LotS question: Confessors

[meridian_rose]

I've got a fic in progress and I'm stuck on something:

Can Confessors confess each other? ETA: No, and Pris has explained the full canon reasoning behind this with examples. If I were grading answers it would get an A :D

I don't think so; even when HBIC Kahlan confessed Emo Kahlan, this was possible because Emo Kahlan did not have her powers. But Anna has rightly pointed out to me that Nicci once confessed Kahlan. Now Nicci had Kahlan's powers at the time - does that make a difference? And did that mean Kahlan was lacking in her own powers once more?

Thoughts?

Comments

[dorothydeath.livejournal.com]

I was always curious to know the answer. :D Logic suggests that they can't but logic rarely applies to magic in LotS.

And except for the Nicci/Kahlan moment I don't remember if that problem was ever raised on the show again... In the books perhaps? But I never read them...

[meridian_rose]

Yes, logic or at least consistency isn't a strong point in the LotS verse.

[pristineungift.livejournal.com]

It's explicitly stated in "Sacrifice" that Confessors cannot confess each other. Richard notes that sending the male Confessor bb to live with Dennee and her mate on an island is a good solution because he can't confess either of them - Dennee because she is a Confessor, and her mate because he's already confessed to her. Nicholas kills Kahlan and Darken for the same reason in Reckoning - he can't confess either of them because Kahlan is a Confessor, and Darken is immune because of Giller's potion.

In Torn, emo Kahlan is not a Confessor, so she loses her immunity. In Tears, Nicci can confess Kahlan only after stealing her han - making her no longer a Confessor. Kahlan goes Con Dar when Nicci dies because her power returns to her - but she is still confessed, because power never 'died' - it merely changed vessels.

[pristineungift.livejournal.com]

All that being said though, it's fanfiction. Do what you want.

It would be interesting if it became a strength battle - the stronger power of confession prevails.

[meridian_rose]

Thank you for such a complete and informative comment :D I can always on you to know such things.

[pristineungift.livejournal.com]

Lol I clearly spend too much time thinking about this >_>

Also I seem to have accidentally started liking Kahlan since The Old Commandments Stand. O_o

[meridian_rose]

Yes, I can understand that :D I'm more sympathetic towards Cersei when I'm writing her.

[dorothydeath.livejournal.com]

Oh, shi—

How could I forget all this? O_O

*ashamed*

[pristineungift.livejournal.com]

Lol I just finished a longfic all about Confessors bb, so I rewatched Sacrifice and Reckoning as well as Touch, or I'd have forgotten some of it too. <3

[hrhrionastar.livejournal.com]

A discussion I missed!

Not that I have anything to add - Pris is completely correct. In fact, her explanation of the Nicci thing is helping that episode make more sense in my head - although isn't her plan that Kahlan will Confess Richard, while still being Confessed to Nicci? But maybe she didn't read the Confessor Handbook.

I've decided they have not one, but many versions of this...every Mother Confessor writes her own. 'Do protect the Seeker with your life; do not Confess him' etc :)

Another random Confessor-y question: Annabelle no longer has her powers because of the quillion, but does she still pass on the Confessor gene to any children she might have, or not? And also, what did they do with the quillion after it took away her powers? Weren't they still stored there, thus theoretically providing someone with the chance to steal the power?

[meridian_rose]

Sorry, this got lost in my email inbox.

I love the idea of a Confessor Handbook - I can imagine Kahlan pulling it out to show Richard why X=Y and Richard being all pfft, whatever, and throwing it in the fire like he did with the Book of Counted Shadows :D

Even better if each Mother Confessor writes her own version. This would be great as a fic, from the current version and working backwards, stripping away the additions and amendments until you get the basic truths as written by Magda the first Confessor.

That is such a good point about Annabelle's genetic heritage and one that had never occurred to me. Dark fic where she has a child with Flynn and his daughter confesses him or they have a son without realising the risks?

And yes that Quillion is out there somewhere, although quite who'd want the power given its consequences is another matter entirely.

[hrhrionastar.livejournal.com]

Even better if each Mother Confessor writes her own version. This would be great as a fic, from the current version and working backwards, stripping away the additions and amendments until you get the basic truths as written by Magda the first Confessor. Hmmm...I don't know if I'm ready to say what the basic truths are (even Magda's version) but I love this idea.

Also I have this whole plan about incorporating the Confessor Handbook into the honeyverse...Kahlan's whole journal thing may become epic :)

I think I have seen one dark fic with Annabelle having a son, but I also love the idea that they have an evil Confessor daughter.

The whole thing with the quillion - my best guess is that Zedd gave the extra power to Kahlan, making her even more epic, because otherwise I just can't imagine that Darken, and a good many other people probably, wouldn't be trying to get their hands on the power. Dire consequences yes, but people often want things without reading the fine print.

[meridian_rose]

Super Confessor Kahlan :D Makes as much sense as anything else :D

The daughter wouldn't even have to be evil, just unaware and unprepared. If they don't know she's a Confessor, they wouldn't have been teaching her how to control her temper. And I wonder if Annabelle could then still be Confessed or if the residual genetics that let her birth a Confessor would still protect her. Canon has such a lot of holes.