#ALSO DID CONNOR REALLY HAVE TO DIE TO MAKE WAY FOR TYBALT TIME AS IF HE WASN

[suddenrundown]

me reading one salt sea: oh my god connor go away

connor: *fucking dies*

me: oh no im--that’s not what i meant

[pantherlover]

Rosemary and Rue Re-Read: Part 10

Here’s part 10!  As always: possible spoilers up to Night and Silence!

Chapter 20

It’s so bizarre seeing Toby so freaked out about going to the Luidaeg.  She’s terrified of the idea!  She calls the Luidaeg a demon!  And literally the next book she shows up at the Luidaeg’s house with her favourite donuts to hang out.

[Devin] whispered, “Just don’t.  You can’t thank me and I wouldn’t let you if you tried, so let’s leave it at this: I won’t let you die.  I’m not finished with you.  You have something I need too much for that.”

The sad part about that is that he’s being completely honest.  Although Devin’s not actually that great at picking assassins, if he wants them to torture Toby into telling them where the hope chest is and then kill her.  He’s spending a lot of valuable favours because he can’t be bothered to get reliable henchmen.

Devin lying about telling Sylvester that Toby was okay was actually really smart.  It let Toby think that Devin was on her side, while also making sure that the person who would be most able to help her a) didn’t know where she was, and b) if he went looking for her, stretched his resources out enough that he wouldn’t be as effective.

I’m not sure why Toby mentions Blind Michael as a potential suspect here; as far as I remember, Blind Michael hasn’t been seen in centuries, and this doesn’t fit his reputation at all.  Maybe it was to make sure that readers remember him for the third book?

There was an odd blankness in his eyes.  Before I could really consider what it meant, he continued, “You’re taking Manuel and Dare.”

Toby mentions later when she rides the assassins blood that when Devin’s eyes go blank, it means he’s written someone off and they should already be considered dead.  That makes me think that this look means that he’s categorized Manuel and Dare as acceptable losses, and he intentionally sending them with Toby so that they’ll slow her down.  Fuuuuuuuck yooooouuuuuuu, Devin.

“Once one of my...” [Devin] chuckled.  “You never really left me, did you?”  Given that Dare looks up to Toby because she successfully left you, I’m sure you’d love to think that, Devin.  I don’t know if Devin understands the concept of someone wanting to stay with someone; he spends too much time making sure people need to stay with him.

Toby mentioned how wearing her clothes wasn’t very effective armour, but it was all she had, and my mind immediately went ‘that’s because you don’t have your jacket yet!!!’ and now I’m forcing myself through these parts with Devin by reminding myself that Toby steals Tybalt’s jacket for so long that she now considers it to be hers, and Tybalt lets her.

We know that Manuel really respected Evening, but I really want to know what Dare thought of her.  She doesn’t seem to be nearly as in awe of her as her brother.

Chapter 21

Seeing Toby with Dare and Manuel is really sad.  They want to impress her so much!  Despite Toby’s best efforts, she’s really charmed by them and is already mostly thinking of them as hers!  It’s just - so tragic that their relationship ended the way they did.

Evening was a Countess in name only, with title and land but no subjects.  It might just be me, but it feels like Countess Winterrose is, like, Eira’s sockpuppet account.

I really want to know what Evening’s relationship with the Torquills was like.  How well did she know them that Connor can easily get in?  And that she’d teach him how to turn the lights on in Goldengreen and he didn’t think that was odd?

[Talking about Connor’s arranged marriage to Rayselline]: “That’s not fair.”  “That’s how things are.  My home Duchy needs the alliance, and I’ll do whatever it takes to protect my home.”  He squared his shoulders, and my heart did a stuttering box step.

I’m fairly sure that this is the first moment where Toby reacts to Connor in a way that shows she’s still attracted to him, and the fact that it’s when he’s talking about fulfilling his obligations to his home Duchy says a lot about Toby and her relationship to duty.  (I have A Lot of feelings about Toby, Tybalt, and their relationships to duty/each other, but I’ll talk about that in other book recaps)

I am Not A Fan of Connor trying to push for more from Toby after she told him no.  I think it shows that he doesn’t know her as well as he thinks she does - I don’t think Toby would ever be comfortable cheating with someone (even if it was ‘just’ a political marriage), but if she could be convinced to do so, she wouldn’t be talked into it while she’s on a job.

