#gelfling trio

[raycatzdraws]

Your dark crystal lu au has me giggling and kicking my feet. I would love to hear more about it!!! What inspired Hyrule to leave the caverns? Are the Zelda's the Madras?

>:D

I wrote a lot so it's going under a read more:

Wanderlust? Wanting to see more of the world? Seeking out a missing princess? A calling? A summons by Aughra? It could be a number of things! I'm still figuring out how I want to integrate the Zelda lore and timeline into that of The Dark Crystal.

What I do know is that I think I want Hyrule to be apprenticing under Aughra. Assistant turned apprentice. He really does do a lot of grunt work. Go here, fetch that, oil the entire orrery, crawl around in the Sog swamps for this one specific plant. But he has a strong connection to the song of Thra and an insatiable desire to listen and learn so Aughra teaches, and gives him tasks most would think crazy, and he stays. She keeps telling him asides about this snarky sharp tongued apprentice she had before who did a bunch of cool stuff but then ran off and is shirking his duties!!! and Hyrule's like, "gee I'd really like to meet this guy you keep comparing me to smh"

As for the Zeldas, yeah! They're the princess and Maudras. These are bound to change but at the moment, the trio Artemis, Dot, and Lullaby are Maudra to the Vapran clan together. Dusk of the Drenchen, Fable is Spriton with strong connections to the Castle of the Crystal, Dawn with the Grottans, and Aurora spends her time with both the Vapran and Grottan clans. I think the Sifa hierarchal structure would be a little looser. Most seek council from the Sifa elders and soothsayers. Tetra's out and about sailing with her crew. When she needs to speak for the clan that's when you know things have really gone to shit. Flora is a princess from an age past who now travels but spends a lot of time with the Vaprans. I'm realizing now I've forgotten Stone-in-the-Wood. I might place Lullaby, Dot, or Flora there instead. Still a wip!

Which leaves Sun. There's Thra, and then Mithra from the Power of the Dark Crystal comics. I don't want to add another clan because there being 7 is significant. But maaaaybe I could just be like, you know what, what if there were just gelfling living on floating islands who have been up there of since the Age of Innocence or Golden Age or whatever and forgotten. And they're not part of any clan necessarily.

What I really need to figure out is the cause for all the guys to be in one place. Do I want time travel and they're all from different eras and are jumping between them like they are in the LU comics and fanworks, do I want a singular timeline and they've all been living congruently the whole time with their own adventures, or do I want some kind of event to have happened which has caused their times to collapse into a singular and now they're all here in one place with their Zeldas? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ there's a lot of possibility! The Dark Crystal already deals a lot with ideas of threes and triangles so three timelines and three virtues for the triforce and there being nine heroes (divisible by three) already works suuuper well.

And then there's the villans. In loz there's Ganon but in TDC the Skeksis are already a formidable adversary. They have a thirst for power and everlasting life that's already pretty interesting. There's the darkening too, which could be a stand in for the idea of Ganon, just like an evil tainting the land instead of an actual person. Idk!

And since I want it to be in Thra, where in the timeline should it be? During the Age of Division before the events of AoR, far far past the events of the later comics in the Second Age of Harmony with Kensho and Thurma, or create something new and rewrite the timeline altogether? lol I need to reread Power of TDC and read the other comics.

There's A LOT but it's fun.

[ladystormcrow]

Fanfiction Author Interview Game

Thank you so much for the tag, @les-gnossiennes-fantomatiques, and I'm so sorry that it's taken me this long to answer it! I've been in a writing slump for the last few months (for both personal and external reasons), but I've started writing again recently (trying to get back into my old groove of at least 500 words a day), so I feel like I can answer this in good conscience.

How many works do you have on AO3?

Nine at the moment, plus four others on FFN that I still haven't transferred over.

What's your total AO3 word count?

208,006

Your top 5 stories by kudos/likes:

Katabasis

Trio Sonata

Mine

I'll Keep You

Imprints In Time

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I do try to, though sometimes I fall behind or choke on what to say; I feel bad when I find myself struggling to respond to a long, thoughtful comment with anything better than "thank you, glad you enjoyed!". I realize it's never too late, though, so I'm hopeful I'll be able to catch up on responses in the future!

