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Beware the Daye, little fae.

Beware of her and those in her sway.

Beware her steps, where Firstborn rot,

Unless her favor, they have got.

Speak her name with only fright,

For she breaks our kings, this Knight.

Oh, but children, if you’re lost,

She will take the Sea’s harsh cost.

Daye will save you, if she can

From even Blind Micheal’s cruel, cruel hand.

Thorns and paws do dog her steps,

Following blood from her dress.

Yes, beware the Daye, little fae,

For she will take you in her sway.

Some of the panels under the cut, the rest in a reblog bc APPARENTLY tumblr won’t let me post all 14 at once:

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with some aid from @professorsparklepants, I have decided o the best Toby Daye fic I will never write: Quentin and Raj and maybe Chelsea sneak into a bar. A faerie bar

“sneak” might be a strong word. it’s run by a half-troll changeling and the assumption is that if you look over about 12 in human years and you can pay for your drink, you either know what you’re doing or you’ll get what’s coming to you

they’re very pleased with themselves anyway

they discover, in this bar, that October Daye is a Chuck Norris meme. None of them had heard about this before. All three are delighted

there’s a contest? of some sort? probably informal, between drunk people?

Our Kids, incognito and (thankfully) not drinking much themselves because they want to stay that way, and the excitement of absofuckinglutely lying to all their guardians about where they are right now is enough - Our Kids get in on this. Obviously.

“I heard October Daye wrestled a bridge troll with her bare hands, no magic or knives, and beat him to death” says a patron

“I heard October Daye found a Hope Chest and threw it in the ocean because she didn’t like the workmanship,” says Quentin

“Toby Daye took over the Silences just so she could fuck the King of Cats on the royal throne,” says another patron. A Tylwyth Tyg, she raises her glass. “I know, my second cousin was there.”

Quentin makes a gagging face. Raj plays hardball: “That’s shit - I heard Toby Daye is sleeping with the Luidaeg.”

“October Daye knifed Blind Michael in the throat and stole back all the kids he’d-” “Boo, you’re out, Sam! You can’t say real things!” “Yeah, that actually happened!”

“Hey, hey!” Chelsea waves her hand for attention. “Toby Daye tore open a hole to Annwyn and kicked the Duchess of Dreamer’s Glass through, because the Duchess insulted her jacket. AND she stole an Afrac on her way out. I was there, not some fake cousin.”

(That girl did not grow up hiding pointed ears through public school to not be able to say these things deadpan.)

it is conceded that that was a pretty good one

“Okay, okay, get this,” says a patron. “My wife’s cousin’s niece-in-law is a maid at the high court-” “No one related to your wife is a maid, Jemma!”  “Fuck off, Marius! Like I was saying, my wife’s sister’s cousin works at the high court in Toronto, and I have it on her life that October Daye was hired by their royal majesties to personally train their heir in blood magic.”

Quentin inhales his drink, and can’t breath until Raj has pounded his back for about half a minute.

Chelsea takes the mike again to save them: “I heard Toby Daye found Oberon, but he insulted changelings so she slammed the door back in his face.”

“Yeah, that tracks,” the other bar-goers generally agree. 

….

(I don’t actually have more to this. I just want the kids to have fun and for Toby to be a local meme.)

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Hi Seanan! I am so excited by the double Toby books this year - just saw the cover reveals, and they look awesome! I have a question about them (well, I have a lot of questions, but don't want to bother you too much): how does having 2 books affect the series numbering - if Sleep No More is book 17, is The Innocent Sleep book 18 or 17.5? More specifically, will TIS count in the "every 4 books are wham episodes" tally, or is that only for Toby-narrated books? Thank you!

The Innocent Sleep is book 18. But you're right, it's going to be interesting to see where our next wham line falls--it could be 20, it could be 21. I think it's going to be 20, with things going as they currently seem to be...

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Good morning! I’m salty.

I think we, as a general community, need to start taking this little moment more seriously.

This, right here? This is asking for consent. It’s a legal necessity, yes, but it is also you, the reader, actively consenting to see adult content; and in doing so, saying that you are of an age to see it, and that you’re emotionally capable of handling it.

You find the content you find behind this warning disgusting, horrifying, upsetting, triggering? You consented. You said you could handle it, and you were able to back out at any time. You take responsibility for yourself when you click through this, and so long as the creator used warnings and tags correctly, you bear full responsibility for its impact on you.

“Children are going to lie about their age” is probably true, but that’s the problem of them and the people who are responsible for them, not the people that they lie to.

If you’re not prepared to see adult content, created by and for adults, don’t fucking click through this. And if you do, for all that’s holy, don’t blame anyone else for it.

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This was great fun to help with. PS join us on Discord!!

how long it takes Toby to bleed per October Daye book!

Together with the Toby Daye discord server I made graphs(tm) of how long it takes Toby in each book to bleed (for any reason, not just external violence), per the Kindle ebook editions.

Calculated by searching keywords such as blood/bleed.

Ashes of Honor currently holds the record for the shortest amount of time it takes her to bleed, and Be the Serpent holds the record for the longest amount of time.

