#which is where the UrSkeks came from

[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.

[adara-of-the-flame]

the-name-is-hoggle

Once again the dwarf was left to make sense of the somewhat rambling information dump Mars was laying out for him. Exiles from a hive mind society being split in twain physically across…personality traits? Or something? Unchecked halves connected via the unified soul…..

Yeah. Still sounded like fairy and fae matters to him. Certainly sounded like some sort of twisted fairytale to Hoggle! If Mars didn’t speak from such a personal perspective on the matter, he’d hardly believe much of it! But it was part of her history, her present and future-

"Wait, wait. So….are you supposed to be one of these Urskeks? Or, half Urskeks? Since you said your mother is from Earth, where the humans come from. But one of those, uh, exiles? Is your father? If you’re an Urru does that mean you’re sister is the…uh…Skeki? Skekziz? Part? Half? You’re connected to her now?”

There were so many names for so many fairy - it was definitely fairies!- and Hoggle was trying his best to get them all right. Honestly, Mars’ tale was something else entirely. Sure, just by looking at her you knew her history was something fantastical. Being so tall and lively, with four arms and that nice smile…

…and the music magic.

But! But! Did it mean she was, technically, half a personality?? Only half her true self???

No.

That couldn’t be the truth. Urru, Urskeks- whatever. Hoggle couldn’t, wouldn’t, conclude that his new friend was half of anything at all. Especially if she was born this way, which sounded like the case. Mars was Mars, just like no matter what he would always be Hoggle.

“…..your family tree is far more dramatic than mine. I think….definitely more exciting.”

adara-of-the-flame

"Well, yeah, of course! We're always connected! She's half-Skeksis. Just like I'm half-Urru." Mars dutifully pulled out her cellphone, flipping to what turned out to be a family photo of three women. A rather shapely human woman with greying hair held her arms around her daughters. Mars was unmistakable: the colorful, snooted girl using one of her four arms to hold a pair of finger rabbit-ears above her much shorter sister's head.

The sister...if night and day could be related... while Mars was a literal rainbow, the shorter, beaked female had become a connoisseur of the color black. Black jacket, black hat, black skirt. Somewhere between goth and emo with a little punk mixed in. Funny thing, though, none of the hatred that Mars had described the Skeksis and Urru having for each other was present here. While her sister seemed...irritated by Mars's obvious finger-ears, she seemed tolerant. As though this was to be expected at family photos. "That's Moon! We came along way after the split already happened...and a bunch of stuff happened, too."

The half-Urru put the phone away. "You see...the Urskeks...well, I'm not sure, maybe they were immortal. They were made of light, so it's hard to tell. But, their two halves...were not. They were organic and...they aged. Slowly, but they aged. The Skeksis didn't like that, they were terrified of growing old and dying, so, behind literally everyone's backs, they started taking life energy from the Crystal. But, because the Crystal is the literal life-force of Thra, they were pretty much actually taking the life-force from the planet and, after awhile, things started not being okay. People started getting sick, crops started failing, and this new, bad thing called The Darkening started showing up. The Skeksis didn't much care about that as long as they were okay...but then the Crystal stopped giving anything, and they kinda started getting woried. And, then, they started taking the life force right out of Thra's people, starting with the Gelfling. And, you can imagine how just well that went over..."

Looks like Hoggle's terrifying thought that his friend might only be half a person has completely gone over said person's head. He may need to elaborate.

“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to the stench of this terrible blog…bleck!”

[galaxy98]

SaSan Week

JUNE 20TH-JUNE 26TH

Throughout the history of Thra, some Skeksis and Mystics would leave an impression on certain clans. For the Stonewood, it was the Archer and the Hunter. For the Dousan, it was the Heretic and the Wanderer. But there was no other pair that had ever came close to the amount of intrigue and mystery than the Sifans and their connection with the Mariner and the Swimmer. The impact they left on the clan and their culture is so well known that many hope to achieve that level of success. But what happens when the two of them are alone with themselves. The Hunter and the Archer have an animosity with each other and none of them would hesitate to kill the other if they had the chance. The Heretic and the Wanderer have both grown to love each other, despite the shortcomings they had to deal with due to their impulses. But for these two specifically......well....the answer is somewhere in the middle.

Why did I create this ship week?

For those who may not be familiar with me, I’ve somewhat been championing the inclusion of SkekSa and UrSan in particular for 2 reasons

1. They have very little canon material, which makes them ripe with story potential

2. Same thing as #1 except it’s related to fanon

It’s because of this, I decided make the foundation of this ship week to be centered around interpretation and scenarios. Which leads to the next point.

Days/Themes:

Day 1/Calming Tides: We’ll start things off with something a little bit simple. “Calming Tides” is where any participant could create any fluff/wholesome scenario involving these two. I like to think that when the both of them unwind for the day, they get the chance to meet each other for the evening. Maybe they catch up on certain things that happened in their lives? Maybe they exchange gifts? Either way, the sky is the limit. Or in this case, the sea.

Day 2/Humor: While one could argue that their relationship is a very serious commitment, it it very likely that these two engaged in pranks or clap-backs with each other. Especially when said relationship is in an “off” period.

Day 3/Singing Time: Singing isn’t exactly the core trait of their identity. But when they show off such talent, they are bound to excel at it. Whether it be from singing shanties to their fellow crewmen, or singing a song in a language that was once thought to be forgotten.

Day 4/Oasis: This day, specifically, is for any participant to place the emphasis on the atmosphere in their work. For example, SkekSa and UrSan dancing on top of the Vassa as the clouds clear the night sky. Or, SkekSa and UrSan resting on the sands of Cera-Na as the three suns set.

Day 5/Open Heart: Open Heart is for scenarios in the angst or bittersweet variety. Sometimes, there comes a point where certain feelings just come out. Whether through fighting, contentious debating over what they think is best for the gelfling, or having to deal with the self-loathing, there comes a time when they just need each other and nobody else. Let’s say if UrSan finds SkekSa in drunken state. For the Swimmer, it either means that a crew member of hers had died, dealing with the complications of the Skeksis court, or just having a bad day in general. All it takes is for UrSan to tuck her under arms and then....SkekSa would just let it all out.

Day 6/Past, Present, Future, or What If?: According to Mother Aughra, there are multiple timelines and scenarios that could constantly change. In the case of Day 6, participants are given a choice to pick a certain time in their relationship or possibly choose the wildcard choice with the “What If?”. Like what if SkekSa joined with UrSan in the rebellion? What if UrSan became the Master and SkekSa became the Empress?

Day 7/”To be I instead of we”: As we close off SaSan Week, we conclude this day with SkekSa and UrSan in their true UrSkek form. This is like Day 6, except it deals a lot with their “complete” identity.  Because there’s a reason as to why she gravitate towards Sifan culture. SaSan sees her own culture as monolithic and something that crushes any kind of freedom that comes in their path. It’s very likely that she is ashamed of the fact that she is an UrSkek. Almost to the point to where it becomes self-loathing. Being separated was once thought to be the best thing to ever happen to them, because they finally get to carve their own path. But in the end, they are two halves of the same soul. SaSan can’t change being a UrSkek, but she is still her own individual, regardless of norms. Individuality is everything people, myself included, strive to achieve in the world. But so is loving others and learning how to love yourself.

Rules

-When participating in the ship week, remember to use the #sasanweek and current year, or tag @sasanweek​

-You are allowed to use a medium of your choosing. I’ll even likely take a one-shot comic or an audio clip

-Trigger warnings are necessary depending on the work. Especially when it concerns Day 5.

-Outright NSFW is not allowed

If you have any additional questions that you would like to ask me, then DM me @simkim704​ and we’ll sort things out from there.

Thank You and I can’t wait to see what this fandom comes up with!

[thebibliomancer]

Flames of the Dark Crystal liveblog pt 20

Flames of the Dark Crystal by J.M. Lee because GREATH SMERTH! Is a good thing to shout instead of a swear. But is also infected by broken crystal disease. Oh no!

Last times on book: Team Naia continued on their Aughra and Thra given quest to light fires of resistance with all seven Gelfling clans. The Sifa, Dousan, Vapra, Spriton, and Grottan fires have been lit! Phew, good work team! 5/7ths of the way there! Naia, Gurjin, Kylan and Amri continue on to the Swamps of Sog to try to light the Drenchen fire but home is not as Naia left it. Her parents are fighting. And their home tree is dying of Darkening. That’s a lot.

And then I go a week without a post because my energy just crashed. Ah well.

Chapter 20

Naia goes into the fish basement, looks at some dark crystals, and feels a lot of feelings. So many feelings. Contents were under pressure.

Naia runs out of the big home tree and down to the reed pens among the roots where the Drenchen raised fish.

As she follows the root path she has to wonder if the technique for encouraging the roots of the Great Smerth to form a path came from Aughra. And if so, whether she learned it from the urSkeks.

The more she knew, and the more she opened her eyes, the more it felt as if there was nothing that was untouched by them.

I think in this case, you’re safe, Naia. Aughra was made by Thra to serve as a bridge between the planet and the peoples on it so if anyone taught her to tell trees what to do, its likely to be the trees themselves.

Naia dives into the fish cellar. Even though its dark, she finds her way by touch to where her sisters had been working on the crystal veins.

Its a small vein, compared to the ones Naia and Amri saw in the Valley of the Mystics. Only about as thick as her finger.

She’s able to clear away the mud and examine the crystal vein that Eliona and Kipper had cudgeled into being ‘fixed.’

Naia gazed at the broken vein. It was bittersweet to behold. Though the darkening was stopped from spreading into Great Smerth, it also meant this vein was broken off from the Crystal. How many more veins spread under the earth and water? Here, and everywhere else in Thra? The Crystal was what bled life into the land. It wasn’t possible to cut it away. Not like this. What Laesid had said was true. This was not a lasting solution.

But Bellanji wasn’t wrong, either. If they could slow the sickness, then didn’t they owe it to Great Smerth to do whatever they could to protect its life as long as possible? Naia didn’t know what to do. Though she had wanted to see the vein for herself, even knowing Eliona had been telling the truth didn’t give her any more answers. If only Naia coudl be in two places at once, doing two things at the same time. Healing Great Smerth and the Crystal. One hand healing the fingertips of Thra, the other pressed against its heart.

Naia lets out a discontented sigh and startles a blindfish.

As Naia watches it, it weirdly doesn’t swim away like skittish blindfish usually do. Instead, it bites her.

Which blindfish almost never do! For one thing, they barely have teeth!

The bite didn’t draw blood but it still does Naia an alarm. She clears away the mud that this specific blindfish was buried in and discovers the real result of Operation Hit Crystal Vein With Cudgels To Fix It.

Where Naia’s sisters had broken the darkened crystal vein, darkened splinters now stretched through the bedrock to reconnect the broken vein.

All of that cudgeling was for naught!

Naia starts spiraling again. Realizing that all of Thra was connected to the broken Crystal. Worrying whether the Crystal could ever be healed without the missing shard.

All thanks to the Skeksis. And the Mystics.

They were the same. Creatures from beyond Thra in a world that was not theirs. And now they were destroying it, bit by bit. The proof was just below her fingertips.

How dare they. How dare they hurt what I love.

Good thing Raunip wandered out of the narrative a long while ago. And had gotten over this kind of attitude. Would not be good if he were around up to his old ways, finding people like Naia and going ‘yes, yessss, let the hate flow through you.’

Naia’s despair at all this crystal related stuff sparks her vliyaya to light up with her will to mend.

Why had it come back now? This special fire that had been given to her by Thra?

Perhaps it was time to give it back.

Uh oh.

Prepare yourself to explode again, Naia.

She places her hands against the darkened crystals but this time she’s ready for the jolt of energy. This time, she finds herself drawn back along the vein.

She saw it. The Crystal of Truth, spinning in the chamber at the center of the Castle of the Crystal. Dark amethyst and red, the last ounces of purity all but gone from its rugged, faceted body. The color was the sign of its pain. The sign of its torture and madness, the blazing color of its corruption.

Naia felt the light in her hand streaming out, taking with it her own life force. Pulled in like a fish on a line, bleeding her of it. The Crystal, that once gave life, now wrathful. Dying. Empty.

But if that was what it would take...

NAIA PLS.

And that’s not just me saying that! Amri shows up and yanks her away from the darkened crystals.

Once Naia realizes what happened, she yells at Amri. For nearly drowning trying to save her. Because while she’s perfectly okay zoning out underwater, he is not. He winds up coughing up water, while she hypocritically yells at him.

He turns it back on her, shaking her and asking what she was thinking!

She doesn’t even know how to answer. She’s afraid, she feels helpless and she doesn’t like seeing the pain in Amri’s eyes.

He didn’t let go of her shoulders, gripping her like she might float away at any moment.

