#no rook didn’t necessarily deserve to suffer this much

[messinwitheddie]

How does Rook feel about being a grandad? Has he met any of the smeets? Check in on his kin lately? Has he ever thought about taking in an apprentice from any of them? You know cuz he’s very old and his time won’t last very long with them.

If the sage were to die, how and where would he like to have his funeral?

Oooh... Um. Rook did not live long enough to meet any of his grandchildren. There was no funeral arranged for him either. Mem donated his PAK to Zim for his personal research. His flesh body was butchered, cooked and fed to her adopted Vortian bleeties (To be fair, they desperately needed the natural protein. Otherwise, she would have hung his body on her tree of woe in a sack of silk and burned it like she did the 7 smeets she lost from her first swarm.)

Rook really only interacted with Mem's smeets if she asked him for medical help of some kind. He had no interest or intentions of being a father figure. Mem hoped eventually Rook would warm up to the idea of joining the hive/ warming up to her first swarm.

By the time Mem's first swarm were cadet age, Rook was beginning to suffer from an Irken equivalent of dementia. Paranoia and flashbacks twisted his perception of reality in a way where everyone and everything seemed like a threat on his life ordered by Lich or the tallest in charge... even Mem and her swarm. His final centuries were agonizing.

He was rather hostile to Mem's smeets; verbally when she was looking, verbally and physically when she wasn't. He would lash out unexpectedly, usually with his pyrokinesis, on which he was rapidly losing his grip.

The smeets never spoke up about it in fear Rook would retaliate by burning Mem or worse. They were terrified of Rook. That, and they knew Mem worried enough about them and a universe of other problems already.

When Mem formed her arrangement with the Resisty, Rook refused to have any contact with Mem, her first swarm or the second swarm he sired. He feared the Resisty would just attract the armada and ruin their safe haven on the mystery planet. His smeets barely remember him, only that he made their older swarmmates anxious.

Rook's ending, unfortunately is not a happy one. Mem eventually found out just how much suffering some of her smeets went through which were her real motive for sending Zim to retrieve Rook for her.

Death has given him a new sense of clarity though. His sanity is more or less restored and he regrets most of his actions towards the end. Rook intends to make right by his smeets eventually.

Rook “WAIT!”

Mem “Away with you, Sage! I have an important message to deliver! If it's vengeance you seek, you can--"

Rook “SILENCE!! I-I mean… Mem, I beg of you, let ME apologize-"

Mem “Apologize to Ikka! Apologize to the swarms you rejected out of cowardice!”

Rook “You're right. I owe them the biggest apology. I'm sincerely sorry for hurting them and for hurting you. I should have trusted you; supported you and the Resisty cause. Instead I lost all hope for change or a brighter future. Shameful; I had potential to make a difference… My body, mind and PAK were deteriorating; I wasn't myself towards the end.”

Mem “I was aware. For a while, I sympathized, but a threat to my smeets gives me no room for mercy or hesitation. I would have gutted you again. Not for a moment do I regret ridding you of our hive! Never will I apologize!”

Rook “You did the right thing. No vengeance will be sought on you. Maybe I didn’t “love" you, but I considered you my dearest friend; I respected you. You deserved no lashing out from me. Neither did your-- our smeets. Not physical nor verbal. Great Glord, You must hate me. The terms are yours to set. I'll do anything, just PLEASE forgive me. I will know no form of peace until-"

Mem “Rook… you saved me and most of my swarm that one, horrible, HORRIBLE winter. You taught me how to survive and ensure my hive’s survival in a merciless alien wilderness… I have so much to thank you for. I don't hate you. I haven't the spare attention to think of a fitting word to describe how you twisted my emotions… so I will forgive you, provided you MOVE ASIDE.

But, I cannot stress this enough; I will not extend my apology on behalf of our smeets. You must make right with THEM, if a way even exists. Those are my terms.”

Rook “Of course…But you do accept my apology?”

Mem “Yes. Yes I do. Now, GET OUT OF MY WAY!!"

Rook *salutes as she blazes past him*

[In reference to this https://www.tumblr.com/messinwitheddie/720935797525823488/once-mem-passes-away-what-would-her-relationship?source=share

Sorry if this was a bummer. I don't tend to post about the sadder/ darker details about this au, but they're there.]

