#kept getting the spinning wheel of buffering

[warpedwings]

Misha Collins - Sunglasses

📷: PriorStudios [Can't find accts for the other watermarks.]

It's sunny here and l couldn't resist. 😎

[apocalypticavolition]

Let's (re)Read The Great Hunt! Chapters 49: What Was Meant to Be & 50: After

If this is your first time seeing one of my posts, you might assume that it's safe to read this post if you've finished the first couple of books of The Wheel of Time. This is a very foolish assumption. My reread is for the whole damn series, so don't keep going unless you like spoilers for everything!

Both of these chapters have the Wheel icon as we're closing out the story.

His memory came in flashes and patches. Old things he could remember, but the last few days seemed like bits of broken mirror, spinning through his mind, showing glimpses that were gone before he could see them clearly.

And this explains why Rand doesn't retain all of his character development going forward: he forgets it all. Dammit Rand.

“Nynaeve? Elayne? How? You were all in Falme?”

Note that these questions go unanswered. Rand presumably gets filled in offscreen in between this book and the next, but we're starting our trend of him being kept out of the loop by the others.

“They are gone,” she said. “Saying ‘no’ won’t change it.”

Min is really not demonstrating herself as a fated love interest to Rand here. She doesn't understand what he's talking about, she's frustrated he's upset he didn't get to see Egwene, and she's only bringing a little emotional support here. The best she's got is trying to buffer him and Moiraine and obviously that's not gonna work. I'm not saying these are bad choices; they barely know each other, why should they act like perfect soulmates? But it's a shocking transition after Min's certainty and Lanfear's gloating.

“I wish you weren’t here,” he told the Aes Sedai. “As far as I am concerned, you can go back to wherever you’ve been hiding and stay there.”

Yeah, Moiraine pulling a Gandalf doesn't really work with her because she's not anywhere near established enough of a figure in this world. I don't blame Rand at all for calling her out, and frankly I'm not impressed with whatever it was she was doing offscreen, which has amounted to nothing practical.

What resulted was neither Padan Fain nor Mordeth, but something far more evil, a blend of the two. Fain—let us call him that—is more dangerous than you can believe.

Indeed, he's especially dangerous because the two forces should annihilate on contact but apparently preserve themselves through his flesh, which seems like a particularly unstable arrangement.

“Your battle took place across the sky, in full view of every soul in Falme. Perhaps in other towns on Toman Head, too, if half what I hear is to be believed.”

An inexplicable miracle. I still don't think there's any real guess as to what might have caused it. I guess the Wheel was just desperate to make things work.

He remembered being called Lews Therin; not only by Ba’alzamon, but by Artur Hawkwing. “I won’t. Light, the Dragon is supposed to Break the World again, to tear everything apart. I will not be the Dragon.”

Two books in and Rand is still trying to refuse the call. But can you really blame him, considering what the Dragon stands for in popular iconography? Any man who'd want to be the Dragon Reborn would be a horrible choice.

When all seven are broken, perhaps even before, the patch men put over the hole they drilled into the prison the Creator made will be torn asunder, and the Dark One will once more be able to put his hand through that hole and touch the world.

Indeed the Dark One's touch is only going to get more extreme, especially once the fourth seal is broken. Let's keep our eyes open next book for any other signs of their weakening besides the rest of the Forsaken being freed no later than this point.

But it did not change the way he felt about Tam, and Emond’s Field was the only home he had ever known. Fain is the important thing. I have one duty left. Stopping him.

Which is why Rand will flee cross country past the Two Rivers and straight to Tear. I don't think it's a disconnect in the story though; we'll see why he becomes more focused on the latter mission later.

“Why would I not stay?” Loial said. “You are even more ta’veren than I believed, true, but you are still my friend. I hope you are still my friend.”

Loial is one hell of a friend. Plenty of people could have run off at this point and I wouldn't blame them.

“It is said,” the one-eyed man said carefully, “that when the Dragon is Reborn, he will break all oaths, shatter all ties. Nothing holds us, now. We would give our oaths to you.”

Note that Rand doesn't demand they break their oaths but rather they interpret his presence as being reason enough to supersede them.

Masema, who hated him. Masema, who looked at him as if seeing a vision of the Light.

Even now Masema is clearly too turbulent to be a good ally.

They were all watching him, all waiting. Death is lighter than a feather, duty heavier than a mountain. He made his decision.

Fake cliffhanger! You know there's really no chance of things going the one way.

