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far-dareis-me · 3 years

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Wheel of (Speaking) Time: 1x01-03

Inspired by @rationalnerd62's excellent wot screentime posts, I spent my weekend tracking speaking times across the Wheel of Time episodes released so far (because numbers are fun, and I too am a nerd). I'm working on compiling data into pretty charts, but today I'll start with the first 3 episodes, since they were released together.

First, a couple notes on how this data was taken:

Short pauses (less than 3s) are included in speaking time only if the focus remains on the speaker during the pause. Otherwise the timer is paused. This is just to give me a standard for when to stop recording time.

Verbalizations (grunts, screams, etc) are included only if they are explicitly called out in the subtitles, and there is a clear focus on a single speaker. So [screaming] while focused on Nynaeve shouting down a trolloc is counted, but [grunting] while a group of characters fight is not. Time starts when the subtitle appears and stops when it disappears. Note: typically these don't add up to more than ~5sec of screen time per episode, but when they do it's usually because the character is not speaking and their verbal reactions are important (ie, Shaiel's fight in the Blood Snow).

Only named characters with >5s speaking time (total) are included, for the sake of my sanity and readability of the graphs. There are several two rivers characters with only a line or two who don't make this cut.

Obviously this misses a lot of non-verbal characterization, especially for characters like Perrin or Lan, who say a lot without having to say a word. But taken in conjunction with screentime, I think it paints a pretty interesting picture. Pretty charts below the cut!

WoT Screentime: e1 | e2 | e3 | e1-3 | e4 | e5 | e6 | e7 | e8 WoT Speaking Time: e1-3 | e4 | e5 | e6 | e7 | e8

(note: x-axis time is listed in minutes:seconds)

Episode 1: Leavetaking

Episode 1 introduced us to quite a few Emond's Fielders, and aside from Moiraine's voiceover, the primary speaker is Rand. The rest of the Emond's Field 5 trail behind, and a selection of Two Rivers folk round out the cast. Some interesting tidbits:

Lan is by far the quietest of the main cast, challenged only by Perrin. Both have only slightly less screentime than Moiraine and Mat, so they really just don't talk much.

Though Egwene had more screentime, Rand has nearly 30% more speaking time.

Over a third of Moiraine's speaking time is a voice-over, either during the episode's intro or outro.

Episode 2: Shadow's Waiting

Episode 2 narrowed the focus to the main cast, with only a few side characters introduced. The cast largely stays together this episode, with only a couple asides, but Egwene and Mat do the most talking.

Despite the mains (minus Nynaeve) all having very similar screentime, Moiraine dominates this episode's speaking time. This is due largely to her explaining so much to the rest of the group (especially Egwene) and talking to the Whitecloacks.

Perrin, again, is very quiet this episode. Lan is too, until Moiraine passes out, at which point he takes on her exposition duties.

Rewatching this episode with an eye for speaking time really drove home how aware Mat is of everyone around him. Most of his speaking time he is talking not for his own benefit, but because people just really need someone to say something. It broke my heart a little, especially knowing how quiet he gets later this season.

Episode 3: A Place of Safety

Episode 3 gave us several new characters, but the focus was undeniably on the events in Breen's Spring.

Dana took top billing, giving us an introduction to Darkfriends and the Forsaken. Thom nabbed second, despite his significantly lower screentime

Mat and Rand's development was definitley the focus of this episode- in addition to their speaking time being substantially higher than the other groups, they also had the most screentime.

Nynaeve does an impresive job trying to make up for her absence from the previous episode (by flirting with I mean taunting Lan)

Episode 1-3 Overview

Overall, the top 10 speakers in these first few eps make a lot of sense- 7 mains, and the 3 biggest support characters. There is only one difference in this list compared to screentime; Thom instead of Marin.

The undisputed biggest jabbermouth is of course Moiraine. This does make sense as she is the lead, and the source of most of our verbal exposition. But being passed out for nearly the full runtime of episode 3 didn't even make a dent in the lead she gained in the previous two.

