Should we TRUST General Sorrengail? | Fourth Wing | AITA Book Review Podcast #2

speaker-0: I just have got on board with a really wild thing.
speaker-1: Like, the fuck did you just say?
speaker-0: In six months you're going off to the army and you have no choice.
speaker-1: You've been nicer to the general data than I ever have been. The parapet. Like, does anyone want to do the science? Welcome.
speaker-0: Welcome back everybody to Once Upon a Red Flag. The podcaster asks if Violet Sorengel posted on Reddit, would she be the asshole? And if that question interests you and you haven't seen the last episode, that is your sign to go back and check it out. Because today we are moving into asking if her mother, General Lilith Sorengel, is the arsehole.
speaker-1: Has weirdly been one of my favourite episodes to plan because we can like question her asshole level for like a bunch of things, and all those things kind of like feed into each other, and it kind of becomes like one big giant messy ball of asshole antics. And I I have to admit, I love a complicated episode. But how are you feeling for this episode, Katie? Are you excited or are you dreading it?
speaker-0: There are some people I found when like we've been making these episodes that I like to call an arsehole and it's fun pointing out all the ways that they screw up. ⁓ but there are some that it kind of pains me to call an arsehole at all because they kind of aren't an arsehole through any fault of their own. But some stuff is that they do arseholy and they need to be held accountable for that. So and there are others that need to be called an arsehole and the whole thing just like annoys me. I fear Dane and Jack Barlow are gonna be those type of episodes, but This is a meaty discussion, so I think I will actually enjoy it.
speaker-1: Yeah, meaty is a good way to describe this one. Because General Lilith Sarangale is asking, Am I the asshole for making my unprepared daughter enter the riders quadrant when she is already physically disadvantaged? Now she is going by the username mother of all riders, and in case anyone doesn't know their pop culture slash mythologies, slash biblical references, the figure of Lilith is often referred to as the mother of demons. And I think it's a beautiful name, Lilith in general. But you do have to wonder what this name is in reference to, because we all know Rebecca Yarris knows what she is doing when she plots a book. And I wonder if it's because like Lilith is the one who like let the evil marked ones live, which we will get into. But Lilith Sorengail elaborates on her Am I the Asshole question when she says, My daughter may have been born different, but that doesn't mean she isn't strong. Maybe I could have given her a bit more warning and a lot of people pushed back against my order. But I was right. She survived through threshing and has the most powerful signet power scene in years. How can what I did have been the wrong thing when clearly I made the right decision?
speaker-0: Okay. Let's ⁓ let's go back to the very start of this whole thing before all the Violet's riders quadrant success that we obviously know about because Violet gets very little warning about the whole thing. Granted, her mother didn't tell her on conscription day, so like it could have been worse. But Violet only gets six months of training for the deadliest quadrant at Batskaya. And she can't even carry her rugs at. Like it's a dead giveaway that she is not ready after six months of training and her mother won't let her back out right before Parapet. Violet is literally lugging this thirty pound pack up the flight stairs. Six of flights, can I just say, to her mother's office and she's completely out of breath. And when I say like girl same, I would also be really out of breath and come to contemplating my life choices at at this point in the decision. Can you imagine if you right now were suddenly told in six months you're going off to the army and you have no choice? I don't know about you, Rachel, but I'd be absolutely screwed.
speaker-1: Yeah, I am pretty sure the army would not have me because they have medical screenings and I'm pretty sure I would not pass them. And I'm also pretty sure that Violet wouldn't pass them either. But as Gaius, they don't care about that, like she did seem to pass an entrance exam somehow. But the whole quadrant in its its own screwed up test anyway. So I don't think like the entrance exam is all that stringent and all that difficult. Because it's not like you go straight into the army. You go into a three year training program in which if you don't pass, you'll die anyway. So, you know, not that strict really just to get into the college. Especially if Violet passed it with six months of mediocre training. I feel like that says a lot about what that entrance exam is like. But this is exactly it, right? Violet wasn't trained well. Like later on, Zaydan literally helps her to train for her own body size, because all the training that Violet was given in that six month period has been things that she is like physically incapable of actually doing and mastering. Like the size of the blades that she was training with was throwing her off balance because the blades the blades were bigger than like her center of gravity. And she's been making moves far too big for her size that have then been leaving her exposed and open and more vulnerable to attack. I'm pretty sure that if Zaydan Zaydan, who supposedly wants her dead, can fix this. Whilst in the Riders Quadrant, while she is fighting off attacks from left, right, and center with bloody Jack Barlow, her general freaking mother should have figured out that that was gonna be an issue. And like, you know, made her six months of training a lot more comprehensive for what she could actually accomplish. Like, can you imagine how much better off Violet would have been? From the very, very start of this whole thing, if she wasn't having to unlearn all of that standard training nonsense that wasn't a good fit for her in the first place.
speaker-0: I know, I know, but I don't know how like involved her mum actually was with it though. Like we're told by Violet that her mum has changed so much since her dad died, right? Like she's a woman made famous for her lack of mercy. And that seems to also apply to her own daughter and all of her kids to be completely honest. She sees her trip over because of a backpack, a backpack, which she didn't teach her own daughter how to pack. Or to dress to make it over the parapet in one piece. Hair away from the face, shoes with good grip, you know, it wouldn't take that long to tell somebody that. Just a quick you know, I said that in what fifteen seconds. So like what's
speaker-1: That's less than fifteen seconds.
speaker-0: What's the point in your mother being the general if she doesn't tell you this inside stuff? Like she must have realized there's a ninety-five percent chance that Violet was just gonna get yeeted off the parapet.
speaker-1: Yeah, but I also need to point out as well, like Mira. Mira got twelve years of hand to hand combat training. Like we hear Violet talk about Mira, her strength, her courage, the attitude that she belongs in like the saddle as a rider, like in the skies, on the back of a dragon. And did that like not come because she was trained to be a rider from a very, very young age? That self confidence, that attitude. And Violet is kind of like putting herself down, comparing herself to Mira like that. Because Mira and Brennan were effortless at this stuff. Yeah, because they had 12 years of fucking training. Like we know Violet is badass and that has like a different kind of strength comes with what Violet can do. Because strength isn't just physical. But hasn't her own mother set her up to fail by not doing for Violet what she did for Mira? What she did for Brennan. Like if she could do that for the other two. She could have done that for Violet. And there are hundreds of cadets wanting to be riders who have been training since birth, who are going into the quadrant at the same time as Violet. Is General Sorengill really not seeing that as a problem?
speaker-0: I feel like she does see this as a problem. Like I honestly think that her mum was worried that Violet wasn't even gonna make it across the parapet. I think I think she hoped that she would make it as a rider, but she had to come face to face with the prospect that she could lose another child. And to be so scared of the alternative of her going into the Squide Quadrant. To risk her losing her life so prematurely that way. Like she has to be, right? She's not an idiot. But also only decide six months before. What happened? I what I wanna know is what happened six months before that to make her suddenly change her mind.
