With the much-awaited release of A Cauldron of Bitterness comes the release of discussions that were previously restricted. To prevent unwanted exposure to spoilers, make sure to read A Cauldron of Bitterness in full - available now on AzaleaEllis.com.
Cliffhanger chapter 14, probably. 
Also, how are we at chapter 245!? That’s pretty freaking cool.
“The chapter will surely release soon,” I whisper softly to myself as I rock back and forth in an entirely sane manner.
“There is nothing wrong with a gainfully employed adult staying up until 3am on a work night, I will surely go to sleep if it hasn’t been released by 3am.”
I ignore the fact that I told myself something similar about 2:30am in the hazy past of an hour or so ago. My bed is warm and soft and sapping my energy, if only my brain would comply by shutting down.
Instead, each time I close my eyes I see a dark figure leaping off the edge of a white cliff edge.
I sigh, reaching for my phone and refresh my emails again.
“Curse you, Azalea…” I whisper into my darkened room, but the words come without heat. After all, I have well and truly done this to myself.
Hm, I hope we get another Lacer POV for 246, I really want to see his reaction to what happened next.
Absolutely agreed, but I really need to know what happened now that she’s jumped.
She’s still mid air off the side of the cliff!
I appreciate the editing of the previous chapters and the new 243 making Thaddeus less villainous and in pain (I’m not letting off the hook though). I’m also hoping 246 is from his POV if only to get a proper thaumaturge describing amber.
Alright, after a scant few hours of sleep and an excessive amount of caffeine, I have had some thoughts.
First and foremost:
Since this new chapter 243 is quite short, I will also be releasing chapter 246 tomorrow, to continue with the story from where we left it.
Yes, please, chapter tonight, this is the only thing that kept me from waking up the entire street with my screech of indignation when I realised OUR GIRL IS STILL IN THE AIR, her fate in the balance and fortune to be decided.
Secondly, much appreciation for the extra words to pad out the other chapters. Oddly, it did somehow feel more satisfying when she had to work to stab him in the knee, despite the fact that I appreciated her insouciance in the previous version. “Surprise!” Knife to the knee.
Thirdly, please, Thaddeus, you are confused! Why is this not a klaxon call ? You certainly phrased it dramatically enough when you were teaching Sebastien.
I really want him to sit down and tear into his confusion and really think about his assumptions. Yes, Lacer, what if she didn’t lie? What if she’s really 20? Can you actually imagine a world in which you’re wrong and she’s just a baby fighting a titan? How would that help you explain the fight? Would it make more sense?
I also don’t want him to do that, because, well, it’s funnier this way and I want her to continue being the mysterious figure who no one understands or knows much about. It’s just crazy to me that the one guy who’s tried not to jump on the crazy train and works to attack his biases still falls into the trap. Also, this quote was prophetic:
“As for how much proof one needs to be sure of something, that is a difficult question, because it is hard to properly quantify your own surety. However, it does do to be wary that we are prone to jumping to conclusions without sufficient evidence, and that in the face of evidence to the contrary, our levels of surety remain much higher than they should. Do not be so complacent as to believe that simply because you are more intelligent than the average person and also aware of this fallibility that you can easily escape it.”
We wait and see on that front.
The tragic truth was that the Red Guard was failing, on multiple fronts, and most of those who might have been able to do something about it were either too blind or too prideful to admit it. They sanctioned and punished him, but really, they feared that he might succeed where they could not.
Well, that answers a little bit about why he’s out of favour, but it still leaves a bunch of questions wide open.
He had considered and discarded the idea before, but perhaps Siobhan would be the type of person to appreciate his research. She likely even had deep knowledge and insights into areas that he had not yet had the time or inclination to explore.
For instance, the way she had severed a spell from his control. If he had been a lesser thaumaturge, slower to reel in his Will, she might have forced an accident. Severing magic that worked on other magic was a rare skill to start with. He had never met anyone who could sever the Will of a caster from a detached spell.
As mentioned last week - she’s not a paper tiger anymore! She has some real skills to back up her legend. Problem is, she’s just a tiger cub - she doesn’t have the muscles and experience to really take down her prey.
Why is tonight so far away? I want the next chapter already!
(“Ungrateful,” as Liza would say.)
Edit: perhaps it is sleep deprived inspiration, but the thought occurred - she has that tendril from the Newton Aberrant. An Aberrant that had the effect of making people excessively calm without them really noticing - to the point of slackness and insensibility.
That would be an amazing resource right now if she wanted a nonlethal way of getting Thaddeus off her back.
Now, I suspect this is still locked away in her trunk and sealed. But what if she was too paranoid to leave it behind? Or - and this might get me written up in that 1001 Clever Ways Thaumaturges Have Killed Themselves - what happens if she knows exactly where a component is that she wants to use and…distances her sacrifice circle?
Yes, yes, you might well be singing “
Dumb ways to die “ and with good reason, but if distance is just a conceptual hurdle and one knows with exactitude where one’s sacrifice is then…maybe?
Not necessarily something I’d want to test while exhausted, slightly drugged, panicked and at my wit’s end falling off the side of a cliff, buuuuut…. When else are you going to be stupid enough to test these things?
Still…
But she didn’t fall down and give up or just resign herself to failure. If Siobhan were the type to simple accept reality when everything seemed hopeless, she would never have made it this far.