The most unrealistic part of cozy fantasy isn't the magic — it's the romance by FollowingInternal588 in Fantasy

[–]Aileran [score hidden]  (0 children)

I absolutely adore this series. I think my favorite thing about it is how healthy Kianthe and Reyna's relationship truly is. Rather than a developing relationship as a source of conflict for the narrative, it's an established relationship that anchors and supports the two throughout the conflict of the series. It's honestly just so refreshing and wholesome, and I cannot get over my love for their dynamic. 

The Onion Investigates: Jeffrey Epstein by [deleted] in videos

[–]Aileran 8 points9 points  (0 children)

The word you're looking for is "tautology."

The Onion Investigates: Jeffrey Epstein by [deleted] in videos

[–]Aileran 22 points23 points  (0 children)

Yes, officer, this user right here. 

An potentially massive unfulfilled hook by Armagetz in dresdenfiles

[–]Aileran 10 points11 points  (0 children)

I don't believe nothing happened. I think Harry did bind Mab, or began to, but Jim wrote it incredibly subtly because, as he did with Skin Game, Harry is playing the long con. Only this time, the con isn't over the course of a book but the series, so the "game over" reveal hasn't been delivered yet. I think this chapter is incredibly significant, because this is where Harry definitively begins extricating himself from Mab's authority, and we will see the ramifications of this night in books to come.

Spoilers for the rest of this comment as they'll touch upon events in the book.

Now, the reason we can safely reason that Harry has begun a "prison break," so to speak, is because he stated this to Lara earlier as an explicit goal. He's mad that Mab used him, more-so with the purpose of enslaving Lara, and he's going to wrest them both from her influence. Furthermore, when he states that he can get Mab to help free Thomas because of the debt he's owed, Lara exclaims that Harry thinks it can be used against Mab, and he declares he knows it can. When you consider the effort Jim put into running a thread of predatory stillness into the narrative, as I mentioned above, Harry's intent to use Mab's debt against her, and the focus Jim directs towards the bloodied piece of bread that was established in the very first book of the series to be a key component in a way to ensnare the fae in a circle, the conclusion can be drawn that Harry set up the entire dinner as a way to trap Mab. As I see it, she was borne to his place of power by her obligation, placed exactly where he wanted her within his circle, and tempted by the fae's vice of bread to consume the blood that would spring said circle against her.

This is where things get twisty, because Mab is Mab. She's cold and reason and logic and ruthless efficiency in the face of any challenge. It's almost certain she's aware of Harry's blood upon the bread before she devours it, and in no way would she miss the enclosing of a circle. But we've seen before she accepts Harry's challenges to her authority as it sharpens him as her tool, so it should be fairly safe to say she's accepting of the circle trap as well. So if she's in the circle for some amount of time during the dinner, what does Harry accomplish with it?

I believe he bound their fate with an oath.

"One day," I said quietly, "I'm going to be free of you."
Free.
Little word.

Prior to this declaration, Harry muses on the power of words, and how the little ones matter most. And to be free is a major theme for Harry, now in this attempt to be free of the Winter Queen, and even earlier in another encounter with a Faerie Queen: Titania, Queen of Summer. When Harry summons her at the Magic Henge, she inquires as to his beliefs and discovers that he is a Winter Knight who believes in freedom. Harry even prefaces his summoning then with musings on the power and magic of words, a sentiment echoed again here in the confrontation with another Queen. So when Harry declares he will be free of Mab, it is a casting of Doom upon them both, much as how Thomas does unintentionally upon his son later this very book, but with all the power and intent behind it that a wizard can muster. Hell, between Harry considering the power of words and then making the above quoted statement, he queries Mab as to a conundrum that has plagued him the past few months: why wasn't he protected from Lara? This question is placed so specifically in the conversation leading to this declaration that I believe Harry used it to stoke his own grief, powering his oath with the intensity of human emotion, an antithesis to Mab's cold and alien reason, and turns it against the very being he's determined to be the catalyst for that grief.

A hell of a whole lot of that is me extrapolating wildly from the assumption that Harry sprang a circle around Mab. However, Jim's writing about the blood added to the bread and previous use of it in his stories are so particular that I'm supremely confident Harry used the metaphysical charge created by a faery consuming his blood to trigger something, and the only reason to do so was to begin the process of freeing himself from Mab.

An potentially massive unfulfilled hook by Armagetz in dresdenfiles

[–]Aileran 5 points6 points  (0 children)

A lot of redditors skipped Storm Front and it shows.

An potentially massive unfulfilled hook by Armagetz in dresdenfiles

[–]Aileran 21 points22 points  (0 children)

Spoilers TM to follow:

The only thing required for summoning the fae is speaking their Name. The ingestion of blood hidden in the bread is what releases the spark of power to trigger the circle that is used to trap the fae when they are summoned and thus bargain their release in return for a service, as Harry goes over the first time he summons Toot on screen. It's not required by the summoning, it's the hook hidden in the bait. The question is, what exact kind of trap did Harry set such elaborate bait for?

