#UrVa the Archer

[knightscanfeeltoo]

Wow...

I can't believe Elden Ring actually went there...

And I really don't know what to say...

(I know that's Not a Thing in the Dark Crystal But I also know some Fans out there who Ships the Urrus/Mystics and Skeksis Together even though they are supposed to be the Same Person in Two Bodies, myself included...)

[ghostsessioned]

a skeksis ( @domibomz ) and an urru walk into a bar

[tdc-incorrect-quotes]

SkekGra: It's okay. We all know you're in love with him.

SkekMal: I am NOT in love with the Archer. Where did you come up with that assumption? Do you have a death wish, Heretic?!

SkekGra: I never said who it was.

SkekMal:

SkekMal: You're fucking DEAD.

[esdithequeen]

SkekMal and UrVa

[thebibliomancer]

The Hunter and Archer together are probably the most dramatic Skeksis/UrRu duo

And beating out the Heretic and the Wanderer is no easy feat. Those two literally planned, rehearsed, and performed a dramatic puppet show

[that-gay-ocean-guy]

YES!!!!!!! I love this

There's a new Dark Crystal themed card deck coming out and

SkekMal and urVa are he/him queens. 👑

[fishtail-tavra]

Dreamed of 1980’s animated adaptation of Age of Resistance (in the style of the last unicorn) and to be honest it was super fun

They pushed everything into one, hour and a half movie, so a lot of things that were secrets weren’t anymore and the set up got changed to move things right to the climax-

So everyone knows the Skeksis are evil and eating people, but the Skeksis are holding everyone hostage saying the Dark Crystal will die without them (taking all of Thra with it) and THEY will die without Gelfling essence, so from the very start tithes include sacrifices and the retuning of the drained people and

In my dream I cared more about the gays though, meaning Tavra and Onica.

Tavra got introduced arriving late to some big party Mayrin was hosting for the visiting Skeksis- no actually, it was for Brea? Some kind of coming of age thing?- anyway, Tavra trips and falls on her face coming in the doors and everyone’s very O_O; except her sisters who are already running over to say hi

She tripped though bc she saw ONICA in the crowd, disguised, and there were a lot of shots of her in the background during the main action of the party, looking worried and discreetly talking with Totally Not Onica while spilling things on herself absentmindedly or having to get tugged out of the way gently by Onica before she runs into/got run into by someone else

(there’s a morning scene later where we see them in bed together- very PG- both still fully dressed bc Tavra was up most of the night worrying- but Onica is watching Tavra sleep now, reaching out to touch her recently shortened hair (more on that later), and Tavra wakes up from that, smiling, and it’s the first time in the movie we see her really smile so)

In my dream I was mostly busy looking at screen caps and gifs of these two, but there was other changes I had fun with, like BADASS ARCHER NAIA

Naia showing up at the last big battle-

(right before the Skeksis get spooked into unleash the garthim and the clans all scatter desperately hoping at least one Gelfling survives the slaughter long enough to fulfil the Far-Dream that Onica led them into dreaming together blah blah)  

-with this MASSIVE bow, bigger than she is, (lots of cool shots of her arms and back muscles whenever she drew it) and to fire the thing she actually needs to be either standing on something (usually her brother) (or one time both Kylan and Amri stood in for a single Gurjin) or she needs to be airborne

She and Gurjin had this trick where he’d kneel down and she’d run and jump on him, he’d boost her up, and she’d use her wings to slow her fall long enough to get off a shot or two before landing again

She didn’t used it to kill anyone (except Arathim) bc movie Naia still was big on not having the Mystics as collateral damage for stopping the Skeksis,

But she did get a few really dramatic shots- once shattering a Skeksis’s jeweled staff when they were using it to hypnotized and then almost kill someone- and another where (after her own bow got broken) she picks up urVa’s bow (MUCH bigger than hers) and uses her legs while lying on the ground wounded to shoot a flask of essence out of a skeksis hand before they can drink it

In this adaption though Brea is the one who really gets the rebellion kicking, still by reading something, but not a book this time

The movie had Brea going through the trial by wing that her grandmother started as like a coming of age/proof of power to rule kinda thing, where the women who lead the Vapra have to fly the dangerous winds of Raunip’s Pass alone, reach this one high spot where Raunip left an inscription, read it and bring back a stone from the pile siting nearby

This rock pile and inscribed stone is actually the movie version of Lore,

only this time Lore was created by ye oldie Tavra (Raunip’s Friend) to keep her friend Raunip company long after she was dead, and as a way to show no hard feelings for the fight they had over the UrSkeks.

