#weaveweeks

FANWORKS MASTERLIST

Music Monday @4c-aperture made a fanart of Aviendha  @kaiartx made a fanart of Asmodean (book spoilers) @tonysstressball made a post about Perrin and the Hills of Tanchico  @closetfascination made a gifset about Manethreen 

Missing scene @yeneviveisme wrote this fanfic (Rand/Lanfear, multiple characters) @closetfascination made this gifset of a deleted scene @theunyeti wrote this fanfic (Aviendha/Elayne) @emylilas made this fanfic (Liandrin/Lanfear) @butterflydm wrote this fanfic (Rand & Aviendha)

Link with us @closetfascination made a gifset with Egwene and Renna @amemoryofwot made this meme

Age of Legends @theunyeti made this fic (Aviendha/Elayne) @d-a-mante made this fanart of Lews Therin @closetfascination made this gifset of the Age of Legends flashbacks

Favourite character @rosamundpkes made this gifset of Moiraine @closetfascination made a gifset of Elayne

Dream a little dream of me @d-a-mante made this fanart of Mat @emylilas made this fanvid about Thel'aran'rhiod @closetfascination made this gifset with Egwene and Lanfear @pillowfriends wrote this fanfic (Elayne/Aviendha) @theunyeti wrote this fanfic (Avienda/Elayne, other ships and characters mentioned)

Special FX Sunday @closetfascination made this gifset of Aviendha and Elayne in Thel’aran’rhiod

Tanchico Tuesday @closetfascination made this gifset of The Hills of Tanchico

What if? @d-a-mante made this fanart of Egwene (book spoilers) @theycallmetablemama made this list of AUs recs

In-universe @emylilas made a cover for The Tar Valon Post

'Once it was called Aridhol,' Moiraine replied, 'and was one of the Ten Nations, the lands that made the Second Covenant, the lands that stood against the Dark One from the first days after the Breaking of the World. In the days when Thorin al Toren al Ban was King of Manetheren, the King of Aridhol was Balwen Mayel, Balwen Ironhand. In a twilight of despair during the Trolloc Wars, when it seemed the Father of Lies must surely conquer, the man called Mordeth came to Balwen's court.' [...] 'Before Mordeth had been long in the city he had Balwen's ear, and soon he was second only to the King. Mordeth whispered poison in Balwen's ear, and Aridhol began to change. Aridhol drew in on itself, hardened. It was said that some would rather see Trollocs come than the men of Aridhol. The victory of the Light is all. That was the battlecry Mordeth gave them, and the men of Aridhol shouted it while their deeds abandoned the Light. 'The story is too long to tell in full, and too grim, and only fragments are known, even in Tar Valon. How Thorin's son, Caar, came to win Aridhol back to the Second Covenant, and Balwen sat his throne, a withered shell with the light of madness in his eyes, laughing while Mordeth smiled at his side and ordered the deaths of Caar and the embassy as Friends of the Dark. [...] How the armies of Manetheren came to avenge Caar and found the gates of Aridhol torn down, no living thing inside the walls, but something worse than death. No enemy had come to Aridhol but Aridhol. Suspicion and hate had given birth to something that fed on that which created it, something locked in the bedrock on which the city stood. Mashadar waits still, hungering. Men spoke of Aridhol no more. They named it Shadar Logoth, the Place where the Shadow Waits, or more simply, Shadow's Waiting. 'Mordeth alone was not consumed by Mashadar, but he was snared by it, and he, too, has waited within these walls through the long centuries. Others have seen him. Some he has influenced through gifts that twist the mind and taint the spirit, the taint waxing and waning until it rules...or kills. If he ever convinces someone to accompany him to the walls, to the boundary of Mashadar's power, he will be able to consume the soul of that person. Mordeth will leave, wearing the body of the one he worse than killed, to wreak his evil on the world again.' (EotW, Chapter 19: 'Shadow's Waiting')

This quote introduces the basic history of Shadar Logoth- a prominent city-state that is corrupted when it's King falls prey to manipulation during an incredibly dark time, destroying itself and creating new evils through paranoia and hate- and points out the 3 primary forms that evil takes.

