#maudra laesid

[fenth-eiria]

What if.... Virin married Isthma before retiring... (Au Scene rewrite from Chapter 6 of Bloom in the Canopies)

Isthma was occupied straightening Virin’s workspace when his ears picked up angry bickering. He poked his head out into the hall to see what it was about. He saw his partner and the future Drenchen Maudra in the middle of an heated argument, he let out a heavy sigh before yelling. “Virin! Laesid! Will you both please stop the senseless quarreling?” He amused, resulting in the important Drenchen to look at him with annoyed looks. He walked over and gently patted his spouse’s head. “There are better ways to settle this ~maybe~ Let her heal your best hunter, who actually can do his job and life correctly, and ~maybe~ Kick Orren, Gern, and Galia off the guild.” He added, stating the obvious, causing Virin to get a bit worked up.

“Like I said. Let me do my JOB!” They exclaimed, before the old Stonewood looked at him with a frown.

“Then why haven’t you yet?’ He asked, his head tilted in confusion. The Drenchen elder tried to say something, but no words could form and all that came out of their mouth was a noise.

“EHUHMMM…..” They realized that Isthma could be on to something. They added with hesitation. “I’ll consider it, after everything that has happened…It probably is my only option…Especially after how they treated you earlier this unum…” They flinched as they recalled what the three Drenchen trainees had said to him. They clenched both their fist and teeth before yelling on the top of their lungs. “ORREN, GERN, AND GALIA!! YOU ALL ARE OFF THE HUNTING GUILD!!” Before anyone could object, crying could be heard and Virin froze in realization as they remembered their little baby girl was taking a nap. “ Son of a snipp…Isthma, could you please go fetch Fuchsia? I must have accidentally startled her awake..” They requested, trying to pull themself together so they do not scare her when they receive her. The old farmer agreed as he turned around and entered the room that his daughter was in. Once he returned, little Fuchsia was squirming and crying in his arms which caused Virin to pity her. They simply smiled warmly as they scooped her into their arms and started to sing her a quiet lullaby while rocking her back to sleep.

Notes:

So I needed to state the obvious and what Virin should have done with Orren, Gern, and Galia, so I used Isthma for it.

Virin, Orren, Gern, and Galia belong to @sifanjewel

Isthma and Fuchsia belong to me

Laesid belongs to the Jim Henson Company

Again this is AN AU and IS NOT CANON to Bloom in the Canopies.

Edit: tagging @childlikegoblinqueen

[beasanfi1997]

Nina Sosanya, the voice actress of Maudra Laesid and the actress of the mother of Will Parry, made a prediction about Dafne Keen and Amandla Stenberg will play Star Wars Acolyte

[coyotl-io]

if any more of you BITCHES give up on drawing drenchen locs i’m draining you myself

[talkin-tdc]

TDC Halloween AU

Ordon is the type of dad to strictly give out one piece per childling you can’t convince me otherwise

Laesid and Bellanji like to just leave the bowl out (Naia always steals it early into the night before anyone else can get it.)

Mayrin will just make the butler do it, or Seladon if she doesn’t make her take her sisters.

Skeksis usually can’t be bothered to give out candy, but when they do, they make the poddling do it and usually SkekAyuk likes to put in gross ingredients (make some candy spicey or cause burping, that sorta thing.)

Rian likes to gather all the kids who are either his friends or like to get a lot of candy and delegate them to maximize profits and all get the most candy for all of them. The older kids like Tolyn and Gurjin are sent to take them trick or treating to keep them in line, Tolyn does but Gurjin turns his eyes away or joins in.

Kylan has to remind everyone to play civil and most of the night breaks up other childling arguing over trading. He does it so much that often Tolyn has to ask for candy for his brother since Kylan is always too busy with making sure no one fights to get candy.

Juni’s house is the most popular on the block as they not only put up spooky decorations but give out full sized candy bars.

Brea likes to look up facts about the candy companies or candy in general and tell everyone as they’re getting it.

Tavra dislikes candy, but goes out to spend time with her sisters, always giving up her candy to Seladon who she knows loves candy even though she denies it.

