#aelia reads wheel of time

[alectology-archive]

TPoD chapters 7, 8, 9, 10:

I’m done! and this was the worst fucking experience of my life! I’m never rereading any of Perrin’s plotlines, sorry. It was far worser than I remember it being.

consensus is still out on whether or not perrin is interested in berelain. I understand his noticing her perfume - he can’t help that. I don’t vibe with him saying she needs to dress a certain way or deliberately trying to pick out hints of flirtation when she’s literally just discussing their next course of action. 

- It is so weird to see perrin talking about how he only gets along with and trusts grady and neald and doesn’t trust any of the women in his group. partly because they have differing opinions about how to go about accomplishing certain tasks. it’s also really weird that this happens on the heels of dumai’s wells where the asha’man brutally slaughtered the shaido, too. the gender essentialism in this series really brings down its overall quality. Another point to note is the fact that perrin gets along with the the two guys who’ve been taught (by rand) to cultivate no personality apart from being soldiers + he avoids any actual interaction with people who have strong opinions. 

- I think I don’t like reading about faile when she’s around perrin sadfjkdhf - it’s like perrin’s default mode is managing to push some trigger that manages to piss her off. I like her and think she could’ve been a great character if she’d never interacted with perrin though. And although I complain about the shaido plot a lot faile’s POVs in it were fantastic - partly because she’s divorced from Perrin’s presence - and were such a treat to read.

- honestly this section of his POV is kind of pointless. I don’t think there’s any need for faile, seonid + wise ones and berelain to fight for the right to approach alliandre - rand specifically chose berelain to approach her with annoura! But narratively it does do a very good job of establishing the fact that there are many power dynamics at play here, which I think that was what RJ might have been trying to establish.

seonid is so gay

He’s fully making shit up at this point. Just let her exist, oh my god. Why is he looking for a flirtation in every gesture??? Literally it’s hard to not believe that Perrin fully encourages Berelain to keep hitting on him.

evidence not found. this is a telling more than a showing so far.

- Morgase is another female character who gets caught up in this useless plot ugh. It’s just trauma sequences after trauma sequence for Morgase and I pity her so much.

This is with reference to morgase just because she was very mildly rude to him despite his insisting that aram not call him a lord moments before - also I don’t like the way perrin talks about women yeuch

- I think RJ being a “discover as I write” sort of writer does affect how he writes a lot - there are some clarifications for plot that don’t necessarily always make sense later on. there are also introductions to things characters struggle with without any real basis for it and sometimes manages to be all over the place - mostly perrin and his relationship with violence and responsibility was done very badly (the show does better on the front but it obviously had a whole established canon to work with already which is always an easier task).

- masema & the cult plotline is integral to exploring the various facets of how the dragon reborn affects the cultural and religious landscape in the continent, just like how the seanchan are important narratively to explore how a flipped power dynamic between channelers and non channelers would look. rand is not a saviour - RJ hammers that point in constantly - but he plays a role that’s very closely associated with saviourism since a) it’s so tied up with the struggle versus good and evil b) has a history of false dragons fashioning themselves as saviours, so cults are naturally a very interesting angle to explore. but also like every other plotline perrin touches, it fails to be dealt with in any interesting way. I genuinely enjoyed what we saw of it in TFoH and I hate that it eventually deteriorates into a mess.

where is the struggle against violence. I just don’t get it. why is killing with a hammer better than killing with an axe? I still don’t get it.

perrin: killing? violence? I don’t care. I’ll do it all for faile. 

ugh. I guess that is the point of the whole shaido arc but I still can’t bring myself to care about it.

and yet.jpg. why is it that perrin is obsessing over his followers not following his orders to the T while he’s disregarding all of rand’s instructions? I hate him so much. 

Well! my earlier point stands! why the fuck does perrin get along with them better than with the women. lol.

- I hate SO much that the mantheren plotline was passed on to perrin. I hate it!! on principle I can’t stand the thought of a dead nation being resurrected in that fashion because it falls back on uncomfortable ideas of (mostly) autocratic rulers using history to justify their rule and manipulate people into accepting it. I also hate that it gets rid of the semi-democratic rule the two rivers had. but there were ways in which it could’ve been executed well - I really liked how the band of the red hand was sort of resurrected in the same fashion (although that was mostly a symbolism thing, obviously). in conclusion: give the plotline back to mat!!

- Arrela! hi! she’s described as “tall and dark” and masculine. one of THE canonical lesbians. 

I mean at least Faile looks out for the people who follow her. Perrin has exactly ONE guy who’s super attached to him and he manages to let even him down.

- TBH a plot mostly focussed on convincing Alliandre to join them and seeing the women do politics in Ghealdan - and also potentially dealing with a more whitecloack/amadicia focused plot - would have been a far more interesting plotline than Perrin wandering around the countryside trying to save his kidnapped wife.

- ohhh now that perrin mentioned them I’m sad we didn’t see more of the algai’d’siswai! they were just as fascinating as the prophet plotline still was back in book 5 but RJ just kind of forgot about it. 

- Faile convinces perrin not to inform rand about news of seanchan in amador because ‘maighdin’ tells her that messengers and pigeons were carrying the news anywhere. Hand Of The Author, I see you. Rand needed that news! How long would it take an asha’man to inform him and hop back to ghealdan? why is travelling never used to the extent it should be in the books?

here’s a suggestion! stop smelling her all the time! A person’s thoughts on a matter will never necessarily reflect what they’re feeling because emotional responses are at the very best knee-jerk reactions and can’t be controlled or modulated the way logic can be!

- I can’t emphasise this enough but their ‘romance’ is non-existent. They make terrible partners! They’re too different to make things work. (This is not to say people who’re unalike can’t get along - but Perrin and Faile are no Elayne and Aviendha).

- I do like Lini as a character but I think my fondness for her dropped significantly after she tried to have morgase and tallanvor forcibly married. I hate it so much, and I don’t really like that she’s so rude and forceful with morgase after everything she endured in amador - I do get that she’s concerned that their cover will be blown, but... I refuse lol. I don’t like this plotline. morgase should’ve gone back to caemlyn - faile would’ve still shone in her shaido plotline even if morgase hadn’t been a part of it. I hate powerful women suddenly being shoved into servant-master dynamics!!! it happened with siuan once already! why aren’t the men forced to do such things?

- I do genuinely believe RJ enjoyed writing his women a lot but I don’t like his choice to make women inflict shame on themselves as a form of punishment in order to repent their actions. It goes hand in hand with a lot of (evil) female characters ending up enslaved & the female forsaken being abused to be taught a lesson. 

- ‘Tallanvor was too young’ sir, you literally paired moiraine and thom & gareth and siuan & morgase and thom 😭

(with reference to seonid and masuri being apprentices)

I think. I think brandon sanderson came up with the idea that an apprentice should just Know when they’re fit to be a wise one. I definitely got that feeling while I was reading the books because it was such a Brandon Sanderson thing and kind of nonsensical, honestly. It was just a ploy to keep aviendha away from rand in the gathering storm. ugh, I’m going to blame him for min and aviendha not bonding too. 

- If a man uses the word ‘wench’ he goes down on my shit list! so elyas is on my shit list! if he wasn’t already, for being the source which delivers the news that saldaean women like their husbands to take a firm hand with them or whatever.

- was I always predisposed to disliking perrin because I hate werewolves? possibly.

- alliandre!!!!