But when Raunip left for the last time (passing through the mountains of Tavra’s home and what would later get named Raunip’s pass) he left Lore behind in the cliffs overlooking Ha’rar, so the Dream-Stitched stone could watch over Tavra’s people even after he was gone

This choked me up every time dream me saw a dream post about it ngl

Anyway, Seladon the 1st, Mayrin, Seladon the 2nd, and Tavra had all just flown up there, seen some old oddly etched rocks, the dedication from Raunip to his friend Tavra, shrugged and grabbed a rock before leaving

(the size of the rock you could manage to haul back was also part of the trial and Seladon was feeling both worried for ‘airheaded’ Brea and insecure knowing her little sister was probably going to bring back a larger stone than Seladon- with her crooked wing- had felt safe carrying)

Only Brea actually takes an interest the ancient writing and the symbols and the odd carvings and she gets distracted clearing away some dirt and rubble

underneath she finds the Dream-Stitching, activates it, gets a lore dump from ye oldie Tavra’s memories AND gets Lore itself to wake up, when it turns out to be able to play recordings of Raunip’s voice etched into stone- Tavra’s real gift to him, a way for him to Dream-Stitch his memories and be remembered even without vliya- so Brea ALSO gets all of RAUNIP’S fears and confessions about his involvement with the second great conjunction and the UrSkeks and the shattering and how things have gone downhill since then and

Brea’s family is getting increasingly worried she’s taking so long, what if she got smashing on the rocks by the winds, what if she’s hurt and needs help-

and the Skeksis get a chance to be evil and manipulative commenting that if Brea isn’t strong enough to follow in her grandmother’s flight path then maybe it’s the will of Thra that she fails this challenge and never comes home

I think I remember this being one of those moments where you can see everyone’s different reactions in a single frame, and it went something like Mayrin: devastated, Seladon: flinching and cringing, Tavra: looking absolutely murderous.

This is when Tavra steps forward and when questioned says she’s going to go look for her sister, since it was the will of Thra that they BE sisters in the first place, and Seladon hesitates before also saying she’ll go with Tavra

But that’s when Brea comes home with an entire rock monster and sort of accidentally starts a rebellion by asking questions, so

The night BEFORE this, the party scene, with the tithing and the prepping Brea for her big day, there had been this moment when the drained Gelflings were returned home, and Mira was one of them

And so Rian had come too, because up until this moment the “crystal anointed” were kept in seclusion, hooded and veiled, to keep a general panic from breaking out, and they only were released back to their own family in the clan they came from

(an information isolation tactic, to help the Skeksis spread rumors of each clan paying more than the other, or of their offered Gelfling being less worthy of the Crystal’s light and THAT’S why they are Like That Now, but the other clans aren’t being effected, no no no it’s totally just you, and you’re also having to give more people because the richer clans are paying more in tithes to send fewer offerings, so really the ones you should be mad at are the OTHER CLANS, not the Skeksis, the Skeksis don’t care how they get their sacrifices, the Skeksis only care about maintaining the Crystal that maintains all life on Thra obviously-)

Rian followed them to Ha’rar (with Gurjin) (and Naia because Naia’s not letting her twin go off into maybe danger without her) to finally reunite with Mira, but she’s been SO badly drained he barely recognizes her and she DOESN’T recognize him,

Cue very sad scene of Rian trying to help her remember, and after a bit she does reach out to dreamfast, like its instinct, only nothing happens, and Naia (the healer) checks and declares she doesn’t have enough vliya to dreamfast with- in fact, she doesn’t have enough to stay alive with, even. She isn’t just old and drained looking. She’s dying.