The librarian tells stories to childling who come up to his door, often his house getting avoided as while they are spooky, they take up a lot of time.

Cadia lives across the street and does the same thing. Who’s ever trick or treaters leaves the door last wins. They try to one up each other, both having the best candy in the neighborhood and trying to get Rian to come to their door as he’s the town’s poster childling tricker treater. He never goes to either though since Ordon tells him not to and it’d be a time waster.

Deet reminds everyone not to give candy to any animals. Also brings treats of her own in case kids can’t eat candy they’re given due to health issues.

Deet’s dads don’t like giving out candy since it can exclude kids so they give out stuffed animals instead.

Rek’yr throws a party for all the adults at night. Most go to discuss the night’s events, kid’s costumes, decorations, though Mayrin and Ordon skip out to spend time with family while the rest of the adults go.

Maudra Argot is said to be a “wild child” at said parties.

Maudra Mera bakes cookies from scratch for trick or treaters.

SkekMal will take one childling per Halloween and childling are told not to go near the forest. It’s why big kids are forced to watch after the younger ones (even though some would rather be studying or going to the big party on the block).

That’s it! Give me some recs for anyone I missed ^^

[eanfee]

Dark Crystal Barbie AU Part 2!

First, let's understand the geopolitical issue of this universe:

Unlike the Thra we know, this is not a large Pangea. The world is divided between a larger continent composed of the lands of Spriton, Vapra and Sifa and smaller lands across the globe, which can be as large as the Stonewood Empire, as vast as the Dusan Archipelago or as small as the island inhabited by the Drenchens, the furthest from the continent, in a place that went ages without being explored due to the difficult navigation, which kept them isolated from everything.

During the First Age of Great Navigations, the Vapras attempted to cross the cape and reach the unexplored Lands, with a fleet of extremely advanced ships for the time, which carried dozens of explorers and the royal family: Queen Mayrin and her three daughters: Seladon, Katavra and Brea. Unfortunately, their ship sank and their middle daughter, Katavra, was lost at sea and presumed dead, which shook the entire world and kept any explorers away from the area for decades.

Now, the story:

However, Princess Katavra (who now remembered nothing about her past other than the nickname Tavra, as she became known), miraculously managed to survive and ended up on the beaches of Sog Island, home of the Drenchen, where she was found by Maudra Laesid and her family. Too young and not knowing who she was, little Vapra was pitied by Maudra and her husband, who decided to raise her as a legitimate daughter alongside their newborn twins: Naia and Gurjin.

Despite Maudra's support and the love of her brothers, Tavra grew up slightly ignored and rejected by the Drenchens, who found her appearance strange and feared what this strange creature from across the sea might bring. That is, until Tavra gained her wings. The incredible flying ability never seen before in Drenchen history made Sog's adopted daughter a valuable and respected member of her people, and the girl began to receive training from her father to be a warrior. Tavra and Gurjin eventually became leaders of their island's defense force, with Gurjin responsible for overseeing the land and waters and Tavra keeping watch from the trees and above the clouds with her majestic wings. Naia, Maudra Laesid's eldest biological daughter, was raised from birth to succeed her mother, which leaves her with a much more hectic and boring routine than her siblings, making her somewhat envious. However, all this is forgotten when Tavra plays pranks to distract her from her hard work. For being her only sister and for always protecting and comforting her, Tavra became extremely special to Naia, to the point that the youngest did not like strangers interacting with the oldest, for fear of being abandoned.

However, one day, the peace of the inhabitants of Sog is interrupted by the arrival of an expeditionary force from abroad: a fleet of ships led by the heir to the Sifa throne, Onica.

Everyone is frightened and fearful, and they vote that they must drive the outsiders away before they cause any harm. Tavra, as one of the warriors' cheves, should be responsible for getting rid of the invaders, but when she sees a young vapra among the crew, she becomes intoxicated by the possibility that there are more gelflings like her, who can answer the questions she has had all her life: Who was she? Where did she come from? Did she have family beyond the endless sea? What could possibly await her on this so-called "continent" on the other side of the world?

