#it's called ae mysteries if you are interested

[nonbinary-octopus]

me: I should go to bed soon

also me: *stays up til 4am playing a mystery adventure game*

[dissidiacloudstrife]

tagged by @mystery-salad (and requests one of my lesser known ones)

-- B A S I C S

name: Shanks Dancepants

nicknames: people who know him call him tapcat!

birthday: 1309 AE, In the summer time

race: Charr, formally Iron Legion

gender: whatever funny for a joke but uses he/him

orientation: gay

profession: traveling tap dancer! usually seen with the band Eavanass, but he isn't with them all the time

-- P H Y S I C A L A S P E C T S

hair: fur thats sosososos soft, nothing on top of scalp that's different from fur

eyes: green!

skin: medium ginger tabby fur with brown stripes!

tattoos/scars: scars on his paw pads from dancing so much, but nothing too bad! he does have an extra set of ears (the cat looking ones at the top!) and he also has very short horns!

-- F A M I L Y

parents: he was raised in a furar but doesn't consider his guardians his parents, and never cared for his actual blood parents!

siblings: no blood relatives as far as he knows! he considers friends he makes as found family

grandparents: N/A

in laws and others: N/A

pets: N/A

-- S K I L L S

abilities: fantastic tap dancer, or dancer in general! his interest and what he's the best at is tap however. he learned through a human he met in divinities reach! because of charrs digitigrade legs, and couldnt tap down on a heel, he uses his tail!

hobbies: he can sing pretty well! he loves busking still despite doing show gigs all over. out of that he loves reading, and finding new musicians to busk with.

-- T R A I T S

most positive trait: absolute ray of sunshine to be around. he enjoys making people laugh and smile, or just have fun. hes a wonderful entertainer to all.

most negative trait: if you see shanks, you probably wont see him again for a while unless he's doing a gig. he typically travels a lot, and doesnt stay in one place for long, but he does return a lot, but not in a timely manner unless he's under a contract.

-- L I K E S

colors: VERY bright colors, loves brass too!

smells: an old brass instrument, worn leather, old clothes

textures: honestly how soft his fur is

drinks: water baby, dehydration is no joke when dancing

-- O T H E R D E T A I L S

smokes: absolutely not

drinks: if he's going to the bar with people, he'll drink, and sometimes get drunk if he doesnt have anything to do the next few days

drugs: nah, not rly into it

been arrested: yep! by the iron legion specifically for not doing his military stuff. his human tap dance teacher bailed him out, using "his skills are necessary for my show." he's never been arrested since tho!

[marshmallowprotection]

Yknow I’m still mad that people think V in Saeran’s AE was out of character. I love V btw, but I feel like it’s so in character that he does this. This is a dude who just disappears completely in Jaehee’s route and doesn’t tell anyone anything. Like for 6 months no one has heard a word from this man.

Or even if he doesn’t drop off the face of this earth, he still disappears on his “trips” and in each single route, Seven is still under the impression his brother is safe. (Except for Jumin’s Route which I wonder what V told him for Seven to just accept and move on? I can only assume he further lied and reassured him.)

V is a very interesting character and his route added a lot more complexity to his situation and feelings. But I feel like some people were so fixated on his route, they forget the harm he’s caused in enabling Rika and calling it unconditional love in everyone else’s route. He holds accountability in trying to “save” everyone (including Rika) by keeping everyone blissfully ignorant in an effort to solve everything himself.

And even then in the Secret Ending episodes, Saeran snitched by telling Mint Eye Vanderwood, Saeyoung and MC’s location. And who pops up to go with them? V. He begs Rika to not involve innocent people, but she dismisses him instead asking what to do with him. And he says “do as you please”. Being a martyr ain’t gonna solve anything, MC, Saeyoung anf Vanderwood know too much now. She aint letting anyone leave.

Being complacent and an enabler isn’t a good thing. He even says in his own route that his unconditional love and enabling her was hurting everyone. That his sacrificial tendencies weren’t solving anything. MC helps him realize that he really shouldn’t do this alone.

We never got to see the full extent of it in the Secret Episodes bc he dies. So I find V in Saeran’s AE so well done bc in other routes he’s already fallen down the rabbit hole for Rika, and each route’s ending is basically him going further down for her. But we don’t see this bc all Routes are made in a specific order of information. We just know V is very mysterious. But Saeran’s AE? We experience his descent. Like it’s happening in front of MC.

I just feel like V is overly victimized by the fandom for them to conclude his out of character in Saeran’s AE, he is both a victim and perpetrator bc of his complacency and enabling. This isn’t to say he’s a bad person, the world isn’t blavk and white. I think V is a good person who only had the best intentions. But the AE holds him accountable more. The Secret Episodes, he died before he could be held accountable. And the other routes he disappears before he could be held accountable.

I do have a bias tho, as an older sibling, if anything happened to my little sister and I was constantly lied to that she was safe and she isn’t. I’d lose my mind, like I gave y’all one job to take care of a child what do you mean she’s a cultist now?

This can be said for a lot of characters honestly, people reducing Zen as a narcissist. Yoosung being obsessed with Rika and the whole “being in love with his cousin”. Jumin being heartless Or even Ray being reduced to an uwu baby, even when Danger Ray is shown to prove otherwise.

Jihyun is a complicated character just as much as Rika is. They were both unhealthy to each other in ways I don't even want to get into as it might take all day to get through what went down between them in the past and present. They weren't in a place to be in a relationship at all. They didn't need to be with each other basically, point blank.

They went into their relationship not for the sake of love, but for the sake of someone holding out for love saving them as a mask that was barely stuck on their face as it was to prove the devil couldn't be real only to realize she wanted to be him, not be with him, and the other looking for a muse to navigate his feelings through hers and make up for the past in which his father failed his mother. That's not what any person wants in a relationship.

They needed help with their problems. Had they gotten that when they needed it, things wouldn't have gotten to where they did. But, that's what makes the game so interesting in the first place. We're looking at people who're human and struggling to be alive. People who make mistakes and fuck up. A lot. You're right, though, every character here is struggling in some capacity and it's not the right flavor for some people. That's because they're human.

You're not going to like everyone you meet, guys.

That's why I love this game in the first place. These characters aren't just abstract fantasy. They've got depth and it's fun to think about! It makes me feel better to know that there are characters who, even at the best, still have a long road to go before they feel better. That part is what humanizes them. It's what makes us feel so strongly about all of them in the first place.

V is not a character you can point at and say, "He's bad! He's good!" It doesn't work that way. He's human. He's done some bad and good in his life. We can't look at it from a black-and-white perspective when our world doesn't even operate that way. People are going to make a lot of mistakes in life, intentional or not, and it's up to us to figure out what we're willing to have in our lives. If you don't want someone like V in your life, by all means.

But, I get tired of people saying this stuff, too. V wasn't out of his element at all. He will do things in the name of trying to save every person in the room, no matter what the details are. That's a part of his unchecked trauma, which he is well aware of because he's able to say "I can't abandon people like my father abandoned my father. No matter what, I can't."

Which is why he refuses to give up on Rika in Saeran's Route. That's why he sells himself out to Saejoong to protect her, knowing that it wasn't healthy or right, but also concluding that this would be about the only thing to keep Rika out of prison and in danger... while letting the twins be safe at that expense. There's a thought bubble you can click as well where he mentions that he's playing the role of a villain to make this work. He knows what he's doing.

The same way he knew what he was doing in the Secret Ending by bowing his head to Rika, begging her to only hurt him, only to travel to the cabin and take you and your little group back to Mint Eye. He will do things for the sake of not being his father, to the detriment of everyone in the room. Does that make him a monster? Hard to say, I think it comes down to your feelings on the matter.

