< quinn 3

one thing i find strange about TERFism and trans-criticism is how much of it is just attractiveness politics. it seems to be the leading talking point. sure, make your points on sexual dimorphism or biological sex differences (which any normal trans woman is fully aware of already, mind you. the average transsexual is not claiming she’s experiencing period cramps lol) but so much anti-trans discourse seems to just be “well you’re ugly so you’re not a woman and i feel unsafe.” which seems…. so counter-productive to your movement. trans women, like any group of people, are nowhere near exempt from criticism, but what is the point of putting so much emphasis on such an empty and invalid viewpoint? so much of feminism seems to hark on how men only respect women they find attractive, yet the majority of your breath is spent on here pointing out physical characteristics that you seemingly think invalidate someone’s identity. how does having broad shoulders, a wide jaw, and a five o’clock shadow somehow equate to being a predatory rapist? it’s a mindset i’ve never understood. obviously it’s prevalent outside trans discourse, people just generally seem to equate ugliness with evilness, but you would think a group of individuals who posture themselves steeped and rooted in theory and academics wouldn’t weaponize such a vapid and vague talking point. (not to say only terfs do it, your average Internet Man absolutely loves to dunk on the fuckability of any given trans woman at any given time, but….. fork found in kitchen.) idk, i’ve just always found it odd. like i’m sorry but i just don’t buy into the idea that you’re supposed to be reasonably terrified of someone in a public bathroom because you think they’re ugly. i think you might just be an asshole.

love the audacity of going up to thaisha lloy, local hero, to inform her you're attempting to arrest her baby daddy (also locally beloved) for stealing HER SWORDS (currently wielded by their daughter)

the Vaelus and Azune scene is so funny because they're two characters who thematically mirror each other so well, particularly when it comes to the exact emotion that Vaelus is dealing with as she decides to shatter the Stone of Nightsong, that they do intuitively understand how to connect in this scene, but since they have absolutely no history with each other, what happened from her perspective was the virtual stranger she witnessed having a complete breakdown yesterday walked out of the woods, asked her what she wanted, said a word in an ancient tongue, summoned a fucking supposedly mythical dragon (not a metaphor) to finish the spirit bridge, and when that was settled, awkwardly asked her if she was coming back to watch the play. outstanding. I love C4.

Thinking about how Thjazi not breaking the glyph was a snap decision. He didn't plan his own execution in advance as part of a masterstroke play, based on how he was joking with Hal he clearly expected to escape using the glyph. And then he saw that falcon, presumably Mara the Wing. Others have mentioned that he likely chose to die because what he was doing with the blood from the River Gavzidra required someone be in the Tenebral Reaches, and him seeing Mara signaled to him that her passage had been blocked, and he realized he had an express if one way ticket to exactly where his plans needed someone to be. So Thjazi chose to allow his own execution to proceed, and rushed out his last words to Hal in the scant few seconds he had. Circumstances very suddenly required him to willingly sacrifice himself for his cause, and he made that choice very decisively even as he was clearly scared to die. Thjazi was certainly a lot of things, but one of those things was that he was a man who was willing to give up everything if it meant living out his ideals.

As amazing as it is that Thimble was able to find Teor & Cyd AND put Raimond to rest, we have GOT to give credit to Travis for choosing the perfect attuned piece to pass specifically to Thimble. It was shown how dangerous it could have been for Thimble to be attacked by creatures that can sap strength (with only 3 str one hit could have killed her) and Teor passing the braces to Thimble on the smallest chance she could find him solved that. So on top of the necrotic resistance (if she still has that) and the toy sword made to kill nightmares, she now doesn’t have to fear immediate death as she absolutely decimates her foes. And she can now give strong hugs??? Unstoppable.

I'm so happy Bolaire finally said something in front of everyone. Especially Thimble, her of all people. I hope she's really forced to deal with it properly. She loves Thjazi so much and she probably always will, but I do think eventually between Azune and Bolaire she might learn enough to grow and understand a more complete nuanced picture of her bff. There was already a tiny moment when she realized how she didn't know shit about Azune, I want so much more of that.

the elves in aramán are profoundly fucking sad. they're decaying. their people are completely unable to reproduce and they were created by the goddess of life. that feels like sylandri's real barrowdell. the elves as a dying people without her to sustain them.