Annotated 3-11
Byron may be a pro, but he’s also a simple dude, and in Gastonia, being a simple dude means you don’t encounter non-human cultures very much. So don’t hold his little malapropism against him. (And yes, we know nothing in common speech actually rhymes with “orange.”)
“Fetch a switch” was Phil’s bit and if it’s a specific myth he’s referencing, I don’t know it. But a “switch” in this context is a small branch used like a whip, and it certainly seems reasonable that a children’s story might associate such a weapon with Syr’Nj’s race.
Knowing what she’ll be capable of later makes it both easier and more difficult, somehow, to watch Syr’Nj parrot Best’s “it’s important to mingle” excuse and look worriedly at Byron for his reaction like the doormat she so very much isn’t. I suppose a lot of readers simply read that as veiled sarcasm or Syr’Nj being awkward about deviating from mission parameters? Dunno, we’ll see what you say in the comments.
I definitely read it as “Someone else needs to be professional about this.”
I didn’t read her as sarcastic OR doormatty.
She’s stepping up to do what needs doing, since Best obviously isn’t going to…and while the spinning Best’s behaviour to reduce party friction can be interpreted as being a doormat, it’s, again, something that needs doing.
This is how I read it.
Same.
Totally sarcasm
I didn’t really think about Syr’Nj’s face there. Not even when I went back and read this chapter earlier. I did notice Byron getting her name wrong, though. That stood out, in hindsight.
Could also be her being slightly shot-down about Best blowing off her/her efforts to get him to pay attention, since at this point she’s meant to have a crush on him.
Back when children were disciplined by being spanked with switches, their parents would occasionally make them go out and collect the sticks they were going to be beaten with themselves to add to the dread of the upcoming event.
This is the context I understood it to be
Yeah, I guess this is one of those weird things that makes perfect sense if you grew up in a house that used corporal punishment, but probably doesn’t make sense otherwise? As someone who had to fetch a switch more than once (it’s psychological warfare–if you get a flimsy stick you get in even worse trouble but you obviously don’t want a hefty branch…) Sandar’s side comment made perfect sense as a one-off “ohmygerd it’s a Wood Elf!”.
yeah, I saw it as a combination of awkwardness and sarcasm, definitely.
Same here.
Doesn’t “fetching a switch” usually involve cutting a part off a live tree, such as a willow? Seems like the sort of thing Wood Elves would frown on, actually.
I read “important mingling” as though it was in exasperated air quotes since it was obviously letting the team down. (Or maybd that was just how “I” felt about Best at this point. It went downhill from there).
Cheers,
Côté
Actually, “Door Hinge” is a pretty decent rhyme for “Orange.”
“No, no…”
“Guess the song’s over, then.”
“Guess so.”
“Okay… back to work.”
“Well, gee, I feel a little guilty, now.”
In my dialect/idiolect, it’s a single-syllable word, unless I intentionally pronounce it otherwise.
Orange rhymes with door-hinge
You pronounce “hinge” with a long i? Or with an a sound? I’ve never heard anyone actually say it either of those ways… Where are you from?
This is the page that made me love Guilded Age. Specifically, Sundar’s punch-line. I’m not saying that one of the later jokes or battle scenes wouldn’t have grabbed me by the collar, but I can distinctly remember reading this page while I was a substitute teacher, and then reading the entirety of the story that had been posted immediately after.
I saw it as her being apologetic for having suggested a plan that involved relying on the party fop in the first place…