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#mostly because it's the last chapter!
ghirahimbo · 5 months
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evil time loop escape conditions where you can't get out until you've fuucked up your life in the most spectacular way possible, confident that the next night will reset the slate as usual.
instead, the next day comes.
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jazzfordshire · 11 months
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the touched heart madly stirs (chapter 3)
It took me a long time and a lot of research rabbit holes but I finally managed to get another Ancient Greece AU chapter done!! So happy Supercorp Sunday to all who celebrate 💕🏛️
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“Is this a dungeon?” Lena says as they approach the man, who looks only at Lex. Kara and Lena might as well be invisible. “Are you keeping someone prisoner here?”
“Of course not,” Lex says jovially. “Simply one of many homes for him. He likes to be away from the chaos of the city. Isn’t that right?”
The man doesn’t answer. He’s pale and still, with short black hair and a muscular build, and he’s obviously tall even when he’s seated. His face might have been handsome if his eyes weren’t so hollow. They’re a dull grey, red-rimmed and sickly and only accentuated by the blood-red colour of his tunic. Even so, there’s something familiar about his face as Kara gets close enough to see the details; the shape of his mouth, the alignment of his features. The perfect curl at the front of his dark hair.
Just like her uncle Jor-El.
The torchlight flashes over a glint of metal hanging around his neck. A silver pendant. One bearing a symbol as familiar to Kara as her own name, because it is.
Kara’s supper, so recently enjoyed, threatens to come up again.
“…Kal-El?” Kara whispers.
Read it here!
My ko-fi, patreon, and sincerest apologies for taking NINE MONTHS to update oh my god
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sskk-manifesto · 8 months
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Can't wait for Atsushi to enter his depression era in the next episode
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tennessoui · 2 months
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the to the point of distraction au is incredible and i have so many thoughts,,, is tatooine working on taking down any of the other hutt systems, and are maybe trying to like, seduce the jedi and the sith back to see who will help their anti-slavery quest??? is kitster like, making fun of anakin in the evenings while they watch their coruscanti day time holos together? is obi-wan gonna be the jealous one this time?
oooohoho good thoughts!! to address in order,
i think any new kingdom of tatooine is going to have to eventually take down the other hutt systems, but also they'll need to strengthen themselves first - which is probably why shmi is entertaining both the jedi and the sith right now for sure. if neither faction feels good to her, she'd be fine going alone, it'd just be quicker to allow one to help her.
kitster and anakin definitely get together at night and kitster drags anakin for filth over all the shit he's said or done with darth solence because it's genuinely hilarious. kitster's never really seen anakin like this with anyone. half the time he's mooning over solence and the other half he's trying to stab him with a knife. kitster was half afraid anakin would stab him with a knife during a banquet where darth solence had, apparently, remembered his mission and was showering kitster-who-is-pretending-to-be-prince-skywalker in attention and flirty asides
which brings me to the last point where honestly i think my understanding of anakin's character in general is that he's jealous. or greedy. or possessive, which is why it shows up in my works so much. i think he's irrationally jealous a lot which then sneaks into his narrative when i write things from his perspective. im sure people are sick and tired of this facet of my anakins, but honestly it's one of the things that, for me, make his character read as a version of anakin skywalker, despite the crazy situations i put him in. sorry!
at the same time i really don't see obi-wan kenobi's character having that same nugget of irrational jealousy or greed or possessiveness that i see anakin skywalker having and that's why a lot of my fics have elements of jealous anakin but not jealous obi-wan - jealous/possessive obi-wan is more au dependent than essential to the character for me
that all being said, for this au i do think obi-wan would be jealous or possessive - after all, he's Fallen! He's dark! he can allow his jealousy to run rampant! now...how many situations crop up where he can really be jealous or possessive? like it's not kitster the manservant that anyone's trying to seduce, it's the prince! obi-wan's kitster isn't in the line of fire, so to speak, so while i'm sure there are moments where obi-wan feels that sweet sweet green-eyed monster, the plotty identity shenanigans really thwart more openly jealous obi-wan here
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aengelren · 2 months
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shaking in anger i was posting nana earlier and wanted to caption it “can you imagine people denying they’re in love” BUT THEN I was like no that’s pretty much impossible. like it’s genuinely impossible to miss the mark on their love when all they talk about is “I feel like a teenage boy experiencing love for the first time” and all they obsess over is each other not to mention all the love songs, I digress, so, i’m over here thinking there’s NO WAY. no way people can be that stupid and as i’m scrolling now 2 hours later, i stumble across a nana post where people are deadass having deep discussions on how “they are platonic..but it’s open for interpretation” “huh, i didn’t see them as lesbians? i’m lesbian myself” WHAT? WHAT. then there’s like 50 upvotes and likes and not ONE person disagreeing? truly honestly genuinely holy fkn god give these people a brain. this isn’t even a discussion to be held. do these people watch nana with their eyes and ears closed idk
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originalaccountname · 11 months
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Everyone is in full conspiracy mode since (a little before) the last chapter with the Fyodor ability theories and I'm loving that. That got me thinking:
What was Fyodor's objective again?
Disclaimer, I fully rely on translations, but I cross-checked with two of them so...
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special thanks to @ticklinglady for finding these pages!
"... a world free of sin and skill users."
1. A world free of sin
He says he wants to spill the blood of the sinners like 3 times but doesn't really give an explanation of who, what or why.
His definition of "sin" is quite vague, but could be the usual christian/catholic/orthodox/etc (sorry it's been a while) stuff. The one time he identified a specific behaviour as a sin was when the Agency and Port Mafia were killing each other "even though they knew they were being set up to do so" (though he also said Ace breathing and thinking was a crime and said killing Karma was freeing him).