Mat, Rand and Egwene all came out of the first bloc with very similar speaking times, all within 1.5min or so of each other. These three are all pretty close in screentime as well. Lagging just behind are the rest of our main cast. Nynaeve, was absent for almost all of episode 2, setting her back a bit. Lan and Perrin though are both pretty quiet characters, and it definitely shows in their speaking time. Rounding out the top 10 are Dana, Thom, and Tam, 3 key characters who gave us a lot of info in their limited time.

I think once the season is over, it'll be interesting to take a look at what percent of their screentime each character spends actually speaking. Based on just this preliminary data, I'm guessing it will align pretty closely with how quiet a character is described to be in the books.

Gender Balance

Finally, I took a look at the gender split on speaking time. And despite Moiriane's prominent role, it's really quite remarkably even. Over the 3 episodes, 49% of speaking time is from women vs 51% from men.

Honestly this close of a balance in speaking time is astounding for any show, but especially in fantasy. And given that the screentime for these episodes sits around 40% women to 60% men, I think it's safe to say we can officially debunk the claims that WoT favors women or doesn't give enough time to its men (I'm shocked. Utterly shocked).

Anyway, I hope some folks will find this interesting, and thanks again to rationalnerd62 for the inspiration and compiling screentime data!

My data is posted here, and I will be adding times for the remaining episodes as I compile them over the course of the week.

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neuxue · 5 years

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Books I’ve read this month

Because I always mean to write reviews and make recs lists and the like, and I never do, so here’s me actually holding myself to that.

(Though none of these are reviews, really)

(I mean, if you know the sorts of things I like in a book, you could probably figure some things out, but otherwise...well, I tried)

(sort of)

FINISHED:

The Ruin of Kings (Book 1 of A Chorus of Dragons, by Jenn Lyons): This book kept showing up everywhere so I figured I’d give it a try. Overall I have somewhat mixed feelings about it; there were some things I loved and some things I was less sure about, and I think I’ll need to see more of the series before I decide. The way POV is handled is interesting, because it takes what might otherwise be a gimmick and turns it into an examination of identity, voice, agency, and perception that stands out as one of the strongest parts of the book. I’m also always here for explorations of divinity and mortality and the spaces in between. Typically of me, I latched straight on to a character whose presence can quite literally be described as marginal, but I have hope. I do recommend reading with some graph paper to hand, to keep track of the genealogies.

Also, “A Chorus of Dragons”???? Some people get all the best titles.

The Immortals Quartet (Wild Magic, Wolfspeaker, The Emperor Mage, The Realm of the Gods, by Tamora Pierce): I didn’t really expect to like these books, and...I didn’t really like these books. Tamora Pierce definitely features on my Childhood Reading List, but I never got around to these; I’m really not an animal person, and books about talking animals or people with magical bonds to animals just don’t do it for me (unless they’re dragons. Then it’s different). But I wanted to read Tempests and Slaughter, because I thought Numair might be as close as Tamora Pierce comes to writing My Type, so I figured these were a prerequisite. Which brings us to...

Tempests and Slaughter (Book 1 of ??? by Tamora Pierce): It’s called Tempests and Slaughter and it’s the origin story of an absurdly powerful sorcerer, so surely it’ll be my kind of thing, right? Except...it wasn’t. It was enjoyable, and it was very Tamora Pierce, but I guess that’s why I was disappointed; I like Tamora Pierce, and I enjoyed many of her books as a child, but I was expecting this to be something a bit different from her usual, and it wasn’t. Break him, Tamora. Break him and I’ll be interested.

The Poppy War (Book 1 of The Poppy War, by R.F. Kuang): This book is about, amongst other things, the weaponisation of gods. Which...I mean, I could just leave it there, because if ever a book had a one-sentence selling point designed specifically for me, that would be it.

It begins in a way that feels familiar and almost cozy with nostalgia to someone who grew up reading Tamora Pierce and Ender’s Game and Harry Potter: fantasy school stories, where the first half is an extended training montage. And then it becomes more like the other things I grew up reading: darker, far more painful, and--which delighted me most--far less of a heroic origin story than I expected. Oh, it’s an origin story, all right, but...well. Rin is a great protagonist; she’s got frightening determination and competence, but also some harsh edges, prejudices, flaws in her judgment. And this book does not shy from that; I was genuinely surprised at just how far it committed, by the end, to things I always wish I could see play out on-screen but so rarely do.

