#this prophecy is how they enslave us

[hughmanrights]

Image Description:

Caligula = Worst of Humanity

Stans = Stalkers who are also fans

[desertsprng]

@feargrown said: ❝ you’re always like this when you’re worried. disagreeable. ❞ from leksa

❝        DO   NOT   READ   ME   THEN,        ❞        she   had   ventured   deep   into   the   desert,   past   sietch   tabr,   towards   her   only   other   place   of   solace.   here   they   did   not   wail   for   the   mahdi,   there   was   no   religion   save   old   fremen   ways   and   the   sayyadina   who   kept   them.   it's   simpler   days,   crysknife   in   hand,   paper   thin   muddy   brown   fabric   whispering   of   the   skin   of   her   back.   she   had   stripped   of   her   stillsuit,   of   the   memories   that   followed   here,   sand   rinsed   them   at   the   entrance   and   left   sihaya   to   the   damned   penitent.   suddenly   the   hunger   for   chukka   placed   before   her   fizzled   out,   spice   settled   against   the   back   of   her   throat   and   she   gulped   around   it.   into   it.           ❝        i   did   not   come   here   to   be   picked   apart.        ❞        childhood   sprung   up   around   them,   she   sheltered   it   where   everything   else   remained,   with   all   dead   things.

[phantasmicfish]

So I saw Dune Part 2 yesterday and I was initially super crushed because of the deviation from book canon but the more I think about it the more I sorta like it…

So without further ado here’s a list of stuff I liked about Dune Part 2:

- all the scenes initially of Paul growing closer to the Fremen. You can clearly see that they become friends, accept him as a Feydakin, that they’re laughing, joking, hanging out. (And contrast that to the end of the movie, where Paul has no more Fremen friends, only followers. In the book, this is echoed, where Paul recognizes that he has lost his friends to the Muad’Dib religion. Take book Stilgar, who truly embodies this… by the end of the book, Paul says: “I have seen a friend [Stilgar] become a worshipper.”

- giving Chani explicit rejection of Paul’s messiah status was an interesting choice. Chani’s main thought over part 2 is that they don’t need religion to save them, that through Fremen power and desert power, the Fremen can save themselves. She recognizes that this fanatical worship can be a vehicle to control and enslave her people, and I sorta wish we saw Paul lean into that more… that they found a way to stay together and ‘fight’ the prophecy together based on Chani’s ideals…

- also, I love how engrained this rejection of religion and prophecy is in her character. Book Chani takes no issue with her Fremen name, Sihaya (desert spring), but movie Chani hates it “because it’s part of some prophecy.” Later, we see that despite her rejection of prophecy and religion, that the prophecy does indeed come to pass— the tears of desert spring save Him aka, Chani saving Paul after he drinks The Water of Life. (Interesting how Jessica has to force Chani to save Paul using the Voice… another example of Jessica explicitly forcing Paul to become the messiah).

- adding more depth to Fremen culture— the South being the more religious fundamentalist tribes vs the North being more secular. Early on, the movie paints this immediate divide between the tribes of Fremen who accept Paul and Jessica versus those who treat them as offworlders (who murdered Jamis). In the books everyone accepts Paul and Jessica after Paul bests Jamis and Jessica quotes some scripture, but I think it makes more logical sense that there’d be friction over these two random offworlders coming in

- I love love loved Paul speaking at the meeting of the Fremen tribe leaders in the South. He fully accepts his messiah status, exercises his power of the Voice + his prescience as a way to command all the Fremen under his name

- I’m a big fan of omitting the two-year time skip, so with that I’m glad Leto II was skipped over entirely. I always felt that Leto II was an unnecessary character addition to the book, especially when he just dies and everyone sort of goes “oh well” and moves on, so I’m glad it’s omitted.

- another interesting choice was to paint Jessica as a straight up villain in comparison to the way her book counterpart was not. The movie Jessica we see here is seemingly corrupted by the Water of Life: she walks around talking to herself (Alia) and scheming Paul’s ascent to Lisan-Al Gaib. She knows about the Holy War, which is the very thing Paul is trying to prevent, yet she expresses no concern about bringing it to fruition. (Probably because Jessica knows it’s impossible to prevent, but still.) The very last line of the movie, where Alia asks Jessica what’s going on and Jessica says “The Holy War has begun” is just total villain in my mind— explicit acceptance of the Holy War, like it’s just another stepping stone in her plan. Plus, the fact that Paul has visions of Jessica leading him into this period of great starvation totally cements her as a villian.

- going off of that, I like that we see Jessica undergoing actual agony when she takes The Water of Life. When book Jessica and Paul take The Water of Life they accept it calmly and without obvious pain (book Jessica was sitting with her eyes closed, as if sleeping), so this physical reaction that Jessica has to the poison adds to the idea that The Water of Life did change her in a negative way.

- I feel like so far we’ve been introduced to Alia as just a weird talking fetus who’s been consorting with Jessica, so Paul’s vision where Alia says “I love you” really strikes home, that she really does care for Paul which we might not have understood otherwise

[visenyaism]

thinking about how dany would feel finding out she's not a natural targaryen child (i have a few ideas about how this would go, but for arguments sake let's say blackfyre) so secret blackfyre and how that would come in to play with faegon and the potential that maybe he IS aegon and the conflict of heritage versus dragons BUT ALSO her rationality when it comes to ruling, prophecy, and ego..............................the bells. joncon. the death of dragons book. speak to me on this.

who is going to call the only person in the world with dragons illegitimate. she literally has the targaryen mandate of heaven with that. came into all of this power that her ancestors used as a blank check to conquer and build a kingdom and decided to use it to try and liberate the enslaved instead. her problem is that she is constantly putting others needs above herself because she is so stressed out about being a perfect symbol of a ruler for the thousands of people relying on her to please any of them it’s not that she has a big ego

honestly her name is also holding her back because her whole thing is what she REALLY wants is to have a home for herself and to liberate the oppressed and BECAUSE she’s a targaryen and also has terrible self interested advisors she thinks the only way to do those things is to go to westeros and take the throne. if for whatever reason she thought she wasn’t a real targaryen it would immediately unlock the option of just building a better society she is at home in in essos. I feel like in that hypothetical. She has an identity crisis and then realizes she doesn’t want to go to that nasty continent full of stupid political drama when she can just build a city with red doors on the ashes of volantis

