#moiraine x thom

[pillowfriends]

✨prolonged eye contact✨

[skyholly]

The best kept secret

Summary: What if Moiraine had a baby daughter she and Siuan were forced to leave to Anvaere to raise as her own?

moiraine/siuan

Chapter 1 here!

Chapter 2 here!

Chapter 3 here!

Chapter 4 here!

Chapter 5 here!

Chapter 6 here!

Chapter 7 here!

Chapter 8 here!

****************

Chapter 9. Rand

She’s a mirage , Rand thought in disbelief, his eyes softening with affection nonetheless, then I must be dying already . But what a precious sight she was; death really could not greet him with kinder hands than to have her be his last vision. Despite his vision being blurred, he could still make out her figure, dressed in a lavender-coloured gown, pale and soft against the glow of her skin; he could make out the warmth of her hair, the ever-present brightness and kindness in her eyes. She was so lovely, as lovely a sight as there could be. Ilyena, Gwen, he loved them both the same. 

“Gwen,” Rand breathed her name, his lips curling into a peaceful smile, his voice laced with a tender sweetness. The pain pouring from the venomous dagger embedded in his side spread through his entire body, feeling as if it were scorching his muscles, bones and skin away. His vision was foggy, but he could still discern Guinevere rushing towards him, painfully kneeling above the debris by his side, her arms instinctively reaching for his blood-tainted stomach. The warmness of her skin against his overcame any pain he might have been feeling, and suddenly his mind became clear once again. She’s real… she’s real and she’s here, he realised, his heart sinking into his stomach. That cannot be. She shouldn’t be here. Ishamael is here, she will get hurt — “W-what are you doing here?” Rand heard himself stutter, voice shaken with apprehension, “How did you get here? I thought Lanfear…”

The girl promptly shushed him, as she delicately traced his injury with her fingers, as she closed her eyes, imperceptibly reaching for the Source. Rand stared in awe at his torn skin starting to heal itself back together, stopping the bleeding and the poison from spreading any further. In only mere seconds there was nothing left but a darkened, muddy mark over his skin where the knife had been once buried. He lifted his gaze to Guinevere, his eyes filled with devotion, before Egwene’s screams of pain brought him crashing back to the harsh reality of their situation. All of his dearest friends were there, endangered because of Ishamael, because of him, it was his fault they had been caught up in such a mess. You will carry the weight of their deaths. 

“Rand, Rand!” Mat urged him, softly shaking his shoulders. It took Rand a moment to realise he was lying on his friend’s arms. “You’re gonna have to do something.”

The readheaded boy lethargically raised his hand, trying to reach for the Source, but found nothing but a void in its place. He felt harrowingly empty. 

“I- I can’t,” he blubbered, drowsily starting to remember the events that had taken place prior to Mat throwing that dagger at his stomach, “I’m shielded.” 

Rand heard someone nervously sigh by his side, and saw Guinevere close her eyes in desperation, clutching the blue stone hanging over her chest as if in prayer. And then suddenly, he sensed the weaves that restricted him starting to grow weaker, and the shield over him fell apart, he could feel the Source once again, almost begging for his touch. Or is it the other way around? He heard Guinevere exhale a shaky ‘thank you’, before letting a lonely tear fall through her cheek. 

He stumbled out of Mat’s hold, screeching resounding in his ears, as Perrin and Gwen helped him up, and he walked towards Egwene, whose breath and stability were growing weaker by the second due to her efforts to protect them from Ishamael’s attacks. Gwen attempted to follow him, but he gently pushed her into Perrin’s arms, away from any possible danger. He could practically feel the girl’s fury showing on her face, but didn’t look back. 