Don't say that V is only a victim. V is a victim, he truly is. But he is also an enabler, and guilty of doing wrong, too. You can feel sympathy for him, of course, the same way a lot of people identify and feel for Rika, as long as you know that he's made mistakes and done wrong, too. I think that's important for people to think about... especially if you're playing through Saeran's After Ending which is all about taking your accountability and being willing to face it.

Even if that means you lose everything.

The truth is better than lies.

This can be applied to any character in the game. Any of them can be spoken about like this since they've all done or said things that might not be the best. That's coming from someone who loves Saeran quite a bit. I can tell you right now that he's done a lot of things that aren't good. But, I love him and understand what he's been through. I chose to forgive him and understand him, but that doesn't mean that others have to do the same.

But, if we're going to talk about characters who are morally grey, we need to talk about everything. You can't discount their mistakes and fuck ups just to point out something else. I try to avoid talking a lot about Rika and V in that vein because I've been here since 2016 and I am so tired of having the same debates come up over and over again about V and Rika.

You might be surprised to hear this but despite everything, V is like... my third favorite character because of how deeply complex he is as a person. I just never get to talk about it because it's too often people ignore the depth of his character. It's a shame people miss that talk when it's so blatant in his route where he says, "I did wrong. I need to make things right by speaking the truth. I accept responsibility and I know I'm at fault."

[l-a-l-o-u]

HELLO tell us about the campaign lore!!!!

HELLO!!!! I will!!!

This is our second campaign set in the world of Adara! Our DM is @ctrh-5 (you can DM him questions too). We started this campaign I think... around 30 sessions ago? Sometime last spring.

Without going TOO much into details:

My character is Bean, the satyr monk. The other players are Tryx, a gnome barbarian, and Coco, a tiefling sorcerer/wizard. The three of saw each other during a masquerade ball and recognized each other - the other two had both ran into Bean years before. There was an attack during the masquerade; devils had infiltrated the party and started killing left and right. They destroyed a massive statue in the center of the party and this Main Villain TM named Jae recovered a mysterious orb from within, then disappeared. Here's some fun facts! In the world of Adara, the lower planes are completely inacessible and have been for millenia. We found out in our previous campaign that a REALLY long time ago, a race of technologically advanced people called the Daari imprisoned most archdevils, archdemons and archangels in funky little orbs like this. So now this dude shows up, opens a PORTAL to the hells that shouldn't be possible, and absconds with an orb (we later found out the archdemon Grazzt was in there).

AND ALSO! Jae is actually the corrupted form of a friendly NPC from the first campaign who was then called Aesalor. My first PC Arzirys left home to find him and I would die for him oh my god. Aes got tricked by another archdemon named Inanna and is now completely corrupted by her. He was once an aasimar but he's a full devil now. Inanna wants to take over all the hells, basically. Fun times!!

So far, for the actual main characters, we've been going around and doing much less important quests and getting to know each other. They all have a similar goal of travelling around and seeing the world. Tryx was a PC in campaign one who then retired, so she recognized Jae, but there's not much we can do about him right now. We've gone on a few really interesting missions and met a bunch of cool guys. The latest highlight was running into an underground gang made up of guys inspired by the Owl House characters which was very cute! Our DM likes to put reference characters in the games a lot.

I could write a whole novel about Bean and what she's been Going Through TM. In short, she's someone who doesn't have a home and has been wandering for the past 40 or so years. She sometimes talks out loud to someone when she's by herself, and hides parts of her past ferociously. But since she met Coco and Tryx, she feels like she found people who could actually understand her, and she's starting to let herself trust people. A lot of moments in the campaign and stories she heard from the other two made her think back on her early life that she's been avoiding all this time. She recently shared the fact that she physically can't do magic and that she ran away from home as a teen.

Oh ya and also everyone in this group is a chaotic bastard. I would die for them ♥

[cosmic-llin]

Dear Festividder...

Some ideas if you’re vidding for me and would like more to go on!

Music: I genuinely like most things! If a steer is helpful though, my most-listened-to genres are towards the pop/folk/soft rock/female singer-songwriters end. But the most important thing is that you choose the song that works for you and the vid! I would really appreciate if you could avoid death metal-style vocals, Ronan Keating and Sia.

Visuals: I would appreciate if you could avoid flicker/strobe/film damage-type effects!

General: Found family, happiness, teams, shenanigans and fun, character studies, relationship studies that aren't necessarily shippy, angst, feelings!

Specifics for individual fandoms:

Abbott Elementary Heartwarming workplace sitcom (36 x 20-ish mins)

I love everyone in this elementary school! You can't go wrong here but some specific ideas I'd love to see - something about Barbara's mentorship of Janine, something about Barbara and her perspective on the school more generally and her relationships with the younger crew, including Ava, something about Barbara and Melissa (femslash or friendship), a character vid about Gregory (potentially that leans into reading him as autistic if you vibe with that), a Janine/Gregory vid!

Bugs ‘90s futuristic cybersecurity action-adventure nonsense (40 x 50 mins)

Something about my childhood crush amazing hacker badass Ros being cool and amazing would be wonderful! I also really enjoy the original OT3 of Ros/Beckett/Ed and it would be really fun to see a vid for them, although if you go that direction I'm not really interested to see Replacement Ed included. (Sorry Replacement Ed!) I'd love something about Jan and Ros, or maybe Jan, Ros and Alex - on my recent rewatch I was really struck by how there's this web of support and mentorship between them, and this real fondness between them (Jan and Ros especially) even when they often disagree. (Also v open to a shippy and/or angsty Jan/Ros vid if that's where the muse takes you.)

The Dark is Rising Sequence - Susan Cooper Children's fantasy with mysterious Celtic vibes (5 x novels)

I would just be thrilled to see any vid you could make that captures some of the feel of the books! I love the epic-yet-intimate/personal scale feel of them, the use of mythology and folklore, the sense of place/landscape/season, and I love all the characters. I'm here for whatever you feel like doing, whether that's concentrating on a specific book, character or plot thread, or something with a wider scope. I will just be wowed by anything you can do for this source!

Raising Dion Sweet family superpowers show (17 x 45 mins)

I really enjoyed the way the world expanded a little in S2! I'd love something about the growing community Nicole and Dion are building, and how valuable and powerful that is. A vid about the Triangle of Justice would be awesome, or so would something about Nicole’s interactions with Suzanne, Janelle, Tevin, etc. But I pretty much love all the choices this show made and I'd be interested to see a vid from most angles! (Not really interested to spend time on Pat's point of view but I don't mind him appearing if the vid calls for it.)

Thunder Force [SAFETY] Superpowers and friendship (1 x 1hr 46 mins)

I adore the central relationship of this film! I'd love a vid that focuses on Lydia and Emily and the strength of their connection, whether it's through the lens of friendship, femslash or something that's a bit of both. I'd also love something about both of their relationships with Tracy and the three of them as a team kicking ass together and being a family. I'm not really interested in Crab Guy.

The Wheel of Time Swooshy epic fantasy (16 x 60 mins)

Aes Sedai! I would love a vid about the Aes Sedai (and their warders)! Maybe something exploring all the different relationships and alliances going on, or looking at the different approaches and types of power the various Aes Sedai we've met (including Egwene, Nynaeve and Elayne) use, or just a full vid of various Aes Sedai kicking ass, or something about the toll the White Tower takes on them all, the sacrifices they make for it. I would go absolutely feral for a Siuan-centric vid. If there's enough footage I'd also love to see a vid about Alanna, or about Verin (and the Brown Ajah) although that's an even taller order. Moving only slightly away from the Tower, I'd love a vid about the relationship/parallels between Moiraine and Anvaere.

