#mirrorworld series
Fox: Are you the big spoon or the little spoon?
Nerron: I’m a knife!
Will: He’s the little spoon.
A little something for mother’s day
“You’ve been quiet today.”
Will takes a deep breath. The smell of moss and the campfire fills his nose, but underneath it all is the characteristic smell of a hospital that comes from nothing surrounding him.
“My mum died on this day four years ago”, he says by way of explaining while trying not to compare a birdsong near him with the faltering beeping of a heart monitor. This would be the moment. If Jacob were here, his brother would pat his shoulder, maybe even offer a hug but then walk away from the possibility of having to deal with this kind of emotional situation. However, there are no retreating footsteps. As good an invitation to keep talking as any.
“She had been sick for a long time, but… It’s still hard sometimes and I miss her a lot on this day. So I’ve been thinking about her a lot today, just remembering her.”
The steps come closer until they stop next to Will. A quick glance sideways and he can see Nerron standing with his hands in his pockets, his face tilted up at the stars Will had been looking at.
“Goyl are like cats, in a way. We keep our strength longer than a human at the same stage of their life, but when our time comes, we go quickly. I was allowed to be with my mother in the days before she passed away, but I didn’t pay attention to the date while it was happening so I don’t know on which day she died. Maybe it even was on this day, who knows. We only learnedhow to measure time with the sun quite recently. Can I sit with you and remember her for a while?”
Something indescribable grabs Will’s chest and he can only nod as Nerron sits down next to him. In contrast to Will’s position, he doesn’t look up at the sky and instead directs his introspection down at the earth. Maybe that is where he believes her soul might be dwelling. Will makes a note to ask Nerron what Goyl believe happens to their deceased. But not now. Right now, he is feeling so calm that it doesn’t occur to him to feel guilty. Because for all the times Clara was with him on this day in the world his mother had lived in, this quiet moment under the night sky of another world with a being he didn’t even know existed most of his life is one of the most peaceful moments he ever had in his life.
Reckless the screenplay pt.3 (untitled 5th novel)
We see a forest that appears to be coated in silver. Every leaf, the moss on the ground, is created in great detail, but still and lifeless.
Voiceover Joie: Tell me a story, Maman.
Voiceover Fox: (chuckles softly) Of course.
A set of tiny fox paws steps into the picture. Where they touch the ground, the silver melts away to reveal the vibrant colours underneath.
Title card for season 5, episode 1.
A SCHOLAR with thin hair and glasses sits at what looks like a table at an inn. His small leather notebook lies forgotten in front of him as he listens to the MAN in front of him, who we can see from behind wearing a shirt from a material that appears to have scales on it.
Man (in an accent that sounds Eastern European but that we can’t quite place. Also, his voice sounds familiar): Drunk on his countless victories, the king abandoned fate. He forgot everything he owed his most powerful ally and how the hope of their people depended on him. He murdered the Jade Goyl and sealed his own fate and that of his people.
He lifts a glass of liquor to take a sip. The camera stays aimed over his shoulder at the scholar. Meanwhile, the scholar gathers his bearings. He clears his throat and closes his notebook.
Scholar: Fascinating, how… different clans all have their own ways of telling myths. Well, this is… certainly not a version of this legend that I have encountered before. Usually there tends to be a lot more brotherhood between the king and the Jade Goyl. And a lot more of the Jade Goyl… not dying.
Man, with a bitter snorting noise: If only happy endings happened in real life.
He places a handful of coins on the table and gets up.
Man: Good luck with your little project collecting Goyl legends. Though who knows how long the Goyl are going to last under Kami'en’s attitude.
The camera follows him from behind as he slings a leather backpack over his shoulder and leaves the inn. He steps outside, his face hidden from our view in the light of the dying day. As he heads down a deserted part of the street, we hear the thumping of hooves on the ground getting closer to him. He stops as he hears this, slightly tilting his head back. The gesture is both resigned and relieved.
Man: A small comfort. I must have been getting closer than it felt like if you have decided to come for me eventually.
Behind him, TOSHIRÓ comes closer, still in the centaur shape in which we encountered him first. He looks at the man with mild curiosity.
Toshiró: I should have known that there is no sneaking up on you.
Man: Experience. I have gotten familiar enough with the stench of Elves.
He turns around, but we don’t see the face we expected in connection with the familiar rough, accented voice and the lizard leather clothes. We recognise NERRON’S facial features, but with his pale skin, black hair and malachite green eyes, he appears to be human. There is a tiredness in his face we haven’t seen there in its stone form.
