#legend of the seven stars liveblog

[retro-system]

the miscallaneous adventures of super mario rpg mario in marrymore:

trampled on a wedding cake

fought that cake not long after

rammed two wedding church doors open with a snifit and bowser

got his photo taken at a stranger's wedding

officiated another stranger's wedding

got a little kissy from bowser and booster, on each cheek

[thebibliomancer]

Song of the Dark Crystal liveblog pt 17

Song of the Dark Crystal by J.M. Lee because no time to stop and wonder who stabbed Tavra, we have a flute to find!

Last times on book: Kylan, Naia, and Tavra have traveled to the Cave of Obscurity to find a magic firca that will help them warn all Gelfing about the Skeksis. Maudra Argot agrees to lend them the thing and also lends them her delightful son Amri to lead them to it. Also, someone stabbed Tavra and she’s peeved.

Chapter 17

The group travels to the Tomb of Relics, Amri explains the Vapran/Grottan animosity

Amri was busy while he was off-screen in the back half of the previous chapter.

He told Maudra Argot what happened and the maudra is speaking to everyone one at a time trying to find the one responsible for attacking Tavra.

Kylan says that he doesn’t think Tavra will bring the Wrath of the All-Maudra down on the Grottan if Amri helps them find the firca. Which he was already going to do so dunno why you’re doing the hard sell, Kylan.

Amri runs off to let Argot know that they’ll be leaving for the Tomb of Relics right away.

Leaving Kylan alone in a group of Grottan which murmur to themselves and avoid returning his greeting.

If they had garnered any trust within the Grottan clan, it was dashed after Tavra’s disruption. Maudra Argot had been welcoming, but only to a point. The fact was, they were outsiders in the Caves of Grot, and the Grottan loyalty would always be to their own clan, as Maudra Fara’s had been to the Stonewood.

Uniting the clans is going to be a hard sell, it sounds like.

Amri returns and he and Kylan meet back up with Naia and Tavra. Amri bows respectfully to Tavra and tells her that the Tomb of Relics is about a half day’s journey through the tunnels.

Tavra says ok lets go now, i want to leave this cave.

Even though this would be the last time Amri would be home for a long time and even though he doesn’t have any traveling gear or even shoes, Amri gamely agrees to leave right away.

Good sport, Amri.

He does ask for a second to say goodbye, which he does by tapping on the wall.

He placed his hand against the cave wall and tapped with a finger. There was no sound to the open air, but after they waited a moment, Amri pressed his ear against the rock and listened. Kylan did, too, and heard a faint rhythmic tapping, carrying strongly through the dense rock. He had heard it before but not known what it was. So that was how the Grottan could communicate through the tunnels so silently.

That’s neat!

Just a fun concept for a cave-dwelling clan of not-elves.

I wonder who he was saying goodbye to.

By conservation of detail, probably Maudra Argot, but hey, Amri probably has a clique he hang with. Plotting cave mischief and hanging at the cave mall.

Then, Amri leads the group off down a tunnel to the north. As they get further from the central cavern, it gets darker and darker.

Amri does okay with with his enormous eyes. Kylan has to keep one hand on Naia’s back and one on the wall so that he doesn’t lose her or the path.

Tavra seems to lag behind or lose the group a couple times. Kylan loses track of her footsteps a couple times but instead of holding onto the person in front like Kylan is, she does not do that.

Kylan wishes that they could use a torch but as Amri explains without being asked, light attracts bugs. Just so many bugs. Like oh my god so many.

The journey was more than uncomfortable. Kylan kept pushing down impulses of fear and panic of the dark and the closed-in areas. The others were not happy, but they didn’t seem to feel trapped as he did. To make matters worse, Tavra’s words rang in his mind, summoning a recurring sourness of guilt every time he recalled them. He had tried to reach out to her, but it had been at the worst time possible. The words had been jumbled and wrong, an embarrassment coming from a song teller. So, in the dark, Kylan composed a letter in his mind. One that he would write the next change he got, something he could put care into and give to the soldier when the time was right.

You’re an enormous dork, Kylan! But in a positive way, you enormous dork.

Just stewing in social anxiety in the dark and deciding to write a letter.

After I guess a half a day of travel, Amri stops and searches around in the dark until a lock clicks and a door swings open. Amri lights a crystal lantern and introduces the group to the TOME OF RELICS.

The room was circular, with three halls and the door through which they’d entered. The walls were lined with shelves, each stacked full of scrolls and books, boxes and crates, urns and pots, jars and flasks. From where they stood, he could see that the halls that radiated from the room were made of shelvs, full of more items. In the center of the room was a heavy wood tabl.e For examining the artifacts - the relics - Kylan imagined.

Hey, its like this place was made for Kylan! Look at all the reading you could do here!

Amri says he thinks there’s twelve chambers but he’s never actually been here before. Argot was the one who used to visit but she’s too old for that now.

I wonder if she dreamfasted the layout of the room to him. That would have been helpful.

But apparently she just told him where the firca was? In a wood box with a picture of a bell-bird.

Tavra suggests that they split up to cover more ground and then immediately takes off without waiting for agreement.

Amri has to admit she has a point.

Kylan’s imagination was coming out of hiding after the confrontation with Tavra and the suffocating journey here. He had always wanted to visit Stone-in-the-Wood to read all the tablets and songs kept there, but he had never even heard of the Tombs of Relics. Now that he was here, the wealth of knowledge and lore in the place was almost overwhelming.

Best boy Kylan asks Amri what the Tomb of Relics is and why it exists and why is it here

Geez, he wasn’t kidding about his imagination poking its head out. And the curiosity too seems like.

Amri tells Kylan that its “where mysterious and powerful objects are kept, so they aren’t lost to time and the elements” and that the Grottan have been charged to protect it and something called the Sanctuary.

Kylan assumes that Aughra charged the Grottan to protect the relics but Amri says nah, Thra. The planet Thra tasked them. Or at least according to legend.

Since Amri is in a sharing mood, Kylan asks why the Vapran and Grottan have such beef with each other. The Spriton and the Stonewood have a rivalry but nothing like this.

Amri says that it figures that Tavra wouldn’t have told them. Vaprans and their secrets, y’know.

He asks if Kylan ever heard of the story of the Six Sisters? The stories all differ but there’s a common consensus that the clans were founded by six sisters who all went their own way.

So, if there were six sisters, how are there seven clans?

Kylan had given it some thought before and decided that probably one of the sisters founded two clans but how and why never seemed important.

But with the context of the Grottan and Vapran hating each other and the similar skin tones, he realizes that they were the sister clans.

And the songs differ on explanations and every clan has their preferred version. But Amri shares the one Madura Argot prefers.

“She says that, in the beginning, Thra had seven duties to entrust to the Gelfling race. To the Dousan, the heavens: the study of the suns, moons, and stars. To the Sifan, the skies: the telling of signs and omens. To the Stonewood, the fire of the hearth: the keeping of songs and essence of our culture. To the Spriton, the foundation of the earth: the cultivation of the land and its creatures. To the Drenchen, the water of life: the care of medicine and healing. And to the Silver Sea clan, Thra entrusted the light and the shadow: the keeping of the Gelfling history, law, and records. This task was too great to be shouldered by one clan alone, and so the clan split in two. One took on the keepign of the past: our history and dark things that should be left in shadow. The other became the keeper of our future: our laws and philosophies that lead us toward the light.”

