Seanan McGuire (seanan_mcguire) wrote,
Seanan McGuire
seanan_mcguire
  • Mood: geeky
  • Music: Delta Rae, "Bottom of the River."

"Rat-Catcher" open thread.

I have been asked to create an open thread for discussion of "Rat-Catcher." So here you go: here is an open thread.

THERE WILL BE SPOILERS.

Seriously. If anyone comments here at all, THERE WILL BE SPOILERS. So please don't read and then yell at me because you encountered spoilers. You were warned. (I will not reply to every comment; I call partial comment amnesty. But I may well join some of the discussion, or answer questions or whatnot.) I will be DELETING all comments containing spoilers which have been left on other posts. No one gets to spoil people here without a label.

You can also start a discussion at my website forums, with less need to be concerned that I will see everything you say! In case you wanted, you know, discussion free of authorial influence, since I always wind up getting involved in these things.

Have fun, and try not to bleed on the carpet.
Tags: open thread, short fiction, toby daye
  • Post a new comment

    Error

    Anonymous comments are disabled in this journal

    switch
    default userpic

    Your reply will be screened

    Your IP address will be recorded 

    Help
  • 24 comments

swevene

January 31 2013, 17:09:53 UTC 4 years ago

I love this story so much. I loved the chance to see Tybalt before he was the super-badass we know and love, and I loved the chance to see his family... even if I really, really hated his father and his method of controlling his family. Ugh, he was TERRIBLE.

Also? September Torquill! Yay!

My favourite line was '"I say, Father, that I am no longer a kitten. I opened my eyes, smiling as blithely as I could while my stomach shriveled to a solid knot of fear. "Nor, I am afraid, are you a king."'

Which I'm sure was many people's favourite line, but I cheered and did a little dance in my bed.

seanan_mcguire

February 1 2013, 16:39:43 UTC 4 years ago

I love Rand. I wish I got to write him more before he had to grow up.

boobook_owl

January 31 2013, 17:36:42 UTC 4 years ago

My favorite parts were seeing Rand interacting with his sisters - they were just so convincingly catlike, ambushing each other & batting each other in face, while still being people. I loved the parts in the theatre too, I love a good back stage story.

knittingwoman

January 31 2013, 18:45:57 UTC 4 years ago

The first time I read the story I was disappointed, I felt as if it was too short or something. But then I read it again a couple more times and I ended up liking it a lot:)

seanan_mcguire

February 1 2013, 16:40:10 UTC 4 years ago

Sorry about that. It was written to the length limits for the anthology, and that's always going to be the case with shorter pieces. :(

purpleranger

January 31 2013, 20:21:18 UTC 4 years ago

So, are you saying that there will be spoilers here? :)

seanan_mcguire

February 1 2013, 16:40:17 UTC 4 years ago

Yesssssss.

jane_dark

January 31 2013, 20:44:59 UTC 4 years ago

I loved hearing Tybalt's voice, which really did sound like Tybalt.

I was a little off-put by the history -- the Great Fire is thought to have had a relatively small death toll (only 6 recorded), though others must have died from smoke inhalation, or from issues associated with having to live in the makeshift shelters that were set up afterwards. And while there had been numerous small outbreaks of plague recorded throughout the years, before the last big outbreak that Pepys and others write about, the Great Fire is actually thought to have been the thing that eradicated enough of the contagion for those outbreaks to stop.

So I don't quite understand the sickness that the Roane mentioned -- is it the Black Plague? Something else, that would kill humans and Fae? Maybe we're supposed to assume that that was something that the Roane couldn't see clearly?