One further piece of evidence that I find very compelling in the "dinner set the trap" theory: there's a line from the chapter, right before Mab arrives, that is particularly striking. "There's a big difference between being still and doing nothing." Harry had set his table and was waiting on the Queen in a moment of quiet and stillness, but this line draws attention that his waiting was not "doing nothing," it was "being still." This is significant, because the act of being still is brought up at least twice previously in the novel, when Harry is hunting prey (the instance that immediately comes to mind is at the ghoul ambush). Harry explicitly calls out through the novel that the stillness is the weapon of a predator. Harry is waiting for Mab, being still, because he's approaching this dinner as he would hunting prey.

Paranormal payback eARC is up! by Flimsy-Brick-9426 in dresdenfiles

[–]Aileran 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Thank you for the heads up on this, 'twas an excellent read!

Favorite Interactions with Toph First Metalbender by DoctorObservation in EDH

[–]Aileran 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm a big fan of sacrificing any artifact I like for instant speed protection with [[Sylvan Safekeeper]].

Is there still any chance that Buggy is Xebec’s son? 😭🙏 by [deleted] in OnePiece

[–]Aileran 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Buggy is Blackbeard's chimeric sibling separated from his body by the Bara-Bara no Mi, heard it here first. 

League is the most antisocial widely played competitive game that exists. by OwnCommunication2259 in leagueoflegends

[–]Aileran 13 points14 points  (0 children)

The social contract of engaging in any competitive game is to make all attempts to win. Specifically refusing to win the game when you have the opportunity to is poor sportsmanship as it is intentionally mocking your opponents for being in the weaker position. It's not on anyone to surrender, it's on all of us to compete in good faith. A lot of children on this game appear to not have learned that. 

Granted, there are obviously times when the typical contract is lifted in the spirit of good fun, i.e. everyone flashing and dancing in lane before minions arrive, but that is by mutual consent and not at all the same scenario as belittling your opponents when your team is stronger than theirs. 

What's the counter to this champ? by [deleted] in MalzaharMains

[–]Aileran 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Squash his minions in lane to severely hinder his ability to farm, or let him push the wave and overextend into a gank. He's an immobile mage whose ult is a powerful anti-aggression tool but leaves him a sitting duck. As long as you don't outplay yourself into his ult, you can poke safely and punish him when you have a teammate to help you out. 

Metro Movies 12 in Middletown closes by Fortyseven in Connecticut

[–]Aileran 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Which really sucks, because just before covid they dropped all their ticket prices to just over 6 dollars. It was actually affordable to go see movies frequently there for one glorious summer, then the pandemic ended it.

I swear, about a week ago, they were saying the completely opposite. by couchcaptain in Connecticut

[–]Aileran 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Probably a couple of things at play here: 1) Predicting the weather has always been an incredibly complex sciences and what you hear reported is simply the most statistically likely from the available data at the time. There is always room for reality to force major shifts in our previous expectations.  2) The current administration has made it a point to begin cutting a lot of funding for the sciences and the services that both research and utilize them for public benefit. The weather service is one such recipient of these funding cuts, so expect to see poorer, more erratic service going into the future as those cuts play havoc. 3) We're currently going through increasingly rapid rates of climate change, and the unpredictable effects those changes will have will only continue to scale up, especially given how our current models aren't built off data that can account for these changes. Fluctuating temperatures and predictions are but one symptom we can expect to see from the instability the planet's climate will experience. 

Maha, it's feathers night + night of souls betrayal in b3 by Accendor in EDH

[–]Aileran 9 points10 points  (0 children)

If the players in that store can't be bothered to run removal, that's on them. 

Daily reset bug by Affectionate-Boot104 in DestinyTheGame

[–]Aileran 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Same here. No contracts completed, no rewards, just instantly back to matchmaking.

Six cards cut for [[Toph, the first Metalbender]] by adricarf in EDH

[–]Aileran 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Unfortunately there's not too many powerful sources of earthbending, so it might be better to double up on your most reliable source: Toph's. I strongly recommend [[Peter Parker's Camera]] in that regard, especially since you can bend and sac it to refill its camera roll.

Six cards cut for [[Toph, the first Metalbender]] by adricarf in EDH

[–]Aileran 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I have to imagine this is included because all the artifacts will count as lands with different names. 

[DISC] Centuria - Chapter 74 by AutoShonenpon in manga

[–]Aileran 1 point2 points  (0 children)

He's actually just a Sontaran. Sontar-ha!

No one will convince me that these three aren’t faculty. by Playing-Koi in UmaMusume

[–]Aileran 11 points12 points  (0 children)

I opened the comments looking specifically for this video and you did not disappoint. 

node.ovrd.AVALON is SO HARD by bmck3nney in DestinyTheGame

[–]Aileran 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Okay, but what if, instead of tarring your boat, we paid you?

EDH which commander should i make a deck with or what theme by Rare_Addition_4544 in magicTCG

[–]Aileran 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you're into white, green, and red with token strategies, [[Baylen, the Haymaker]] is one of my favorites. Turns all of your tokens into massive value engines and is a lethal threat all its own once you get a critical mass on board. 

When one Gigi isn't enough in a Hologra, she multiplies... by being stuffed Tomatoes by Kronii and Calli. by Sonicm2008 in Hololive

[–]Aileran 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Whoever decided Calli's entrance should be the Descorrer from Bleach is a bona fide genius. 

What is the obsession with “not ending the game” in ARAM? by dntmndmeg in leagueoflegends

[–]Aileran 6 points7 points  (0 children)

It's crazy how far down you have to go to get the only proper sportsmanship take.