#read sufficiently advanced magic and the silence of unworthy gods and read edge of the woods.

[flickerintwilights]

(*slides onto main with my niche progression fantasy book fandom*) listen why I’ve become so gay for thelys after eotw is just like. the AA1 flashback shows therin sacrificing herself for ria and the others. she tells them to go, to run, and she faces vaelien alone. (and for the first and last time, she falls.) that was there before eotw, and I assumed, to stay as close to our therin crumbs as possible, that it meant therin was dutiful and serious and kind and selfless, a guardian, a protector. (and she loved ria selys. that was never in doubt.)

and then I read eotw, and the smiling sword saint happened, this beautiful piece of shit with sharp words and uncaringly rough edges and the capacity to tear apart a landmass with a motion of her lips, who was glad to hear that she ended in a two-sun blaze of glory, who was eager for a good fight and fully confident she would win because she always does. because there are blades in her breath and in her skin.

and she wielded a sword with a handle of white stone. she never transitioned from the body she was born in, the one she shouldn’t have had. the sword of her rival-killer was marked with golden runes for every life it took. he stood in part shadow.

so she was therin.

and that changed things. that meant that this fucking asshole was the person who stayed behind and gave her life to give the people she cared about a chance. this was the person who held ria close and ran her fingers through her hair. this was who loved her.