“I see where this is going,” Naia remarked.

“Both are important tasks. We all know there can be no light without darkness. Still, no one wants to be bonded to shadow forever! The sisters discussed it for a long time. In the end, it came to be this way: the Vapra and the Grottan. Some say we were banished. Maudra Argot says we chose to come to these dank caves, while the Vapra flit along the crystal coasts. It’s hard not to feel as if we are imprisoned sometimes. But... I know, truly it’s not the Vapra who charged us with this. It’s Thra itself.”

Me and Kylan both are super intrigued by all this new worldbuilding.

Maudra Mera passed down a lot of stuff to Kylan but never mentioned anything about the Spriton being charged to do them. He wonders if Mera knew or whether only the Grottan know.

I wonder if the Caves of Grot were still the Arathim’s original home, as in the show. The Arathim haven’t even been mentioned, although a lot of other spiders have been.

But if the Skeksis told some Gelfling to settle in this cave, it does add a wrinkle.

Amri then sighs and wiggles. I would like to see this in puppet.

He says that the Grottan may not like the Vapra “who look like us but are nothing like us” but that doesn’t excuse someone trying to shank Tavra. He promises to make it up to the group and suggests that they split up to find that important firca.

[chacusha]

Star Trek: Legends liveblogging (2/?)

More thoughts:

I've had the chance to check out Crusher. She's a bit tricky to use because a strategy involving her relies on damage being fairly evenly distributed across the whole party. That is, she doesn't work so well with a tank who is taunting or with enemy AI that focuses attacks on the weakest character (which I think is a thing some mobs do) -- McCoy is much better suited to those scenarios. I was able to get Crusher to work in story mode a bit with Geordi and a tank. If the tank is already behind cover, the tank can taunt and Geordi can put up new cover after the one in front of the tank breaks. This minimizes damage to the whole party. If the tank is not behind cover but two non-tank characters are, Geordi can cover the remaining non-tank character. In this case, the tank doesn't taunt and hopefully the enemies distribute their attacks roughly evenly. I think I should unlock another skill for Crusher, because otherwise she doesn't have much to do during the first couple of rounds other than weak attacks. A buffing skill would be great.

Hm... so I tried to give Crusher Sterilization field, but it takes TWO turns to activate, so that's not helpful.

God, every single one of Khan's animations is so Extra. I haven't seen the movie where he is the main antagonist so I have no idea how accurate this is, but it is so funny to me.

OMG I got Quark! I have no idea how to use him but I will find out once he's a bit more leveled up.

I love some of these alien planets featured in the story mode. The lighting and colors are so pretty!

Janeway is not bad to use in story mode, once I gave her Defense Pierce. It's not as good as Riker's (since it isn't available on turn 1) but it's a pretty beastly attack. I'm using Janeway with Seven of Nine and it works well for story mode because Seven of Nine's shielding ability will keep the party safe long enough for Janeway's demolishing attack to come out. In general, Seven of Nine's shielding ability is really good??

"Time to take out the trash!" -- I'm so glad they gave Janeway her super cheesy one-liners in this game.

Janeway is also quite a weird/situational character to use because her random attacks can really mess up a taunting strategy, and also sometimes distributing damage across multiple characters is actually useful, but also it can be pretty unreliable.

I'm using T'Pol and Seven of Nine together, which means I am halfway there to building my "badass women in unnecessary catsuits" squad. All I need is Deanna (not in this game) and Kira (currently too low power level, but maybe I should try to put her in because I'm curious) and it will be complete.

Update: Apparently Deanna is on her way 👀 And it's Commander Deanna too, so she's in her Starfleet uniform 👀👀

They made T'Pol a kick chick in this game. T'Pol's voice is too high-pitched, though. I feel it should be deeper/huskier, similar to Michael's.

Okay, playing with Kira now and I feel like they missed a chance to make her default attack feature her signature "elbow someone then clasp her hands together and wallop them upside the chin with both hands" thing she does. Making her do a one-two punch like a boxer is so weird. (Huh, apparently the double-fist punch is a thing Star Trek made up to look like a futuristic fighting style.)

I'm still trying to figure her (Kira) out. She's certainly speedy and good at dishing out a lot of damage to a single enemy, but she has trouble dealing with large mobs and has low health.

OMG Sulu's fighting style is utterly ridiculous and I love it. It's odd that there's no animation for his counter -- the enemy just mysteriously takes damage.

I've given Worf his counter ability and he's a beast with it. Has very "if I'm going down, I'm taking you all with me!" vibes.

Wow, Picard and Kirk both have a great set of skills. Picard's Attacker buff on turn 1 plus morale boost on turn 2 are great (probably not for PVP, though, because they come out too late). Kirk's morale + attack up on turn 1 are great for PVP pressure (but my Kirk is still too low level for me to put him in yet).

I've finally got enough characters high enough level to try to survive the later chapters of story mode. I was successful with a "Tech Buffing team" consisting of characters who buff and use the Tech stat primarily: Hugh Culber, Geordi, Borg Queen, plus B'Elanna (I could also use Sela instead, but I figured B'Elanna's turn 1 tech attack is more reliable and benefits from getting buffed beforehand).

I was also successful with a highly conservative "Defensive Morale team" consisting of Picard, Geordi, Martok, and I think Seven of Nine, probably? (Uhura is still too low-level to be put in but she would also be great for this.) By turn 3, everyone has so many shields and so much morale. Martok's turn 3 heal all skill is actually great for long-haul story battles. It doesn't heal that much (due to Martok's low Tech, I think) but it heals and cleanses everyone and it comes out at a time when that might be needed (as opposed to Crusher who has the heal/buff order reversed where she can heal immediately but can only buff later). And he's a good dedicated attacker the rest of the time.

I'm getting a bit better at PVP strategies. (Still using my "starter party with Odo" A Team for it.) Like, if I see Riker, I need to debuff him immediately with Burnham. Otherwise, if I see Geordi, Sela, or Seven of Nine behind cover, I need to break the cover immediately so that they can be taken down by Riker in turn 1, or they'll start causing a bunch of trouble. (Sela was nerfed recently! But she still can wreak havoc.)

[theabcsofjustice]

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[neuxue]

Wheel of Time liveblogging: The Gathering Storm ch 13

Gawyn is, as usual, frustrating, but does actually make a decision. Also there are Aragorn gifs and a few random tangents.

Chapter 13: An Offer and a Departure

‘Departure’ in the title of a Gawyn chapter seems at least moderately promising. Maybe he’ll finally get his shit together and get out of this godforsaken town.

…I have higher hopes for the latter than the former.

Two sparring opponents? You’re going to have to step it up, Gawyn; I hear the Dragon Reborn can take on five.

Could, anyway. Might be a bit more challenging singlehanded.

Though he can also take on a good-sized army, if he’s carrying the right not-a-sword, so there’s that.

Hattori had been quite pleased when her Warder had finally arrived at Dorlan; she’d lost him at Dumai’s Wells, and his story was the sort gleemen and bards sang about. Sleete had lain wounded for hours before deliriously managing to grab his horse’s reins and pull himself into the saddle. It had loyally carried him, near unconsious, for hours before arriving at a nearby village.

