#i have so many feelings about these two

[acre-of-wheat]

I know in this house we’re all about supporting Kit’s wrongs, but I do want to take some time to analyze another dear sword lesbian’s wrongs.

Our dearest Jade Claymore.

You’re telling me this face has done wrongs?

Sadly. Yes.

The High Aldwin

Elora disappears into the woods and Kit wants to set off to continue the mission. Jade has other feelings, and drops this statement about what they owe Elora. It’s an interesting moment, because only an episode ago it was, “where the princess goes, I go,” but Kit rides off alone.

I think Jade knows Kit well enough that she fully expected to catch up to her. To save face, Kit couldn’t turn around and go back, but she could certainly take her sweet time walking down the road.

Later on they discuss Elora’s inability to demonstrate magic, and Kit once again wants to keep moving forward to continuing the mission, and Jade has this to say.

This is just a straight up lie, girl! Sorsha’s last instruction to her is to stay with Kit, to guide her, to pull her back from the edge.

I think this is an intentional tactic from Jade though. Jade has very subtle ways that she manages to manipulate or instruct Kit. Because of their difference in station, their history together, and Kit’s stubbornness, direct conflict doesn’t really work. Jade’s weapon for influencing Kit is showing her disappointment in the princess or, in some cases, outright lying.

I think there is an important call back to this, in Children of the Wyrm, where Jade goes over the edge of the world not to save Airk, or for Elora or Sorsha, but just for Kit. Because for once love is more important than duty.

The Battle of the Slaughtered Lamb

The reveal that this relationship was orchestrated by Sorsha is a huge blow, but the last line here is the real betrayal. If Jade didn’t ever believe that Kit would be in a life or death situation, then all of Kit’s dreams, all of her plans and fantasies, were just that to Jade-- so much make believe.

I think we give Kit a lot of shit for her mistakes, but she does always apologize. It’s worth noting that there is no apology from Jade here.

Whispers of Nockmaar

Hmm, I can think of someone who could have used your backup about this about an hour ago...

The Wildwood

By far my favorite Jade wrong.

Kit is actually trying to negotiate a release-- and it probably would have worked too!-- and the typically so in control knight with her anger on a tight leash just can’t keep it together enough for it to work.

Love this for her. Get everyone killed, babe.

Prisoners of Skellin

This is not technically a wrong! But it is a type of betrayal for Kit that I think is worth discussing, because these two absolutely won’t.

The devastation.

What is most interesting about this is even though Jade is the one to bodily remove Kit from the tomb, Kit’s rage focuses solely on Elora. It’s Elora she blames for not reuniting with her father, it’s Elora she vents her frustration on.

I don’t think Kit is even capable of remaining angry at Jade, because for Kit, Jade is all she has, and she can’t risk chasing her away. When Jade tells her that she’s leaving for Galladoorn, Kit pitches a fit, but then comes to her with a kiss and a smile in the night. When Kit learns that Jade lied about her training, Kit avoids her for awhile, but all she says is, “I’m just glad you told me.”

So when Jade wraps her arms around her and drags her away from the father she’s been missing her whole life? That rage has to go somewhere else.

The Gales

We’re going all the way back to the beginning with the last one, because it is the only one I can’t defend Jade on. It’s not her accepting a place with the Shining Legion, or even picking the absolute worst time to tell her best friend that she’s leaving, it’s this.

For what, Jade? There is literally no more time left for Kit. Jade is consumed by her dedication to duty, to such an extent that she believes that extremely queer Kit should marry a man she doesn’t know, to have heirs she doesn’t want.

What are our responsibilities to those we lead? To our parents? To our loved ones? To ourselves?

Must we all give up something for what we believe in, or is love the most powerful force in the universe? What mantel from our parents is worth picking up, and which is worth running away from?

The show hasn’t answered all these questions yet, but I hope it has time to explore them, and I know that Jade will be an important part of that exploration.

[persephoneprice]

“you’re in the wind, I’m in the water.

nobody’s son, nobody’s daughter.”