Despite Gurjin's apprehension, Naia's insistence, and the general resistance of her people, Maudra Laesid allows Tavra to sail with the outsiders in search of answers, knowing how important this is to her small, twinkling star. She also sends her two children along (knowing that they will protect each other) in search of what the New World can offer Sog.

During the long voyage, Tavra and Onica grow closer and closer, much to Naia's dismay, and Tavra learns a little about the general history of her people, the Vapras, from some of the crew members.

Upon arriving in Sifa territory, Onica rushes to introduce Tavra (who is now dazzled, like her siblings, by the technology and lifestyle of the continent) to her parents, King Cadia and Queen Ethri, in order to ask for their blessing to marry Tavra. This plan, however, fails completely when her parents introduce her to her fiancé, Prince Kylan, and her adoptive mother, Queen Mera of the Spritons.

Time to explain the villain's past:

(I believe everyone remembers Queen Ariana's goal in the Barbie movie: to marry her daughter to Prince Antonio in order to stage a coup d'état due to the king's resentment. Well, the same goal applies here.)

King Cadia of the Sifas was a new king, crowned while still young after the death of his parents, and still too immature to carry the crown, thought the Spritons, who did not like the new form of trade that had been implemented and was unfavorable to their interests.

Because of this, a group of Spriton rebels joined together with the aim of killing the king and carrying out a coup d'état. However, they were caught and punished severely, some with death, some with exile, as was the case with Mera's family.

Her parents lost all their titles and properties, leaving only a small piece of land for their subsistence, where her parents worked until they died of exhaustion. Revolted, Mera faked her own death and started life over as a maid in the Spriton palace, where she calmly became close to the royal family, especially the queen, who had great affection for her because of the sweet way she treated her little baby Kylan.

Mera, after months of trust, engineered an accident that led to the queen's death, and taking advantage of the king's fragility, who feared that his son would have to grow up without a mother, soon married and assumed the role of queen, poisoning the king not long after.

Afraid of raising suspicions if she murdered the crown prince, she raised him as her own, and after hearing about the birth of King Sifa's daughter, she began to devise her plan, training Kylan to be the perfect heir to marry him to Onica, and thus take possession of the Sifa throne and put an end to the royal family.

To overcome the disagreements that have grown between the kingdoms since the assassination attempt years ago, Cadia thinks it would be a great idea to arrange the marriage of Onica and Kylan, against the wishes of the princess, who is heartbroken when Tavra leaves her, devastated.

The bullying only gets worse and worse, with the sifas, vapras and spritons making fun of Tavra and her brothers because of their customs, the way they speak and behave, and in the case of Naia and Gurjin, their appearance. The king even suggests that they should sleep in the royal stables, alongside other animals, which Ethri vehemently rebukes, and sends them to the royal greenhouse, as they had requested. The brothers sleep together perched in the main tree, homesick, but Tavra cannot contain her thoughts about Onica and her lost family.

On the day of the engagement ball, Onica invites Tavra to attend, and sends her a Vapra assistant, Juni, who tries to guide her in the traditions and customs of the high court. Juni is part of a select group of young people who have moved from their homeland to Sifa territory to serve in the name of the Vapra crown, in order to foster peace between the kingdoms. Another example of these young people is her cousin, the pale sailor with freckles and reddish hair who is Onica's personal assistant.

Juni's behavior displeases the Drenchen twins, who say that Tavra should remain true to who she is and follow the traditions they have learned since childhood.

Tavra decides to strike a balance between the two, fully accepting that she is both Vapra and Drenchen, and attends the ball in the clothes that Juni, Naia and Gurjin have prepared for her. Gurjin wants to see his sister happy, even if she is far from him and with a Sifa. Naia also wants her sister happy, but is afraid of losing her.

Afraid that Tavra and Onica's proximity will disrupt her plans, Mera poisons part of the servants, including Juni, with a strong sleeping herb and blames the girl and her family, claiming that they brought a curse to the mainland, which causes them to be imprisoned. In prison, Queen Spriton tries to poison them too, and Gurjin ends up falling ill.

