#the tragedy isn't that they're afraid of him or don't care about him anymore it's that he falsely thinks this is the case

[markantonys]

down with the fandom narrative that min and nynaeve are The Only Ones Who Still Care About Rand/The Only Ones Who Don't Abandon Him just because they're the only ones who are permitted by the plot to stay physically near him throughout the second half of the series. his other loved ones love and worry about him so much! and it's extremely unfair to say that the fact that they can't take a break from their geographically-far-away plot obligations to go be his fulltime cheerleader like min and nynaeve can means they love him less.

What happened to your hand? Light-blinded fool, take better care of yourself. -Perrin

That arm ended in a stump. The first time Mat had seen that - a few weeks back - it had shocked him. How had Rand lost the hand? The man barely seemed alive, propped up like that, unmoving. Though his lips did seem to be moving, mumbling or muttering. Light! Mat thought. Burn you, what are you doing to yourself?

"This is what it must have been like for Rand. No, worse. The stories say he was locked in a box smaller than my cell. At least I can spend part of the evenings chatting with you [Siuan]. He had nobody." -Egwene

"He is well, and he will be well," Aviendha whispered fiercely, as if she intended to assure his survival by killing anything that threatened him.

He was not exactly as [Elayne] had dreamed of him. There had been a boyishness about him sometimes, but it was gone as if burned away. She mourned that for him. She did not think he did, or could.

[nateoldrin]

2nd wave disabilities

i really wanted to talk about the 2nd Wave (minus chris) and their disabilities and how they handle life, so i'm using old art to show them to talk about it. discussion of trauma/disability ahead!

from left to right: Arthur - Tristan/Matthew - Chris - Isolde, and Caelia in the back. all of them (incl Chris) have C-PTSD which has manifested in various degrees of disability for all of them. Chris's are explored in the books so i won't talk about them, but i wanted to talk about the others! (who are, yes, alive, but they don't appear in the series)

(i have C-PTSD & autism which developed a myriad of other issues, so the 2nd wave are kind of different aspects of those + the inability to work etc)

--

they live together - Isolde in her own room, art and Caelia in another, and Tristan sleeps on the couch or in a room w Isolde depending on his mood. they don't need to pay rent due to all of them being diagnosed and certified as disabled so they live in provided housing - they could probably live in separate apartments, but they didn't want to! 

Isolde is the de facto leader of the group, shes the most socially acceptable; she has to do all adult things esp re: communication bc the rest are different levels of Socially Strange and Nonfunctional. shes the typical strong older sister type who takes on every burden.

Tristan can simulate normal behavior for a short time, but after a few hours it starts to crack and he becomes very offputting to people bc he starts infodumping about Chris / historical tragedies / serial killers (esp angels of death) in DETAIL. he also has some other issues i won't get into in detail, but erotomania is one of them.

Arthur is very withdrawn and has selective mutism so he just doesn't talk and looks blank most of the time (he feels emotions ofc, just doesn't have much expressions). everyone pooled their money together and bought him one of those text to speech tablets so he can talk.

Caelia is sweet but she's always a little out of it/dreamy, and she can't follow conversation well.

only Isolde is able to work a "normal" job to help bills, but Arthur sells crafts and Tristan maybe works smth where he doesn't have to talk to people much, like a warehouse. Caelia cant work but she goes to the park often to look at the duckies, and she helps Arthur!

Isolde managed to get them into therapy, but it's only art and caelia, Tristan cant be dragged - he refuses always despite the fact he OBVIOUSLY needs it. she's given up fighting him about it for a while. they're all the same age and have gone through the same traumas after all, so she can do appointments, she can talk to them about their issues, but there comes a point she cant do anymore and Tristan is a bit beyond her/shes tired of him.

it sounds like he really doesn't care about his team which isn't true ): his mind is very shattered but he's usually mostly lucid. Matthew helps Arthur with his crafts by going shopping for materials, he entertains Caelia's fairy tales and listens to her talk for hours, he helps around the house with chores, and he can do a little bit of manual labor so he does that to help with bills. the issue with him is that he is lucid and stable but only in the environment he knows, so at home and at work he's fine and appears really okay  (at work only for like 6hrs a day with minimal interaction), it's when he interacts with people outside his circle that it becomes obvious he's not okay. 

they get better after some events, but this is the "default". i guess i just... wanted to showcase how disabling mental illnesses are - they will never be at a point where they can "act normal" or "be productive in society" and that's okay!! they'll be okay. they're a family, and they love each other, even when Caelia is afraid of Tristan hurting himself, even when Isolde is tired and has to have her meltdowns at work so the others don't get scared, even when Arthur accidentally insults one of them. they'll be okay.