“Naia. I know you want to heal the Crystal. We all do. And save Great Smerth... but... you can’t. Not this way. Not at the cost of yourself.”

“I just thought if I could do it, then maybe...” She shook her head. She looked up, away from Amri and into the graceful, twisting forms of Great Smerth’s roots overhead. The tears did come, then, if only one at a time. “I thought Great Smerth would always be here. I thought the swamp was safe from the Skeksis. I never thought...”

Everything about Amri softened. His eyes and his voice, his grip on her shoulders.

“I know,” he said quietly. “I thought the same about Domrak.”

=(

These poor gelfs going through so much.

Naia says she knew that losing his own home was difficult for him but he never put herself in his place until it happened to her. And she finds that talking to Amri eases some of the pressure in her chest. She confesses that she just doesn’t know what to do.

“Aren’t I a failure if I can’t lead? If I can’t heal? If I can’t defeat the Skeksis? We can’t fight them, but I feel like it’s the only thing I know how to do! But if I can’t kill them, and I can’t heal Thra -- then who am I?”

“You’re... Naia.”

The answer was blunt and simple. Amri flicked an ear. She couldn’t see his face too well in the dark, but she could hear his breath quicken a touch, his fingers twitching on her shoulders.

“And... I think you’re amazing. When you’re brave, it makes me feel brave. When you’re strong, it makes me feel strong. That’s what being a leader is -- leading by example. You’re committed to doing the right thing. Doing good... even when you fail. And even when you fail, you keep trying. You bring flowers out of ash.”

It felt as if the warmth from his hands was spreading into her shoulders and chest, soft and gentle like the light from a candle. That was what Amri was, she realized. A little fire that never went out, that was always by her side. Not so bright that it drowned out other light, but more than enough to illuminate a path in the night. Gentle and discerning, steadfast and loyal.

Awwwwww!

I don’t have a lot else to comment on this section. Just awwwwwwwwww!

“We’re going to find a way,” Amri said.

“We don’t know how to give up, do we?” she asked, letting the warmth reach her lips where it came out as a smile. He chuckled.

“I think that’s mostly you... But it’s probably the thing I love most of all.”

It got quiet between them.

“You mean as a friend, of course,” she said hesitantly. She was unsure, particularly about one specific word he’d used. “Because... we’re friends.”

But Amri doesn’t go ‘why yes of course, love ya as a friend.’ He gets squirrely. Or whatever tree dwelling small mammal that they have on Thra.

He just nervously asks if she means the thing he said in the valley and she starts asking how he really feels about her and maybe he doesn’t distinguish between like and love and HE blurts out that of course he sees a difference.

Amri confesses that he really likes her as more than a friend but after she got hurt...

Naia immediately puts two and one and one together.

“What did Gurjin say to you?” she asked, plainly enough that it left little room for Amri to try to make up another excuse. He sighed. All the pretenses rolled away from him, like when he’d taken off his cloak as they’d entered the wetlands. Finally, the truth came out, and he was her Amri again.

“He just told me that now wasn’t a good time,” he said. “He said you had other things you needed to do, and that I shouldn’t be jeopardizing our mission by distracting you.” He shrugged. “It’s not like he threatened me or anything. It made sense. And it was my fault you were so badly hurt. So I went along with it...”

GURJIIIIIIIIN

Also, Amriiiiiiiii

The upside is now I know what everyone’s deal is.

The downside is that Naia doesn’t even get time to process this reveal. There’s suddenly a crash outside, like a tree falling. And then another, and another.

“Are those normal swamp noises?” [Amri] asked.

As much as she wanted not to be bothered at a time like this, Naia couldn’t deny the bad feeling in her gut.

“No. We should go back.”

Heh.

Naia also hates it when Plot interrupts character beats.

The two Gelfling leave the fishery and climb up the Great Smerth. They’re joined by Momdra Laesid and dadra Bellanji.

“What comes?” Laesid demanded. “Who trespasses in my swamp?”

Amri grabbed Naia’s arm, clutching her tightly as his Grottan eyes pierced the night. Naia already knew, deep in her belly, who it was, but it wasn’t until he said her name that every muscle in her body tightened.

“A Skeksis Lord,” Amri said, gulping. “skekSa, the Mariner.”

GOD DAMN SKEKSA ARE YOU THE TERMINATOR? You’re better at hunting down these protagonists than the actual Hunter!

[themuppetmasterencyclopedia]

SkekTek

PERFORMER Steve Whitmire 

DEBUT 1982

The Scientist, as he appears in The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance.

SkekTek is the Skeksis Scientist. He plays an important part in the story, since it is his job to drain captured Podlings and Gelflings of their life essence in his laboratory, the Chamber of Life. This process turns the victims into slaves which perform the work at the Skeksis castle. It has also been stated that the Scientist altered the slaves' vocal cords to fit them for the castle choir. He also later created the Garthim.

Before the urSkeks split, it was the Scientist who gave Aughra the most help in building her observatory. SkekTek's alter ego amongst the good hearted Mystics is urTih the Alchemist.

SkekTek later met his death when the animals in his laboratory retaliated with the help of Kira, pushing him into the shaft of the Dark Crystal where he fell to his death. This also caused the death of his counterpart urTih, who simply burst into flames and vanished.

Steve Whitmire later used a voice similar to SkekTek's for Marlon Fraggle.

In pre-production notes for the film, skekTek, who was also called the Doctor, is "identified by his self-mutilated body, especially an artificial leg and bionic arm. His pale, pink-white neck is held in place by a brace with metal bits, and his body is fed through chrome and plastic tubes. One eye is fitted with a telescopic eyepiece." His eye was eaten by a Peeper Beetle as punishment for Rian stealing the remainder of Mira's essence, though SkekSil was the actual culprit.

“To betray is to break the circle of trust. The Skeksis came to betray all friendship, without reason, without need. The end of my friendship with skekTek the Scientist is still bitter. Before the division, TekTih of all urSkeks gave me most; then his divided soul became Alchemist and Scientist alike. When the urSkeks first came to the World he taught (Aughra) all the movements of the skies and designed the great Observatory. And in return (she) gave him all (her) knowledge of the rocks, even to the secrets of the metals.

SkekTek kept some real power of thought, but in truth he had become only a juggler of ideas, of memories from his previous life. Then he had studied the light of the Crystal and used it for the division; now he studied the wounded Crystal, and by that light he saw his ways to acts of darkness. Two great evils I charge against him. First, that he learned the art to make beams of light from the Dark Crystal, which he burned into Pod People's eyes to make them living ghosts, his perfect slaves. After the light had struck them no light lived in their eyes, but they obeyed; that was all.

And the second worse evil was to use dark light to draw the essence of life, to drain it from the living to make a drink for the Skeksis, above all for the Emperor. This essence gave them back their youth and vigor for a while, only for a little; but many Gelflings were victims forever.”

[skekheck]

So something weird happened to the original ask where the “read more” cut off ended up in the ask itself? Tumblr go home, you’re drunk. So I’m just making this it a separate own post.

But anyway as it turns out while typing all of this I have a lot of headcanons for the mystics apparently. Here’s a nice, big list of the ones I can think of:

>The mystics are the ideal versions of the urSkeks: they are creatures without “darkness” or “evil”. The mystics avoid the skeksis because on an unconscious level they don’t want to associate with them for being their “dark halves”. This self hatred is deeply rooted from the urSkeks who wanted to remove their “darkness” using the Crystal (which in my opinion wouldn’t have worked anyway) instead of actually mastering it. This could go deeper, as urSkek society might have instilled toxic projections on individuality and positive traits like ambition and passion being considered bad. While only a handful of mystics have made contact with the skeksis at some point, the majority avoided them.

>I feel like as a whole, the mystics know who they originally were to some extent but are in complete denial about them being one with the skeksis. The reasons for it are the ones I stated in the above headcanon. I also feel like because they know they are not from Thra that is why they keep to themselves and try not to interfere with what goes on around them.

>UrSan can use a weird type of water magic that not only let’s her breath underwater but anyone else she wishes to as well. Amri meets urSan for the first time in Tides where they’re both underwater and he has no trouble breathing. They left their meeting ambiguous if it was a dream or not, but I think it happened.

>The mystics leave the gelfling to their own devices, but on rare occasions they intermingle with them. According to Tides, the Dousan ways are quite peaceful and their views (especially surrounding death) are thanks to a mystic who taught them their ways. UrLii may be the only one to have any kind of relationship with one currently (being Maudra Argot). He’s kept a secret from the rest of the clan, but I think he’s been friendly with the other maudras before her. I especially feel the mystics who frequent outside the valley developed friendships with selective gelfling over the years.

>UrSan and urVa met each other the most out of all of the mystics living outside of the valley because of their life styles frequently cross paths with each other. They have short chats before going their separate ways.

>Aside from skekGra and urGoh, skekSa and urSan interact the most out of all of the pairs. They meet on occasion when the Mariner needs a map or any kind of guidance through the Silver Seas. But I also think they meet for non-business reasons too.

>Besides urZah, urSen is one of the more spiritual mystics and being more finely tuned with Thra. This could be the reason why he had a premonition of his own death years before it happened. UrSen kept his imminent death to himself, but urZah (and maybe urSu) figured it out.

>urZah’s the most cynical out of all the mystics. Maybe he was taken advantaged of when he was younger or as ZohZah, but it made him distrustful  even to the other mystics. The only friends he’s ever made were with urSen and Jen where the latter helped him to be a little more trusting of others.  

>The mystics who live outside of the valley still live in the places they did in the books. So urSan inhabits her stone tower near Ha’rar and urVa lives in his dirt hovel within the Endless Forest. But at least for the two I used as examples, they leave their homes for long periods of time.

>Since apparently he’s considered a rebel by mystic standards, urSol challenges the mystic ways (but that’s not saying much). Like his skeksis counterpart, he acts as an adviser to the leader (urSu and then urIm when the former died). He has suggested getting more involved in the affairs of Thra and do something about the skeksis, but the others wouldn’t budge from their beliefs. Being a mystic, urSol wouldn’t pressure it any more afterwards but it would bother him. When urGoh (and skekGra) spoke of unification, his suggestions came more frequently. By the time the skeksis and mystics reappear in the sequel comics, it’s then that urSol decides to stop being the adviser and become more proactive.

>Following the above headcanon, urSol was inspired by urGoh’s pleads for unification. He arranged a meeting with skekSil to talk about it, but knowing the Chamberlain it didn’t end well. UrSol barely left the valley afterwards until Jen came along.

>Another urSol headcanon: I think he was the one to suggest to raise Jen and tell him about his destiny. While urSu agreed to take care of the orphaned gelfling, he wanted to keep Jen in the dark about his fate. The Master felt it would put too much pressure and stress on the child who’s already gone through so much. UrSu wanted Jen to have a normal childhood. UrSol agreed, but the two set up a compromise where urSol would teach the gelfling things that would help him on his journey without telling him why he was doing so. Because of this, Jen is as close to him as he is with urSu.

>urVa is depressed about the state of his relationship with skekMal. In the series, although he refers to him as his dark half, the Archer calls him by name and seems sad about having to end the Hunt for him. Given that the two live in the same area, they had opportunities of meeting each other. They may have had a slightly better relationship when they were younger and used to hang out on occasion. But it was when skekMal became more wild and obsessed with the Hunt did it crumble. The Hunter is the one responsible for all the animosity between the two and urVa has no ill-feelings for him. SkekMal might have told urVa he wants nothing to do with him anymore (likely in a brutal manner) and urVa respected his wishes even if it pained him.

>Like in the books, urVa has the x scar on one of his hands. He probably got it from skekMal (whether he carved it himself or by other means). He finds himself staring at it sometimes.

[urskekyagvi]

The Horrid Truth of YagVi

SatNam, eldest and leader over the Collective, knew that finally, after eons of a life spent in the pursuit of perfection, her time was drawing to a close; her light would soon leave her, and there would come another to take her place.

Though resigned to her end, she feared that without her, the world she had built would collapse utterly. The society made in her image would burn away under the flames of chaos, the culture which held knowledge and efficiency above all else would crumble into degeneracy; she, as ruler, could not doom her people to such a fate. An heir must rise to hold dominion over the Urskek empire.

So SatNam, wisest of all Urskek, summoned to her the Sovereigns- Urskek elders, her advisors and magistrates- and asked of them their assistance in creating her heir. If any emotion at all could have been said to be felt amongst them, it would be described as simple, unadulterated shock; no such feat had ever been attempted before.

Chiefest amongst these Sovereigns in their turmoil was SoSu. He had thought himself favored in SatNam's eyes, and it was believed by many more besides himself, that she had been grooming him in preparation to accept the position as high elder over the Collective; had he erred in some way to displease her, and so brought forth this decision?