By number of pages in the books:

By percent of pages into the books:

Link as a Google Sheets published webpage

Raw data under the cut:

Rosemary and Rue: pg. 124 / 47%

A Local Habitation: pg. 152 / 42%

An Artificial Night: pg. 35 / 8%

Late Eclipses: pg. 70 / 19%

One Salt Sea: pg. 120 / 29%

Ashes of Honor: pg. 5 / 4%

Chimes at Midnight: pg. 142 / 43%

The Winter Long: pg. 251 / 39%

A Red-Rose Chain: pg. 230 / 62%

Once Broken Faith: pg. 241 / 68%

The Brightest Fell: pg. 201 / 69%

Night and Silence: pg. 105 / 36%

The Unkindest Tide: pg. 143 / 47.50%

A Killing Frost: pg. 68 / 22.50%

When Sorrows Come: pg. 95 / 31%

Be The Serpent: pg. 261 / 82%

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Scrolling back through the Toby tags after reading BTS and 🤯🤯🤯

Simon is actually Sylvester's fetch, here's why:

Points in favour:

- Simon's magic (cider and smoke) smells completely different from Sylvester's (daffodils and dogwood flower) but it could be argued that smoke and ashes aren't all that far apart and May's magic is ashes and cotton candy

- Sylvester according to Patrick never treated Simon right. Logical I guess not everyone would be as comfortable adopting their fetch as Toby is

- The Torquills have known Amandine for a VERY long time. Amandine can break the connection between fetches and the person who's death omen they're supposed to be

- simon does a lot of transfiguration magic. Transfiguration is water magic which is Maeve's terrain, the nighthaunts and therefore the fetches are claimed by Maeve (at least I think they are)

- when Eira influenced Sylvester he seemed to be entirely under her control not regretful about anything he was doing, not questioning it either, we also see this in Toby when Eira almost gets her. Yet Simon manages to have enough awareness to try and warn Toby, to try to save her by turning her into a fish rather than outright killing her, to give toby a regretful look as he puts a choking spell on tybalt and in the shortstory, to brew potions to ward himself against Eira's influence

- toby doesn't know exactly what kind of magic fetches are capable off. Simon is one hell of a sorcerer. We assume a lot of his magic is borrowed from Eira or other people and that may be true but it might also be covering up what he can do himself

Things that are problems but I can explain away anything try me:

- if he is a fetch toby should have smelled/tasted his heritage - simon may have a way to mask that plus I don't remember Toby ever being like "i could taste her fetch heritage in the air" or anything. Even if she did notice something she may have put it aside as the general fucked up ness that is simon

- toby should have seen it in his blood - toby only went far enough back to when he thought amandine was hor. Of he has been a fetch for as long as I think then he, at that point, wouldn't have been thinking about it much anymore

- the luidaeg didn't stop him from hurting tybalt - this os admittedly the biggest problem but she may not know he isn't daoine sidhe and therefore just have assumed she couldn't hurt him. We don't know exactly how her "don't hurt Titania's children" geas works after all

- simon and sylvester mention growing up together - yeah well sylvester did something stupid very early on and got some nighthaunt(s) to taste his blood. That or they're lying

- simon never once mentions or even alludes to it - if he's existed like this for so long it may be a hard habit to break to stop hiding it. That or he himself doesn't know, memory spells are probably a thing, Sylvester's parents might have adopted him and changed his memories and never told him

- he can do blood magic and May says she can't do blood magic - maybe may just hasn't figured it out yet (has she ever tried?) Plus anyone can steal someone else's power if they can make the blood charms or have someone to make them for them. Simon has had Eira to "help" for a long time

- why would eira even want him if he isn't daoine sidhe - fetches are rare and definitely useful and she used Oleander too who also wasn't daoine sidhe

In conclusion:

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A Castle for Christmas is tropey and ridiculous and a good start to the Hallmark-y marathon season. But damn, did they have to make the one gay character’s main defining trait be going mute after his husband died? And then not meaningfully address it further?

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Concrete, 100% effective way to tell if someone doesn’t belong in a LGBT+/queer space:

They openly and actively hate/ want to hurt the people in that space

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For even more drama, add immortality into the mix

WHILE understanding that a hereditary ruling class is a fuck-stupid thing to have IRL, I have no intention of leaving off reading and writing about secondary-world nobles and/or royalty. It lets you elevate family drama to extremely weird levels and really raise the stakes on questions of obligation, tradition, inheritance, and being tied into a job you actually might fucking suck at. Feels like all my life I’ve been seeing finger-wagging about how it’s more virtuous to write about regular folks, and how dumbass fantasy fans just project themselves onto princes and princesses because they’re in denial that their ancestors did physical labor, and I’m like, “irrelevant. Sometimes you just want to see sibling rivalry escalate to stabbings”

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2021 be like…a fanfic feeling dated because they Skype each other.

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Without giving any major spoilers…

I’m kinda baffled and frustrated by the content in the ‘novella’ at the end of When Sorrows Come, being labelled as a novella and not part of the book itself?

