Sometimes love will hit you with a chair to say hello.

Happy birthday, and thank you for the wonderful present! I love this story. Patrick and Dianda are wonderful together - I hope we get to see more of them. And seeing Simon and Amandine together was both beautiful and terribly sad.

Thank you. And thank you for the additional glimpse of Simon and August and Amandine

YAY THE UNDERSEA! YAY THE TORQUILLS! ...okay, not so much that last one, what with August disappearing and Simon going Dark Side to try and get her back, and whatever the hell happened to September. But still! Early days, before things went terribly wrong!

One of the best thing about these short stories is what we learn about people we already know, and how it alters how we see them. Patrick and Dianda met and raided a kitchen! He is kind of a dork! She is perfectly willing to hit someone with a chair--no, okay, we knew that one. (And it's really interesting when compared to InCryptid stories, which are more about what's going on concurrently to the novels.)

Fantastic as always!

I love how Patrick is quietly trying to remake Fairie in his own way, and as soon as Dianda hears about it, she's all 'oh, that sounds like fun XD'. And saying he's her new favorite person because of the cake (and talking to her like a normal person, no doubt, but cake and a meal that's not made of appetizers helps).

Maybe it's just me, but Dianda and Patrick seem to have a similarity in their passion for things. Hitting things, building a steamship...they aren't subtle about what they like, even if they are both aware that talking about it isn't exactly the best icebreaker at a party.

It makes me wonder how common this is in Fae in that era - or any era.

True. There's something about enthusiasm that's charming. And Dianda seems to appreciate the quality of not giving a damn about social convention, since she shares it.

Happy day-birthday [albeit a day late].

May your year-to-come be filled with wonder and joy! [May you also stay healthy, avoiding all of the plague-givers that my immune system invites to come visit me, offering them shelter and a place to stay.]

Hugs!

I very much liked this story with background on so many people. Thank you.

That was a stunning story of love in the little amusing moments of connection. Thank you; and happy birthday, of course.

Thanks, Seanan! Here are my comments. Mostly about minutiae, but some about the actually story.

Loved seeing Simon as he was. The line about his tendency towards terrible ideas is great. It's a bit disconcerting to see him so cheerful. For him to go from the flirtatious dandy to what we see in the books... I can't imagine what Evening made him do.

August! Always interesting to get information about her. Like the fact that she dresses mostly in white, which means she's better at keeping her blood where it belongs than Toby. Also, that she's looking forward to a party and dancing, but that at some point she'll have an adventure with a candle from the Luidaeg.

Who is the duchess of wild strawberries, and why is she starting bar brawls? Can she and Toby be friends?

I LOVE the idea of holding a party where everyone pours their own silver jewelry. If it weren't dangerous and exorbitantly expensive, I'd try to have that party. But parties and molten metal probably aren't the wisest mixture.

"I will hit you with a chair if it gets me real food." Dianda clearly never picked up on the "do what I want OR I will hurt you" thing. Using AND in threats doesn't usually work as well. How did their kids end up so (apparently) well adjusted?

Was it rude of Gilad to not serve salty stuff? You said out of water they need as much salt as they can get.

I would love to see a story about their ice cream date.

Overall, I love how genuine and honest Patrick is. He doesn't care about court or politics. He just wants to make ships so that everyone can have the opportunity to travel. He's charmed by a woman who's as honest and open as he is. He's delighted by Dianda's amazement at strawberries. I think he simply comes across as a truly good man, in a society that doesn't have a lot of good people. Perhaps the best description would be that he's the biggest disappointment of all of Evening's descendants, and that there's no greater compliment than that.

I already like Diandra; now I adore her! Such a sweet meeting. Thank you!

That was lovely. I wasn't expecting Simon, and that was a bit of a gut punch. I want to hug Patrick and them him it's going to work out, and I want to grab Amy and Simon and August and tell them to run, and run now.

I have no wifi, just finished story, pulled out phone. Story is adorable. Very sad to hit the end. Must run!

Just got a chance to read it (thank you!!) and I absolutely love it.

I really enjoy these glimpses into the characters lives & other parts of the stories.

Thank you for the lovely story. I hope your birthday rocked!

Seeing Amy and Simon gave me bittersweet feels. And Dianda and Patrick may be my favorite couple in Faerie after reading this. They're so adorable and perfect for each other.

I hope you had a great birthday!

Love the story. Hope you had a great birthday.

Ooooo that was so fantastic!!

Now I think Groblek and I need to cosplay Patrick and Dianda. Must research looks for each and consider which of the boys to dress Kosh as.

Also Happy Birthday!! We're so glad you're traveling around the sun with us.

Now I really want Toby/Tybalt and Dianda/Patrick to hang out more. Or at least to see Dianda at Toby's bachelorette party. Lovely story -- what a birthday treat for us!

A belated happy birthday and a whole lot of squealing glee. That was so awesome and sweet. Dianda ROCKS.

Oh God, I just had to read this whole story out loud to my wife! I love it! Like classic screwball romance, even down to the snarky server's cheese comment.

I only remember punchy Dianda from One Salt Sea. Now I'll have to re-read it to see if there's any sweet/funny Dianda…

(Oh, has anyone else pointed out that the guards called him "Baron Twycross"? Shouldn't it be Feather-stone? Or am I misunderstanding Faerie nomenclature?)

Oh, how lovely. Lots of fun to read. Dianda is such a firecracker! I love their dialogue and how you can see the beginnings of a great relationship.

I also got such a chill from seeing Simon! It took me a minute to realize this Simon was that Simon...and odd to see him with his family. I hope we find out more in future books or stories.

What a wonderful story! *^^* I love Dianda's enthusiasm for food. And I have so much sympathy for those who hide out from a party in a kitchen. *g*

That was really lovely, I am so far behind on my reading. Thank you very much and as we have been saying happy birthday.