#just post series for tdr

[zorilleerrant]

"Is it okay?" Tim asks, "if I'm Robin?" He won't look at Bernard. He won't look anywhere but the wall, blank off white with nothing on it, gaze steady like he's trying to find every flaw in the paint.

"What does that even mean?" Bernard asks, crossing his arms. Uncrossing them. He's not sure how to sit, anymore, and maybe it's better that Tim steadfastly refuses to meet his gaze. Doing this almost but not quite face to face is easier. He still wants to get up and rummage through his pans and start cooking something.

Tim glances back in surprise, just for a second, just enough that Bernard can watch him look guilty before hiding his face again. "I'm. You know I'm Robin, right? I'm not just friends with him, I'm him. I thought you knew that." And Bernard wants to scream at the top of his lungs, because he doesn't know how many times they can do this song and dance.

So he says it, outright this time, just to be clear there aren't any misunderstandings. "Yeah, Timmy. A few too many superheroes on your boat for me not to notice. For, uh, maybe more than just me, I don't know. I think everyone might know." People were making comments, after the rescue. They were both a little too stressed to pay attention, but probably there was stuff in there about Tim and Robin. A few knowing winks, at least.

"I hope everyone doesn't know. What a mess." There's a long pause, and then Tim takes a deep breath, and scooches over to Bernard, and wraps him in a hug, going boneless against him and breathing against his neck. Bernard's never sure whether Tim is trying to smell his aftershave or just sighing at the closeness, but his breathing changes. "You'll let me do it? Be Robin, I mean."

"Let you? It's not my business," Bernard says, and when Tim tenses against him, amends it to, "I mean, obviously I care, and I worry and stuff, but I'm not in charge of whether you're Robin. Batman is, right? Or maybe he isn't, considering what everyone else gets up to." He relaxes when Tim starts laughing.

"I wanted to tell you," Tim says, quietly. And Bernard thinks did you? but doesn't say it, because he's being a supportive boyfriend, and that's kind of a bitchy thing to say in the middle of what might be a heart to heart if they can actually get to that part of it without one of them chickening out. "I didn't want to tell you. I don't know. I don't want to put you in danger."

"Babe, I walk around with arms full of knives trying not to touch burning things all day," Bernard says, adding nothing about the streets of Gotham. Tim has enough to worry about without reminding him it's never possible to keep everyone safe, that there's always something unpredictable around the next corner. "Yesterday I got hot sauce on my dick."

"You what?" Tim says, tensing again, but this time it's clear from his stuttering breaths that he's trying to hold in laughter. Which is rich, because Bernard saw what Robin was doing last night. Some enterprising Riddler goon uploaded video proof that the suit only comes with a soft cup, and Riddler's cane works well as a bludgeoning weapon. So it's not like Bernard was the only reason they weren't having sex yesterday.

"Sometimes," Bernard says, with a long suffering sigh, "you chop hot peppers, and you simmer the sauce, and it smells amazing, and then you have to pee. And you forget to wash your hands until after." He winces, of course, but he was already wincing at remembering the video, which is also kind of hard not to laugh at. It's an awkward feeling. Kind of like talking through the Robin thing.

"I can get you a comm," Tim says, curling into his chest, speaking just a little too softly to hear completely, but what he means is coming through loud and clear. Bernard strokes Tim's hair and rests a cheek against his back. Tim words reverberate against him. "You can listen in whenever you want. Make sure I'm safe."

[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.)

[iviarellereads]

Wheel of Time full series spoiler thoughts on TDR 40-End

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.

"She always had a temper like lightning, but she always had a soft heart, too, for anyone poor or hungry." Well, we can see why Elayne cares so much, if her mother always has, too. But, what could have changed?

Aludra, my queen. Yes, I have a lot of queens in this series, shush. Oh, your matches will light so many fires and still be the least of your accomplishments by the end.

I'm already tired of the falcon-hawk thing, and Faile and Berelain won't even meet this book. Oh boy this is gonna be a fun read.

SAMMY! The second most insecure of all the men who couldn't handle being Brian. (Yes, it's the Pythons' weakest film, but it's a good landmark for comparison since, isn't it basically every male Forsaken that joins the Dark because they weren't as good as LTT?

Rahvin… [disgusted face]

Egg's dreams in chapter 48 are some of the most pointedly accurate so far, once you know the whole tale. Zoinks! The Luhhans being used for bait for Perrin, the axe and the hammer, all the living Forsaken following Rand, Rand getting the Dragon tattoos, the faceoffs between him and Egg in book 13/14, like, DANG.

Comar makes to fight because he's under a Compulsion, like as not. Not like Rahvin would leave anything, even loyalty, to chance. (gagging noises)

Poor Be'lal, The Netweaver, The Envious, and now The Forgotten in the fandom.

Nynaeve's signature move, the right hook, will never not be hilarious.

"Just because I am shielded here does not mean I am shielded in the World of Dreams." It's just a weave. See also: Rand splitting the balefire around himself with Callandor.

At least this time Rand's mostly right about defeating Ishy. He had to be brought back in a new body after this one.

I obviously couldn't put it into the post, but I do find it fascinating how the Arthuriana first seems like "oh, sure, you read a book, well done" and then gets woven into the core of the narrative with the Seanchan and all, and I don't remember the details but I remember a fun little interaction with Berelain at one point about it. Just, so much thought and planning making this series stand the test of time, right alongside all the unplanned/changed elements keeping us on our toes.

[taemcains]

I have no idea how Boris got popular lately. I thought he's only popular in Russia but I guess rc redditors love him too. I only found 1 post about not wanting Boris to be a LI. I'm tired with players forcing authors to make branches with side characters they liked. The only additional branch I think was executed perfectly was Alexandre from VfV. And I don't want the male-to-female LIs ratio in HSR to be 4:1. Too many male LIs, I'm tired of it. It could've been 3:2 but y'know it's RC we're talking 🤷‍♀️. TDR got 6 male LIs and 2 female LI (you can get an ending with Caro if you didn't romance anyone). HS main series have 7 LIs in total and ONLY Mimi as female LI. ABH got 5:1 male-to-female LIs ratio. It's redundant, retire that ratio already 🙄.

and its always for a mediocre white man like pack it pleaseeee. i doubt boris will be an li, 4:1 is alr insane but three white men? and only one poc li in total...

hs is diabolical. we could take 2/3 of the horsemen for a ride but plague is where alice drew the line? the way her character was handled too just reeks of misogyny. why do the other horsemen have a human side to them but she was crazy w/ no motives other than pushing the plot forward 😭

malek could've been a sexy offputting woman but god forbid 🙄

it's so depressing that sapphic players don't have a choice other than picking the only female li in the book ://

[amemoryofwot]

Awww yissss it’s Dragon time! Blacklist #tdr re read if you don’t wanna see my posts regarding but why are you following a WoT blog if you don’t want to see WoT posts amirite. Genuinely one of my faves in the series. Hot discussion topics will include Egwene’s PTSD, Perrin’s complicated feelings around leadership while he’s still a tolerable character, and just what is Mat’s deal right now.

[asha-mage]

Spoiler Tagging Guide For Filtering This Blog

I tag all my Wheel of Time posts either #WoT (for the book series) or #WoT On Prime (for the show).

I use #WoT Book Spoilers to cover anything the show has not reached yet, but I ALSO tag for specific books to the best of my ability, using the initals of that book. The Great Hunt spoilers are tagged #TGH Spoilers, The Dragon Reborn spoilers, #TDR Spoilers and so on.

I always use the most advanced book as a reference point. A post that contains spoilers for both TGH and AMOL will have #AMOL Spoilers, just to be on the safe side.

I tag the most recent season to denote spoilers for that i.e 'wot s2'.is my tag for Season 2 spoilers.

I have tags for, Fanart, Musing, Meta posts, Memes, and shitposts, all written WoT Fanart, WoT Musing, and so on. I do my best to tag these with which medium they are from (book or show) as well as with spoiler tags.

