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Flinging myself into the sun over Chaghan's death and its impact on Esen and Baoxiang.

The night before Chaghan's death, Baoxiang and Chaghan have a really awful fight, where Chaghan draws his blade on Baoxiang (who is unarmed); whether or not he would have actually killed Baoxiang if Esen hadn't intervened is unclear. (Chapter 12)

Esen found himself without anything to say. Up until this moment he had truly believed that if Baoxiang would just try, he could still be the son Chaghan wanted. But now he knew it had always been impossible.

As if reading his mind, Baoxiang said simply, "See?"

The next day, after the hunt, when Baoxiang is refused a horse on his father's orders, they fight again (Chapter 12):

Lord Wang met his eyes, pale and defiant. "So am I to find out by happenstance, from the servants, that my own father has disowned me?"

Chaghan said coldly, "Your father? I thought I had made it clear that you've lost any right you had to use that name. Would that my sister had died before getting you! Get out of my sight! Get out!"

Yet, seconds later, when Chaghan is in danger (Chapter 12):

"Father!" Lord Wang's voice was shrill with horror as he threw himself lengthwise into the dirt at the edge, heedless of his silks...He saw the two reaching hands grasp. The cords in Lord Wang's neck stood out with the effort as he shouted, "General, help!"

Even after these two horrific fights they've had, even after years of Chaghan making it clear he regrets adopting Baoxiang and the thousands of implicit and explicit ways he's told Baoxiang he thinks he's worthless, Baoxiang still sees Chaghan as his father. When Chaghan is in danger, even immediately after Chaghan has publicly disowned him, Baoxiang does not hesitate for a second to rush to Chaghan's aid.

Yet as Esen looks at Baoxiang in the aftermath of this event, of their father's death, his mind almost immediately turns to suspecting Baoxiang let Chaghan die. Yes, Ouyang had sowed the seeds of that thought, but Esen is the one willing to believe, almost immediately, that Baoxiang let this happen on purpose.

When they return to Anfeng for Chaghan's funeral, Esen bars Baoxiang from attending. (Chapter 15)

He [Esen] strode to the doors and flung them open, stepping out into the diffuse brightness of the hot pearl sky. The empty courtyard echoed with the memory of those hundreds of people in white. But today there was only one figure there. From a distance Wang Baoxiang's elaborate white drapery and drained face had all the humanity of a carved piece of jade.

On the day of his father's funeral, Baoxiang stands alone outside in the courtyard because Esen will not allow him to attend the ceremony, because Esen has already become so wholly convinced that Baoxiang let their father die.

The first time Esen and Baoxiang speak after this incident, Esen makes the following observation. This occurs as Esen sits at his father's desk for the first time, trying to get a grip on running the household he now heads (chapter 15):

His [Baoxiang's] fine-boned Manji features seemed more prominent, and there were shadows under his eyes. Under his familiar brittle smirk, there was something as pale and secretive as a mushroom.

The very first thing he does in their first post-Chaghan confrontation is to highlight Baoxiang's foreignness. His otherness. Esen is full-blooded Mongol. Baoxiang is not. Esen doesn't even think of him as Nanren, but as Manji. Barbarian. And in this moment, when Esen regards him full-on for the first time since suspecting him of killing their father, he thinks Baoxiang's foreign features are "more prominent."

Of course, they fight (chapter 15):

Esen slammed back his chair. "You dare speak of him to me!"

"Why?" asked Baoxiang, advancing. His voice rose. "Why can't I speak of our father? Do tell, is there something you think I did?"

...

"I don't admit anything! I don't need to! You've already made up your mind." Baoxiang grabbed the desk and held on..."No matter what I say, no matter what I do, both of you would think the worst of me. You slander me with ill thoughts I've never had--no, not even when he had me on my knees, and was cursing my very existence. You think I murdered him!"

It's a brutal, ugly, honest fight that's really gutting to read (kudos to SPC). It's not just that Esen suspects Baoxiang might have done it--it's that, as Baoxiang said, he's already decided Baoxiang did it. Without speaking to Baoxiang, without really considering any other option, he almost immediately reached for and settled on "Baoxiang killed our father out of resentment." It's how quick and willing Esen was--like Chaghan--to believe the worst of Baoxiang. He begins the entire encounter, as noted above, by mentally clocking that Baoxiang isn't like him or Chaghan. He's different. He's foreign. He's secretive.

We, the readers, were present at the moment of Chaghan's imperilment. We know that Baoxiang tried to save him, that in spite of Chaghan's abuse, he was desperate to bring him back to safety, but he failed. Esen, in absence of having seen it for himself, is ready to believe right off the bat that Baoxiang acted selfishly and viciously--and that, I think, is what really cuts him. That his own brother, probably the person he is closest to (which says a lot, given how little these two actually know each other...) is so quick to see the worst of his intentions.

Esen concludes this fight by disowning Baoxiang as Chaghan did days earlier (chapter 15):

Esen slammed his hands against the desk with such ferocity that it dealt a blow to Baoxiang and sent him stumbling...Esen heard the ugliness of his voice: it was his father's voice. "He was right about you. You're worthless. Worse than that: a curse. Rue the day this house took you in! Even if I have not the authority of the Great Khan, then at least my ancestors should witness the truth of my words in disowning your name. Get out!"

It takes Esen all of a handful of days to assume Chaghan's former relationship with Baoxiang. Where before he defended Baoxiang (not particularly zealously, but still) to Chaghan, now he echoes Chaghan's own words, the same words he knew had hurt Baoxiang so badly before.

It's crushing. We know they care about each other, we do. But in this time when they should be leaning together, to support each other in their grief, Chaghan's legacy has left them with this. Baoxiang at last is left with no allies, and Esen, although he doesn't know it, is left with no one to stand between him and Ouyang.

yourlibrarian

1) Looks like this obsession with identifying people online is spreading to all sorts of places. I've been working with two survey companies for a long time for some extra cash. One of them recently prompted users to verify their accounts, offering better opportunities if they did. The other unexpectedly asked me to set up verification to access my account, which included uploading ID and revealing other information.

This is an account I've had for over 20 years. No matter what age I was when I opened it, I would clearly be of age since, and I have contacted customer service various times in the past due to problems. They know I'm a real person who has almost always accessed them from the same IP. I even had "diamond status", meaning I got extra points with each survey completed for faster rewards, as a result of being such a longtime member.

Apparently that was unimportant. I closed my account and they have not contacted me. Makes me wonder how many other people are doing so as well.

2) Watched Elle ( Read more... )

2) Brazil versus Norway. ( Read more... )

England versus Mexico. ( Read more... )

Portugal versus Spain. ( Read more... )

United States versus Belgium. ( Read more... )

Argentina versus Egypt. ( Read more... )

Switzerland versus Colombia. ( Read more... )

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muccamukk

(I was fucking around on my phone for the last few hours, while Kaylee slept on her blanket. The second I got my laptop out, Kaylee came over and started to purr aggressively next to me. You can't be on my lap right now, baby.)

These are probably going to be brief, as my memory isn't that strong six months later.

Searching for Serafim: The Life and Legacy of Serafim "Joe" Fortes by Ruby Smith Díaz
(Local author, read before she gave a talk for Black History Month.)

Short biography and a poem about a Caribbean Black man working as a lifeguard in Vancouver, BC, in the early 20th century. The records of Serafim Fortes are pretty slight, and almost all from the perspective of white people—who treated him as a sort of mascot, and talked about how great he was despite his race—so Smith Díaz is mostly reading against the grain of the historical record, and speculating lot. I normally do not like history books that include this much speculation, however, Smith Díaz is very clear about when and why she's filling in ideas, and I think it works in this context. It introduced me to Marie-Claire Graham's concept of "speculative archiving" as a way of dealing with gaps in the record created by historical violence, which this book is more or less an example of. I appreciated that Smith Díaz did not shy away from or excuse records of Fortes behaving poorly. Very much worth a read as a local history, and as an example of navigating a fragmented and racist archive.

Everything Is Fine Here by Iryn Tushabe, narrated by Nneka Okoye
(Canada Reads Longlist, which I wish had been on the shortlist.)

A coming of age novel about a young woman in western Uganda, who discovers that her beloved older sister is a lesbian. One's reaction to that premise might be, "Oh no!" but this novel was not a tragedy about queer bashing, though the setting and my knowledge of Ugandan politics made it a tense read.

(I also felt that my ((at this point rather hazy)) knowledge of Ugandan geography, culture and food helped me a lot, including having been in the same places described in the book. There's a lot of cultural detail and non-English terms dropped in without explanation, so remembering what most things were saved me a lot of looking stuff up.)

But most of the novel is about a teenager trying to figure out both the world and herself, in a family with a lot of internal conflict and pressures. There's a few cases of sixteen-year-olds making poor choices, but for the most part the novel offers its characters a lot of grace. It's about discovering the world can be a lot bigger than you're told it is, and offering and receiving second chances. Really loved this one.

Witch King by Martha Wells, narrated by Eric Mok
(Reread before getting into the new one.)

I'm really glad I reread this, as I initially rushed through it to find out what happened, and as a result didn't remember several key plot points, which turned out to be essential to the second novel. There are a lot of moving parts!

Basically still love everyone in this band, and appreciate getting a novel about decentralising power, rather than building empires.

Queen Demon by Martha Wells, narrated by Eric Mok
Really enjoyed this one, also, though it ends in a more obvious cliffhanger than the first one, which stands more or less on its own.

Mostly just like the characters and enjoy spending time with them. It's again nice to see people struggling with the work of consensus building, interspersed with battle scenes, lol. I like Kai slowly coming out of his shell in the first timeline, and how much the characters have changed over the centuries between the flashbacks and present day. It really nicely both shows the long-range consequences, and builds up tension as the plots weave towards each other. Bit bummed out by some of the casualties along the way.

I hope we get the next one soon!

sovay

I had no idea until last night that the runaway success of Lock Up Your Daughters at the Mermaid Theatre in 1959 had produced a small boom in Restoration musicals upon the London stage, or at least for two months in 1963 it produced Paul Dehn and James Bernard's Virtue in Danger, a musical translation of John Vanbrugh's 1696 The Relapse which despite a comedically impressive cast including Barrie Ingham, Patricia Routledge, John Moffatt, Patsy Byrne, and Alan Howard fizzled out as a curiosity with an original cast LP. As a musical, it does feel thin on the ground in that most of its songs are glosses on the Vanbrugh, but it does boast a couple of more dramatically substantial, melodically involved items such as the ironically frank "I'm in Love with My Husband," the cynically torchy "Let's Fall Together," and the sweetly bemused "Why Do I Feel What I Feel?" which last is stuck disastrously in my head. It's the catchiest tune in the show and the likeliest to have escaped containment—nothing else in the score rang any bell with me, whereas this one may have made it as far as Standing Room Only—and I don't mind the debt to Rodgers and Hart, but I couldn't stop thinking of Tom Lehrer.

Current Music: Barrie Ingham, "Why Do I Feel What I Feel?"

senmut

AO3 Link | Weaving a Family Tighter (21981 words) by Merfilly
Chapters: 4/4
Fandom: Forgotten Realms, The Legend of Drizzt Series - R. A. Salvatore
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Vierna Do'Urden, Drizzt Do'Urden, Inthylyn Aerasumé, Lilinthar Aerasumé, Syluné Silverhand, Original Elf Character(s), Original Drow Character(s), Original Human Character(s), Original Half-Orc Character(s)
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Past Gender Changes, Id Fic, Kid Fic, Past Rape/Non-con
Summary:

Drizzt is a good drow, but doesn't know the other. Horim Half-Orc, friend of Spirit Sanctuary, is going to do something about that.

Weaving a Family Tighter

Evgin Morningmist was a very old woman, touched by the divine through and through, but not seeking to extend her life at all past the decades she had counted. Let the younger ones contend with the trials ahead, but she would hold on now, give her all to teaching the young ranger that had fallen into her care. The poor boy had been so at a loss by the curse he was living under, but had made a commitment to life that astounded her.

She'd seen him through the worst of that, aided by a druid friend that had found her way to them, sharing that first winter and the delivery of the new life. Now, with Aronna and Gnasher on their own way, the young ranger finally confident he understood his body better, and the babe thriving, Evgin set about more lessons with this student. His life was tangled in the trials to come, she thought, given she had not sent for Aronna or any aid, and yet both the druid and a few lost goats had found their way to her on their own.

Mielikki's touch rested on the boy, which was another reason for Evgin to use every trick she had of boosting her strength through these next couple of years.

She was bundling the herbs that Drizzt had searched out for her, readying them to hang from the rafters for drying, but sitting outside to enjoy the sun and warmth of the spring. Drizzt himself was doing the messy work of carving up the deer he and his giant cat had hunted the night before, steadily adding to the smoking rack he had built a few days before. He already had the survival skills; she just needed to fine tune the unconscious use of ranger gifts.

Between them, on her old ground cover and the boy's own cloak, the tiny drow-elf child was kicking her legs and waving her fists, moving a little on her tummy. She was strong and healthy, despite how young her parent had been for the carrying.

Tired and in pain -- he'd already used his minor healing ability for a doe with a broken shoulder and twin fawns before a pair of damned trolls had jumped him and broken his leg in the fight -- up on the back of his moose, Horim was beyond glad to see Evgin's cottage come into view around the curve of a small hill. Her garden appeared to be thriving, though there was more open ground than usual. Someone was butchering a deer, long hair even paler than the Tall Ones' falling down their back, Evgin was working on herbs, and --

A baby? Horim's brows drew together, his head tilting, even as he urged Moose on up, his big friend stepped over the low gate. "Teacher?" he called.

"Horim!" Evgin called, and his name was layered in worry, joy, and warning… to someone who had been trained by her. "Drizzt, help my student there!" she called at the worry emanating from Moose.

The person doing the butchering looked, plunged hands into the nearby bucket, then hurried over to the moose and half-orc, features of polished jet mingling with that snow-white hair to proclaim them as 'drow', but with a decidedly worried look on their face.

"Easy, friend; I am studying with Evgin, and she has spoken of both of you to me," the person called Drizzt said with confidence. "Which of you is hurt worse?"

A drow? A drow, here?

One of Spirit Sanctuary's people was a ranger? Why in the Names hadn't any of them sent a bird to ask him for help, rather than going to his teacher? "Hello, then, student of my teacher," he said, nodding a greeting, before he took a deeper breath. "Moose isn't hurt, he has better sense than to fight trolls. It's my left leg, one of the claws I'd lopped off crawled up behind me and ripped up my calf. Going to have to go off on the right."

Moose knelt down, then flattened some more, and Horim managed not to fall over mostly by dint of Drizzt being there to get under his arm. "Tiny thing, aren't you?" Horim asked, "sure you can take my weight?"

"Stronger than I look," Drizzt promised, and put action to the words, aiding Horim all the way to the baby's ground cover. Evgin had moved and scooped the child up, holding the baby until Horim was down and Drizzt was kneeling to inspect the wound. She settled the babe back on the corner at the top, then levered herself down beside Drizzt.

"Horim, you just volunteered to be a practical lesson," she told her former student. "Drizzt, tell me how DeBrouchee would have had you handle this?"

"Move everything away from the flesh, clean it. If it is a break, padding and splint, but with the poultice of bonebreak. If not, irrigate with the cleansing tincture, and sew the wound shut if needed, poultice for drawing infection," he recited.

"Ahh, Mooshie, thank you for teaching the practical, but there's a divine aspect to it as well," Evgin said. "Clear the site, clean it, then set the bone as straight as possible, and ask our Lady's blessing to heal. Continue with the practical for anything not cleared by that asking."

Mielikki? Not Eilistraee? This just kept getting stranger, Horim thought, but he nodded his agreement with Evgin's instructions, turning on his side to put the injured leg uppermost and expose the damaged calf. "I'd had a doe with a broken shoulder limp up to me this morning, and only the one bit of healing. Never works as well on yourself anyway. Or at least, that's how it is for me. No, I'm not worried about the pants, I have a couple of other pair, go ahead."

"Alright." Drizzt went and got the aid kit swiftly, coming back to them to begin the cleaning and prepping. His hands were sure and strong, while the baby was just sort of watching with pale blue eyes at this being in her space.

When everything was ready, Drizzt closed his eyes and kept one hand near the injury while seeking that warm-rustling-leaves within him, the spot he had slowly grown to accept as divine influence, one he need not fear. The fact he so rarely asked for help, that he still had not begun praying to keep spells on hand, and that it was for another of their shared faith had Mielikki more than willing to grant the healing that he was currently capable of.

It was not, actually enough, but then Evgin was there, adding her own prayed-for healing, and Horim's leg was whole once more.

"Very good, Drizzt. As you grow in Her grace, you will grow stronger in this. It is one of the more common requests during vigil, to ask Her to keep you ready to cast at least one healing for the day." Evgin explained it carefully and slowly, letting her young student adjust to the fact he had just consciously cast divine magic.

"Very deftly done," Horim added, approving, nodding to him, "a good casting. ...your first time, truly?"

The tiny child on the ground cloth with him was trying to scooch closer, and Horim shifted enough to lay his hand near her for her to explore. "Helllo little one. Yes, I'm odd, shh. shh. You're all safe, little one?"

"Yes, it is. I… did not realize magic was part of being a ranger." Drizzt smiled as the baby tried to touch and explore, wriggling to that hand. "Her name is Zanna."

"Drizzt had less than a year with Montolio DeBrouchee, down near Dead Orc Pass. Has an impressive amount of herb lore and natural ways, but little else for his ranging," Evgin said. "Putting that polish on while he recovers from a magic run-in that gifted him with Zanna." She kept the tone as light as possible, so Horim knew not to poke too much at the gender and parenting.

"Aah, well," Horim said, nodding, patting the tiny child gently with one of his fingertips, as she chewed at a different finger, "it does take a good while before we start being able to use the magical gifts, Evgin. Only a year wouldn't have been enough."

"I'm only irked — and Aronna was too, despite being as wild a druid as you can ask for — that he didn't specifically tell Drizzt to go to one of our sacred places to learn more. No letters given! Such a terrible start."

Drizzt gave a small snort. "It might be that he'd set such civilized ways aside. It took the bounty hunter showing up for him to think to write for any word from the ranger that originally hunted me."

"Aronna's been here? Well then," Horim said, shaking his head, "that's something. I don't know when I last saw her, other than 'more than two years ago'. That's no excuse for his failing you so, my very unusual cousin. -- Cousin, I say, for that you are Evgin's student, too. But he was an odd one, even for a human. Done is done, all we can do is do better from here on out."

"I am thankful, to have found Evgin so willing to aid, to Aronna as well… and now to meet you." Drizzt leaned to look at the moose who was pondering if anything was truly edible at close range. "And you."

Moose lowed back a greeting before ambling off to find more appealing grazing, so he didn't tangle with the billy watching closely over the other goats in the shade of the cottage.

Zanna realized it had been a bit since she had eaten, made a sound because the finger was not appealing now, and Drizzt scooped her up.

"I should get back to work, and Zanna will likely fall asleep once she's had a meal," Drizzt said, rising with the agility that came so naturally to elf-kin, and heading back over, situating his daughter into a sling for this purpose to keep his hands free to work.

"He's near as wild as deer himself," Evgin said, keeping her voice low as she said it, once Drizzt was out of range. "This was his sixth spring above. Most of a year with Mooshie, and much of last with an elf, working on his magic woes, and alone all else, save for his own Companion."

