Szeth’s Strange Sphere

Blind, nonbinary, they/them or xe/xem pronouns. Stormlight Fic writer, always thinking about Szeth. Podfics and fics inspired by my fics are welcome

[snevlaxs]

i read this one fic by blindradiant and i love the concept of szeth having a crush on dalinar and writing self insert yaoi fanfics about it 🥹🥹🥹🥹 Ok? ok

[snevlaxs]

colored version nobody asked for Okey? Okey!

[blindradiant]

Omg I'm so honored wtf????? I wasn't expecting this at all!!!! I was so happy when a friend sent it to me. I've never had a random person make fanart of one of my fics before 🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹

[cosmereplay]

“I have something to say,” Cosmereplay announced. “During last few months, how many of you have come to me, saying your favourites feel unpopular compared to the rest of Cosmere ao3?”

Tumblr fell silent. Finally, the Mistborn authors raised their hands. “We only make up 20% of Cosmere fic. It’s depressing how everything is so Stormlight-focused.” Then the gen-only authors raised their hands. “65% of all Cosmere fic is shipfic,” they added sadly. Then several others raised their hands, including the kadolin authors. “We only have 500 fics, just 13% of Cosmere fic. It’s so few compared to Supernatural, or Heated Rivalry.”

“Kadolin authors, I didn't know you felt this way,” Cosmereplay noted.

“Oh. Yeah, but we do. We feel it too, Cosmereplay.” They glanced down at their hands, calloused from writing 100k fics for each other. “There’s so much pressure. We don’t know if we can keep this up.”

“I still have nightmares,” the Kaladin/reader authors said softly, “about the way Reddit treats slash reader and slash OC fic, and how they treat female fans generally. We’re so ostracized. Anyone else?”

“Nobody cares about female characters, either,” the femslash authors added. “Femslash makes up less than 10% of Cosmere fics despite having so many female characters. It’s hard to get people to care.”

“Я пишу по-русски,” the Russian authors said. “Меня это раздражает, потому что английский доминирует в фандоме.”

A few glanced at the Moashfuckers.

“What?” the Moashfuckers demanded. “You expect this to be a feeling-sharing party because the storming fandom-old gave you a sour eye? Storm off. It’s a miracle I haven’t ragequit this fandom entirely, having to deal with all the #FuckMoash from everyone.”

The Elantris lovers patted them on the shoulder.

“And I write kink fics,” Cosmereplay said. “I know some of you do not like this. It makes me feel different. Not only because I am the only one with 111 fics.” He leaned forward and winked. “Not counting BlindRadiant of course. We all feel alone and unpopular because of these things, right? Ha! Perhaps we can feel alone together.”

[cosmereplay]

All this to say: when you compare up, also compare down. This counts in any community, and is good for your mental health. If you only pay attention to the ways in which others are getting more attention, more fics than you, then you will miss the ways in which still others are struggling.

And if you try some things and you’re still discouraged and you’re not having a good time in the fandom, it’s totally okay to take a break and focus on some stuff in your 3D world. Read a different book, do a different hobby for a while. This is supposed to be fun, so it’s sad, but not bad, if you discover that this fandom isn’t working for you right now.

So how to keep it fun? The way we grow and thrive as a community is by supporting each other. The only way we keep each other buoyed is to lift each other up! Here’s some ideas:

If you’ve run out of Mistborn fic, why not try a crossover with one of your favourite characters in it?

If you’re yearning for a specific ship, why not browse and open your heart to a different rarepair with some similar qualities?

If you’re an artist struggling to get your favourite ship seen, why not reach out to a fic writer and offer an exchange?

If you see fans complaining about racism in the fandom, why not take some time to follow @writing-with-color and expand your understanding?

If you see your favourite pairing in a language you don’t read, why not read it through google translate?

If you have a favourite fic, why not go back and comment on it (again) to encourage the authors of the things you like?