To this SatNam gave no palpable answer; furthermore, she saw not this discontent she had stirred in her peers. She asked of them to meet before the Crystal, heart of their homeworld, and sing the melody of life, interweaving the best of their traits to create a paragon of all Urskek was meant to be, in accordance to her vision.

None of the Sovereign dared to speak against her expedient request; she was older than them all, and so surely knew what was best, even when her decisions were unfathomable. So, albeit reluctantly, they did as she asked, meeting at the appointed time to sing the song of life to the Heart of their World, that one would rise forth from their combined light to rule them.

But in this creation SoSu saw only the destruction of all his dreams. Would all Urskek have to be subjected to the rule of yet another callous despot? SatNam was sagacious, yes, had furthered the entirety of Urskek kind to heights thought impassable before her; she had united them all under her reign, but ruled them with a fist as cold and brutal as crystal, and almost as unfeeling.

He had believed he would have his chance to change this. Their society was perfect, but to a cost none held in esteem could see: others suffered, others considered lower for circumstances they were born into, for faults not their own. SoSu knew he could change this, if only he had the power.

The power about to be stolen from him.

He could stop this: a realization that dawned upon him on the very cusp of a finalized destiny. Only he could prevent this flower from blooming; only he could stop the song; only he could darken the crystal. It came his turn to sing, and so he subtly changed the notes, tarnishing the melody into something malevolent; and so the Crystal took unto itself only the essence of the worst in every Sovereign urskek, corrupting the song before it was even finished. 

Silence fell, a mute requiem that rang on in the air long after the song ended. If there was breath amongst them, it was held, and their light dimmed in anticipation as they awaited the results of their effort. Their crystal groaned as if with pains, and from its bleating a new being was birthed forth.

Then a blemished Urskek stepped from the pure light of the crystal, and the Collective gasped in horror for what their eyes perceived: this one was born into the world already ruined and crippled, the white light that emitted from their form covered in hideous blotches of black and grey; they were horrific, and not only for their appearance: in this urskek there was a light like a mirror, reflecting back to each Sovereign their own sins, their own inner darkness written on the twisted body for all to see. 

SoSu turned to SatNam in the following silence, his leader, and proclaimed solemnly:

"What have you done? SatNam, you have caused us to create an abomination." 

Though he knew in his heart what he had done, and saw it reflected on this very Urskek's skin. This had passed because he had felt threatened by this one's existence; he was not jealous of SatNam's heir, but only for what they could have been, and so destroyed them before they had a chance to reach their potential. Regret blossomed in the shadows of his heart, but he kept silent, knowing that this was best for all UrSkek.

SatNam said not one word. Her eyes were frozen upon the hideous thing before her, shaped from distortion.

Her heir.

Ruined.

For an eternity no one knew what passed through her mind, nor could any one say what it was she saw in this dark mirror- but when the deathly stillness had passed, she rose again and declared for her Sovereigns to hear:

"We have birthed monstrosity."

We. The Sovereigns said not a word in retaliation, though each of them wondered where the blame truly laid, each of them except he whose guilt was written on a canvas of flesh, the only one whose eyes averted from the damning spectacle.

Another silence, in which an eternity passed.

SatNam at last faced their creation, the small one who blinked in the light of their bodies as if bewildered that they should now exist. She approached, and the blemished one turned their face upward to catch her light, a hand reaching towards her in a vain hope for something she would never provide.

"You are YagVi," she said to them, neither with cruelty nor warmth, even as she stepped away to avoid their touch, "For you are Our Failure. Do not thank us for your life, for already we have cursed you."

The small hand fell. The blemished face lowered and turned away, as if in contemplation of the first words they had ever heard, the first words ever spoken directly to them. Had they realized the weight of their name? That which they would wear like a yoke upon their shoulders for the rest of time?

Did they know that they were already damned?

No answer laid to be heard, if ever there was one to begin with. SatNam gifted YagVi a cloak to cover themselves with, and instructed them to go far to the east, where the Crystal Alcoves were. There, in that isolated plane, YagVi could hide away without anyone having to bear witness to what the Sovereigns had done: but none expected this stain to be so easily removed. They would be discovered, sooner or later, and so to alleviate the burden, YagVi would be brought forth only when called for, to stand before all Urskek, a testament and example for all Urskek was not to be.

They watched solemnly as the Blemished One went forth, cast away from their breathren shortly after birth, alone in a populous world that had so soon rejected them.

There they went into the night.

Our failure.

Our disgrace.

Our bastard.

Not a day went by in all of SoSu's long life where he did not regret what he had done.

[reikiajakoiranruohoja]

TDC: Why the number of years matters

There is a sadly common trope in fantasy, in which the author throws several hundred to thousand years around without thinking about them too much. This is a subset of Medieval Stasis, as it assumes that the world hasn't changed much between the thousands to hundreds of years.

Why I bring it up in terms of Dark Crystal, is that the number of trines between conjunctions is exactly 1000 trine. So we can easily say the skeksis in AOR have been around 950 trine or so. The twice-nine the total of 1950 trine.

I saw a post today about how the maudras are reclaiming the title of maudra in the novels. And my first thought was "was it truly a term before the skeksis?" Because the skeksis have been around for 950 trine, basically from the mid-middle ages to this day if we look at Earth. That is an insanely long time, especially if we assume gelfling live around 100 trine at most.

Add to this the time with the urskeks, and we are running around before our calendar was a thing. Especially as we see the gelfling living in huts and villages and soon after the urskeks arrived they had fully realised port-cities. Now, I'm not saying that huts and villages do not mean civilization. It does, it just showcases how stark difference there is between just pre-urskeks times and the time with them.

The non-twice-nine gelfling culture is us returning to the times of the Roman rule or ancient China at best. At that point, it no longer matters if the terms are pre-skeksis or not, they have been around so long they are part of the modern gelfling culture regardless.

From all of the TDC writing I've read, this is not the intended effect. The narrative hints that there used to be a fully realised gelfling culture before the skeksis that there are records of. Very much in the spirit of colonial power vs indigenous culture.

But here's the thing, those overthrows were at most 500 years ago. The twice-nine have been around MUCH longer and intentionally went around 'civilizing' gelfling as soon as they arrived.

In this, we see the issue of the years being thrown around casually. The intention was that the skeksis were add-ons to Thra's already existing cultures. But because it is so insanely long ago that the skeksis came around, things are far more muddled than intended.

A more sensible number of trines would have been 250 to 450, giving us both the pre-skeksis times being not too far ago, but still far enough that the modern generations would only know the current situation.

Right now, the trines between 1100 and 1900 are treated as a time abyss where nothing really happened. Oh sure, there are assumed events of conquest, but they can't take up -all- those trines.

Last 20 years for us have been already HUGE in terms of social/technological change. Nevermind from the 1900s to 2000s.

So, when writing a fantasy setting, please keep timelines sensible, unless there is a very good reason why stasis would happen.

[fandomsonmysleeve]

I know many like to constantly rag on Jen from The Dark Crystal (1982) and accuse him for doing nothing to help Thra. I personally am a huge fan of Jen, and don’t agree with these statements. I’m also a huge fan of Kira, she’s a complete badass and I love that they met, and that Kira aided him on his journey to save Thra, but please don’t count Jen out and say he didn’t do anything.

- The biggest thing to consider when it comes to Jen, his character arc, and why he was so confused with everything, is because he literally found out about a life changing prophecy in a matter of a minutes. Not because he was “dumb” and couldn’t figure anything out. His caretaker urSu told him about A crystal shard, the prophecy, a woman named Aughra, and that the story he was originally told about his parents getting killed by Skeksis was more complicated than Jen truly knew, with a few major details left out, like what the purpose of the shard was for, before urSu passed away.

With only bits and pieces of information, Jen had to figure it out step by step. Naturally it would’ve taken some time.

- The series of events had to happen like this, because if Jen found out any more information, or alternatively figured it out all in one sitting, Jen wouldn't have taken the journey he went on and the prophecy wouldn’t have been fulfilled. Jen couldn’t know that, thought, so of course anyone would be feeling confused and stressed. Everything now weighed on his shoulders. He had to go off and save Thra alone (or so he thought.)

- Yes, Jen lost his parents as a childling, just like Kira, but please remember they grew up very differently.

- Jen was raised by The Mystics (The urRu) while Kira was raised by the Podlings. The urRu had to stay safe, hidden from the Skeksis, and remain unharmed until the Third Great Conjunction, when they would set out to the Crystal Chamber where the prophecy could be fulfilled. They had to stay out of danger, and keep everything a secret from Jen until he was at the right age to properly learn/go on his journey. The only thing Jen ever found out was that there were evil creatures called Skeksis, and they killed his parents. urSu told him about a crystal shard, but how was Jen supposed to know what to do with it? He never knew a crystal even existed. Everything sounded like a riddle to him.

- Kira on the other hand found out much about Skeksis, Garthim, The Dark Crystal, etc. thanks to the Podlings, who shared their knowledge on personal experiences with Skeksis and Garthim due to the horrible mistreatment of Podlings as slaves.

- I personally believe Jen and Kira were kept unbeknownst to each other for a reason. I think both The urRu, and Podlings who survived the Garthim Wars knew there were two Gelflings alive, not just the one they were each secretly looking after, but Jen and Kira had to be separated until a certain point so the prophecy could come into fruition.

Jen was born the savior because that’s the way the prophecy always intended it to be.

Kira couldn’t have been the savior, she had to be the driving force.

- After meeting, both Gelflings were shocked and elated to have someone else in Thra just like them. They got attached immediately, and with no questions asked, agreed to help each other. Kira was kind, and shared all the information she knew from the Podlings once Jen mentioned the prophecy. Since Kira learned about the outside world and other creatures of Thra, this worked out in Jen’s favor. Without Kira, Jen wouldn’t have known where to go or who to trust after Aughra. She had to be the one to help guide him through the unknown territory of Thra.

- One of the key moments that deserves mass appreciation is Jen not being fooled by The Chamberlain’s begging.

Jen knew Skeksis were evil, because of what happened to his parents, but he had never met one before. Just because Chamberlain looked scary, or Skeksis did something horrific in the past, not all were evil. Jen had a kind heart and didn’t want to assume all Skeksis were evil (ahem, The Heretic, anyone?) However, this manipulative Skeksis was. Kira’s instincts kicked in and she warned Jen that Chamberlain was tricking him. Jen could’ve easily believed Chamberlain’s cries about wanting to help them and have Skeksis make peace with Gelflings... but he didn’t. Jen knew in his heart Chamberlain wasn’t genuine. A smart move. He wasn’t that naive.

- A scene people often tease Jen about is when he throws the crystal shard. I’d like to mention that he did this action out of frustration. He felt guilty for putting Aughra, Kira, and the Podlings in danger. The poor thing blamed himself, even though he never asked to be the savior. He never realized he’d have to grow up and have to save the world of Thra.

- Despite the pressure, Jen sheer determination carried him through. Throughout the entire film of trials and tribulations, Jen pushed forward, and never gave up. He wasn’t going to let anyone down. He loved the world he lived in, he wanted to avenge his parents so that their deaths wouldn’t be in vain, he wanted to honor urSu... and meeting Kira, another Gelfling, gave him hope and something else to fight for.

- The next day, he got up, and discovered ruins which used to be houses of the old ones. urSu taught him how to read, and in doing so Jen figured out what the prophecy meant. He realized he must make the crystal whole again, with the shard, and it was only meant to be done by Gelfling hand. Jen quickly jumped into action and raced towards the castle with Kira. When Kira was frightened (rightfully so) about going into the Skeksis castle, Jen understood but also knew they had gone too far to give up. It was his turn to motivate her.

- The last thing I’d like to mention is Jen’s heart.

When Kira was captured and getting her essence drained, he yelled and told her to hold on, keep fighting.

Now as far as we know, unless Kira had mentioned how Skeksis drained essence off screen, Jen never knew about this twisted operation. He had no idea what the Skeksis were doing to her (unlike in The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance where this very action is what had the Gelflings rally and vow to take down the Skeksis power). Jen just wanted Kira to be safe.

- When Jen realized Kira had been surrounded by The Skeksis just as he was about to reattach the crystal shard, he got scared for her and tried to reason with them. Kira begged him not to worry and attach the shard, but Jen insisted they let Kira go instead. This wasn’t stupid of him. He would’ve done anything to protect her.

Wouldn’t you do the same for someone you loved?

- As tragic as it was for Jen to see Kira captured, tortured, and then stabbed by The Skeksis, it had to be done. Kira was Jen’s driving force. Her death sent him into a rage. Pushed him to carry out the prophecy. Jen shot his head up, made sure the three suns were aligned, and jammed the shard back into the crystal. The Skeksis ruined his life from the start by killing his parents, and then had the audacity to take the last good thing in his life away from him. Jen was over it.

