Protector of the Small No. 4: Neal

It's. HAPPENING.

(July 2nd 2024)

Scene from the end of Lady Knight - Kel digging her own grave 💀

I FEEL SO STRONGLY ABOUT THE CHAMBER'S REACTION TO KEL OK

kel is the lump, a stone, the calm surface of a lake- but ONLY on the outside- ONLY to make dealing with people work better

the chamber hammers your weak spots trying to make you BREAK, but KEL, WENT TO THE CHAMBER, AGAIN AND AGAIN, she GREW AROUND it like a TREE

the day came when the chamber had it's chance- to strike her as HARD AS IT COULD

and

there was almost nothing left for it to even aim at

because kel had stuck HERSELF already, had BEEN hammering herself this whole time- had been TESTING herself every step of the way QUESTIONING HERSELF AND asking herself how she could be and do better next time

for the sake of those who need someone when no one sees them as people. for the sake of unwanted animals and overlooked humans- kel became her own ordeal

the chamber couldn't break Kel. SHE broke IT

so it had nothing to do, except make her an ordeal in the real world-

the nothing man, child killer, the promise she will stare evil in the face somewhere somehow, that tantalizing and USELESS knowledge burning her as she is given charge of convicts and refugees and not enough soldiers to defend them and her old desire to be like the Lioness, her inspiration, to go out there and STOP THIS SUFFERING FROM HAPPENNG HERSELF

the chamber jammed this thorn into her heart and THEN it chose to Watch Her out there

as she.... chose people. Again. chose care over glory. everyday duty over heroics. obscurity to wider world- but a friend to a small corner of the world that desperately needed someone to see them, fight for them, and not ever look away... or abandon them

the chamber saw that. it NAMED HER- didn't chose her- didn't make her- gave no gift other than pain to her

but it was glad, to have seen her

Protector. of the Small

gently burying dead sparrows and scoffing at such a silly name

You can really tell when fantasy book art started to go downhill when people started bringing computers into it. I really miss the days of gorgeous, highly detailed hand-drawn cover art. When did stock images and barely detailed photos become mainstream for book art?

usually i loathe when a protagonist gets turned into a "bad" parent in a sequel series but tortall does it so well and so realistically that i can't help but think it'd be ooc any other way. of course alanna is gruff and sometimes unkind and not always present. of course jonathan must do what is best for realm and reputation; of course he's king first, father second. jon's parenting style is visible from the start in how roald acts during his page years — jon as a page sees ralon held down and beaten for the crime of bothering little alan; raoul, much as he wants to, can't so much as join kel on her nighttime patrols for fear of how it'd look. jon takes alanna on as a squire because they're good friends & lovers; roald has had his knight-master picked out for him for years before he's even made a squire.

alanna gets along well enough with alan and thom, her knightling and her scholar, but she can't for the life of her understand how aly works. in my opinion this has something to do both with the fact that aly is a lot more like george in the most dangerous ways and with the fact that aly is rather significantly more of a Girl than alanna ever was. alanna had no (0) female friends growing up and only one older female mentor figure. she grew up and still lives the vast majority of her life surrounded by men of similar status. is it any surprise she finds her sons easier to talk to?

there's a passing sentence in trickster's choice that alludes to aly having once been jealous of how effusive her mother was about keladry of mindelan. i can't help but think also about kalasin ii of conté, kally whose mother's people are matrilineal, kally who should by rights have been her mother's heir. kally who calls the lioness aunt and wanted as a child nothing more than to be a knight, who will spend the rest of her life in carthak and likely never see a lady knight again. i think she was jealous of kel too, but in the opposite direction. aly couldn't and wouldn't be who kel was, too protective of her own freedom and too much like her father to ever want a shield. aly envied the easy understanding alanna had of kel's ambitions and grit. kalasin had those same ambitions but never got the chance to show that same grit. kalasin spent the four years of kel's page training at king's reach learning to be an empress.

it's the. not wanting and choosing not to do vs the wanting and not having the choice. it's the jealousy someone so distant from alanna got so much of her attention when her interactions with her own daughter were constantly snippy vs the thought that kally should've been there first, should've gotten to prove the conservatives wrong, should've been able to show kel around and shield (ha) her from the worst of their ire. no little girls will grasp wide-eyed for tales of aly cooper or empress kalasin the same way they do for the lioness and lady kel. i don't think aly minds, but i think kalasin very, very quietly does.

