ASHES OF HONOR open thread!

Indeed. They hardly noticed the sun had risen. :)

Another thing I really liked about that scene is that after Toby starts crying during her speech, when Tybalt reaches out to touch her face he doesn't wipe away her tears, because at that moment he needs reassurance from her like she needs it from him. So many authors (not just male ones, either) would've stumbled at that one - by now it's just what I expect when I pick up a book. It's nuances like this one that keep Toby and Tybalt's relationship on a truly equal footing, and it's so incredibly refreshing.

It reminds me of the scene in Late Eclipses that I use as my plug to get all my feminist friends to read the books: when Toby is in hysterics because she thinks she really is going crazy, Tybalt neither 'makes it all better' nor has the reaction of 'oh god hysterical female!' He appeals to her reason, gets upset and worried without flipping out, and refers to still needing her help in a major way. In other words, he continues to engage with her as an equal. That . . . basically doesn't happen in literature. There are so many potential pitfalls in that scene and Seanan avoided every one of them, and she may be the only author I've read who's attempted a scene like that and navigated it perfectly. I'm still floored every time I think about it - let's all cheer for negative space, when what isn't there is more impressive than what is.

Basically I'm a very critical feminist but also a romantic sap, which is why Toby and Tybalt makes me so. Damn. Happy.

(Well, that and the fact that I adore both characters and adore how they are together - but I can love it without caveats. And I don't usually get that chance.)

Indeed. There's no coercion or power differential, which is a rare thing in romantic aspects in books lately. I love how it unfolded, and that we got to see Tybalt's vulnerability.

That's hilarious. I'm not sure what it says that that would have totally flown in my high school's drama program.

But really, thank you for that scene in LE. I described it to a friend of mine and her eyebrows shot up. It's the kind of thing where every other time I come across that type of scene in a work (page or screen) I'm enjoying I end up saying, "Well, and there's that, but it's still awesome." When those moments accumulate it's literary death by paper cuts. So I was resigned, and then it just didn't happen. The dynamic between Toby and Tybalt is just awesome, full stop. And it stayed that way in AoH, so I am full of glee.

(By the way, I was thrilled to meet you, albeit very briefly, at WorldCon at the signing session.)