So my other obsession of the month is wheel of time and I saw episode 7 and boy o BOY do I have major thoughts and I need to get them out.

Siuan?? What the hell? Following LONG ass post is in defence of Siuan because the general consensus there is right now about Siuan just doesn't rhyme for me.

ONE thing all of Siuan actions did, it brought out SO MUCH .

Liandrin drew out 1 dark friend (Moiraines nephew) and he consequently got locked away (or killed).

One Forsaken showed herself to an entire city, no more hiding or denying (at least not from the Aes Sedai because there were like 14(!) there)

Siuan clearly has doubts about Verin and Verin acted exactly as expected (now I think Verin has a lot more going on but hey 🤷🏼‍♀️)

When Siuan shields Rand, she pushes Moiraine to say all of her intentions with Rand and their decades build plans in front off Rand as if he is not there. Which Moiraine does to protect Rand from Siuan.

Siuan asks Rand if he has channelled carefully and deliberately (not verbatim but this is the general idea), which he hasn't. She scolds him for it and says that he hasn't learned much in 6 months, which is absolutely true.

Which leads to:

Moiraine is shielded (something I do not think Lan figured out on his own) and subsequently released of said shield by Rand when she tells Rand that she trusts him. When last season Moiraine very clearly showed that she doesn't. Rand needed to hear that from Moiraine. It pushed Rand to actually use the one power very DELIBERATELY and CAREFULLY otherwise, Moiraine dead. Now who again scolded Rand about that I wonder hmmm 🤔

Which brings me to the following and perhaps most important point:

Rand now 100% trusts Moiraine, he believes Moiraine does want to protect and guide him to save the world, which previously he didnt. He was confused about what was going on and felt like a toy being played from all sides. Siuan put Moiraine in an impossible situation and Moiraine chose Rand, the dragon reborn because she knows that is the right thing to do. Rand needed to be shown Moiriane will give everything to save the world including turning away from Siuan and being made to do something she does not want (closing the gate).

It is VITAL that he does because Moiraine will be the only one capable of providing Rand the protection and guidance that he needs to save the world. He only does at the end of this episode, which is nearly at the end of this season. They already lost too much time. Drastic extreme measures are unfortunately required because Siuan was right, Moiraines way wasn't working.

At the end of this episode due to Siuans actions, he doesn't trust any Aes Sedai, which is good because you know Black Ajah and doesnt trust the Forsaken, but he very clearly does trust Moiraine, and that WILL set him on the right path.

If I can trust book readers, Siuan is a very powerful channeler. However, like Egwene, it's her intelligence that is actually her greatest power. She is a crazy smart woman and nowhere near as impulsive, brash and stubborn as Moiraine, aka Pufferfish.

Something that stuck by me is that Siuan said "you have given everything, Im going to row beside you now". Siuan knows Moiraine will absolutely not let her. Moiraine is like Nyneave in that way. She would rather die than let anyone she loves do that.

Siuan has given up a lot this episode and put power back with Moiraine, leaving herself incredibly vulnerable, having lost her one true ally, Moiraine. Going back to a tower filled with enemies, she's f*cked, and she knows it, but she needs Moiraine focused on her mission, not on Siuans' potential downfall. Because that will definitely be a distraction for Moiraine.

There is no way in hell a Master chess player like Siuan would move her pawns so early and openly like she seems to be doing in this episode. That is not Siuan. Everyone in WOT world, though, needs to believe that she is (including Moiraine).

you know, the more I think about it … the more I think Hannibal being your comfort show when you’re in your early 20’s must rewire your brain chemistry in some seismic way because the media, stories, and fanwork that I find comforting and cozy can be . . . well, some might say it’s unconventional. I mean, they’d be wrong but they might say it’s unconventional.

Kaladin Twinkblessed

i got rickrolled today but it didn't work because i have adblocker installed, so youtube just told me i violated the terms of service. yesterday i was trying to edit a picture as a joke for my girlfriend, and google made me check a box to prove i'm human because i wasn't "searching normally".

it isn't just that capitalism is killing fun and whimsy, it is that any element of entertainment or joy is being fed upon by this mosquito body, one that will suck you dry at any vulnerability.

do you want to meet new friends in your city? download this app, visit our website, sign up for our email list. pay for this class on making a terrarium, on candlemaking, on cooking. it will be 90 dollars a session. you can go to group fitness, but only under our specific gym membership. solve the puzzle, sign up for our puzzle-of-the-month-club. what is a club if not just a paid opportunity - you are all paying for the same thing, which makes you a community.