In the Dead Apple novelization (not written, but edited by Asagiri, who came up with the original idea for the movie and gave a whole speech on Fyodor to the writing team), Fyodor does make a speech about the post-dragon red fog surrounding the Earth, transforming it into a "dead apple" by essentially killing everyone and "washing away the original sin of man". The apple motif was a sort of poetic irony.
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According to the novelization, this was his true objective at the time and he never mentions the Book, not even in the epilogue, as opposed to doing so in the movie.
This scenario is kind of a contradiction, since the fog would have erased everyone except ability users, though most would have suffered at the hands of their abilities before dying. Said abilities would have then been kept in a collection maintained by Shibusawa, an ability singularity himself, which brings us to...
2. A world free of ability users
I went through the manga and never did find an instance of Fyodor speaking ill of abilities, only ability users. That doesn't mean there is a difference to him in the first place, but it's interesting.
The Dead Apple scenario is to be taken with a grain of salt, but killing everyone doesn't seem to be a problem for him (he kills nearly everyone he interacts with anyway), and this implies that to him every single human is sinful beyond redemption and can only be saved through death. Why he is singling out ability users in that case? seems redundant.
Other instances of him talking about his objective included talking about "the will of the hand of God and Demon", doing this "for the sake of a better world", and saying the death he gives is a form of salvation by severing the influence of sins from the soul. He also talks a big game about God and his intentions (order and stuff), and Dazai likes to point and laugh at him when he does so.
As a bonus, in Dead Apple, Fyodor answered Dazai's question of why he accepted to join forces with him by saying it was "simply to see the world as it ought to be" (and because he wanted entertainment, with Dazai turning out to be that entertainment, as Fyodor was in fact using him the whole time for his own agenda).
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now go and apply that knowledge to your theories
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lee-hakhyun · 27 days
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o7 dkos... you put up one hell of a fight
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onaperduamedee · 9 months
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Notes on Knife of Dreams
This is my favourite prologue of the series so far, blood and ashes! 
Galad immediately becomes a favourite if he is willing to go against a superior to have him stand trial and to fight him for assaulting his step-mom.
The way Valda talks about Morgase, Galad needs to turn him into a bloody paper garland. 
During the fight, Galad talks about hearing and feeling everything in a way that’s close to how women describe embracing the source. Food for thoughts.
We've seen different types of channelling so far, but only one type of martial art?
Galad killing Valda??! Becoming Captain-Commander? Rebelling against the Seanchan?!? CONSIDERING ALLIANCE WITH THE AES SEDAI?!? Hell yeah!
"Soldiers’ hours made farmers’ hours seem restful" - spoken like a true soldier who has no idea what he's talking about. Shut up. 
Ituralde leading the resistance against the Seanchan has all my respect though.
Wait, so Suroth had nothing to do with Egeanin's trap? That was the Seeker? 
Everyone is trying to fight the Seanchan because they ARE the bigger threat atm, and Rand is genuinely considering working with them. Rand, don't do it!
Although I am beginning to suspect the group who will meet Rand is not Suroth and her party. 
But still, Rand! They leash people who use the One Power! You cannot go anywhere near them! This is stressful.
I must admit Semirhage wiping out the entire Seanchan imperial family is satisfying considering Seanchan colonialism. RJ will always introduce bigger sharks, especially against groups who considered themselves big sharks.
We have now the Highest for the Red! First Selector for the Blue, First Weaver for the Yellow, Captain-General for the Green, Head Clerk for the Brown, and First Reasoner for the White. Nice! I am loving these details!
I haven't commented on it but Elaida's choice to call back sisters who were exiled to fill in the ranks, especially in powerful positions whatever their history with the Tower, is fascinating. This reminds me a lot of the behaviour of certain political parties losing their grip on power.
No one knows Rand healed saidin, it's frustrating me to no end! It's such a feat! And no one knows! 
Loving the meta behind Yukiri wondering whether the scene depicted on the tapestry happened and the need of a weave to keep it from falling apart.
"Yes, red. I thought it might have turned green when I wasn’t looking." - Yukiri is the best, I laughed out loud.
 "Pevara exchanged looks with Yukiri, then said, 'This is the less urgent, Seaine?'" - I love the BA hunting party so much. They're a hoot.
Seaine, Yukiri and Pevara are actually quite efficient given how fraught the situation is in the White Tower. And I dig the info sharing between the Ajahs: collaboration, it works!
So, the food rotting is the DO's doing? I really enjoyed the White discussing it like it's a very theoretical problem not affecting entire nations. Tbf, locked up as they are by Elaida, they probably don't know what's happening outside.
About AS as a whole: a) they're a millenia-old institution in dire need of reform, and that's even before we realise that b) they're infiltrated to the core by agents looking to sow discord and destroy the WT, c) they've been taken over by right-wing radicals. It is what makes the depiction of the White Tower mesmerising: the story shows us the White Tower at their lowest, in their deepest turmoil, when they are cornered and have no choice but to evolve or simply die out. Light, it's so current!
NON, Alviarin is onto Yukiri and Doesine, nope, nope, nope. 
Ohhh, Galina has been captured by Perrin and is trying to wriggle her way out of Shaido captivity by manipulating them! 
Perrin is a broken record repeating "wife." It's a tad silly.
You know what, Galina gets points for being one of the only POV characters respecting Berelain. She can call Perrin a fool to her heart's content because atm he is one. 
Berelain hitting Galina, hard, because Perrin didn't want to was perfect.
Oh, the tension between the White Tower AS is THICK. Of course Egwene picks up pretty fast how degraded the situation is among the sisters.