WHATEVER WAS NECESSARY TO SECURE THE ALLIANCE, BASICALLY??? What else would berelain tell alliandre -

- honestly shout out to alliandre for making the best of so many terrible situations. she had to deal with the prophet, the threat of the seanchan, the threat of rand once he conquered illian, and then perrin trying to ‘raise manetheren’ and the shaido.

and yet he gets mad when faile is less subtle when she’d trying to guide/influence him.

- worldbuilding notes: perrin can apparently smell desperation but not guilt, lol.

lmaoooo I actually did enjoy this faile POV a lot since perrin wasn’t in it! even if she and berelain sort of bickered! but it wasn’t annoying at all, and was kind of fun, actually.

- Berelain supports faile when she’s discussing politics with alliandre even if faile just technically insulted her! I love her.

faile, that’s gay.

- Berelain is very pleased with one of faile’s manipulations of alliandre!

[Total count for the number of times berelain tried pursuing perring romantically in the path of daggers: 0]

Yeah, I think I’m going to stick with the line that perrin never gives berelain a firm no. Would this have stopped her from pursuing him? It’s hard to say because she’s angling for political advantage, but faile mentions that perrin conducts himself as if he believes he’s a prize that berelain and faile have to struggle over. And he’s constantly using his enhanced senses to predict what faile is feeling instead of asking her what she’s thinking which are two very different things! I just. I honestly don’t know how RJ could have enjoyed writing any of his POVs, lol, they’re so boring and full of contrived conflicts. He should’ve killed perrin off in the middle of the series because it would’ve done a good job of building tension (although he probably would have never done that even if he’d considered it since he’d established that perrin and mat would play integral roles to secure rand’s success in the last battle).

[acollectionofchoices]

*edit: for clarification reasons, this is a joke. It's for fun. For giggles. To make my friends have a nice little laugh. And to get more ideas for incredibly incorrect reading order suggestions. Like Aelia saying just read New Spring. Inspired.

[monstersandmaw]

Get to know me tag

Was tagged by the immeasurably talented @hanatsuki89 (thank you sweetie!)

Don’t feel obliged to do it, but I’ll tag: @momolady @aelia-likes-monsters @cozycryptidcorner @elizabethtarington @thetravelerwrites @monster-bait @severedreamerbeard @vege-tali and anyone else who feels like doing it.

name/nickname: Ghosti

gender: apathetic / goblin

star sign: libra

height: 5'2" on a tall day, when I’ve stretched a bit, or if you dangle me off a cliff

time: 5pm

birthday: october

favorite bands: (I don't listen to much that isn't soundtrack, folk or Classical really) *struggles* Faun, Eluveitie... *runs out of memory*

favorite solo artist: Julie Fowlis, Loreena McKennitt, Itzhak Perlman

song stuck in my head: unfortunately, that fucking Wellerman thing. 

last movie: The Eagle (2011)

last show: no idea. I don't watch TV shows on the whole because I can't seem to get into anything. Maybe... The Untamed? Last year at some point???

when did you create this blog: 2018

what do I post: mostly reblogs these days, but sometimes original writing and posts of my sculpting and resin work

last thing googled: How to spell 'Eluveitie' because I never remember.

do I get asks: I'm honoured to say that I do :) Thanks, folks! Asks keep the blog gremlins fed and warm (and dry)

why I chose my url: Because I like puns, and Monsters and More seemed a bit dull, so I made it 'Maw'.

following: mostly art and writing blogs of fantasy genre

followers: more than i ever thought possible when I started out

average hours of sleep: 3-5 - insomnia is slowly killing me. I would give anything to sleep for 8hrs.

lucky number: don't have one, but my grandma's was 7, so I've adopted that for whenever anyone asks

instruments: violin, recorders (treble/descant), voice, and piano (in the words of Elizabeth Bennet, 'a little, and very poorly'.)

what am I wearing: jeans and a fleece

dream job: published and successful author

dream trip: anywhere that isn't the confines of my house during this seemingly endless lockdown. Other than that, NYC and Japan for the honeymoon we never had four years ago.

last book I read: Way of Kings (still reading, but it's hard going...)

favorite food: anything with carbs in, Italian mostly, though I would probably murder someone for käsespätzle

nationality: British

favorite song: Don't have one in particular. I hyper-fixate on one song for a few months and then never listen to it again.

top three fictional universes: LOTR, Wheel of Time, and maybe... Skyrim/Elder Scrolls.

[alectology-archive]

I have to laugh (bitterly) at Elayne hesitating to trust Faile to manage certain responsibilities because it genuinely doesn't make any sense. Faile is clearly an ally and a very capable person compared to Perrin + she has the experience of actually managing people because of her upbringing. I would also like everybody to stop pretending Perrin makes a great leader because he frankly doesn't and he only really accepted that he has a certain obligation to look after the people following him a couple of weeks ago. A couple of weeks ago!!!!

[alectology-archive]

Mat dug in his saddlebags as Lan withdrew. He pulled out Rand’s banner, the one of the ancient Aes Sedai. He’d gathered it earlier, thinking perhaps it might have some use. “Somebody hoist this thing up. We’re fighting in Rand’s bloody name. Let’s show the Shadow we’re proud of it.”

Aw hey this makes for a nice contrast against Mat finding Rand holding the Dragon Banner in TGH and resenting him for it versus him raising it to fight on his behalf for the last push during the battle <3

[alectology-archive]

Too many "mat runs from responsibility" jokes and too few "perrin is the most irresponsible character" jokes in the fandom honestly

[alectology-archive]

amol spoilers about siuan//

The most offensive thing to come out of amol is siuan sanche being killed off-screen while trying to rescue a ta'veren and min ending up saving mat instead with perfectly aimed knife throws when mat is Lucky and better at using his knives.

She's not even done the courtesy of receiving a heroic death when she and moiraine are responsible for kicking off the search for the dragon reborn and guiding him and egwene - they end up becoming the two most powerful characters in the series! Even gawyn receives a better death than she does. Ugh.

[alectology-archive]

Okay Rand definitely is an ass to Egwene a lot lol, I can understand why I disliked their scenes together so much when I first read teotw. But I do understand where he's coming from on a reread - the specific scene where he gets annoyed at Egwene when she stops unbraiding her hair is very interesting because it's only been 2/3 days since they left the Two Rivers and Rand has been Suffering and agonizing over the fact that Tam might not possibly be his real dad. So it definitely hits a soft spot when he realizes that Egwene is so ready to shed the parts of her that come from the Two Rivers because at that moment all Rand wants to do is hold onto those parts of him even more tightly.

[alectology-archive]

I finally finished the book ha. Speaking of the sanderson books specifically, I don't ever see myself rereading ToM or AMoL again (I can fully see myself rereading even CoT) because they were painfully bad. A couple of things in AMoL were done well - this might still be a generous take on it because it was mostly the epilogue that I really liked and I'm still Reeling even if I already had rand's ending spoiled to me beforehand.

I'm just dumping miscellaneous thoughts under the cut. It mostly started as a rant post about chapter 37 but covers my thoughts on the epilogue as well.

- Demandred is now entering into a swordfight with galad. Even if this is because galad has a foxhead medallion, the demandred from RJ's books would literally never fight another person with a sword bye.

- I've already made a post about this but brandon doesn't get galad. Galad always tried to do what he thought was right - whatever we get from brandon is suspiciously similar to dragonsworn/whitecloak ideology (essentially cult-like behaviour) which is what rj was trying to critique in the first place:

The right thing had always seemed clear to Galad before, but never had it felt as right as this ... The Light itself guided him. It had prepared him, placed him here at this moment.

