An animated short, based off of the last couple lines of If All Goes Well, which I now know of, thanks to @inonibird's Qymaen jai Sheelal playlist (if you haven't taken a listen yet, I highly recommend it, it's been a huge inspiration to me in all my Qymaen musings)
More specifically the last couple of lines--
You see, thing that gets me about about the Kaleesh concept of demigod is that it's both a blessing, to elevate another of your kin to godhood, while they still walk among you-- it demonstrates love, admiration, hope that they may bring about a better future-- and yet a the same time, it seems a curse. I mean, damn, how hard must it be to not only have the entirety of your populace looking to you to lead, but to also be expected not to really screw up because demigods don't do that (not to say there isn't a conception of gods/demigods making mistakes in most Kaleesh cultures, but it's still a Bad Thing that Doesn't Happen Often).
In the EU canon, there's a line that has stayed with me-- Qymaen never really agreed to become Grievous, not until his wives and children were led before him. I think that line's expected reading is that, when he saw them, he was moved to realize how much Kalee (and he) had to lose by refusing San Hill's deal. However-- I wonder if, along with that, there was also his demigod-hood among the Kaleesh to consider. What would it do to them to see their champion beaten, his body broken-- and by a shuttle crash, no less?
At least discarding the remains of his Kaleesh body, the ideal of Qymaen jai Sheelal, the dreamer, the demigod was preserved. Even if it destroyed the man himself.
But that was the price that Qymaen was willing to pay.
Last year, our small fandom celebrated our favorite tiny corner of the Star Wars universe.
Now, we do it all again!
I AM HAPPY TO ANNOUNCE:
KALEESH WEEK 2023!
LET'S GET READY TO RRRRUMBLE!
Details and rules under the cut!
Welcome back to Kaleesh Week! I am so excited to have another one of these! Without further ado:
What is Kaleesh Week?
Kaleesh Week is a week dedicated to the small but thriving subset of the Star Wars fandom that loves General Grievous and his people, the Kaleesh. Similar to much more well-known fandom celebrations such as Smaugust, Mermay, or Whumptober, Kaleesh Week can pertain to any medium of choice.
What are the rules?
The rules are simple, but should be followed to ensure the happiness of all participants and make my job as archivist easier!
Any type of creation is allowed, whether art, fanfiction, gifs, videos, or anything else. As long as it's Kaleesh-related, there's no problem
Remember to properly tag all triggers
Remember to tag your entries with #kaleesh week, #kaleeshweek, #kaleesh week 2023, or #kaleeshweek2023, it will help me keep track of them all so I can reblog them
Also, please tag me in your posts so that I can be sure to see and reblog them! If I missed one, don't hesitate to tell me
It isn't strictly necessary to follow along every day, this is meant to be fun! Post whenever you like, whether that's all seven days or just one. You can also post anytime after the week if you'd like
Alternate prompts can be used to mix and match in any way you'd like with the standard prompts, so go crazy
And last but not least, have fun!
What are the prompts, and what's the deal with alternate prompts?
The two lists of prompts are there to give any participants more freedom with whatever they'd like to create. Alternate prompts are a set of prompts that anybody can use in place of the current prompt. You don't need to choose either the regular prompts OR the alternate prompts, instead, you can decide each day if you'd like to use one of the prompts or one of the alternate prompts. If you aren't feeling one prompt, you can swap it out with any of the alternate prompts, as out of order as you'd like.
Prompts:
Khan
Empire
Demigod
Pups
Wives
Injury
Ascension
Alternate Prompts:
Izvoshra
Droids
Oben
The Force
Republic
Jedi
Sith
I'd like to join the General Grievous Discord server! Where do I sign up?
If you'd like to come hang out with us at the Kaleeaboos server, simply PM me! We have all sorts of fun stuff going on, and a pretty chill vibe. I'm one of the mods there along with some other big names in the Grievous fandom. Come hang with us!
Former right hand to kaleeshi General Grievous, Bentilais San Sk’ar likewise became a weapon for the Empire when Thrawn bombarded his settlement from orbit.
A skirmish ends in the killing of his nephew whom was determined to remind Sk’ar what he had forsaken as a Kaleesh [story here!]
Kaleesh week day 3 (Demigods) I love them so much. I tried to go with some kind of medieval drawing feel. If I had more time and less school I would have definitely spent more time on this one
Day 1: Khan. My kaleesh OC Rokia Rossh is a khan and the princess of her tribe from my Grievous backstory. She's the sister of PePe and Moorii Rossh. She's also the princess of the kaleeshi water tribe of the southwest. She and the rest of her tribe live on an archipelago with houses on stilts and a Hotspot for shoni swordfish. She also has a crush on Anzu.
A very baby Qymaen jai Sheelal and his father. Who's plays an instrument in this one! It's called a varraen, and it sort of works on similar physics to a harp or guitar emphasis on sort of
(More musings under the cut vv)
So, these two. It's strangely important to me that, after his father's death, Qymaen recalls him best not as a warrior, crack-shot sniper, etc., but as a musician. That he keeps the memories of hearing his father's low voice, like winds sweeping across the steppes, singing lullabies as his fingers pluck the strings of the varraen. Of sitting around a smoldering fire with in a encampment where his father's strumming accompanies a tale about demigods from ages past.