(The only time I've ever deliberately not responded to comments is when I was aware that the person who sent them was a piece of shit who I didn't want to engage with, but thankfully that's only happened once or twice. Very much a "your approval fills me with shame" moment for me.)

What's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending?

Probably Imprints In Time. It's a backstory fic for Madame Giry that ends with her estranged from her family and culture, recently widowed, and on the verge of being forced to retire from the ballet career she's worked so hard for, and thus deciding to help Erik make his start as the Opera Ghost (which we the audience know is going to end in more tragedy).

What's the fic you've written with the happiest ending?

It's technically not finished yet (there's still an epilogue chapter to come), but I'd say Katabasis has a quite a happy ending: the dead have been sent to a peaceful rest, the exiled urSkeks have saved their planet and will be able to change their society for the better (and keep other urSkeks from harming Thra in the future), and Jen and Kira have gone from being the last of their kind to the adoptive parents of several dozen Gelfling children who will be a new beginning for their species.

Do you write crossovers?

I'm very much open to doing so, but so far I haven't, mostly because the fandoms I currently write for don't lend themselves well to combining universes. The closest I've come is the Les Miserables reference I included in Chapter 5 of Trio Sonata (or the SWAT Kats/Redwall fic I started but never finished when I was 15, but the less said about that, the better!)

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Not really, no. The closest I've come is someone who complained they were disappointed that Agony and Ecstasy featured skekSa as the one topping during sex; I simply added a tag that made that clear and left it at that.

Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I didn't used to, but I've gotten more confident about both writing it and sharing it publically over the years (my experiences in the Tumblr RP scene helped a lot with that). The first fic I ever posted where sex was explicit rather than implied was Mine, which was a pretty standard wedding night consummation story (well, except for the part where one of the pair is an elderly hermaphroditic bird alien), but after that, I branched out quite a bit with Agony and Ecstasy (I'm pretty vanilla in my own sex life, so writing about characters having a BDSM session with cutting, bloodplay, and other kinks that I'm not personally into while still making it appealing to an audience was an interesting challenge).

Currently, Trio Sonata is my first experience of trying to weave sex into the plot of a longer story, rather than just a standalone smut fic, and I'm really trying to make sure that the smut is in character and serves to move the plot forward and develop the characters (not that I've got anything against smut for smut's sake, it's just not what I want to write for this story).

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I'm aware of.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

Again, not that I'm aware of.

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I haven't, though I've helped other writers with brainstorming and suggestions before (and they've helped me in return). I'm open to it, though.

What's your all-time favorite ship?

Oh man, don't make me choose! I'm pretty flexible when it comes to shipping as long as it's written well, so there are a lot that I like, even multiple ones with the same character. But if I have to narrow it down, I will say that I still love Megamind/Roxanne Ritchi after 14 years since the movie, and I also don't forsee my love for Erik/Christine/Raoul fading any time soon.

What's a WIP that you want to finish but don't think you ever will?

I started my own fanficverse for Megamind in 2011 with Life Is What Happens, and got partway through the sequel, The Storm and the Stars, before I stopped writing.

I always had meant to come back to that ficverse, but I now realize that's probably never going to happen, for two reasons. The first is that my own political and social views have changed enough since then that I'd have to completely rewrite parts of the story (for example, one of the main OCs is a former police officer, and I wasn't a believer in ACAB back then). The second is that the Megamind Rules TV series exists now, and both fills in the timeline when my fics took place and includes a number of the same key story elements, so I feel like there isn't really room for my fics in the fandom sandbox anymore (especially since most of my friends are fans of the TV show, and I really am happy that they enjoy it, even if it's not to my taste).

What are your writing strengths?

I like to think I'm pretty good at descriptions, especially giving a strong sense of characters and places in just a few lines, and coming up with interesting plots.

What are your writing weaknesses?

