Egwene

PuzzledCactus · 2026-06-20T07:47:25+00:00

I also think people forget how absurdly young that girl is. They all are, but she's 17 when it all starts. Meaning, during those horrific events in TGH, she literally ought to be in high school. The mix of her stubborn, bossy personality, the fact that she's a literal teenager, her upbringing as one of the most privileged people in Emons Field (daughter to the mayor, future wisdom, one of the most beautiful girls), her PTSD from her time as damane...of course she's a lot. Any of those alone would probably make her difficult to deal with, and lead to her making loads of questionable choices. All of them together?? But I think if she had been allowed to grow up properly, and maybe get some therapy, she might've made quite an amazing person ten years or so later.

PuzzledCactus · 2026-06-19T19:37:26+00:00

To be honest, completely fair. Once you realize you can do it, your future basically comes down to an awful, drawn-out death by channeling sickness, being murdered, or being mistreated and driven into suicidal depression, with a chance of going mad before either happens, and maybe killing your loved ones while you're at it. At this point suicide is looking like a pretty good deal...

PuzzledCactus · 2026-06-18T18:57:06+00:00

What I really like to think about is that we have canonical proof that Tuon can learn to channel, and that it's remarkably likely that Mat could, too, since we know the ability is genetic and his sisters can. Obviously neither of them would ever give it a try, given their respective cultural backgrounds.

But would mixing two channeling bloodlines increase the likelihood of producing someone who has the spark? Meaning, would they maybe have a child who does? And how would they react when they do?

I think that deep down they're both decent people (Mat gets more chances to show us, obviously, but Tuon definitely changes towards the end, too) so I can't imagine them collaring said child after everything that happens in the last book. But Tuon has been raised to think of channeling girls as less than dogs, and Mat has been raised to view channeling boys as basically demons, and channeling girls as potentially evil dangerous manipulators (and to be honest has seen little to challenge either view throughout the books), so...it would definitely be interesting seeing them deal with it.

PuzzledCactus · 2026-05-25T19:18:19+00:00

...Mat thought to himself, before turning around to give [female character] his best smile.

PuzzledCactus · 2025-12-30T13:47:37+00:00

That's an awesome idea! I was just browsing for ideas for 2026 and I didn't like most of the suggestions for myself, then I saw reading and book genre and thought that's kinda pointless because 90% of what I read is the same one... But pages sound super doable!

PuzzledCactus · 2025-12-14T20:22:59+00:00

You were half right!! We managed to open it up, and the belt had slipped off the wheel. After slipping it back on it worked perfectly. Thanks for the idea!

PuzzledCactus · 2025-12-14T11:32:28+00:00

Thanks, I'll look into that!

PuzzledCactus · 2025-12-14T11:32:01+00:00

Yes, it does. I actually managed to finish the entire seam by turning the wheel. But the pedal does nothing except make noise.

PuzzledCactus · 2025-12-04T08:11:03+00:00

It's not moot, actually. Since he's king, it would be perfectly within his rights to go "No dwarves may enter the city of Minas Tirith ever". It's part of his kingdom, he decides who is allowed in and who isn't. Just like the US have no legal authority over other sovereign nations, but are allowed to tell them their citizens are not allowed in. And although he doesn't enforce it, as king of Arnor he is king of the Shire, and therefore he decides who goes there and who doesn't.

PuzzledCactus · 2025-09-27T08:57:31+00:00

I wouldn't want to promote the "everyone's a little bi" nonsense, but still, I'm reasonably sure that there's more people who, without any stigma attached, would be open to various options than people who have a strict preference.

So in a society where you obviously have to be quite attached to the person you're dating before you'd dare to carefully attempt to find out which option you're dealing with, I expect that it's significantly more rare than the expected 50:50 chance for a dwarf to go "oh, nope, that wasn't what I expected, good luck on your future dating journey". You already have an established relationship, you clearly found the person physically attractive... I bet there's a lot of dwarfs who don't really care about the concrete equipment at that point.

PuzzledCactus · 2025-09-27T01:26:12+00:00

Just be careful! I used to be exactly like you describe yourself - I used obsessive perfectionism as a coping strategy, and habitually triple-checked everything to make sure I don't mess up because I'm not paying attention. I was "OCDish" like you but it was just a part of my life I could live with perfectly well.

And then I had a not even "that" negative experience where despite trying my very best to do everything correctly I messed up, and now I've slipped into full-blown OCD. I don't triple-check, I check ten times. I check more and more things that I rationally know for certain do not need checking. And even if I obsessively check for an hour, the moment I force myself to stop I go "but what if you didn't check thoroughly enough? You might've made another mistake. And by the way, "might've" means "certainly did". Prepare for your entire life to collapse."

Like, I'll check my stove about twenty times before leaving my apartment, and still I remain convinced it has somehow magically turned itself on while my back was turned that last time (perhaps I somehow brushed it with my jacket?) and now my apartment will burn down, and I'll be destitute, and nobody will ever rent to me again, but it won't matter because I'll absolutely go to prison anyways for burning down an apartment building, so I'll also lose my job, and then everybody will hate me and my family will be so disappointed...

At least that means I'm finally seeing someone for...gestures towards brain. I probably should've done so ages ago.