(I’m not gonna lie, I spent a lot of time during Toby and Connor’s scene thinking, ‘well Tybalt wouldn’t have reacted that way’, ‘Tybalt would’ve handled that much better’ so it’s possible I’m a little biased)

The real reason that Toby and Connor wouldn’t work out; not only did Connor not know that Toby was quoting Shakespeare, he also asked why she was quoting him (as if there’s an inappropriate time to quote Shakespeare. (this was definitely a ‘Tybalt would never’ moment)).  Clearly, they were doomed from the start.

I’m kind of sad that Toby never actually go to search Goldengreen with the key.  I’m willing to bet that Evening kept a lot of things hidden there that you can only find with the key.  (This is now making me think that the key will be making a reappearance at some point)

What was the point of the exit that takes you over the cliff?  Did Evening just want a convenient way to get rid of people, so she created a doorway that she could pitch people through?

Chapter 22

Most people have better things to do than bother Sylvester, who has a history of permanent solutions to temporary annoyances.  First, I really want to know more about Sylvester’s Hero days.  Second, Toby is definitely the daughter that took after Sylvester the most.  I wonder how much that’s going to annoy August if/when she starts interacting with Toby more?

“Sylvester’s gone to challenge Devin for proof that you’re not dead.  I hope you’re pleased with yourself.”  Whyyyyyyy did we never get to see that?!  I hope Sylvester kicked his ass.  (I still want to know what Devin and Sylvester’s relationship was like?  Did they only know each other through Toby, or did know each other from before?)

Dare and Manuel meeting Luna is so - auuuuuuuugh.  They’re so sweet!  And out of their depth!  Why couldn’t they have come to live in Shadowed Hiiiiiiiillllllls

I think Toby protesting visiting the Luidaeg is one of the only times she doesn’t immediately do the craziest thing a situation calls for.  Maybe she thought that since it worked out with the Luidaeg, it would work for everything else too?

Connor turned toward her, eyes wide.  Oh, I forgot that Connor would know the Luidaeg; and have a very, very different relationship with her than Luna.

“You’re too much like your mother.  It’s difficult to believe that you’ve managed to live this long.”  I want to know how people mean this when they say it.  Are they just saying that Amandine is reckless?  Or are they trying to get at something else?

Toby trying to look out for her kiiiiiiiiiiiids.  And they’re helping her get an early start in corrupting Quentin!  (She calls them her kiiiiiiiids WHY did it have to end so BADLY??)

Luna telling Toby to come back safely because she doesn’t want to have to mourn her again is just so - aaaaaaaaauuuuuuuuuuuuuggggghhhh.  They were so sweet!  And now they’re so distanced from each other because of their own choices.  I don’t really know if I ever want them to fix their relationship, but I do mourn what it once was.

That’s it for this recap!  As always, come talk to me about the books!

[moonaft]

Late Eclipses - Reread

Rosemary and Rue

A Local Habitation

An Artificial Night 

As always, spoilers up to The Brightest Fell and the August 2018 for the Patreon stories.

Toby is really getting into her groove with identifying magic scents. 

It’s interesting that her Fetch doesn’t have magic remotely similar to her. Cotton candy and ashes smell nothing like copper pennies and cut grass, and it’s been confirmed that children’s magic smells are a combination of their parents. Though Sylvester’s and Simon’s don’t smell like each other. I guess that means Septimius had a combination like (dogwood or daffodil) and (smoke/apples). The wiki says September had apple blossoms, so it is probably apples for him.

When are we going to get the scoop on Dawn maybe-Winterrose? Nobody post-TWL has even thought about her. Was she actually Evening’s sister, thus making her Firstborn? Is she Evening’s daughter? A random Daoine Sidhe Evening made into family? Patrick knew about her existence in one of his shorts but I can’t remember if her last name was mentioned. It does seem it was common knowledge that the two were sisters, though given what Toby has missed so far, Evening could have claimed they were sisters after Dawn’s death and Toby would never know. 

I suspect Dawn was a piece in Evening’s plot, whatever that is, and losing her set Evening back. 

How do you find a knowe anyway? I think Toby found a piece of land to use as a Shallowing, which is different from the construction of Shadowed Hills and Muir Woods. 

Dugan! That asshole. Can’t remember if he was elf-shot or killed for treason. 

I wonder what would happen if the false Queen had just let Toby play her life out. She’s a changeling, she’ll die soon enough, and die faster with her lifestyle. Problem solved. But no, she had to push and lose everything. 

So October’s a landed Countess and I think she outranks her mother. Simon’s a landless Count which would transfer to Amandine through their marriage. Her tower doesn’t count as land because that’s not where the title is. Literally no one has ever referred to her that way. Weird.

If the Undine are made of water, are they Maeve’s children but not Oberon’s? Like the Merrow are for Titania. 