I'm not so good at character introspection, especially angst and romance. I worry about bogging down the flow of the story and falling into telling rather than showing, and that it won't be interesting or believable to the audience.

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

I think it can be effective if it's just one or two lines, especially if it helps convey character or setting, but it should be used sparingly and only if you're sure of the translation.

What's a fandom/ship you haven't written for yet but want to?

I've toyed with the idea of writing an AU for Imprints In Time where Erik doesn't leave France after his fight with Antoinette, and they repair their friendship and eventually become a couple, which changes a lot of events that would otherwise have happened in canon (no Persia, for starters, unless it's under very different circumstances). I've also pondered an alternate OT3 involving Pharoga plus Madame Giry, but that's probably never going past pondering.

What's your favorite fic you've written?

At this point, it's a tie between Katabasis and Trio Sonata. I've mentioned it before, but they have a lot of the same basic story elements (hero and villain have to team up against an outside threat, which leads to them bonding and the villain becoming a better person), and since those are some of my favorite tropes, it's probably inevitable they'd be my favorite fics.

I shall tag: @cornistasiathecoblinking, @chaifootsteps, @locksnek, @musicalhell, and @flagbridge, plus anyone else who'd like to answer!

[theworldofthedarkcrystal]

One of the three daughters of All-Maudra Mayrin, Tavra was a brave spirit whose calm thinking and kind heart held her family together.

Completing the trio of sisters, the mighty swordswoman of the Vapra clan is here.  https://www.wetanz.com/us/tavra-the-gelfling

[ilbound]

@stellarisen has requested a story : ❰❰ HURT ❱❱   sender is hurt protecting receiver // sometimes I just wanna write the two Sof boys Amri and Kylan suffering a bit bc I can… bc Kylan will most def leap to his rescue !

𝑷𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒅.

The trek back is rather … TENSE & SILENT .  Amri is walking just a few paces ahead of Kaen who carries a wounded Kylan gingerly in their arms.  All the while , no-one says a w o r d .  But it is obvious from the glances being exchanged between the faun and the songteller , that they each plainly w a n t to say something so they may try and diffuse the inordinately uncomfortable air that weighs down upon them.  Such that it is , the two remain quiet , instead electing to keep following along s i l e n t l y as Amri leads the way home.  He seems distressed by what’s happened ; arms crossed , shoulders hunched , ears pinned and too-fair features scrunched together in a s c o w l — True enough that he can’t exactly blame Kylan for coming to his rescue ( he would have done the same in a heartbeat , no doubt ) , but that did not change the fact that Kylan ended up getting HURT .  And seeing Kylan hurt … Well , Amri h a t e d it.  No matter how noble the reason behind his wounds.  It only serves as a reminder of the inevitable.  He’s just grateful Kaen had been there to stop it before it got any WORSE .

Back within the safety ( if one could say things are ever safe of late ) of the camp , the trio makes way to the healer’s tent where Kaen gently deposits their so-called brother onto an open bed for tending.  After a moment , the faun folds their hands , glancing anxiously between the two gelfling before Amri speaks at last , offering them a reassuring nod , ❝ It’s alright , Kaen , I’ll make sure he’s taken care of.  You can continue with your rounds. ❞  Kaen smiles a bit but it’s clear that is NOT AT ALL what they are worried about.  Still , sticking their nose into Kylan’s relationships is not very polite ( even if all they want to do is help ) .  With a tip of antlered head , the faun exits the tent , disappearing back outside and returning to their duties amongst the other soldiers.

It doesn’t take long for a doctor to come see to Kylan’s injuries.  Nothing m a j o r , but enough that he shall be out of commission for a few days ( enough that the furrows of worry working into amri’s features only till themselves deeper ) .  Once the doctor is content with his work , he leaves the two alone again.  After a few moments , Amri shakes his head with a sigh.  ❝ You are a FOOL , songteller , do you understand that ? ❞  The chastising lacks any real bitterness or malice , instead Amri simply says it because it seems n e c e s s a r y to point out.  ❝ Nothing but a reckless fool , charging blindly into danger like that … ❞  His words devolve into mumbling , his dark eyes drifting away in thought briefly before flicking back to Kylan.  ❝ And for m e , no less ! ❞  He says sharply , as if this is some grand revelation.