speaker-1: I wonder if like maybe it like an uptick in like venom attacks that they want to hide. Because obviously you we s we see a lot of it in Battle Brief when Violet is convinced like she wasn't aware of all these attacks happening all the time. And that there were attacks that weren't being spoken about because she saw the the scroll when she was doing a library duty in the archives. So maybe it's that and we will get into this whole decision and like why she might have made this choice. A little bit more later on. But I don't even think it was necessary that Violet had to enter the rider's quadrant at all in order to learn how to defend herself. Because let's forget about the idea of her being a rider for even like a second. And talk about Violet as the daughter of a general in Navarre's army. Surely like giving her some rudimentary combat training more extensive than what she got. six months before entering the riders quadrant. Like surely even as a scribe that would have been a good idea, like to protect herself. Because people are going to target her, even if it's as a scribe at some like warded outpost in the future. Whether that's flyers who see her as a bargaining tool or like any of the marked ones, since like up to this point everyone's convinced that they're all a threat still. Like I know they didn't actually expect them to like get this far. in the quadrant to cross parapet and then bond dragons and not be killed by someone else. But like Zaidan is two years ahead of Violet, too. So maybe you know, when he got given a dragon and you know, he lives in the same castle that Violet has been living in for the past two years because her home is Bazgayath, did we not think Violet being able to protect herself might have been a good idea?
speaker-0: This is only talking about the lack of combat skills as one of Violet's disadvantages. We haven't even mentioned her height. Like Violet is short. Like Mayra has to point out to their mother that Violet isn't actually tall enough to theoretically and probably physically dragon. Yeah. Winifred, the best healer in the quadrant, has told General Soringell that riders will break Violet. And on assessment day, that is exactly what happens. And even that doesn't get her mother to listen. General Soren Girl admits that Violet deals with more pain before lunch than Mira does in an entire week. So if any of her kids are capable of surviving the Rider's Quadrant, it's Violet. I wonder if she actually believes this. Or is this just her defense, her reasoning, her rationale in her head? Because if she does believe it, Why not set Violet up for better success, like you said? Mira says that sending Violet into the Riders Quadrant is basically a death sentence, and she's right. It's a wonder that Violet survives. I know riders are at like the top of the hierarchy, but is Violet being a dead rider cadet better than her being alive as a scribe?
speaker-1: Yeah, and well like Violet does indeed survive, but like she doesn't get judged as being weak by the dragons and she gets to Bon 10. So kinda like it does like all work out. It's not like General Sorengale is actually wrong in that regard. I'm not sure that's a lesson to reinforce with her, but you know, she is right. But like if enough people say to you, even if you're so convinced you're in the right, if enough people say, Hey, this's not really a good idea, this is it, and Plenty of people did say that to her over and over and over again. I don't know. Maybe find a compromise. Train her a bit more, you know, give her an extra edge that makes people think twice about fucking with her when they can practically pick her up and put her in a pocket. It's a bit like you're too short to ride this ride.
speaker-0: They ⁓ they clearly trained her with daggers though. So there was there was something, and she's clearly really good with those before entering the rider's quadrant. So it's not like they've trained her with an axe or anything. They've like they have actually tried to train her with something which I guess is more fitting for her body size.
speaker-1: Yeah, but they only went like half the way there, clearly. And maybe there was like a flip side to this discussion, right, as well. Because like Violet did pass the entrance exam. I'm assuming some people do fail, otherwise there wouldn't be an entrance exam in the first place. And she did score like I think it was like the top quarter for speed and agility. And then you add that to the comment about Violet dealing with more pain bef that like before breakfast than anyone else, it kind of It raises a question in my mind, making me wonder if Violet's mother is the only one who can see what Violet is capable of. And this is like before Zaydon comes along, I mean, 'cause so many people have said she can't do it, she can't do it, she'll break. Dane wants her out of there immediately. Mira's fighting to get her to go into the scribe quadrant as well. And clearly it's the right thing for Violet. She fucking loves it though.
speaker-0: Think I think General Sorengel hoped that Violet would be capable and wouldn't die and would be able to bond a dragon, but I don't think it's something she knew for sure. Like this girl breaks bones just doing normal stuff. Like she has to know how big of a risk this was. The entirety of the riders quadrant is a risk for even the strongest cadet. And Violet is at an even greater disadvantage because she's, you know, got all these issues and she's a Soren girl. And General Sorengale Also doesn't seem to have considered if Violet has the heart of a rider either. When Violet kills someone for the first time, who happens to be Jack, which go figure, when her lightning signet power manifests properly for the first time, she is having her breakdown and basically despises herself. She thinks at that moment that, you know, mum will be so proud to know I am just like the others now, just like her. But Violet clearly isn't happy with such a destructive power. She wasn't prepared to Physically or emotionally for this.
speaker-1: We we can't say what General Sorengale does here with Violet is completely out of character at all, putting her into the Riders Quadrant. Because it's not like this is shocking Violet in any way, shape, or form. She's quite resigned to her fate from the very beginning. Even though Mira and a ton of other people are outraged on Violet's behalf. But Violet basically says her mother ignored her existence for almost an entire year after her dad died. And before that, apparently, as well, she may have changed a bit, but even before, she barely tolerated her existence, apparently. And that's because Violet wasn't perfect like Mira or Brennan. Now, whether whether this is what Lila Sorangale actually thinks, we don't really know. She certainly like does seem to compliment Violet a few times, but ultimately, like, we read this book from Violet's perspective. And this is the impression that Violet has gotten from her own mother. Apparently, her mother Has often cursed the sickness that she got while pregnant with Violet, because it almost killed her and left Violet weak. To the point where I wonder if part of this is a case of being harsh on the child who made her so ill. Because she says it isn't about hating scribes and not wanting her daughter to be a scribe. Because she makes a comment about Violet's dad being the love of her life. And he was a scribe. Which makes me wonder if when when her dad was alive, And Violet was training to go into the scribe quadrant, whether her mother wasn't happy with that or whether she was happy with Violet being a scribed up to that point. Because she makes this god awful comment about how her dad wanted her to be a scribe, but he's dead now, and she doubts he wants much these days. Like, the fuck did you just say, Roman? Is so so
speaker-0: I know. She she's so angry at her late husband, but why? Like sure you can be angry at someone for dying, but it feels like more than that. It feels like the anger surpasses that. Like the way she c says that comment about her dad being dead and he can't want anything for her right now is so brutal and it comes across in such a cold way and she it makes her seem like she's really closed off and angry. Like what do we think that sickness really was that gave Violet a silver hair and the frail bones because it it must be magical in some way, right? Like I'm honestly convinced it must have some link to the whole Venom situation.