If you don't know what might interest you, why not check the bookmarks of authors you like, and see what their favourite fics are?

If there’s only a couple other people active right now who share your OTP, why not invite them into a 5 person discord and giggle with each other?

Or join the #Cosmere RP revolution that’s happening, and jump in with your favourite overlooked character!

[nooneinnportant]

If you’re in the Cosmere fandom and you ship any thing other than Kaladin/Adolin or Shakadolin you're pretty much fucked when it comes to the fic department.

[cosmerelists]

Ranking Kaladin Ships From Most to Least Toxic

Ship toxicity ranking requested by @imtheseventh :)

Imtheseventh asked for ships ranked by how toxic or nontoxic they are, and I decided to use our friend Kaladin as a model. Now, just for the record: Do I think that ship that is more toxic is worse than a ship that isn't toxic? Of course not! Toxicity in fictional ships is it's own brand of fun. :)

F-Tier: A BLENDER full of KNIVES

Amaram/Kaladin

Lezian/Kaladin

Taravangian/Kaladin

These are ships that I assume occur because you want to see how bad it can get for ol' Kaladin. Maybe this is Kaladin's evil clone who wants to see the world burn. Maybe this is Kaladin whose spirit has been broken by the world's worst relationship. Maybe this is a glowing-eyed Kaladin full of hope who doesn't yet realize who he's in bed with. Either way--it's gonna end badly. Really badly.

D-Tier: We love it BECAUSE it's unhealthy :)

(post-Bridge 4) Moash/Kaladin

Kelsier/Kaladin

(Bridge 4) Gaz/Kaladin

This ships aren't just about torturing Kaladin. These are people with whom Kaladin has a spark, or could have a spark. But these are people who I think would be objectively bad for Kaladin. Either he's getting corrupted or he's getting killed or he's getting divorced.

C-Tier: It's allll about the presentation :)

Elhokar/Kaladin

Dalinar/Kaladin

Jasnah/Kaladin

Leshwi/Kaladin

Szeth/Kaladin

Hoid/Kaladin

These ships really depend on how you write 'em. These are ships with...angles that would be problematic in the real world, but you wouldn't necessarily have to deal with them in a fanfic. Like dating your boss. Or the guy whose political actions led pretty much directly to your brother's death. Or your real-world battlefield enemy that, sure, you may have chemistry with, but dating someone whom you once fought to the death? That's gotta bring some baggage.

B-Tier: Solid. Lovely. Basically no red flags.

Shallan/Adolin/Kaladin (or whatever combination therein)

Renarin/Kaladin

Rlain/Kaladin

We're talking canon friendships. We're talking on-page chemistry. We're largely ignoring institutionalized racism or assuming that people have worked through it pre-fanfic. And we're giving Kaladin what could be the romance of his dreams...at least in fanfic.

A-Tier: Healthy and Blessed

Bridge Fourgy (or whatever combination therein)

Syl/Kaladin

These are relationships I think are genuinely nontoxic. By "Bridge Fourgy" I mean Kaladin with pretty much any member of Bridge 4 during the Bridge 4 time (including Way of Kings Moash): Lopen/Kaladin, Lyn/Kaladin, Teft/Kaladin, Rock/Kaladin...I think it all works. Or, yeah, one big poly web--I think people do that too. And as for Syl/Kaladin--I mean, they're already bonded. They know and love each other. They might be the least toxic ship we got!

S-Tier: It doesn't get better than this for ol' Kaladin

Kaladin alone

But for my money, the absolutely healthiest ship for Kaladin is aromantic, asexual Kaladin thriving on his own with his friends. Unburdened by ships, by romance, by gender...this is Kaladin in his lane. Thriving.

