Do you have any Seanan McGuire ships for the ask meme? Or tell me what you're most excited about right now
many ships!! some are more casual ships and some I'm excitably into, especially in the October Daye series.
I like a number of the canon ships there, including Toby/Tybalt, May/Jazz, the Lorden OT3, etc. but extra enjoy reading and writing Gillian/Diva and Chelsea/Gillian. It's a small fandom (518 works on ao3) so I'll read a 99% of ships for it at least once as well!
With Gillian and Chelsea it's very much a thematic parallel as they've both had their first exposure to Faerie be kidnappings so they've got a lot to relate about, but Chelsea embraced life with Faerie and Gilly... has not. They've never met in canon, though.
Gillian/Diva is very much a they have met in canon and have both had trusted people lie to them and both have some outcast stuff going on, and Diva's sweet and Gilly is still kinda bitter about being forced into Faerie. Good stuff.
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Rules: Share the first lines of ten of your most recent fics and tag ten people. If you have written less than ten, donât be shy and share anyway.
tagged by @lenreli :)
tagging whoever wants to do it ~
these are all Sandman and Dreamling fics unless otherwise noted! Starting with the most recent fic. Mind the work tags if you click, etc.
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1. sinking as the light wind lives or dies
Dream's starling wings hurt. They always do. He has not told anyone about the dizzy spells, because it won't change anything. He is fine. There is nothing wrong with him, or rather, most of him is wrong and he is never enough, so there is nothing happening.Â
2. which the waves draw back (October Daye series)
Diva wears her heart on her sleeve. She can't help it. Her mother's cantankerous, sad, and moody; Cousin Annie is a little wistful and melancholic even when she smiles and has a gift for Diva.
3. nephrolithiasis
Dream hugged his side with one arm, which burned with pain, slumping against the toilet. Dizzily, he grasped the edge with his free hand.
4. dust between the stars
The Endless are the wildly disparate children of two beings worshipped as gods in several cultures: a being composed of vast sky and stars, giving an entire solar system their night skies, and a being who exists out of time with the ability to manipulate it at will.
5. one last glimpse of grace
If Dream hadn't turned, the knife would have stabbed him literally in the back. Well. Not the knife. Cori would have. His Cori, though maybe Dream should have seen it coming.
6. a prickling sensation of doom (Gen)
"Ow!" Dream yelped, swatting at the bumblebee that had landed on his arm and stung him. It hurt â a sharp, pricking sensation even as the bee flew away, leaving Dream to stare at the small mark. He shrugged and continued on to the picnic in the park.
7. tooth and claw
The cellar is dank, dark enough that Dream's night vision is having difficulty. Though that might also be from beatings and blood loss. Hob came for him, but now Burgess has captured Hob. But Burgess doesn't know Hob's a vampire. Oh, he knows Dream's a werecat and sorcerer, but he thinks Hob is just an ordinary human. It'll be his fatal mistake.Â
8. my love is there for you (any time of day)
Dream leaned over the toilet, half expecting to vomit, but nothing came out; with a groan he slumped back down, hand over his queasy stomach. His elbow knocked into the toilet paper stand and it fell over with a clatter.Â
9. starlings in winter (Dream/Jessamy)
Dream closed his eyes, breathing as evenly as possible through the pain, and opened them again. "Come in," he called.Â
"Hey, Boss, I have the latest copy on the smaller grant applications â are you okay?" Matthew paused in the doorway.
10. a wave not quite sky or sea (October Daye series)
Gillian's life is pockmarked with what ifs. She wonders if her biological mother, Toby, would have accepted her. Maybe it is better that Toby had left for other reasons already. That when she came back, knocking on the door, she never saw who Gillian became.
these reread notes are from Discord in December 2023. so a lot of the Diva commentary is outdated now that we got confirmation in "Chide the Waves" about what Diva does and doesnât know about her father and about her motherâs past.
but I think itâs still fun to see me (and @sleekit-stoat) speculate about Diva based on the little material we had at the timeâand some of itâs still relevant!
and also, as usual, there are many Liz feelings.
previous Ryans Reread posts:
In Sea-Salt Tears
Drown the Lamenting
oh right this was before the Roane eyes were retconned to be green
One of the few things we know about Diva is âconsistently the first person to answer the doorâ đ
And then she burst into tears, all but flinging herself into the Luidaegâs arms.
