Comment on Bookends

  1. SLWalker Sat 23 Dec 2023 07:54AM UTC

    I saw! I got a kick out of how Midwinter basically started in the last scene of Bookends, except a step or two sideways. But those little touches thrilled me. I know I already told you a few of my favorites, so I'll spare you, but I loved it and have read it more than a couple times. >.> Heh.

    I loved this story when I wrote it and it's definitely one of my own favorites from the earlier tales. The weight of it, I think. And aye, the atmosphere. This is the first time that Scotty brings up that they have to be give and take, or not at all, and that was-- hm. It's the first time he's said or invoked that, but it's not the last, and it's an active choice he made (and that Cor agreed with) and it's fascinating to me -- even being the one who wrote it! -- at where and why and how he made it. Because like-- Scotty had to learn that. He had to observe these good people because the art of give-and-take isn't one he ever had a chance to learn in his own childhood. And while it's one he's sort of learned in the professional sense, via Basic and the Academy, it's not one he learned interpersonally until Cor.

    He's not terribly good at the 'take' part of things, but he tries and learns how to accept things like a warm coat and gloves with grace. Or-- boot brushes nailed to the porch, a few years later.

    Cor's little kitchen lab tests. LOL! Using his mother, his brother, anyone he can get his hands on to grab blood or tissue samples. (His Dad is good at being scarce when that question goes out; Scotty and Mel, however, tolerate donating blood or like skin cells or whatever else with an appropriate amount of patience.) I do love how smart he is; he's his own highly intelligent, even if he's not quite the same kind as Scotty. But the amount of good he does in his life, his inventions carry on long past him. (I love how you have enthusiastically kept adding to those accomplishments in either timeline!)

    There are more than a few versions of Scotty who would recognize that. But aye, this one-- not so much. Still, he's got that gritty and sharp streak in him; he might not recognize every bit of it, but he's also perfectly comfortable smashing a bottle on a table and threatening to cut people with it. He really can be terrifying! Especially protecting who he loves.

    It is definitely one of the most important stories in this arc, thank you so much for the comment.

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