This is an approximation of the ratty old SRO where Sunset found Wallflower early in Three-act Play, as it looked when the latter moved into it a couple of months before the start of the story. The bedroom is ten feet (3.0 meters) wide by twelve feet (3.7 meters) long.

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Because hope springs eternal, apparently.

Do Lectern, Cook, or Rose participate in social media? If so, which? If not, why not?

Answers need not use cutesy alternate-world brand names.

Addendum: I think TCC56’s comment pretty much hits the nail on the head, even bringing up a few wrinkles I hadn’t thought of—which of course is why I posed the question in the first place. Spamotron’s rider about Cook is a good point as well.

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Questions sparked by a conversation on Discord: does Chrysalis have a human counterpart, and if so, who is she? I haven’t decided for purposes of Twin Canterlots, but if there is a human Chysalis, what if she’s the dictator—or ex-dictator—of the country where Rose was deployed?

Mostly to demonstrate I’m still alive.

• Cook is more fun to write. Rose is more . . . interesting? Dramatic? Rewarding? Difficult, certainly. I’m not sure exactly what word best describes her as a subject. A lot of the difference, I suspect, traces to the fact Rose has suffered far more trauma than Cook, and deals far more with trauma in her everyday life.

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Right around the first of October most of my stories experienced a major spike in traffic, but I have no idea why.

Both Baron Engel and I give it a B–. It is watchable, even re-watchable, but it lacks the “lightning in a bottle” quality of its G4 predecessors. I enjoyed it, but I doubt I will write anything set during its period.

Weaknesses

• The pacing is a breakneck steeplechase without pause for reflection or reinforcement. Once the bell is rung for each story beat, it races off to the next, giving the viewer little chance to catch a breath.

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. . . But I was curious.

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So this is it—the last of the choice cuts. It was a long and difficult road, but it’s finished now. Hard to believe.

Scampy: First off, I just really really love the idea of the journal as the framing device for this chapter, good idea. So four scenes again. What’s the timescale for this? About a month? Longer? I’m not as sure as I should be. Cuz this chapter ends right before Virga begins, correct? Like, a few days or so.

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In planning Amphorae, I knew right from the start the social worker would have to be central to the story, every bit as much as the Dazzlings themselves. Creating and fleshing out that character would demand a lot of thought and care.

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