#the podcast storyline...

[markantonys]

i'll be interested to see if this holds true for WOT s3 since the s1 finale had so many extenuating circumstances and can't really be included in the comparison, but based off of the s2 finale, i believe that season finales tend to bear the brunt of "It's Different From The Books!" ire because they are the culmination of all the smaller changes made throughout the season.

this turned into a bigger analysis post than i expected lmao par for the course with my blog! read on for exploration of how the 2x08 conclusion of each season-long arc is the the most emotionally satisfying conclusion and/or the most thematically appropriate conclusion possible based on the show's particular version of the story, plus a bonus tangent on the nature of adaptation.

for a finale episode, the writers' prime concern 100% has to be "wrapping up all the season's arcs in a way that feels satisfying with everything that's happened in the first 7 episodes, using the book version of the finale event as the framework" rather than "recreating the book version of the finale event exactly as it is with all the same scenes and themes". the nature of storytelling inherently means that every single person who tells the same story will focus on different themes (just think of how many versions of the hades & persephone story there are), and a good adaptation knows that being internally consistent with its own Emphasized Themes is more important than copying-and-pasting scenes from the source material without making any changes to account for the specific way this adaptation is telling the story.

(but a lot of people can't even get past this first point because they don't understand that this is how adaptations - how storytelling in general - work. like, person B literally cannot tell the exact same story that person A told without putting their own spin on it. it's not possible! unless they're simply reading out the exact words that person A wrote, which can't be done when putting 14 massive books into maximum 64 hours of tv. so many readers like to meet this point with "but why does the books' version of the story need to be changed at all?" which is just a non-starter because a) medium differences require a ton of changes, and b) even if no changes were *required*, they would happen anyway because that is human nature when it comes to storytelling. when it comes to story-listening too! ask a hundred different book fans what WOT is about and you'll get a hundred different answers. rafe & co can't possibly make an adaptation that captures every single reader's idea of What WOT Is About, and nobody in the world could ever re-tell the story of WOT in the exact same way that RJ told it, not even the most die-hard book fan; all rafe & co can do is focus on making sure the show honors the core of the books' story while also telling a good story in its own right, independent of the source material.)

i was a classics major, okay? it gets to me! anyway, corralling myself back on topic.

for 2x08, it's very telling just how far Minority Reader Opinion deviates from the general audience opinion. general audiences fucking LOVED this episode (it's the highest-rated on imdb out of the entire show, currently at a 9.0; most episodes are in the 7-8 range), but a bunch of readers call it disappointing and one of the worst episodes of the show. if it was actually a poor quality episode of television, the general audience ratings would reflect that too (as they do for 1x08, currently at a 6.4 (i personally think 1x08 gets way more hate than is deserved and i thoroughly enjoy that episode, but i accept that's just me)), but they don't.

so what does that mean? to me, it means that 2x08 is objectively a very good episode of television which general audiences found satisfying, but which some readers disliked because it prioritized the emotional & thematic needs of its own version of the story over the exact nature of the falme events in the source material. which is exactly what a good adaptation should do! if you forget the books and just look at the show (which the vast majority of viewers are doing), then every resolution that happens in 2x08 is the most satisfying resolution possible and/or the only resolution that was thematically permitted for that particular season storyline.

egwene: her season arc was about learning to stand on her own two feet and not cling onto her mentor figures or compare herself unfavorably to others. thus, her freeing herself from the a'dam is the most satisfying possible conclusion to her season arc. nynaeve and elayne freeing her in the books is nice, but in the show version, thematically, it would've undercut egwene's Overcoming Impostor Syndrome arc to go "yeah actually it's true that she's not good enough on her own and when it comes down to it she does always need nynaeve to help her out". that version worked in TGH where she didn't have an Overcming Impostor Syndrome arc, but it wouldn't have worked in the show where she did. (but, yes, egwene learning in 2x08 that she doesn't have to rely on others is a double-edged sword, which nicely sets up her later-series struggles with trying to shoulder too much herself and not letting even her friends or partner help her.)

