#elbar

[thescorpioracer]

Just in time for New Year’s Eve, we’re BACK with a new episode on @carogables's favorite dizi, Kiralık Aşk! (It's the show we bonded over when we first met here on tumblr.)

We also share some updated thoughts on Yargı and discuss our recent interests in Yalı Çapkını & Gelsin Hayat Bildiğı Gibi, among other things.

Listening options can be found here!

[israeleconews]

Налоговая Израиля наложила гигантский штраф на лизинговую компанию Elbar

Налоговая Израиля наложила гигантский штраф на лизинговую компанию Elbar

фото facebook. на фото: иллюстрация Налоговое управление Израиля (Мас ахнаса) приняло решение оштрафовать крупнейшую лизинговую компанию Elbar на 42 миллиона шекелей за мошенничество с налоговой отчетностью при импорте автомобилей. Как сообщает сегодня экономическое издание Calcalist, помимо основной деятельности Elbar получала крупные доходы от импорта и продажи машин в Израиле. Ранее Налоговое…

[spookierz]

i am a jason grace as a cleft lip scar TRUTHER. idk that Thalia said it was from him "eating a stapler." HE HAD A CLEFT LIP. fight me

[apocalypticavolition]

Let's (re)Read The Great Hunt! Chapter 40: Damane

Look dear reader, if you don't know what you're getting into this chapter, you really shouldn't keep reading. You shouldn't do it anyway unless you like spoilers for the whole series, but this chapter is better to avoid anyway than most. It's a lot. Don't keep going.

Behold the a'dam icon! Simple, geometrically pleasing, and utterly filled with menace. It's perfect and it's evil.

When she did notice them she stared uncertainly; they were as odd a group as she had ever seen, and she had heard too many rumors of the war on Toman Head.

One of the problems of being trusting of authority figures is that when they're leading you astray you become unable to properly respond to dangerous situations. Liandrin's actions here are probably why Egwene ends up so power hungry later on; she can't let herself be subordinate to someone who might abuse her again.

Oddest of all was the last woman, reclining on a palanquin borne by eight muscular, bare-chested men in baggy black trousers. The sides of her scalp were shaved so that only a wide crest of black hair remained to fall down her back. A long, cream-colored robe worked in flowers and birds on blue ovals was carefully arranged to show her skirts of pleated white, and her fingernails were a good inch long, the first two on each hand lacquered blue.

Meet Suroth. She's fucking evil and has a terrible fashion sense.

“What are you talking about?” Nynaeve demanded. “What is she talking about, Liandrin?” Liandrin laid a hand on Nynaeve’s shoulder and one on Egwene’s.

1. Note that Nynaeve again omits the title "Sedai".

2. Note that Liandrin doesn't even acknowledge these girls as people any more than the Seanchan do.

“Liandrin Sedai,” she said urgently, “who are these people? Are they here to help Rand and the others, too?”

Poor, sweet Egwene. It's rather sad that the EF5 member most eager to see the world is the one who is by far the most naive.

Balling her fist tightly, Egwene hit the woman as hard as she could, right in her eye—and staggered and fell to her knees herself, head ringing. It felt as if a large man had struck her in the face.

The forced linking aspect of the a'dam is already an incredible achievement by Deain Sedai, but really that's at least something the One Power is meant to connect. Carrying pain like that means that Deain came very close to creating the Warder Bond too (in some ways more so), something no one in Seanchan would know (the Hawkwing descendants wouldn't have carried that knowledge over) so she was possibly the greatest Aes Sedai in the world at the time. What a waste.

“I will not punish you further this time, since I should have been on guard with a newly caught damane. Know this. You are a damane, a Leashed One, and I am a sul’dam, a Holder of the Leash. When damane and sul’dam are joined, whatever hurt the sul’dam feels, the damane feels twice over. Even to death.

It's nice that the Seanchan Empire does instill this sense of responsibility in superiors regarding their inferiors, but also JESUS FUCKING AL'THOR EVEN TO DEATH???? Fuck them Seanchan.

“The very first thing you must learn,” Renna said, “is to do exactly as you are told, and without delay.”

You'll note I didn't give Seanchan points for their opinions of how superiors should take responsibility when they fuck up and that's because of shit like this.

That, she realized, was what she had detected in the woman’s voice—a certain good will for a dog in training, not quite the friendliness one might have toward another human being.

This is one of the many reasons there's no such thing as a good slave owner, by the way. Especially not when it comes to chattel slavery.

She wanted to go to Min, but the amount of leash Renna had let out would not reach that far. She called softly, “Min, are you all right?”

The haters never mention how Egwene is more worried about Min than herself in this situation, even though Egwene's situation is way, way, way worse.

“I brought you three,” Liandrin said calmly. “If you cannot manage to hold them, perhaps our master should find another among you to serve him. You take fright at trifles. If patrols come, kill them.”

Oh yeah, and here's another problem with the sheer vertical cliff that is the Seanchan hierarchy: in any sane society, the lessers would be able to report Suroth as a Darkfriend and Aes Sedai sympathizer and something would happen, but they don't and I don't think it's because they don't care.