speaker-1: I think the hair has something to do with like the forced dedication to the goddess Dunn and she's the goddess of like war and strength. And we learnt about that in Onyx Storm. I think their hair fades from whatever their colour was to silver and that's why it always loses it because she's half dedicated. But the sickness in the first place, that's the reason that she was dedicated. Now I wonder if that sickness is down to Venon. Like that that part of it. Not the hair part, but the sickness. Like General Sorangel was attacked, maybe, and then she survived the attack, but unborn baby Violet obviously didn't have the strength to recover in the way that those who, you know, have magic and are bonded to dragons can recover, because Violet is still, you know, her own separate person, even as an unborn fetus. Like that makes sense to me. And it would also explain to me why Violet feels like she's the least loved of the Sorengel kids. Someone at Parapet says that they always thought that General Sarangale only had one daughter. And Violet says that she gets that a lot. So I wonder whether Violet was purposely hidden or if her mother was sort of too embarrassed about her because she's weaker than Mira and Brennan. Now I wonder if it's because looking at Violet reminds her of what Navarre is hiding and the consequences of not warding and protecting Poromil. Because I was that will have been why she got attacked by Venom.
speaker-0: Either way Violet has noticed that she seems to get less love and attention. Can you imagine how painful that is? I mean, we are both only children, so it's it's it's hard to imagine. But like say you're like one of many grandchildren and your grandma is like famous, famous. ⁓ when you go out to the world they're like, I had no idea you existed. In fact, your mum slash grandma straight up refuses that you exist. Like That's so painful and so sad that someone feels so ashamed of you as a person to do this. There is a very concrete example of this lack of feeling from General Sorengel very early on. Within 30 minutes of Violet leaving her room and walking to her mother's office on prescription day, her mother has already sent someone into her room to start packing up all of her personal items. This is a bit unfeeling, surely. Like, isn't Violet's room not in like a designated Soren girl family private quarters kind of area? Like, who the fuck needs this room so desperately? Like, I get it. I get it, I kinda get it. Like, regardless of what happens, Violet isn't going to be coming back to that room specifically. Like she's either gonna die or graduate from the Risers Quadrant straight into an assignment. But geez Louise, like let her officially move out first. It's like It's like when you move out of your parents' house and within a week a room has been changed into a gym. It just feels cold. Almost like she's yet again trying to erase the fact that Phila even existed.
speaker-1: It's like, yay, the last one's gone. I finally have my life back now. Yeah, it is it's so bad. I I do think though like General Sorengale is probably still strict with her other kids. But maybe there is more pride there due to like their accomplishments and Violet just never got to receive any of that. But is there something to be said about how harsh she is on her kids because she is in command? Like could she be being harder on her own kids? than any other cadet or rider who's ever come into her line of sight, probably because she would be accused of favoritism otherwise. This is probably why Kernel Latos can be so nice to Violet and compliment her when Violet and Zaidan like bump into them coming from the flight field. But her own mother is like a lot more judgy, like immediately finds fault in the fact that Violet hasn't manifested a signet yet. Whereas Kernel Latos is like, I see you're doing well. From Co Light on
speaker-0: Yeah, that is such like a brutal thing when Violet sees her mum again after ages and all she asks is what power she was wielding from the golden dragon. Like not asking her daughter how she is doing. Like it's always about her accomplishments. And General Sorangel only seems to really care about which dragons Violet has bonded for how it will affect her own agenda and her reputation. And she's just looking at Violet's dragons after thrashing. Rather than Violet, who's obviously injured, like not even checking if she's okay. And when Violet goes to the role keepers after thrashing and she is lining up to say the dragon's name, which basically confirms that they have bonded, her mum says to Commander Pancheck to not say his name until Violet does. That's because she really doesn't believe that Ten is her dragon. Like she has somehow hijacked him. Ten, the ancient most powerful dragon, like that's possible. Which is just really rude. But then, as I'm saying this, I'm realizing something else as well. It might go against what I've just said. What if Violet just took it that way because you know her entire life relationship with her mother means she looks at this negatively? What if what if she what if General Sorin Girl tells Pancheck not to say Tan's name before she does because she's worried that someone will try to fudge her threshing by saying his name out loud before she does. Which means nobody will ever believe that they are actually bonded. What if she's trying to help Violet? Because she thinks she deserves it. I'll go around in a circle here.
speaker-1: Yeah. Yeah. But that's that's kind of how I I read it second time. Not the first time, the second time. Because if you look at the comments that people throw out, specifically that Tynan throws out from within her own squad, the comments people throw at Violet when they think she's sleeping with Dane, who is only a squad leader. Like he is the lowest rung of command possible. He is not a commanding officer of an entire freaking war college. But the the comments and the hatred and the the vibes that get hurled at Violet because of that supposed connection. You can only imagine then if that's what she gets from Dane, the kind of attitude she would get from people if there was even a whiff of love coming from her mother. Like that the favouritism accusations would be rice throughout the entire quadrant, particularly after ten, particularly with The baddest dragon around who was not available at presentation. Suddenly he just rocks up and wants the Sorengale. Hella suspicious to a lot of people. It and then the number of people who would think Violet not only bonding ten, but having a second dragon being allowed to have two, that would also be down to her mother's influence. In the same way of, well, this this guy over here, he's unmonned, he didn't get anything. And ⁓ look, Sorengale gets two? I also though feel the need to point out here that the coldness that comes from Lilith Sorangale kind of solidifies Violet's stance with regards to Zavan and the marked ones as well. Cause if Violet was as close to her mother as Dane clearly is with his evil ass father, like there is no way she would have been let anywhere near the marked ones, let alone like welcomed into their revolution. And I I do kind of think if I'm being nice General Sarangale has kind of been setting Violet up to be a better version of herself for years. But we'll we'll get to that bit. First, let's talk about the brutal ass school that Violet's mother runs.
speaker-0: Since General Soringal is in charge of Asgaith, let's talk about the shit that goes on in her school. Because we can kind of blame her for a lot of it in a way. Because while she didn't make the Riders Quadrant this violent and dangerous, she certainly isn't reducing and like making it safer either. Cause let let's start out slow. Okay. A hundred and fifty-six cadets are all sleeping in the same room, all competing for a dragon. And they don't get a room until they have bonded one. And you think telling people not to kill each other in their sleep is just gonna solve them murdering defenseless cadets. I think it's a wonder someone didn't try to off anyone before freshing started.