rand: his season arc was about learning to lean on others and not isolate himself or try to protect his friends by withholding his burdens from them. thus, him failing to defeat ishamael until all his friends come to lend aid in various ways is the most satisfying possible conclusion to his season arc. rand defeating ishy singlehandedly in the books is nice, but in the show version, thematically, it would've undercut his Learning That Strength Is In Numbers arc to go "yeah actually it's true that rand is capable of winning his biggest battles all by himself and thus it's no problem for him to push his friends away". given the themes that s2 emphasized for rand, the only appropriate finale outcomes were either success with his friends' help or total failure on his own, and they chose the former. (that being said, rand pushing his friends away is a continuous issue for him throughout the series, so i doubt he's perfectly learned his lesson after 2x08; we shall see!)

interesting to note that rand and egwene have inverse arcs in a way (foils!) and that some elements of their book falme climaxes were swapped, and that the way the show has done it subverts the expected gender roles. typically, men are expected to be Lone Wolves and women to be Team Players, and the WOT books absolutely play into these stereotypes throughout the series (sometimes intentionally as social commentary, sometimes unconsciously as an accepted truth of the world), but 2x08 and s2 more broadly did the opposite with our yin-and-yang co-protagonists. it's egwene who has the arc about learning to be a Lone Wolf and rand who has the arc about learning to be a Team Player. and imo these subconscious gender role expectations are a part of why some readers (esp reddit) got SO heated about "how come egwene can succeed by herself but rand can't", because it feels Wrong to them and Not How Things Are Supposed To Work (they've never questioned why rand can succeed by himself but egwene needs her friends' help in TGH, or all the other times in the books when men succeed by themselves and women succeed by relying on each other). but it's a totally apples-to-oranges comparison because egwene and rand had totally different season arcs and focal themes (but many paralleling & foiling moments within that), and so they each get a conclusion tailor-made to their individual stories.

mat: his season arc was about realizing he's a good, worthy person, finding the inner strength to overcome his worst impulses and temptations, and coming through for his friends after leaving them at the waygate. thus, him getting his Big Damn Hero moment with the horn of valere, getting validation that he is literally a hero, and overall spending the episode doing all he can to support his friends is the most satisfying possible conclusion to his season arc. (but stabbing his bff just as he was flying on a confidence high and trying to save the day was a downer note to end on, so we've complicated his relationship with heroism and set up some more internal issues for him to wrestle with next season.)

perrin: his season arc was about learning to acknowledge his inner wolf but also coming to regard it with fear and to believe that wolf & human sides can't coexist and he must Choose One (.......suddenly being struck by the bisexuality metaphor of it all. nice!) thus, him giving into violence to murder a human to avenge a wolf is.....well, it's pretty upsetting for him and serves to reinforce his growing belief that his two sides can't coexist, but thematically, it's fascinating and sets him up for some really great internal (and external) conflicts in s3. he's just gotten what he thinks is pretty strong evidence to corroborate ishy's claim that embracing his wolf side means embracing the shadow, so he's set up for a season 3 of deep-diving into his relationship with violence and his inner wolf. it's also a neat parallel with 1x08: there perrin's avoidance of violence allowed fain to escape, whereas here his embracing of violence has traumatized him (again), so our poor guy is really feeling conflicted in the pacificism-or-violence question because both sides seem wrong to him right now. huh, i guess perrin's full-series arc is about finding a middle ground rather than one extreme (pacifism/tuatha'an/human) or the other (violence/aiel/wolf). i feel like i've just had an epiphany lmao this is why i love the show! it tells the same story as the books, but tells it in a different way that makes me think about it differently and gain new insights!

