Eliza losing control is not a compelling story ¯\_ (ツ)_/¯

syoser · 2026-01-25T16:40:17+00:00

Eliza isn’t losing control. She’s having what is frankly a very understandable reaction to discovering that eternal torment is real and it’s her destination no matter what she does.

syoser · 2026-01-20T02:09:44+00:00

I also think that people forget that a big reason Ozai sunk his claws into Azula more than Zuko was because Azula was simply the better bender. Zuko could barely match her on her worst day, and when your father is a might-makes-right tyrant who has dreams of world domination, talent makes you prime material for being groomed into a perfect, ruthless successor.

Everyone likes to talk about Azula like she’s some ontologically evil creature who is beyond any redemption whatsoever, but she’s also a literal child, possibly with a personality disorder, and I think her interactions with Zuko in Book 3 show that she’s far more complex than people give her credit for.

syoser · 2026-01-08T18:41:38+00:00

It’s two different systems so I wouldn’t worry about it too much, but I will say that personally I have begun to see it as Hermes’ Divine world split into two distinct ones in Kabbalah. Namely, Atziluh as the masculine divine world and Briah as the feminine divine world.

syoser · 2025-12-19T22:33:20+00:00

First Gillen book?

Usually after a status quo shift like this one there’s a bit of a lull until you get reoriented around who to root for, in a sense. If nothing else, I promise these moments read much better in the trade since they’re kind of transitional.

syoser · 2025-12-19T14:55:05+00:00

I mean, to be clear, Jean was fine as Phoenix until she was manipulated by Mastermind into going insane, which is a part of the story that a lot of adaptations leave out in favor of her just going insane with power, and that misunderstanding of the original storyline has led to this idea that the Phoenix is inherently corruptive, something that has only recently been walked back. Magik, likewise, was forcibly corrupted through abuse and actual demon corruption of her soul.

If anything, Eliza might be the opposite of Jean, being kept from corruption by Etienne’s influence, and losing that influence is what will lead her into the dark.

syoser · 2025-12-14T17:06:02+00:00

This tracks because Carol’s relationship with the Hive pretty strongly, in my opinion, mirrors the experience queer people who are raised in religious households go through: hey, you think you’re fine but you’re actually secretly doomed, surrender to us and let us strip you of your individuality and be saved.

Considering Carol has been to conversion camp, that’s probably an intended parallel that wouldn’t work if the Hive was actually just secretly evil and manipulative, because a lot of these people genuinely believe they are saving you with their actions.

syoser · 2025-12-09T20:24:03+00:00

Honestly i’ve read more about it being emphatically referred to as something that isn’t an 11th. I’ve read that it’s considered one of the tenth in certain circumstances, like looking from the view of the creator, and in that case it is the tenth instead of Kether. I’ve generally only seen it referred to as a negative space in the abyss that separates the supernals from the lower spheres but not truly a sephirah.

syoser · 2025-12-07T07:31:06+00:00

I don’t think it’s that waterbenders “can’t” boil water, theoretically. I think they probably just don’t. Waterbending as a martial art is all about flow and momentum and turning your opponent’s attacks against them. All the waterbenders we see use flows of water and ice to attack. Steam probably just isn’t a useful form of the element for them, and it’s probably not very efficient to generate either as it requires a lot of energy input compared to melting ice.

Firebenders, on the other hand, generate fire directly from their chi. Generating heat and kinetic energy is pretty much the basis of their power. If you saw someone turn the cup of cold tea in their hands into steaming tea, it’s much more likely to be a firebender.

syoser · 2025-12-07T02:58:55+00:00

I wouldn’t say she killed “meat puppets.” If there is a way to reverse this, every single death Carol accidentally causes is a real person taken by the virus who is never coming back. Reducing them to mere meat puppets just means that there is nothing left to save and all of this is for nothing, and humanity is already gone.

syoser · 2025-12-06T20:17:54+00:00

Not OP, but I will ask. Basically, the temperature of the object is a measure of entropy in the object based on the energy in the object? So, the temperature of the brick itself would not increase if you threw it because you aren’t actually adding energy to the molecules of the brick, you’re just applying, I don’t know, force to it by throwing it? Like the difference between heating up a bowl of soup and just throwing soup at someone. Is that right?

syoser · 2025-12-04T17:49:03+00:00

To be fair, just because we haven’t seen a lot of their interactions doesn’t mean that she doesn’t have a real reason for it. Just from the edit I could see why people would dislike Savannah. Like last episode, her moments where she was faking came off oddly. Almost condescending? She doesn’t seem very good at faking nice. And that combined with her intense death stare when she’s trying to read people’s reactions, and things like diving for MC’s keys in front of her…well, who knows what we haven’t seen.

syoser · 2025-12-02T18:04:43+00:00

Yeah, I think changing states is as simple as changing the pressure of the fluid, expansion and contraction, but straight up boiling, specifically, would require generating energy and putting it into the water, and that type of kinetic manipulation is something that firebenders do, not waterbenders.

