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January 17 - January 20, 2024
“Goodness,” said Alun, but was prevented from saying anything else by the arrival of a young woman, who came unceremoniously in and said, “Dad, is the barbecue supposed to be smoking?”
hahaha
Oh, they had laughed then, and they had probably been right to laugh.
it’s so interesting how the central trauma of kip’s life is ppl’s laughter. wanting to be taken seriously but ppl not realizing that
“Yes, sir. Even unto the rain of sharks.” The development of the Protocols for various disasters had been so depressing Cliopher had started salting in absurd possibilities just to relieve the relentless focus on disaster and destruction.
aww that’s cute
Cliopher was suddenly awash in strong, brilliant women; nothing could have felt more like home.
bestie loves girl bosses
My dear Viceroy— He had to stop there and clench his jaw against the sudden upwelling of emotion at his Radiancy’s familiar hand, this casual address. How this was … almost what he had wanted. (Almost. He must stop yearning for more than anyone would ever give him.)
he’s literally so gay (/qpr) for him!!!!
(We should have given you the title of Vizier. I regret not having thought of it.)
“This gift from you,” Bertie said roughly. “For us. For everyone. And it felt so… so personal … and I could see how that wasn’t just us feeling that. It was like we’d gone to the tanà for help, and …”
actually tearing up at this
also thinking about fitzroy getting it, the gift kip gave him then too
“Yeah. I know. And I kept telling myself that, whenever I started to think that we weren’t going to be grand enough for you. At least we don’t have to measure up to the Red Company.”
LOL took the thoughts out of his head
Bertie laughed loudly enough the crow cawed back.
are the crows symbolism?? are they fitzroy somehow??
“I’ll hold my head up with your fancy friends,” he promised, “if you do the same with his.”
i guess he knows who fitzroy is
Something struck him on the back of the head, and he was—gone.
wow it’s so unfortunate that kip dies before even reaching 20% of the book!
Interlude Falling (i)
interludes are the sexiest thing to grace this earth. one day i will write an interlude ppl get horny over
ii. Chasing a Viau
SO FUCKING TRUE BESTIE
Look at Rhodin with his dinosaur soulmates.
It was all Cliopher could do not to laugh outright when he heard that the capital of Rufus’s new kingdom was called Rufopolis.
It took him a day and a half to finish the negotiations.
his POWER
His … great and good friend.
“The man known as Fitzroy Angursell is in an oubliette in the Palace: what I have learned, what I know, is that he can still be freed.”
actually tearing up actually literally tearing up🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺
“I,” Rhodin said proudly, “was informed by your younger self that I was the only aristocrat he’d ever encountered who was of any use whatsoever.”
so silly!
There was a word, which Cliopher still refused to let himself think, though it had never left him, all those years as his Radiancy’s secretary, as close as he could be but still so far from the inner man, the whole self.
tehehehehehe
His Radiancy was Fitzroy Angursell. He was everything Cliopher had always loved most from the wider empire, the great emperor-mage, the even greater revolutionary poet. His friend. (That was another lie. There was another word.)
How could you let him sail off alone on his adventure? Why is he travelling without you? If he was stolen away by the Sun and the Moon, you know what to do.
awwwww
Sometimes it felt as if everything in Cliopher’s life came back to that proverb about chasing a viau.
So often a silence was all that was needed: half of his best negotiations had come because he had held open that silence long enough for the other person to haggle themselves down to the position Cliopher wanted them to take.
Cliopher did not recall any such— Well, no, that was a lie. There were far too many such incidents for him to recall a specific one. He coughed.
silly!
“There is nothing in that painting that is not really there, Kip. You’ve earned all of it and more.”
kip 100% also has a praise kink (not that this moment is at all sexual LOL but he just needs validation so much and wouldn’t it be sooooo nice if fitzroy gave that to him???)
The Letter from His Radiancy
ooooo
Cliopher remembered when it had been fun. Challenging, at any rate. He did not miss those days. He missed his Radiancy.
A balcony, a cup of tea, his book, the fresh air … a friend.
he’s so real oh my god
I have been missing your counsel and humour very much these past few days.
he sure has!
There was an old Islander word for that. Cliopher frowned away his distraction.
oop!!
(I do listen, you know. I have so often wished we could just—talk.)
We never sat beside a fire together there, did we? Not just the two of us. We should have.
“I give the special reports to his Radiancy in person,” Rhodin explained glibly, “but the very special reports I give telepathically.” Cliopher counted to three before he answered. “Really.” “Yes. It’s practice for when I find the Merrions and find my soulmate—” Rhodin blushed. “That is, if I am adjudged worthy.”
“You are my family,” Cliopher said. “And you are welcome.” “Of course I am.” Conju sniffed. “Your mother likes me better than you.”
PLEASE BRO
He was not recovered enough for elliptical conversations.
“Yes. The poet about whom you wrote a most impassioned essay your dear successor decided to take as your last request. I understand the general response was tears.”
PLSSSS
Even Cliopher had quailed at the description of the proliferation of portfolios amongst the gods. If it turned out to be a universally true religion, and he did not sail Sky Ocean with his ancestors, then he would surely do something about it.
LOLL
“You are surrounded by magic, by the love and esteem Lord Artorin bears for you, by all the protections his love and esteem have woven around you, consciously and not, over the years. There are few who would ever seek to work against such protections. No one would want to attract the ire of the one who laid them so carefully and so well.”
He thought of Buru Tovo, who had often joked that he was married to the Son of Laughter, an old phrase meaning that he was inclined to men.
is this before we learn that he’s actually married to him? i cannot remember
Fanoa was the word for them, those tiny white shells one found on every beach, clams or cowries or anything else of the sort. They were … they were something he understood.
tehehehehe
“Either, sayo or sayu is fine,” Aioru clarified.
nb!
“Thank you, sir. Perhaps … perhaps I can dedicate the first to you and his Radiancy? If you’re willing, of course. I’ll send you the manuscript when it’s done, so you can decide. It’s … inspired by … some of the stories you told me, sir, about the emperor and his great Islander friend—the navigator.”
is it a romance book LMAO
Three things Cliopher had said a community needed; over and over again, all through the creation of the Indrogan Estates to deal with the worst of the world’s slums. A place to meet, and the knowledge and tools you needed to build something.
Eat the churro.”
haha i like how she just used the real name
They finished the dish of avocado goop and all the plantain chips,
plsss is it just guac? i guess he really is just mexican
East First
yessssss
on the Alinorel side the passage exits were scattered within a wide circle loosely centred on an ancient standing stone.
ooo fitzroy and masseo were here!
“It’s about a hundred miles south of here, Ragnor Bella,
ahhhhh
“That wasn’t actually my brother, you know. It was my bastard-born cousin pretending to be my brother. And doing a much better job of it than Geordin ever did, I must say. I almost felt bad blackmailing him for the horses, but then we did need them.”
rhodin is just so so silly