- demandred literally does not look like rand. He looks like taim:

Demandred was a proud man; one needed see only his face to know that. He looked like al’Thor, actually. They had a similar sense about them.

- Mat has done nothing to offend Bashere. Bashere doesn't talk like this either:

“Matrim Cauthon, you bloody fool. You’re still alive?”

- My eyes are bleeding this is not how command structure works - why couldn't Deira or another ranking officer of Saldaea take command???

All he had said was that Saldaea fights alongside Malkier, and told the troops to look toward Lan. The throne would be sorted out if they all survived the Last Battle.

- This sounds so corny I don't like it tbh ajshejdhdj. Balefire is neutral and doesn't really know Sides like the Light and Shadow but the anti-balefire Flame is... not? It's irritating:

The balefire vanished. A multihued, beautiful crystal grew from him [Taim]. Uncut and rough, as if from the core of the earth itself. Somehow Egwene knew that the Flame would have had much less effect on a person who had not given himself to the Shadow.

- Come ON Asmodean hasn't picked up a single weapon in his LIFE. why would he assume lan is asmodean in disguise.

Demandred blocked Lan’s attack, but he breathed hoarsely. “Who are you?” Demandred whispered again. “No one of this Age has such skill. Asmodean? No, no. He couldn’t have fought me like this. Lews Therin? It is you behind that face, isn’t it?”

- ngl rj would hate having a battle described as 'exquisite' instead of 'terrifying'

“Exquisite," Thom thought. That is the word. Unexpected, but true. Majestically exquisite. No. Not “majestically". Let the word stand on its own. If it is the right word, it will work without help. If it’s the wrong word, adding other words to it will just make it seem desperate.

- These two quotes read like everybody including the dark one think mat is very Important to rand <3

THE SON OF BATTLES. I WILL TAKE HIM. I WILL TAKE THEM ALL, ADVERSARY. AS I TOOK THE KING OF NOTHING.

....

“Not the tree, Gambler,” Hawkwing said. “Another moment, one that you cannot remember. It is fitting, as Lews Therin did save your life both times.”

“Remember him,” Amaresu snapped. “I have seen you murmur that you fear his madness, but all the while you forget that every breath you breathe—every step you take—comes at his forbearance. Your life is a gift from the Dragon Reborn, Gambler. Twice over.”

- I got Major rand/mat/elayne vibes from this passage <3 :

“The Queen of Andor is dead,” Arganda said.

Bloody Ashes! Not Elayne! Mat felt a lurch inside. Rand. . . I'm sorry.

... "This is the end!" Demandred’s augmented voice washed across Mat from the other end of the plateau. “Lews Therin has abandoned you! Cry out to him as you die. Let him feel your pain.”

- kind of irritating that perrin is the one who makes his way back to rand when he's heartsick over faile because we know faile is on top of his priority list whereas mat is the one who walks away? Mat has always been a lot more attached to rand than perrin but this book completely reverses that and chooses to make perrin the Closer friend. And my god mat doesn't meet rand again after that tuon/mat/rand conversation earlier in the book 😐

- where is olver going to go? He's just a kid wtf.

- I hate the tuon pregnancy plot lmfao

- Mat not being present at rand's funeral... I WILL cry.

- mat doesn't see the band again, doesn't attend rand's funeral, doesn't have olver around, doesn't meet his other friends from emond's field again and I am MAD. I imagine it's going to happen anyway eventually but ugh. I'd have liked to see that on-screen.

- sanderson making rand even CONSIDER that he'd be content with only one person out of his three gfs following him is annoying. He loves all three of them.

- I think the only chapter I enjoyed fully was the epilogue. I'm still Sad about rand not being able to kill the dark one and facing the bleak future of being reborn as the dragon again and again but it's a sweet pain, I think. I'm glad he gets to live his life now and thinks of going on adventures (you know who else likes adventures. Mat.)

- I DO kind of dislike that rand can't channel anymore though. I don't really care that he can will things to happen as he pleases now - he struggled with accepting that part of himself for so long and he even cleansed saidin for him to eventually just be shut away from the source like that... it takes away from all the queer readings that it allowed.

- I'm such a sucker for doppelgangers and body snatchers and acts of mimesis and anything that vaguely falls under the genre so the fact that moridin and rand switched bodies fully turned out to be my favourite part of the ending ha.

- cadsuane being chosen as the amyrlin is so stupid bye. The white tower needs a new visionary who's capable of fixing its institutional problems not somebody who bullies people all the time and is stubbornly set in her old ways - she's only had her ego reinforced in all the 300+ years she's lived.

- I think moghedien should have been allowed to run free and commit gay crimes. More reasons to hate the seanchan in my opinion.

- tbh I find myself envisioning mat running from the seanchan the moment tuon has her back turned to him and... good for him? I will forever mourn the potential that tuon had - sanderson chose to not give her much of an arc, I'm guessing, since it wasn't even rj's choice for egwene and siuan to die but harriet's (plus idk I got the impression that he was writing tuon like she was never going to become a better person and still excuses her behaviour while rj specifically writes like tuon is going to become a better person most of the time). I feel like early tuon is very much firmly a fave - I just can't stomach her later because she just keeps having her ego boosted and sanderson plays it off as if it's funny that she's off ordering atrocities to be committed. He just doesn't know how to read the room whenever he picks up mat's povs. Mat never made jokes during the battles he fought in rj's books.

- I hate that I don't really have any thoughts about elayne, aviendha, egwene or nynaeve but they're almost non-characters in this book except when sanderson brought them out for Epic Fights? I was especially let down by the lack of politics in the book.

- the endless battle sequences are just so fatiguing to read that even Good Fight Scenes don't leave a mark on the reader. This was not a good book, lol - I think a lot of my positive thoughts are fully influenced by how good I feel about the epilogue.

- and I definitely did expect rand to die even while I was reading the series around book 5? It was some time then that I managed to spoil the ending to myself which was unfortunate, but I think the ending managed to satisfy readers who'd have liked for him to die as well as the ones who'd have liked for him to live (I am both people)

[alectology-archive]

ACoS chapters 5, 6, 18 partly, 27:

(since those are the chapters where Faile and Berelain makes appearances)

Me before starting the reread: I’ll try to approach this with an unbiased opinion (<- lying liar who lies because she read the title “A broken crown” and thought that was a very cool chapter name for Rand’s POV and then realised it was actually Perrin’s POV and decided that Perrin is very melodramatic and annoying)

I went ahead and made a wholeass gif just because he was annoying me that much, if you were wondering how well this reread went. 

I guess this counts more as reading the interesting things that other characters have to do or say since I sort of skimmed the chapters more than rereading it because I’m not sure I could survive that.

- I’d managed to find a soft spot for Min this past month or so but she’s... still wincing after dumai’s wells?? why didn’t you let an aes sedai heal you, girl. I’m aware this is probably not her fault. I don’t feel particularly rational now because I’m annoyed by how she exists to make Rand feel Guilty and serves no narrative purpose as a character besides Damsel in Distress. ugh.