[banamine-bananime]

meets an encouraging, patient, fatherly commanding officer that chooses tucker specifically for an assignment and takes him under his wing. he’s actually a secret operative for a sinister military project recruiting tucker as a target practice guinea pig orchestrating the next couple years of his life to be a lie.

meets an alien that tells tucker he’ll help him fulfill the quest he’s the legendary hero of. he chestbursts him and steals a getaway vehicle given upon the “end” of the quest.

meets some weird computer program programmed by the culture the prophecy came from, pretty much the only remaining source of information about this “quest” that’s upended his life. it’s actually the ai of the freelancer trying to kill him and kidnap and use his kid to end the great war… uh, with slavery of the alien species

meets one of his best friends, an acquired taste and kind of an ass, but they give each other as good as they get and they’re a team. she leaves them to make the plan to capture junior and use him to enslave his species succeed. and tucker feels like can’t even be mad about it without feeling guilty because in her mind she was sacrificing herself and junior to save humankind from a losing war for survival, and immediately after he thinks she fucking dies and takes his kid with her!! they were friends and then for a few minutes they were almost enemies because she did the worst thing for the best reasons and then that’s it!!! how do you even grieve and process that. apparently tucker opted for watching reservoir dogs instead of therapy and i can’t blame him. that’s not the sort of grief you can find a self-help book for. HELLO I’VE BEEN SCREAMING FOR YEARS. never over it they make me insane.

meet some humans on the desert dig-team, charismatic down-to-earth soldier guys. breath of fresh air after he’s been stuck for months in complicated political situations with a species that has just recently decided to perhaps not kill all humans, as a reluctant religious figurehead in diplomatic corps that i’m sure just loved his way with words and women. bet he made a lot of friends there. the dig team kills them all except him and he proceeds to spend the next months in a psychological thriller slash survival horror.

meet church again. church leaves again (and then again) and tucker’s left furiously picking up the pieces of blue team with caboose and some blond guy they rescued from the pound. we needn’t talk about that blond guy and whether tucker knows he both set up and hit the Original Church Killswitch lest tucker doesn’t know and hears us because i think he doesn’t need that extra complication in his life tbqh.

meets a charismatic mercenary with a rough exterior, but a heart of gold, right when tucker and caboose have lost all of blue team’s charismatic mercenaries and/or assholes with a rough exterior but a heart of gold. he. well. he stabs him in the back, guys. you know. i can’t get more on-the-nose than that.

meets church again. he seems like maybe he kind of gets that he was an ass and won’t go off killing himself this time. immediately after reconciling he sees the siren call of martyrdom and kills himself instantly after simulating several ways it could go very, very extremely badly for tucker, not even counting the previous evidence from how this went for some blond guy (sorry i’m committed to just calling him some blond guy in this post now for no reason except that i think it’s a mildly funny bit).

meets church someone else who’s been fucked over by project freelancer. he’s been manipulating them to get close enough to freezermurder their friends and implicate them in terrorism charges.

meets yet another young stray asshole with Issues and a heart of gold who needs some guidance, maybe someone he can be the kind of a leader he wishes he could have been to green team. she also stabs him again.

at some point we have to let tucker just start stabbing people. like a lot of people. i don’t think he’d enjoy a villain arc once he realizes that��s what’s happening but he deserves the sheer free joy and clarity of just solving problems with pure simple stabbing before he comes to that realization.

[demon-of-the-ancient-world]

Another little Dune Part 2 detail I only noticed today : when Chani enters the throne room at the end of the movie, the other Fremen reach out to touch her shoulders in a sign of respect just like they did with Paul at the end of the first film.

[Paul, conversely, (and @fuckyeahisawthat and I have both talked about this A Lot) doesn't touch anyone but Feyd and very briefly the emperor for the entire final scene.]

There are other little moments that suggest where I'm going with this; of course there's that one shot of her in the midst of battle that directly replicates Paul's vision of himself from the first film, even the moment during the war council right before Paul makes his big speech she gets up and commands the crowd, albeit briefly, to say her piece ("this prophecy is how they enslave us"). What I'm getting at is that Chani subtly spends the second movie becoming what Paul was supposed to be and initially wanted to be - a leader who is respected by her people while still fighting alongside them, rejecting the true nature of the oppression of her people and not falling into the trap of the prophecy and messiah.

[franticbindings]

I've been thinking that there isn't any reason for Steel to be playing such a long game if she really is a bad actor and in on/in support of stuff like the derrick - but getting Suvi into position for the spider business is a possible payoff for all of this. Otherwise why even pretend to be a good guy to fool some 20 year olds you could squash without trying, you know? Making the spider has been in the works for a long time. Sly knew about the conclave - someone else easily could have.

I'll be disappointed if Steel turns out to be In On It, or even Behind It All Along though. Great dramatic fallout for Suvi but in some ways it simplifies the situation. For everything we've seen from Steel up until now to be some kind of act just doesn't feel properly set up and I'm gonna feel : / about it.

There are a lot of places you could go with Steel as a villain - she betrayed Soft/Stone and Yoren was a good guy all along - a dramatic reversal to be sure but for that kind of twist to hold up to scrutiny at this point the plotting would have to be so INCREDIBLY intricate that I'm just not that interested when you could take the story somewhere that feels more honest and straightforward.

What I'm hoping for is that Steel really didn't know, but still sides with her duty when it turns out that she doesn't have the influence to put a stop to it because the citadel is so much bigger than her for all that she's important.

Edit: When I used "villain" here I mean just an outright antagonist in the conflict established in today's episode. As in, she has been lying about how great spirits should be respected, and has been all in on enslaving them all along. She wanted them to wait for her in Port Talon because she wanted to see how Morrow did it so they could do it again. There are plenty of reasons you could give that would make this position understandable and morally gray! Theres a war on! There's a great spirit plotting their downfall right now, after all.

I just most likely won't buy the level of flawless interpersonal deception over such an extended time with her relationship to Suvi as being a reasonable way for her to have pursued her goals unless there is some really intricate shit with a prophecy involved at which point I will roll my eyes.

[littlesparklight]

Some general thoughts on the gods on Troy's side, and why they might be:

Aphrodite: Presumably out of affection for her son, Anchises, and Paris. Very potentially, wanting to assure the gift she's given Paris lasts as long as possible? But if this is a factor, hardly something she is beholden to in any way; it'd probably be more about her own pride in that case. But, given that she also helps protect Hektor's corpse, when he, at least, is no longer able to pay her back for such aid, her affection/aid to the Trojans aren't just for or because of those three.

