What an epic ending! The gang is back together! Everyone survived! They're smoking real tobacco!
I don't know what it is about cigarettes that is so romantic but I definitely agree with you in this chapter that it is... (Even knowing it's unhealthy & being a non-smoker) Anyway, looking forward to season 5! I don't remember when I started reading Triverse (only that it took me a good while to catch up) which is saying something.
Side note - specifically from a US born/raised POV. Yes, it's UK slang, and period appropriate, but, as I used to say to the English regular at my local in California, "Dude, when you say 'I could go for a "fag" right now, you're asking for something totally different than you think."
Given "faggot's" original British meaning as a bundle of wood (1300's), then becoming a fire basket (1500's) or burning branch (1600's), I can see how it became slang for a cigarette. How it became derogatory slang for WOMEN (late 1600's) then homosexual men (US 20th century) is beyond me. No, as I think about it, it's BECAUSE of the derogatory use against women I can see where it jumped to gay men. Because, of course, it became insulting to "feminise" a male.
IMHO "True Men" don't care if someone uses some sort of gender or sexual preferenced base insult, because the "True Man" (or woman, for that matter) is secure enough in themself to consider the "insult" pathetic. That's me. Other's mileage may vary.
Same goes for when some rando throws an insult at my mother. Yeah, you don't know her you're trying to piss me off, and that isn't gonna work.
To end this increasingly digressive comment on a funny (yet sick) note - after my Mom passed away some douche was being douchey. I mocked him, and he threw out a lame, "That's not what your Mom said when I fucked her last night," and, without missing a beat I tossed back, "Well I guess I owe the cats an apology as I thought one of had knocked over the urn of her ashes."
The douche got this utter look of horror on his face on his face.
Mom, on the other hand, would have laughed at that line. She's the one I got my dubious humor from.
"The Mechanical Crown" is a damn good book, and Tarn is certainly my favorite character from it (then Fenris, to my surprise, as two of us know how off my initial impressions were), followed by Tranton and the Princess in a tie). Didn't think "Blue Tarn" was a specific reference to that book - as "Tarn" features in many of Simon's social media handles. Thought of it more as an "author's trademark" reference...
Anyways, welcome back, Zoltan, while Nisha gets the dialog of the week with "Holland is a cock... Worth it." I laughed loudly enough at that exchange Shadow-kitten gave a wide eyed look.
Unfortunately the "concentration camps" would have fit the tale without 2025. More unfortunately, 2025 makes it stunningly relevant.
Jiraa may be stuck with the SDC gang now. Sure, at the time it was an emergency situation with evil robots crossing, and a speedy evacuation, but he crossed with no visa, no documentation, and is basically a "illegal immigrant" to Mid-Earth at this point. I guess the authorities at Addis Addaba might not be assholes should he attempt to immediately return home, but is that portal currently "open for business?" London wouldn't be understanding.
Thanks, Mike. Man, TMC was a long time ago now, eh? I'm still pondering how to resurrect it for this newsletter, but without having to commit to a 3-year serialising timeline. Seems like an opportunity to do an edit/redraft and prep it for paperback publication, while also re-serialising - but I'm trying to work out how to speed it up. Maybe merge chapters (which I'd probably do anyway for the paperback) and simply put out longer chunks? Hmm.
Glad Chakraborty's lines worked! She spends most of the chapter swearing, which I found amusing and fairly on-brand for her.
Good points about Jiraa: and he's probably not going to get through probation on his new job, either. We've seen him be impulsive ("let's just on top of this crashed car!" "let's go up to this on-fire spaceship!" "let's dive into a confusing conflict between police and AI!" "this is fine!"), but he's now stuck on a path that he can't really get off for a while. Perhaps he can hitch a ride back with Ganhkran, though that's dependent on the Blue Tarn's next port of call.
You bet. Amazing content and longevity for Tales of the Triverse. (Soon, I will release my own serialized novel, a drama set in the present day I hope you don't mind that I'm modeling my Substack structure and strategy based on the path you have so bravely forged.)
Thank you! I'm glad the chapter worked for you. There was a lot of exposition, and not much in the way of direct action, so I'm glad the character moments still lifted it out of infodump territory.
What an epic ending! The gang is back together! Everyone survived! They're smoking real tobacco!