“Elayne is of no importance, but both the woman and this girl here must be taken with you on your ships when you sail.”

How utterly wrong the Dark is. They clearly weren't expecting anyone other than the DR to be relevant last book and were frustrated with the three for one trick, and now they've added the girls to the roster but not all of them. They're utterly oblivious to how much of a team effort things are.

Should you survive the encounter, the leash and collar will teach you a new life, and I do not believe our master will trouble to deliver one foolish enough to let herself be taken.

Suroth's got that much right, but of course is much too short-sighted and self-interested to think things through.

She had to save Min. If it means groveling. . . . She parted her lips and hoped her gritted teeth would pass for a smile. “Yes, High Lady.” “And if I spare her, if I allow her to visit you occasionally, you will work hard and learn as you are taught?” “I will, High Lady.” She would have promised much more to keep that sword from splitting Min’s skull. I’ll even keep it, she thought sourly, as long as I have to.

This exchange (and everything a'dam related, obviously) is another thing that clearly leads from Egwene being a dedicated teacher's pet, mostly follow the rules type to the ambitious semi-fiend we'll know later on. She's glad to help Min but she's subconsciously being taught that authority only exists to be subverted to your own ends.

“You were honored,” Renna said after a time, “having the High Lady speak to you. Another time, I would let you wear a ribbon to mark the honor. But since you brought her attention on yourself. . . .”

And this is why Suroth can proudly conspire as a Darkfriend in front of Renna even though Renna isn't a Darkfriend, why she can let an Aes Sedai run free around a sul'dam. This absurd standard that applies to Egwene applies to Renna too and everyone else. Never draw the attention of your betters, even if it's for their own good.

Min raised a fist, then let it fall. “I won’t interfere. Only, please, stop it. Egwene, I’m sorry.” The unseen blows went on for a few moments more, as if to show Min her intervention had done nothing, then ceased, but Egwene could not stop shuddering.

This is a reason why it's so upsetting to see Min shanghaied by the Seanchan in the Last Battle, because she knows them at their worst. She's gonna have to do a lot of truth speaking to Tuon, even when Tuon fucking hates it, if she's going to make much difference overseas.

“Liandrin”—Egwene would not give her the honorific, not ever again—“and the High Lady spoke of a master they both serve.” The thought came into her head of a man with almost healed burns marring his face, and eyes and mouth that sometimes turned to fire, but even if he was only a figure in her dreams that seemed too horrible to contemplate.

No Egwene, you've basically got it exactly correct.

She knew it was silly to avoid naming Nynaeve—she did not think any of these people would forget her just because her name was not mentioned, especially the blue-eyed sul’dam stroking her empty leash—but it was the only way she could think of fighting back at the moment.

Rand and Egwene have very parallel arcs, and this seems to be her inverted equivalent of an earlier moment of his: he shouted the Aiel oath of defiance involuntarily against nothing in particular, drawn into power. She's being pulled against her will too, but her defiance is both very real and yet tragically more inconsequential than the oath he swore.

One such, a woman named Deain, who thought she could do better serving the Emperor—he was not Emperor then, of course—since he had no Aes Sedai in his armies, came to him with a device she had made, the first a’dam, fastened to the neck of one of her sisters. Though that woman did not want to serve Luthair, the a’dam required her to serve. Deain made more a’dam, the first sul’dam were found, and women captured who called themselves Aes Sedai discovered that they were in fact only marath’damane, Those Who Must Be Leashed. It is said that when she herself was leashed, Deain’s screams shook the Towers of Midnight, but of course she, too, was a marath’damane, and marath’damane cannot be allowed to run free.

Firstly: the first sul'dam were found after the first a'dam was made and the first collar attached. This very infodump all but gives away the twist! Deain herself must have been wearing the bracelet then.

Secondly: How much like the Shadow the Empire is, that it was strengthened so hideously by a woman who thought that she might benefit herself from service, and that her only reward was suffering from her actions.

“From time to time the Empress plays with lords by linking them to a damane. It makes the lords sweat and entertains the Court of the Nine Moons. The lord never knows until it is done whether he will live or die, and neither does the damane.”

These dudes are mostly the male equivalent of sul'dam and so their deaths (let alone the deaths of the damane, who don't deserve anything that happens to them) aren't even productive for removing male channelers who have the spark from threatening the populace. It's just murder for fun.

Egwene was shocked to discover an urge to do as Renna commanded. She had not channeled, or even touched saidar, in two days; the desire to fill herself with the One Power made her shiver.

Here's the closest thing to a downside that power addiction has for Egwene.

Frantically she reached for saidar, meaning to hurt Renna enough to make her stop, just the kind of hurt she herself had been given. The sul’dam shook her head wryly; Egwene howled as her own skin was suddenly scalded. Not until she fled from saidar completely did the burn begin to fade, and the unseen blows never ceased or slowed.

If I have to read such horrible things, you do too.

“It is good that you have spirit,” Renna said calmly. “The best damane are those who have spirit to be shaped and molded.”