[cosmereplay]

The only way I can understand what happened with Elsecaller is that Dan Wells did exactly what Sanderson worried about screenwriters doing with adaptations of his books, according to this WoB:

Brandon Sanderson I have a fun story here. Early in my career, someone optioned the rights to make one of my stories (the Emperor's Soul) into a film. I was ecstatic, as it's not a story that at the time had gotten a lot of attention from Hollywood. I met with the writer, who had a good pedigree, and who seemed extremely excited about the project; turned out, he'd been the one to persuade the production company to go for the option. All seemed really promising. A year or so later, I read his script and it was one of the most bizarre experiences of my life. The character names were, largely, the same, though nothing that happened to them was remotely similar to the story. Emperor's Soul is a small-scale character drama that takes place largely in one room, with discussions of the nature of art between two characters who approach the idea differently. The screenplay detailed an expansive fantasy epic with a new love interest for the main character (a pirate captain.) They globe-trotted, they fought monsters, they explored a world largely unrelated to mine, save for a few words here and there. It was then that I realized what was going on. Hollywood doesn't buy spec scripts (original ideas) from screenwriters very often, and they NEVER buy spec scripts that are epic fantasy. Those are too big, too expensive, and too daunting: they are the sorts of stories where the producers and executives need the proof of an established book series to justify the production. So this writer never had a chance to tell his own epic fantasy story, though he wanted to. Instead, he found a popularish story that nobody had snatched up, and used it as a means to tell the story he'd always wanted to tell, because he'd never otherwise have a chance of getting it made. I'm convinced this is part of the issue with some of these adaptations; screenwriters and directors are creative, and want to tell their own stories, but it's almost impossible to get those made in things like the fantasy genre unless you're a huge established name like Cameron. I'm not saying they all do this deliberately, as that screenwriter did for my work, but I think it's an unconscious influence. They want to tell their stories, and this is the allowed method, so when given the chance at freedom they go off the rails, and the execs don't know the genre or property well enough to understand why this can lead to disaster.  Miscellaneous 2024 (Oct. 11, 2024)

...And then I guess he didn't have the heart to tell his friend Dan Wells that he didn't write Jasnah, he wrote an angry princess who fell into Shadesmar and had to learn a lesson about controlling her feelings in order to escape.

[blindradiant]

The Masha one sounds interesting :) I hope Sanderson does that relationship some level of justice, but I consider you the #1 Szeth expert over him

Awww thanks!

I don't have a good passage to share from this one, because the characters were fighting me. So I'll just explain the idea:

It's far enough along in Szeth and Masha's relationship that having sex is something that would be feasible. Masha is a trans woman, demiromantic, and demisexual. Szeth is cis*, demiromantic, and sex averse asexual. Masha starts making sexual advances, Szeth freaks out, and they have to sit down and communicate about boundaries. That's basically the idea

*no version of Szeth is fully cis to me, but his gender stuff isn't really a part of this fic as it exists in my head right now

[nooneinnportant]

Hoid would absolutely say shit like "save a flute blow a flutist."

[blindradiant]

I'm intrigued about prison visit

I shared the beginning of the fic in response to a different ask, so here are the last few paragraphs I wrote before I got stuck. Sorry for no Wit

“It has been six months,” Szeth corrected. No matter how often he reminded the sword of the passage of time, it seemed unable to grasp the concept.

Nightblood made a mental huffing sound. *I’m bored. I don’t like being stuck inside. I want to see the sun again.*

“You told me that you don’t see things as men do, sword-nimi. How can you miss the sun?”

*I don’t know.* Nightblood sounded unusually subdued. *I just know I do. It always made Vasher feel warm, but he never said anything about it, because he brooded even more than you do.*

Szeth said nothing to that. He simply sat crosslegged on the floor of his cell—Nightblood held across his lap—and closed his eyes. The voices of those he had slain grew stronger, condemning him for what he had done. It was no more than the torment he deserved, but that was not the main reason for his self-imposed darkness. He focused on his breathing, and sought the will of the spren.