[birgittesilverbae]

@hush-pup-py

just off the top of my head because I don't have the energy to dig back into the books again

show: Liandrin's 'swords are useless' scene

excerpts from Siuan's 'swords are useless' scene (I'm not gonna screenshot the entire scene but it's fairly beat for beat what they gave Liandrin), TGH ch 18:

show: Moiraine reacts to Verin knowing more than she should during an infodump

excerpt from Moiraine and Siuan reacting to Verin knowing more than she should during an infodump, TGH ch7:

show: Liandrin confining Mat in the wake of his healing

excerpt from Siuan confining Mat in the wake of his healing, TDR ch 20:

show: Nynaeve gets no welcome beyond the two other Wondergirls post-Accepted test

excerpt from Siuan welcoming Nynaeve on her return from the arches, TGH ch 23:

show: Nynaeve's the fastest to be raised to Accepted since Cadsuane

books: Siuan/Moiraine/Elaida are the fastest ever through Novice training until Nynaeve

show: Moiraine manipulates Logain in order to use him as a means to an end

excerpt of Siuan manipulating Logain in order to use him as a means to an end, TSR ch 47:

but the real big kick in the teeth?

show: Moiraine copes with her loss of power and having to work from a place of weakness after (what she perceives as) being stilled

books: Siuan spends the back half of the series coping with her loss of power and working from a place of weakness after actually being stilled

as of 2x04 there's one (1) TGH Siuan scene remaining that hasn't been re-assigned or covered in s1 (the convo with Rand), and her remaining TDR scenes are made irrelevant by her not being in the Tower with the Wondergirls, which is a WHOLE other thing, given how important it is for future plotlines for her to establish a relationship with them

still pretty fucked that the wot team took core character establishing scenes/themes from a protagonist they cast as a woman of colour and gave them wholesale to a protagonist and antagonist they cast as white women

[alectology-archive]

I saw that post about tgh/tdr being adapted and like. yeah, rand has very fundamentally different journeys in the two books in ways that are very clever and dear to me but it’s alright for television as a medium to condense stuff. that’s just how adaptations work. and yes, the two endings are repetitive - to a close enough degree that although I prefer reading them as two separate books, I’m not sure it would work as an adaptation. (I think thematic explorations and narrative points that are very good on pay offs for readers but not necessarily well-translatable to the screen can tend to be a wider category than people realise.)

[butterflydm]

Hi, fun recap as always. Just a FYI, everyone seems to forget Bk2 ended in fall, Bk 3 starts in spring. So Rand & Min & Perrin & Loial had 3-5 months chilling together between books. That's when Min fell for him (she was crying when he left for Tear w/o them and later admitted to Perrin that she was in love with him) and became buds with Perrin & Loial. It's why she made enough of an impression to be on Rand's mind & confuse him about his feelings for E&A.

Anon, I'm not trying to be rude but I do feel like you're the third or fourth anon to tell me this exact thing. I know they were all together between books 2&3! I've talked about it before, about how part of my problem with the Min & Rand relationship is that they did spend time together back then but barely seem to know a thing about each other. Here is a place I talk about it: https://butterflydm.tumblr.com/post/693158362478706688/enjoying-your-series-recaps-just-on-thing-wrt-min

Just spending time in the same general area as someone doesn't make you friends. But just for you, anon, I did go through and check back over the beginning of TDR. This seems like the most relevant quote:

[Rand] kept to himself now. Too much to himself, to Perrin's thinking.

We know that he's been arguing a lot with Moiraine (he feels guilty about 'abandoning' all the bands of Dragonsworn on the Plains) and that he keeps a hut to himself, away from everyone else. And Min is still struggling with the idea that she's going to fall in love with someone that she didn't choose for herself ("some of us feel as if we're being danced about like puppets by these ta'veren").

Obviously, the beginning of this book is from Perrin's PoV, but Rand really sounds like he's self-isolating hard, even before he takes off on the road by himself (Perrin notes that he even tends to skip meals to go hide in his hut away from everyone else), so it's difficult to see how this was a wintertime of growing feelings, especially since Min is still very much in "I don't want this but don't have a choice" mode. And the main emotion that we see Rand show during these early chapters is frustration and self-loathing and worry. And, after the battle, Min notes that Rand was snapping at everyone (herself included) and only Perrin is able to actually get him to talk about what happened.

I agree that Min and Perrin DO seem like genuine friends at the start of TDR - she's telling him all her viewings about random people (that thing that she keeps insisting that she hates doing) and he knows her whole backstory, but the narration notes that Min doesn't share her viewings with Loial, so they aren't quite that close at this point. Min and Loial talk a bit but they don't seem entirely on the same page (Min still is at odds with the idea of being jerked around by ta'veren while Loial finds it exciting). Min & Loial come across as acquaintances to me.

[thatcartoonnetworkblog]

Cartoon Network Hotel Review

WHAT TIME IS IT????

If you don’t find yourself screaming this when you get here, even just in your head, then you’re in the wrong place.

But after a nice drive through Amish Country, the Cartoon Network Hotel is nice and visible right outside of Dutch Wonderland. Coming in, you see images of some of your favorite characters, right before Finn and Jake welcome you at the front.

Granted, it looks like I came off season- with fall and school just starting, Dutch Wonderland is only open on the weekends, and the hotel wasn’t exactly packed from what I can see. Which made for a good time for the indoor pool to be under renovation, so I sadly didn’t get to check that out. But hey, the outdoor pool was running just fine, although it was mostly empty, just myself and a family.

I didn’t take any pictures of the pool, since I didn’t have my phone (but a couple of Ice King’s penguins are playing life guard duty, alongside a pretty cute girl), but I did snap a photo of the Powerpuff sprinklers! They look pretty cool, right?

But that’s jumping ahead. Anyway, as mentioned, today it didn’t seem so busy, so despite arriving a couple of hours before 4 PM check-in, I was able to get a room right away. It must have been busy enough that I didn’t get the Gumball room I asked for, but instead I got my second choice, Steven Universe.

But I mean, look at this. I can’t complain. I was just thinking that I wanted the SU room instead, anyway.

The rooms are themed to one of six shows/franchises, the other four being Powerpuff Girls, Ben 10, Adventure Time and We Bare Bears. The former two seem to be primarily inspired by their recent series however, not their classics, so your mileage will vary there. I asked a receptionist which show tends to be the most popular choice, and she says that it rotates. Apparently PPG does get picked often by those who grew up with it, which makes sense, although those aren’t my Powerpuff Girls.

So, some things of note- there are four exclusive channels to the Hotel. Gumball and Teen Titans Go get their own 24/7 channels, which seems redundant since they’re basically all CN shows anyway. But they also have a FanFavs channel, which shows various episodes from various series, and New Shows, which I’m not sure if it shows currently unaired episodes or not. I couldn’t get that one active for long, but I did see part of a Victor & Valentino episode. I did have FanFavs on a bit as background noise, and they seem to mostly show:

Adventure Time

Regular Show

Steven Universe

Ben 10 (2016)

Mao Mao

Thundercats Roar (seriously...)

It seems like they mostly rotate from those shows, but I’d like to believe there’s more. Griz is on the cover bar for it when you connect to wifi, and you’d think they’d also show at least the 2016 PPG show as well, as that’s all over the resort.

They also do showings of cartoons in the kitchen at 3 and 9 PM, as the kitchen is closed during those times. My flight was very early, so I missed the 9 showing, as well as the Summer Camp Island-inspired bonfire that happened before, but I caught the 3 o’clock cartoons. They played episodes of Craig of the Creek, Total Dramarama, Teen Titans Go, and Gumball. Pretty cool, although these are basically the only four shows the channel plays anyway, The intro they use for the screenings shows clips from classic Looney Tunes, Tom and Jerry, and Scooby-Doo cartoons, but none of those were shown today. Maybe they’ll throw one in at another time? Probably not Scooby... or maybe just a movie, since they apparently play movies as well sometimes.

I didn’t stick around for most of the TDR cartoon though, as I was participating in the Craig of the Creek scavenger hunt. They hunt various CN characters around the lobby vicinity, and you try to find them in the right spot.