Mordeth; the remnant of the manipulative advisor who corrupted Aridhol and led to it's downfall, now trapped within the city until he possesses a visitor.

Mashadar; the mindless mist that lives in city and comes out at night, drawn to any living thing inside the walls, which it will kill with a single touch.

The Shadar Logoth Taint; which appears to be something of a cross between the other two. Like Mashadar it inhabits the physical body of the ruins itself, kills, and (sometimes) 'feeds on' the people it affects. Like Mordeth, it can be carried outside the city by a visitor, influence the person who takes it to make them paranoid and hateful, and can infect others through that person.

Based on this mixed nature, I'd like to propose that the tactics the Taint uses to influence a person may well overlap with those used by Mordeth. We don't see a lot of how Mordeth gets in people's heads, but I think we can make some guesses based on what we do see as well as general patterns. There's a few in particular to take note of.

1) Positioning Oneself as the Source of Truth and Safety

I think we can all agree that we're most likely to believe or listen to the people we see as trustworthy and reliable; no one takes suggestions from people they know are malicious. It's no surprise then that the first thing Mordeth does in Aridhol is get their trust, becoming the King's primary advisor and convincing the people of Aridhol that they need him in order to defeat the Shadow, lest they be completely overrun. Mordeth-Fain attempts something similar when approaching High Lord Turak in tGH, ingratiating himself by gifting him the horn and claiming to be part of a family that held the oaths even as everyone else forgot them, and is eager to serve. Now, I’m not trying to suggest that Mat trusts the dagger-at least not the way you trust a person - but we do see him look to it as a means for safety (it becomes his go-to for self-defense during the Caemlyn Roadtrip, with him immediately grabbing it whenever it looks like there might be a fight). Perhaps more interestingly, he also turns to it for a sense of reassurance when upset.

Rand reached out to shake him awake, and at the first touch Mat sat up with a strangled grunt. For a minute Mat stared around wildly, then drew a long, shuddering breath and dropped his head into his hands. Abruptly he twisted around, digging under his pillow, then sank back clutching the ruby-hilted dagger in both hands in his chest. (EotW, Chapter 43: Decisions and Apparitions)

Mat slouched in his chair, eyes half closed and the beginnings of a grin on his face. It was a nervous grin, not amusement. Outwardly he looked like the old Mat, but from time to time he unconsciously touched the Shadar Logoth Dagger through his coat. What is Fain telling her? What does he know? (EotW Chapter 47: More Tales of the Wheel)

‘Maybe I don't want you two going with me, always hanging around, falling into trouble and expecting me to pull you out. You ever think of that? Burn me, did it ever occur to you I might be tired of always having you there whenever I turn around? Always there, and I'm tired of it.’ The hurt on Perrin’s face cut him like a knife, but he pushed on relentlessly. ‘There are some here think I’m a lord. A lord. Maybe I like that. But look at you, dicing with stable hands. When I go, I go by myself. You two can go to Tar Valon or go hang yourselves, but I leave here alone.’ Mat’s face had gone stiff, and he clutched the dagger through his coat till his knuckles were white.” (tGH, Chapter 3: Friends and Enemies)

And then, of course, there's the elephant in the room in terms of reliance: the fact that Moiraine can't disconnect him from it without killing him in EotW, and when it's stolen in tGH it results in him effectively starving to death and wasting away, regardless of what he eats, even though he's been buffered against the effects by a circle of Aes Sedai.

2) Isolation

Being isolated makes people vulnerable, in part because we simply aren't built to get by on our own-we need connection- but also because it prevents exposure to contradictory viewpoints, as it means there's no one to push back against whatever narrative is being put forth. This is why one of the first steps for someone who wants to manipulate or control you is often to get you away from others, especially those who'd try to help you or talk you out of it. And this is exactly what Mordeth did to the city of Aridhol- he encouraged them to shut in on themselves, withdrawing from the world and their allies so that they'd feel alone in their fight, but also so that no one would call him out. (And anyone who did wouldn't do it again, because they'd be named a Friend of the Dark and executed.)