Other highlights: the lack of a romance sub-plot, the complete nonchalance with which both Rin and the narrative itself treat choices she makes regarding her body that many stories tend to dwell excessively on, and a parallel to a specific historical event that, for all that the larger context of said event is the basis for thousands upon thousands of stories, is itself rarely referenced so...directly. (How’s that for cryptic?)

This Is How You Lose the Time War (by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone): What a book. I’d been waiting for this one for a while, because despite how cagey the authors were when talking about it, it definitely seemed like it was going to be an enemies-to-lovers story, but with time travel. They were also cagey about the characters’ genders, which made me hope that this might even be a queer enemies-to-lovers story, but with time travel. I was not disappointed.

I’m not always a fan of time travel stories, but this worked for me, mostly because while time travel does play a fundamental role, it also manages to be a background element in a story that is at its core about two enemy agents discovering each other. At times it reads almost like a fairytale, or perhaps a dream (when it doesn’t read like a love letter across a battlefield). Also, the prose. Some out-of-context quotes, just so you see what I’m talking about: ‘Ask the pilgrims how the labyrinth came to be, and they offer answers varied as their sins’ or ‘Gods and children first, they fill the boats’ or ‘the kind of London other Londons dream: sepia tinted, skies strung with dirigibles, the viciousness of empire acknowledged only as a rosy backdrop glow redolent of spice and petalled sugar’.

***

UNFINISHED:

The Gathering Storm (Book 12 of The Wheel of Time, by Robert Jordan): don’t @ me.

The Game of Kings (Book 1 of The Lymond Chronicles, by Dorothy Dunnett): This has now been recommended to me twice, once when I specifically asked for books with betrayals and once by someone who sold it to me as my exact sort of thing, so I figured I should give it a go. I’ve now read the first chapter and come to a few conclusions. First: I have absolutely no idea what the fuck is going on. Second: I’m not sure I’m supposed to know what the fuck is going on. Third: Yeah, despite the fact that I don’t read as much historical fiction, this feels like my kind of thing (lovely prose! Obscure references! A protagonist who sets his own family’s home on fire for fun!). Fourth: This is definitely not a book to read with half my attention while commuting. So... putting this one on hold for now; I want to come back to it but right now my non-commuting reading time is mostly reserved for liveblogging WoT.

The Copper Promise (Book 1 of The Copper Cat, by Jen Williams): This is one I’ve seen a lot of good things about, but ultimately it just...felt like reading someone’s D&D campaign. And don’t get me wrong, it reads like a campaign that would be great fun to play in...but as a novel it doesn’t quite come together for me. There are elements of an interesting story, and there are some fun characters, but it lacks a certain depth of world and investment in what’s happening; I put it down and forgot to pick it back up again.

#book recs #or something #book reviews #if I'm being pretentious #I also reread a few things #but what I did not do #was update the damn liveblog #so this whole list is just a self-drag really #recommendations