#invader zim #18-years-later #au #irken #ocs #rook #mem #no rook didn’t necessarily deserve to suffer this much #sometimes there isn't light at the end of the tunnel

[italoniponic]

Okay, I'll admit that I relate to Leona's hobby of playing chess. Particularly, I’m very fascinated by chess and its battle-like aesthetic while you’re playing… and finally after a lot of years, my parents could buy me a cheap chess board so I could play!

It’s very cheap plastic, the forms aren’t very refined, the pieces are tiny… but it’s honest and it’s enough. Being happy with that, some headcanons for Leona playing chess came to mind~

(posting this at Leona's birthday bc I didn't knew what day could be best to show this to the world... idk why I'm that complicated)

♚ 〉Leona never felt like he could ask for more than he deserved. Since ever the servants of the palace always meddled or murmured on everything he did or didn’t, just like other family relatives (not that anyone would let the King or Farena know). Silently suffering, Leona didn’t bother asking for gifts and just accepted anything the family would throw at him on holidays or birthdays… but not with chess. No. Leona always asked for those;

♚ 〉He doesn’t want to bother remembering it but Farena was the one that taught him how to play. Little Leona just saw his big brother playing this strange board game with funny pieces and, with all the patience and love, Farena told him about every detail of the game as like telling him a story;

♟〉Deep down, both of them miss those good old days. When Farena was not old enough to keep with the regent prince responsibilities and Leona was young enough to maintain a certain innocence;

♚ 〉Leona always picked up the black pieces (or red, depending on the chess collection). At first, it was for the color. Leona’s hair is darker than his brother so it was a conscious decision choosing the pieces he most identified with himself. Later on, picking him black pieces meant accepting that he will always be the number two. Never the first to move. As for today, Leona carries both ways of thinking with the addition of knowing that “making the first move” does not necessarily mean victory. Who knows what your enemy does in the shadows? The vantage is his;

♚ 〉Leona only lost against Farena. When he plays with other people, he always win;

♚ 〉Malleus tried to ask for them to play chess once but Leona refused, saying that he “doesn’t want to waste his time like that” in a sarcastic way. The real motive though is Leona fearing that Malleus can win at another thing he enjoy and really puts effort into;

♟〉Rook also tried to ask him for playing chess and Leona lightly threatned to throw a chess board at him (Ruggie stopped it on time);

♚ 〉Probably has dozens of chess collections that he takes good care of. His favorite is one that’s celebratory of the anniversary of Sunset Savannah that it’s animal themed. The King and Queen were replaced by a Lion and his Lioness, the Bishop was a mandrill (like Rafiki), the Horse became a warthog and the Tower became a meerkat. The Pawns are Hyenas;

♚ 〉He doesn’t know about this but Cheka is secretly trying to learn chess so they can play together. But the current results are: “why old people like this game so much?” ("Cheka, my son, Uncle Leona isn't that old...")

♟〉not me getting obsessed with this chess design lol no not me

#twisted wonderland #cherry's mumbling about twst #leona kingscholar #rook hunt #malleus draconia #farena kingscholar #cheka kingscholar #twst headcanons #leona kingscholar headcanons #leona kingscholar hcs #chess

[drowngrief]

   written    on     RELIGIOUS  PERCEPTIONS     in    relation    to    my    portrayal    of    brooke .

A . )       parental    influence    played    a    considerable    role    in    brooke’s    views       &       alignments in    regards    to    the    aforementioned .    

  –  quinn      subscribed    somewhat    silently    to    christianity ,         only    occasionally     attending      masses    for    christmas           (      &     easter ,       sometimes     )         in    order    to    maintain    a    stronger   public    image       &       appeal to a broader audience when the time came to run for mayor    ;         while    he    ran    as    a    republican    candidate ,          he    was    aware    that    there    were    always    a    handful    of    more    radical    people    who    were    likely    to hold what he did    in    public    against    him    if    he    didn’t    make   a    point    to    show    any    form    of   ��religious    faith .  