So…

The rest of his story fully embraces the cliché – and by ‘embraces’ I mean ‘makes sloppy but passionate love to’ – because I think all the Warders have a secret competition going to out-do Lan’s story. This, of course, is the real reason Lan decided to ride for Tarwin’s Gap.

It was the marrow of stories and legends – at least, among regular, lesser men. For a Warder, Sleete’s story was almost commonplace. Men like him attracted legends as ordinary men attracted fleas. […] Surviving against the odds, riding in delirium over miles of rough terrain, cutting down an entire band of thieves with wounds not fully healed –

Gaining a name amongst the Aiel, riding to avenge or resurrect a fallen nation…

–these were just the sorts of things you did when you were a Warder.

And then there’s Birgitte. Also Rand, technically speaking.

While Aes Sedai manipulated the world and monsters like al’Thor got the glory, men like Sleete quietly did the work of heroes, each and every day. Without glory or recognition.

Well, except that al’Thor the monster is giving everything he has and tearing himself apart to save a world that hates and fears him. So I would say that qualifies, in its own way, as ‘without recognition’. Of course, Gawyn doesn’t recognise this, which makes the whole thing spectacularly ironic.

And ‘glory’? You saw Rand at Dumai’s Wells, Gawyn. You saw him tortured. Did that look like glory?

It’s not surprising, though, that this idea of unrecognised heroics is what Gawyn’s thoughts are drawn to. After all, he was raised in the shadow of a golden older brother and a sister destined for a crown, and taught that his life is merely a shield for hers. He was meant to be the unsung hero – and now even that seems lost to him.

So I think he idolises the Warders in part because he sees in them what he has always felt he is supposed to be.

Except he sees an idealised version, and holding yourself to impossible standards always ends well. Especially if it coincides with the world falling apart.

The actual swordfighting scene is less enthralling than some. It’s probably a combination of the fact that it’s a relatively low-stakes spar, and also it involves characters I’m not all that invested in.

Gawyn wins. Sleet and Marlesh are surprised. I halfheartedly applaud, once. In my head.

Sleete carried a heron-mark blade and was near-legendary in the White Tower for his prowess. He was said to have bested even Lan Mandragoran twice out of seven bouts

One: I love how Lan is used by pretty much everyone as the standard of excellence. Kind of like how it was mentioned a while back that everyone says their city was even more beautiful than Tar Valon, thus cementing Tar Valon’s actual superiority in that regard.

And two: if you’re trying to convince me that Gawyn is now a better swordsman than Lan Mandragoran, I call bullshit.

back when Mandragoran had been known to spar with other Warders.

This is perfect.

Really, I’m sitting here laughing at just…everything about that phrase, including the way it’s tossed in almost as an afterthought. Back when Lan used to spar with mere enhanced badass mortals. Beautiful.

So there are two possible ways this came about. Either the other Warders decided to stop inviting him to practice – because there’s sparring against a more skilled opponent in order to improve, and then there’s sparring against Lan Mandragoran for the sole purpose of destroying your own ego – or Lan himself decided that there was just no point. Probably the latter, but some of the other Warders were probably relieved.

Meanwhile Lan’s riding off to the Blight to finally find himself a challenge. I mean, really. What does a guy have to do around here to get a proper workout?

(Though he did spar with Narishma. And Rand, obviously. So maybe he makes an exception for sad boys who came into too much power far too quickly and without enough certainty).

Anyway, I’m still laughing at everything about this.

All Gawyn had ever wanted was to protect Elayne. He wanted to defend Andor. Maybe learn to be a little more like Galad.

Why couldn’t life be as simple as a sword match? Opponents clear and arranged before you. The prize obvious: survival.

Well, there’s Gawyn for you.

This really does make up the core of a lot of his problems, though. He was raised with a strong but fairly simple mandate: protect Elayne, and protect Andor. But then what do you do when Elayne is missing, or when Andor’s queen is missing presumed dead? (If you’re Galad, you start a war to help Elayne and then go kill the Lord Captain Commander of the Whitecloaks to avenge the queen, but that’s somewhat beside the point).

Added to that is Gawyn’s constant feeling of not being quite good enough. So when everything goes to shit and there isn’t a clear path that involves ‘protect Elayne’ or ‘defend Andor’, he..wants or even needs to act, but almost doesn’t trust himself to know what to do. And then it’s not as simple as he thought it would be, or wants it to be, and he really doesn’t know what to do, because this is not how his story was supposed to go. And then he ends up caught in these situations where he’s tangled up in greater powers, in over his head, competent in his assigned role but not quite confident enough to leave it.

Also perhaps the ‘opponents clear and arranged before you’ is part of why he can’t look at Rand as anything but his enemy. He wants these certainties, wants things to be simple and clear-cut, and so he subconsciously could end up focusing on and believing the negative things he hears about the Dragon Reborn, because that is far simpler and easier to wrap his mind around than the alternative.

But in general, this is not a good time for wanting things to be simple and clear-cut and nicely laid out like a storybook hero’s plot. Sorry, Gawyn. You’re shit out of luck there.

Having just said that…it’s as if he wants his life to be – or thinks his life to be – something like Sleete’s story from a few pages ago. He idolises and idealises that, and when it isn’t like that for him, he thinks he’s failed somehow, and also doesn’t really know how to deal with everything when it doesn’t follow that kind of familiar pattern.

“You are remarkable, Gawyn Trakand. Like a creature of light, colour and shadow when you move. I feel like a babe holding a stick when I face you.”

I did try not to roll my eyes.

Okay, I confess, I didn’t try very hard.

I think that, weirdly, I almost have less patience for Gawyn when he’s being presented as a badass than when he’s trying to be one because he’s expected to be. Which is odd, because that is not how it normally works for me.

Or maybe it’s just that my patience for Gawyn has worn a bit thin recently in general; I still find him an interesting character in terms of how his arc has been constructed, but he’s been stuck in the same place for a while now. He also, by virtue of no longer being just in the prologues and maybe the occasional chapter, is narratively surrounded by characters who are getting a lot more done, literally and figuratively, so that also may have something to do with it.

I still can’t stand the word ‘Younglings’. I blame Star Wars, maybe.

Except no, I definitely disliked it even before that. You know how some people feel about the word ‘moist’? That’s how I feel about ‘younglings’. It’s a thing, and it bothers me every single time. I vote Gawyn kills them all.

It’s like when an otherwise really cool character just has the worst name and it detracts from their coolness even if you don’t want it to. I genuinely think this is a major part of the reason I never liked The Hobbit as much as I probably should have. Bilbo. I just can’t. I know, I know, it’s the stupidest thing to get hung up on, but there you have it. (Of course, when I was younger I went the exact opposite direction, and gave all my fictional characters the most ridiculously overwrought names, thinking they were awesome and beautiful when in fact they were incredibly cringeworthy. So what can you do).

Anyway, back to Gawyn.

Marlesh thinks he should be a blademaster, Gawyn’s like ‘oh no I couldn’t possiby’, and Marlesh confirms that by killing his teacher, Gawyn does in fact get to claim that title. So, you know, perks.

Gawyn had rarely seen an Aes Sedai and Warder with as casual a relationship as those two.

