#cairdine farrier

[laurelnose]

a softer masquerade

[incandescentorrery]

The final chapters of Traitor and of Tyrant are both called Victory. And the events therein parallel each other in ways that are absolutely wild to me. At the end of Traitor, Baru goes to see Tain Hu while she is imprisoned. They have a conversation where Baru reaffirms her own devotion to dismantling Falcrest, and Tain Hu reaffirms her loyalty to Baru. She puts herself forward to be sacrificed "to bring advantage to Baru Fisher, [her] sworn lord". This is crucial to securing Baru's autonomy.

At the end of Tyrant, Baru goes to see Farrier while he is imprisoned. They have a conversation where Baru reaffirms her own devotion to dismantling Falcrest. Farrier for his part is shocked at her disloyalty. He literally can't understand it. I really think he never believed she would never be anything more than a subordinate, a daughter. Baru literally invokes Tain Hu when speaking to him:

"You're going to be brought to justice, Farrier. Not Falcrest's justice. I've a fairer hand to deliver your verdict. Tain Hu's justice for you, Cairdine Farrier! The woman I loved! The woman who begged me to murder her, just so I could get to you!"

And instead of letting him die, as Tain Hu wanted for herself so she would not be a pawn, Baru tells Farrier that he'll essentially live out his days as her pawn. It might be cheating to bring Monster into the conversation but in Monster when Farrier believed he had won Baru over, he wears the Emperor's mask. In Tyrant, when Baru is seizing power over Farrier, she is in the mask. I love these books so much.

[confusedbyinterface]

What's gayer?

being isoamorous

whatever the fuck Itinerant and Hesychast have going on

Voting ended onJun 20

[starmolts]

baru cormorant: into the wild

[cornon-thekopp]

"The gossip says, admiringly, that Farrier is mad for an Oriati princess some years his junior, a forbidden love, not because of their ages but because the Metademe has placed an attaintment upon the blood of Oriati royalty. If he knew her carnally he would forfeit his citizenship. How chaste and gallant he must be with her!" P.68 (of the paperback)

Oh how chaste and gallant indeed (Seth you fucker)

[ianthe-is-a-bitch-and-i-love-her]

That being said, of everyone who needs mega therapy in those books, Tain Shir would need the mega-est therapy of all time. The amount of work that would be needed before she stopped being a danger to everyone around her would bankrupt the entire mental health industry, and that wouldn't even scratch the surface of her issues. If there was a Nobel prize for fucking up lesbians, it would go to Cairdine Farrier every year from now until the heat death of the universe

[humantea]

In this book series, a longsword-wielding lesbian is initially in opposition to an emotionally damaged main character who she eventually forms a bond with. Sadly, their story ends in tragedy, as she gives up her life to help the other obtain a powerful position in an evil empire as part of a shadowy ruling group. Before she can take power, however, the other character suffers brain damage of some kind that limits her ability to perceive parts of the world. Once she finally obtains power, she is taken under the wing of a sinister leader who puts on a friendly facade, has to deal with the agenda of one particularly tall, pale member of said group, and must survive attacks by a close relative of the first character.

[darling-child-tisarwat]

Cringe Playlist for the Cringe Cryptarchs.