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bluedalahorse · 3 months

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off the cuff thoughts about the differences between being public and being recognized

Don’t hate me but I’m actually really interested in what kinds of delicious narrative tension Young Royals 3 is going to play with when it comes to the Wilhelm/Simon relationship not just being something that happens openly but something that is public. As in, a relationship that has a public presence and meaning, that is going to be consumed by the public in some way and evaluated under public scrutiny. As in something that the palace may attempt to curate and spin a certain way for the public eye.

In my mind, being “public” is different than just being “recognized” or just being “together” in a way that the people around you can see. In a show that’s a little more “slice of life” like Heartstopper (hate to use this as the contrast example but it was the first thing that comes to mind) there’s a lot of emotional stakes to Nick and Charlie calling one another boyfriends, and then being boyfriends in front of their friends and family. And generally it’s positive when they can take these steps of being more recognized by the people around them, because it allows for a lot more emotional honesty, self-expression, and self-acceptance. It’s also historically significant, given the way that queer couples in previous periods of history have at times been forced to live in the shadows.

For Wilhelm and Simon there’s emotional stakes to being recognized as a couple, especially as they try to reclaim agency for themselves in the wake of being violently outed. Yet Wilhelm’s position as crown prince means there’s going to be political stakes as well, and for that reason they can’t be recognized without also being public. And it feels very much like this emotional threads and these political threads are in conflict. Whether they like it or not, Wilhelm and Simon are symbols. I do wonder if Kristina and some of her associates at the palace will choose to openly support Wilhelm and Simon’s relationship, but also express a lot of opinions about how that relationship gets styled and posed in photo ops. The monarchy could want Wilhelm and Simon’s relationship to be a sign of their progressiveness, showing that they can adapt to the times while still remaining one of Sweden’s constants. But I admit I would absolutely devour a storyline where this is called out for the calculating PR move that it is, and not just written off as a message about cozy acceptance.

I also think it’s interesting how this idea of the public image of relationships applies to other characters in the show. Public scrutiny is something we think of affecting queer relationships a lot, but it impacts other types of relationships as well. So let’s go into the girls’ arcs for a little bit…

Felice is constantly under scrutiny for how people perceive her relationships to Wilhelm and August, and she is consistently negatively impacted by social expectations around female gender roles. People gossip about her being a gold digger when Wilhelm kisses her, for instance, despite Wilhelm initiating. Alternately, I think a lot about the shift between Felice and August’s initial hookup in 1.3, where Felice is in a bad place emotionally but at least has some agency in her anger and rage, and some of Felice and August’s early public appearances, such as when the headmistress expresses approval of them together and says August looks happier. There’s subtext here about Hillerska being the place where high status boys and girls meet one another to eventually marry, and about women managing the emotions of the men they’re in relationships with. And, what does August yell at Felice for? For not holding his grief for him when he’s sad about Erik, of course, and holding emotional space for Wilhelm instead. He expects her to be managing his emotions. This is not just August’s general toxic douchery (although there is that) but like, what adults and public expectations have socialized into him from birth. Now, Felice and August’s relationship was never going to be functional to begin with and it’s pretty damn dysfunctional in private, but that public pressure to behave according to certain roles made things even worse between them. It trapped Felice, too, because of the expectations that she act like a Good Society Wife to whoever she’s in a relationship with and not challenge him. That’s why Felice’s public instagram blast is so important. It’s not just a fun moment, but one where she stops playing the Nice Girl and says openly how fed up she is.

Meanwhile, in season 2, Sara and August’s relationship doesn’t have quite the same kind of dysfunction. But I’m really struck by the anxiety and fear that hits Sara during the scene in 2.4, when she overhears August’s phone call to the palace and the plans for the next ten years of his life. When Sara and August fight at the ball, we can see how worried she is about the idea of her relationship with August being under the PR microscope. Not just because she’s in a relationship with the guy who exposed her brother and was pretty shitty to her best friend (although, there is very much that) but because of the nature of public scrutiny in general. Sara is already looking ahead to the endless slog of press conferences and curated social media feeds, and she knows August wouldn’t be able to protect her from that because he is the reason she’d be getting that attention in the first place. Wilhelm wasn’t able to protect Simon, after all. She’s also got her eye on how the threat of attention is affecting August, making note of how he’s turned to unprescribed ADHD medication to stay on his feet. I think it’s incredibly smart of Young Royals have the canonically autistic and ADHD character be so aware of the psychic toll it takes to present a public persona, and to recoil from that horror when it’s offered to her by the person she most desires. (I also think that’s exactly why an AU fic where Sara ends up in that public princess-consort-to-be role would be so damn interesting. I don’t think we’ve seen that kind of story with an explicitly AuDHD character and I would honestly just be fascinated.)

To bring this back around to Wilmon… I do not want to ignore the historical significance of a queer prince having a recognized queer relationship, and I do think that is something that can come with moments of joy and happiness that I will enjoy as an audience member. At the same time, I think given what this show has chosen to say about relationships serving a public function, especially in ways that reinforce the class system, I am practically salivating to see what kind of commentary we will get about how this relationship gets packaged for the public. What kind of PDA is acceptable to the press? What terms are Simon and Wilhelm allowed to use to refer to one another in interviews? What kinds of places are they allowed to be seen together? What hobbies can they pursue? What colors is a queer prince allowed to wear? Is the pink sweater Wilhelm’s sign of rebellion, or was it imposed on him by stylists because they thought it made him approachable and quirky and accepted by his parents, and Wilhelm found himself liking it in spite of the imposition? Does Simon feel he can reclaim a sense of his own image, or does he feel like he’s being curated into something he’s not? What if Simon’s ideas for his future conflict with those of the palace’s? What then? How do they find their real relationship with one another when the people around them are always attempting to craft one?

I also wonder what our role will be as audience. We have been watching Simon and Wilhelm’s story for three seasons now. Will the show challenge some of our assumptions about true love and authenticity? Will it call us out for our voyeurism? To what extent are we complicit with the public scrutiny that governs the lives of Hillerska students and the upper classes? I am so curious to find out what season 3 has to say about us, even if it takes the form of criticism we aren’t expecting.

#young royals #wilmon #yr season 3 #this is what passes for me writing a wilmon post i guess

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sapphire-weapon · 1 month

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So, in light of recent events, I've been doing a lot of thinking. People ask me a lot how to get into analysis and where to start if they want to analyze characters and media -- and, historically, my answer has always been "start with the themes."

But there's actually a point 0 place to start. I never mentioned this, because I thought it went without saying -- but that was stupid for me to do, because people are coming to me with nothing and I'm expecting them to have something by default. That's dumb.

The real place that you start?

Is with the writer and the target audience. Who is writing this story, and who are they writing it for?

This is the exact reason why I've also said, in the past, that not all readings of a text are valid. The only way to make all readings of a text valid is by invoking Death of the Author.

So, what is Death of the Author?

Very plainly, Death of the Author is defined as: a literary theory that argues that the meaning of a text is not determined by the author's intention, but rather by the reader's interpretation.

A lot of queer media analysts and scholars, for example, invoke Death of the Author in their work, because they know that an author did not intentionally set out to write a story that was reflective of the queer experience -- but their argument is that there's a way to read the text that is reflective of that experience. They're not saying "this is what the story means." They're saying "this is what the story means to me."

And this is a very valid form of literary analysis, because it provides extra meaning to a work beyond what the author intended and makes it more accessible to a broader audience.

But the thing about Death of the Author is that you need to acknowledge that you're invoking Death of the Author. Because if you don't, then you're making a completely different argument, which is: "the author/work intends for us to take this meaning from it." And you can't say that in good faith for all readings of a story. There is no way to make a claim that there's a positive allegory for the trans experience within Harry Potter, because that is most certainly not what JK Rowling set out to do. However, you could make a Death of the Author argument in favor of that -- which would be great, because it'll piss her the fuck off.

That's what I mean when I say that "not all readings of a text are valid." When I say that, what I actually mean is "that is absolutely not what the writers intended for us to take away from this scene/character/relationship/line of dialogue."

So, if you're someone who's coming to me, personally, and asking "how do I do what you do?" -- I don't make Death of the Author analyses. That's not what I do. So, my step zero to writing meta is to consider who is writing the story and who they're writing it for.

And there's a few reasons why I do this.

First and foremost, I'm in the business of theorycrafting. In order for me to try to accurately predict where a character arc or storyline is going and how it's going to manifest in future titles, I need to try to hone my focus on the writer's actual intentions. Because if I can't see things from their perspective, I'm never going to be able to chart out a course for where they might be going. And I'm not always right -- but sometimes I'm really right. Like, really super right. And I can't stop being right. And that feels really good.

The second reason is because acknowledging the writers' intentions opens them up to criticism. It's hard to criticize a writer for a lack of inclusivity if you take the stance that all readings of a text are valid and therefore any of the characters could be XYZ marginalized group. It's hard to criticize a writer for a sexist narrative or a sexist framing of events if you make the argument "but it's possible this completely alternate interpretation is also valid."

Like, I love DBZ. I love Akira Toriyama. I cried openly when he passed. But DBZ has some sexist bullshit going on in it. And you can't criticize it or him for turning all the female characters into housewives and babymakers while also supporting a reading of the text that says "but this is the happy ending that the characters are fighting for in the first place, so it's actually empowering."

So, in the case of Resident Evil...

