The Optimistic Authour

Okay, I gotta admit I'm actually still having trouble following exactly how this would work...

hmmm... we haven't really expanded upon various recipes for ink, except for when Tartah was explaining everything.

Makes me wonder if there was a spell that could be drawn with some kind of additive - perhaps something involving Silverwood itself - that could exterminate it from the system.

...............................

that sounds an awful lot like medicine in general.

.......................................

I wonder. I wonder if medicine is forbidden for witches......because... they might use it to stop the parasitic hosting of Silverwoods? It's a long shot but it WOULD endanger their primary resource (spell ink)

WAS it over and over again? Or was it once? Has Beldaruit done it before? Unlikely. Why does Qifrey think this happened multiple times, if, presumably, he wouldn't be able to remember?

I'm honestly still confused about why erasing OLLY'S memory makes the anxiety continue. Especially with the fact that it was, in fact, consensual. In fact, Qifrey is just getting confirmation that he WOULD go this far for him. Isn't that, in and of itself, a comfort?

Or are they just hoping that the pain of never being open with one another again carries them this far?

HMMM. I see.

................OH NO COCO

The pain of knowing that you're surrounded by people who love your ass THIS MUCH but still needing to be constantly dealing with anxiety to live..................tragic.

man..........when qifrey said kids are resilient..............he really did mean himself.

PARTNERS IN PAIN.

aaaAAARRRRRFGGHDGFHGHH

"but I lied"

the LEAVES

After this, chapter 40 hits different AGAIN

"just smile"

Aaaaand then he spent the rest of his adult life fueling his anxiety by running around after the brimmed caps. Knowing that it wouldn't TRULY bring him peace.

"It's my narrative device now"

........aaaand now I have an idea for fanart which I will NOT have time to draw.......

.......................so. in chapter 40.

Was there. A missed scene? Or...did Qifrey just skip a few steps because he knew how it would end, and he didn't want the girls to see?

"don't you even THINK about leaving your husband, you must go back and hurt his feelings again, otherwise it's over for you"

I was gonna make a joke about how this tree thrives on whump, but it's more like.........the tree thrives on comfort fanfics and they're managing to pull off the world's worst slow burn instead.

.....................QIFREY HACKED PARENTING IN ORDER TO FARM MORE ANXIETY?????????????

AND IT BACKFIRED OH NOOOO

........

HE EVEN GOT AN OUTSIDER STUDENT TO GUARANTEE MAXIMUM DISCOMFORT FROM HAVING TO DEFEND HER EXISTENCE FROM WITCH SOCIETY

and instead she turned out to be one of his brightest students, oh noooo

Qifrey wants to fail so badly but he keeps winning instead...

idk if I agree. Some animals, especially prey animals, live in a near constant state of arousal.

But I see the point.

honestly, please someone tell me HOW there's silverwood trees in the Great Hall if they

came from host animals

no one knows how silverwoods actually sprout

It seems impossible

omg tetia.... I luv u. But you're a ray of sunshine, why would Qifrey think you'd give him anxiety? Just by keeping you happy?

Also, wow, it explains why he took Agott in as well (she must be a constant source of stress with her muddled past).

uuurrGHGHGH HIS HEART. HIS HEART ISN'T THERE IN THE TOP PANEL. BECAUSE OLRUGGIO ISN'T THERE, HE DOESN'T REMEMBERERRRRRRRRR

'it was missing' or 'one witch was absent' not 'it was absent' but

wow. they literally found a home and renovated it and decided to raise a family there together, huh.

the tragic part is never knowing whether it's HIM wishing that or some sort of instinct from the seed.

I mean, I know it's likely just him, but.

......Qifrey really is cursed to NEVER be happy, huh.

BABY ALAIRAAAA

But also.

"for as long as I was in the dark, I was happy" means that... somehow... what... the tree wouldn't grow underwater? I'm now wondering if that entire thing is by design, then. The witches hide away underwater not only because of their secrets... but also because they don't want to be TOO close to the Silverwood...?

Actually no, wait. There IS a silverwood tree at the bottom of the ocean. It's in Beldaruit's home, isn't it? Which means Qifrey isn't necessarily safe simply due to being underwater.

Speaking of which. I have been thinking about this more and more.