This is what you get if you win- a COTC pin and a Hershey bar. But hey, you can’t argue with results, and this is about it for Craig merch.

The gift shop almost exclusively focuses on the six shows with featured rooms, and a lot of merch isn’t exclusive. I did get a couple of things though.

The beach towel is based on the designs you see all over the hotel and has a couple of series not otherwise represented in terms of merch, like OK KO, Summer Camp Island, and the aforementioned COTC. Oh, and Clarence! Almost missed him in the bottom.

I got the stickers because there are more COTC characters, and again, the designs are nice. The SU pin was cool, and if there was a similar one for AT or Gumball, I would have got that as well. And I got the Anais keychain because Gumball merch is strangely rare despite its popularity, especially for her. There were also some pencils, notebooks, a couple of T-shirts and a hoodie. I almost got some pencils.

There’s also an arcade and an activity center, but those do seem mostly for kids, plus you have to pay for most of the crafts. I think the coloring is free at least, and there are a couple of nods to classic shows I found that I’ll share on another post.

Just as there are some nods to classics around the place, primarily the elevator and kitchen, but the people who want to see Dexter and Johnny and the Eds aren’t the target audience for this resort. Which is unfortunate, but the thing is, besides the fact that we’re getting old and today’s kids need their own shows, Cartoon Network has become a big deal internationally over the past decade, moreso than during their supposed heyday in the late 90′s-early 00′s. The six shows featured aren’t just picked for being the most popular, they’re all big draws overseas. We Bare Bears sells a LOT of merch in Asia and parts of Europe, even if it doesn’t seem that big of a draw stateside. Hopefully they can make this a tourist spot.

That said, I do hope that they consistently update things in the years to come. Part of the problem with the Nickelodeon Hotel over in Orlando was how stuck it was in the mid-2000′s. Sure, SpongeBob has remained a big draw over the years since, but when I visited the place around 2010 (didn’t stay, but took a tour), it was apparent that if your kids weren’t big fans of Rugrats or Jimmy Neutron, and they probably weren’t around that place until its last days, there wasn’t much reason to stay over.

I do think that Craig deserves his own themed room, and it may be time to swap out Powerpuff for it. Let’s admit that the 2016 reboot was a failure and move on. Or maybe just double down and replace the reboot designs with their classic look.

But hey, my final thoughts on the Cartoon Network Hotel? I had a lot of fun, and got the best sleep I had in ages. I’m not sure if I’d go again, though. At least unless it changes things up a little. Part of the thing is that this is really for the kids who love today’s new shows. And I do really love three of the six shows heavily featured here- four if you count the original Powerpuff. But I’m just not the right age for this place.

If you love any of these shows and/or Cartoon Network’s brand as a whole, I recommend checking this place out, but only if you’re near the area. Don’t make it a pilgrimage. Unless you have enough friends to make grouping up on the Steven Universe Dream Suite worth it.

That said, look at these Bear macrons. So damn cute, and tasty, too!

[cannoli-reader]

Other instances include:

EotW: Rand & Man trapped in the inn in Four Kings, Rand being arrested in the Royal Palace in Caemlyn and from an outside point of view, the whole group are kidnapped by Moiraine and Nynaeve is riding to the rescue.

tGH: Rand is trapped in Fal Dara, and let's also not forget Min is nominally a prisoner of the Seanchan, and so is Bayle Domon.

tDR: Much more significantly than Faile is Nynaeve, Elayne and Egwene being captured by the bandits in Cairhien and later, imprisoned in the Stone by the Black Ajah, and Mat is being held in the White Tower

tSR: Since Siuan is arguably an antagonist, it's rather more fitting to the trope that the Luhans and Cauthons are imprisoned in the Two Rivers, and Nynaeve & Elayne's quest in Tanchico becomes literally rescuing a princess.

tFoH: The book starts out with Min & company literally imprisoned by Gareth Bryne, Nynaeve & Elayne get captured by Ronde Macura and Nynaeve is briefly captured by Moghedian

LoC: Min is also a prisoner, and Nynaeve starts to view herself as being held in Salidar against her will

aCoS: Lan is a captive of Myrelle

aCoS - WH: Mat with Tyelin

WH: Rand (and Lan) getting captured in Far Madding

Alivia being freed of the a'dam

CoT-KoD: Tuon is Mat's captive, for all intents and purposes

ToM: Basel Gill & company being captured

Each of these, in addition to those listed in the prior post, are all different and unique in their own way and shows how ridiculous the current mode of analysis-by-trope-identification actually is. You might as well enumerate examples of the trope of "character growth through conflict".

Another thing to keep in mind when bringing up tropes like the damsel in distress is that The Wheel of Time is written with deconstructive motivations and intentions. Jordan makes it plain at the outset that he's going to be exploring familiar stories and concepts in new ways, and examining them to understand them. So it's not exactly insightful or a "gotcha" to point out that the trope appears in WoT, when you aren't bothering to discuss how and why it is used. As the second post points out, under Jordan these people are not being reduced to objects or McGuffins for others to rescue.

The examples of someone flat-out rescuing another character are often the result of the victim's prior work. Egwene has an out from her captivity with the Children, that she refuses to take. Perrin has to use his brain when offered an escape and avoid it. They can't save themselves, because that's the point of their situation, that they have a long way to go from victim status to heroes. Perrin also is captured by the Children because of things he did that were objectively wrong. Egwene is captured by the Seanchan largely through her own stupidity, and it's not as simple has her being an object, because Min is her own damsel in distress, being held hostage to her own cooperation, who, in turn facilitates Nynaeve's rescue attempt, and is able to do so, because Egwene fought to spare her life when they were both captured.

Faile's encounter with the hedgehog ter'angreal is less about Perrin's accomplishment in rescuing her, as in coming to terms with both his interest in her, which he had previously denied and resisted, and with his wolf-brother nature, which was necessary. It was also there to illustrate Moiraine's priorities, and Faile's own impulsiveness. Perrin rescuing Faile is not getting the girl, she was always there for the getting, it merely opens the door to a relationship where they both have a lot of growth to undergo. The one clear example of rescuing the girl to get her in the whole series is just making the point that you don't "win" a relationship this way. Likewise, Perrin & Faile getting married in the same book where they are first in their relationship does not happily wrap that up, but only begins their arc together, as they have to learn who and what they both are and how to make their relationship work.

Faile's entrapment with the hedgehod is the consequence of her continuous disregard for personal boundaries. The Black sisters set the trap for Moiraine and emplaced the ter'angreal where they believed no one would dare trespass against an Aes Sedai. But Faile DGAF, and she'll barge right into Moiraine's rooms without waiting for their resident, because she's still thinking she is the hero of the saga of The Blade Falcon and the Horn, and the others are her supporting cast. But because she isn't the hero, Moiraine's reaction is "Eh, too bad. Now I can take advantage of this to get the real job done!" If Moiraine doesn't behave as she does here, maybe Perrin would have gone to her for advice on the Two Rivers situation a book later. If Faile learns to respect boundaries (or Perrin takes in the lesson, secondhand) they don't have the misunderstandings that plague them in the early part of the next book.

Mat is able to rescue the Wondergirls in the Stone, because they gave him the writ to escape Tar Valon and sent him to Caemlyn where he discovered the danger to them. He knew where they had been taken, because his luck led him to a sympathetic ally whom Nynaeve had recruited in the city. And pre-medallion, he would not have had a chance of getting them out of a cell guarded by a sister if they had not taken steps there themselves.

Each use of the so-called trope is there to deconstruct it, and put new spins on it. The trope is not a crutch to spare Jordan the trouble of creating original plots, it's a challenge to find ways of getting through without relying on cliches, and to use to develop characterization.

I just watched this video on the damsel in distress trope, and it made me realize just how often Robert Jordan uses it. There’s the infamous example of Faile, which I actually don’t think is that bad because (like the video talks about as a risk of the trope) she never stops being Faile to become simply a damsel. But Egwene in book two is as well, and Rand in the box, and there’s a few other examples as well. It’s strange because I just hadn’t thought about it that much (especially in terms of Rand). I feel like I could probably write an essay on the various ways Jordan uses damseling and when it works and when it doesn’t… Maybe when it isn’t the middle of the night.