Hell no, they have Leane too! Thinking about her being put to the question again is breaking my heart.
"Whether or not she had managed to do well as Amyrlin, she would die in a manner fitting for the Amyrlin Seat." - I love Egwene so much. She is fast becoming one of my favourite characters ever. Her arc is truly unbelievable.
I literally had Garnet singing "Stronger than You" playing in my head while reading this scene. Egwene is unbreakable.
"Whatever you do, you’ll never make me deny who I am” - I adore Egwene. I now have a very strong need to see queer Egwene. You cannot give me a character saying "I am what I am" and not make them gay. It's forbidden. Another parallel to Rand too.
The confrontation with Silviana was so tense! Really looking forward to seeing Egwene going against her and playing Elaida. Her thoughts going to Siuan and Leane though. I am going to scream. My love for this trio is all-consuming and terrifying.
"She was carrying the battle into the heart of the Tower itself. If she had had lips there, she would have smiled." - FUCK THEM UP YOU AIEL-HEARTED WONDER 
Egwene, I would die for you on a battlefield.
The joy of having a Siuan POV - her strength, her worry, her competence - is somewhat marred by the constant thinking about Gareth. She spares time to moon over him, and then cannot stop to help the injured because her news are urgent? It's exhausting.
I cannot fathom the strength it takes Siuan to do what she does against women who are so much stronger and stand so much higher than her. Her willingness to put aside her pride and fear to do what needs to be done is astounding. Truly a pillar.
Faolain spilled the beans to Lelaine, but Siuan is keeping her cool. Lelaine with her machinations to become the next Amyrlin will get Egwene killed. 
Wait, so Grays act as external judges going from villages to villages? That's fascinating!
Beonin, what do you think you're doing? Even your warder thinks you’re a fool. 
So dead people are just appearing out of nowhere? Cool, cool, cool. 
Egwene's plan of shutting down ship trading with cuendillar chains was brilliant, even if she was betrayed.
Look, my president was elected on the promise to save us from the extremes, has then started ruling with decrees, crushed public dissent with violence, painted opponents as terrorists and requisitioned striking workers to clean the capital streets where garbage is piling up. To say Elaida's reign of terror hits a little too close to home is putting it mildly.
Also fuck Beonin so hard for betraying Egwene and the Rebels, and revealing the rediscovered weaves. Whatever blood is spilled afterward is on her hands.
I did not have Aran'gar seducing Graendal on my bingay card, but here we are.
I'm surprised it took the Forsaken this long to set out to kill Mat and Perrin.
By my count, only Be'lal, Asmodean and Rahvin have been permanently killed among the Forsaken.
I am bloody angry with Perrin rn: giving the Two Rivers to Seanchan, really? Even if it means condemning to slavery some of his people? I thought his devotion to Faile was moving, but screw him, that's exactly what Tylin did.
Berelain MVP as always. What a great leader she is.
As with Isendre, I take no satisfaction whatsoever in the treatment Galina gets from the Shaido, even if she's loathsome: it's brutal, dehumanising and gendered. I think the Aiel rapport with extreme punishment is gratuitous and voyeuristic, and it’s putting me off.
Rolan and Faile... On one hand, I am glad he has Faile's back and he seems kind; on the other any woman would run from him as far as possible because his insistence is so creepy.
Also, I wish the motif of romantic captive/holder wasn't one in this saga.
At least, Arrela is sleeping with a Maiden to get her protection? Gay problematic is better than no gay.
Also, the wind, the ripple; what is going on? If this is the book of weird omen, I am all in.
And Faile has the rod! And followers! I knew she would find a way, crafty as she is.
Now, these are actually the first Mat chapters I found underwhelming? Luca is again getting annoying; I don't really care about Domon and Egeanin; what's the deal with Noal; the courtship with Tuon is entertaining, but not enough to justify the pacing.
And the Aes Sedai drama is exhausting because Mat, you lovable jerk, you are showing more sympathy toward a slave owner than her victims. Are they infuriating? Yes! Is Mat sensible in any of his interactions with or his treatment of them? No!
Also spanking Joline... He beats her first and asks questions later when channelling was the sul'dam's fault and it was HIS choice to put them in this set-up. They ARE annoying, yes! Last time I checked he wasn't spanking his manservants or Luca.
At least, Joline will teach the sul'dam? Not a great idea considering what the Aes Sedai went through and the sul'dam's attitude, but it's better than letting the sul’dam believe they are still the AS minders. No one had issues with Rand staying 1000 leagues away from AS because of Dumai’s wells.
Aludra creating canons to destroy the Seanchan: hell yeah, organise that resistance, you firecracker!
How hilarious that Mat keeps seeing Rand having sex with Min though.
The horse ride with Tuon was cute, and Mat's heart to heart with Setalle refreshing, but light, those chapters are slow. He still has so many interesting relationships with women.
The confrontation between the AS and Tuon sums up what makes Mat both infuriating and endearing: it's sexism and lack of empathy, until the women are attacked frontally and he defends them. His first impulses are always that of a jerk, but he course-corrects.
Is it fun to read? Not always, and there's something to say about reproducing sexist behaviour as is in a fantasy setting. But it makes him a realistic character.
Also Tuon can scram: enslaving people because they are annoying? DO YOU HEAR YOURSELF
Shiota was terrifying! I loved the way the horror just erupted out of nowhere. And the scenes afterwards were lovely. They've accidentally become such a dysfunctional little family.
I am glad Juilin will not forget that Egeanin owned slaves.
I am really curious about the suggestions Mat will chase the Seanchan away. How will that unfold if he is married to their empress?