Onica agrees to marry Kylan if her father suspends the execution of his beloved and her brothers and only allows them to return to their island safely, which the king gladly does. However, Mera sabotages the trip and they all fall into the sea, with Naia struggling to hold her unconscious brother's body so that it does not get swept away by the current while crying out to Tavra, who is in shock.

At this point, she recalls parts of her old life, with memories of the shipwreck where someone calls her name: Katavra.

Before drowning, the siblings are saved by Freckles, who secretly heard Mera's plans and is terribly worried about his cousin. When shown a sample of the plant used to make the poison, Naia recognizes it from one of her mother's lessons on basic healing, and claims that the antidote is a flower that can be found in the palace greenhouse.

Arriving at the last minute to stop the wedding, everyone is shocked when they see Juni awake and right next to her cousin, Naia, Gurjin and Tavra, who expose Mera's plan. When confronted, she ends up exposing the truth about all her crimes, breaking the heart of Kylan who loved and respected his adoptive mother so much, but who joins Tavra at this moment to capture her.

At the end of her imprisonment, Tavra reasserts herself to Mera in retaliation for all the harm she has done to her, and proudly reveals that she is a Vapra-drenchen who may not have found her biological family, but has learned to recognize and appreciate her siblings and adoptive parents, and that she will love them no matter what. She now knows who she is, she is Katavra, and that is who she has always been.

Among the wedding guests was a longing queen, accompanied by her two daughters, who joyfully recognizes the name of her daughter who was lost so many years ago, recognizing Katavra as her own. In the midst of the party, with Tavra now a recognized princess, Cadia finally accepts the marriage of her and her daughter Onica.

Queen Mayrin finally found her beloved daughter again, Naia and Gurjin returned to Sog to tell the good news and every year they receive a visit from Tavra and Onica, who bring products from the Continent for exchange, Mera was arrested and deposed and Kylan assumed the throne, marrying some time later someone he truly loved, as he had always dreamed.

[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)

[redtail-lol]

"redemption arcs are toxic" my brother in christ real human beings have redemption arcs, and seeing bad characters change through redemption might make them feel less unforgivable.

Poorly done redemption arcs might have unrealistic, silly, or toxic ideas of unconditional forgiveness, but that's a flaw of one piece of media's writing and not a flaw of redemption arcs.

My favorite redemption arc is still Seladon from The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance despite the fact that she didn't get to see it all the way through before the show was cancelled. We didn't get to see her reintegrate into Gelfling society without it being under the conditions of fleeing the Skeksis Castle or during battle, a time where squabble would be both pointless and dangerous. I still strongly feel Maudra Laesid would be an antagonizing figure towards Seladon, and that the other Maudras wouldn't have the best impression of her. But we did get to see her fluid change of stance, her maturing, all within a consistent arc that never felt like it strayed from who she is.

I won't go into her too much here, but on the point; Seladon was a child, who made bad decisions based on the indoctrination she'd had for her whole life, and her impulsive emotions as she was trying to process the grief of playing a major part in her mother's death, unintentionally. She didn't make the right decisions, and she was bratty with some petty ulterior motives, but ultimately she had always wanted to do good even when she was wrong about what that was. Do these people think she's beyond forgiveness? That a child in a religious cult (a close parallel to the way the Gelfling, especially the royal family, revered the Skeksis) can never be forgiven for hurting people? Actually yes, the dark crystal fandom hates Seladon because they don't understand how great she is as a character. The brilliance of her writing and the sense in her arc, from beginning to corruption to despair to redemption, is lost on them because she was kinda bitchy and annoying. I've seen fans wish she had been killed by the Skeksis, who would be doing it not for punishment but just to extend their unnatural immortality. So yeah, they're cops.

"redemption arcs are toxic, you shouldn't try to fix someone!"

actually it is so important to me that being in community and experiencing human connection can save people. thanks

[potatopeelerkind]

Day 4! That crown really was, uh, something. I like to think it happened something like this.

Blacksmithing clearly isn’t part of the standard princess curriculum.

[tdc-incorrect-quotes]

Mayrin and Mera, with their unhappy kids: Oh, it's so hard being a maudra and raising kids. :(

Laesid, with her four happy kids: Can't relate.