Resident Evil is being written and developed by Japanese men in their 30s, 40s, and 50s for a group of Western cishet male gamers between the ages of 18-35. That is their target demographic. They are not talking to my coworker who's a 24 year old afab bi enby who desperately loves the series; the series just happened to reach them despite that.

And while everything in RE released prior to 2005 is pure survival horror meant to make you constantly feel like you're on the back foot, everything from RE4 onwards is a power fantasy. There are still horror elements to the games and movies, but RE more turns into a monster-of-the-week series about cool characters doing sick wrestling moves on cool monsters.

The devs and also the majority of their target audience project onto the male protagonists of the series to a certain extent -- which is why there has only been one title released since 2005 with a focus on a female protagonist, and that's Revelations 2 -- and, even then, Claire had to share the spotlight with Barry. Women have been playable here and there and been considered "main characters" -- but they've never really been the focus of any new titles that have come out. Sheva is considered Chris's partner. The RE6 campaigns are primarily about Leon, Chris, and Jake. Revelations 1 is seen as a Chris and Jill game in equal measure. And even though Death Island was supposed to be about Jill -- it wasn't, really. Because every other character had to be there with her, too.

So, when I get shit for taking a "heteronormative perspective" to my RE analysis -- there's a reason why I'm doing that. It's not because this is how I inherently view the world. It's because that is the intention with which the games are being written. That is who is writing the games and who the games are being written for.

Let's take RE4 Remake as an example, here. Capcom had to mash three different women together in order to create Ashley and turn her into an idealized fantasy woman so that she had the perfect face, the perfect body, and the perfect voice.

And the games are being developed by and for men who project onto Leon and see him as a power fantasy.

That is why it's absurd to me for people to say that Leon and Ashley never flirted with each other in the game. Of course they fucking did. Capcom created the perfect woman with giant tits and a small waist and a huge ass and a supportive personality and put her into close quarters with a male power fantasy protagonist. They put the flirting in so that their target cishet male audience could live that.

What people don't understand is that the eagleone romance wasn't created for the sake of the ship. It was made because of:

dudes who want to fuck Ashley and

Yoshiaki Hirabayashi's love for fairy tales.

(What makes me say that Hirabayashi loves fairy tales? He wrote RE5, which has a shitton of fairy tale elements surrounding Jill and Wesker specifically and even an alternate costume for Sheva that's called "fairy tale." To find that he turned RE4 into a fairy tale wasn't surprising to me at all, considering what the source material was. But the RE5 thing is for a separate post.)

Capcom doesn't care about your ships or our ship wars. They didn't create a Leon and Ashley romance because "we ship these two characters together." They created a Leon and Ashley romance so that guys who want to fuck Ashley can feel like maybe they could.

And because Hirabayashi fucking loves fairy tales.

And I also love fairy tales, which is why I love the ship. But I also do recognize that there's a sexist element behind the construction of Ashley's character and am capable of criticizing the ship for that reason.

So. Yeah. Start there. Start with the writers. Start with the intended audience.

I know that RE isn't being written for me. So I have to look at it from the perspective of the people who it is being written for. And if you want to analyze media, you have to do that, too.

#resident evil #resident evil 4 #leon kennedy #ashley graham #eagleone #meta analysis

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aro-comics · 2 years

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Growth (Part 2)

Growth, Part 2/3 – ITS REALLY NOT THAT HARD!! 😭😭 Lol sorry but the last panel is absolutely me when I think about amatonormativity as a whole, it’s really silly the more you think about it and I can’t believe that it’s so deeply engrained in most of the world.

I think I should mention I don’t have any specific narratives to reference for the tropes described in this comic, as much as I would like to, as I started panelling this a year ago and past me GOOFED and didn’t leave many notes on what examples she was specifically think of. Again, feel free to let me know any examples you can think of in the comments or via DM! I’ll pin them if they’re in the comments and I might make a follow up Tumblr post listing examples 😊

Also, while I was researching this general topic I did go through TV Tropes “The Singles” (as a character type? Category) page, and I found something very interesting. There’s a literally a section describing the tropes that “explain” why a character was not in a romantic relationship … and literally they have ever “Excuse” for why a character might be single except for. Maybe literally they’re aromantic 😭 The closest is “Allergic to Love” (which like, relatable. But also not inherently an orientation).

Just like …. OH MY GOD. People sometimes try to act like we’re being dramatic about leting people know being Aromantic is possible but STRAIGHT UP. IN POPULAR CULTURE (and often OUR WHOLE LIVES BEFORE WE DISCOVER THE TERM, AND ACCEPT OUR IDENTITES) THE IDEA OF BEING AROMANTIC IS JUST NON-EXISTENT, WRITTEN AROUND WITH EVERY OTHER POSSIBLE “EXCUSE” OR “EXPLANATION” Because apparently the idea that someone could just not feel romantic attraction is too much for this world 😫

I don’t have too much else to say, other than I hope you’re all holding up okay and taking care of yourselves.

Image Description:

Slide 1: Celia holds her hand up to her chin, contemplating. “The whole idea of growth being tied to romance is reflected in other tropes too –”

Slide 2: A split panel is illustrated. A south asian girl is shown crying as she types on her phone. She mutters to herself “Ugh, I’m SO done with dating. I’m putting myself first for once.”

On the other side of the panel, she is shown to have gone through a *transformation* (a la early 2000s makeover), and bumping into her destined love interest.

“The character’s efforts to “work on themselves” and “get away from romance”, are ironically what lead them to finding their “happy ending”.

Slide 3: Alternatively, a character finally accepting that they are happy single is seen as a “stepping stone” to being “ready” for a relationship.

In this scene, a brunette wearing a yellow shirt and dark skirt proclaims “I can be happy as a single woman”. In the background a spotlight flicks on as her “right” love interest appears. “Achievement unlocked: True Love interest” is overlaid in a font reminiscent of classic video games.

Slide 4: Celia speaks to the viewer. “Again, there’s nothing inherently wrong about either of these stories. It’s amazing if someone who gave up on love due to frustration, not a lack of desire, finds it again through pure fate and luck.”

Slide 5: Celia gestures now as she tries to explain, “But the problem is that these moments are framed as more of a “gotcha”, where this idea of pursuing growth purely for oneself, or holding any disdain of a romantic relationship in this process, is inherently wrong. In the end, even growing for yourself is really about growing for a romantic relationship.”

Slide 6: Celia rubs her hands through her hair in frustration. “Like … not everything is about being in a relationship! It’s not that hard.”

#regularcomic #GrowthComic

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drstonetrivia · 7 months

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🦇 Ever wondered why Asagiri Gen is sometimes compared to a bat?

Me too, so I did some research! :)

Firstly: the origin.

The usage of "bat" to describe Gen seems to mainly be in the first half of the series, and it's not a nickname given by only one person. Several people use it, including Gen himself.

Chronologically, the first instance was when Gen wandered back to the science shed alone after they'd completed the Sulfa drug, as he wasn't allowed inside the village. This happens in chapter 40/episode 15.

The Japanese word for bat is コウモリ (koumori).

However if you were watching either the English dub or reading the manga, this reference would have been completely gone! Instead, Gen refers to himself as an "opportunist", and the dub replaces "bat" with "rat".

The next instances were both during the katana fight against Hyoga, in chapter 48/episode 18. First, Kohaku calls him a bat after she assumes he'd gone and betrayed them.

(In Japanese, bat can also be spelt as 蝙蝠, and is pronounced the same way)

Again, the dub replaced "bat" with "rat", and the English manga translation uses opportunist instead.

The final instance I found was from Hyoga a short while later, when he gets betrayed by Gen, but for real this time. Both Kohaku's and Hyoga's usages are very negative and insulting, especially in the subs.

(For completeness again, I'm adding Hyoga's manga translation which is similar to his dubbed line, "filthy turncoat". As @DrStoneShots on Twitter said, Hyoga can be surprisingly eloquent lol)

So now the question is, why "bat bastard"? Why not "slithering snake" or "wriggly worm"? They've all got the same negative connotation of a crafty conman, right?

Let's start with the western view of the bat. Normally they're associated with Halloween, and thus remind us of things like darkness, death, witchcraft, and malevolence.

Native Americans consider them tricksters as well.

So far it sounds like it's suiting Gen's initial malicious mentalist persona quite well. I mean, he died, came back to life, uses poisonous flowers for his tricks and tricked Magma into thinking he'd die if he took so much as a single step.

…But then why call yourself a bat?

As it turns out, the symbolism associated with the bat in China and Japan is slightly different. Up until the 20th century, bats were popular in Japan thanks to influence from Chinese culture, where they are seen as a symbol of happiness, good fortune, a long life and good luck.

(Side note: I wonder if bats being associated with good luck, and therefore Gen by extension, is a narrative foil for Senku's extraordinarily bad luck?)

Now that we have both the bad and good of bats, why does the translation of bat->opportunist/turncloak arise when neither the western nor eastern interpretations mention anything about it?

Turns out, it's actually from one of Aesop's Fables, "The Bat, Birds, and The Beasts".

If you're not familiar with the story: the Birds and Beasts were fighting, and asked the Bat which side they were on, as they could both fly like the Birds and were furred like the Beasts. The Bat, uncertain, fought on both sides—choosing whichever was winning at the time.

The result was that afterwards, the Bat had no friends as they'd betrayed both sides several times, and ended up getting attacked by both the Birds and the Beasts, who now had a common enemy.

The alternative ending is that the Bat was not allowed to partake in the peace party.