—from Charal Drianaan te Calamon, The Cycle of the Dragon, Author unknown, the Fourth Age

Spoilers, geez! Though technically you could argue that perhaps this is from the last fourth age. It's not actually specific enough to be any Fourth Age for certain. Note as well further evidence of translation convention in effect: Calamon is clearly the word for "Dragon" and an obvious corruption of Telamon.

In any event, that's book two! I'm going to be taking another break; supposed to be getting a new laptop soon and think I'm going to start using it as my reading machine because I'm just getting annoyed doing it on a tablet. Until next time folks.

[venactricisfics]

Down Time

Part 1      Part 2

The Unit Based Story

The mission I was tasked with this time was more terrifying than any I had been on before.  I couldn’t take Beau with me or my gun. I was meeting the Unit wives for the first time.  I never enjoyed meeting my squadmate’s wives. They seemed to assume that I would be a liability for them or a distraction.  I even had one wife assume that I was interested in her husband off the battlefield. 

It was a barbecue at Jonas’ house.  Semi-lowkey. And only three of the five were married.  So at least I’d have Charlie and Hector as buffers. 

I balanced a bowl of potato salad in my arm as I step out of my SUV and walked to the door.  I wore a pink tank and light jean shorts.  I felt more feminine than I normally did at the office.  I pause debating between knocking or making a run for it. 

The door swings open as I lift my hand to knock, “Welcome, come in.” 

“Thank you for inviting me, Mrs. Blane,” I step over the threshold and follow her through the house to the back yard.

“Molly, please,” she told me, “You’re Mitch?” 

“Yes, ma’am,” I respond relaxing a little when I see Bob and Mack with their wives sitting at the picnic table. I shake Bob’s wife, Kim’s hand while Mack’s wife, Tiffy’s takes the bowl from me.  They seemed normal enough. For wives.  I still felt like I was an exhibit in the zoo. 

“Did you bring your dog?” A little girl about five asks me. “Daddy says we can’t have a dog cause it’s a lot of work.” 

“That’s our daughter Serena,” Kim tells me.

“Your daddy is right,” I kneel down to her level, “Beau is a lot of work but he’s a working dog so I have to keep him at the kennel so someone can take care of him all the time. One of the cadets is feeding him his dinner right now.” 

“Oh,” she says, “what does he eat?” 

“Kibble mostly,” I answer, “though he did try to eat Col Ryan’s boots one time,” I give her a smile, “while he was still wearing them.”

“I’m gonna go play with Lissie,” she says and runs off to play with the other girls. 

“She’s cute,” I stand back up.  

“We think so,” Bob responds.  I glance around looking for my single squadmates.  Was I early? The only thing worse than being a female soldier surrounded by Army wives was being the only single person at an event with couples.

I take an offered seat as I’m asked about my life before Fort Griffith.  I told them about my family.  I was the youngest of five, the only girl.  Two were military men, one went to college, and the other moved to California to become an actor. 

After a half-hour of being prodded and poked about myself, I noticed that Charlie had slipped in undetected. I felt his gaze. I welcomed it by giving him a smile before turning my attention back to the conversation. 

"What's your housing like?" Kim asked.  

"I'm still in the barracks, " I respond. "It was supposed to be temporary but it is taking longer than I thought to get into an apartment." 

"Transition to Unit housing doesn't take this long, normally,  " Molly said. "Jonas?"

"Unique circumstances, sweetheart, " he responded. 

“My roommate options are limited,” I tell them, “and there’s a waiting list for a single. ” I couldn’t have a non-Unit roommate and well there were no other women in the Unit. 

“It’ll get sorted soon enough,” Jonas says, “food is ready.”  I grab a plate and find an empty seat next to Charlie.  

“Hey, you,” I sit my plate on the table and step into the picnic table seat as ladylike as possible. I give him a smile, “I’m shit at small talk. You wanna come to the Stand with me tonight?”

“I’d like that,” he takes a drink of his beer then narrows his eyes in thought, “but I can’t, I promised Hector I’d double with his girl and her sister.” 

“Oh,” my shoulders slump a little, “cool. Maybe some other time.”

“For sure,” he gives me a killer smile. The rest of the meal we chatted between each other and the other guys, careful to keep the topic off of our missions. 

"Thank you for having me, you have a lovely home, Molly, " I say as the party starts to wind down. I dig my keys from my pocket and head to my SUV.

"Hey, Mitch, " I turn towards Charlie's voice and stop. 

"Yeah?"

"You still going out tonight?" He asked. 

“It has been a hell of a first week,” I respond as I open the car door, “I think I need it.” 

“Yeah, it gets easier,” he says resting his hands on his hips.