Silence once more.

Amri soon comes to sit on the small bed beside Kylan , reaching out to take up one of his hands in both his pale own , his thumb smoothing over the songteller’s knuckles.  ❝ Do you even know how upset I’d be if- if … ❞  If I lost you , he doesn’t say aloud , his teeth worrying his bottom lip.  Amri shakes his head , looking up at the other.  ❝ Would you at least w a r n me before you plan to do something like that ? ❞  He smiles wryly , his tone taking on its usual lighthearted quality , ❝ At least then I could have a chance to prepare a proper lecture in advance. ❞

[fandomsonmysleeve]

Believe in Lisa Henson. She stated that they will continue for look for ways to tell stories about The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance.

Javier Grillo-Marxuach said it best. Everyone involved the first time around would need to come together again to complete a second season. Have hope that this can still happen in the future.

I will forever be grateful for the phenomenal first season of The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance. I am grateful for the characters we were introduced to. For the ships that were created. For the music. For meeting new friends because of this series. Thank you.

[stonegrotweek]

Hello everyone, it’s officially STONEGROT WEEK! Now it’s your time to share the fanfiction/prompts, artwork, and anything else you have created to go along with our theming.

August 31st — Day One: Rian and Deet dreamfast together for the first time.

September 1st — Day Two: Rian and Deet have a day off from being a part of a rebellion.

September 2nd — Day Three: A stolen moment between Rian and Deet.

September 3rd — Day Four: Brea plays matchmaker with Rian and Deet.

September 4th — Day Five: Rian and Deet + involving Deet’s wings.

September 5th — Day Six: Rian and Deet visit the Podling Village.

September 6th — Day Seven: An Original Concept involving Rian and Deet.

Please BE KIND. We are all here to support each other and share the love we have for these characters and their relationship.

Make sure you include the tags #Stonegrot and either #Stonegrot Week #StonegrotWeek and #Day (x). You can also add @stonegrotweek to your post(s) so we can see and reblog.

Remember: It isn’t mandatory to participate in all of the days of the week, you can take part in only one of the days if preferred. You can also share multiple submissions for a day’s theme. Late submissions are also acceptable and will be reblogged/included on our page once tagged— we understand it takes time. Please just make sure the material is nothing that has already been posted from you in the past about Stonegrot. We want all new creations!

We hope you all have a wonderful experience and enjoy Stonegrot Week!

If you’d like a refresher on our rules and more information about the week see this post:

https://stonegrotweek.tumblr.com/post/627147181119488000/stonegrot-week-year-2

[skekheck]

Kylan just looking out for the creatures of Thra. 

[amethystgelfling]

I’m writing things and no I will not explain myself

[thanatasia]

I am super super excited for this! Do you happen to do modern AUs too?

AAAAH THANK YOU!!! So far I have some really nice ideas! I haven’t given Brea too much love on my blog so here is Brea, Rian an d Deet in modern clothes. Brea is in a Artsy Chic type outfit I found on Google. Thanks to my IG followers for helping me and Rian is in a Varsity Jacket and hopefully exudes “cool/jock” vibes. And Deet gives me be bohemian energy so she’s in a very cute bohemian dress I had found on Google. I have some new ideas for “Modern AU” so be on the lookout for when that happens!

I hope you enjoy this piece @expressing-emotionalism !

[neunhofferart]

Rian and the Dual Glaive to finish out the main Gelfling trio~

[tickledpink31]

Writing and Ideas Masterlist

Epics of Ink & Light

Prologue

Chapter 1: Family Curse

Chapter 2: Mirror, Mirror

Chapter 3: Lost Girl

Chapter 4: Troublesome Four

Chapter 5: The New Prefect of...