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readbookywooks · 8 years

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WHAT CASPIAN DID THERE

Nert morning the Lord Bern called his guests early, and after breakfast he asked Caspian to order every man he had into full armour. "And above all," he added, "let everything be as trim and scoured as if it were the morning of the first battle in a great war between noble kings with all the world looking on." This was done; and then in three boatloads Caspian and his people, and Bern with a few of his, put out for Narrowhaven. The king's flag flew in the stern of his boat and his trumpeter was with him. When they reached the jetty at Narrowhaven, Caspian found a considerable crowd assembled to meet them. "This is what I sent word about last night," said Bern. "They are all friends of mine and honest people." And as soon as Caspian stepped ashore the crowd broke out into hurrahs and shouts of, "Narnia! Narnia! Long live the King." At the same moment - and this was also due to Bern's messengers - bells began ringing from many parts of the town. Then Caspian caused his banner to be advanced and his trumpet to be blown and every man drew his sword and set his face into a joyful sternness, and they marched up the street so that the street shook, and their armour shone (for it was a sunny morning) so that one could hardly look at it steadily. At first the only people who cheered were those who had been warned by Bern's messenger and knew what was happening and wanted it to happen. But then all the children joined in because they liked a procession and had seen very few. And then all the schoolboys joined in because they also liked processions and felt that the more noise and disturbance there was the less likely they would be to have any school that morning. And then all the old women put their heads out of doors and windows and began chattering and cheering because it was a king, and what is a governor compared with that? And all the young women joined in for the same reason and also because Caspian and Drinian and the rest were so handsome. And then all the young men came to see what the young women were looking at, so that by the time Caspian reached the castle gates, nearly the whole town was shouting; and where Gumpas sat in the castle, muddling and messing about with accounts and forms and rules and regulations, he heard the noise. At the castle gate Caspian's trumpeter blew a blast and cried, "Open for the King of Narnia, come to visit his trusty and wellbeloved servant the governor of the Lone Islands." In those days everything in the islands was done in a slovenly, slouching manner. Only the little postern opened, and out came a tousled fellow with a dirty old hat on his head instead of a helmet, and a rusty old pike in his hand. He blinked at the flashing figures before him. "Carn - seez - fishansy," he mumbled which was his way of saying, - "You can't see his Sufficiency". "No interviews without 'pointments 'cept 'tween nine 'n' ten p.m. second Saturday every month." "Uncover before Narnia, you dog," thundered the Lord Bern, and dealt him a rap with his gauntleted hand which sent his hat flying from his head. "'Ere? Wot's it all about?" began the doorkeeper, but no one took any notice of him. Two of Caspian's men stepped through the postern and after some struggling with bars and bolts (for everything was rusty) flung both wings of the gate wide open. Then the King and his followers strode into the courtyard. Here a number of the governor's guards were lounging about and several more (they were mostly wiping their mouths) came tumbling out of various doorways. Though their armour was in a disgraceful condition, these were fellows who might have fought if they had been led or had known what was happening; so this was the dangerous moment. Caspian gave them no time to think. "Where is the captain?" he asked. "I am, more or less, if you know what I mean," said a languid and rather dandified young person without any j armour at all. "It is our wish," said Caspian, "that our royal visitation to our realm of the Lone Islands should, if possible, be an occasion of joy and not of terror to our loyal subjects. If it were not for that, I should have something to say about the state of your men's armour and weapons. As it is, you are pardoned. Command a cask of wine to be opened that, your men may drink our health. But at noon tomorrow I wish to see them here in this courtyard looking like men-at-arms and not like vagabonds. See to it on pain of our extreme displeasure." The captain gaped but Bern immediately cried, "Three. cheers for the King," and the soldiers, who had understood about the cask of wine even if they understood nothing else, joined in. Caspian then ordered most of his own men to remain in the courtyard. He, with Bern and Drinian and four others, went into the hall. Behind a table at the far end with various secretaries about him sat his Sufficiency, the Governor of the Lone Islands. Gumpas was a bilious-looking man with hair that had once been red and was now mostly grey. He glanced up as the strangers entered and then looked down at his papers saying automatically, "No interviews without appointments except between nine and ten p.m. on second Saturdays." Caspian nodded to Bern and then stood aside. Bern and Drinian took a step forward and each seized one end of the table. They lifted it, and flung it on one side of the hall where it rolled over, scattering a cascade of letters, dossiers, ink-pots, pens, sealing-wax and documents. Then, not roughly but as firmly as if