The Egeanin/Domon pairing heavily suggests that he will change her, but it isn't enough to change a whole nation.
MOIRAINE'S LETTER
SHE'S ALIVE SOMEWHERE WITH THE SNAKE AND FOX PEOPLE
HELL YEAH WE'RE GETTING A MAT-FLAVORED KATABASIS TO RESCUE MOIRAINE!
That also explains all the reflecting Mat has been doing concerning the Finn and what they did to him.
Light, one of the elements of a katabasis - a descent into the underworld - is that people don't always come back right... Moiraine, my heart.
Really curious about the inspiration for the Seanchan invasion because what RJ is describing - the population's acceptance, the government's obedience, the imprisonment of a minority - is VERY reminiscent of Collaboration across Europe during WWII.
The visit in a Hell was fun in its urgency. Even if it's very much the Whedon syndrome where pretty and tiny women have no trouble wrecking trained assassins thrice their size, I like that we did get to see Tuon practise a different martial art.
Misreading Tuon as Thom and vice versa when they are in the same chapter certainly makes things interesting.
Between Vane sent to kill Mat, the gholam reappearing and the Seanchan after a false Tuon, they better get the hell out of the circus. At last!
Perrin trusting Bawler after the shit he put Moiraine through is beyond grating. And Perrin witnessing a poor man dying horrifically and showing not an ounce of empathy or sense is A Lot. 
What a thrilling chapter of Perrin on errands with the Seanchan!
It's crushing how thoroughly this middle stretch of books spoiled Perrin for me. I wouldn't go as far as character assassination, but he started off as my favourite of the boys and now he's just a bad friend, leader, ally to the Light and even husband.
And back to the Caemlyn siege!
Again, Elayne, having Rand's babies was 100% your choice, not Rand's. Not a mistake, not only Rand's fault.
On Elayne and the bargain: it's ironic because Morgase gave a whole lot of Andor to the Whitecloaks when held prisoner.
Elayne can fuck off for pressing her soldiers to kill retreating enemies and getting themselves killed while being a hothead on the battlefield because Min's viewing protects her. Why is she so blood-thirsty? Is the throne worth the blood and gold?
"Smiling, Aviendha turned her face up to let the rain run down her cheeks. 'I love to watch water falling from the sky.'" - Aviendha is so cute, seriously. I wish she had more to do than stand around and laugh or scowl or hug Elayne
Like with Min and Siuan, I really wish Elayne would not bemoan the Kin's newfound backbone. They deserve to stand straighter after everything they went through.
The Kin are as always very badass for managing to recruit 10,000 men for Elayne.
I love that the Kin have had a dozen professions because of their longevity and needed to move around to stay low. They are such a great addition to this universe. They will do a lot of good to the AS as a whole too.
Oh good, after competing in the last book over which of the two has the slowest arc, Elayne and Perrin are now competing for least empathy, excellent. Elayne wants to send the  damane back to slavery and justifies it by her hatred of the Seanchan. 
It's representative of the way some left-leaning people think about fighting oppression: hatred for the oppressor (the 1%, racists) but it doesn't extend to help toward the victims (supporting fiscal reforms, harsher sentencing against hate crime). Come on, Elayne, I know you have A Lot on your plate now, but you are better than this! If you managed to be the voice of reason for a whole journey to Tear with a traumatised Egwene and a drifting Nynaeve, you can handle this better, I know you can.
Vandene wears her sister's clothes and perfume while chasing her killer. Light, I am distraught.
"She had to watch Vandene perhaps destroying herself, and worse, make use of it." - oh, the gut-punch. Great parallel with Rand too.
At least this conundrum with the Aes Sedai and the Sea Folk is compelling. Elayne and Nynaeve made a bargain promising something they had no way of delivering, without much choice, and now they have to deal with the consequences.
Elayne, Birgitte and Aviendha are such a comedic trio: I have great expectations for the show.
The narrative is laying it THICK that pregnant women are unreliable and erratic in one of the worst bouts of sexism this book has displayed in a while.
"they did not think they already knew something of how to use a blade" - I appreciate the shade here.
I'm so frustrated by this arc: it employs Elayne in the way least fitting to her strong points. She's a Mat-type character in her chaos, with lots of heart, but her struggle with power is clearly echoing Perrin here and I don’t think it works.
Aviendha discovering her Talent with ter'angreal and the proof coming in the form of an e-book with an unbelievable library, along with the nice little nod to the difficulties of translation and the way it's a meta commentary on prophecies, was A+.
"How can you say you have nothing to give? You’ve given me everything." - The Aviendha/Elayne farewell was so moving and MoLan-coded. But I can't say I am displeased to see Aviendha move on to greener pastures where plot happens faster.
I know this won't happen but I hope the show just discards Elayne as Rand's love interest entirely. Their romance is the least developed of the three, it looks more like crush than love, and the chemistry pales in comparison to Min/Rand and Aviendha/Elayne.
I hope Birgitte is okay. With the bond, she should not be that tired.
Elayne is going to lose the mercenaries. Hiring them in the first place was a bad idea: Amyrilla also has mercenaries so it's merely a battle of who has the deepest pockets now.
Just give Mellar the boot if you don't want to arrest him! You are all needlessly endangering everyone.
The palace shifting is a really nice touch. This book has some delicious tiny worldbuilding elements showing the magic itself is wonky, like in TSR.
Birgitte and her Map room is such a neat choice and actually a great device to talk about Birgitte without doing so: her memories are fading, leaving only the newer memories, as the floor mosaic of Caemlyn is being progressively replaced.