Heartslabyul

Chapter 6: Don't Lose Your Head

Chapter 7: Seven Plus One

Chapter 8: Queen of Tarts

Chapter 9: Mice and Tea Parties

Chapter 10: Alice and the Rebellion

Chapter 11: Catharsis

Intermission

Chapter 12: The Strange Case of the Nezumis

Savanclaw

Chapter 13: M is for Magift… and Maim

Chapter 14: Tracking Dog

Chapter 15: S is for Spelldrive… and Sabotage (coming soon)

Children of Ink & Light

Read on Ao3

Read on Wattpad

Christmas Special 2022

Minako’s Poison Immunity

Minako's Poison Immunity Part 2

Obey Me

The Leviathan (this fic is old and I don't like it anymore but go ahead and read it if you want)

Twisted Wonderland x Harry Potter

Explaining Minako's blot curse (tw: mentions of death, sickness, and trauma)

My question on Floyd's nickname for Minako

Minako and Kneazles

NRC at Hogwarts Part I

NRC at Hogwarts Part II

NRC at Hogwarts Part III

Actual Minako + Braincell Trio moments

Magic mutation scenario (musical edition)

Minako Voice Headcanons (not really a writing work, but it's a headcanon)

Random Minako Nezumi Facts and Headcanons

Blinding Light, Scorching Pyre

Twisted Wonderland

Question: Can Grim fly?

Journey to the West

Even more facts and headcanons about Mari/Xiaodie

Mari Headcanons Part 3

LBD’s villain song

Misc.

The Madrigal sisters and the royal Gelfling sisters (featuring a rant by yours truly)

[ladystormcrow]

Ten First Lines Game

Rules: Share the first line of ten of your most recent fanfics and then tag ten people. Don't have ten? Not to worry, just share what you have.

Oh wow, thank you for the tag, @les-gnossiennes-fantomatiques! And @a-partofthenarrative too!

In The Lonesome October

(POTO, rated G. Erik recruits a grieving Madame Giry to help him with some Halloween mischief.)

The skies over Père Lachaise were ashen and sober as Antoinette Giry made her way down the cobbled path.

Trio Sonata

(POTO, rated M. Post-canon AU: instead of leaving Erik behind after she returns the ring, Christine asks him to leave the lair with her and Raoul in order to save him from the mob, and all of their lives take an unexpected turn. Starts out mostly Raoul/Christine, but the endgame is Erik/Christine/Raoul, with some Daroga/Madame Giry on the side.)

Christine Daaé knew she must not look back. 

Imprints In Time

(POTO, rated T. Prequel to my other two POTO fics, exploring an origin story for Madame Giry: her childhood in a Romani caravan, her rise through the ballet corps, how she met and lost her husband Jules, and most of all, her long and complicated relationship with Erik.)

Anna Reinhardt was admiring her earrings for the third time that day.

Katabasis

(The Dark Crystal, rated T. Seven years after the Great Conjunction, the surviving urSkeks discover a new threat to both their world and Thra. They must return to Thra in the hope of seeking answers from their dead comrades, which also means once again facing Jen, Kira, Aughra, and all the peoples of Thra they harmed in their former lives. Features a lot of Jen/Kira, who are expecting their first child.)

The light was every bit as bright as they remembered.

I'll Keep You

(The Dark Crystal, rated T. Silly, fluffy oneshot involving skekLach reluctantly getting a makeover in Ha'rar after her clothes are ruined on the tithing journey. SkekLach/skekOk, and also features some of my headcanons about Gelfling wedding customs.)

“I still don’t see why I have to be there.”

Agony and Ecstasy

(The Dark Crystal, rated M. Oneshot featuring a night of BDSM sex between skekZok and skekSa, in which the Ritual-Master can finally drop his austere image and enjoy being on the receiving end of pain and torture. Established skekZok/skekSa.)

“Ah, some happy news!”

Mine

(The Dark Crystal, rated M. AU oneshot where, instead of declaring war on the Gelfling after Lore's attack, skekSo tries to strengthen his alliance with the new All-Maudra Seladon by proposing marriage. Seladon moves to the Castle, gets in touch with her inner Skeksis, and eventually takes matters into her own hands to get her new husband's attention. SkekSo/Seladon.)

