#techeuns

The first time I heard Shuro Chi say this line in one of the Pilgrimages, I was disturbed.

We Techeuns are taught absolute obedience to our Queen. We have no desires but what our Queen desires, we have no fears but what our Queen fears. Good traits. But weaknesses against certain enemies. Like the Taken. Like the Aphelion.

(Pilgrimage: Garden of Esila, Techeun statues)

It would be easy to dismiss this as mere hyperbole, a way to highlight the loyalty of the Techeuns. But these lore entries, highlighting the failure of the Techeuns to abandon desire, made it feel pretty literal. At least, it made me read this "no desires but what our Queen desires" maxim as the intended result of Techeun training.

That is when she makes the fatal mistake. She thinks of the time before Saturn. She thinks of Shuro Chi and Uldren and Mara. She… wants that time back.

She wants.

(The Awoken of the Reef: Illyn)

“So we hope.” Kalli had long sought the power of the amulet, but Techeuns are taught not to desire.

“So now the decision is nigh. The Harbingers, which to prepare?” Shuro was determined to see this all through. Excitement was taught to be kept at bay.

“Sedia, do you not have faith in our Queen?”

(Grimoire: The Coven)

Until this Season of the Lost, when some new lore dropped that made me reconsider this.

In the lore entry for Canis Major, Petra Venj tells a young Techeun about her own training.

"I didn't know exactly how unsuited I was until my sister started her training," Petra continued. "Right away, Pinar and I began having long conversations inside our dreams. We'd talk all night and wake up with full memories of what we'd said. That was the first time I realized how powerful she'd become."

Petra lowered her eyes. "Of course, Pinar was Imar's favorite. And the more quickly she progressed, the stronger our shared dreams became. It didn't take long before it was more than just talking."

"She began to manipulate the dreams—changing locations or her shape. I couldn't keep up. It was like being a passenger in my own head. Her dreams became my nightmares." Petra shook her head, as if dislodging an unwelcome memory. "That's when I quit the training and the dreams stopped."

(Canis Major)

We do know Mara has a certain degree of telepathy with other Awoken. (Marasenna: Revanche I) We know, too, that the Techeuns have brain augments, plus they are transformed somehow at the end of their training. (Pilgrimage: Harbinger's Seclude, Shrine)

What if the Techeun's wishes being Mara's wishes isn't one of the goals of training?

What if it is a side effect?

I think that it is very likely that the Techeuns' telepathic connection to Mara is stronger than the average Awoken's. Maybe somewhat passive, although I will admit this is purely speculation. If somehow Mara's thoughts and feelings (wants, wishes, fears) are background noise in the mind of the Techeuns, they might feel like those thoughts and feelings are also theirs, right? The way Petra felt like a passenger inside of her own mind, while Pinar was at the wheel. Which is also kind of disturbing, but in a completely different way.In a "how do we even define identity" way.

  Not to cry on main etc but HOW THE FUCK DO YOU...

have you tried replacing http:// with https:// ? tumblr changed how themes work a while back and now a bunch of them wont save unless you replace all the old http:// links in them :|