"What kind of Companion does he have, and where are they?" Horim asked, his voice just as low-pitched, even as the furrows in his brows increased.

Alone, for multiple years, above? Two years with others, more or less, but... that made no sense, not if he was goodly in nature. Eilistraee might not have the ranger gifts left to Her, after all this time, but... to leave one of the few, rare, goodly drow all alone? That smelled like a week-dead fish to him. He hummed understanding, though, not wanting to get into that discussion with Evgin, who did not know about her more northern neighbors. Yet.

"An Astral panther, summoned by a figure, but not like the typical kind," Evgin said. "She helped him hunt last night, so she won't be back until tomorrow night or the day after, depending on how much she pushed to stay on the Material plane with him and the baby.

"Imagine, if you can, a fully black cat, not a spot of white, dwarf tall at the shoulder and as long as the boy is tall, and all the muscle mass of a great hunting cat?"

Horim lifted his hand to a guess at dwarf-height, got a shake of Evgin's head, moved it a bit taller, and considered the idea of a hunting cat that tall, and took a very shake of his head. "That's. A lot of cat, my teacher. A faintly ridiculous amount of cat, even."

"And she loves nothing more than circle up around either the babe or both of them, making the most ridiculously cute sight," Evgin said with a chuckle. "I am grateful you showed up when you did, meeting him here," she added. "Someone should know to keep an eye out for him, and maybe speak of him in cities."

"I'm pleased to be here, myself," Horim agreed, "as he's going to need that. So what were you up to, and how do I help?"

She chuckled. "Once you're more sure of that leg, you can hang the herb bundles, so neither of us short ones need the stool," she proclaimed, pointing to the basket beside her stool that was half full, and the various plants still to tie off. "And, until you wander off again, share your tips with him about this region.

"Babe or not, he hears the leaves rustle, and that will take him places."

"Hard life for a little one," Horim said, shaking his head a little, "but we can't help how we're called. So. I'll be glad to do both."

Evgin nodded, satisfied that Mielikki had sent excellent help, even as she regretted Horim had been hurt. Such was their lives, though.

Horim stayed through half the phases of the moon, learning that this student of his teacher had a natural affinity for wildlife. Drizzt didn't call them to himself, but that didn't keep them from coming and checking on him. At least twice, when Evgin was inside working on other things, Zanna wound up with a doe laying on the blanket beside her, as an extra precaution while Drizzt worked.

Guenhwyvar was every bit as large as Evgin had said… and Moose was not certain what to think of that at all.

Most of all, Horim was deciding that something was out of cosmic balance, the more he tried to remember the lore of his friends, and saw how unaware of good drow Drizzt was. With that at the forefront of his mind, he crossed the Surbrin over to the Lurkwood side, and started heading up into the hills for his next range. It was by no means a straight or quick journey — he was a ranger, after all — but the young drow and his daughter weren't going to be leaving Evgin any time soon.

Part of him hoped, even once he spoke to the village clerics, that they didn't get moving on it too fast. Evgin was old, and having someone there with her through these likely final seasons was a good thing in Horim's eyes. He hadn't seen Tarhan, the tiefling, in a while, and Grimward couldn't always break off business for long enough visits from Mirabar.

He was fairly close to Spirit Sanctuary before a voice called down out of the trees to him, "Good day, Horim! Always good to see you," as a drow came out along one of the branches and stood as far out from the trunk as could still handle their weight, peering down.

Horim looked up, peering at the scout to figure out which one it was. "Hello, Elendar. Things going well?"

"Three newcomers this year! One of them's pretty young, but he's adapting quickly. Still not sure if the two adults aren't going to go off to the coast; they stay in the caverns so much!"

"Three? My," Horim said, blinking as that complicated matters even more. A new youth, and two others, would mean the village was quite busy. "I'm glad to hear it, though. Anyone that can be freed is a victory. Any problem with Moose and I going on up?"

"None at all. You are always a friend to us!" Elendar waved him on, then sprang to a new tree to find a different vantage point.

None of the other scouts or gatherers made themselves known to him, but he soon reached the village, long since keyed into the wards, and saw the typical late afternoon sharing of space by drow just waking for the day, goblins and dwarves having been at work most of the sun's hours already.

The children were in one of the sand-covered spaces, being taught by a fighter this day. Horim could see the First Sister's daughter was close to a drow youth Horim didn't know at all as the fighter was working with them on how to escape holds.

Horim slid down off of Moose and patted his shoulder, leaving his friend to wander where he wanted, and headed towards the kitchens to hand off the haul of early fruit and spring mushrooms he'd picked along the way, knowing he'd be here before the night meal and fresh food was normally welcome. He stood and chatted with the cook for a while, before he saw -- Drizzt? No, that was Vierna, of course that was Vierna, red eyes and all, but...

Well that was a new one for him.

All drow of a given sex looked mostly alike to him, without some striking feature, but he really had thought he was looking at his young fellow-student and friend. That didn't normally happen. "Your pardon," he said to the cook, got a laugh, and he headed towards the First Sister.

Vierna smiled as Horim walked over, reaching out to grasp his hands. "Early in the year to have your company; I hope nothing is wrong?" she said warmly. "And if it is, how do we assist?"

"All's well for me," Horim said, looking down at her and not any less confused, "but I'm not as sure there's not something wrong for you. Where can we go sit and talk without being overheard, my friend?"

"My workroom; I don't have any patients or acolytes currently," Vierna said, flicking a hand sign to a cleric to handle what she had been headed to, before leading Horim back into the rock to where she maintained a workspace for crafting artifacts, caring for the worst injured or ill, and meeting with those that needed it.

Horim settled down on one of the lower stools, stretching his legs comfortably in front of him, and looked at Vierna -- like this, they were almost of a height -- evenly. "I came up from my teacher, Evgin Morningmist's, on the edge of the Trollmoors. She had a new student, which I'm very glad of, she's old now and needs someone with her, but won't let the Glade send her anyone. I like the new student quite a bit, he's remarkable.... but at the same time, he's drow, and knows nothing of your Dark Maiden, nor Her wretched brother."

Vierna's face knitted into consternation at that, as it shouldn't be possible. "Maybe he has no words for the Song itself," she began, "but even at that, I should have been stirred to send a party for this drow.

"As your teacher is nearer to us than the other settlement. What can you say of him, so that I can bring this to my Lady's attention tonight?"

"His name is Drizzt," Horim said, "he's been on the Surface for six springs now, he spent his second spring with a ranger named Montolio DeBrouchee. He spent most of the last summer and fall attempting to get himself out of a nasty curse he'd fallen afoul of. Wandered into Evgin's area in the fall -- thank all bright powers -- and has stayed with her since, learning the magical side of things DeBrouchee left out. Like, oh, introductions to other cities and the sacred places our Lady has blessed.

"Also... other than your eye color, when I saw you, I thought I was seeing him -- his body is not matched to his mind at the moment, and he is finding that immensely uncomfortable."

Vierna frowned now, a deeply intent one. Something about that name was pushing at a recent memory. "Six springs… alone. On the Surface. That… should not be possible in the least, not for a good one, and your teacher is known for choosing truly good souls for her students.

"I mislike this entirely. Let alone the similarity to me — wait, eye color? Is he one of the rare ones that has a different color under light, or merely a paler shade of the red?"

"Purple," Horim replied, "in either light. It's quite a hue. And that's what I thought, too. That something's wrong, if he's been alone so long. And he's definitely good, intensely so."

"Then I most definitely need to bring this to my Lady's attention," Vierna said absently, before the name actually brushed up against a more recent revelation, concerning the loss of her birth family. "Oh. Oh stars and moon, this is actually even more complicated than you realize, my friend.

"And your young ranger in training is no doubt my very own brother, given the boy who is my nephew gave 'Drizzt Do'Urden' as his most likely sire, a drow that somehow destroyed his House from a great distance." She shook her head. "So now I have placed why the name seemed familiar… and must ask you to not say anything of this to young Kastan. As he's headstrong, resourceful, and skilled."

"Wait, what? Your brother?" Horim asked, wide-eyed, spine jerking him upright.

"Yes," Vierna told him. "And since you say he has purple eyes, likely the reason my Ellie survived that tragedy. Oh what a tangled mess!" She was going to have to bring this to her Lady, and cause her Lady to be upset and she did not want that.

But her brother was out there alone. Had been. And good! Not a Vhaeraunite at all, like she had decided both the purple-eyed fighter and Kastan's father must be!

"...what a terribly tangled mess, yes," Horim agreed. "I'm fairly sure it's not our Lady hiding him -- She has no problem with me visiting all of you, and as far as I can tell, thinks you're doing a wonderful thing, so... what in the names of the stars is going on?"

"That, I will set out learning after dinner." She considered a long moment. While she had to bring it to attention, perhaps it would be best to work out a plan, and reassure her Lady with that. "Given how famed your teacher is, and well-traveled in her prime, surely one of Thyl's brothers will know her."

"I would think so," Horim agreed, nodding. "I... it's terribly selfish of me, but I don't want him to leave Evgin, as long as she can keep him there. She's gotten even frailer, and having a student means she's not alone. The Glade hasn't been able to talk her into keeping an acolyte, she doesn't want to be looked after. But I also don't want to keep your family from you, or for him to keep laboring alone under... whatever this is, thinking he's the only goodly drow out there."

Vierna nodded to all of that. "I do understand the concern, my friend. And we have no idea how long this will take to unravel. Let me reach out, see if I can get the wizards aware of the issue — I think I should have at least one favor owed from them — and we will go slow.

"Up to and including allowing him to remain there, but with word of us to guide him when it is the better time." She reached out and squeezed his hand in sympathy. She knew that his teacher had already outlived many humans, showing her skill and divine grace.

Horim nodded, reassured, and turned his hand to fold his thumb over her fingers and squeeze lightly. "That... all sounds good. I worry in so many directions," he admitted, wry. "And of course, do."

"Alright, I have the start of a plan, even if it does involve including outside allies," she aid, breathing deeply. "Now go enjoy yourself, and don't be surprised if my nephew asks you a million questions; his Common is coming along and he loves to practice."

"Not a problem," Horim promised, and headed back out to go speak to his various friends and enjoy the quiet village for a bit.

Given how much information needed to go to her Lady when she settled to attempt communion, Vierna rose and gathered things she would need to induce the right mind-frame for that. She knew she was agitated, and that would never do. The items were taken to her private quarters, and then she went in search of the children, to ask them to maybe stay with one of their friends this night, as she would be so busy.

Only after getting that agreement did she go back to the dining cavern, to bless the night's food and settle in a quiet corner, watching her folk bustle around as she used a single sending she had available.

~Thyl, I dearly need to speak to one of your family within the next few days about something that may prove dire.~ As only he, Lin, Mena, and probably his mother could easily find them, that was the most concise way to ask for whomever was available soonest.

Thyl was deeply surprised and concerned by Vierna's sudden reaching out and her tone, and he sent back on hers, ~One of us will be there as soon as we can, probably morning. All my love.~

He did have a prepared sending of his own, and reached back as fast as he could cast it. ~Are you safe, is Ellie safe? Do I need to get Mom to come there now?~

Vierna half-smiled for his concern, but quickly replied before the magic could break. ~We are all safe, but a puzzle has appeared that needs solved.~ She managed to put as much patience as she could into those words, so he would not fret all night.

Thyl relaxed, rolling his shoulders, and wandered into the other room to find his twin. "Vierna says she and Ellie -- and the rest of the village -- are all safe, but she needs to talk to one of us as soon as possible about 'something that may prove dire'."

Lin frowned, then nodded. "We both go, we each only need one teleport to get back here. I don't think our friends would appreciate being called back so soon from that wild herd. We go, we find out, come back here to regroup and plan.

"Then call them back and go deal with it, whatever it is?"

"Sounds like a plan," Thyl agreed. "Go ahead and sleep now, despite that it's early, so we can get there still in the night for them?"

"Sure, brother," Lin said, not without a small grin for how tangled up in their healer Thyl had been for so long. "Besides, I'm not sure I ever caught up to myself from being so far east this last time."

Thyl laughed, wry, and wrapped his arm around his brother for a moment before heading to go through his nightly routine and then to bed. Sleep, full and deep, and then go find out what was wrong.

Vierna settled herself with everything firmly at the top of her mind and let herself fall into the moonlight of her goddess's love for them all. This could take time for Eilistraee to be free, to notice her…

… or it could be near instant as the cool silver feeling of her goddess wrapped around her psyche in this altered state.

"You have a burning need of me," She said with gentleness, waiting for Vierna to offer the information she wished to convey.

"Ellie's rescuer, Kastan's father... he's good, but You don't know him," Vierna said, and as her Lady's eyes widened, she offered her everything she had learned from Horim.

Eilistraee wrapped Her concern around this favored priestess, feeling the frustration and worry both with rising wariness on her own part. "Your bloodkin, responsible for your daughter's survival, fathered a boy that was brave enough to run away young… and I know nothing of him. But the Forest Queen does." The moonlight occluded slightly in response to the emotions this all brought. "I cannot approach him while the mystery remains, not in good conscience with all of you depending on Me. But I can approach the other goddess."

"No, of course You can't, Lady!" Vierna agreed, instant, "no more than I can! Whatever terrible thing has been done to him, part of it might be a trap. Especially because he is my kin, and if Malice ever realized I was not dead..."

"Indeed. We will not be taking risks, My dear one." Eilistraee gave her a sad smile, knowing the pain of being cut off from family. "I will see what the Forest Queen knows. You use your other allies to see what they can learn. And the mystery will be unraveled."

"Yes," Vierna agreed firmly. "It will. It has to be. Would you be kind enough to take my thanks to the Forest Queen, for my brother's health and safety, Lady?"

Eilistraee inclined Her head, then brushed a light kiss over Vierna's forehead in reassurance. "I shall. And send messages as I learn more, if need be."

She then began releasing the pool of moonlight that Vierna was floating in, setting Her priestess back firmly in the material plane, within herself, so that Eilistraee could see to other matters… and ready for going to a different goddess's own domain.

Vierna blinked once, twice, stumbled to her feet, and crossed the little distance to fall into her bed, face-first, and slide from communion into sleep.

Mielikki was running with some of the unicorn- and pegasi- spirits who shared Her portion of the afterlife, enjoying the speed and wildness, when She realized She was no longer alone, and turned away to find out Who had come to visit.

Standing in a single silver beam of moonlight was a goddess nearly as shy as Mielikki Herself could be. Eilistraee was in Her guise of a drow with long silver hair, and waiting patiently to be noticed. On seeing the Forest Queen, the lesser Goddess did incline Her head slightly.

"My apologies for the intrusion, but a mystery has been brought to Me, one that You may have insight into," She said with lyrical tones to Her voice.

"Eilistraee," Mielikki said, smiling warmly, "the intrusion is entirely forgiven. Welcome. This is about my poor Drizzt, then? Come, sit, We'll talk."

She headed for a long-fallen tree, stripping off Her cloak as She got close, spreading it over the mossy and decaying bark to keep that from Her trousers and Eilistraee's skin.

Eilistraee smiled for the courtesy and settled before addressing the words. "Yes. I had no knowledge of this drow until my priestess brought him to my attention. And she… is very concerned, with reason. He has another of Your rangers attesting to his goodliness. He is, by all evidence, the drow that spared a young moon elf in the midst of a raid. He has fathered a boy that at a very young age, not even old enough to go to their schools, listened to My Song, and fled.

"And he is the brother of my priestess, again from piecing the puzzle together around him."

Mielikki listened intently, nodding slowly at the mention of the raid, then She jerked upright, Her head snapping back as Her eyes widened, shocked, fingers lifting to cover Her mouth. Then there was that last, and She took a deep, shaky breath.

"I knew You had not sent anyone, but not more than that," Mielikki said, "and until Horim started scolding Me -- in his very polite way -- I did not remember that You are supposed to be able to locate all the goodly drow, to help them. I am sorry, Eilistraee. My Drizzt is very good, intensely good, and caring. Chaotic, as all elves are, but devoted to his own code. You know what happened to the child he tried to save? Is she well? He has been so heartsick over her, for so long..."

Eilistraee's breath caught to hear that the young man was still bothered by that night. "Yes. I did not know in time! But I sent aid as swiftly as I could, and they found her, stunned but unharmed. She has been raised by my own priestess, and has made a solid recovery. She's actually been taking care of helping Kastan, the boy, learn the ways of the surface.

"Her name is Ellifain."

"Oh," Mielikki breathed, relieved, "oh, I am so very glad to hear that, to hear she's been well. That's wonderful."

"Vierna, my priestess, sends her gratitude for watching over him, keeping him as safe as You could." Eilistraee smiled. "She is also pointing the Lady of Magic's family in his direction, to unravel the mystery, as he cannot go near My people until we know the shape of this potential trap."

"She's very welcome," Mielikki said, "he called to Me so, so strongly, from the very first time he saw the Surface. I, too, could not move anyone swiftly enough to stop that slaughter, even once I knew what was going on. And then he vanished again for so long... Oh, Mystra? Good, Alustriel and her children are very good at sorting out such problems. I'm glad to hear it."

Eilistraee considered that a long moment. "I think he has a good protector watching for him, from here," she decided. "And in time, I may ask You to re-teach Me some gifts, in case he goes below, and is beyond Your call, so I may aid in protecting him."

"Oh, I think I would be glad to," Mielikki agreed, "and I have been doing what I can for him -- wary as he is of any divine intervention." That last came with a snort and a shake of Her head, Her mouth curving in an amused smile.

"It is hard for them." Eilistraee shook Her head sadly. "But he appears to be in good hands even with the mortals, so I can reassure his sister, and wait for more answers." She stood, offering Her hand to the Supreme Ranger. "May We both fare well with him."

"May We both, indeed," Mielikki agreed, and took Eilistraee's hand to squeeze gently. "Go well, My friend."

Rafi looked at the pair of Tall Ones coming into view and quirked an eyebrow at them. "No pegasi, both of you — do you need help, or did First Sister ask you to come? She's been reorganizing the still room today, so I'm betting the latter."

"Vierna sent for us, yes," Thyl agreed, as one eyebrow arched up. "Organizing the still room, huh? All right. It's good to see you, Rafi. How've you been?"

"I'd forgotten how interesting newcomers were when they're not even school age," Rafi said, amused, given his current one was kin to the first… though Vierna had not been an actual child by years on her escape. "Didn't I hear you had a brother trying to marry his sword work to magic more strongly?

"As the boy is trying to figure out if he can do something like that, after I explained I can do both, but not at the same time."

"Yes, one of the trio is trying to find all the lore about Bladesingers," Lin said. "I can see if he's made, or is willing to allow, a copy of what he's assembled so far?"

"She didn't say anything about a young one," Thyl said, now more concerned than ever.

Rafi nodded, "We'd appreciate it, Lin, thank you. Now go on, before you fret yourself into a state, Thyl."

Thyl laughed, but he moved, too, trotting towards the deeper caverns. Lin followed him, smiling at those they passed, and only pausing long enough to let his eyes adjust to the dimmer interior of the cut rock.

Vierna was in the stillroom, with several containers grouped by type on the low counter, and her in the process of inspecting a sealed crock of salve.

