#tavonica

MY TRAP CARRRRRRD!!!!

Tavra (sword lesbian) (tired) (middle sister) is a key main secondary character in the YA books spin off / au of The Dark Crystal: The Age of Resistance by J.M. Lee, of which there are 4

Shadows of the Dark Crystal (Naia POV) (Tavra has a bad day)

Song of the Dark Crystal (Kylan POV) (Tavra has a REALLY bad day)

Tides of the Dark Crystal (Amri POV) (Tavra has the most screen time but also depression. At least she's with her girlfriend again)

Flames of the Dark Crystal (Naia POV) (Tavra's bad day is mostly off screen but it starts and ends with her having happy moments with people she loves and that's allllll I care about)

she's the frowny grim slightly pathetic practical one who wants to believe in people, secretly dating the smiling yet somehow utterly scary cunning lady who's a bit more jaded about people's ability to change for the better than she is, but who also 100% believes that Tavra herself will always do that change without hesitation.

QUOTES TIME!!

Spider Tavra (hesitant): "My mother (the queen) will do the right thing."

Onica (her gf) (Sifa) (Far-Dreamer): "The right thing, eh? As she did when she found you were sneaking out to the wharfs to visit a Sifa Far-Dreamer?"

Spider Tavra (even more hesitant): "That was a long time ago."

Onica (sighing): "When your mother does the right thing, it will be what is right for the Vapra alone. She wears a heavy mantle in Skeksis colors, and it will not be easily changed for a suit of armor. Not everyone is like you, my love."

A Few Moments Later

Spider Tavra: "Brea (her little sister) is young, but she is not stupid. If she had reasons to doubt my mother, then so do we."

Tavra's also a bit too frank for a young insecure teen boy's ego to handle sometimes

Tavra: "I told you not to strike! If this had been a real battle, you'd be dead."

Amri: "Well, it's not. I thought I saw an opening, so I went for it. What's the point of practicing if you're not allowed to take risks?"

Tavra: "It wasn't a risk. It was a guaranteed failure."

Amri (has never used a sword before): "You don't know that."

Tavra (a soldier): "I did."

ONE BOOK EARLIER

Kylan (parents were killed when he was a kid): "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to... do whatever I did. I just didn't want you to die. I hope you aren't angry with me."

Spider Tavra (ends up basically his new mom): "I'm not angry. My body will return to Thra. When my work is done, I will join it. Until then, I have no time to worry or complain."

(she will later find time to complain about not being able to hold her girlfriend anymore) (she and her gf will stick with Kylan at the end of the books, finally getting to have a life together like they always promised)

She's the second character we're introduced to (seen slogging miserably through a swamp) (a good set up for how life is mostly going to be going for her) and she kinda ends up as the foil / mentor for the three POV characters in the series

Knowing that her queen mother was both controlling AND distant explains a lot of her struggles expressing herself to the three teens suddenly dropped into her life, but also makes the fact that she tries so hard to keep them safe and learns to listen to them and cares so much about them VERY heartwarming

Tavra is the queen her people SHOULD have had....

... and also a gloomy sulker who sulks when she can't make herself understood

tavonica still gets me

Spoilers for the tavonica comic!

1.) Onica haunted by the far-dream of Tavra lying dead in the woods far from her.

Bonus points for this happening while the current Tavra is alive and safe with her head on Onica's lap. More points for cameo possible arathim spider Tavra slipping away from her family again to presumably find her way back to Onica.

2.) Tavra holding Onica's hand as Onica's freshly shredded wings are amputated / cauterized.

Bonus points for Onica being the one to reach out. Extra bonus points for them having just barely met at the time while coming from a culture where physical contact can lead to shared throughs and memories. Thripple extra points for the implication that either they dream-fasted in that moment OR Tavra's spent enough times wishing she could have saved Onica's wings that she doesn't even have to say it anymore for Onica to know.

3.) A bandaged Onica being comforted by Tavra as she recovers.

Bonus points for them once again touching~ No excuse this time~ they really were just Like That from day one weren't they?

4.) Visuals of Tavra literally leaving her family so she can also literally sneak out a window and fly off to be with Onica.

Bonus points for Brea being the only one to notice Tavra turning away from their mother and older sister's way of things. Good foreshadowing / shoutout to Brea's later questions and doubts about the way of things in general.

5.) Confirmation that Tavra DID stop to see Onica before going off to track down Rian on Mayrin's orders.

Bonus points for them sharing a last up of ta together, shoutout to book Onica answering most times of crises with food and drink. Extra points for the Tavra leaving her sword at the entrance of Onica's ship cabin but also propping it up against the wall, ready to be picked up again at a moment's notice.

and finally

6.) Onica admitting she'd seen far-dreams that made her wish she could change them while knowing she can't, and Tavra listening while oh so gently kissing Onica's hand comfortingly about it.

Bonus points for the dream that Onica wishes she could stop from happening of course being the one where Tavra dies. Horrible points for her not telling Tavra that. Wretched points for Tavra having already had a gut feeling she'll die in this war, her mourning the end of her and Onica's time together, only to see her sudden excited HOPE that Onica might have seen them meeting again. Evil points for Onica's sad look and then smiling as she changes the subject by reliving the day they met instead.. That was uncalled for. I loved it.

+ 1 antidote to all that bittersweet angst.

Confirmed. Somehow and someway, Onica and Tavra always reunite, and get to face the end together.

it goes by so quick in the books, actually /seeing/ onica's wings being torn apart by the storm as she refuses to let go of her friend is...

they're being shredded