8FOLD: Mancers # 3, "Salt and Roses"

Drew Perron pwerdna at gmail.com
Mon Sep 10 17:00:15 PDT 2018


On 7/23/2018 12:47 PM, Tom Russell wrote:
<snip>
> AZABETH "BETH" COLLINS, age 36. Oneiromancer.
> A member of the secret circle to whom Lieke reports her progress.
> 
> DAVID COLLINS, age 30. Mnemonomancer.
> An agent of The Company. Unbeknownst to him, he is in actuality a
> member of the secret circle working deep undercover, and the husband
> of Beth Collins.

Interesting. These are clarifications that didn't come out in the story itself. 
A bunch of these details are, actually. X3

> Lieke looks at herself and falls in love all over again.

<3.<3 Good shit

>     Lieke never used to think that she was beautiful. Quite the
> opposite. She hated the face in her mirror. But then she turned
> seventeen, and that changed. The face in the mirror became a real
> face, another person, a second her that understood her like no one
> else ever could before, that knew where to touch her, that knew the
> words she needed to hear and when she needed to hear them.

Awwwwww. <3 Adorable.

> Her mother has tried to
> reconcile a couple of times, but it's always been a pretext for an
> intervention they don't need.

Ahhhhh. >:/

> Jo was still in diapers when Lieke left,
> but emailed her a few years ago, and the three of them have met once a
> year ever since. Until this year, anyway. Until Jo disappeared.

Yay-- and oof. x.x

>     "I'm hungry more than anything." The other her flicks her eyes to
> the rearview mirror. "Maile, you hungry?"
>     "A little," says the monster. "I literally don't remember the last
> time I ate."

Contrasting the joke with "the monster" is *tight*.

>     The other Lieke smiles. "Our little sister Jo only eats the Chicken
> Egg McMuffin. One time we met her while she was visiting the states,
> and she threw a fit when they didn't have it. Do you remember, me?"
>     "I remember," says Lieke. She knows it's their job to talk to
> Maile, be friendly with her, but it irks her to see the other her
> engaging.

Huh, interesting. Personal anxiety weirdness, or more?

>     Lieke knows she should keep quiet, but she can't. "Plus, we had
> more important things to talk about, what with the whole 'ours is the
> midnight war' and everything."

Hmmmmm.

>     The greasy spoon is almost quintessentially American and tacky.
> There's way too many tables, each of which is too small and has too
> many chairs crowded around it, with almost no room to move. Each table
> has a bottle of ketchup and a bottle of mustard, tiny shakers of salt
> and pepper, and of course there are little self-serve packets of jam,
> butter, sugar, and cream. Lieke doesn't like to think of herself as a
> snob, but she hasn't been to a restaurant in months, and she was
> hoping it'd be some place a little fancier, where a side of vegetables
> meant roasted parsnips and three colors of beets, not frozen carrots
> and peas.

Yeah, actually, that's pretty snobby. X3 Lieke is kind of a prickly pear, ne?

> The
> setting sun splashes upon the other Lieke's face; she looks gorgeous.

<3.<3 Goals

>     "So, I gotta ask," says the monster between bites. "Is there, like,
> some kind of psychic link?" She points at one and then the other with
> her fork.
>     "Between us?" answers the other Lieke. "No. We're two different
> bodies, two different minds. Two independent versions of the same
> person."

Nice, I was wondering.

>     "Which of you is the..."
>     "What, the real one?" says Lieke sharply.
>     The other Lieke pinches her leg: be nice. "We're both real."

I mean, I can completely understand them being sensitive about that kind of thing.

>     "Do we really need to talk about all this right now?" says Lieke.
>     "She's just curious."
>     "Yes; and it's making me feel like we're weird or something."
>     "Well, we are weird or something. It's weird. That's okay."
>     "I don't feel okay," says Lieke.

Awwwww, honey. Definite anxiety feels, very relatable.



>     "Is it some kind of magic thing? Like a curse?" (A curse. What an idiot.)

Hey, that's a pretty reasonable possibility from a newbie, also I'm like 99% 
sure there are people in the Eightfoldverse who can throw curses

>     "Then, what?" demands the monster. "There's no one listening."
>     "No one you can see," says the other Lieke.
>     Maile mouths the word: "Anti-men?"
>     The Liekes nod without nodding.

Oooooh yeah. :D Paranoia.

>     "That's why the car. That's why you, and not someone else. The two
> of you. Twins. Twins in a Ferrari. All that's unusual. Invites
> scrutiny. Makes it harder for them to cover up something big and
> messy."

Oooooh, yeah, that makes *sen--*

>     A man clears his throat. "That's one way to look at it, Maile."

Oh *snap*! :D *Excellent* timing.

> The Company's other top assassin, Maile's rival and,
> if the rumors Beth gleaned from David's dreams are to be believed,
> Maile's lover.

Sheesh, everybody's boning down~

> Any relation to little Johanna van Rijn? You
> have the same eyes. Yes, I can tell from the way the color just left
> your pretty little cheeks that you are.

Oh my goodness don't be so creepy. Maile probably deserves better o3o

> He lets that hang there,
> like an invitation. Then: "Ask me if I know where she is."
>     "Do you?" It's Maile who asks.