Thyl had rapped on the door, gotten a call of 'enter', and stepped in, eyes sweeping over the work she was doing. "Hey, sweetheart," he said, soft, and moved towards her, "what's wrong?"

She set the salve back on its shelf, and stepped into his arms, even as Lin inspected the things on the counter, ears open, but mostly here for support.

"In the quickest rundown, Horim came, told me of a drow with purple eyes who has lived above six springs now, whose name is Drizzt Do'Urden, and who is mostly likely my little brother, Ellie's savior, and Kastan's — my youngest newcomer here — father. But Eilistraee knows nothing of him, cannot see him, yet Mielikki can and has been his patron as a ranger."

Lin's jaw dropped at that litany, hearing a rehearsed pattern to the words, like Vierna had been going over it all in her head who knew how many times.

"...that," Thyl said, drawing her in closer, arms settling strongly around her, but careful of her response, "is... a whole lot of words, a whole lot of possible trouble, and maybe a couple of disasters. No wonder you wanted us to come as soon as possible, if that abomination has figured out how to hide goodly drow from Eilistraee, that's going to be very, very bad... and yet, what else could it be? Khalresharr wouldn't do this, not deliberately..."

Vierna shook her head. "No, Eilistraee did not think that at all, as She planned to go ask the Forest Queen about him." She leaned into his comfort. "We cannot approach him. But Horim knew we should have!

"Which is where I am asking for help, to see if this can be scried out and fixed!"

"Where did Horim say he was?"

Thyl hummed agreement with his twin's question, stroking his hand gently on Vierna's side, glad to hear there was no question about Khalresharr's involvement. "Of course we'll do what we can, love. And as swiftly as possible."

"Without pressuring him to come meet us right away," Vierna said, "though once it is safe, I may go visit under glamour."

"Why?" Lin asked, confused by that.

"He's Evgin Morningmist's new student," she explained, "and Horim is concerned for his teacher's frailty. Which I agree with. She's been a part of the Silver Marches… for a very, very long time, such that we'd heard of her before Horim was our friend.

"So I don't want Drizzt torn by a choice."

"Morningmist is old," Thyl said, thoughtful, "very old, for a human. And I think I've heard she refuses to leave her hermitage for the Cloister. I can see why you don't want to put any kind of pressure on him, certainly."

"Makes a lot of sense. Grevaine was worried about her a couple winters back, and I flew over just to see she was alright," Lin agreed. "Okay. So we're going to need discerning spells, see if we can get a fix on what is happening. Without talking about all of you," he added.

"Hopefully, the magic is fading under the sun, so it is within your ability," Vierna said, shifting to look at Lin but be pressed back against Thyl. "If not… I trust you both to know who to ask for, as this could very well affect elves, if … if it is the first strike in a war, no matter how good Drizzt seems to be."

Thyl hummed softly, and pressed a kiss against the back of her head, flexing his forearms to hug her tighter. "We'll be careful -- and there, Lin already knows her, even better. And if it is, it's not one he's knowingly part of. Another victim of Her machinations, for us to help."

She smiled up at him, then slowly moved to finish her work. "Everything on the counter is older than I am willing to trust, so if it is something either of you can use at lesser potency, please help yourselves.

"We use Common for the tags."

Lin grinned, seeing all signs of 'must work to stop worrying'.

"All right, we'll have a look," Thyl said, kissed her hair again, and finished letting go to start seeing what was on offer.

For all that Drizzt had relaxed to the lessons and care of this new human in his life — aching all over again as he knew their time was limited in a way he had not with Montolio — he was still wary of changes. There was a moment's awareness of something large crossing the sun's path, and he was moving swiftly to stand with Zanna in his arms, to carry her inside before he even parsed that the shadow-maker was approaching them.

His flight for safety aborted as the feeling of calm rested within him, before being replaced by absolute awe to see a pegasus — two? — coming to the edge of the land Evgin was steward of. He didn't notice the riders right away, so fixed on the sheer beauty and goodness of the pair of winged beings.

That was definitely a drow, Thyl thought, grateful for the further discussions that had warned him how much the stranger would look like Vierna, and also about the baby, as Steelheart touched down with her ears pricked forward and turned to walk towards the drow and baby without asking him where he thought they should go at all, and he could hear Snowmane following them,

Steelheart moved towards the ranger, firmly aware of his nature, of the tiny foal in his arms, and stopped just short of putting her nose on the infant, whickering softly.

"Hello," Drizzt said in a very soft voice, shifting Zanna more upright, using the one arm to steady her, and holding his hand out to offer a touch. Zanna focused on the big white thing that wasn't quite like her nanny goat or the kids.

Lin had to bite his lip at the wonder on display trying to make him smile, even as Snowmane sidled as close as possible to her herd-sister to see the pair.

"Hello, Ranger," he offered. "Hope you don't mind our friends here being so curious. Mine's Snowmane, and you can call me Lin."

Steelheart lipped that offered hand, sniffing -- yes, kin to the healer -- and then rubbed her jaw along it all the way to her cheek, where she had a very annoying itch. "And my very opinionated lady is Steelheart, I'd apologize for her but she'd kick me."

"It's alright, Saer," Drizzt said softly. He half-closed his eyes as he focused on satisfying that itch. "I am Drizzt, and this is Zanna. I am ... honored to meet pegasi, and those they allow to ride."

"They're obviously delighted to meet you," Thyl said, chuckling, as he slid off Steelheart and started to work the straps of his light saddle loose, "and we're pleased, too. Horim mentioned Evgin'd picked up a student even more unusual than he was, so we came to visit."

"Well," Evgin said, having come back from the privy to find Tall Ones and pegasi on her front lawn with her student, "at least it wasn't that fussy young whippersnapper Grevaine fretting over me again, and just the usual Tall One curiosity. Hello Lin, Snowmane, Steelheart, Thyl."

Drizzt shifted Zanna to his other arm once he'd satisfied that itch, and used the now free hand to give Snowmane a gentle pet. Zanna did reach then… and Drizzt stepped back, rather than risk her uncoordinated hands on their new acquaintances.

"I enjoyed Horim's visit, and will thank him for sending new beings for us to meet," he said.

"Ranger, it's good to see you again," Lin called, also slipping down to get Snowman unencumbered.

"Good to see you, since you're not here to fuss over me," Evgin replied, chuckling softly.

Lin chuckled, then turned to look at the new ranger with his daughter. That was still so startling, but magic happened.

"Would you mind us helping out with some things and get some stories from you?" he asked, deciding that outright stating they needed to check his magical state was not the best start.

"Evgin?" Drizzt asked his teacher, bouncing Zanna a bit to deter her from wriggling to get to the pegasus, either of them.

"You can trust the Tall Ones," Evgin said, "and I can get along fine with Zanna for a bit, depending on what they're thinking they need."

Drizzt nodded at that, trotting to her to hand off his daughter. She giggled and got her hands tangled in the fringe of Evgin's tunic, happy to be with her other caretaker.

He went back to the men with their friends… and immediately had to pet both of them because Snowmane and Steelheart really liked how wild this good drow felt.

"I hadn't intended to hunt today, but I should see what can be gathered, maybe haul back some wood to dry for winter?" he said.

"Suits me," Lin said, figuring between them, they could talk about the plants they found in tandem, letting each peer at the magical spell on this ranger.

"Sure," Thyl agreed, "sounds good. 'Til later, Evgin, Zanna."

Zanna freed one hand to make a sporadic wave, and Drizzt softened. She was so bright, he thought.

"This way, Saers." He led them to where the gathering basket and a wood sling were hanging, taking them and securing them to himself. He waited until they were a bit away from the cottage before he eyed them both. "Horim is fine? Was there some concern he raised?"

"Horim's fine," Lin said, instantly reassuring, "and so is Moose, no worries there."

"But he did mention he got the very strong impression from Mielikki that there was something beyond your incredibly unfortunate polymorph going on with you, magically, so he asked us to come see if we could find anything," Thyl added.

That got a frown, and Drizzt led them to some of the brush he had not yet inspected for useful plants while he considered that.

"The wizard had muttered a couple of times about something else, but honestly the polymorph was being so vicious, I had put it completely aside," he said after he found a patch of plants with leaves to be gathered for teas. "He also told me that he could not scry me, or send to me, which was odd."

"That's very odd," Thyl agreed, "do you mind if I try sending to you? And all right, I'll just go ahead and be nosy, 'the wizard'?"

Drizzt snorted at the comment. "The one who tried to unravel the curse for him. I could not be persuaded to approach a cleric, not with my race and my background." He met Thyl's eyes briefly. "You may try."

Lin saw the small tic of muscles at Drizzt making that choice, and wondered a little at what stress a sending could be!

Thyl nodded and turned his back -- a sending was easiest when you weren't looking at the subject of the casting -- and murmured the spell to himself, thinking, ~Can you hear me, Drizzt? Just think clearly, and I'll get the answer.~

~I can hear you just fine,~ Drizzt sent back, clear as anything. "Now I am very confused," he said aloud, "as my friend was most put out by not being able to. I'd worried him by being gone longer than I expected to be."

Lin frowned, considering possibilities. "Was the wizard some form of planar, or from a distant land? Some types of magic have subtle variations in how they are cast, and maybe that has bearing now."

"Elven, but not like you two. I think you both must be half something else — no offense — but you do not look like elves I have seen so far."

Thyl laughed, turning back to look towards him, "No offense taken, we're half-human. It's where we get the height, our mother is very tall for a human woman, and passed it to us. That... I had no problem at all. I cast as my Mom and Aunts would, not as any of my elven teachers did... Lin, which way did you memorize it, or did you today?"

"I didn't, I didn't think I'd need to talk to anyone we can't reach other ways," Lin replied, "but I have cousin's version in my spellbook, let me..." He hauled his grimoire out of a pocket and promptly braced it against his twin's back to flip through, looking for the right spell.

Drizzt kept choosing leaves, putting them in one of the sections of the basket, turning that over in his head. Zanna was half sun-elf, half-drow, but that was just affecting color of eyes, hair, and skin. Would she wind up taller, though, like her other father? That would only be proper in his eyes; only Malice had been smaller than himself in all the women of the House.

"Here we go," Lin said, after running over the spell to familiarize himself with it. ~Drizzt, do you hear me… no, it's not connecting,~ he sent, recognizing the buzzy feeling of an unlanded spell. "Well, that didn't work, so it is the elven pathway."

Thyl hissed a breath in through his teeth, having turned enough to look back at Drizzt, Lin's spell-failure making him frown. "Well that's definitely a bit of a concern, I have to agree with your Lady, Drizzt. I'm still being nosy, I know, but... how did you come to have an elven wizard working on the curse on you?"

"I found myself cursed, slipped into the first large town I came to after full dark," Drizzt said, tensing a little at admitting his ways. "There was no temple of Deneir, but there was a merchant shop that had little pamphlets that advertised trades?

"There were two cursebreakers listed, and I chose the one closest. I really was uncertain how to get to Aglarond, after all." He tried to offer a bit of humor in his tone there. "He did stress that a cleric would be better, once I met him," he added, to preemptively defend his friend.

Thyl nodded understanding, though his brow arched a bit at the mention of the First Scribe's temples. Deneir was generally kind to those seeking knowledge, but His temples were also normally quite well warded. "...Aglarond is no easy trip," he said, "trust me, we've made the journey a couple of times. I'm glad the elf you found was willing to take on the challenge, rather than hold on to prejudice."

Drizzt smiled. "Led to some interesting conversations as he eased me past my fear of the wicked faerie," he said slyly.

"Wicked faerie?" Lin couldn't help but parrot. "What?"

Drizzt laughed, bright and amused. "Drow don't feel fear, of course, but by the time we are thoroughly indoctrinated by our House and the schools, how could we see the beings responsible for our suffering and all of their horrific actions against us with anything but fear?" he asked in the most sarcastic tones he could.

Thyl blinked once, twice, and shook his head slowly. He understood the bitter, sharp-edged sarcasm for what it was, but the idea it represented... He'd never heard that from Vierna, but then, he'd met her well into her life on the Surface, her life as a goodly cleric. "That's... why have I never thought to wonder what the spider-following drow are taught to think about our father's folk?"

"Because we're taught to only ever see drow as a monolithic evil force, without face or individual drives," Lin said after turning that question around in his own head.

Drizzt reached out, one hand to each, resting them on their arms. "Unlearning about elves was very hard, as I had none to ask, and had to be careful observing. Fortunately, elves are as terrible as drow at remembering to look up.

"And all it took was seeing the care for the children to fully destroy many of the concepts I was taught."

That made Thyl cock his head for a moment, turn the words over, and then nod slowly. "All I've ever heard of the spider-following drow, they abuse their children badly, even beyond the indoctrination you aptly named. Elves... one of the things I'll say for our father's folk, they consider children incredibly precious."

"So I noted," Drizzt said softly. He moved to check another bunch of plants for useful parts, but spoke again. "Back to the matter at hand, if an elf can't cast spells in my direction, that sounds like something lingering from my time as a son of a higher-ranked House.

"Is that something that can be undone? Will it need to wait until this curse reverts or Zanna is weaned, and I give up my distrust to seek a cleric? I can be quite patient, when I have a goal."

"If you don't mind, we can both try and read any magic on you… and if it is above our ability, we know a few Arch-Mages that love magical puzzles," Lin said with an inner elation that a path had opened which didn't involve talking about gods.

Thyl nodded agreement with his brother. "We'll take looks at it -- those aren't 'cast on the fly' spells, unfortunately, so we'll need to be settled somewhere, but. If we can't get anywhere, we'll recruit some more help. There isn't much magical that can't be un-done, you just have to get the right people to look at it the right way."

Drizzt nodded. "Sounds good." He then dropped the wood carrier off and looked at the pair. "See if you can find some deadfall? I don't want Evgin worrying if you two come back empty handed."

Lin chuckled, but he turned his attention that way, while also mentioning the plants he saw as he moved around.

Thyl joined his twin, but after a few moments, called to Drizzt to ask if he minded their harvesting components as well, between gathering up deadfall.

"Please do… but I will ask questions about usage and preparation later," Drizzt told him.

Lin filed that away, curious, but kept his own eyes out for such.

They got back in, put things where they needed to go, and Drizzt took time to feed his daughter. Once that was settled and Evgin had waved him off from helping with the stew, he took Zanna outside, inviting the two men to join him out there.

"Weather's too nice to be under a roof," he said. "I want Zanna as comfortable with nature as I am."

"It is a beautiful evening," Thyl agreed, and pulled out his spellbook, looking for the right detection spell, something that could see past the polymorph...

Definitely needed to be a human spell, since the elven ones weren't working.

Lin had his own out a few minutes later, while Drizzt held Zanna's hands and let her 'stand' on her wobbly legs. She was not yet ready for standing on her own, but Evgin said it wouldn't hurt as long as he was keeping her weight up.

"A blending of detect magic and detect traps, right? Since we can't really work a legend lore on a person, and that would be a month or so to do," Lin suggested.

"...that should work," Thyl said, thoughtful, and hauled out a working journal and one of the dwarf-wrought reservoir pens to start working out how to do this. If they cast the spells between them, using their bond as twins...

Zanna burbled at them, causing Drizzt to pull her up in his arms and stand to move around with her. He preferred to be in motion and they were busy working out the details. He could entertain his daughter without distracting them.

Lin noted it, but he had moved closer, showing Thyl some of the notes he had from his time studying with Elminster on both spells.

It took a bit, but they were eventually sure they had something that would give them their best chance, and started to murmur in concert... with, maybe, an extra invocation of their grandmother for help.

Mystra, having been visited by the goddess She shared a Chosen with, and then inquired by celestial messenger with the protector of one of Her daughter's cities, had been waiting for their attempt. She followed their spell, pushed a little extra energy towards it, as She had no wish to see a new elf-drow war.

And the spell fell short, making it clear to Her that whatever it was had not been crafted by a mere priestess or even Handmaiden of the Abyssal One… but the Spider Herself.

She could, if She chose, anchor in either young man. However, neither of them were truly prepared for it, and there were other options.

The ghost of a suggestion to invite one of Her daughters to join them was placed gently in both.

Thyl lifted a hand to his head, wincing, and shook it to try to stop the ringing in his ears, before he sighed heavily, the recoil of the spell failing not particularly pleasant. "Well," he said, once he'd settled, "this is beyond us, Drizzt, sorry. We're going to have to call in Mom or an Aunt."

~Mom, Aunts?~ he asked into the anklet-network to the archmages of the family and his twin, ~Grandmother says one of you needs to come look at the problem we've found.~

~Well this should be interesting,~ Syluné sent. ~A magical problem, I take it?~

~Currently listening to an offer to free me from the Blackstaff,~ Laeral sent with a giggle.

~Better than interrogating two necromancers,~ the Simbul sing-songed.

~You're always into the most interesting things,~ Lin sent, ~and yes, Aunt Syluné. Lolth is up to mischief with a goodly drow no elf-magic can touch.~

~Syluné, if you wish to, please do. I would not be free until the middle of the night, sons,~ Alustriel offered, apologetically.

~Oh, I don't mind tackling something fresh, as well as preventing new hostilities in that ancient debacle,~ Syluné replied. ~Where am I coming?~

~Evgin Morningmist's hermitage,~ Thyl answered, looking back towards the tightly-built cottage, opening his mind so his aunt could see. ~Thank you, Aunt. And don't worry about it, Mom, you do have a whole city to run.~

~We look forward to you coming, Aunt. Rest of you… be careful?~ Lin sent, mostly at the two Aunts being dangerous.

Drizzt had noted the concentration and let it go but as both men settled back, he answered the comment thrown his way. "It seems I will be meeting a new person then," he said, to show he had accepted the necessity.

"Our aunt Syluné," Thyl agreed, "our mother's older sister. She'll be here shortly. Mom's busy until the middle of the night, and Laeral and the Simbul are... busy dealing with problems in Waterdeep and -- funnily enough -- Aglarond."

Drizzt gave a smile to that, then looked down at the girl starting to nod off. "I am sure the stew is likely ready, so let's go in until your Aunt arrives. Zanna's about asleep, and that means I will be able to eat without her reaching for food she should not yet have."

"Oh, is she at that stage?" Thyl asked, amused, "I remember that with my younger brothers. That sounds like a good plan, yeah."

Drizzt tipped his head as they both stood to join him to go inside, curious. "How many brothers?"

"We're two of twelve born to our mother by our father. He had one other by an elf, who we count as brother. She has a daughter by another man that we count as sister. And there were others, but off-plane, or not so long-lived," Lin offered.

"But you said human, and also… that is so many! Even the First House of Baenre only had to have four sons known, and many of her daughters were adopted!" Drizzt exclaimed.

"She is human," Thyl agreed, "but Magic has decided not to let her or her sisters age or die -- they didn't ask for it, didn't go looking for it, and... I think if we hadn't inherited some of the long life, she'd be tempted to ask to give it up. Then again, she's stubborn, and she wants to help people."

Lin smiled wryly, "Also, we're twins. Our four oldest brothers are two sets of twins, and there's a set of triplets -- three born at once, it was... a time... -- too."

That got a small shudder, but also a glance at the small one he was carrying to her bed, a woven basket bigger than she was lined in rabbit pelts. "I cannot imagine," Drizzt murmured. "But I am still very glad I made the choice I did."

"You bore it well, my student," Evgin said, before finding the ladle for the stew. "You two come get your bowls while he fusses over the babe."