Sound familiar? On several occasions, especially early on in the series, Gen felt like he had to keep a certain distance away from everyone, otherwise he'd get injured. He kept himself closed off and his true intentions hidden to stay safe. (Although he still got stabbed…)

The good news is that this particular bat's story ends happily, and with a whole kingdom's worth of friends. He learnt to open up and devote himself to a cause, even though it was risky to himself. His selfishness turned into selflessness when it truly mattered.

End of thread!

This was actually a request from @obviously6969 (on Twitter), who wanted me to find out more about Gen + bats! Now the only question is, can someone relate Gen to the Miracle Cave via bats… 🤔🦇

#dr stone #misc #gen asagiri #trivia

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fallenclan · 7 months

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okay but hear me out: yewberry and brambletuft are getting closer, falling in love even. brambletuft has been reserved since her father died, pulling away from other cats, but yewberry has managed to slip past her defenses. they learn to lean on each other and are soon always in each other's company. they've both lost their fathers recently, after all (albeit in different ways).

and then. brambletuft starts acting... off. paranoid, guilty, ashamed? perhaps she's done something or planning to do something. there's two ways this can go:

brambletuft murders someone, sets up some sort of trap, or attempts to kill the cat(s) she believes responsible for henryclaw's death. i can't imagine she'd actually be satisifed with her actions and unlike otterslip, she'd regret what she did. it would tear her apart. she'd start jumping at shadows, waiting for her deeds to catch up to her. maybe anterclan starts demanding answers, maybe somecat in fallenclan figures out what happened. either way, brambletuft is on thin ice---mentally, and with the fact that she could be EXILED or worse if antlerclan demands retribution.

brambletuft doesn't actually do anything, but plans to do something. she might start to try and distance herself from yewberry suddenly or again, begin to act erratically.

either way, yewberry's relationship with brambletuft would be heavily affected. if she kills someone (or tries to), would he ever be able to look at her in the same way? even if she doesn't, the pain of seeing her so shaken/guilt-ridden would have to get to him, ESPECIALLY since she's already been grieving her father.

and then. BAM. it comes out that OTTERSLIP, of all cats has been ""helping"" brambletuft and encouraging her actions. that OTTERSLIP has led brambletuft down this dark path, causing her so much more pain than if she'd just had time to process her grief. that it's OTTERSLIP who, once again, acted selfishly (in yewberry's eyes at least. it's up for debate as to whether otterslip's actions were selfish or purely motivated by a desire to seek justice for his loved ones) and took away someone yewberry loved. because yewberry does love otterslip, but he also can't reconcile a cold-hearted murderer with his kind-hearted father, so to yewberry, his father might as well be dead. at this point, his FATHER and OTTERSLIP are two entirely different entities, despite being the same cat.

so if someone in fallenclan were to kill otterslip, my first choice would 100% be yewberry. in a fit of fury (justice, he'd argue), he murders otterslip, the cat who took away both his father and his friend/love (ironically continuing the cycle of violence scorchstar began so many moons ago). in killing otterslip, yewberry would be becoming just like otterslip himself.

so uh. yewberry as the killer. yes.

alternative choices i think might be interesting narratively:

poppyfeather (to protect brambletuft)

brambletuft (you know why)

maplestar (to protect his clan from otterslip's influence)

applebranch (to protect silverbelly)

hailcrash (to protect someone--ie: otterslip is literally attacking someone so hailcrash steps in to save them. esp sad since he mentored her and they were friends, only for him to kill her brother and attempt to kill her sister, both of whom i presume she is close with?)

moonstep (avenging his brother)

crowflame (to protect the clan, maybe making a name for himself? i feel like he wants adventure but also to be a hero kind of, if that makes sense? i feel like the idea of protecting the clan from someone who is, in his eyes, inherently bad appeals to him. otterslip betrayed fallenclan, therefore he betrayed crowflame too! plus, who's to say otterslip isn't going to try and manipulate antkit? i definitely think crowflame feels maplestar was too lenient with otterslip by letting him walk away, and if the drama with brambletuft comes out this would just be one more reason for crowflame to seek out otterslip and "finish the job.")

anyway sorry for the long ask (i will totally do this again).

-🐉

WAUGH this is so cool. i LOVE the ideas for cats that could kill Otterslip (especially since the one i had in mind was on the list!), they all have such good reasons??? like. i can see almost all of them happening

I just can't imagine Brambletuft killing anyone, shes such a little silly to me u_u she's like an inchworm. all she knows is Leaf and Be Small (she is a large cat). Otterslip could absolutely Try and talk her into murdering someone (Silverbelly, most likely) but i don't think she'd ever go through with it, or even come up with a cohesive plan for it. more likely she'd just become sympathetic towards him and have horrible intrusive thoughts about killing her clanmates. poor girl

i absolutely agree with Yewberry as the killer tho v_v i can see him doing that. my original idea was Moonstep, because he and Stormsight were so close and i think he deserves a girlboss moment, but my mind has moved to Yewberry now. rotating that little motherfucker in my brain. microwave style

#fallenasks #dragon anon

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a-cloud-for-dreams · 8 months

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Here For You

Prompt: Based on this post by @malthemagnifisent

Pairing(s): Aerin Valleros/Mal Volari x Salem Nightingale (F!MC)

TW: None?

Tagging: @choicesficwriterscreations

A/N: Ok so Salem and Mal are my main pairing, I don't have a separate MC for Aerin. However, Salem being the flirt she is, did flirt with Aerin and obviously my favorite pathetic man started to have a thing for her, so I like to think in an alternate universe they might have ended up together. Maybe one where they weren't stopping the Shadow Court or one where they met in Whitetower. Perhaps one where she was a noble herself. It's just fun to think about, especially knowing she's a realm-walker. Anyways, in the main timeline, Salem is with Mal (romantic soulmates ofc) but she has a deep understanding with Aerin (platonic soulmates, like two sides of the same coin/narrative foils y'know?) Wow this was long, hope you enjoyed this lil mini fic!

"I can't believe we are still arguing about this," Tyril mumbled. "It's too dangerous and I won't let Salem endanger herself!"

"And you think I want to, Elf Boy?" Mal rolled his eyes. "You're the one who even brought it up! She practically ran to get away from you and your horrible plans."

"Say that again, Volari-" Tryil snaps.

"Come on you two, this isn't like us at all, let's all calm down..." Nia stepped between the two of them glancing back and forth.

"I'm being perfectly rational, I suggest you let the Rogue here know that we aren't back at the orphanage and don't have to play by his rules anymore."

"And I was just starting to like you..." Mal muttered under his breath.

"Are we yapping or are we gonna do something?" Imtura comes in, playfully swinging a new sword she found in the hallway of artifacts inside the abandoned elven library.

"We can't do anything until these two stop bickering! I barely got through this scroll on the Ash Empire," Kade whined.

"And I haven't received the elven honey cakes I requested ten minutes ago!" Threep frowned. Everyone else groaned.

Aerin stood back watching the whole ordeal with furrowed eyebrows. Was this the same motley crew who managed to defeat the Shadow Court as effortlessly as they did? They may have been lucky the first time around since it seems impossible to be productive around a group filled with opposing personalities like theirs.

Maybe he could have been like Nia, chiming in to maintain peace but he had a feeling they wouldn't take his words seriously. The only reason he was even out of shackles was because of Salem's request to do so. He shouldn't squander his opportunity to bond any further than he already has.

He wanted to, of course. And he felt like kicking himself for betraying the only people who bothered to be kind to him. They were willing to sacrifice Baldur to the Drakna for Light's sake! Anyone back at Whitetower would have been shocked to even think such thoughts.

He stepped away from the marble pillar he was leaning against and towards the lush gardens behind the library to check on Salem, desperately avoiding the unwanted memories blurring his mind of the night in the forest glade, the night with her.

Our kiss? That was real, Aerin. And it's still real...