The best damane are those who have to be beaten a hundred times as much as any other just to be good? This empire really does run on BDSM.

Her contact with saidar was gone, and she could not bring it back. In that first fury of knowing that Liandrin had betrayed them, saidar had been there almost before she knew it, the One Power flooding her. It had seemed she could do anything.

The circumstances they're in probably made Nynaeve's power level grow two sizes just from the sheer terror. Plus all the training at the Tower probably kicked in a bit too.

I don’t think they got away, Nynaeve. I should have done something. Min cut the hand that was holding me, and Egwene. . . . I just ran, Nynaeve. I realized I was free, and I ran. Mother had better marry Gareth Bryne and have another daughter as soon as she can. I am not fit to take the throne.

Survivor's guilt is a terrible thing, and Jordan likely heard or even experienced stories of people abandoning each other in the chaos of Vietnam. He's also quite right (through Nynaeve's words) that Elayne is a silly goose for hating herself for breaking under the pressure.

Why are they interested in Egwene and me? Why us in particular? Why did Liandrin do this? Why?

I'm a bit surprised Nynaeve doesn't remember that Liandrin knows they're connected to Rand, but I suppose her source of knowledge about Rand's relative specialness being Moiraine means she's inclined to just toss it aside and ignore it.

I have no intention of buying us dresses, and they won’t be new in any case. My gray silk dress will do us some good, with all those pearls and that gold thread. If I can’t find a woman who will trade us each two or three sturdy changes for that, I will give you this ring, and I will be the novice.

Really the difficulty might be finding a woman in these parts who feels like she can keep a silk dress with pearls and gold in any state of repair. Eventually finery gets so rich that poverty would ruin it on contact. But Nynaeve keeps her accepted ring so I guess things work out!

To speak no word that is not true. That was one, but everyone knew that the truth an Aes Sedai said might not be the truth you thought you heard.

Like I said last chapter, Nynaeve really should have been a lot more suspicious. I suppose she cares of Rand too much to stand by while he's under any kind of threat, even if it's a very tenuous one.

Speaking of, next time: Rand vs. Ba'alzamon again!

[knight-of-aether]

Behold, a gaggle of Star Wars OCs. Feel free to ask me about any of these dorks, it’s been too long since I had a chance to rant about them properly.

First pic, from left to right: R5-B22 “Bee" (astromech droid), Kimo Elbar (human Jedi knight), Kass Copek (Gungan Force-sensitive), Ashrruk (Wookiee Force-sensitive), and Valeri Tenau (human Mandalorian).

Second pic: Kass and Ashrruk, doing epic poses.

Third pic: Kahu (Nautolan Mandalorian), a mechanic and jetpack enthusiast.

Fourth pic: Russk (Trandoshan Mandalorian), Russk’s unnamed friend (Togorian Mandalorian), and an unidentified strill.

Last pic: Russk the Trandoshan again.

(Colored pencils, watercolor and ink, 2020)

[vape-here]

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[iviarellereads]

The Great Hunt, Chapter 40 - Damane

(THIS PROJECT IS SPOILER FREE! No spoilers past the chapter you click on. Curious what I'm doing here? Read this post! For the link index and a primer on The Wheel of Time, read this one! Like what you see? Send me a Ko-Fi.)

(A’dam icon) In which I hate every single second of it.

PERSPECTIVE: Egwene. Armored men await, more than fifty, in insect helmets, and one with his helmet on his hip, his only distinguishing feature a hooked nose.(2) There are some women as well, two in plain grey dresses with wide silver collars, and two next to the collared ones, with two more set apart a bit with divided skirts, and one more woman on a palanquin, most of her head shaved, and her nails long and lacquered.

Egg asks if Liandrin knows who they are, and Liandrin addresses High Lady Suroth directly, saying these are the two she told Suroth about, and another is the Daughter-Heir of Andor. The two with divided skirts approach, and Egwene asks if these people are here to help Rand too.

The hook-nosed man suddenly seized Min and Elayne by the scruffs of their necks, and in the next instant everything seemed to happen at once. The man yelled a curse, and a woman screamed, or perhaps more than one woman; Egwene could not be sure. Abruptly the breeze was a gale that whipped away Liandrin’s angry shout in clouds of dirt and leaves and made the trees bend and groan. Horses reared and whinnied shrilly. And one of the women reached out and fastened something around Egwene’s neck.

Egwene tugs at the collar, but can't find a catch. The coils are now trailing behind her, a leash connecting to a bracelet on one woman's wrist. Egwene punches the woman in the face, and then reels, feeling as if someone's just punched her quite a bit harder than she'd managed. When she can see straight again, Min is kneeling, her knife just out of her reach but red with the hook-nosed man's blood. Nynaeve and Elayne are nowhere to be seen.

The woman holding Egg's leash says it's her first lesson, and she won't punish her further this time, because she should have been on her guard. She tells Egwene to know this: she is a damane, a Leashed One, and she is a sul'dam, a Holder of the Leash. When damane and sul'dam are joined, the damane feels twice what the sul'dam feels, even to death. So, best to protect the sul'dam even more than herself.(3) Her name is Renna, and she asks what Egg is called. Egg says she’s not whatever that was, and asks Liandrin why she’s allowing this to happen. Renna says she must learn to do exactly as she's told, without delay, and suddenly Egg feels her skin burning and prickling all over. 

