When the Moon Hatched Episode 6: Chapters 58-75

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Our two sisters dive deep into beloved Fantasy Lord characters, themes, theories and more. I'm Lexi, older sister and fantasy lord nerd. And I'm Nicole, younger sister and romantic at heart. And we're back with our episode six, deep dive of when the moon hatched by Sarah A Parker, covering chapters 58 through 75. As always, please listen closely to our spoiler warning. Every episode has spoilers for all of when the moon hatched. Bangal, velvet trog, book avoid, and that's only the FAILED POV chapters from this stretch. So if you have no idea what I'm talking about, then please go finish the book. We will be here when you're done. Next, we at Fantasy Fagirls are adults who say adult things about adult books. In other words, friends, this podcast is rated R. Wave might only be getting it on in her dreams. But don't think for a second that we're just glossing over those morsels of section moments with Khan. So please be mindful of those little listening ears. Additionally, we are so excited to see you at upcoming live events. Buckle up because we have a lot of stuff going on. We recently announced our September live show tour starting in Chicago on September 9th, Charlotte, North Carolina on September 24th and New York City on September 27th. Tickets are on sale now and heads up there going fast, fast, fast. So check out the link below for more details. Then, of course, we'll be at the Dragon Gatlet in Boyne City, Michigan, September 11th through 12th. And we will be going to Land Con in Get This! And Brose, Scotland, July 16th through 18th, 2027 and tickets just went on sale. Links to all of these events are in the show notes and on our website. Last thing before we jump into this When the Moon Hatched episode, if you love fantasy fangirls and want more events, more content, more community and so much more, please check out Fantasy Fan Club. We have six tiers that you can join, three of which are fantasy fangirls specific, and they include things like our bop and discord, live Q&As from Lexi and I, a book club often featuring the authors themselves. Our full episode outlines early access to ad free episodes and welcome gifts, giveaways, private discord channels, the whole caboodle. Join the party at fantasyfangirls.com slash fan club. The link is also in the show notes and really and truly thank you so much for supporting us as we turn this podcast into a dream come true. It's all because of you. And now it is time to attend the great flirt. To start off every episode, let's get a parchment lark delivery where Nicole does us the honor of summarizing what happens in chapters 58 through 75. That's a lot of chapters here of When the Moon Hatched. Take it away. Buckle up, buttercups. Here we go. Chapter 58, Vaia POV. Vaia cannot wait any longer before she heads into the shade. So she packs her bags with two forks and sets off early. But while walking past the Imperial Hutch's, Vaia finds con packing his own bags, someone needs to take care of the feral dragon whose roasting villages. But what kind of little sister would she be if she didn't express her deep disappointment in her older brother showing rave slot your shrine? Q sibling, bickering con, needing a change in subject. Notices that they are is packed and ready to leave. But where? Well, con, you remember how Elluin used to write everything down in a diary. Vaia is on a mission to find it. Looks like both siblings are running from the female that's supposed to be dead. Chapter 59, ignoring the danger danger, keep out signs. Rave ventures into the dense forest that she's 99 percent sure is hushling free. In said forest, rave sticks her hand into a hollow of a tree, bold choice, and pulls out a small carving further into the trees. A clearing emerges, but rave only finds stone stone and more stone until she finds a dwelling. Suddenly a specimen memory rushes to the surface. This space once belonged to her and con and they did the dirty in it. Chapter 60, diary entry. Con sings a song from Elluin's childhood. And for the first time since bringing Hadean back from Netheryn, she cries. That's nine phases, folks. But like the perfect male he is, con scoops her up and holds her tight. Gold star for con. Chapter 61, the man himself, con POV. The dragon caused a lot of damage in the village. But thankfully con was able to lure it away before it turned everyone into a molten puddle. Con goes to find his second in command, Grime, who drops another bomb on this gloomy day. He wants to request leave for what you ask to raid a nest of the great silver sabersive. Say that five times fast. So long, Grime. Hopefully this isn't the last time we see you. Chapter 62, they a POV. Eight days later, they is making her way through the fade and pray she doesn't fall off a cliff to her death. Veya and her guide, Noeve, share a little gossip sesh. Did you know that the Queen of the Fade tried to stop an execution of the fear to us? Gossip aside, Veya isn't gore for one reason and one reason only. She left a bangle here and by left, I mean, she dropped it down a rubbish shoot straight into the hands of the velvet drug. Womp, womp. Chapter 63, diary entry. It's been seven slumbers since Elluin's last seen con. On the bright side, she's improving in her combat skills. All of those emotions of missing him are proving good for something. Chapter 64, Veya POV. Veya repels down the rubbish shoot right into the velvet drugs layer, ignoring the nasty oily substance that now coats her body gag. Veya finds the velvet drug munching on a chair. Yummy. A teeny tiny crown on top of the drugs head catches her eye. Fuck, that's the bangle Veya came here for. Slight problem. The trog is unwilling to give up the bangle without something else in return. Veya planned for this and offers up a deal or no deal for her mother's Malmer and the bangle's chain. Thankfully, the trog says deal. Chapter 65, diary entry. He's back. Not only with a new scar and a new necklace, but his songs are back too. They sing the song of the silent sun. So many S's this episode and something sparks between them, even with a thousand rules stating that they shouldn't be together. Khan pulls off Elloans veil and kisses her. Chapter 66. Away from the rest of the world, Rave takes a much needed time to herself from bathing in a small waterfall to writing in her brand new diary. Rave is finally exploring what it means to exist without shackles and expectations. Yay, Rave. Chapter 67, Khan POV. Khan is back and while Veya is not present for the welcome committee, Pyrok is and he has no problem filling in his king on Rave's happenings. She's been out and about in the markets buying shit like towels. What? But the oncoming great flirt is underway. And while Khan is not looking forward to the celebration, he has an idea of how to make the most of it. Chapter 68, diary entry. Ella won now 19 watches Khan during the tithe and he tells the water rates to suck it. And there's no fishes in the lake and he needs his diamonds. God damn it. Sorry, wrong book. Khan is such grace and acts with fairness that Ella would knows would make him a worthy male that her father would respect. And she decides, fuck it, life's too short to not get that bread. And by bread, I mean Khan. Chapter 69, penis. Speaking of which, Chapter 69. Nice. Rave has woken up from a very intimate dream. I love that the intimate dream kicks off. Chapter 69. Amazing. You know she's that on purpose. Oh, absolutely. Khan is about to bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, but rave is cock blocked by screeching dragons before the good port rushing outside because the world is probably ending. She finds nothing wrong. And is that music? The great flirt has arrived. Hanging in a nearby tree, rave finds a basket that definitely wasn't there before. Inside is a beautiful silver mask, a silky gown, slippers to match and sunscreen. Yeah. But that's not the only shocking part. Khan's Malmer is in there too with a note asking her to dance. This is how you ask a girl to prom, gentlemen. Chapter 70, diary entry. When the next Aurora fall comes, there's no carving. There's no guitar. There's no meal, only a parchment lark and a rusted key. Following the lark, Ella makes her way through the dense jungle till she finds a hidden dwelling carved into the cliff. I wonder what that could be. Inside, Elwin finds Khan sitting at a table with a home cooked meal waiting for her to just top tier. Oh my God. I love him so much. So good. He offers her this dwelling with or without him. Elwin chooses the only option is on top of him. Chapter 71 with her mask on and intentions for this day decided. Rave finds pyroc waiting to escort her to the celebrations. Upon entering the city, she sees the theme is popping. Rave decides to head to the left to the cold, nethering themed dome for no reason at all, Chapter 72, the dome is stunning. Something something behind the pillars draws Rave's attention. So we're off behind the pillars, the wonderful pillars of ice. The area behind is blocked by two guards who let them through after rave pilfer through pyrox pockets for his gold, who's ready for a game of Scrippy. Chapter 73 turns out Rave is really good at this game and wins several hands in a row. The sexist men may not want to play with her anymore, but someone else does. Hello, Rave takes this opportunity to get a few answers out of him, only to learn that she was important to him. But for some mysterious reason, she bound to another male. Enough of this emotionally confusing conversation. Deal another round, octopus. But instead of playing for gold, they make a wager. If Khan wins, Rave must answer three questions truthfully. If Rave wins, they play pretend for one night. Then Rave gets to erase Khan from her memory. Let the games begin. Chapter 74, the game does not last long. Much to Khan's dismay, Rave wins and homeboy is pissed. Shall he bend her over and fuck her against the table right now? Place, but Rave can't. No. He doesn't want to. So that's why. OK, OK, OK. Fine. But Rave takes Khan's hand instead and asks him to dance. She doesn't want him to focus on the negative because to Rave, this isn't just scripty and chill. This is one night to say a final goodbye. Chapter 75, Khan POV. Together, Khan and Rave dance under the Aurora. Their dance is interrupted by two dragons courting overhead, spewing fire over the dome. It's freaky, but OK. But thankfully, the ruined dome is protecting them. But Dragonfire equals visible rooms and Rave can't fucking have that. So she hides from Khan only to come out when he threatens to break the pillars down. It worked. They make their way out of the maze and Rave lets her own walls down just enough to give Khan a few kisses. Finally. Yeah. I will never forgive our planning for stopping here, by the way, ever. Thank you so much for that big beefy recap. We're going to jump right into the rest of this episode after a quick word from our sponsors. Starting making tax digital is seamless