nynaeve: her season arc was about learning that she, on her own, as she is today, is not enough to protect her loved ones. this is a tough pill for both her and the audience to swallow! but it's needed for her character, and we see it in the books too. nynaeve has an incredible amount of power, but she's terrified of having that much power and wants to pretend it doesn't exist. she's resistant to change, she's used to being in charge, and she's very "my way or the highway". these are all things she needs to grow out of (or moderate, at least) in order to be able to step up and do her part for tarmon gai'don. she has to learn how to embrace her power instead of being afraid of it or being too stubborn to let other people guide her and teach her, so s2 shows her what happens if she doesn't, first hypothetically in the accepted test (everyone she loves dies because she's blocked and refused channeling training) and then for real in falme (she couldn't help elayne fully or rand at all because of her block). so her 2x08 conclusion being Total Failure is not emotionally satisfying, no, but it's thematically exactly what she needed and will goad her into facing her block head-on next season. thematically, like rand, nynaeve only had 2 options for falme: break her block and succeed, or retain her block and fail, and it was too soon for the former (we gotta let her cook a while longer, plus the story will become too easy if nynaeve, or rand, reaches supernova capability too soon), so it had to be the latter. if the show had gone with a third option of her succeeding without breaking her block, then that would've taught her and the audience that it's fine to leave the block in place and she doesn't need to challenge herself to grow as a person, because when it TRULY matters she can always get around the block.

other characters get appropriate resolutions too! moiraine and lan get to work together to succeed after being at odds and failing on their own all season (rand foils!). elayne gets validation that she is an essential and trusted part of the friend group after feeling like somewhat of an outsider earlier in the season. ishamael getting vanquished and lanfear betraying him only to be betrayed by him in turn is exactly where their mutual mistrust was leading them (and it shows us why it's so important that Team Light be able to work as a team rather than as self-interested individual operators; the contrast between ishy & lanfear looking at the seals together while plotting to betray each other vs. rand standing on the tower with all his friends behind him makes me cry your honor. imagine hating that ishy's defeat was a team effort, could not be me!)

(it's also worth noting that the characters who had the least individual success/victory in 2x08 (nynaeve, rand, perrin) are the ones who will have the biggest individual storylines in s3 (tanchico & moggy, waste arc, two rivers arc), whereas the characters who had the most individual success/victory (egwene, mat, moiraine, lan) are the ones who will be taking a bit more of a backseat (of course they all have their own stuff to do, but none of them is *the* lead character of their TSR/s3 traveling group). this is intentional!)

so there you have it. 2x08 is adored by the general audience, and it's because of this: it gives us some damn satisfying conclusions to all the season arcs (and some exciting and visually stunning battle sequences to boot), and all the viewers who AREN'T beleaguered by "But The Books!", which is most of them, recognize that for the good storytelling it is. i for one will always care far more about the show telling a good story within itself than the show being identical to the books, and rafe & co will too, as they should.

the only downside to the episode is that, yes, it is quite cramped for time because there are a lot of arcs to wrap up. this should be less of an issue in future seasons when the season finale isn't "every single major storyline converges in the same place at once". for example, judging by the "goldeneyes" episode title it seems s3 might split it up so that perrin's conclusion in the two rivers is in 3x07 while other conclusions in other locations are in 3x08, giving each more breathing room. whereas 2x08 had no choice but to stuff everything in that episode into that specific episode because it's not like perrin could just do his falme stuff an episode early and take a nap while everyone else was doing THEIR falme stuff in the next episode, nor could the full falme sequence have been split into 2 episodes since that would have disrupted the flow of the story. the only solution would be for 2x08 to be extra long, which is nice to imagine, but we all know that streaming shows almost never deviate from their set episode lengths and so there isn't much point sighing about "this episode should have been 90 minutes long!" because that just is not on the table, never has been, and never will be. the first step to being able to jive with an adaptation is making peace with the limits of its particular medium!

plus, the only things i might deem "missing" from 2x08 are non-essential (ingtar darkfriend reveal - that is NOT important fight me, it's only important in the books as our first example of a morally-gray shadow-aligned person but the show has already been doing that in spades) or will likely be included in 3x01 (the gang spending some time together to breathe and process and catch up). at the end of the day, the show is always going to need to be paced very very tightly with not as much breathing room as those of us accustomed to entire books dedicated to reacting to the previous book might expect. and 2x08 did manage to pack in a LOT of character work amidst all the action and did a good mix of resolving s2 arcs while leaving some unresolved to carry into s3 and introducing some new arcs/issues/conflicts, all within 70 minutes, which i find pretty impressive. in conclusion, 2x08 my fucking beloved <3