This strikes me as odd. I guess it depends what is meant by ‘casual’ here, but they come across as having a kind of lighthearted friends/siblings sort of relationship, which doesn’t seem like it should be that far from ordinary. It does sometimes seem as if there’s a slight discrepancy between how Aes Sedai-Warder relationships or dynamics are described in a general sense, and how they’re shown in a specific sense. But maybe that’s simply a result of the specific characters we’re following.

“Those two remind me of nothing so much as a brother and sister at times.”

Okay, yeah, I really don’t see why that should come across as uncommon. If romantic relationships between an Aes Sedai and Warder are uncommon – as is said to be the case – then surely a sibling or close friend dynamic would be well within the norm.

As Sanderson’s characters would say, bah.

“Hattori only has one Warder,” [Sleete] said in his gravelly, soft voice. Gawyn nodded. “That’s not unheard-of for a Green.”

“It isn’t because she isn’t open to having more,” Sleete said. “Years ago, when she bonded me, she said that she would only take another if I judged him worthy. She asked me to search. She doesn’t think much on these kinds of things. Too busy with other matters.”

All right, Gawyn thought, wondering why he was being told this.

Gawyn. Come on. Really? You have to be quicker on the uptake than this.

Sleete turned, meeting Gawyn’s eyes. “It’s been over ten years, but I’ve found someone worthy. She will bond you this hour, if you wish it.”

Huh. So…okay. That’s a thing.

It’s high praise, certainly. I like Sleete; he seems very no-nonsense and unobtrusively skilled, and this comes across as an offer given not because of who Gawyn is or who he is related to, but because Sleete thinks he’s genuinely worthy of it. Not just for his prowess with a sword, but because he does clearly have a sense of honour and duty, even if he doesn’t always know the best way to put that to use.

All in all, becoming Warder to a side-character Aes Sedai, while it’s never going to happen, would probably not be a bad thing for Gawyn. It would give him focus and purpose and direction, and being bonded by an Aes Sedai who already has a Warder would give him a mentor figure, which is something he rather desperately needs right now, I think. I wonder if Sleete has seen that in him, too. Ah well, doesn’t much matter, because there’s only one answer Gawyn’s giving to that.

(After all, when has Gawyn ever chosen to do something that might actually be good for him?)

“I’m honoured, Sleete,” Gawyn said. “But I came to the White Tower to study because of Andoran traditions, not because I was going to be a Warder. My place is beside my sister.” And if anyone is going to bond me, it will be Egwene.

…no cognitive dissonance there, of course. It’s going to be rather difficult to be beside your sister and also bonded by Egwene. It would actually make some sort of sense for Gawyn to be bonded by Elayne, but honestly that’s a bond-tangle he really does not need to be a part of, and Elayne is doing none too poorly for Warders as is.

Also, Gawyn, take a look around and notice how you are neither beside your sister nor bonded by Elayne, and then please take a moment to consider why that is, and then get the fuck out of here already.

“You came for those reasons,” Sleete said, “but those reasons have passed.”

That’s…a very good point, especially in a broader sense. What Gawyn thought he was supposed to do, and the way he thought things were going to be, is…not how things have turned out. And that’s something Gawyn hasn’t been able to accept or understand. He had one path he was focused on, and then it blew up and he’s been sort of left wandering the other paths with no roadmap and a broken compass.

“What do you think of what happened in the Tower, Sleete?”

He’s looking for answers, and trying to figure things out; he knows he’s lost and uncertain and caught in a place he doesn’t really want to be. It’s just that there are no good answers, really. It’s good that he’s asking, but eventually it is going to come down to the same thing it did before: he’s going to have to make his own choice.

As Lan said, “You can never know everything, and part of what you know is always wrong. Perhaps even the most important part. A portion of wisdom lies in knowing that. A portion of courage lies in going on anyway.”

Gawyn is actually not bad at the second part. His problem is with the first part; he’s working with incomplete information, and most likely he always will be, and some of what he ‘knows’ is wrong. And he…sort of knows that but also doesn’t always understand it, or take it into account when he acts.

“Just keep your head down,” Sleete said. “There are hot tempers in the Tower, but there are wise minds as well. They’ll do the right thing.”

Hm. Not completely sure that’s the best advice or attitude there, actually. I mean…on the one hand sure, don’t make it worse, and trust in those who are working to solve it. But also…maybe try to help them? Rather than just standing aside and letting other people do the hard work, and just expecting that someone will? And that you don’t have to do anything yourself, and it’ll all just be fine?

There’s a time and a place for neutrality, sure, and if your interest is in staying alive and getting on with the smaller things, then…okay. But this is a point when people actually need to do something. Egwene can only do so much of it by herself. And this isn’t something that the ‘neutral’ Aes Sedai can actually claim isn’t their problem. It is, because it affects all of them. They can’t just ignore that the Tower is broken, and trying to claim the moral high ground for not taking part in the conflict – by ignoring it and trying to pretend it doesn’t exist, but never making the difficult choice – is absurd. Sleete’s not quite doing that, but still.

Then again, it really isn’t Gawyn’s conflict to get involved in, so maybe Sleete has a point there. Gawyn needs to get out of the whole thing, because he can’t have it both ways: he told Sleete he just came to the Tower for Andoran tradition, but now he’s embroiled in the Tower’s division. Choose, Gawyn.

“Hattori got out,” Sleete continued softly. “Went on this mission to al’Thor, never knowing the depth of what it was about. She just didn’t want to be in the Tower. Wise woman.”

Except…wise? Really? She didn’t know what she was getting herself into, but she went anyway because she wanted to be away from the Tower – and so now she can wash her hands of it and also of what they did to Rand? That’s…not how responsibility works.

I’m all for taking the pragmatic approach, but own up to it.

“Hammar was a good man.”

“He was,”  Gawyn said, feeling a twist in his stomach.

“But he would have killed you,” Sleete said. “Killed you cleanly and quickly. He was the one on the offensive, not you. He understood why you did what you did. Nobody made any good decisions that day. There weren’t any good decisions to be made.”

Well that last bit is certainly true, at any rate.

Still, there’s something about Sleete’s tendency to absolve everyone of responsibility that doesn’t quite work for me. I see where he’s going with it here, and I don’t entirely disagree, but…enh. That said, it is pretty much exactly what Gawyn needs to hear, and he beats himself up over enough already, so there’s that.

“She needed to get news to the Greens of what had happened at Dumai’s Wells, of what the Amyrlin’s true orders with al’Thor had entailed. I needed to survive. We did our duty. But once that  message had been sent, if she hadn’t felt me approaching on my own, she would have come for me. No matter what. And we both know it.”

Some pointed parting words there, though of course Gawyn doesn’t quite get it. Leave, Gawyn.

The offer had been tempting for a heartbeat, but only as a way of escaping his problems.

Points for self awareness.

(He has so many problems)

Why couldn’t Egwene see that the man she’d grown up with had turned into a monster, twisted by the One Power?

Actually, Gawyn, Egwene was thinking just last chapter about how there was little left of the boy she grew up with. How she and Rand – or rather, the Dragon Reborn – had both changed to the point where they feel they don’t really know each other anymore.

But he’s not a monster, and that much I think she still knows, however else she may think of him. There is that much left of ‘Rand’ in her thoughts. And that’s going to be key in whatever is to come; another Amyrlin may well agree with Gawyn. Egwene, though, might have enough lingering love and trust for Rand to let him do what needs to be done, and to perhaps relinquish an attempt at controlling him.