- While the Mystics arrived at the castle and Skeksis were running around screaming, Jen paid no attention. He didn’t care what happened at that point. All he wanted to do was hold Kira in his arms. He just sat with her and cried, wishing she would come back to life. Jen did what was asked of him, even though again he never asked to be put in the position where he was born to be the savior.

In The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, not only do Rian, Deet, and Brea have each other to lean on, but there are 7 Clans of Gelfling which consisted of family, friends, and allies to love and fight beside each other.

It was different for Jen and Kira. As far as they knew, and we know as of right now, they were the only two surviving Gelfling.

Jen had lost everything, he only had Kira. They needed each other. All he wanted was to live a happy peaceful life. He had missed out on so much while having to stay secluded from all Thra had to offer. He saw a new future with Kira.

- In return for fulfilling the prophecy and saving Thra, thanks to Jen’s courageous and loving heart, his wish came true. The urSkeks were one again, and revived Kira.

Whoever his parents were (perhaps we will find out/already know who they are from Age of Resistance) would’ve been proud. Thra could prosper again. A whole new world awaited Jen and Kira.

My point is, Jen’s journey was full of intensity, loss, heartbreak, new discoveries, friendship, love, and he handled it all brilliantly. He prepared himself to venture out alone to fulfill a prophecy he learned about in just a matter of days, that had been foreseen and set up for him many trine ago. A brave, selfless, kind act. He was intelligent, and did the best he could with the situation he was thrown into.

Right as Jen set off on his journey he said “I’m not ready to go alone,” and then a few seconds later he said “All right, alone then.” Without any further contemplation. That is strength.

Then, almost as if fate had decided, he ended up meeting a Gelfling who changed his world forever, and together Jen and Kira were able to do what their ancestors and parents fought so hard for in the first place. Unity.

[antiph]

YiYa the Young (or as I referred to them in a discord chat “YiYa the Yeeted”)

So, a discord chat I mostly bared witness to and scarecly participated in reminded me of some thoughts I have on a very particular UrSkek: YiYa

I actually have an AU where SkekYi and UrYa survive the strangling they get from SkekHak, as UrHom stepped into the line of sight of their Skeksis before the very angry and looking to cause as much hurt to others as soon as possible SkekHak could break poor UrYa’s neck in a death grip. SkekHom immediately pushes their Urru into the Crystal vent like they do in creation myths, and subsequently burns up all the same. This way, Yi and Ya survive, but all the shards still get the impression that what befalls one half so to befalls the other. That whole deal, y’know?

Anyways, UrYa gets dragged off by the other Mystics and they and their Skeksis counterpart suffer long term damage in the way that it renders them both mute for a really long time, due to both the physical and psychological damage. Being young and not nearly as innately weary and worlds-worn as the other Urru, they grow up to be a somewhat naive individual in their early years with the others, at some point beginning to venture off from the others more and more just to learn new things. Considering the perpetually calm aura that permeated the gang of Urru that later became the Valley Mystics—if not a bit smothering in how insensate it was—they were able to recover a wide range of vocal capacity much sooner than their Skeksis counterpart on account of how, well, terrible an environment the poor and equally damaged SkekYi had to put up with. Unfortunately, they never would be able to regain their forever untested capacity for multi-vocal chants and singing, leaving them incapable of affecting the matter around them with the magics the other Mystics could readily, though sparingly, utilize.

UrYa’s true saving grace and inspiration to better themself was born from that naivety that the most of the other Urru low-key judge them for—but in the sort of “I wish you would just listen to us, youngling” kind of way. Like the other vagabonds, they started to leave the nest for short periods of time, getting longer and longer as the trine stretched on, coming to learn from and live with the beings of Thra for trine at a time. The only difference between them and the others? Unlike UrVa or UrSan, at around 500 trine, they stopped coming back to the valley altogether.

SkekYi, poor SkekYi, was rendered similarly damaged as stated previously, but where UrYa was able to branch out from the group of Mystic’s too gentle to punish them and too impassive to stop them from leaving, SkekYi was given no such luxury. The castle was a cage they felt pressured to not leave, and rendered them too scared (and then, eventually, too bitter) to speak much aloud, partially due to resentment towards themself for this sickening fault of theirs that was a voice that wouldn’t come, and partially due to resentment for the elders that mocked a deficit that was beyond their control. They are a recluse, much like SkekShod, but with a subtle unease spread far and wide throughout the court, instead of just focused in on one individual in particular (*cough*SkekSo*cough*). They keep their head low and themself out of the way of others when it comes to petty squabbles, never engaging in any sort of gossip more out of disinterest than anything else.

Yi and Ya are, like I said, young. As in YOUNG, young. when they were split into themselves, they were discernibly younger looking and smaller than all the others by a fairly distinguishable bit. They did both grow, and eventually overtook some of their tinier peers in size, but remained on the small end of the scale even well into full maturity. While the Urru became bowed and hunched over in age, and the Skeksis began to lose more and more feathers and furs inexchange for wrinkles and blemishes, UrYa remained standing up relatively straight, strong, and lithe while SkekYi kept their feathers and took far longer for the detrimental effects of aging to set in.

Basically, YiYa was the equivalent of an UrSkek “Newborn” and while this didn’t really mean that they were a “child” so to speak, considering that I share a headcanon with a couple of others on a Discord chat that Urskeks are made from the get go to be the fully capable equivalent of a being that is cognitively adult, these newborn UrSkeks still require quidance in the form of teachers and/or personal mentors. YiYa was a new UrSkek whose first impression of the universe was that of SoSu’s, which fell along the lines of questioning authority. With this concept to be the first thing imprinted in the young and untaught UrSkek, YiYa was deemed to be unfortunately, irreparably “corrupted” and was sentenced to exile with the rest of the twice-nine. This is why I think they never had a title in the OG verse.

When it came to the sundering, where most all of the other Skeksis and Urru were severed into organic forms that already occupied the equivalent of beings that were just past “middle-aged” Yi and Ya resembled what their new species might look like as young adults.

Anyways, I wrote out my slightly more in-depth take on how things would go for Yi and Ya, but idk if I’ll share the rest unless someone wants to suffer even more of an personal info dump

[tsuncoon]

Can a Skeksis cry pt 2

I went off the rails and wrote way too fucking much ahah enjoy

--

SkekGra kept running , the further he got the more it pained him to be apart from urGoh. It felt like an elastic band was stretching thin, pulling him back to his other, his better half.

He just needed to get away from the whispers and the looks. His breathing rasped, it was like he was swimming against the tides. He could not remember the last time he had been so far from Urgoh, probably while he was still the Conqueror.

If the Conqueror could see what he had become, it was funny to think just how strongly he would oppose the path taken, how he would likely stop ar nothing to ensure this future would not be his. Yet here he was. Suffering the fate the other Skeksis refuse to endure.

He let out a loud and frustrated wail as he tugged on his fluffy mane, he hoped Thra was proud of itself for giving him the vision and making him suffer so, it was a just punishment for his crimes.

SkekGra’s fur bristled as he heard a twig snap near by, over the years he had let his senses dull while he was isolated with only himself. He hadn’t realized by smell or sound that anyone else was in the immediate area.

“Hmmmm old friend? Is that you?”

SkekGra recognized the curious humming

“Chamberlain” he breathed in surprise, the last time he saw another Skeksis he ended up with a knife through his hand. He was not sure if the Chamberlain came as a friend or foe. SkekGra certain did not want to fight another Skeksis, but if he must then he would without hesitation.

“Call Skeksil, we were once friends yes?”

SkekGra was once loyal to all of his kind, there was a strong sense of skeksishood, an unspoken bond tethered together by loyalty and a desire to not be alone, he could feel that bond even now. He recognized that no one could understand him the way another Skeksis could, not even UrGoh as much as he tried, they were opposites while he and the Skeksis were the same.

He felt great longing as he recalled his time in the castle, but those fleeting happy moments in the days of early Skeksis rule would always be soured by his fall to Heretic.

Distinctly he remembered the Chamberlain murmuring into the ears of their companions, and their emporor. These mutterings made expressions towards SkekGra grew colder and more suspicious By the day. He wondered what lies SkekSil had told them to make them distrust him so, or maybe he did not need to lie at all.

“No, I don’t think you were ever my friend" SkekGra admitted somberly, it saddened him to say it out loud, he was a fool to have thought otherwise back then.

The Chamberlain hummed “Could be friends now, I could help Heretic earn place black in palace. Be Conqueror again, in need of your talents times of war" Chamberlains hands were at his sides, very calm and open.

“No" he declined without an ounce of hesitation “I would never--"

“Conqueror once would never betray own kind” SkekSil interrupted “your loyalty is wavering! Cannot be trusted by Gelfling”

SkekGra’s expression must have revealed just how much that hurt him, since the Chamberlain smiled and continued on that line of discussion. “how long hmmm till selfish heretic betray gelfling for own desires like betrayed Skeksis?” his words were full of judgment and malice.

“Maybe you’re right…” SkekGra said quietly “I am a Skeksis after all.”

The agreement made the Chamberlin confused, he hadn’t expected the other to agree with him so easily.

He walked closer to SkekSil “If anyone stands in my way, be it a Skeksis or a gelfling, I will run them through with my talons" he was looming over him, standing close. His eyes dared SkekSil to pull that blade he had hidden on him.

SkekSil watched the fiery anger in the Heretics eyes, recognizing them as the Conquerors. He could see now that while his name changed his intensity still burned as strong as ever, unfortunately that fire which was once used as a weapon for the Skeksis empire now threatened to burn down the Skeksis throne.

“You are fool!” SkekSil hissed “When Urskek whole Urskek will try to purify self again! SkekGra wont come back as Skeksis, Urskek will destroy SkekGra to become a pure self!”

“I will not make that mistake again” SkekGra stated confidently, he and Urgoh made that mistake once, he was certain they would not repeat it.

“Heretic may think so, but Urskek cannot go home with Skeksis half, too impure!” SkekSil had a point and SkekGra knew it, even when combined they would still be stuck here, forever outcastes from their kind because of him…

“I would rather spend the rest of my days together as one than separated and alone"

SkekSil pressed his beak together into a hard angry line. An annoyed groaning echoed from his throat.

“aahh" Skekgra hissed, grabbing his wrist to see dull teeth marks appearing on the back of his hand.

“Urgoh..” he looked to the Chamberlin suspiciously, if he was here.. that means the Grathim…

SkekGra glared towards Chamberlain, he should kill the other… he hated the Skeksis almost as much as he hated himself. Still, he could not blame them, he understood their motivations, he once thought the same way they did. They were just as incomplete and hopeless to control their instincts ass he was.

“If I see you again, SkekSil, I will kill you quickly to spare UrSol any suffering" he promised. Although it pained him to kill a being as hopeless as a Skeksis he couldn’t be weak, sacrifices would have to be mmade.

SkekGra didn’t look back, he took the fasted form of travel, through the trees, lunging through the branches. Running towards Urgoh he suddenly moved much more quickly as the strain between them lessened.

UrGoh had followed SkekGra from the gelfling building, but he was too slow to keep up once his half ran into the trees. To make chase was a lost cause.

UrGoh frowned as he watched him go. He should not have left SkekGra alone knowing how negative his thoughts could get when his mind was not stimulated and distracted.

The Skeksis got an unenviable amount of emotion in the split, as only half of one being it was to much for SkekGra to bear at times.

Urgoh sat on a large mossy log, content to wait there for his other half until he was ready to return; Urgoh was after all very patient. He closed his eyes and began to meditate barely having time to find tranquility before a curious voice called for him.

“A mystic.. so the rumors were true” the gelfling sounded by intrigued by its discovery. “you are from off world right?”

UrGoh slowly opened his eyes and his mouth “….yes"

“What is it like outthere?” I’ve never met someone from a different planet before, till now I’ve never known they existed!”

“o…ne.. p…re…s…pe…ct..ive… do…es.. not…”

The gelfling looking on awkwardly, he had expected a long answer, but not like this.

“….p….a..int… a..n… a..cc…ur…ate…. Pi…c..t..u..re"

The gelflings ears fell in disappointment, such a long wait for a non answer.

“Well, what’s the picture you paint?”

“…..” UrGoh breathed out deeply in contemplation of the question. He was not sure he could even say. His memories were foggy and incomplete, they had been split with SkekGra, and without the other here to help put the missing parts together, his memories were a nonsensical mess.

“…h…o…me… wa…s.. n…ic…e" he didn’t know what else he could say to ease the little gelflings curiosity. Homeworld was like nothing a gelfling could understand, every bit of it was different in every regard, down to its cells and atoms. They were made up of different things, from galaxies unlike anything comprehensible.