speaker-1: Yeah. And that is once they actually get inside the rider's quadrant. Uh-huh. The way cadets even make it into the quadrant is a danger in and of itself. 'Cause the parapet is eighteen inches wide, two hundred feet above the ground. Like does anyone want to do the science here and figure out whether this all needs to be as dangerous as it actually is? Because parapet claims fifteen percent on average are of rider cadets on the first frickin' day. They don't even get to be cadets even. They are only candidates. Fifteen percent of would-be riders never even make it into the quadrant.
speaker-0: I'm assuming the parapet wasn't necessarily built for this purpose and for the rider cadets to cross. My kind of like my understanding is that it was part of the school and the building infrastructure as part of Baskayev. And then someone was like, let's make them all cross this. And then if they live, they can attempt to be a rider. Hmm. Yes, great idea. But regardless, whether it is built or converted for this purpose, the fact it claims fifteen percent of lives and they still make them do it? It's crazy. It's crazy.
speaker-1: While we're talking about parapet, can I please, please, please point out that General Sarangale's signet power is controlling storms? She directs the rain in Iron Flame. That helps Violet to like wield her lightning signet, because you know obviously water conductive. So you're not telling me that this was a natural storm over Basgaeath and the parapet that starts and stops right as Violet is crossing the parapet. Really? So was the general just pissed at somebody else, which would be a huge coincidence. Or is this her way of testing Violet? Because the second Violet is off the parapet, the rain eases into a drizzle, and Violet literally says it is as if it only came to make the hardest test of her life even harder.
speaker-0: See, I kind of saw this from a different perspective. I feel like her storm signet is amplified in a similar way to Violet's, where it's kind of controlled by emotions. I don't feel like that storm with all the rain pounding on the parapet was coming from a place of anger, at least not in the way you're thinking. I feel like this storm comes from a place of anger at herself, at the world, at Navarre, at the situation she's been forced into. And upset at the thought of her youngest child might die and another child might die? Which is ironic when the storm would be making the parapet harder for Violet, but maybe she just can't control it that well.
speaker-1: I mean, I'm glad she went there rather than that she was up to something in a storage cupboard somewhere. But secondly went like Violet, I was like, Okay, so General's Horror Girl's getting some somewhere, all right. But you've been nicer to the general there than I ever have been during readings. Mm-hmm. Cause I've seen it as another way of making Violet like work harder to prove that she's meant to be in a writer's quadrant. Another instance of her like being harsher on her kids so no one can claim favouritism. Because if it's just as deadly for Violet, if not more so than for like other candidates, then Violet like really can hold her own and she isn't being given everything on a silver platter. And I guess you would have hoped that if her mother's had her signet power for X number of years, easily what? Twenty? More than that she would at least be able to, you know, control it and not let her emotions sway it. You would hope, you would hope. But then again, seeing how they train Violet's signet power doesn't seem like Bezgaith is all that great. In that regard. But this is one of the deadliest conscription days as well. Sixty-seven candidates die on Violet's conscription day, meaning almost twenty percent of the people who stepped onto the parapet never made it across. Now Violet wonders if this is because of the wind and the rain once again, like something that her mother can control. But there is another possible reason for the weather. So let's say General Sorangale is the one commanding the wind and the rain. Maybe it's not directly like to screw with Violet. Maybe it's because Mira pissed her off, because I think Mira can do that to her mother. And then she's in a bad mood until like Violet did make it across and she was watching from somewhere. Maybe we're maybe I'm being nicer. I don't know. But I also wonder if I'm being less nice. If this is part of some sort of strategy, since less and less dragons are willing to bond, and this would cut down the numbers by quite a bit, I would imagine. And something else we haven't talked about yet is The Gauntlet and all the people who die trying to make it across that obstacle. Because the parapet is not the only obstacle anyone's gonna gotta get across. Now and I know I've always liked watching Total Wipeout and if anyone watched two thousand C B C in the UK, Raven was the best show. I will die on that hill. And Gauntlet gives me like Raven vibes so bad. I always wanted to try the Way of the Warrior. I did. I so wanted to be on that show. It was so good. I I had the DVD video game, you know, when you plugged it into the TV and you played with the direction buttons. Best time ever. But I would rather die than face the gauntlet. Even having wanted to do that. I would rather die than even attempt that obstacle course. I'd be asking a cadet just to take me out during challenges. It honestly seems like a better way to go than falling however many feet down the side of a cliff. Because my upper body strength could never. I would be sliding down those safety ropes. The safety ropes would not be safe for me.
speaker-0: Think if I was like clipped in with a harness, then I would love to try it. But otherwise, yeah, no, no thanks. No, and this is just the physical challenges that you face as at Bascayas, like physical obstacles that are part of the college structure. We haven't even mentioned the way people are out to actually kill each other and the way the college actually encourages that. Like in the book of Brennan. Brennan literally writes that while any cadet can request a challenge, instructors actually assign your matches based on weeding out the weakest. So teachers are literally tryna get the weakest riders killed of two. I'm I reading that right, because that seems a bit fucked up, right?
speaker-1: Just a bit.
speaker-0: But to be fair, they did wait a fair amount of time before actually putting Violet against Jack. Like if they if they wanted to actually weed out the weakest and do it the quickest, then surely they would have put Jack against Violet pretty early on. Like considering he was like snapping other people's necks left, right and centre.
speaker-1: This makes no sense to me though. Like zero sense to me. Like the way that all this is set up. Because Basgaeath needs weapons against the Venom, right? Whether they want to acknowledge that to anyone outside of leadership is a completely different matter. But they do need it. They are either stupid and burying their head in the sands, like thinking they are perfectly safe and nothing can hurt them, like behind their wards, even though, you know, the wards keep failing. Or They they do know that they need more weapons to fight the Venom. So then why are instructors letting Jack Barlow challenge Violet on the map, knowing that he is out to kill her, not like just win the match by making her yield, knowing that it risks two of the greatest and most powerful riders of their generation. Like even before Violet manifests a signet, because of Violet bonding 10, you know that she is going to be powerful as anything. And then Zaiden, who is the most powerful Shadow Wielder, you're risking two of the greatest, most powerful riders. Two of the greatest, most powerful weapons against Venin in the secret war that you don't want to admit that you're fighting. Like make this make sense. Because by this point, everyone knows Zaiden and Violet's lives are probably not a guarantee, but probably. linked through their dragons. And Jack has been breaking these rules in challenges, left, right and centre, using his powers in a powerless fight. Fighting with death blows when he's specifically been commanded not to use death blows. He's literally ignoring orders by command. And leadership, and therefore the leadership under General Sorangale, still lets him keep going.
speaker-0: I mean, who the hell knows? Like, I guess everyone has to challenge each other at some point. It might not be something they can actually avoid doing, but this is a recurring pattern with Jack.