Apollo: Thetis' warning/prophecy to her son that killing Tennes/a son of Apollo would mean Apollo would kill him (Plutarch, Quaest. Graec. 28, Bibliotethe, Epitome 3.26), then we have Achilles killing Troilus in his sancuary, which would be reason enough on its own but Troilus can also be Apollo's son. There's Apollo so ardently protecting Hektor throughout the war, even/maybe especially after his death (Hektor is also in several sources Apollo's son). Also his relationship with Hecuba and how in Stesichorus he rescues her. (Could also put Kassandra and Helenos here.)

Part of his defense of Troy might be about "fate" and when it's the "proper time" for Troy to fall, but Apollo's ties to Troy/individuals attached to Troy are more deep-set than that. He is the one to punish Neoptolemos' sacrilege of killing Priam at Zeus' altar. Apollo is also rarely present during vase art scenes around the Judgment, potentially connecting to; Apollo specifically being the one to aid Paris (or in some variants, using Paris' shape) to kill Achilles. Real-world wise, the possibility of connecting Apaliuna(s)/Appaluwa as Wilusa/Troy's patron god to Apollo.

Ares: Unstable ally. Hard to say how consistently he is on either side; Athena says he "only yesterday" on the first day of fighting in the Iliad was loudly pledging to Hera and Athena that he'd help the Achaeans.

Perhaps he's been aiding the Trojans more or less secretly/openly throughout the war, as much because he supports whatever side he wishes on a whim as that Aphrodite (and Apollo?) has asked him to. Either way, certainly not as consistent nor out of any particular affection or feeling of protectiveness for the Trojans.

Artemis: "For, in her pity, holy Artemis is angry at the winged hounds of her father, for they sacrifice a wretched timorous thing, together with her young, before she has brought them forth. An abomination to her is the eagles' feast." (Agamemnon, Aeschylus, line 135) ; this is about the eagles and hare omen, which replaces (or in addition to, as this seems to have happened in Mycenae) the snake and sparrows one. Artemis is put forth as unhappy with Troy's (future) fall/the war.

And, it's of course very easy to see the demand for Iphigenia in reparation for Agamemnon's hubris in a similar way, that if he/the army, wants to go off and kill/enslave innocents elsewhere, he/they has to start at home. She may also be helping her brother, and there is the Skamandrios, son of Strophios, who she herself taught to hunt in the Iliad. She has independent connections to Troy, and could be one of the more focused on Trojan deities along with her brother and their mother.

Leto: We have nothing, aside from the fact that she is on the Trojan side with her children in Book 21. But real-world-wise, there's also that Leto was an important goddess on the coast, and in Lycia connected to a Lycian mother goddess. So one could probably make inference for the in-universe reason being as much her siding with her children as that Troy is honouring her (maybe particularly so), along with the rest of the countries on the coast.

Xanthos: intimately woven together with Troy's royal family, as he's married a couple daughters into the line and his (only?) son's daughter married Dardanos.

Zeus: He's technically/actually neutral, a driving force to keep the war going as it "needs to". He's therefore on Troy's side more through the sentiment(s) he expresses or is assigned to him rather than in action.

Particularly so if one turns to the "he planned the war" variants - but these are never about Troy, or Paris, but rather about something much larger than any fault any individual Trojan or Troy has a whole as made themselves guilty of. [Though individual mortals in the Iliad, and in later sources, both tragedies and lyric, will imply that it's Zeus as god of xenia that ensures his working towards Troy's destruction, rather than any plan that has little to do with Troy.]

For his connections to and being for Troy, have Proclus' summary of the Kypria for example, where the plan mentioned at the end is to "relieve the Trojans" specifically, and that phrasing turns Achilles' anger and Zeus acting to fulfil his demands not about Achilles' honour, but about aiding Troy. In Pindar's Paean 6 (fragmentary), Zeus is said to "not dare to change fate [the destruction of Troy]", easily to implicate that he otherwise might, because he would wish to. More important, perhaps, is his statement that Troy is his most favoured city, and how Hera offers up three of her favoured cities for Zeus' one, how he wishes to save Hektor, and the description in the Iliad (by Poseidon) that Dardanos was the/one of the sons [by mortal women, though Elektra couldn't have been that] that he loves the most.

[babyrdie]

Bro...

Sorry, but as much as I like Odysseus, I can't like this new headcanon that's becoming popular where Odysseus decides to raise Astyanax. I can't help but think how terrifying this is for Andromache. Having her son taken from her, thinking he's dead, hearing years later through some rumor that ODYSSEUS has her baby…

Odysseus was a nightmare for the Trojans, it wouldn't be comforting for Andromache to know that. Like:

His idea of ​​taking the Oath of Tyndareus allowed Menelaus and Agamemnon to demand the recruitment of many men.

In Iphigenia at Aulis, he's so eager to get to Troy that he doesn't mind sacrificing Iphigenia if necessary.

He was one of the top warriors so he certainly caused a lot of casualties (like other warriors, naturally).

He kidnapped Helenus to make him speak the prophecies, and I don't even want to think about his methods to accomplish this.

It was he (with Diomedes and Helen's help) who took the Palladium because it would lead to the destruction of Troy.

It was his idea that overthrew Troy, which resulted in the death and enslavement of many and the destruction of Troy.

There are sources in which although Odysseus isn't said to be the one who killed Astyanax directly, it's said that it was his idea.

When Achilles demanded Polyxena's sacrifice, Odysseus was extremely insensitive towards Hecuba.

He's also listed as one of those responsible for the recruitment of two of the warriors who caused the most damage to the Trojans, that is, Achilles and Neoptolemus. If we consider the version where Achilles is on Skyros, he even made an effort to accomplish this.

In Sophocoles' version, Odysseus is so determined to conquer Troy that he tries to use Neoptolemus to deceive Philoctetes.

From a Trojan's perspective, Odysseus is a monster incarnate. There is absolutely no way for Andromache to know that Odysseus is with Astianax and not be absolutely desperate about it. And she would be desperate and unable to do anything, as she's enslaved by Neoptolemus in another place while Odysseus is in Ithaca. And she couldn't even risk anything, because it wouldn't just be her life at risk, but the life of the son she had with Neoptoleums as well. This would be an extremely cruel scenario for Andromache, who would live in an eternal horror of not knowing.