Nerron notices Toshiró’s curiosity at his appearance and pulls down the collar of his shirt a little. Underneath the gold chain with the Jade amulet we have seen him wear since season 2, we get a brief glimpse at a leather cord that seems to be interwoven with hair and stones. We will later find out that this object merely causes the illusion of human appearance as long as it is touching his skin and he is still Goyl underneath.
Nerron: Witches are efficient, just don’t ask about the materials they use. But how about you get to what you came here to do.
Toshiró: And what do you think that is?
Nerron slowly reaches for a knife on his belt, the motion angled away from Toshiró’s view. His bitter grin is more of a feral bearing of teeth.
Nerron: What, do you need me to describe how you could kill me? Why don’t you just go ahead, nobody here will stop you. If you take off my necklace and they see what I am, they will even thank you. And I… I know that four years looking for someone without finding any trace are nothing to a bloody immortal-
Toshiró: The immortal understands better than you might suspect. And now you expect to be killed so you can’t continue this search? I assure you, I don’t plan on playing into Spieler’s hands like that. Quite the opposite, actually.
Nerron’s hand trembles and tightens around the hilt of his knife. He doesn’t trust Toshiró, but at the same time desperately needs hope.
Nerron: Even if I did believe you want to help me - what’s in it for you?
Toshiró: Will Reckless could be a powerful asset to Spieler and his allies. My price will be paid if you manage to find him and convince him to come back with you. The second one will be up to you, but I can help you with the first.
Toshiró stretches out his arm to Nerron, offering him the item in his hand. It’s a glove covered in golden scales and we have seen one just like it being used by Orlando Tennant. As soon as he lays eyes on it, we can see in his face that Nerron recognizes its purpose; his hand sinks down from his knife as he steps toward Toshiró.
Toshiró: Spieler can erase traces he left, but there is deeper magic in this world than him and myself.
Nerron: Very optimistic of you to just bring this, expecting it to work.
Toshiró: You have spent the last four years looking for someone who left you behind just because you want to make sure the people who want him dead don’t find him first. I am not optimistic, I am merely observing facts.
With shaking fingers, Nerron takes the glove and carefully pulls it over his right hand. It’s impossible to tell whether he is more afraid of the glove not working or of it working. But there is no going back for him now. He braces himself and raises his hand with the glove to his chest.
A golden, softly glowing string appears in the air, starting from Nerron’s heart. Nerron lets out a shaky sigh at the sight of it, Toshiró’s presence forgotten for a moment. We remember these strings have been described as standing for “true love, selfless and as deep as the ocean” and until this moment, Nerron wouldn’t have quite expected himself capable of it. Even though the entire length of the Golden Yarn isn’t visible, we can clearly see the direction where it disappears into the darkness. Directions to the person the Yarn leads to.
When Nerron turns to speak to Toshiró, there is nobody there anymore.
Nerron: I love working in my profession, we all have a lot of laughs.
Nerron, one second later: Fuck off, Jacob, I’m not going to your fucking baby shower.
Book 5 beginning gonna be like
Spieler: See, your “friend” still hasn’t come for you. Seems like he simply doesn’t care about you.
Cut to Nerron crying somewhere because he still hasn’t found Will and it’s tearing him apart
Nerron: Do you take constructive criticism?
Hentzau: I only take cash or credit card.
Hentzau: I value all Goyl under my command equally.
Earlier that day…
Hentzau: I don’t care for Nerron.
Will: The stars are beautiful tonight. *looking at 16* You know what else is beautiful?
16: *blushing* What?
Will: This Goyl legend Nerron told me…
No thoughts tonight except Will and Nerron as an older couple and Nerron calling Will “William”/“Wilhelm”(because the language of the latter version would be more familiar to him) when he is being strict or exasperated with him.
(Nerron: What is this?
Will: What is what?
Nerron: The pair of ears poking out from underneath your collar.
Will: I don’t know what you’re talking about.
Nerron: Wilhelm.
Will: Oh dear. Uhm. I’m just gonna go and-
Nerron: William Reckless. Far too easily talked into something love of my life. Are you carrying our niece under your coat?
Joie in fox shape from underneath the coat: … no?)
Jacob: So what exactly is Will to you?
Nerron:The reason I wake up every morning.
Jacob:That’s… surprisingly nice.