[ligmabhaals]

headcanon that when gale invites durge out to the clearing that night with intimate intent, durge originally asks to stay grounded and corporeal for it but as gale goes to remove their shirt they freeze and remember how scarred and marred their torso is, from [redacted]'s experimentation, like, there's no way she tidied up and healed up all the scars, right? and it burns that they don't even remember. what could they have done to deserve this.

but gale wants to reassure them, and they want him to know them, even if they don't remember. so they let their arms up and slowly, as the shirt pulls off, gale's face falls, and durge is mortified, wrenching their eyes closed in shame and resigned sorrow that this isn't going to happen anymore. and then they feel their hand against gale's chest, where he's taken it and put it against the scar that the orb deepens every day, and his other hand on their sternum where the thickest part of their scar is, and they look up at him and see that he understands, that his face isn't showing disappointment, it's empathy. and he tells them that they already forgave him his past, that they get the grace to just be what they are today too,

but if you're not comfortable,

and maybe that's enough for durge, maybe that's all it takes for them to cut him off with their hands and mouth and relief and gratitude, or maybe it's a different gratitude that has them laying side by side for hours, holding each other, silent promises to buy themselves more time.

but. maybe durge still wants it so bad, and just can't reckon with their own body, how distracting and demoralizing it would be to have to feel their past with every touch and shift when all they want is to just have this night. so gale offers his hand, glowing, and tells durge that they are beautiful in any form, to him, but that their body isn't what makes them them. and maybe the greatest gift he can give durge in that moment is to just be energy for a night, any night, until they decide they're ready otherwise.

and after durge's redemption, or rejection, however you'd like to look at it; living as humans or gods, durge may eventually come to terms with their scars, indifferent to them or maybe they're a source of pride and strength, after the fact. if they ascend with gale, maybe they heal them, or maybe leave them deliberately, as a reminder. but i think they never forget the grace that gale gave them that night. of forgiveness, and of agency.

[agatharioscoven]

“As a queer woman, playing a queer character.” - Erin Kellyman, Willow Behind The Magic.

Do you know how refeshing it is to have actors that understand what it’s like to not see yourself in something?

I love Erin and Ruby, because they get it they know how much these characters mean to us.

To take the classic ‘Knight get’s the Princess’ trope, and to make it gay.

As Erin said, if she had these character’s when she was younger, it would have made it easier for her to understand the feelings she was having.

All of us that have struggled to figure out what we were feeling could have done with character’s like Kit and Jade, who don’t question that their feelings are for another girl, that are never shown it’s different to Boorman and Scorpia, or Sorsha and Madmartigan.

To have had that when I was 13 would have made a lot of things clearer a lot sooner, and I am so so so glad that young kid’s can look at these character’s and see themselves.

Kit, who isn’t a typical princess, she’s not girly. She has short hair, and prefers to be swordfighting than getting dressed up for a royal function.

Jade, who by all account’s isn’t a typical knight, she’s not a guy. But that doesn’t stop her, she’s never told that she can’t train, just that an elite group might not accept her to train with them, but they do.

For myself, I see myself in both Kit and Jade. I was never girly, I would rather be rough housing with the boys, climbing trees, playing football, always prefered short hair.

On the rare occasion I would play a game that involved princess’s and knights, I was always a knight rescuing the princess.

So to finally see me on screen, yes as two different people, but that’s me! That’s amazing. I’m 28 years old so to finally see that.

Kit and Jade will always have my heart. They will always be special to me.

Disney can never take them away from us. I’m sure I’ve said this before, but even if we don’t get anymore of them, if we don’t get season 2, Disney can’t ever take away the first lesbian princess, and her lady knight.

Kit and Jade will always belong to us. They will always be there for us to show to young kids. To show that diversity and representation.

[sunshineandviolets]

Two sisters, forever best friends since day one. The perfect daughter to uphold her family's legacy, that crushes those that she deems inferior. Behind her, the littlest spider lost amongst her daydreams and unable to find a voice of her own. Despite their differences, they remained together, You never saw one without the other - or at least that's how the story was supposed to go.

Got the chance to commission @mavidraws for some portraits of these tragic sisters. Thank you again so much for these!! They both came out awesome 💖!!!

[fortune-maiden]

We ship peixuan here ?! Yaaayyyy

WE DO INDEED! ✨

…well me and like three other people. JOIN US!!