with zero's HMRC recognized software. If you're a sole trader or landlord whose income tax is going digital, not only is zero MTD ready, it also gives you better control of your finances like capturing your receipts with a snap. So all your records are accurate, sorted and ready for tax time, which changes the way you see MTD. Search MTD ready with zero. When life gets hectic, energy ups and downs are all you need. If you're seeking energy reassurance, Eonnext can help. From regularly updating our tariffs to get you our best value to smart tech that helps you take control of your energy future, we're here for whatever's next. Just one of the reasons why we're rated excellent on TrustPilot by our customers. Find out more about how we can help at Eonnext.com. Eligibility and T's and C's apply. TrustPilot February 2026. So many cats love whiskers. Tabby cats. Grumpy cats. Cats who sleep on anything. Cats who like to test gravity. Cats who like to steal your socks. And that one cat who talks back. Nine out of ten cats love new whiskers. Trust the pearl. Try the best ever whiskers. It is time to listen to the elemental songs, to explore key insights, character analysis, lore, foreshadowing theories and oh, so much more. Wasting absolutely no time, Khan's sister, Vaya sets off for her mission to Erythia to track down Elwin's diary. After what Agni found on Rave's body, the killing wound on her heart, Vaya knows that something fishy happened that night 123 phases ago. The story that they were all told about Elwin dying during childbirth is a lie. And maybe just maybe Elwin's diary holds the answer to who killed her and why. Rave shouldn't be walking around alive right now. She should be up in the sky with slouch up, but something happened and now she's here. After Rave slash Elwin called Vaya by her name, Vaya knows that her memories are still in there somewhere and she's going to be the one to get to the bottom of this. And to do that, Vaya needs more information from the original source, Elwin's diary. In addition to knowing that Elwin, her best friend, is in there somewhere deep, deep somewhere, Vaya also knows that they are now on a borrowed ticking time bomb. The moment her twin brothers, Katak and Tyroth catch wind that Elwin, N'Van is alive, they will stop at nothing until she is brought back to their mainly Tyroth's clutches and given that Khan just gave Rave a sack of bloodstone. That means she's free to go to the Fade and hunt Rexaros, which concies it as, you know, helping her with her blood lust and should Rave be recognized in the Fade? That's bad. Well, I will say to be fair, she's been a cult undercover for a while now under the fear of the do you have? We know true. Yes. Yes. She's purposefully staying undercover because she has to be undercover for a whole different reason. Yes. So I think that with the fear of do you ask, that's been her saving grace quite literally because that's kept her under wraps, but she's not going back technically a free spirit unless Sareem's little scratchy vial can well. She did wonder with the mind weft from the curly quill. He was like, Oh, you don't want the fear to ask to know that you are alive. And she's like, not for right now. So it wasn't like a permanent, but it was just a for now. So, oh my gosh, I'm so excited. So these twins, Katak and Tyroth have been preparing for a war unlike anything other, just like Khan has also been preparing for said war just much quieter for a long time. They need one reason. The twins need one reason to infiltrate the burn, which the burn has masses of untapped bloodstone, given how money driven the fate especially is. This would make Katak stop at nothing until that bloodstone mind is drained. I love Khan so much, but there's a reason it's fair. I was thinking of these things, not him. So I do have a question when we're talking about all of this untapped bloodstone, which by the way, I absolutely love how that is this resource. Like I love it when I'm going to say the economy, but this is so much bigger than that is is involved in all of this, you know, in these fantasy stories. But anyway, so I do have a question. Did their father, King Austrian, did he not mine the bloodstone? Because if it is untapped, it would have to have been for a while. I mean, we know that Khan has been king of the burn for, well, we don't know exactly how long, but some decades, we assume less than a hundred, but like more than 50. So so I do wonder if bloodstone is a new currency that the fate and the shade. But again, that's not the vibe that we got from the prologue when it was talking about how people were finding uses for fallen dragons. And so I'm just very curious about that. I don't think he did. I think, listen, King Austrian sucks and he is a bad guy. I think two things. I think he didn't know about this untapped bloodstone or he specifically left it untapped and gold was used worldwide, but I'm leaning towards he purposefully left this untapped. OK, yeah. Which does not add up with what we know about his character the rest. So I don't know. From Veya's POV, though, she can't believe her older brother was stupid enough to send Rafe off for all the reasons Nicole just said. She also cannot believe. I'm with Veya on this one. I'm with Khan. Well, I'll rip. I'm 100 percent with Veya. I love. Do not get me wrong. But I caught as being very one track mind, which it makes a lot of sense. Veya is thinking very practically here. And I appreciate that. I yes, I do agree with that. She also cannot believe he showed her a slotcher's shrine. That's not easy. And to telling her about the past like they agreed on this deviates from the plan. And now he's put them all at risk. So, yes, Veya is a little pissed that her brother made a very risky decision and led with his heart rather than using his head. Like I've been saying, he's a little bit blind when it comes to any situation that involves Ellowan slash Rafe, Khan is very strategic. Do not get me wrong. He wouldn't have an army to rival Caddox if he wasn't. And when it comes to Ellowan, it's Veya who's the one thinking from all sides, whereas he's just thinking from one very specific side. Well, so it's because Khan has a soul deep connection with Ellowan slash Rafe. And he knows in his heart that it will all work out. That is very trusting. It's very trusting. I'm also someone who always believes people are dead when they say that they're dead on the page. So, you know what? Man, I can't wait for next year. Oh, my God. While Veya is on her mission to the shade to retrieve Ellowan's diary, Khan is setting off to the village of Rambeck, where the village's chief's dragon, Bloom, has just gone rabid due to a tick that was left unattended. Remember, these ticks are large round bugs with spindly legs and claw like pincers. And when left unattended and attached to a dragon, they release a toxin that will turn a dragon completely unhinged. Even the most docile dragons will become dead set on torching cities and slaying everyone in their path should they come in contact with one of these ticks. When this happens, there is no cure except for a swift, merciful death. I feel like we haven't seen the last of these ticks and I hate them. Oh, God. I do. I'm very afraid for Rhaigon next book. I will say it. I'll say it. Don't you dare say that. Take that back. Sorry. I know I'm no. No. No, I won't. I bet you Rhaigon will not get a tick on him. Fine. I'll bet that Rhaigon gets a tick on him. OK, hold on. And it goes rabid. Oh my God. Sorry, I forgot that part there. Yeah, you did. I was really excited. OK, fine. I bet you that Rhaigon gets a rabid tick. Lexi says no. She's surprised. No, there will be. Yes, Rhaigon will not have a rabid tick in book two. No, yes, these are bets. We are back to make sure our back or book two. Yes. Oh my God. OK, here's another option. The Great Silver Saber size could get one. That would be bad. That would be bad. I was going to say this is a fun theory, but that's actually. It's not. It's not a theory at all. That theory, this is a fun theory. I will admit it. What if dead dragons can get ticks and then like the dragons that don't make it up to the sky and then I think that's a fun theory. Basically, the ticks are the Night King of the world. There's that fun theory we were looking for. I'm not making that bet. We're not having ticks reanimate dragons. Sarah would be like, girl. All right, so Khan has a big kingdom to manage and he's been south. Yeah, he does. And he's been south searching for moon shards and discovering a not dead eluin along the way. In other words, the king's got to do his rounds around the kingdom. OK. Well, yes, this is absolutely true. Khan does have another reason to leave the capital for a month. He needs to give rave space after what he just dropped on her with sloth. How she retreated and made it very clear she's not ready to face her truths. Khan feels like he played his biggest hand, which is showing her the dragon he's been putting back together and she still refused. Nothing else he can do or say or show her will break through to her. So the best thing he can do now is give her space to figure it out herself, especially after he saw her going to the western point where their home used to be proving once again that eluin is still in there and rave is being called to pass feelings. However, again, she did make it clear that she does not want Khan around. So he will respect that because he is a good book husband. In order to do that properly, he needs to leave and create physical distance. I will say, though, Khan will be surprised when rave is still here when he returns a month later. So I do think that while he sees her inspecting and being curious about the western point, he still does fully expect her to leave and chase after that bloodlust. But I think he also feels a certainty that she will find her way back to him after she quenches this blood thirst. That's interesting because I actually took it the opposite. I think that he was, yes, he was expecting her to leave. And when he comes back and she's still here, he's like, whoa, I think that after he played the slaughter card, he not gave up by any means, but he felt a little hopeless and that really fucked with his head. And that was one reason that he, you know, metaphorically sent Elo and rave off. And then he also left himself because he was like, I need to, you know, when you have a really bad breakup and you're like, I just need to go somewhere. I need to get back. Yes. I have literally moved across the country before that. That's right. Yes. Yes. You have. So imagine that except you come back and they're still there and they're the love of your life. OK, don't. But I know where you're coming from. Thank you. Well, Khan and Veya are off on their own adventure. Rave is on her own too. Now the plan was to go get a molten ma and hunt down Rex Zarrows, but something doesn't feel complete here on the burn. There is something in the Western point that is drawing her to it. It's an itch. She can't quite reach to scratch until she