Urgoh’s eyebrows lowered sadly, he could feel SkekGra had gone quite a distance.

“Maybe I’ll ask Augrah…” the gelfling entwined their fingers nervously, the Mystic seemed lost in his own world, staring ahead at the trees. Urgoh didn’t even notice the little gelfling run off when a commotion began to erupt around them.

A few of the gelfling that had gone ahead of the group to scout were running back with their voices high in alarm. “The Garthim! They’ve arrived!”

“What!?” Breas voice was heard near by, along with the shattering of pottery, it would seem these monsters were faster than they appeared, and had caught up with them so quickly.

“They are closing in fast! We have to get out of here and meet up with the oth-AUGH!!” a large claw wrapped around the gelfling before flinging it through the air with all its force.

UrGoh lifted his hand to his mouth, he bit down strongly into his flesh. He did not bleed but there was a noticeable teeth pattern imprint.

The mystic stood up from his log to surprise Brea when he was suddenly behind her “qu…I…ck..ly.. w..e mu..st.. get… to.. saf…ety" he urged

“I have to warn everyone first!” She had to take charge of the panic and usher everyone to safety, it is what her mother would have done. “Our injured will need help leaving!” She ran towards the old tree that acted as a shelter for those previously injured by the Skeksis and their monsters.

She ran past Rian holding back one of the beasts, its claws were powerful enough to snap a sward in two, its hide impenetrable. All he could do was avoid its attacks, and pray to Thra it would not land one.

“RIAN! Hold on a little longer!” she hoped her words would keep him going. She ran against the crowd, arriving at the medical tent where the healthy gelfling were attempting to hurry the injured to safety, but it was a slow process as many could not be moved so roughly.

Brea was quick to help up a gelfling who had lost his leg. “Come on now, time to go" she tried to sound her least frightened.

“princess.. you are too important to lose.. please.. leave me. I am no longer helpful to the rebellion"

“Nonsense!” she spoke in anger “no one will be left behind! Your life has worth, I owe you this debt for fighting alongside us" she assured, putting his hand around her shoulder, her other hand held his hip as they slowly waddled to the door.

The tree they were inside shook, debris falling from the ceiling. She was quick to cover the poor man, coughing as they both inhaled the dirt.

Outside she suddenly heard… silence

It had been a while since SkekGr ahad climbed and leaped through the foliage of Thra, it was much easier to grip than the stones that made up his home at the circle of the sun and the caves of Grot.

When SkekGra arrived he could see Garthim closing in on a small group of gelfling soldiers attempting to hold it back while others flee.

SkekGra pushed himself off a branch, launching at the horrific beetle monster with the dead purple gaze.

The gelfling shrieked “The Skeksis are here!!” they felt now that they were truly doomed.

One lone gelfling was trapped in the creatures claws, screaming and refusing to accept his imminent death. Just as the monster intended to snap the gelfling in two SkekGra intercepted, grabbing the attackers claw and forcing it open, the unharmed gelfling dropped to the ground, surprised but thankful.

The Garthims other claw stabbed into SkekGras side, but his years sustaining injury helped him fight through the pain. Even as felt warm ooze dripping down his side. From this he gathered that the Garthim were not smart enough to go for vital parts of the body, they relied on brute force to end the fight. But against a Skeksis hoping to win with brute force was not a good strategy.

SkekGra’s talons dug deep, piercing the hard shell of the monsters claw before swinging his arms enough to throw the beast over his shoulder and smashing the beetle into the dirt floor.

The gelfling who once trembled watched, astonished by the display of power, most of them had heard of Skeksis might, but had never witnessed it for themselves.

There was a reason so few Skeksis managed to control so many gelfling and creatures of Thra, their power was other worldly.

The monster struggled on it’s back until SkekGra stomped on its head until the purple light in its eyes drained.

The surrounding gelfling looked down to the felled beast. Due to the damage it had sustained the abomination began to unravel and fall apart.

SkekGra had left before the gelfling had a chance to speak. He put pressure to his wound as he ran against the crowd, he would never admit it to anyone but it was a challenge to avoid stepping on the little gelflings when they scurried around like this.

He spotting Rian dancing with one of the Garthim, he watched curiously, knowing better than to steal a kill.

“Where is UrGoh?” he inquired very loudly

“Little busy here!” Rian grunted, throwing himself to the floor to avoid being struck, only now he found himself in a vulnerable position, laying in the dirt.

SkekGra moved between Rian and the Garthim, he did not like to ruin another’s fun but felt it was appropriate to step in. Grabbing the dark creations clawed arm he ripped the appendage out of its socket, a trench of bile opened, splattering on those who got too close. As the bloody fluid emptied the reanimated being became nothing but a husk like the last one.

SkekGra put out his hand to help the little gelfling rise. Rian breathed a sigh of relief, glad to have been saved in the nik of time. “I am afraid I don’t know where UrGoh is. Aren’t you always with him?”

“We don’t always have to be together. It’s a choice" he rebutted, feeling a little insulted at Rians assumption that he was so dependent, maybe he was just defensive because it was true.

“We will find him. You’re alive so he must be fine” Rian reasoned. He had spotted another beetle monster scurrying towards a hollowed out tree that acted as a safe haven for gelfling to hide.

“Help me to push these guys back enough so the others can escape"

“Push them back? Gelfling with talk like that you will never beat the Skeksis. Were going to kill them" SkekGra said, rather aggressively stealing a sward from a trembling gelfling soilder.

Weak, he would never had allowed such a gelfling in his ranks before, but now days he didn’t have the luxury of choosing who fought. Everyone who could had to stand against the Skeksis.

Rian was a little hesitant to get chose to SkekGra, it was like a switch went off and the Skeksis was a totally different being. He seemed so.. combative. He was clearly looking for a fight.

With a large smile SkekGra bounded towards the fight shirking loudly like a war cry. He ran head first into one of the Garthim, pushing it far back, away from the rest so they’re attacks out be out of sync. He knew better than to take on too many at once, he needed to separate them first.

It had been so long since he last gripped a sward, this one was so light it felt like wielding a feather but he was energized none the less, lashing and cutting the blade through the east with his great power. The sward was left with dent after dent, too flimsy to withstand the impact of blade against the Garthim shell.

With his hands he tore the Garthims legs from its body, then proceeded with the other limbs until it was lifeless like the rest. Still SkekGra took out some pent up frustrations on the beast, thinking it was probably the only thing as monstrous as he was.

He flinched when he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder then turned to see UrGoh standing there next to him.

“I..t….I….s .. D…o…ne…” UrGoh urged his Skeksis counterpart away from the bloody pulp that was the monsters body.

He noticed his better half had very bloody knuckles, immediately he grew concerned that he had been attacked before realizing it was his own over zealous attacking that had damaged both their bodies.

SkekGra clenched his blood covered fists “..I hurt us again" he whispered very shamefully, getting a sympathetic look from the mystic “I…d..I..dn..t… e..v…en.. f…ee..l.. I…t.” UrGoh gave him an understanding pat on the shoulder and smiled.

As the adrenaline left his body SkekGra noticed the gelfling that had surrounded them, drawn in by the commotion.

SkekGra suddenly felt very exposed. He imagined he must look even more terrifying then he had before, covered in blood and allowing them to see a suppressed violent side to him.

“Heretic that was amazing! I didn’t know you had it in you!” Rian said excitedly and out of breath. He and a small army of gelfling were able to handle the other Grathim.

“What is going on here?” Brea walked towards her Skeksis friend, handing the injured soilder to a vapran herbal master to aid him.

“The Heretic took out two Grathim all on your own!”

“Three!” a Drenchen gelfling from earlier shouted, the very one SkekGra has pried from the beast at first arrival. “I had my doubts about you Heretic, but I am glad to have you on our side"

SkekGra was surprised by the warm reception he was getting.

“you know what this means?!” an unnamed gelfling shouted from the crowd “Were saved!” the chatter was rising along with excitement levels.

“He can be our secret weapon against the Garthim!”

“He can take the Skeksis head on!”

“I am glad he is on our side!”

“SkekGra the good!” the gelflings cheered and chanted. SkekGras eyes were wide, they weren’t afraid. They liked him.. despite being a Skeksis and all the pain he and his kind had caused.

He knew his nature, knew he was capable of horrible things. He would use his strength to help the gelfling he once conquered and with their help become closer to one day being whole.

[thecartoonuniverse]

The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance Review

So I am uploading the script for the review here for everyone to see simply because I don't think I can get a video for this out before the show comes out. I spent all weekend at a convention and this is a huge script so I just haven't had the time/energy to make a full video. That being said, enjoy the review!

In 1982, audiences everywhere were introduced to the awe inspiring world of Thra in the Jim Henson film: The Dark Crystal. It was a beautiful tale of an alien world that begged for more development! Plans for a sequel were made, but ultimately it never got around to happening in movie form.

Now, after 37 long years, The Dark Crystal is finally returning in the form of a new series, albeit as a prequel called The Dark Crystal: Age of resistance, which is arriving on Netflix on August 30th.

I might say this a lot in this review, but I cannot believe that this show exists. I couldn’t even believe the original film existed when I first saw it. The Beauty of this world is really hard to summarize… so I won’t. You’re going to get the full story (and you’re gonna like it).

Imagine, if you will, 17-year-old me watching TV one day to see a show called Jim Henson’s creature shop challenge. Every week contestants had to face a different challenge where they made puppets based off of the given theme. The episode I happened to watch tasked the participants with making a skeksis. Of course I was like, what the heck is a skeksis? So, I googled it (not sponsored) and what I found blew. My. Mind.

The Skeksis were one of just many many many many many… many insane creatures that exist in the film ‘The Dark Crystal’. The film itself was an eerily dark children’s tale following two human-like creatures known as ‘Gelflings’ as they travel the lands of Thra with the hope of healing their world. From there I quickly invested in the expanded lore: books, comics, and pretty much anything else I could find.

The stories were amazing, but nothing ever came quite close to the beauty that the movies captured. You see, this stunning alien planet was brought to us using nothing but puppetry. From the smallest little buggy boy, to the tallest long-legged-larry, everything that dazzled our senses was done using ground breaking puppetry from the Master himself: Jim Henson.

While I enjoyed the outside material, comics and prose never quite captured the marvel of advanced puppetry. When the new show was announced, I was a bit worried. Practical effects have been replaced by Digital ones in almost every corner of the industry, and it seemed certain that a return to the screen would mean embracing 3D animation.

But then they showed us the trailer… (show flash of the amazing action in the trailer).

And I was stunned.

Everything looked so amazing. The Action was insane, the cinematography was beautiful, and the puppetry… oh my god they did the whole thing with puppets! I couldn’t wait to see it.

Literally. I couldn’t wait. But thankfully I was sent all the episodes before they aired and now, I get to tell you guys what to expect and why you should watch. Because trust me, for the sake of all things beautiful and good in this world, you need to watch this.

There is so much I want to say, but this WILL be a spoiler free review!

Now there is much more to the story of the Dark Crystal than just two little elves saving the world! The story at its core are about the Urskeks, a group of higher dimensional beings sent to thra through the power of the dark crystal. When trying to return home, the Urskeks accidentally divide themselves in half, with each one becoming two new creatures, the Skeksis, and the Mystics. The skeksis are essentially pure evil and want to live forever. They increase their lifespan by draining the Crystal of its power and then using it to drain the life essence of other creatures. When a prophecy foretells of their downfall at the hand of gelflings, they set out to annihilate the entire species, but miss two infant gelflings who manage to find safety. These two gelflings, Jen and Kira, grow up, discover one another, and heal the crystal, which allows for the skeksis and mytics to merge into their true forms once again, and bring peace to thra.

That was basically the Spark Notes version of the Dark Crystal, but Gizmodo has an article that does a good job of summarizing the rest of the lore… though you can also just watch the movie!

Now if you are wondering what happens next then this show… ISNT going to be helpful. Instead, the age of resistance is a ‘prequel’ which flashes back to the time when the Skeksis could no longer rely on the crystal alone for life energy, and turn to sucking the life out of other creatures instead. This prompts the gelflings to fight back against the skeksis, forming, as the title suggest, the resistance!

The choice to make to make this a prequel series is something I was always ecstatic about. Unlike with any sequels, a prequel would allow us to get a view into what Gelfling were actually like as a species, and let me tell you the show does not disappoint on this front.

As we learn, 7 different clans existed, each with their own customs and unique physical appearance. In particular, the Vapra, Stonewood, and Grottan clans are featured the most in the series, although we do meet members from the other clans as well.

our three main characters each hail from one of these clans. Brea is a Vapran princess, Rian is a Stonewood guard to the skeksis, and Deet is the most adorable Grottan to ever exist.