[southernvampire]

just got to act 3 and I'm not ok. that conversation in the pistis sofia... after going through everything, losing a lot of people, your time running short and getting sicker by the moment, the option for V to trust Johnny almost completely is there.

the realization (for my V in particular) is that yeah, he would take a bullet for Johnny. yeah, he does want corps to burn, no matter how impossible that actually is. yeah, he will let Johnny take over to talk to Rogue and trust him with his body, because at this point, what else does he have to lose? Johnny needs his body to survive just as much as V does. and when Johnny tells him that he'll help V and be ok with being wiped out, V believes him. no matter if Johnny is actually trying to trick him or what everyone has told V about Johnny, he chooses to trust him.

in the moment, he doesn't worry about the reasoning behind it, if his mind is slowly turning into Johnny's or if he's just being stockholmed by Johnny, because he's seen the look on his face when a relic malfunction happens, heard the hitch of concern in his voice each time. and yeah, that concern is for himself, but also for V. he can almost feel Johnny's emotions in those times.

after that conversation, he realizes that he loves Johnny in a way that he can't quite put his finger on. like not being able to help but love a part of yourself simply because it's you, except Johnny isn't V. not yet, if Hellman was right about how this was all going to go down. but it's more than that. he also loves Johnny like a childhood friend you've always had feelings for, but know nothing will ever happen of it so you choose to be by their side through the years to be close to them and care for them in a way they will accept. except they've barely had time to properly know each other, yet they know each other more than anyone else has ever had.

whatever feeling it is, it is intimate and selfless and bordering on being completely, unapologetically unconditional. and though he doesn't have proof, V thinks that Johnny might be feeling the same, or similar, feeling toward V, whether or not it's solely based on his own need for survival.

he realizes that he doesn't exactly want Johnny to go away, not completely, and he's not sure if he could deal with the loneliness in his mind afterward, or the guilt if anything happened to Johnny's construct. he needs Johnny, cares about him, partly because they're slowly melding together into one, but also because he doesn't have anyone else he's ever been this vulnerable with, and he senses the same might be true for Johnny. he doesn't want to let go of Johnny, but deep down he's also not ready to die, his self-loathing be damned.

the pistis sofia is a great place to die, but not today, so he'll keep trying to find a solution. but the odds aren't looking good, and if it comes down to it, he doesn't know if he'll be able to choose himself over Johnny.

[crimson-catalyst]

nephfei's Mending Day 2024 was going to be set in Atala, the centicorn capital, but didn't quuiiite make it around jac's busy schedule - but that didnt stop me from unlocking the deep Laika lore for @skittykittycat's Ersie! written piece once more.

