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cw: WoT show criticism! (cause I know some people (including me, mostly) just wanna enjoy it and have fun!) I love the show and I'm sure I will continue to love it whether or not Rafe reads this and takes my advice 😜

Ok, but--

Now that I've watched E8...three times 🙈 the choice of making Mat a former Hero of the Horn feels weird to me (even though it's a valid suspicion based on the books!). It's because the central fixation of Mat's character is that he is no hero, despite always ending up being heroic.

Book!Mat does not 'identify' as a hero. Like all the other main characters, he finds himself constantly put in situations where duty and his own moral compass require heroic or brave acts, but he sees them as undertakings of duty or necessity. The last thing book!Mat would do when meeting the Heroes of the Horn is give an excited "I'm one of you!" As Brigitte makes clear multiple times, to be a hero of the Horn is to be tied to the Wheel in a similar manner to being ta'veren, and there's nothing book!Mat hates more than feeling trapped by Fate. The show has set up his arc as "I'm a bad person > actually I'm awesome!" whereas in the book it's more like "I don't want anything to do with this magic shit > I am, begrudgingly, embroiled in this magic shit but I don't like it!"

In fact, if I had to sum up The Wheel of Time in one sentence(!) it would be something like Being a hero sucks. RJ's central exploration is of small-town people being told the weight of the entire world rests on their shoulders. As Siuan says in the show, "The Wheel calls you to this, whether you can bear it or not." No one in the books wants to be a hero (except maybe Egwene? Discuss.)

I think that to really capture the feel of the books, the show is gonna have to lean into this more. They have tapped into it some, but the weight of duty, and especially in Rand's case, the enormity of being the Dragon Reborn, really hasn't been communicated in my opinion. Rand spends most of The Dragon Reborn in a walking fugue state, and so far, show!Rand's main concern has been rescuing Egwene from Ishamael.

I think they really need to dig into the complexity and horror of both the figure of the Dragon Reborn, the depression and angst that taking on that mantle brings to Rand, and the intensity of the madness. In the show Rand and Lan are having a loud discussion about him being DR in front of a Cairhien castle guard for goodness sake! Whereas in the book, Mat thinks Ingtar will kill Rand just for being able to channel, let alone being DR, and Perrin is just like, "yeah I bet he would."

I think the show can go along as it is being fun and a good fantasy show, but to truly capture the essence of Jordan's books, it needs to continue to cleave to the grim fate of being woven against your will into the Lace of Ages.

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you are important and special and loved even when your mind tells you you’re not

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🚨[FREE BABY SEASHELL PATTERN!]🚨 Once upon a time, in the deep blue ocean, there was a tiny Baby Seashell. She lived among the mermaids 🧜🏻‍♀️ crabs 🦀 and octopuses 🐙 in a beautiful underwater world 🌊 The Baby Seashell loved to play hide-and-seek with her octopus friends and listen to the beautiful songs 🎶 of the mermaids. She would also often explore the nearby coral reefs 🪸 marveling at the vibrant colors and the exotic sea creatures that called it home. Despite being small, the Baby Seashell had a big heart ❤️ and always looked out for her friends, whether it was helping a crab mend a broken shell or sharing a tasty seaweed snack with the mermaids. Life was full of adventure and wonder in the deep ocean, and the Baby Seashell couldn’t wait to see what each new day would bring! 🥰 Baby Seashell is a FREE addition to my Kawaii Ocean Minis crochet pattern that includes Mermaid, Triton, Octopus, Hermit Crab and Seahorse and is available here -> https://etsy.me/41Oz4GU 😊 FREE Crochet pattern for amigurumi Baby Seashell is available in English, Spanish, French, Italian, Dutch, Portuguese and Danish, browse through the gallery to see all of these languages! 🤗 Happy crocheting and have a wonderful weekend, dear friends! 💛💙

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It's a Calico Critters Christmas for me!

#calico critters #so cute #sylvanian families #miniatures #miniature #cozycore #so adorable #i'm an adult #they're adorable

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The nativity scene at Claremont United Methodist church

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Source

Activism works

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Me: *picks up “dead” bat in my yard so my dog doesn’t eat it*

“Dead” bat: O_O

Me: O_O

Me upon realizing I am holding a very not dead bat and not dead bat realizing it has been picked up by a large creature at the exact same second: eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!

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These are wonderful!!

I think I need one...

Made these hobbit houses a couple years ago as a Christmas gift for a friend. They might be my favorite needlefelts I’ve ever done.