Even still, his daily meditations were a fundamental part of his life. They had been the start of each of his days, from his childhood to where he was now. Even during the years he had followed the Oathstone, he had taken the time whenever his masters allowed, grew lax, or slept past the first rays of dawn. Now that Szeth was brought back to his cell at the same time each day, he could follow his daily meditations, though they never provided him anything more than thin familiarity.

This day, there was a change. There was a muffled, indistinct argument outside, then the doors beyond the cell opened.

[blindradiant]

Ooo I would love to hear about prison visit! For the tag game

I never got to the part where Wit actually visits Szeth, but here are the first few paragraphs!

Time took on a different meaning in prison. The days passed slowly, blending into one another with little variation. The guards changed in shifts, and Navani Kholin occasionally came to ask her questions. There was little information about the rest of Urithiru beyond the cell, the outer room, and the brief glimpses of the hallway leading away to parts unknown. There was even less to be known about the wider world. The cell was isolated and quiet, it’s holy stone keeping its own counsel.

Another would have hated it. Szeth knew this, in the same detached way he knew most people were not haunted by the dead or paralyzed by the simplest of decisions. He was not like them. To him, these days, weeks, and months spent in the cell were a refuge. He could not be used by petty men. He did not wonder when he would fall into the service of yet another master. He could not be forced to kill. It was dull, monotonous, and he clung to it. If he was to keep living, this was how he should continue.

He only asked for what he needed to exist here, knowing he would inevitably be removed from the cell and used as a weapon again. His requests were small. One thin blanket, his singular concession to comfort. A chance to bathe each day, keeping his body free of distracting grime. A razor, to shave away the annoying prickles of stubble that grew each day, a symbol none of the stonewalkers understood. White clothing, a symbol they did, at least in part. Light, as many spheres as it required to rid all traces of shadow from the cell and outer room. He ate when it was required, and exercised each day to maintain his terrible skills. He often wondered if even that much was more than he deserved.

[blindradiant]

would love to see something from the zeenid fic 👀

Here's a snippet. For people who don't know, I'm slowly writing a fic centered around Szeth's mom's life. It's going to cover 40 years, but this is just at the start of the fic, when Zeenid is 16. It's very unedited and emphasizes the *in progress* part of what "wip" stands for

Anyway here's part of Zeenid and Neturo's first conversation:

She searched for some way to change the topic. When nothing else came to mind, she asked the question that had already occurred to her. "What is your name?"

"What?" The boy shook himself and looked back to Zeenid. "Oh, I’m sorry." He held out a hand. "Neturo-son-Vallano."

"Zeenid-daughter-Beth," she responded, taking Neturo’s offered hand and shaking. The gesture felt very adult. She only remembered the paint staining her hand once she’d already let go. She blushed. "Sorry," she added, looking at the faint streaks of blue and brown on Neturo’s fingers.

He glanced at his own hand, then chuckled. He bent and wiped his fingers clean on the grass. Zeenid noticed that he had a nice laugh, full and warm and genuine. "It’s only paint," Neturo said, straightening. "The stains don’t last."

"Say that when you’re trying to scrub them from your apron," Zeenid said with a smile. It felt good to smile. It reminded her of the good things in her life, even with the complications.

[blindradiant]

RULES: Make a new post with the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous, and tag as many people as you have WIPs. Then, anyone can send an ask with the title that most intrigues them, and you post a snippet or tell them something about it.

Tagged by @rhythm-of-lesbianism. Anyone I'd mention has already been roped in, so anyone who sees this can participate

fth fic - Szeth/Kaladin

FTH fic - Szeth/Dalinar

Looking for my Life - 5+1 Zeenid fic

Sex repulsed Szeth - Szeth/Masha

Prison visit - Wit coming to talk to Szeth

[cosmereplay]

You reblogged an interesting Gaz post recently, do you have any more thoughts on him? It's been bugging me for a while that he says he regrets what he did to the bridgemen but hasn't actually... apologized or attempted to make amends or anything, but you seem optimistic? I haven't devoted much thought to him but it seems like you have at least a little