And Astyanax won't be a baby forever, he'll grow up and discover he was taken by one of the men who caused the destruction of his home and the death and enslavement of his family. It's a horrible scenario for Astyanax as well, it could only be good for him if he killed Odysseus in revenge when he got old enough to do so. Which, by the way, in this scenario is what he would try. He was killed precisely because the Achaeans knew he could be a threat, it doesn't make sense in a scenario where he remains alive Astyanax wouldn't become a threat (not in a prophetic way, tough). Odysseus being an adoptive father wouldn't stop him, just look at how Clytemnestra wanted Orestes dead because she knew he would take revenge for Agamemnon and well…he really took revenge, he killed his own mother! Even Electra wanted this!

And because there is always the possibility of misinterpretation of text, I'm not saying that Odysseus is the worst of the Achaeans or that he's the only one who did something horrible. I literally mentioned Achilles and Neoptolemus causing great damage to Troy, I mentioned Achilles demanding Polyxena's sacrifice, I mentioned Agamemnon and Menelaus as leaders, I mentioned that Neoptolemus kills Astyanax depending on the version, I mentioned that Odysseus received help with the Palladium, and on the Horse of Troy there were other warriors hidden. The point isn't to demonize Odysseus more than other Acheans characters, the point is to consider the feelings of Andromache and Astyanax.

Yes, in the original it's already horrible for Astyanax and Andromache, but putting them in another horrible situation just to make one of the characters responsible for them being in that situation better is…definitely a choice. If this were a version that already existed and you preferred it, I'd understand! But it's not the case…headcanons are harmless, I know, but I can't help but turn my nose up when I see this specific one.

[markantonys]

oh purely political arranged marriage could be interesting to see because yeah, of all the characters rj could've chosen, he picked the one guy that was pretty much enslaved and sexual assaulted and yet was willing to sacrifice his own escape to free collared woman. Like sure, that guy would fall in love with a slaver and then even worse, sort of defend the Seanchann. Respectfully, fuck that.

So that marriage could be interesting, especially if it ends with Tuon breaking it off for whatever reason.

Personally, I think the show (and the books) should end with either Mat in the polycule (which ofc is not gonna happen) or single. We don't need to have all our heroes paired off (side-eyeing Moiraine/Thom).

yeah, i think the route the show needs to go is setting mat up as someone who is entering this marriage with the intention of fixing (or destroying) the seanchan empire from the inside. because it's not his character to go in with any other mindset. now, whether that includes genuine love for a changed tuon who will help him fix/destroy things or whether he's working as a solo operator with no feelings for her will depend on how many seasons they end up getting.

(and like, in the books we can headcanon that this is what he would've done post-canon, we can say "oh this is probably the route rj would've gone if he'd been able to write outriggers", but the idea that mat has serious intentions of trying to change stuff in seanchan and use his new position as prince of ravens for good is BARELY there in the actual text, if at all. the show needs to make it explicit. we don't need to witness the destruction of the empire within the show, it's fine to leave that as a post-canon loose end, but we need to feel confident that mat Has Plans and isn't just going to sit around being a slaver empress's yes-man for the rest of his life, because that's not his character.)

anyway, back to the show! i'm sure their 8-season plan includes a proper mat/tuon romance arc, but i think of all the PRIMARY romances (so not counting moiraine/thom & siuan/bryne which totally are not happening regardless) this one's the most likely to get cut if they DON'T get the full 8 seasons. perrin/faile and rand/aviendha will definitely be happening in s3, and the show already announced its rand/elayne intentions with that romantic meet-cute shot. i could see rand/min being cut and the polycule only being avirandlayne if the show only goes to 5 seasons (which may be why the show's withholding the polycule viewing for now, to play it safe in case they can't get to it all), but any more than that and i think rand/min will make it in (not that i would be mad if it didn't............just saying!). egwene/gawyn is also at risk for the chopping block in a less-than-8-seasons scenario since they get together so late in the story, but it IS plot-crucial that they're at least warder-bonded and emotionally connected in SOME way by the last battle.

mat/tuon, though, in addition to being one of the latest-game ships, there is 0 story reason they need to have a significant emotional connection. the only story necessity from that relationship is mat corralling the seanchan army to fight in the last battle, which can be accomplished just as well by a feelings-free political marriage (and in the books even this was mostly accomplished by rand lmao mat barely did shit in getting the seanchan to TLB). so i could definitely imagine feelings-free political marriage, with maybe the Implication that feelings might develop later, being their "fewer-seasons backup plan" for mat/tuon. it will be very interesting to see whether mat gets his marriage prophecy next season and see whether the show is willing to commit to that marriage as early as s3! i think this MARRIAGE prophecy is less risky to include early than the polycule LOVE prophecy, because you can always last-minute cram a political marriage into whatever ends up being the final season but you can't cram in actual love without enough time to develop it.

[argisthebulwark]

Thinking abt the Miraak x Mara priest TLD where Mara priest is very devoted (catholic undertones) and is sworn to the purest form of love (catholic undertones) and is completely celibate as to appease their lady (catholic undertones) idk how aedra worship works much, but I’m assuming since Erandur gives off heavy priest vibes it works.

They spare Miraak, and are determined redeem him, however uh oh looks like the chosen one is touch starved and uh oh! Looks like Miraak is a very handsome nord under that mask and…uh oh! Looks like they have to share a tent with him! And uh oh! Looks like somebody is well read and charming………….

 heya this is the first thing i’ve written in so, so long. sorry it’s a little rough lol.

minors dni, it isn’t explicit but like. it’s almost there. it’s nsfwish. they/them used for the dragonborn because that’s what anon used

Their muscles screamed but they forced one foot in front of the other. The Dragonborn gritted their teeth together and took another tortuous step through the gathering snow. Miraak’s dead weight threatened to drag them down, tempting them to give in to the urge to simply lie down and wait for the elements to finish the job. His arms were locked around their neck and the points of that damned mask were doing a number on their armor.

 “Lady Mara, protect me.” The Dragonborn found comfort in the weight of an amulet resting heavily in their pocket. The implications of wearing it were enough to make their cheeks flush - they could not wear it as worshippers of the other Divines were permitted to without drawing unwanted attention. The traditional robes worn by those who cared for her shrines and temple weren’t suited for the Dragonborn’s adventurous lifestyle. 

Miraak’s fingers brushed over their solution - the worn thread of Mara’s symbol long ago embroidered onto their cloak by an old friend. The Dragonborn wasn’t sure where his mind was but his body was becoming more restless with each moment. Their trek was almost complete. 

