And today's prompt is "Hunt". I thought about the Horn (dull), wolves hunting (ambitious), hunting in the Waterwood (I'm just having a laugh now), so decided to go for our very own Hunter for the Horn, Faile. Which was a disaster. After looking far too long at photos of attractive Iranians, Japanese and Chinese women, reading about the epicanthic fold, reading about media storms about Chinese models and squirrels, I decided not to use a base model but just wing it. Which obviously is always the best way to go. I have no idea what I managed to do to her nose, the perspective is completely wrong relative to her face, but overall I'm pretty pleased. In the past any time I tried to draw an attractive women they tended to look like a desiccated ninety-year-old man with implants. So this is a step in the right direction, however small.

Of course that could be juxtaposed into many other situations, but I don't think it is so likely. It is a great line though so maybe it will be included in some other format.

That is a thing? I mean, is there club for people that fancied Steffi Graf? Asking for a friend... But yes, a fine Roman nose or a Persian nose would really have been great for Faile, though the actress posted does not look like she will troubling to look at even if she has a small nose. Bloody ashes, now I am wondering if Roman people still have Roman noses, and if not, why not? And if they don't, can you still call them Roman noses? And who does have Roman noses now? I'm going to be thinking about noses all day now *sigh*

I think the show is playing rather loose with who can see what in terms of weaves. While I may be dumbing it down a bit, it seems to me that the idea is that everyone can see everything, unless the show tells you otherwise. Of course now perhaps the male/female division has been put in place, and I think I saw somewhere that damage weaves, I suppose weaves of fire and so are visible to all, but indirect weaves were not visible (though not sure where this information came from). For the difference between Logain and Rand, I think they are just playing on the concept of Logain being the self-taught master and Rand being the beginner-in-denial rather than making any actual distinction in ability. Then again I have shown that I am not exactly keeping up with the show's plot so far, so maybe that is just a bunch of rubbish I have typed 🙂

I saw something similar on Twitter (Light I feel unclean, all these years I have stayed away from Twitter; only to start looking at it for WoT) and made an attempt. I call it "The hawk that would not stay on the page no matter how often I started again, moved it to the middle or made it smaller." Catchy, huh? Even for me this is a degree further of unfinished than usual, but I found I was getting upset at how the fur on its legs was not looking right. So bedtime I think. I had also planned to make it WoT themed somehow more concretely, but it would appear I just need to put this down to a learning effort.

Is it just me or is this totally confusing? Just me, yes probably, but no I did not misremember. I understood this as "Away from [you and] the White Tower, [to] where you'd never be able to see him, where he'd never be able teach you". That is probably because I was expecting her to deny it, but still, it seems unnecessarily ambiguous as I'm sure you guys' interpretation is the right one.

Because that is where she was taking them before the Eye of the World debacle. Was the plan not to stay there initially? I am feeling very uncertain now, did any of this actually happen? Have I been drinking too much of the apple brandy while watching?

Is this not what Lanfear claimed, that Moiraine had set Logain up so Rand could reach him in her home city. But Moiraine (who cannot lie) said that she had moved Logain to keep him away from Rand who she thought would be at the Tower. Or am I misremembering? Or do people just want to believe Lanfear for some reason, as if her smoldering sexual energy is actually a sign of sincerity?

Yes, I think RJ did very well in general with the "magic". Magic is irrational and can be a real issue in stories where it is just so arbitrary. The only thing that caught me while reading was how fashionable it was. When shielding/blocking was introduced, all the battles were about that. Then when another feature was introduced, like undoing fireballs, that was all the rage. I think the books do well, it much less intrusive than I have seen in other fantasy stories. What I did mean though was not new weaves, but clever use of simple weaves, I just felt that sometimes RJ did not want to touch channeling the way he would for example marshalling troops or swordfighting where cunning and craft were equally as important as outright strength. That may be a deliberate choice as it is easier for the reader to think about Rand being more powerful than Liandrin, unless she has some clearly defined ter'angreal for example, as it makes channeling easier to understand as a whole. Because also, channeling has at its base, something of a paradox. On one hand, it is an incredibly complex literal weaving of five powers. The combination of powers, the number of different patterns of weaves, the size of the threads of the power, etc., leads to an unfathomable amount of potential different weaves. The specific skill to to weave this must be immense, like being able to weave every single tartan from memory, and then some, it speaks of massive ability in dexterity, memory and precision. On the other, the One Power is inherently intuitive. Wilders can learn to do things without any training. Rand could empower Bela, making her as strong as a horse (no, wait...) without killing her, or causing a heart attack, or any thing else. An amazingly complex technical weave, handled with amazing dexterity, but entirely by intuition. The story does not work without this aspect, but it does undermine the concept of it being such a technical, near mechanical system. But yes, magic is as magic does, because (*sob*, *sob*), it is not real. Awesome reply, by the way, welcome to Dragonmount, may you always find shade and water, may peace favour your sword, and may you live long and prosper. Wait...

It was in Cairhien and about power struggles. Plus dropping the Old Tongue is just cool. But seems fairly straightforward, and as Aes Sedai invented the Great Game, concentrating on Moiraine and Suian as they try to rest control of Rand from each other as Lanfear saunters in and takes him away seems reasonably fitting.