Rand reached Egwene’s side, as her shield that had protected them faltered away, and picked his sword from the ground right next to her, the heron mark on its hilt dangerously shimmering under the sun. He walked with steady, fast steps towards Ishamael, reaching for the Source, letting it engulf him whole; and a grunt left his lips as he embedded the sword right into the man’s chest. Rand knew he was doing the correct thing, for he was both protecting his friends and the world by killing him, but he couldn’t help but feel a pang of something he couldn’t describe in any other way but grief, as he kept pushing the tip further into the Ishamael’s heart. The blade’s iron melted itself into the One Power, digging a fiery hole into the Forsaken’s chest, and then with a thud the sword’s hilt crashed futile into the ground. Rand felt a scorching sensation sear through his hand, and his eyes widened in astonishment as he looked down to find a heron shaped mark burned into his skin. He tried to make sense of it for a moment, but got distracted. With a painful groan, Ishamael quietly dropped to his knees, his whole body following afterwards, raising a cloud of dust around him. 

The redheaded boy stood over him, still in shock, amidst a silence so profound he was certain he could hear a pin drop.

“Its…” Ishamael mumbled, struggling to breath, “it’s beautiful. Do you see it, Lews?”

Rand shivered at the mention of the name. It felt both distant and unnervingly close, like a step into an abyss from which he could never return. “What do you see?” He asked, eyebrows frowning in confusion. 

“Nothing.” The man whispered, as the hole in his chest turned into ashes, corruption that started to spread throughout his entire body. “Nothing at all,” Ishamael finally said, before his whole being turned into dust, drawn into the turbulent air hitting above the tower. Rand sensed his eyes filled with tears, knowing he’d done the right thing, yet somehow feeling as if he had just lost a dear friend to him. 

He became startled by the sound of bells echoing all over the city, and he raised his head to golden weaves of Power that burned like the fire start encircling the tower, rising to its top, where all of the group stood still almost paralysed in distress. Rand followed the bursts of fire and light, seeking for their source as he made his way towards the edge of the Tower, with Guinevere closely behind. There, they witnessed the bursts of fire coalescing into the unmistakable form of a dragon. Gwen let out a frail gasp, one of her hands covering over her open mouth and the other instinctively reaching for his, clutching it in dread. The flaming dragon rose over them, heated screeches coming out of his fiery mouth, and Rand firmly pulled Guinevere further into his side, encircling her waist with his hand. 

She drew her gaze up towards him in a wavering motion, desperately meeting his eyes, “ ‘ Above the Watchers shall the Dragon be proclaimed… ” Guinevere recited, “ bannered ‘cross the sky in fire .’ This is Moiraine’s doing,” she breathed, eyes glistening with sorrowful tears, as she gently put her hands over her cheeks, tiptoeing so their foreheads could touch, “the world will now think of you as Dragon Reborn, Rand, and she thinks you stand ready for it.” 

The boy stared back at her for a couple of seconds, tightening the grip on her waist, as he looked down, towards the cheering crowds; men and women embracing each other, embracing their children, embracing their friends, smiles drawn across their bloody faces. He drew in a trembling breath. He wasn’t sure he was ready for such a weight to be placed upon his shoulders. 

As if she had read his thoughts, Guinevere gently forced his eyes towards hers back again, as she tenderly caressed his cheeks. “You’re not alone in this,” she affirmed, nodding, biting her lips. 

Rand lowered his gaze, his eyes studying their surroundings, and found the rest of his friends joining them at the edge of the tower, all of them staring in awe at the acclaiming crowds below them, as the dragon’s roars resounded over them, and realised Gwen was right, he wasn’t alone anymore. And that remained his biggest problem.

He needed to prove himself, to prove himself worthy of carrying such a mighty banner, and he couldn’t bring himself to endanger his friends, endanger Guinevere because of it. He realised then he had no choice but to leave his friends, once again.

But he could afford a moment’s waiting. For now, he could appreciate the friends that surrounded him, the trust, love and support he felt from them, for he knew how fleeting such sentiments would be. He rubbed Guinevere’s back, feeling the warmth emanating from the dragon’s breath over her ragged clothes. He felt her skin through the tears of her gown, and couldn’t help but think about the torture Lanfear had put her through, and the lengths she must have gone through in order to reach him, to save him. Rand left a shy, sudden kiss on Guinevere’s forehead. And for an instant, everything felt alright.

*****

Author's note: So this is it, the "final" chapter. I write "final" because there WILL be an epilogue (an 10th chapter) but I will only start writing it once I finish proofreading and HEAVILY editing these past 9 chapters, which could take as much as a month even.