speaker-1: Yeah, like especially when Jack goes to kill like the golden feather tail Andana during threshing because she is weak and small and not worthy of having a rider or a load of bullshit that he's pulled out of his ass. But that's his claim and he goes out of his way to harm a dragon. He seeks out Andana specifically. But then leadership has to have a whole debate around whether Violet gets to have two dragons. Like I already thought. that she'd been deemed useless. So does leadership know more about Feather Tales than they're letting on? Because unless they do, I don't see why they're bothered. Like it's not like having Andana gets Violet any extra perks, at least not as far as they're concerned. They've already said the golden one's there just because she's curious. She's not wilt planning to bond, she's a feather tail and they don't want to engage in battle. So it's not like Violet having her isn't some great boon, is it? And surely like the learning opportunity outweighs their protests over favoritism. It's not like they're having a choice anyway. Like dragons don't listen to humans. Dragons are dragons. It's up to them what happens. Like you're just wasting your breath. But make it make sense. She's either dangerous and that's favouriting Violet having two dragons, or she's useless like Jack thinks.
speaker-0: Honestly, I think I think this just comes down to the fact that the quadrant is so damn rule abiding that it doesn't really matter if Andana isn't ridable or not. Like the rule of them is one dragon and one dragon only. And God forbid if someone tries to do something slightly different. But at the end of the day, like you said, like that's not their choice. So ha ha ha ha ha. Fuck you. But I guess I guess for these guys, riders aren't People, riders are weapons. Like that is the general consensus of the college. Professor Carr doesn't say that losing Brennan was a tragedy. He says losing such a powerful mender so young was a tragedy. And that's a big difference. Probably why they don't mind death. Like you don't want to invest time and effort into ineffective products or attempt new methods of creating those weapons.
speaker-1: Yeah, I g I guess if we're assigning all the faults of Bazgayev to General Soringale as well, like, let's talk about the scribe quadrant. Because the fuck is up with that? Being like a convent or a monastery. Like, no smiles, must be serious at all times. Can't show emotion. You must wear cream robes with hoods so you blend like into the books on the shelves. And it's supposed to be this like symbol of not being more important than the books within the archives. But the archives aren't even complete. You don't want anyone with minds, do you? I
speaker-0: So Do I do wonder who kind of controlled and designed the way that the scribe scribe quadrant works 'cause I don't think we really know and I don't think it was anything to do with General Sorengel, but I think it would be interesting if we could find out about Lauren later.
speaker-1: But regardless of who created the whole system, regardless of like the pushback that comes from like other leadership if she was like even to attempt to change things. The whole concept of the scrabe quadrant is to beat down the people who disseminate information, right? So that they will just like turn their brains off and recite what they're told to do, which must be a horrible, horrible way to live. So you either get to be a weapon or basically doing what you're told. Violet should maybe be glad that she gets to be in the writers quadrant, you know, have a personality.
speaker-0: If General Soren Girl can be held accountable for the stuff that goes on at her school, she can also be held accountable for Navarre's lies. Which makes her complicit in the deaths of everyone at the hands of the Venon, but also in the deaths of those who die in battles between riders and fliers, and those who die during the time at the Quadrant. And that isn't just the ones who are weak, because if you were Bondadon, you can manifest a signet power. That also means you die. So the power of an intrinsic is a death sentence, which it shouldn't be. But knowing that there are people who could be sent behind enemy lines to learn their plans and report back all without having to speak anyone, game changer. Surely. But by rights, there should be some sort of best riders because information is power and they can acquire tons of it. But then it would mean that the person could learn anything about the war that Navarre doesn't want them to know. Whereas if they just didn't hide stuff and just drafted them into like an elite classified part of the quadrant, like that would be that that would be literally be a game changer. Instead they just instantly snap their nap.
speaker-1: Yeah, I I wanna go a bit further with this ⁓ control of information, Malake. 'Cause when Violet gets the book of Brennan, one of the things that Violet says is that if her mum ever found it, it will be tossed straight into the fire. And her mom has already burned all of Brennan's things, as is tradition when people die. Now, this may indeed be a tradition. Sure. I would love to see The source text because I feel the need to point out that presumably these people who die, you know, at least some of them will have known about Venin and the truth of Navarre. It's not like you can hide this kind of thing from the front lines completely. Mira talks about seeing dragons over the border, but that can't be right because she has no knowledge of any classified patrols going on out of watered airspace. They're just taught not to think too hard and about those inconsistencies and assume that it is above her pay grade. Even seeing dragons breathing green and blue fire, that surely just it can't be right. Some of these writers must have written or this stuff down or like talked about it somehow, journals, letters, whatever. So isn't burning the possessions of a lost loved one also protecting Nabar's lives? What came first then? Our items burned So loved ones have their items in the afterlife. Or is it to stop the truth from coming to light? Because of the chapter heading quote that I I'm gonna read it verbatim. It says It is a grave offence against Malik to keep belongings of a dead loved one. They belong with the god of death and the departed. In the absence of a proper temple, any fire will do. He who does not burn for Malik will be burned by Malik. And this is credited as To Major Rorelli's Guide to Appeasing the Gods, second edition. Very telling. This is not some sort of, you know, religious text. This comes from a member of Navarre's army's leadership. Bit sus, right?
speaker-0: I hadn't even thought of this until right now. Like it really would be so easy to control this flow of information and keep that secret under wraps, like if everybody has to burn their loved ones' belongings after death. And the fact that it doesn't even come from a religious text is so telling. Like it's like they've twisted something religious for their own gain.
speaker-1: is so hypocritical too. Because Professor Devera in the first battle brief is talking about how cadets need to know the politics of their enemies, strategies to defend outposts from the constant attacks that they face. Knowing about the battles that are going on around you, that's all important things that they get taught in battle brief. But then how do you expect riders to succeed and survive when you're only giving them half of the information and you're making people burn sources of information that could They're being lied to about Paramil's politics, particularly like the ones that, you know, cause them to attack Navarre in the first place. They're being lied to about Navarre's politics. Because God forbid they know the truth. They're being lied to about the targets behind each outpost attack. Yes, they're targeting the daggers. They are. That that bit is true. But not because they want the wards to fail. They're attacking the outposts in order to get weapons to defend themselves. And this is without even mentioning the real big bad, the venom, and how on earth like they're meant to survive and defend the borders against them when they haven't even been told of their existence? How do you expect riders to succeed against mythological beings they don't know about?
speaker-0: Do you find that really difficult because they can't be so naive to think that the Venom and the Wyvern will stay out of their wards and that they'll be protected forever? Like they must consider there will be a time when they will have to face it head on, just like Promyel are doing. And to not even have their cadets and riders be aware of that very real threat and be planning for it, just seems kind of idiotic. Why wouldn't he warn people of this huge danger? That they will definitely need to train for.