checks it out. This is so telling how deep this emotional pole is to the West. She has been so laser focused on getting to wreck and getting Rex head on a pike that she has done literally everything in her power to rid herself of anything that got in her way of that goal. Now, the only thing getting in her way is herself. Dun dun dun. And this pole that she doesn't quite understand. So she tells herself she'll go look at it and then she'll be on her merry way. And this whole quote, danger, danger. Hushling lives here. She knows it's bullshit. Remember, a hushling is something that goes in through your nose and slurps your brain out while you're sleeping. Yummy. The worst straw you could ever imagine. And she's right. Does it have one hole or two holes? Oh, my God. From Fantasy Fan Reads, Chaotic Questions. One hole straws. No, there's two holes. Oh, my God. Never which one I said. Never mind. We're not getting into that now. Please. Technically, technically, a nose has two holes, though. So this is a different type of straw. Anyway, you are so correct. Thank you. Wow. That was so nice to hear. Oh, my God. OK, now this whole danger, danger, a hushling lives here. She is correct in the fact that it's bullshit. After Eloin died, Khan absolutely lost it. So Veya being the best little sister she could possibly be put up these signs so no one would come in and disturb or ruin her brother's sanctuary to his love. Oh, and it worked for everyone except for Ray. After wrestling through the vines that hide the entrance, Rave discovers a cozy little dwelling. The entrance is just wide enough for a fully grown fey male to go up the stairs and into a cavern covered by blooming copper vines on the walls and ceiling. The counters of the kitchen are formed from the same surrounding stone and remind Rave of the ones in Ma's retreat. Everywhere Rave looks, there are two of everything. Two beat up chairs, two twin terracotta mugs, two leather cedars. Even though it's dusty, the shelves hold items that show that this was a very lived in room with parchment like writing supplies and empty journals and even more stone carvings of different creatures similar to the one that Rave found in the tree further up the stairs. Rave finds a bedroom. The walls covered in same moon plumes and saber size as the shrine with a massive circular pallet in the center. Even Boulder's song is in this place with the constant hum of contentment. The same one he showed in Slaughter's tomb. I love that tiny show not tell of how Rave is opening herself up to Boulder and thus opening herself up to the steadiness that he offers. I also remember in Ellyn's diary entries when she's describing this dwelling and she thinks something along the lines of how Boulder loves this place or it's like con like as permission or something like that and how the ether stone does like it here too. And so it's almost like this. It's like their creators. Creators like their relationship is created as blessed. Yes. Yes. So it is clear that this was a loving couple's home. The safe haven for con and Elloans love story. And Rave feels this emotional pull to this home, this instinct to take care of the space and bring it back to life with deep set emotions attached to this home. Rave gets more visions of her and con sharing this home, making love, laughing together, promising themselves to the other forever, living this beautiful life intertwined, tucked away in the safe haven. And as the cycles are passing, Rave is making this space home. I want to go back to the concept of home that we talked a lot about in our first episode, right? That was our first episode with Essie and how she was so nervous to create this emotional attachment to somewhere that would be called home. Even if she did feel it, she would not be willing to voice it because voicing something with attachment means bad for her. And in this space, it's like she is free to be able to feel all of this and to make this space truly a home. Think about back at her home with Essie. It was very, very sparse. And then Essie made it home. And in this case, she is finally bringing something back to life, which she has never experienced before. And I'm going to try to get through this little section without crying. I just I want to say I'm so proud of Rave because she stays here for a month and she's here on her own by herself. Yes, she could leave and scratch that itch for blood that she's thrived off of her entire life, but she doesn't because for the first time, she's exploring who she is with no eyes, no ears, no commands, no shackles in all of her lives between Eloin up in the sky and here as Rave. This is the first time she's not an Elding Blade. She's not Eloin, the princess of the shade. She's not a calcified dead moon plume in the sky. She's Rave and no one else. This montage, I do feel like it's often looked over. I mean, I really looked over it until this deep dive because it's in between the scene with Slotcher's tomb and the great flirt. But this type of character growth had to happen before her and Khan shared a night together, she needed to learn what it was to live. And oh, this kills me as she says, quote, Fallon would be proud. Oh, man. This is what her friend in the scavenger king's cells told Rave was out there. Life, moons in the sky, peace, frolicking naked through the forest. And Rave has never experienced that until now. I'm just so proud of her for sitting in the uncomfortable and the unexplored for a month to learn what it is to have a life rather than go back to the ease of what she's always known, which is bloodlust. Yes, absolutely. She is letting this place lead her or as Rave calls it, she's going with it. She's going with the flow. She's exploring these old urges in this quiet place where, like you said, there's no eyes or ears or commands, which includes journaling. Remember that journal the mine weft from the curly quill gave her with a moon plume emblem on it? Hmm. I wonder why. Rave has never once felt inclined to journal, but she does now and the words come easily. I love how she's leaning into old parts of Elwin, but giving them a Rave spin. She's not chasing the past and trying to uncover this identity. She's exploring her present identity for really the first time in a safe environment. Yes. As she's journaling, we see that Rave is starting to have this understanding that yes, her past is Elwin, but she's living in this odd in between. She's constantly living in the memory of Elwin and Khan. I love how she expresses that she's enjoying living in this in between. I can really empathize with that. Well, she's having visions. She's waking up all hot and bothered by things that were both hers and also not hers. But she believes that as uncomfortable as it is that Khan fell in love with someone so different from herself. She mentions in that diary entry that she believes Elwin was softer, kinder, someone worth loving, and that's not her. But what I love about this is this is actually an unreliable character moment because Elwin was not soft. She was jagged and determined and spicy. She had a sharpened tongue. She was kind to those who deserve it, but not kind to those who didn't. She and Rave are very similar. And yet it's easier in moments like this for Rave to believe that they are night and day different because she has an easy out slash reason to believe that she can never have Khan if he loves someone soft and sweet and that's not her. It's as simple as that. She doesn't deserve him. He would never love her. And thus she won't have to deal with the terrors that might come up with people loving her. We're seeing Rave grow in her character arc right here on the page. It's a big deal that she is even entertaining that this was previously her life, a different version of her, whereas she threw the possibility in Khan's face when he showed her slacha, saying she is not the person he thinks and closing herself off to acknowledging this past, even if she doesn't understand it. But now that she has had this space, this time to simply live, to bring back to life a home that was most definitely Khan and Eloans. It's not as scary when she can process it on her own. It's still scary, but not as scary in her face. Rave knows that there was pain in Eloans life, knowing that there was a bad reason. The old Eloan, so in love and safe and happy here must have been pulled away. And yes, we the readers know that it was because King Ostrand threatened to kill Veya and Khan if she did not bind to Tyroth. Pretend the child is his. Like we were saying, she does not want to face the pain and sorrow from Eloans life. She wants to soak up this in between detached, yet still deeply connected to this love story. Rave is taking a lot of steps forward this month with exploring herself. And there's it's Rave. She has one way in which she's taking, I'll say, not a step back necessarily, but not allowing herself to take a step forward. She does not want to understand Eloan, her past, her sadness, her secrets, especially because Rave believes she cannot handle it. She doesn't want to learn about how she lost Khan herself, a dragon. She doesn't even know she has a she has a child. She has no idea. And she doesn't know that she's the former queen of the shade. OK, I have a question for you. And all the bad things people have done to her family. When in ballad, do you think that Rave is going to learn about Kazari? And when do you think she's going to learn about the fact that she's literally the queen of the shade? I think she's going to learn the queen of the shade in the first third of the book. I think she's going to learn the second half and the second third. Oh, see, I OK, I think that they're going to both happen around the same time. Maybe not the exact same time, but like within, let's say, a few chapters of each other. OK, and I think it's definitely going to be in the second half of the book. OK, I split mine into thirds. Do you want to split? OK, so how about this? I'll say she finds out both in the first half of the book. You say she finds out both in the second half of the book. How does that sounds? Sounds great. Yes. That's being made, baby. All right. Now, Rave on the surface is telling herself that she's saving everyone by not planning on staying and even better, it will cancel out their looming death sentence that she believes Khan in particular has for simply loving her. It will cancel that out if she has them fully erased from her memory. And boom, there's the plan. If she has the mind weft from the curly quill in the burn, wipe her memory of Khan, via Pyrok, the burn, Eloan, slouch out of the works, they will all remain safe, except for one. She's super dead and Rave won't have to open up Pandora's box because that's the kicker. Yes, this is all under the guise of saving them and all of this kind of stuff. And I do believe that she really means that. But there's that underlying layer where it's I don't have to open up Pandora's box. And have more hurt that she believes she cannot bear. Now, I do want to pause with Rave real quick