âOh, Annie, Annie, is he really gone?â
âHe is.â The Luidaeg patted the girlâs back with her free hand, and said, âDiva, this is October Daye. She was Connorâs sweetheart.â
Diva straightened, not bothering to wipe her eyes. Tears rolled unashamedly down her cheeks as she studied me.
Iâm pretty sure other consistent things are the hugsâphysical affection coming very naturally, itâs her go toâand being very heart on her sleeve. Sheâs definitely not hiding her feelings here.
She also hugs Toby right away, even though theyâve just met, and calls her family. Sheâs the first at the door, the first to welcome people into the house, and is 100% down to adopt a stranger as family (I remember this being the case with Gillian too, but Iâll get there later).
We met Diva at the first landing; she was going down much faster than we were going up, and barely managed to stop herself in time.
Diva runs to the door, runs off to go find her mom, is hurtling down the stairsâthis is where my constant motion comment comes from đ
âHer motherâs a Selkie, and her fatherâs Roane. Theyâre still waiting to see which sheâll take afterâif itâs him, she wonât need one of the family skins.â
Implies that Divaâs transformation magic hasnât yet come in at this point.
sleekit-stoat: and she's 16 then, that's late for a shapeshifter
itâs possible Annieâs not very plugged in to the clan news, but?
also we know now that Aldridge promised Liz that their daughter would never need a skin, so if the magic is that late they might start to get worried, but they might still be reasonably confident sheâd transform eventually. but Annie wouldnât have talked enough to Liz to know what Aldridge said to her.
âAnd Selkies arenât supposed to mate outside the family. Divaâs mother never cared much for rules. Divaâs father . . . well. He was just glad to have a child at all. When youâre on the verge of extinction, youâll take what you can get.â
âyouâll take what you can getâ ouch
you know, this does read as âI am judging that one of my descendants had a kid with a Selkie/Liz specifically but I guess if the opportunity presented itself, you take what you can get, I suppose I canât judge that much.â
even if she doesnât understand how a Roane could ever touch a Selkie
sleekit-stoat: definitely reads like she has no idea about it being a result of prophecy, which makes sense- Liz herself rewrites history as being her the one who went and found Aldridge and the Luidaeg repeats that version to Toby. Once Liz knows the truth about Annie she can probably put the full meaning of his visions together right? As in knowing that Diva's relationship with the Luidaeg is important?
And telling the Luidaeg about it could make it harder for it to actually happen, harder to have your feelings slowly changed if you're Aware of it
ooh true
huh I was headcanoning that she pretends that she was the one who sought out Aldridge bc she doesnât want to admit to her impulsive decision-making (which could still be part of it), but the idea that she wanted to hide the prophecy is an interesting one!
oh now this is making me wonder what sheâs told Diva. because maybe she did fudge the truth to Diva too, to try to avoid having the prophecy hanging over Divaâs head? Not wanting Diva to know that she only had Diva because Aldridge said it was destiny?
sleekit-stoat: there are two halves to the prophecy to be fair- one is that Aldridge foresaw having a kid with her, and I can definitely see her telling that part to Diva and close family, otherwise it would be really hard to explain why she got married to a guy (before any child was conceived) while having no romantic interest in him, but I think she kept the second part secret. It makes sense without it- everyone's like oh that makes sense, the Roane guy would be in favour of that potential kid to keep their whole species going, Liz was up for it because it was a way to cheat around the Choice
This makes sense emotionally, but if her immediate family knows that he was the one who told her âweâre destined to have a kid together,â wouldnât it be odd for her to be spreading the âI sought out this man to have a kidâ story?
sleekit-stoat: There's no need to bring "and she's meant to be the Key to Undoing a Great and Terrible Wrong" into it, which would put pressure on Diva and uh, her induction as clan leader doesn't exactly go well and we know they're vocal about their dislike of her, she probably expects they wouldn't believe her anyway
oh yeah I donât think she would tell anyone thatâDiva doesnât need that on her shoulders and itâs best if Annie not know that, yeah it could interfere with the prophecy
sleekit-stoat: true, it's possible she doesn't tell either part to anyone which uh. will be a surprise for Diva when she does meet her dad
hmm I donât think Liz would want to keep lying to Diva about her own dad? And I imagine Diva would be really curious about him and Liz would want to give her some stories to hold onto.