“No complaints of course,” I give him a smile, “I’m used to it. Some dudes have to put down the little woman to make them hard.”

“I never heard it put like that,” Charlie gives me a smile in return.  “Hector and I may stop by the Stand after the movie if the girls are up for it.”

It was that last bit that dashed the bit of hope that had swelled.  Fifth wheel, great. I kept my smile painted on, “Y’all should come out. It’ll be a great time.”

“I’ll see you there then,” he gives my hand a squeeze before turning to walk toward his own car. The man confused me. Only because he didn’t seem to be like any other man I’d known before. I glance in the rearview a moment, if I really thought about it, all of them were different.  

A couple of hours later I’m squeezed into a pair of tight jeans and top that made me feel and look like a woman. Dressing up and putting on makeup can make you feel like a new person. Being in the Army can sometimes make you forget you've got curves and swerves. Tonight I was flaunting them. 

"You want to dance?" A tall guy asked as he leaned against the bar next to me. I could feel the Latin beat in my hips. 

"Sure, " I give the handsome stranger a smile before letting him lead me to the dance floor.  I felt the music. Smiling and dancing with him for the next few songs. He seemed to be a perfect distraction. As the music slowed I asked, "You wanna get a drink?" He nods and we make our way back to the bar. 

"Hey, " a familiar smiling voice calls from behind me. I turn to find Charlie and Hector with their dates standing behind me. 

"Hi, " I turn to my companion, "I'd introduce you but I don't think I caught your name." 

"John, " he says to me.

"I'm Mitch, " I respond, "this is Charlie and Hector, my… coworkers and their dates."

"Alison, " Hector introduces his girlfriend, "and her sister Kelly." 

"There's a big table open in the corner, " I motion, "y'all want to grab it." My Southern accent flows from my lips more freely after a couple drinks. 

"I'll  bring our drinks, " John says, waiting for the bartender, "I'll be over soon."  I didn't think anything of it. 

Though I suppose hindsight is what it is. 

"You look good, " Charlie whispers as he pulls out a chair for me than his date. 

"Thanks, don't get the chance to get pretty very often, " I reply. I felt John behind me close before he set the beer bottle in front of me.  The conversation flowed. I finished my beer and promptly John gets me another. I felt the second one go straight to my head. I blink through the dizziness. 

"I'll be right back, " I stand, "I think I need some air." 

"I'll join you, " John says with a sweet smile pulled across his lips.  His hands seem to be all over me the moment we step outside. I didn't want it. I pushed him. But my movements were sluggish. "Let me make you feel good." He whispered as he pushed me against the brick wall of the bar. 

"Stop!" I use the last of my strength to plant a knee in his crotch. He stumbled back and I tried to regain control of myself but I felt my face get cold and the whole world spin as I slide down the wall. 

"Mitch, are you ok?" My chin is lifted so my eyes meet Charlie's. 

"I don't think so, " I felt groggy. "I only had two beers." 

"I know, " he says, "Kelly said she saw him put something in your drink." 

"Oh, " I rest my hand on his hand, feeling the cuts, "what happened to you?"

"Might have punched him a couple times, " he smiles, "Can you stand?" 

"Maybe, " my legs were as wobbly as a newborn deer as I try to stand. “I’m normally not this stupid.” I steady myself holding onto his arms, “What happened to your date?”

“She let a friend of mine get drugged so I lost interest,” he looped his arm around my waist, “not that I was really interested before.”

“Sounds like a shitty person,” I lean into him a little and feel my pockets, “I can’t find my phone.” 

“Who you gotta call?” he walks me back to the door of the bar where Hector stands with the girls.

“Cab,” I respond, “don’t think I should drive if I’m seeing two of you.” 

“You OK, Mitch?” Hector asks. I give him a nod.  “I’m taking Alison and her sister home,” he says and looks to Charlie, “you need me to come back?”

“Don’t think so,” Charlie responds, “I’ll get her home.  See you when you get back.” Hector gives me an apologetic look before walking with his girlfriend and her sister back to his car.  "Where are your keys?" He asked me. 

"Pocket, " I pat my hip stumbling a little. "I can't get them out." 

"This is not exactly how I pictured getting into your pants, " he fishes my keys from my pocket. 

"Me neither, " my words slurred. "I don't know if you can tonight. I'm so tired." He holds me up as we walk to my car. He fastened my seatbelt then climbed in the driver's seat and drove us back to the base. I drifted in and out of consciousness, vaguely remember the guard at the checkpoint talking to Charlie. 

"Where are we?" I groan as he helps me from the car. 