because she's off traipsing naked through the jungle for a month. Let's not I am so happy for her. She is naked and alone naked and not afraid, baby. And not afraid. That's right. She's skinny dipping. Now, I will say this, I applaud her so much. You could not pay me to go naked in the jungle because I would just see snakes. And I'm going to leave it. Happily go and live there like you would never see me and Khan ever again. Just like, oh, yeah, those nudists out in the woods. They're crazy. They're crazy kids. In the village of Rambeck, Khan has successfully put down Chief Thorn's rabid dragon bloom. And even though only that one dragon is to blame, the amount of wreckage left in the village, it looks like a battlefield. In most of the houses were left in complete ruins, some due to being shattered and knocked down while others were hit with dragon flame causing the stone to blacken and the windows to melt into puddles on the ground. Oh, dear. The surrounding trees are completely uprooted and singed. Picture when a tree falls over and the ground is still attached to the roots. But instead of just one to two trees, it's pretty much all of them. The surrounding fields with their crops also took a really big hit. While this is really hard for Chief Thrawn, I mean, he literally just had to watch his own dragon go rabid and almost kill a village. If not more, Thrawn is also very grateful for Khan and the fact that he came to help. Like Chief Thrawn mentions, he doesn't know if he would have been able to put his dragon down, even though it was causing a lot of death and destruction. So it was Khan who lured the dragon away and had to kill him. So Khan, he's not one to puff out his chest for saving the day and killing a dragon. He feels anguish for having to slay a dragon, even if it was to save the village. The scene mostly happens or actually entirely happens off page, but it is such a direct representation of Khan as a leader. He doesn't feel powerful for taking down a dragon like you're saying. It's not showing how big and strong he is as a man. Instead, he views that death as a painful loss. More than most, Khan understands the loss that death creates. And while he knows nothing can replace the love of a dragon, he ensures that the village is helped to the best of his abilities. Note not once does he think about how much is this going to cost to replenish these village and what the people have lost? Cough, cough, looking at you, catty. Instead, he ships barrels of grain and produce to ensure that his people get what they need for them to regrow their crops. We love a leader who actually gives a fuck about his territory and the livelihood of his people. Another notable part from the scene is how grime Khan's second in command, he requests leave. He wants to journey to Gondra, the northernmost part of the burn, where the saberscythe hatching grounds are, because it is rumored that the great silver saberscythe has laid a trio of eggs. And he wants to try and steal one of these eggs, even if it is extra extremely risky, even if it means it'll likely lead to his death. Crime's been sad since his dragon died and he's ready to be bonded to another dragon, specifically one of the great silver-sized hatchlings. So not only is he going to go to one of the most dangerous environments in the world and try to steal an egg, which again is already a risky endeavor, he wants to go after the biggest, the most aggressive dragon's eggs with a reputation. And while Grime doesn't say it, I get the sense that he feels this calling to either survive with this new dragon or it is his time to leave this world. And I know that Khan had a vision from this great silver saberscythe. And I do wonder if maybe Grime has had something similar for himself that he really does feel this calling to go take one of these eggs. We don't get a time stamp for when Grime's dragon died, but I have been so hung up on what Sarah said about white hair like Grime's is very common in the South, and we were theorizing that he is from the shade and was an advisor or a relative of the Navan family. Could his previous dragon named Inca have been a moon plume and even died when they were escaping Tyros' new reign? I will say it would have been a long time ago for him to lose his dragon. And I had gotten the impression that it was more recently, but there was nothing in the text that straight up said that by any means. These fay are long living, so 100 phases is not a really, really long time. And in fact, Khan does not know what happened to Grime's dragon. So that right there makes me think that he then came to the burn before. So that all and all Khan knows is that Grime's past is riddled with lifelong pain. So, yeah, that literally just cement right there. I'm talking myself into it. Inca was a moon plume. Grime was an advisor for the Navan family or even a relative. I know that's your big theory. And he had to escape and very sadly, his dragon did not make it. So after doing a little bit of research, I found a possible definition for Inca. A name site said that Inca, same spelling, has its roots in Hebrew for favor or grace. I did try to come up with another site to confirm that definition and did come up dry there. But I am going to take that with a very big grain of salt because favor and grace, it's like, oh, she she performed a favor for him in order to like make it so he could get out of the shade. I know, I'm sorry. I bet this sweet girl. Oh, baby. That's like Canada in my head now. I'm sorry. It's OK. It's beautiful and sad. Yay. So I do think we're both in agreement that this whole Grime storyline, we are going to get it next book. Yeah, absolutely. Again, Sarah has already told us that he will be a POV character. Oh, that's right. Yes. Yes. I couldn't remember if that was Canon with Sarah or Canon with us. So I couldn't remember for a second. It's been a minute since I listened to that interview. So I know he totally making things up, but I'm like 99. That feels right. It does feel right. Yes. I personally refuse to believe that he is going to go off to Gondra and he's going to die in the retrieving of the great silver cyber saber size eggs. I think that would be very game of thrones. It's like a whole character that we're leading up to get their POV and then they die. That would know that's not happening. I refuse to believe that I have to be together. We'll find out why his hair is white. I think we can highly infer that the silver saber side in this dragon is the same dragon from the ballad of the fallen moon. What's the name of the next book? Ballad of Falling Dragons. If this is the same dragon from that song and that is a huge part of the title. I think this great silver saber side is about to be a big part in case you need a quick refresher on the ballad of the fallen moon. The song tells the tale about two dragons. When one the black female saber side became a moon in the dark so we can assume it was the shade, especially because her snow mentioned a moon bloom curled around her friend and fed her own light into the saber size, thus turning the saber size scales white. Then the moon plume falls from the sky. Womp, womp. And now the white saber side is searching for her friend looking through shards of rock across the snow, trying to piece her together and sadly failing to do so. I have a theory. I think the silver saber side and any eggs it lays. I think it can fly in the snow. So I think the silver saber side is able to go south to the shade and he and his new dragon might be able to go and save Kazari. I love that idea. I. OK, so I was going to say this in a little bit, but I'm going to say it right now from a storytelling standpoint, I think Grime is going to bond with the great silver saber site instead of one of these dragon eggs. It's almost war time. We don't have time for the King's second in command to take care of a hatchling. There is no time for babies. There's no time for towers. There's not time as a parent, I say that. And all of these mentions of the great silver saber side and what you're saying here with how she's been searching for her moon plume. Well, guess who had we totally just assumed that's cannon had a moon plume and he's missing her and now he has goes to the great silver saber side who's there's too many connections there. So anyway, and I'm so hung up on this ballad of the fallen moon, potentially referencing this legendary dragon, plus knowing that we get Grime's POV next book from Sarah in this chapter stretch, Elwin writes in her diary, quote, nobody has been able to get close enough to climb on her, the great silver saber size back and attempt to tame her. And honestly, I hope they never do. That's foreshadowing. I'm calling it. I think some way he is going to bond with the great silver saber site and he will have a badass dragon for the big warhead. All right, you've convinced me. Yep, I'm there with you. No, we're supposed to bet on this. I bet. Yeah. OK, fine. Fine. I think you're right. But I will bet with you. OK, so Grime bonds the silver saber side. Lexi says yes. Nicole. No, finally. So real quickly, we do want to touch on how Khan has his own history with this great silver saber site named Aura more than 123 phases ago. He went to Gondra to steal one of her scales. Why would he risk his life for a scale? Because he is a romantic and needed it to represent Ellowan's moon plume for the Malmour. That's why as he and Ellowan grew closer, Khan explained that Aura came to him in a dream and gave him the distinct message that if he could not secure a scale from her shed, he was undeserving of the love that he and Ellowan shared and quote that he would not have the strength to face our biggest challenges that have not yet come to pass like Ellowan dying and coming back to life and having to save the world from your brothers together. That sounds like a really good biggest challenge yet. That would do it. Yeah. So Khan took a scale from this legendary dragon. And yeah, this dragon was not happy with him. She almost ripped his arm off and he got quite the scar just for a scale. In other words, Grime, what do you think she'll do to you if you try to steal one of her eggs? You'll die. That's what will happen. Point is Khan succeeded. He's deserving of this love. They have the strength to face their biggest challenges. And I love how this dragon came to him in a dream. And again, it goes back to how I really think that our this great silver savers site in this book one is just getting introduced to the story for a much bigger role later. All right. So it's 30 Aurora cycles later, a month later. Khan is back in Dom just in time for the great flirt celebration. And he just dropped Grime off in Gondra. Veya is still not back as much as he wishes. She was back from retrieving the diary in the Shades Capitol. Neither is Rowne, who has been off to translate a book. Cannot forget that. And Sarah has assured us we will get answers in ballad. Khan's getting a little bit worried about his advisor. I'm getting very worried about him, too. So bottom