[transkholins]

hey uh, throwback to 2019 when i made a rand fanmix. posting it because it can't hurt, but note that the track descriptions and song choices are all unedited.

. BLACKOUT — frank turner

but it’s not enough anymore

we can’t turn just around and close the door on the world

it’s asking uneasy questions

this one’s for winternight and the eye of the world. it’s the start of the world going to hell and being overwhelmed by the shadow (“are you afraid of the darkness?”), and it’s essentially rand against the world. he can’t just walk away from it— his house is attacked by trollocs, and the only option he has is to go with moiraine. he doesn’t really know what he’s up against, only that he’s up against something bad.

. HERO — family of the year

let me go

I don’t wanna be your hero

I don’t wanna be a big man

I just wanna fight with everyone else

this song’s all about not wanting to be a part of something big, just wanting a simple and easy life. at the beginning of the great hunt, rand really does not want to be the dragon reborn— I mean, who would? but it’s a role that he’s forced into, nonetheless. at his heart, he’s just a farmboy who wants to go home. moiraine kind of forces his destiny on him, not letting him postpone it or shove it aside. but at this point, he just doesn’t want to be a hero. the song itself is very soft (and acoustic to boot), which I think nicely represents the simple life that rand wants.

. UNUSUAL — typhoon

get your pitchforks out

the crowd is coming and they’ve named you

why, gentle mother, must you wring your hands and weep?

tide brings you a sword, sword will cut you free

dead demands a tribute in the hour of our need

blood be the river to wash the ledgers clean

oh, it took so much self-restraint to not put more than two songs from this album on this playlist. offerings is just so good AND highly existential, so if you’re wanting more sad rand hours, go listen to it. I think this song best fits rand’s start of really being the dragon reborn, around (you guessed it) the dragon reborn. the world is kind of a mess, and he doesn’t really know what to do, so he just does what he thinks he should do. he’s chosen by the pattern— the world demanded a dragon to save the world, and he was the unlucky soul born on the slopes of dragonmount. you know, his blood on the rocks of shayol ghul and all that. this song, like the one preceding it, is softer— rand hasn’t hardened himself like he will in later books. however, around halfway through, it gets louder and brings in more drums. tdr is the start of rand’s transition from farmboy to dragon reborn, in both good ways and bad.

. KIDS — mgmt

we like to watch you laughing

picking insects off of plants

no time to think of consequences

this song focuses a lot on the idea of self-control/self-restraint— not doing more than you have to, good or bad. it reminds me a lot of rand’s earlier experiences with channeling and being ta’veren. saidin is dangerous, what with the taint and all, and drawing too much of either half of the one power has severe consequences. he’s not as in control of his ta’veren-ness as he will be in later books— like his channelling, it’s a bit all over the place. the quote at the beginning of the music video (it’s friedrich nietzsche, not mark twain, but whatever) also ties in with this idea— if you’re not careful, you can become the very thing you were fighting against.

. LOUDER THAN EVER — cold war kids

I was carrying my cheek

I was digging my strange

I was taking you for granted

you were holding the reins

but I can hear you louder than ever

whisper to me, help me remember

I can’t see you but we’re still together

I can hear you louder than ever

moiraine’s “death” is a tipping point for rand— he feels like he could’ve prevented it, even though moiraine literally tells him that he couldn’t, and that what happened was the best possible outcome. after she passes through the portal, rand realizes that he took her presence for granted. her advice was good, if often unwelcome, and after her death rand just ends up going off the rails in so many different ways. when she returns in a memory of light, he realizes how helpful she was to him.

. SOMETHING IS NOT RIGHT WITH ME — cold war kids

something is not right with me!

something is not right with me!

something is not right with me!

I’m trying not to let it show

the taint on saidin is just really like that, huh? rand can tell that something’s wrong, with lews therin’s voice in his head. the thing is, he doesn’t let anyone know because he’s 1) scared of showing weakness and 2) sane people don’t normally hear voices. this song is fast, but not in an upbeat way— it feels chaotic, panicked, and just barely in control. the singer is almost shouting the lyrics instead of singing them, contributing to that feeling. I think it embodies most male channellers’ experiences with the taint— it isn’t smooth or calm like saidar, it’s a raging river of fire.

. DREAMS OF CANNIBALISM — typhoon

unhand me, I am not a criminal

but I’ve played a guilty part

in the modern sense that one pretends their life is original

I wrote a book and I will call it something cynical

the story’s slow, the hero does not change

and if he can, then he won’t anyway

instead his foes and lovers all become identical

this song ends with the line “soon enough you will be dancing at my funeral,” and I can’t come up with something that encompasses rand-as-the-dragon more. people are terrified of him— hell, even he’s terrified of him. the world doesn’t want a dragon, but they got one anyways. the second set of verses above is a more textual examination of rand at this point— a crown of swords through crossroads of twilight is incredibly slow, and rand doesn’t change much throughout those books (hence why this song covers 4 books). he could make a change in his life if he tried, but he doesn’t, since he thinks he needs to shut others out to protect them. the whole song seems to be conveying the idea of being stuck and not going anywhere, but running from yourself, which, to be fair, is very close to what rand experiences in his own head in these books.

. GHOSTS THAT WE KNEW — mumford and sons

so lead me back

turn south from that place

and close my eyes to my recent disgrace

so give me hope in the darkness that I will see the light

’cause oh, that gave me such a fright

but I will hold on as long as you like

just promise me we’ll be alright

I picked a soft song for the softer scene in the gathering storm where min and rand are talking about how cold he’s become. he realizes that he doesn’t have to fake an uncaring and unemotional nature— to be human is to feel, and it’s not bad to be human. the song is about going through something that’s wearing you down (a common interpretation is depression), and knowing that you have someone helping you through it. min sticks with rand during almost everything that happens from lord of chaos to the end of the series. she’s a support for him, and too stubborn to ever leave him, no matter what.

. DARKER — typhoon

I tried, you know, just to toe the line

love all the neighbors and live in the light

sure, I stumbled sometimes

self-contained; a convenient lie

every source of pain, every sting of pride

had to come from the outside

you won’t even fight me fair

wait for the darkness, catch me unaware

yeah, you pull me close

then you twist the knife

of course, that happy, warm feeling can’t last, because that scene is followed by semirhage being sadistic and deciding that now is the perfect time to use this new torture device. because of that, rand ends up shutting himself off even more than before. he’s suspicious and cruel, and thinks only for himself. it’s scary, frankly. darker, like all the songs on the album that it’s from, is very existential, though this song is, fittingly, darker than the others. it’s filled with the sense of impending death and strong suspicion that characterizes rand at this point in his life. he tried to open up, and look where it got him. this quick change is mirrored by the sharp musical contrast between the quiet, acoustic ‘ghosts that we knew’ and and the more drum-heavy, electric, and distorted ‘darker.’

. MOUNTAIN AT MY GATES — foals

I see a mountain in my way

it’s looming larger by the day

I see a darkness in my fate

I’ll drive my car without the brakes

through lanes and stone rows

black granite, wind blows

fire lake and far flame

go now but come again

dark clouds gather ’round

will I run or stand my ground

oh, when I come to climb

show me the mountain so far behind

yeah, it’s farther away

its shadow gets smaller day after day

the obvious scene for this song is the events leading up to rand’s epiphany on dragonmount. I mean, ‘mountain’ is in the song’s name. I think that this song works well to represent the weight and lack of direction he feels in the days building up to that. something that works especially well about this song is how it builds, both lyrically and musically. the song starts with a hopeless and dark tone to the lyrics, and stays that way for a while. the bridge (second set of lyrics above) is where the tone starts to change. the bridge also uses a lot of imagery that one can tie to the buildup— the streets of ebou dar, the rocky and windy peak of dragonmount, the belly of fire in the mountain itself and tar valon, the city that the peak looks over. the song then crescendos into its final segment, where the singer sings “give me my way/give me my love/give me my choice/give me my fate/give me my lungs/give me my voice.” to me, these represent rand’s realization that the reason the wheel keeps turning is so that people can live again and love again.