“Many sul’dam,” Renna went on in that almost friendly tone, “do not believe damane should be allowed names, or at least only names they are given. But I am the one who took you, so I will be in charge of your training, and I will allow you to keep your own name. If you do not displease me too far. I am mildly upset with you now. Do you really wish to keep on until I am angry?” Quivering, Egwene gritted her teeth. Her nails dug into her palms with the effort of not scratching wildly. Idiot! It’s only your name. “Egwene,” she managed to get out. “I am Egwene al’Vere.” Instantly the burning itch was gone. She let out a long, unsteady breath. “Egwene,” Renna said. “That is a good name.” And to Egwene’s horror, Renna patted her on the head as she would a dog. That, she realized, was what she had detected in the woman’s voice—a certain good will for a dog in training, not quite the friendliness one might have toward another human being.

Egwene gets angry but Renna feels it, and tells her to be careful how she reacts, she'll feel it twice as hard. And she will never channel without Renna's express command. Egg ignores Renna as much as she can, and calls out to ask Min if she's alright. Then lightning strikes out of a clear sky, striking the trees some distance off. Nynaeve and Elayne are safely away, then. Egg takes heart, because if anyone can rescue her, it's them. Though, there's a reckoning coming for Liandrin.

Suroth says there were only supposed to be two, and now she has only one, with two loose, one of them very powerful indeed. Liandrin says if Suroth can’t hold three, perhaps she’s not worth their master’s effort. Suroth says she could take Liandrin in as the second, but Liandrin seizes saidar, and Renna calls out to warn Suroth.(4) The soldiers stir to attention, but Suroth says Liandrin won’t act against her, they’re at a stalemate out of mutual fear of their master. Liandrin reminds Suroth that both Egg and Nyn must be on the ships when she leaves.(5) Suroth assures Liandrin that neither of the escapees will remain free for long, and Liandrin will be collared someday. But for now, she lets Liandrin go back through the Ways.

The hook-nosed man asks Suroth if he can kill Min, but Egg shouts NO! Renna starts punishing her immediately, but Suroth waves her off. She asks if Egg will listen and work hard to become a good damane, if she lets Min stay and visit her from time to time? Egg promises she will. Suroth says that if the damane proves a disappointment, perhaps the man can have Min's head then.(6)

As they ride to Falme, Renna says that Egwene was honoured to have the High Lady speak to her. Another time, she could wear a ribbon to mark the honour, but since it was Egwene's lack of control that brought it on... Egg feels lashes across her back, her arms, her legs, from every direction. Egwene can't help but throw her arms out to block the blows coming from inside her own mind. Min asks Renna to stop, but Renna says this is a lesson for both of them.

Eventually Renna lets the punishment stop, and Egg says it's not Min's fault, and she soothes Bela, saying it's not hers, either. Renna says condescendingly that it's Egwene's fault. When a damane is punished, it's always her fault, even if she doesn't know why.

Egwene bit her lip until she tasted blood. This is a nightmare. It can’t be real. Why did Liandrin do this? Why is this happening? “May . . . may I ask a question?” “Of me, you may.” Renna smiled. “Many sul’dam will wear your bracelet over the years—there are always many more sul’dam than damane—and some would have your hide in strips if you took your eyes off the floor or opened your mouth without permission, but I see no reason not to let you speak, so long as you are careful in what you say.”(7) One of the other sul’dam snorted loudly; she was linked to a pretty, dark-haired woman in her middle years who kept her eyes on her hands.

Egg asks who the master Liandrin and Suroth spoke of was, and what he wants with her and her companions. Renna says the affairs of the Blood are not for her to take notice of, and certainly not for a damane. Anything she hears, it must be as if she never heard it at all. Otherwise, she could end up without a tongue or hands. Damane don't need those things to be of value.

Egg says it's horrible, how can you do this to another person? Renna says that men who would be marath'damane must be killed, but women don't go mad. Damane can be dangerous if left free. And the one who made the first a'dam was an Aes Sedai, helping Luthair Paendrag Mondwin, son of Artur Hawkwing, to tame the power of her sisters, until eventually they leashed her too. It's said that her screams shook the Towers of Midnight.(8) Renna pivots the conversation slightly to say that if Egwene is found to be able to make a'dam, she'll be pampered.

Egg asks if she should look forward to a lifetime of being chained to men and women who think she's little more than a dog? Renna says never a man. For most men, the bracelet does nothing. Another sul'dam chimes in to say that sometimes, though, both man and damane die screaming. The Empress plays with the Lords sometimes, by linking them to damane. It makes them sweat, and entertains the Court of the Nine Moons.(9)

Renna says to the other sul'dam, naming her Alwhin, that she has no plans to train this one only to be wasted. Alwhin says there's not much training going on yet that she can see. Renna studies Egwene and asks if she can channel at a distance yet. Egg isn't sure, so Renna points at a tree and asks her to visualize the sap in the tree, and make it so hot it all turns to steam at once. Egg feels a compulsion to try, but says she cannot, it's too far and she's never done anything like that before. Renna says that sometimes if you're sul'dam long enough you can tell many things about a damane without the bracelet, but wearing the bracelet, you can always tell if a damane has tried to channel, and Egg must never lie to a sul'dam.