Travel shows presented by Susan Calman [UMBRELLA] Gentle pootling around the UK with an enthusiastic Scottish lesbian (IDEK how many episodes - Secret Scotland with Susan Calman, Susan Calman’s Grand Day Out, etc)

I’d love anything that captures the playfulness and sweetness of these shows and Susan’s infectious enthusiasm for new experiences, as well as the beautiful locations she visits! I'm here for the nerdy moments and movie parodies as well as for the recurring motifs like model villages and failing to fold maps. I’m most interested in Secret Scotland, Grand Day Out and Grand Week by the Sea, less interested in the cruising and antiques ones.

[thelivingautomaton]

welcome back to "additional galaxy brain thoughts on the wheel of time". today i will be Considering(TM) book 3 and the first ten or so chapters of book 4, mostly repeating and building off of my livetweets. tl;dr: robert jordan is a genius and i am the chucklefuck going insane over The Narrative Of It All

now that we're making good headway into the books, i think it's interesting that rather than grouping thoughts/observations based on concrete material stuff (i.e. events, lore, characters), i feel like i can start grouping observations based on narrative themes and motifs that keep cropping up, so let's start by talking romance

okay so like. i do kind of get why people think the way robert jordan writes (or rather, doesn't write) romantic relationships is weird, and i DO kind of wish that he did a better job of like, threading the line between "i am going to leave explicit conversations and thoughts about romantic feelings unsaid and let the reader see what's going on through the actions of pov characters, knowing that they have to filter a character's thoughts and words through said character's inherently unreliable/biased perspective" and skipping straight to "these characters have now Realized their feelings and are just going to speak them out loud now even if it feels like there's been little to no buildup"

that being said. i think it's a fascinating way to actually depict romantic arcs, because to a certain extent it feels...true? like, sometimes people really do be completely oblivious about their own feelings for the longest time, and then all of a sudden they have some epiphany for no real reason and are like "oh shit i love this person!" or alternatively "oh shit i DON'T love this person!" also rj gave himself a built-in excuse by being able to handwave and go "idk, ta'veren!" which is honestly a little based of him

(i will probably talk more about this downthread but rand just casually warping the pattern as he's making his way to tear and the way that that manifests as like...townsfolk deciding en masse to marry each other, or defeating whitecloaks by making them look foolish without undue violence, or giving a starving town a bountiful harvest? makes me insane to think about from both a worldbuilding/narrative perspective -- literally what if you were a walking hurricane of Narrative pulling threads and lives after you in your wake, literally WHAT IF -- and also a character perspective, because it gives SO MUCH insight into rand as a person that THAT'S how his ta'veren magic manifests. anyways)

i think that of the various romantic entanglements that have really happened so far, this worked best for depicting perrin and faile BY FAR, which feels like maybe a hot take? but my GOD their relationship makes me feel crazy in the best way. i'm already a sucker for the slap-slap-kiss dynamic, but i also adore how faile initially sees perrin as a puzzle she wants to figure out and how she's so good at putting some pieces together (like that an aes sedai, a warder, and an ogier all together must be important, and mysteries like that will lead her either to the horn or just to being part of a big important story), and how she's the only person that really makes perrin lose his cool and speak without thinking (the scene where he and then moiraine accidentally blab everything about the dragon and the horn already being found was fucking hysterical).

AND THEN PERRIN GOING IN TO TEL'ARAN'RHIOD TO RESCUE HER???? and swearing that after this he'll only call her faile like she wants??? freeing her first as his wolf-self (which, also: insane concept, love it, thank you rj) but then finding a door and chains he can't break as a wolf, so he has to manifest himself as a man and a blacksmith and use the hammer? AND THEN WAKING UP AFTER BEING MAULED BY DREAM BIRDS WITH FAILE LEANING OVER HIM AND HE JUST WHISPERS "my falcon"????????? FUCKING. AUGH

so like, it WAS a jarring surprise in a way at the start of book 4 that suddenly perrin and faile were definitively In An Established Relationship, but then i thought about it for 3 seconds and was like, okay actually maybe they didn't need to have an explicit "i have feelings for you" scene. maybe "my falcon" WAS that scene. your honor i love them

by contrast a lot of the other romantic relationships have had a lot less focus or screen time that ISN'T just "uh oh, suddenly i realize i have feelings for this person but can't act on them for xyz reason", i.e. nynaeve/lan, rand/elayne, and rand/min (ESPECIALLY rand/min, although conceptually i'm kind of obsessed with Guy Who Is The Narrative's Biggest Chewtoy falling in love with Girl Who Sees The Narrative Most Unambiguously But Cannot Affect It) which is why i think they fall a little more flat for me, at least currently

that being said, i can largely get behind rand/elayne based on their first meeting in the palace garden (oh to be a farmboy with a concussion and have your wounds delicately bandaged by the daughter-heir with her own richly-woven kerchief!) and the scene where they tell each other that they're "very fond" of the other, which was SO cute and dorky

it's funny in a way because i almost feel like the romantic scenes between two characters in love are more of an afterthought than scenes where characters who are friends talk ABOUT their romantic feelings for others and how to go about dealing with them, because THOSE scenes really shine with how much light they shed on the non-romantic interpersonal connections

specifically thinking here of the one-two combo of moiraine briefly making a comment to the girls about her own romantic prospects (or lack thereof) followed by nynaeve bringing egwene and elayne wine so the three of them can talk about rand and what to do with elayne's feelings, egwene's lack thereof, and how to deal with berelain

(sidenote: you truly have to hand it to berelain for the hustle and the chutzpah to just directly walk into the dragon reborn's chambers, hair done face beat tits out, and ask if he's DTF)

anyway i love those kinds of scenes because they just feel so NORMAL, you know? like, the girls are, politically and magically speaking, three of the most important people on the god damn continent. but they're also teen girls! (except nynaeve who's like, 24, but you know what i'm getting at) they're gonna have normal girl talk! it's gonna be filtered through their extreme circumstances but they're gonna have normal-ass wants and feelings and desires!

also sorry but it will never not be funny to have a compare-and-contrast switch of povs in the middle of a chapter, like egwene leaving rand thinking "aw, i know he was lying when he said he also didn't love me, at least he's not taking it too hard!" and immediately going to rand thinking "i....don't think egwene believed me about me loving her like a sister"

when's mat gonna fall in love huh. like on the one hand i think it'd be neat to represent the full spectrum from "immediate established relationship" (perrin and faile) to "relationship that takes time to figure out" (rand and elayne/min) to "no relationship, just vibes" (mat) but on the other hand it would be SO FUNNY.

actually this kind of dovetails nicely into my next group of thoughts, which is mat cauthon: the rogue of all time

i'm dedicating an entire bullet list to him because book 3 is the first we get with his pov and his real character (without an evil dagger eating his soul) and good fucking GOD

this man really woke up from his magic coma, ate the equivalent of 4 full meals, walked outside, challenged TWO skilled swordsmen to a fight, WITH HIS QUARTERSTAFF, purely for shits and giggles. AND THEN HE WINS. and then has to prop himself up on his quarterstaff so he doesn't immediately fall over. THE SCENE OF ALL TIME

(sidenote: i am continually surprised by how much i like galad and gawyn. i think there's something interesting to be said about how they serve as parallels/foils to rand, but also, i would like to see more of them, and i would like to see more of the goofy-ass sibling dynamics between gawyn, galad, and elayne. thank u)

and like, he literally just DOESN'T STOP being The Most Guile Hero Rogue Ever. getting his hands on the amyrlin seat's "i can do what i want" permit! breaking in to the palace in caemlyn so he can actually literally give elayne's letter to morgase with his own hands like he promised! (sidenote, i have a lot of percolating thoughts about mat's luck and love him testing things to see how it works, like figuring out that it works best when it's random -- my additional takes are that it also only works for things he outright says or promises he'll do, a la "making a wager", and that it works better the more the odds are against him. fucking immaculate concept, thank you for this rj.) blowing a hole in the side of the impenetrable fort with fireworks he's been carrying around for half the book!