It was by pure chance they’d stumbled across the shallow cave. Miraak’s palace was intimidating and they’d made countless circles around it, surveilling it, searching for its weakest point. The former inhabitants of the cave were a small band of werewolves that had unfortunately fallen to the Dragonborn’s blade. Their guilt lingered but some small part of their brain recognized that it had to be a small miracle, somewhere safe to place Miraak while they attempted to heal him. Perhaps Mara had been keeping a close eye on them. 

It was unbearable, hauling him across Solstheim’s tundra. His boots dragged and his mask stabbed them with every step. It was the only touch the Dragonborn recalled receiving in years - they shook hands and often placed their hand on a shoulder or forehead during blessings but it had been far longer since they felt the touch of another person. Their love was reserved entirely for Lady Mara, finding her instructions to live soberly and respectfully fit into all aspects of their life. It was easy to keep distance from others when you became the embodiment of an ancient prophecy. 

He was warm. The Dragonborn could feel each breath he took, his large chest pressed to their back and somehow it felt like breaking their chastity being so close to him. With his arm around their shoulders and hand bumping against the front of their armor was far too intimate.

That dark, oily power granted by Hermaeus Mora radiated from him. The Dragonborn knew they should’ve left him to Mora. Miraak had been nothing short of an antagonist in their life for months - stealing Dragon Souls they desperately needed to help those still struggling in the wake of the Civil War, enslaving the people of the island for his own selfish purposes, and taking every opportunity to insult them. 

But they couldn’t shake the feeling there was something in him worth saving. 

Perhaps it was Lady Mara’s light shining through the Dragonborn, she saw something that was far deeper than mortal eyes could see. There was something within Miraak, some scrap of the First Dragonborn that could bring light to Nirn after all of the damage he’d inflicted upon its people. If Lady Mara felt strongly enough about Miraak to guide the Dragonborn they would not refuse. 

It was either luck or Mara’s grace that Miraak remained unconscious as long as he did. The Dragonborn dumped his body onto the hard ground once they were safely hidden within Frostmoon Crag, walls of chilly stone serving as their shelter. He grunted once before lapsing back into silence. The Dragonborn kept a careful gaze on him while they set up the tent that had housed them countless times. It was only intended for one person and they still hadn’t decided if letting Miraak out of their sight was a good idea. He could wake at any point of the night and disappear - or do far worse to them. 

Once the meager fire was built, they heard him stirring. Miraak’s deep groan rumbled through his chest and the Dragonborn felt something akin to excitement shoot up their spine. A gloved hand rose to his face, easily knocking the mask out of its way before rubbing at his forehead. The Dragonborn watched in silent awe through the shivering flames as Miraak propped his arms up, eyes closed and sucking in a deep breath. Was he unaware of their presence? It felt odd watching him, the vulnerability of seeing his face.

“You’re staring.” 

His voice shocked them. The Dragonborn felt a terrible fluttering in their chest when his eyes cracked open, sliding over the little campsite before glowering at them. His lower lip was cut and bloodied but still he smirked at them, his eyes a dark green they’d never seen before. They felt their cheeks heat up and realized what they were doing - who they were looking at and reigned themself in. Clutching at the amulet in their pocket the Dragonborn stared into the fire and forced their thoughts to return to the mental recitation of a familiar prayer. 

“Sorry to disappoint.” His voice was just quiet enough to make the Dragonborn wish they could move closer. It was enticing to hear him speak so softly after hearing his booming Shouts for so long. 

“Disappoint?” They cleared their throat and shoved away thoughts that threatened to turn indecent when he tossed his cloak aside. 

“I’ve been told that people expect some horrid mass of tentacles behind the mask.” Was he joking? “My face has been known to cause disappointment.” 

The Dragonborn didn’t have a response that didn’t directly contradict their wholehearted dedication to Lady Mara. They chose to instead gather their knees close to their chest and center themself, remembering the purpose in saving him. They knew some of Mora’s filthy power remained within him and could only pray that Mara’s loving embrace would be enough to save him. 

“You are not what I expected.” The Dragonborn finally stated. It was rare for Miraak to be so quiet, so docile. They feared the only chance at a calm conversation was slipping away. 

They could feel his gaze. His eyes were on them, sharper than last time. The Dragonborn reminded themself that they were more powerful than him. They had defeated him multiple times. They were going to salvage the part of his soul that remained intact. They could hold a simple conversation with him. 

“What did you expect?” 

“I expected you to start another fight as soon as you awoke.”

“Is that what you want, Little Dragon?” 

His voice was directly in their ear. When had he moved closer? They’d been so focused on staring into the fire and avoiding the impure thoughts about him tickling at the back of their mind, they’d allowed Miraak to get within striking range. They would not tolerate any more distractions. Lady Mara had blessed them with the power to heal and they refused to let it go to waste. 

“I do not want to fight you.” Turning their stare on him, the Dragonborn found Miraak’s face within inches of theirs. Heat flashed across their face when they remembered the warmth of his body pressed to theirs, the calming rhythm of his breathing against their back. 

“We are good at fighting each other.” Miraak’s sinful lips broke out in a smile, teeth that looked just a bit too sharp reminding the Dragonborn of how dangerous he was. “It was the only contact I got over these past few eons.”

“I do not wish to fight you anymore.” The Dragonborn insisted, the amulet clutched in their clammy hand. Why were they so nervous? They’d done this countless times before. Citizens all over Skyrim had been healed or blessed by their scarred hands. Miraak should be no different. “I am a disciple of Lady Mara. I received her blessings and accepted her into my heart.”

“And you wish for me to do the same?” He leaned closer, that devious smirk still on his face. He knew he was getting under their skin and enjoyed it. A light danced in the depths of his eyes when they refused to back down. “How is it that you perform these blessings, Dovahkiin? Last I heard, Mara’s only purpose these days is when some farmers decide to marry.” 

“Lady Mara is the Divine of love. She is not some simple signature on a license of marriage.” Rage burned away any of their nervousness and the Dragonborn found one of their fingers stabbing into Miraak’s unarmored chest. The tunic he wore was torn and stained, though they couldn’t be sure if the blood was his own or from one of his many victims. “How long have you lived without love in your heart? Without being comforted or healed?” 

“Will you bless me, then?” Miraak’s voice deepened, a strand of his hair falling into his face. The Dragonborn took a calming breath, reminding themself that Lady Mara had led them to Miraak’s palace and must have a reason for doing so. She must know that his soul was worth saving and their connection was important to his redemption. 