Kel: ...and I've been getting expensive presents from this mysterious benefactor ever since my first year as a page. 🫤 It's baffling, I mean, who could it possibly be? 🤷🏼

Raoul: Right, absolutely baffling. Excuse me for a sec

*sounds of running feet and a door slamming open*

Raoul: ALANNA WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME I WOULD HAVE HELPED 😭

Alanna: chosen by the Great Mother Goddess

Daine: daughter of the God of the Hunt

Aly: chosen by the Trickster God

Beka: chosen by the God of Death himself

Kel: …the special magic scary room asked her to kill a guy this one time

Tobe: Why are you being nice to me? Kel, internally: This is the most important conversation we'll ever have. I have to be very careful to say exactly the right things. Kel, out loud: Well, my horse likes you.

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Tortall - Tamora Pierce Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Additional Tags: Meta, Art, Fanart, Heraldry, reconstructing heraldry, Art History, Medieval History, Embedded Images Summary:

A meta dive into the heraldry of Tortall, including drawings from the given descriptions and an attempt to blazon any coat of arms that was described enough.

Includes an instruction to basic heraldry concepts and conclusions about Tortallan heraldic traditions as distinct from real-world ones.

As a sort of spiritual successor to my Castlevania heraldry meta, have a meta on Tortall’s heraldic tradition and the arms of various characters.

started talking about Keladry of Mindelan last night and almost cried bc I love her so much 👍

Platonic soulmates :’)

"One of the clerks is already dawning up a schedule," Kel said, and grinned. "I love clerks. I'd marry them all if I could." - Lady Knight by Tamora Pierce, chapter 7, pg. 147.

^ the REAL reason Kel is the best and most relatable character ever- her biggest turn on is efficiency used specifically to make people's lives better and easier. Kingdom of Tortall, hurry up and legalize queer polycules so our lady in asexual armor can have the best most amazing relationship in history

Botanic Tournament : Main Bracket !

Round 2 Poll A

(Papyrus and peach blossom)

god going thru the tortall big 3 (sotl/immortals/pots) again is actually so interesting bc the protags have such diff rships to, like. their liege and the capital r Realm and duty and such it's Very fun + jon himself is [presented as] such a different person in each series bc of both what his age and responsibilities are (how they differ) & simply who he is to each. like, alanna is his best friend & ex & fucking. sword arm. right hand man. she's his champion and the kind of knight who, to paraphrase lord raoul in squire, finds dark places and brings them light and all that. like she's not a general or a bureaucrat or a commander the way raoul or gary + her rship to jon is so so Personal that she can afford to a) yell at him and b) fuck off away from corus when he makes decisions she doesnt like. she's allowed to yell at him because he's a close personal friend and he's the thing she's sworn to.

the interesting thing about daine is that she is loyal to Him (she's smitten with him upon meeting him, she and numair are the crown's pet mages and she does a great deal of spycraft for jon whenever it becomes necessary) but it's through a different. idk what the word would be. lens perhaps? like, she's not sworn the same oaths of loyalty to him that any and all knights/nobles must have + she Can defy him and he would be very hard pressed to stop her lol who the fuck can take thee Wildmage to task and win + she has an informal personal rship with him if a more businesslike one than alanna does. but the immortals books do emphasize that she bears him love and loyalty and by the time pots rolls around she and numair are living in corus.

kel on the other hand is sworn to jonathan in the way that all knights are sworn to the king and doesn't particularly like him. so true babygirl get his stupid ass!!! she is a knight and her duty is to king and country but unlike alanna. unlike alanna! she puts country first. she commits treason for her people and means every word of it she puts what she considers her duty and honor above what politically /is/ her duty and her honor. shes stubbornly un-charmed by all of jon's kingliness and has only the relationship to him of a knight to her liegelord. and he respects her but has and would continue to fuck her over if it meant the machine of corus kept running. its really good i fucking love these books man