[sifanjewel]

Part 1 is up!

[thanatasia]

If you didn’t see this in the conversation (and you asked for sketch Ideas): How about a sketch dump (possibly with flat colors) of Maudra Argot, Maudra Laesid, deet’s family, the Librarian, and the one eyed castle guard?

This was a lot but it is done!

It was really cool sketching a bunch of characters I haven’t drawn before. My favorite is Maudra Argot because I LOVE funny granny characters. I also never realized how much of a Mermaid Queen Maudra Laesid is! Like, her hair, her crown- I also find it really cool how her hair is mostly silky instead of in locs like Gurjin and Naia.

Also, Bobb’N! He’s so cute and I loved drawing him, I really enjoy drawing childlings, and believe me we are gonna see a bunch of new childlings soon!

@fenth-eiria I hope you like this sketch dump and thank you for this suggestion!

[fenth-eiria]

So half of this was requested by @the-experimental-writer The other half I just picked people.

Enjoy!!

[thebibliomancer]

Flames of the Dark Crystal liveblog pt 23

Flames of the Dark Crystal by J.M. Lee because I want to know how Naia is going to stop skekSa without killing her since that’s where the moral compass is pointing.

Last times on book: Team Naia has gone to her home Swamp of Sog to light the sixth fire of resistance! But the swamp isn’t as Naia left it. Her parents are fighting over the future of the Drenchen and the home tree Great Smerth is dying. Also, skekSa shows up quite unannounced which is rude. While trying to capture Naia and Gurjin she gets beat to hell and poisoned by the Drenchen and then stymied by her counterpart urSan. She does manage to capture himbo Gurjin and badly stab him out of spite but Naia has the idea to invade skekSa’s mind through dreamfast daisychain to learn her backstory. I don’t know how that helps but I appreciated the additional insight.

Chapter 23

Maudra Laesid continues trying to kill a Skeksis, Naia comes up with a different idea.

Okay, so. What really interrupted the dreamfast wasn’t just skekSa yelling about how she loves nothin’ and nobody.

Momdra Laesid snuck up behind the Mariner while she was in dreamfast trance and had her massive Muski eel Chapyora bite her. Also, for good measure, Laesid stabbed skekSa with a spear.

Laesid really is all in on this ‘lets kill the Skeksis!’ thing.

Which. You can’t really argue that there’s insufficient motivation.

While skekSa is flailing in pain and rage, Chapyora snatches Gurjin out of her grasp and takes him back to Naia and Eliona to heal. Because, yes, Naia’s healing works again. It was a mental block thing going on.

(Also, hooray for magical healing. Takes a plot important Gelfling from slowly bleeding to death to not)

“You never took it from me,” Naia assured him. “You awakened your own. To protect me. And all this time I’ve been so preoccupied blaming you for it. But now I remember what I’m here for. Why I have this power -- why we have this --”

“GET OFF ME! I’LL KILL YOU!”

Ah, right. This touching moment is going on at the same time that Laesid is STILL trying to kill skekSa.

And she’s really good at it, too. skekSa tries to do that thing where she slams her back against something to scrape off someone clinging on but Laesid just swings to the other side before impact.

It really seems like the best way for Gelfling to fight Skeksis is not with their strongest in muscle strength fighters. Even the beefiest Gelfling is going to get seriously injured if hit by something two or three times their size.

Its a job for the dexterous. Flying and jumping in and out so a Skeksis can’t get them. That was the case when they fought skekSa on the mountain too. Tae cut off her arm by flying down from an unexpected angle.

skekSa let out a piercing, ragged scream of frustration. The Skeksis were powerful, strong, and huge -- but they were not used to being challenged. Even now, Naia’s mother used it to her advantage. It looked almost as if she were dancing across skekSa’s shoulders, deftly avoiding her claws and slashing knife.

But we’re not trying to kill the Skeksis is the thing.

All the injuries Laesid is piling on skekSa are reflecting on urSan and dropping her to her knees. Naia begs her mom once again again again to please not kill her friend by proxy but she also doesn’t have an answer on how to stop skekSa otherwise.