Maybe it's something about the irony-- hands that have dealt the rough blows of injury, death from the end of a rifle, working the delicate motions to create music.
Or something about inheritance-- Qymaen could remember his father for the things that drew acclaim, that would eventually parallel his own ascension. Yet that's not what remains with him, no, because though his father may have thought those things important, they did not bring him so much happiness as sitting his son down to show him how to play the varraen.
Qymaen still plays it sometimes. If there's a moment of calm amid all the fighting. If he thinks no one's watching.
He's not so good as his father is, but he keeps playing and maybe that's all that matters.
Kaleesh Week Day 7! Qymaen if he hadn't gotten into that crash and joined the Sith...an interesting AU idea. Put Nimph in there again because it made sense. Also the only one I kept color on because of the light from the sabers
Two Kaleesh Imperial characters (one canon, the other technically canon, but emotionally an oc)
Bentilais san Sk'ar: Him, again! When the Empire invades his planet (it's not like they'd just leave it alone after all, even after the whole Grievs-Palpatine thing), he strikes a deal with the emperor to take the position of planetary governor. In exchange? He employs the bioengineering acumen of San Pharmaceuticals (no relation to the San Banking clan) to some of the Emperor's more...clandestine projects.
(Yes, he is partially responsible for all the 'Emperor's back' bullshit in Episode IX, I apologize on his behalf)
You can't just work for the Emperor though, and eventually he gets mired deeper and deeper into other projects...black ops...military campaigns...all in the name of saving Kalee, though, right?
So, that's where that nine-foot tall vampire-looking guy comes in--
It's Sk'ar, but he's messed around with his own biology for the sake of combat optimization (And since some of this is chemical, it does fuck with his brain as well).
It also doesn't strike him as a bad thing that he appears to outsiders as less Kaleesh in this form, since he's acting on the Emperor's behalf, and, well, the planet's name has already been dragged through the mud enough. Yet it is fairly isolating in an environment where he already has to hide much of himself and his culture to survive
(not so fun fact, the caps on his toes are there because Kaleesh claws tend to leave marks on most types of flooring; in most inter-species spaces, it's an act of courtesy for an individual Kaleesh to wear them (like humans and deodorant)...in the Empire, not so much a choice).
...But all in the name of saving Kalee, right?
This, of course, is an entirely different perspective than the other character in this picture, his younger brother....
(this little shit (affectionate) vv)
Vanev san Esha: Born the youngest of the five San siblings, Esha was more or less destined to be the odd one out. Whereas the others had each taken on roles in their family, by child number five, there wasn't really much space left.
If that wasn't enough to set him apart, he was also born Force Sensitive-- hardly a bad thing, but it did mean that he was born with an entirely different set of talents and senses than most in his clan had seen in generations. Or knew what to do with. Couple that the status, free time, and burgeoning resentment that goes along with being the fifth heir to Aschal-Kalee's ruling family, and his connection to the Force started to bring out his worst instincts.
'Started' though, is not 'did so unashamedly' and for a long time, the sense of restraint and general secretiveness that had been trained into him as a San, as well as the influence of his eldest brother-- Veshitar, heir to the San family khanship, and all-around decent guy-- kept him from...shall we say, doing his worst.
Then an off-world diplomatic meeting goes terribly wrong, both Vesh and his father are killed, and the entire San family is left scrambling for a new heir. Esha is mourning, enraged, and most of all, believes it his right as his brother's protégé to become the next khan.
The rest of the family chooses his brother, Bentilais, anyways.
He almost raises a coup in response to this (mostly imagined) slight (an action that, given his raw power would have undoubtedly dealt a great blow to the San clan), but something makes him hesitate and he fucks off to the cliffside where they buried his brother's body instead.
There he gains a new, even more troubling path, along with a new teacher-- Xivkha Lar Rainik (shoutout to all my SWTOR fans!).
Rainik is a thousand-year-old Sith lord, distantly related to the current San clan, and also very, very dead. He needs a young, reasonably healthy host to get out of the San family crypt, and Esha needs a teacher (yeah, once I start bringing up Kylo quotes, you know this is headed in a bad direction) in the Sith arts, so the arrangement works well for them both.
It does not, however, work out well for Sk'ar and the rest of the San family.
You see, Esha wants power, recognition-- all the things that he was denied in the San family-- and Rainik...well, Rainik has his own agenda. This brings them to the throne of the Sith-iest Sith of the age, Emperor Palpatine, where Esha decides to swear fealty to the Emperor.
Vanev san Esha he is no longer, but Sixth Brother. And unlike his brother, what he is doing is most certainly not to save Kalee.
(Also, probably more relevantly than all that, he's that guy with the cool-looking crow mask who fights Ahsoka in Tales of the Jedi)