Lin grinned, because there was something to the way Drizzt moved that looked so much like their uncle when he was minding any of the babies for their parents — and Kor would hate the comparison.

"Yeah, I can't imagine going through pregnancy, either," Thyl said, shaking his head even as he obeyed Evgin, "let alone with multiple. But Mom confuses most elves, with her tendency to twins."

"Your mother is a wonder, and I am very relieved she took up the reins of Silverymoon and stayed there. It's done wonders for the region," Evgin said. "My father said that city had fallen on dark days before the Black Horde spilled out, and the Lady came to shine the light once more."

"She'd be glad to hear that," Thyl answered, sitting down to eat, and half-noticing as his twin did the same, most of his attention on the ranger and his sleeping daughter.

Only once all three of them were settled did Drizzt finally tear himself away from Zanna, going to scoop out his own bowl. He perched on a stool, sniffing the bowl first. He then rattled off the ingredients he could recognize, before looking at Evgin expectantly.

"Correct on all of those," she said. "The one you don't recognize is a tiny dash of a ground pepper that Tarhan brought me from somewhere East."

"I like it. Almost like the mushroom you told me never serve to others, the one you called red-tongue."

Lin blanched a little. He looked over with wide eyes. "You ate one?"

"A small taste, very spicy, but Evgin said it is a poisonous one," Drizzt answered, before shrugging. "Drow."

"Right," Thyl said, after a couple of deep breaths to calm himself, "drow poison resistance is supposed to be... impressive. It must be, for you to have survived eating red-tongue."

Evgin chuckled. "The only surface mushroom he's told me he will avoid, that he's tested, was the blue dreamer."

"Tasty, but I do not like mind-altering substances," Drizzt offered. "Guen kept me out of trouble until it passed."

Lin shuddered, shaking his head. "No, I definitely do not want anything to do with that one, either, there are some elves who use it, but it's too dangerous for humans and I err on the side of sticking to human-safe foods, most of the time."

"Wise," Drizzt said, grinning. "My copy of the herbarium my first teacher gave me was very lacking on fungus, lichen, and mushrooms, so I have been filling in the margins with my finds. And my wizard friend was kind enough to confirm some of my thoughts on magical properties, where I had compared surface plants to things I knew below.

"Complete with a few 'that might just work, but to what effect' which means he will experiment."

"Now I'm curious what kind of ideas you've had," Thyl said, before he looked to Evgin, "this is delicious, thank you."

"You're welcome," Evgin said, smiling.

Drizzt pointed in the direction of his pack. "I'll let you look at my notes later. Though I may have to translate some; drow glyphs were a bit more economical on space at times."

"I can't read it yet," Lin said with a sigh. "I had a project in mind, but got sidetracked into figuring out an archaic form of Seldruin instead."

Drizzt took another bite to hide his confusion; how could anyone learn drow that wasn't from the underdark?

"And of the two of us, he's the linguist," Thyl admitted cheerfully, around bites. Aunt must have had someone at the cottage for help, not to be here already, but at least it meant they got to eat in pea -- right! "Ranger, my Aunt Syluné will be here soon, there's more malicious magic on Drizzt than he was aware of, it's blocking any kind of elven spells from working properly."

"I have heard much of the Witch of Shadowdale," Evgin mused. "But not met her. That would be the Witch of Waterdeep, as her band, the Nine, gave me and a student a hand back in… oh that was before the century turned. I was still young." She chuckled.

"Have you met the Bard and the Ranger?" Lin asked.

"I saw Bard Silverhand at a distance, but have not had the luck to run into Ranger Silverhand — oh wait, it's Falconhand now — in my journeys."

Drizzt raised his head at that from chasing the last of the gravy in his bowl. "Dove, by chance?"

"Ye~es," Lin said, raising a brow curiously, "you know our youngest aunt?"

"No." Drizzt shook his head. "I never met her. But I do have a letter in the bottom of my pack from her, absolving me of murders I was accused of. As she, and her party, hunted me for the crime."

Evgin turned her attention to him. "It's said she's nearly as strong a ranger as our Lady's Beloved that she married. Care to say how the hunt didn't end with meeting her?"

Drizzt half-shrugged. "They failed to see the ambush ahead. I skirted it, they blundered into it… and I had to go back to create a distraction for them to escape. Never saw any of them again, save the bounty hunter and his dog.

"I think they had something to do with the timing of the attack on Mooshie's Grove, honestly, but that might have been me jumping at shadows, given it wasn't that log after he tracked me to Montolio. And I know the dog scented me there."

"They were hunting you, for something you didn't do, and you... went back... to help them? Really?" Lin stared at him, baffled. "Good of Aunt to write and make sure you were cleared, though."

Evgin, suspecting what was coming, focused on the boys while Drizzt spoke.

"They would never have been in danger if I had found a better way to communicate. They were there because of me? Of course I went back to make sure they got free."

Thyl blinked in confusion, staring at him, the words the kind of thing he would have heard from a particularly devout paladin, not an elf, not a ranger, and certainly not a drow. "What? I... you are remarkable, Drizzt Do'Urden. Very remarkable indeed."

Evgin smiled broadly, and started laughing when her student looked to her for guidance. "I told you, lad. Your definition of goodly acts is far more encompassing than many I know."

"I'd say!" Lin agreed.

Drizzt covered his discomfort at being different, again, by gathering up the bowls and utensils, going to get them washed before the aunt showed up.

He had no sooner wiped the last one dry than there was a quiet tap at the door, which Lin got up for. He missed the frown at someone else taking the risk, but Thyl saw it clearly on Drizzt's face.

"It's all right," Thyl said softly, smiling at him in reassurance, as Lin opened the door to find their aunt standing there.

"Good evening, Aunt Syluné," Lin said, stepping back to let her in. "Ranger Evgin Morningmist, may I introduce my aunt, Syluné Silverhand?" he asked as his aunt shut the door behind her.

"A pleasure to meet you, Ranger. We have heard tales even in Shadowdale of your adventures, and your students."

Evgin chuckled. "They do tend to make a splash where they go."

Drizzt studied her, decided that yes, she had to be related to the ranger he'd seen at a distance.

"And this is Drizzt Do'Urden, a new student who will make more splashes," Lin added.

"Greetings, Lady," Drizzt said, sliding his eyes to her shoulder in respect of the power he felt on her.

"Please just use Syluné; I'm no ruler after all," she told him, with a sly look at her nephews.

"Are you hungry, Syluné? I would have no guest in my home go hungry," Evgin said, "and there is a baby sleeping, so please keep your voice low."

"Oh, well, I never say no to a bite if it is available." At Syluné's words, Drizzt acquired a bowl for her, and a glass of water to go with it, more to stay busy as the woman digested that a baby was present.

Syluné did note the woven basket, with the sleeping infant, and moved to investigate, doing a very light detection. "The child is untouched by any magic," she said as she settled on a seat, accepting the food and drink. "So delicate. Full elf-kin, then?" she inquired.

"Yes. Sun elf. And I am glad to know she carries nothing of whatever this is upon me," Drizzt said, settling on the floor near the basket.

"Drizzt is currently under a gender-reversal polymorph, aunt," Thyl said, as his aunt came back to sit down and eat, "an attempt to break the curse had rather startling, but adorable, consequences. But that's not the problem. The problem is no elven magic -- not sendings, scryings, and possibly his elven friend's attempts to break the curse -- work on him. Mielikki nudged Horim to tell us about the 'further magical problem', and when we tried a mix of 'detect magic' and 'detect traps', we got nothing, we both saw stars, and we knew we needed one of our elders to look into it."

"I see." Syluné worked slowly on the bowl, and took her time discreetly studying the upper layer of the spells. She arched an eyebrow after a moment, because one of his knives had a tantalizingly familiar touch of magic on it. "Drizzt, you said sun elf. And may I presume that you met him strictly because you were looking for a way to break the curse?"

"Yes?" Drizzt looked wary, having been careful to protect the wizard's privacy so far even from the Tall Ones.

She laughed softly, a kind sound. "Then welcome to the extended family, as my nephews are cousin to the one that put that unbreakable on the knife you are wearing still."

Lin's eyes went large, not for the sudden family ties exactly, but because this added another layer of tangling to this young drow's fate, and he looked to his twin to see what Thyl thought.

"Cousin... Sam?" Thyl asked, wide-eyed, as suddenly everything that had been niggling at him fell into place and made sense. "I -- that -- well, hello then to our baby cousin, and her other father."

Drizzt smiled a little, but it turned to a frown. "I am glad to know my daughter has kin that will be kind to her. But I find myself worrying, when I had a near encounter with one of you, and now this. The world is not so small, after all."

"No, but a better way to view it, Drizzt, would be to see that someone, possibly your own Forest Queen, is steering you towards those who can further aid you in your choice to defend the wilds?" Syluné offered. "Had Dove actually caught you, she would have discerned your nature and inclination, perhaps introduced you to her husband.

"You have done our family a great kindness in finding Sam, as he's been gone from our awareness for far too long. And my nephews being guided to you by all of this means that whatever you left the Underdark with can now be removed, eliminating the influence of the Spider."

"What aunt said," Thyl agreed. "I barely remember our cousin at all, except from stories, which isn't at all the same. And now we can help you, so you can keep helping others."

That got a slow nod, before Drizzt focused on Syluné. "Might it be better to adjourn outside when you finish the stew? Rather than cast strong magic inside the cottage?"

"Oh definitely. Steelheart and Snowmane will be good guardians. With Thyl and Lin to augment that, outside will do quite nicely," she answered. "And after, once we have dealt with it, I would dearly love tales of my friend, if you will share them. I always got along better with him than the man that brought him into our lives."

Lin chuckled; the playful antagonism between his father and his aunt was a long-standing one. He then sobered. "Damn. We're going to have to break the news to him."

"And it might have some clarifying discussions after," Syluné said firmly to that.

Evgin made an interested sound, but did not ask, and Syluné did not choose to answer it, so neither did Thyl and LIn.

It didn't take Syluné long to finish her stew, and then she rose to go back outside. "Evgin? Can I borrow this chair? I'm going to need to sit for this kind of work."

"I'll bring it, aunt," Thyl told her.

"Anything to help my student," Evgin averred. "Meant for things, he is," she added to make Drizzt squirm. "I'll finish clean up and take care of Zanna when she wakes."

"Thank you, Evgin."

Drizzt paused and went to tuck the figure of wondrous power in Zanna's basket, and left the knife with its spell next to the basket. He then followed the others out and dropped in front of the chair that Syluné settled in.

"I am going to probably have silver sparks in my eyes and hair, Drizzt. Do not be alarmed. It is only magic manifesting," Syluné warned him, getting his silent nod before she began delving at the magics on him. A part of her noted that only the sheer power of the elven spell allowed it to go through, and was curious about that casting.

She'd see what Sam could tell her, later. She went under that, deeper, and Mystra joined her, intent on preventing the chaos of an elf-drow war with all the impact it would have on the Weave.

Mystra hissed at the shaping of the polymorph, and tweaked it so that when the child weaned, it would be broken if it did not break before, and then focused on the other, more powerful magic. 'Why, that wretched excuse for a weaver,' She growled in her mind, 'this is remarkably tricky. It hides him from all Seldarine, good, evil, and neutral, including Her own clerics' attentions. Not, quite, a new start to the war... but... very unpleasant. I don't want to destroy it, that might alert Her, but...'

"Inthylyn," She said, "something that will spin easily, I need to draw this off slowly."

"Yes, Lady," Thyl replied instantly, and brought out a small perfect sphere of jet to place on his aunt's palm, turned over on her knee.

Drizzt noted the power had intensified, heard the timbre of the voice change, and Thyl's deference. He did not wince at the cost of such work, but made a private vow to be available to help this family as he could where their aims matched his goals.

Lin carefully didn't look at his aunt while his Grandmother was present; it was uncanny and unnerving.

The sphere began to turn, twisting slowly on Syluné's hand, strand after strand of shrouding webbing disappearing into the depths of the jet, Mystra carefully lifting it away from the ranger's body until She was certain it was fully removed, and then She locked it permanently into the stone. It would never return to trouble the ranger. She brushed a kiss over Her firstborn's spirit and departed.

Syluné collapsed against the back of the chair, dizzy and exhausted and painfully thirsty, breathing heavily.

The shift in posture had both Lin and Thyl hurrying to get her food and drink, finding restoratives from their expanded pockets to help her. Drizzt, however, was staring at the sphere she had dropped, before he also moved, finding a small hand shovel to come lift it and take it to rest by the refuse pit until they could decide what needed to be done with it.

"Vile," he said, returning to them. "And yet, it was part of me without me knowing it?"

Syluné nodded, but held up a hand in a request for him to wait a moment. She finished the drink and the sweets her nephews pressed on her, and took another deep breath. "It was a... shrouding, and it felt as old as you are, ranger. It hid you from all members of the Seldarine pantheon, and from all spells that might reveal your nature or location cast by any elf. Which, as it affected even Her own, is not quite a breach of the terms that ended the war."

Drizzt digested that, then looked away, his hands clenching in fists. He thought back over the events of his life, the cruelty of the drow world, and came with anguish to the death of his father, twice over.

"Some day," he whispered, a solemn vow that he would demand an accounting of the vile goddess that played with lives so viciously.

Lin felt the intensity of those low words, and wondered what realization had come, making a curious noise before he could stop himself.

"My House became Ninth, the night I was born and meant to be sacrificed as third born son. However, the then-Secondboy slew the Elderboy, and Moth… the Matron spared my life. When, with a House War looming from the Fifth, I remained true to my nature, I was promised as sacrifice again, but my father went in my place.

"His choice took away the one person I had somewhat had good dealings with, and meant I fled. With the House lacking both fighters of our calibre, it should have fallen to the Fifth, but I'd already been present at the death of their wizards." He looked up to the skies, embracing his freedom so he could continue. "The House hunted me again, ten years later. I overcame the foul magic they used, and I am all but certain the failure would have been their end.

"So. Through my choices, Menzoberranzan would have lost two ruling Houses in the span of a decade, sending the rest of the city into upheaval, as the rankings changed."

"Yes, but you are you, and the spell meant they never knew you were the wrong alignment. Such things could have still happened without you there, Drizzt. And it meant you did survive, came above, and the realms have a ranger that it looks like Mielikki really likes," Lin said, sorry he had prompted the words.

"Lin's right," Thyl said, "there would have been chaos even if you hadn't been there, and now that you're on the Surface, you can live and do what you want, helping others. It doesn't matter what She'd like to claim as benefit, you're free."

"Well said, nephews."

Drizzt nodded slowly, then turned his attention to the cottage a moment. "I have a life I never could have dreamed of, yes." Behind his face, he had a duty, a need to eventually see the drow below freed of their chains made in spider silk.

Lin looked at his twin, managing to convey that they might have found a very impassioned ally. He then looked at his aunt. "I think we were going to get tales about our cousin, so you're staying a bit longer, yes?"

"Of course, but we can go inside if Drizzt wishes."

Drizzt tipped his head… and smiled. "No, Zanna's sleeping still, it sounds like, and I prefer the outside as much as possible. Sam had to get used to the fact I didn't always use the guest room inside the hiexel, given it's right across from a very nice oak that had a good view of the skies."

"Well all right, then," Thyl said, and sprawled out on the grass, hands behind his head, to look at the stars and listen.

"As I told your nephews, after I was stupid — Sam said compelled — and opened the curse's box, I went into the first town of size, and found the name of two cursebreakers being advertised in a trade sheet. One was in Aglarond, and the other merely outside of Yartar. Of course I chose the closer one.

"However, my nerve almost failed when Guen — my Astral panther friend — lured the cursebreaker to my hiding spot and I saw an elf. A gold, or sun, elf at that. Even with all I'd seen of wood elves, I still had a little fear. But he met me, we talked, and eventually we made a solid friendship.

"He did try to get me, several times, to accept a cleric, but worked on deciphering the spell in between the work he had on hand." Drizzt smiled softly. "I put an end to the magical side of it when one attempt knocked him back into one of the book casements. So we ran back over the seeming contingency portion of it, to do as a woman might.

"He had learned the caster was an arch mage, one from before Myth Drannor fell, and of no relation to himself. He was pleased by that last as he wasn't certain where the scroll for removing her from the family line was." Drizzt said that with amusement, making Lin grin at it. "I'd managed to fix my sense of balance, do everything in that body. Sam was the one who pointed out the very womanly thing." He took a deep breath. "It wasn't easy to consider that, I admit. But I wanted to be me again, and stop seeing my mother in the mirror.

"He took his time easing us toward it, and when it seemed to fail, I decided I had to travel." He made a gesture to the cottage. "Thankfully, Mielikki had a destination for me, before the symptoms got terrible."

Syluné hissed in a soft breath, cocking her head to the side. "Why did Sam try to take on such a powerful curse himself, rather than asking for aid from a cleric? I know he knows several, the wretch..."

"Because of my strenuous objection to involving anything divine," Drizzt told her firmly. "I had described my relation with Mielikki honestly. I would work with Her so long as She held to the path of our mutual goals and if She forgot those, it was done. I have the map of three priestesses' hate and anger on my skin. More marks than those that do not show.

"Aronna and Evgin have been working on helping me understand what a good cleric can be, have helped me settle more firmly in my alliance with Mielikki, but I wished nothing to do with religion when Sam first met me."

"That." she said, pausing, making herself relax out of her temper, "makes... a great deal of sense. I'm sorry, ranger, I did not consider just how many reasons you would have to avoid the divine."

Thyl nodded -- it did make sense, when put that way. It was just also... entirely horrifying.

"I am going to go to see him once Zanna is a little older. I know he has no contact with the one child he knows he has, so I do not wish that to happen with this daughter," Drizzt said before looking at the twins. "Are you related to the Sharr or the Kor of his stories, since you claim him as cousin?"

Lin snickered. "Korvallen has no children; he was our father's heart-brother." He then sighed. "But our father was killed over four decades ago, and that's the part we're going to have to break the news on."

Drizzt winced. "Do so gently, I beg of you, as he spoke of both men with warmth and love."

"Sam is my dear friend," Syluné said, "I promise you I will be as gentle as possible, when I go find him. Which will be soon."

Drizzt weighed that, then nodded. "To the eastern side of Yartar, completely off the main road, but with a fair trace to lead to the hiexel.

"Thank you," Syluné answered, dipping her head gratefully. "And I am glad to hear that the hiexel is well."

That got a soft laugh. "The hiexel and I are good friends now. It needed a nest moved, and a couple of boughs strengthened. I loved being able to live in a home that was so vibrantly alive."

"That has to be something," Lin said. "I mean, the village trees are all living trees, but you speak of this one as if it is almost a treant in how it communicates."

Syluné chuckled softly, "It was animated once, by a druid friend of Sam's, and as it was already his residence and heavily imbued with magic... it... did not exactly go entirely back to sleep. It has many firm opinions about any number of things."

"Such as shutting all drawers and cabinets if Sam needs to not be working, warning us if one of the animated books gets obnoxious, refusing to drop the ladder if Sam forgot to water the garden…" Drizzt said, laughing a little.

"Oh, that's a new one," Syluné said, laughing, "I like it. Good job, hiexel!"

Lin wound up grinning at all of that, then shook his head. "I think I'll leave opinionated Towers to others. Besides, we all learned with Bo that we can't have a pegasus in a tree, so I'll have to take my friends into account if I ever settle down."