[inessencedevided]

The Untamed, episode 45 - watching notes

I'm at this stage of fandom rn where it's really hard to concentrate on anything else 😅

Every song I listen to gets dissected for how it relates to wangxian

I need to concentrate on my thesis but instead I'm pondering how the untamed raises questions about collectivism vs individualism and how my western perception of that might differ greatly from a native chinese person or even the author's intention

Can't I just write my thesis about THAT?

Alas, I digress ...

Back to our regular programming :D

Last time one Sophie watches the untamed wwx went all Sherlock on us and used his formidable skills of deduction to expose Backpfeifengesicht's plan of killing everyone and blaming it on wwx

I've heard from several people that the next few episodes are their favourites, so no high expectations at all :D

Nobody wipes the blood on their chins away. Might be about the aesthetic

I adore detective-duo-wangxian so much!! Especially because wwx does 99% of the talking but then lwj will chime in with a single word and it's 100% devastating :D

If anyone knows any well written case-fics for these two, please, I need recs! (For after the show)

Backpfeifengesicht makes good one point and that is that jgy already is at the top of the cultivation world. So what does he gain from all this?

Or is it simply that he's afraid of wwx because he's a rebel and might act against him? (Don't answer that. I wanna find out through the show ;))

Wwx just casually revealed that he's been to cloud recess and that he handles went to the restricted section forbidden chamber. What will you do about, Lan Qiren? Huh? 😂

Oooh! Backpfeifengesicht is the ghosted faced man! I thought it was Jiggy himself!!! 😱

That makes way more sense though!

Lan Sizhui! Jin Ling! Oh you brave boys! 😭

Someone hold me 😭

But why does he not take zidian now? He's done so before!

"You little fool!" Is "I love you" in Jiang-Cheng-speak :D

"We're done for! What can we do??" - wwx *strips*

Sorry

Bahahaha 😂😂😂

I just burst out laughing waaay to loudly for the fact that I've got people sleeping in the room next to mine

But look at Lan Qiren when he sees wwx strop to reveal anat is probably his nephew's undershirt 😂😂😂

He's probably questioning every decision that's let him to this point :D

This is completely inconsequential,but I couldn't keep quiet about it anymore because I every time he makes this motion, it always sends a shiver down my spine!!! Notice that wwx (or rather Xiao Zhan) is one of these people whose fingers bend in the opposite direction??? I know it's just a normal thing some people can do, but I can't watch it!! It makes my fingers hurt just looking at it 🙈🙈🙈

Is he turning himself into a demon lure flag?? 😱

Lan Jingyi 🥺🥺🥺

Also does wwx now just transfer his self-sacrificing tendencies to lwj?

Nothing is as hot as these two together in a fight scene

Jiang Cheng doesn't want to leave them behind. He does care! :') he just never unlearned how to unravel his love from his anger

Sizhui running up to greet his dads :')

Look at them! I'm soft guys 💔

He called him Yuan!! 😭😭😭

So this is it. Any doubts I ever had about Sizhui's identity are gone

Will he finally recognize him??

Why don't you say anything lwj? This one time, I beg you!!

Sect Leader Yao still at his gossip shit even 16 years later 🙄

Lam sizhyi is seasick! Why is this so cute! 😭

Oh Wen Ning!! He recognized A-Yuan? Right?

I want to hug Lan Sizhui for his openness and kindness towards everyone he meets, no matter their status or what other people say about them! (Wen Ning now or who he thought was Mo Xuanyu the supposed mad-man) and I wanna hug lan Wangji right after for raising him to be like this :')

Oh Wen Ning! 😭

That's how I'd look at Sizhui, too, if I met him - poor unadulterated wonder :')

And just think about what that means for Wen Ning! He's not the last of the Wens! All their fight wasn't for nothing. This child, their legacy, survived 😭😭😭

"Can I call you A-Yuan" "Of Course." God I'm gonna burst into tears 😭

I'm actually bursting into tears!!