but i also think he's such an interesting counterpart to rand and perrin because (like lanfear points out in her dialogue with him) he's the only one of the three ta'veren who DOESN'T have to be tempted to glory, who DOES want to be more than a farmer/shepherd/blacksmith

...i was about to add "who ISN'T running from his role in the narrative" except then i realized: that's actually not true at all, mat is 100% running from his role in the narrative just like rand and perrin, he's just doing it in a different way (i.e. embracing his weird ta'veren magic but running from the deeper implications of why he has that magic and what he should bend it towards beyond just "fuck bitches get money")

...which then dovetails nicely into my next thoughts, Dear God The Narrative Of It All

THE NARRATIVE OF IT ALL!!! the boys each dealing with the inner conflict between refusing their role, embracing it for the wrong/selfish reasons, and fulfilling it because it's their duty and nobody else can do it and it has to be done! MY GODDDDDDDDDD

i think this manifests in the most interesting way with the bubble of evil scene at the start of book 4, specifically how what manifests for the three boys is a personification/symbolic representation of each of their respective conflicts: perrin versus the axe, mat versus the cards (i.e. his luck), and rand versus his reflections

and each of those fights has some specific details that make it really clear imo that what they're fighting is themselves, or a subconscious part of themselves. the axe tries to kill faile as well as perrin, and perrin thinks that if his own axe harms her he might actually die. mat sees the faces of nobility on the cards (the amyrlin seat, queen morgase) because he's the one who's most averse to nobility, or those in power more generally (i.e. aes sedai). rand SPECIFICALLY has to defeat his reflections by absorbing them into himself, and SPECIFICALLY thinks that if he's defeated, the reflections will fight each other until there's just one that has his face and his life and his memories...just like how his life is already being coopted and warped by the image/role that others see him as (i.e. the dragon reborn). robert jordan you are making me SICK (compliment)

also, literally every comment someone makes about how they're all changing, or specifically how rand just wants to be rand al'thor the shepherd, makes me want to scream cry and throw up. IT'S SO MUCH. my current favorite crackpot theory is that when all is said and done and the last battle is won, one of the boys, probably rand, is gonna wind up just walking off into the sunset as an anonymous traveling bard/gleeman.

like i know rand is supposed to shed his blood fighting the dark one and everyone is pretty sure he's gonna die horribly from Channeler Madness if not during the last battle, but come on. for my own sanity if nothing else i have to believe he'll get to the end alive, SOMEHOW. and like, i think it would be really beautiful if after suffering as the dragon and as a tool of the pattern, he's able to just...travel, and be free, and tell stories instead of being part of one. and he even liked playing the flute for his supper! just let me have this, PLEASE

the other big thing that has me going "oh my god the narrative of it all" is the way that dreams and the dream world are becoming bigger parts of the story, vis a vis perrin's wolf dreams and egwene using the stone ring to go into tel'aran'rhiod, as well as the sheer amount of space dedicated just to lanfear fucking with all of their dreams for no apparent reason other than being dramatic and evil. insane concepts, i love it all, i love SYMBOLISM

i had some other thoughts (mostly about the structures of books 2 and 3 being super similar but book 3 allowing the main characters to exert more agency and get pushed around by the plot less) but i think those i covered pretty well in my twitter thread. anyway i just got to the exposition dump about the redstone doorway that can answer three questions and am now eagerly awaiting the time when everyone insisting they can't or shouldn't go inside gets forced to go inside regardless and shit immediately goes fucking crazy, because it's gotta happen, right? <3

[dragonprincequotesimadeup]

Question and answers from the Offical Q&A's in The Dragon Prince Discord Server: Series Questions

Q: "How many seasons are there going to be of the dragon prince? It is a really good story.”

AE: The Dragon Prince saga = seven seasons!

Q: “I wanted to know if this season of the dragon prince was more like ground work to set up other seasons?”

JR: Season 4 does pull forward many of the plotlines and questions from the first three seasons, but it also lays new ground that Seasons 5, 6, and 7 are being built upon. After the Battle of the Storm Spire, the world of Xadia has had some large changes! Humans and elves are having more contact with one another, in some cases even living in the same city or getting married. That doesn’t wipe out all those years of war and mistrust, so there is much to unpack for our gang, as well as Xadia at large. Book Four: Earth is about both playing out where we were headed as well as pointing the story in new directions for the future.

AE: Season 4 = Earth = “ground work” haha

Q: "Why calling the Season "Mystery of Aavaros" instead of "Where is Aavaros?" or - will we see a lot more of him in he next season? Biggest disappointment of the whole season, that the most interesting character had not even 5 minutes of screen time (and you know, the fans want him!). Especially after advertising so much with him."

SJ: “Mystery of Aaravos” isn’t the name of Season 4! Instead, it’s the name of the larger story we’ll be telling over the course of Seasons 4, 5, 6, and 7. This means two things: One, you’ll continue to see the “Mystery of Aaravos” logo and subtitle used for future seasons. And, two, you definitely haven’t seen the last of Aaravos. There will be plenty of opportunities for you to not only properly discover what exactly is so mysterious about the Midnight Star, but also enjoy a lot more screen time with your favorite Startouch elf. (With that said: Can we all just agree those five minutes were absolutely murderous? His verbal smackdown, heretofore known as the Aara-roast, was just [claudia emoji].)

Q: "Love the new season but now i can’t wait [for] it to continue. Is Season 5 in [the] works already?”

SJ: We’re so glad to hear that you enjoyed Season 4 of The Dragon Prince! (And, like you, we can’t wait to dig deeper into the “Mystery of Aaravos” and for you to see how that story unravels.) To answer your question, though: Yes! Seasons 5 is currently in development—as are Seasons 6 and 7. We’ve been working on this set of seasons for some time now, which means the gap between Season 4 and Season 5 will be much shorter than the gap between Season 3 and Season 4. In fact, we’re looking to release Season 5 later next year!

Q: "Honest question, which of the writers had the obsession with fart jokes this season, and why was an entire scene dedicated to Terry’s farts intercut with the scene of Viren having a panic attack? Many viewers including myself felt those jokes were in rather poor taste, especially with previous statements of the series supposedly being more mature in terms of tone and story elements”

AE: So, first, I will offer a learning, and then an explanation. First, the learning: I think we went too far with fart jokes this season! To be clear, we have done jokes like this in the past, but Episode 402 (“Fallen Stars”) had too many too close. I think that threw a segment of our audience and made them feel the show was too young. In retrospect, I would have gotten rid of some and toned some down. But, second, an explanation: The exchanges between Claudia and Terry in front of Viren were sort of MEANT to be awkward and cringe. Claudia is trying to show off her new boyfriend, and how great their relationship is—and she's excitedly sharing lots of inside jokes with her dad because of how proud she is, also because she's just happy to have him back. Like the fact that they call their high fives a “high four-and-a-half,” and then asks: “Isn’t that hilarious?” "The petrichor exchange was supposed to be an example of Claudia oversharing, so it was supposed to be wildly inappropriate, which it was, and make Viren uncomfortable, which is did. But, explanation aside, our goal was never to make our fans uncomfortable. I think we missed the mark in this case because obviously there's been a strong reaction. So, lesson learned. We're keeping an eye on things for future seasons and will pull back anywhere we think goes too far again.