I have many thoughts, thanks for asking! (For those interested, this is the post that Zoli is referencing)

When it comes to making amends, it really depends on the size and insularity of the community you're living in, and the extent of the damage done. The purpose of making amends is to continue having a relationship with the person you hurt, or who hurt you. It's usually more important to make amends in already established relationships, in smaller, more insulated communities, and when the damage was less bad. People are encouraged to make amends with family members, members of their religious community, or neighbours, in part because the nature of the relationship will force you into proximity. Whether that amends is a full apology and acceptance of that apology, or a mutual agreement to pretend the other person isn't in the room, it serves to repair the relationship or at least establish a new normal so both parties can move forward without fear.

So why would Gaz want to maintain or repair his relationship with Bridge Four, when his only relationship with them previously was as a slavedriver? He would have to start a new relationship with them, and I don't think that's something anybody needs or wants. Given that they are all Radiants, there is enough proximity that they may see each other occasionally, but there's no need for them to interact, and Gaz understands that.

I think the way he's been acting, to be cowed when he sees them and generally avoidant of them, is actually the best way to show them that 1) he is no longer a threat to them; 2) he feels guilty for what he did. That's all Bridge Four really needs in order to move forward in the world without fear, and that's all they need.

Gaz can't undo the damage he did to Bridge Four, and everyone on Bridge Four hates his guts for good reason. Instead, he's moved on. He left his post where he had that power over people, and he's trying to become a better person who doesn't hurt people. In this case, I don't think an apology or any attempt at a future relationship with them is needed.

Ultimately, redemption looks like different things depending on context, and making amends isn't always necessary, and sometimes doesn't even make sense. Like for example I don't think it would be helpful for Dalinar to do a handshaking apology tour to the survivors of the Rift--it's clear that if he did that it's about him trying to rehabilitate his image rather than having any kind of positive effect on his victims, many of whom would likely rather not be in the same city as him, let alone the same room.

Gaz is letting himself be the villain in Bridge Four's story, because he knows he was. Sometimes the only gift you can give the people you've hurt is to leave them alone and never do that again to anyone else.

[falling-stars-dont-go-far]

Fun tag game idea: say something that most of your followers wouldn’t actually know

I’ll start first: I am actually married. Irl. I have a husband. I know it’s surprising considering the Tumblr spouses, but my husband thinks it’s funny.

Open tags

[star-dew-chicken]

I have met satan-offical in real life and I’ve played the clarinet since I was 6

@stars-and-sharks @fangirlmenace

@pipatetka-be-cranking @iammentallystable16

@fortheloveofgrantaire

[amazingdylan]

i play the piano, guitar and i sing :D

and i am doing art and music for gcse

@tyrannosaurus021 @teamyuri @elliot-the-awesome @lyraisnotonfire @aliensatemysocks and open !!

[satan-offical]

I wasn't tagged but I'm gonna join in

I have a Level 1 qualification in Ballet and I have vasovagal syncope :P

Open tags cause I know too many people + forget people's names 😔

[shah4139-offical]

Thats like a fear of blood right

I can sing

I was in my school choir

@inkanddragons @inferno-the-skywing @inkanddragons @evilpineapple-offical @the-one-and-only-piper-offical @i-hate-gcse-english-lit-offical

[inferno-the-skywing]

I'm scared of heights, and scared of locking my door, and not locking my door.

[shreekofjoy]

I write exclusively with ink pens.

ALL of my writing is handwritten and then OCR'd into text

I used to sing before The Dark Times

[stormlightsnorter]

I have 2 moms (theyre GAY!) and am generally uninteresting

@burrbeast @1kit uh probably other people i forgot sorry im so sorry sorry sorry

[1kit]

I used to be in the Scouts, that's a thing folks don't know yeah?