[earlier that day]
Will, bursting into Nerron’s room: NERRON YOU’LL NEVER BELIEVE THIS—
“His Dark Materials” au where a person’s soul manifests as an animal accompanying them
(Part 2 because tumblr didn’t let me put more than 10 images in one post)
Part 1:
“His Dark Materials” au where a person’s soul manifests as an animal accompanying them
Nesser: Nirel: Scorpion
(She had a connection with the scorpions she uses in book 1 and it makes sense for her: Small, but brandishing a poisonous stinger she won’t hesitate to use and her enemies know that. Nirel likes to sit on her shoulder to remind everybody of this. He is just as ambitious as Nesser to move up through the ranks and is not-so secretly waiting for the day Rirja gets close enough to test his venom on a parrot.)
Orlando: Florens: Goose
(Me translating Shapeshifters into a daemon au by giving the shifter their animal form as a daemon? More likely than you think. Like Fox, Orlando can separate from his daemon and see through her eyes. Very useful in his profession. Florens tends to hide her gentle heart behind her human’s cocky demeanour.)
Chanute: Isabella: Brown bear
(She has seen better days, limps and is missing a couple of teeth. But she never tries too hard to talk her human out of going on an adventure.)
“His Dark Materials” au where a person’s soul manifests as an animal accompanying them
(Part 1)
In the Dark Materials series, a person can’t move far away from their daemon. However, it is possible to achieve the ability of separating from them using a painful process and it’s disturbing to see a person without a daemon. In this au, the Goyl are born being able to separate from their daemon, which is another reason for humans to be disgusted by them.
Most daemon’s are the opposite gender of their respective person’s, but there are exceptions (that don’t have anything to do with sexuality or gender identity).
Below, I have compiled a list of Reckless characters, their daemons’ names (I googled a list because I am very bad at coming up with names), species and character traits. The comments and my inbox are very open for your thoughts on this and if you are missing a mirrorworlder on these lists, do feel free to tell me and I can do more parts! (Also, I might rewrite some book scenes to fit this au, so let me know if there are scenes you would like to see! Or also if they are completely new scenes hehe)
Have fun browsing the list!
Jacob: Vesiora/“Ves”: marten
(Because I appreciate the Gwin from Inkheart parallel with this. Also, both Ves and her human are ready to put on a dirty fight whenever flight is not an option. Since Fox is the Voice Of Reason, Ves is content to merely make Jacob’s plans slightly less fatal.)
Fox: Vixen. Duh.
(Daemon name might just be “the vixen”. Fox has a unique connection with her daemon; in her childhood she would dream that she roamed the forest as a vixen. She discovered that her daemon started being able to leave the house at night and move around while Celeste saw through her eyes. When Celeste started being able to transfer her consciousness into her daemon’s body at will, she was driven away when her stepfather became aware of this.)
Will: Estoria/“Tori”: Lioness
(Will’s daemon first manifested as a golden retriever upon his entry to the Mirrorworld. But as the Jade grew and Will started confronting his buried feelings of righteous anger about his past, his daemon changed to symbolise the way he embraced the strength and bravery within himself. He missed Tori painfully during the time he was back in his home world after book 1. Tori is a very independent character and determined to never show the weakness she associates with the “gentle little brother” persona she and Will had been forced into. It’s quite a contrast to see Will’s bright smile and then the grim lioness next to him. But once she feels respected by someone, she is very willing to offer her friendship and loyalty. She will lie down next to them and offer remarks in a dry humour you wouldn’t expect from Will.)
Clara: Adean: White corn snake
(The symbol of the medical profession is a snake wound around a staff and white corn snakes are very lithe and pretty; Clara would probably not have a big daemon because she is wary of the Mirrorworld when she firsts visits and does not miss her daemon mich upon her return home. Also, the symbolism of a snake leading to exploring a forbidden thing… might be relevant here as well later on. Adean preferred to stay hidden beneath Clara’s clothes during her first visit to the Mirrorworld, only coming out from time to time for some tentative exploring. However, he has gotten braver over time.)
Nerron: Rirja: Kea parrot
(I did consider a snake or wolf here, because Nerron explicitly identifies with some qualities of these animals. But he also is not at peace with himself and therefore I assigned him an animal he *dis*likes to symbolise that. To emphasise how he doesn’t fit in with the Goyl on either side of the civil war, the bird is exotic, therefore a parrot. Kea are very intelligent, make problems for humans and their kind used to get slaughtered for things -very few of them allegedly attacked sheep- they weren’t all responsible for. Sounds very much like Nerron. Nerron’s inner monologues and his self insults manifest in Rirja speaking these things to him, as well as him taking out his frustrationand anxiety on her. At the same time, they work as an excellent team and the other is the only person either of them trusted completely for most of their lives. When they meet Will and Tori, their relationship improves as Nerron starts being kinder to himself. Rirja is an excellent observer and lockpicker.)