He closed his eyes tightly. He couldn't let himself get distracted. Not again.

~~~

She hated this. The soft linen garment she changed into was soaked by the wet grass. The bottom edges of her leather boots were covered in mud. And her hair dampened by the soft drizzling raindrops. One would think a respectable elven library would have more places to hide in, to be left alone. But of course, she wasn't able to catch a break.

In any other circumstance, Salem always found the rain beautiful. Despite the darkened skies and messy aftermath, there was a beauty in the sorrow it evoked. Like the promise of warmth was hidden behind the tears of Light.

Even with his poetic nature, Kade thought she sounded ridiculous. But he liked that she wasn't afraid to be. Salem was honest, and she was able to look past appearances.

At least, most of the time.

Aerin cleared his throat when he found her. "Are you okay?"

She turned around quickly to find a nervous Aerin standing with his arms crossed over his chest and an unstable stance.

Have I been crying this entire time? Salem sucked in a breath, frantically clearing her face of remaining tears. "What do you think?"

"Were you crying?" his voice barely remained even. He steps closer to her.

She chuckled, a few strands of hair brushing over her face. Aerin blushes at her soft laugh, a complete shift from her confident demeanor. "I forget how smart you are sometimes." She stands up and quickly dusts off her soiled garment, turning to face him. "Did they stop fighting?"

"You didn't answer my question, Salem."

"Aerin..."

He hesitates before continuing. "No hero is invincible. You're not an exception."

"Gee, thanks."

He shakes his head. "You've gone through so much..."

Because of me.

Salem rolls her eyes. "There have been others who've lived through worse. Are living through worse." She places a hand over her forehead to quell her head pain.

"You're talking about the children at the orphanage," he says as if it were a fact he was familiar with.

"They're so young, and they've witnessed horrors they should have never seen," she shudders in frustration, her fists clenched behind her back. "And if I can't stop the Ash Empire or Valax, what good am I? I'm no hero-"

Aerin's gaze sharpened. "I won't let you talk about yourself that way."

Salem closed her eyes, slightly pivoting away from him. Aerin stepped directly in front of her and looked into her eyes, clouded by fear, worry, anger.

He wasn't thinking clearly when he pulled her in for a tight hug. Salem gasped at the sudden warmth, but rested her head on the crook of his neck. Aerin ignored how she smelled like warm spices and cedar wood. He ignored how perfectly she fit into his arms. He ignored the temptation to push away the soft damp strands of her hazel-brown hair and stare deeply into her mesmerizing eyes that made him think back to a happier time before things were so complicated.

She laughed softly. "I'm terrified, there's so many people depending on me and I can't mess anything up."

His grip tightens. "And you know that you can depend on me. I'm here for you. Whatever you need, whenever you need me. It's the least I could do."

She stayed silent for a second. He was worried for a second. Did I do something wrong?

"You know, you give pretty good hugs. Nia and Kade would be proud." Aerin sighed in relief. He reluctantly leaves her embrace and tilts his head to the side.

"T-Thanks," he runs a hand through his now wet jet black curls. "We should probably head back before we catch a cold huh?" Salem smiles, trailing slightly behind him.

"And Aerin?"

"Hm?" he turns around.

Salem smiles, feeling like a heavy burden that has been lifted off her shoulders. "Thank you."

~~~

it's a lil OOC since Mal would obvi be the first to check in with Salem immediately after she left the room but it's for the ✨plot✨ hope you enjoyed reading this!

#sorry this was so vague lol i feel like it made sense at first but ended messy oop #playchoices #blades of light and shadow II #aerlem 🌑#aerin valleros #salem nightingale oc #aerin x mc #tyril starfury #mal volari #mal volari x mc #nia ellarious #imtura tal kaelen #kade of riverbend

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basedkikuenjoyer · 5 months

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Keep it in Your Heart

If we're doing another leg of this flashback, it's time to dust off a old concept that proved right with the last time we stepped away. We...might not be coming back to how this situation with Saturn gets resolved. We may come in directly on the resolution. There are a lot of ways that can go. But for the moment I just wanted to focus on a few things that are relevant. Starting with the chapter I borrowed a title from here, 603. Viz slightly changes it, but the noteworthy "heart" theme is part of the whole package, one you probably remember with this scene.

Of course it's relevant that Kuma asked for this final mission. This direction for the flashback has a high chance of us seeing an alternate view of the story we all know and love. Really, really would like to see this cover Kuma's POV on Thriller Bark. What I forgot until looking at this chapter again was how much the Straw Hats, particularly Franky, know about the cyborg project. Franky offering a dire warning that is quite pertinent; that Kuma is someone they're indebted to...but if they ever cross paths again he will be an emotionless weapon.

There is no such thing as coincidence, only fate. That was how Van Augur put it. Remember, that was when the story was taking an odd moment between Luffy and Blackbeard and spelling out the thread that had been running since Drum. How a quirk of fate tied the brothers' story together. It's interesting to see it on display here leading into explaining just how Kuma protected the ship. Had a hand in setting the Straw Hats up to learn what they'd need to take on the New World.

I used that quote from Augur in one of our earliest Post-Wano Musings, titled Holding Pattern which covered Chapters 1062 & 1063. Looking back, man it's cool we're still looking at Bonney the same way and Drake has the same potential. I really dug up the coincidence thing because Law having boobies was so on point. 1063 was the first time I really started wondering if there might be a real reason to keep the hopium around because it was so weird then to cut away to Law like that. Egghead has gotten a lot longer than we imagined then but really leaned into those early threads we were looking at.

Those who have been following along would recall a while ago I stopped fully caring about this from the perspective of Kiku actually being #10 or not and more that using her as a guide was clearly paying off enough I'mma keep doing it until we get our answer. So then it's worth noting it may be no coincidence, but fate that made Kuma's decision to split the Straw Hats land them at the right time to stumble into the Akazaya's revenge plot. Though the length of their time apart is out of Kuma's paws even if he knew about it. That was just one thought looking back on 603 here.

You even had Caribou stumble in at the end. Don't forget him. My hunch right now is if the Blackbeard ship is actually Moria & Perona then Caribou fits their aesthetic to a T. That's not a bad vehicle to show some of what happened during the skipped night in the lab. Reading that old review was a great reminder; some of the little oddities we noticed early did and continue to snowball.

As for Kuma? Who knows where the flashback goes from here. I'd love some deep Makino lore but they could just be ships passing in the night. Where Bonney's story runs parallel will also be telling. I'll dust off one classic though. The longer this flashback goes the better the odds we come back to the present in a weird fashion. I don't think this 1100 turn can be ended in just one followup chapter either. Gut says wait til the first one of a new year, those are always big too.

Hell...worth mentioning too. If this is our second segment like this in the arc, what does it mean if/when we break down into a third? Just saying, we already had the idea Egghead was the 4th more accurate part of Wano doing a Rashomon type thing. What if that story itself is a nested Rashomon narrative? I will make and send Oda an award for literary brilliance if he does that and it's really, really starting to feel like we might.

#one piece #chapter 1100 #post-wano musings

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houseofbrat · 27 days

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Terrible all around, for so many reasons. As a comms person I could do a series of Tedtalks about this.

Nevertheless I really pray for Kate’s recovery both physically and mentally.

Yes, its all very sad but could have been prevented with proper management. The Palace Comms Team needs an overhaul.

Exactly. This seems to contradict Kate’s message that she wanted to wait until they told their kids and now they say it’s because of a potential leak? Which is it then and why would they now blame a potential leak? Who does it benefit by changing the story now and why did they even bother to? It’s so bizarre.

I think it’s a bit naive to blame this on KP’s team. The team is only as good as their bosses and William is pretty inept at handling press

This to me has nothing to do with a leak and everything to do with Easter. They knew she wasn’t going to be present for Easter so they had to make an announcement and get out in front of it early.

This was my first thought as I watched Kate’s video. If not for the leak, they still would be silent.

The idea the rota is pushing is it’s all the public’s fault for wildly speculating, and it’s not sitting well with me. It was mostly jokes about Kate being at the Willy Wonka experience or that she was getting a BBL. Then they released the fake photo and AP flagged it.

The papers got pissed because there WAS a story and the Palace wasn’t feeding them, so they turned up the heat. Nobody was talking about Rose Hanbury until The Independent (I think that was the paper) ran that story “Who is Rose Hanbury?” and repeated the old rumors of the affair. And some other online news site ran a story asking what would happen if William committed a crime. And then you had Piers Morgan saying he has heard wild rumors and if even half of them were true, he was concerned.

Yes, there are nasty people out there who gossiped but the media help set this situation on fire. And KP completely bungled the PR response. But they need to spare us the “shame on you all” narrative.

Wishing Kate the best and I hope the people who accessed her medical info are held responsible.

It's the fake photo and AP killing it that set this whole thing into the stratosphere. Before that all noise was limited to a small corner of the internet. No fake photo and ninety-eight percent of mess that happened never would have happened. KP is responsible for the mess and no amount of scolding from the rota will change that.

Sometimes I wonder what their long-term plan was for this? Obviously Kate having cancer would mean she’d need more time away than what they previously let on, so if the conspiracies never took off and they weren’t under a ton of scrutiny, I wonder how/when they would have told the public about her diagnosis, if at all.

Considering how they’ve handled more minor health issues, like William having COVID, I just assume KP never wanted to be transparent in the first place and were forced. Which sucks for Kate but has bad implications for a publicly funded institution IMO.

I don’t think there was ever a longterm plan here. I think everyone was taking it one step at a time and trying to process and figure out what the next step would be.

I’m honestly surprised because I am sure Rebecca English said they didn’t have their hand forced. Plus there were two days between Wed and Friday and any leaks could have occurred then as well. I do think it was getting to the stage it was an open secret witch certain circles.

I don’t understand why this and the “were angry about speculation” stories have been leaked - if they’ve been leaked by W&K and not somebody else. Not going after the alternative theories with this comment rn.

Like, they do want this to die down, right? I’m assuming so, because Kate is sick. I’ve never really cared about her actual illness in this whole debacle, but cancer or not, in her shoes I’d want the least amount of speculation possible. And the “we’re angry about speculation post” before the reveal was not the way to do that. All that was going to do was increase the speculation because if there’s one thing the internet likes doing more than anything else, it’s doing behavior they’ve been told not to.

Now it’s been revealed that Kate has cancer and I think the whole slew of “you’re bad for speculating no matter what the speculation was, even if it wasn’t health-related” posts were bad because they encouraged talk about her even as they were saying people shouldn’t talk about her, but that wasn’t in W&K’s hands so I’m not gonna blame them for that. Either way, the gossip around her did die eventually.

But now they’re bringing it back up of their own accord, if this is them? Why? It was already said that people tried to access her info. If this inside source was BP, revealing this is just bad for the overall family image. It proves Harry was right once again. If it wasn’t, I guess I understand wanting to talk about the source, but it’s still giving attention that I don’t think would be wanted or needed right now.

