So, just saw the new episode...
Now where the H E C K is my fanfic of The Ruby giving Fjord the Shovel Talk about Jester, then realizing he might actually be perfect for her?
Because Marion has spent most of her life trying to protect Jester from those who might harm her, and this same woman had her heart broken by a man of the ocean, who slipped from her like the evening tide.
So when she finally sees Jester return after her adventures, and cheerfully introduces Fjord, a handsome half-orc sailor, a little like the heroes in the stories she grew up reading, who earnestly says he tries to protect her, it almost seems too good to be true.
Not to mention the looks he gives Jester when she’s not noticing - soft and tender, smiling with chiseled teeth, faint hints of a hunger in those bright yellow eyes… Well, Marion knows what sailors can be like after months at sea, with no one to satisfy them.
She doesn’t want history to repeat itself, especially for her daughter.
So she pulls him aside discreetly while the others are away, and tells him, regal but sure, that he must promise her to protect her little sapphire, even from himself. If he breaks her heart, he’ll have to deal with one of the most influential women in all the Menagerie Coast.
And Fjord promises her - truthfully, with every word being spoken from the heart - that he would never try to hurt her, and would do everything and anything to stop the world from trying to hurt her (he failed once - seeing her crying, bruises on her wrists and cheek, broke something in him. He refuses to let that happen again.)
He also mentions that, if meeting the Ruby has taught him anything, Jester is FAR out of his league. She’s the daughter of supposedly the most amazing woman in the world, so bright and cheerful, wise and caring, creative, artistic, chaos in a beautiful form.
What can he offer her? He lost his crew mates and sense of family, and got a strange sword and a dark voice in his mind in return. He never knew his parents, and hates what one of them made him. He’s a liar by default, and has nothing to give her that could make him worthy of her affections.
She deserves a prince who’ll care for her, not a pirate who might get her killed with his own foolishness.
And Marion realizes that this man - who has had to work whole life to get where he is - has two things that automatically make him better then dozens of possible suitors: a genuine love for her daughter, and a much-needed path for her freedom.
Jester has spent far too long inside, reading stories of the outside world, watching the boats come into shore, wanting to go out and explore the world. Marion’s sorry she had to keep her hidden from such a vibrant, amazing world, but she’s so glad Jester has found comfort and friendship in such far away places, away from her home.
Fjord has given Jester a (semi-safe) view of the world outside her bedroom window, and it’s just what she needs. She’s not going to want to stay inside all day, being pampered by some servants from some stuffy, upper-crust husband; Not after Fjord has rocked her world and brought her on the adventure of a lifetime, fighting monsters and helping people who need it.
Marion’s impressed by his humbling nature, and tells him that, while the warning still stands, she’s sincerely glad that someone cares for her daughter almost as much as she does. She sends him off, assuring him that he’s worthy of love and respect, and he tells her again of how amazing she is.
As he leaves, she smiles, and wonders if she should consider a new song to commission: a wedding march, for a little blue sapphire, and the sailor who treasures her.