Rian is horrified, Rian breaks down, Rian shouts at the Skeksis while crying and holding Mira close,

The Skeksis don’t like that and we get a fun dramatic party screeches to a halt scene as the General gets up and draws his sword

Dream me thought it was very fun that Gurjin still got his hero moment, causing a distraction by taking on the castle guards that came here with the Skeksis so Rian could get Mira away

(also callback to the first movie, with a drained and totally out of it Mira still managing to break her and Rian’s fall with her wings when he has to throw them off a cliff)

(he totally thought they were gonna die together and was fine with that)

(instead they land on a Sifa ship and WOOO YEAH TAE AND ETHRI ARE HERE totally not because Oinca had a feeling it would be good and convenient if they parked their ship in this very specific spot)

Back in Ha’rar, Gurjin is captured by the guard, a pissed Naia challenges and fights the general about it

(there was a scene were the Skeksis realize Naia and Gurjin are twins and get Excited about that)

So they make a deal with Naia, if she wins, her brother will go free, if she loses… they both will go to the crystal together.

And while all THIS was happening, BREA ran off to fetch Tavra, who’d slipped away at some point, and runs in on the secret that her big stern sister is very much kissing a Sifa, which these days is Very Very illegal, but Brea’s just shocked to see very serious soldier Tavvra actually kissing anyone-

She remembers to tell Tavra what’s happening at the party, Tavra dives out the nearest window to get there faster, Onica suggests she and Brea take a detour along the way

(the detour is to set up a small tricky sabotage that will let Naia escape in moment)

The first time we see Tavra do anything cool in the movie is when she breaks through a window, sword drawn, and slashes at the General’s hand to make him drop Naia when he has her by the throat

Tavra and the General duel, Naia uses this distraction to attack the guards holding Gurjin and they exit stage right pursued by more guards, Seladon is freaking out and Mayrin calls for Tavra to stand down-

And in the tags of one post about this, ppl talk about how earlier in the movie it was set up how Gelfling don’t normally cut there hair short, since hair is kinda like tree rings or roots to them, so getting rid of it is like throwing away your life up till then and wanting to forget/distance yourself from it

(a thing traditionally associated with criminals, outlaws, Gelflings who went against their families)

BUT lately short hair has ALSO been used by rebels, the rumored Gelflings who refuse to pay tithes or offer up people to the castle

So this scene comes up, Tavra's duel, where the General says something like “blah blah traitorous Vapra, blah, oath breaking Gelfling scum”

And Tavra’s just like, it’s not breaking a vow to defend the people I’ve sworn to protect- which makes the General so mad he tries decapitating her, only she just kneels in response and bows her head-

So the sword cuts off her braid of hair instead. Big crowd reaction shot and gasp

(also revelation that Tavra’s hair is really wavy/curly when it’s short and not tied back, I don’t know why dream me thought that detail was super fun)    

(tags on this post point out that this is kinda like, symbolism of how the Skeksis have being cutting Gelfling’s off from their actual old laws and traditions while making Gelflings bow to them instead)

And the other Skeksis sees this, hears the murmurs and muttering, sees the very bad PR image of a Skeksis about to kill a princess who is kneeling on the floor before him WHILE ALL THEIR PERSONAL GUARDS ARE MISSING and rushes in to pull the General back before he can split Tavra down the middle

The party ends… awkwardly, with the Skeksis placating the crowd by commending Tavra (through gritted beaks) for withstanding their ‘test’ of her loyalty and duty to her vows as a paladin, which they totally did on purpose, never would have actually killed anyone nope

They just barely restrain most of their rage when the guards come back (covered in odd powders that make them sneeze and slipping on boots covered in grease) to report that the three ‘criminals’ have escaped with their ‘abducted’ ‘prisoner’ (Mira)

annnnnnd they’re forced to accept Mayrin’s offer of Tavra leading her soldiers on the search, since they’re the only ones who know Ha’rar well enough to do it

(quick scene of Tavra directing her paladins to search the mountains and the cliffs and the village and the valley, and… no, not the seashore or the coast. Without the help of a Sifa they wouldn’t survive long there and would have to turn inland soon anyway. it’s not like there are any Sifa up here right now. Right? Right.)