(related introduction: Ersie's Mending Day 2023 && followup comic (4 panels) sorry the intermediate time is trapped in discord speculation hell LOL)

~~~~~

bzt bzt!

A text? This late? Ersie carefully shifts the pizza box she’s carrying to get at her phone and flicks it on. It's Laika, replying to her invitation to lunch from much earlier this morning.

sorry i missed you 😭 maybe we can catch each other next week instead?

Well, she was still in the neighborhood... and she had all this leftover pizza that had been thrust upon her by the showrunners at the gig she had just left. What would it hurt to stop by?

aw nbd  💖 im just a block away actually if ur still up and want to say hi rq?

my clients gave me a whole box of pizza if u wanna take some off my paws 😭😂

Laika’s usually fast to reply so she should hear back before she leaves the area... Hope she was okay earlier, Ersie muses. Probably just busy at the studio for Mending Day photoshoots.

bzt bzt!

youre too sweet 💚💛🧡 though id hate to make you go out of ur way

Heck with it, Ersie figures. She’s exhausted socially and physically but whats one more quick visit? Maybe her batteries are so shot that it'll nerf her anxiety (ha, as if). And besides, she’ll never eat this much pizza alone.

its no biggie ill cya soon ;3 

She shoots back a text, plucking the box out of the air so as not to risk magic overuse. Laika’s is... she pivots. This way!

Swapping the stupid box to her other paw again - she really should just use magic, honestly - Ersie pokes the faulty doorbell until she hears its distant chime.

“Hey,” Laika’s mane ruffles in the rush of air as the door opens on her snow white halo. “Late night gig hunh? Don’t let me keep you out too long.” Her voice peaks and cracks. Ersie’s certain her smile is forced.

“Y-yeah,” should she say something?? “A little uh, ~Anti-Mending Day~ rave. It was neat, I’ve never been to something like it! Their previous sparky recc’ed me.” She holds her tongue, as much as she’d like to gush more about the event. It’s late, Laika’s clearly tired...

“There’s so much happening today! Nobody can agree what Mending Day should be about,” she sniffles and not-so-subtly wipes her red nose with a paw. “Haha, I wonder if we would’ve even been able to find a place for lunch. Sorry about that, by the way...”

Okay, she’s not just tired. Every curious bone in Ersie’s body screams for her to pry, especially after last year’s Mending Day when she came home from Roost and talked Laika’s ear off. What had this cat so expertly avoided telling Ersie about her past?

“No no it’s okay! I wouldn’t have been able to stay long anyway what with early setup.” don’t ask, Ersie, don't- “.... Iiis everything okay?” ah.

Laika’s smile falters.

“I just! mean, um, was it busy at the studio today? Or did you have a date that didn’t- ah, um, spent time with family and all their drama-” she was just making this worse. “Ohh my gods. ahem. Did someone-” Ersie!!!! “sorry. SORRY.”

She can feel her cheeks burning as she sinks into the floor, only to be assuaged by a peal of quiet but genuine laughter as Laika giggles at her. Her ears perk up and she looks up at her friend standing in the door. Tears are pricking her eyes, but her smile is real this time.

“Ersie, Ersie; it's okay. You’re right, today sucked.” she hiccups on the last word. “Get in here, I owe you the tea anyway.” She steps back and out of the doorway, gesturing Ersie inside.

“I- you don't have to tell me if you're not ready.”

“I spent all day wishing I’d already told you so I didn't feel like such a jerk calling off lunch. But- only if you don't have to get home,”  she adds, “Don't let me make this all about me.”

“My plan for the night was ‘scroll KucKoo and eat cold pizza.’” Ersie grins.

“Then let's gossip and eat cold pizza. Heavens knows my life is a KucKoo-worthy story as it is, and I skipped dinner.” Laika rolls her eyes, then offers her paws for the box and takes it as Ersie walks into the condo.

“There’s a coaster next to you,” Laika hands Ersie a glass of cherry soda. She reaches her little paws out of the huge plush blanket she’s already nestled in. Ersie’s kind of couch, honestly. She loved visiting Laika’s place. She chirps a quick “Thanks!!”

She takes a little sip as Laika sets down her own drink and arranges herself in a mountain of pillows, carefully tucking her massive tail around herself. “Goddsssss. Okay.” Laika takes a deep breath to hype herself up, sniffling a little bit. “Sorry I'm such a MESS I've been holed up in here all day. Urghhh.”

“The Atala ex?” Ersie guesses. Not that she knows any more than that.

“The one and only,” she groans. “Mending D-day” she chokes, “Is- was- our anniversary. Both for dating and-” she gestures as her horn, and hisses with unmistakable venom. “-this.”

Ersie hides her surprise with another sip of soda. She’s never heard Laika’s voice that hard.