Gahman. Good tension. >#>

>     "No," says Samson. "We've been spending considerable time and
> resources trying to find Johanna, too. But we have leads. Leads that
> I'd wager your little group of rag-tags don't have."
>     "And why would you give them to us, Samson?" says the other Lieke.

That's a good question. I didn't expect it to go this way.

>     Lieke adds, "I'd rather Jo be dead than have you scumbags get hold of her."
>     "I don't know if she'd feel quite the same way," says Samson. "Yes,
> we want to find them. It's important to our aims that we do. But
> Maile's more important. We'd be prepared to take the risk of you
> finding those kids if it means we get Maile back."

Ohhhhh. Damn. *Definitely* didn't expect an attempt at negotation.

>     "I'm not some pawn to be passed around," says Maile pointedly.
>     "No, you're not," says Samson softly. "But you're not yourself,
> either. The Maile I know wouldn't be sitting here, and these two would
> be dead already." He reaches for her hand.

Ahhhhh, a nice touch of softness, definitely complexifying this (but I still 
suspect she deserves better).

>     "Then you know that my anti-men can slaughter them all one-by-one,
> and the sheep won't even stop grazing.

Definitely deserves better, even if she's "really" just as bad.

> "Keeping our
> business secret is a priority for us, of course, just as it is for you
> and your little band of half-baked mystical terrorists.

You calling them "terrorists" is *pretty bold, buddy*

>     "I'm not going to let you hurt anyone," says Maile.
>     He smiles like he's indulging a child. "We'll have you back to your
> old self in," but the rest of what he says is drowned out by the wind
> and rain that crashes through the big picture window and right into
> Samson. He is flung across the room, shards of glass lodging in his
> chest and face. The mancer's mark on his chest glows, exposed.

AWESOME.

>     He starts to stagger up, and that's when a bolt of lightning
> uncoils through the window like a snake and buries its fangs into his
> chest.

DAMN! :D GOOD JOB MAILE I LOVE U

>     "I know," says Lieke. "So, I'll buy you some time."
>     "Are you sure?"
>     Lieke nods. "I think it's my turn, anyway." She kisses herself on
> the mouth, and then grabs the salt shaker from their table. She scoops
> up a couple others for good measure.
>     "This won't kill you, you bastard," says Lieke. "But it's going to
> hurt." She empties the salt shakers over his mancer's mark. Smoke
> bubbles up from his boiling flesh, and he screams. It's the last,
> beautiful thing she hears before one of the anti-men slits her throat.

o.o holy fucking mackerel

>     "I didn't," says Claire. She pats Trini affectionately on the knee.
> Trini doesn't remember walking over to the sofa, let alone sitting
> down next to Claire.
<snip>
>     "Stop," says Claire. Suddenly her face is right next to Trini's,
> her lips trembling next to her nose. "Smell." She exhales. Her breath
> smells of incense. But not just any incense.
>     "My mother," says Trini.

The intersection of power dynamics and intimacy in this series is *fascinating*, 
and to be honest, trying to comment on it has been the biggest reason responding 
has been taking so long. >#> It's uncomfortable and intense and I'm wowed.

>     Claire kisses Trini on the mouth, and she tastes of her father's
> curry, which tasted like no one else's. Even when Trini followed the
> recipe, it tasted nothing like her father's. He died back in
> twenty-ten, and she thought she would never taste it again.
>     Trini is not a sentimental woman, and so is as surprised as Claire
> when she starts to cry.
>     "You miss them?" It sounds like a genuine question.
>     "Of course I do."
>     Claire crinkles her nose. "I've never really understood people who
> love their families. It just seems like a weakness that could be very
> easily exploited.

In another story, this would seem like a very standard and very cliche villain 
line. Here, the context makes it feel very different and much sadder.

>     Claire smiles. "Every morning at ten, Monday through Friday, you
> will come here and sit in one of the stalls. Cup your hands over your
> mouth, and whisper: I'll hear it, wherever I am. I need you to tell me
> everything and anything that's going on with David."
>     "David?" says Trini. Her stomach churns. "Is he in trouble?"
>     "That depends on what you tell me," says Claire. "And you will tell
> me everything, won't you? And, it goes without saying, you'll tell him
> nothing of this."

It's fascinating that she felt the need for the family thing when this seems 
like enough of a prod. But then, being caught in the intersection of those two 
things makes it harder to slip out.

> Lieke wakes up in her room. The first thing she sees is herself.

YAY. <3

>     "So you both got here okay?"
>     She nods. "You're pretty much her favorite person now."
>     "We're her favorite person."
>     "No, you," she says. "She's convinced you sacrificed yourself to
> save her. Like, I'm okay," she holds one hand at eye level, "but you,"
> she holds the other hand above her head. "You've got a new bestie."

Heeheehee. Fascinating.

>     "How was it this time?"
>     "Cold," says Lieke. "Dark. I missed me."
>     She gets a smile in return. "I missed me too."

awwwwwww.

Drew "I'm not even sure what's going *on* with the relationships in this but I'm 
FASCINATED" Perron


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