[crimeronan]

i do have One iwtv complaint thus far and it's the same complaint that many people have about many different 2020s dramas: Why Is It Graded So Damn Dark. if i had movie theater lighting in here it would be fine but my laptop brightness is up as high as it can get and because i'm in a sunny room, i can't see Anything. in basically any flashback nighttime scene. baby i'm trying to look at my beautiful actors doing their beautiful microexpressions..... please......

[asexualsoup]

Plain text:

Me: Can you IMAGINE how hard it must have been for Nureyev to hold his scheme together after Grandpa [Rao] BROUGHT HIM THOSE ORCHIDS AAAHHHHHH

@adriennezzz : Like whyyyyyyyy 😭

adriennezzz: Like I thought Nureyev asked for the orchids but NOPE

Me: NOPE

Me: He must have been shooketh

adriennezzz: Fold it away fold it away fold it away fold it away

[it-s-gone-blue]

I have real issues with finishing things like, stopping before the final level of a game, not reading the last third of a book, not reading that totally awesome fic i adore's update, not watching the final episode, stopping listening to the final season of a podcast

it fucking sucks

i don't want things to end

and i want things to continue bring me joy so i don't let it end

and instead of feeling more joy i just feel unfinished

[ladywaterfall]

Is there an active penumbra podcast fandom on here, cause I’m caught up soon and very much considering making a sideblog about it 👀

[batuuan-artist]

If you like Helluva Boss then you may like ✨The Penumbra podcast✨

[rustyelias]

I am already into rqg and tma, but I see you posting about other very cool looking podcasts. Any you'd like to convert me to? Red Valley, was it?

allow me to put on my salesman’s suit >:)

red valley! this podcast! firstly it is a wonderful well thought out mystery podcast that mainly focuses on the morality of experimental science! the characters are SO loveable even the ones who suck (looks directly at clive) are great! ooh there are also a bunch of references to films and video games! the music as well it genuinely slaps!!

if ya do want to check it out I would definitely recommend reading the content warnings thumbs up

[bookgeekgrrl]

My media this week (5-11 Jan 2025)

a spot of bright, pure joy this week was the return of the Questing Queens

📚 STUFF I READ 📚

😊 How Women Made Music: A Revolutionary History from NPR Music (NPR & Alison Fensterstock, author; Alison Fensterstock, Ann Powers, et al., narrator) - overall good and I really like the goal of the book + hearing snippets from interviews with actual musicians is fantastic. but I really, really wish that some of the general essays about artists (as opposed to specific album reviews) from the previous iterations in 2017/2018 had been updated bc writing about Britney Spears/Beyonce/Buffy Ste Marie in 2017 doesn't address some important recent developments in their careers and makes this feel irrelevant and historical rather than an actual new book. Also this is very much a 'dip in & out of' kind of book rather than reading straight thru which is why I started reading mid-Dec and am just finishing now.

😊 Roommate Wanted (furyofthetimelords) - 61K, stucky AU where they're both independent superheroes with secret identities and those identities become roommates (oh my god, they were roommates!)

💖💖 +200K of shorter fic so shout out to these I really loved 💖💖

It Could Be So Sweet (riverlight) - You Should be So Lucky (Cat Sebastian): Tony Ardolino/Connie Newbold, 3.5K, Yuletide 2024 - absolutely perfect tone

Preserving Lemons (ihopeyoubothstaysafefromharm, saintgarbanzo) - HP: drarry, 17K - this made me crave middle eastern food a whole lot

just my job five days a week (Artifactrix) - The Martian: Gen, 1.8K, Yuletide 2024 - short but nailed Watney's voice

blue skies ahead (Infinity456) - 9-1-1: bucktommy, 19K - really enjoyable canon adjacent omegaverse AU