Kami'en: Jurriaan: Giant cave lizard from book 4
(The most fearsome and impressive predator of the Goyl world. He is very cocky about the way his daemon is proof of his strength. Jurriaan is just as headstrong and determined as his Goyl, so it’s good that they rarely have disagreements. While Jurriaan is all in favour of proving their strength by defeating the humans, he is against Kami'en marrying one. Jurriaan is blind like the animal he resembles, but he never stopped being wary of Nenad’s smell. Though the fact that the Fairy has no daemon is equally unnerving to him.)
Amalie: Nenad: Slow Loris
(Slow Loris elbows can release a type of venom from glands. The secreted venom, when mixed with their saliva becomes a highly toxic material. Whenever the animal feels like threatened, it will lick the venom. Later a bite from the animal will cause death. Like the animal her daemon resembles, Amalie may seem harmless, but if she is set on delivering a bite, it’s a fatal one. The fact that Kami'en isn’t truly in love with Amalie is shown in Jurriaan refusing to let Nenad touch him.)
Hentzau: Strerja: German shepherd
(The Jesper hound gets to have a dog daemon. And she is far more comfortable being on the surface than her Goyl. But she is equally done with Kami'en’s antics. Nevertheless, she is absolutely loyal to Kami'en and Jurriaan. Strerja’s excellent instincts as a guard and warrior have never let her down. She knows that she and Hentzau will be facing many more battles and she is ready for all of them. The battle of making it through babysittingKochany was an unexpected one, but she is determined to master it with professionalism.)
Sylvain: Yrna: Beaver/Grizzly
(Of course Sylvain is delighted to meet his daemon and takes to her right away. I considered a moose, but they are impractically large. The beaver is a national animal of Canada and I love the idea of her following Sylvain with her beaver legs. But him having a younger bear as a daemon would give him a great connection to Chanute. I am more in favour of a bear who underestimates her own strength and size from time to time, but has the most gentle soul.)
Hideo: Mayumi: Grey pansy butterfly
(Hideo was cast out from the ranks of his fellow fighters when Mayumi settled in the form of the Nihon symbol of homosexual love. At first, Hideo was angry at her for exposing him like this, but she insisted that her form was set as this and wouldn’t ever be changed. She settled like this because she didn’t want her human to spent his life amongst people would hate him for who he loves and to prove a point: while her form may be fragile, its meaning is not. There is nothing wrong with them or the way Hideo falls in love. Mayumi makes him wear his heart on his sleeve so that one day, who he is will be seen and loved by the good people he deserves. These days come when a woman with a fox soul arrives at their island and when a goose recognises Mayumi and understands her message. As their shadow falls on foreign ground, they are ready for their new freedom.)
“Let’s run away together, leave everything behind and start a new life somewhere”, but make it “Nerron didn’t hear that Kami'en pardoned Will, so when he finds Will, he wants them to abandon all loyalty to their king and not go back to him so Will can live”
Will: Keep an eye on Jacob today, he’s gonna say something to the wrong person and get himself punched.
Nerron: Sure! i’d love to see Jacob get punched!
Will: Try again.
Nerron, sighing: I will stop Jacob from getting punched.
Hentzau: Are you ready to commit?
Nerron: Like, a crime or to a relationship?
Nerron: I never understood why people get best friends until I got a best friend myself. This is Will and if anything happened to him, I would kill everyone in this room and then myself.
Nerron: My momma always told me I could become whatever I wanted. So I became a problem.
“The gift” (Fox’s first transformation as written by Cornelia Funke in “Palast aus Glas ”) - English version by me
She was so glad her brothers hadn’t found it before she had. Perhaps the vixen knew that they never sneaked out of the house during the night the way she did. The way she had always done. To escape the yelling, the drunken monologues in which her stepfather bemoaned the cruelty the world showed him. As if he himself didn’t make sure it remained cruel.
Celeste didn’t care whether he hit her older brothers. Gustave was just as cruel as his father. And the second one, Rene, was willing to do anything to please them. But when her stepfather hit Thierry, her youngest brother, or her mother, she ran outside and crouched under the window, listening as if she could comfort them like that just a little. She listened to her mother’s cries and pleas and hated her for being so weak. Hated her for having married and still loving him. Celeste would have fought him! But what could these fists do if they belonged to a girl that was just six years old and so tiny and thin that her stepfather would be able to break her in half like one of his sticks?