but you're like me, i know it - you're careful, you try the library meetings and the stuff at the local school and all of that. the problem is that you kind of want really specific opportunities that used to exist. you are so grateful for libraries and the publicly-funded things: they are, however, an exception - and everything they have, they've fought tooth-and-nail to protect. you read a headline about how in many other states, libraries have virtually nothing left.

do you want to meet up with your friends afterwards? gift your friends the discord app. you can choose to go to a cafe (buy a coffee, at least), a bar (money, alcohol) or you can all stay in and catch a movie (streaming) or you can all stay in bed (rent. don't get me started) and scream (noise complaint. ticket at least).

you want to read a new book, but the book has to have 124 buzzwords from tiktok readers that are, like, weirdly horny. you can purchase this audiobook on audible! your podcast isn't on spotify, it's on its own server, pay for a different site. fuck, at least you're supporting artists you like. the art museum just raised their ticket price. once, they had a temporary exhibit that acknowledged that ~85% of their permanent art galleries were from cis white men, and that they had thousands of works by women (even famous women, like frida! georgia o'keefe!) just rotting in their basement. that exhibit lasted for 3 months and then they put everything away again.

walmart proudly supports this strip of land by the street! here are some flowers with wilting leaves. its employees have to pay out-of-pocket for their uniforms. my friend once got fined by the city because she organized a community pick-up of the riverfront, which was technically private property.

no, you cannot afford to take that dance class, neither can i. by the way - i'm a teacher. i'm absolutely not saying "educators shouldn't be paid fairly." i'm saying that when i taught classes, renting a studio went from 20 bucks an hour to 180 in the span of 6 months. no significant changes to the studio were made, except they now list the place as updated and friendly. the heat still doesn't work in the building. i have literally never seen the landlord who ignores my emails. recently they've been renting it out at night as an "unusual nightclub; a once-in-a-lifetime close-knit party." they spent some of those 180 dollars on LEDs and called it renovating. the high heels they invite in have been ruining the marley.

do you want to experience the old internet? do you want to play flash games or get back the temporary joy of club penguin? you can, you just need to pay for it. i have a weird, neurodivergent obsession with occasionally checking in to watch the downfall and NFT-ification of neopets. if i'm honest with you all - i never got into webkins, my family didn't have the money to buy me a pointless elephant. people forget that "being poor" can mean literally "if i buy you that toy, i can't afford rent."

you and i don't have time to make good food, and we don't have the budget for it. we are not gonna be able to host dinner parties, we're not made of money, kid. do you want some kind of 3rd space? a space that isn't home or work or school? you could try being online, but - what places actually exist for you? tiktok counts as social media because you see other people on it, not because they actually talk to you.

there was a local winter tradition of sledding down the hill at my school. kids would use pizza boxes and jackets and whatever worked, howling and laughing. back in september, they made a big announcement that this time, rules were changing, and everyone must pay 10 dollars to participate. when im not scared shitless, i kind of appreciate the environmental irony - it hasn't gone below 40. so much for snow & joyriding.

i saw a bulletin for a local dogwalking group and, nervous about making a good first impression, showed up early. the first guy there grimaced at me. "sorry," he said. "there's a 30-dollar buy-in fee." i thought he was joking. wait. for what? the group doesn't offer anything except friendship and people with whom to walk around the city.

he didn't know the answer. just shrugged at me. "you know," he said. "these days, everything costs money."

everyone should attempt an artisan craft at some point in their life because it would cut down the number of comments questioning why handmade goods like ceramics or textile craft or woodworking are so expensive

and this is an unrealistic expectation, but I think the attempt should include seeing through to the end at least one "finished" item, no matter how clumsy or lumpy your first attempts might be. like to me, there's a huge difference in perspective between attempting to learn how to crochet or throw a pot for a few days, acknowledging that it's harder than it looks and giving up, versus committing to finishing that scarf or clay pot you started and working on it for weeks while you painstakingly learn from your mistakes and grow attached to your project while also simultaneously hating it.