“I’m sorry, Naia,” Laesid called back. “I understand what urSan means to you. I understand what the Mystics mean to you. But we have to put our clan first. We have to survive as Gelfling. Look at Great Smerth. Look what she’s done to your brother. Look what she’s done to our home!”

Naia flounders for what to do but she remembers Gurjin telling her she’s not like skekSa and Amri telling her “doing good... bringing flowers out of ash” and she has yet another mid-peril epiphany. She’s getting a lot of mileage out of that!

She decides that since Gurjin isn’t currently dying anymore, he’s well enough to join her new plan. Him and sister Eliona and all the other Drenchen with the gift of healing.

Naia puts her hands to the Glenfoot which is a part of the Great Smerth because every tree in the swamp is part of the Great Smerth (good gosh!) and starts singing the song of Thra that she heard Onica and Aughra sing.

“Great Smerth. Smerth-Staba. Tree that has protected me and my clan. Like a mother in our beloved swamp. Even now as your body is overtaken by flames... Deatea. Deratea. Kidakida. Arugaru.”

Amri and Kylan join her, though they aren’t healers. Then Gurjin. Then Eliona and Kipper and Bellanji. And ALL of the Drenchen (who have just been standing around thinking ‘she’s got this’ about their maudra fighting a Skeksis. In fairness, she do got this). They all sing to Great Smerth and all the ones that can heal push their healing fire into the roots.

Great Smerth groaned. A sound like the singing of the earth, the creaking of its massive limbs. Naia felt tears on her cheeks at the sound of its voice, old and tired and in pain. Sick, though it wanted nothing more than to be healthy, to spread its boughs across the Drenchen glade. To provide shade and food and shelter. That was what the world wanted to be; that was Thra’s only desire. Great Smerth had been a gift to that end. Thra, trying to care for the Gelfling as they had cared for it.

Its interesting to me that Thra is both a death world with so many things that’ll just kill the unwary before they even know whats happening. BUT ALSO explicitly deeply loves its inhabitants and wants to care for them.

I guess it makes sense if Thra doesn’t play favorites. The strangle vines that strangle hapless travelers in the Dark Wood are as much of Thra as the Gelfling. The very angry spiders are as much a part of Thra.

Although, Thra does apparently play favorites and the Gelflings are it so I dunno.

The Entire Planet Thra is complicated. It’s got a lot going on. Its representative is Aughra who is a guardian goddess that behaves like a very annoyed grandma.

Anyway.

This whole time Laesid has still been killing skekSa because skekSa takes a lot of killing to kill.

Naia had nearly forgotten skekSa’s screams until they suddenly stopped. Maudra Laesid had ceased her attack, frozen on the Skeksis’ back and staring at the Drenchen gathering at the Glenfoot as blue light spread from the roots and trunk of Great Smerth into the water. Racing through the lake toward the root where skekSa stood. Where the light touched, the water cleared, the fire waned. Green life sprang forth, vines and saplings and branches.

skekSa yelped as one of the vines grew so fast it tangled around her foot. She bashed the growth away with a claw, but it was soon replaced with another. Rapid as spring came after winter, the apeknot where she stood burst into life, tangling around her with vines and roots and leafing, blossoming apeknot shoots.

“No!” skekSa snapped, suddenly coming alive with panic and confusion. “No! What is this? No!”

Huh. Very Fern Gully solution, I guess.

Actually, kind of a callback to Naia finding urVa stuck in a tree. It’s not explicitly called out but I wonder if that’s the idea in the back of her mind. That she knows it can work because she’s seen it work.

skekSa is very unhappy with this situation. Unhappier. She hasn’t been happy in a long while and this is not helping.

(Picture from this post)

She starts tearing out of the foliage and it seems like she’s going to break free. Maudra Laesid hops off skekSa’s shoulder and starts filling with the light of the vliyaya. She tells the Drenchen not to stop even as skekSa bursts partially from the vines et al, grabs the maudra, and threatens her if the Drenchen don’t stop.

Even as skekSa’s claws pierce her, Laesid commands the Drenchen not stop.