I really hope you've enjoyed the story this far; in the meantime (and risking being greedy), I'd really appreciate it if you could share this story with people you think will enjoy it. As most of you know, I haven't read the books, so I'd love some new insight on how the caracters behave, on the world building, and maybe possibly a beta reader to help me bring all of this together more neatly.

The epilogue will be very out of both show and book canon, and YES, there will be a Moiraine and Guinevere reunion, and a little bit of a Siuan's POV.

To answer another requested question, I WILL continue this story after Season 3 airs, most possibly with a different title, but under the same series.

Once again, I cannot possibly express how much your comments mean to me and how encouraging they are, I really hope you haven't been dissapointed with the turns the story has taken and that you've found it engaging, enough to make you wait for the epilogue ahah.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this and leave kudos and comments, we'll see each other soon I hope!

[ravencromwell]

Finally decided to indulge in the Siuan/Moiraine meta I've been wanting to write for ages now, musing on the differences in psychology ensuing from their significantly different arcs within the book and show and why Siuan's actions at season 2's apex are entirely in psychological sync with her show portrayal, even if they swerve wildly from the books.

Let's start with some Siuan back-story context. In the books, Tear was undeniably an unfriendly city for those with the One Power. But that translated, in practical terms, to Aes Sedai keeping their stays there brief, and girls who could touch The Source being quickly bustled off to the Tower. There were no Aes Sedai advisers, as in other kingdoms etc., but neither was there the virulent hostility of the show.

Siuan left Tear quickly in the books—the first day she was discovered to have the Power, but only because a sister was traveling through and didn't wish to delay returning to The Tower for such pesky things as sentimental goodbyes. Was that harsh? Absolutely. But the world of the books is exceedingly harsh in some respects, giving girls little to no choice about becoming Sisters, should they be discovered harboring abilities. (Much of Nynaeve's back-story involved hiding her powers precisely because she didn't fancy being ripped from The Two Rivers.)

Siuan faces a much different harshness in the show. The show doesn't do a great job explaining this, but The Dragon's Fang, which is etched onto Siuan's door before her house is unceremoniously torched, is a sign of immense contempt for Dark Friends. Within show Tear, a wary mistrust of Aes Sedai has curdled into something much more dangerous. All use of The Power is suspect, because if men's half was tainted, there's nothing to say women won't go suddenly mad, too.

It's worth remembering as well here that book Siuan was roughly fifteen when she went to The Tower. Now, I'm totally blind, and audio description doesn't give me an age for tiny show-Siuan, but if she's anywhere near puberty, I'll eat my metaphorical hat. And instead of being shepherded to The Tower, she had to flee for her life.

In her family's only means of support, I might ad. Book Siuan was by no means well-to-do, but she was firmly in the middling ranks of the working poor. Show Siuan's family are on the fucking destitution brink y'all. And she took her father's livelihood. Dying destitute ain’t fuckin pretty.

Siuan is not a stupid kid, and she clearly adores the shit out of her papa. The first thing that little girl did the millisecond she got any privileges? Wrote to her papa.

And more than likely, Berden never wrote back. It wouldn't take her long to figure out what'd happened. Moiraine is at great pains to tell Alana Jenny was not "her" support dog, and we laugh it off as oh, look at Moiraine being all adorably prim. Which in one sense, it totally is. But I'd almost guarantee you there's a deeper layer there: it wasn't "hers"; it was "theirs" because once Siuan found out her beloved papa was dead, they both needed something to cuddle.

This may seem like somewhat of a digression, but I'm maundering on because in the books yes, Dark Friends are evil. But they're evil because they caused a terrible cataclysm many thousands of years ago that killed lots of people, and they wanna do it again. There's no personal skin in the game for our beloved ladies, except they get thrust into the job through a convergence of some very complicated circumstances—I'd recommend any show-only watchers read "New Spring" because while I love almost all the changes the show has made ferociously, the way Siuan and Moiraine undertake the search is vastly more plausible as presented by Jordan there.

For Siuan in the show, by contrast, Dark Friend has _very personal ramifications. Dark Friends caused the corrosive mistrust that got her papa _killed! And Moiraine, better than _anyone, knows how that broke her.

