i am. thinking about soft stone and gur sevraq.
it’s been millennia, they’re not the same person, but the relation and the parallels are striking.
soft stone was a synthetic inmate at contrition’s figure— their robes concealed enormous metal spider legs that could be incredibly dangerous. they played chess ruthlessly and badly, sacrificing pieces at will. they turned to advent, but were captured very quickly. dangerous, deadly at times, but on the wrong side and not quick enough to evade consequence.
the reveal of gur sevraq as dangerous is framed perfectly— clem finally spits out something that seems to rattle them, and, the storm breaking overhead, they admit to clem that they killed future’s last elect to steal it. it hits for the audience, but not in time for clem. he rises up, taller than he’s been, and to the camera the spider legs look like what they’ve always been— weapons. in a room somewhere, clem’s king sits in check— gur is a good chess player, but they’ve always allowed clem to give the game up when she gets too angry to continue. they’ve always allowed clem to make terrible moves, to sacrifice pieces, to play ruthlessly and badly.
the game is supposed to be finished— gur knocking clem over the edge should be checkmate. her clinging to the side— she has the chance to play again. maybe even to learn some more strategy. at the end of a game of chess, you don’t take the enemy king. they simply realize there’s nowhere else for them to go, and surrender. but in checkmate, the storm broken over their heads, clem convinces herself that the knife in her boot, her pawn, is a way to win. under gur’s robes his limbs are bishops, rooks, knights. queens, even.
but in close quarters, falling from icebreaker, they’re both bare kings. a bare king can never put a bare king in check, because it puts them in check. but they’ve been playing ruthlessly and badly, in the past moments. have they stopped playing, or forgotten the rules?
future glances against gur sevraq’s side hard when they impact, and it feels like a reminder. i will show you what you can make, but only if you’re still playing the game. if you leave the board, there’s nothing to be made.
