phoo

Now-now I just want to share the story.
Damn.

Not willing to cut

I like this bit SO MUCH.
Don't make me cut it. :'(

"At the moment, Ire almost looked like he’d been dragged through the profanities of either excrement, the underworld, or both. He barely resembled the Ire Matthard conferred with the day before. When dressed in peasant brown and sporting a distinct lack of hygienic care, he looked—

Well, he looked out of place. There were some things even cunning and knowledge that bordered on the psychic couldn’t overcome.

Ire’s natural poise was one of them.

“You look like a nobleman slumming it.” Matthard noticed. Ire scowled, the action making him look just the tiniest bit more peasant-ish. If you were scowling, it meant that something was wrong in your life, which was intrinsically peasant-ish.

But on Ire, it looked like someone had picked out the wrong pair of shoes for him.

“That’s what Selah wasn’t telling me. I thought so.”

“You’ve tried well, it’s just… your stance.” Matthard leaned back on one leg, fingering the stubble that he hadn’t had the time nor razor to shave.

“What about it?”

“If you were trying to say that the world owes you something nonverbally, consider it done.”

“Peasant attitude is surprisingly hard to imitate,” Ire commented, his eyes tracing from Matthard’s face down to the heavily mutilated bundle of papers Matthard had been wringing the ink out of only minutes before. “Are those your notes?”

Selah cannot be a foreign foreigner. She is from a Castle that used to exist just north of Landria and her great grandmother once assisted in delivering a message of peace to end the civil war between Southern and Northern Peterny. She does not resent Abigail for this, merely is annoyed by how often it is used as a weapon against their family.

She is not physically very different, it is simply the trends in her family that run against the norm -- dark curly hair, kept long, sharp nose, modest clothing.

In comparison, Viviane's straight blonde hair, kept as short as is appropriate for her work, is comfortable wearing less constricting and occasionally more seductive, off the shoulder outfits. Quinton appreciates this, and rejects Selah because she is more straitlaced.

--

Rigoletto is a lovely musical. I should buy the soundtrack.

Of meetings

Problem: When do Ire and Quinton meet each other?

Quinton has to meet Ire before Ire can exhibit any signs of poisoning, otherwise it is an anachronism. This will have been the second time Ire has been poisoned in as many weeks. This will probably make him weaker, physically, and may necessitate his disappearing for a day or two.

They should meet, ideally, just before or during the public speaking so it will be easy for Quinton to recognize Ire. His first action will be to catch Selah and tamper with the food. This will require that Ire takes food from Selah, which means he needs to be doing something else.

Phooey.

Quinton also needs to have a good reason not to become president (oh, like, PROPOSING TO VIVIANE? =3).

Celebrate

I figured out what to do about the whole "why Landria has to have an election with two contestants" thing!
And it sounds SMART and IRE-ish, which means I feel smart.
Yays.