Woodreads 11
Continued from yesterday: wood elfdom has an unspoken conspiracy of silence about homosexuality. The consequences of that can manifest in unpredictable ways.
That silence infects other Arkerran cultures too, for that matter: Harky is arguably the single most powerful individual on the continent for most of his life, and even he keeps it professional with Gondolessa in public.
We don’t have a lot of conclusive evidence (and yeah, some of that’s on me and Phil as writers), but based on things like the fireside chat in Chapter 15 and a strongly “butch-femme”-coded couple showing up briefly in Chapter 38, the most forward-thinking culture about sexuality in Arkerra would seem to be… would seem to be… the humans. I’m as shocked as you are.
Is Gondolessa male?
Yes. And recall how Iver made a mental note of it as something to use against Harky if the opportunity ever arose.
As a fellow “Angry Syr’Nj”, you should have been paying closer attention. (JK XD)
I also thought Gondalessa was a femaie (small, slender stature, especially next to Harky, and the “essa” name ending) until the Iver episode mentioned
Explained them keeping their relationship on the DL to myself, as not wanting to share an inter-“racial” fling between leaders
Gondy’s about the same height and build as Harky, to my eye.