. COLORFUL — jukebox the ghost

we're just getting started

take your fears and let them go

for the lovers and the broken-hearted

I! love! this! song! I haven’t found another song that captures that feeling of hope in darkness: when everything around you has gone to hell, but you keep going because the darkness isn’t all there is. that’s how veins of gold ends— with rand realizing that there’s something worth fighting and living for. the gathering storm literally ends with rand laughing without bitterness for the first time in months, if not years— he’s finally looking on the bright side of life again.

. BEAUTIFUL LIFE — the collection

you do not have to be good

even the best of us have been misunderstood

so get up onto your feet

the sun is shining repentance through the leaves

its rays will wash you clean

this one’s for the end of a memory of light, when rand decides to leave and live the rest of his life on his terms. he wants to explore the world, without the pressure of his past and who he was weighing on him. he has a chance to slow down and appreciate this “beautiful life,” instead of rushing through it towards tarmon gai’don. and that’s what this song is about, i think. it’s not super peppy, and neither is rand at this point. it’s more of a quiet and peaceful acceptance.

. ALL THESE THINGS THAT I’VE DONE — the killers

I wanna stand up, I wanna let go

you know, you know, no, you don’t, you don’t

I wanna shine on in the hearts of men

I want a meaning from the back of my broken hand

over and in, last call for sin

while everyone’s lost, the battle is won

with all these things that I’ve done

first of all, the wheel of time series takes place over the span of two years, and rand does so much within that time. within this playlist, I don’t think of this song as an ending, rather a summary of rand’s life through the books. I specifically want to talk about the iconic refrain of “I’ve got soul but I’m not a soldier.” it serves as a bookend to rand’s arc as a character— initially he refuses his role as the dragon reborn (even though he’s suited for it, due to his heritage and upbringing) because he doesn’t want to fight in that way. during the bulk of the series, he embraces a role as a fighter, even though he doesn’t have the soul for it. and finally, he realizes that he isn’t a weapon, and that he never was. on another note, the line “these changes ain’t changing me/that cold-hearted boy I used to be” hits a bit too close to his character.

[markantonys]

Oh well now that you’ve told me we get more Elayne content as the series goes on I’m definitely still excited to read the later books!

Gawyn! I’ve seen so very little of him so far but from what I have he seems like a sweetheart. I love a good sibling relationship and how he and Elayne team up against Galad is great to see, keeping an eye on that one… Very frustrating for Egwene to be fawning over the wrong brother though smh

Haha poor Mat! I’m definitely warming to him more, I’m nearly finished TDR and he’s just put a flower in his hair while sneaking into the palace 😭 Which speaking of new locations and characters, that will be SO exciting to see. I know book fans have been complaining about the changes to the show but it makes sense for them to have saved Caemlyn for s3, there’s just so much going on!

Yeah, I’m looking forward to being on the other side! I think this is preferable bc honestly, based on my taste, I think the show is on the whole making changes for the better (the women getting more spotlight from the off, actually making queer coded relationships canon lol) so having the show to look forward to after reading the books is so much fun.

*the books are obviously the source material and fantastic please don’t shoot me book fans

first of all, congratulations on having the most correct and relatable takes on everything in the series so far djdkjf right down to anxiously adding "please don't shoot me book fans" after daring to express that you think the show is good and perhaps even better. keep us updated as you go along, i love hearing your thoughts! as always, to my reader followers, please do not mention any book spoilers past TDR in replies/reblogs on this post. we must keep this anon pure! anon, i will be tagging this post as book spoilers for the sake of show-onlys since we're discussing some s3 stuff, but rest assured i haven't included any spoilers past where you are (bar vague stuff like "X character has a big storyline in Y portion of the series").

gawyn is MY BOY. he's like a son to me, and you can't imagine the sheer serotonin boost i got when he was unexpectedly namedropped in s2 just when i was starting to worry he might be cut or merged with galad (neither of which would make sense to do, but other readers kept predicting that baselessly and i couldn't help worrying). he's definitely a slow-burner character with his biggest storylines occurring late in the series (another thing to look forward to in the later books!), but both brothers become more prominent in the book 4-6 era, so i will be interested to see what you think of that since they're definitely Just Kinda There giving us nothing in the first 3 books haha

and this is exactly why the show was wise to hold off on caemlyn, gawyn, galad, morgase, and elaida until s3! while i would've loved to see them earlier and while the EOTW caemlyn sequence is dear to my heart, in the medium of TV where the need to build sets and hire actors constrains what you can include when, it makes way more sense to hold off on introducing major locations & characters until such time as they are truly needed in the story, which for the Caemlyn Crew is season 3 since they don't get up to very much in the first few books. going to all that casting & set-building trouble for a single scene in season 1 or casting gawyn & galad just to bop around not doing much at the white tower in season 2 wouldn't have been practical. not to mention that there's been so much else going on, like you say! better to save this crew until we have enough space in a season to spend proper time with them.

and i love the show's approach of introducing elayne first and getting her into our hearts, then introducing the rest of her family in the next season when we're primed to be interested in meeting them, having already spent a whole season with her and having come to love her, and having heard intriguing little tidbits about her family and upbringing. caemlyn is my favorite location in the books and the trakands are my favorite family, so i can't wait to see them next season!!!! i'm so curious to see what kind of aesthetic they'll go for with caemlyn, and noble andoran fashion too. and given what a great damodred family backstory they crafted out of almost nothing in the books, i suspect we'll be in for a treat with some meatier family dynamics among the trakands (who do already have great dynamics in the books, but i bet there's more that can be done!)

mat putting a flower in his hair!! 😭😭 he's a baby! man that reminds me of the green man in EOTW and when he only gave flower crowns to the girls and not the boys, that made me so mad djkjfjg whenever i see anyone be sad that the green man didn't make the show, i'm like "nah FUCK that guy, he didn't give the boys flower crowns!"

and i am COMPLETELY on the same page as you with still preferring the show even after having read the books because the changes it makes are in line with my personal taste and improve aspects of the books i didn't like. the aes sedai are one of the most unique elements of the series, and i love how much focus the show has given to them early on! i love that egwene and nynaeve get to be ta'veren too! i love that moiraine and siuan are in a canonical present-day relationship instead of relegated to "being gay is just a phase in college"! i love alanna's polycule! i love that the male characters are allowed to be sensitive and vulnerable and to openly express emotions and affection! i love that the friendships and romances and enmities are all deeper and more emotional across the board! i love that the show focuses on the emotional impacts of the plot on the characters! and the show also really excels at picking out a smaller number of supporting characters and beefing them up (like liandrin and alanna) instead of including a fuckton of supporting characters, none of whom are very distinct or well-developed. the show always chooses to whole-ass one thing rather than half-ass two things, and that's another thing i love! the ability to distill these very long-winded books down into a more streamlined version of the story while keeping its core intact was crucial for an adaptation to work well, and rafe & co are so good at that.

anyway, i know that some readers like to tout the narrative that reading the books will make you like the show less because you'll see how much better and more detailed the books are, but that could not have been less true for me. it just made me love and appreciate the show even more, and look forward to seeing how my least favorite book stuff might be improved and how my favorite book stuff might be changed or given a fresh spin or made even better! and i'm glad to hear i'm not the only show-to-book person who feels that way <3

[that-banana-headed-bovine]

Season 2 Shenanigans

AHEYYY sO I went on a giant Knight Rider binge the last few days, and I've FINALLY seen all of Season 2!!  Big thank you to @trust-doesnt-oxidize who watched with me and stayed up absurdly late because I wanted to see Garthe before I went to bed AIDBWJFNEM

I just wanted to post a quick reaction to all of the episodes, spoiler warning activated!