The switches are back, striking Egg everywhere. She tries to hold saidar, but just as quick as thought her entire body feels like burning on top of the invisible lashes. When she lets go of saidar the burning stops, but the lashing continues, longer than Egwene can keep track of. Renna says it's good that Egwene has spirit. The best damane are the ones who have spirit to be shaped and molded, and Egwene will be one of the best. She strokes Egwene's hair, a mistress soothing her dog.

PERSPECTIVE: Nynaeve, hiding. She thinks about having used the Power as a weapon, going against what Aes Sedai are supposed to stand for. There's a rustling nearby, but it's just Elayne, having found her. They confirm that they're no longer being followed, and Nyn asks if El has seen Egg or Min, but she hasn't, either.

El feels ashamed that she ran so quickly when faced with danger, saying her mother had better marry Gareth Bryne quickly and have another daughter, because she's not fit for the throne. Nyn tells her not to be a goose, she couldn't have fought off dozens of men and other Aes Sedai.(10)

Now, says Nynaeve, get on your feet, dust off your dress, and brush your hair. They're going to Falme, where Suroth said she had business. They may be detected by those damane, Aes Sedai can tell a woman who can channel just by being near her. Elayne wonders if Rand is alright, and Nynaeve says he's probably all the way back in Fal Dara. Elayne takes some comfort in this, and they ride on toward Falme. Nynaeve hopes that by the time they get there, she can stop being afraid and start being angry.

=====

(1) What is this feeling? Dread, oh definitely dread. (2) We could've done without using that as the descriptor but sure. (3) Oh, no. If I didn't have a nausea response to just the sight of the collar icon, this'd do it. (4) Curious. How can she see someone holding the One Power? So far, only someone who could channel could see that aura, and only after learning how to channel themselves… but I don't think the Seanchan are leashing only some channelers and leaving others loose, with their whole bias going on, do you? And besides that, how did Suroth know that Nynaeve was so powerful? (5) So, who is their mutual master, and why would he want Egwene and Nynaeve out of the picture? Is it too soon to give it away, or had you already guessed that Liandrin served the Dark, which is why she was so suspicious up to here. Who else would want these two, the most powerful channelers found in hundreds of years, out of the way? Only the Dark One, or one of his generals pretending to his identity, wanting to be sure these young women wouldn't be in any position to interfere. (6) Nothing like a hostage to guarantee good behaviour. (7) Renna is so practiced in the art of breaking people, you could wonder if she was brought specifically for her skill in this area and obedience, if she's not a Darkfriend her own self. The kindness in between the punishments is so… affecting. (8) That's funny, that's the name of one of the later books… (9) So much information about Seanchan culture in this chapter, and yet it's interspersed with such horror as to make it hard to remember. Bookmark it for later if you think they might be an important part of the story. (10) See, Nyn knows a few correct things about people and appropriate responses.

[cha-faile]

Have seen a few show-onlies say that book readers told them that Egwene's damane training was fade to black in the books. um??? did we read the same books??

Excerpts from The Great Hunt below the cut...

"Balling her fist tightly, Egwene hit the woman as hard as she could, right in her eye—and staggered and fell to her knees herself, head ringing. It felt as if a large man had struck her in the face."

-

“The very first thing you must learn,” Renna said, “is to do exactly as you are told, and without delay.” Egwene gasped. Suddenly her skin burned and prickled as if she had rolled in stinging nettles, from the soles of her feet to her scalp. She tossed her head as the burning sensation increased. “Many sul’dam,” Renna went on in that almost friendly tone, “do not believe damane should be allowed names, or at least only names they are given. But I am the one who took you, so I will be in charge of your training, and I will allow you to keep your own name. If you do not displease me too far. I am mildly upset with you now. Do you really wish to keep on until I am angry?” Quivering, Egwene gritted her teeth. Her nails dug into her palms with the effort of not scratching wildly. Idiot! It’s only your name. “Egwene,” she managed to get out. “I am Egwene al’Vere.” Instantly the burning itch was gone. She let out a long, unsteady breath. “Egwene,” Renna said. “That is a good name.” And to Egwene’s horror, Renna patted her on the head as she would a dog.

-

“No!” Egwene shouted. She heard Renna curse softly, and suddenly the burning itch covered her skin again, worse than before, but she did not stop. “Please! High Lady, please! She is my friend!” Pain such as she had never known wracked her through the burning. Every muscle knotted and cramped; she pitched on her face in the dirt, mewling, but she could still see Elbar’s heavy, curved blade come free of its sheath, see him raise it with both hands. “Please! Oh, Min!” Abruptly, the pain was gone as if it had never been; only the memory remained.