I think I also remember that Deet gets introduced while she’s dreamfasting a giant taint-maddened nebrie-

(she can’t heal them, but as long as she’s dreamfasting with them SHE can take on the pain and horror of the taint, and when she sings while doing that they fall peacefully asleep, letting anyone nearby get safely away)

And it turns out she’s been working so hard to find out what’s going on with the tainted creatures of Thra she’s become sensitive to the presence of the taint, AND good enough at listening with her vliya that she can hear and understand what the Trees are saying, even though their voices have almost gone quiet

The trees lost contract with each other as the taint spread (some of them being taken over by it even) so Deet got sent out by her clan’s Tree to contact / warn / bring messages to the other trees and their clans

There was still that cool moment of Kylan dreamstitching the warning onto flower petals and everyone watching them fly off in a cloud so I guess Deet recruited him at some point… or no… maybe that was to summon the clans to what ended up being the big final battle?

I feel like there was a ‘lighting the beacons’ scene where all the clans lit their blue flames and a moment (echoing the opening of the tv show) where we saw their leaders all standing together in dreamfast on a map vision of Skarith land, reaching out to each other around a shared blue fire….

Anyway taking on the suffering of the taint was slowly tainting Deet herself, and she kept lashing out in pain more, or getting lost in the nightmare visions of the crystal’s breaking  

She got one cool scene at the end though.

After the Gelfling come together to Far-Dream the prophecy of how the Skeksis might fall and the Skeksis see this and, in a panic, unleash all their Garthim before they can even control them properly, leading to many Gelfling being killed instead of captured for draining-

Deet is one of the ones caught and brought back to be drained, but she’s laughing when they strap her into the draining chair, and when she calls out,

all the tainted creatures she’s helped over the movie wake up in time to cause havoc on any nearby garthim-

and so do the Trees, reconnected briefly THROUGH the spreading taint BY Deet as she’s being DRAINED by the crystal, and the connection lasts just long enough for their roots to soak up as much of the taint as they can while tearing up the ground around the castle, breaking the crystal (and the taint’s) direct connection to the rest of Thra-

The trees all die, burning up in a last blaze of vliya along with Deet, but the tainted creatures aren't tainted anymore, and outside the barren land around the castle everything else starts growing in healthy again

Turns out it was the world that was feeding life to the crystal, not the other way around

(another skeksis lie)

Which makes the skeksis ultra SUPER unhappy the garthim rampage killed off so many useful Gelflings before their essence could be drained

The stinger ending was Kylan finishing writing all this down and hiding the book just before garthim burst in, the shot of his hand desperately tucking the book away-

-jump cutting to Jen’s hand gently pulling it’s crumbling pages out of hiding who knows how many trine later

Final shot being a slow pull back and pan out of Jen calling to Kira about what he found, and her excitedly calling back that she thinks a small nearby sapling might have just talked to her, so maybe he could read the book aloud to both of them?

end credits roll over the scene as Jen reads and Kira clears away weeds from a young baby tree, while fizzgig gets chased around the clearing by a whole pack of little angry baby fizzgigs

And that’s it, that’s the movie adaption that doesn’t exist but I got to be in the fandom of for a few glorious minutes

The last unicorn animation style REALLY went well with the vibes. loved it.

[ben-the-hyena]

OH MY GOD FINALLY FINALLY SOMEONE WHO SHIPS IT

As one of the only artists out there who creates work for this pairing, sometimes i feel pressured to make it “adequate” i guess. Maybe it’s harder to ship something that’s hardly popular. I dunno. anyway, have the funny guys dancing!

[gretchensinister]

What are you working on right now?

I am working on what is turning into a fairly extensive look at UrVa the Archer, how he got that name, the changing relationship he has with the Valley of the Mystics, the way the Valley has been changing over time, and why he and UrGoh are staying away from the Valley this trine during the season when they're usually most glad to be there. It's about disillusionment and trying very, very hard to avoid disillusionment. What happens is that a winter storm comes to the Endless Forest where UrVa is, and UrGoh visits him, and they spend the evening together. UrVa/UrGoh is very important in the story.