Goliath Parts 1 & 2

I LOVE MY DOOFY VILLAIN SON. K.I.T.T. is HILARIOUS, I love his dynamic with Goliath, as is evident by my handle oops- I hate how Season 2 starts with my son almost dying tho, almost had a heart attack tyvm! This is back before I knew anything about the direction of the rest of the series so I was legitimately in shock lmbo- Moustache Michael is a gem tho I love him. I SURE HOPE HE STAYS A DUMB VILLAIN WHO'S JUST REALLY SILLY TO WATCH. SURE HOPE THEY DON'T TAKE HIM TOO SERIOUSLY.

Brother's Keeper - Blind Spot

I- forgot that these episodes existed until I looked at the episode list for this, soooo...

I should really not be lazy and look up an episode summary and try to remember what I thought of these but the problem is that I am in fact going to be lazy because this post is already taking so long

Return to Cadiz

This episode is so,,, frustrating.  Not the plot or the format or anything like that, nono... I mean how they essentially introduced April.  Like, okay, I know that she has been here since the beginning of Season 2, but she hadn’t really said much up until now.  This was where we really got to know who she would be, and, uh... After this episode, I absolutely hated her.  Despised even.  She forces my son to go drive on the same ocean on the same beach where Karr DIED without any testing beforehand AND is chastising Michael in a flirtatious way.  The heCK is this woman?!  WHERE’S MY BONNIE???!!!  I was so mad at her you guys I.  But the thing is, I don’t hate April, not by a long shot.  In some ways, the rest of Season 2 does a better job giving her a character than all of Season 1 did for Bonnie!  I really enjoyed April and wish that both could have stayed.  BUT THIS EPISODE makes her SO HATEABLE and I just ugh.

also I tried to watch this a long time before I got to and after seeing the intro and not knowing the title of K.I.T.T. vs. K.A.R.R. at that point in time, I thought Karr was gonna come back based on all the panoramic shots of the underwater and I am so sad that he didn’t so oops this episode gets my wrath a bit

K.I.T.T. the Cat

0/10 there are no cats.  False advertising.

Seriously tho this episode was a pretty run of the mill episode.  The best part of the episode was Kitt, because it always is, but seriously that guy with the hedges was amazing- I GOT THE GAG BY THE THIRD TIME IT HAPPENED BUT THE FIRST TIME HE GOT STUCK IN THE TREE OH MY GOSH I WAS DY I N G- Also the fact that Kitt messed him up again trying to apologize is so sad yet funny ahosihdfiohasdf

Custom K.I.T.T.

APRIL GET THAT STUPID DECAL OFF HIM OH MY G O S H-

Somehow her 2-d design ideas looked almost worse than the actual thing and I thought the actual thing looked like a that default sticker decal that you get on a Hotwheels car.  I’msorryI’mnottryingtoroastanyartistsIjust I why there’s so much potential with giving Kitt decals :(

Seriously I want to use my drawing software to draw fire on Kitt at some point because it could be done so cool and that ain’t it chief.  I’m probably not going to be too great at it either since I don’t do backgrounds nearly enough and fire would be a background element for the most part but I could at least alter the colors ; m ;  OR LIGHTNING OH MY GOSH AAA LIGHTNING WOULD BE SO COO L ON HIM-  anyway it needed so much more red- and it was so asymmetrical too aHHHH-

I.  I’m fine it’s fine I’m fine it’s fi-

I don’t even know why Kitt needed a decal anyway, the other cars didn’t have to have decals to be considered custom, surely his dash alone could have done it-

ANYWAY

This ep was so WEIRD at times oh my gosh.  What was that series of insults the two ladies spat at each other?  Like the one just complimented her eyeshadow aggressively and the other one accused her of wearing “training bras” or something like whAT EXCU S E ME What is this episode?!  Kitt was so upset about the decal too :[

Soul Survivor

OH MY GOSH IT’S CUTE IT’S SO CUTE YOU GUYS-

I was recalling @knight-rider-fan-2000‘s theory about this episode (plz go check them out btw aaaa), and after watching it I totally agree.  Michael was especially kind in this episode, and he seems to be overall a more supportive mentor for Kitt this season, starting with Soul Survivor and being pretty consistent throughout.  I love their new dynamic so much- There’s definitely still episodes and moments where he’s closer to Season 1 Michael, but Season 2 Michael is a far superior human being in my opinion.

KITT’S SO ADORABLE LIL TINY CPU OH MY G O S H YOU’RE TELLING ME OUR SON IS ACTUALLY T H A T SMALL AAAAA

Michael really is so sweet in this oh my gosh, that whole arc where Kitt is his partner no matter what and that the car isn’t what made Kitt-- AW!!!!  ADORABLE!  Kitt being so unsure that he repeatedly asks Michael how it feels to see the Knight 2000 without him in it or fusses about his limited functionality as Michael patiently reassures him again and again that he’s wanted just the way he is, I just- Feelings.

One thing that hit me as funny though is when Michael finds Kitt’s CPU in the garage and the trash can is just like PULSATING and then he like yells at it like “tAlK tO mE kItT” and Kitt’s jus sitting there as a box of colored lights like “...”

I can just imagine a cut scene where Kitt’s like, “Oh and by the way Michael, if I could have said something I would have done so LONG before you started asking me to.  Believe it or not, I don’t like being in a trash can.”

“You Dingaling.”

Also Michael and his whole “I’m an honest man you can trust me listen I’ll give you a small TV just like this one” and then he proceeded to not do that.  Hmm.

Anyway, yeah, it doesn’t get any cuter than this.  The only thing that would have been better is if Adrianne didn’t exist.  Good thing she’s gone now~!

Ring of Fire

THIS IS SO TRIPPY THIS EPISODE IS SO TRIPPY

I would say that I hate Michael trying to get Kitt to subject himself to testing if he can withstand insane levels of heat.  I would say that if April did not then walk in and karma the crap out of him.  Gosh I loved it.  How he immediately was like whAT NOOO YOU WOULDN’T MAKE SOMEONE DO THAT and Kitt’s just like :/

dang hypocrite, Michael my feelings towards you are so complicated sometimes

anyway

So. Many. Dogs.  I usually love seeing Kitt interact with dogs but this started to get unsettling, I can’t blame him for not loving 6 different dogs all swarming him at once whAT- Have they nothing better to do than to jump on my son.  What the heck language were those banjo players singing in?  Was it a language or was it just gibberish keyboard spam that accidentally made it to the final script AOSHDIAOHSD

This whole swamp setting is really unique to this episode, and part of me really does commend the chance they took by switching up settings.  It’s almost always a small town on desert roads.  The way this all happened though was??? What?

I think the scriptwriters forgot that Return to Cadiz exists because Kitt got so much water damage AHSIDHAOISDH- I know April said the system was damaged but surely it would have minimized this a little bit.  Also did literally anything change by the end of this episode?  We didn’t see the guy get arrested, did we?  And the girl decided to stay living out in the swamp forest thing.  The only thing is that she, like, conquered her fear or something?  Even though she still isn’t acting in that direction?

This episode didn’t actually d o anything did it LOL

alsowhatevenwasthatexplosion

It’s not a bad episode though, just really bizarre.

Knightmares

YOU KNOW WHAT I SAID ABOUT IT NOT GETTING ANY CUTER?

I WAS WRONG.

THIS EPISODE this episode THIS EPISODE.  TOP TWO MATERIAL?  MORE LIKELY THAN YOU THINK.  TDR will always be my fav until the end of time I’m pretty sure because I don’t think another episode will get me to ugly sob like that (aLTHOUGH I AM MEGA HYPE HERE BECAUSE I WATCHED KvK AND IT WAS GOOD ALSO BUT WE’LL GET TO TH A T LATER) but in terms of sheer adorable buddies happiness this is the winner by all accounts.  I really like how they portray Michael Long, and I genuinely think the arc here has an impact on the rest of the season in terms of how Michael treats Kitt.