I don't know what it is about cigarettes that is so romantic but I definitely agree with you in this chapter that it is... (Even knowing it's unhealthy & being a non-smoker) Anyway, looking forward to season 5! I don't remember when I started reading Triverse (only that it took me a good while to catch up) which is saying something.
Thanks, Vanessa! I remember you popping up in comments ages back, so it’s been a while. :)
Really appreciate it.
Side note - specifically from a US born/raised POV. Yes, it's UK slang, and period appropriate, but, as I used to say to the English regular at my local in California, "Dude, when you say 'I could go for a "fag" right now, you're asking for something totally different than you think."
Given "faggot's" original British meaning as a bundle of wood (1300's), then becoming a fire basket (1500's) or burning branch (1600's), I can see how it became slang for a cigarette. How it became derogatory slang for WOMEN (late 1600's) then homosexual men (US 20th century) is beyond me. No, as I think about it, it's BECAUSE of the derogatory use against women I can see where it jumped to gay men. Because, of course, it became insulting to "feminise" a male.
IMHO "True Men" don't care if someone uses some sort of gender or sexual preferenced base insult, because the "True Man" (or woman, for that matter) is secure enough in themself to consider the "insult" pathetic. That's me. Other's mileage may vary.
Same goes for when some rando throws an insult at my mother. Yeah, you don't know her you're trying to piss me off, and that isn't gonna work.
To end this increasingly digressive comment on a funny (yet sick) note - after my Mom passed away some douche was being douchey. I mocked him, and he threw out a lame, "That's not what your Mom said when I fucked her last night," and, without missing a beat I tossed back, "Well I guess I owe the cats an apology as I thought one of had knocked over the urn of her ashes."
The douche got this utter look of horror on his face on his face.
Mom, on the other hand, would have laughed at that line. She's the one I got my dubious humor from.
When I wrote that, a mischievous voice in the back of my head did think "this will confuse/amuse my non-British readers."
"The Mechanical Crown" is a damn good book, and Tarn is certainly my favorite character from it (then Fenris, to my surprise, as two of us know how off my initial impressions were), followed by Tranton and the Princess in a tie). Didn't think "Blue Tarn" was a specific reference to that book - as "Tarn" features in many of Simon's social media handles. Thought of it more as an "author's trademark" reference...
Anyways, welcome back, Zoltan, while Nisha gets the dialog of the week with "Holland is a cock... Worth it." I laughed loudly enough at that exchange Shadow-kitten gave a wide eyed look.
Unfortunately the "concentration camps" would have fit the tale without 2025. More unfortunately, 2025 makes it stunningly relevant.
Jiraa may be stuck with the SDC gang now. Sure, at the time it was an emergency situation with evil robots crossing, and a speedy evacuation, but he crossed with no visa, no documentation, and is basically a "illegal immigrant" to Mid-Earth at this point. I guess the authorities at Addis Addaba might not be assholes should he attempt to immediately return home, but is that portal currently "open for business?" London wouldn't be understanding.
Thanks, Mike. Man, TMC was a long time ago now, eh? I'm still pondering how to resurrect it for this newsletter, but without having to commit to a 3-year serialising timeline. Seems like an opportunity to do an edit/redraft and prep it for paperback publication, while also re-serialising - but I'm trying to work out how to speed it up. Maybe merge chapters (which I'd probably do anyway for the paperback) and simply put out longer chunks? Hmm.
Glad Chakraborty's lines worked! She spends most of the chapter swearing, which I found amusing and fairly on-brand for her.
Good points about Jiraa: and he's probably not going to get through probation on his new job, either. We've seen him be impulsive ("let's just on top of this crashed car!" "let's go up to this on-fire spaceship!" "let's dive into a confusing conflict between police and AI!" "this is fine!"), but he's now stuck on a path that he can't really get off for a while. Perhaps he can hitch a ride back with Ganhkran, though that's dependent on the Blue Tarn's next port of call.
Probation?
Yeah, employers don't like it when someone literally drops off the face of the (MAX) Earth for a couple of days...
Excellent episode. Nice finish to it as well.
Thanks for reading, Chris!
You bet. Amazing content and longevity for Tales of the Triverse. (Soon, I will release my own serialized novel, a drama set in the present day I hope you don't mind that I'm modeling my Substack structure and strategy based on the path you have so bravely forged.)
Thank you! I'm glad the chapter worked for you. There was a lot of exposition, and not much in the way of direct action, so I'm glad the character moments still lifted it out of infodump territory.