It's at 41,000 words now, and while I have the last parts sketched out as a few sentences, I wouldn't be surprised if it hits 50,000 by the end. Which does a lot to explain why it was taking so long to write.

[thatweirdfandom]

Dark crystal final

- killed the lesbian…

- kinda love the fire connects them all

- HDKDJD WHY THEY STRING UP THEIR DEAD GUY BRO

- man it’s depressing that you root for these guys only to know they all die in the end and nothing changed

- dual glaive you are so cool but all i see is the halo weapon

- gruenak ily

- the scienctist reminds me of the guy from nightmare before christmas but less pervy

- bro got SLIMED

- man i gotta watch the movie after i forget so much

- also i’m so so excited to watch behind the scenes

-CUT OPEN UR MOUTHS DO IT PLEASE

- so the urva could be with thra but not the skeksis?

- so silly they puppeted hunter

- throughout the show u can tell when they cgi the eye blinks vs when they puppet it it’s so weird seeing it

-no killer???? babe wtf u think u gonna do

- can they still take essence from dead gelf?

- also why didn’t they try like plants or other beings?

-sorry but seladon does not have any sympathy from me

- side note does anyone have the dark crystal language translator since the entire movie was originally in fantasy language before it had to be dubbed over

- god all the symbols in the world are so pretty

- where the heck is the fire gelf

- the fight scenes are really hard to read

-maybe it’s cuz of the color grading? like the background and the characters tend to blend in

-general death is cool but imagine the light side of him being like ???????

- archer is the best hunter and archer is really cool story wise

- ok so i know it wouldn’t solve anything in like a hero way but just kill the other half of them and save a mass extinction

- what happened to the rizzed up duson

-deet baby what’s going on

-rian i’m done w ur shit THIS IS WAR BABE also those guys like murdered so many already

-YEAHHHHHH DEET WIN

- deer female rage kill win rian u need a spin

- guys wtf is ur plan if they run away

-HAHAHAAH HUG THE SPIDER HEHEHEHEHEHEHE SO CUTE

-gut jen i love u the most

-what happened to the heritic

- i hate u netflix btw for ending on a banger then canceling

-!hup i love u

- is deet just death now??

- yeah sorry gelf like why didn’t u end them all when u had a chance to

- why does the crystal exist

ok 7/10 cuz like i like it but i don’t love it? like it feels like i’m watching a classic for the sake of studying it is fantastic

[tdc-incorrect-quotes]

UrVa, to skekMal: You screamed "there will be blood" and punched some random guy in the face. So no, we can't go back to that bar.

[cow-stealin-gal]

SOERRY BOUT THE SUPER LATE ANSWER LIZT!! K BYE!

list of ocs:

Acela Valani: brass dragonborn dancer, probs the easiest to draw in different styles.

Paprika Whitterstone: fire bending (or explosive) deer girl

Paula Dendafter: A werewolf girl (Maybe park ranger, warrior, or archer

Chorus Fadonna: A purple dragonborn, warrior, (I’m slightly giving up on the specifics)

Madeline Rivera: a Dragon girl who transforms under the moon, used to be college guy

Christina Ableton: Dragon girl on magic life support, background in criminal life

Sierra: Manticore girl (scorpion tail, scaly wings, but has a lion face)

Lydia Katheere: Half goat-dragon, half human, learns to use polearm, eventually becomes vigilante (coat, rope, utility belt, grappling gun) still wears a ridiculous outfit underneath

SUBJECT 31: Wicked Wyvern (golden colored, stole money from chief researcher to buy cows to eat, smarter than a normal person)

Cecilia DaShane: shabby mentor figure, Drunken Fist master, hidden past, might die?