For once in his life, Emperor skekSo listened to moderation.

A Prophecy Reclaimed

(SWAT Kats, rated T. Prequel to the episode "Bride of the Pastmaster", featuring a teenaged Queen Callista, her grandmother Oriana, and how their family's troubles with the Pastmaster first began.)

"The king is dead.”

Tagging @cornistasiathecoblinking @nientedal @undynedevotion @theawkwardarchaeologist @reikiajakoiranruohoja @chaifootsteps @margoteve @apileofpans @garnet-xx-rose

[rocky-fennek]

❤️ Likes appreciated ❤️ 

⭐️ Reblogs ADORED! ⭐️

Rian, Gurjin and their oh-so-creatively named son Rijan the night he was born. No points for guessing who picked the name 😂 

I also have a little fic under the cut:

Gurjin winced as Rian’s grip tightened around his hand, but the pain was forgotten just as quickly as it came. Tonight, after all, there were much bigger things for the Gelfling to worry about. Any moment now, Gurjin would become a father.

Barely ten minutes earlier, Rian had given birth to his very first childling, the oldest of the triplets he’d carried for the past nine unum. From moment the boy was placed in his arms, Rian had fallen in love with the newborn. Deet, one of Rian’s partners and the other parent of his firstborn, had been just as ecstatic, showering her mate and son with affection. Gurjin had watched on with pride, commenting that the baby looked just like his father. After a few minutes of bonding, the trio were gently reminded by the midwife - Gurjin’s twin sister Naia - that there were still two more babies waiting to be born, and that they’d need to prepare for the next one right away. Hearing this, Deet reluctantly handed her son over to her friend Brea, who was tasked with giving the tiny Gelfling his first bath.

“Gurjin? Gurjin!”

The Drenchen had been so focused on watching Rian that he hardly noticed when Naia tried to get his attention.

“What is it? Are they okay?” Gurjin asked. He couldn’t bear the thought of something going wrong with Rian or the triplets.

Sensing his panic, Naia smiled gently and gestured to Rian, who had rolled over onto his side, facing away from Gurjin. “Everything is fine, relax! Rian’s back hurt, so I told him he could change positions,” she explained. “Here, hold his leg up out of the way like this.”

Gurjin obliged, and the next few minutes passed in a blur. As Rian squeezed his hand through each contraction, Gurjin gave him words of encouragement, occasionally glancing over as Naia carefully guided the little one out into the world.

Finally, Rian gave one more cry of exertion, and hush fell over the room. The silence was short-lived, however, as the newborn let out his first hiccuping wails. With a smile, Naia deftly tied off and cut the cord, wrapped the squirming infant in a clean towel, and lifted him up for his parents to see. “Well Rian,” she said, noting her nephew’s tiny gills and other Drenchen features. “I guess this makes us family now!”

While Naia handed the fussing baby over to Rian, Gurjin could only stare at the red, wrinkled childling in disbelief. “I… I have a son…” he stammered. “He’s… he’s…”

“Beautiful, isn’t he?” Rian whispered. With his tan and green skin, curly brown hair streaked with blue, and green-grey eyes, Rian and Gurjin’s son seemed to have taken his fathers’ best traits in equal measure. Trembling with emotion, Gurjin reached out to touch the baby’s soft, delicate hands.

At first, the boy only blinked sleepily up at his father, until he felt Gurjin gently pat the back of one of his hands. With a surprised little grunt, the baby reached out to grasp his father’s finger, gripping tightly despite being unable to wrap his own tiny digits around it all the way.

“Oh!” Gurjin’s emotions spilled over all at once, and he choked back a sob.

“Gurjin, are you crying?” Naia gently teased.

“Sh-shut up!” he laughed, rubbing the tears from his eyes. “I just became a father!”