He didn’t trust Aes Sedai. His mother had, and look where that had gotten her.

How does trusting Aes Sedai have anything to do with where Morgase ended up? Her problem was more with trusting one of the Forsaken, and it wasn’t like she was given a whole lot of choice in that matter.

Gawyn decides it’s a good idea to just walk into a meeting of Aes Sedai. Because yeah, that’s definitely going to work well, and get you access to all the information you could possibly want, Gawyn. Sure. You just go right ahead.

He shouldn’t have to eavesdrop.

The problem is, Gawyn, sometimes the way things should be isn’t the way they are, and sometimes you just have to…accept that. And find a way to work with it. And pick your battles.

So Gawyn gets sent away. What a surprise. Really, colour me shocked.

Aes Sedai. Sensible men stayed away from them when possible, and obeyed them with alacrity when staying away was impossible. Gawyn had trouble doing either; his bloodline prevented staying away, his pride interfered with obeying them.

Again, points for self-awareness. Though Gawyn has always been more or less cognizant of his problems. It’s in doing something to actually solve them, and making the hard choices, that he sometimes gets into trouble. He sees himself as being caught in an impossible tangle – and in fairness, he is in a mess of a situation that in many ways is over his head – but doesn’t believe that he can free himself from it. Because he sees all his options as distasteful or impossible in some way, and so he always comes close to a decision point but then turns back, and accepts the status quo. Even as he hates it.

No, he’d supported [Elaida] because he’d disliked Siuan’s treatment of his sister and Egwene.

But would Elaida have treated the girls any better? Would any of them have? Gawyn had made his decision in a moment of passion; it hadn’t been the coolheaded act of loyalty that his men assumed.

Where was his loyalty, then?

It’s not the first time he’s asked himself this – he’s been struggling with it pretty much since the schism itself. Because he doesn’t have all the information, and he doesn’t know the answers, and he’s trying to do the right thing but in the moment and even after, it’s hard to know what that is, especially when it’s so hard to find out what’s really happening, and what really happened.

But he needs to keep asking himself, and he needs to decide. Loyalty, law, a bond to the Tower…they’re all excuses at this point, more than anything else. And I think he knows it. He just…doesn’t know what to do instead. Or is afraid to think of it, because that’s not an easy question or an easy choice, and he’s perhaps even more afraid now of making the wrong one.

Oh for FUCK’S SAKE.

Of COURSE Gawyn overhears the Aes Sedai talking about how the rebels have set up their own Amyrlin. I’m sure he’ll get the full story with all the context and up-to-date information on what Egwene’s role actually turned out to be and—

Yeah, no, I can’t even say that with a straight face.

Also Katerine knows Travelling. Yay. Wonderful.

“But at least she was captured,” Narenwin noted, pausing at the doorway as Covarla passed through.

Katerine laughed sharply. “Captured and made to howl half the day. I wouldn’t want to be that al’Vere girl right now. Of course, it’s no less than she deserves for letting them put the Amyrlin’s shawl on her shoulders.”

Someone please cover Gawyn’s ears, because there’s absolutely no way he’s going to do anything but misinterpret this. Or rather, interpret it exactly as Katerine delivers it, without context or a healthy dose of skepticism.

He’d heard rumours that the rebels had their own Hall and Amyrlin…but Egwene? It was ridiculous! She was only Accepted!

But who better to set up for a potential fall? Perhaps none of the sisters had been willing to put their necks on the line by taking the title. A younger woman like Egwene would have made a perfect pawn.

So much faith you have in her, Gawyn.

But to be fair, that is exactly what they intended, when they raised her. It’s the logical conclusion, and it’s a part of why Egwene was able to take power in the first place; they simply didn’t see it coming, and didn’t think to put much effort into preventing it, and by the time they realised the truth, she had already run rings around them.

So of course Gawyn is going to do exactly what Mat did upon finding out, and immediately assume that he has to go rescue her. Sigh.

Egwene was in trouble. He blinked deliberately, standing in the square, cattle calling distantly, water bubbling in the canal beside him.

Egwene would be executed.

Where is your loyalty, Gawyn Trakand?

I just…can’t work up much enthusiasm for what appears to be an actual turning point and a decision, finally. Because the impetus for it is so…meh. He’s supposed to be a hero, so he has to go play white knight to a damsel in distress, right?

I don’t think my irritation – or apathy, more accurately – is aimed at the way this is written; it’s more an issue with Gawyn himself. That he takes what Katerine says on face value, because it plays into his… idea of how things work, or should work, or whatever. Egwene’s in trouble, so of course Egwene is in trouble, and of course he can rescue her, but she can’t rescue herself. Blah.

So it is nice to see Gawyn finally decide. He’s been moving towards this for a while but hasn’t been able to take that last step, and he has felt this conflict of loyalties, and uncertainty, and now he is finally choosing.

The way he’s making that decision irks me somwhat, though. Ah well. Can’t deny it’s in character.

Well, he’s made a decision and he’s certainly not wavering on it now. Bags packed and straight to his horse within minutes. Almost makes up for what – months? – of uncertainty and hesitation. Almost makes up for the fact that he hasn’t really taken time to think about what Katerine said, and her motivations for saying it, and whether or not it’s the whole truth, and…ah, whatever. He’s finally getting out of this clusterfuck – even if he is very likely headed right into another one – and I can definitely support that, at least. Maybe along the way he will learn some things. He tries, and his heart is in the right place. He just has some…annoying notions.

Sleete continued to watch from the shadow of a massive pine as Gawyn put the saddle on Challenge’s back. The Warder knew. Gawyn’s act had fooled everyone else, but he could sense that it wouldn’t work on this man. Light! Was he going to have to kill another man he respected?

You’re assuming you could kill him, Gawyn. As Lan so aptly demonstrated in New Spring, winning in sparring does not necessarily mean winning in a real fight. But Sleete isn’t here to fight Gawyn. He practically told him to leave, after all. To go do what he needed to do.

Burn you, Elaida! Burn you, Siuan Sanche, and your entire Tower! Stop using people. Stop using me!

Ah, Gawyn. He has been caught for so long between forces far larger than himself, caught up by events that threw him around before he could really get his bearings. Sure, some of it is on him, but some of it is just…he was young and sheltered and thought he knew his task, and then everything exploded and he couldn’t figure out who or what or why, and he’s been trying, but this…isn’t his story. He’s caught in the swirl of a far larger story, used and pushed and pulled.

“Then why let me go?” Gawyn said, rounding the gelding and taking the reins. He met those shadowed eyes and thought he caught the faintest hint of a smile on the lips beneath them.

“Perhaps I just like to see men care,” Sleete said. “Perhaps I hope you’ll find a way to help end this. Perhaps I am feeling lazy and sore with a bruised spirit from so many defeats. May you find what you seek, young Trakand.”

Okay, I do like him. Those are good parting words.

There was only one place he could think to go for help in rescuing Egwene.

OH. IS HE—IS HE GOING TO GARETH BRYNE? PLEASE TELL ME HE IS GOING TO GARETH BRYNE. For one, that way Bryne can sit him down for A Talk. And also can maybe help him. Because honestly, Gawyn needs a mentor. And a friend. And maybe someone to just…actually tell him things, for once, and see that he’s angry and sad and lost, and help him.