This is what has fascinated me about the KP PR ever since this entire thing started. It just seems like completely weird decisions over and over and over again.

100% this is a situation of their own making. They literally exist to be seen- what did they think was going to happen if one of them just disappeared? They’re so angry at how everyone reacted but maybe they should take some time to self reflect and see how their own actions and life created this whole mess.

Because the PR/comms team is incompetent and their employers are stubborn with gigantic hubris.

The virtue signaling “everyone participating in the gossip and making jokes and sharing memes should be ashamed!” will never sit well with me. We’ve been shown time and again for decades at this point that their PR is very sloppy.

they're really trying to guilt trip the public for not knowing she had cancer after faking a photo documentation as an official government institution, aren't they?

look, if someone tried to access her.files that's criminal and should be prosecuted whatever. that's another issue.

but the BRF cannot use fear of public speculation as a tool to divert us from the fact that they faked an image and tried to pass it off as real. this is incredibly problematic on many levels. not only we cannot trust them to pass on truthful info about themselves (which, with their history of throwing women to the wolves, is icky), but as british official representatives, they should be held to all possible standards.

on a personal level, i hope she recovers, her treatment isn't too terrible as in side effects and her kids are able to grow up with her love all around.

but as someone with basic standards for media and government, and also a citizen of a democracy (in the global south, where we have been victims of rich countries' bullshit explanations), they can all fuck off with this take and blaming.

They even put out a statement around late January where they said she didn’t have cancer. They can’t be surprised that people thought something was up when they weren’t being entirely truthful.

King Charles's team announced he has cancer and just moved on, so did the public. I genuinely don't see why they couldn't have done the same for Catherine. A quick "we did surgery back in December, discovered i might have cancer, will be stepping off the public eye for a few months to seek treatment and spend time with kids" would've done it. Her team is not being asked for her to deal with her emotions in public, the public just wanted to know why she hasn't been seen from or heard from for a long time. They completely bungled this one.

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lakesbian · 10 months

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okay we have officially finished 1.1. i am getting the vibe that this is going to be a more setting-driven story than worm, as in: if this was a worm liveblog i could ostensibly say things about taylor's character right now instead of theorizing about the setting's lore (i.e the parahumans), but the Circumstances of pact are such that it would be sort of absurd to post solely abt blake's character without mentioning any of the fantastical shit said character is being put thru. so my prior "i'm probably not gonna theorypost a lot, we get there when we get there" statement is being rescinded

i'm sort of reminded of the experience of reading the spiderwick chronicles as a kid, which is a compliment. from what i gather so far:

universe has got faeries & folklore and so on in it, called 'others'

some sort of mirror/alternate world function going on (rose, twisted reflection of jacob's bell)

blake's grandma was a prick who made a million (varyingly supernatural) enemies while she was alive and then pulled Something to protect her shit after she dies (+ some form of magic presumably being involved in the scheduled death which she was lying abt being cancer due to she and her cat both just fucking drop dead at 12 exactly), it makes it her family's problem after she dies, molly was first in line for The Problem but got got after having no idea wtf was going on and stepping outside of the safety grandma established in the estate (this is what reminded me of the spiderwick chronicles), blake is next in line for The Problems and is presumably off to go have a shitty time dealing with them

the others can be interacted/dealt with and ostensibly appear human (padraic's inhuman eyes/smile + maggie's questions to him having a price)

there's a thing called a glamour and i hope it's cool and beautiful in a viscerally unpleasant way

"believing things can make them true" magic system

average person not necessarily aware of The Horrors (<- what i will be calling in-universe magic because i think it's funny)

humans presumably also capable of dealing with or outright participating in The Horrors, blake presumably inherited some form of The Horrors/magic capability after molly kicked it

huge win for me (guy who likes narratives about shit running in the family + reading negotiations with fairies where there's Prices and so on)

#pact time #pact lb

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thesherrinfordfacility · 9 months

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See I don't remember it being hinted at all that Greasy Johnson was Christ? He was the third baby and his gang rivals Adam's; like it IS a reflection of the war between Heaven and Hell but its a parallel bc both conflicts are ultimately stupid and childish. Plus Gabriel is associated with BABY Jesus. And the box is baby sized. Since this takes place 4 years after S1, Adam, Warlock, and the third baby would be 15 by now.

hi nonnie!!!✨ fuck it let's have some meta/analysis in these last hours that our collective souls inhabit this Good Earth

what i interpreted the other anon to be getting at is exactly as you've put, but possibly one step further. greasy is posed as the antithesis of adam/antichrist, has a gang surrounding him that you could infer are loyal disciples, and is a mirror to adam in that adam on the whole seems to be a well-adjusted and morally-upstanding young boy.

i further think the fact that adam is the antichrist put against greasy being the second coming is a well positioned reflection on the nature vs nurture argument. ultimately adam grew up in a largely loving and supportive environment, and as the literal son of satan, you'd expect his nature, the circumstances of his birth, to rule out every other influence.

ultimately it does for a short time, but adams narrative iirc is that it is reflective of his desire to save the world... he wanted to get rid of things that were Wrong, and naively (he is still an 11-year old boy after all) thought that destroying the world and restarting it would do just that. his friends however reinforce in him that destruction and reparation are not the same thing, and so his upbringing, the nurture, wins.

greasy? we don't know a lot about him, only that he is a bully and represents the opposite of adam and the them, and is possibly (confirmed to be, if you go by that other anon) the third baby in the Botched Swap... ie. the son of the dowlings. aside from the whole allegory that greasy and the johnsonites vs adam and the them are meant to represent the hell vs heaven war as you say, the clue for me is given from the following passage (im sure you know/recall this, anon✨, but im just spitting words now):

so my thoughts are to take this entire passage with a hefty pinch of salt. i reckon that some of it is true (imo, yellow), and some just an idle pondering on what alternatively could have happened to the dowling baby (imo, green and the whole main paragraph). i furthermore like to think that the reference to the breeding of fish is also a clue.

i don't, necessarily, 100% believe that the box contains the literal baby jesus, but i do think it contains something along the lines of directions to it. the fact that it's gabriel, as you said, that is the one who has conveniently lost his memory and is meant to deliver something makes me feel it is definitely a reference to the second coming at the very least.

but how brilliant would it be to tie in the first series/the book into this wider story by harking back to greasy? that not only are we looking at the second coming, but ✨LOL TURNS OUT✨ it was the spare baby from tadfield all along!!! the kid that was kinda left out of s1 but was still deliberately referred to by god!!!

#fuck tags didn't save #good omens #good omens season 2 #the second coming #good omens speculation #put it this way: i completely and wholeheartedly trust the previous anon🙂✨#greasy is the second coming: change my mind challenge #not a shitpost but its good omens babyyyy #ask

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postmodernmulticoloredcloak · 1 year

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A non-exhaustive list of scenarios:

- The Winchesters leads to the original Supernatural canon. Likely, John loses his memories of his hunting adventures with Mary and the gang (possibly losing all his memories of Carlos and Lata and Ada and everything). My spec in this case: a desperate Mary is responsible for erasing John’s memories, as she wants a safe hunting-free life and the only way to get that is for John - who has fully embraced the hunting life - to forcibly be taken out of it. Millie dies. The others possibly die, or are forgotten by John and get out of Mary’s life because they don’t agree with her choice, or something like that. Dean is in heaven, possibly browsing heaven to go get Carlos and Lata and reuniting them with Mary and John so that they can be together again in the afterlife. (Dean says #polycule rights.)

- The Winchesters leads to the original Supernatural canon, ending up with John and Mary in heaven, but Dean is somehow able to give his parents a second chance, going back to their youth and be able to live their life as they want instead of the way god and angels and demons wanted, finally free thanks to Dean (Dean says #polycule rights). My lil cute idea for this scenario: he tells Mary “if you have a son, don’t call him Dean, because there’s already one Dean Winchester, the cool uncle that drops by sometimes to visit” and she replies “what if I want to name my son after his cool uncle :)”. Okay, this might be cool for a fic. But the show could make something similar to this, somehow. Also, possibly, the ending of the show opens the path for a Dean-focused narrative where he goes and fix his own life (get Cas back and whatnot).

- The Winchesters does not lead to the original Supernatural canon, but somehow rewrites it retroactively. Wibbly wobbly timey wimey etc etc. Dean somehow heals the past of his family, possibly giving also Henry and Millie a happy ending, and Samuel and Deanna a second chance where they just . . . don’t die, nothing weird happens to them ever again, and they and Mary heal and reconcile. And that’s it! Dean knows what happened in the original timeline, but he says #polycule rights and shoves Chuck’s version into the trash can. Too sugary? Maybe, but maybe we need something wholesome and gentle for once. And again, Dean fixing is family is the first step to go and fix his own life (in a gay way).

- The Winchesters does not lead to the original Supernatural canon, but is a sort of alternate timeline. De facto this is not very different than the previous one, because, well, rewriting the past in a way that still allows Dean and everyone else to exist with their own past is basically to create an alternate timeline, so the difference would only be in how the show frames it. So, basically, Dean says #polycule rights and writes his own AU. Well, an AU where the characters are free to make their own choices. Which is what Dean is a fan of.

- What we (and Dean) know as the original Supernatural canon is actually false, and Dean is dicovering the truth. So it’s not an ontological rewrite, but an epistemological rewrite. Maybe John did know about hunting all along, but for some reason did not discose that to his sons. Maybe he promised Mary that, even if she died or anything, he would not let their kids know about her past as a hunter, or something like that.