Delfina Stillvetto: a purple lizard-like alien who crash landed onto planet Earth, they become a neighbor in the little town, (the asteroid they crawled out of might’ve been a coffin)

Urva: something something alien princess…robot serpent, humanoid top, snake bottom. I don’t know

Nai: A gunslinger in a desert Wild West, sci-fi or fantasy, it doesn’t make sense…first idea was to have her be a sexy dragon girl spirit stuck in a sword, removed the idea once I started drawing. Wields a pistol and a shotgun, the only one who wears the least amount of clothes out of everyone in the city…

a few other non-mentionables…

HI CAN I KNOW ABOUT YOUR OCS

sure! Ask away! There’s currently me on the site, but I have a list of them.

[thebibliomancer]

Thank you for your bit of Skeksis lore! Can you explain how you think this applies to urVa and SkekMal? I haven't yet read the book series, but welcome spoilers to understand your take :D

I'd have no idea how to answer this question if I hadn't read the most groan-worthy yet sorta profound magazine profile about urVa.

It said that he was so good at archery because he knows when to let things go.

Which is almost a joke answer but also one that makes a lot of sense.

There's a bit in one of the YA books where one of the Gelfling asks why he just shoots arrows off and doesn't go collect them again.

“Ah, Gelfling, little Gelfling,” he said. “Let them go. They were made of Thra and have returned to Thra. Now that my quiver is nearly empty, I have room for new arrows.”

And when the Gelfling goes to go get the arrows anyway, urVa stops her.

“A stone in each hand leaves no room for a fifth… Mm, or in case of Gelfling, a third. Holding on to things too tightly will prevent you from moving forward.”

Now, skekMal is just the worst at letting things go.

He's obsessive. He refuses to ever stop hunting a target once he's made up his mind to hunt it. And apparently he eats most of what he catches to just double down on the 'not letting this thing go.' He takes trophies from his hunts. The Adventure Game RPG also gives him a nightmare taxidermy cave to triple down on never letting his quarry go.

"Nothing can stop the hunt" as he said.

It took a while for that obsession to bite him in the butt but bite him in the butt it did.

[skekheck]

By the way, if you wanted to know what/who represents what for the tarot card deck, here's a list:

The Fool - Jen

The Magician - Onica

The High Priestess - Aughra

The Empress - Kira (with Fizzgig)

The Emperor - skekSo the... Emperor

The Hierophant - skekZok the Ritual Master

The Lovers - Rian and Mira

The Chariot - Gurjin (with two Drenchen who I think are supposed to be Naia and Laesid?)

Strength - Fara

The Hermit - urSen the Monk

The Wheel of Fortune - urUtt the Weaver

Justice - urAc the Scribe

The Hanged Man - urVa the Archer

Death - Seladon

Temperance - urZah the Ritual Guardian

The Devil - Darkening (represented by an infected Arathim)

The Tower - the Castle of the Crystal

The Star - Deet

The Moon - the Three Sisters/Moons (with a Garthim)

The Sun - the Three Brothers/Suns (with the Sanctuary Tree)

Judgment - Fizzgig

The World - Song of Thra (which is represented by all the seven Gelfling clans with the aureyal symbol at the center. I believe they are shaped as part of the Tree of Life).

Minor Arcana

King of Shards - urGoh the Wanderer

Queen of Shards - Brea

Knight of Shards - Thurma (with Tumby)

Page of Shards - Kensho (with Bohrtog)

Ace of Shards - the Crystal of Truth

King of Vials - Landstrider

Queen of Vials - Naia (with Neech)

Knight of Vials - Rek'yr (with Bennu)

Page of Vials - Lore

Ace of Vials - Vial of Essence

King of Stones - skekSil the Chamberlain

Queen of Stones - All-Maudra Mayrin

Knight of Stones - Ordon

Page of Stones - Tavra

Ace of Stones - Standing Stone (I think?)

King of Gems - skekShod the Treasurer

Queen of Gems - Ydra

Knight of Gems - Hup

Page of Gems - Kylan

Ace of Gems - Center of the Conjunction Staff (not sure if they have an official name)

[knightscanfeeltoo]

Here are the Six Characters that I love and drew even if I’m no Artist...

(this is also the first time i have draw an urru/mystic and the dark crystal character too...)