"You were always expected to have an answer, to find one. That was what it meant to be Aes Sedai." - That's why people are like that when they learn AS are only humans. Also reminds me of my TDR notes: this is about kids understanding adulthood and that adults don’t have all the answers.
Elayne at last questions if maybe gaining the throne will cost too much to Andor. Siuan and Egwene were willing to let Elaida win if it meant saving the Tower.
Her gaggle of kid allies remain hilarious though.
The BA is now taking out Kin. No! I need whoever is responsible to be personally handled by Vandene.
Naean is also looking drawn and tired? Is something also happening to people's mind, like back in Tear with Ishamael?
Loial and his book! Of course he is interviewing Rand and Rand is underplaying his accomplishments.
Moiraine's name is written in fire inside Rand's skull: learning she may be alive will absolutely not fuck him up.
So, Rand is connected to Moridin because their balefire beams crossed? I was not expecting that.
Nynaeve replaced Moiraine as his personal Aes Sedia and it's so endearing. I am glad he has her by his side.
Man, I enjoy Verin and Cads' weird dynamic. Logain and Rand are at each other's throat like two roosters and need to cool down.
"Her knitting, a shapeless lump that might have been anything, sat in her lap" - I laughed. What a detail to drag, Rand.
Min, you're being childish: Rand knows he will die. Although apparently Rand has asked the Finn how to survive and there is a way out? Interesting.
I feel sorry for Loial. He clearly doesn't want marriage now. Why is everyone forcing him?
Awwwwww Loial wishing he had an AS with him to face his mom. Don't worry, they would make things worse.
The way he learned courage from humans though is filling my heart with joy. He has such a heartfelt subdued arc and now he will talk before his people!
The new weaves, LTT seizing saidin and trying to burn out Rand during the attack... Oof, a lot is happening to Rand.
"You’re harder than I ever was, Lews Therin said. Suddenly he giggled. If you’re not me, then who are you?" - wow, I am LOVING this.
Love the conceit of Alivia being so strong and old that no one knows what to do with her. Her destiny to help Rand die makes her figure all the more ominous.
Min seeing all sorts of things for Moiraine? How many viewings did Min have about her exactly? TELL ME
"Maybe it was just Aes Sedai concealment." - maybe it's the fact you should not require absolute obedience from anyone?
Using people as pawns is now second nature to Rand, Egwene, Perrin, Elayne. Only Mat and Nynaeve don't do it.
"She, at least, was one he did not have to worry about. Elza was fanatical in her devotion." - Rand, she's a DF. You're blindsided by her devotion to you. Be sensible.
Thank the Light Bashere is here. This meeting with the Seanchan is most definitely a trap.
A NYN POV AT LAST YES PLEASE MY GAL
"Moiraine used to say a headache was sign she had been channelling too much. That’s dangerous." - again, fascinated by this undercurrent in their marriage. How very Daphné du Maurier of Jordan.
"Greens! They simply could not be trusted with men!" - between Alanna, Myrelle, Elayne and Cads, they've certainly earned their reputation. Not on the same scale, obviously, but yeah, the Green Ajah needs to do serious education on bonding.
"his place was with her, not dying alone in a futile private war with the Shadow" / "She could try to make sure he survived, though." - No comment.
From wherever she is, Moiraine is mentally kissing Nynaeve on the mouth and praising her, as she should.
If the books had time, they would delve into what it means for Nyn to marry someone with so much baggage, and the time, adjustment and complexity behind such a match.
I've touched on this in one of my metas for the show before reading the books, but I love that Nynaeve has such a profound and sincere sense of community and duty, even more so than Egwene, which is saying a lot considering how dedicated Egwene is.
Nyn understands perfectly why Lan's commitment to Malkier matters, even understood Lan's commitment to Moiraine when she was around. But despite this understanding, she still meets Moiraine in feeling that Lan shouldn't let this commitment kill him.
There's no hypocrisy here: it's very much her saying "both matter; we are not going to sacrifice one for the other"
It's that same trait that made her push away Lan when he was ready to break his vows to Moiraine back in Tear and hats off to her.
"yet the land did not change greatly in two or three hundred years" - why do I feel this will lead to Tarmon Gai'don changing geography again?
"'Kiss me. [...] That wasn’t an order. I just want to kiss my husband.'" -
I dislike the whole Sea Folk obedience thing but that was SO cute!
One last night in Shienar: the show writers are sneaky.
Nyn leaving Lan in Saldaea to force him to ride all the way to Shienar is just SO good. She understood he cannot be trusted with looking after himself, so she will trick him into doing it, the fool man.
So men wearing the hadori carry "a reputation for sudden, unpredictable violence"? That is very interesting considering some of Lan's reflections and even Moiraine's behaviour in New Spring.
Many warders are essentially rehabilitated veterans.
They have different coins for different nations, but we haven't seen any mention of dialects? And what about the Aiel and the Seanchan being understandable? Do they all speak a language that's translated for the books like LOTR and westron?
Clever, Clever Nynaeve for travelling ahead of Lan to rouse the Malkieri, though it's funny to imagine her going from town to town in search of everyone with a Hadori before going back to healing everyone in the manor. She's the best.
Light, I've missed her POV. It's such a shame she was absent these last few books because she grew a lot in the meantime off-page. Instead of trying to overpower like she used to, she's far better at dissembling and not saying everything she thinks.
It obviously helps with Lan, but also with Cadsuane and Rand. With Lan, it's skirting manipulation, but she spent enough time with him - and with Moiraine's ghost - to realise he's not at a place where his death wish can be reasoned with for now. Healing will take time.