I love how Michael had told Kitt a long time ago how they were partners, like how he used to have a partner when he was a police officer, and how now when Long is so confused about everything everyone is trying to tell him, Kitt chooses this specific word to help introduce himself, and everything feels a bit more grounded for Long.  I love how Long immediately revolts against the way Devon and April try to tell him he’s wrong about who he is currently, which is, despite good intentions, the opposite of what he needs.  I love how Kitt then swoops in behind him and decides to treat Michael Long like a WHOLE NEW PERSON, one who Kitt tries to get to know.  I love how Long recognizes just how hard Kitt is trying and genuinely opens up to him.  I love how he never reverts to being mean or rude to Kitt after he gets in the car the second time, NOT EVEN ONE sarcastic comment.  How he never calls him a computer again after Kitt asks him not to, how he compliments his new partner left and right, how despite having no clue who Knight is he really wants to be that person for Kitt, because Kitt seems sincere and pretty great.  I adore that bit where Kitt gently, lovingly lists traits good and bad about Knight and how Long can finally connect to this other version of himself.

“One more thing about Michael Knight.”

“What’s that?”

“I was extremely fond of him”

I love how Long starts saying “Good work, Kitt” after they complete parts of their mission and how Knight does not stop this for the rest of the season, even after he regains his memory.  I love so much about this and could frankly talk about it even more than this but this is a brief summary so.  So yeah, we’re moving on ;W;

Silent Knight

It’s funny so.  I didn’t realize that Knight Rider had done any Christmas specials.  I knew about the Halloween specials, but I didn’t realize the Christmas special existed.  And so I was laughing at how funnee I was while I was like “SILENT KNIGHT HOLY KNIGHT ALL IS COME-” and then that’s exactly what the pun was meant to be.  they done bamboozled me.

ANYWAY THIS MIGHT BE THE STRANGEST CHRISTMAS SPECIAL TO EVER EXIST EVER.

They kept mentioning the Christmas banquet thing to make it mildly related to the season but then it wasn’t, it really wasn’t, it all revolved around clowns.  There was.  There was a Santa I guess.  Albeit a bank robber Santa--

And the kid is juuust obnoxious at first, I love how Kitt absolutely hates him immediately for some reason even though Kitt usually doesn’t hate people unless they do something really bad, but it feels so deserved because the kid is a jeeerk.  Maybe it’s because the kid accused him of endangering human life and that Hurt?

Kid: Just let me drive and I’ll throw away this dumb clock thing

Michael: No

Kitt: YES

Michael: W H A T ?!

Kitt: YES

Michael: ugh whatever

I was kind of expecting Kitt to pull some sort of shenanigans while the kid was driving as payback for whatever he absolutely despised him for, but Kitt was actually just really sweet and gave him a bit of freedom until he started endangering himself and then helped him get back into control.  Very wholesome.

AND the end was CUTE though, like the boy who had previously been a jerk going over and patting Kitt and being just sincerely nice to him ;w; wholesome

A Knight in Shining Armor

Gosh I always forget what this episode is about because the title is so loosely related LOL

The dynamic with Michael and the girl of the week was actually really cute and chemistry was not entirely nonexistant, so that’s a nice change from some of these that come out of nowhere.  Her arc was actually pretty sweet, how she resented technology because she wanted to be loved and cared about, how she thought computers were incapable of doing that until she talked to Kitt...

And the cave was prebby.

But why couldn’t she understand that her DAD was in PRISON.

“Why didn’t he ever come to see me?” “Because he was in Jail.” “oh.  But why didn’t he call???”

Diamonds Aren't a Girl's Best Friend

SOMEONE

AHAHA

SOMEONE CALLED MICHAEL

AHAHA

BERNIE CALLED HIM A DINGALING. Speaking of Bernie, all I could think this whole episode was

White-Line Warriors

LONG-LEGGED PUNK-

Seriously idk what this season’s love affair with the baddies picking on Michael but I love it.

Honestly the twist of this episode was really interesting, I still don’t fully get how the baddies’ plan comes together though.  So the song plays on the radio and the police go to investigate the drag racers and the crims are IMMEDIATELY ready?  okay then.

Radio announcer Kitt tho.  That is blessed.

I want Radio Announcer Kitt.  Then again, I just want more Kitt in general so.

Race for Life

INHALE

Y’ALL ARE REAAALLY TRYING TO MAKE ME DETHRONE KNIGHTMARES AS THE CUTEST, AREN’T YOU?

Well ha, joke’s on you episode, you’re getting docked points for only giving Kitt and Becky two interactions.  And for making the donor obnoxious for most of the episode (although that end scene was pretty adorable).  So, okay, second cutest.

THE WAY KITT WAVED I-

HE IS SO CUTE

he is so cute.

Devon was really sweet this episode, not gonna lie.  I’m not sure if I’ve said it on this blog before, but I had strong dislike for Devon after Season 1.  I can explain that later if anyone wants, I’d be perfectly willing to compare the two seasons, but Season 2 Devon is pretty alright.  He doesn’t have much of a presence, but when he does, he’s kind.  I’m assuming he let Becky win at checkers, in which case uh, aW?!  Devon that’s cute.

KITT TRYING TO TEACH THE TEN YEAR OLD CHESS AHSIODHOAISD I LOVE YOU BUDDY

Also, I feel like this is the episode April really became her own character, separate from Cadiz.  She’d kind of just been a slightly perkier Bonnie, but now we get to see her family, her concerns... And April’s a pretty good character.

OH AND THE WHOLE “Kitt is family” ARC IS THE SWEETEST THING ASHDHAOSDohIAD

“Julio, meet Kitt.  He’s part of the family”

“Thank you, Michael.”

MY.  HEART.

Speed Demons

Okay so.  This is another one of those episodes where very little seemed to change by the end of the episode.  The guy who was actually in danger quit motorcycling anyway soooo...  The episode plot itself isn’t what I feel like talking about.

What was WITH that one announcer guy?  Were we meant to like him or not???  First he tries to Kick the Kitt and Kitt’s like :/ whatever

and then he comes back and they start to have like, a deep conversation, and he lovingly pats the hood before walking away.  And we’re like AWWW OKAY THIS GUY IS NOT TO BAD

AND THEN he asks Kitt to talk for someone and Kitt’s like “...” and the guy riots.  Why did Kitt not talk for him and why did the guy go so absolutely bonkers when he didn’t?  Were the cameras rolling and I just didn’t realize?  And then we kind of hate the guy again because he once again absolutely went ballistic at Kitt.  “That’s Showbiz.”

But then the dynamic with that coworker keeps coming up, and yeah, I guess she does seem a bit annoying.  But she also seems like a potential lady of the week and a potential protagonist.  So when she gets splashed with mud or whatever that was and the guys all like :D

What are we meant to be feeling?

Are we meant to feel bad for her or happy for him?

Because I just felt confused.

Goliath Returns 1 & 2

GOSH DARNIT ADRIANNE IS BACK

ALSO I-I-I I TAKE BACK EVERYTHING I SAID ABOUT YOU BEING A DOOFY AND STUPID VILLAIN JUST P L E A S E STOP ; M ;

SERIOUSLY WHEN DID GARTHE TURN FULL PSYCHOPATH-

THE FEELING I GOT REMINDED ME OF WATCHING THE SHERLOCK FINALE.  S H E R L O C K  F I N A L E.

Sigh, I should have known he’d gone off the deep end when he walked into a hot tub with jeans on.

I will forever be mad at some versions coughincludingtheoneIwaswatchingoncough for cutting out the fact that Kitt’s microchip was almost ENTIRELY WIPED/OVERWRITTEN AND PUT INTO GOLIATH.  Because uh, the way the show cut it up for TV, it seems like Kitt’s really in no danger other than being annoyed.  But no, literally everyone almost dies.  Fun times!

Seriously why did this convoluted garbage get a two-parter but Kitt vs. Karr didn’t?

This episode makes me sad.  Not just because Garthe tried, and almost succeeded, to take away everything we love in this show.  Not just because this episode strayed far enough from the typical formula for this to seem like some dystopian nightmare version of Knight Rider. Not just because freaking Adrianne is back.