“I will.” 

Miraak remained quiet while the Dragonborn worked. They spread wrinkled blankets over the floor of the tent, the one pillow squashed from its life at the bottom of their pack would have to work. Ceremonies honoring Mara were usually held within her temple with plenty of pews or near one of her shrines, cushions provided for those performing prayers in her name. The Dragonborn maneuvered Miraak until he sat squarely in the center of their tent, eyes closed and hands resting in his lap. That damned smirk was still on his face as if he doubted they would be able to cleanse him of Mora’s influence. 

A couple busted sticks of incense smoldered near the entrance of the tent and their amulet of Mara sat nearby. It was a comforting sight, something to ground them in Miraak’s distracting presence. 

“We pray to you, Mara, Mother of Love.” The Dragonborn recited the words Maramal had long ago drilled into their brain. He remained earnest in his belief even after so many years while the Dragonborn had become used to their faith, a quiet companion. “Mother Mara, turn your gaze upon this pure soul. Bless us with your gaze.” 

Surprisingly, his only response was a short bark of laughter. No condescending commentary on their faith. The Dragonborn repeated their appeal for Mara’s attention and love while they kneeled before Miraak. Placing the amulet of Mara on him felt strange but he didn’t fight it. His eyes remained shut as if truly absorbing the words the Dragonborn recited over him. 

Clasping hands with Miraak, the Dragonborn channeled their faith and love of Mother Mara into the touch as they had so many times before. The soft golden glow of Mara’s restorative magic lit the small tent, unfortunately highlighting his handsome features. His touch was warmer than expected despite the nervous chilliness of the Dragonborn. His thumb ran over the back of their hand, a gesture far too intimate for people who had fought to the death. He must be trying to unnerve them. 

“How has Mara blessed you, Little Dragon?” He murmured, not bothering to open his eyes. He somehow knew just how to fluster them. His hands left their grasp, skimming up their shoulders to play with the clasp of their cloak. They had to blame the shivers and goosebumps on the sheer length of time since they’d last felt someone’s touch. Miraak simply could not be affecting them in such a way. 

“The Lady has brought light and purpose into my life.” The Dragonborn gulped, ignoring the need pulsing through their body. 

“Has she brought you love?” 

“I hold love for all children of the Divines.” The answer was automatic, something they’d stated many times before. 

“She is the Goddess of Love though, correct? Has she not brought love to a devout follower like you?” His fingers were wandering freely over their armor and the Dragonborn tried to summon the will to tell him to stop. It felt like he left a trail of fire in his wake, leaving their body alight. 

“My lifestyle is not compatible with a spouse.” 

“I don’t recall mentioning a spouse.” Miraak’s tone was teasing. He knew exactly what he was doing. The Dragonborn cleared their throat and continued with their prayer, hoping that Miraak would fall back into his silence. 

“By your grace Mother Mara, allow us to live peaceful and sober lives. To honor our families and homes in your stead.” 

“You should’ve been a follower of Dibella instead of Mara.” Miraak’s hands wandered over the Dragonborn’s waist and settled on their hips, drawing them in closer. The stumbled over their words, intending to reprimand him but he felt so fucking good. “This would be much more fun.” 

“I honor a pure love in Mother Mara’s honor.”

“And you deny yourself pleasure in her name, too?” Miraak murmured, a thumb tracing their lower lip. The Dragonborn heard themself moaning and was startled that such a wanton sound could come from them. “Surely she wouldn’t want such a pious follower to miss out on pleasure simply because it is impure.” 

“I worship Mara because she saved me when I was nothing, she gave my life purpose.” 

“I wish you would worship me, Little Dragon.” Miraak’s lips brushed over theirs for a fleeting moment and the Dragonborn felt their control falter. The years spent honoring Mara in all of their actions, shoving down their wants and needs in the name of honor disappeared the moment Miraak’s warm breath tickled the overheated skin of their throat. 

It was so wrong to be vulnerable with him like this. It was dangerous and against everything Maramal and Dinya had preached for so many years but it felt right. Miraak’s strong grasp on their waist when they twisted fingers into his unruly hair, his teeth scraping skin sensitive from being untouched for too long. 

“I would give you pleasure you can’t even imagine.” He mumbled against their skin and the Dragonborn forgot about the vows they’d made so long ago. His touch was everywhere, mouth leaving kisses in its wake until the Dragonborn couldn’t think about anything other than him. “Or perhaps it is your turn to be worshiped.”

[desertsprng]

@ruingod said: ❝  you don’t understand.  i need you safe.  not because i don’t think you can handle yourself but because i can’t focus on anything else if there’s even the smallest possibility you’re in danger.  ❞

THE   SKIN   BETWEEN   CHANI'S   BROWS   FURROWS,   was   there   not   much   the   padishah   emperor   had   to   worry   about?   the   holy   war   in   his   father's   name,   houses   that   came   to   challenge   his   rule,   and   lastly   his   lovely   bride.   as   pale   as   ivory   stone,   perfectly   groomed   to   stand   by   muad'dib's   side,   to   be   mother   to   the   new   empire.   nevermind   that   arrakis   belonged   to   fremen,   to   her   own   people,   not   off   worlders.   what   was   to   become   of   their   ways   now?        ❝        my   safety   is   no   longer   your   concern.        ❞        she   had   searched   his   eyes   out   in   that   crowded   room,   wandered   through   the   blue   within   blue,   and   when   the   veneer   fell   away   so   did   her   heart.   he   is   usul   and   he   is   not.   the   boy   who   cared   for   nothing   save   equal   footing   between   them   didn't   exist,   he   was   messiah   born.   the   taste   of   a   single   tear   still   on   his   lips. 

❝        i   grew   up   here,   i   know   every   inch   of   arrakis.   if   i   do   not   wish   to   be   found   then   i   won't   be.        ❞        yet   paul   had,   his   prescience   provided   more   knowing   than   chani   was   comfortable   with,   it   meant   that   she   took   him   with   her   everywhere.   the   echo   of   him   within   her   own   water   would   never   fade.   it   beat   loudly,   a   frantic   tattoo   against   the   inside   of   her   stillsuit.   she   wants   to   disappear   again.   be   forgotten   entirely.   bury   sihaya   and   the   myth   of   her   where   their   love   had   floundered   and   died.   could   he   not   give   her   that?        ❝        so   take   your   legion   and   let   me   do   so.        ❞

[adorkableshephard]

Hot Take

I don’t hate Perrin allying with the Seanchan against the Shaido. I do, overall hate the whole Perrin and Faile storyline once they meet Masema and then the kidnapping arc starts, but I think that allying with the Seanchan is actually important to Perrin’s development arch.