But I'm also intrigued, wondering if this is a set-up for something else that's coming and that we haven't learned about yet.

seanan_mcguire

February 1 2013, 16:41:56 UTC 4 years ago

In this case, it was "burning out the humans is going to fuck up Faerie." The Great Fire had a relatively low death-toll, but it had a very high pollutant index, even for the time, and there were ways for the air to get through the knowe doors, generally accompanying anyone who was in the "coming and going" process. Tybalt was fine, because he was so accustomed to mortal air. Add that to "all the knowes are on fire because Faerie has no fire service," and it's one of the rare cases of a human disaster being worse for the fae. The 1906 earthquake was similar.

jane_dark

February 1 2013, 17:02:00 UTC 4 years ago

Ah! A CLARITY, I has it.

Thank you very much for explaining, and for the open thread itself.

wendyzski

February 11 2013, 17:48:58 UTC 4 years ago

HAIL the explanation!

I also came here with that confusion, after finally getting a chance to read the story at Capricon last weekend.
(Where I met a very nice couple you should have dinner with - he's in biotech and is a CDC first responder, and she did graduate level work in parisitology. You could all discuss all KINDS of gross things together)

silvertwi

January 31 2013, 21:15:29 UTC 4 years ago

"There's some question as to whether man domesticated the cat, or whether the Cait Sidhe domesticated man and decided to share the spoils with our little mortal cousins."

I was really happy to read this line. Lately I've been speculating that maybe cats tamed humans, rather than the other way around. I could totally see the Cait Sidhe doing that. XD

falnfenix

January 31 2013, 23:31:33 UTC 4 years ago

yes, this. stop stealing my thoughts, you.

trixiaw

January 31 2013, 22:45:19 UTC 4 years ago

Does anyone else think that September had a bit of a crush on Rand? I know she was married but the way she stared at him when he wasn’t wearing clothes and then had to stop herself from reaching for him.

seanan_mcguire

February 1 2013, 16:42:11 UTC 4 years ago

I <3 September Torquill.

ambermoon

February 2 2013, 06:33:33 UTC 4 years ago

Now I really hope we find out what happened to Colleen. Did she return after the fire? Is she Queen of her own court somewhere? Will Toby get to meet her?

seanan_mcguire

February 13 2013, 15:35:26 UTC 4 years ago

None of these questions will be answered any time soon. :)

tmhlittlebit

February 3 2013, 06:29:16 UTC 4 years ago

"The girl dies. The boy dies. Everyone dies. They're mortals, that's what they do."

Quite possibly the best summary of R & J I have ever seen (and I'm an actor, I've seen plenty of those), it made me giggle more than was strictly necessary.

I love these glimpses you grant us, into Toby's world. It makes me think of what you said when releasing In Sea Salt Tears - Toby's not the only one in Faerie with a story worth telling. There's so much lore and history in what you've created, in the world and in the characters, and I am glad you're able to share it with us. Thank you!

seanan_mcguire

February 13 2013, 15:31:36 UTC 4 years ago

I love telling the stories of the people around Toby, because sometimes, they can change everything.

ibmiller

July 12 2013, 19:51:35 UTC 3 years ago

Is it okay if there's a few tears on the carpet?

Tybalt's voicing is really lovely, and I loved seeing other Cait Sidhe. September was a fun nod to the future Torquils, though there's so much in the story in general I wanted to see more of. Also made me think, somehow, that she was connected with Toby - but perhaps fae just like naming children after months.

I thought the Shakespeare was really cleverly woven in, and Tybalt's name in particular really worked.

seanan_mcguire

July 25 2013, 17:18:46 UTC 3 years ago

September is Simon and Sylvester's older sister, and January's mother.

I'm so glad you liked it.

ibmiller

July 26 2013, 02:07:55 UTC 3 years ago

Awesome! The Torquills seem to have a lot of children, for fae. Or am I getting the general fecundity of fae wrong?

seanan_mcguire

July 28 2013, 16:27:25 UTC 3 years ago

Sylvester, Simon, and September's parents had a lot of children: three is a lot.

ibmiller

July 28 2013, 17:31:31 UTC 3 years ago

Yay for fae propegating the awesomeness of the race! Except for Simon. That dude is not so much with the awesome. But Sylvester is one of my favorites, and September seems like she has awesome of her own.