Never not thinking about how in Lord of Chaos an Aes Sedai uses delving Rand as a pretext for a pretty catastrophic violation, but when Nynaeve goes to delve him in Winter's Heart he doesn't even blink. It's bookended by multi sentence descriptions of how on-edge Rand is, how dangerous he seems now, how he and Lan are wary of each other, but there's clearly not even a conscious choice to let her past all his defenses. Those defenses don't even exist with her.
Her frown became a wide smile, eager and proud. Such a beautiful smile. Her dark eyes sparkled. “They followed me, Perrin. They followed me! Even Tenobia has never led men in battle. She wanted to once, when I was eight, but Father had a talk with her alone in her chambers, and when he rode off to the Blight she stayed behind.”
👑👑👑👑
Bounding down the hillside, tripping and catching herself, Elayne wanted to laugh despite the urgency. Despite the danger. [...] She had behaved as a queen was supposed to behave, and it had worked exactly as it was supposed to! She had taken charge, to lead people out of danger, and they followed! Her whole life had been training for this. It was satisfaction that made her laugh, and the hot glow of pride seemed about to burst through her skin like the radiance of saidar.
i really am obsessed with how often moiraine is mentioned and thought of even hundreds of pages after her uh. departure. she is echoing in rand’s head almost as much as lews is, and i suppose that is sort of a given, but she also is constantly squeezing her way into everyone’s thoughts and actions. they miss her, they hate her, they think she’s not actually dead, they are mistaken for her, they do what she would do, they wouldn’t be on this path without her
she is so inextricably woven into each and every aspect of this book. the story would not exist without her and it will never let her go!!!
happy wot wednesday. wouldnt it be so fucking crazy if we all spent 50 bucks of our precious hard earned capital to vote for road to the spear in the hugo awards before voting closes on august 8. only if we can comfortably afford it obvi. link
i'll admit that i was a little salty when i first started reading the books and found out that Rand, Mat, and Perrin are all ta'veren while the women (specifically Egwene) are left out. and i do think there was a bit of misogyny going into that decision, but i retract my judgment because Egwene being elected wizard pope at 18 and becoming the world's greatest girlboss despite everything being set against her without having any special Narrative Bending Power is so much more impressive.
Clapping and cheering the costume department for Nynaeve’s outfits and colors. The green coat! The yellow skirt!!! Battle ajah on the outside, healer ajah on the inside!!!
i do admire robert jordan’s writing prowess in the stupidest instances. he’s got a talent for forcing my hand in defending a man [barf] against the entire world. do not fucking touch rand! no one reprimand him for being cold or ruthless! do not any of you dare go around saying he’s caused some shit! he’s done his very best, and i will always defend him because Book 2 specifically showcases how much he tried to be good. he tried until he could no longer. he tried until success depended on relenting...
I get why people hate elaynes arc through this book but honestly I think its very interesting. Her personality is slowly being absorbed into her becoming the ruler of a country, and we mostly see elements of character in her interactions with others. It makes a lot of sense for the reality of ruling, shes so overworked and strained and it really casts an interesting light on earlier in the series
like she had such an opportunity to be a strong, independent, funny character through the earlier books. She has flawed arguments with aviendha and egwene, gets up to hijinks in tanchico, the circus pants arc, all her flirting with rand. But that was always just fun, a pause, a blip that she (maybe shouldnt have) taken.
and honestly I love watching her and egwene and rand slip into their roles of leadership even as it makes them lose their more fun, loose, relatable personalities theres just so much there in the ways they have to make decisions for everyone where they once got to make them just for themselves
In the darkness just before dawn Rand followed Moiraine down to the back hall, where Master Gill and the others were waiting, Nynaeve and Egwene as anxiously as Loial, Perrin almost as calm as the Warder. Mat stayed on Rand’s heels as if he were afraid to be even a little alone now, even as much as a few feet away.
What I love about early-book Mat is how attached he is to Rand. He's basically like, "Look, don't leave me. Forget about your girlfriend. I need your protection!"
When Egwene is near "I can handle everything by myself," Mat is like, "I'm not that proud. Can I hold your hand, Rand? It's scary."
When reading about Faile, you can believe that her feelings for Perrin could truly last a lifetime, while with many of the other girls, what we mostly see is either a crush on an attractive person or a "prophecy-driven" romance.
From the moment we first meet her, she, non-channeler, refuses to let Moiraine and Lan bully her and insists on staying with their group. (In the same book, we see how easily Min is pressured by Moiraine and separated from Rand).
When Berelain beats her in a fight, Faile immediately gets back up and is ready to keep fighting, even if it means getting beaten again. She is not afraid to stand up even to the Dragon Reborn if it means standing up for Perrin.
Faile has the most compelling reasons for loving Perrin. Her thoughts about why she loves him are among the most beautiful in the entire series.
She loved Perrin with every fiber of her being, and he confused every fiber. Actually understanding men was impossible, of course, but he was so unlike anyone she had grown up with. He never swaggered, and instead of laughing at himself, he was . . . modest. She had not believed a man could be modest! He insisted that only chance had made him a leader, claimed he did not know how to lead, when men who met him were ready to follow after an hour. He dismissed his own thinking as slow, when those slow, considering thoughts saw so deeply that she had to dance a merry jig to keep any secrets at all. He was a wonderful man, her curly-haired wolf. So strong. And so gentle.
She also loves Perrin because nothing would stop him from rescuing her. In fact, one reason she tries so hard to escape captivity is that she knows Perrin would destroy everything in his path to reach her.
She accepts his wolf nature and effectively uses knowledge of his abilities to advise him and help him in ways that others do not notice.
She teaches Perrin how to be a lord. She brings men to an almost lost battle. She is the first wetlander to learn the Maidens' secret hand-talk, and she organizes her own society, Cha Faile, convincing young lords and ladies to follow her. She also gives Perrin the idea of spreading rumors that he intends to restore Manetheren, which later gives him a useful tool for negotiating with the Seanchan.
Many hate that she keeps slapping Perrin. But every woman in the series (except maybe Elayne) hits or kicks her man at some point. Min even threw a knife at Rand's face! Besides, Perrin himself spanked Faile for her behavior."
People criticize her for being jealous and call her toxic because of it. However, her jealousy is not based on a belief that Perrin will fell for another woman. She is jealous because she feels that Perrin treats Berelain with more honesty and directness than he treats her. He is willing to shout at Berelain or be harsh with her, while he tries to be gentle and careful around Faile. This makes her sad that he does not see her as an equal or respect her strength as much as she respects his.
Faile wants respect and an equal relationship, not just love.
dededos
prguitarman
romaincrisis
gummygunk
discoholicmusic
stormborns
dailybridgerton