Next (TGS ch 14) Previous (TGS ch 12)

[retro-system]

hey when people talk about legend of the seven stars why don't theyo talk about how mario pouted when a kid made a toy version of bowser kick the ass of a toy version of him

[retro-system]

tadpole lore shmadpole lore where the heck is geno

[chacusha]

Star Trek: Legends liveblogging (1/?)

I got a three-month trial of Apple Arcade, so I'm going to give Star Trek: Legends a try. Given how I have the bad habit of getting super deep into gacha games, this is probably Famous Last Words, but here we go!

I'm not sure how I feel about using Cardassians as these disposable mook baddies, but also Michael!! Worf!! Okay nevermind, they're using everyone as disposable mook baddies -- Federation, Romulans, Klingons, Borg, etc.

I am already very confused about which characters are real and which ones are just illusions created by the Nexus or whatever. Is anyone real?? (Are we real...?)

I love the way Worf rests his bat'leth on his elbow.

OKAY SO I got Odo(!!), so he's replaced Worf as my tank. Odo is like a super tank whereas Worf is more a mix of attacker and defense. I love Odo's taunt (he just gestures for people to come at him, basically). It's somehow suiting for him to just stand there with his arms crossed while people attempt to wail on him.

It's interesting that even though I replaced Worf with Odo, Worf still appears in the story scenes. Also strange is that the "starter party" is Michael, Worf, McCoy, and Riker, but only the first three actually participate in story scenes.

In general, the different classes are pretty interesting. Medics are healers (obviously); Security is a mix of attackers and tanks; Commanders are buffers with decent attack ability; Scientists are... debuffers (I guess that makes sense -- they analyze the enemy for weakpoints); and Engineers are just doing their own thing entirely with the Tech stat.

I love Quark as the store owner. 😊

I like the replayability of story missions. I currently have like an A Team (Burnham, Odo, McCoy, Riker) which is pretty high level and has good offensive/defensive/healing capabilities for the long story campaigns. Then I have a lower-level B Team (Sela, Phlox, B'Elanna, and either Burnham, Worf, or Riker depending on what stat I need) that cleans things up after the A Team, but tends to die more. B'Elanna isn't really useful but she's currently the character with the highest Engineering stat so I almost always need her.

Speaking of Sela and strategy, she's a really interesting glass cannon character -- good for taking out small mobs of enemies, but quite bad for extended marathon battles. I've made her a bit more hardy by boosting her HP a lot but she used to be so fragile. It took me a while to realize that she exclusively uses the Tech stat, so once I realized that, I started boosting her Tech stat as well. But yeah she loses steam pretty quickly. She is apparently the top choice to use in PVP, though, because she always moves first before you can apply any Tech debuffs, so if she has sufficiently high Tech and gets lucky, she can easily one-shot a couple of characters, and there's no strategy the other person can deploy in order to mitigate the amount of damage she dishes out here.

It took me a bit to figure out Phlox, but he's like a super healer, especially if he gets Morale combos and starts regenerating people at random. I was a bit surprised regeneration lasts so long (it says regenerate for 1 turn but it lasts for 3 turns, I think??).

It's also wild that the A Team battle strategy is for Bones to drug Riker up each battle and Riker just mows enemies down. This is Real.

It also took me a while to figure out how to use Burnham (the skill that only becomes available in turn 2 confused me for the longest time). But she's basically specialized in taking down bosses. Her Stand Down reduces the damage of enemies (good for anyone with a group attack and/or is behind cover) and possibly can force one enemy to retreat, and then in turn 2, she can do a high-power attack that reduces defense (good to use against high-HP bosses).

I love this concept of shuttlecraft missions. I told my partner I'm constantly sending my low-level C Team characters on constant shuttlecraft missions and he was like, "That is so cruel!" If this were a Star Trek show, they would 100% be dead or space wedgied.

I love how Geordi and Data both look at their padd/tricorder as their idle animation during battle. They look so checked out/bored of the battle! Like, "Oh? We're in the middle of a fight? Can't it wait? I'm trying to make sense of these anomalous sensor readings!" These nerds. <3

I also love how all of Sulu's skills are fencing themed. Hell yeah!

I briefly tried to create my own alliance (it was called Quark's Acquisition with the Ferengi flag because I am Predictable). It didn't really work out but I'm glad I did it because it was fun seeing the options for naming alliances. Some of them sound so suggestive because of the "[character name]'s [x]" format -- I feel like there should be a contest for the most suggestive combo. Like, "Quark's Acquisition" totally sounds like the title of a bodice-ripper, right? (Or am I just too much of a Quarkfucker...?)

Continuing to play the story and I am still confused about who's real. Janeway wasn't real but Seven of Nine joined my party afterward i.e. was real?!

I checked out the subreddit for this game and found some truly horrifying stuff about the development status of this game. Like, there are bugs that only exist in the German language version (for some reason). Why???

I want to experiment more with some other characters who I haven't really been able to use yet because they're too low-level at the moment. I'm especially curious about Janeway's buffing and Crusher's group heal. Also, all the Science characters because I haven't really been able to figure out how to use any of them other than Burnham.

[thebibliomancer]

Dark Crystal Age of Resistance ep 1 liveblog

Just a stream of thoughts.

There were seven tribes of Gelfling, all unique.... buuuut only three are important right now: the classy mountain Gelfling, the fighty forest gelfling, and the hippie underground gelflings

The takeaway is that astronomy is a ruse of the evil space lizards

Age of Resistance creators “How many villain voices can we put in one scene? APPARENTLY A LOT!”

Fun little nod at the seven deadly sins inspiration to have the Gourmet screaming about gluttony

The Emperor has a surprisingly deep voice for how scrawny he looks

The Chamberlain: I’m good at eavesdropping

The Scientist: -shrieking top secret information at the top of his lungs-

I think we just saw the first Garthim be born out of random evil mutation. Weird. I never considered them an actual real creature. I just assumed the Garthim Master created them. Even though he didn’t seem much of a brainy Skeksis

It’s downright weird to see Gelflings working for the Skeksis. I know in Lore that they interacted and Skeksis invited them to parties and stuff

These two protagonist gelflings treating dreamfasting like sex “Do you want to?” “Yeah if you want to” and Jen and Kira just doing it accidentally in the movie

Hey the Collector! You’re... very different from how you were in the Legends comic

Rian: “But daaaad I want to lead the guarrrrd”

Damn that’s a hell of a library!

“Why don’t they like questions? How else will we learn? Ooh now I have more questions!” Youre an endearing character, Brea

UNDERGROUND SAND WORMS

Oh no that moss was tainted by Evil

Rolly polly bugs as cart wheels is pretty cool

“Little things have a habit of being stepped on... by big things” surprising Skeksis candor

‘I was once beautiful but then I read a book’ - the Collector

Speaking of weird, seeing Gelflings chanting “All hail the Skeksis!”

Scientist watching hand dissolve “How very interesting!”

We’re also early enough on the timeline that other Skeksis still buy what the Chamberlain is selling

“Please, small words! Chamberlain is not smart like Scientist!”

He also does that simpler pidgin like talking he did with the Gelflings in the movie (where I think the explanation lost to having the Skeksis speak English is that he barely knew any Gelfling language). I guess he’s really playing up how dumb he is here? Or the creators missed the point of the movie scene and thought he’s always like that?