line that Khan's only inner circle member here at the Burn Capital right now is Pyrok. And oh boy, does Pyrok have an update for Khan. Rae is still here. She didn't chase after the bloodlust and use the muddy Khan gave her. He knew that Elowen was still in there and she'd gone to explore the Western Point a month ago. But oh my goodness, this is unexpected. And he's like, well, shit, that probably means that she's remembering things. And I love this line, quote, perhaps forming a new attachment to the place. Yes, that is exactly what she's doing. Yes, yes, yes. And Rae has been spotted at the market, buying things like leather and soap and poultice and even towels in not leaving. Honestly, I remember the first time I remember the first time I bought towels. I felt like such a fucking adult. And I oh, it was so great. It was so great. The Great Flirt is a phenomenon when the aurora duplicates and the ribbons of light spill all over the sky. Normally, there's no more than 10 aurora threads in the sky from pole to pole. But when the Great Flirt happens, it's like the sky is silver. There's so many. This does not happen often. We don't know how often, but does not happen often. And when it does, the dragons will dance together and mate and bang, bang, bang. And he bang, they'll have an influx of fertilized eggs. Get it, dragons. During the Great Celebration in Dumb, the children wear masks as they run around the streets with long silver ribbons attached to sticks while they pretend to be dragons. The city folk get dressed up and don masks made of all kinds of materials, including feathers and scales from dragons, even copper sheets or strings of pearls. There are carts with free molten mead and near the shore, there are three large domes each is decorated and ruined to emulate the three dragon nesting grounds. Netheran, Bogeth and Gondra. Knowing that Netheran is also really fucking cold, you would just walk into Gondra and burst into flames from what it sounds like inside. Dome's people will dance and eat. And then the last dome, the Netheran dome, there is a back room where the richest people in the burn play scrappy. Interestingly, the last time Con and Elwin were together was during the Great Flirt, 123 plus phases ago. We know from a later diary entry that Con would have to leave with his siblings to go rebuild a village from a rabid dragon the next day. Again, this is 123 phases ago. And so the Great Flirt was the day before he left. So he and Elwin spent the Great Flirt tangled in the sheets together, flirting on their own, basking in their little love bubble and trying to pretend like her future of having to bind with his brother was not looming in a month. Con wanted to tell Elwin what's been on his heart for a long time. That Great Flirt, he wanted to beg her to take his hand forever. Despite his shortcomings for Con and break from the Tri Council's decision for what the two of them wanted and that the creators had blessed him as the one that she chose to love. However, after the Great Flirt and after he returned from rebuilding the village, he came back to a note from Elwin saying that she chose Tyroth instead. And needless to say, it broke Con and made him question if what she felt for him was even real and as strong as he believed. Because even now he refuses to accept she thought their love was so light and flimsy. And he's right. As we know, the only reason Elwin left Con was to protect him after his father threatened Elwin that he would kill Veya and Con if she did not go through with the marriage to Tyroth. Little does Con know that on the last Great Flirt, Elwin was already pregnant with his baby, although she didn't even know that she was pregnant at the time. So anyway, the Great Flirt and spending it with Rave is still a raw wound for Con from the last time they spent this day together, thinking it was amazing and they were in love and he had so many big things he wanted to tell her on his heart, only for it to be called into question with her hurried departure. Con is all too happy to let this Great Flirt go by without his attendance yet again. But Pyrock, Pyrock is the one who changes his mind. See, Pyrock, you're not useless, my guy. Yes, the last Great Flirt they spent together was horrible. But this is not the same woman that Elwin was. This is Rave and she's had every opportunity to leave Dome the last 30 Aurora cycles, but she didn't. She's been traipsing around naked in the Western Point and she's been asking about Con's whereabouts. So what if what if this time is different because she is different? Con is scared, scared of losing her again, scared of getting rejected. But what outweighs that fear is the fear of doing nothing. So either way, whether it's better than last time or worse, he's willing to try. So he sends Rave a basket and by send, I mean, he hangs a basket outside of their forest dwelling for Rave to find and it contains a dress, some shoes, a mask, his Malmer and a note that says dance with me. No. Yes, Con. Yes, I'll dance with you. Now, I think Rave 30 cycles ago would have made herself turn this invitation down. But Rave's been living in the in between. Who and she has gotten to know Con and Elwin's love story. Maybe not the details. Well, she has gone some great details, but not the main details like, you know, who she left him for and all of that. But she has been feeling all the emotions, the love, the happiness, the fulfillment and completeness between these two. Like we've been saying, Rave detaches herself from this to keep herself safe and separate from getting into the messiness and the pain that comes along with loving someone, but she's also been really enjoying it. So with this in mind, Rave is under the impression that this invitation and the Malmer and the dress and the mask from Con is him asking her to pretend that is the most naive thing you've ever thought, Rave, but sure, let's go with it. Can she please open her heart to him tonight like Elwin would have from Rave's POV, this will be the perfect goodbye to Elwin that Con and his sweet heart deserve, especially because she plans to erase his memory from her afterward. So this will be her own goodbye to after this night, she'll have to stop living in the in-between. So this last hurrah is a moment for Con and his love, Elwin, because again, if Rave dares to believe it's him wanting to get to know her, that's too scary and vulnerable. I don't think it's an accident that she says yes to this invitation right after. Yes, she has her 30 days, but right after waking up from a spicy dream about Con, which because I can and I will not waste a moment of Con's spice on the page. Let's go through it, shall we? He's beneath her. He pushes her legs open. She pleads for him, but he tells her she does not need to beg. Quote, if you want me, I'm fucking yours. She pushes his fingers into herself with a forever. Of course, Con likes to hear that. So he grips her jaw and kisses her, flips her over. He's about to enter her any second, any second now. And she wakes up. I would have jumped into a cold lake after that. I would have gone and danced with him. Why not both? Before the waterfall, after all, has anybody seen that fan heart? Have I mentioned that yet? Before we get into the great flirt, let's take a quick word from our sponsors. So many cats love whiskers, tappy cats, grumpy cats, cats who sleep on anything, cats who like to test gravity, cats who like to steal your socks and that one cat who talks back. Nine out of ten cats love new whiskers. Trust the pearl. Try the best ever whiskers. This is an ad by BetterHelp. Did I talk too much? I should have handled that better. Why can't I just let it go? Why did I do that? I wish I would stop overthinking so much. Why did I do that? Take a breath. You're not alone. Let's talk about what's going on. Counselling helps you sort through the noise with qualified professionals. An online therapy makes it convenient. See if it's for you. Visit BetterHelp.com. For 10 percent off your first month of online therapy. Two large triangle sheer fabrics are flowing from her shoulders behind her. Stunning. I love the fan art of this. And they also love that she took an already existing dress and made this. Crafty rave rocks. I also love that she's like, no, that was way too much material. Like I've been naked too much. Like I need to feel the breeze beneath me. I need to feel the wind beneath my wings. But find Spiroc waiting for her and he escorts her into the city where they come across a fork in the road, each leading to one of the domes that represent the three breeding grounds that we've been talking about to which rave asks which one is Khan in and then she proceeds to go into the opposite direction. If Khan wants to dance with her, he will have to find her first. This is so rave. Oh my God. When they get to the net, that's so rave. That's so rave. When they get to the nether in dome, though, rave, watch as the fog seep out and hesitates, quote, a flock of dot dot dot. Something takes flight within my belly. Something that makes no sense. Ah, it's like her home is literally calling to her. Quick side note. I love that. Pyrox is like, do you want a jacket? You don't want to catch a cold. And she says, no, I'm good. Like it's not too cold. It's because she grew up in the cold and, you know, hung out in the sky surrounded by a nice dragon for a hundred faces. She's she's cold immune. She could go to the nether and naked. That's what she could do. I love also how Pyrox like so you've been around the world much. I know. She's like, I don't know. And he's like, I do. Do you want to hear about it? No. So there's three domes. Each should represent a dragon hatching ground. Inside the nether and dome is a small replica of the moon plume hatching grounds. There is a dense fog that lingers along the floor. Stone ruined to look like snow. Blacked out ceilings with pearly moons and aurora ribbons that emit a silver light along with hexagonal ice pillars. Rave notes that it's like standing within a painting of nether and minus a deadly chill and minus a nesting moon plume protecting her eggs. She also notes that the air is so hollow that it feels like someone called a man in a cloak of cloth to chillingly still within the room. I love that. OK, Nicole, I have a question for you. Do you think we're going to nether in next book? I don't think we're going to nether in the next book. I do. That's no fun going to go to the shade at some point. Oh, definitely. I think we're going to the shade, but I don't think we're going to nether. And I think we're going to Eurythia. I agree to. Darn it. We're way too much in this book. This is why I don't have that many bets yet. What if because I caved earlier and I said, you know what? I'll go against what I actually believe just to make a bet. What if you did that this bet and said, you know what? Yeah, we're going to the other end. No. No. How about this? How about this? I will do where they do not go to Eurythia. Really? I I do think that they will, but I don't believe they will