Perrin’s first (1) opinion is already setting my teeth on edge. shut the fuck up, Perrin. I know the books and fandom like to poke at Mat acting indignant about being a lord and developing a taste for finery - I mean, he can afford it so I don’t see what the problem with indulgences are - but he’s a very empathetic person and always treats servants and soldiers with a lot of respect! He understands the motivations which guide them and never begrudges them for acting based on fear! Not everybody can survive standing by their principles - and sometimes they just don’t have the power to do so. I think I’m particularly annoyed by the fact that this observation follows his notice of servants choosing to wear a certain house’s colours while not really making a similar or more critical remark about the nobles who also accepted Colavaere’s rule.

I also just hate the way Perrin’s inner monologue sounds. Not my cup of tea. It’s not just the whining - it’s even the sort of vocabulary, he uses. I get the impression RJ is trying to push for the “he’s just a humble blacksmith” angle with it, but Perrin... very much has a taste for receiving respect that he thinks he deserves. He lords his power over the more capable women in his plotline and prevents them from doing anything Actually Useful, so. 

Rand was so sexy for this. Brandon Sanderson wanted this for him when he wrote the gathering storm. His downspiral was done okay, but it failed to hit the mark because he was too afraid to really push Rand’s buttons or isolate him from Min in any meaningful manner because he clearly loved her best out of Rand’s girlfriends. And liked the idea of him having sex with her (which is also an RJ problem, let’s be clear).

Like, again. RJ sets the mood so well. He knows how to make you feel the sort of dark vibes radiating off Rand when he’s slipping into Dragon Reborn Mode. 

- goddamn, can Perrin learn to think about anything except Faile. 

- Perrin: *notices details like the asha’man not sweating only because he has his wolf powers*. Also Perrin: why don’t the people in the hall realise the men are channelers?

Yeah, this paragraph fundamentally highlights my issues with Perrin and Min as characters. Min is always trying to insert herself into situations that would undermine Rand’s image and always tries to make everything about her (not pictured here, but it’s fully what she does in WH-KoD). She doesn’t have the political acumen or mind necessary to survive being Rand’s girlfriend and does nothing to try and remedy that - I was never sold on her interest in philosophy, and it didn’t help matters that she always behaves like a fourteen year old. On a similar note, Perrin is self-absorbed, has no sense for politics and doesn’t have to apply himself to learning the intricacies of taking care of people or navigating Daes Dae’mar the way Rand does. Sure, Rand got away with a bunch of silly Daes Dae’mar moves in TGH - but that was partly for comedic effect and he eventually learns the necessary skills! Unlike Perrin! Who only scrapes by because of the girls politicking on his behalf! Ugh.

I am so, so sad that randlayne didn’t get the screentime it deserved :/

- Perrin is the kind of guy who essentially treats Rand with a “You’re depressed? You could just stop being depressed!” attitude that I really loathe. Compare and contrast this with Mat patiently listening to Rand ramble about his duties in chapter 5 of lord of chaos. Perrin could never!!!! Mat really is the better friend of the pair but gets the worser reputation for having the unreliable narrator thing going on more strongly than any of the other characters.

- Have I mentioned that I love Annoura? I love Annoura. Rand’s relationship with Annoura and Merana are definitely some of my favourite Rand/Aes Sedai dynamics. Also Annoura and Berelain have romantic history because I say so.

Once again... why does Perrin generally talk about women like this, lol. It always sounds like he’s pleasantly surprised to discover that women have brains. 

Unlike Perrin, I would choose to appreciate Faile for her political ability instead of her beauty after she helped Rand corner Colavaere into admitting her crimes. It seems Perrin is only capable of appreciating her beauty and pretty much hates everything else about her (why did he marry her, then?)

- To stop myself from making 10 more notes about how RJ Writes Rand I’m going on record to say I love how RJ writes Rand in this chapter. The parts where he’s talking to Lews Therin... the one where he breaks and remakes the crown... this scene is iconic from beginning to end. It might have been one of my favourites if Colavaere’s plot wasn’t bogged down by Rand’s inability to kill women, but that unfortunately affects my enjoyment of it to a great degree.

The little nuances and subtleties and wording choices make all the difference! Which is why Sanderson’s writing is so severely lacking - the very arrangement of his words in a sentence grates on my nerves, lol. I think this is also my cue to mention that Rand is one of those characters who’s extremely enjoyable to read from another person’s perspective even if you don’t like his POVs, specifically. 

This is so funny. I would have loved to see a proper Faile/Rand conversation in the books.

I, as a person, lie constantly and all the time and just for fun sometimes so Perrin should shut up. I’ll probably use this gif whenever he annoys me henceforth.

Reasons I love Mat: he’s a “women who are dangerous and can probably kill me” appreciator

Reasons I hate Perrin: he barely qualifies as a feminist

- the language of fans that Saldaeans have going on seems so random tbh, sdjfdfgdf. 

- I hate how clingy Min is. She’s always physically attached to Rand in a way literally no other female character is with their love interests.

- Perrin has learnt a little bit of the language of fans? I find that hard to believe. He literally refused to take lessons in Daes Dae’mar at one point, I think? Maybe it helps that it’s a cultural thing and not a Manipulating People thing although I disagree with the books that he’s a good leader.

- Wheel of Time insults are so bad, and I’m always periodically reminded of this fact. Why are they so bad. 

- I... do think RJ is trying to do something with Perrin’s character and his paranoia for Faile’s safety specifically because Elayne and Min don’t get the same treatment - but I don’t quite understand why or what. The show’s introduction of Laila made sense, in that context, but is also one of its This Shouldn’t Be A Thing In the First Place choice (the unnecessary Perrin/Egwene/Rand love triangle which doesn’t serve any real narrative purpose, for instance, which fully made me cringe a bit because it gave me war flashbacks to some of the terrible YA books I’ve read - and it really does Laila dirty in the process too). The show should’ve just entirely done away with Perrin’s overprotectiveness because I don’t care for that sort of thing when it’s done in such a heterosexual manner - I would’ve vibed more with it even if it had been a Rand/Elayne thing because Elayne and Ilyena are supposed to look slightly similar.

you literally did not give Berelain a proper no. Is there some commentary about sexual harassment here? I don’t know, but all three ta’veren definitely face varying degrees of harassment at different points in the series. I would have to do a proper reread to really dissect my feelings on whether Berelain respects Perrin’s boundaries or feels Perrin is encouraging her, but I’ll hopefully get a vague idea about what direction my feelings skew towards as I continue to read. RJ was probably just pulling the sexy woman trope and trying to get Perrin to pick between really applying himself to his duties and dithering around because he disliked the idea of married life and its constraints (answering the call, more thematically speaking, I suppose), but that’s just me guessing at this point.

(which are again major Mat themes but somehow the fandom seems to have decided that Mat disliking the idea of marriage is bad but Perrin being involved in a disastrous one and Rand not marrying the literal person he got pregnant is not a big deal. what.)

I just know faile and berelain had hate sex.

(although I definitely don’t vibe with Faile’s insults for Perrin - they always really made me uncomfortable. This paired with Perrin getting violent enough to scare Faile into locking herself into a room... idk what RJ was doing.)

- The sentiment of Perrin wanting to lie down and die on Faile’s grave if something happened to her would’ve been really romantic if it had been applied to any couple except literally them.

- Faile is now asking Perrin to mourn her for a decent period of time if she were to die and then instructs him to take a new wife. Perrin is able to smell that this is the truth but says that he doesn’t believe her anyway. There is absolutely no winning with him, wow. 