Hi Walther! Good to have you crash in Toby’s life. 

Why would Amandine approve of Walther being Tylwyth Teg? Is Lilly trying to set them up on her deathbed? 

Marcia’s family “doesn’t even acknowledge [her]”? If Toby’s right that she’s quarter-blood, both of her parents are changelings. Which isn’t to say that they can’t be assholes, but that also fits if Marcia’s actually a banished Titania or Maeve cursed to be mostly human. 

Was it a tourist that scooped her up and into the water, or was it Simon? Could have been either.  Did he get the power to hide the Tea Gardens from fae sight from Evening? 

And Oleander’s pissed because Simon still loves Amandine even if he’s with her. I sincerely doubt Simon sent her. 

At least Toby’s going to get used to the sight of her own blood eventually. 

Hi Jasmine! Do the Raven-dancers pass their fae nature down like the Selkies? Or does each one have their own fae nature? 

What are the “shared elements” of Lilly and Sylvester’s past? That’s never been explained. 

Toby thinks the Three can be found someday, so maybe Maeve’s not dead after all. 

Mad Sylvester is scary. His poor staff :(

Raysel, what do you mean that Sylvester has no named heir? And... she definitely knows who Quentin’s parents are. 

Peri must come from Titania if they have strong illusion magic. 

Apparently Amandine isn’t titled. Either she doesn’t get it immediately because it’s only Simon’s title, or everyone just forgets about it because it’s a landless title from a marriage and means nothing.

Looks like all Undine are technically Firstborn. I don’t think they can have kids at all. 

Poor May. 

Poor Raj. 

Walther is great, I love him so much. 

Fuck you, Dugan.

Poor Spike. 

And now Amandine, pulling the trick that Toby will use on Raysel later. At least three times she made a choice? Did Amandine only try to twist her blood twice as a child? 

Poor Toby and her dad. I wish Amandine had kept a picture of Jonathan. 

I think this is the only good thing Amandine has done for her daughter. 

Fuck you, Dugan. You and the false Queen with you.

Quentin, you are a good not-yet-squire. You and Connor make a good team. Who actually planned this escape? Quentin didn’t know about his parents’ pardon yet, and I think it’s him.

Poor Manuel. What’s the death count in this book so far? 8?

Etienne, you need to loosen up. I’m glad your family shows up in a few books.

Interesting - Sylvester’s implying he could forgive Simon for turning Toby into a fish but not for kidnapping Luna and Raysel. I really want the timeline for when everybody met. I had the impression that Simon and Amandine married sometime in the 1800s but I can’t place when Shadowed Hills was built. 

Right, this is the first of Sylvester’s lies to Toby and he isn’t coming clean about the other stuff until he has to. He should have come clean about August, Simon, and Amandine long before - but that’s not who he is. Sweep everything under the rug and try to forget about it. 

So Oleander was involved in the plot to kidnap Luna and Raysel - that wasn’t just Simon. 

Let’s see what I can get from her ramblings: she wanted children with Simon and considered Amandine having a changeling as stealing a kid from Simon since he’s legally Toby’s father under fae law. In Oleander’s mind, that meant Simon couldn’t have a child with her. And she implies Toby’s existence broke Simon somewhat even though he’s been with her since August disappeared half a century earlier. 

Simon at least seems to have wanted to raise Toby. 

It seems like Oleander knows something about Amandine’s line and implies that Amandine’s blood caused the disappearance of the Three. Her mother, or someone else in that family? Or did Oleander mean Oberon as the traitor? Her dying words imply some grasp of prophecy. 

OK, what was the Luidaeg doing in this book?  

Huzzah, Acacia is the best. She is such a wonderful ally now that we are slowing losing Luna as a friend.

What was Simon up to during this book? He disappears completely between the pond and showing up on Toby’s doorstep in The Winter Long. He definitely didn’t hang around with Raysel. Oh Toby, Oleander was not that surprised that Raysel killed her. She knew what she was getting into.  

I still don’t think Toby knows that Tybalt used to spend a lot of time with the Torquill siblings. 

What did Aethlin and Maida think when Sylvester asked for Toby’s pardon? They must have known about the incident from Quentin’s letters well before this book. And I still want to know what exactly Quentin’s been writing home.

The only reason Simon’s going to be unhappy at Oleander’s death is because he didn’t get to kill her himself. 

Body count for this book is at least 9: the six Cait Sidhe, Manuel, Lilly and Oleander. 

Next book is One Salt Sea and we met my favorite couple of Dianda and Patrick. More good, powerful allies for Toby!