Q: "will the following seasons have a more mature tone? while s4 definitely had its dark moments the overall tone of the season didn't feel any more mature than before, and arguably quite the opposite more often than not (many moments which i personally think should've been handled more seriously ended up with jokes inbetween). i wonder if this will be the case for the remaining seasons or if there will be a "full commitment" to darker stuff at some point. like maybe by the end of the series?"

AE: We see now how, for some people, some of this season’s jokes may seem to contradict the more mature tone of the story, and we own that. But the truth is there is always going to be a balance. The show will go deeper and darker with each new season, but there will always be humor as well. Certainly, we don’t want that humor to step on or overshadow emotional moments, and we are as mindful of that as we can be (and will be even more mindful moving forward)… but sometimes Soren, being Soren, is going to say something silly during a deep moment and that’s just who he is! In addition to tackling more serious subjects, that’s also what The Dragon Prince is. And that playfulness isn’t going to change or go away, no matter how high the stakes may get.

Q: "the lack of subtitles for amaya’s sign language is intentional? i know gren does the interpretation most of the time, but there are several scenes (especially during seasons 2-3) in which amaya is alone. it’s a way to make a statement about the general public not knowing sign language?"

SJ: We wanted all of Amaya’s scenes to feel very intimate, but also authentic for the audience who may or may not know ASL, so we made an intentional choice to not subtitle her lines unless a translator (like Gren) was present.

[mikolopok]

I recently wrote a kiribaku fic called “fire” on ao3, so if you’re interested in it you should check it out! It’s about how no one talks to Bakugou since they thinks he’s dangerous but Kirishima breaks down his walls.

<a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/49497772"><strong>Fire</strong></a> (8660 words) by <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/aphelionpoint"><strong>aphelionpoint</strong></a><br />Chapters: 1/1<br />Fandom: <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/tags/%E5%83%95%E3%81%AE%E3%83%92%E3%83%BC%E3%83%AD%E3%83%BC%E3%82%A2%E3%82%AB%E3%83%87%E3%83%9F%E3%82%A2%20%7C%20Boku%20no%20Hero%20Academia%20%7C%20My%20Hero%20Academia%20(Anime%20*a*%20Manga)">僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia (Anime &amp; Manga)</a><br />Rating: Teen And Up Audiences<br />Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings<br />Relationships: Bakugou Katsuki/Kirishima Eijirou<br />Characters: Bakugou Katsuki, Kirishima Eijirou, Kaminari Denki, Ashido Mina, Sero Hanta, Jirou Kyouka, Midoriya Izuku<br />Additional Tags: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Fluff, Villain Ashido Mina, Kaminari Denki is a Good Friend, Fluff and Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending<br />Summary: <p>Bakugou was a mystery, he was dangerous and no one dared to talk to him.</p><p>Until Kirishima that is.</p>

[futurefind]

"You're never gonna get it, I'm a hazard to myself. I'll break it to you easy: You're looking and whispering, You think I'm someone else—

This is hell, this is hell, yes, I am in hell!"

#FutureFind: A panfandom/fandomless oc multimuse. A study of studies on: (childhood) trauma and grief and self-loathing; survivor's guilt; loyalty-based morality and identity both; the venn diagram between performance and personality, and; the sliding scale of when selflessness leads to the loss of the self. When you've got nothing left to lose, nothing left for you to gain, and the only thing left to do is to turn your gaze toward the future.

Status/Battery: HIATUS (REQ ONLY); □□□□□ (0/5) , 'fully burnt popcorn'; please be patient and please please initiate if you want interactions (including ooc communication and/or via rp tickets).

Unaffiliated/Independent. 18+, private/mutuals only. Run by Nori (20+, she/her/ae/aer). Preference for para/multi-para & threads. High enthusiasm, low initiation, horrific emotional permanence— any and all ooc communication, and even just periodic likes/reacts, will go a long way toward helping my comfort and confidence with us!

D.is.c.ord (Mutuals Only, just lmk): nethernor_i

GEN NAVI:

Rules

Fandom List

Muses

Headcanons Masterlist

Transitive Property of Blorboisms

Self-Promo ♥

Credits

INTERACTION:

Interest Checker

Permanent Interaction Call

RP Tickets

Opens / Chrono

Inbox Prompts / Chrono

NSFW ! Inbox Prompts / Chrono

Ultimate Bump Post

(MAIN) MUSE TLDRS/INTROS:

Rea (Riel Rodas): A colorful, plucky, and dramatic figure who's stubbornly selfless (and, thus, self-less). Creative and ingenious, with a penchant for reading and drawing... especially, if possible, magic (or an equivalent, i.e. the supernatural).

Background: A mundane working class lifestyle, keen on helping out 'the heroes'—meanwhile, whenever possible [verse wise], her aunt is determined on turning her into the best pawn/tool possible.

Common CWs: Familial exploitation (from an aunt), human experimentation, 'a lack of self'

Sasume Oshima: A gruff, volatile, deeply 'ride or die' woman whose violent lifestyle as a mercenary belies her fierce determination to put more compassion and 'heroics' into the world. Beautiful, mysterious, overpowered in combat... and utterly at a loss in social situations.

Background: A pariah of a bogeyman, even as a young orphan. Raised her younger sister in her mother's shadow, and was chased out of town as a tween. For better or for worse, exploits her 'spellsword' for the sake of power and efficacy as a sellsword, oft hunting supernatural entities causing harm.

Common CWs: PTSD, severe survivor's guilt/SI, [ramifications of] child abuse/trauma & parentification, self-destructiveness, violence/injury/gore

Mara Surgens: A walking shitshow whose messiness is only matched in her hyper-competence in all fields— primarily combat, strategy, and mechanics. Technical mercenary/bounty hunter, mostly a wandering cryptid who you only notice in her latest bought of cursing.

Background: A street rat who dedicated herself to military pursuits when she was orphaned. And dedicate herself she did, tight-laced and no-nonsense, speedrunning herself into a rising star and golden child prodigy. But dedicating herself, life and identity and soul to a cause, leaves herself with nothing left but to crash and burn when her belief in it shatters.

Common CWs: substance abuse (alcohol & smoking), military shitTM, child soldiering, self-destructiveness/death seeking, violence/injury/gore, psychological warfare, general dickbaggery

[caliburnt]

tags. I’m not changing those. 

misc ic tags.

`  ⟨  endure  exile  /  never  surrender  ⟩ —  nero. `  ⟨  ashes  to  ashes  /  dust  to  dust  ⟩ —  musings. `  ⟨  not  interested  in  your  bullshit  ⟩ —  mannerisms. `  ⟨  it’s  beginning  /  give  me  more  power  ⟩ —  devil trigger. `  ⟨  no  way  to  contain  /  this  storm  swelling  inside  of  me  ⟩ —  aes. `  ⟨  devil  trigger  on  repeat  ⟩ —  tunes. misc ooc tags. `  ⟨  the  third  ring ⟩ —  inbox. `  ⟨  the  max  act  noise ⟩ —  out. `  ⟨  happy  birthday!  /  now  make  a  wish!  ⟩ —  crack. `  ⟨  hey  do  you  do  parties?  ⟩ —  promo.

misc chara tags `  ⟨  weapons  artisan  /  kicking  demon  ass  ⟩ —  nico. `  ⟨  songstress  /  calling  you  out  of  darkness  ⟩ —  kyrie. `  ⟨  supreme  general  /  became  a  demon  ⟩ —  credo. `  ⟨  devil  hunter  /  jacked  up  notion  of  fair  play  ⟩ —  dante. `  ⟨  walking  arsenal  /  huntress  for  hire  ⟩ —  lady. `  ⟨  lightning  she-devil  /  infiltrator  ⟩ —  trish. `  ⟨  dark  slayer  /  a  voice  echoed  ⟩ —  vergil. `  ⟨  mysterious  summoner  /   last  request   ⟩ —  v. verse tags. `  ⟨  our  enemies  shall  fall  /  as  we  uprise  ⟩ —  I. `  ⟨  beneath  my  soul  /  beneath  my  skin  ⟩ —  II. `  ⟨  i’m  on  fire  /  veins  burning  red  ⟩ —  III. `  ⟨  rise  again   /  this  is  your  legacy  ⟩ —  IV. `  ⟨  swallow  pride    /  with  a  swollen  tongue  ⟩ —  R.