It has not been stressed, but there was the conversation with Loial where he is dismissive of helping Egwene, at least following the book. Given the dialogue with Perrin, then the dialogue with Loial, that seems like a fair amount of setting up. For someone new to the story, Ingtar should still seem to a bastion of the Light, Agelmar's right hand man, the one entrusted to take the Horn out of hiding, and to go get it back. Given how little time there is in the series, it seems to me that if things play out as the books, someone new to the show is still going to be shocked, and will be moved if the scene is filmed well, and then there will be the little clues to go back and pick up on a rewatch. Of course we need to WAFO, but the setting up there has been would be totally out of place without some sort of similar action as the book, and surely it is a stand out moment, and easy to replicate with a specific type of character, if for example Ingtar had not been included in the show. So I would be very surprised if the show is not heading the same place as the book, though I have been surprised before and will certainly be so again.

Wow, I have never heard of Inktober, thank you for the education. I am tempted, though I cannot draw, much less use ink. But I have been trying to get my creative juices flowing, this does sound like a good motivation. Though those prompts. How is dream a prompt for a drawing? The sadists.

Yes, absolutely.

That is not wholly true, when Min knew, she knew. It was just that often she did not. Like the eye on the scales, she had no idea. But when she saw the tinker with the blood on her face, or the colours around Logain, she knew, and it was going to happen. Which then brings us to that book Min would never have told Mat not to go Falme, as she would know that whatever she did or said, that vision was going to come true. If Mat is going to stab Rand, that is what is going to happen. If she tries to interfere either it is going to be ineffective or she'll unwittingly cause what she is trying to prevent. She knows this. Or she should, has she not even read the books? Schoolgirl error on her part.

I very much liked many aspects of Perrin. The wolves, because I have a mental age of 14, his willingness to self-sacrifice, his refusal to acknowledge the greater good as a reason to do bad or convenient things, his deliberateness, he was a smith, even his slow acceptance of leadership, which was a bit slow really. I just felt the books asked us to take a lot on trust about why he was so cut up about things that clearly were not true. He was the character least likely to hurt someone out of spite or for enjoyment, yet fear of this was one of his most powerful motivations as a character. I get why he was not given a darker side, but I also get why the show could decide to not rely on poetic license so much, though so far they have not done much with his spousicidal (that is a real word by the way) past, but maybe they will yet in the Faile storyline. Could be pretty explosive there, if she accuses him of being too gentle with his women.

Not saying that my interpretation is better than yours, but Perrin having a unique experience makes no sense in a story full of characters going through the same thing without having so much self doubt. It is not consistent with the rest of the story. Perrin was having kittens because he thought about killing Egwene instead of letting the ravens have her. He constantly beats himself up for enjoying fighting and killing, even though he never does anything to seek it out, never encourages it, never prolongs it, never does without good cause. He absolutely is not going through what every soldier in the story is going through even if it is relatable to real life soldiery. In the context of the story, his book angst and fears for himself are totally neurotic and disproportionate to his experiences. Of course, all in my most humble opinion.

For me Perrin was always a bit over the top. The nearly all the books, he freaks out about getting a bit angry now and again. He refuses the wolves over and over again despite all the times that costs him dearly. He's just too much of a torn-faced loon too often, and for little reason. And if a Forsaken had ever gotten a hold of Faile, and told him to jump off a cliff or they would kill her, he would have and doomed the world. Which devotion to me never sat well with his well meaning, quiet mannered heroism. The shows back story is an interesting take on making all that angst and mindless devotion much more understandable. Though did not agree they gave Mat a reason to always want to return to the Two Rivers, and Perrin a reason to never want to go back, as that seems the wrong way round really. I love the books, but the show changing something is not in of itself a bad thing. It dependsTM.

Totally off topic, but the fascination with black also annoyed me. Now I have worn exclusively black for most of my life, but that was because it was a contrast to those around me. If everyone wears black, then that is so monotonous and boring. Why did they not choose different colours? Have some individual style? Too which one of my mates (who is too sharp for his own good) replied, you mean like the Power Rangers? Though thinking about it, black works, could be worse.

But is not the half-naked tai-chi like exercises not meant to impart that he is on another level of martial expertise?

Whoa, don't start being reasonable to Lan, surely that is against the forum rules? Btw, you guys do realise that if you don't capitalise his name, it looks like you are talking about some dude called Ian, which does not sound that exciting to me. One of the reasons I did not enjoy the Matrix is that my hearing is not the best, and I thought the lead character used the cool handle "Neil". What kind of writing is this, I had to ask myself.

I don't know, the boys were repeatedly held up as being as good as Hammar, who was a skilled Warder with the sword, so in the books the two concepts are neatly tied together. In the show, not sure, Warders are meant to be elite fighters, with preternatural abilities thanks to the bond. Difficult to say how much of that would seep through to someone who has not read the books, but I think they should have the idea that Warders are a big deal. I don't think it will happen though, as I would say that they know such a scene would be a fan favourite, and they would not want anyone stealing Mat's thunder. Also if Rand and Alanna are there (was she, cannot really recall), would the outcome with the Power not be more important than any fisticuffs? Could happen though, will just have to WAFO.

Depends, will they have "Eye of the Tiger" playing in the background? If yes, I am all for it. Otherwise, pass.

I think only in flashbacks, I seem to remember one mention of caring for a lamb under his cloak and another of driving off a wolf from the flock (which could be the same passage actually) where Nynaeve is reminiscing about "I remember the boy who was so proud..." But at Winternight it was still too cold for shearing, and he we never saw him go back to the farm after that. Should there have been a parallel to Perrin in the forge in Tear, Rand grabbing a sheep and shearing it, or hijacking a flock and taking them for a joy ride because it has just been too long? Could have worked 🙂

Stylish tunic, harem trousers and pointy sandals. I think I can make that work 😄

Slow down, Mother! No one said anything about skipping. I'm out of practice. And I'm still getting used to this white Novice... What do boy Novices have to wear in the Tower actually, Mother? I feel I should have asked before now.