Rand saying “I need to know” twice. He desperately needs friends and allies he can rely on and he’s afraid he’ll get a rejection and is starting to equate it with an ending of friendships :/

- On principle I agree with Perrin asking Rand to not treat the Aes Sedai the way he does - and it’s good that it’s explicitly challenged, especially for the men reading the series, since a lot of them don’t have the reading comprehension necessary to pick out that what Rand did to the Aes Sedai was not being framed as a good thing. But I’m also very annoyed that Perrin practically has no concern for Rand and doesn’t comprehend the fact that his choices stem from his traumatic experiences! He’s severely lacking in the empathy department.

This is technically from chapter 7, but I need to keep a track of the number of ‘cutting Rand’s hand’ jokes RJ pulls the same way he makes several strangulation jokes with Mat. I think my eotw count for strangulation jokes was 3 before I paused my reread?

- Rand blushes a lot in the books even post-book 4, lol. I’m kind of surprised by the frequency - but again, RJ is fully writing a comedy as much as a fantasy. 

- And Berelain’s angry confrontation of Rand after being asked to leave is the last we see of her in Cairhien! I’m devastated! I loved all the politicking and governance she did in Cairhien and her relationship with the Wise Ones was so sweet in lord of chaos. I really miss this era of her character. Having reread the throne room scene where Rand confronts Colavaere, Berelain’s dismissal was fully contrived - RJ wanted it to happen, so it happened! Dobraine is the first and only noble who speaks out against Colavaere which is what prompts Rand to really appoint him as Berelain’s replacement - and while I like him, the fact that Berelain is the one being displaced because of him makes me really mad. This is fully operating on the same levels of I Need X Plot To Happen as Mat being conveniently replaced by Bashere in lord of chaos, too. And all the girls conveniently forgetting to tell Rand that Mat was trapped in Ebou Dar - while I was reading the series I thought Rand waged a war on the Seanchan because he learnt that Mat was trapped there - so it was sort of baffling to see Mat’s absence never being brought up again. 

- Anyway, onto chapter 27. “To be alone” is once again a title that would’ve made me very sad if it was one of Rand’s POVs - but it’s Perrin’s.

Again, Perrin/Faile is written in such a bafflingly convoluted manner. I would think RJ was trying to discuss domestic abuse - except I’m pretty sure he definitely wasn’t.

- Sulin leaving Rand to accompany Perrin is also one of the silliest things to happen in the books, wtf.

- Oh hello! Seonid! Edarra! Masuri! Selande & co! 

- Why do the asha’man do salutes? lol. I suppose RJ is trying to indicate that they’re more of a military institution than the White Tower is.

???? why does he talk like that all the time? 

But I’m... done with his sections of the book! It was very short, all things considered - especially because I skipped the first few chapters where Faile and Berelain didn’t make an appearance and skimmed the passages where he was monologuing to himself. But I didn’t quite find the chapters where Berelain was actively pursuing him - I thought those chapters were in ACoS but I’m assuming they’re probably in LoC. I might try to pick it up tomorrow and figure out how I feel about the whole Perrin/Berelain situation.

[alectology-archive]

chapters 21, 22, 23, 30, 31, 32 partly:

Only three nights before, she had married Bael, in a ceremony that made her his wife and first-sister to his other wife, Dorindha. That part had been just as important as the marriage, apparently;

yeah, sentences like this make me think RJ really wanted to write poly relationships but was too enamoured with his kinks and obsessed with heterosexual relationships to do so. I’m fascinated, though, by his choice to make women choose other women as the most important people in their lives over even their love interests - min is the rare exception to this rule.

“Well, just you remember it. It was not your fault.” She heeled Mist on, and began talking to Aviendha before she was out of earshot. “I am glad he is taking it so well. He has the habit of feeling guilty over things he cannot control.”

once again, egwene Gets rand! and she cares so much! people who dislike egwene are fully delusional and probably base their dislike for her off of her characterisation in sanderson’s books. again, I feel the need to mention that egwene only ever admonishes rand in private in RJ’s books - and not even in front of moiraine! - but publicly insults him in front of world leaders in the sanderson books. plus rand undermines egwene’s authority and makes her look powerless in book 13 by walking into the white tower and demanding promises without offering any explanations. lol, sanderson has a tendency to write from a place of “Does this sound cool?” rather than “Is this a politically or logically sound action?”

ohhh and while we’re still on the topic of sanderson and bad characterisations and egwene telling rand that rand that it wasn’t his fault that the shaido ravaged Taien - rand makes a fucking point about trying to save as many people as he can! and blames himself for not achieving everything he sets his mind to in order to save people! part of the reason his mental health worsens as the books progress is because he can’t protect everybody around him despite trying his best to do so - this holds true at least up to book 11, if not book 12, and nothing really happens in book 12 to warrant a change on that note. so the fact that sanderson makes rand monologue something stupid about how he’d stopped caring for the people around him during his dragonmount epiphany infuriates me to no end. I just generally hate any of the new character flaws he introduces for all the characters. who asked him to do that 😵‍💫

[Rand to Aviendha] “Did you ever for one minute think that it could have bitten you?” he said. “Did you ever think of using the Power instead of a bloody belt knife? Why didn’t you kiss it first? You had to be close enough.”

they’re both so funny. yeah, avi and rand are also a similar kind of stupid, lol.

avi feeding rand the meat of a poisonous snake she killed is unironically the height of romance actually. and rand doesn’t complain, so I’m proud of him. anyway, I love her. have I mentioned that I love avi?

Aviendha sniffed at him in perfect imitation of Egwene. Those two women were definitely spending too much time together.

aw, avi is copying egwene’s mannerisms! back in chapter 5 she was also appreciating egwene and telling her that she was very good at everything she did <3 in chapter 22, we also have egwene stepping in to calm her down after rand yells at avi for nearly hurting him in the process of trying to kill a draghkar.

Aviendha appeared disappointed that he did not spit the stew out in disgust, though sometimes it was difficult to tell what she was feeling. At times she seemed to take great pleasure in discomfiting him.

sort of mat vibes from this, again! I think avi and mat could have been best friends if they’d tried. I’m honestly kind of shocked that we don’t see more of mat and the maidens being buddies except when he’s trying to catch their interest - because men and women can’t be friends, of course.

“You are thinking of Mat Cauthon?” She actually giggled. “Sometimes, a man gives up the spear for a Maiden.”

once again, weird mat gender moments! only maidens giving up the spear is really a thing in the books.

… he dreamed a dream of Min and Elayne helping him throw Aviendha, wearing nothing but that necklace, over his shoulder, while she beat him over the head with a wreath of segade blossoms.

wearing nothing but the necklace EGWENE gave avi? rand doesn’t know that egwene gave it but. anyway. more rand/egwene soulmatism, I guess.

Nothing after Artur Paendrag Tanreall, and nothing before Maecine of Eharon.

hello! mat’s memories have a specific limit apparently. but don’t the finn grant him memories of everybody who’s ever entered the redstone doorway? a bunch of rulers from mayene were using it pretty recently, I think? I need to look up the wiki later.

[Mat] He supposed that he would marry someday, settle down. That was what you did. A woman, a house, a family. Shackled to one spot for the rest of his life.

this is definitely another one of those mat things that are usually discussed in reference to female characters more often. and again, I vibe with the idea of him being allowed to be single - I think he has a lot of romantic tension with practically every character he interacts with, but I personally really relate to him saying he’s not interested in marriage. plus he just sounds so despondent about the prospect? I’m sad! very mat is repressed vibes too, because he specifically makes a note to mention disliking the thought of the two rivers having a lot of expectations about marriage, family etc.