@freakasaurus-rex @disappointedwaffles @sapphic-dice @nevadamerchant @vaeh2011

[nevadamerchant]

I like uhhh crocheting (:

@raish-ryeson-robinson-i @faceless-crowd @s7nnydrop-flower @h4zelnutwastaken

[h4zelnutwastaken]

I do game dev

@vaeh2011 @delunafazfox @alwaysoc @nebulabrigade @flyingsaucerpassenger @flawed-silken-child @skeletal-spire-man-aka-overfit

[nebulabrigade]

I've been sitting here for like 10+ minutes tryna think of something and the only thing that really comes to mind is probably the fact that we're technically related to Geoffrey Rush?

He's like, our grandfather's cousin or something, but we've never met him or anything

Probably not of much interested especially since I know he was accused of some not very cool things (not that we ever cared to pay much attention, since again we never interacted with him personally), but it's a fact about us that most people don't know 🤷

@calamity-collective @depressedquetzal @interstellar-espresso @thedeltavessel /nf

[depressedquetzal]

Uhhh I work with a guy whose father was the boss of the Mafia in one of the US states, I forget which one. Our fellow coworker, who is his roommate, is an alcoholic who loves tea. We also have a very nice lesbian woman who loves talking about the gays, my friend who I love to gossip with, and a woman I once had a huge crush on until I realized she was really mean, as well as my former crush’s autistic twin sister who got her sister to send my friend death threats because my friend denied the autistic sister’s romantic advances… uh yeah that’s only the backstage crew… not even the actors… Also the twins are nepotism babies whose grandmother owns the theatre so my friend got fired from working with the children instead of them despite them doing absolutely no work and the kids loved her more than the others….

@settingsun413 @ineedalittleroomtobreathe

@imgoingcrazy-123 @nebulabrigade

@screamsofagony @itswilla

@forgotten-rae @cosmiccorvids

[screamsofagony]

idk man, the best I can think of is like, the fact that i read mistborn in two days when I was in fifth grade and that I have a phone with a keypad in the big '26

@ask-cult-com @blindradiant (tagging my 2 mutuals that aren't already in this thread)

[blindradiant]

I mean I only fandompost on here, so there are a lot of things people other than my close mutuals don't know. Let's see

I played the trumpet for 11 years. I was a music major in college with trumpet as my instrument. It didn't go anywhere. I also play(ed) keyboard/piano and guitar

I've played Pink Floyd's album The Wall twice live with a band I was a part of. I was the keyboard player and played trumpet on a few songs also

Those first two were far too interesting, so. I haven't known what I actually wanted to do with my life since I was 22 (I'm almost 30 now and am still unemployed because disability and still live with my family)

There, that last one is much more accurate to the life I live now

I don't feel like tagging people right now. Anyone can participate

[cosmereplay]

Jasnah x dom(me)!reader. Rated Teen, post-WaT. Depressed Jasnah, you are a kind dom(me).

For a brief, horrible moment, you fear that she won't let you enter, but the guard returns with a reluctant approval.

She remembers you. But more than that, she needs you. You can feel it.

You walk into her rooms, and you smell her before you see her. Stale wine, an unshowered body. Not bad smells, but you'd rather be the cause of them. The master-servants have done their best to impose their cleanliness on the room, but you can tell her will is still stronger.

What is that will turned towards tonight? She is sitting on the side of her bed, as though caught in the moment of getting up; however, she's fully dressed and hunched forward. Her havah, designed in a military style and cut that screams I have to be everything is rumpled and stained; she obviously hasn't changed in days.

"What?" she demands. So, she wishes to play a game. To pretend that she's still just your sub and nothing else. To pretend that she's not clearly already broken.

You know it would be unkind to break someone in this state, but you can't help feeling a small thrill knowing just how pliable she is right now. She's called you here to break her, after all, and a part of you wants to see it, to see fresh tears streaming down her beautiful face, to make her gasp and tremble as she kneels before you.

You resist. No games today. This is too serious.