Isn't this the dream of anyone who has ever lost someone? :')

"He's like a brother and father to me" :')

And he raised him from when he was 4 or 5? So ... A-Yuan was about 2 when the Wens died? Right? Then 5 would fit with lwj's 3 year isolation

Ob god, it's the butterfly-toy!!! 😭😭😭

Wen Nings smiling through his tears! I can't! 😭💔And he's got the one from the market!

Aww, wax isn't wearing the white undergarment anymore. Too bad

Oh poor Jin Ling ...

So much grieve that he could probably never process. There so many lost kids in this story, hurt by things they had no control over 😔

I mean, I get it. That's the person who killed his parents (without being in control, but he doesnt know that) and everyone is just talking to him as if it's normal and that didn't happen. But he can't forget,but he doesnt really understand either and he has no outlet. Of course he'd just ... crash 😥

And who would have thought I'd ever try at a flashback of Jin Zixuan's death :(

For once, it'd be nice if the adults actually acted like the parent figures they're supposed to be and explain things to their children 🤦‍♀️

I'm so thankful though, that no one even thinks of scolding him for crying. Jismg Cheng only asked who it was that made him cry (and looks like he'll kick their ass). Generally, thus show has a very healthy attitude towards tears. Most characters cry when they are faced with tragedy, regardless of gender. Men being allowed to have appropriate reactions to grieve (instead of a single men tear or just punching things) is really nice to see

Oh Yao dude whose courtesy name I can't remember, shut up!

Thanks Ouyang Zizhen! You get me

I live for these children standing up to their elders

Meanwhile Nie Huaisang is just on the sidelines, enjoying the show :D never change!

The Lotus Pier theme song alone is making me cry rn 😢

Why can't wen Ning come in?

Oh Sizhui!

He many times do you want to make me cry happy tears today?? :')

Little turnip-baby ❤

But why doesn't lwj say anything ??? 😭

Lan Wangji raised A-Yuan smong a bunch of rabbits??? 😭

Now he's a turnip baby with a taste for carrots, how cute is that? :')

Holy shit, wwx and lwj are really joined at the hip these days of lwj won't enter the hall if wwx isn't allowed to :D

Lwj 😑 "no misbehaviour"

Someone. Knows. Their. Husband.

Okay sorry, but as painful as these cuts must have been and yes, while you do see scars on this prostitute's face, they in no way warrant these horrified gasps as of they had all seen a monster 🙄

Xue yang. Fancy seeing you here in this not at all disturbing sub-plot 😬

Okay that's creepy. That's really creepy

Shouldn't Jin Guangyao have a bit more compassion for these women?

On the other hand, he was born to menacingly stand behind a curtain 🤷‍♀️

W. T. F. ????

Jin Guangshan??? o___O

That's the most skin we've ever seen on this show and it's in a scene like THIS? 😬

THIS IS HOW JIN GUANGSHAN DIED? 😱😱😱

How?

How can you die from sex?

And then jgy made them keep going?

UGH

These poor women :/

So there's someone who set her free on purpose, right?

Bicao has really interesting eyes!

Oh wait, took me some time to catch up. This is about Quin Su and why she killed herself, right?

WHAT??

They were siblings o_O

They just went full game of thrones on this ...

Hey Jin Guangshan, screw you for raping that woman

Wait, is that why jgy had him die like THAT?

I'm so confused about how that happened btw

But why would Jin Guangyao merry quin su anyway? Was this some kind of political marriage that he couldn't call off?

This episode answered some of my questions but raised about a dozen more 😅

@sweetlittlevampire @fandom-glazed @elenirlachlagos @allhailthedramallama @luckymoony @kyrrahbird @i-love-him-on-purpose

5 episodes to go. I'm both happy because I can't wait to brows the untamed tag without looking for spoilers and extremely sad 🥺

Right now I'm planning to watch one episode each day until friday and then watch the last two on Saturday, hopefully quite early, so I can spend the rest of the day crying my eyes out over it, without having to worry about such trivial things as being a functioning adult or a responsible student 😅