-

Egwene cried out as a switch seemed to lash across her back, then another across her leg, her arm. From every direction they seemed to come; she knew there was nothing to block, but she could not help throwing her arms about as if to stop the blows. She bit her lip to stifle her moans, but tears still rolled down her cheeks. Bela whinnied and danced, but Renna’s grip on the silver leash kept her from carrying Egwene away. None of the soldiers even looked back. “What are you doing to her?” Min shouted. “Egwene? Stop it!” “You live on sufferance . . . Min, is it?” Renna said mildly. “Let this be a lesson for you as well. So long as you try to interfere, it will not stop.” Min raised a fist, then let it fall. “I won’t interfere. Only, please, stop it. Egwene, I’m sorry.” The unseen blows went on for a few moments more, as if to show Min her intervention had done nothing, then ceased, but Egwene could not stop shuddering. The pain did not go away this time. She pushed back the sleeve of her dress, thinking to see weals; her skin was unmarked, but the feel of them was still there.

-

Suddenly the invisible switches were back, striking at her everywhere. Yelling, she tried to hit Renna, but the sul’dam casually knocked her fist away, and Egwene felt as if Renna had hit her arm with a stick. She dug her heels into Bela’s flanks, but the sul’dam’s grip on the leash nearly pulled her out of her saddle. Frantically she reached for saidar, meaning to hurt Renna enough to make her stop, just the kind of hurt she herself had been given. The sul’dam shook her head wryly; Egwene howled as her own skin was suddenly scalded. Not until she fled from saidar completely did the burn begin to fade, and the unseen blows never ceased or slowed. She tried to shout that she would try, if only Renna would stop, but all she could manage was to scream and writhe. Dimly, she was aware of Min shouting angrily and trying to ride to her side, of Alwhin tearing Min’s reins from her hands, of another sul’dam speaking sharply to her damane, who looked at Min. And then Min was yelling, too, arms flapping as if trying to ward off blows or beat away stinging insects. In her own pain, Min’s seemed distant. Their cries together were enough to make some of the soldiers twist in their saddles. After one look, they laughed and turned back. How sul’dam dealt with damane was no affair of theirs. To Egwene it seemed to go on forever, but at last there was an end. She lay sprawled weakly across the cantle of her saddle, cheeks wet with tears, sobbing into Bela’s mane. The mare whickered uneasily. “It is good that you have spirit,” Renna said calmly. “The best damane are those who have spirit to be shaped and molded.” Egwene squeezed her eyes shut. She wished she could close her ears, too, to shut out Renna’s voice. I have to get away. I have to, but how? Nynaeve, help me. Light, somebody help me. “You will be one of the best,” Renna said in tones of satisfaction. Her hand stroked Egwene’s hair, a mistress soothing her dog.

-

That was one of the properties of the a’dam; if a damane tried to channel without a sul’dam wearing her bracelet, she felt sick, and the more of the Power she channeled, the sicker she became. Lighting a candle beyond the reach of her arm would have made Egwene vomit. Once Renna had ordered her to juggle her tiny balls of light with the bracelet lying on the table. Remembering still made her shudder. Now, the silver leash snaked across the bare floor and up the unpainted wooden wall to where the bracelet hung on a peg. The sight of it hanging there made her jaws clench with fury. A dog leashed so carelessly could have run away. If a damane moved her bracelet as much as a foot from where it had last been touched by a sul’dam. . . . Renna had made her do that, too—had made her carry her own bracelet across the room. Or try to. She was sure it had only been minutes before the sul’dam snapped the bracelet firmly on her own wrist, but to Egwene the screaming and the cramps that had had her writhing on the floor had seemed to go on for hours.

-

“They can’t even help themselves, Min. I only talked to one—her name is Ryma; the sul’dam don’t call her that, but that’s her name; she wanted to make sure I knew it—and she told me there is another. She told me in between bouts of tears. She’s Aes Sedai, and she was crying, Min! She has a collar on her neck, they make her answer to Pura, and she can’t do anything more about it than I can. They captured her when Falme fell. She was crying because she’s beginning to stop fighting against it, because she cannot take being punished anymore. She was crying because she wants to take her own life, and she cannot even do that without permission. Light, I know how she feels!”

-

Egwene took a deep breath and reached for the hilt. A soft quiver ran through the muscles of her arm. As her hand came within a foot of the knife, a cramp suddenly contorted her fingers. Eyes fixed, she tried to force her hand closer. The cramp seized her whole arm, knotting muscles to her shoulder. With a groan, she sank back, rubbing her arm and concentrating her thoughts on not touching the knife. Slowly, the pain began to lessen.