We see what this looks like in the Taint from Mat. One of the first signs we get, before Rand knows Mat took the dagger, is mention of how he'd been spending a lot of time as alone as he could manage. At Whitebridge, we see him directly tell Thom to leave him and Rand alone and go his own way. On the road, he's constantly side-eyeing other people and as a result, he gets him and Rand shoved away from a lot of people who had been willing to help. Eventually, in Caemlyn, he literally gets to a point where he's shutting himself in their room constantly and refusing to talk to or eat anything brought by anyone but Rand. The whole time, he's expressing this growing certainty that the others are all dead, he and Rand are the only ones left, that they're completely alone. Even after Moraine heals him and tries to contain the dagger's effects, it's quite possible that this is also part of why he's so reluctant to listen to Rand's apology attempts in tGH.

3) Exploitation of Pre-existing Vulnerabilities and Weaknesses

There's a reason abusers often go after people with low-self worth who are more likely to believe it's their fault in someway, why cults target people who feel ostracized in some way and are therefore desperate for somewhere to belong, and politicians throughout history have used marginalized groups as scapegoats for things like economic hardships. Generally speaking, we’re more likely to believe things that fit into whatever narrative we already have about the world, and desperation isn't exactly known for providing clarity. When Mordeth came to Aridhol, it was during a time when it looked like they were going to lose, and were thus desperate and easy to convince. But perhaps a stronger example is how he approaches the boys, focusing his attention on Mat- the naive one, seeking distraction from his old blood outburst, already expecting treasure. He only comes up to them once Mat shares that expectation, seemingly tailoring his ruse accordingly. And it works, Mat bought it hook, line, and sinker.It's interesting to note, then, that effects of the taint are somewhat individualized, always featuring paranoia leading to hate, but that presents itself in different ways and the effects aren't limited to just that.

Elaida gets more arrogant-eventually even deciding that she should build herself a palace on tower grounds- and her paranoia isn't centered around darkfriends at all, barely even touching on them. Instead, she's worried about how people perceive her, whether they respect her authority and if they're going to usurp her the way she did Siuan.

Mat develops a sense of hopelessness in addition to the expected paranoia, believing the others are all dead and he and Rand don't have a chance of survival. Unlike Elaida, his paranoia is centered around darkfriends, but that's kind of a given when he and Rand really are being chased by them. And that's not all he’s worried about- the text also points out that he's afraid of Rand abandoning him and leaving him alone (an insecurity that's been subtly present the whole book and helps to explain why Rand’s words hit him so hard).

It could perhaps be explained as just individual minds taking in the Taint and processing it however they're individually inclined, but…

‘Everybody changes,’ Mat rasped. ‘How can I be sure? Perrin? Is that you? You’ve changed, haven’t you?’ His laugh sounded more like a cough. ‘Oh, yes, you’ve changed.’To Rand’s surprise Perrin dropped into the edge of the other bed with his head in his hands, staring at the floor. Mat’s hacking laughter seemed to pierce him.{...}‘Pretty Nynaeve,’ Mat spat. ‘A Wisdom isn't supposed to think of herself as a woman, is she? Not a pretty woman. But you do, don't you? Now. You can't make yourself forget that you're a pretty woman, now, and it frightens you. Everybody changes.’ Nynaeve's face paled as he spoke – whether with anger or something else, Rand could not tell. Mat gave a sly laugh, and his feverish eyes slid to Egwene. ‘Pretty Egwene,’ he croaked. ‘Pretty as Nynaeve. And you share other things now, don't you? Other dreams. What do you dream about now?’ Egwene took a step back from the bed.(EotW Chapter 41: Old Friends and New Threats)