“You are not made for spits, but for great honor, I think,” Melindhra said softly.

lol, melindhra and lanfear both try to get mat to step out of rand’s shadow and reach for honour/glory! and they both fail! I love mat. your faves want what mat has with rand - the narrative keeps goading him to become demandred 2.0 but mat consistently refuses to do so and manages to defy the narrative and some sort of potentially darker fate at least in that little way even if the prophecies mostly knock him down a bunch in the books.

It was being near Rand that got Mat into these things. All he wanted from life was some good wine, a game of dice, and a pretty girl or three.

hello??? three girls?? put him in rand’s polycule! again, mat is very repressed and in denial about his feelings.

once again poly vibes from melaine, dorindha and bael! the wise ones are betting on whether melaine will check on dorindha or bael first after the shadowspawn attack on the camp.

rand is wondering why moiraine didn’t come to find him immediately after the alarms went off - I’m guessing it’s because she saw a future in the rhuidean ter’angreal that said it wouldn’t be a good thing to do so.

rand is also showing a lot of restraint and being courteous! he’s not abusing the power he has over moiraine now - he briefly considers forcing her to tell him why she didn’t appear immediately but decides he won’t do something like that to somebody trying to help him. I think this is the section where rand is learning to find a balance - he’s come into a lot of power and is consciously preventing himself from abusing it.

This time he dreamed of Aviendha hurling fire, only she was not hurling it at a Draghkar, and Sammael was sitting at her side, laughing.

rand has the weirdest dreams about aviendha. what am I supposed to make of this.

I can’t shake off the feeling that avi would enjoy femininity if not for the way the wise ones sort of force her to adopt it? she genuinely enjoys exploring wearing wetlander clothes when she and elayne try to teach one another other about their respective customs. I just really dislike the line where sorilea tells avi that she has hips made for making babies - leave her alone. as a concept, I love the wise ones but I’m also irritated by their matchmaking and babymaking agenda.

avi and rand also do have a bunch in common - they’re forcibly expected to channel and are pushed into radically different lives from the ones they’ve been leading prior to rhuidean/rand finding out that he’s the dragon reborn.

[Egwene about Rand announcing he’ll hang chiefs who violate his rules about not hurting Cairhienin] Justice would do him no good if he found the others [the chiefs] turning against him as well as the Shaido.

see! she gets him!

He could waste an hour being soothed by the flow of a river.

Rand is so right.

When he doesn’t see familiar faces amongst the maidens who usually guard him, rand is constantly asking other maidens if they’re sick - it happened with joinde in rhuidean, and he’s now once again asking after adelin and enaila! I love this relationship sooo much.

Sitting on the stone rail of the wide flat bridge in the heart of the town,

area man sits weird again!

Elayne would have known what taxes were used for; it had certainly been more fun taking advice from her than from Moiraine.

I’m. I guess I agree about the principle of the thing I suppose, lol 😭

edit: help, this is also the book where we learn that two rivers folk are tax evaders! RJ is fully clowning on rand here, lol.

[Rand to Aviendha] “Do you have any idea how I will miss hearing you breathe at night?”

romance <3

He watched Asmodean from the corner of his eye, but the man only sat there, looking slightly ill. He could not know whether Rand meant to stuff that spear down his throat.

do I even need to say it?

ah, yeah, I did remember a weirdly specific fact correctly! avi accidentally taught rand the lesson of ~being hard~ when she told him he should have been harsher with the seanchan they dealt with. his demeanour completely shifts after that one exchange and he becomes noticeably colder - he’s a lot harsher with asmodean after this. insert tumblr post *having plot relevant sex with my thematically appropriate wife* (quite literally!)

And I’m only skimming chapter 41 but… there is so much going on in this quote. so much:

[Rand] He thought he could have been friends with any of the four, but especially Mangin, who had a sense of humor much like Mat’s. If he had no time to study women, he certainly had no time for making new friends. Little time for old friends, for that matter. Mat worried him.

I mentioned that a lot of mat’s personality was moulded as a direct consequence of being rand’s friend, but this is a lot! 1. rand loves mat’s sense of humour 2. rand makes friends based on that blueprint! hello, I’m crying. what does it MEAN that rand hangs mangin in LOC? is there some hidden symbolism there about how he’s left his boyhood behind? the hanging parallels are making me insane. does it imply that rand accidentally forces mat through a traumatic arc from books 7-9 the same way he can’t help but kill mangin for violating one of his laws? I will not be normal about this. local girl has been found dead on the streets!!!!!!!!

(I honestly skimmed everything from chapter 30 onward, I think, so there really was not much to say in this post - I never intended to really read much past rand arriving at eianrod, at most)

But I’ve officially finished rereading the parts I wanted to! I’d fully forgotten how the characters sounded in my head and I mostly wanted to go back and immerse myself in RJ’s writing style because I was not in a happy place after reading sanderson’s style in AMOL (literally to the point where I was wondering if I actually liked reading the series, lol). I think I managed to like TGS way better than I did the other sequels - but it kind of feels like TGS might have still been a mostly enjoyable read because he was piggybacking off of iconic plotlines that RJ had already set up and left notes for - but I’m consciously going to shut up about AMOL now. I only accept book 12 as canon at most anyway, lol, idk why I waste my energy yelling about the last two books at this point.

[alectology-archive]

It makes ZERO sense for a prince of kandor to swear to be a part of the personal guard to a king of another nation. Idk whether this is supposed to be some uplifting nonsense about camaraderie in dark times but my head is hurting from the sheer stupidity of the concept proposed here.

[alectology-archive]

I haven't had a Mat pov yet WHY haven't I had a Mat pov yet???

[alectology-archive]

Major amol spoilers about egwene//

Wait egwene chose killing herself over being burned out????

I... understand the principle of the thing. I do think egwene would fully sacrifice herself for the greater good, yes! I do however think that this was not in-character for her because RJ was very insistent on making characters come to the realisation that positions of power and authority are a lot more important to hold onto than to Actually Fight in a battle: see Rand versus the Shaido.

This is also just so poorly written, tbh, considering how Nynaeve literally taught aes sedai how to heal channelers who were stilled/burned themselves out.

She [Egwene] had pulled in too much. She knew that if she released her grip, she would leave herself burned out, unable to channel another drop. The Power surged through her in this last moment.

I do understand that this was partly in response to the sharan channelers overwhelming the aes sedai but it just seems like a very flimsy excuse. Just like siuan's death was so badly done.

Edit: burning and stilling are apparently not quite the same and I'd recommend going through the comments for the reasons the authors gave for the differences between them

[alectology-archive]

This covers chapters 6, 7 & 20 mostly, and in a very small measure chapter 5, too:

I lightly skimmed the egwene pov - I definitely remember why I got such gay vibes from her and avi.

also I was definitely not misremembering why I enjoyed the series so much for all its flaws - I really didn’t vibe at all with sanderson’s writing style and his priorities - which are on the opposite spectrum of RJ’s priorities (and my priorities!). every dialogue exchange is purposeful and pulls its weight with characterisation and character development; RJ also manages to do a shit ton of worldbuilding in every other passage, and does such a great job of immersing you in the setting and the culture he’s currently writing about. I really missed his writing style - but the joy the books brought definitely wavered while I was reading CoT, I think, because you could tell that the series was starting to really drag at that point. I was thinking of rereading the series only up to book 8* next year, maybe, but I’ll probably try to extend it up to book 11 because I don’t remember those last 2 books very well.