Gurjin couldn’t stop smiling at the perfect little being he had made with Rian, a living, breathing symbol of the bond they shared. Still holding the baby’s hand, Gurjin used his other arm to pull Rian into a tight embrace, planting kisses on his cheek and forehead through tears of joy. Over time, they would raise the childling into a strong, independent Gelfling who would go on to live his own life, but for now, here he was. 

Here they were.

[thebibliomancer]

Archaia’s Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal Age of Resistance #8

The Ballad of Hup & Barfinnious Part 4 of 4

In part one, Hup burned a lot of bridges in his tavern workplace by full force spoon smacking SkekShod the Treasurer during the Sami Thicket tithe. He then became the squire of Barfinnious the self-proclaimed Paladin-Bard and definite con artist.

In part two, Hup and Barfinnious roll into a village which seems to be holding out for a hero. Barfinnious ignores all of the foreshadowing and then is surprised when THE BEAST attacks and the village elder expects Barfinnious to walk the hero walk. But after being called a coward, Barfinnious pledges he and Hup will find this BEAST. 

In part three, Hup and (reluctantly) Barfinnious try to track down THE BEAST when it kidnaps village healer Veara. But when they reach THE BEAST’s lair, Barfinnious refuses to go in, admitting to Hup that he’s a big ol’ fraud. Extremely disappointed in his mentor, Hup nevertheless goes in by himself to save Veara.

What will happen next?

“Our hero is going to DIIIIIEEEE.”

Oh.

Well, to skip ahead a little bit in the narrative, this issue is in keeping with the other issues in this arc. It starts with Barfinnious relating a story.

But in this case, Barfinnious’ only audience is his riding Armalig Marengax. And he’s telling this story right after ditching Hup and is trying to decide on what would be a good ending to this story when he’s relating it later.

Barfinnious: “Hmmm. Could say he died defending his paladin. But that’s kind of a downer ending, with the beast leveling the entire village. Could give him a villainous turn, instead of a hero’s death. Say Hup was only posing as my squire, but in actuality he was an evil conjurer.”

Marengax: GROAN

Barfinnious: “Oh, don’t look at me like that. This is... no longer my performance.”

But how is Hup actually doing?

He’s doing Hup-esque. Huplike.

THE BEAST comes out and roar-yawns and Hup takes exception to that.

Hup: “A yawn? Am I boring you? Where’s Veara?!”

And then he spoon-doinks the creature on the mushroom.

The creature starts crying at such callous aggression against an elbow mushroom and surprisingly Veara shows up and tells Hup not to hurt the creature.

Because this beast isn’t THE BEAST. It’s actually a Seedle.

Which is another really neat bit of Thra zoology. A Seedle is a child of the Endless Forest and when he matures, he’ll lay down and become a new forest.

Because when you have giant turtles pretending to be hills, why not have creatures that become forests? Plus, we learned from Shadows of the Dark Crystal that the entire Dark Forest grew out of the Cradle Tree.

Forests on Thra are wild!

Anyway, this Seedle is Veara’s friend and gets excited to show her things. But this time, he’s agitated and trying to protect her from something dangerous.

Hup is very lucky that Veara loves expositing because she can still barely understand what he says. But she’s answering all the questions anyway just through volume of words.

Veara also says she hasn’t told anyone in the village because they wouldn’t understand that the Seedle was harmless and would think he was a monster.

But Hup has some recycled words of wisdom.

Hup, in Gelfling: “Remember. Life, it matter of what you do. Not say you do.”

Veara: “Well said, Hup. I understood every word. Now let’s make some introductions.”

Aww, character development paying it forward. She gave Hup the courage to be a hero even when his hero failed him. And he gave her the courage to come clean to the village with her own inspiring words.

I loves to see it.

By the by, the village elder is a woman. The previous posts where I said he were my bad for assuming.

So Veara and Hup bring the Seedle to the village and the creature gets a mixed reaction.

Elder: “A walking forest, you say?”

Veara: “An infant walking forest. A crawling forest, nearly.”

Bystander: “Crawling menace more like.”

Elder: “What was that? I think it’s cute.”

Vortina objects because hey she got slightly trampled and had her farm chewed up and the Elder didn’t. But Hup has an idea here too.