their hands were pincers of steel, they plucked Gumpas out of his chair and deposited him, facing it, about four feet away. Caspian at once sat down in the chair and laid his naked sword across his knees. "My Lord," said he, fixing his eyes on Gumpas, "you have not given us quite the welcome we expected. I am the King of Narnia." "Nothing about it in the correspondence," said the governor. "Nothing in the minutes. We have not been notified of any such thing. All irregular. Happy to consider any applications - " "And we are come to enquire into your Sufficiency's conduct of your office," continued Caspian. "There are two points especially on which I require an explanation. Firstly I find no record that the tribute due from these Islands to the crown of Narnia has been received for about a hundred and fifty years." "That would be a question to raise at the Council next month," said Gumpas. "If anyone moves that a commission of enquiry be set up to report on the financial history of the islands at the first meeting next year, why then . . ." "I also find it very clearly written in our laws," Caspian went on, "that if the tribute is not delivered the whole debt has to be paid by the Governor of the Lone Islands out of his private purse." At this Gumpas began to pay real attention. "Oh, that's quite out of the question," he said. "It is an economic impossibility - er - your Majesty must be joking." Inside, he was wondering if there were any way of getting rid of these unwelcome visitors. Had he known that Caspian had only one ship and one ship's company with him, he would have spoken soft words for the moment, and hoped to have them all surrounded and killed during the night. But he had seen a ship of war sail down the straits yesterday and seen it signalling, as he supposed, to its consorts. He had not then known it was the King's ship for there was not wind enough to spread the flag out and make the golden lion visible, so he had waited further developments. Now he imagined that Caspian had a whole fleet at Bernstead. It would never have occurred to Gumpas that anyone would walk into Narrowhaven to take the islands with less than fifty men; it was certainly not at all the kind of thing he could imagine doing himself. "Secondly," said Caspian, "I want to know why you have permitted this abominable and unnatural traffic in slaves to grow up here, contrary to the ancient custom and usage of our dominions." "Necessary, unavoidable," said his Sufficiency. "An essential part of the economic development of the islands, I assure you. Our present burst of prosperity depends on it." "What need have you of slaves?" "For export, your Majesty. Sell 'em to Calormen mostly; and we have other markets. We are a great centre of the trade." "In other words," said Caspian, "you don't need them. Tell me what purpose they serve except to put money into the pockets of such as Pug?" "Your Majesty's tender years," said Gumpas, with what was meant to be a fatherly smile, "hardly make it possible that you should understand the economic problem involved. I have statistics, I have graphs, I have - " "Tender as my years be," said Caspian, "I believe I understand the slave trade from within quite as well as your Sufficiency. And I do not see that it brings into the islands meat or bread or beer or wine or timber or cabbages or books or instruments of music or horses or armour or anything else worth having. But whether it does or not, it must be stopped." "But that would be putting the clock back," gasped the governor. "Have you no idea of progress, of development?" "I have seen them both in an egg," said Caspian. "We call it `Going Bad' in Narnia. This trade must stop." "I can take no responsibility for any such measure," said Gumpas. "Very well, then," answered Caspian, "we relieve you of your office. My Lord Bern, come here." And before Gumpas quite realized what was happening, Bern was kneeling with his hands between the King's hands and taking the oath to govern the Lone Islands in accordance with the old customs, rights, usages and laws of Narnia. And Caspian said, "I think we have had enough of governors," and made Bern a Duke, the Duke of the Lone Islands. "As for you, my Lord," he said to Gumpas, "I forgive you your debt for the tribute. But before noon tomorrow you and yours must be out of the castle, which is now the Duke's residence." "Look here, this is all very well," said one of Gumpas's secretaries, "but suppose all you gentlemen stop playacting and we do a little business. The question before us really is - " "The question is," said the Duke, "whether you and the rest of the rabble will leave without a flogging or with one. You may choose which you prefer." When all this had been pleasantly settled, Caspian ordered horses, of which there were a few in the castle, though very ill-groomed and he, with Bern and Drinian and a few others, rode out into the town and made for the slave market. It was a long low building near the harbour and the scene which they found going on inside was very much like any other auction; that is to say, there was a great crowd and Pug, on a platform, was roaring out in a raucous voice: "Now, gentlemen, lot twenty-three. Fine Terebinthian agricultural labourer, suitable for the mines or the galleys. Under twenty-five years of age. Not a bad tooth in his head. Good, brawny fellow. Take off his shirt, Tacks, and let the gentlemen see. There's muscle for you! Look at the chest on him. Ten crescents from the gentleman in the corner. You must be joking, sir. Fifteen! Eighteen! Eighteen is bidden for lot twenty-three. Any advance on