but maybe she does withhold the prophecies, including about how Diva meets her dad in the future, so Diva has more of a choice? although wait no, I feel like she has to explain the prophecies at least somewhat
because Diva would want to know why her dadâs not around
and that would require explaining that the future said he canât be around
sleekit-stoat: maybe Diva and a few of the older clan members who were there when she came back from the Duchy know the first half and younger clan members who later ask + the other clans and clan chiefs + Toby + the Luidaeg get the "I sought him out" version?
yeah, otherwise her dad just seems like an asshole
yeah â the tricky thing is, wouldnât the Luidaeg have been around Diva enough to hear the actual truth?
sleekit-stoat: Either she mostly avoids talking about Liz with anyone (and some clan members would presumably know they dated once) or she does hear the other version but chooses to believe that one? though that would be weird bc I feel the prophecy one makes more sense, even with changelings it's hard to get randomly pregnant in a short space of time
ooh thatâs another thingâdoes Diva know that they dated? (before the Convocation)
Iâve been writing it as no but youâre right that various clan members would know thatâŠ.but when Diva lets Liz know that Annieâs there (and we see that a couple times) it doesnât feel like she knows this is her momâs ex-girlfriend? It feels like theyâve managed to hide that particular tension from Diva?
and âAnnie avoids discussing Divaâs parents with Diva because sheâd rather not know any details about how Diva came to beâ could be plausible yeah
sleekit-stoat: I think from what we see of her relationship with Annie she definitely doesn't know they had a serious relationship that neither of them have gotten over
she might have heard gossip from others and gathers they dated, but has no idea how serious it is? do we ever see her interact with Liz and Annie at the same time?
the Luidaeg must be a lot politer to Liz when Diva's around or Diva wouldn't like her, but if there's still some kind of noticeable Tension there, it would make sense that she might ask some other clan members what the deal is there?
Weâve never seen Liz and Diva interact, sadly
sleekit-stoat: apart from the post funeral scene, you mean?
thatâs more of a mention than an interaction?
wait which funeral
I was referring to Lizâs dadâs funeral
sleekit-stoat: same, but yeah maybe she doesnt actually say anything, just is described
The mourners were a constant tide, terrifying my daughterâsweet Diva, only seven years old, with her fatherâs huge green eyes and my tendency toward stillnessâand forcing me to answer questions I wasnât yet prepared for.
this is the line
Itâs unfortunate that we never see Liz and Diva in the same scene, it means Iâm doing a lot of guesswork about their relationship.
Itâs weird because in AKF Diva opens the door and then Toby brushes past to her and Toby ends up solely interacting with the other teens, theyâre the ones who bring Liz down, Diva just disappears from the scene.
sleekit-stoat: Diva truly is in charge of the door
mm yeah Diva might think it was more casual and also that things are amicable now, if theyâre good at keeping up an act of politeness when sheâs around
âHello, Lizzy,â she said. âMind if we come in?â
âAs if any could stop you?â asked the woman seated behind the roomâs carved mahogany desk. She looked to be somewhere in her late thirties, with ash-blonde hair that couldnât quite decide between gold and silver, and a Selkieâs characteristic sea-dark eyes. A snifter of what smelled like brandy was in her hand. The light came from the oil lamps set on the deskâs front corners, well away from the papers in front of her, or the books that lined the walls. âCome in, come in, and bring your friend along.â
âItâs still polite to ask,â said the Luidaeg, stepping inside. âLizzy, this is October Daye. October, this is Elizabeth Ryan, current head of this clan.â
And Lizâs first line of her first appearance is about how powerless she is against the Luidaeg. And okay the thing about her de-aging to look like sheâs in her mid-twenties after taking a skin is a later retcon.