With his cue, Veara realizes that the best evidence is that the teethmarks just don’t match. The Seedle has large, blunt teeth. And as healer, Veara saw that the bitemarks she dressed were small and sharp.

There’s some other thing going on!

And then there’s the RUMBLE of the going on happening early.

While the villagers all scurry to get weapons ready and Hup vows to stand alongside them despite Barfinnious’ absence, THE BEAST approaches.

Annnnnnnnnd....

SWARM OF DARKENED FIZZGIGS

OH GOD

I would not have predicted this but its scarier than I was imagining! Its like a swarm of piranha/dogs that love screaming and biting!

AND IT GETS WORSE??

THEY COMBINED INTO A KATAMARI

The Fizzgig Doom Ball starts rolling towards Hup. Not sure how a giant Fizzgig Doom Ball rolls with such alarming speed but it is alarming.

Hup: “There has to be a way. In stories there’s always a way, if the hero is brave enough -- a-and smart enough, and--.”

Barfinnious, here now: “And *puff* arrives *puff* just in time! But this hero is out of shape!”

Barfinnious rolls into the scene balancing on Marengax and runs into the Giant Fizzgig Doom Ball.

Barfinnious: “Not sacrificing myself. I hoooooope!”

The impact explodes the Fizzgig ball and the Fizzgigs are all captured while stunned or end up fleeing.

The village is saved! From angry piranha/dogs!

A stunned Barfinnious is found lying on a pile of hay.

Hup: “Sir Barfinnious! You saved us! I knew you would!”

Barfinnious: “Sure you did.”

Aww.

And in a nice little touch, part of Barfinnious’ outfit got ripped off in the collision and he ties it around Hup’s arm, commenting “That should protect that one, specific part of your elbow.”

I guess that one aspect of Hup’s costume has gotten explained.

And here Barfinnious and Hup go their separate ways but a lot more happily than if Barfinnious had just skipped town.

Hup is going to go to Ha’rar to become a paladin.

Barfinnious: “In my eyes, you already are one.”

Awwww!

Barfinnious decides to settle in this village and work on his songs and storytelling.

And we do get to see him, an untold number of years in the future, telling stories of Hup to a trio of impressionable youths.

Including a call-forward to Hup meeting Deet in the Age of Resistance show.

Which is a hopeful note that stories of Hup’s heroism during the show spread and reached his old friends. And that the world is peaceful enough that some Gelfling think that the Darkening was made up? I guess?

I won’t think too much about the timeline, lest I bum myself out.

But that was the Ballad of Hup & Barfinnious!

Interesting is that though this is Hup’s origin arc, it’s Barfinnious who does the big heroic moment.

But it was Hup who inspired him. Slash shamed him? Barfinnious couldn’t leave Hup and Hup refused to cut and run.

A lot of people helped shame Barfinnious, ha ha.

The thing is that unlike Young Ordon and Young Fara, this is Hup not too far from the show so there’s not as much leeway for him to have an arc. He wavers in his beliefs but stands by his principles and helps inspire other people.

It’s nice.

Glad I could get the ballad done before the end of the year. Next year, I’m going to start the Song of the Dark Crystal!

Its focused on best boy Kylan!

[fandomsonmysleeve]

In desperate need of a group photo with Taron, Nathalie, and Anya

[stonegrotweek]

September 6th—

It’s officially Day 7 of Stonegrot Week! Today’s theme is ‘An Original Concept involving Rian and Deet’. We’re looking forward to seeing your submissions!

It is the last day of Stonegrot Week (Year 2!) and we’ve had a wonderful time seeing all the phenomenal creations from this fandom. Thank you to everyone who participated, whether you have created a piece for the week or if you’ve been supporting the fans by reblogging/liking their posts. The celebration still continues as we will still be accepting late submissions after today until next week, September 13th, and as we collectively continue to hold on to hope for Season 2 of AOR. In the meantime, keep watching Season 1 on Netflix!

We will be back next year for Stonegrot Week (Year 3!)