- What we know as the original Supernatural canon is false. Dean is somehow fourth-wall-breaking telling us the truth to us. (Unlikely, imo. I think Dean is out-story talking to us but also in-story talking to someone.)

- The Winchesters does not lead to the original Supernatural canon, but it’s still just as tragic as the original canon or worse. Aka the evil scenario. Please no.

- The Winchesters leads to the canon of Apocalypse World. Well, that would totally suck. But also why would that be an option. And Dean’s role in the show would make no sense. So, nope.

- The Winchesters is another one of Chuck’s alternate worlds, one of the ones he destroys in season 15. Also a sucky option that would make no sense. Again, nope.

#feel free to add or discuss #spn spec #spn meta #spnwin #spn #my spn thoughts

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demonslayedher · 1 year

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Things that ran through my mind while watching this episode:

--Alternative title: "Kamado Tanjiro Soothes the Hearts of Aching Writers"

--Like, Kyogai's journey as a writer ends with Tanjiro choosing to respect his written word by not stepping on it, whereas Zenitsu's future as the author of "The Legend of Zenitsu" is just beginning as he's on the brink of meeting the heroine. I don't know whether this is poetic or an insult.

--In any case, Tanjiro has far more respect for Kyogai's writings.

--But!! That being said!!!! This episode showcases Zenitsu's narrative strengths, as he mentally recaps his own life stories and in this case, the merits he found in Tanjiro, whom he chooses to believe in. I've always loved Zenitsu's bittersweet reflections, they have such a lyrical quality to them. He is possessed of much talent, when he cares about something enough (which, to be fair, isn't always... or even most of the time).

--So! Back to the beginning of this episode, we get the recap of Tanjiro's self-empowering speech set to some of my favorite BGM of the first season. Granted, it's some of my favorite because I got so accustomed to hearing it on the first Mugen Ressha trailer than was playing everywhere, so I came to associate it Rengoku-san, and then I was surprised when I didn't hear it in the movie, hahaha~

--That said, I think a lot of this BGM got retired after the first season, but they took what worked and kept developing on it later, so KnY sounds more like KnY as the anime goes on.

--I LOVE THIS BATTLE SEQUENCE SO MUCH. It's just such a fun watch!! Look at all that believable movement!! Of course Tanjiro was impressed, we all were! You did great, Kyogai! You did great, Ufotable!

--All this, while we get such a good dive into both their heads, too. Tanjiro is very actively growing as a swordsman over the course of this battle, whereas Kyogai is stewing, as writers are so prone to.

--And Kyogai is so taken aback by everything Tanjiro verbalizes that he just finds himself going along and responding, again, I think this is because Kyogai was trying to write an epic about heroes, and Tanjiro says things that literary heroes would.

--The whole device of the paper falling everywhere not only looks dramatic in the context of a rotating room, but Tanjiro actively benefits from it in how it adjusts his thinking, and passively benefits from how emotionally affected Kyogai is by Tanjiro's innocuous action.

--Seriously, there are so many levels to why Pep Talk Boy .vs. Bop-It Demon was such a good battle.

--Tanjiro slayed Kyogai with those words of validation before the blade even reached his neck.

--What was Chachamaru doing this whole time? Was he sprawled against the wall with claws dug into the wood?

--Kiyoshi landed a hit on Tanjiro's forehead which actually hurt him! Whoa!! Maybe Kiyoshi was the one with demon slayer potential!! Teruko also did her best, she had to have been the one who ran around collecting all that ammo! Good job, children!!!

--But Shoichi and Zenitsu interactions remain my favorite.

--So, back to Zenitsu, I already expressed praise for his narrative inclinations, but the sunny sky background they gave Tanjiro like the one in his inner space?? Was Zenitsu hearing the sound of Tanjiro's inner space??? Is it the sound of sunshine????? AND THAT LINE BEING INCLUDED IN "THE SONG OF KAMADO TANJIRO" ALWAYS GETS ME, AAAAAAHHHHH

--Allow me to praise Zenitsu for his courage in the face of charging boar, too. Zenitsu!!! You are brave!! You are dependable!!!

--This was the point when, despite myself, I found myself really liking Zenitsu after all on that first watch. Inosuke, however, I found myself hating even more.

--This fight they have, though. It's so visceral and grounded, it's just two boys roughing it out without expending fantastical powers worthy of fighting demons. From, say, a stage combat perspective, there's a satisfying amount of dynamism to it which keeps them moving, and in every action they are both committed to a single goal. They respond how they hinder each other, and it builds realistically as a situation Zenitsu had gotten himself stuck in as a punching bag.

--And I'm so glad Tanjiro recognizes his efforts. He was already saying when they entered the mansion that he "can tell, Zenitsu is--" (really strong, but he didn't get to finish that statement), but here, he gets to see that when Zenitsu tries, he can be very dependable. If anything, Tanjiro's annoyances with Zenitsu stem from the fact that Tanjiro knows Zenitsu is capable. (Contrast this his treatment of Inosuke in the following episode, "that's ok, we all have our own strengths and limits, you can rest").

--That said, what a long and overly dramatic end to this episode. Ufotable may have run out of steam for how to fill to the final seconds after all that dedication on animating the Kyogai battle and the Zenitsu & Inosuke spat.

#KnY Rewatch #my art #kamado tanjiro #kamado tanjirou #kyogai #agatsuma zenitsu

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brother-emperors · 4 months

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I'm so sorry if you get tired of answering asks about Pompey and Crassus BUT your response to the anon asking if Crassus let Pompey get away with things really got me thinking! Specifically about the way that Plutarch (I think?) says that Crassus didn't hold ill-will against Pompey for "stealing" his triumph. And how it feels like Crassus just kind of decided to shrug it off and instead asked Pompey for help for the consulship elections. Crassus seems so ruthless and direct while on the field, and I have so many questions about how he and Pompey worked together in Spoletium which will never be answered 😭 But then when it comes to politics I really can't see the pattern!

oh, I love talking about Crassus (and Pompey too, by extension), literally I can't stop. you can ask several people. I'll be talking about one thing, and all of a sudden: Crassus has entered the conversation. it's terrible, I can't stop. mostly, it takes me a thousand years to articulate my thoughts in any kind of way that makes sense.

I actually think that there are two times that Crassus subtextually calls Pompey a bitch, and the triumph incident is one of them!

specifically in that Crassus's comment about it:

Crassus, for all his self-approval, did not venture to ask for the major triumph, and it was thought ignoble and mean in him to celebrate even the minor triumph on foot, called the ovation, for a servile war.

Crassus is also not the first person to hold this sentiment.

Crassus' Ovation in 71 B.C., B.A. Marshall

I think it's important to remember that for Rome as a whole, the Third Servile War was terrifying because of the scale of the threat it posed to how an imperial wheelhouse running on a slave economy functions, but also because it's really fucking embarrassing for Rome's identity.

Crassus is also not the first person who commands the leading role against Spartacus. Spartacus goes through two other commanders before Rome asks Crassus to enter the scene. Crassus specifically is a private citizen when he is asked to step into this role: up until now, Rome's own praetors and consuls have failed to rise to the occasion.

Crassus' Ovation in 71 B.C., B.A. Marshall

Marcus Crassus and the Late Roman Republic, Allen Mason Ward

this is a deeply humiliating moment for the Roman reputation and identity. Pompey taking credit for Crassus' victory is an expected power grab, but it's also kind of cringe that he did it. Crassus was doing Roman's Duty To The State (or, if you like a spicier take on it, may have pulled strings for it. after all, you can't consider a man rich unless he can fund his own army. and the army Crassus brought with him for this was is own)

and so taking credit for that is like. man. this was NOT a "glorious war" that was fought. (Lucullus cites this as a blemish on Pompey's character during his vulture speech, it's very fun!)

so while Crassus may have realized that writing back to Rome and requesting back up was a mistake because whoever showed up would have the world's easiest time taking credit and accepted that it would happen, I do think that he took alternative measures to even the playing field in a 'okay sure, have your triumph, but don't think you're going to have it all,' kind of way because he also does this

Marcus Crassus and the Late Roman Republic, Allen Mason Ward

Pliny, Natural History 15.125

Gell. NA 5.6.23

Cic. Pis. 58

which does not strike me as the behavior of someone who is letting Pompey just run away with it without any kind of pushback.

and now to throw out literally everything I just said about the Triumph Incident, B.A. Marshall (whose article I've cited several times already in this) has an incredibly compelling case to make that there wasn't really as much conflict between the two over this as ancient narratives might indicate (which. seems to be a recurring theme with them)

Crassus' Ovation in 71 B.C., B.A. Marshall

I will stick to my narrative speculation that some of their respective peers probably thought it was at least embarrassing behavior on Pompey's part, because Lucullus has a lot of vitriol to direct at Pompey, and he does cite this incident as something negative to Pompey's overall character) someone who steals credit and glory from other people). so. hm. I think the assumed personal and periodically biting rivalry (in addition to the usual political rivalry) between the two is extremely fun, but so is. this. thoughts! much to think about.