Also âitâs still polite to askâ the Luidaeg says, and then pretty immediately discards that politeness.
sleekit-stoat: Good to know my mental image of her as older did come from somewhere
âAnd much grief itâs given me,â said Elizabeth bitterly. She took a sip of brandy. âYou are welcome here, the both of you.â
âNo, Iâm not.â
mmm the clan leadership being a burden, an almost punishment. and Liz still trying to adhere to politeness, maybe because Tobyâs there, but it is very much a lie and truly wild for Toby to just be standing there in the middle of all this unexplained history.
also I remember the first time I read this scene, it threw me so much how the Luidaeg was going around and being so friendly and kind to the rest of the clan and then suddenly switched into âblunt and unyieldingâ mode. Must have been weird for Toby too.
sleekit-stoat: welp yeah poor Toby. She's not been anywhere since Connor died and she lands in the middle of their bitter exes deal with no clue what's going on
âOctober was Connorâs lover, and sheâs Amandineâs daughter. You have a year to notify the clans. Then? Your bill comes due.â
âYou come to me in time of mourning to tell me this?â
âYeah, Lizzy, I do, because this is when youâll listen to me.â The Luidaeg leaned forward, the driftglass haze bleeding from her eyes, replaced by blackness. âI can make the choices for you, but you wonât like them. Tell the clans. One year.â
so many of the Selkies seem to not know what theyâre being called for at the Convocation. but the Luidaeg just says âAmandineâs daughterâ and âthe bill comes dueâ and Liz reacts like she knows what that meansâso presumably the clan leaders do know what the full bargain was, and what the full prophecy was, for Liz to know the implications of âAmandineâs daughter.â
âAnd what do I tell the children for whom there are no skins? What do I tell the parents who have to choose between them? AnnieâLuidaeg, pleaseââ
âYou tell them the truth.â The Luidaeg stood. âIâve been kinder than I had to be. You know that. I didnât have to give you warning.â
This is the part that really stings (this and the next bit). The Luidaeg is in so much pain, but looking at this in the context of âtheyâre ex-girlfriendsâ is. yeah. Your ex-girlfriend emphasizes that youâre at her mercy and should be grateful that she didnât upend your world and force your family members to make terrible choices without warning.
âI liked you better when I was young and foolish and thought you a cousin, sea witch,â said Elizabeth bitterly, reaching for her brandy. I wasnât clear on what was happening, but I was pretty sure that brandy wasnât her first of the night, and it wasnât going to be her last.
âYeah, well, I liked you better when you were young and foolish and called me Annie-my-sweet and danced with me on the beaches,â said the Luidaeg. She stood. âGrowing upâs a bitch, isnât it, Liz? You have a year. October, come on.â
um. âI liked you better when you were young and foolishâ is actually quite a fucked up thing to say. âI liked you better when you were more naĂŻve and easier to lie toâ đŹ
Liz is reminding her that she used to be kinder or at least act nicer and the Luidaegâs response reads like âyeah it was better when you were easier to fool, but now you know who I really am and you just have to deal with it.â And calling Liz foolish for believing Annieâs lies is a cruel thing to say.
sleekit-stoat: especially when there's a thing later about how the Selkies always believe her lies because she's their First, like how Eira's descendants can't disobey her! Liz is magically predisposed to believe her lies, Annie goes to great efforts to keep the lie up, anyone who could tip Liz off is geased not to say anything, plus like. it would be a wild thing to suspect your girlfriend of based off, what? the fact that she's at every skin passing ceremony? her talking vaguely about her parents one time?
Not me trying to write a fake dating fic about Gillian and Diva Ryan where they are trying to provide Cliff with a reason Gilly is spending so much time in Half Moon Bay, post Night and Silence...
and roughly, part of the doc just looks like this:
[Swimming in the sea / crush on Diva]
[Cliff curious about Half Moon Bay / protective / confused
[Miranda: Gilly, you have to tell him something.]
âI have a girlfriend,â Gillian blurted out very fast, face going a little red. Wouldnât she like to have a girlfriend, namely a half-Roane with carnival glass green eyes, but. âIâve been going to visit her, since she doesnât drive.â
[Gilly: Diva, I need you to be my fake girlfriend]
*cue the shenanigans this will be fine what could go wrong*
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