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Dragons, with jobs

Artist credit to Flamecraft!

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Cory Lee has visited 40 countries on seven continents, and yet the Georgia native has never explored Cloudland Canyon State Park, about 20 minutes from his home. His wheelchair was tough enough for the trip to Antarctica but not for the rugged terrain in his backyard.

Lee’s circumstances changed Friday, when Georgia’s Department of Natural Resources and the Aimee Copeland Foundation unveiled a fleet of all-terrain power wheelchairs for rent at 11 state parks and outdoorsy destinations, including Cloudland Canyon. The Action Trackchair models are equipped with tank-like tracks capable of traversing rocks, roots, streams and sand; clearing fallen trees; plowing through tall grass and tackling uphill climbs.

“I’ll finally be able to go on these trails for the first time in my life,” said the 32-year-old travel blogger, who shares his adventures on Curb Free with Cory Lee. “The trails are off-limits in my regular wheelchair.”

Georgia is one of the latest states to provide the Land Rover of wheelchairs to outdoor enthusiasts with mobility issues.

In 2017, Colorado Parks and Wildlife launched its Staunton State Park Track-Chair Program, which provides free adaptive equipment, though guests must pay the $10 entrance fee. Michigan’s Department of Natural Resources has placed off-road track chairs in nearly a dozen parks, including Muskegon State Park. In 2018, Lee reserved a chair at the park that boasts three miles of shoreline on Lake Michigan and Muskegon Lake. “It allowed me to have so much independence on the sand,” he said.

Mobility FTW

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I haven’t yet seen a tumblr post with these resources so I am making my own and hoping it shows up in the tags. I ASK EVERYONE WHO SEES THIS TO PLEASE REBLOG THIS.

THE INDIAN CHILD WELFARE ACT (ICWA) IS UNDER ATTACK. AND WE NEED HELP TO PROTECT IT USING THE RESOURCES BELOW.

I am not going to go into heavy detail on the bill, on its history, anything like that, the resources have a lot of information, but as a little bit of background:

It is a bill passed that forbids Native children from being adopted by non-Native families. This is for a good fucking reason, there have been historically large scoops of children taken from their Native families, at a much higher rate than white children (see the 60s scoop in Canada). These children are often abused in these homes, and their entire culture is taken from them (many end up not even knowing what tribe/nation they came from), hence the point of why they were taken in the first place (forced assimilation). Now, this does still happen through the foster care system, but this has protected in the case of adoption. It makes it that only Native families can adopt Native children.

White people hate this and have been smearing it for years (think of the whole Lexi Choctaw/Alexandria P. situation, which was so fucked how they used that little girl). Now, the state governments of Texas, Louisiana, and Indiana have taken it to the Supreme Court to be ruled unconstitutional. This case is called Haaland v. Brackeen. Because white people … really want to steal Native children. This is being heard by the court, oral arguments start WEDNESDAY. ICWA could be overturned in the matter of weeks or even days.

PLEASE USE ALL OF THESE TO PROTECT ICWA:

Petition that will involve you sending messages to your Congressional leaders through their text automated system, only available to those in the US (BUT NOTE YOU DO NOT NEED TO BE A CITIZEN, OR ELIGIBLE TO VOTE TO SIGN, JUST NEED TO BE IN THE US):

https://resist.bot/petitions/PCCPGW 

Petition to send a message to President Biden and leaders at the Department of Justice, this does have a place to put in your country so seems like it may be available for those outside of the US but I am unsure (consider also donating to the Lakota People’s Law Project if you are able to):

https://action.lakotalaw.org/action/protect-icwa

Petition to be sent to the Attorney General and Secretary of the Department of the Interior, since it is through change.org it likely can be signed from outside of the US:

https://www.change.org/p/protect-the-indian-child-welfare-act

PLEASE SIGN AS MANY AS YOU ARE ABLE TO. PLEASE REBLOG IF YOU SEE THIS. PLEASE HELP US PROTECT ICWA.

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Anything is worth a try, right?

We need like “unclench your jaw” posts but for eye strain. Like

Go look at something 20ft away for 20 seconds.

#migraine #chronic migraines

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Let me tell you about the magic position. When I hold my body very still in the magic position, the pain stops! We love the magic position. The only problem is that the magic position changes every day - sometimes multiple times a day - and I get no hints as to what it might be :(

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A 3D Printed Sundial Displays Time Like a Digital Clock