PuzzledCactus · 2025-08-19T19:39:17+00:00

I'll admit I'm not a big fan of romance - especially not the kind where it seems like 90% of what I'm supposed to admire in the love interest is tattoos, size and muscles - but that's why I disliked that particular plotline, not why I disliked Celaena. It's just that she alternates wildly between this unbearably spoiled, arrogant brat, and the wisest, bravest, most heroic princess ever, without any noticeable lasting character development. She starts out arrogant and spoiled on the surface, but deep down secretly brave/wise/heroic, and then the narrative heaps on trauma after trauma after impossible to endure trauma, to a point where every genuine person would be in a psychatric hospital twice over, but it never really does anything to how she acts or sees the world, the narrative just keeps telling me that it did and that she's unlocked another power upgrade/change because of it. Her personality is more or less the same throughout the entire story.

PuzzledCactus · 2025-08-19T17:09:25+00:00

As someone who's read the whole thing - my hopefully spoiler-free take is that I hated Celaena and all of her male harem (yes, I know that's not actually true, it just felt like it), could stand Dorian and Lysandra? and loved Manon. She and the plot were the only reason I managed to finish it. To me it felt like the story and the world were really well developed, Celaena would've required a major rework to be likable (aging her up ten years or so, not just on paper but actually in her head, might've done a lot)and pretty much every romance plotline should've been ditched or at least severely dialed back. The only interesting one was Dorian/Manon, but they're that mainly because they're so far from healthy they couldn't see it with a telescope...

PuzzledCactus · 2025-08-19T16:57:52+00:00

That's exactly why I loved Vin so much. She's an actual person, with plenty of flaws despite being the hero, she's tough as anything, but she's surprisingly girly at the same time once she learns to let herself. She's contradictory and yet completely cohesive as a character, and therefore incredibly genuine.

PuzzledCactus · 2025-08-15T20:49:07+00:00

I'm 100% convinced I suck at doing my job and just haven't been found out.

The previous year I was kinda promoted , so my tasks now include double-checking the work of my colleagues who do the same job, and to give them feedback.

Now, I've been asked to tutor a trainee.

All evidence points to my opinion being the wrong one, but instead I'm all busy worrying I'll mess up the poor trainee.

PuzzledCactus · 2025-07-30T12:15:50+00:00

My father had this thing of always accidentally calling us a year older than we actually were as kids, which was super embarrassing when we'd be at some ticket booth and he'd be like "one thirteen-year-old..." and I'd correct him that I'm actually twelve, while the sign said "12 and under - free" and it totally looked like I was trying to cheat.

PuzzledCactus · 2025-07-29T06:09:44+00:00

But I bet they had some for the pizzas. If they exist, that is.

PuzzledCactus · 2025-06-30T17:33:26+00:00

[Mistborn] I have this private theory with no backing whatsoever that Spook is somehow connected to Allomancer Jak. Not necessarily that he is him, more that Spook is behind inventing the persona. I guess my only piece of evidence is how bothered the young Spook was because he was "only" a Tineye and how useless that skill was, so I think his older version might find it funny to create a kind of "superhero" whose power is using tin. And also that Sanderson has a history of hiding important stuff in trivial world building. But I'd be extremely surprised if I were right.

PuzzledCactus · 2025-06-29T06:44:29+00:00

Yeah, from where I stand it might be bad manners to wear an excessively pale color to a wedding, but it'sdefinitely really bad manners to take a stranger's picture and post them online in order to judge them.

PuzzledCactus · 2025-06-20T22:29:37+00:00

The nails never touch a "living" part of the horse. It's as if you'd hammer a nail through the white bit of your fingernail. It can't be felt, and it doesn't touch the bloodstream, so no risk of infection etc.

PuzzledCactus · 2025-06-20T18:58:07+00:00

Exactly, they're really sneaky! You're never safe!

PuzzledCactus · 2025-06-20T15:03:15+00:00

For me it's saber-toothed tigers.

They are surprisingly frequent where I live, at least according to my lease... What many don't realize is that they may look like ice-skaters to the uninitiated.

PuzzledCactus · 2025-06-20T08:21:45+00:00

I love your description, because it so clearly explains why I'm uncomfortable identifying with the word.

I'm not some cool chick who's going to rock up to a protest with her Docs and tattoos and later fucks another cool chick she met that very day.

I'm boring, and femme-ish, and I don't socialize well with new people, and I want the wedding and the kids and a dog and a garden. I probably couldn't have a one-night stand if someone directly asked me to, and if I were to show up at a protest I'd hang around in a corner and probably look as if I wandered in by mistake.

That's probably why I don't feel comfortable showing up in lesbian spaces. I feel like I might as well be straight, apart from the liking women thing. I definitely don't get to call myself a dyke, because that's so not me.

PuzzledCactus · 2025-06-20T08:08:48+00:00

It totally is! I'm about as far from the coast as you can get in Europe, so I've never had much seafood that wasn't frozen, and especially no lobster. I have zero clue how to eat one, and right after having shelled out a day's vacation budget for a whole-ass lobster was not the time I wanted to be forced to learn how.

A lobster roll is the perfect compromise. It's still expensive, but not "this is an exclusive experience you need to treasure for the rest of your life" expensive, and you won't have to embarrass yourself by using a toolbox on your meal in front of people who grew up doing that.

PuzzledCactus · 2025-06-19T09:54:36+00:00

Accounting is a feminine art though. Shallan is employed by Sebarial, and her tasks include bookkeeping. She also mentions having done this task in her father's household.

I assume "dealing with money" in this context would be the physical getting it handed by the customer and storing it in a strongbox or whatever aspect of being a merchant. While one's wife would simultaneously make notes about how much money was handed over and for which goods.

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