‘Hey buddy why not drain essence from Gelflings?’ Dammit Chamberlain!

The Sanctuary Tree can talk, but only to dunk on people

Sanctuary Tree: “Touch the montage flower”

Mira and Rian are incredibly horny for each other

Rian: “The Skeksis have forbidden us from going into the catacombs”

Mira: -didn’t even wait for him to finish before rushing in-

Ornamentalist: sees a shiny “Want!”

And we learn that the true monster is peer pressure. And also the giant greedy lizards

Brea: “If the Skeksis are all powerful, and they have everything, then why do they require tithes from even the poorest Gelfling?”

“They want us fighting each other for the left overs!”

A librarian: ‘Those are some dangerous thoughts, princess. Gtfo’

“The Sancturary Tree is a tree!” Thanks for the insight

“Trees can’t talk!” “Except when they can”

“No arguing with trees! HA HA HA!”

So the Sanctuary Tree has sent Deet on a quest so she has to leave her hidden elf village. And she doesn’t even get a green tunic out of the bargain

I’m going to be cross if Mira gets her essence sucked out

Gourmand: “I eat when I’m stressed”

Chamberlain: “HmmMmmm you must often be stressed, yes?”

Gourmand: “All the time!”

Welp. Nice knowing you, Mira

Wellllllllp

And that’s how the Skeksis learned to drink soul goo

Geez, it doesn’t even leave a soulless body behind. She just sort of exploded

This is very much a “Did you bring enough for the class” situation

Also Rian was watching the whole time. He saw the Skeksis drink his girlfriend

And then he dramatically cries a single tear... which falls into the Ritual Master’s mouth. Giving away that he was watching

Whoops

Chamberlain: “We are the lords of the crystal, yes? Even if Rian talk, none will believe. They will shun him. Cast him out. How can they not? To believe him is not to believe themselves. Skeksis reign a thousand trine and will reign a thousand, thousand more until last sky in star goes dark. Gelfling will submit, head bowed, back bent as they have always done. Gelfling want to be ruled. Gelfling need to be ruled. Because Gelfling are weak! Gelfling are small. And Skeksis are forever! We took the Crystal. Thra belongs to us now. And is nothing... NOTHING Gelfling can do!”

-montage of various protagonists getting ready to age of resistance-

Tldr everything is SkekSil’s fault

[thebibliomancer]

Dark Crystal Age of Resistance ep 4 liveblog

“The First Thing I Remember is Fire”

Just a stream of thoughts.

Dammit the logo caught on fire. This is why they didn’t want open flames on the sets!

Gelfling are just super racist against Podlings.

A Guard: “Shut up, you’ll give everyone nightmares with that wailing!”

Hup: -sings louder, out of spite-

Sooooooooo Deet has decided to be a cryptid.

For Gelfling are a superstitious and cowardly lot. 

Flew around wailing and screeching until A Guard and B Guard took off in a frighten and then rescued Hup.

“Thra’s true balance will be found when natural order is sound.”

Dark Crystal loves its weird, random prophecies. But they’ve got nothing on Redwall.

-Brea, breaks the secret door- 

Why is there a secret room at the end of the secret passage under a secret door in the throne secretly that has the symbols of the seven clans?

Brea: “Oh, its a puzzle!”

Hey, yeah, this is coming off a little Legend of Zelda…

“I have to put the clans in their natural order, from highest to lowest, and then Thra will be in balance” =| ffs brea

You done learned a classism, growing up.

Dammit puzzle room, don’t reward her for classism! Orrr racism?

Brea is having a hard time ranking the clans once she gets past the ‘well obviously the Vapra are the best’

Wow, good job, modern puppeteers. You’ve made the Skeksis eating even grosser. And in the original movie it was a sort of cathartic trash the set sort of scene.

Wow, very gross.

Oh, this specific gross banquet is in honor of the Ornamentalist. So of course everyone spends the entire time whining about how food is like ash in their mouths compared to drinking soul goo.

Soul goo is crackier than crack. One sip and the Skeksis are all super hooked on it and already jonesing for another hit.

And the Ornamentalist is just annoyed.

Ornamentalist: “Essence, essence, essence! That’s all any of you talk about since I returned. It’s my party. Talk about me!”

Of course, the Ornamentalist would gladly try a hit but there’s none left.

Awww, they didn't invite Scientist to the party. They locked him in his lab until he finishes his mad science chores.

All the Skeksis are talking about wiping out the entire Gelfling population and Chamberlain is the only one thats not stupid about the horrific act of eating souls to maintain youth.

Chamberlain: “A wise shepherd does not cull entire herd, yes? We should take only what Gelfling we need to survive!”

Gourmand: “Moderation is for the meek!”

I again wonder how these dinguses managed to rule the planet for a thousand years without using it all up.

Chamberlain just called the General a coward. And the other Skeksis are just going FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT

General: “I welcome war!”

Chamberlain: “Because you are too thick-headed to use brain!”

General: -affronted gasp-

And the Emperor is too busy PULLING HIS FINGER OFF to pay much attention

Gross. You’re getting pus… everything was already disgusting and you’ve found the way to make it worse, Emperor

So he wants instant results and starts yelling at the Chamberlain who can just shrink down and go ‘he started it’

Aww Emperor just dumped Chamberlain as his favorite counselor and his new bff is the general

Woow the general wasn’t kidding. The instant Chamberlain doesn’t have the Emperor’s favor, the General smacks Chamberlain to the floor and stomps on his hand.

I almost feel bad for him.

And now several minutes of Aughra complaining about how old she is and yelling at the ground to shut up until someone shoots plot arrows around her.

And the Emperor rolls into the lab to mock the Scientist for having no friends. Wow.

So the Scientist finished repairing the soul suck machine, with the bondage chair upgrade like in the movie.

Emperor: “How many Gelfling must we drain to cheat death for all eternity?”

Scientist: ‘thats fucked up, dude’

Or more seriously, the Scientist is actually worried about the Darkening and worries that draining Gelfling will cause it to spread faster.

But the Emperor is a global decaying denier and tells Scientist to tell him what he wants to hear.

Or he’ll kill his pet lab animals. Which the Scientist actually seems to like. I mean the animals, not the choking of them.

Scientist: “Fifty Gelfling, every trine!” I’m split between thinking ‘wow thats awful’ and ‘wow thats sustainable’

Chamberlain is feeling sad because Emperor doesn’t love him most anymore so he’s blowing an ominous horn.

Oh, another new Skeksis! SkekMal, the Hunter!

And all the other Skeksis are like ‘aw fuck not that guy’

Its interesting to think that from how much all the Skeksis seem to despise each other, thats actually them getting along and liking each other, and there are other Skeksis that they just don’t like at all.

WOW SKEKMAL LOOKS SPOOKY

THE GROUND IS ANGRY

THE SKY IS ANGRY!

WHY IS EVERYTHING ANGRY

Oh theres Aughra, of course she’s angry. She’s angry or peeved or irritated or disgruntled.

Aughra: “I will go no further!” -many plot arrows- “... I will go a bit further.”

I hadn’t gotten a good view yet but Aughra has a cool cape.

Oh hey, a new UrRu! This day brings a bounty. He’s the Archer who has been shooting arrows adjacent to Aughra.

Archer: “Thra still sings”

Aughra: “Then why don’t I hear it?”