"I… no, I can't see a pegasus in a tree, none of the ones I have seen," Drizzt agreed, cocking his head to hear more.

"Bo's first friend was orphaned young, and Bo wasn't even learning from uncle yet," Lin said. "Uncle was the one in our family home when Bo tried to coax the colt into the tree to sleep with him."

"It was," Syluné said in amusement, "a rather entertaining scene, or so I was told. But no, even foals would not be particularly comfortable in any tree."

"It sounds like it would have been touching but funny," Drizzt agreed. He then shifted, and in the next moment was on his feet, going inside with a 'Zanna' thrown back to them.

Lin waited a few moments, then looked at his aunt. "I think he's a keeper," Lin said in Sylvan, having just witnessed how sharp the drow's ears were. "Your thoughts?"

"Yes. Sam is a strong judge of character… or at least he was. If the hiexel also befriended him, he is of our kind. And I get the impression just as driven as all of us in his goals," Syluné agreed, looking to Thyl for his opinion.

"Definitely," Thyl agreed, nodding, "and not just because he's family through Sam. He's good, and kind. Hopefully you can keep Cousin Sam from wanting to move them back to Yartar. Horim's worried about Evgin being alone; he doesn't think she'll see much more than another winter, and she won't leave this place."

Syluné nodded at that. "Sad to lose a legend, but she should not be alone in the final time she has. And our new friend surely has much to learn. He's quite young, if I am reading the length of that spell correctly. Speaking of… I think it needs to be dropped in the Neverwinter Wood.

"I don't want it calling to the evils of the Moors, nor do I wish it to interfere with the sanctity this land should acquire." She was familiar with the lore around ranger and druid death places, when it came in peace.

"We'll deal with it," Lin promised, before they saw to her leaving and taking the chair back in.

The twins stayed that night, then headed out the next morning. Drizzt hadn't mentioned strange dreams, giving Thyl hope that Eilistraee was being gentle in this, but then again… he wasn't sure the drow slept other than midday.

He was going to head on to Spirit Sanctuary, while Lin disposed of the sphere over the Neverwinter. His twin had mentioned going down to find Qilué and talk to her about this all, which suited Thyl. That way, Vierna wouldn't need to do it when she was so tangled up over having more family.

Steelheart was glad of the longer flight, even as she missed Snowmane. She knew they'd eventually be back together, though; her person didn't stay away from his twin all that long.

Vierna had asked the scouts to watch for any sign of the pegasi and come to tell her as soon as they were spotted, so she was waiting on the outer edge of the village when Steelheart flew in and landed. "Hello, Steelheart, Thyl, welcome back, both of you."

Steelheart stepped forward and hooked her head over Vierna's shoulder, 'hugging' her in pegasus-fashion.

"Well, I guess that was her way of saying we managed what we went for," Thyl said, sliding down to get the tack off. "Hey. I'll tell you all about it once we get inside and settled."

"Thank you, Steelheart, and of course," Vierna agreed, pulling a piece of one of the dried mushrooms Steelheart liked out of her pocket to offer the pegasus, standing there to scratch her chin and jaw while Thyl worked. Once he was done, including rubbing out where the straps had been with a textured cloth, Thyl put his arm around Vierna to walk on into the village, as Steelheart went hunting the best grass.

"Lin had to drop something off and then he was going to go see Aunt Qi," Thyl told her.

"I did wonder," she replied, wrapping her arm behind his waist, "but I also assumed you would tell me. Did you have an easy flight back?"

"Steelheart was having fun the whole way, and only taunted one flock of birds." Thyl smiled down at her. "It was good to just need to come home to you."

Vierna laughed, well-acquainted with the pegasus' tendency to taunt or chase birds as much as she played with the goats, and nodded, turning her head to smile up. "I'm very glad to have you home."

They got to her quarters, where she was glad to see Ellie was out with the other children, and sat down on the couch, turning to face him. "So?"

"First, he is every bit as good as Horim said. Two, his daughter Zanna is absolutely precious," Thyl told her. "He's kind, he's smart, and he is now free to hear Eilistraee's Song." He shook his head. "It took Mystra. After She nudged Lin and I to call for an aunt or Mom."

"All of that," Vierna said, "is good -- except that last. I do not very much care for that last, I thought mostly your grandmother left you alone?"

"One command to get something to spin the bad spell off on, and that was it. I mean, She could have made Lin or I anchor, but I am so glad that didn't happen, because it led to more discoveries about your brother.

"As we now know he's brushed up against the family not once, but twice," he told her.

"Oh? How? Who?" Vierna's brows rose, her head tilting in intrigue, "and I am very glad you did not have to anchor for her."

"His first encounter was a near-meeting with Aunt Dove. She apparently was called in to track the drow accused of murder; he wound up saving her whole party — by walking back into an ambush he'd already gotten past!" Thyl shook his head. "He has a letter from her apparently, absolving him of the whole incident.

"The second, and this is where I am really fascinated by how tangled up his life is with all of us, is because the father of his daughter is a sun-elf cursebreaker. A man who is the long-lost cousin of my father; I think he was Mena's teacher?"

"So their daughter is family to you twice-over," Vierna said, intrigued, but also... concerned. "I sense entirely too much Destiny hovering over my little brother. Also, he did what?! Fresh to the Surface, and he did what?"

"That's how I felt about it!" Thyl agreed. "He said 'They would never have been in danger if I had found a better way to communicate. They were there because of me? Of course I went back to make sure they got free' and I about lost it.

"Not a single one of my family would have gone to aid people who had been hunting us!"

"I can't think of anyone of mine who would," Vierna agreed. "How, in my mother's House, did he learn anything like that compassion?!"

"I don't know." Thyl took a deep breath. "He asked Aunt to be gentle with Cousin Sam, to tell him of Dad's death. And he'd been so careful not to name the wizard, protecting him or his privacy. Which I can respect a lot. Too many people like to brag of the powers they know."

"...I wouldn't know, but I believe you, from other stories you've told," Vierna said, as her mouth curved slightly at the idea her little brother had been trying to protect his friend from the attention of the blatantly powerful mages around him.

"He's a committed father from what we saw, strongly given to being a protector, very smart… he'd been theorizing magical properties of surface plants based on similarity to ones below… and he's just the kind of person I would like to call friend." Thyl hummed a bit. "I actually want the full story from my aunt Dove about her encounter.

"Might give us a little more shape to the picture we're getting about him? But. The spell was placed on him at his birth, or near enough. He's been a promised sacrifice at least three times." Thyl winced, and reached to pull her into his arms. "I think… the Weapon Master is dead. He said his father went in his place, and that took the one person he cared for away, sending him fleeing from the city."

Vierna closed her eyes, and leaned into Thyl for long moments, murmuring a silent and useless prayer for her father's soul. "That... I cannot say I am surprised the Weapon Master is dead. He was not young, for a drow male, when I ran away. But... to have died to protect his... his son... That is. Remarkable. I don't know if it makes it better or worse."

"I think, given he said he was true to his nature, that led to that? It might have been when he saved Ellie," Thyl told her gently. "Hate when the scales balance in that manner. And it might be hard for him at first with your young one here, given I think … that probably happened in a bad way."

Vierna made a soft, thin noise of hurt, and turned her face into her lover's shoulder, clinging to his side. "...I hope it won't be, but. You are probably right. Lady's light, Thyl, love... Why so much hurt, for someone who is obviously so very good?"

"I don't know, my heart, but we will give him as good a life as we know how," Thyl promised. he held onto her, brushing a hand over her braids. "You know, he wears his hair free? Has a face-guard that keeps it pushed back, but it's this wild, free mass otherwise. And I saw two curved swords on his sword belt.

"He trusts where he is enough to not put them on within the property itself? Which is kind of an interesting note about him, I think. He has them near when outside, but not on."

"Yes. Yes we will. That is... all of that is very interesting. Zaknafein always wore his hair free, where most Weapon Masters braid or shave it. And that he will leave his blades off his body? Most drow even inside our own Houses, our homes, still wear our weapons," Vierna said, "unless we are quite private. Which you know well, given how often you're here."

He nodded. "I think… maybe? It is part of learning to trust his ranger instincts more directly? Given Evgin can be firm on the use of gifts over blades, from all I ever heard of her." He nuzzled at her neck a little. "We'll keep checking in on them, and make sure he knows where he can come, when it's time. Hate asking you to be patient, but… and hey, if you do want to take time off, I can take you to meet him."

"Maybe," Vierna replied, to the mention of the ranger gifts, "maybe it is. Or maybe it's just that he was home, was secure. I... I will be patient, much as I hate it, because I do not want to have him decide to abandon his teacher while he is learning, while she needs him. I desperately want to meet him, but I don't want to make anything worse!"

Thyl hummed softly at that. "We'll see how things go," he promised her, then shifted to scoop her up and stand, carrying her to the bedroom over any protest, so he could cuddle with her properly.

Vierna had no intention of protesting, and only tucked tighter to him.

Today, Drizzt was splitting wood, wearing a thin shift rather than his full outfit, learning the technique of the axe that worked best on stubborn logs. He was already sweating in the hot sun, but the sheer rhythm of the task was helping him work through the odd dream that had taken him after his sunrise vigil.

Evgin was minding Zanna inside, something he was grateful for when the air displaced and he turned from the splitting to face the newcomer —

— "SAM!" he called gratefully, as the person was steadying himself.

"Drizzt!" Sam called in matching delight, finishing catching his balance and starting to stride towards his friend, arms open. "Stars, dear one, I am so glad to see you."

"I'm very sweaty," Drizzt said, even as he did grasp Sam's forearms. "The Lady Silverhand?" he questioned, seeking answers in Sam's face. The dance of grief and resolve and wonder answered it, and Drizzt squeezed lightly. "I think Zanna is awake; my teacher has her inside because I didn't want the wood chips falling anywhere near her."

"You are, I'm trying not to notice," Sam told him affectionately, the pale cloth stuck to dark skin really remarkably distracting, hands squeezing forearms in return, before the mention of their daughter changed the direction of his thoughts entirely. "Oh, good, I do want to meet her, dear one, of course. And your teacher."

Drizzt let go, then retrieved the axe to put it where it belonged. After that, he beckoned for Sam to follow him inside, braced for the change of temperature on his skin. As they both adjusted to the cooler, shaded cottage, Drizzt turned to Evgin at the table, sorting dried herbs into containers.

"My teacher, Evgin Morningmist, Ranger of Mielikki, this is Samiar Revarel, Zanna's other father," he announced, his eyes having already spied Zanna under the table with her rawhide teether in one hand and other around a rattling toy Evgin had crafted for her. The noise of the rattler helped bring Sam's eyes to where the infant was, not even really at an age for more than scooching and rolling over so far.

Samiar put his hand to his heart and bowed, "Ranger. I am so grateful you were here, that you could help him. My greetings, and my skills are at your disposal."

Such a little thing, still, grey-black skin and slightly blonde hair, and the faintest glow of blue eyes in the shadows of the cottage and table. Small and impossibly precious, and Sam felt his heart twist.

"Did as our Lady said was needed, and gained a final student out of it. You worry about spoiling this little girl when you can come by, and it's all set," Evgin told him.

Drizzt smiled, then ducked over and under, getting Zanna out of her protected playing space to bring her to Sam. Unsurprisingly, she dropped both items and reached for the new person, eyes inquisitive and bright as she did so.

"She makes sounds, but not words. She moves like a snake right now, or a very plump lizard, and can only stay up if you hold her by her hands. She can support her own head, though it's a good thing to brace it on your arm if she's sleepy," Drizzt guided, letting Sam choose to answer that grasping reach for himself.

"Hello, little one," Sam said, swallowing -- and deeply, deeply amused by Drizzt's phrasing about her stage of development -- as he reached out to take her, careful and gentle, "yes, I did mean you, hello, sweetling..."

Zanna proved the making sounds with a happy squeal and then burbles before inspecting by touch, sight, and even taste when she caught a braid and dragged it to her mouth. Drizzt had to laugh at that, even as he knew Evgin was smiling at them all.

"I met your cousins, Thyl and Lin, then Lady Silverhand," Drizzt said, guiding Sam to come sit, and settling beside him. "That magic under the curse was the concern. Still not sure there wasn't more to it than just meeting Horim that led them my way, but for now… I am learning! Things Montolio did not have time to teach me. Evgin has said I can stay as long as I wish with our daughter, so I am better able to be a proper ranger.

"She knows so much!"

"I'm glad to hear that, dear one," Sam said, retrieving his braid from their daughter, "very glad. You were already quite a good ranger, but more skills are always good. I'm glad you found another teacher." He meant that, entirely, though he was suddenly angry with Mielikki for putting another elderly, frail ranger into Drizzt's path, someone else for him to come to trust and care for and then loose all too soon just seemed like cruelty.

But the elder ranger had, no doubt, saved Drizzt's life, so... there was only so angry he should be.

"Mooshie was too self-reliant, left out the ways the Forest Queen can help us more directly," Evgin said. "I can teach that, but he knows the natural world as best as any of us ever do already."

Drizzt fidgeted a little at the praise, before he wrapped an arm around Sam. "You know you are not tied because of this, no demands, nothing but what you wish to give, yes? I am more than happy to share her raising with you, but do not ask that you have to."

"You, my friend," Sam said, leaning into his arm, "are entirely too self-sacrificing. It took both of us to make this child, and also... you know about my other daughter. I... don't want that to happen again. I want to know her, be part of her life, your life if you'll have me."

"To a very long friendship then, and the sharing of a daughter to raise," Drizzt answered that, squeezing some.

Drizzt's body had reverted in the early winter, coinciding sharply with Evgin fading visibly. He'd asked Sam to take their daughter, and the nanny goat, back to the hiexel, allowing him to devote his time to making her comfortable and absorbing more of her wisdom. Nor, when he did sit vigil by her body, and build the cairn, did he ask Sam to bring him away. He spent the last month of winter reshaping his armor and clothing, putting the cottage to rights as a traveler's sanctuary should it be needed.

The stores of food were delivered to Nesme, somewhat grudgingly accepted on their part, and all of the tools that wouldn't be needed by a traveler passing through were given as well.

Just as false spring was arriving, Drizzt felt he had everything ready, had tucked her few books into his pack as he knew he could leave them with Sam, and accepted being picked up the next time Sam sent to him.

Sam, knowing Thyl and Lin were maintaining an interest in his friend, waited out that first day, just letting Drizzt soak up the feeling of being home with their playful and very active daughter, but reached out by sending the day after.

~Drizzt is home at the hiexel. His teacher passed at the midwinter point, and he has finished his duty to her home.~

~...Damn, I'm sorry to hear Morningmist is gone,~ Thyl replied, ~but... we'll be down to the hiexel before too long, then. Give him our regrets?~

~Please,~ Lin added.

Sam sent back a mostly wordless assent, then went to see how his partner was doing. Looking out and down showed that Drizzt was practicing forms with his swords, having given Zanna her dolls made of shaped and stuffed rabbit pelts. There was no doubt that part of Drizzt's attention was given to the child, but he was still making the sword forms look effortless. Sam had seen Kor do this, holding the start points, moving very slowly to the end points, and holding there… usually after severe illness or injury.

Thyl looked at his twin, got up from where they'd both been studying, and started to put the library to rights. "Are you going along, or is 'we' going to just be me and Steelheart?"

"Hmm, you actually know Spirit Sanctuary better than I do, all the people... so maybe we shouldn't overwhelm by both of us arriving?" Lin reached out to clasp his brother's shoulders. "I think I'm going to see how Del is doing, and spend a little time with him if he's up for it, while you break the news to our ranger friend."

"That works," Thyl agreed, and clasped his twin's shoulders in return for a long moment before he nodded and went outside to whistle for Steelheart before he finished packing.

By the time he had finished packing everything, Steelheart had come prancing to a landing, looking quite satisfied with herself, and only a few flecks of dried blood around her feet for the reason.

"What were you kicking the life out of?" Thyl asked her. "Drizzt has finally gone to Cousin Sam's hiexel, so hopefully we can take him to Spirit Sanctuary soon. Up for the flight?"

She nickered happily and shifted to let him get the straps in place. She liked the ranger, could feel his wildness under his two-legged appearance. As soon as Thyl was up she galloped off into the air, heading for the strange tree-tower.

Drizzt was not in sight, but Sam was being followed by Zanna through the garden under one side of the hiexel, patting the plants after Sam had checked each one over and watered those that needed it. It was entirely too cute and Thyl made himself remember it well for an illusion later.

A deliberate rustle of the oak outside the wards gave warning and then Drizzt was there, trotting over to see Steelheart — and Thyl.

"Hey, Drizzt," Thyl greeted him before sliding off Steelheart's back to start getting her tack off. "Your daughter is adorable."

"She is," he said softly, already offering all the scratches and pats to Steelheart. "Hello to both of you."

Steelheart made a happy noise, and leaned into the nimble fingers.

"It's good to see you, and you can already tell Steelheart's happy to see you too," Thyl said, tucking the tack away and starting to groom her into comfort.

"She honors me by allowing this," Drizzt said sincerely. "I used to watch the herd of the Nethers, and thought they were so beautiful."

Steelheart allowed that they might be, but not like herself in her snort. It made Drizzt smile and half-laugh.

Thyl chuckled at her, amused, and nodded. "They are, always, and a herd in flight is amazing, but I have to agree with my friend; she really is beautiful."

"Indeed." Drizzt fished out a sliver of dried apple for her, and let her have that treat to actually walk Thyl into the wards. "I hope there's nothing terrible that prompted your visit, or if it is, may it be something I can help you with."

"No, not at all," Thyl said, shaking his head, "Sam let me know you had gotten here, so we came to visit. I haven't seen any of you in months, after all, and now you're all in the same place again."

"Alright." He angled them toward the garden, and the hiexel made a particular creaking noise, causing Sam and Zanna both to turn… before the toddler tried her best to run for her papa, squealing loudly. She fell once, pushed herself back up without a single hesitation, and took off again, straight to Drizzt who had crouched to let her impact his chest.

Drizzt stood back up, turning toward Thyl, and Zanna peered at the tall silver-haired almost-elf.

"This is your cousin Thyl," Drizzt told her.

"Hi!" Zanna said, clearly, before pushing into her father's arms and making herself comfortable there.

"Hi there, little bit," Thyl said, offering her his left hand to see if she would squeeze it or turn away, "I saw you when you were really little. You've grown so fast!"

She smiled at him for that, but tucked her face into Drizzt's hair right after.

"I think she's playing shy," Drizzt said in amusement. "That's new."

Sam had put the watering pail away, and came over to join them. "Hello, Thyl. Haven't been sent to get me by your elder brothers, have you? I told Andy to just send once they had more details for me."

"All of my little brothers had that phase," Thyl said, amused and affectionate, chuckling softly at the little girl, then at his cousin. "No, not a bit," Thyl said, shaking his head. "I just came to see you, Zanna, and Drizzt. Mostly Drizzt, though, if I'm honest, but that can wait for after dinner. What can I help with at the moment?"

"You can come help me with the chair puzzle while Drizzt and Zanna read a bit, now that Drizzt is awake for the day," Sam decreed, knowing it would lull their daughter into her own nap… and keep Drizzt occupied inside for a bit.