Laesid pressed her hand against skekSa’s gnashing beak. The tree that fought to come alive around the Skeksis exploded with life, hundreds of stems and boughs rising and flowering at incredible speed. They tethered skekSa’s legs and bound her beak, twisted around her arms even as the blood from Laesid’s wounds dripped upon the leaves that sprang open by the dozens.

Within moments, a new tree stood where there had been none. skekSa the Mariner was no more.

....... Well.

That’s a way to stop her without sacrificing urSan.

But it did come at a cost.

The new tree lowers Maudra Laesid to the peat and Naia and Gurjin rush over to try to heal her.

“You can heal these wounds, but I will not survive,” she said, nearly silently. There was no fear in her voice. “I gave my life willingly. What happens with it now is up to Thra.”

Hmm. I guess the treesplosion she pulled was cast from hit points, as they say. Her body can be healed but she’s still going to die. A limit to healing vliyaya, although a very niche one.

“My children. My gentle, kind, fierce children...” Laesid put a hand on each of her children’s cheeks. Naia leaned into it, though the heat was fading already from her fingertips. “The two of you will light the world with your fire. The new fire of the new generation of these changing times. It is the proudest legacy I could have wished for. The old trees may not survive the darkening. But the forest is everlasting.”

As the last words escaped her lips, her eyes closed and her hands dropped. The tree above them trembled with a last surge of energy, straining toward the sky and coloring as white and blue flowers opened along its branches. Maudra Laesid was gone.

=(

Bad things keep happening to these Gelflings.

Its interesting because there was a dilemma poised. How to stop skekSa without killing her and without letting her kill anyone as she angrily thrashed around.

How to save urSan without sacrificing x number of Drenchen.

And then skekSa narrowed down the dilemma to how to save urSan without sacrificing Gurjin.

Its been an evolving hostage situation with lives weighed against urSan and Laesid finally solved it by sacrificing herself.

In the end, after all that, someone did die...

The entire Drenchen clan reacts in shock, dropping their spears and dropping to their knees. Gurjin tells Naia she has to say something to them.

Naia gently lowered her mother to the soft moss that covered the apeknot root where she’d died. Gurjin held her there, bowing his head as Naia rose. She gazed across the lake to the Drenchen. Stood below the youngest tree in the swamp. One strong enough to bind a Skeksis, though it would be trine upon trine before it rivaled Great Smerth in size.

But even if the tree grew. Even if the shared could be found and the Crystal could be healed. Even if the darkening were stopped, and Thra could recover, one thing could never be brought back. Naia’s mother was gone.

Oof.

That statement on loss hit me like a brick.

The protagonists are very clear that this is resistance, not war, but like a war the the scars of it are going to last long after it ends.

Naia tries to say something to the Drenchen and friends but can’t. She can’t find the words to ease their grief when her grief is all she can feel.

When she failed the second time to drag up the reluctant words from her belly, she couldn’t face them any longer. Those waiting faces, all wrecked by grief, looking to her for comfort.

Lost in her own pain, Naia had no solace to give. She turned and ran.

=(

[dkscribe88]

Suggestions for Pairings

Calling out to all members of the Resistance, I need your help. I am looking to try my hand at writing all kinds of pairings for short stories that I want to do in-between Lantern updates (btw Lantern is what I call my chapter story: Meet Me by the Seafarer’s Lantern on AO3 if you want to check it out), but I have only written Tavronica and Kyjin so far. 

The only real rule I have is that the pairings have to be Gelflings. I can’t write the Skeksis or Mystics well enough, and I just find the Gelfling much more fun to write about. Also, I haven’t read anything about Lahr, so let’s keep the pairing possibilities down to either the YA books, TV series, movie or Creation Myths. And throw Quest for the Dual Glaive and Mayrin’s origin story in there too. Please read the whole post before starting to suggest things. Thank you.

 Also, don’t be afraid to call out odd couple pairings. I’ve already got one request for Seladon/Naia, but I’d like a few more pairings, if you guys wouldn’t mind. I do prefer to write same-sex pairings, but I can write straight ones as well, so whatever you come up with, send it to me and I’ll make a list and get them done over time. I can also write more Tavronica and Kyjin, but those don’t need to be suggested, since they’re my favorite head canon pairings, but if you want more of them, just ask.