"Don't you usually call on your Wit for comfort?" you ask instead, trying to suss out the cause of her breakdown.

She doesn't look up. "He's gone," she whispers flatly, her voice hoarse from crying. "They're all gone."

You step towards her, hearing the unspoken you're all I have left. You lean forward, standing above her. You reach out your hand and lift her chin with your finger. She resists a little, as she always does--she so hates to follow orders, but that's half of fun of your little games--but she allows her face to be tilted up. You cup her jaw, ever so gently, brushing her cheek with your thumb through her ruined makeup. With your other hand, you brush the greasy hair out of her face, exposing her bloodshot, exhausted eyes, her puffy skin, and those beautiful tracks of mascara trailing down her cheeks.

You examine her face in great detail, and you know this is part of what she wants. She wants to be humiliated, chastised and punished for the state she's allowed herself to get into. Storms, you know her so well by now. She won't meet your eyes--a bad sign.

"You're a mess," you say, testing her. Her eyes flick up to you, then away again, and she already looks close to tears. You think quickly, then take a chance. "If you can't make yourself presentable for me, you have already been dominated. You don't need me."

You pull your hand away, and ah, then her eyes meet yours--wild, afraid. It would be wrong to stay and play, but it would be worse to leave. You wonder, briefly, if it's wrong to tease her with abandonment. But then again, she did summon you.

"I hate you," she snaps, and you know she means I need you. Your chest swells with pride at a chance well taken.

"You're about to hate me a whole lot more," you say smugly. "Stand."

She breathes in your confidence, and she purses her lips, a sign that she's thinking of all the arguments against following your command.

A sign of life, but this is no game. Not stand, or you get a spanking. Not stand, or you'll kneel and lick my boots. "Stand, or I leave," you state clearly.

She stands.

"Strip."

She strips, hating every second of it.

"Go shower."

She glares at you; another sign of life. Good.

You watch as she walks away, naked, her long black hair brushing against her lower back, showing off her ass. You think about the things you've done to that ass to keep her in line, the way she loves resisting you when she feels alive. The way she's trying everything she can to access that again.

Whatever happened to her must've been bad, but then again, it's the end of the world, who isn't getting crushed by it? Who doesn't need to claw for a little control every once in a while?

You sit back in a comfortable chair, pour yourself a glass of auburn wine, and wait. It won't be today; it might not even be this month. But once she has her control back, you'll look forward to taking it from her.

[valjeansemble]

I finished my fic for @fandomtrumpshate this year! It's a Szeth/Bale in Braize AU for the amazing @blindradiant and I'm so excited!!! I stretched my writing muscles for this because I don't usually right as much action and angst as this! 😅

https://archiveofourown.org/works/81331426

Anger was not what made Szeth's heart constrict, what roiled and settled deep within his gut. It was… he did not know what it was. Only the loss of something he'd once thought he held, only a question breathed into the dark - did he have worth - and a yawning, gaping absence. He knew he was a tool. Knew Nin was meant to wield him. But there were times he'd held him like a weapon lowered, like something that did not need to kill. Like someone.

[4-cool-frogs-in-a-trenchcoat]

I was thinking: "what if they had the ides of march in the cosmere?" and then I remembered how all of us read the same murder five time in five books

[blindradiant]

What are your thoughts on the ways Nnth's perception changes between forms?

I think it's fascinating and really well done. There's a fundamental difference between how he experiences the world as a spider and as what Penthos made him. His first descriptions of experiencing the world in his humanoid form were so visceral, and it highlighted the vast species difference in a way that really worked for me. Of course a spider would be horrified by walking on two legs, or navigating by sight, or communicating by sound. And when he briefly is returned to his spider form later in the book, his realizations that he now has concepts in his head that can't be communicated in the spider language are heartbreaking. Everything he went through changed him in a way that couldn't have been undone, even if he'd been returned to being a spider permanently.

It's really compelling, and I need to reread the book so I can drink it in and pick out more details