8FOLD: Mighty Medley # 23, November 2015, by Messrs. Brenton, Russell, and Stokes

[Drew Perron]

On 11/7/2015 3:52 PM, Tom Russell wrote:
<snip>
> I'm going to go out on a limb here and say
> that "Let us plan, my library" is the line of the year.

YEAH.

> "Headhunting"
>    by Tom Russell
> In which a boorish job applicant acquits himself poorly, and loses face.

I really enjoy the word "boorish".

> "Praying Angry"

Starring Nicholas Cage?

> The Eighth Library had only seen her host cry - this profoundly, at
> least - on two other occasions, and neither of those seemed to match
> the circumstances here. As was so often the case, she simply waited
> for the Librarian to speak, giving her the time and space she needed.

Libby ;.;

>     -This too may be life or death,- the Library returned with a tone
> approaching anxiety, -and this time no Maestro, no Pirate Queen will
> aid you.

They're cheering for her across space and time, tho!

>     "It's called a mancer's mark," says Lydia. "It means you're a
> mancer, that you can tap into the mystical energies that bind our
> universe together. The mark has other names, too, older names--
> usually translated as 'the kiss of Venus'. We used to be a multitude,
> in time before time, but there were many who feared Venus and its
> children, and so they imprisoned the Old Ones, and magic-- true magic,
> deep magic-- died. But now the Lullaby has broken, and the mancers
> reborn."

Ooooooooh. New meta-origin!

> There are some who want nothing better
> than to wipe us from the face of our Earth. There are even some of our
> own kind who seek to put Venus back to sleep. Both think they're doing
> the right thing, which makes them dangerous. That's why I'm glad that
> we found you the first. The Company is dedicated toward bettering and
> protecting mancers from those that would harm or exploit them.

Oh, well that sounds perfectly--

> She
> touches his face and his body stiffens. "You won't be able to move or
> make a sound for what remains of your life, but you will be able to
> feel everything that's about to happen. I'd say I was sorry, but
> that's not really true."

HA HA UM x-x

So, this makes the Company seem straightforwardly evil, and I don't think that 
was necessarily intended to be the case? Like, the implication is that she's 
doing this for her superiors, not just for herself, and that there's an active 
research program going on... then again, maybe that was the intent.

>     Joan made her choice and clenched her fists, stepping forward and
> striking a knuckle straight into the part-human muzzle of the Hund.

Nyurgle.

> Deidre
> screamed and pointed back in the general direction from which it had
> come. "There's more of them! Run!" she cried in passable German, and
> then grabbed Joan by the arm and fled at a diagonal into the crowd.

Nice!

> When he reached the two women he briefly ran beside them
> before insisting, "This way!"

Ah! Finally. <3

> She decided to
> play it cool, and replied, "Fine. But don't you dare say, 'Come with
> me if you want to live', if you don't want to lose some teeth."

Good page-ender. <3

> Skin of Snake woke in wet and bloody darkness, hot and suffocating.

Whew. I was worried.

> He yanked hard, pulling his own face
> and skin away. He tucked it inside the opened skin hanging from the
> wall.
>     He looked at himself in a dirty, broken mirror, and Jack Peake's
> face stared back at him.

Ooooooooh. :D

> Marsha starts praying, soft and humble, but as it always does, it
> turns angry. She doesn't mean it to. She knows it's not going to help
> her change God's mind if she starts to threaten and curse. But she
> can't help herself. She's been praying a hundred times a day for the
> last year. Soft and humble has worn her out.

Yeah. :<

>     "It's not a timepiece," says the devil. "It's a time... borrower.
> It takes the time from one person, and gives it to another. Potential
> chronal energy."

Oooooh. That's really--

> She doesn't need to ask him what to
> do, or how it works; somehow, she knows how it works; somehow, she's
> always known.
>     She slides the watch over Melody's wrist, and kisses her on the cheek.

OH

Fuck <3

Drew "YES. GOOD. WELL-DONE." Perron