  –  monica ,    however ,       with    her    long  -  repressed    wanderlust       &       recurrent    need    for    something    new ,       found    her    form(s)    of    solace    through    gradually    increasing    absences       &       vagrancy ,        the    latter    both    in    a    literal       &       religious    sense .      she was brought up by catholic  parents  ––        her    mother    on    the    more    devout    end    with    her    father    more    untraceable    due    to    his    absences ,        which    overshadowed    his    wife’s    desire    to    make    spirituality    more    of    a    method    of    family    bonding  ––     but    fell    into    the    common    currents    of    her    father’s    absences come the later end    of    her    sophomore    year    in    high school .         she    didn’t    ‘fall’    into    partying ,      necessarily ,         but    slowly    realized    that    she    could    manipulate    herself    into    a    sense    of    belonging    somewhere    with    the    help    of    more    open  -  minded    friends       &       a    less    restrictive    environment .             she    then    fully    adopted the    more    open  -  minded    outlook    that    she    had    never    been    allowed    to    embrace    due    to    a    sense    of    obligation .       this    newfound    freedom    led    to    her    looking    into    different    belief    systems with    unparalleled    alacrity .        she    was    both    in    search    of    with    which    she    felt     most    connected    to      & ,       perhaps    more    importantly ,         which    could    be    used    to    help    her    to    achieve    the   furthest    distance    from    her    mother’s    looking  -  over  -  her  -  shoulder    nature    of    imposing .                                  +     this    also    serves    as    an    example    of    a    subconscious    imitation    of    her     father  ––         not    being    around    the    house ,         not    being    direct    in     whether     or    not    she      parallels    with    her    mother’s       (     rather    filmsy     )        set    of    rules    or    not .  

 in    regards    to     the    afterlife    specifically ,         quinn    feigns    whole  -  hearted    belief    in    heaven       &       hell ,       when ,       in    reality ,      he    is     too    reluctant     to    accept    anything    so    abstract    as    a    stone    cold    truth .         monica    appears    with    the    family    in    church    when    they    go      (    until  her    substance    abuse    worsens     )       to    help    promote    the    maddox    image ,       but    is    more    into    the    idea    of    reincarnation    than    anything    else   ––     at    least,        that    has    been    the    most    sticking    of    the    many .  

                            SO  WHERE  DOES  THIS  LEAVE  BROOKE ?

B . )       confused ,       perhaps ,      if    she    cared    a    bit    more    about    it    as    a    child .     when     once    asked    by    a    classmate    in    primary    school ,       brooke    told    them that    the    family    was catholic    without    giving   the    matter    much    thought  ––         it    was    hardly    discussed    in    the   house ,       &       they    went    to    a    catholic    church    to    celebrate    christmas    mass .        that    must    be it ,      then .         but    monica ,       who    had    jumped    at    the    first    opportunity    to    break    away    from that    mold ,           made    a    point    to    tell    her    that    they    weren’t    a    part    of    that    particular    denomination ,          leaving    her    with    no    solid    answers .

                                             so  brooke  didn’t  ask.

she simply assumed her family to reside somewhere on the spectrum of christianity ,         not opposing to mass until she reached the fifth grade      (     &       only because she dreaded the great  lull of the service     ) .          she assumed the same beliefs that her father projected for a while ––   life   after death ––   but rapidly began to question them with the influence of   online information      &       conversations  heard       &       had  among      /      with    peers.        (     not much was really questioned or challenged ,         as   the image of the family’s spirituality was fabricated      &     rarely touched upon as a family ––    monica stuck to her own on her wavering beliefs for a while.)  this went on through until brooke’s junior year of high school  ––      an idly lying    belief   canceled out by latent skepticism was forced to its crux   with   the string of murders    beginning with nina patterson .

   this ––    nina’s murder standing alone ––     was not what brought the question to its pinnacle.     brooke thought nina’s murder to be a totally freak,   one-time thing .     so ,     what was it  ?

                                                                     RILEY’S.

C . )    riley’s death  is what confirmed brooke’s original theory ––    that an attack on the second generation after the brandon james attacks would just be too lifetime movie esque to come true ––   to be fallacious .

   brooke finding out that ghostface’s texts put her    &    riley as the choose-between would  absolutely have the fault    /    responsibility-inducing effect on brooke, but from a smaller, more basic       &       emotion-desiccated viewpoint, the event & choice could be seen as something of a miracle .      don’t misinterpret––   brooke is nowhere near grateful that the victim was riley,     &      she would have rathered it be herself, but having fate twist in her favor in that way       (     beyond what money or her family is able to provide     )        would feel surreal for anyone.      she often finds herself consumed in the butterfly effect regarding this tragedy more than any other in her life,    leading to dreams in which she was the one murdered, in which she was the one who actually killed riley,        &       in which she feels the link on the handcuffs attaching her to the bedpost gradually growing white-hot until the pain is too much to bear. (the beginnings of survivor’s guilt.)