On The Other Side of a Downward Spiral (torakowalski) - MCU: stucky, 31K - post-WS recovery fic + accidental baby acquisition; reread but I love it

Of Wolf and Man (thisapplepielife) - Stranger Things: steddie, 5.5K - I extremely love werewolf!Steve Harrington (even when there's no monsterfucking)

Virtute (oliviacirce) - The Eagle | The Eagle of the Ninth: marcus/esca, 6.5K, Yuletide 2024 - fun, hot

Wide Open Spaces (WakeUpDreaming) - D20 Fantasy High: Gen, 1.6K - sweet little vignette during Summer of the Night Yorb

📺 STUFF I WATCHED 📺

Handsome - Trace Lysette asks about dating pet peeves

Brilliant Minds - s1, e1-13

D20: Dungeons & Drag Queens - "Princess and the Paramours" (s2, e1)

D20: Adventuring Party - "She is the Tower of Babel" (s19, 1)

🎧 PODCASTS 🎧

Hyperfixed - Dylan's Supermarket Cold Case

Sherlock Holmes Short Stories - The Adventure of the Dancing Men

Pop Culture Happy Hour - Great Movies We Missed

Pop Culture Happy Hour - Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl

Vibe Check - Bottoms Up, B!tches

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Zach Stafford’s Life in Five Places

Sherlock Holmes Short Stories - The Red-Headed League

Pop Culture Happy Hour - The Last Showgirl And What's Making Us Happy

Dear Prudence - My Mom’s Freaking Out Over My Gender Identity

Dear Prudence - Prudie Plus: My Dad Is Terrorizing My Sister

Shedunnit - Whodunnit Centenary: 1925

99% Invisible - Mini-Stories: Volume 20

🎶 MUSIC 🎶

Huey Lewis & The News

The Offspring

[mantisgodsdomain]

Considering you seem not to think about astarion much its fine he can just stand in the corner or something

The recipe for becoming a lich requires a quart of blood from a vampire, and we're not sure a spawn will do the trick, but the process of creating a greater vampire involves killing the creature badly and at no point does it state that the creature has to be fully alive rather than undead before being killed in this manner so we're letting him do that and then he can stand in the corner or something.

[watcherglowcloud]

sobbing with excitement over my little podcasts

[chompinatthebit]

2024 NFL Storylines

Now that rosters have trimmed down to 53, for the most part, it's time to finally look ahead to the NFL season which begins Thursday September 5th. We all know that sports brings about drama that keeps us glued to the tv each and every weekend of the season, this NFL season won't be any different. With that in mind, I will give you my storylines to watch this season.

1. Super Bowl or Bust - These are teams that I feel realistically have pressure to get it done this season:

Baltimore Ravens - They have the reigning MVP, a top 5 defense that returns mostly everyone and added Derrick Henry over the offseason. They made the AFC title game last year but came up small, especially offensively, it's safe to ask can they get it done? Lamar has 2 MVPs and 2 playoff wins, enough said.

Kansas City Chiefs - They are going for a three-peat and with that rarified air, as they would be the first to complete the feat. It doesn't hurt that they have the best QB in the league, they also added Xavier Worthy and Hollywood Brown to a WR core that hasn't even been all that dynamic the past couple of seasons.

San Francisco 49ers - The offseason saga with Trent Williams and Brandon Aiyuk's contract highlights the fact that they have some serious decisions coming up very soon. They have Deebo Samuel and Brock Purdy, who will be looking for new deals next offseason, they also lost in the Super Bowl last season. Could this be a last stand for this group?

Philadelphia Eagles - This team was just in the Super Bowl 2 years ago but took a step back last season. They have locked up their WRs and have taken steps to fix their secondary which was a major problem last season. They replaced both coordinators last season who were held accountable for the slide in performance. Nick Sirianni would technically be the next to go if this season doesn't pan out.

2. Young QBs thrust into the spotlight - Looking around the league, we are seeing that a good number of teams are pinning the direction of their season on the success or failure of unproven QBs.