as strongly. No, you don't have to talk to yourself out of it. No, that's not great. OK, so. Fine. I think that they are not going to Eurythia. Our crew does not go to Eurythia in. Yeah, I'm literally writing in the book to. We can't. OK, I'm talking about like rave specifically because they is already there. So that doesn't. Damn it. I didn't. I. No, you can't see. This is why we need to make these bay bargains with all the details. OK, so specifically. Rave does not go to Eurythia. What about rave and con? Together. No. Fine. Rave slash con. Nicole says they do go to Eurythia. She says no. She says no, they don't. Among this stunning theme, something else catches rave's eye. Tucked behind some icy pillars is a game table of the one and only high fliers. Misogynistic ass hats who have a lot of money to just throw around. The game they're playing is scripty. We're very familiar. We're very familiar with this. What we're not familiar with is the games dealer. Dealing out the shards is an octomar. Basically, an octopus like creature with no eyes, a giant head and many, many, many rows of teeth. When you come to the game naturally naturally, when you come to the game, the octomar ensures you pay your debts. You are not allowed to leave the table. You are literally bound by blood, body and soul. What if you have to pee? This is very disturbing. I would be doomed because my bladder is so small. Also, this is just really cool magic. Like again, I love how Sarah makes this world completely her own. Rave may have had a bit of an awakening last month. And at the same time, she still enjoys the opportunity to put some males in their place, especially in a game of scripty pause though, because what's odd to me is how these high flyers actually treat Pyroc, who noticeably is very uncomfortable. They call him quote little flame. I love that his name is Pyroc and he's I do too. Yes. Meant as little flame. Pyroc sounds a hell of a lot like pyre, which is not a little flame. That's a damn big flame. And I feel like this is just going to mirror the journey we see from Pyroc. He's like in these next two books. He's treated like a little flame now. He's told that he's useless. He's the use of sibling between the two of them. So much so that he now believes it and he like beats everyone to the joke. But he's actually a pyre. I believe in you, Pyroc. Now, no, I actually was I actually signaled to Sarah about this, about why the high flyers called Pyroc little flame to see if there was anything she could share. And she actually said there was not anything she could share that could answer this question. So I was like, oh, oh, I think we're on to something. Oh, my God. She had very few answers for us this week. Be like, I can't answer these questions. And I always take that as a compliment because like, oh, that means we're asking the right ones. Exactly. Exactly. Hopefully. Back to the game, though, because something else is giving me a little bit of pause here. Rave does not have any gold to bet with, only enough to buy her way onto the table. So she uses, quote, a favor owed as her wager, which the October immediately accepts, which she notes as that's quite surprising, given the sum it takes to bet with her favors must be worth a lot. I feel like this is a subtle, not so subtle Easter egg of just how powerful Rave is. Yes, she's in the Vaan. That alone is very powerful. But the fact that she can talk to all creators, I feel like this is a neon sign to that. Luckily, though, she doesn't need to give any of these assholes favors. She wins every round and has enough money to purchase a small village and then some go rave, go put over confident men in their place. I love how she's like, oh, I keep practicing as they leave all grumbling and whatnot. Good. But what's this? This high flyer table has a new arrival. Hello, he may have sent rave an invitation, but this is the first time the two of them have seen each other in 30 cycles since the day he showed her slot just trying. They've had their space. She's gotten to simply be he can't help offering his heart on a silver platter again, and he's not hiding his feelings tonight with statements like rave. You could flay me down the middle and I'd still fucking love you. Hello, it's nice to see you too, sir. Even in her inner monologue, we sense a shift in how she describes Khan. She's using much more descriptive language about his body, his mouth, his muscles. A girl can only have a sex dream about a guy so many times before she starts salivating over him. This month apart now has snapped into this heated moment. She's not supposed to be here. He gave her money she could leave, but she didn't. And while she doesn't think it, by the way, Khan looks at her alone. We can tell so much of that decision was the hope for this moment with him that kept her in the burn. So guess what, friends? Rave asks Khan a question about her past life. Oh my goodness, it's part of the question that's been chasing her, that she's scared to know the answer to as she prefers to live in the blissful in between. But at the same time, something took her away from this happiness with Khan. 100 plus faces ago. And she does not think she left willingly. She can't imagine having given up this love and life when in the present day, she can't even get herself to leave. And she kind of sort of wants to. So she gets confirmation that she was someone important to Khan until until it's quite the loaded question. And that is when he tells her that she bound with another male offering to tell her who, which as we all know, is quite the can of worms. So of course he's asking her versus just like, oh, yeah, it was, you know, Ty Roth, who happens to be the king of shade. And by the way, you have a daughter like everything just comes out. No, no, no, just bound to another male to start off with. Yes. And he's like, you want to know? And she's like, no, of course, rave says, no, we're not there yet, Khan. We're taking baby steps and we're not there yet. Well, we're taking baby steps on that very thin line. On one side, she's wanting to keep this old habit and not know anything so she can live in her carefully curated Dalu land. But on the other side, there's this curiosity that's becoming harder and harder to ignore if she leans into it and she learns about their past together. What would that do to her? But also this illusion that she's tucked herself into this last month. She's been living in happy. Elwin slash con times. If she learns more about what happened to make their story so tragic, it would ruin the night, which this night is a send off. It's a goodbye, one that is just for Elwin and Khan when they were at their happiest and in order for her to quote unquote play that part, which is what she thinks Khan needs, which is a happy Elwin. In order for her to do that, she can't have anything deterring her. But that doesn't stop Khan from wanting to dig deeper because rave. He doesn't want you to be Elwin. I wanted to shake her. He wants to know rave, the real rave, not the one playing a part of an ex lover. And I just love this part so much. We've been literally repeating it, especially in a coal since episode one. But when we are in his POV with him being like, I don't want to say goodbye to Elwin, I want to say hello to rave. That right there sums up his entire character arc for this book. And I just love my heart. I love him so much. So they decide that this game, instead of using gold pieces to bet, they're going to play for a wager, which also means they cannot leave the table until the game is over and they are bound to the table by the octomar. So if Khan wins, rave must answer three questions from him. Truthfully, there's that fey bargain pause because I was so curious about what questions Khan was going to ask rave. So you know what? I have the power. So I shot my shot with Sarah signaling Sarah and here. Well, she, she said this quote, maybe one day I'll do an alternative point of view on this chapter. Until then, I'll leave it up to everyone's imagination. All right, Lexi, what's your right? Challenge accepted, Sarah. What do you think? OK, so I definitely think one of the questions is who hurts you? Yeah, oh yeah. He knows that there is something about her with her past with that. Who died because she's he says I think there's two. I think there's two of those there. Yeah. So I think that one of them is who did you lose from your past? Well, she hasn't specifically said it yet. He's been picking it up. He knows that she is afraid of fire because somebody hurt her. That scene did happen back in Selatria. So while they are similar questions, they are still very different. So one would be a who hurt you or along those lines. And then the other one would be who did you lose or the backstory behind that? Another one would be like, what have you been doing? Like, I actually know what I could see. I could see it being twofold. I could see it being something as deep as like, tell me where you've been for the past 23 phases. What have you been doing? Yes, he knows she's been a fjord, you ask, but he doesn't know about the scavenger king. He doesn't know about the fire lark and he's about to ask next next chapter. What the fuck is a fire lark? Exactly. But I think it's going to come. Oh, it's 100 percent. Yes, yes, yes. I also could see him asking her to say very simple question where it's like, what is rave's favorite meal where it's like, instead of him asking her to know rave, like getting to know rave where it's like, it is a very specific rave question. What's your favorite color? I could see that. Why do you like clothes so much? I could also see him. This would be more elwin focused too, but like, he wants to know rave's feelings towards him. He wants her to be open. So I could see one of those questions being, do you love me? Oh, yes. Yes, Con. She asked the answer truthfully. Now, that's all if Con wins. But if rave wins, she wants them to pretend that they're the ones who existed in the stone dwelling Con built for them, but only until the next Aurora rise. At which Con will then owe her a wish, that wish being a mind weft removing Con from her mind. Really quick side note, because we actually asked Sarah, because it's been a question for the past few episodes, do all mind wefts have that milky eyes like Ron and was soul in mind weft too. And here is what she said, quote, they don't know. There is more to that, but I don't want to spoil anything. So we got it. We got an answer. We got an answer. All right. But God fucking damn it, rave. I do sympathize with her. I really do. But try carrying that love and that grief and pain for 123 phases, which is exactly how Con takes it. We'll get more into how he leverages ensuring she will not follow through with it next episode, but from his perspective, no, that's not how this works. Rave, you don't get to be a coward and hide from your feelings like that. The reason she wants to erase him is because she's catching feelings in the present and he's like, that's not fair. But it's Con and he's not