[adurna0]

Why Egwene was a better target for Lanfear’s machinations: The  Essay

By popular demand, here we are.

WARNING BOOK SPOILERS

So let’s examine, first of all, Lanfear’s usual MO. She goes up to 1 of the 3 EF boys. She tries to seduce him. (Note here that said seduction doesn’t always actually include actual seduction. Mostly it focuses on promises of power, knowledge and what have you.)

Now let’s have a look at her targets and their motivations/desires:

Rand al’Thor: This man is a shepherd. All he wants is to be a shepherd and a househusband. He doesn’t want power. He doesn’t want fame. He wants sheep, a wife (or three) and children. He’s had his fill of fame and power and he would like no more, thank you very much!

Mat Cauthon: Although one might think that Mat would make a good target, in reality Mat has had a taste of fame. And what did he get for it? Now everyone expects him to be the hero! Blood and ashes!

Perrin Aybara: Perhaps Lanfear’s least bright moment. Perrin’s only ever wanted to keep the people around him safe. Sure, power came to him and he eventually accepted it but it’s never been his goal!

So basically we’ve established that Lanfear has chosen the 3 most unambitious youths out there to try to corrupt.

Hang on a moment, though. You know which youth IS ambitious? That’s right! Egwene al’Vere! Egwene, whose world has always felt too small for her, who always wanted something more out of life, who wants knowledge, all the knowledge and she wants it now, who wants power, to keep her and her loved ones safe, to right the wrongs in the world as she perceives them, to avoid being a slave to anybody else’s will ever again and maybe, just maybe, some power just for herself.

If Lanfear had stopped being thirsty for men for one second? Well, Egwene’s right there and you absolutely cannot convince me she wouldn’t be at least tempted. That she wouldn’t be immediately intrigued by this mysterious woman offering her everything she’s ever wanted.

Now, Egwene’s a smart girl. She’d probably see through it better than the boys (minus Mat perhaps, because IIRC he was suspicious of her from the start), but would it stop her? Probably not, at least not for a while.

But how would this go down? Well, simple. Egwene would clearly think she’s manipulating Lanfear. And Lanfear, of course, would believe she’s manipulating Egwene. Think kind of like a Verin situation, but instead it’s the Dragon’s ex girlfriends squad.

Moving on to the when and where, this one is also not hard to work out. Lanfear is already at the Tower, masquerading as Else Grinwell. She meets Egwene again in a dream in the Heart of the Stone. She had plenty of chances there to make some... interesting proposals.

I think it’s a fascinating plotline that never happened, because 

How far could (would) Egwene have gone before she pulled herself back? (And I do believe she would pull herself back, this is the woman who gave her own life in the end for the Light.) 

How long would she keep it a secret from the others? How hard would Nynaeve box her ears when she inevitably found out? How would Elayne, ever the politician who knows what a good deal is, react? 

How much would they bond over stupid people being in charge of the world (see: Lanfear calling Ishamael a fool, Egwene despairing at the state of Aes Sedai politics) and their ex-boyfriend being an absolute woolhead? 

What sort of forever unacknowledged feelings would they both walk away from this with? And would this end with Egwene following a path closer to Lews Therin perhaps? Thinking that she’s the only one who can save the world? How would Rand react? Or would she see that potential in herself and find more common ground with Rand instead? 

Would Lanfear, on the other hand, be unchained from the Shadow, assuming she doesn’t fall into the doorway Ter’angreal because she had other plots instead? What would she do if Moridin hadn’t gotten a hold of her?

This is why, if you are reading this (you, yes, you, showrunner Rafe Judkins), I think it a smart move to not sleep on this potential. And yeah, maybe it’s best for the integrity of the story that this doesn’t go too far. But it’s such an interesting “what if” scenario that it would be fascinating if it was acknowledged in the narrative...

[asha-mage]

          “My lady, I-“ Lews Therin began, but Lanfear ignored him, and smothered her own frustration as she shoved down the temptation to draw on the Source. Instead she stepped forward and reached out again to touch his forehead, feeling for fever the way Joar’s mother had when they were children. She felt foolish- what could be detected from mere touch? – but she needed to cover the slip. She had been making too many of those lately.

            “What happened?” She asked softly.

            Lews Therin gulped and shook his head, brushing away Lanfear’s touch, then moved to the fire to lay down Cauthon beside it. “Ambush in the woods. We caught a patrol coming back.” Lews Therin said, his voice hoarse and scratchy.

            “That lightning bolt-“ Hurin began, face pale and sickly.

            “The work of the Darkfriends, no doubt.” Lanfear said softly, kneeling beside Lews Therin at the fire. “Perhaps, this mysterious Mordeth himself.”

            For just a moment, Lews Therin’s eyes flicked to Cauthon and he opened his mouth as if to speak, then closed it again. Interesting. She knew, from Ishamael, of some link between Mordeth and the boy, though he had not been clear on the matter, and the bits she had overheard since joining their party had not clarified it. Ishamael had been…not afraid exactly, she didn’t know that he was capable of fear any longer, but…wary of that link. Something to consider.

            “Yet it did not stop you,” she noted, and Lews Therin shivered as she stood, gently laying a hand on his elbow to help him to his feet, and lead him over to the chest. It looked almost ghostly, reflecting the dancing firelight off its yellow surface. “Your effort has borne fruit.”

            “The Horn- we-“ Lews Therin began extending a hand to touch the lid. Lanfear watched in fascination as he traced his fingers along the vines, frowning as if trying to remember something.

            Realization hit her in the same moment that his fingers seemed to pick out two matching leaves, positioned one atop the other. Leaves in distinctive almost teardrop shapes, that if fitted together would make a whole circle, divided by a sinuous line.

            Of course . Lanfear thought as she watched Lews Therin press his fingers against them at the same time. A disguise, to hide the true key. The symbol of the Aes Sedai. Sentimental fools to the very bitter end, it seemed.

            The chest opened with a soft rush of air, a seam that was disguised by the carvings appearing and the top half of the chest springing backwards of its own accord. Lanfear watched, rapt, as Lews Therin dipped his hands within and drew out a curled golden horn.

            It was beautiful, almost delicate, the surface of it glinting, untarnished by the ages. It hummed faintly with some ancient power. At some point since the War of Power, someone had added silver script in a curling loop around the bell, and she could not stop herself from reaching out to trace it with her fingers.

            Tia mi aven Moridin isainde vadin.

            “The grave.” She murmured softly. “Is no bar to my call.”

- Sworn, Chapter 14: Within The Dagger

[agardenandlibrary]

Eye of the World - Chapter 4-7 (p103/782)

The gleeman has arrived! Thom Merrilin. He’s juggling! He’s doing backflips! He’s suddenly intimidated by Moiraine!

“Tell us about Lenn,” Egwene called. “How he flew to the moon in the belly of an eagle made of fire. Tell about his daughter Salya walking among the stars.”