And it's HIGHLY unlikely that Qifrey is the ONLY person who knows that a Silverwood will only grow from live hosts. It seems like a huge oversight. It's way more likely that the witches who DO know keep it under wraps, for multiple reasons.

Appearances - it feels way darker to realize that ink comes directly from the sap of a parasitic tree which, presumably, feeds on blood to make that sap.

Moralilty - in order to create more trees for more ink production, I'd assume you would need more hosts. Are some hosts prone to creating better sap/ink than others? Is a larger animal going to give you a better tree overall? And most importantly - does a human host provide more potent ink for magic? I don't see why it would, necessarily, but if it DOES.... this then creates the issue of how to keep Silverwoods alive and thriving without sacrificing a whole ton of people to them.

..............perhaps that is already happening in some capacity.

Blood also works kind of as an ink.......perhaps.

????

Profit

The fact that he found information, presumably about the trees, IN the library, means that perhaps not only the Brimcaps are privy to this information.

This is what befuddles me - what do you MEAN he was never meant to be saved?

Because like.

He was, presumably, made into the host on purpose, not accident. Or perhaps it WAS an accident, we don't know.

But he was then sealed away into a box, after having his memory wiped.

WHY?

Either whoever gave him the seed WANTED him to turn into a tree and then erased his memories on purpose, to see how much the effects can be reversed...

OR

The seed was an accident, and the reversal spell was the last resort to, well, SAVE him. And it apparently worked. But then why would he end up in a box?

OR

A mix of these was true, and he sprouted in the 'wrong' location, so they wiped his memory to un-tree him.......and then put him into a box and left him to die in order to...............see what would happen?

Would the tree still grow if he had died without knowing peace?

............................../sighs into hands

What am I supposed to say when people ask 'are Qifrey and Olruggio a thing?'

Because the answer is "no, they can't ever be"

Shirahama has created THE ultimate 'Lovers Cursed To Never Be Together'

I'm gonna go scream into a pillow.

He's making them retreat..........how? Simply by deciding to never tell Olruggio the truth? By depression-maxxing?

Oh FUCK. So Olruggio HAS seen...!

........it's a wonder his body can still function.

Also, HOW is the seed still active if this has happened multiple times?! You gotta quit at some point, no????

.....UUUURRRRRGHHHHHHHHHH.

I'm. pain.

So.......Olly did end up going to the tower after all...?

"I came up with a way to put the anxiety back in you"

what a sentence. Truly only a bff would.

Yeah. Of course.

Worried about what to say? Bring your personal worries about transphobia being signed into law, and trans friends being excluded from public spaces. You are a living person who deserves dignity. Remind your MP of that. On the day, you'll get guidance and brochures from Trans Solidarity Alliance that outlines our demands. This is mine from last year.

Here is an online briefing for lobbyists (10 mins read for essential info, 20 mins for details) Money issues? Trans Solidarity Alliance provides a travel bursary that you can sign up for via the link.

Got a refusal or no response from your MP?  Come anyway! You can request a same-day appointment with your MP through a process called greencarding. They will come and see you if they’re already in Parliament. Even if they don’t, they’re made acutely aware of your cause because you showed up in person. This is my greencard from last year.

Here is the EHRC Code of Practice in full. It's a tough read, but some highlights are:

Organisations can’t provide trans-inclusive, single-sex services, or they risk being sued for discrimination. e.g. domestic violence support for women including trans women, men’s rugby group including trans men (12.68).

Trans people will have nowhere safe to pee. If you’re a trans man, businesses can't allow you to pee in the men's, and you can also be ejected from women’s bathrooms if you’re perceived as a man. Vice versa for trans women. EHRC suggests a ‘third space’ bathroom, which is discriminatory and unworkable for most businesses. (13.130-133)

Sports organisations must exclude trans people from single-sex competitions (13.73).  A women’s only sports competition must exclude trans women because of their biological advantage or face potential lawsuits (13.74), but a trans man who has undergone testosterone treatment can also be excluded based on fairness rules (13.81).

Trans women are stripped of the legal definition of ‘lesbian’, and therefore no longer have legal protections if they’re discriminated against on the basis of sexual orientation. (2.50, 2.92).

Here is the Good Law Project's better explanation of the EHRC Code.

Sign up for the mass lobby and email your MP here, or click the main link above.

If you are not in the UK but want to support the case, please donate to The Good Law Project.