I’ve always found it frustrating that the novellas are never included in the audiobook version, because that means anyone who reads via audiobook for accessibility reasons (or preference) loses out on that content?

But like, I get it’s some kind of licensing issue, and normally I’ve accepted that, but this didn’t feel like bonus content so much as the actual end of the novel, oddly cut off from the actual novel?

It’s all in Toby’s POV, and has some pretty impactful emotional content, and idk, I guess I’m just feeling pettily frustrated on behalf of the audiobook users.

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I get shit from people at work for wearing a pride mask with a power fist on it from time to time, weird looks, snickers, pointing and laughing, but once in a while I'll get meek little "I like your mask :)" comments from people passing by, nods and waves from others, I saw a kid with the nonbinary flag painted on their shoes shopping with their dad, a trans woman completely relaxed when she saw me, and two girls walked around holding hands, carefree. That I think. That is worth it. To let others know that they are safe.

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I adore this list. I debated marking of “Eira causes problems” on my WSC bingo card so you’ve validated me….though I would probably put it at 50-50 since she didn’t push Shallcross into this specific scheme.

iirc, Devin “killed” Evening specifically to steal her hope chest. So RR was like…75% her fault for not sharing her toys as Oberon intended??

So was it all Eira’s fault? - a comprehensive list

made after many conversations with @bubhh, for the benefit of both us and anyone else in the fandom with thoughts on the subject, an attempt to determine just how many of Toby’s (and all of Faerie’s in general) troubles are all Eira Rosynhwyr’s fault.

(the list contains spoilers to all 15 books currently out).

Rosmary and Rue - the entire plot is kicked of by evening faking her own death, and is driven by the search for her her hope chest. without her phone call. Toby most likely would never have become involved. however, the book’s main antagonist - Devin - in not acting on her orders and seems to have little connection to her.

the verdict: about 50% Eira’s fault.

A Local Habitation -  the book’s antagonist is a Coblynau changeling acting on her own, and the entire plot has little connection to outside characters or the overarching plot of the series.

the verdict: in a rare example - not Eira’s fault!

An Artificial Night  - the main antagonist of this book is Blind Michael, and while he is Eira’s brother, nothing is known of the connection between them. now, would it surprise me to find out that the reason he went mad in the first place was somehow Eira’s fault? absolutely not. that would be perfectly in character for both her and the series in general. but that is not enough for a serious case against her this time, and so:

the verdict: until farther information is acquired, this book is not Eira’s fault.

Late Eclipses - the antagonists in this book are Oleander de Merelands, who has worked for Eira in past, and Rayseline, who did, in fact, go mad due to Eira’s actions. generally, while Raysel’s actions are her own, I feel that her entire situation is, at the end of the day, Eira’s fault.

One Salt Sea - still Raysel, and so same goest as the last book. at least 70% Eira’s fault.

Ashes of Honor - one of the antagonists in this book is Treasa Riordan, a Daoine Sidhe acting in order to gain more power. now, it can be said that the entire Daoine Sidhe people and their power-hungry nature is actually Eira’s fault - she is the one who made them that way, and commanded them to gain crowns in her name - but that is a little flimsy, and the other antagonist of the book, Samson, has nothing to do with Eira (as far as we know).

the verdict: at most, about 30% Eira’s fault.

Chimes at Midnight - the antagonist in this book is the False Queen, who rose to power in the first place due to Eira’s intervention. everything she does is, therefore, Eira’s fault.

a Long Winter - do I even need to say it? you’ve read the book. 1000% Eira’s fault.

a Red-Rose Chain - bringing back arguments from both ashes of honor and chimes at midnight,  this book’s events are caused by the False Queen and a Daoine Sidhe monarch, and I declare it Eira’s fault.

Once Broken Faith - the book centers around the problem of elf-shot, which is - surprise! entirely Eira’s fault. Eira herself puts in an appearance just to make everyone’s lives harder, and the antagonists are again Daoine Sidhe monarchs. for all of these, this book is deemed 100% Eira’s fault.

the Brightest Fell - this one is entirely on Amandine. Oof.

night and silence - yet again the False Queen - yet again Eira’s fault.

the Unkindest Tide - centers around the tragedy of the Roane and the problem of the Selkies - which is, as we all know, one of the greatest ever examples of Eira’s fault.

a Killing Frost - not entirely sure about that one, honestly - it is mostly about the search for Oberon, whose disappearance is… probably not Eira’s fault? and was forced on the family in this way due to August’s mistakes. however, she does function as a prominent threat in the book. moreover, the main plot of the book is ‘simon being a problem’, which I tend to blame on Eira, since Simon was never a problen to anyone (sans Patrick) until she got involved and ruined everything.

the verdict: again, I am going to go with about 50% Eira’s fault.

when sorrows come  - our latest arrival and the reason I’m finally writing this list down, the antagonist in this book is king Shallcross, whose actions, like his initial rise to power, were driven by the wish to win back the approval of his wife - and so I declare this book 100% Eira’s fault!

(feel free to add or argue with any of the things I said, as I have a lot of thoughts on the subject. thanks for reading, and eternal thanks to Seanan for writing. this had been fun).