"Didn't you say Lady Silverhand suggested borrowing a thief to puzzle at the chair?" Drizzt asked, but he set his steps for the tree's ladder.

"I do some Harper work," Thyl said cheerfully, "so while I'm not much of a rogue, I can pick a lock. What's this chair puzzle?"

Sam started laying it out for his young cousin, while Drizzt ascended the ladder, supporting Zanna with one arm and her little arms cling to him. Sam and Thyl followed, before the two pairs settled to the tasks at hand.

At one point, Thyl looked over because Drizzt's voice had tapered off from reading, and he saw the ranger half-dozing, the tiny girl sprawled on his chest and drooling on his shirt. It brought back a memory of seeing his own father being a mattress for Del at a similar age.

He shook that off; he knew his elder brothers were questing right now, had seen a vague shine of hope on his uncle when he passed through Silverymoon. For now, Thyl needed to stay focused on reuniting a different part of his family.

Zanna had gone to bed, Drizzt had come back in from whatever he'd been up to outside, and Sam had settled in the study to make more notes on the attempts to figure out the pickpocketing chair. That meant everything was more than quiet enough to talk about why he had come.

"Okay," Thyl said quietly, "I'm pretty sure you've had a suspicion since we showed up at Evgin's that there was more going on behind Horim's nudging us that had us turning up. Yeah?"

"Yes." Drizzt tipped his head. "Connections to the people that follow the Sad Lady of my dreams?"

"...that's a new epithet for her," Thyl said, "but yes. That would be Eilistraee, the Dark Maiden. I have a number of friends in one of Her sanctuaries, and so does Horim. He went up to them, when he left you, very worried about a goodly drow who hadn't been found and helped by the rest of them."

"I did have the impression from Her that such should have happened." Drizzt shrugged. "I was where I needed to be. But, She did imply I would learn more, in time.

"What can you tell me about these others that I am more like than where I came from?"

Sam listened, not offering anything, but he would need to know, as his daughter would be exposed to them as well.

The ranger was so very much more forgiving than Thyl would have been in his place, but then again, he knew it had been the Spider-bitch's interference, not the Eilistraeeans' choice. "There're two major communities in this part of Toril," Thyl started with, "one underneath Undermountain, led by a woman who's both a Chosen of Eilistraee and a Chosen of Mystra. Those who have a hard time with the open skies tend to go to her, and they help injured adventurers in Undermountain and the surrounding area.

"The other is up in the Frost Hills, much more open to the air -- though it's in a big carve-out of the mountainside. They take in goblins and orcs who want to leave the raiding and warfare behind, and help them learn peaceful ways of life."

"I'm impressed by that part, but I suppose if you know tales of drow and then witness them being kind and good, it would make an impact," Sam mused aloud.

Drizzt nodded. "It makes sense that Horim would know such. I wonder if Grimward knows about them too? He was bemoaning the number of losses one of the companies he accounts for had taken to his own kind, and wished someone would teach them life is better when civilized."

He'd liked the goblin in his well made clothes, and his ability to tally items at almost a glance, during their one meeting.

"...if he does, it's only because Horim told him," Thyl said, "mostly, the goodly drow keep themselves to the shadows, because they don't want to have people start thinking groups of drow could be safe, rather than dangerous. And both the spider-drow and Vhaeraun's followers would take advantage of it, if they had the chance. It's hard on them, but they feel very strongly about protecting others.

"The sanctuary is fairly small, only a couple hundred people, so it's not exactly an easy life. They herd goats in some of the mountain valleys for milk, wool, and meat, and plant a couple of valleys full of wheat, along with the caverns they grow mushrooms and lichen in. They harvest a lot of fruit and wild vegetables, and they have some dwarf-friends who go into Nesme or Silverymoon or some of the other hamlets to trade for things they need."

Drizzt had a wry look on his face. "I will be thankful my eyes and sword style are not common, as I never learned how to stay hidden all that well."

Sam chuckled at that. "It's alright, dear one. You are quite distinctive."

"It does sound like hard work, but also, an honest way to live," Drizzt added.

"It is both of those," Thyl agreed. "And Eilistraee tends to be fairly generous to Her clerics and faithful when they're in need, and she's a hunt-goddess as well as a deity of the sword and song, so they don't run much risk of starving. They're good people. Very dedicated to each other, and to supporting the small traveling bands -- both those on the surface, and those who go back down into the Underdark to help rescue those who want to escape."

Drizzt's full attention snapped to Thyl's face on that. "They. Go back down. To help others?" His heart sped up; he was drawn to the surface, but his wish to make a better life for all drow was right under his skin.

Sam frowned. "Until we work out a non-detection against evil clerics, I am asking that you not volunteer, oh thrice-promised one?"

That made Drizzt draw in a breath. "Even if my House fell, there might be others stupid enough to try, yes."

Thyl chuckled softly at the discussion, and nodded at Sam's worry. "Sam has a point, and so do you. But yes, they do. Which is where we come to me rocking your world a little, I expect. You aren't the first time a child of Daermon N'a'shezbaernon has run away from the Spider, my friend."

"You say that well," Drizzt said, to give himself time to think. He remembered a moment with his father, early in his training to be a fighter, when he made the man feel strong emotion. "The daughter who was stolen… ran away? Vierna?" he questioned once he dredged the memory up fully.

"Isn't that the name of the elf in the Ballad of the Black Horde I heard in Silverymoon?" Sam questioned.

"She was under a glamour," Thyl replied to Sam's question, having been blinking in shock at Drizzt's, before he nodded. "Yes, Vierna. When I first saw you, I was very glad Horim had warned me. With the curse on you, only your eyes and your clothing gave away that I wasn't looking at a dearly beloved friend, but a stranger kin to her."

"Likely a full sister, as I cannot see father being emotional over a drow born to Malice but not himself," Drizzt said, before his brain circled back to the concentration of events tangling him in this family. "You know my sister… I had an almost run in with your aunt, and was befriended by your cousin.

"Thyl, I may be at peace with Mielikki, but I grow ever more wary at what I might be walking toward in the future."

"We're worried about that, too," Thyl agreed. "I'm sorry we held this back so long -- it wasn't because she doesn't want to meet you, or that they don't want you to come visit, by far the opposite! But Horim was worried about Evgin, and no-one wanted to put you in the position of having to choose between your teacher and your sister. She's had to stop herself from making the trip down on her own -- or getting Steelheart to bring her, every time I've gone to visit -- ever since she first heard you were on the Surface and had been so alone."

Drizzt nodded peacefully at that, not looking upset at all. "One storm at a time was for the best, my friend. Even knowing what I faced with Evgin, I would never have wanted to leave before the end. Yet, she might very well have taken the choice from me, as stubborn as she is.

"I don't suppose these dwarves in that village know anything about mithral?" He grinned. "Then I could have an excuse of business in addition to my curiosity to visit. If it would be allowed." Evgin's armor shirt fit him fair, but could be better.

"You know good and well you would be welcome there without an excuse or Thyl would not be telling you of them," Sam groused. "But I also know you are eager to have that armor fit you as best it can, for when you range further."

"Dhaeln was only an apprentice, and Halan not even that, when Mithral Hall fell," Thyl said, "but I expect that they at least had early lessons in mithral-work, given they're from Mithral Hall. But also, you definitely don't need an excuse; Horim's stories have them wild to meet you."

Drizzt twisted to look over at Sam. "I know you have a project in the works. What do you think about Zanna and I going soon, get to know them, and come home early enough in autumn to stock the larders for winter?"

"That sounds like a fairly good plan," Sam agreed, smiling at him. "I'll miss you both terribly, but you're right, I do."

"I'm perfectly willing to be transportation," Thyl said, "I don't drop us too far away from where I want to be much, anymore..."

"Or you can fly back with your friend, and keep phantom steed on tap for Drizzt, so that he can see the land between here and there," Sam pointed out. "I am obviously going to talk to the hiexel about moving, as the Frost Hills and Silverymoon can make a boundary of sorts for Drizzt's ranging that might suit his overzealous needs."

Drizzt laughed at that, shaking his head. "Putting you nearer to your kin in that city, so I will not argue," he said. "But if it would not be trouble, I would love to see the land from above, to get a feel for it."

"No trouble at all," Thyl said, "I love the trip."

"Tomorrow, or the day after," Drizzt said. "And with that decided, I am going to go out now and see if there's any trouble nearby." He bounced to his feet, going to wriggle into his mithral shirt and belt on the swords. The cloak went over it, and then he was out into the freedom he needed to be able to actually process everything fully.

"He needs to run it off," Sam said once he was certain Drizzt was out of earshot. "He didn't go silent a single time, though, so he is taking it well. Makes me wonder what the dark Maiden had conveyed in his dreams so far."

"Hopefully enough," Thyl said, his shoulders slowly relaxing. "That... I'm glad it went so well. I was pretty worried, given we kept a secret that his sister was alive and well and wanting to see him for months."

"The part I am shocked at, even knowing how fiercely he bonded to the man he calls father, is that he knew who it was," Sam said. "Proving that man was as atypical as his son, I think."

"Vierna always spoke about the Weapon Master as someone... very special, to her, and as someone she actually missed," Thyl said, "and her stories of him paint... a very, very impressive picture. After knowing us for a while, she slowly came to think he must have been her father, because she has most of his speed and ambidexterity, which it certainly looks like Drizzt shares?"

Sam nodded. "It seems likely. Mind you, I have only watched Drizzt exercise; he does his battling far from me. But the sheer level of things he has admitted to fighting? Yes. He must be more than skilled with the blades, and his reflexes in other things implies the speed.

"I am relieved that he will have more kin to claim, as well as a place to fall back to, I must admit."

"So am I," Thyl replied, "and that Zanna will have a community where she's accepted."

"They are more open on their mixed-bloods?" Sam asked to that. "I already know introducing her at the village is going to be terrible."

"Oh, very. Drow are used to half-demons," Thyl replied, "half-humans are much more welcome, even with the shorter lifespan's -- one's the Swordmistress on the coast -- and an elf? No, I can't see any problems."

Sam chuckled. "Drizzt said there was a half-demon the year behind him in school. As nasty as his drow house was known to be, apparently."

"It is, and as uncommon as his sense of morality," Sam said, knowing Drizzt was unique in so many ways.

Drizzt had been awed by the flight to Third Peak, with Zanna adding much commentary from the harness he had made for her. She had fought the necessity of a hood at first, but once she got the hang of angling her head down to look at things it was easier.

Now, landing beside Steelheart and Thyl, he looked at the peaceful little glad surrounded by alpine trees, and felt a deep sense of anticipation building. He slipped free, made sure he was able to turn the reins loose to dismiss the phantom steed, and set about getting Zanna out of the harness. She wobbled on her legs, but he was used to that now, taking the time to change her as she kicked her legs in between him folding the new cloth around her.

Thyl even used a clean spell to remove the mess of the first one he'd taken off of her.

Once his daughter was seen to, and able to stand more steadily, he put things away and took her hand, looking to Thyl for guidance from here.

"Vierna should just about -- "

"Be here?" Vierna finished, from the edge of the clearing, blinking against the brighter light for a moment, "So I am. I -- my. Even now, you look remarkably like me."

"I'm sorry you look so much like the Matron, then," Drizzt said with a rueful smile. He drank in the sight of her, fully clothed in cleric robes that sang of the moon and the blade alike. Her presence was a gentle balm, not the harsh rasp that he had known from priestesses. He moved towards her, slowly so that Zanna could navigate on her own, and then let go of his daughter's hands to hold his out to this sister.

"I am glad to finally meet the woman that made Zaknafein show emotion when he spoke of her."

"He... he spoke of me?" Vierna asked, her hands faltering for a moment in mid-reach before she caught both of her little brother's hands in hers. "Welcome, little brother. Welcome to Spirit Sanctuary -- finally. I'm so happy to get to meet you, and your daughter. It's Zanna, right?"

"Zanna! Yes!" the toddler announced, proud to have her name as one of her words now.

"He did, my sister, as I had reminded him of you, which I accept now as a compliment," Drizzt said. "I chose the first syllable for him," he added.

She smiled down at the little girl, then blinked against the tears filming over her eyes at Drizzt's words, at the idea that some part of the man who had been her only comfort outside of the Song lived on, and asked, "Can I hug you?"

"I would like that," he said sincerely, as the idea he had true family that shared his blood and legacy was a marvel to him. He stepped in and wrapped his arms around her, vibrant with his wish to know her.

Vierna had let her hands open, skimmed them up his arms as he came closer, moving closer herself, and she wrapped her arms tight around his shoulders, leaning into his body, laying her cheek against his for a long moment. "Oh, this is a marvel," she breathed, hanging on tight for a long few moments before she started trying to make herself release the grip.

He squeezed tight again, then Zanna was tugging on her robe.

"Me!" she squealed, wanting a hug as well.

"She's mostly out of the chewing on things phase?" Drizzt said, amused by his imperious little daughter.

"Well that's good, but I can be chewed on if I need to be," Vierna said with a soft laugh, letting go of her brother to pick up her small niece, swinging her up into the air and holding her securely overhead before bringing her back down and just tucking her in close against her shoulder and ribs. "Hello, little niece. I'm so glad to meet you, sweetheart."

"Hi. Nice." Zanna snuggled in to the hold on her, and then looked around. "More?"

"There is more, but saying hello was first," Drizzt told his baby, shifting his pack more comfortably.

Thyl had been getting Steelheart's tack off, but also watching, and his heart was near to bursting with joy at how well this had gone.

"Much more to see," Vierna replied, and turned to head back up the trail, "and other people to meet. You're right, we should get on with it, shouldn't we?"

"More!" Zanna said happily.

"She is entirely too fearless," Drizzt said, but he was glad that Zanna could be curious about everything.

"So were my little brothers. One of them still hasn't outgrown it," Thyl said wryly.

"Which one are you impugning today, love?" Vierna asked, amused, as they headed for the ward line. "Drizzt, put your hand on my shoulder, please, so I can key you into the wards."

Drizzt obeyed, even as he glanced at Thyl.

"Tar, of course. He's the one that keeps looking for dragons," Thyl answered, studying the ward magic as it was keyed for the two new drow, always wanting to be certain that it was as strong as they could make it to protect this home for his love and her people.

"Tingly," Drizzt said, once they were through. "Surface magic often is."

"I did assume Tar," Vierna replied, chuckling, as she led them on, "but one of the others might have done something particularly reckless since last I saw you."

Drizzt was looking all around, as was his daughter, taking in the clean, open area, the few people out in the day, mostly goblins and only a few drow, but they all were doing small tasks, pausing only to take in the new people. He thought this place felt peaceful, a good feeling when he knew there were several drow living in the hollowed out portion of the mountain.

Vierna kept her niece against her chest as she started giving them a tour of the village, the space out on the open ground under the underhang, the working-buildings out near the light, the kitchens -- She called out to their orc cook, Corrith, "Do you have anything sweet for my little niece, here? This is Zanna, and her father Drizzt, my friend."

Corrith smiled, and Zanna's eyes went wide, wanting to reach for the tusks she could see. "I think I have something just right for a dainty one," he rumbled, his voice modulated well for sensitive drow ears. He went to the area he kept his experiments with honey and found one of the pastries to offer the little one.

She took it, still staring with curiosity, not fear, and Drizzt only had to murmur her name for politeness. "T'ank!"

"Good girl, Zanna," Vierna said, praising her, and smiling at Corrith. "Thank you indeed, Corrith."

Zanna happily starting tasting the new thing, and was soon focused on the food far more than the tour. Drizzt kept an eye on her, but also took note of the people they saw, especially relieved to see young ones. There were goblin children, a dwarven child, even a young drow —

— who was stealing looks their way even more than others while the children were sorting small bits of wood into kindling bundles.

Vierna couldn't blame her nephew for looking their way, but she kept the tour moving, down into the deeper levels, the growing caverns and then the baths.

"Oh I think I found my favorite place inside," Drizzt said with a laugh. "So hard to get properly clean up here at times."

Zanna eyed the water dubiously; she was used to being bathed in a basin.

"Nice soaking pools, rinse pools, and the soaps made here are nice," Thyl agreed.

"It is hard to, when we're away," Vierna agreed, "but one of the things we're prouder of are the baths, yes. I'm glad you're going to take advantage of them. Thyl told us he was fairly sure you'd want one of the outermost homes, with windows?"

"Yes, please. I… I need to see the sky." Drizzt steeled his spine and jaw. "And Zanna is as comfortable in the outdoors as I am. I am glad of the solid rock protecting your people, but I lived too long in the wilds to ever wish to live in deep rock again."

"That's fine, Drizzt. It's just fine. We do have one open, that we readied for you. Come on, I'll show you," she said, turning her steps to head back that way.

Once at the working-room they'd turned into housing, she opened the door and stepped in to let them in, starting to put Zanna down -- unless her niece protested.

Zanna did not, seeing a space to explore, and she was soon doing just that as her father took in the space. He could certainly work with it; the area was spacious compared to many dens he'd sheltered in. He took the time to remove his cloak, the pack, his quiver, and Mooshie's bow. That done, he looked at his sister.

"Thank you, and your people."

"You're welcome. ...can Thyl watch Zanna for a bit, now that we're to your home here?"

"If he doesn't mind?"

Thyl snorted. "I would love to watch my baby cousin," he promised, freeing Drizzt to go with Vierna.

"Thank you, Thyl," Vierna said, turned to kiss his cheek, and went to sit on one of the benches a little ways away, sure that Drizzt would follow her. She turned to face him, having made certain there was plenty of space on the bench. "Can you take one more shock?"

Drizzt closed his eyes and considered. "These are good ones. Even if I lose words for a moment, yes. I want to know all the things I should, so that I can focus on learning how to be a part of this place." He looked at her. "I feel stronger here than I thought possible while being near drow."

"That's because we're drow that are your allies, and can be your friends," Vierna told him, reaching to take his hand. "The oldest boy you saw watching us? He's our newest escapee... from Menzoberranzan. His name is Kastan. His mother was a cleric of House Duskryn."

That… that did trigger the silence for minutes. Drizzt closed his eyes, even as he clung to her hand, remembering that… event. Tsinda Duskryn had been stalking him through those final days, and laid claim at graduation. He had not wanted it, had felt so wounded after.

Yet, Sam had shown him what sex could be. And he had a daughter to show for that. This boy was good, like his sister. This boy could be another child raised free, knowing what it was to be loved, to have family that cared for him without pushing him.

Once he had shoved the remembered pain into its box, and rearranged his mind to accept that he had another child to be responsible for, he opened his eyes and slowly breathed.

"Then I need to meet him. And see if he wished to have a sister, to be near us, to find a way forward as family, if he wants that."

"I'm so sorry to bring up those terrible memories," Vierna said, meaning it with everything in her. "He's very excited to meet you. I am very curious about what you can add to the tales the males spread about you in the city."

That made Drizzt give her a very confused look. "Why would they even think of me? I barely interacted with anyone not in the school or the House."

"Apparently, you destroyed our House's Matron from far away? And the House fell immediately after," Vierna offered, "it seems they call you 'the renegade'."

Drizzt had to fall back on breathing patterns of his training to digest all of that. "I suspected the House had fallen. Their last effort to kill me would have had a high cost for the failure. And Briza would never have been tolerated as Matron.

"I think… that story is not for today. It's too terrible, for certain reasons." He nodded at that choice. "Some other day, yes."