once you finish the latter, your perspective changes from "why does this crocheted blanket cost $200" to "holy shit I can't believe they're charging $200 for this crocheted blanket instead of $2000" because you may have known crocheting is hard, you may have easily agreed with the idea that "handmade goods take time and effort" even before attempting a craft, but now you know firsthand the absolute time sink it takes to make things. like yeah dude, that one item took you 2 months to make and probably wasn't even an ultra complex item if it was the first thing you made, now imagine attaching an hourly wage to that time to calculate the cost (and this is ignoring every nuance of the artistic element and master crafters being able to work faster/charge higher because of their years and years of experience)

anyway this rant has been motivated by a comment I saw on someone else's ceramic post asking why a mug was $60 and they understand it's handmade but $60 just seems overpriced, and bro do you know how long ceramics take to make. that mug probably took at minimum 3 weeks between how long it takes to throw the mug, dry partially, trim the mug, dry fully, bisque fire, wait a day for the kiln to cool, sand and paint and glaze, glaze fire, wait a day for the kiln to cool, take product photography of the mug, write description and list the mug online for sale, im not even including the skill needed to complete all these steps without the mug literally exploding or collapsing while also making it an appealing piece of art, aaaaaaaaaaaaa

mumbattan's one and only pavitr prabhakar!!

prints

I think this lil guy reminds him of someone

ignore how messy it is, its like 5 am here n i needed 2 get this out of my system

So I've been doing this thing for months where I just start grabbing one of my plushies to have as tummy support to prevent me from leaning too far forward towards my screen (the plush pushes me back as it's against the desk).

Maybe not good advice but for now it's better than me leaning all the way forward like a dog

wizard husbands go to the farmers market

liking dnd is so funny because yeah you play the actual game sometimes but mostly you just think about the game and watch other people play the game and slowly go insane thinking about how much you wish you could play the game and hoping that buying more shiny rocks will fix everything

good ending

greatest minds of our generation

anyways all you marcille lovers come get your food

it's you!

I don't know bingbong, let's ask the destroyed roomba

they want to talk about mental illness and acceptance and how everyone is a little ocd it's cute and quirky and their "intrusive thoughts" are about cutting their hair off and you say yours are about taking a razorblade to your eye and they say ew can you not and everyone is a little adhd sometimes! except if you're late it's a personality flaw and it's because you are careless and cruel (and someone else with adhd mentions they can be on time, so why can't you?) and it's not an eating disorder if it's girl dinner! it's not mania if it's girl math! what do you mean you blew all of your savings on nonrefundable plane tickets for a plane you didn't even end up taking. what do you mean that you are afraid of eating. get over it. they roll their little lips up into a sneer. can you not, like, trauma dump?

they love it on them they like to wear pieces of your suffering like jewels so that it hangs off their tongue in rapiers. they are allowed to arm-chair diagnose and cherrypick their poisons but you can't ever miss too many showers because that's, like, "fuckken gross?" so anyone mean is a narcissist. so anyone with visual tics is clearly faking it and is so cringe. but they get to scream and hit customer service employees because well, i got overwhelmed.

you keep seeing these posts about how people pleasers are "inherently manipulative" and how it's totally unfair behavior. but you are a people pleaser, you have an ingrained fawn response. in the comments, you have typed and deleted the words just because it is technically true does not make it an empathetic or kind reading of the reaction about one million times. it is technically accurate, after all. you think of catholic guilt, how sometimes you feel bad when doing a good deed because the sense of pride you get from acting kind - that pride is a sin. the word "manipulation" is not without bias or stigma attached to it. many people with the fawn response are direct victims of someone who was malignantly manipulative. calling the victims manipulative too is an unfair and unkind reading of the situation. it would be better and more empathetic to say it is safety-seeking or connection-seeking behavior. yes, it can be toxic. no, in general it is not intended to be toxic. there is no reason to make mentally ill people feel worse for what we undergo.

you type why is everyone so quick to turn on someone showing clear signs of trauma but you already know the fucking answer, so what's the point of bothering. you kind of hate those this is what anxiety looks like! infographics because at this point you're so good at white-knuckling through a severe panic attack that people just think you're stoic. even people who know the situation sometimes comment you just don't seem depressed. and you're not a 9 year old white kid so there's no way you're on the spectrum, you're not obsessed with trains and you were never a good mathematician. okay then.

mental illness is trending. in 2012 tumblr said don't romanticize our symptoms but to be fair tiktok didn't exist yet. there's these series of videos where someone pretends to be "the most boring person on earth" and is just being a normal fucking person, which makes your skin crawl, because that probably means you are boring. your friend reads aloud a profile from tinder - no depressed bitches i fucking hate that mental illness crap. your father says that medication never actually works.

you still haven't told your grandmother that you're in therapy. despite everything (and the fact it's helping): you just don't want her to see you differently.

i like when hes squishy!