai who lived in the Age of Legends, from the Ancestatron 9000 next book, but that could still be 400 or 500 years, they were known to live to 600 fairly commonly. I believe it's fairly well accepted that, while the Breaking took place across a couple of centuries, so did the Aiel march, since most of the jumps are to grandparents.

I always forget that Niall starts planning the Duopotamian Invasion a book ahead of when we next hear anything of it. There's so very little that RJ didn't set up believably far in advance.

Just rubbing my hands together eagerly over Perrin's whole arc to come. “The Creator made the world […] not I. I must live the best I can in the world the way it is.” slowly becoming the desire, the burning need even, to himself help create a better world. I wish I could see what he ends up doing in Saldaea when Faile ascends the throne after TG.

Not so much over Min's arc, though. I'm not one of the deeply anti-Min folks, but I'm also skeptical of the people who take her whole arc uncritically. There'll be better places for my full rant, but I'm thoroughly, miserably in the middle on my opinions of Min.

Still not over how Rand's arc was moving SO FAST this early, though. RJ, how did you ever think this would only take three more books? We're not quite up to "laughing while he kills a Darkfriend woman" as he gets later this book but like… you can see how RJ was ramping up the madness with the expectation he'd be hitting Veins of Gold in another two books or something so it wouldn't be going on forever. The backtracking on this subject after TDR is subtle but very interesting.

See, there's SO MUCH hinting that in RJ's opinion, Perrin's journey is about creation/destruction, not just pacifism/violence. Like, both are present, but so many people seem to ignore the former and only see and talk about the latter, even though Perrin's choice between pacifism and violence is a middle ground… a middle ground that only exists in the creation/destruction spectrum, where sometimes you have to unmake something to make it better.

Ishy is obviously fully aware of the Dark Prophecy, and he's probably seen or seeing wolves near Perrin. I think he's assuming that taking up the hammer instead of the axe will mean giving up on the fight. Of course, we know better.

Do we think that Lanfear was in Perrin's dream proper, treating him that way because he's close to Rand and a pathway to her goal? Or do we think Rand's dream-pushing influence is at fault for that part too, just more strongly because of his personal connection to Perrin? I rather lean toward the latter. But, the wolves showed up, and they're only in TAR, not individual dreams... so I think interpretation can go either way unless someone has textual backup from later on from Lanfear or Perrin. She does recognize him in a few chapters, but... I don't know. I could still go either way.