Comments | brontefanatic: Sharper than a Serpent's Tooth

brontefanatic

Sharper than a Serpent's Tooth - Chapter 13: Revenge

Mar 17, 2011 07:20

Title: Sharper than a Serpent's Tooth
Pairing: Darken/Kahlan with references to past Darken/Cara and RIchard/Kahlan
Length: 2000
Rating: T
Spoilers: Set in the "Reckoning" AU with additional facts learned in "Eternity
Summary: A husband and wife reunion

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original character: rachel rahl, character: kahlan amnell, fic: sharper than a serpent's tooth, episode: reckoning, pairing: darken/kahlan, character: darken rahl, fanfiction

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hrhrionastar March 19 2011, 16:04:07 UTC

Ooh, so creepy! I like how Darken taunts Kahlan - once again, one feels she hasn't thought the whole thing through. Did she ever have a plan for what to do if Darken found out?

“You really have no loyalty to anyone at all, do you, Kahlan? Not to Richard, not to me, not to Alice. Not even to your own child.” Sad, but true - in Denna, Shota said the one in white would betray Richard, so Kahlan left him to the clutches of the Mord'Sith - meaning to protect him, but betraying him anyway. And she does the same in Reckoning - by agreeing to marry Darken, and probably most of all by plotting to erase her own child from history. (I still think Richard would never go back in time if he met Rachel and thought she was a good ruler. With Nicholas, there was destruction everywhere and the apocalypse seemed around the corner - hopefully, Rachel won't let that happen.)

Darken turned away, almost overcome by a wave of self-loathing. I like how you show him as conflicted. He really does love Rachel, but for him hatred is stronger - hatred of Panis ( ... )

brontefanatic March 19 2011, 23:58:13 UTC

Thanks for reading - I always enjoy your thoughtful reactions. I was very worried about writing Darken/Kahlan ( ... )

dorothydeath March 20 2011, 11:42:16 UTC

Please don't hate me... again I can't shut up...

he cannot understand how Rachel could possibly want to protect a person who betrayed her so deeply - as deeply as his father betrayed him.
Darken did forgive his father in Vengeance. And admitted to Jennsen that he wanted to be loved in Fever. And to Richard - that it was nice being in the company of one's family in Extinction.

Don't you think you give him a little bit too little credit in the emotional department?

Of course, Darken is absolutely in character here and in the previous chapters.

I'm just so worried about what happens next and I try to find as many excuses for him not hurting Rachel further as possible.

Sorry.
I don't know how you can stand me. I can't stand me.
Shutting up now at last.

hrhrionastar March 20 2011, 21:23:16 UTC

Darken did forgive his father in Vengeance. And admitted to Jennsen that he wanted to be loved in Fever. And to Richard - that it was nice being in the company of one's family in Extinction. Darken said he forgave his father. And although I think he meant it, you have to admit he doesn't always tell the truth. But that was after killing Panis, living many years without him, dying, having to serve the Keeper, who, let's face it, is much eviler than any mortal person could be - or at least is portrayed that way on the show... Remember, the Keeper betrayed Darken too, fooling him into becoming a baneling without giving him any actual power, and probably even telling him about the Boxes of Orden, only to say, once Darken gets to the Underworld, your death opened a rift, which was my plan all along, Mwah-hah-hah...

And then, admitting he wanted to be loved isn't the same as trying to protect Jennsen after she betrays him...what would've happened if/when they saw each other again? (Alas for no season 3 ( ... )

dorothydeath March 20 2011, 21:54:03 UTC

Of course, of course, of course!))
I merely wanted to point out that Darken is capable of accepting deep painful emotions (Captain Obvious to the rescue!).
Of course he had never been through what he'd been through in s2 but he had this whole new experience of being a father. That counts for something I guess.

Sorry for raising a fuss.
I promise I'm shutting up now!

brontefanatic March 20 2011, 22:31:20 UTC

Just got back in town.

Just a note - I hope that it's clear that Darken IS feeling deep emotions, they ARE painful and he's not very comfortable with it. He's also very conflicted about all this fatherhood stuff. He wants to be a better father than Panis, yet he hates being vulnerable.

And - When Rachel pleads for Kahlan, it hits him in the gut. He doesn't understand it, and it feels like a betrayal to him. After all, he is the "good" parent (in his eyes).

hrhrionastar March 20 2011, 21:12:12 UTC

IMO nothing would hurt Kahlan more than being reminded that by marrying Darken, she was being disloyal to, and unfaithful to, Richard. If her plan falls apart, where does that leave her? I agree, absolutely. Darken certainly knows where she's weakest!

Of course, if he actually meets Rachel that might make a difference. >_> Exactly - sure, at first he'd think the world where Darken and Kahlan got married was an abomination, but it's just so wrong to erase someone from existence that no true hero could approve of it - except in the case of Nicholas, who literally turned the world into some kind of apocalyptic dystopia...that is, if, when Richard comes back, Rachel is there ruling wisely and he meets her... (it comforts me to think how much Richard would disapprove of Kahlan's behavior, I suppose...)

Darken does love Rachel. Maybe he believes she embodies whatever good there is left in him - but, of course, he also considers his love and her goodness as weakness. OMG, how incredibly twisted. That is such a paradox - and I love how ( ... )

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