"Some other day, then. But at least now you are warned that Kastan knows that tale of you, at least what was known to the rest of the city," Vierna said, reaching to carefully cup one of his hands in hers. He let her, then moved closer, seeking comfort.

"Kastan is a good name."

She slid her hand up his shoulder and around his back, her other arm reaching across his chest to pull him into more of an embrace, tucking him closer yet. "It is. He's a good boy. He's learning quickly, and he's always happy to help with anything he's capable of. He and -- oh. Oh Lady's light. Little brother, I'm so sorry, you've had so many shocks already. But I can't let my adopted daughter surprise you, if we're right.

"...were you on a raid, roughly... seventeen? years ago?"

He nodded mutely against her, tucking his head against her shoulder and neck. "Cost us our father," he whispered softly. Then he processed the words a little further, while she wrestled with that part. He pulled back, searching her face. "You're why the Sad Lady said the child is safe? Sorry, Eilistraee… Her tragedy strikes me so hard."

"Oh... oh, I'm so glad our Lady already told you she's all right," Vierna said, hugging him, keeping him close, as some of her tension relaxed. "No... don't apologize. It's not a bad title for Her. She sent us towards the attack, fast as we could move, but... it's some distance across the river, and then through the woods. They were long gone before we got there, and only Ellie was left alive. Yes. She's well, she decided she would stay with us, for that we came to help. She had no other family she knew of."

Drizzt nodded. "I reacted poorly to the Song at first; She came to reassure me then. Since, I have listened and found it helps." He then looked away for a moment, considering. "I am glad that she found aid so soon. I worried."

"I think that will comfort her even more," Vierna said, "though I regret you had to worry so long."

That got a shake of his head. "Small price, given how little I managed that night. But, yes, I am very glad that I can now know for certain she is well."

Vierna hugged him again, gently. "Not small, and what you managed was not little. You saved my daughter's life, little brother."

He leaned into the hug, then gave her one of his own accord. "I have a niece and a son to learn, then. In addition to the ways of drow who are more like me! This will be a good spring and summer."

"I'm so glad," she told him, smiling at that sudden shift to bright enthusiasm.

That evening, when more drow were out and doing their crafts or practicing their trades, Drizzt wandered over to the children, reminding himself that elves counted ages different, and sat down. Both the drow the youth and the moon-elf lass had noticed him, and he was carrying Zanna. He sat down there, watching the game in progress that involved trying not to hold onto a stuffed leather ball as someone was counting.

The numbers stopped and the person with the ball scooted back, with the circle of children tightening up.

The drow youth purposefully caught and held the ball, then came and sat beside Drizzt at a slight distance.

"You're Drizzt Do'Urden. I'm Kastan… and First Sister said I could use her family name."

Drizzt smiled at him, nodding. "It is yours by rights," he agreed. "This is Zanna. There was magic involved."

"Horim said," Kastan agreed, nodding, looking at the tiny girl, so much paler, hair tinted strangely, and then back at -- at his father. "I. I'm so glad to meet you, finally. I can't imagine what it was like, being in that city without the Song, and I'm so sorry you had to."

Drizzt's heart swelled, for that sympathy, unprompted, by a boy raised there. "I made it out alive. And I have begun making a solid life for myself and family.

"The question is, do you wish to be part of it? If you have settled, I understand not changing. I won't be here all the time. I am a ranger, and I have to try and protect the wilds, the weak, those without champions. Zanna's father will be my other home. He's a wizard. I think he'd be open to letting you stay there too.

"But if you only wish to be friends, I'd like that too."

"No," Kastan said, sudden and intent, "I want to know you. To have a father. And -- and a sister. That is good. I mean. I want to live here. With Aunt Vierna, and Ellie, and learn to scout, to guard. But... if I can go with you sometimes, I want that."

Drizzt settled Zanna to one side, and opened the one closer to Kastan, if the boy would come close.

"If you want to learn scouting and guarding, I will take all the time I can to teach you what I know," he promised. "And I'd be glad to take you with me, once you're older. I think my father would have loved to know you, so I have to be sure to share all of his lessons with you too."

"Your father? Who?" Kastan asked, shifting to tuck himself into his father's arm, against his side, his far hand coming in to rest carefully on his little sister's side.

Drizzt began to spin the tale of Zaknafein, of all that his father had done to try and protect him. He kept speaking, even when the moon-elf was out of the game and came to sit at a small distance, intent on the tale — and what it said of Drizzt. He didn't spare himself for his early wishes to be a proper drow fighter, or how that had set the course with Zak.

By the time he'd come to the bitter end, which had included his shame in not helping the elves more, and told them what he'd lost before fleeing to the Underdark, many others were around them, as they had stories of the Weapon Master from Vierna.

"He may not have been good, like those here, but he was very much different, and he loved me, I now know," Drizzt finished. "I want to be a father that shows his children all the good emotions, teaches them to live well, and treasure the time with both of you."

Ellie got up from where she'd been sitting and came over to crouch in front of him, tentatively reaching out a hand to lay on his knee. "I. I think Grandfather would be proud. Of you. And saving me... saving me was all you could do, without dying. You were just a child too. Barely older than I am now."

Drizzt bowed his head to her. When he did look, it was with wet eyes. "I am glad you were found, and even more happy to know my sister has given you family. I want… very much… to do well by you, by Kastan, and everyone living here."

"I think you will, Father," Kastan said softly, pressing closer to him. Zanna snuggled him, reacting to the strong emotion.

"I do, too," Ellie agreed, squeezing his knee gently. This man, who had figured in her nightmares because they hadn't known if it was an act of cruelty, to leave her alive, or a desperate attempt at mercy, crying for her, for all the hurt they had suffered, would never be in her nightmares again.

He nodded, words not coming now he'd laid so much of himself bare, but he settled with his daughter and son close, his niece having soothed his heart. Life here would be good, and Sam would be near in time, letting Zanna know both sides of her heritage.

His eyes scanned out, finding Vierna, and he gave her a gentle smile, grateful that she had made this place, a dream he had not known to reach for.

Vierna smiled back at him, her own heart soaring with relief at the peace between her brother and her daughter, the calm, and she sent her Lady a fervent prayer of thanks for their good friends and her family -- more family than she could have dreamed.

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David Lowery Tackling Adaptation of Horror Novel ‘The Fisherman’ for Focus (Hollywood Reporter). You guys!! Lowery directed Mother Mary, which I didn't love but which had style for days, and The Fisherman feels like exactly the kind of surrealist psych/cosmic horror blend that he could really sink his teeth into. Here for it.

Also in movie news, Park Chan-Wook is making another English-language film, and it's a western! Starring Matthew McConaughey and Pedro Pascal. Put it in my eyeballsssss.

"Couch to 5k for Reading", an 8-week event for building up a reading habit. There are three tracks, depending on your goals. I am tentatively doing track 2 but with harder reading material (classics or nonfiction). Bummer it's on Substack though. :/

Okay so did everyone but me know that Ty Olsson and DJ Qualls (Benny and Garth on SPN) got married?!?! Turns out there WAS a gay romance on the show. Just, you know, not any of the ones people shipped.

Also learned this week that there was a Supernatural "Valentine's Day Special" comic book complete with T&A cover. Published this year, 2026!! These things are never good, and yet I'm so tempted.

The Oasis reunion doc teaser trailer is out. Guys, they titled the doc Don't Look Back in Anger. Here are some gifs from the trailer. My demise is imminent omfg.

profiterole_reads

The graphic novel Girl Haven written by Lilah Sturges and illustrated by Meaghan Carter was a lot of fun! :D Ash and a few friends are transported to Koretris, a girl-only world, in order to save Queen Cassandra. What does it mean about Ash's gender?

I loved how this concept was dealt with. It tackles forced feminisation (Ash would like something to happen so that the decision is not hers to make), but the story has her answer her own questions. Junebug is another questioning character, testing they/them pronouns at the end of the book. There's also sapphic representation. For more LGBT Quick Reads, check out my rec list.

----------
Netflix's Enola Holmes 3 was great, as always.

I enjoyed the investigation, the anti-colonialism, and of course the fourth-wall breaking.

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In the comments to these weekly posts (and only these posts), it's your chance to go as off topic as you like.

Talk about non-comics stuff, thread derail, and just generally chat among yourselves.

The intent of these posts is to chat and have some fun and, sure, vent a little as required. Reasoned debate is fine, as always, but if you have to ask if something is going over the line, think carefully before posting please.

Normal board rules about conduct and behaviour still apply, of course.

It's been suggested that, if discussing spoilers for recent media events, it might be advisable to consider using the rot13 method to prevent other members seeing spoilers in passing.

The world situation is the world situation. If you're following the news, you know it as much as I do, if you're not, then there are better sources than scans_daily. But please, no doomscrolling, for your own sake.

Well, the USA's 250th Anniversary happened... I guess. The least unifying speech imaginable from Trump didn't start until 11pm and, as such, the fireworks display didn't start until the 5th of July. Though the scale of it meant that they're still cleaning the detritus out of the Reflecting Swamp and most of the rest of the city centre (I mean detritus from the fireworks, not the speech, just to be clear).

There were also the 200 or so fully masked, white supremacists walking through the city with Confederate flags, for that real "We are one people" vibe.

Trump also managed to drag the World Cup into another mire, by personally intervening in the case of an American player being given a red card, which means an automatic send off an one game suspension, which was then reversed by FIFA (an unheard of event). The global reaction was, shall we say, not supportive of this move, even if America then did go on to lose the match and be out of the competition.

In good news on the UK front, Nigel Farage is under multiple investigations for accusations of not being open about his finances, which seem dubious to say the least.

My Adventures with Superman gave us another new Super, who looks like Kon-El, sounds like Kon-El and acts like Kon-El, but is actually Jon-El... well, a Jon Kent from the future.

Given "Kara adapts to modern day Earth" is already a story arc, this seems an odd choice. We do get confirmation of the big bad though, Hank Henshaw's Cyborg Superman... a character I wish I had ever actually found interesting, but maybe this show will do something fascinating with it (at least it's not Doomsday, I guess)

A new EP of re-recorded Jem tracks dropped, with Britta Phillips recreating the singing voice of Jem again for four of the classics

And to end on a suitable bit of cheerful absurdity, Hasbro are releasing a Scooby Doo/Transformers Collaboration. The Mystery Machine becomes Mysterious Prime, with four interchangeable heads (Though sadly, probably not Headmasters) and Automutt a robotic Great Dane that turns into a box of Scooby Snacks.

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https://www.darthsanddroids.net/episodes/2801.html

Episode 2801: Tumble Me Into Some Loathsome Pit

Again with the falling down a pit! You gotta admit, it's a classic, though.

Sprinkle pits through your adventures. You don't even have to have any plans for them. The players will find ways to use them, or toss enemies down them, or fall down them themselves, trust us.

aurilee writes:

Commentary by memnarch (who has not seen the movie)

Well then! No Kylo interruption for Rey. Rather a fitting end for him too, I think. The only thing that was missing was a lightsaber strike before he fell down the fissure. That would have matched up so well with Han Solo's death, not to mention all the other people Kylo's cut down over the movies. It is rather odd that there's suddenly a fissure in the room though. I don't think I saw anything that could be a giant hole in the ground in the previous comic pages.

As much as I'd like to see where things go from here, I think we're going to jump back to the space fight. Or the fight on a space ship. This feels like the point where a scene change would happen at least. Plus, since Rey isn't able to do anything at this point, we're going to need to set up a way for the interruption or rescue to happen. I still think that falling debris from an overhead ship explosion would be a very amusing way for that to happen, as long as it's not too overdone.

Transcript

https://www.darthsanddroids.net/episodes/2801.html

sovay

Rewatching John Carpenter's Starman (1984) in full for the first time in decades reminded me of the odd, small cycle in American science fiction of its decade with their almost folkloric exploration of passing for human—learning what it is to be human, which is never required to mean replicating it perfectly. Jeff Bridges as the Starman retains his slight, birdlike glitches of movement and artifically accurate cadences to the last. His eidetic mimicry of television fills in for the cultural tics and expectations he has not yet worked out the rules of, but whose pattern he can reproduce well enough for normal social weirdness. It took me well into adulthood to understand the humor of the scene in Splash (1984) in which Madison is initially upset by a shootout in an episode of Bonanza because that extra-diegetic awareness of acting which a slightly nonplussed Allen explains to her was exactly how I learned to separate my own emotional reactions from fictional images that similarly disturbed me. The Brother from Another Planet (1984) and The Hidden (1987) would be the other titles that come to mind; I may be overlooking others, but the superficial appearance of Earth-humanity is a necessary criterion. Of course they are immigration stories, too, or so many of our heroes wouldn't have an inimical government on their tails. Madison and the Brother even make their respective landfalls at Ellis Island. I would love to be able to interpret this strain as a rebuttal to the paranoia of so much of the previous generation's science fiction where the federal government, fueled by the Cold War and the Red and Lavender Scares, was fully justified in blowing the aliens away, but I might need a larger sample set. I can at least track that the nonhuman characters under discussion are just trying to get on with their own lives, whose cosmically personal stakes are love or freedom or knowledge. "I make maps," the Starman explains himself. They feel more like Zenna Henderson's People stories than even something like The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976). I saw three of them as a small child. It was a useful additional reinforcement of the different ways to be a person.

Current Music: Bridget St John, "Ask Me No Questions"

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There Is No Antimemetics Division (2025) by QNTM. It's hard to research stuff that resists being remembered. Who knows what it might be getting up to that you've forgotten?

This is the pro-published version of what was originally an SCP serial story published online. I could definitely feel the SCP influence, but I didn't mind it, although it's still wild to me that SCP has narrative now. Back in my day it was only the wiki! *shakes cane*

Anyway, this is a series of chapters that build on each other but connect a little more loosely than a conventional novel. Many chapters are about the UK branch of a worldwide organization researching all sorts of Weird Shit (tm) and specifically the woman in charge of the division on stuff that resists remembering, ie the Antimemetics Division. Some chapters are about her husband. Some are about other random people in the organization. The first chapter is one of those and is a great introduction to the universe and the whole concept; if you're on the fence about the novel as a whole, give that first chapter a try. That segment would make a fantastic standalone short film.

Due to the Weird Memory Shit (tm), many of the characters are totally ignorant of the events from one chapter to the next, even if they were involved in all of them, which makes for some great dramatic irony, especially as we get deeper into the novel and the true threat becomes more apparent. ( spoilers )

Overwall, a quick read and a good time. I look forward to rereading it more slowly now that I know what's coming.

--

Harvest Home (1973) by Thomas Tryon. A man and his family escape soul-crushing NYC to an idyllic New England hamlet that still keeps to the old ways--which are, it turns out, not so idyllic after all.

Yes, this is folk horror. In fact it might be the folk horror novel. All the basic stuff you think of is here: outsider fleeing the evil city for the wholesome countryside, idealized rural setting, quaint but then toxic cultural traditions, eventual murder. This is not a case where a genre grew and expanded on the kernel of an idea, or if it did, this is the expansion and not the kernel. The classic tropes and themes of the genre are all fully realized here, described in exhaustive detail. The setting is Connecticut, but the traditions are originally Greek by way of Cornwall, so you do get the British element of folk horror. There's also a developmentally disabled child who acts as oracle, and now I wonder if that aspect of Midsommar was referencing this novel specifically, or if it became a thing in folk horror, and I just haven't encountered it in other things yet.

It's fascinating to me that this came out the same year as The Wicker Man and has some of the same themes, and I wonder what was in the water that led to their parallel evolution. It's also really interesting to me that The Wicker Man was very difficult to access for decades and gained cult classic status via illegal copies, but is now acknowledged as an all-time classic, while Harvest Home was a bestseller but has now, I think, sunk into relative obscurity.

(There's an amazing quote from Stephen King on wikipedia from a 1976 review he wrote for the NYT:

It isn't a great book, not a great horror novel, not even a great suspense novel ... Never mind the best seller list. Mind this, instead: Sentence by sentence, paragraph by paragraph, it is a true book; it is an honest book in the sense that it says exactly what Tryon wanted to say. And if what he wanted to say wasn't exactly Miltonian, it does have this going for it: in forty years, when most of us are underground, there will still be a routine rebinding once a year for the library copies of Harvest Home".

Now he's a household name who will blurb pretty much any horror novel under the sun, and meanwhile the only copies of this novel in my library system were ebooks.)

Anyway, I enjoyed this quite a bit. As implied by the King review, this is a leisurely book that takes its sweet time introducing us to the entire village and all its quaint ways, most importantly its seasonal festivals that culminate in Harvest Home, which involves the Harvest Lord (elected every seven years) and the Corn Maiden whom he selects. Along the way we spend time with important figures such as the homespun yet venerable Widow Fortune and Worthy Pettinger, a youth with big ideas about modernizing the local agriculture.

We see all this from the first person perspective of family man and aspiring artist Ned Constantine, who has moved his impressionable wife and severely asthmatic daughter to the village. Ned is the kind of guy who meets his wife by overhearing her talking to her friend in the Louvre and butting in to correct her pronuciation. Beth is, I guess, the kind of woman who falls in love with the kind of guy who does that. The book opens with Ned lustfully appreciating how his wife looks in her nightgown, which is exactly as awkward and offputting as you would expect from a male author writing a male character in the 70s. Ned also continually declines to share any of his growing concerns about the village with Beth out of concern that her delicate sensibilities can't handle them. His and the book's attitude towards women gets even worse when he starts inching towards unfaithfulness with the village ~hussy. Basically Ned is kind of the worst, especially as the book goes on. I frankly can't remember the last time I enjoyed a book this much while growing to loath the main character this much, apparently against the intent of the author.

Ned is also dumb as a bag of hammers. His driving motive through most of the book is to discover what happened thirteen years earlier to unfortunate young suicide Grace Everdeen, and yet he is hilariously incurious about anything else happening in the village that he doesn't see as directly tied to this. Furthermore, confusingly, this mystery is not really part of the main plot except as the reader's way into the village's darker underbelly, and the final reveal of what happened to her is frankly baffling as a narrative choice. (It turns out she ( Read more... )

Anyway, ( big spoilers )

Overall a fascinating piece of horror history that I genuinely enjoyed. Now I want to read more early folk horror.

muccamukk

Reconciliation Theatre: Women of the Fur Trade.
I caught this recently and loved it. Wonderful local cast, fast paced and funny. I think it'll be in Victoria in the fall, if people aren't around for the list of tiny smol towns it's hitting this month.

Keep Android Open: Your phone is about to stop being yours.
Starting September 2026, a silent update, nonconsensually pushed by Google, will block every Android app whose developer hasn't registered with Google, signed their contract, paid up, and handed over government ID. Every app and every device, worldwide, with no opt-out.

tulipathy on BlueSky: Thread About GenAI in Heated Rivalry fanfic [ETA: Need to be logged in to read, very brief summary in comments].
I'd been hearing rumblings about this for a while, but I guess it's broken open now. How depressing for the fans.

icon_uk posting in

scans_daily

News courtesy of 2000AD

( Let's Rock and Ride! )

sovay

I will be at Readercon! Observe my schedule.

Reading: Sonya Taaffe
Friday 12 pm
Sonya Taaffe

Current forecast: new and uncollected poetry.