I learned about all the clans in the recent Dark Crystal novels, but it was still amazing to see what they officially looked like.

And as for the main characters themselves, they are all pretty great.

It is pretty clear that Rian is supposed to be our Jen stand-in, but his personality is very distinct, so I do not have a huge problem with this.

On the other hand we have Brea, who does have a resemblance to Kira but only because they likely hail from the same clan. Otherwise Brea is very studious and loves reading and drawing.

That brings me to the odd one out, Deet. She has never been on the surface of Thra before, meaning that her positive and cheerful way of thinking will be tested when she faces the challenges set before her.

However, there is one other character that has a huge role in the series that I have yet to mention. That is of course Aughra, who is more or less the personification of Thra. That being said, she is basically an old grumpy woman. Personally, I was not a huge fan of her in the original movie. She seemed very unhelpful and too cryptic in her responses. Yet, she is definitely a more proactive character in the series, and I actually really grew to like her. As a being born from the ground of Thra, she of course does not want to see the world become corrupted, so her actions in this season make sense.

But those are just the humanoid characters, which are really not what I’m here for.

Where the real excitement begins is looking at all the Skeksis. Look at them! They’re hideous! Just as they’re meant to be. And unlike in the movie they are younger and not quite on the edge of death. It’s just really nice to see the Emperor ruling the Skeksis as he was meant to. Chamerlain is up to no good as usual, and the rest of the skeksis are pretty terrible as well. I just need to take a moment to appreciate SkekMal. He is the only one who is not already decrepit, and he makes use of all four of his arms to hunt gelflings. He’s terrifying, but terrifyingly beautiful (don’t judge me).

Their counterparts the urRu don’t play the biggest part this time around, which is hard for me to forgive since they were my favorite creatures from the movie. But they have purposely hidden themselves from the outside world so their lack of presence makes sense.

And the rest of the animals in Thra are adorable. Llike with the original film, there are plenty of moments that will have you pausing your screen to get a better look at the amazing creatures inhabiting this world.

It really is indicative of the most important thing of all: The puppetry

For the most part, it is extremely well done. The Skeksis in particular have the best range of emotions, despite having just eyes and a beak to work with, and the other animals are really neat to look at, as I said.

I wish I could say the same for the gelfling, but the puppets are not quite there yet. In particular, their mouths just can’t provide the range of motion that human mouths can. This is due to their faces being made of latex, so their movement is limited. The eyes however are perfect.

That brings me to something many of you may be wondering about. Yes, CGI is used, and you can for the most part tell when it is because any of those elements move better than the rest of the world around them. For example, often the skeksis’s tongues were animated, and it is clear that some creatures are computer generated in their entirety. I mean I do understand, since making things fly or move in very precise ways is difficult with puppetry. Overall the show is beautiful and the CG is not that big of a deal.

Now that we got that out of the way, let’s talk about the story. While it was never like the reason to watch the Dark Crystal, the prequel really dives deep into the lore and expands on it. However, it also attempts to re-explain everything that was previously learned, meaning that there are occasionally long sequences of just explaining things. I enjoyed them, but this may not be the case for everyone.

With that there is also a boat load of characters. For more dedicated fans they may see a lot of familiar faces from the novels that have been releasing for the past few years. However I did feel like the introduction of some of these characters, such as Naia and Kylan, was rushed and kind of went unexplained as to how they got to meeting up with the main characters unless you have read the books. Not that they have the biggest roles in the show, I just feel like for more casual fans them being in the story will feel pointless.

But that being said, holy crap this show is dark. Ha ha, dark crystal, yeah of course it’s dark. But I mean this show is gruesome. Yes, the movie was pretty dark, but imagine that but brought to a whole new level. Both kids and adults alike are sure to get nightmares after this.

However, as someone who loves anything animated and hopes for more story-based shows, Age of Resistance is everything I could’ve hoped for and more. It doesn’t really pander to old fans in the way that some series revivals do. Some people may be mad at any small change, but I for one welcome them as they allow the new series to become something much greater than the movie could ever be.

And looking at the marketing for the show, it seems like both Netflix and the Jim Henson company want this to be a huge success. I’m talking funko pops, action figures, an extensive social media campaign, tie in books, a video game, a panel at the biggest stage at SDCC plus a whole booth, and even a comic which is a prequel to this prequel series.

And I don’t blame them. It took YEARS to get this made. There are so many different puppets that had to be made, I cannot believe this was actually pulled off. I’m talking dozens of gelflings, almost every skeksis, mystics, podling, other creatures, plus the environments had to be made by hand and be unique to each location.

Even if you aren’t a big fan of the story, I urge you to watch this show for the visuals alone. Trust me, it is worth it.

I also want to quickly mention, for the ten people that actually watch this that have gone head first into anything to do with the Dark Crystal, that I don’t really know if the books fit in perfectly with the series. This timeline released by Gizmodo does not include the novels at all despite what I heard about them being canon. Plus, from what I saw, unless I am totally wrong, certain things are retconned. This was kind of disappointing since I have been loving the novels, but it would definitely be hard to make everything work out since the main characters from the books are more like side characters in the series.

But still seriously read the books they’re amazing.

So that is pretty much what I thought about Age of Resistance without spoiling too much. I love this show a ton, so I hope everyone that watches this review gives it a chance, and then tells all their friends about it as well.

In an article, the creators said they have two more seasons planned, so we need to make sure they happen! I don’t want this to be another instance of a great show on Netflix being cancelled because not enough people watched it.

Do it for the puppets.

[themysticorder]

The Child of the Dark Crystal Chapter 8 “Saviour”

DISCLAIMER

I do not own the Dark Crystal or Winx Club and its Characters, all rights go to their rightful owners. I do however own Mara and her story.

Rated E for Graphic Depictions of Violence and Rape/non-con (E Chapters will be announced and only posted on Ao3)

Chapter 8 “Saviour”

The shadow slowly approached the woman laying on the floor, her body trembled in shock, and she could not prevent the uncontrolled sobs from escaping her lips. She breathed heavily through her nose as the figure knelt beside her, the sound of his steady breathing reaching her ears as he bent over her. Mara closed her eyes, pressing the eyelids together tightly in fear of another assault on her exposed body. But none of it happened, instead she was surprised by a sudden feeling of relief as the shackles around her wrists and ankles where ripped open and fell to the ground with a loud rattling sound that made her wince. Now that her extremities were freed, she curled up into a ball and wrapped her arms around her upper body to cover her exposed chest.

The rustling sound of fabric reached her ears and shortly after she felt how something warm was wrapped around her body. Next thing she knew were the pair of strong arms that were wrapped around her body and lifted her into the air, carrying her out of the dark room that she never wished to set a foot in again after this day. Mara could not see the face of the being that carried her through the hallways of the castle, as they were drowned in darkness. Whether he was her Saviour, or just another cruel soul that wanted to take advantage of her weakened state, she couldn’t tell. But no matter the case, she was to weak to fight, her legs felt like Jello and her ind was still in a state of shock.

She was carried through the hallways for quite some time, none of the corridors that they crossed seemed familiar to her. She had never been this deep beneath the Castle and the further her rescuer, or whatever he was. Walked, the colder and darker it seemed to get. Eventually he stopped, in front of them a huge wooden double door engraved with strange symbols that she had never seen before. With a creaking sound it swung open, revealing a dimly lit room. He stepped inside and walked towards a divan chair, which was lined with fabric of a crimson color, and gently placed her down onto the seat. Mara immediately grabbed the blanket that was wrapped around her body and pulled it up under her chin , only her head remaining visible. Her gaze slowly wandered over towards the figure, that walked towards a small alcove on the other side of the room. It was lined with large wooden shelves that kept glass bottles of different shapes and sizes that where filled with strange looking liquids. Another Shelve was filled with glass jars that stored all kinds of dried herbs, plants and mushrooms. A stone hearth stood in between the shelves, a fire crackling inside of it, heating up the iron pot that hung above it.

She observed him as he grabbed a few of the jars from the shelves and placed them on a small counter that stood in the center of the alcove. His claws reached inside the containers, pulling out a few of the dried ingredients before he placed them inside of a small bag of thin fabric, that he tied up with a piece of twine. With the help of the wooden ladle he poured some of the boiling water from the kettle inside of a small wooden cup and placed the bag of herbs inside of it.

“Who are you?” realizing to late, that she had actually spoken the words out loud, she covered her mouth with her hands, her fingers still clinging to the blanket, pulling it over her mouth. Her eyes went wide with fear as he approacher her again, his long robe dragging over the floor behind him, the steaming cup of Tea sitting between his claws.

He was one of them, a Skeksis, which she could tell by the long snout protruding from his face, but he looked so much different than the others of his Kin. He was tall, taller then all of the other Skeksis in the Castle and his body wasn’t bony or lanky like theirs. He had broad shoulders and his chest was muscular as she could see through the fabric of his robes that where clinging tightly to his torso. His clothes mostly consisted of white and blue shades with golden accents, which where quite unusual colors for a Skeks. His face too wasn’t as bony, his facial features smoother, making him look less morose and agonizing, almost benevolent. A full set of grayish-silver hair decorated his head, and was tied together in a loose braid, that ran down his back. But it where his bright turquoise eyes that caught her attention the most, they reminded her of the waters of the silver sea or the sky on a warm summer day. He was the most beautiful Skeksis she had ever seen.

He came to a halt in front of the divan, his claws reaching out to her, which made her wince and push herself against the Sofa, trying to get away from him. “Please don’t hurt me.” These words made him stop, slowly pulling back his arm “I wont” he assured her, his voice deep, melodic almost, not as raspy and shrill like those from the others of his kin. He placed the cup of tea on a small table next to the divan, knowing very well that she carefully observed each of his steps. “You should drink this, it will help you calm your nerves.”

“Who are you?” she asked the Skeks again, who was again wandering towards the alcove. Her voice was shaky and barely above a whisper, but it was loud enough to reach his ears.

He lightly turned his head in her direction “The ones I used to call my brethren gave me the name SkekVazur, the Alchemist, but I prefer to just be called Vazur now”

She swallowed hard before forming her next question “What are you doing with me now?”

Upon hearing the fear in her voice he turned towards her completely, his face showing no trace of evil or mischief “Nothing, I just wanted to bring you to a place where they will not find you, you are safe here, but you are free to leave, if that is your wish.”

Her gaze wandered over to the wooden door, what would happen if she left the room? A wave of different emotions ran through her mind, each connected to the many thoughts that did not allow her to calm down. SkekUng wouldn't stay unconscious forever. Maybe he would start searching for her, try to finish what he had started in the cold dusty chamber. Maybe he would kill her so the others would never hear of his assault on her. She wasn’t safe in the Castle anymore, not with SkekUng as the Emperor. But would she be save anywhere else? What would SkekEkt do if she would never return to her? She hadn’t seen her foster mother a lot after she had moved to the lower chambers of the Castle, but she had still visited her as often as her duties allowed her to, gifting some new gowns and Jewelry to Mara. She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath in, one of her arms came crawling out from underneath the blanket and grabbed the cup of tea that still sat on the wooden table. She brought it to her nose and immediately her nostrils were filled with the lovely floral scent of the concoction. Her lips closed around the rim of the cup, leaving a wide enough gab for her to let the liquid flood her mouth and play around with her taste buds. Valerian Root, Honeymoss and Hogweed, all these Aromas mixed together into a symphony of flavors.

She immediately felt the soothing effect of the brew, her thoughts calmed down and her body stopped shacking. When she opened her eyes, Vazur stood in front of her, a folded piece of clothing in his hand “Here, you can put these on” he said and turned around, giving her some privacy while she dressed in the robes, that were way to big for her, but they would have to do for now. “I have never seen you in the Castle before, why are you not with the others Skeksis?”

His brows furrowed slightly “I….left them a long time ago, I do not exactly feel of them as my brethren anymore?”

She draped the robes over her body and sat down on the chair again, taking another sip of the tea “I can tell that you are not like them, there is something different about you, who are you”

“I told you already, my name Is Vazur.”

A weak smile formed on her lips “You told me your name, but that still does not tell me who you are, please, I only want to know who my Saviour is.”

A soft sigh escaped his lips before he turned around and sat on the far end of the Divan “Do you now the story about the Urskeks and the Great Division?

She nodded in response, SkekEkt had told her everything about it, The UrSkeks were beings that had been banished from their home planet and came to Thra, they sought to purify themselves to get back to their Home world through the Crystal during the second great conjunction. But instead of being sent home, each of the fallen UrSkeks were inadvertently divided into two separate beings, the Evil and violent Skeksis, and the gentle and contemplative UrRu. They were however still connected to one another, if one part of them died, the other would do so as well.