one to just be fucking furious because it's not what he would have done or it's a cowardly way out. Instead, he puts himself in her shoes. If she believes this strongly, that if she attaches herself to someone, that it is quite literally at the end of their world, she must have lost someone or multiple someone's. This is her protecting herself. Yes, but this is also an engraved belief. This is the best way for her to protect those people she deans to care about. She has to leave them alone, be apart from them, but she cannot just be apart from Con, she would have to erase him fully. A million and one gold stars for Con here. He realizes this all with just a few questions. Most of them unanswered. That is how well he knows her. Yeah, but it's also how well how observant he is. I swear to fucking God, if anything happens to Con next book, I will riot. I will write. I'll never say that. I'll never say that. I already talked about his dragon. Oh, that's to you. That is to you. That is to me. Yeah. That is that is rude. I don't care. It was rude of you to even say that. They aren't playing for long when Con calls Scrippy. They go back and forth, trumping over each other until Con lays down a sabrecythe. Rave not having any strong cards left to use plays a smocks card. This card is basically a wild card that can take on the strengths and weaknesses of the card that it's representing. It's also a very risky card as it can't represent a creature that has been played in the final turn or else it's immediately void. By the end, all the best cards are generally played, so it's viewed as a waste of space when you could be holding something more valuable. But in this instance, Rave plays it on top of Con's sabrecythe as a tick, making Con's card feral and thus dead and slain. Winning yet another tick on the page on a sabrecythe. This time on Con's. This I don't like all this foreshadowing here at all. But this does win for the game. So sorry, Con. And also this better not fucking be foreshadowing. And instead it is just literary symbolism. Oh, I don't know. Literary symbolism, Nicole. This moment breaks my heart not for the symbolism or the foreshadowing because but because the moment he realizes that she's one, he turns silent and quite cold. Well, Rave becomes excited and hopeful, feeling like the night could bring any possibility. We'll talk about Con's lufeness in a second. But first, I want to touch on Rave because her happiness is because she's one. Sure, she's rave. After all, she likes winning. But far outweighing that victory is the fact that she now gets to pretend. For one night, she can actually pretend that she's in love. She can pretend that she feels those emotions deeply and fully. She can let others in. She can pretend to live. Meanwhile, Con does not get to ask his three questions. And while, yes, he does get to spend this evening with Rave, what she's asking is not what he's offering, which shifts his whole demeanor to cold and detached, protecting his own heart, says some not so sexy things because he's so dejected. The twisting of the knife when she is, you know, like saying like dance with me. And he says, quote, lead the way, prisoner 73. Him using that name, not Moonbeam, not Rave, is very noticeable. He is having to literally distance himself from her because he already feels like he's lost her in the night's not over. If he calls her the name that he used when he didn't know her name, aka prisoner 73, it's a little bit easier for him to say goodbye and by a little bit. I mean, the tiniest bit easier. She is purposefully living in the Lululean. And yes, we've talked plenty about her reasons, but facts are facts. He does not want to play this pretend that she's so set on. And yet at the same time, it's Rave. So of course, he'll take every morsel he can get. Con's inner monologue with how he beats himself up for being weak breaks my heart. His paw instilled his unworthiness and loved to remind him how weak he was. No matter how much Con grows up, his inner demons are a direct result of his upbringing, and it makes me so sad for him. This role reversal between the two of them is all summed up in Rave asking the question, quote, dance with me. It's the same words that Con wrote on the invitation with her dress and mask. But this time she's asking them, not him. And dance they do. This is one of my favorite scenes in this entire book. It is so beautifully written and you can just feel Con's heartbreaking. How this final goodbye hurts him so much and yet he can't distance himself from her. So I'll be honest, when I first read this book, this like whole stretch of the book, I did not remember it very much. It didn't land for me quite as hard as the first half of the book did and the ending. And on this reread, I'm soaking up these moments because these are those quiet moments that I know that Callie Hart has told us about that are so meaningful and impactful to the characters and to the story, even if it's not the big crazy action sequences. And I have such a strong appreciation now for the, I'll say, middle third of this book. And yeah, anyway, I just wanted to share my change of mind when I love the line where rave says, quote, your hands know me. And he says against her hair, yes, know you, crave you, worship you. Rave never leave. God damn it. Stay. OK, so the way that she I don't want to say toying with his heart, but in a way, makes me want to give her an L looking at this from her POV, recognizing her fear, I don't know, maybe a lowercase L. If anything, she deserves a girl talk of, hey, that's not cool to play with this heart like that. 100 percent she deserves girl talk, but she doesn't have the girl chat with the stupid name for a bunch of her friends to be like, you're being an idiot, which I do think that she does get an L for wanting to erase him from her mind. So she does not have to face all of those emotions and open a Pandora's box. You know what? Yeah. Like she's also like, yeah, let's have a great last night together before I forget you. And cause like, no. I know. OK, I'm giving her an L. I, you know, we're doing our usual stuff, but she needs an L. Yeah. She she needs an L. And it's like it's one of those L's that we've given out before where it's like I see where she's coming from based on her beliefs, her experiences, and still she gets an L. Yes. Yes, even though I understand where she's coming from. This is like Silver Flames situation. Exactly. Yes. Compared to the FMC in Silver Flames. I'm so sorry. But like going off of that, the way that he sees her like you were saying, she does not think that she deserves this love. She does not think that she deserves them together. And Khan is like, but you strengthen me. You make me unstoppable. And she, I'll be honest, can't comprehend that. I won't say comprehend that. She is terrified of that and therefore does not let herself comprehend that because she has been somebody's everything before. And I do believe that Fallon sacrificed herself for Rave and she'll never be able to forgive herself for that. Khan even thinks how she wants to love him too, but she's in the way of herself. And the way he sees her like that, he just wants her to be whole again. And I just love him so much. Have I mentioned that yet? But something interrupts the sway of their steps. Dragons be fucking in the sky and they swooped down too low. Dragon flame starts going everywhere, but no one is hurt because the dome is ruined. However, Rave is missing. Yes, dragon flame lit up everywhere. Also the runes on her skin and she doesn't want Khan to see them. So she has him close his eyes as after he sort of finds her. She has him close his eyes. He does not want to. Obviously, Elwin didn't. First of all, the last time this happened, she left him and then ended up dead in the sky. And also, Elwin didn't have these rooms. This is just one more way he doesn't know Rave and he wants to. He's like, I don't want to close my eyes, but he does because he's gone. The logging at this poor boy. Someone give him a hug. And how he thinks, quote, I'm now certain she's hiding something. Building her walls sky high. It's getting lonely on the other side. Oh, so I'm under the impression he did not see the mending rooms covering her because she's very suspiciously hiding from him. And he can tell that she's clearly got something to hide and he can kind of put two and two together, but he doesn't actually see them covering her body because she hid too fast and then his eyes are closed. I think the only one he knows about are the one is the one on her head from when he had the dragon flame in the cell back in the fade. But yeah, I don't think he knows just how many because I don't even think he saw that yet. He was going to inspect it and she told him no, but he saw that it was mended and he's like, oh, like it's mended. There's no keeping wound right there now. And but he hasn't seen her with the runes yet. No. OK. When do you think that's going to happen in Ballad? First third, first, first half. But OK, I'm going to go a second half then. All right. Oh, he's going to flip a lid. I can't wait. I can't wait. We're going to get the ultimate who hurt you. I love it. Oh, my God. Conn, it's another one of his brothers that he doesn't even know about. He's got such shitty brothers. He's he's got he's got his shit. This poor guy. He and Vaya just need to meet up again and just never. They need to go live on a compound in another world. Never come here again. Actually, they shouldn't because, you know, people are living under tyranny, but still. With his eyes closed, Rafe begins kissing Conn's neck. Hello. Making him go, you're here. When it's like, oh, my God, this is real. It's not a dream. And on his eyelids, because that's what he missed most of all. And fast forward to meeting under the moon, getting their first kiss from Conn's POV makes my heart so happy how his love for her, his dedication and devotion to her shines through the page. And when he looks at her, he sees this beautiful, devastating blend of both Rafe and Ellowen, sending him straight into kissing her. Yes. Finally. The moment where she kisses his eyelids and he's like, Ellowen used to do this. And it's just, oh, my God. And he's like, I miss this the most. All right. Shake it off. Let's take a hard left pivot to Veya and her great adventure, which is happening simultaneously with this Conn and Rafe storyline. Eight cycles, a.k.a. days after she leaves Dumb, Veya makes a quick pit stop in the fade to grab a very important piece of her plan. The only problem is she has no idea if she's going to be able to find this again. What is it? A silver bangle that she dropped down a trash shoot over a hundred phases ago. More on that in a moment. But she can't be seen flying straight into the Fades Imperial Hutch with her dragon. So she drops Zeke, her sabre size, off at a hutch outside the city and charters a trip down the path of days with a lovely older Faye named Noeve and her Kolk Dran cart. This trip is risky as hell. Not only is the path of days on the