Intro to Doomsday: Thirds

[aldersprig]

Cya leaned against the wall and stared blankly at her office. The principal's office, ha, and how much time had she spent there growing up, a lifetime and a world and kids, grand-kids, and great-grandchildren ago.

"This is the year."

The boy - man, give him that - at the desk didn't look up. He was shuffling papers, and probably regretting ever talking to the redhead leaning on Maureen's fence. "Which year? It's the eighth year of an eight-grade school. It's a full roster year."

He might not even know. "It's the year my granddaughter - mine and Leo's - comes to school."

That caught his attention. "You and Leo, err, Lightning-Blade? Inazuma?"

Cya didn't mean to chuckle, but the look was so - so very. This one was so much more thoughtful than so many of the boys she'd Kept, so much more serious. And he still got that look.

It was different than the Howard look, she mused. But then again, she'd never had a child with Howard.

Yet. They were still young, as fae went. There were always possibilities.

The boy - man - her Kept recovered quickly. "I thought Leo was... I didn't think you two had..."

"He is and we didn't." It had stopped hurting when she said that. Hell, she's known that before she'd known she was in love with him. "But we're fae. We have two children together, Viddie and Mai. And Viddie's third child is Sweetbriar."

"Oh!" He glanced at the roster. "Sweetbriar... sh'Ce'Rilla, that's a mouthful."

She couldn't help but chuckle. "Orlaith - 'Rilla's mother - tells me when she & Silas had her third, she told him 'no punctuation.' Some people have strange ideas of appropriate names."

"Like Cyndequil?"

"Like Cyndequil." She patted his head. "How your father even- That's another matter. Like that."

Quill - he of the unfortunately Pokemon name - shrugged it off. "So - your granddaughter?" He did the math. "Your first one not promised to Addergoole." He did some more math. He was good with math, after all. "It makes me wonder..."

Quill might look like so many of the other boys she had collared over the years, but she had chosen him for far different reasons. Cya let him think. He usually ended up somewhere interesting.

He shot her a look that was half guilty and half pensive. "...maybe I ought to start thinking about my own third."

Comments

[thnidu]

Hmmmmm...!

• It's the eighth yer of an eight-grade school.
-> year

[thnidu]

But there are only two yers! ;-)

[thnidu]

I'm having some trouble with the dialogue. I can't always match up the person named with the speaker. This is what I get, but it doesn't always seem to make sense:

-------

PRINCIPAL: "Oh!" He glanced at the roster. "Sweetbriar... sh'Ce'Rilla, that's a mouthful."

CYA: She couldn't help but chuckle. "Orlaith - 'Rilla's mother - tells me when she & Silas had her third, she told him 'no punctuation.' Some people have strange ideas of appropriate names."

P: "Like Cyndequil?"

C: "Like Cyndequil." She patted his head. "How your father even- That's another matter. Like that."

P: Cyn shrugged it off. "So - your granddaughter?" He did the math. "Your first one not promised to Addergoole." He did some more math. He was good with math, after all. "It makes me wonder..."

-------

Does "How your father..." belong with the next paragraph?


Also, you wobble between "Cya" and "Cyn".

[anke]

I read it completely differently.

Cya IS the principal ("Cya leaned against the wall and stared blankly at her office. The principal's office").

The person she's talking to is her Kept/secretary, and his name is Cyndequil, Cyn for short. The "how your father even..." line is Cya referring to Cyn's father's weird taste in naming.

[aldersprig]

Yes, this is correct. And the fact that Cyn's dad named him after a pokemon some 30 years after the end of the world.

[thnidu]

Okay, now I see it.

I haven't been following this 'verse from the start, and I'm not all that familiar with it. I took it as if Cynara had been principal a long time ago and was here now to talk to the current principal - who had been her Kept, once upon a time - about her grandchildren.

Put yourself in my place. "Cya" and "Cyn" are too similar-looking, especially for the first mention of a new character. "Cynara" actually begins with "Cyn", so that would be a perfectly reasonable nickname for her, maybe more so than "Cya". Take all these factors together, and the short-names are entirely too confusing.

[anke]

I just read snippets of the setting, and that might have helped me here - I had no clue "Cya" was short for "Cynara", so I had no reason to think "Cyn" might be referring to the same person "Cya" does.

I agree the names are too similar, and I think having several different names for everyone is confusing, too.

[inventrix]

It's okay, no need to defend yourself finding it confusing. It's good to share that something came across as confusing, but getting defensive just makes other people defensive back and then everyone feels bad.

Also, the name is my fault. 8D

Lyn, maybe Quil would be a good nickname instead?

[aldersprig]

My answer was a little short earlier, sorry! Shouldn't answer when I'm in a hurry.

I might take Trix's suggestion & change the nickname to Quill. Thanks for letting me know it was unclear. :-D

[aldersprig]

Cya is Cynara, Cyn is Cyndequil

You have the tags right here.

[thnidu]

See my reply to Anke just now, http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/852946.html.

[anke]

Was Cyns father deeply into Pokemon?

[clare_dragonfly]

Did Cya do that on purpose? Set up the school so the year that it was filled was the same year her grandchild came? :D

Ooh and also aww. I like Quill.

Also, I see that you changed his nickname, but the tag still says "cyn."

[aldersprig]

I do not think Cya planned that; she was focusing more on Mai-chan, her younger daughter, and on "dear gods we need an alternative."