#the dark crystal emperor

[valkenvaniac]

saw this meme and immediately thought of them

[lichdandy]

SkekSo the Emperor

[princess-pathetic-112898]

Was rewatching Watching and Dreaming and when it got to the part where Philip is powerless, turning into goo, trying to guilt Luz into helping him he says “Don’t you want to make peace, Luz?”

And I was like “Wait I’ve heard that somewhere else before but where?” Then the realization slammed into me like a subway train-

[scientistservant]

[tdc-incorrect-quotes]

SkekSo: I don't see what the big deal is with "global warming". I mean, pretty soon we'll be growing peachberries in Ha'rar! SkekGra: ... We are in the Crystal Desert, it's 114 degrees, and if it gets any hotter, I'M KICKING YOUR ASS!

[pomgore]

im on one tonight with TDC skeksis analysis. anyway i like imagining that there was some moment (or several discrete moments) for every skeksis where they thought of turning back and getting put of the skeksis insanity pact before things went too far. like some moral dilemma was put in front of them related to their specific role within the skeksis empire where they could have chosen to back off or double down. and all of them doubled down.

[n0seblood]

WIPs and doodles of Seladon (featuring skekSo because i love how they look next to eachother) she’s probably my favorite gelfling to draw! lol i might finish some of these

[thirstyokapi]

[jinn-zerik]

How I visualize a humanized skekSo, I guess he eventually loose his hair, and nose and he would try to hide it, so he could wear some wigs for it.

[punkcalf-art]

The Cark Drystal

[kuvvydraws]

Is skeksil in your fanfic(Shackled by the throat) a little Yandere towards the reader?

Mmm, this is a yes and no answer.

Firstly, no because I'm a bit picky and personally don't like the term yandere in general XD Never could take a shine to it, no idea why — plus, there are so many different ways in which someone can be toxic in a relationship I believe the term itself doesn't cut it, it's a bit too generic.

On the other hand, yes? Maybe? If you look at it sideways and squinting and it's dark outside? SkekSil doesn't follow all the rules to being a yandere, which roughly starts as someone being sweet and devoted just to turn violent and possessive once they've finally gained the love of the object of their affections.

I do believe SkekSil has a toxic personality — this privilege is not only his own, every skeksis wears this particular crown proudly and showcases it in one way or another. The Chamberlain is possessive and indeed he can get violent, but if you're reading the fic you'll realize not a single Lord of the Crystal passes a chance to be cruel if they can milk it for their amusement. I like to think SkekSil, while capable of getting violent and psychologically abusive —his usual brand of behavior as we all know—, would prefer to toe the line and play with whomever he desires. I don't think he's a character that would go to the "if you're not mine you won't be anybody else's either" extreme, but mostly because his grasp on his victim would be pretty solid already if he's having those kind of feelings, so he'd feel like he wouldn't have to worry about that individual leaving his side.

If we're going into specifics with him and the human from the fic, it actually took SkekSil quite a while to get used to the human and he often threatened her, for his amusement, to inconvenience her and he's even hurt her on occasion, depending on his mood swings, and that's just all regarding physical harm, the psychological scope of what he's done and what he can do is endless. It was only after he decided she belonged to him that he takes a more protective (possessive) stand towards her, which is when the other skeksis in the castle start targeting her, each following their own reasoning.

At the moment when the story pauses in Shackled by the Throat, SkekSil's biggest enemy is the Emperor, since he's the only one with authority to actually take the human from his side if he wanted to. Unfortunately for the Chamberlain, while SkekSo doesn't really want the human for the same reasons SkekSil does, he's not going to miss a chance to use her to mess with him and remind his of his position beneath his thumb if he decides to bite the hand that so generously feeds him.

[sunderedandundone]

Oh, SoSu. Oh, poor SoSu.

So just to back up and provide some context: if you ask me, the great sin of UrSkek culture isn' so much that it's 'collectivist' but that it's just...*so* collectivist that the society can't countenance any person within it needing more than their 'fair share.' And before you say that sounds reasonable, by 'fair share' they really mean it. No UrSkek is supposed to really need more of any resource than any other.

Hold on! What I'm saying is that In other words, *disability is fundamentally not okay.*

Yeah. How you like them apples?

Part of the problem, of course, in their defense, is that they haven't had to think about disability for literal eons. Not on a societal level. Disease, war, and poverty have after all been eliminated, and the species is a product of extensive self-administered genomic engineering. (We are talking here about non-physical/informational 'genetics', of course, given the UrSkek's being Ascended all. But the point is, whatever malformations or birth syndromes the original bio-species might once have been prey to are long gone.) Trauma? Is something that happens very occasionally to off-planet UrSkeks, and off-planet UrSkeks don't really ever count quite as much as Homeworld UrSkeks do. If you are by some wild chance traumatized off-planet UrSkek, you're best advised just not to attempt a homecoming. (I'm sorry nobody mentioned that, GraGoh.)

I knew I had it in my head that SoSu was a Homeworld native, and that they also had a bit of a 'rough patch' in their youth that they had by sheer dint of geological time lived down, to eventually become one of the most respected academics on-world. I knew they had genuinely spent all the intervening eons working to be the very bestest, most unselfish, most not-needing-extra-love UrSkek they could possibly be.

But it wasn't till today that I realized, *they got put through Purgation as well.*

Purgation is the other sentence you can get that's not exile, and when UrSkeks choose exile over Purgation, it's because they're not keen on the idea of having the problematic bits of their body-mind 'genome' copy-pasted over with fresh acceptable code. The idea, in short, of being partly mind-wiped and re-educated. In a sequestered environment. As many times as it takes for them to start behaving rightly again.

It dawned on me today with horror that the first time round, SoSu chose Purgation.

It happened when they were very young. They were an immense psychic talent who -- again in what fairness to the UrSkek I can muster -- had to watch their emotions, which at that time easily escaped control and could manifest in, you know, stuff that could hurt people or the environment.

Or at least, stuff that if it went further, which they worried that it might, could conceivably potentially hurt somebody.

They underwent the psychic surgery to be made better, and again, worked for actual billions of Earth years to become a paragon. (And as NaNol's also-tragic story recounts, probably even benefitted from some of the extremely subtle and slow-moving erasure of history that is a phenomenon among certain UrSkek elders, so that in time, between that and the other UrSkeks that had actually been there voyaging off to other worlds or higher planes and never coming back, as the Eldest of the Eldest do...they could in time enjoy a spotless reputation on Homeworld.)

The second time they were convicted of a crime, all those long Ages later, they......................did *not* choose Purgation.

[thebibliomancer]

So experimentation with the Darkening is rotting the Emperor’s body and he also reveals that it’s plagued his sleep with horrible nightmares.

How many red flags does this guy need to take a hint?

[awsomeyesnt]

skekSo is my amazing wifehusband

[tdc-incorrect-quotes]

SkekSil: Ugh. Why does Chamberlain feel a General plan coming on? SkekVar, violently grabbing skekSil: Don't think for a moment, Chamberlain, that it's gone unnoticed that you left me at the mercy of the Gelfling rebellion! SkekSil: Emperor! Is Emperor going to allow Skeksis to harm another?! [SkekSo furrows his brow and smiles] SkekSil: SkekSil: Emperor??? SkekSo: I'm thinking...