Life busyness has kept me from participating in the comments section very much during this quartet, which is a damn shame for me because Squire is FAR AND AWAY my favorite Tamora Pierce book of them all. I'm tearing up just from reading this review, and I just...I can't describe what this book means to me. The Ordeal, THE CHAMBER WHAT ON EARTH AAAH, what Alanna tells her at the end, RAOUL EVERYTHING WITH RAOUL, and BURI, the girls Kel talks with at the tournaments, what it means for Kel to be a knight....I just, I have no words. Gods all bless every chapter of this wonderful book.

Reading this post makes me so happy!! Coming to your site and reading your reviews has been a near-daily experience of mine for over two years now, and I have been so grateful for this space you've created where we get to share in your reading, watching, and now Hugo adventures. You deserve nothing but the best. Congratulations on everything!!

As I said the night I watched this episode for the first time:

OH MY GOD.
OF THE LIST OF THINGS IN THIS WORLD THAT ARE NOT OKAY.
LEO MCGARRY CRYING HAS GOTTA BE IN THE TOP FIVE.
;_______;

I've been thinking about space a LOT lately, mostly because I started reading the new Captain Marvel, but this episode DID NOT HELP AT ALL.

When I was a little kid I wanted nothing more than to be an astronaut when I grew up. I wanted to fly out into space, I wanted to go to the moon, I wanted to explore and discover new things. I loved flying, I loved heights, I loved anything that would keep me off the ground. Which always worried and baffled my mother, because in all other respects I was an extremely anxious kid. I had severe phobias of bees, dogs, cats, thunderstorms, fireworks, and god knows what else, I know I’m forgetting. But I loved to climb things. I loved to go up in trees and see how high I could go. I got in trouble for going on the roof of our garage shed. I hated airplanes because I hated not being in control but I loved the idea of flying, I wanted to learn how. Bessie Coleman was my childhood hero. And I’m going to sound like the cheesiest person in the world for saying that a part of me felt like I could leave my anxieties on the ground but I think that must have been a subconscious part of it. Up there I could control things, I could manage and leave behind my fears. And of course I loved the idea of adventure and space and I thought that Neptune was the fucking shit.

Obviously my astronaut dreams died once I realized how terrible I was at math and how little patience I had for physics, but a part of me still wishes I’d followed that a little (MARK I REALLY ENVY YOUR BEING GOOD AT MATH) (and i wonder sometimes how much of my math-insecurities had to do with it being a gendered thing, because I did do QUITE well in calculus once I got there) (BUT I DIGRESS). And I mean, I’ve got absolutely no regrets about my chosen career path now, but still. It's just...it's POSSIBILITY, it's knowledge, it's risk, it's so many things all rolled into one, and all of these things are such valuable lessons to teach people, astronaut dreams or no astronaut dreams.

So yeah, CJ's speech at the end? I might have teared up a bit here too. SO MANY FEELINGS. ABOUT SPACE.

So I had time to watch one more episode of the West Wing before I went to bed on a weeknight, and it happened to be the season 1 finale. Gchatted my buddy Julie:

Me: So I've only got time for one more ep. Is this gonna be a big cliffhanger-y finale?
Julie: Iiiiiiiiiii can't say anything
Me: Julie I don't want spoilers I just need to know if it's like a BSG season finale where LIVES HANG IN THE BALANCE or if it's more like a Dr Who season finale where it completes an arc?
Julie: Just watch it.

[forty-five minutes later]

Me: JULIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LIVES ARE HANGING IN THE BALANCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Aaaaaand there was no sleep to be had that night.

oh my GOD

Aaaah Mark I love that you talk about how cool it is that Kel DOESN'T have any particularly special powers. Because that's just the best to me. There's a reason Hawkeye is my favorite Avenger :D.

ALSO, RAOUL! I MISSED YOU!!!

JUST FOR THE RECORD I THINK I AM ONLY CAPABLE OF TALKING ABOUT JOEY LUCAS IN ALL CAPS DUE TO PURE UNADULTERATED LOVE FOR EVERYTHING SHE IS AND DOES AND HER MASSIVE TROLLING OF JOSH AND GOD I SHIP IT SO HARD GUYS.

Mad about Mandy, y'all. She started off as such an interesting character and now is just...barely there?? Augh.

Also CHARLIE HEARTS IN MY EYES.

Guys, I love Alanna, and I love Daine, but there are just NO WORDS FOR HOW MUCH I LOVE KEL.

Oh my god Mark I really love this review. It mirrors my own rage so perfectly and NEVER HAS THAT WHALE IMAGE BEEN SO FITTING. UGH WYLDON. UGH. UGH. JONATHAN. A;LKDFJSA;LKFJD;KSALFD.

But oh my dear Kel, I love you I love you I love you I love you.

I LOVE JOEY LUCAS SO MUCH YOU GUYS. MY LOVE FOR HER KNOWS NO BOUNDS. I JUST LOVE HER SO MUCH AND I WANT HER TO BE IN EVERY EPISODE PLEASE AND THANK YOU.