    brooke has never been one to look for the paranormal elements in her day to day life,     nor is it something that she’s into at all, but after riley’s death, there occasionally seemed to be a sort of unspoken presence in brooke’s house  in her bedroom      &     living room (a cooler draft, the creaking of floorboards under prodding feet). there also seemed to be more starless nights ––    even though louisiana offers no stunning view to begin with ––    after riley’s death,       &       things as simple as light refracted off of a glass     &     thrown into crystalline patterns on the walls brought back broken memories of better days .

basis  :       riley’s murder simultaneously heightened brooke’s belief in a god        (     without her even being that aware of it    )       &       made her internal denial of god’s existence even stronger .

D . )       the second influential event  on brooke’s faith was jake being stabbed in the chest in 1.07.     she tells noah in the beginning of 1.08 how the doctors described the knife missing jake’s organs as a MIRACLE,     &      to a logistical extent, is inclined to label his survival the same way.

   this was even after she did the inadvisable out of panic ––   pulling the knife out.     once again,    some bizarre,    too-good-to-be-true outward thing has righted one of her committed wrongs,      &     she does not at all feel deserving.

                                                  so one miracle kills while another saves .

   with her mother’s well being dangling in midair at this point in canon, she almost feels the twisted luck to point more towards the wanchancy of further familial corruption gone unseen  ––    it gives her a reason to be more suspicious that quinn might have done off with monica.

    in her childhood, she was fairly used to getting what she wanted ––    perhaps, she thinks, her mother’s fate being the opposite of what she hopes it to be would serve as another example of the universe putting her in the balance’s sternum, if only to see the next move she’ll make. it may also serve as some twisted form of karma –––   a way for the world to reinforce the mantra of “you can’t always get what you want”.

basis  :      jake surviving the bowling alley attack throws her for a serious loop in the attempt to determine exactly where she stands on the existence of a god.     here ,     she begins to lean more towards belief.

E . )     closely following the description of jake’s survival, however, arrived the news of will’s death.    this marked the loss of four of brooke’s closest acquaintances at the start of the series.      while it didn’t have as distinctive or lasting of an impact as some of the other losses suffered in brooke’s life,    the timing of it offered a wall for the gaining momentum of her blossoming belief to crash full-force into.      it seriously challenged any form of optimism that came with the ‘miraculous’ survival.      here is where she is forced to come to terms with agnosticism,      &      it only continues to sprout from this event      &      the conflicting viewpoints that came with the real-life contrast .

F . )     the deciding event in terms of her view on the afterlife occurred in 1.10, when she was locked into the freezer & stabbed at.    this event is later referenced in her carnival speech in 2.08 :    

         “  i almost died.    & you know what i saw ?    nothing. no white light.    just big,    black,    empty nothing.  ”

    in a world where near death experiences are so often exalted      &      then used as fuel for intense cultural involvement          (     books ,      movies ,       constant news interviews     ––––––      think of colton burpo’s experience      &     how it was made into something for everyone to know every detail about    –––––     brooke not only felt for some time as though she had gotten the short end of the stick,     but also thought this even more of a reason to keep her own experience to herself.       she didn’t open up to anyone about how the freezer incident felt         (     in the heat of it or the aftermath     )       until intoxication blended with fury on the stage at lakewood’s carnival .    

    in the future,       brooke will not find spirituality as a stronghold in difficult times or when memories trigger pain.    the concept makes her feel too vulnerable,         &        the slope has proven itself to be far too slippery to place any trust in.   

#minimal formatting under the cut bc the first try failed me. #but this is something i've been thinking on for a little while &. #i wanted to delve into it. #the rambling probably gets a little hard to decipher at points lmao. #so my apologies for that ! but that's how things usually go here anyway tbh. #* in.⠀▬⠀STUDY.⠀❪ alpenglow sharpens silhouette⠀/⠀ᵃᵉᵛᶤᵗᵉʳᶰᵃˡ ᵃᵉᵗʰᵉʳᵉᵃˡᶤᵗᵉˢˑ ❫