speaker-1: Yeah, Professor Markham, the sc scribe dude, then talks about how like a scribe's duty is to study the past and to accurately record the present. Because without accurate descriptions of what is occurring on the front lines, they wouldn't have reliable information to make strategic decisions on. And they can't document all this stuff for future generations to learn from. I can't do it without air quotes. I can't. It's not possible. Because like yeah, exactly. You're right, dude! You are right! This is kind of you're saying the right things, but you don't mean them clearly. And I know, I know leadership will receive all of this classified information that like lower riders who aren't in leadership aren't allowed to know, but also, you know, if you let your armour in on this information, they at least stand a better chance of, you know, bolstering your defences, coming up with their own ideas. At attack formations. Violet literally comments that everything that Markham has said is the exact reason she has always wanted to be a scribe. And Violet was meant to be Markham's star pupil. Which means that eventually she will have to have been let in on the truth if she went down the scribe path, presumably in order to make sure that she was wiping all relevant venom details from the histories. Do we really think that Violet could have? ever done that. Violet values the truth above all else.
speaker-0: True. Violet never would have altered or adapted the truth to fit Navarre's narrative. Something her dad, I imagine, also found really difficult, hence why he gave that essentially a legal text to Violet to keep. And that would go completely against her principles and her ethics as as a scribe. And what about the fact that every year less and less dragons are willing to bond? And not by a small amount either, about hundred are willing to bond when Professor Corey's class are talking about it two months before presentation and thrashing. And Violet points out that's thirty seven less than the year before. And Professor Corey also points out that that's twenty-six less than the year before that. So we are dealing with a big percentage in drops here, not just a handful. Like fewer dragons are willing to bond to defend Navarre.
speaker-1: Now. I don't know about you, but to me, this means that less and less dragons are on board with Navarre's current politics and plans of action, yes? Because the whole thing is dragons want to defend the veil. That's kind of the whole purpose of them bonding together in the first place. So you know, when the big scary dragons think you're in the wrong, you know, clearly a lot of them are making compromises and bonding people who they think align with their politics and Then together like they're finding loopholes, you know, like the marked ones. All the ones who chose to bond the marked ones clearly think they're defending the veil in a different way that's not Navar's method. Is that not a glaring neon sign over the veil? You know, just right in sight that Navarre probably should change tactic if they wanna survive. You would think
speaker-0: But I honestly think this whole situation, Navarre is just trying to like brush it under the rug and ignore it. Whereas the marked ones are actually taking action and realizing it cannot stay like this, like it's not sustainable. They like Navarre just want to ignore it. And I wonder how low the number of dragons willing to bond would have needed to have got to before anybody would have actually taken action.
speaker-1: So there are some things that I think General Sorengale does that prove that she isn't entirely agreeing with Navarre's tactics here. I'm gonna focus on the hints that we get in fourth wing specifically, because like not everything that goes down like in Iron Flame is necessarily relevant here. I'm trying to stick to fourth wing. I don't always, but I'm trying. Because let's point out that she does know that her husband gave Violet the book of Venom Fables. She is actively aware. That Violet has a copy of Fables of the Baron. So she knows that her daughter is in possession of an illegal text. During presentations, like to diffuse the tension, Violet and Rihanna are literally talking about Venin because Violet makes a comment about how presentation's scary, but like it could be worst. The dragons could be widen. And Violet mentions like could be worst. Violet mentions that she's like once thought her mum had turned Venin. Because she came back from battle with like bloodshot eyes from, you know, the stress and the tension and probably, you know, the lack of sleep. How long the battle lasts. Like the hot and this she was very, very young and Viol young Violet started shrieking and apparently half of the outpost came running and it caused a huge, huge scene. General Sorangale took away her book of fables for a month after that. So she is actively aware that she has this.
speaker-0: Don't even get me started on this bit because I just have got on board with a really wild theory. And I'm not sure if you want me to speak about it now, but I feel this comment about her seeing her mum with bloodshot eyes and then freaking out that she is a venom is a lot more important than just being a funny throwaway comment. And I feel like we're gonna learn something where this becomes a lot more important in the future.
speaker-1: Okay, tell me this theory because I am interested and I have a question that I am hoping you're about to answer. So tell me your theory first.
speaker-0: So I haven't gone too deep into the theory just 'cause I don't want to like nitpolate kind of the the notes that I was ⁓ making. But I think the theory is mainly that that is not a throwaway comment and that will come back to haunt us somehow, like a lot of the comments that they make about Brennan being dad and all this all and all this sort of thing. I right. I have a fear fear that that connects to the sickness that her mum had and then why Violet had to then be, you know, given to the priest people. Okay. And that maybe in some way her mum might have at one point been venomed?
speaker-1: Okay, okay, that raises more questions than it answers. Cause now I kind of wanna know if we know how to fucking cure the venom. Why why did Nolan not succeed with Jack?
speaker-0: Don't know. ⁓
speaker-1: Yeah for the next book.
speaker-0: I wouldn't be. If her mum was the only one that maybe knew how to cure it, or maybe decided to and you know, her dad's dead, and sorry, spoilers for the next book, but so is her mum. By the time everything happens with Zelda, we're not going to know how to cure it unless Violet figures or finds something or figures it out somehow from her dad's notes or something like that. But I have a feeling at some point that she
speaker-1: He's fucking dead.
speaker-0: was at least infected. There's something going on there, okay? Rebecca Yarris and I want to know what it was. Thank you. Yes.
speaker-1: I was I was I was I was kind of wondering if your theory would go into that being the reason that Violet's dad's dead.
speaker-0: Well, I think there's something shifty about that as well, which we haven't had explained to us yet.
speaker-1: shifty about that because like yeah his heart brought out and still jeering because Brennan was dead and Brennan's not dead but no one seems pissed that Brennan's alive and Brennan caused Dad's death. So I feel I feel like it isn't heartbreak. I feel like it wasn't actually causes.
speaker-0: Yeah, there's something there's some yeah, there's something going on there and I wanna know. I really want to know.
speaker-1: I have more questions than I have answers, and I'm scared. I'm scared. The more I think about it, the worse the worse it gets. But regardless, regardless of that, let's leave that aside. And focus on more of what we do actually know, how how little it actually is. But we do know some things, or we think we do. But Violet is better off making change as a writer than as a scribe. She's in a better position to do what is right for Navarre and for Poromiel, right? So was this a plan all along? Like train her thoroughly as a scribe so that she has the power and the knowledge to change the things that General Sorengale can't. What about like when General Sorangel asks Zaiden to watch Over Ballot as her favour from Zaiden? I I know we technically also don't know about you. Like that's not part of Fourth Wing, but Was that part of this setup? Has General Sarangel been playing like the really long game with this? Does this explain why like Violet wasn't given any combat training till the last minute? Because everyone needed her to think she was gonna be a scribe, including Violet, so she dedicated herself fully to the books? Was the book stuff Violet's training? Because then she can see through everything that is being presented to her. Like Crying loud, she does actually take a book of poisons into the writer's quadrant with her. It isn't like the knowledge and the books haven't prepared her to kill people, yeah?