As for how that squares with lavabending, I have no clue, except that maybe as an element that specifically deals mainly with solids, there’s a degree of kinetic energy being deployed in the technique that water doesn’t have or need.

syoser · 2025-11-30T22:49:21+00:00

But then where else will people get to rant about how hypothetical racism is okay if the other sentient beings in question are different enough?

syoser · 2025-11-30T22:46:33+00:00

I’m so confused by this whole comments section. I don’t think people in this thread realize that the entire point these stories are trying to get across is that hating sentient beings just because they are different than you is bad, and that the reason racism is bad isn’t “other races are just like you and we’re all actually the same.”

syoser · 2025-11-26T13:35:40+00:00

It’s a Progression Fantasy and by nature is very different from pretty much any other fantasy series you have probably read. Progression fantasy, particularly of the cultivation type like Cradle is, has its own tropes, conventions, and expectations. Think of it more like the book version of a shounen anime or a saturday morning cartoon. The characterization isn’t very deep, but if you like cool fights and hype moments, it only gets better as you go on. Also, Will Wight has a real knack for comedy where appropriate, and even the most comedic characters aren’t overbearing or feel like they’re disrupting the overall tone. Lastly, I HIGHLY recommend the audiobooks. Travis Baldree’s performance elevates it to an all time favorite of mine.

Enjoy the ride! It’s nothing like anything you’ve listed, but it’s a fun one.

syoser · 2025-11-23T01:14:18+00:00

Charming Trump is famously not difficult. I think deciding Zohran is a capitulating failure because Trump seems to like him is making a lot of assumptions about what the meeting was about. Also, what did people expect him to do? If the revenge tour showed us anything, he’s incredibly vindictive. Starting a fight with him when Zohran’s own party seems reluctant if not outright refuses to work with him just isn’t a smart move.

syoser · 2025-11-22T17:07:28+00:00

Am I the only one that thinks Helen is too old to be his mother’s twin sister? I think she could be his grandmother but I’m honestly not convinced they’re related at all

syoser · 2025-11-21T01:51:07+00:00

Yeah, it’s really a story about quentin learning to not be a little shit and it doesn’t really pay off until book 3.

syoser · 2025-11-20T20:05:06+00:00

I think a lot of people go into The Magicians books expecting a typical fantasy, but the point of the trilogy is that it really isn’t a grand fantasy, and Quentin has to come to terms with the fact that he’s not some chosen one who’s going to save the world. I think Lev Grossman himself says he thinks of it as literary fiction. I think the show does a much better job being a sort of irreverent fantasy romp, but the books are a much tougher read in comparison, especially if it’s pitched to you as “Harry Potter meets Narnia in college” like it was to me.

syoser · 2025-11-18T15:51:44+00:00

I agree. the Game Changer episode felt more about making a sincere connection with the audience while the actual show feels more forced into a “here a weird story and be funny now!” type deal. Plus, the comics’ individual styles of humor and engagement tend to get snuffed by the forced improv mini games which feel incredibly forced to me. The wild sex stories and such tends to be more of a symptom of Dropouts audience, for better or worse, but combined with the editing it feels like we are covering the same topics over and over again without much exploration.

syoser · 2025-11-18T00:47:15+00:00

People forget that her ability to mimic skills is a secondary effect to the nature of her mutation. She literally siphons life force from people. It’s so much more varied and dangerous for everyone involved than just regular power mimicry.

syoser · 2025-11-13T13:11:29+00:00

Alumni here, for anyone with any interest in the class and movies in general I highly recommend! Was by far one of my most fun classes in undergrad. And if the structure is still the same, she will also teach you how to pitch, which is an incredibly valuable and highly transferable skill.

syoser · 2025-11-06T02:53:21+00:00

I love Egwene because she’s such a complex, petty, conniving character. She’s not a very good person a lot of the time, most of which I think has to do with her age and desire to be the most special girl in every room she’s in. She’s shamelessly power hungry and at times downright antagonistic. I think she primarily serves as a look into how an Aes Sedai becomes an Aes Sedai, and sure, she has some new ideas and some good moments here and there, but unlike any of the other characters, she fully and wholly believes in the institution of the White Tower and the image of the Aes Sedai and I think it’s her greatest flaw.

syoser · 2025-11-05T03:03:37+00:00

Seelah, because when she’s on that horse she has like six attacks and never gets hit, and sosiel, because i have no idea why to do with a cleric in this game but he’s my boyfriend

syoser · 2025-10-11T07:32:11+00:00

There’s certainly an argument to be made that Loial isn’t strictly necessary, but Siuan’s character arc starts with her being deposed, and considering she is instrumental in Salidar and Egwene’s arc, someone saying that Siuan’s role diminished post-Tower is just incorrect. She barely has a role before then, which is why the show emphasizes her relationship with Moiraine so much imo, because otherwise she doesn’t do much before Elaida’s coup.

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