Oh, Rand's school led to the Locomotive rediscovery? This is making me emotional. He will change the world for the better, he will. It's truly a Renaissance!
"Lews Therin began to maunder on about taxes and money creating jobs" - okay, Ronald.
Again, not a fan of the depiction of Tear as not as beautiful as Caemlyn or Tar Valon, while pointing out the Tairens are brown-skinned and poor.
I love the detail of the merchant explaining silk can be made by worms.
Nope, please let Tear be spared the Seanchan, this city suffered enough.
Rand, you are sounding more and more like a tyrant ordering some people around and expecting total obedience, chill.
It's genuinely hard to see the lavish interiors while the Tairens are starving. It's not something Rand can fix without rebellion from nobles, but everywhere monarchy is depicted as a deeply flawed system bleeding nations (Caemlyn, Cairhien). This Age and Rand brought scientific and medical achievements in droves and magic hierarchy upheaval, but yet not an ounce of democratic progress so far. It's so bizarre!
If it isn't my favourite het couple, Darlin "himbo but noble" Sisnera and Caraline "girl in a bar restroom but noble" Damodred.
I like that Alanna gets to display her tactical knowledge as a Green Ajah, even if it's very brief.
Rand, I love you, but your imperial tendencies are showing.
So Merana, Bera and Rafaela did a good job with the negotiations with the Rebels in Tear. I’m relieved Rand is learning to delegate too.
Cads counting to get Rand to stop the disrespect: he should absolutely show more restraint as a leader, as the Dragon Reborn, otherwise his enemies will use it against him. Her advice is sound, even if she is patronising.
"When the terms you offer are accepted, hold to them.” - Rand, would you really starve the city even more because the nobles rebelled against you, a foreign leader who took power with an army of Aiel?!? Do you hear yourself?
"And would you marry a king, Caraline?” / “I will have to see you in it before I could answer that." - Darlin is a himbo king: I support him 100%. Caraline and he remain sickeningly cute and so charming together. They're by far the best nobles around.
Yessss, Rand is rallying troops for Tarmon Gai'don at last!
"More than that, we survived Cadsuane Melaidhrin, and I doubt anyone else here could do that.” - Harine and Shalon really went on a Hurin-like journey of epic proportion, didn't they?
Oh, cool, the Atha'an Miere are also flogging disobeying Aes Sedai. I would really appreciate it if ONE culture was not obsessed with spanking and whipping.
Oooooh, Logain is delivering the summon to the Sea Folk!
"It was not that he tried to dishonor anyone, yet he cared little for the honors of others." - like you humiliate AS sent to teach you? Self-awareness is the least shared trait in these books. Logain is just giving them a taste of their own medicine
Light, the Amayar after the Choeden Kal melted on Tremalking... That is truly horrifying. And so soon after the deaths in Ebou Dar and the Seanchan massacre too. How many Ath'an Miere died already?
I appreciate so many characters telling us the Last Battle is coming but Tarmon Gai'don is still three THICK books away.
"A brief interlude with tales of romance and adventure was much preferable to contemplating utter futility and the failure of what was by its very nature unfailing." - The meta of Romanda reading Birgitte's tale to escape from her reality is superb.
Of course, Romanda thought Egwene was Siuan's puppet, wrongly.
"No one has a leash on Egwene al’Vere. She is intelligent, observant, quick to learn and deft. She may become one of the great Amyrlins." - she already is. I love Egwene so much.
"That relationship was abhorrent." - I'm with you on this, Romanda. 
I like Tiana: she's clear-eyed. The newer recruits are fast learners and thus priceless novices well worth the rules bent. Romanda is just the old guard bucking
Myrelle bonded Llyw to save him? The show is definitely merging her and Alanna.
Nacelle testing a weave to sense men channelling! The agreement with Asha'man! Eben helping uncover Halima! Oh, the little Hall scenes are my favourites. The drama! The tension! The theatrics!
Egwene teaching a lesson to the Accepted who wanted to teach her a lesson and keeping the novices in their place is just so bloody satisfying. All the senseless beatings and the silent resistance against Silviana make me so bloody proud of her!
So relieved Leane is okay and the Tower sees her as an AS which grants her a modicum of comfort and protection.
Screams in "Egwene and Leane trying to sow the seeds of mutiny one sister, accepted and novice at a time while prisoners", holy shit
Egwene becomes an Amyrlin for the novices, advising, comforting them, and extending this quiet support to sisters and Accepted and I love her so very much.
Laras truest ally. She'll help Egwene like she did Leane and Siuan, I tell you.
"Eventually she would teach them what she was." - EGWENE Also, again with the queer vibes. Her defiance in the face of violent rigidity and labels feels very gay.
She's apparently mediating pillow friends’ fights too.
"You’ve been kidnapped and brought aboard a sinking ship.” -
Egwene dodges Alviarin's attempts to ensnare her and absolutely dominates her conversation with Mattin.
I just love seeing her fine mind at work. Like Siuan, she's so incredibly smart.
Aes Sedai bound by the 3 oaths who swear obedience can reason their way out to an extent? That's not great for Rand...
Doesine finally interacts with Egwene, Beonin folds, Silviana talks, the novices bow... Easily the best chapter of the books so far.
I feel sorry for the women of WoT: even a woman with smaller breasts will get a description of her breasts and how doing anything will have her boobs pop out of the dress. Amazing. Tits in this universe obey to entirely different laws of physics
Elaida is a study in unravelling. And the echoes to Rand all the more delicious. This is what he risks, if he doesn't tread lightly: disobedience, allies at each other's throat, spies and DF manoeuvring in the background.
I am very confused about the amount of PDA and private discussion in public we are suddenly getting for various couples: Tuon asking for a kiss was so out there.