100 Years of Lud-in-the-Mist
Friday 2 pm
Casella Brookins, Graham Sleight, Greer Gilman, Lila Garrott (m), Sonya Taaffe, The joey Zone

Lud-in-the-Mist was published 100 years ago, the last of three novels Hope Mirrlees would write. Reprinted without authorization in 1970 in the Ballantine fantasy series, Lud-in-the-Mist influenced many contemporary writers, such as Michael Swanwick and Elizabeth Hand. What power does this novel still hold today, and how did a once-forgotten work come to be so well-remembered?

Classical Reception in Contemporary SFF
Friday 4 pm
Alexander Jablokov, Lila Garrott, Sonja Ryst (m), Sonya Taaffe, Tom Doyle

Greco-Roman and especially classical Roman culture are alive and well in recent and current SFF, from the seemingly ubiquitous Imperium to the pastiche of Pliny the Younger that opens Kai Ashante Wilson's The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps. Why do we keep reaching not only for the classics but for the classical? And why does it all feel so current?

Why "Morally Gray" Characters Get All the Love
Friday 7 pm
Elizabeth Bear, Melissa Caruso (m), P. Djèlí Clark, Sonya Taaffe, Sunny Moraine

Why is everyone so in love with "morally gray" characters now? Are we seeking to understand the complexity of the human soul, escape hero/villain stereotyping, or is it something else? Are morally gray characters really more interesting to write and read, or has moral clarity simply gone out of vogue? Is a morally gray character just a villain with a redemption arc?

The Bog Body Motif in Trans SFF
Saturday 1 pm
Ann LeBlanc, dave ring (m), Sonya Taaffe

Izzy Wasserstein's poem, "Come Back Wrong" (Strange Horizons, May 5, 2025), examines medical transition, drawing parallels with the transformation of sacrificial bodies tossed into acidic bog soils and left there for centuries to tan to leather. The bog body motif seems to pop up again and again in queer and especially trans SFF stories, songs, and games. Why? What is so appealing about the bog body as a metaphor, and what does the repeated use of this imagery indicate about the times we live in?

SFF and Queer Cultural Memory
Saturday 6 pm
David Gerrold, Ian Muneshwar (m), Sonya Taaffe, Susan Stinson, Victor Manibo

Much has been written about the losses to queer cultural memory wrought by both repression and AIDS. From Nazi burnings of research to yesteryear's censorship and today's book and social media bans, repressive movements have long tried to prevent queer narratives from emerging. What role has SFF played in preserving queer cultural knowledge? How have queer writers and readers changed SFF, and how has SFF changed us in return?

The Odyssey in 2026
Sunday 11 am
Charles Allison (m), Kate Nepveu, Kenneth Schneyer, Sonya Taaffe

Homer's Odyssey is having a moment: a new major translation by Daniel Mendelsohn (following other major ones by Emily Wilson and Peter Green), a recent movie starring Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche (The Return), a musical adaptation that is a social media sensation (Epic), and a forthcoming blockbuster movie written and directed by Christopher Nolan. What aspects are these translations and adaptations highlighting compared to past versions, and what elements are ripe for more attention?

Reckoning at 10
Sunday 12 pm
Corey Farrenkopf, Marissa Lingen, Michael J. DeLuca (m), Sonya Taaffe

Reckoning launched its first issue at Readercon 27, back in 2016. Join Reckoning contributors and staff in celebrating ten years of creative writing on environmental justice with readings of work from the new issue and highlights from the past.

After an unbroken run from 2004–19, I have been out of the Readercon loop since its virtual edition in 2021 thanks to a combination of pandemic and personal medical disaster. Am I returning in good health? Hell, no, but I am returning. Who may I expect to see there?

Current Music: Tim Eriksen & Peter Irvine, "Boston"

brerrabbit posting in

scans_daily

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classicfilmex posting in

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sunnymodffa posting in

fail_fandomanon

To commemorate our 2500th FFA post on Dreamwidth - and meme's 16th birthday - this is a special standalone prompt!fest post.

Fanfic, origfic, fanart, and original art are all welcome, as are multiple fills.

RULES:

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If the characters in your fill could possibly be 17-or-under, but possibly not? Vague it up and post it here!

Body fluids: All allowed. Any kinks involving bodily excretions should be behind a clearly-labeled cut.

Long fic: Use a bumper comment before posting a long fill in reply to a threadstarter prompt, and use a cut for longer fills. Here's the spoiler-cut code:

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Nonnies are welcome to repost unfilled prompts from any of meme's previous prompt & fill fests:
Post #1000, FFA's 10th anniversary, Post #1500, & Post #2000.

Prompts can be specific to a fandom / characters / pairing / scenario, or you can make general requests for a kink / trope / dynamic / setting, etc.

Prompts can go in a standalone thread, or within a directory thread dedicated to one particular fandom / scenario / kink.

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OPEN now for PROMPTS & FILLS! There is a prompts index and a fills index

Regular post #2500 is here.

soc_puppet

Falling briefly down the rabbit hole of hex quilts, with a brief detour to make new arm-and-backrest covers for the family recliners.

(Fic for Pod Together is mentally outlined; I hope to block out time in the library this week to get some actual writing done.)

Edit: Post with hexagonal craft and art references by

ysabetwordsmith

Current Mood: artistic

rocky41_7

I've been re-reading She Who Became the Sun and man I do forget how intense it all is. Collected thoughts from tumblr posts

The dynamic with Esen, Ouyang, and Baoxiang all having grown up together and been raised by Chaghan is actually insane. It's no wonder every conversation between two or more of them feels like taking constant psyche damage. Ouyang, who is physically incapable of being the kind of man Chaghan wants and also is the son of a famous traitor and is Nanren to boot (no matter how well he strives for Mongol ideals); Baoxiang, who is half Nanren but also half Mongol yet simply refuses to even try to be the kind of man Chaghan wants (and isn't even Chaghan's real kid); and sandwiched between them, Esen, who with a minimum of effort is exactly the kind of man Chaghan wants but is utterly incapable of understanding how anyone can fail to be that kind of man. Of course Ouyang and Baoxiang can't fucking stand each other, and adore and resent Esen in almost equal measure. Chaghan could not have created a better pressure cooker for intra-familial violence if he'd done it on purpose.

Chaghan is so stupid man TT_TT He could have had it all, Esen kicking ass in the field and Baoxiang at home killing it on administrative management and they could have made Henan the only profitable province in the Yuan if he had just let both his sons do what they were good at. Instead he has to have a complex about Baoxiang not wanting to be in the army, and refuse to see any value in what he does for the Yuan. Everything Baoxiang says in his last fight with Chaghan is true! He does keep Henan running, far more than Esen and Ouyang with their armies! But Chaghan refuses to see that because he will only acknowledge one right way to be a Mongol, to be a man.

Sometimes I think about the fact that we literally never learn Ouyang's given name; that man's whole identity was his family and their legacy and it destroyed anything of him that was him alone. He never uses it no one else ever uses it. Did it matter to him? I would argue no but we don't know. Even after wining the tournament (quite handily) at the spring gathering and being presented to the Grand Khan himself, he elides his given name when introducing himself, choosing instead to use only his notorious family name.

sunnymodffa posting in

fail_fandomanon

Sixteen going on ~~seventeen~~ two and a half thousand.

All the fail_fandomanon Rules and Information (and Ban Requests): https://fail-fandomanon.dreamwidth.org/1076.html. The short version: no embeds, don't out people's real names, don't be that much of an asshole, body fluids are off topic, Mods reserve the right to freeze, screen, and delete the fuck out of stuff. FFA discussion covers a wide variety of topics and has a very flexible view of 'fandom' that includes politics, current events, and cooking techniques. FFA is a Choose NOT to Warn experience. Meme away.

Other posts on meme:

Personal Issues, Off Topic Conversation, Religion, & Everything Else post (PP #32)
Fic and WIP Post
Book Clubs, Watchalongs, & Readalongs
Prompt & fill fests: for FFA Post #1000, FFA's 10th anniversary, FFA Post #1500, & FFA Post #2000

Search

Unofficial FFA archive & search: Dememe.info Username/password pairs are nonnie/pony, nonny/seal, or ayrt/velociraptor. As of 2025, Dememe is geoblocked for the UK.
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Post 2500 prompt & fill fest OPEN now! There is a prompts index and a fills index.

kingstoken posting in

fancake

Fandom: Our Flag Means Death
Pairings/Characters: Izzy/Ed, Izzy/Ed/Stede
Rating: E
Length: 31,803 words
Creator Links: redshift
Theme: Unreliable narrator

Summary: Izzy has spent years at Edward's side. The occasional petal here and there, the intermittent rasp that makes itself a permanent home in the hollows of his throat, the cough that comes and goes; it's all worth it, to be the person Ed turns to. It's a price he pays willingly.

Now, though. Now, Izzy knows what love looks like on Edward Teach, and it is soft and sweet and open and nothing like what Izzy has ever been able to give. Izzy's place is at Edward's side, and it's killing him.

That's okay. He's always wanted to die for something that matters.

Reccer's Notes: Izzy has hanakaki disease, and I love how the author writes it likes it's an almost chronic illness. Izzy is an unreliable narrator in how he thinks about Ed and Stede and their motivations. We as the reader can tell by their actions that their intentions are not what Izzy probably thinks, but Izzy's thought's are very much coloured by the experience he is going through and he's not seeing things for how they truly are, and of course he refuses to talk to Ed about his feelings and what going on, which only makes everything worse.

One note, this is canon-divergent after season one.

Fanwork Links: AO3

kalinara posting in

i_read_what

So last time, we met an assassin with a particularly novel way of killing a target. I'm intrigued to see where we go with that.

( We're at the beginning really, so not much else to say. )

thanekos posting in

scans_daily

The series is a solicited four issues, a focus on the subtitular support squadron.

Issue #1's a solo story for the squadron's leader of the same alias, of course bringing up his secretly being related to one of the Science Ninja Team.

Issue #2's Red Impulse and one of his two wingmen from the series.

( Red Impulse and the other one is this month's issue #3. )

Current Music: Redeye - Ian Ewing

sovay

The rain actually washed a solid twenty degrees off the heat, leaving an unobjectionably haze-whitened summer through which one may walk without courting a flashover event. The bush of lavender that overhangs the sidewalk up the block was thick with honeybees and bumblebees. They hummed around my shoulders and hands as I moved with the camera. I thanked them for their time and close-ups. No one stung me.

Thanks to a pre-Fourth article on shape note, I have discovered Tim Eriksen and Peter Irvine's Absence and her sister (2026), whose release I had missed earlier this spring. It is the haunted banger one would expect from two-thirds of a band who cautioned a folk-punk generation not to stick knives in babies' heads.

Current Music: Tim Eriksen & Peter Irvine, "I Wish the Wars Were All Over"

yourlibrarian

1) Saw Project Hail Mary and had no idea it was a comedic buddy film with pathos. ( Read more... )

2) Also saw Sheep Detectives. ( Read more... )

3) Switzerland vs. Algeria. ( Read more... )

Spain versus Austria. ( Read more... )

Portugal versus Croatia. ( Read more... )

Australia versus Egypt. ( Read more... )

Argentina versus Cape Verde. ( Read more... )

Finally the round of 32 ends with Ghana vs. Colombia. ( Read more... )

Paraguay versus France. ( Read more... )

Canada versus Morocco. ( Read more... )

Poll #34806 Kudos Footer-596

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Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 6

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Kudos!
6 (100.0%)

snickfic posting in

recthething

Some vid recs at my journal, including Dune, Stoker, and a wild assortment of horror movies on the themes of 80s summer horror, southern gothic horror, and 70s domestic/reproductive horror.

snickfic

It's becoming harder and harder to find vids that suit my oldschool tastes. "Edits" full of spoken dialogue just don't hit the same. 😔 But here are some great ones I've come across in the past while.

Everybody Wants to Rule the World by

AP, Dune 2021. The song that launched a thousand vids, but here's another one, and it's perfect here. On theme, and Lorde's slow, ominous beat and rising tension perfectly suits all Villeneuve's long, solemn, glorious shots.

i'm so sorry by

heywinchesterr, Stoker 2013. Song is I'm So Sorry by Imagine Dragons. ngl as soon as I saw the SPN username I knew I was in good hands. I love a cheeky off-genre song choice, and the vidder here does a lot of fun things with the beat. Great editing, really fun use of slow-mo, and this movie is basically a feature-length series of viddable imagery, so really it's hard to go wrong, although it does end a little abruptly. (I'm still working on a Youtube deep dive for vids for this movie; if you have recs, please link me!)

Now for some vids that mash up a lot of sources. (What are those called?)
Is It My Body by

Tafadhali, 70s reproductive/domestic horror. Song by Emilie Autumn. Unsettling in all the right ways. Horror movies have been telling stories about female bodily autonomy for a long long time.

80s horror summer by

legallybrunette1997. Song is Cruel Summer by Bananarama. Some 70s horror in there too. If you want to get in the mood for some sweaty retro horror, this is the vid for you. Just sheer fun.

SOUTHERN GOTHIC by

legallybrunette1997. Song is The Taste of Blood by Sqürl. This is almost six minutes over a totally instrumental song, which is a very hard sell for me, but I was totally enthralled the entire time. What a gorgeous ode to southern gothic horror. I recognized a few of the sources (including brand new Is God Is), but I clearly need to watch a LOT more in this genre. CW for animal butchering from about 2:21 to 2:36.

delphi

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umadoshi

Reading: I eked it out for fully half of the year, but a couple nights ago I finished reading Robin Wall Kimmerer's Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants, which was wonderful.

Watching:

scruloose and I watched the first episode of Widow's Bay, and I sure hope I'm not supposed to find anyone likeable so far. ("Likeable characters" is not a requirement for me to enjoy a show, but it sure does help.) We know the new season of Silo has started up, so hopefully we'll get to the season premiere sometime this coming week.

Weathering: The heat wave seems to have broken here. It's still hot in the forecast, but much more reasonably so.

Eating: It was a couple weeks ago now, but we ordered from bb.q Chicken again with Kas and I need to report that the "Cheesling" chicken (which the website just describes as "Dusted in a rich medley of sweet cheeses", but I think the order link mentioned mascarpone and cheddar) and it was so good.

More recently, we tried haskap berries for the first time! This particular pint of them, at least, were a lot like significantly-tart blueberries; I don't feel a burning need to have them again when I could just get blueberries, but I enjoyed them.

Yesterday we bought a pint of Shaker Lemon ice cream made by a local creamery and ate it with the strawberries we brought home. (I had to look up what "Shaker Lemon" actually means, and the first hits I saw were all about pie, but I assume it's the same principle of "made with entire lemons, other than the seeds".) (Also, I know we had this ice cream once before, in a summer when we got both it and the lemon ice cream on offer from another local creamery, but all I could remember was that the two were very different, and this one was available, so we clearly had to retry it For Science.)

Current Mood: groggy

neonvincent

I used a video of the full song for More fun with wombats and ice cream on Souther 2026. Next year.

Watch on YouTube

Current Mood: full
Current Location: House in the woods at the edge of town
Current Music: Dinomite Twins Twitch Stream

profiterole_reads

Any Human Power by Manda Scott was awesome! A ghost watches over her family as her grandchildren start a revolutionary movement against the patriarchy and the corruption of democracy.

It has beautiful prose like an old-school novel. I was especially interested in the activism plotline, though it stops at a random place (not a cliffhanger, don't worry). The book isn't listed as part of a series on Goodreads, but I've found mention of a sequel on the author's website, so that makes more sense.

The grandmother is a lesbian, one of the grandchildren is aroace and probably on the autism spectrum, the twins are part of a polyamorous community, and a few more characters are also queer.

pilesofnonsense posting in

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teres posting in

i_read_what

Chapter Seven | Chapter Eight (Part II)

A good day, everyone, and welcome back to Lord Foul’s Bane! Last time, Covenant raped Lena, the young girl from Mithil Stonedown he’d befriended, for no apparent reason other than that the author wanted Covenant to be hatable.

( The first quest of this book gets underway, at long last! )

Current Mood: excited

tropicsbear

⚠️ Series warnings (not discussed in detail in this entry): Chickens boinking (with humans voice acting this in an exaggerated, humorous way); non-sexual nudity (though the demons don’t have genitalia); blood

Personal rating 8/10

Niwatori Fighter first crossed my radar when I spotted the manga a couple of years ago as I idly browsed through the shelves of Fully Booked. I was immediately intrigued because it reminded me of a conversation I had with some of my college animanga orgmates way back when about local games and/or sports that we thought would make for good animanga (in this case, sabong/cockfights).

(Disclaimer: None of us are into sabong; it just came up because it’s very much a part of life here. Like, it’s very normal to see vacant lots in residential areas with little individual coops for gamecocks.

A quick peek at the blurb on the back of the manga revealed that the story wasn’t about anything as mundane as a rooster fighting other roosters; it was about a rooster fighting against demons and saving humanity. V01 was instantly added to my TBR pile because it sounded like the exact combination of silliness and action that I enjoy.

Imagine my surprise when I saw a trailer for an anime adaptation earlier this year. I didn’t know if the manga was any good or not—because my TBR pile is eternal and unmovable—but the premise seemed to me like the kind of thing that the general public wouldn’t be into enough to gain momentum for an anime. (As of writing, I haven’t really seen any posts about the series aside from a couple of mentions on anime_manga.)

I’ve completed S01 and my verdict is: I enjoyed this much more than I thought I would, and I’m glad I managed to convince a couple of officemates to give this a shot so I have someone to talk to with about it 😂

Niwatori Fighter, in a nutshell, is about Keiji the rooster’s quest for revenge on the demon that killed his sister, Sara. Demons in this world are closer to kaiju than the demons in Kimetsu no Yaiba and are born from humans’ extreme negative emotions.

( Cut for length and spoilers. )

All that to say, I hope this gets a S02 and the manga has moved up my TBR pile.

Random stuff:

I like that people randomly turning into demons seems to be par for the course. Authorities have even got pre-recorded emergency broadcasts that they play when a new demon pops ups.
Endlessly amused by that episode where Elizabeth outed Keiji as a “manwhore” and all the pigeons that thought he was cool were immediately turned off 😂

yehaw posting in

queerly_beloved

July 5th 11:30 AM Pacific start time (Eastern 2:30 PM, Central 1:30 PM, Mountain 12:30 PM). Link will be emailed to you when you sign up. Free Tickets on OneFreeCommunity.com

Weekend description:
Get ready to join us for an unforgettable experience at our upcoming Accessible Virtual Pride on July 4-5, 2026! We’re thrilled to invite you to a celebration of diversity, inclusivity, and love, uniting the LGBTQAI2S+ community and our allies in a safe and COVID-conscious environment. Produced by Calling Up Justice and One Free Community. Our event is dedicated to promoting justice and accessibility, ensuring everyone can participate regardless of their ability to attend in person. Inspired by the story of “Stone Soup,” every aspect of this event is a labor of love, with volunteers dedicating their time and talents to create something truly special. https://callingupjustice.com/accessible-virtual-pride-2026/

🏳️‍🌈 Are you frustrated by the inability to attend Pride events in person due to a lack of masking in your communities?
🌈 That’s why we produced Accessible Virtual Pride Celebration: Uniting Covid Cautious LGBTQAI2S+ and Allies!
🗓️ Date: July 4-5, 2026 🎉 Produced by: Calling Up Justice and

onefreecommunity

Register & Donations: https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/accessible-virtual-pride--2026
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