“I just- I’m thinking a lot about how Mending Day was originally all about thanking the other nephs for their generosity to spinx - I mean, I think it's bunk, but that's not the point. He was a religious neph. He chose today. Did he know? Was it just coincidence? I -” she pauses. “Wait. Let me start over, there’s so much to this." She adjusts her tail one more time and shakes her head to clear it, then spreads her beans out dramatically to start the tale.

“So you know I’m from Atala?”

Ersie nods.

“I moved here when Urban Fabrics hired me. That was it, I’ve been working there since I set my first paw on the Catalis pavement - technically I was an employee even before that legally speaking.”

---

“Danik! Danik, I got scouted!”

“You what?” the centicorn turned his head to her as he hung up his coat. She had grabbed the mail first on their way in; he had picked her up from work.

“I got a job offer from Urban Fabrics Company!!” Laika squealed, hopping with excitement as she clutched her letter.

“Urban Fabrics? The guys who put on Next Top Meowdel?? From when they visited your salon? Oh babe, that's so cool! For how long?”

She holds the papers out to him proudly across the apartment. “They have a permanent show stylist position opening up!! Oh my gods, this is a DREAM...”

“Is it for the run of a show? I don’t know anything about showbiz.” he walks behind her, touching her fur gently, and peers over her shoulder at the text. “Six months??”

“That's just the trial contract,” Laika explains, giddy. “Then if they like you you get onboarded on salary. They can afford to be picky.”

“Can you say no?”

“I- sure probably,” she flicks her ears, confused. “If the work environment sucks that's also my opportunity to bail. It’s a win-win.”

“That could work,” He nods thoughtfully behind her. “It’s a long time, but then you’ve got a glowing star on your resume, and we don’t have to move to Catalis.”

Her brain short circuits and she’s silent for a moment.

“What do you- it’s not for one show, it's for the company as a whole, indefinitely. If I get the full-time position we would have to.”

“Why would we move to Catalis?? All our family is here, all our friends are here! We have duties and jobs here and a home! We’d be insane to leave.”

Laika clutches the papers back to her chest, ears flattening. She edges away from her partner as she turns to face him.

“I’d be insane to pass this up! This is the opportunity of a lifetime, Danik, this is the kind of thing you leave behind your childhood for!”

“We’ve always planned to raise our family here!”

“But-”

"But nothing!" The centicorn leans forward over Laika, sweeping an arm in front of him angrily. “We can’t leave our parents, and the temple! I grew up with that congregation - and you're a part of it now too - and we’ve known for a while I’m going to be next on the council!”

“I don't remember talking about either of those things,” Laika mutters stonily.

“Sure we have! forever!! Adopting twins if we can find any? Twilight and Astarion? A mushroom house? You a stylist and me a cleric, on the side while we're parenting???” his hooves sound like firecrackers on the tiled floor as he clops to underline each point.

“Wh- Danik, we last talked about baby names playing hooky behind the school! We aren’t sixteen anymore!! We’re adults with different plans than an idyllic two-and-a-half foals in Atala!”

“You haven't given me any reason to think that wasn’t the plan!”

Her eyes burn with tears and she thrusts the letter in his face. “Well here’s your reason! I want this job that I’ve dreamed of since I got licensed and I want to move to Catalis for it!”

---

Laika faceplants into a pillow and growls in frustration before looking back up at Ersie.

“Like, am I wrong that fangirling over a show so hard that you build a successful career around it and talk about working for them all the time is pretty clear communication? Are Atalan centicorns just that dense??” She throws her paw up in an exasperated one-handed shrug.

Ersie doesn't respond, furiously tapping out some final words on her phone and flips around a shitty meme generator. 'i am dropping hints that i want to work for urban fabrics.' Laika laughs a sharp “HA” and throws the pillow at her, giggling through her tears.

“I mean, clearly you probably should've talked about it,” Ersie admits, “but he could've done the same, girl!!”

“TRUE!” Laika crows, picking up another piece of the cold sheet pizza. Pillows are all over the floor and they've both been back and forth to the kitchen to refill their drinks. They're laughing more than Laika is crying, but it's hard not to feel punchy when you're this tired this late at night. Maybe it's for the best.

"What gets me is that even though the first fight SUCKED I was open to work it out! I tried so many times to have a rational conversation about our future and how much it meant to me - even a long-distance thing - and he just dug his damn hooves in deeper and deeper." She bites her pizza in revenge. "My tipping point was realizing that my friends and my family were barely in the area anymore, and he was only really tallying his. Eventually it was him or the job. His words!! Not even kidding!!!"

"Wow, scumbag much?"

"URGHHH with every year I agree with that more and more, but... we were together for almost fifteen years. He wasn't shitty for most of it... just the very end." Laika droops again, sniffling.