And she _knows full well she could be deposed simply for having a relationship with Moiraine. The sensible thing to keep all the awful people from committing terrible crimes that will reverberate down the centuries to impact a little girl just as she was impacted would be to keep both their noses clean. And yet, she loves Moiraine so much that she'll take that risk to maintain not only an alliance about Rand, but a romantic relationship which could, realistically, be discovered much more easily.

And now, Moiraine, the woman who parroted back her beloved father's words of farewell about how Siuan was as clever as a pike and strong as the tides seemingly willfully lied; seemingly became a _Dark _Friend. Even her admonition that Lanfear is "too strong" must bring up so many awful questions: just how long have they been working together for her to know that? Because from Siuan's perspective, what it looks like is Lanfear coming in, guns blazing, to save her accomplice, Moiraine.

When Siuan says that there are rules and they have to abide by them, it's reflecting profoundly deep fears—not only about what Rand could do, but the kind of hatred toward those with The Power it could foster. For twenty years, she's put those fears aside. And now it appears that her going against Tower Law has lost her Moiraine to the Forsaken, and made terrible outcomes nigh on inevitable. And people are really confused about why she looks beaten?

Hell, from her perspective, forget Lanfear's entrance. The very fact Moiraine seemingly lied to her and is now talking about love must seem such a cruel mockery: laughing at Siuan's weakness; just as, perhaps, she was laughing at her with that parting comment in The Tower: an Amyrlin Seat still so swayed by what her papa told her so many years ago. (Yeah, we know it was as close as she could come to an I love you, but how the hell is Siuan supposed to know that, given everything?) This was not willful emotional abuse on someone she knew to be acting in good faith, but a reaction to the person she loved enough to risk the fucking Amyrlin Seat for becoming a monster!

Do I wish they'd picked _any other direction for their relationship? Yes, yes I damn well do. There was plenty to play with for angst factor by having the coup go down as it does in the books: Moiraine not being there to save her when all Siuan wanted was more time together, for one thing. Moiraine needlessly obfuscating in front of Siuan and  the other Sisters in S1, when Leandrin already knew! about the Two Rivers folk. Thinking she was being canny, when all she did was get herself pointlessly exiled so she couldn't protect Siuan? Quite enough of an angst sandwich, thanks ever so, without this new development. But! if they were going to include this, Siuan reacted precisely as I would expect her to, given the context I've outlined above, not in some madly ooc fashion worthy of the tags descending into emotional abuse discourse.

[dlrconlicense]

9 people you want to know better tag

Tagged by: @smarthily I've been meaning to do this! I finally found time to sit down and do it this week. Thanks for the tag!

Three Ships: Sherlolly, Hera/Kanan, Strangeolly

First Ship: if it's English-language media, it's probably Sherlolly.

Last Song: Mayday feat Emil Chau - A Life of Fighting is but a Dream (Live)

Last Movie: TMNT Mutant Mayhem

Currently Reading: all the Moiraine/Thom fics available on AO3 (rare pairing indeed, but a lot of them flesh out the pair in a decent way...also looking at the Moiraine/Lan fics just because)

Currently Watching: Loki S02, Spy x Family S03

Currently Consuming: Tea

Currently Craving: Cheddar Jack Cheez-Its

Tagging (Apologize in advance if didn't want to be tagged): @endspire, @englandsgray, @musicprincess1990, @colonialfire24, @miabicicletta, @missmollybloom, @garuda-dreams-of-rain, @hobbitsdoitbetter, @writingwife-83

[inmydrcams]

I thought the moiraine x thom thing would end up making some sense......

[wheelofdisasters]

Thom: I had a girlfriend once. Sometimes I can still hear her voice.

Moiraine: We got married six hours ago, shut up.

[rationalnerd62]

I always find it hilarious when people gives the "But what about Thom/Gareth?" excuse whenever a Moiraine x Siuan endgame is mentioned.

Are you trying to say that those male characters are only defined by their relationships to someone and thus could be removed if those relationships were not present in the show? Because that's what I'm hearing here...