Archer: “Because you turned your eye away from Thra and towards the stars.”

Hearing that from the Skeksis is just audacious but hearing it from an UrRu makes it hurt.

Aughra: “I trusted the Skeksis to look after Thra! I took their word!”

Archer: “And their gifts”

GET DUNKED ONNNNNN i guess.

Having four arms must help with archery. But apparently having arthritis in all of those arms doesn’t.

Archer shoots arrow straight up into the air and has it land right at her feet. And vanishes while she’s watching it go.

Aughra: “You could have just said this! Clearly, succinctly! Without all the walking!”

Archer is the troll UrRu

Ohhh, I bet Archer and Hunter are counterparts. BECAUSE THEY’RE BOTH BATMAN

Archer does the vanishing when he feels the conversation is ended part and Hunter appears out of nowhere to give Chamberlain a frighten.

Hunter: “What is the prey?”

Chamberlain: “A Gelfling”

Hunter: “Nope. Bye.”

But Chamberlain talks him into it anyway because talking people into things is what Chamberlain does.

Although first he tries to make the Hunter feel sorry for his, the Chamberlain’s, reverse in fortunes by whining that the General hurt his hand but the Hunter just. Doesn’t. Care. About castle politics. He wouldn’t be out in the night being batman if he did.

But Chamberlain does manage to somehow convince him that Rian is worthy prey.

Now the General is charge of Gurjin’s interrogation and he immediately cattle prods him several times and straps him into the soul suck machine. Welp.

Gurjin, you’re wonderfully defiant and snarky.

General: “I will ask you once again, WHERE IS THE FUGITIVE RIAN?”

Gurjin, having just been partially soul sucked: “Have you checked the Great Smerth? It’s particularly lovely in spring.”

The Emperor rolls in and its like dad came home and caught the boys misbehaving.

Scientist: “I told him not to do it!”

General: “I… I was just introducing myself to the Gelfling!”

Emperor: =__=

OH MY GOD BREA HAS JUST BEEN TRYING TO BRUTE FORCE THE PUZZLE THIS ENTIRE TIME

She’s just been trying different combinations and writing down what doesn’t work.

Brea: “‘Thra’s true balance will be found when the natural order is sound’… but there is no natural order because no clan is above any of the others! It isn’t a puzzle! It’s a lie!”

Good job overcoming your prejudices, Brea!

Also, apparently refusing to rank the clans was the correct answer. This puzzle room is smart.

Hey what. Hey um what. There’s this stone dinosaur now what.

Its kind of cute.

YODA????

IS THAT YODA???

So the rock creature is named Lore and it has like… rock grooved cylinders and a rock phonograph pick and like a recorded Yoda voice that drops exposition 

Yoda: “Lore has imprinted on you. He is now your guardian and will protect you on your journey to the Circle of the SUns. There you will find the key to free Gelfing from Skeksis power forever.”

Oh.

Wait, who put this here? If the All-Maudra is NOW deeply in the Skeksis’ pockets then who and when put a secret room under her throne? And who knew enough to put a rock puppy in a secret room with a prerecorded message that the Skeksis were up to nooooo good. If someone knew all along that the Skeksis were jerks, why bury a message about it instead of doing something?

And then Seladon shows up and is like “THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE”

I’m not sure what the Gelfling guards were going to do to a rock monster with little spears anyway.

And now Rian has wandered into the Podling village. Hopefully he manages to be less racist than everyone else (except Deet) that interacts with them.

Wait, is that Rian? Then who is the other hooded gelfling and why are there ominous scare strings?

Podlings just love to party. They’re the Michelangelo of Thra’s races.

-Podling picks up entire keg and sprays it into another Podling’s mouth-

Rian gets a free drink because an old lady Podling wants to flirt at him across the room.

But his heart is too tender after losing the love of his life and I’m sure he won’t have room for a new love anytime soon.

Gurjin’s sister is hardcore. Shows up and puts Rian at knifepoint to ransom him off to get Gurjin back.

Oh and Cool Sister Tavra also shows up to also try to capture Rian for murdering a member of the Vapra (which he didn’t).

Oh Cool Sister Tavra, why’d you have to be racist at the Drunchens?

Rian: “Will someone just please fucking dreamfast with me so we can resolve this damn plot?”

Entirely new character Kylan: “Yeah I’m game” “The Skeksis may rule the land, but they do not rule my heart.”

Damn, entirely new character Kylan, you’re dope.

Tavra also decides that if entirely new character Kylan is going to do it, then she’s going to do it too.

And Gurjin’s sister gets peer pressured into doing it too.

FINALLY dreamfasting does what it was designed to do and shortcut past doubt and suspicion so we can get on with it.

Oh hey, Rian’s dad wanders in (geez Rian is bad at hiding if everyone found him at the same time) and also gets in on this dreamfast.

It feels a little weirder though because he gets in when it was already ongoing and its like weird because everyone else consented to the dreamfast and he just invited himself in.

But hey it lets Rian make up with his dad so, sure.

Dreamfasting also apparently can create- oh dreametching. Yeah they did mention that could happen.

So now Rian, entirely new character Kylan, and Dadrian are going to the All-Maudra to get her to rally the Gelflings against the Skeksis.

And Gurjin’s sister Naia and Tavra are going to the castle to free Gurjin.

I caaaaan’t help but feeeeeel that if Tavra went with Rian’s group they’d be able to convince the All-Maudra more easily but surrrrrrrrrre do whateverrrrrr

Unless you get captured and killed, Tavra and Naia. I’d be disgruntled at that.

Its kind of weird you have this group of plucky youths and also Rian’s dad who is like the wizened old man compared to them.

Wait, where IS Kylan? Did he go with the castle group after all?

Wait, shouldn’t Rian dad go on the castle mission since he’s the boss guard? And would make it easier for them  to-

Oh, I see. He has to be killed by the Hunter to show how serious the situation is.

Sorry, RIan’s dad. You’re the sacrificial lamb.

I mean, it hasn’t happened yet, but I bet it will-

OH HI DEET!

Deet and Rian just barely cross each other’s paths again. Its a small world after all.

Rian: “Do you remember [father-son bonding activity]?”

Rian Dad: “Ahhh I see how that memory we both share would be useful here.”

HOLY SHIT the Hunter can book. All the other Skeksis are like lumbering around and feeling old and he’s jumping in trees. Maybe fresh air IS good for you.

And he’s a puppet or a costume or a costume puppet so holy shit.

Rian tries to sword fight the Hunter but like…. The weight advantage is very much the Hunter’s. He’s just easily pushing the Gelfling around

HOLY SHIT HIS TWO EXTRA ARMS AREN'T ATROPHIED HE’S SKEKSIS GENERAL GRIEVOUS

Hunter: “You have heart…. I’ll take that too.”

Oh no I was wrong! Rian Dad wasn’t the sacrificial lamb! He was the heroic sacrifice!

He tackled the Hunter into a pit of angry earth and the Hunter seems pretty okay with that as long as he takes someone with him. What an enigmatic guy.

Oh. never mind. Hunter is still alive. He’s too angry and spry for the ground to eat.

I was about to say what a shame it was to introduce the guy and immediately get him eaten by the ground.

And also Riandad’s sacrifice was pointless because the Hunter immediately captures Rian and absconds with him.

Deet and Hup must be very confused coming into this plot branch with no context.