It was horrible to feel so much hatred when all the heart wanted to feel was love.
So she ran into the night as soon as her stepfather had fallen asleep, outside where the stars wrote peace into the sky so the dark would swallow all the hatred. Embellish it with stars and wash the hatred off her heart until it was warm and soft again.
Celeste was a quick runner. At least her stepfather had taught her that. She loved running, through grass that was wet with dew, over moss and leaves and even the rough pebbles on the road leading away from the house.
*Run, Celeste. Feel the wind and the night on your skin.*
*Never let him catch you.*
He was drunk and snoring, one arm thrown over her mother’s naked shoulders -owning her even in sleep- and her brother was whispering in his sleep as usual when she found the dress. He didn’t flee into the night like her. Thierry escaped into his dreams.
She was on her way back from the well. She had used the cool water to soothe her aching hand. The vixen had bitten her the day before, when Celeste had protected her and her cubs from her brothers. But she had been sorry. Celeste had been able to see it in her eyes. Such beautiful eyes. Like they had been made of gold and autumn leaves.
The vixen’s teeth had left a mark like a tattoo on her hand even though they had barely broken through the skin. Celeste would bear that mark for the rest of her life.
The dress was lying on the threshold.
She nearly tripped over it in the darkness.
It was so beautiful that she hardly dared to touch it. It was made from fur of the same fiery red as the vixen and softer than anything Celeste had ever touched. The red moon bathed it in its light and the white one flecked it with silver.
It was hers.
She knew it as soon as she saw it.
Thank you!, it whispered.
As soon as she picked it up, there was no greater fear in her heart than that of losing it. She sat down outside the door and placed it over her naked knees. Stroked it with her hands, dug her fingers into the soft fur and smiled. Celeste felt the smile like a new face. One made entirely from happiness.
She gave that smile to the trees, the fields and meadows, the night sky above her, hoping the vixen would see it.
Inside the house, her stepfather got up, stumbling around on his search for more wine. Celeste pressed the dress against her chest and didn’t dare move a muscle, but eventually he returned back to bed with a grunt and she was alone with the silence of the night again.
*Put it on*, something in her heart whispered. *Put it on, Celeste.*
But where? She heard her stepfather’s snoring behind her and one of her brothers grunted in his sleep.
There was only one place where she felt safe. She had met the vixen there, surrounded by three cubs that had been as fiery red as their mother. Her brothers feared the crumbled house and its ghosts. They only dared to enter the garden. They threw stones through the shattered windows, but they never went near the grave. That had made the task of protecting the cubs easy. Celeste had used her brothers’ fear of the spirits of the dead. She herself had never feared the dead. She loved them. After all, her father was one of them.
The gras around his tombstone was white with frost when she climbed over the remains of the wall that surrounded the house where he had lived with her mother. The spot under the bush of wild roses where the vixen had lain with her cubs was the only place where the leaves on the ground were still brown and dry. She had been hoping for the chance to say thank you, but they were gone.
*Put it on, Celeste.*
It was so warm on her cold skin.
And the way it clung to her thin frame. As though it had been tailored to fit her perfectly. Thank you, she whispered even though the vixen was gone. Thank you, as her hands ran through the silken fur that filled her with a warmth she had never felt before; not even in the arms of her mother.
But there was more than warmth.
There was strength.
And wisdom.
And something wild that made her feel so free.
So ancient.
So young.
And suddenly, her body was light and quick. The fur was no longer a dress but her skin. Her eyes drank up the light of the stars and the night turned bright as day. The air was heavy with the scent of rabbits and birds. She wanted to roll in the grass and curl up to sleep in the womb of the earth.
Oh the bliss!
She wanted to forget her human skin, throw it away like a threadbare dress. And with it all the fear and anger, all the loneliness, even her own name.
No longer Celeste.
Fox.
She was Fox.
She was free.
Will: Come on, Jacob, no one thinks Nerron is my boyfriend.
Jacob, turning to the rest of the group: Put your hands up if you think Will and Nerron are boyfriends.
Everyone: *raises their hand*
Will: What the f- SIXTEEN, PUT YOUR HANDS DOWN.
Fox: *walks into the kitchen where there’s spaghetti on the stove, counter, walls, and ceiling*
Fox:why
Jacob: Sorry about this you know how it is with spaghetti
Fox: No, I don’t.
What music genre do Goyl enjoy the most?
Rock.