Of course, Mat dislikes nobles except Talmanes and Tuon. You old romantic.
I really, really wish Mat was warier of Tuon and Selucia. He's smarter than letting an invader know so much about his plans. Overall, the tolerance for a coloniser who enslaves people and slaughters others is just staggering.
Talmanes being unable to understand Tuon because of the slurring is hilarious.
The Band of the Red Hand might be the only army I feel an attachment to. Their devotion to Mat is quite moving.
My big issue with Perrin's arc is that the narrative camps on its position that He is the main character when Faile is the one driving the narrative. So we get him mostly waiting for Faile, and we get little of her POV.
Not a fan of Perrin hoping the tea will be strong enough when infused cold. It's a sound plan but you've been waiting for days! You had time to experiment! He's Ta'veren, I guess.
And Seonid adding on to the list of badass Aes Sedai. A trouper!
At least Perrin has more sense than Mat keeping the Aes Sedai and Seanchan apart. Respect to Annoura for broadcasting "fuck you, with feelings" vibes toward Tylee while the woman talks unchallenged about enslaving more people. I'd have bitten her.
Again, screw Perrin for making the personal sacrifice of letting Seanchan enslave people if it means saving Faile. He's this close to jumping the shark for me. 
The ripples are so unsettling, I love it.
Seeing Rand donning his best garbs to impress the Seanchan... Moiraine would be proud.
I feel so bad for Rand. There was a time Min was a genuine source of comfort and now she's frankly overbearing and treats him like a child.
Oooooh, I thought the trap was set by Tuon's sister and was not expecting Semirhage at all! Also, Rand lost his hand? Wth?!?
So, tattoos can be restored through healing? I am not taking any notes here, none at all.
Semirhage revealing Rand's voices to everyone will not help his standing at all. Thankfully, Asha'man and Aes Sedai are getting closer which means more trust for him from these two groups.
"I am Cadsuane Melaidhrin. I look forward to long talks with you." - she's so hardcore.
Well, now he's aware the Seanchan have male a'dam, thank the Light. He'll be more careful.
Frankly, the way Mat treats Teslyn and Tuon as a "both sides" issue is so off-putting. One is literally trying to enslave the other.
I get such satisfaction from seeing Mat impress Tuon and Teslyn with his military tactics. Also, I love it when the plan succeeds thanks to collaboration.
As evident as Galina's treachery was, the escapees encouraging Morgase to channel was lovely. I’m curious about how Morgase wasn’t affected by the tea, but perhaps they drink from a different source as servants?
I don't like the Asha'man being overworked and exhausted. They should unionise.
What is so frustrating about Galina's obvious trap is that the main characters are constantly suspicious of Aes Sedai EXCEPT when they should be.
And Perrin and Faile are back together! At last! I do appreciate that Faile would have gotten herself out without Perrin, even if it failed toward the end.
Did Morgase faint because of the tea in the water or because she overdrew the One Power?
Perrin wanting to execute Galina on the spot, leaving all the Shaido Wise Ones in slavery... I feel sick. I genuinely hate him right now. I am glad he feels what the Seanchan do is disgraceful; it will be a great comfort to the people they captured.
I am so tired of people stripping their prisoners, so tired.
At Last the Shaido are leaving. I feel a little sorry for Galina: being trialled and executed would have been a mercy compared to what she will experience at the hands of Therava.
I won't comment on the expedition to High Moon Street because that was so foolish it left me speechless. That was even more clownish than the Far Madding outing. 
Adeleas went to the Moiraine stabbing school of dealing with DF which I salute.
They cut down oaks hundreds of years old to make gateway grounds? Are we in Isengard?
Siuan and Egwene behave far more like adults sisters than Birgitte and Elayne: these two are like a much older sibling having to look after her disaster teenage sister.
A Birgitte POV chapter! What a delight! Like Berelain, she really is the MVP. Also Dyelin. Yes, I still ship them.
I love seeing her perspective on losing her memories. It makes her friendship with Mat of the 100 lives all the more touching.
Elayne's capture, the mercenaries, Arymilla's attack feel like such a waste: the bloodbath is a direct consequence of Elayne's recklessness. It's immensely frustrating because it's the same mistake made during the BA hunt back in book 2 to 5 except this time she’s a leader so her people die. She should know better.
The ending of the Caemlyn siege and succession felt rather rushed? Everything happened all at once and so suddenly after books of dawdling as if Elayne was ta'veren. Which she probably is tbh. I didn't enjoy this arc as much as Egwene’s or Rand's political intrigues so I'm glad it's done and she’s Queen at last. It was a fun concept, but I’m not sure about the execution.
Karede tracking Tuon and the marriage were rather cute. It might be one of the most well-developed romance in the books, oddly. I appreciate that Mat has been defeating the Seanchan for weeks now, so his leniency with Tuon is somewhat mitigated.
I get the Aludra hype now. I love a good resistance fighter and she is amazing.
"I think,” Joline said slowly. “Yes, I feel in danger, now." - The Aes Sedai are so funny.
That last battle was well set-up with a nice use of external POV and the humour in Mat's chapters is always a pleasure. His reluctance, about being a hero, a general, a husband, makes him really endearing too. He's very Nynaeve-like in his begrudging devotion. I just wish Mat wasn’t so at ease with the Seanchan.
How very Suroth of Suroth to be caught by Tuon in the epilogue though.
Pevara is extremely brave, extremely confident and extremely naïve to walk into the Black Tower like that.