*in another post I said I’d advice people to stop reading the series at book 12 - but that’s still a very long way to go so I think book 8 feels like the better stopping point since it’s midway through the series. I mostly say that because it ends on a high point for every character except mat, but mat doesn’t have any high points after book 8 until book 9/11 anyway. rand understandably faces the consequences for ignoring the black tower at the end of the book and I feel kind of bad about negating his accomplishment at the ending of book 9, but getting into book 9 would mean immersing yourself in new plot angles for elayne, egwene (off-screen) and mat. (book 7 is also a valid cutting off point but TPOD is short, so. you could as well read it anyway, tbh.)

anyway. back to the book.

Striding to the center of the room, he planted himself atop the mosaic there, the ancient symbol of the Aes Sedai, ten feet across. It was an apt place. “Under this sign will he conquer.” That was what the Prophecy of Rhuidean said of him. He stood straddling the sinuous dividing line, one boot on the black teardrop that was now called the Dragon’s Fang and used to represent evil, the other on the white now called the Flame of Tar Valon. Some men said it stood for the Light. An appropriate place to meet this attack, between Light and darkness.

rand fully has a thing for theatre and performance and silly little symbolisms that matter to him alone - we also see it when he picks jeade’en’s name, puts callandor back in the stone of tear, starts carrying around the seanchan spear to remind himself of the threat they pose, etc. his middle name is drama, and I love it that he chooses to do some of these things purely for himself. it’s such an interesting character thing. he’s also a nerd (affectionate).

darkhounds are as big as ponies???

oh he’s channeled balefire before? I’ve forgotten the details, but I somehow thought he first used the weave in TFOH - was it in TSR/TDR then? Hm, I don’t think so - I’m inclined to believe it was lews therin’s memory making him misremember stuff because I remember rand using balefire and its consequence and benefits being a major theme in TFOH.

from rand’s POV there’s definitely a lot more affection and concern for mat than it seemed like there was in mat’s POV! he also seems a lot more boyish than he did from mat’s perspective, obviously - and once again I’m delighted by how RJ does POVs so well. the problem is, rand is growing colder & more distant and mat is increasingly finding it difficult to parse out his friend in the midst of everything - mat’s question to rand, constantly, in this book is, “Won’t you stop me from leaving? Won’t you ask me to stay? Will you just be sorry to see me go and not do anything about it?” and rand’s answer is, “I want you to have a chance at not being trapped by fate like I am so I’m not going to stop you from doing what you want.” He doesn’t realise just how subtle and reserved mat is with his affections. I think mat is generally very embarrassed by the thought of being affectionate with people he actually really cares for - but he doesn’t mind being easygoing with random strangers - and I relate to that, lol. I get it. But rand has very demi vibes for a reason - he needs people to be more communicative because he never makes the first move + he also has that “I’m the dragon reborn and it’s better for everyone if they don’t want to be friends with me even if I’ll miss them” thing going on.

I was also maybe wrong about rand seeming cold and distant in mat’s POV because he probably mostly sees the leader in him, the more I think about it. I think rand seems cold because he’s consciously choosing to front an emotionless part of him even in front of mat. the same thing happened with moiraine and egwene - and I’m honestly blown away by the number of times we see rand try to maintain an expressionless face/remain cool/look calm and composed/try to give away as few emotions as a rock etc. it’s a lot!

Not only a friend. Another ta’veren, and perhaps a key to victory in Tarmon Gai’don; anyone who wanted to strike at Rand had reason to strike at Mat, as well. But Mat always tried to deny both things.

so…. yeahhh. the loops and holes mat jumps through to hide his personality and feelings really does a number on the people around him.

“You watch your tongue with me,” Moiraine told Mat, getting up, “or I will find Nynaeve and put her in charge of you.” But her heart was not in it; she could have been talking in her sleep. She was trying not to stare at the foxhead as Mat hung it back around his neck. “You will need rest,” she said absently. “Stay in bed tomorrow, if you feel like it.”

Mom! antagonistic mom-son relationship! also further confirmation that moiraine likes nynaeve even if the latter dislikes her - I just really hated nynaeve’s weirdness around lan and her trying to get him to choose between her and moiraine while reading the books? a platonic warder relationship shouldn’t count as competition with a romantic relationship. I’ll see how I feel when I reread those stuff next year - as much as I love the wondergirls, I think egwene’s character suffered because of her romance-heavy plot & nynaeve’s hate of moiraine seemed to descend into caricature levels of weird in the first few books. I’m not sure how RJ went from writing such a great platonic relationship between moiraine and lan to feeling the need to insist that romantic relationships should necessarily involve warder bonds.

rand asks the maidens to give mat some space and also admonishes them about essentially not respecting their boundaries - fair! but also he’s fully referring to how the baby him indirectly. let them baby you, rand.

“Maybe I’ll ask if I can borrow it from him.” He turned away from her. There was still one he had to check on, though one way or another the urgency was gone; the Darkhounds would have done what they intended by now.

I didn’t get it then, and I don’t get it now - if I were rand I’d be anxious to figure out if the only person capable of teaching me to channel was dead! maybe the logic here is that rand doesn’t mind if one of the forsaken dies, but also… this passage just goes such a long way in showing us rand’s true priorities - he really, really cares for mat. I miss the road trip and I hate that I didn’t finish rereading it before I stop my teotw reread.

(like obviously, a best friend is always a greater priority than a useful enemy, but that shouldn’t have stopped him from immediately checking on asmodean anyway)

[Moiraine to Rand] “I have given my entire life to the search for you, to find you and help you.”

Yeah, this was the line that fucked me up while reading the books! moiraine really did sell her life away to finding and guiding the dragon reborn, at great personal risk. in the end, siuan paid the price for their scheming. plus moiraine didn’t hesitate at all to sacrifice herself to kill lanfear to save rand even if she had good reason to suspect that 1. he was consorting with at least one of the forsaken behind her back 2. he was starting to go mad. at the end of the day, for all her complaints, I think she trusts his heart and for him to do the right thing.

this is unrelated but moiraine is the one who approves of balefire, rand using asmodean as a teacher and generally utilising questionable methods of achieving your goals that would horrify other aes sedai - cadsuane is notably stuck up about such stuff, and therefore, in my view, doesn’t make a good advisor, tbh. I think RJ even knew that - I don’t get what he was trying to do when he was criticising how old-fashioned she was while simultaneously worshipping the ground she walked on.

The White Tower forbids us even to learn it. In the War of Power, the Forsaken and the Shadowsworn themselves used it only reluctantly.

#ReasonsIHateAMOL - the forsaken are tossing around balefire everywhere for some reason! what the fuck. This is why I don’t vibe with egwene’s death or that stupid flame of tar valon weave - it’s lacking any sort of creativity or nuance and tears up established canon.

“That sounds just fine to me,” he told her. “Mat’s alive because of it.”

it means SO much to me that rand listens to moiraine list out all the reasons why balefire is dangerous and then follows it up with that response.

rand makes sure to protect mat here - he makes moiraine promise he won’t take mat’s ter’angreal away. I really like that, but I also think RJ sometimes went too far with making aes sedai so territorial about ter’angreal to the point where they act like they naturally have a claim over another person’s belongings? anyway.