Caleb Williams (Bears), Jayden Daniels (Commanders) and Bo Nix (Broncos) will be starting from week 1. JJ McCarthy seemingly was on pace to possibly be the starter with the Vikings, before he went down with a season ending knee injury. Drake Maye could very well take over the starting job at some point this season from Jacoby Brissett for the Patriots.

We also have guys in CJ Stroud (Texans), Bryce Young (Panthers), Jordan Love (Packers), Will Levis (Titans), Anthony Richardson (Colts) who are entering the season with varying experience from this past season but are still developing in their second season as starters.

We are looking at 1/3 of the league with young guys at the most important position on the field, how many of them could take their team to the playoffs this season?

3. Who makes the quick turnaround - In 19 of the last 21 years at least one team has gone from finishing last in the division the season before to division champs the following season. With that in mind, who is most likely to pull off the feat this year.

Cincinnati Bengals (AFC North) went 9-8 last year in a season where Burrow missed time and dealt with an injured wrist, if Burrow stays healthy this season they could absolutely pull it off.

Tennessee Titans (AFC South) went 6-11 last season but have done a great job in improving the roster this offseason, if Will Levis continues to improve then they could be the team that challenges the Texans this year for the AFC South crown.

Chicago Bears (NFC North) were a 7-10 team last season after a good finish to the season, they seemingly have their guy in Caleb Williams to run what they believe will be an improved offense. The defense has some pieces as well but not completely sold on coach Eberflus.

The other teams that finished last in their divisions were the New England Patriots (AFC East), LA Chargers (AFC West), Washington Commanders (NFC East), Arizona Cardinals (NFC West) and Carolina Panthers (NFC South).

With every season there are so many storylines that will play out so these are just 3 for you to monitor over the course of the 2024-2025 season. We are just days away from the season starting so strap in and get to the edge of your seat, the fun is about to start.

Make sure to give me a follow and check out my other content on my blog page. You can also follow me over @passionandprecision as well with my friend/co-host @jorissportsstories who you can also follow for her great content as well.

I appreciate you for taking the time to check out my article, until next time...

[mauvesockss]

I was cringing a little at the idea of a RAD Bouquet Baby. I just couldn't imagine Rilla or Arum scaling back their work enough in order to be parents... But then I realised that Damien is in a good position to take on the role of a more full-time caregiver. Yay three parenting adults!

The only thing giving me pause now is that I really can't see Rilla being pregnant. It's a hugely energy and time intensive process that, as I've said above, I couldn't imagine her choosing over her work.

We can assume that she has a secret (both her and Arum being shifty when confronted with keeping secrets) and, in this thought experiment, the secret is Impending Parenthood but -- unless the Petrichorous deigned to leave them a germinating seed or egg that only Rilla is aware of -- I don't really see any way around [Arum voice] mammalian gestation.

If this is the way the podcast is going, I'll be really interested to see how the storyline plays out!

[nobodysdaydreams]

Hey wolf359 friends:

While I was study for my final, I realized that “Goddard” is the name of a eugenicist who later apologized for his research (but not before it had already become popularized by other scientists).

Not sure if that foreshadows anything about “Goddard Futuristics”, but it does seem a rather ominous coincidence. I guess I’ll find out (just finished season 3).

[victimized-martyr]

oh to be hired as mattrey’s brain trust for a run and help the story be completed on time and support trey where he needed it …

[xdarkabyssx]

Okay so this is a looooong shot. I'm re listening to Our Fair City ie my favorite podcast of all time. Which ended in 2018ish.

So I'm on one of the episodes and it mentions extras and WEBCOMICS on their website!!!! Which is now obviously defunct since its. Been a while.

Anyway my main point being I was wondering if anyone knows a place where I'd be able to access/read them? 😶😶😶

It's by Hartlife NFP which I'm pretty sure also made unwell a Midwestern Gothic mystery which is more recent! So they're still active! So there's still hope!

[speakercrab666]

if horror game in horror genre, then why monster have scary face???? i want horror game!!! NO SCARY FACE!!!!!!!!! only horror game <3