I mean because I loved Garthe’s character, and this totally changed it.  I like that they went into Garthe’s trauma a bit more with this one, but unlike some villains in the Knight Rider canon (okay let’s not play games, UNLIKE KARR-), what he does is so dastardly, SO insaNE, that there is no way to argue that he might be justified.  No.  No.  Garthe, Adrianne, and Goliath are gone now, and that’s how it had to be.

OH ALSO GO O F F APRIL YES QUEEN I LOVE YOU- I honestly felt so bad for her when she turned around and broke down right after standing up to him, like dang, that hurts.  And Devon was sweet in this episode too ;w;

Okay but were they planning on making another episode of this?  Because that end scene was such an obvious teaser it’s not even funny.

“I hope we don’t run into those very much drowned people out in the streets again, Michael.  And I especially hope that they do not construct another semitrailer with the exact same scale and name as the previous one that was driven into the ocean.”

“Yes, I agree Kitt, this is also an anxiety that I possess despite the fact that they are very much definitely Deceased.  I sure hope that plot convenience does not interfere in the future.”

THANK GOODNESS THAT ADRIANNE IS GONE

wait what?  her actress is in another episode as another character who’s just as awful? wHYYYYYY

A Good Knight's Work

THAT BEAR NEEDS TO DIE. I am so glad Michael ejected the dumb thing at the end, Kitt deserved it. Especially after Michael essentially told him to temporarily kill himself. Michael's a cyberbully now ig. The arc with Kitt and the car salesman was cute. Apparently deactivation is considered programming now? Michael my mans you could have given Kitt any warning at all (I kind of take this back after one of the Season 3 episodes I’ve watched uHHHH this was a lot of warning compared to how Michael rolls in S3 what the heck is wrong with him). Cute episode overall tho I guess. ALSO I JUST NOW REALIZED "A GOOD KNIGHT'S WORK" IS A PUN BECAUSE KITT IS WILTON KNIGHT'S WORK AND I'M MAD AT MYSELF FOR NOT NOTICING IT SOONER-

Mouth of the Snake and that other garbage one that's title makes no sense

David might as well be a plank of wood. A plank of wood that yeets himself ten feet into the air whenever possible, but I digress. Does this count as superpowers? I just love how he offended Kitt 0.1 seconds after meeting him and then Michael proceeded to tell Kitt off for reacting. Love that soooo much. It's also hilarious to me how most of this episode has a similar structure to most Knight Rider episodes and then they randomly start reacreating the Most Dangerous Game--

Let it Be Me

Why isn't this the season finale?! I mean, I'm glad it's not, but why? This is way worse than White Bird like why- I feel like the Stevie episodes are kind of a controversy in this fandom? I loved the first one. This one's just, blegh it's okay. She and Michael still have pretty great chemistry WHEN THEY ARE SPEAKING IN REGULAR SPEECH. I do not like Stevie singing the same song with Michael 100 times. The duet at the end is kind of cute though, sue me I like corny things.

Stevie: I’m so sorry I shouldn’t have been with this one guy but ;m;

Michael: has been with approximately 100 women by now

Also Michael: How could you ;m;

Big Iron

This episode is kinda wild. Why does the guy manage to have a full out breakup with Lucy in less than one minute? Why is Michael a marriage counselor now? Why couldn't Kitt take the oxygen out of the cabin when Michael was definitely going to die if he didn't?  Since when does Turbo Boost use a ton of oxygen anyway?  Why does this man just immediately make up with his wife after finding out that she helped him? And most of all, WHY DIDN'T THAT BARTENDER LADY ACT THE LEAST BIT CONCERNED WHEN THEY ABSOLUTELY TORE UP THE PLACE??? Lmbo she's just like "Stop it guys :/"

It’s so bizarre that this is the season finale ahsdoifhasodf but go off I guess NBC

[neuxue]

So the weird thing with the Children, for all they're designed to raise a reader's hackles, they aren't that bad, especially compared to their archenemies. The Tower tortures petty criminals just to keep Tar Valon nice for the tourists, but forbids it for their own special selves (compare Nial to Carridan in the tDR prologue). Andor, leader in civil rights, chops off your hand if a teenage noble thinks you've been caught stealing 2x. Far Madding is a pre-technological Orwell police state.

Hey anon, I’m not actually going to address your message(s) directly, but I am going to use them as an example. Not to single you out (hence using an anonymous set), but because this is a PSA that has been a long time coming:

I’m not going to be responding to multi-part essay asks, particularly those that take the form of ‘Character/Group X is better than Character/Group Y’. 

It’s not a vein of discussion I’m all that interested in, generally speaking.

You can have the best intentions in the world, but these often lead to loads more messages on the topic, which can get tiring to triage.

Threads like these also often seem more like submissions than asks--not singling you out specifically but it can come across as using my blog to air controversial opinions rather than a genuine interest in discussion.

Addressing, point-by-point, a long series of asks on a topic I feel like I need to handle carefully takes a fair bit of time and energy, which I don’t always have to spare.

What can you do if you have opinions you want to share?

You can still send the ask(s)! I try my best to keep an open mind to different opinions, so I’m willing to read your thoughts. Just be aware that if it’s a long string of messages like this, I’m unlikely to reply.

You can make a post on your own blog. If you’re really interested in my particular take, you can tag me or send me the link, though I can’t guarantee I’ll read it.

You can submit your thoughts to a blog that has submissions open. I don’t know of any because I don’t follow WoT blogs, but I’m sure there are some out there!

Askbox is still open, anon is still on, and I’ll still reply to as many messages as I reasonably can.

This post really only applies to a small subset of asks, so most of you will probably be unaffected. 

I really, really do not mean this as an ‘I don’t want to hear from you’. I do! I like talking about WoT! Enable my habit! It’s just a PSA that I’m not going to be responding to asks like the above, at least 99% of the time.

[amemoryofwot]

TDR wrap up under cut! (In no particular order)

Not to be a Lan hater on main again but man if anyone is to be accused of being overwritten show screen time vs book screen time it’s him. Rand’s Fal Dara sword training aside, in TGH he just like fights with Moiraine for two pages, kills a Draghkar, then yells at Perrin a bit in TDR and refuses again when Moiraine tries to send him away pre-Darkhound showdown. Once again hoping Alanna’s S2 was enough of his LoC storyline and he can just go straight to Nynaeve. I guess we’re also missing him giving his ring to Nynaeve which like I’m sure will be S3 now that they’re back in the same place.

Speaking of Nynaeve somebody threw out it seems like we’re getting her unsure FoH self in S2 which I think is fair. She’s written as much more confident and competent between TGH/TDR than S2, but I think that’s due to her experiencing that moment of losing control of a situation earlier. In the books it’s post-Birgitte/Moggy showdown that she becomes so anxious and fearful but in the show her trauma in the circle at the end of S1 is that catalyst. So it will be interesting to see how she reacts to that same book scene in show (season …4? lol)

I am Team Not Going Back To The Tower in S3 but there’s such lovely character moments between Siuan and the kids I will be disappointed to miss. I’m liking Caemlyn as a centre point as well so perhaps there’s some way to mash these together? Siuan attempting to soothe Morgase over Elayne going missing? Mat being there somehow? Mats luck streak happening in Caemlyn instead of Tar Valon? Again, I do not envy the writers having to rework this series, there are SO many moving parts to consider.

Mats luck is one outstanding TDR item to address in S3 (please I need it) as well as Dreaming. Like we do really need the ter’angreal ring. I suppose we could find it in Falme with Turak’s curiosities, or even in Tanchico. Nynaeve seems to share a bit of Elayne’s ability to read ter’angreal so maybe they won’t even need someone to give it to them, if they find it they can figure out what it does while Egwene is a natural Dreamer.

There is such a HUGE personality shift in Rand between TGH and TDR, I think all he went through in S2 is really going to crash down on him and reflect that transition on screen rather than inferred between books.

I do genuinely find these books and RJ’s writing quite funny at times and I hope the writing can lean into that more. Like sorry GoT has ruined everything and we need to be Serious and Dark to be considered good now but WoT is my silly little series with my silly little guys getting into situations and there can be room for that too.