Me: is there space travel in this series. EXCUSE ME, is there space travel and no one told me. If there’s secretly space travel you have to tell me.

“There was nothing the black-cloaked horseman could do that the people of Emond’s Field could not handle together.”

mmm you sure about that?

Rand and Tam go home for the night and they’re worried so they lock up and Tam reveals he has a MYSTERIOUS SWORD and says he bought it but if this chapter teaches us anything it’s that Tam sits on a throne of lies.

Anyway Trollocs attack - They are Night Trollocs!! Ahhhh! I think it’s interesting that they’re an amalgamation of different animals - not just wolves or goats, but they mention beaks as well.

“They came over the Dragonwall like a flood and washed the land with blood. How many died for Laman’s sin?”

THRONE OF LIES, TAM. He’s wounded and babbles about how he found a mysterious baby and brought it home to his wife and Rand goes “Oh, he must mean his OTHER child, he can’t mean ME, his ONLY CHILD”. buddy. my guy. I urge you to attain some genre-awareness.

Rand drags Tam into town at dawn and finds it half-destroyed. Nynaeve says she can’t help Tam. Rand finds out Moiraine is a, gasp, Aes Sedai - and asks her to heal his father if she can.

Moiraine, who called lightning from the sky to scare off the Trollocs (awesome), is tired but agrees to try. Price to be agreed on later.

We’re really in it now, kids. I feel like... I’m enjoying it more this time around? I’m trying not to jinx it lol.

[writing-is-a-martial-art]

WIP Intro: The Personsmith

[ID: a book cover mockup with a dark-blue background. The title at the top reads "The Personsmith" in all capital white letters. Below, there's a sketch made with white lines of an outstretched hand holding a vial. In the liquid in the vial, there is an eye floating. The hand has marks around it showing a sort of shining. At the very bottom, "Oleg Bell" is written in white letters /end ID]

“Come one, but not all, get the keys to lost doors and the doors to lost secrets. Come, those who need mending and fixing!” he called, and nobody came.

Title: The Personsmith

POV: third person, past tense, fairytale-style narration

Estimate length: 1-2 k, very short story

Genre: existentialism, supernatural, feel-good.

Themes: self-discovery, person vs. society, winning against all odds, mysterious magical people, hidden strengths.

Characters:

The maiden

[ID: a dark-blue banner with the white outline of a vial, a key on each side. /end ID]

She's a good sister and a good daughter, and she's about to become a good wife. She does all that is asked of her, a nice smile always on her face. She does not know why she suffers through every day, or why does it hurt every time someone calls her a pretty girl, or why she cherishes a name that can never be hers.

The Personsmith

[ID: a dark-blue banner with the white outline of an eye in a moon crescent, a dagger on each side. /end ID]

Who is he? What does he do? What does he want, calling strange calls from his strange gray wagon? Is he selling something? Is he trading? What sort of things does he offer, and what is his price?

The Village

n[ID: a dark-blue banner with the white outline of a human skull, a candle in a candle holder on each side. /end ID]

The village lives by its way, generation after generation. It is not cruel, it is not bad, it's just a place that has traditions and roots. You'll do well in the village, and long as you do what you're expected to, as long as you stay in your place.

***

Tagging the general taglist: @rainycatto @wizardfromthesea @arbitreneart @dandelion-tea @lady-of-himring @47crayons @pagesofcursive @apocalypsewriters @lockejhaven

Tagging the people who showed interest, please tell me if you want to be on the taglist for this: @writeouswriter @cryptid-s-wips @enchanted-lightning-aes @euphoniouspandemonium @whisperingsunrise @47crayons @andiwriteunderthemoon @lexiklecksi @underwoodinc @another-wannabe-novelist @cheerfulmelancholies @ink-fireplace-coffee @haunted-stranger-garden @cassieroo @annoyingwritingtrash

[geek-and-destroy]

This is a Verin Sedai simp blog now - Wheel of Time Read

This is post 11 in The Wheel of Time Read - see the previous post - covering chapters 18-42 of book 2.

A few days ago, I started reading The Wheel of Time, Robert Jordan’s sprawling fantasy series. And - you know what skip this intro shit, I have some explaining to do.

So. I usually like to go like 5-10 chapters before I post an update to this thing. I had midterms this week so I thought I wouldn't get enough time to read or write. But guess what.

Like the excruciating allure of saidin, the book called to me. I'm pretty sure I flunked an exam or two in the process, but the Wheel weaves as the Wheel wills. (Yes, I have now started using this phrase as a way to skirt personal responsibility. No, I will not stop.)

Robert Jordan, I feel, is making full use of the ungodly amount of pages at his disposal to slowly dissect every aspect of the sprawling world he's laid out. I have to say, the 'I have won again, Lews Therin' part with the glimpses of different AUs was well fucking done. Has to be one of my favourite parts of this series so far, along with Moiraine's Manetheren speech way back in book one.

And it was so great getting there, too! SO! MUCH! STUFF! First, there was the big statue that activated Rand's saidin, (another well-written scene btw) then you had the whole thing with Rand being treated as a lord - growing into it, even - and Daes'daemar. I love how Rand just doing nothing played into his supposed mystery, getting major clout just by sitting on his ass. Well, he didn't really sit around the whole time in Cairhien. He went and met Thom! (side note: I was kinda disappointed he didn't stay dead, honestly - an impactful death is yet to occur in WoT - but the character has much more in him than that. Guess what, though. The one real, impactful death has been Thom's protege girl, who was kinda fridged tbh. There's only so much fridging you can avoid in such a huge series, I suppose. Some characters exist solely to further another character's story, it's just like that sometimes.) The feast at Barthanes' mansion, Machin Shin, Barthanes' death, the stedding!! Loial is the hottest, most valid Ogier ever, he must be protecc at all costs. The Portal Stone to Toman Head, way out in the west. It's a lot.

... Rand's going to be blamed for Galldrian's death, isn't he? Since he went to prime rival Barthanes' party over Galldrian's. Whenever he declares himself/is outed as the Dragon Reborn, that is. Oh, well. I'm willing to bet Thom had a hand.

There were also exotic Domon and Fain POVs showing an entirely different culture from the one we've seen so far. Even Shienar was similar to the mainland civilization. I'm soorta iffy about the whole damane thing. It's interesting, changing the power dynamics of channelers, but with an adaptation being made, I'm worried about its potential fetishizability. At least Turak dude seems like an interesting character. And guess what? Another matriarchy! Again, with patriarchal systems and trappings intact, but hey. Will we get to meet this Empress? I hope so.

Meanwhile, Egwene and Nynaeve! In Tar Valon!! Meeting Elayne and Min! They don't hate each other! Delightful Aes Sedai lore galore! empty boi Logain strolling around, making me pity him. Nynaeve choking the Amyrlin was also great. Rage-activated magic, is Nynaeve the Hulk? She wears green in the show, too - is Hulk-coding a thing now? Anyway, I am gushing over all of these dynamics.

All except two, that is. Firstly, every young woman is still inexplicably attracted to Rand. I suppose I'll have to live with it. Rand certainly isn't a wish-fulfilment character, so that's a bit better. A bit. But I really don't like MC attraction syndrome that plagues much of fiction. And secondly - man, I so didn't imagine Liandrin to be an actual Darkfriend. She was an antagonist, definitely. But I thought she would be the 'good intentions + zeal' type antagonist who realizes how her methods are helping the Dark One rather than defeating him and then dies in a heroic sacrifice. Her being a Darkfriend somehow takes away from her villainy. She becomes a less interesting villain this way. Bleh.

But enough about those others. It's time for the real best character.

I love her, your honour.