Once Faile gets captured, Perrin begins a massive downwards spiral. He becomes entirely singleminded at the moment when he has his greatest responsibilities. His relationships with many characters deteriorate, exemplified by Aram’s corruption and their fight to the death. Perrin’s reputation gets damaged, and he begins using people and wolves as tools, losing his previous regard for life and autonomy. It’s the kind of ruthlessness that I imagine overtook some of the residents of Shadar Logoth. Perrin is failing as a hero, more so than any of the EF5 except for when Rand at his very worst.

Rand has the cover of being under the most pressure from the pattern, prophecy, and people, as well as suffering from the many side effects of the taint.

Mat’s main moral failing in the late series is marrying Tuon and integrating to some minor degree into the Seanchan empire, although since he’s being pushed into it by the pattern and literally the end of the world we don’t know how he’ll behave later on.

Perrin is at a point where the pattern and shadow aren’t targeting him so much. He’s just making terrible choices in the face of a complicated prolonged crisis. He sets aside basically everything to somewhat selfishly rescue his wife in an inefficient chase cross country in terrible conditions. He is succesful in the end, but only by compromising his morals, relationships, and allying with the evil enslaving empire.

RJ loved consequences. Sanderson, at least at that point in his career, played fast and loose with them. Sanderson has also stated multiple times that Perrin is his favorite, and I think the vast amount of time that he spends rehabilitating his character throughout his 3 books definitely supports that.

Personally, I don’t think RJ would’ve redeemed Perrin. I think his character arc was supposed to lead to him having saved Faile, but losing himself, with the only thing left to do save Rand in some way during the last battle and die in the process. His character arc is built for the tragedy of dying in Tarmon Gaiden farrrr more than Egwene’s, and allying with the Seanchan is really kind of the last nail in the coffin for that arc.

We didn’t get that arc, so it just becomes icky instead.

[bracketsoffear]

The Order of the Stick: Blood Runs in the Family (Rich Burlew) "The Order heads to the Western Continent in search of Girard's Gate, only to get entangled with the Empire of Blood, a tyrannical draconian state--literally, it's ruled by a dragon. But the real power behind the throne is General Tarquin, who turns out to be the bard Elan's dad. Tarquin, being a diabolical mastermind who’s just as genre savvy as Elan, has figured out that ruling openly will only lead to being overthrown, and thus has engineered a grand scheme with his partners to take over the entire continent using their puppet states. He doesn't even mind that Elan wants to overthrow him for being an enslaving dictator--if he wins, he rules as a king, and if he loses, he goes down in history as a LEGEND. Tarquin follows the Order as they try to reach the Gate, using it as a test for his other son Nale--a scheming villain like him, who has continually dissapointed Tarquin. When the Gate is blown up, he meets up with Elan and Nale, finds out that Nale killed his best friend, confirms that Nale wants nothing more from him…and stabs his son dead right in front of Elan because he's an inconvenience. Then he decides to kill Elan's good friend Roy so Elan can be the leader of the party. Tarquin is essentially a railroading DM in charge of a nation. He's an old white guy with self-centered, old-fashioned, and implicitly misogynistic and racist ideas of how the story is "supposed" to go--he's the Big Bad, Elan is the Hero, and they're destined to have a big epic showdown. But Tarquin isn't the main villain, Elan wants to be a support player, and Roy is the leader; so when Tarquin's plans are defied, he does everything in his power to steer things back on the rails by force, to the point of threatening to kill everyone Elan loves and chop off his hand just to properly motivate him."

Oedipus Rex (Sophocles) "The whole point of the tragedy is that no one can fight fate. No matter the lengths everyone goes through to avoid the prophecy, it still comes true."

[moonlightreal]

The Night World’s end of the world

A bit of pondering, with bonus picture of Sarah Strange.

The setup: animal attacks, natural disasters and strange diseases are on the rise! The end of the world is coming! Most of the Night World thinks it’ll be the end of the human world and they will be free to live their best vampire- and shapeshifter-lives, enslaving humans to feed from like they did back in prehistory. But Circle Daybreak is not down for mass human destruction and wants to try and stop what’s coming. Luckily there is a prophecy! There are four “Wild Powers,” four people with a special gift-- blue fire! Very cool. If they all work together they can stop the darkness. Circle Daybreak has a guide to help find them:

One from the land of kings long forgotten;

One from the hearth which still holds the spark;

One from the Day World where two eyes are watching;

One from the twilight to be one with the dark.

The first three we found in the books that have been published. A vampire prince, a ditzy but soulful lost witch, and a vampire hunter who is herself half vampire. The three of them are from the “royal families” of the Night World, the vampire Redferns and the witchy Harmans.

Information from Strange Fate indicates that the fourth Wild Power is Kierlan Drache, from the “royal family” of the shapeshifters. His family name is linked to some very cool new shapeshifter lore that Ms. Smith added for the last four books. The Drache family are dragonborn, before Skyrim or Game of Thrones did it.

In ancient times the dragons were the most powerful and cruel of shapeshifters, ruling whole kingdoms and keeping humans as cattle. Ms. Smith’s dragons seem to be totally evil, drawing on all the darkest ancient serpent mythology. Being shapeshifters, they can be dragon or human, and have the unique power to take on any human or animal form they wish. Ordinary shapeshuifters are limited to one human form and one animal form, the descendants of the dragons are able to choose their animal form while true dragons can shapeshift into any animal or human.

The true dragons are the villains in the end of the world arc, rising from centuries of slumber to bring about the end of the world. Exactly how this will happen is a bit murky; despite the disasters Jez hears about in Huntress, by Witchlight the human world still seems to be puttering along with high school continuing as usual.

This made me wonder: was this “end of the world” arc Ms. Smith’s idea? Or did the publisher decide the series needed a dramatic wrapup? Because Ms. Smith doesn’t seem super invested in the apocalyptic worldbuilding of it all. She had great fun writing the post-apocalypse story that was originally part of Strange Fate then split off to become the standalone novel The Last Lullaby, and I know this because she told me. :-) I emailed her to say “post-apocalyptic is fun to write isn’t it?” and she sent a brief “it sure is!” reply. My only actual conversation with the woman of mystery. But she seems much less into the apocalyptic event itself. This is what made me wonder if Ms. Smith wasn’t the decider in the whole end of the world thing and just wanted to keep writing her supernatural high school stories.