#.....i think i got a little off topic here. i actually have a writing doc up bc i wrote a whole draft for a reply #bc with patterns in their politics is like. ohhhhhh my god do i have thoughts about how they keep working together.#even when they're fighting they're working together it makes me unwell #people will speculate that pompey and crassus may have worked together to avoid another civil war during their lifetime #and i was like. well that's kind of generous. but its like. well. WELL!!!!!#unfortunately a lot of the political undermining and scheming and fuckery fully broke the republic beyond repair like RIP. so sorry for #you all. i cant even fully blame it on them. after all. they are considered sullan proteges. the ghost of sulla strikes again!#anyway i think politically he has a different kind of ruthlessness: iron clad conviction and the brains to know #how to accomplish it. terrifying combination!#like when people were in my tags going 'good for him!' about punching a fellow senator #like babes. he was not the good guy in that moment. what they were trying to pass was very much Not Good For The Republic #like he was absolutely eroding the fail safes on the roman republic political system On Purpose #ask tag #long post

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amelikos · 9 months

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It seems like they started building a connection between Dot and Spinel's characters in the recent episodes. I wonder if we'll just see it in this arc, or if it will be a recurring thing.

Beyond their similarities such as them both mostly operating from their rooms and barely leaving them or changing hairstyles depending on their modes (Dot changing hairstyle before making videos as Gurumin, and Spinel tying his hair when he goes outside and wants to blend in), they are also tech savvy and seem reclusive.

Dot is the one who noticed that the communications seemed cut off in HZ012 which led to Friede finding out that Spinel's Rarecoil was jamming the signal. This week's episode (HZ015) also had Dot and Spinel fighting on the tech front. In order to find Liko, Dot looked for info online and found reports of sightings of Liko and Nyahoja. Except the info was fake and made up by Spinel so he could distract the Rising Volt Tacklers and buy time. Dot eventually realized it and tries to think of a way to find real info, so she gets the idea of making a collab with Nanjamo to find Liko, which eventually makes her confirm that Liko is in Hakkou City. So she is thwarting Spinel on this front.

At the end of the episode, Roy and Dot find Liko and Dot as Gurumin seems to send a specific message to Spinel, as she says that they all won't lose to anyone as long as they work together. Nanjamo even points it out, as she wonders who Gurumin thinks she is fighting against.

Spinel was watching the collab between Gurumin and Nanjamo and he actually acknowledges Dot. That seems significant to me (as Spinel doesn't hand out acknowledgment just like that).

Compared to the way he considered Friede in the previous episode ("so that's all you're capable of"), this is the first time Spinel directly acknowledges someone from the crew, and it's Dot since this whole collab thing was her idea in the first place.

In the first place, Dot rarely leaves her room and it's Spinel's actions that were the incentive for it. Dot had a personal resentment against Spinel in the episode as she says she can't forgive someone tricking her and her friends (she openly calls the Rising Volt Tacklers her friends, and I think it's the first time she does in the series).

Dot also seemed to try to think from Spinel's perspective as to why he didn't flee immediately after getting the pendant when Friede brought it up, so she came to the conclusion that he was probably stalling for time.

She also seemed to have a much more personal reaction to the reveal that Spinel used Orbem to alter Liko's memories to steal the pendant.

Taking all of this into account, and the fact that Dot's first onscreen battle will apparently be against Spinel's Pokemon given the preview for next week's episode, I feel like it could be interesting if these two characters impacted each other throughout the story.

Dot is very knowledgeable about Pokemon (since she makes a lot of videos about them as Gurumin), and Friede said in HZ007 that she can be strict on trainers, so I wonder if she has some experience battling? Either way, I think her wits will come in handy against Spinel. And given the way running away is a valid alternative in HZ, she doesn't exactly have to win against him in their battle, she could just break the communication devices Spinel uses to battle remotely which would end the battle this way or force Spinel to come out.

Either way, I just think it's interesting. Narratively speaking, Spinel's introduction and acting as an antagonist coincides with Dot's arc of opening up and meeting Liko and Roy. It also seems like next episode will be an important step for Dot and Kuwassu (officially becoming partners if they aren't yet and having their potential first battle together?), so all these character moments are happening in parallel to Spinel's character being properly introduced.

It makes me wonder if they are setting up Explorers members to be opposed to the kids. So far, we have Liko and Amethio. Now, we have Dot and Spinel. Perhaps eventually, we'll get someone opposed to Roy? I wonder if this will be the Precure kind of thing where characters of the main cast can have specific villains that challenge them and that they are facing and opposing during the story.

#dot #spinel #pokemon spinel #hz015 #character notes #episode notes

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apocalypticavolition · 8 months

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Wheel of Time Season 2 Episodes 1 - 3 Thoughts

In my reread - which I won't be doing today, or probably any day that a show episode comes out in the immediate future - this is the part where I'd have some sort of snark warning about spoilers to shoo away the viewers who might not have blocked the relevant tags for some reason. This is about the show, but I will be discussing a few things that will be spoilers to show-watchers only - and if you haven't caught up at all then obviously I'll be spoiling the show.

After seeing Apple TV's Foundation blossom into this beautiful and entertaining show that had almost nothing to do with its source material, I figured I could come to Wheel of Time's second season with an open mind. And hey, episode 1 of the show made me think that we were over the rough part. Yeah, I had to meet its plot changes in the middle, but if I was willing to do that, the show seemed to promise that I would be rewarded. After the three episodes released so far, I'm not quite sure. I want to love the show, but I'm not a show lover.

And yeah, it starts with the opening. Jordan's world is one in which evil doesn't prosper and makes no illusions about being an alternate system of morality that good guys just besmirch because they're meanie pants. Having a little girl pet a rape-and-murder machine that's purring at the prospect of human contact isn't a great start for me, and frankly there's just something about Ishamael in this scene that feels like Nandor from What We Do in the Shadows, which isn't a worthwhile comparison.

Nor does the new show intro excite me. The previous season's over-focus on the Aes Sedai felt to me like a mistake overall but the concept of the opening sequence was still strong. I wanted to see it change and evolve over the course of the eight seasons, but now we're just given a few seconds of a snake devouring itself. It's a major step backwards.

But these are quibbles. I know they're quibbles. If they were the biggest kinds of complaints I had against the show I'd move on. Things get a lot stronger from there, showing us some great TV! Let's break it down:

Moiraine and Lan: Moiraine is not taking being shielded well. This is a legit reaction. Her misery is clear and the bath scene is a great contrast. Lan's attitude isn't much better. It's well-acted, well-set, and seeing changes like Verin being folded into Vandene is good! Like I said, I get that it's TV, I get that there have to be changes, and this little change works. Heck, Bayle Domon showing up works. He's fun, Moiraine fucking him over is fun, it's good TV. It's a little frustrating that we still don't know what the poem is (I mean, I know as a reader but still), but that's all in good fun.

But I do have problems with the division forming between Lan and Moiraine. Not that it's happening at all, under the circumstances it makes perfect sense. However, the characters and narratives taking the stance of, "Moiraine is suffering trauma so she's allowed to be as cold to her best friend of twenty years as possible and he just has to take it" does not work for me at all.

Then there's the Fade sequence. In the next episode, Lan will apologize for not sensing the Shadowspawn coming, which raises the question - why didn't Moiraine sense them coming? She's shielded, not severed. Why did the first Fade go down so easily? Why is Lan so terrible at fighting Fades when he spent his whole life training to do so? At least Verin saves the day. Really, Verin is awesome in general and I have no complaints, she's everything she should be for this adaptation.

And then comes the double dose of cruelty. First we get a summary of how Lan and Moiraine met, based on the New Spring novel, but we leave out the coolest part, which frankly only does Moiraine dirty. Though, they do Lan dirty too by making the sexual assault he suffered something to laugh about as a funny cultural affectation instead of the rape that it clearly was.

And then things go downhill. Book Moiraine might have been cruel in setting up the transfer of her bond to Lan, but she didn't make it happen right away and she didn't explicitly tell Lan she never thought of him as an equal. Her behavior is abhorrent and unheroic and while Moiraine's always been on the utilitarian side of things, this is just more than I'm willing to deal with. It also only makes Alanna feel skeevier as a character, which is impressive considering all the rest of the stuff she pulls. And that's it. They're gone - and frankly, for show Moiraine all I can say is "good riddance".

Wondergirls: Egwene is overall good, Nynaeve starts well enough. I don't really like Nynaeve's getting to skip the novice phase taken away from her - I feel that Rafe's love of Egwene consistently tears down the characters around her and now that she's chiding Nynaeve that she should be happy I feel very vindicated in this belief - but I can live with it. Nynaeve choosing to suffer rather than address her block is good. The Aes Sedai politicking about how to train Nynaeve and who should be her mentor is great! Egwene's jealousy is in-character.

Nynaeve training with Alanna's Warders though, while impressive, feels like mostly an excuse to give those two a few extra lines. And Alanna feels genuinely skeevy in this incarnation; I had thought her advice to Egwene was just inappropriate metaphor until the characters clarified, and at that point I'm just wondering why Alanna is supposed to be a positive representation of polyamory if she's clearly trying to groom Egwene on the side. Like, at least Liandrin being a bad mentor and person overall is clear from her interactions with Nynaeve. Of course, much less about Liandrin is clear in general. She steals medicine as if an Aes Sedai wouldn't be able to obtain such things without question)

And then we meet Elayne. Book Elayne is a sweetheart, only stuck-up in the most basic of ways (taught to walk around with her nose in the air). Show Elayne makes several faux pas and doesn't seem to present much reason for Egwene to want to be her friend. "I haven't seen a soul", she says, surrounded by servants. She says she spent six summers in Tar Valon but her attitude screams six summers in Seandar. Sheriam at least seems like she's gonna beat some sense into her, but I shouldn't be rooting for that outcome, should I?