speaker-0: Yeah. My main thing from that is the General Sorum girl asked Sadan to take care of Violet. Was this before or after she decided to send her into the quadrant? Because I think that matters too.
speaker-1: Well What? in like before or after Violet was like told that she would go in. Like do you mean like if Zaydon like wouldn't agree that Violet wouldn't be forced in?
speaker-0: More like when did she decide? Was it before General Soringale decided herself that Violet was gonna go in or after? And obviously we might not know that because we don't really get any of this from her perspective.
speaker-1: So whether it was like she's gonna go in, so let's set it up for her or let's see if it'll look out for her. And then we'll go find
speaker-0: Or it's like a Yeah, yeah, exactly. So I just ⁓ interested to know more about that, but it's a shame that she's dead, so
speaker-1: You know, kind of ⁓ negates a lot of the answers, you know, it kind of kind of rules out a lot of answers to some questions that we would have. I'd love just to sit down in a room and interrogate, I'd be grand. But I guess while we're on the topic of Zaydan, all the rebel leaders' kids were conscripted into the writers' quadrant for punishment for their parents' crimes. Or like, is the alternative it would give them access to the outpost? And I question this, I do, I do, because do we really think General Sarangale didn't know what Zayd was up to the entire time? Are we sure? Because Colonel Atos acts alone, after all. This does not come from from the top when he's trying to kill off all the marked ones when he sends Zaiden squad to die. Like I don't see why anyone like thought that was a good idea otherwise. And I know most people expected the kids to like not make it over parapet in the first place. And then assumed like someone would, you know, kill them off in the quadrant, and then that the dragons wouldn't want bond with them and then just be unbonded. But also Zaydan's allowed to be a winglead. Zaydan has risen the ranks within Bazgaya to be a wingleader. Someone has given him that position. Someone has given him that authority. Right? I feel like Gentleman Sorengale might be being a really sneaky motherfucker here. Like I feel like she knows what she's doing.
speaker-0: I think when it comes to what the mark ones are doing, I think she must have had at least a suspicion, but I don't think she ever would have decided to have pursued it or to investigated it because at the end of the day I don't think she would have wanted what they were doing to actually have been caught out and stuck.
speaker-1: Yeah. If she doesn't ac if she's suspicious but she doesn't actually look into it, then there's like a level of plausible deniability that she can turn a blind eye to. But I think she's very much on the side of the marked ones. There's another excerpt from before a chapter that says, Knowing I am in direct disagreement with General Melgren's orders, I am officially objecting to the plan set forth in today's briefing. It is not this general's opinion. That the children of the re rebellion's leaders should be forced to witness their parents' executions. No child should watch their parents put to death. And that is an official brief for King Towery from General Lilith Soringale. This is another vote for her being not all that bad and kind of, you know, on the side of the marked ones.
speaker-0: Yeah, this really gets me because it's the fact that we do see this correspondence of her trying to push back on the brutal things proposed by the people. And like, how do we know she wasn't really pushing back on a lot of other things as well?
speaker-1: Yeah. And also if we're assuming that General Sorangale actually does love her kids and she is just pushing them away because she is a high ranking general in the army. And, you know, it would cause so many other issues for her kids and she's trying to do the right thing. If we're assuming all of that, then we're also like pretty sure she's probably proud of Violet and she did all of this for a better future for her kids. And for Navarre, and one that like she just cannot outright work for because it would brand her as a traitor and probably have her up for execution and her kids up for execution. And you know, she's getting Zaidan to look out for Violet. It then also puts her daughter in a position to be on the right side of the upcoming war if we're saying that she knows all of this stuff and this is a big part. I'm pretty sure she says something like this at the end of like Iron Flame anyway. But also like How fucking proud must she have been when her daughter bombs ten, like the biggest, baddest black dragon around, besides Coda, obviously. And she rocks up with a feather tail that gets to turn into an air with like super cool ass powers. And no one's ever documented this before. Because it's like Violet gets a dragon that represents her ruthless rider side, her mum side, and the knowledge-obsessed scribe side for her dad. Like Lilith Soringale at this point, if she really loves her kids, must have one Stokast mama realising all of this.
speaker-0: I feel like General Sorangirl is just such an enigma. Like she is so complicated. I feel like Violet's dad's death, while you know, like I said, must have had something to do with it. And I'm sure we will learn more about how he died, hopefully, in future books. Because her for her to turn so cold, but also see all these things happening, like she's not as bad as they think she's made out to be in this first book. So we're
speaker-1: being said, what is our asshole percentage for General Lilith Sorengale? Like, should we even be splitting this into two questions? Because maybe we should be asking, is she the asshole for sending her kid into the Rider's Quadrant knowing how bad it is? Maybe we should be asking as well, is she the asshole for not preparing her child better for it? Because everything we've talked about in terms of Navarre's lies and the quadrant itself and what goes on under General Sorengail's sort of watchful eye, she is actively aware, probably in a way that a lot of other parents aren't, when their kids go into the Riders Quadrant, unless they have been through that quadrant themselves. General Sarangale knows exactly what Violet will be up against. But obviously, the Riders Quadrant is a hundred percent the right move for Violet, for Navarre's future, for the Mark One's revolution. Like it is the right thing to do, but it could have gone sore. So badly.
speaker-0: I think I think she's not an arsehole for sending Violet into the rider's quadrant at the end of the day, once we know everything. But I think she is a bit of an ar just a a bit of an arsehole for not necessarily preparing her properly for her capability and preparing her enough before going in.
speaker-1: Yeah, yeah, I get I get that. Percentage wise are we saying something God, okay. I'm just realizing how I rated Violet last time and the fact that I think her mother's less of an asshole than Violet.
speaker-0: Right.
speaker-1: Like I feel like I'm gonna say twenty-five percent asshole, maybe nudging thirty. And then I realized how high I put about last time and now I'm questioning my own brain and what I value in life.
speaker-0: I was I was gonna say about twenty percent. ⁓
speaker-1: Okay, okay. Do you you said twenty five percent for Violet, so you're still rating Violet's mother less asshole than Violet?
speaker-0: Slight slightly less subtle.
speaker-1: Less asshole. Hearts in the right place, you know it's more. Yeah. Okay, I'll I'll I'll settle my score at 25%. Then I feel slightly less heartless now over Violet last time. God. Jesus Christ. But I guess one of the things that I found so like fascinating about the whole series reading Fourth Wink and like this this am I the asshole question in general as well is like the depth of hidden knowledge. You never quite know everything and you never quite get a full like resolution. Like you think you know what's going on and then the rug's pulled out from underneath you and then you make a podcast about it and you talk to other people and more questions arise and now you're scared again. But I guess that's probably why like I liked today's book recommendation that I have for you so much. Because I finally finished Fairy Dale. ⁓ I I talked about starting to read Fairy Dale
speaker-0: Yeah.