No guarantees when the stories will be done, it just depends on how well the writing flows. Lantern is still my top priority, but I want to try writing other things to help spark ideas and move that story along as well, although I might also work on re-editing that first chapter. It’s kind of a mess. Gets better as it goes, I think. 

Anyway, enough rambling. Please, I implore you all to send me your suggestions. Whether you like my work, or just want to think up a pairing that’ll strain my skills and drive me nuts, I say ‘bring it on!’ Multiple suggestions from the same person are welcome. I just turned on my suggestions setting, so you can submit your pairings there, or just comment on this post. All stories will be put on AO3, with a link posted on here. Thank you all for listening.

I bid you adieu,

- DK

[talkin-tdc]

Late TDC modern easter AU

Ordon and Mayrin both competed to have the ‘best egg hunt’ at their respective houses since they have the biggest in the neighborhood for around five trine when their kids were young. Shoni and Kam’Lu get so annoyed with them trying to one up each other in the neighborhood, they go behind their backs and create a big egg hunt that spans both properties. They ended up sleeping on the couch the next day but both agreed it was worth it to end the rivalry.

Eventually, through the hunt the families became friends, particularly Ordon, Kam’Lu and Bellanji and Mayrin, Shoni, Fara, Laesid and Mera.

Dads would grill, moms would make decorations and sometimes plant flowers.

After that, the annual egg hunt happened at two locations, one at their homes and the other at the castle

The Skeksis feel weird at the idea of hunting/eating eggs, so the egg hunt at the castle is purely chocolate. Also things like arathim or makrak are painted on them. The castle is usually for older kids and the younger ones go to Ordon/Mayrin’s because of it (except their bio kids they stay when they’re older or are expected to).

SkekAyuk gets tired of finding places to hide the eggs so Tek makes a machine to do it for him at the castle.

SkekEkt likes to paint all the eggs at the castle

The winner of either egg hunt gets a special basket which is filled with expensive stuff (year free to the movies, skip out on tithes, etc).

Eventually as the trine go on Rian, Brea, and Seladon want to see what the egg hunt is like at the castle after doing the Ordon/Mayrin thing for so long. Tavra disagrees till she sees that Onica is going so goes along (even if she doesn’t agree as both sets of parents said no as Brea can’t go till 15 and she’s 14 so it’ll be ‘too much for her’ and ‘unfair to let anyone go without her’).

They go with Gurjin, Tolyn, Kylan, and Juni. The maudras and others from the local high school are there as well.

Deet doesn’t want to go as she likes spending time with her family. Naia also doesn’t participate as she knows she’ll get too competitive

She knows that because when she was younger her parents took her to Ordon/Mayrin’s and she came to blows with Tavra when it had been a tie and the adults were told they should share the prized basket.

Anyway, for the annual egg hunt, after the kids set up they sneak out.

No one notices as it’s usually a lot to set up so the parents think they’re just ‘around’.

Eventually, Laesid and Bellanji arrive with Pemma and Bell says goes over to the dads and say it’s great they’re being less strict with their kids.

Ordon’s like “what do you mean?” And he’s like “Well, aren’t they going with Gurjin and his friends this trine?”

The moms are informed.

They are PISSED

Fara flies to the castle, makes a scene, and they all get ground for unum. Not before Rian won the basket though.

Gives basket to Brea. They’re all still grounded though and end up doing community service.

Seladon and Rian take most of the blame.

They also ended up getting banned from the castle festivities because Brea ended up in the restricted section of the library, Rian used some less than ideal methods to win the hunt, and Seladon yelled at everyone to follow the rules, making some of the more sensitive kids cry (mainly Kylan).

They all agree next trine maybe after the egg hunt at home they can go watch a movie or something.

Ordon also gets temporarily demoted because of the whole thing. Mayrin has to ask the lords to give him his position back (which he does thankfully).

[aughraseye]

Gelfling Maudra Alignment Chart