Moving close to the bead curtain, he peered through the doorway. Moonshadows filled the room, but one of them was Asmodean, tossing in his blankets. Wrapped in the Void, Rand could hear his heartbeat, smell the sweat of troubled dreams.

this is what I meant about their relationship being so sensual - there’s something so illicit about the whole thing. rand visits him in the night, looks at him through a curtain, and notes that he’s sweating and having troubled dreams! these are all very intimate details to note about another person. somebody really needed to introduce him to the concept of queerness.

The male figure could link him to a huge replica of itself, the most powerful male sa’angreal ever made, even if he were on the other side of the Aryth Ocean from it. It had only been finished after the Dark One’s prison was resealed—How do I know that?—and hidden before any of the male Aes Sedai going mad could find it. The female figure could do the same for a woman, joining her to the female equivalent of the great statue he hoped was still almost completely buried in Cairhien.

huh, the strike at shayol ghul said that the access keys were located in a territory controlled by one of the forsaken at one point during the war and couldn’t be retrieved? Oh! and the wiki says that these are just two access keys among several others and that egwene discovered a damaged one in tanchico when she went dreamwalking! obsessed. maybe the access keys were unfinished at that point? or rj maybe forgot what he’d written, lol.

rand is still thinking of impractical things like healing death with sa’angreal. some arrogance, there, maybe, but at its heart it’s a very pure kind of desire. he does get to reverse death at the end of the book though - mat and avi with balefire! - I suppose rj manages to wrap up that particular plot point by giving him a workaround for healing death. I love it.

I love that rand admits that he can’t be trusted with the vast amount of power various sa’angreal grant him. I love him, and I love egwene for trying to poke at the boundaries of what’s considered abuse of power and what is not - they’re both such fascinating characters to read about. they’ve both come into power having never expected such a thing, grapple with what it means to be responsible for so many people, and slowly come to realise that even if it’s a burden, it allows them to do good things.

also as a random thought, elayne haters don’t deserve rand because rand would hate them for hating elayne. and so would mat, actually.

I just remembered how annoying lanfear could be with her nonsense about loving lews therin. I love the idea of one of the forsaken being a very close friend/lover/companion of lews therin’s and having complex feelings about killing and/or allying with rand but lanfear was not it.

anyway, it didn’t make sense to me in the beginning that she would try to ally with rand when she knew he’d potentially betray her (although right now, I do think it’s very stupid of lanfear to believe that rand is allied with her and dreams of achieving power with her when he hasn’t ever done anything to prove he’d like that) but I think it’s a good idea that she’s a renegade and doesn’t really care about the dark one - she did create the bore. of course she’d try to replace him.

He dreams of you triumphing over the Great Lord and putting him up beside you on high.

yeah, even asmodean is weirdly obsessed with rand!

[Rand] He pushed away a sudden memory of this woman [Lanfear] in his arms, both of them young and just learning what they could do with the Power.

help, did lanfear and lews therin use the one power during sex? is that what this is implying?

sex jokes aside rand is struggling SO hard with lews therin’s memories. I didn’t remember it being this bad. I think him sort of growing used to lews therin later is what makes this really go hard? his only safe space is his head - he had to eventually ward his dreams to keep the wise ones out - so the fact that he isn’t allowed even that to himself is very tragic! in general, rand is just continuously having his body violated in several different ways. and because I can’t help paralleling rand and egwene, it’s interesting how loss of agency marks such a major point in both their arcs - it’s being made a damane for egwene, and dumai’s wells for rand. it doesn’t make them stronger people, and it leads them to commit questionable acts sometimes and act irrationally but that’s okay. that’s how trauma works. unfortunately, rand learns zero coping mechanisms while egwene has a healthier arc because of her training sequence with the wise ones.

speaking of rand and egwene, I don’t know exactly what I feel about the relationship they have. I didn’t see it before, but I do understand why people were saying they’re like siblings - and I don’t know if I ship them exactly (I mean, it could have been incredibly romantic if they’d sort of fallen apart and fallen in love again at the end of everything - I think that idea just really stuck with me while I was still reading the early books - egwene choosing rand over the aes sedai in the early TGH chapters made me very weepy) but a sort of soulmate bond that transcends romance and friendship is something I probably vibe more with. the latra/egwene parallels have me in a chokehold - and now that I think of it… it would’ve been thematically such a great thing if egwene had joined rand in shayol ghul? or if she’d at least broken the seals herself? insert obligatory AMOL hate post, I guess. I’ve read very few books in my life that managed to make me as angry as it did - I think it even manages to beat ACOSF for the Bad Books title (I think I made 160 posts when I was live-blogging it and had zero complimentary things to say about it).

I don’t get criticisms about mat struggling to come to terms with rand’s ability to channel? even egwene has a very hard time reconciling the two. it’s natural and expected - it’s a common legend and belief in the westlands that TDR and male channelers are people you should fear! the belief is as instinctual as the need to breathe. how can RJ say it more blatantly than with this line:

Growing up, she had been taught that only the Dark One was more to be feared than a man who could channel.

moiraine is just *obligatory siuan mention* whenever we get her POVs. she is so gay.

on a cliff at jangai pass there seems to be a symbol of a snake curled around a staff carved onto it - this brings to mind the rod of asclepius? I don’t know if it’s not meant to be analysed a lot - I don’t think it is. but on the other side of the pass there’s a dock and a couple of ships. this makes me wonder if it was a hospital? would a hospital from the age of legend use the same sort of symbols used in the first age? if not a hospital, I’d guess that it’s some outpost of sorts. rand is guessing that the waste could have been under the ocean before.

there was a ‘silk path’ from shara to taien! yeah, I get why I thought shara was an asia analogue even silks and elephants aside. I can’t say anything about how race was handled - we don’t nearly see enough of the sharans to pass judgement on RJ’s handling of them, and from what I recall they’re not really any better or worse than the seanchan. the seanchan are probably slightly worse because of the slavery culture they have going on, but shara also treats its channelers like animals to be put in a pen so, uh. they also have this weird practice of killing their rulers every cycle or something too? anyway, I don’t like that vibe. I also don’t like the vibe of “asian culture analogue being brainwashed by a forsaken so that he can use them as fodder to fight alongside literal monsters against the side of the Light”. I blame that on sanderson, though - I think he didn’t think through the implications of how he introduced and handled sharans. I still wouldn’t have been opposed to seeing more of them if we’d had characters like Egeanin (and I did kind of like that one sharan guy we met in KoD).

rand is now reminding himself of the prophecy that says he’d conquer under the ancient sign of the aes sedai and is making asmodean carry it. I love it when he purposely tries to make prophecies work in his favour, and I love all of RJ’s interesting takes on prophecy - I need to find that post I’d compiled and rb it again. I think I last updated it with rand asking cadsuane if the pattern would kill her if he willed it in book 12 - not exactly prophecy, but prophecy adjacent and that counts to me.

rand is being very protective of egwene and avi right now, as of chapter 20.

How long now had he been doing what was necessary instead of what was right? In a fair world, they would be one and the same. That made him laugh, a hoarse wheeze. He was far from the village boy he had been, but sometimes that boy sneaked up on him.

Nothing to note about this, really, but I remember reading and rereading this specific passage when I first read TFOH - I think it definitely makes a point of highlighting how rand’s motivations work in the latter half of the series, especially maybe his choice to treat with the seanchan instead of defeating them on the battlefield because he needs their support in defeating the dark one.

as a parting note, I think mat should stop sleeping in his fine clothes. it sounds very uncomfortable.

[alectology-archive]

I kind of do like that gawyn goes after demandred sorry wjdhjdfheudh. Their conversation however makes zero sense, is very immature, & badly written.