Let Thom be Mat's mentor without randomly putting him into a relationship with a woman he has seen less than a month in his whole life, and, if Gareth isn't cut/merged in the show, let him be a great General without adding some weird servant/master relationship to him.

Considering how much of a master Jordan was on the romance side (big sarcasm here), all of those characters will do great without some "appearing out of nowhere" Thom/Moiraine or some "kinda problematic" Gareth/Siuan 🙄.

[vulpixenthusiast]

BOOK SPOILERS SORT OF BEWARE

---------------

Listen. Listen. LISTEN. Both moiraine and siuan are wearing red robes in that scene bc reds don't have WARDERS. They don't have "their" men, they have each other and themselves therefore, foreshadowing their endgame.

[barid-bel-medar]

Wheel of Time au where it goes mostly to canon, but Moiraine and Suian are married and their 'relationships' with Thom and Gareth are in reality a really weird form of courtship for Gareth/Thom

[the-stone-of-queer]

Bashing Thom/Moiraine bc their connection pales in comparison to hers and Siuan's: good

Bashing Thom/Moiraine bc you want her to be with a woman: biphobic

[ramblingsbyadork]

some siuan/moiraine shippers really be out here like “it’s homophobic to ship thom/moiraine or gareth/siuan” and then say shit like “it’s my headcanon that those relationships never happened and siuan and moiraine are lesbians” like that isn’t being biphobic at all.

and my personal favorite: “if you like them with each other and their respective male relationships that’s gross because ew dating men”

i’m sorry but are you dumb

please fuck off and let me enjoy things

[gaslight-gatekeep-gleeman]

people who liked them and wrote essays about foreshadowing moiraine/thom and what a good match they were, what shrooms have you had, gimme some, i want to see what the hell you've seen. moiraine/siuan 4ever.

I hope I'm not the only one hoping that the TV show will drop the whole Moiraine/Thom thing, since it kinda came out of nowhere, to give us the endgame Moiraine/Siuan we deserve

[skyholly]

The best kept secret — WoT fanfiction

Summary: Moiraine and Siuan are forced to give up their baby daughter in order to fulfill their duty of finding the Dragon Reborn. Raised by her aunt Anvaere, Guinevere grows up unaware of her true parentage, excelling as an Aes Sedai at the White Tower. When Moiraine unexpectedly reenters her life amidst the search for the Dragon Reborn, Guinevere must confront some daunting truths. 

moiraine/siuan

completed story (until s3 airs)

Chapter 1 here!

Chapter 2 here!

Chapter 3 here!

Chapter 4 here!

Chapter 5 here!

Chapter 6 here!

Chapter 7 here!

Chapter 8 here!

Chapter 9 here!

[inmydrcams]

I thought the moiraine x thom thing would end up making some sense......

[far-dareis-me]

Wheel of (Speaking) Time: 1x01-03

Inspired by @rationalnerd62's excellent wot screentime posts, I spent my weekend tracking speaking times across the Wheel of Time episodes released so far (because numbers are fun, and I too am a nerd). I'm working on compiling data into pretty charts, but today I'll start with the first 3 episodes, since they were released together.

First, a couple notes on how this data was taken:

Short pauses (less than 3s) are included in speaking time only if the focus remains on the speaker during the pause. Otherwise the timer is paused. This is just to give me a standard for when to stop recording time.

Verbalizations (grunts, screams, etc) are included only if they are explicitly called out in the subtitles, and there is a clear focus on a single speaker. So [screaming] while focused on Nynaeve shouting down a trolloc is counted, but [grunting] while a group of characters fight is not. Time starts when the subtitle appears and stops when it disappears. Note: typically these don't add up to more than ~5sec of screen time per episode, but when they do it's usually because the character is not speaking and their verbal reactions are important (ie, Shaiel's fight in the Blood Snow).

Only named characters with >5s speaking time (total) are included, for the sake of my sanity and readability of the graphs. There are several two rivers characters with only a line or two who don't make this cut.

Obviously this misses a lot of non-verbal characterization, especially for characters like Perrin or Lan, who say a lot without having to say a word. But taken in conjunction with screentime, I think it paints a pretty interesting picture. Pretty charts below the cut!