speaker-1: earlier in the year during like one of those heat waves that we had. And I'm glad that I've put it off to finish it until now. Because I kind of needed the vibes. I needed the wind and the rain and the dark evenings. You can probably see the light has been fading because we're recording this at like 8 pm on a Friday night. And so it's getting darker and darker outside. And the vibes were just on point for the gothic nature of this. I will caveat this book recommendation with the fact that this book is not for everyone. It's not. ⁓ read the content warnings, read the content warnings, and the author's note, trust me. If you are immediately turned off by it, don't read it, don't. I didn't think I would like this as much as I did. And this is now solidly a four star read to
speaker-0: Really? Okay, I'm going to add it to my list.
speaker-1: When I turn the camera off, I will read you the content warnings. Just to see if and I I part of why I liked this so much is because it's a slow burn, it's confusing, and it it is a bit like unnecessarily violent and twisted and confusing as a story and it is purposely set up to be that way. Now I read those lovely little content warnings right at the very beginning when I picked this up in like July. I then didn't reread them this time. forgot what I had read and then I think I enjoyed it more for that. I will say I was never blown away by the plot twists. Like I was never like like I was with Fourth Wing. Like you know when you get to the end and like Brennan appears and you're like That didn't happen. But I could never guess exactly where this book was going. And usually usually I am very, very good at picking up on tropes and plot points. I almost regretted buying it with content warnings. So just
speaker-0: Isn't it? Interesting.
speaker-1: Investigate. But if you want something twisty that. What have you got for me? What's your recommendation?
speaker-0: I mean okay, so what I'm actually reading at the minute is Lost and Las is Lasso'd or Lassoed by Lila Say. So yeah. But it doesn't necessarily fit the vibe that we're going for, so I'll talk about that later. But the book I want to recommend, which I think I actually might have mentioned briefly in ⁓ when we were talking we were in like our Hunger Game season and we were like talking about book recks, is A Song to Drown Rivers by Anne ⁓ my god, I'm gonna absolutely butcher this. And Ann Lea, I'm so sorry. Ann Le and I'm dyslexic, just to put this out here. I'm not just being like a tosser, like but it's I'm gonna put it on the screen, okay? I don't want to say it wrong. But this is such a good book. Such a good book to the point where I need to read other books from this author and kind of in this genre. I didn't know how I feel about it when I started to read it because I hadn't really read anything from this genre. So this is by a lovely author who is writing a story based on like kind of an eight Ancient Chinese kind of myth or legend, I guess you could say. And it's about a kind of p a woman in the village who's basically seen as like the most beautiful person basically to ever exist. And she is essentially, I guess you could say, hired in a way by the essentially, I guess you would call them rebels against one of the emperors at the time who's basically meant to like a big meanie to basically become beat. trained as a concubine by them and infiltrate the palace, learn all the secrets, help bring around his downfall and all this sort of stuff. But I didn't see the ending coming. I didn't see a lot of things coming. I didn't think it was going to way go the way that it went. And the ending had me crying over the book to the point where, you know, you have those book works where you're like, you gotta read this book. It's amazing. You will be absolutely emotionally destroyed. And someone is like, ⁓ Okay, I won't read it. I'm like, no, no, no, you don't get it. That's that's what you wanted. Yeah, that that's why it's good. So yeah, I apologize about my dyslexia, but I really don't want to butcher so I will I will put it in the screen and we'll put it in the notes. But this is, yes, amazing five star read.
speaker-1: Did yeah. You did mention this last season and I kept meaning to ask you to send me the name of the author because I remembered half of the book title and then I couldn't remember the rest. I remembered it had like drown or drowning in there. But there was also in the veins of the drowning, I think at the time, that was very popular that I do also have. So I like, ⁓ yeah, I have that recommendation. No, I don't. That's that's the one. I'm gonna find that later.
speaker-0: It's such a good book. I do I keep meaning to read other books kind of in that genre and from that author as well. But I've got like a stack so high at the minute, Rachel. I've got a stack so high. I've got a list so long of the ones I wanna buy and no money in my pocket. So that's not a great great combination of that.
speaker-1: Can I can I shout out library cards for this purpose? I I have so my library, like a lot of libraries I assume right now, we're not as blessed as America. We don't all get Libby. I'd love to have Libby because it syncs with Macobo and in the UK, at least my library only allows Libby for audiobooks, which is annoying. Can't turn on Macobo. But you can read digital ebooks on your phone and you can just request them.
speaker-0: Yeah, that's true.
speaker-1: So I have the Borrow Box app, which I think is the most common one in the UK. And I have the sequel to a book that I bought last year on reserve for I think it's like the middle of October it'll come out. And I haven't bought the first one. I'm sorry, I've bought the first one, but I haven't read the first one yet. It's a duology. So I'm waiting for like a couple of days before and I'm gonna binge read the first book. And then if I liked it, the second one's right there. And I've not had to pay for it. And if I don't like it, I've not paid for it and I can just like return and cancel my reservation. Trust me. Get on board with reading on your phone. You'll be talking about blah blah blah.
speaker-0: True. True. I think that is it for the episode for today. I guess leave your own arsehole percentages down in the comments. Next week we are talking about Jack Barlow. So this may be another one of the episodes where the rage takes over. ⁓ so maybe have a stress ball to hand for that one. But if you like this episode, head on over to that YouTube subscribe button somewhere here and and click it. Somewhere, please.
speaker-1: Yes, please, please do, please please subscribe. Even if you're listening on Apple or Spotify, we are trying to reach a thousand subscribers before the end of the year. We may as well Which at the time of filming we have not yet hit. Honestly, if at the time of film at time of release, if we've hit a thousand, I will probably eat my hat. So I feel confident saying that is our goal. However If we have, by some miracle, already hit a thousand, please subscribe anyway. ⁓ just do it anyway. We appreciate it. There's also a share button somewhere around here. So tell your friends about us. Tell your neighbour, tell your dog. It genuinely helps out a small show like ours to keep going. And we do really want to be making these videos for years to come.
speaker-0: Yeah. We're also on TikTok, not TikTok, like I said last time, Instagram and YouTube shorts, posting clips a few times a week if you want a quick once upon a red flag book fix in between episodes. ⁓ if you're listening on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, a quick follow or rating really helps. It takes ten seconds and it honestly means a lot. Otherwise, I guess we will see you next week for more of our fourth wing opinions and in the meantime Read more books. Bye guys. Bye. ⁓ I'm reading that right because that seems a bit fucked up. I hadn't even thought of this until right now.