Story about Hammered Silver losing her shit and cutting out the fifth stanza for good because of Sasha and Motes
vague outline
- AFP and Hammered Silver have regular meetings until Abt 2300
- As Motes gets more public Hammered Silver starts skipping meetings, eventually says “I don’t agree with Motes and I don’t want to talk about it”
- her feelings are that there are children and there are adults, that this is what makes a mother a mother to someone, but Motes is her, so she can’t be a child; she’s appropriating child-ness. Add in the family dynamic with AFP and Bee, including their relationship, and Hammered Silver is really fucking mad
- meetings go from friendly chats to all but explicitly keeping tabs on the other stanza
- Hammered Silver cuts contact with fifth over Sasha joining ALDR
- when Dry Grass continues seeing Motes (who she met via Warmth, worked with it on systech integration for oneirotecture), Hammered Silver sends Motes an angry letter Abt “stop talking to Dry Grass, you’re an abomination etc etc” all HOA president having a fit
- Motes goes to AFP and Beholden with note: not going to stop talking to Dry Grass, not going to stop being herself, but wants to know how to deal with the pain.
- Hammered Silver also sends AFP a note
- AFP wants to be careful because this is a post True Name, post Qoheleth world, asks Sasha and Dry Grass if she needs to worry, both say no, confirmed by Waking World, who explains that Hammered Silver is just having a tantrum. She doesn’t really care if anything changes, she doesn’t even want it to, she doesn’t want to win an argument, really, she just wants the other person to hurt
- AFP messages Hammered Silver, saying “that really hurt Motes and it really hurt me etc etc”, letting it get to her enough to make it believable
- Hammered Silver, as predicted, gets all snooty and proud, agrees to go back to no contact, leaving Motes alone, etc. Cuts off Dry Grass who thinks “eh, no big loss there”
- end on a note of healing
loose threads
- The dynamic between Dry Grass and Hammered Silver is very “uh huh sure okay whatever you say” but doesn’t actually change anything; does this finally change after the argument?
- Waking World has made it his job to keep Hammered Silver on a leash; maybe a second conversation after? The first conversation through Dry Grass (“oh yeah, WW says Hammered Silver can’t do shit, she’s just looking to make you feel bad”)
- Bring back: Warmth says “No one wants to be an outcast.”
Outline
- A: Intro — About Motes; Motes paints; Beholden and boss are heading out; Dry Grass comes over.
- B: Sasha speaks — Motes gets fucked (and fucked up); talks with Sasha about what happened.
- C: Warmth speaks — Visiting Warmth and Rye; The Warmth/Motes Dynamic™; discussing the nature of being an outcast (viz both Dear being a shit as well as Hammered Silver cutting off part of the ninth).
- D: Slow Hours speaks — Motes has a nightmare; Motes joins Beholden and A Finger Pointing to calm down; talks with Slow Hours about dreams.
- E: A letter from Hammered Silver — The letter; going for a walk as big Motes; staying that way for a week; pulled aside by Beholden to talk about it; A Finger Pointing is out for Some Reason; talking with Sarah.
- D’: Flashback to the past — The origins of Motes told; some anecdotes (including Slow Hours’s prophecy).
- C’: A Finger Pointing and Hammered Silver — A Finger Pointing gets a letter, too; discussing what to do about it; risk assessment with Waking World and Sasha; message to Hammered Silver.
- C’‘: Beholden — Beholden muses on the past, family, and anger.
- B’: Hunting for a new way forward — Big Motes for a bit; not going to stop playing or stop being Little Motes, just wants to know how to deal with the pain; talking with Sarah.
- A’: Outro — About the future of Motes.