eighteen? Twenty-one. Thank you, sir. Twenty-one is bidden - " But Pug stopped and gaped when he saw the mail-clad figures who had clanked up to the platform. "On your knees, every man of you, to the King of Narnia," said the Duke. Everyone heard the horses jingling and stamping outside and many had heard some rumour of the landing and the events at the castle. Most obeyed. Those who did not were pulled down by their neighbours. Some cheered. "Your life is forfeit, Pug, for laying hands on our royal person yesterday," said Caspian. "But your ignorance is pardoned. The slave trade was forbidden in all our dominions quarter of an hour ago. I declare every slave in this market free." He held up his hand to check the cheering of the slaves and went on, "Where are my friends?" "That dear little gel and the nice young gentleman?" said Pug with an ingratiating smile. "Why, they were snapped up at once - " "We're here, we're here, Caspian," cried Lucy and Edmund together and, "At your service, Sire," piped Reepicheep from another corner. They had all been sold but the men who had bought them were staying to bid for other slaves and so they had not yet been taken away. The crowd parted to let the three of them out and there was great handclasping and greeting between them and Caspian. Two merchants of Calormen at once approached. The Calormen have dark faces and long beards. They wear flowing robes and orange-coloured turbans, and they are a wise, wealthy, courteous, cruel and ancient people. They bowed most politely to Caspian and paid him long compliments, all about the fountains of prosperity irrigating the gardens of prudence and virtue - and things like that - but of course what they wanted was the money they had paid. "That is only fair, sirs," said Caspian. "Every man who has bought a slave today must have his money back. Pug, bring out your takings to the last minim." (A minim is the fortieth part of a crescent.) "Does your good Majesty mean to beggar me?" whined Pug. "You have lived on broken hearts all your life," said Caspian, "and if you are beggared, it is better to be a beggar than a slave. But where is my other friend?" "Oh him?" said Pug. "Oh take him and welcome. Glad to have him off my hands. I've never seen such a drug in the market in all my born days. Priced him at five crescents in the end and even so nobody'd have him. Threw him in free with other lots and still no one would have him. Wouldn't touch him. Wouldn't look at him. 'Packs, bring out Sulky." Thus Eustace was produced, and sulky he certainly looked; for though no one would want to be sold as a slave, it is perhaps even more galling to be a sort of utility slave whom no one will buy. He walked up to Caspian and said, "I see. As usual. Been enjoying yourself somewhere while the rest of us were prisoners. I suppose you haven't even found out about the British Consul. Of course not." That night they had a great feast in the castle of Narrowhaven and then, "Tomorrow for the beginning of our real adventures!" said Reepicheep when he had made his bows to everyone and went to bed. But it could not really be tomorrow or anything like it. For now they were preparing to leave all known lands and seas behind them and the fullest preparations had to be made. The Dawn Treader was emptied and drawn on land by eight horses over rollers and every bit of her was gone over by the most skilled shipwrights. Then she was launched again and victualled and watered as full as she could hold - that is to say for twenty-eight days. Even this, as Edmund noticed with disappointment, only gave them a fortnight's eastward sailing before they had to abandon their quest. While all this was being done Caspian missed no chance of questioning all the oldest sea captains whom he could find in Narrowhaven to learn if they had any knowledge or even any rumours of land further to the east. He poured out many a flagon of the castle ale to weather-beaten men with short grey beards and clear blue eyes, and many a tall yarn he heard in return. But those who seemed the most truthful could tell of no lands beyond the Lone Islands, and many thought that if you sailed too far east you would come into the surges of a sea without lands that swirled perpetually round the rim of the world - "And that, I reckon, is where your Majesty's friends went to the bottom." The rest had only wild stories of islands inhabited by headless men, floating islands, waterspouts, and a fire that burned along the water. Only one, to Reepicheep's delight, said, "And beyond that, Aslan country. But that's beyond the end of the world and you can't get there." But when they questioned - him he could only say that he'd heard it from his father. Bern could only tell them that he had seen his six companions sail away eastward and that nothing had, ever been heard of them again. He said this when he and Caspian were standing on the highest point of Avra looking down on the eastern ocean. "I've often been up here of a morning," said the Duke, "ands seen the sun come up out of the sea, and sometimes it looked as if it were only a couple of miles away. And I've wondered about my friends and wondered what there really is behind that horizon. Nothing, most likely, yet I am always half ashamed that I stayed behind. But I wish your Majesty wouldn't go. We may need your help here. This closing the slave market might make a new world; war with Calormen is what I foresee. My liege, think again." "I have an oath, my lord Duke," said Caspian. "And anyway, what could I say to Reepicheep?"

#DawnTreader

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