Verin, you fucking beaut. You non-good-looking, sharp, amazing wise beaut. If Robert Jordan (or Sanderson) kills her, I will lose it. Moiraine who? Nynaeve who? I only know Verin. Whoever underestimates her or calls her book smart can kindly die mad about it. Fuck off please, we don't need you here. That includes you, Moiraine and Siuan Sanche. You give her all the respect in the world or you will suffer.

I'm really glad to know that the whole 'Brown Ajah wouldn't survive five seconds in the real world' stuff was from the characters as opposed to the narrative. At least that's the case for Verin. Even though she hasn't faced Darkfriends and/or Trollocs directly yet, (in front of our characters, that is) she's shown great real-world smarts and none of the characters would survive without her. Plus, she understands the value of keeping Rand's secret, and chides him when he uses too much of saidin. In most stories, she would've been the 'curious to the point of madness' type one who would encourage Rand to channel just to study it, but nope, not Verin. Also:

"And what I learned after nearly being caught by the snows in the Mountains of Mist and freezing my way across Almoth Plain – was absolutely nothing."

Oh, she's definitely been places, seen things. I can't wait to see her in action and absolutely steamroll Moiraine and anyone else in terms of efficiency and conflict resolution. No, she probably won't be using big, flashy magic, but everyone will be safe as well as closer to the goal. I'm a Verin simp now. Deal with it.

(Moiraine also had an interesting little side quest with the bits of prophecy, but I don't remember much of it rn, so yeah. Hopefully, we'll see her on Toman Head.)

[butterflydm]

wot reread: the shadow rising (chap 3-chap 6)

spoilers through the end of the fourth book, the shadow rising.

1. Perrin’s brain really is, like, 85% Faile at any given moment these days.

2. Oh, no. The jealousy arc has started. Perrin stares at Berelain because he smells the fear on her from her encounter with Rand and watching him get cut near to ribbons by his own reflections, and Faile thinks he’s staring because he thinks Berelain is pretty.

3. “Rand’s eyes looked like morning mist covering the dawn.” Daaamn, that is poetic, Perrin. If you weren’t so tragically Distracted By Heterosexuality all the time, I would write you into the polycule too. Give me more lines like that, and I might anyway.

4. “As always when they met, Lan’s and Rhuarc’s icy blue stares nearly struck sparks.” ...okay, Perrin. Wow. I think this is supposed be about Lan and Rhuarc competing over being... Rand’s mentor or something? But, uh. It sounds like something else, Perrin.

5. Lan and Rhuarc gently teasing Rand to try to lift his mood. That’s sweet.

6. More of the cracks between Lan and Moiraine show here, as Lan has tons of sympathy for Rand’s situation and understands why Rand is frustrated at Moiraine maintaining her veneer of knowledge but not actually telling him anything and then being annoyed with him when he tries to research things for himself.

7. So Perrin goes to confront Rand, and Mat goes to Thom, to try to hype himself up into leaving. This fits their established patterns so far.

8. Thom notices that though Mat comes into the room raring to run off, it is remarkably easy for him to tumble off that course and end up staying after all. This is likely exactly as far as all of Mat’s previous ‘escape attempts’ have gotten, I bet. Lots of loud words and then the second an excuse to stay pops up, he takes it. Because he has a feeling inside saying that he needs to stay, that something important is going to happen if he stays. or he’s in love with rand idk

9. I did also notice, during Mat’s outburst when Thom says that maybe part of why he’s not leaving is because Rand is his friend, that he’s not actually still denying that Rand is his friend. There was a lot of loud noise about other things, but he didn’t say that Rand isn’t his friend anymore. That was interesting.

10. Aviendha time! We don’t get to see much of her personality at first, but I’m so happy to see her.

11. Rand ordered all the torture implements destroyed, of course. And needing to do that probably lowered his opinion of the Tairen Lords even more (if that were even possible at this point; it may already be at rock-bottom).

12. Tanchico. And the mysterious item to bind Rand’s power. I remember very little of the plot related to Tanchico, with a few Relevant Exceptions, so this will be a fun narrative journey.

13. It’s interesting to see Aviendha so hesitant to speak (due to Egwene and Nynaeve’s deception about being full Aes Sedai make her feel that she has to stay respectful), but we still see her being very perceptive and thinking outside the box that the Aes Sedai put themselves into, through things like being willing to talk about the potential effects of stilling rather than just being creeped out by it.

14. Elayne is so jealous of Berelain having been in Rand’s chambers and yet is also miserably aware that she doesn’t have right to be jealous. Oh bby.

15. Aw, Egwene thinks she’s the only one scared of Joiya and the other women are much braver, and Elayne thinks she’s the only one scared of Joiya. My darlings.

16. Nynaeve had what Lini would call ‘a hard patch to hoe’. So funny. Elayne has so many amusing moments in her narrations. The funniest PoV characters, imo, are definitely Mat, Elayne, and Nynaeve. Because, of course, the things that Elayne says here that Nynaeve puts up with in her hoped-for relationship with Lan, but that she never would, are many of the same things she absolutely does end up needing to deal with in her relationship with Rand.

17. Egwene busting out with “nah I love him like a brother and you like a sister” here is so hilariously random. I mean, thank goodness she finally rips off the bandaid, but you could have said something months ago, Egwene. You’ve known for ages about Elayne’s crush on Rand and her obvious guilt at crushing on him because of you! Egwene and Rand’s break-up in this book is honestly so funny to me because they each believe that they need to break it to the other one gently, while also knowing that they personally moved on a long time ago. They really are similar enough to be siblings, in some ways.

I think maybe the idea behind the timing is that finding out Berelain was in Rand’s room makes it clear to the two women which of them is actually jealous and which one isn’t? Maybe.

18. Moiraine trying yet again to force Rand into an action. She’s always trying to force him in these early books and (despite acknowledging his stubborn nature!) she is unable to let go of her own pride long enough to become a true advisor rather than attempting to be his commander. We do also get to see that Elayne and Moiraine are both very keenly aware of the political realities of the world around them in a way that Nynaeve and Egwene don’t yet have the knowledge to begin to understand in the same way.

19. First mention of the redstone doorway! Hype! ♥♥♥

20. Egwene talks here about Berelain not keeping her eyes on the same man for more than two days before shifting her interest to someone else. Ha! If only. What Egwene says here about her mom believing that a man loves whoever grabs him first does explain why they would try to lock Rand in with the whole ‘all but promised to each other as children’ thing tho. Gotta lock him down before he knows he has options, apparently.

21. Awww, Nynaeve doing the hard anti-sell on Rand, just to make sure Elayne really does love him. She’s always in his corner. except about that one thing lol

22. You know, Egwene was talking out of her ass about Berelain, but Nynaeve actually does have her number: “the kind to hold onto something that she doesn’t particularly want, just because someone else does want it”. I absolutely believe that about Berelain. I’m gonna keep an eye on this thought, because I think it may be solid.

23. Love this aspect of Rand/Elayne’s relationship, narratively-speaking: “If I must accept that he is the Dragon Reborn, then he must accept that I am what I am, that I have duties”. I love so much that they are two people who care about each other but also have these other duties that they are beholden to, and this shared sense of... honor about accomplishing their duties... ties them together imo. No one ever gives Elayne a lecture about duty being heavier than a mountain, but she understands it better than most. I understand the issues people have with the execution of the relationship, but they are such a perfect narrative fit for each other.

24. And Elayne says she was worried that Nynaeve would think she was silly for worrying about love at a time like this, but Nynaeve is basically like, seize the moment because otherwise you may die never experiencing the love that you long for. I love their relationship so much. Nynaeve basically adopts Elayne here, because of how strongly Nynaeve has that big-sister affection for Rand.