-

Egwene went on dully, as if the other woman had not spoken. “They are training me, Min. The sul’dam and the a’dam are training me. I cannot touch anything I even think of as a weapon. A few weeks ago I considered hitting Renna over the head with that pitcher, and I could not pour wash water for three days. Once I’d thought of it that way, I not only had to stop thinking about hitting her with it, I had to convince myself I would never, under any circumstances, hit her with it before I could touch it again. She knew what had happened, told me what I had to do, and would not let me wash anywhere except with that pitcher and bowl. You are lucky it happened between your visiting days. Renna made sure I spent those days sweating from the time I woke to the time I fell asleep, exhausted. I am trying to fight them, but they are training me as surely as they’re training Pura.” She clapped a hand to her mouth, moaning through her teeth. “Her name is Ryma. I have to remember her name, not the name they’ve put on her. She is Ryma, and she’s Yellow Ajah, and she has fought them as long and as hard as she could. It is no fault of hers that she hasn’t the strength left to fight any longer. I wish I knew who the other sister is that Ryma mentioned. I wish I knew her name. Remember both of us, Min. Ryma, of the Yellow Ajah, and Egwene al’Vere. Not Egwene the damane; Egwene al’Vere of Emond’s Field. Will you do that?”

-

“You have been channeling.” Renna’s voice was deceptively mild; there was a spark of anger in her eyes. “You know that is forbidden except when we are complete.” Egwene wet her lips. “Perhaps I have been too lenient with you. Perhaps you believe that because you are valuable now, you will be allowed license. I think I made a mistake letting you keep your old name. I had a kitten called Tuli when I was a child. From now on, your name is Tuli. You will go now, Min. Your visiting day with Tuli is ended.” Min hesitated only long enough for one anguished look at Egwene before leaving. Nothing Min could say or do would do anything except make matters worse, but Egwene could not help looking longingly at the door as it closed behind her friend. Renna took the chair, frowning at Egwene. “I must punish you severely for this. We will both be called to the Court of the Nine Moons—you for what you can do; I as your sul’dam and trainer—and I will not allow you to disgrace me in the eyes of the Empress. I will stop when you tell me how much you love being damane and how obedient you will be after this. And, Tuli. Make me believe every word.”

-

Outside in the low-ceilinged hallway, Min dug her nails into her palms at the first piercing cry from the room. She took a step toward the door before she could stop herself, and when she did stop, tears sprang up in her eyes. Light help me, all I can do is make it worse. Egwene, I’m sorry. I’m sorry. Feeling worse than useless, she picked up her skirts and ran, and Egwene’s screams pursued her. She could not make herself stay, and leaving made her feel a coward. Half blind with weeping, she found herself in the street before she knew it. She had intended to go back to her room, but now she could not do it. She could not stand the thought that Egwene was being hurt while she sat warm and safe under the next roof. Scrubbing the tears from her eyes, she swept her cloak around her shoulders and started down the street. Every time she cleared her eyes, new tears began trickling along her cheeks. She was not accustomed to weeping openly, but then she was not accustomed to feeling so helpless, so useless. She did not know where she was going, only that it had to be as far as she could reach from Egwene’s cries.

-

[Egwene] gave an abrupt squeak. “That’s Seta. How . . . ?” Her voice hardened so that Nynaeve barely recognized it. “I’d like to put her in a pot of boiling water.” Seta had her eyes squeezed shut, and her hands clutched her skirts; she was trembling. “What have they done to you?” Elayne exclaimed. “What could they do to make you want something like that?” Egwene never took her eyes off the Seanchan woman. “I’d like to make her feel it. That’s what she did to me, made me feel like I was neck deep in. . . .” She shuddered. “You do not know what it is like wearing one of these, Elayne. You don’t know what they can do to you. I can never decide whether Seta is worse than Renna, but they’re all hateful.”

-

Suddenly Egwene threw herself against Nynaeve, sobbing raggedly at her breast. “She hurt me, Nynaeve. She hurt me. They all did. They hurt me, and hurt me, until I did what they wanted. I hate them. I hate them for hurting me, and I hate them because I couldn’t stop them from making me do what they wanted.”

[thosegayoldmen]

WIP Wednesday

Thanks for the tag! @lokimobius This is a small snippet from a multichapter AU I'm co-writing with @mythical-magik and @kusakichan15. I can't give too many details about it, but suffice to say it is turning out to be a LOT bigger of a project than we first anticipated 😅 So enjoy this little bit from a scene we wrote recently! I promise it won't be TOO long before the fic actually starts coming out 😋

Ravonna is packing up her satchel, as Loki enters the office. “Mr Laufeyson.” She greets. Dismissing the two hunters that escorted the variant with the wave of her hand. Loki looks around, noticing how it's just himself, the judge and another hunter standing beside her, a hand resting on his time stick. “I've got a lead on a case, and you'll be helping Mobius by coming along.” He looks at her sceptically. “Me?” he points to himself, quizzically. “Yes, you.” She pauses. “Intel gathering.” She elbarates only a little, gesturing to the hunter beside her and then to the variant. “Put on the collar." “I beg your pardon?" his eyes go wide, looking down at the collar being held out to him. Ravonna sighs and rolls her eyes crossing her arms across her chest, her patience already running thin. “Do you want to help Mobius or not?" She snaps, and Loki glares at her. "…Of course I do!” He grumbles back, not appreciating her questioning his loyalties. "Then put on the collar and follow me." He snatches the collar out of the hunter's hand, rolling his eyes and moving his hair out the way as he fits it around his neck. It whirs to life, and he catches how Ravonna is watching him. “Happy?” His tone is laced with sarcasm, arms outstretched and she nods, opening a timedoor. “We’re going from here - what about a team?” He glances around at the three of them, half expecting more hunters to step out of the shadows, but seeing no one. “Intel gathering.” She repeats like it's obvious. He narrows his eyes. Intel gathering. The timedoor opens, and she's waiting for him to step up beside her, the hunter stepping up behind him and nudging him forwards. “I can walk, thank you very much! You don't have to-” “Move.” The hunter is holding up the non lethal end of the timestick, ready to nudge him through the timedoor but Loki doesn’t give them a chance. He steps in line with Ravonna and through to the other side.