“Good” he said and continued to explain “I was there too, during the Great division, but something went wrong, the personalities of me and my UrRu self got exchanged, UrJellak got the evil and destructive soul that was originally intended for me, while his was planted inside my body. The others living in the Castle soon realized that I was different, where they sought immortality and power, I searched for answers, answers that would allow us to return to our former selves. But they would not listen to me, their greed turned them into incorrigible beings, lead by the fear of death. And even though they keep the Crystal of truth as their slave, it is them that have become slaves to the Crystal.”

As he continued to tell her the story she realized how few she actually new about the Skeksis, there were a lot of things she didn’t new about them and their plans for Thra. But then it did not really surprise her, as she was never allowed to leave the Castle. All that she knew about the outside world she had heard from the stories SkekEkt had told her when she had been a child but she had never seen it herself. They had always told her that they were trying to rule over it to bring back order and justice but their real intentions were to drain the Essence of the Gelflings to turn themselves immortal and now there were only two Gelflings left, fighting for existence. She didn't know how to feel about all these newly achieved information, it was to much to process for one day, especially after what happened earlier. But sadly the bad news wouldn’t stop there.

“What happened then? Why are you down here?” Mara asked.

“They first started their unethical experiments on me, trying to exchange the soul of me and my UrRu self but things didn’t go as planned so they banished me into the lower floors of the Castle to prevent me from disturbing their experiments and crossing their plans. That's when I realized that hope for them is lost, they wont turn from their plans, even if it means to banish the ones of their own kind.”

Mara sighed, her heart felt Heavy and her soul crushed “I cant imagine they are this cruel, they experimented on me as well, but it was just to save my life, I would be dead if it wasn’t for them, well some of them.”

A small chuckle escaped Vazur’s snout “Do you really think they tried to keep you alive because they care for you? They saved you so that your powers could serve them in the future, you are nothing but a tool to them, a tool that they used to hunt down the Gelflings and bring the Garthim to life, it is the Darkening that has destroyed a lot of Thra, and will still continue to do so as long as the Skeksis keep misusing the Crystal.”

Was that true, this they really use her own powers without her consent? Did SkekEkt knew about this? Had she lied to her all these years? No this couldn't be, it couldn't it just…

“Do you want to see it?”

His deep voice ripped her from her thoughts “What?”

“Do you wish to see the outside, see for yourself what the Darkening has caused?” for a moment she thought he had ost his patience with her, bot he stayed calm and collected, his voice barely above a whisper.

“Yes”

[thebibliomancer]

Song of the Dark Crystal liveblog pt 11

Song of the Dark Crystal by J.M. Lee because Aughra. Because Aughra.

Last times in book: Kylan, Naia, Tavra, and Gurjin have traveled to Aughra’s High Hill to enlist her help in warning all Gelfling that the Skeksis ruling class doesn’t have their best interests at heart. The party meets Aughra who seems hilariously grumpy and unhelpful but at least says she’ll answer some of their questions.

Chapter 11

The meeting with Aughra goes discouragingly but Kylan gets a cool book

Aughra doesn’t offer the Gelfling a place to sit so they passive aggressively stand with the orrery spheres just zooming overhead. Except Tavra who leans against the wall with her arms crossed because she’s the Too Cool Kid.

Aughra rummages around in a box of artifacts and grumbles because she can’t find what she’s looking for. Which is the crystal shard! So I guess Aughra already has the crystal shard at this point!

“Eh! Where are they? Probably buried everywhere. No matter. Not the time yet, no point. No way to know which one it is yet, anyway.”

Because I guess this is taking after the Creation Myths story where after the crystal was cracked, Aughra spent who knows how long collecting crystal shards.

Just waiting for Jen.

(I guess it makes more sense than her losing track of the shard after the Age of Resistance show)

The following conversation is amazing, by the way. Because it contains grumpy Aughra.

“The Skeksis have betrayed the Gelfling,” Naia began. “I’ve seen the Crystal where they’ve darkened it. We need to send a message to all the Gelfling, all at the same time, so everyone knows what the Skeksis have done.”

Aughra stared at Naia with her single eye, flat face unreadable except for a general sense of disdain. Kylan worried suddenly that she would not have an answer - or if she did, that it would be impossible to interpret or understand.

“And what’s the question?” she barked.

Hahah

Kylan asks if there’s a way to send a message to all Gelfling without the Skeksis being able to interpret it.

And Aughra is like ‘hey maybe if all Gelfling could read!’ Gotcha, so our first step should be a literacy program.

“Oh yes, sure there’s a way. There’s always a way. Could be this way. Could be that way over there.”

Hah!

She’s so unhelpful!

She also adds this is something Gelfling will have to figure out if it’s something that only Gelfling can understand. How do you expect Aughra to understand a thing that only Gelfling can understand??

Naia testily says it’d be okay for Aughra to understand since she’s helping but Aughra clarifies that if she can understand it then so can the Skeksis since they’re the ones who taught her how to read. (Or the UrSkeks did but nobody else gets that.)

Gurjin changes topics and asks what Aughra knows about the Skeksis.

“I know they love a good crawly. What do you want to know?”

Naia bit at the end of the question, finishing Gurjin’s thought.

“Everything!”

“Everything!” she exclaimed. “HA! Didn’t you hear what I just said! Everything’s too much! Small questions, Gelfling. Small questions with small answers for your small head!”

HAHAHAH!

Kylan decides to switch topics again, while also having to hold back Naia from probably cursing out Aughra.

He relates meeting urVa and how he had a scar on his hand and how in the encounter with SkekMal later he had that same scar on his hand and how he suspects that the two share one life force. And because of the importance the Skeksis placed on twins, ie capturing both Naia and Gurjin, that Kylan suspects all of the Skeksis are the same with one life forced shared between two bodies.

Aughra confirms Kylan’s theory.

“Skeksis were born at the last Great Conjunction. That’s when the Skeksis appeared, and the Mystics. Can’t have one without the other.”

And when Kylan asks a follow up question about the Mystics:

“Eighteen Skeksis. Eighteen Mystics. That’s one for one, isn’t it? If the numbers are right.” She grumbled, talking to herself more than to the Gelfing in her observatory. “Twins, eh? I can see what they’re thinking, but they’re wrong. Twins are two souls, two lives, two bodies. A close connect, yes! Same blood in your veins, same Gelfling essence! But you and you, you’re two, eh? Skeksis and the Mystics are one, split. What happens to one happens to the other. And the other way around, too.”

Kylan isn’t really satisfied with her answer but it is an answer, or at least a confirmation. And again, props to the Gelfs for figuring out the big Dark Crystal plot twist with nothing but good perceptiveness.

And it gives him a new line of questioning. Maybe the other Mystics can help as urVa did. Maybe the Mystics could stop the Skeksis.

(Ha, sorry Kylan. They’re not that helpful.)

“NO!” Her response boomed over the sound of the machine. “Skeksis can’t destroy Mystics. Mystics can’t destroy Skeksis. What’s one is the other. You know! You saw it! Maybe a Mystic could keep a Skeksis in one place. Stop him from doing the really bad thing. Maybe the other way around, too. Skeksis stops a Mystic from doing the really great thing. But it’s just a wall. Just an impasse, not a defeat, not destruction.”

I don’t know. Harm minimization might be a good idea at this point? I don’t know if the good that the Mystics do is balanced with the evil that the Skeksis do. What with the impending genocide of the Gelfling?

Gurjin suggests that they just kill the Mystics, to get rid of the Skeksis. Less resistance there, probably.

But Naia and Kylan are the ones who protest this time. It just feels wrong to them to kill someone as peaceful and groovy as urVa to get to SkekMal.

Kylan asks Aughra if there’s anything she could tell them that would help, or even some direction on what to do.

“Don’t know,” Aughra said. She gave a big groan, clearing her throat, and spat, right on the floor. “Don’t know.”

She said the movie line!

I don’t know if that’s the movie line and action I would choose to echo but hey, he went for it.

She also has her own plan which is to play out the clock.

“Skeksis, Mystics. Born at the Great Conjunction. Maybe they’ll die at the next. Maybe they’ll go back to wherever they came from. Maybe the whole world will end! No way to know but wait. Nothing to do but wait until the next one. The next Great Conjunction.”

When her words got nothing but a heavy silence, she scoffed.

“See? Told you it might not be what you wanted to hear.”

Kylan is pretty disgruntled and feels foolish for pinning his hopes on magic all-knowing legend lady. Everything she’s given them is interesting but doesn’t offer any concrete ways forward. And everything she’s spoken of is from long ago.

He asks if she even knows that the Skeksis have been draining the essence of Gelfling. And when Aughra seems surprised by that, Kylan realizes she may have gotten so preoccupied with SPACE that she has no idea what’s going on.

So he tells her how the Skeksis steal away Gelfling and how the Scientist binds them in a chair and forces them to stare into the Crystal. How the darkness they’ve put into the Crystal has spread throughout Thra like a sickness. How the Gelfling can’t afford to try to run out the clock because the Skeksis could drink every single one of them before the Great Conjunction.

Aughra had become distracted by the contents of her worktable, sorting through it, though her motions were slower now, as if burdened. Kylan had never wished sorrow upon anyone, but at that moment he hoped the old woman felt at least a little. It might mean she cared.

Kylan urges Aughra to tell him that the battle is worth fighting, that the Skeksis aren’t unstoppable and that the Gelfling shouldn’t just give up.

Aughra tells him that the future is immutable and that the Great Conjunction is more powerful than the Skeksis and the Mystics. But she hasn’t seen enough of the future yet to know whether there is hope. She tells him to be patient.

“I’ve had enough of patience,” Kylan said with a sigh that left him completely deflated. “And I’ve had enough of you.”

He regretted the words as soon as they escaped. Even Tavra looked surprised.

Damn, Kylan. Savage.

Rather than respond to that, Aughra notices that Kylan is holding a book he picked up off the floor and tells him “Take that book. Aughra thinks it was meant for you.”

And then she just shuffles off.

And the conversation was such a bummer that the Gelfling all just decide to leave.

So I guess Aughra’s non-interference has been a combination of being distracted by SPACE, knowing that the Skeksis are bad but being convinced that the Great Conjunction is the only solution, losing the dang crystal shard, and not being too up to date with HOW bad things have gotten.

And like Naia and Kylan, she’s not going to brook ideas that involve killing the Skeksis or Mystics. They’re halves of her old friends who taught her how to read and look at stars.

I don’t think show Aughra had similar reservations. Like she didn’t go out of her way to plan violence but also she exploded the Hunter after convincing the Archer to jump off a tower.

Granted, Aughra in the show was a lot more proactive. Once she figured out what was up she wasted no time in marching over to yell at the Skeksis. Although, it seems that book Aughra is still expecting to have the great Gelfling conference call at some point, since she told Kylan et al that they were early.

Hopefully that’s a super great book she just gave Kylan.

Maybe it hadn’t been all bad. He held out the book she had given him. It bore no markings save for a symbol Kylan didn’t recognize written in black ink on the spine. The worn, dark blue-gray leather that bound it had long ago lost a corner but was otherwise in good shape.

He flipped through the book and found most of the pages filled. The writing within was ink - not dream-etched like Gelfling writing. Some of the words were illegible, and the hand in which it had all been writ did not match the many other scrolls and parchments in Aughra’s orrery. Splatters of black dotted the paper around scrawled sketches, diagrams, and sometimes completely unintelligible shapes that did not fit into any category. Given it was done in ink and not dream-etching, he guessed the author was not Gelfling. Yet in many places, the writing was in Gelfling letters and very fluent for a non-Gelfling. The subjects of the text were unfocused, sometimes geographical, sometimes astronomical. Sometimes they even seemed to be a record or diary, long hand for a few pages. These entries were almost always in a writing Kylan could not read, but they were dense, often accompanied by messy ink splatters and sometimes the remains of torn-out pages.

Intrigue!

So presumably not written by Aughra and not written by Gelfling. And clearly important given how much emphasis the book is getting as the outcome of the trip to Aughra’s.

Hmmmmm.

Naia comments that the message on the spiderweb rock was right and Gurjin asks what the message was.

“It said do not trust her. We didn’t want to put stock in some anonymous warning, but maybe we should have.”

“Do not trust her, eh?” Gurjin echoed. “Strange thing to write about Aughra. It’s not as if she misled us. What was there to trust... or not trust? All she did was tell us nothing.”

Tavra comments that they could have saved a lot of time if they had heeded the warning (even though I’m with Gurjin that it is a weird fit to apply it to Aughra) but Naia insists that trying to warn all Gelfling is still the right thing to do.