WoT Screentime: e1 | e2 | e3 | e1-3 | e4 | e5 | e6 | e7 | e8 WoT Speaking Time: e1-3 | e4 | e5 | e6 | e7 | e8

(note: x-axis time is listed in minutes:seconds)

Episode 1: Leavetaking

Episode 1 introduced us to quite a few Emond's Fielders, and aside from Moiraine's voiceover, the primary speaker is Rand. The rest of the Emond's Field 5 trail behind, and a selection of Two Rivers folk round out the cast. Some interesting tidbits:

Lan is by far the quietest of the main cast, challenged only by Perrin. Both have only slightly less screentime than Moiraine and Mat, so they really just don't talk much.

Though Egwene had more screentime, Rand has nearly 30% more speaking time.

Over a third of Moiraine's speaking time is a voice-over, either during the episode's intro or outro.

Episode 2: Shadow's Waiting

Episode 2 narrowed the focus to the main cast, with only a few side characters introduced. The cast largely stays together this episode, with only a couple asides, but Egwene and Mat do the most talking.

Despite the mains (minus Nynaeve) all having very similar screentime, Moiraine dominates this episode's speaking time. This is due largely to her explaining so much to the rest of the group (especially Egwene) and talking to the Whitecloacks.

Perrin, again, is very quiet this episode. Lan is too, until Moiraine passes out, at which point he takes on her exposition duties.

Rewatching this episode with an eye for speaking time really drove home how aware Mat is of everyone around him. Most of his speaking time he is talking not for his own benefit, but because people just really need someone to say something. It broke my heart a little, especially knowing how quiet he gets later this season.

Episode 3: A Place of Safety

Episode 3 gave us several new characters, but the focus was undeniably on the events in Breen's Spring.

Dana took top billing, giving us an introduction to Darkfriends and the Forsaken. Thom nabbed second, despite his significantly lower screentime

Mat and Rand's development was definitley the focus of this episode- in addition to their speaking time being substantially higher than the other groups, they also had the most screentime.

Nynaeve does an impresive job trying to make up for her absence from the previous episode (by flirting with I mean taunting Lan)

Episode 1-3 Overview

Overall, the top 10 speakers in these first few eps make a lot of sense- 7 mains, and the 3 biggest support characters. There is only one difference in this list compared to screentime; Thom instead of Marin.

The undisputed biggest jabbermouth is of course Moiraine. This does make sense as she is the lead, and the source of most of our verbal exposition. But being passed out for nearly the full runtime of episode 3 didn't even make a dent in the lead she gained in the previous two.

Mat, Rand and Egwene all came out of the first bloc with very similar speaking times, all within 1.5min or so of each other. These three are all pretty close in screentime as well. Lagging just behind are the rest of our main cast. Nynaeve, was absent for almost all of episode 2, setting her back a bit. Lan and Perrin though are both pretty quiet characters, and it definitely shows in their speaking time. Rounding out the top 10 are Dana, Thom, and Tam, 3 key characters who gave us a lot of info in their limited time.

I think once the season is over, it'll be interesting to take a look at what percent of their screentime each character spends actually speaking. Based on just this preliminary data, I'm guessing it will align pretty closely with how quiet a character is described to be in the books.

Gender Balance

Finally, I took a look at the gender split on speaking time. And despite Moiriane's prominent role, it's really quite remarkably even. Over the 3 episodes, 49% of speaking time is from women vs 51% from men.

Honestly this close of a balance in speaking time is astounding for any show, but especially in fantasy. And given that the screentime for these episodes sits around 40% women to 60% men, I think it's safe to say we can officially debunk the claims that WoT favors women or doesn't give enough time to its men (I'm shocked. Utterly shocked).

Anyway, I hope some folks will find this interesting, and thanks again to rationalnerd62 for the inspiration and compiling screentime data!

My data is posted here, and I will be adding times for the remaining episodes as I compile them over the course of the week.

[cha-faile]

Maybe we’ll get Thom/Gareth Bryne instead… 👀

ok all this moiraine/siuan we’re about to get better mean that moiraine/siuan is endgame like i’m sorry but thom and gareth bryne are DUST!!!!!!!