Meanwhile, Nynaeve follows Liandrin out of the tower and discovers her dark secret, a son dying of old age. At first my associate and I thought it was all going to be some kind of ploy to impress Nynaeve and influence her ajah choice, but it's all legit. I thought that Liandrin having a son was fine, but my friend is less convinced and there's something to be said for that. Liandrin's attitude doesn't scream, "son she's outliving", and it adds to the sense of incoherence to her character.

Elayne just barely manages to recover as a character during the drinking sequence when she chews Egwene out, which also sets her up nicely for her bullshit. Not sure what I think about the convenient drama of Nynaeve overhearing Egwene bitching about her, but at least it kind of goes places. It helps explain why Nynaeve's so vehement about the testing, anyway.

Her testing is... where things start really going downhill. The beginning is fine (though the whole "attacked by bandits" thing doesn't work for me at all for the Two Rivers - not in the last season, not in this one), and the middle is a good adaptation, but then we hit the end. The fake out's good, but then... Ugh. In the books, Nynaeve wills the portal back, but that's not what happens here. Further, Liandrin's motivations remain incoherent: if she's a Darkfriend working to bring about these peoples' downfall, Nynaeve's death (a huge loss for the Light) shouldn't be something she's this upset about. Like yeah, corrupting her would be more fun, but a win's a win. But the Shadow doesn't want wins in this episode. It wants to lose as hard as it can.

Sheriam is also a bit odd here but since she may not know Liandrin is Black I can buy her behavior as being generally shitty while covering for herself. I mean, "your grief is your own" is so unnecessarily cruel that it's clear that she's Black. That said, not sure why she's discussing arches with the girls when my impression is that the test was supposed to be something of a secret until the novice was ready to advance. Nor do I think Elayne is done any favors with her absolutely hollow condolences - Sheriam was more believable as a sympathetic ear.

Egwene confronts Liandrin, which leads us to yet another situation where somebody on the Shadow could easily eliminate one of the five ta'veren but absolutely refuses to do so because... it wouldn't be sporting? She then tries to save Nynaeve while Elayne talks her out of it, but makes absolutely no difference whatsoever (ah well, at least she isn't personally responsible for bringing Nynaeve back). Then Nynaeve... does come back. For no apparent reason. Apparently every other woman who entered this segment just killed themselves after missing the first door out. At least book Nynaeve forces the arch to reappear - show Nynaeve only forces the scenario to stop being scary and the arch shows up anyway.

Perrin: I thought that Marcus was the weakest actor last season, and while he's grown quite a good deal, it also feels like he's been given the least to work with. He's with mostly new characters bar Loial, who doesn't get the love and attention he deserves. Everyone in his sequence exists to push him along, and he doesn't have much going on just yet as he's reacting to what goes down. I do like how they're representing his power, and again combining Elyas and Hurin is the right sort of choice for TV, but I feel like Perrin was meant to be bouncing off of at least Mat at this point. His writing is very on the nose when he and the Shienarians are burying the Darkfriends, it feels very much like we're just being told what he feels instead of being shown it.

But hey, while the woman in the house horror sequence was not remotely something Perrin went through, and it was pretty changed, I honestly didn't expect it to show up at all, so I'm calling that a win for him. It's well-acted too, he doesn't have too much dialogue telling us how he feels so it works. That said, his place in the world gets a lot less certain as we go on - I assumed he was in the east like the books, but he seems to have crossed thousands of miles to go west considering what happens. Why are the Seanchan here? Why is Perrin where they are? This isn't a coincidence, it's blatantly forced.

Also sorry not sorry but the damane outfit isn't dehumanizing like it should be, it's just dumb. The damane in Perrin's arc is, as far as I'm concerned, named Little Miss Binky. Speaking of LMB, it bothers me a bit that she can sense all these channeler women when in the books the testing required the use of the a'dam. This is a random-ass village, there shouldn't be two sparkers. And Uno should not be fucking dead and no amount of Suroth's nail batons is going to make it okay for me (okay actually there is an amount but the season isn't going to run that long so same thing).

We end Perrin's arc in these three episodes with him waking up in a carriage with Ishamael, being stabbed to death as part of the Shadow's plans to bring about-- No wait, that would be competent. Instead, Ishamael is super interested in Perrin's character development (why bro?) and lets Perrin escape with Elyas while the two ditch Loial (unforgivable).

Mat and Min: Being imprisoned at this point works based on where the story ended up, but Liandrin is just kind of a cipher throughout his story. She's clearly relishing the opportunity to be evil editing him out of the letters she reads, but this is about as evil as she gets beyond the wrongful imprisonment. Why does she give him cakes in the next episode? Why is he being kept alive for months on end? There's no clear motivation for her character - if she's being a villain, she should have offed him long ago. If she's following Tower procedure in some fashion, it should be clearer.

Mat manages to make contact with Min - no one noticed his efforts, which is fine, but it stretches credulity that none of Min's captors notice that her wall is suddenly damaged after this. They're great friends and I love this for what it is, or rather what it seems to be. It really helps their relationship - though not her characterization - that he's not interested in having her read his future. Shame, considering what she sees.

After some more time, Nynaeve's apparent death prompts Liandrin to set Mat free. He almost goes to help Egwene, but then decides to ditch her because fuck Mat's character, amirite? One actor ditched us so all Mats have to be shitty now even when it's a central facet of who he should be. Then he doubles back to Min - why is he doing things in this order, this is the least logical order - but it turns out that this whole thing is staged by Liandrin and that Min is working with her. What the actual fuck?

Rand: I'm not loving how little attention he gets in the first episode, but whatever. The main problem is that his motivations are obscured to us for such a long period, and we aren't really given a clue as to how he figured out this was an option in the first place. At first I simply thought it was weird that he'd go to Cairhien when he knows he's a time bomb and that being a nurse-type made sense considering his overall sense of altruism.

Really, most of the hospital stuff works in isolation. The soldier suffering from PTSD is a nice touch and it helps build up the Rand as Aiel foreshadowing that the show hasn't had much time to get to yet. I don't like that Rand is cheating on Lan with another teacher but TV shows I guess.

Then we jump into a darker Rand. He stalks the asshole orderly and assaults him, in part with the power (though this seems to be unwilling). I thought this might be madness coming on early, but the truth isn't much better. Of course, before we find it out we get to see Rand hook up with Lanfear. Book Rand was clearly compelled and overwhelmed by a hottie being interested in him, but this atmosphere is gone here as well. Rand took one look at the slippery slope and said, "Watch how fast I can get to the bottom!"

And meanwhile, Lanfear is bizarrely self-aware! "I pretend you're Lews Therin," she all but says. "Go ahead and think of other women while you're having sex with me, your crazy and obsessive stalker!" The Forsaken are cartoonishly evil people because only someone cartoonishly evil would sign up to work under Satan. They shouldn't try to argue that they're actually good guys and they shouldn't have healthy standards in their romantic relationships!

So Rand's secret plan was to get close to Logain, which just... Why is he here? He's a war criminal who had an army of loyal fanatics! Even with the severing, he's way too much of a risk to toss amid the general populace for exactly the reason we see: a young man who can channel goes to him to learn how to carry on his traditions! Logain being Rand's teacher might be a good way of combining book characters, and he's certainly an awesome actor, but there's not enough of this stuff.

Rand learns more about the hunt being called, which is just going to raise further questions. I will note "Queen of Illian" and thus have to ask: have they relocated Berelain in this show? Have they just gender-flipped the king? These books don't need gender flips like they seem to like doing with her and Farstrider.

Then Rand and Lanfear end up at a fancy party. There's no clear explanation for how they got in, nor why the royals would be confused about Rand and Lanfear's identities. She lives at the Foregate, people! He's renting a room! The foreign prince thing doesn't work in this context! Then Rand gets an awkwardly designed infodump about the cruelty of the royalty and the reveal that the Hunt is a fake. Presumably the whole thing is supposed to be a fake that isn't happening outside of Cairhien, but that's not actually clear - and after a long sequence of Rand's arc being well-written if objectionable for his hunting down a man and beating him half (?) to death to steal is job, it's just a low note.

But hey, we get to see Logain be psycho and Lanfear be psycho, so that's pretty fun. Not really sure where Logain's gotten the impression he's the descendant of a man that is most famous for having killed his entire family, but that's crazy for you I guess. Rand also burns down the inn, an incident which everyone treats as no big deal despite the general flammability of everything in the vicinity.

Closing Thoughts: The TL;DR of all of this is, "Just as I got comfy with it, it got weird." Rand is darker than he should be at this point, Mat continues to lack the loyalty that defines him, Moiraine is awful to Lan in ways that the narrative gives no hint it disagrees with and past and future sexual assault is on the table for him, Nynaeve loses the behavior that justifies her being special and just survives by fiat, Elayne is way too awkward and rude, and the Darkfriends pass up every opportunity to eliminate or properly capture Mat, Perrin, Egwene, and Nynaeve, all of whom should be high priority targets. This season started strongly and I hope it can recover from these hiccups, but I'm worried that little details will continue to fail to add up like this.

#wheel of time #wheel of time spoilers #wot on prime #wot on prime spoilers #wot on prime s2 #moiraine damodred #lan mandragoran #egwene al'vere #nynaeve al'meara #elayne trakand #perrin aybara #loial #mat cauthon #rand al'thor

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