You’re still my number one suspect, Tavra. I’m going to assume its a plot relevant message because we’ve spent so much time on it and I believe Gurjin’s logic. So that leaves Naia and Tavra. We were just in Naia’s head last book and there hasn’t been anything that could change her level of trustworthiness. Plus, she’s not a very subtle person. And Tavra has been acting weird since she rejoined the cast. I’m onto you, Tavra who is probably a Tavra.

Since Naia doesn’t have a plan now that the Aughra visit came to not much, Tavra snootily (with a hair flip even, wow) suggests they head towards the Black River.

“By the time we reach it, surely you’ll have come up with something brilliant.”

The sarcasm was so palpable, Tavra might as well have been serving it for supper.

You’re being a dick, hypothetical-Spider-Tavra.

Naia passes the buck and decides that Kylan will find something in the book he just got.

[Kylan] wasn’t sure whether to be annoyed or flattered that Naia had struck him with the pressure of coming up with their next move, and under a time limit, no less.

Tavra shrugged and tossed her cape to the side so she could sheath her sword. She gave Kylan a challenging, dubious snort.

“Better start reading,” she said, then turned and followed Naia down the hill.

Pretty sweet dunk, I have to admit.

Also, I shouldn’t be surprised that everything comes down to Kylan reading a book super good.

He’s trained his whole life for this!

[pawnshopsouls]

ooc! Dark Crystal links & Headcanons

//Ok! SO i’ve got my new Dark Crystal verses up for the bros!

¢::ToThraAndBackAgain::¢ for the crossover verses https://pawnshopsouls.tumblr.com/post/187931023431/mobile-verses-crossover-verses

¢::StonesOfThra::¢ for the AU verses https://pawnshopsouls.tumblr.com/post/187931600361/mobile-verses-au-verses

//Along with these, I’ve got a few headcanons for the bros that I’ve really grown attached to.

Neither of the bros can do full on sunlight, not because they’ll turn to stone (like they would on earth) but because their eyes are made specifically for being underground, so they can only handle indirect sunlight without going blind. This makes them nocturnal and gives them great night vision. (might consider designing snow-eye gear for them so they can be in broad daylight without going blind XP)

Although the 3 suns produce light and heat, they don’t produce UV rays which is what calcifies troll anatomy. Therefor, the only threat they pose to trolls/stoneskins is possible blindness.

When the bros meet SkekGra, Bonely’s reaction is to laugh and enjoy his antics. He is the epitome of Grunkle Stan’s statement; “I like this guy! He’s funny!”

Because trolls/stoneskins eat ores, Bonely likes the taste and smell of hot metal. Which will probably lead him to a LOT of trouble if he ever makes it to Stone in the Wood! XD

Salem needs to be careful around Drudupe berries bc chances are he’ll like how they taste, even if he doesn’t like what they do.

Bonely is half grateful he and Salem are the only trolls who ended up on Thra bc he’s 100% sure gummgumms would clean out the population of Gelfling by just using them as snacks. On the other hand he really misses his tribe.

Both bros can recognize Aughra’s ties to the Thra. Because of this, (and despite her being an absolute curmudgeon) they see/treat her as Thra’s celestial steward and refuse to tolerate any disrespect towards her.

Deet and Hope ( @thehopcful ) are probably the first Gelfling they’d meet, and probably by accident too! XD

In the verse where Salem & Bonely are native to Thra, they hail from an underground race simply called “Stoneskins”.

Stoneskins eat ores and minerals much like the rock giants from the Never Ending Story. They also ate Araithim before the skeksis drove them from the Grottan caverns, the glowing moss (which makes their tribal etchings glow when eaten), and sometimes eat Nurlocs when minerals in the area have become scarce. (They don’t like the taste of Nurlocs. They’re fleshy and sticky and tend to bite back very hard when bothered.)

They consider the Crystal of Truth to be the “Heart of Thra”, and are affected by the Darkening much worse than most others races due to their biological closeness to the stone that makes up Thra’s mantle. The illness caused by the Darkening is known by them as the “Crumbling” as it begins by eating away at one’s mind before eating away one’s stone, causing them to crumble and fall apart until they perish.

It is believed by the Stoneskins that the Heart of Thra can cure them, but they haven’t seen the surface since before the Urskeks came so they don’t know about the change in management with the Crystal.

Stoneskins only know a some of the gelfling language thanks to the Grottan Maurdra (I can’t remember her name ><;; ) who manages to convince them to go back to their deep dwells instead of feeding on their Nurloc

[sundcred-and-undone]

Tell No One - Exert

Bird song had ceased. The sounds of the forest had halted, holding its breath, as the frightening figure moved along. SkekMal was tracking. It had been a while since he'd sensed intelligent prey. A broken twig, a bent leaf. Little signs. A very fresh and very obvious trail - someone wasn't careful. He spotted something in the muddy trail ahead. An imprint in the ground. The roughened finger dragged along the dirt. Feeling out the groove of the footprint.

SkekMal sniffed the air.

Could it be?

Bloodshot eyes narrowing, he ran his tongue along his jagged, poisoned teeth in thought. Could it be possible? The footprint was undeniable. And such things could not be faked easily. A skeksis. A nimble one, by the looks. But how was it possible? Small.

The hunter straightened up. The old bones in his back popped as he shifted.

It had been many a year, since his blood had ran like this. What a thrill! A mystery, even. How fun!

Not long from the Gelfling village. What were those little morsels up to, he wondered? SkekMal moved back towards the wreckage of the Chamberlain’s vehicle, dragging his claws along the bronze metal. Their flesh he craved more than their thoughts or words ...

Come, come, little waif, wherever you are.

SkekMal sniffed, startling a few wispy birds into flight. Their fluttering echoed through the tree thinks of the clearing.

He stalked on.

…

SkekSept could quite recall how he’d gotten out here. That’s the problem with being lost in thought – you tend to blur your motions and nuances, don’t pay attention. He’d wandered into the forest, away from the lights and the sounds of the Gelfling village – he felt undeserving, though certain not unwelcome. The villagers had been very accommodating, even kind, yet he kept aloof.

And without his guide hovering, he’d decided to meander into the blue-moon light of the glade, to watch the large trees – larger than he’d even seen them – grow dark as night set in.

Winged creatures that spun and twirled like discs drifted by him. Their dark eyes glinted at him in the patchy light peeking through the overhanging trees, tall as towers.

He paused and breathed in the cold air.

Without even thinking, he let the robes slide off his shoulders, pulled the last few pins from his hair, and stepped out of the confines of his clothes. In a mere gown of silver silk, he let his secondary arms outstretch.

SkekSept knelt by a stream, content at being able to stoop without worrying about popping a seam and watched his reflection.

Something sounded behind him. He felt breath on his skin.

It began breathy, then rose, morphing into … a laugh. Throaty and deep, and totally new.

He whirled around; arms slightly risen like a bird startled into flight. At first, all he saw was a shape, black and big and four-armed, merged with the dark. But he knew those tendrils, poking from the many furs, the many skulls, the sheer reek of rotting flesh and decayed bone ... And those three-toed feet. An entirely unfamiliar elder was standing some meters away. SkekSept hadn’t even heard him approach – not so much as a rustle.

He was tall, and unlike all the others, not overly adorned – though the garments he had were rich, his head ornamented, and his arms … all four, mind you, clutching large, ravenous looking blades.

A keen and cunning grin was splitting that vicious maw, and SkekSept stepped back, breath hitching in unease and unholy terror. Broken skeksis tongue, not Gelfling, rough and tilting.

“Closer.” The stranger hissed, “What a surprise. What … a pleasure! Finally, something new to stalk in the dark.”

SkekSept’s frown furrowed, “Who are you?” He retorted, trying not to let his voice crack, trying not to show the extent of his terror. The elder cocked his head, so only one eye gleamed at him, knowing and oh-so piercing.

Unconsciously the younger reached to clasp at his elbow in unease … and his fingers trailed down his arm-guard.

The very one that was also clasped around the stranger’s forearm: polished, newer, and more fitting.

Clarity is a harsh quest in the mind. SkekSept’s skull felt like it had rattled, as he stared at his own armguard, which he’d come to expect seeing on his arm as if it were his flesh, on this stranger’s limb. SkekEkt had told him it originally belonged to someone else - before the Collector won it in a game. One of the rogues, apart, a maniac.

“… SkekMal.” He breathed.

“So, you know me, do you?”

A step. SkekSept pivoted his body, his hands clamped over his other arm to hide the armguard’s design from him, as it seemed the shadows had hidden it from him. The younger stepped back, keeping the distance between them spacious. He was shaking. skekMal was a giant. "Closer, little one. Let me see you. Skeksis are we both. We are brothers, you and I."

That wouldn’t last.

Tension was building.

SkekMal contemplated him as he drew near, arms outstretching to flex those hefty bone blades, though he seemed perfectly calm. Poised. “And yet I do not know you. But your face is … familiar. Which ones. Where you came from … how did they hide you?”

The racing monologue in SkekSept’s mind halted, and his eyes danced left and right as he realised – ah, SkekMal knew nothing of time travel. Nothing of other Urskeks appearing, for they would have witnessed it happening… so what other explanation…?

Oh. Oh dear. SkekSept wondered if he should correct him. This could lead to –

CRACK.

One of the swords sliced through a sapling. The youth jumped back, and the two began to circle each other. The space between them shrinking, SkekSept knew he had to act.

But let SkekMal think he held the power.

Hunter. He’d know how to track SkekSept. There had to be another route here.

The hunter moved. Fast. SkekSept’s gasp stopped in his windpipe, and he barely ducked in time avoid being bludgeoned by the butt of the blade – seems the hunter had opted not to kill him.

The younger had dropped down low to avoid it, and he bolted left, and this time the blade swiped at him. Catching his shoulder, splitting the flesh –

He cried out, but that too was cut off. SkekMal had turned, striking him in the torso with his tail and knocking him clean off his feet. The forest was not on his side – a fallen trunk made sure he toppled entirely onto his back, foot caught in brambles.

Two of the four blades sliced into the ground on either side of his head.

SkekSept’s eyes widened.

SkekMal loomed over him, forehead-to-forehead as he gulped down air, “I expect more from someone so nimble. Do not disappoint!”

He hoisted his third blade.

In a flash the younger skeksis twisted and bolted between his legs on all fours. He snarled, loud and furious, and SkekSept tugged several times at the brambles on his ankle before deciding to damn it all, and he tore them out root and stem with his beak, back bending to its limit to reach.

He sprung up and snatched up a large, mossy rock as SkekMal came at him again, and parried the blade coming.

Sparks flew from the impact of metal and rock.

It sent a painful jar down his arm.

It sent him to his knees, and skekMal cackled.

He dipped down again, breaking the parry, and dove under his arms. He leaped over the stream, water droplets flying into the air, and up a slope he went.

One of the swords hit the mound beside him; it seemed like a deliberate move. SkekMal was not trying to kill him. If so, SkekSept was confident that he’d have been skinned alive by now.

Hopping across some grimy stones, SkekSept cast a look over his shoulder to find he … had not given chase. Worry sprouted in his chest as he came to pause after perhaps five minutes of sprinting.

After a few moments of catching his breathe, the ambience noise of the forest returned. Chirping, quiet croaks. Fluttering.

Nearby, one of the spinning, twig-like creatures floated by. SkekSept watched it, his mind unusually blank –

The blade flew at it, and halved the poor creature before he could draw his next breathe.

SkekSept through up his hands as The Hunter soared at him from the shadows, swords crossing over each-other. His back hit the trunk behind him, the sharp edges on either side of his face. His breath reeked of blood. The younger's chest rose and felt rapidly with horror.

Small animals scattered. Pinned against the bark, SkekSept forced his face into a scowl. His unkempt hair framed his face.

SkekMal was chuckling. It was a rasp.

“Not subtle."

“Arrogant spithead!"

“Such a tongue. Mind I do not cut it out.”

They fell into silence then, SkekSept trying to hold the stare, trying to be defiant. There was something different here. "... you do not seem angry."

“Oh no. I’ve loaned from a proper chase. A little surprise.” SkekMal drawled. Ah. Of course.

SkekSept’s eyes lidded.

During their brief exchange, SkekSept’s lower left arm had ran down the bark, to feel at the mud-soaked roots entangled around it – orange and soaked with mildew.

He ripped it off and rammed it with all his might into SkekMal’s eyes – inside that bone mask - the unholy holler that came after was unlike anything he’d ever heard.

Seizing one of the swords from his back, SkekSept jammed it into his furry cloak – pinning the elder to the spot before he sprinted away for the second time. That fabric looked tough, lined with fur – it wouldn’t rip easy, nor would he be rid of the orange ooze quickly enough.

That didn’t stop SkekSept from running as fast as possible.

…

SkekMal recognised that those eyes, but from whom? He wondered.

Something to ponder.

A trail to follow.