I'm not going to be able to finish Smaugust #23 today, so that will have to wait until tomorrow. Apologies.
Instead, for a change of pace, let's talk about something different. I've seen a few reactions to my submission for day 21 that wondered what on earth must have possessed Secretkeeper to romantically pursue Morrowseer, and what that must have been like. Did they love each other? Was there any tenderness or affection between them? I figured I should give you my take on them.
I believe that Morrowseer--somewhere deep within his black, twisted lump of a heart--did indeed have feelings for Secretkeeper. You can kind of see this in the Prisoners short where he very unfavorably compares Farsight to Secretkeeper and sings the praises of the latter. He holds her in high esteem and seems to value her intelligence. He probably really wanted to have a meaningful relationship with her.
Unfortunately, he is wracked with the burden of having to be Morrowseer; a bitter, deeply unpleasant, emotionally shallow old dragon incapable of the humility required to be compassionate. For all the prestige and clout that Morrowseer has as an elite member of the Queen's court, his social life seems very empty and sad. He has no friends, only co-workers (who don't like him) and underlings (who butter him up), and I think he feels incomplete because of that. To fill this void, he fixates on asserting his importance and is desperate to maintain his status. He deeply desired to be the father of the prophecy Nightwing--which would have cemented him as the one dragon who saved his tribe--and the fact that he failed to sire a child in time not once (necessitating Starflight), but twice (necessitating Fatespeaker) eats him up on the inside. He perceives this as a huge failure, and Mastermind (who succeeded where he failed) picked up on this and mocks him for it. His entire conversation with Farsight reeks of "I am mad and jealous that your kid is special! It should have been mine!! Goddamnit why wasn't it mine!??"
For Secretkeeper's side... no, I don't think there's any deep affection there. I don't think she anticipated this relationship happening in the first place. But she did want to have a child, and when Morrowseer approached her, she weighed her options. If one can stomach living with someone like Morrowseer--who always has to be the most important person in the room--it's not an entirely bad deal. You get a lot of social clout as the Queen's right hand's mate, and since Morrowseer is exempt from the strict food rationing policy, you also get to eat. And he actively wants to have children to secure his legacy, which, if that's what you want as well, is pretty good. So in my mind she probably just went "Yeah, I can probably make this work. I'm sure he's not as bad to be around when he likes you." and agreed out of convenience.
But I doubt she loved him. There isn't really a reality where I can reconcile "She loved him" and "She kept their shared child a secret from him because she did not trust him". The only thing Secretkeeper genuinely loved about Morrowseer was that she was able to have Moonwatcher. So she stuck it out for her daughter, and I don't think she was upset for very long when Morrowseer died. She might have even felt a sense of relief that she didn't have to keep lying anymore.
I've seen people point to the fact that Secretkeeper felt a desire to tell Moonwatcher who her father was, and then posit that this means she did have feelings for him. I'm not sure I really agree. All that tells me is that she has feelings for Moonwatcher and wants her to know the truth. But if the truth is "I didn't really love your father, he was an awful and unpleasant person and I was just with him so I could have you", it becomes understandable why she would choose not to tell her.
That's my read of the situation anyway. Yours might be entirely different!
[Image Description: A digital full body drawing of a Nightwing dragon from Wings of Fire named Farsight. She's a dark blue tinted gray with darker gray markings that are similar to eyes. She has piercing blue slit eyes with eye bags underneathand bushy eyebrows. Her underbelly is a slate like color with her claws, horns, crescent moon marking on her chest and stars being a light blue off white. Her spines are rounded and slicked back. She bears some resemblance to her children Starflight and Fierceteeth. She poses looking back with one front and back leg lifted in the air, and a calm tired expression on her face. /.End ID]
You know, with how Fierceteeth and Starflight tend to sleep-talk in stressful situations (Starflight in The Dark Secret and Fierceteeth in The Brightest Night, unless she woke up and fell asleep immediately after yelling at Strongwings), wouldn't it be neat for Farsight to also talk in her sleep? It contributes very little to their characters, but I'd find it funny if they just happened to be a family of sleep-yammerers.
AAAAAAH I LOVE THIS SM THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU. OBSESSED. HELL YES THEY'RE A FAMILY OF SLEEP YAMMERERS. I love thinking of them as a family of anything honestly. I just love thinking of them as family.
I actually have a scene in my fic where Farsight has a nightmare and talks in her sleep, but I did not even think of the fact that Starflight and Fierceteeth are also sleep talkers. Thank you for making that connection. Do you mind if I shout out your tumblr in the notes of that chapter?
Anyway thank you for the ask as always I love them soooo much ESPECIALLY WHEN THEY'RE AS FANTASTIC AS THIS ONE.
"Ah, hello Morrowseer. I've been hearing musings that, more and more these days, your mate keeps sneaking off into the rainforest just before you come home. She must really enjoy your company, hmm?."
"Cease your yapping, Mastermind."
"I could always check out some self-help scrolls from the library at your behest if you're too embar--"
New chapter of my fic The Scientists out I cannot think of a silly tie-in post for this one because it is past midnight and I am so so sleepy. uuuuh new Fierceteeth just dropped. Surely all of Farsight's feelings about this will be positive and simple
anyway here is the chapter pls read it it's my favorite chapter of the fic so far I am so excited to incorperate Fierceteeth into the fic it's good I pinky swear okay I love you bye like and subscribe