As strongly as the book started, the ending wasn't as powerful as it could have been in my opinion. I would have preferred to end on Rand or Egwene whose final chapters felt more explosive. The Perrin, Elayne and even Mat plot conclusions felt a little like ticking boxes on a check list. They would have wowed me more had the plotlines not been stretched over several books. For example, LoC was very slow, but the conclusion at Dumai’s Well made it worth it for me.
It was still enjoyable and the Egwene chapters were some of the best I’ve read in a while, but we spent so much time on arcs with a foregone conclusion that at the end I didn't even care anymore.
And Nyn’s arc is still MIA. I thought that for a moment she would get something to do in the long run with Lan's ride but nope. She is shadowing Rand, but Cads is doing most of the counselling so far, and I don’t see the books introducing the kind of juicy conflict we got between Rand and Moiraine, if only because it would be repetitive. She also deserves to have an actual plotline that is about her character like Egwene and Elayne and not helping Rand.
I would be remiss in not mentioning this was RJ's last full book: when I started this journey, I wasn't particularly fond of his writing style, but I grew to enjoy his voice. I will miss his quasi photographic descriptions and impressionistic battles.
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lloydfrontera · 1 year
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actually screaming and crying and throwing up i just realized we never see lloyd calling marbella 'mom' in canon and i'm gonna be sick she deserved that she deserved to hear her talented amazing and kind son she worried so much about call her 'mom' at least once she deserved to have the boy she hadn't raised but had come to love and worry about just as much as if she had look at her with all the love he had in his heart for her in his eyes and call her 'mom' with no guilt for it she deserved it!!! fuck!!! bk moon i'm breaking into your house and leaving your fridge open all night how could you do this to me personally 😭
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everyryuujisuguro · 5 months
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#ryuuji suguro#ao no exorcist#ryuji suguro#blue exorcist#suguro ryuuji#bon suguro#suguro ryuji#manga ryuuji#chapter 17#okay prepare yourselves for a long tag section lol#i think it is incredibly important to see these four panels together#panel one we have ryuuji mostly just confused and ??? about how excited rin is and how much he's acting like nothing happened#because remember the last he saw rin rin was kinda going feral and getting dragged to the vatican#probably wondering if they're going for another ride on the danger train without getting any kind of information about it#(spoiler! he's entirely right. they're not told anything about rin's bargain or anything more about the whole satan thing.)#so he's not showing any real anger in that first panel#mostly just a 'what?'#then rin mentions kyoto#rin mentions kyoto and asks what's cool about kyoto because they're the kyoto boys who know kyoto#kyoto came up before when they were on the steps in chapter 13#and ryuuji's expression immediately goes into a glare#and it does the same thing here#it's not rin. it's kyoto#it's everything that kyoto is and represents#it's going back to kyoto and being made to talk about it#it's going back to kyoto on a mission and realizing he's going to have to deal with his dad and mom and probably the rin thing at some poin#but tatsuma and torako are the biggest stresses and there's no avoiding them now#he made himself a promise and he's actively breaking it#and that is 80% of why he spends so much of this arc stressed to hell and back#it's not about rin
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victorie552 · 5 months
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So you know how there's basically nothing on Amrod and Amras in Silmarillion beside the fact they're red-headed twins and died in Beleriand (not including Crispy Amrod here)? Why do they only show up to the kinslaying like they're final exams? Well, I have a headcanon as to why.
Silmarillion is a story of the Noldor and their fall from grace. We get major facts and events of Noldor history, general characterization of the major players and a line or two of dialogue from them if we're lucky. We also get a good look at what they valued and disliked in their culture and what they were known for. We don't really get that with Doriath, very little of that regarding Green Elves and Cirdan could be the only elf living on the west coast from what we know of people there.
So you know how Galadriel kinda... doesn't show up in Silmarillion until the First Age is over? She was one of the main Noldor Rebels in Aman despite hating Feanor, she crossed the Ice, and then she vanishes into Doriath and... that's it. We don't really get anything on her while she's there - she studied under Melian and met Celeborn, yes, but what did she think about Luthien, about Quenya Ban, Quest for the Silmaril, Finrod's death (HER BROTHER???), Turin? When did she and Celeborn even leave Doriath? Before anything of note in Silm happened? During Silmaril nonsense? After Thingol's death? Or was she there during Second Kinslaying and was one of the refuuges in Sirion? There are some notes on her in Tolkien's fragmented texts but Silmarillion doesn't have that. And then we met her in the Third Age and she's hanging with her husband and wood elves in the forest.
She went full Sindar.
So my headcanon is, that it's not that Amras and Amrod barely figure in Silmarillion because they did nothing of note but because they fully acclimatized to their surroundings after coming to Beleriand. They lived in the south of East Beleriand, and while north of that region was full of Feanorian Noldor, south was populated mostly by Green Elves.
Amrod and Amras went full Laiquendi. And Silmarillion is about the Noldor.
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alistonjdrake · 5 months
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so no one was going to remind me that there's a bj scene in chapter 2 of OVS like that's really how I reintroduce Argus and Leo
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unknowablecore · 1 year
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just finished re-reading Greywaren and I have some new thoughts about other things but all I can say at 1am on a work night is just... Ronan and Adam... there will never be another them...
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kyouka-supremacy · 1 year
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Btw today is a month since this blog was shadowbanned 🥳🥳
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lesbiansanemi · 7 months
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I’m gonna make it through the rest of Kyojuro’s backstory for this damn role swap AU even if it fucking kills me
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greenliar · 2 days
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Miss your monster art </3
hey im glad to hear someone likes and misses my fanart! monster is still one of my favorite pieces of media ever, but right now im just trying to focus on more silly self indulgent art to fight art block so im not planning to revisit it for now
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