OMG- I am with you!!! All the cishetbro spankbank material just made me roll my eyes. Lots of fetishism coming out there. Nothing’s perfect but they can still be wonderful. 🙂 Now, more badass middle aged lesbians make everything better.

Frankly, I think the “pillow friends” thing was an attempt to insert queerness into the story in a positive way, but given the homophobic climate into which these books were released, it was more of a wink than a full-throated endorsement of queer identity. I also think there was a bit of pillow-fight-panty-sleepover fetishism going on there. Cishet dudes. 🤷🏼‍♀️🤦‍♀️ The point is that WoT was published into a society that attempted to ruin the careers of out queers just for that purpose. Ellen DeGeneres (who is no bastion of goodness, but that’s irrelevant) had her show cancelled and was driven off projects when she came out. Nathan Lane was terrorized after The Birdcage…. Etcetera for a mile long list of homophobia. This is the time WoT was born into. Gender politics are STILL a hot button issue, which just goes to show how unevolved humanity still is. And THIS is why the show needed to be tweaked in that respect. This is an epic story that is very important to a lot of people. That’s power that should be used for the betterment of humanity. A subtle example of this is the show’s Ishamael. He is very comfortable being physically affectionate and overtly flirtatious with any gendered person. He is 3000 years old and comes from a more evolved time. It’s a beautiful nod to how homophobia and gender politics have numbered days in our world. Now, if we could only see a pansexual protagonist…. The series is young. 🙂 I swear to every conceived deity if they pair off Moiraine and Thom like Sanderson’s ham-fisted, religiously motivated, Bechdel-ruining, dumbass pink bow at the end, I’ll scream.

As a person who voraciously supports queer representation, I cheered for joy when I saw the Siuan and Moiraine relationship fully realized. I hated the dancing around “pillow friends” BS from the books. Queers exist in every space and it’s time they were clearly centered. I feel similarly about the obliteration of unnecessary gender-based differentiation. The books are extremely dated in respect to gender ideology and I’m stoked to see that draconian crap left in the dust.

Oh, no! You really didn’t like the costumes??? I think they’re so beautiful! Especially Moiraine’s leather shoulder piece that she wore in S1 and pretty much all of Lanfear’s clothes. *grabby hands* You’re so right, though. TONS of liberties taken and I can absolutely see why you’d dislike that. I gotta say, I wholeheartedly agree when it comes to the Seanchan. The suldam looked pretty cool and I liked the damane hairdo, but the rest… weird. It just didn’t settle into a strong identity. I didn’t see a lot of rhyme and reason to the masks and patterns on clothes. And the nail thing?? Yikes. I do love how subtly out of place Ish’s clothes always are. They seem to fit and then you catch a detail that was clearly from another age. What would you change if you had your way?

I knew there would be some bibliopurists who would be rankled by the show. Sorry it isn’t scratching the itch the way you’d like.

Wow! Well, we need some more Peacebuilders in education. The seeds of ignoring conflict management in education have sprouted into dysregulated students and teachers that just escalate each other to unproductive levels. We need it taught and modeled at home AND at school. Good on you for that!

I can imagine! As the youngest of 5 and a homeschooling mom of two vastly differing and spicy kids, all I can do is take my hat off to ya! 🙂

Holy moly! Managing that size of a family is an undertaking indeed! Constant measuring of reactions and keeping warring factions from descending into chaos! Hats off, friend!!

Thanks so much! I haven’t had a lot of time to devote to diving in just yet, but I’ll certainly reach out when I start dipping toes. 🙂 Yes! My business is called Springboard Peacebuilding. I have a J.D. (Doctor of laws), but then continued for an LL.M (master of laws) focused in both corporate transactional law and alternative dispute resolution. I studied conflict science at the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution at Pepperdine Law and was offered (but ultimately refused) admission to the masters of conflict science program at Lipscomb University (I had a problem with the conduct pledge). I fell in love with conflict science and negotiations and mediation and arbitration, so I opened my firm! I take private and corporate clients as well as speak and lecture on the conference circuit. Folk just don’t know how to talk to each other! How do you practice as peacekeeper? No wonder you’re a gray sister! Thanks for reaching out! 🙂

Thanks for the invitation! I’ll stop by soon. 💕 As a lawyer and owner of a Peacebuilding firm, I’ve often considered the gray.

Wow! Great info, HeavyHalfMoonBlade! Thank you!

Yes! See ya over there! 🙂

Thanks for the info! I appreciate your time and effort. I’m not into the roleplay idea, but joining the tower sounds intriguing! What ranks have you joined? Anything particular to recommend for a jumping off point? I must confess how overwhelmed I am by all this. 🙂 I appreciate the guidance.

Thanks, Leala! Would you mind telling me some more about your clubs? I read all the intro posts, but I’m not sure I’m fully grasping it. Happy hearts day!

Frankly, I’m unreasonably excited for season 3 of the show. I’ve restarted the series and I’m working through my second read of Eye of the World. The show is just. So. Pretty!!! Also, I’m loving how the show isn’t shying away from sapphics as much as the books did. Different day and age, right? All the representation is so validating.