Pretty sure these people have already been tagged but heeeere we go 😅 No pressure, as always 😜 @kcscribbler @mythical-magik @kusakichan15 @natendo-art

[rosinaperfumery]

#stephanehumbertlucas#panthea#rosinaperfumery#elbar#oneandonly

[morbiderotica]

I love how you analyze things 🥺 I think my problem is that I have these wide, detailed ideas and stories but then I just keep them in my head because I don't think anyone but me would be interested in them. Especially since I flesh out the insert character more than them being a blank slate anyone can project on.

Part of me thinking about an LA s/o was based in an idea I had where Mello went to kill someone for the mafia, only to find he's a few minutes too late because someone else beat him to the punch. Iirc it's stated that Mello has been in Rod Ross's group for a year and a half when he's introduced with them, though I figure he's probably been working with them longer than that so he could earn trust and an understanding of the criminal underworld he was entering into. Maybe doing some odd jobs or drug runs. There's way more to it than that but I don't want to dump a bunch of garbage into your ask box.

THANK YOU! id love to hear more about your thoughts! i love talking about things like this and my ask box is always open for these kinds of things!

i'd love for you to elbarate more on the first part of what you were talking about.

"Part of me thinking about an LA s/o was based in an idea I had where Mello went to kill someone for the mafia, only to find he's a few minutes too late because someone else beat him to the punch."

id love to hear all your thoughts about this<3

i def feel like when he first started getting into the mafia scene (if that's what you wanna call it) he was definitely not running everything like we see in the manga/anime. i don't think him starting out by doing odd jobs (or jobs nobody wanted to do) or drug runs are far fetched at all.

[vikaflora-margarita]

A Helping Hand

A D&D themed birthday gift to my friend halooshka, depicting her fallen noble human fighter Elbar and my travelling half-elf monk Fei Chaoshan!

The background is a screenshot from Angel's Share in Genshin Impact! I usually let my characters exist in a white void or stylised background, but it was crucial for this scene to happen in a tavern (and my background drawing skills aren't the best), so... modern problems require modern solutions, I guess!

My goal with this drawing was to depict two figures physically interacting with one another, and I think I succeeded! I also am pretty happy with the warm lighting effects I tried out~

[aldiyaralasrea]

قرية دوراي باي رأس البر

قرية دوراي باي رأس البر هي واحدة من مشاريع شركة ماستر بلدر للتطوير العقاري، وتُعتبر فرصة فريدة للعملاء للاستمتاع بجو يشبه المنتجعات العالمية خلال عطلاتهم. يتوفر في هذا المشروع تشكيلة واسعة من الشاليهات والفلل المستقلة لتناسب احتياجات العملاء المتنوعة. وقد حرصت الشركة على توفير جميع الخدمات والمرافق التي تضمن الراحة للسكان، بدءًا من اختيار الموقع المثالي في أكثر المناطق حيوية ومشهورة، وصولاً إلى التصميم الحديث للقرية بتوقيع نخبة من المصممين والمعماريين المبدعين.

كما نجحت شركة ماستر بلدر العقارية في تحقيق التنوع في مساحات الوحدات واختيارها بناءً على احتياجات السكان، سواء كانت شاليهات أو فلل أو وحدات فندقية، وهذه الخطوة الهامة تأتي في إطار سعيها لضمان راحة نفسية لجميع السكان. كما توفر الشركة تسهيلات كثيرة في أسعار الوحدات لتلبية متطلبات العملاء، مع وجود أنظمة حجز وتقسيط مريحة تتيح الوقت الكافي للسداد، بدءًا من أقل مقدم ممكن وتقسيط المبلغ المتبقي على عدة سنوات بدون فوائد، بالإضافة إلى توفر جميع المرافق الخدمية والترفيهية في القرية لتلبية احتياجات السكان في أي وقت من اليوم.

قريةدورايبايرأسالبر #عقاراتمصر #الديارالعصرية

[elfbar-vape]

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[pepiempanadas]

elbar sinso

[howardhawkshollywoodannex]

Talk to Her (2002) was photographed by Javier Aguirresarobe. Javier was born in Elbar, Spain, and has three entries among my best 1,001 movies - The Road, Blue Jasmine, and Thor: Ragnarok. This is his first honorable mention.