Thinking about the spread of Wild Powers it occurs to me that we have an uneven spread. Witches, vampires and shapeshifters are represented, but humans only get a half-inclusion.

So… is Kierlan a confirmed Wild Power or just a likely Wild Power? ‘Cause Circle Daybreak agents tracked down Iliana through her ancestry long before she could use the blue fire. What I’m saying is, I wonder if Kierlan is a ringer and Sarah will turn out to be the real Wild Power.

On that subject, we have a picture of Sarah, made by Ms. Smith on a dollmaker. (Wherever you are now, Ms. Smith, I hope you’re having loads of fun making all your characters with AI art because it is a blast.)

I’ll have to paraphrase the description since I couldn’t find it again but in my memory Ms. Smith waxes eloquent about how Sarah “May be a bit clumsy and a bit of a crybaby…” which, uh, reminds me of somebody.

And Ms. Smith goes on to talk about Sarah’s bluegreen eyes, shimmering as if with unshed tears, as her most beautiful feature.

[twicetolivetwicetodie]

Rand al'Thor and Anakin Skywalker Parallels

Okay, I said I was gonna do this so let's go. Warning: this is full series spoilers for Wheel of Time so if you do watch the show and don't want Rand's arc spoiled, look away!

First thing's first, they're both the Chosen Ones of their perspective stories. Anakin being called the Chosen One, Rand with the titles the Dragon Reborn, He Who Comes With the Dawn, Car'a'carn, and Coramoor (all Chosen One in all those cultures)

Prophecies foretell that Anakin will bring balance to the Force (though afaik they're pretty vague on how he's supposed to accomplish this). The prophecies regarding Rand are complicated and unending and too much for this one post but the gist of it is that he will both save and destroy the world.

Anakin was born of Shmi Skywalker but has no father (the Force made him possible). Rand was born to Tigraine Mantear former Daughter-Heir to Andor and Janduin, clan chief of the Taardad Aiel. Tigraine was a Maiden of the Spear sworn to take no husband so that's where the Maiden birth fits in here.

Trauma is an ongoing theme here as neither of them can seem to catch a break. Anakin was enslaved as a child, loses his mother, is tortured a numerous amount of times (I've lost count the amount of times he's electrocuted in Clone Wars), and loses many soldiers under his command as well as the enormous pressure of being the Chosen One. He is constantly being told to suppress his emotions as anger will only lead to the Dark Side however he is never given the space or even any idea how to process his trauma. He loses Ahsoka due to her being kicked out of the Jedi Order due to the Jedi's own mistakes. Even after she is exonerated and very rightly leaves the Order, he's expected to keep his emotions under control and pretend everything is fine with this entire situation. Sidious groomed him for the Dark Side from a young age and ultimately ended up weaponizing his trauma.

Rand had a relatively normal childhood until Winternight when everything went to hell. Trollocs attack his village and he finds out he's adopted leading to the first of many identity crises. He's forced to leave the only home he's ever known and leave his adopted father behind who means everything to him. He and his friends are pursued across the world by Shadowspawn and Darkfriends who mean to turn him over to the Dark One, he's repeatedly tortured in his dreams every night by Ba'alzamon, and by the end of EoTW he discovers he can channel, which in this world means he's doomed to go insane the more he uses this magic.

He finds out he's the Dragon Reborn and the pressure of that adds onto his ongoing trauma of being pursued by Forsaken, being used and abused over and over and over again by people who are supposed to help and protect him, having the voice of his previous life in his head, losing people under his command and he blames himself for every last one. Everyone around him gaslights him into believing his trauma isn't real and that his very real PTSD symptoms are a result of him using the corrupted side of the magic system.

Rand suppresses his emotions as a coping mechanism and outwardly presents a mask that he feels nothing. These emotions he is not allowing himself to feel otherwise he would not be able to function he is funneling over to the voice of his previous life as Lews Therin. We as the reader experience his true emotions via Lews Therin. And I can't end this without mentioning when a group of Aes Sedai kidnap him and force him in a box to take him to the Tower, only to take him out to beat him with the Power, an extended torture that takes place for two weeks.

Both have lost a hand. Anakin lost a hand when Count Dooku cut if off with his lightsaber in Attack of the Clones. Rand lost a hand when Semirhage burned it off by channeling a fireball at him in Knife of Dreams.

Both of their falls I think are incredibly similar. Anakin kneels to Sidious begging him that he'll do anything just help him save Padme. In the Gathering Storm, Rand kneels to Semirhage and begs her that he'll do anything, just stop hurting Min. These end differently as Anakin ends up swearing to Sidious and becoming Darth Vader. Semirhage refuses to stop hurting Min, so Rand breaks the one line he won't cross and kills her with Balefire, but not without briefly channeling the True Power to escape his bonds; a Power only those sworn to the Shadow can wield.

After his fall, Anakin kills the younglings. For Rand an equivalent would be Natrin's Barrow, where he balefires an entire city out of existence just to get at the Forsaken Graendal.

As far as their return to the light goes, both is accomplished by a family member. Anakin is brought back by his son Luke. In Rand's case, it's his father Tam.

The Jedi and the Aes Sedai both have significant roles in both their arcs which includes losing trust in them after a certain point. They're both orders of magic users that did good in the world at one point in time but at some point lost their way or became corrupted.

The Jedi become majorly involved in the Clone Wars despite their vow of being peace keepers. They're aware of the origin of their clone army by the end of season 6, yet they decide to do nothing. Ahsoka being kicked out of the Jedi Order is Anakin's last straw. She's invited back in, and yet the Jedi refuse to change despite recognizing that they did Ahsoka wrong.

The Aes Sedai get involved in things that further their own ends or "Control the world with puppet strings" as some put it rather than their purpose of being "Servants of All". They deny the existence of the Black Ajah and pretend they haven't infiltrated their ranks. A faction of Aes Sedai kidnapped and tortured Rand for two weeks and the rest of the Aes Sedai refused to hold them accountable.

Both Anakin and Rand are Chosen Ones who cracked under the pressure and experienced persistent trauma.

I'm gonna end with a quote by Rand that seems pertinent to both of them.

"My life isn't my own. I'm a puppet for the Pattern and the prophecies, made to dance for the world before having my strings cut." -Rand al'Thor, The Gathering Storm