"I don't know, not being willing to even listen to your partner when they say 'this is important to me' doesn't seem like an issue you develop overnight." Ersie tilts her head. "It simply hadn't come up, I guess."

Laika clutches a new pillow and squeezes it, looking away. "Yeah...."

"And!" Ersie adds, "He was ~sooo~ good at communicating in other situations. Like the plan for your entire future. Relationships can't just be trivial things; what if it was about something else? Like kids?? It HAS to be better that this-" she waves a paw, "-happened when it did and not later."

"You're right," Laika sighs. "That's what I keep telling myself too. Gods, he's so good at communicating that 'I just need some space' became 'I'm never gonna acknowledge your existence again.' Not that it matters, I don't want to talk to him anymore."

"In three years??"

"Nope. Nothing. Not since I walked out the door."

"Damn. Cold."

"I broke his heart, I guess." She's trying to shrink into the pillow but it's much too small. "It sucks," she laughs bitterly, "to have a constant reminder of him nailed to my forehead. Sometimes I wish he'd corrupt me."

"...to prove he hates you too?"

"I don't.... hate him. It's complicated, I......" she growls. "Alright. Yeah. A little. But that's not my point, I was kinda getting at this earlier; it's been on my mind all day. You went to an Anti-Mending Day rave, right?"

"Worked it, but close enough." It's a fine line of distinction in Ersie's profession.

"Yeah, and.... there's Destruction Day protestors too. I don't entirely agree with them either but it's gotten me thinking. Does he know? Did he know how much this tied me to him? He was religious, he must have. How much it was expected of Atalan spinxyn - or at least in our neck of the woods - to get gifted horns if they 'did it right', nevermind what 'it' was? You know what I mean." she gestures vaguely to Ersie's normal, empty, catlike shoulders.

Ersie's mind instantly flashes to her brothers. "Ohhhhh yeah. I get it. At least for us it's-" she scrambles for a word. "-more casual? Even a friend can gift you your wings." she snorts, and amends with heavy airquotes, " """Your""" wings, as if everyone should have them. But you know how harpips are, especially in comparison to centicorns."

"It's true! Atalan centicorns, at least, are more reticent. You have to ~earn it~." Laika rolls onto her back and punches the pillow with her back legs, flipping it into the air and over the back of the couch. "I dunno. It's hard to say, he was a part of the system too. I don't think he did anything malicious; he made it look like my tail and he gave me a mane..."

"Your HAIR is his????" Laika, famous(ly employed) hairdresser? Her whole life was her fur!

"IT IS!" She howls with surprised delight that only comes about well past one's bedtime, "You didn't know??"

"I mean I guess he did a good job! Or YOU do a better job blending it in!" Ersie grins and flicks Laika's head fur with her tailtip, happy to have lightened the mood a little again. "I can't believe you've gotta look him in the mirror every single day."

"Yeah..." Laika's burst of energy sputters out again all too quickly. It's late, and the soda's wearing off.

She holds two fingers out in a circle like a telescope. "I try not to think about it too much but being spinxyn kind of sucks sometimes."

“Yeah.”

The girls sit in silence for a moment.

“You should come with me to the Anti-Mending Day rave next year.”

“Yeah. I should. That sounds like fun.”

[cramopener]

I need…to write fic about my Tarnished and Messmer

[astearisms]

catalysts, protectors

[rgrdsalxndra]

KateSpence

[paintedcrows]

Holiday Classics

Been thinking about Ford watching the 70s Animated Lord of the Rings Movies... (companion comic to this post!)

[space-kappa]

IT'S REAL AND I'LL FIGHT ANYONE WHO OPPOSES IT

I love how this is a tag on AO3 for the 2012 verse

They are twins your honor

[vaperarmand]

btw i do think we should have more movies about lesbians who are fully realized complex characters who ultimately achieve happiness in ways they may not even necessarily deserve and get to ride into the sunset with their lover because lesbians deserve to know that a happy ending is possible despite how unrealistic it may seem and despite a world that doesn't understand or support them. and i think these movies should depict sex and fetish content because it's hot and because lesbians deserve to know that no matter how messy or "weird" their desire seems it's real and it's even worth celebrating. and if you don't agree. well. you should not be allowed to watch movies

[benevolenterrancy]

~ Extremely Unwilling Magical Protagonists Attempt To Outrun The Plot And Not Fucking Die ~

(@takofukkatsumi this tag is from a while ago but it hasn't left my brain -- L-Space got very weird all of a sudden)

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Lan Wangji Goes To Lotus Pier AU: Part 5: Flip Slip.

(Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 4.5)