"My place, " he says, "I can't leave you alone like this." 

"K, " I rest my head against his shoulder as he scoops me up in his arms, nodding off a little. He carries me up the steps and into his apartment. 

"Stay awake for a little while longer, Mitch, " he says as he carries me down the hall and into the bathroom. I sit down on the edge of the bathtub as he looks me over.  I groan when he shines a light in my eyes, "Almost done." He smiles, then takes my temperature. "You'll be ok. Just need to sleep it off. Wait here." I'm not sure where he was expecting I was going. My legs were so weak I couldn't imagine moving. A moment later he comes back with a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. "Can you do this?" he asks. I try to stand but he catches me as I stumble. 

"I'm sorry, " if I were completely in my right mind I would be more embarrassed as my fingers fumble with the button of my pants. "This normally isn't this hard. I have good underwear on though." 

"Is that right?" He steadies me and helps me peel the tight jeans down my hips. Then he helps me step in a pair of running shorts. Taking care not to look too long at my black lace panties. He helps me off with my top and on with a t-shirt. I lock my glassy gaze on him for a long time, then lean forward, dangerously close. 

"When you are yourself again, ok?" He says pulling back from the near kiss. I nod. He was probably right. "Let's get you to bed." 

"K, " I responded. He scoops me up again and carries me into his room, keeping the door open he lays me on the bed. I start to doze but jump at hearing his front door open then close again. 

"It's just Hector, " he says. 

"I like Hector, he's nice, " I mumble as I snuggle into the pillow. It smells like Charlie. 

"I brought saline bags from the cave, " I heard Hector say. "Do you know how much he gave her?" 

"Don't know, she was fine when we first got there, seemed to hit pretty fast, " Charlie responded. "I'll stay up with her." 

"We can take shifts, " Hector stated. 

"You're on duty in the morning. I've got the day, " Charlie replied and looks back at me then steps out of the room for a minute. I lost track of their conversation and drift off into a dreamless sleep. 

I squeeze my eyes tight to keep the room from spinning but it wouldn’t stop, “Bathroom.” I groan as I try to climb from the bed, hand over my mouth.  Charlie helps me to my feet and guides me across the hall to the bathroom, holding my hair back as everything I ever have eaten in my life comes up. 

I sit down on the bathroom floor leaning back against the wall, keeping my eyes closed, “What happened?” 

“That guy, John, put GHB in your drink,” Charlie says as he places a cool cloth on the back of my neck. 

“Shit,” I open my eyes a sliver trying to focus on him. “Did he?”

“No, we stopped him,” he hands me a cup of water. 

“I’m not this stupid normally,” I take a sip turning my eyes to focus on the wall. “Thank you for looking out for me.” 

“Not your fault,” he said, “and don’t worry about it. You want to lay back down?” I nodded, taking his hand to help me back up. I still felt wobbly on my legs as we walked back to his room and settled back on his bed. He put an extra pillow behind my head to prop me up.

His room was minimal.  I suppose like most single men in the army. He did have an impressive firearm display mounted to his wall.  Vintage and working. “I’m not really surprised by that,” I look back at him sitting in a chair on the other side of the room. “You’re not sleeping over there are you?”

“Na,” he says, “I’m staying up. Keep an eye on you.” 

“I’m fine,” I sit up and the room starts spinning again, “or I’ll be fine.” 

“Right,” he smiles and comes over to help me get settled again, “just let me take care of you, woman. It’s not a weakness.” 

“It’s not?” I ask settling back, “I let some asshole in a bar drug me. You beat him up and here I am.”

“It was you,” he said, “you kicked the shit out of him. I got there after. So lay back and get some rest.”

“Ok,” I let him tuck me back under the blankets, “but you’re not sitting in the chair all night,” I motion to the empty spot beside me, “I’m not budging on this one soldier.” 

“You sure?” he asked.

“I’m not asking you to sleep with me,” I said, “Well I guess technically I am. But if we did anything more than actually sleep I’d probably puke again. And that would spoil the moment don’t you think?” 

“Probably,” he says back with a smile, “I don’t want to take advantage of you.” 

“You’re not,” I yawn pushing my hair from my face, “I trust you.” 

“You need fluids,” he said.

“Sleepy, later,” I grumble. He smiles, shaking his head at me as he grabs the bag of fluids, “You’ll feel better, sweetheart.” I stick my arm out, for him to start the IV, keeping my eyes closed, barely wincing as he inserts the needle. “Get some rest. I’ll be here.”  I feel the bed shift beside me as he sits on top of the blankets beside me.