far eastern side of the world and runs east to west and is just wide enough for a single cart at a time to be on the edge of a cliff. So basically, if anyone has driven in the sketchy mountains side of things, maybe this is such a Colorado thing. But I imagine where it's like you're driving on a mountain, you're right on a cliff's edge, you only can have one car at a time. I would walk happily. Well, plus there are renegades around here who are willing to do bad things. Bad things. But she's not just going to the whole of the Fade. She will have to make a quick in and out trip of gore specifically to visit a certain velvet Trog, hence this sketchy wagon ride. Quick plug for Blexi and I both wearing the same velvet Trog shirt. This is from Feminine and Fabled. I love this design so much. Mine came in just in time for this episode. I was so happy. Yes. So what are some highlights from this conversation with Noeve? We learn that it's been a while since they came around here. She stays clear of the Fade and its wall these days, presumably because of her brother, Cadok. We also learn potentially very importantly that Noeve has been sneaking folk out of the city for the Fade Queen, the one who helped rave escape the dragons, who cried when she recognized Ellowen, her old friend. However, the Fade Queen has not been heard of, oh, since it got back to Cadok that she stalled an execution for a Fearduath member, AKA rave's execution. I love how they is like, huh? And she's like starting to piece together that rave was associated with the Fearduath and the Fade Queen could know something, but as an ally, because Cadok does not seem to know whose execution it was, at least from this conversation. But I am very worried for the Fade Queen, who seems to be in trouble after she worked against her bounds guild ruling. I'm so worried about her well being and I hope Veya or even Rave can help her. Well, and let's not forget her. Her and the King's son is a wall. Oh my gosh. Yes. How do I always keep forgetting about him? That kid's whereabouts is very, very concerning to me. But just her whole her. Oh, oh, Beth, do you think that the sun is in the Fade? Damn it. I don't think the sun's in the face. No, I don't think it is. I think I think he's with the scavenger king. I think he's with the Fearduath. OK, I bet the Fade Queen helped get their son away. I bet the Fade Queen is really pissed that the scavenger king took their son. OK, also think that she might be working with the Fearduath. I don't think she's fully working with the Fearduath. I think the web is working with the Fearduath. Oh, I do too. Yes. Yes. Definitely. Yeah. I think she's working to get people out of the Fade. Well, she is working to get people out of the Fade, but I think she's working specifically with the Fearduath to help that. To get them to probably to the burn, because that's probably how they are knows. Probably. Yeah. Yeah. All right. Let's get into this all important bangle. The bangle is silver and gem encrusted with the ability. This is the important part. The ability to glamour its wearer as somebody else. Very handy when you're trying to sneak in and out of Erythia for a diary. Your crazy brother probably has and you don't want him to recognize you. It has a spike hidden on it that when poked both the wearer and the person of choice to appear as the wearer will then take on their appearance. From my understanding, this spike, though, does not knock out the person whose appearance is being stolen. That's why Veya has to knock out the maid before stealing her identity in the Shade Palace. We'll get into that next episode. They all want this bangle from a quote deeply troubled mind weft. We don't know when exactly just we know it was over 100 phases ago. So I assume that this was in the first 20 or so phases after Elywyn died. The mind weft told Veya that the bangle would serve her in two ways, both being painful and necessary. Veya assumes that she's about to embark on the second way the bangle will serve her, which means that she has already had one way the bangle served her, but she doesn't remember it. Why? Oh, just because 30 Aurora cycles, aka 30 days are missing from her memory. OK, I have a theory. I think that something happened to Veya while wearing this bangle and she went to a mind weft, probably a different one than she won the bangle from and had that experience purposefully erased from her memory. I wonder if it had something to do with Katak. She was wearing it and Katak found her and did something so horrific to her so that she got it erased. She mostly would have had to been wearing someone else's appearance. I don't think Katak would have known it was her. Who is appearance she could have worn and would have felt so bad that she had to erase it from her mind. I have no idea. But I just I feel in my bones that it had to involve her brothers. OK, I love this theory. I don't love this theory, but that's a great theory. I whenever I hear 100 phases ago, I immediately think of Elywyn. And knowing that over 100 phases ago, Elywyn died supposedly giving childbirth. I don't think that she would have worn someone else's identity like knowingly, willingly to stab Elywyn. No. But what if somehow some way she was forced to and having to pretend to be a midwife or something along those lines? That would be so fucked up that she was involved in Elywyn's murder. But and then there's a whole concept of how would that work with a mind weft seeming to wipe her memory because I can't imagine a situation where she would, again, harm Elywyn willingly or knowingly or that Khan knows about it. And he seems like he hopes that she just discarded the bangle. Like he doesn't seem like he knows what it's associated with. But no matter what, whenever I see over 100 phases ago, I immediately connected to Elywyn somehow some way. And it would be poetic that this bangle helps they uncover the truth about Elywyn, like making up for what has been done in the past. Also, just knowing about how painful it was, but necessary. Like, yeah, there's also the mystery about her parents and her brother's death. That was definitely like longer ago, but I just have this feeling in my bones that it has to do with Elywyn. Like that would be so poetic. Literally, has she and Khan are talking about the bangle and how it was missing and how it's bad, then they immediately start talking about Elywyn and her family and the secrets and their father and all that. Now, hold on, because Khan did help her or say to her like, you should get rid of this bangle. So I feel like Khan would have had to know what happened to her the first time. And if it involved Elywyn, I don't. That would be, yeah, I don't. I don't feel like you would have been cool. I feel like that's why I'm like, I feel like it involved their brother. Well, OK, so now let's move on to the next bit of information that we know is that they left this bangle in Gore. Elywyn was further south in the shade if this was about 123 faces ago. So what was she doing in Gore, the capital of the fade? I understand that's why you brought up. Yeah, that's really bad. Maybe has something to do with the Fade Queen. I don't know. But she disposed of this bangle after these 30 cycles were white from her mind because she remembers where she put the bangle. It was 30 Aurora cycles. Khan has been gone for 30 or worse cycles. He thinks his sister might be back already from the shade. What if she traveled to the shade and then on her way back in the fade? It was like, no, no, no, this is bad. Again, I don't know how this would all work. But all I know is that these 30 cycles of memory loss is a very important Easter egg for something big that is not a throw way back story subplot for a POV character that comes back into the forefront in the present. Like something big is part of this. And when I think about all these mysteries that we already know of, I keep coming back to Elywyn. Well, OK, so I ask, I signaled a Sarah. Well, fine, if you just went and asked the author, you think she fucking answered me? Here's what she said, because I asked her, is there anything you can tell us about Veya's missing 30 Aurora cycles? She said, quote, you will know that very, very soon, just after May 19th to be exact. So you know what? I accept that's fine. OK, so let's go back to this with Ty Roff, because I just don't want Veya to have been one to kill her. But I am so definitely sticking with Ty Roff because of the blood lace person that came that is not a throw away line there. So I do think that Ty Roff knows that Kazari is not his and he killed. What if what if she pretended to be the blood lace person and actually told Ty Roff something else like she would that be painful, though? How would it be painful but necessary to where she does? Elywyn died after it because she killed herself after it. Elywyn literally killed herself. And she OK, that's one of the reasons why and she was involved in the reason that Elywyn died and she doesn't want to remember that because God, what would that do to Khan? She got it white from her memory. Bet bet. OK. I really do think that she like again, I think that has something to do with Elywyn. But I'm going to still stick with my Ty Roff theory that he is the one who killed her. OK, so you are going to say that Ty Roff killed Elywyn because he knows that Kazari is not his. OK, so let's go back to where Veya got this bangle. She won it, perhaps plain scruppy, since we know she's so good at it. From that deeply troubled mind weft who claimed she knew how to speak the language of ether that she studied the book of void in length and knew the secret to our insignificant existence. Well, OK, then let's talk about this. I bet you we will meet this mind weft at some point in the series. Maybe not book two, but maybe book three. And I think I think I do. Are we making another? Let's make another bet. OK. I just cannot get over the fact that this mind weft says that the bangle will serve her in two ways, both painful but necessary. What was the first one I'm worried? Veya has done something bad and she doesn't remember it. I'm deeply worried about that as well. Now, thinking about this book of ether, I think we're both in the same mindset. This book is the Kalis book he wrote. Yes, 100 percent. Yes, yes. This is the book that Pirox brother Rowan is looking at in the neutral territory of Baphame right now, which means the Tri Council has Kalis's book that I don't know why that. That feels very, very bad. That feels very bad. This is also we're assuming this is the case. This is not outright stated in the book. No, but I can't remember what's the. And what we are just so convinced of. I can't either. OK, so here's a question. Let's say that it is there. Do you think certain people are permitted to study it and this mind weft had access to it? Oh, maybe like what is this? Mind weft worked for one of the kings and she learned the book of voice secrets because the king's mind wefts and their advisor people have access to the special book, but the whole thing about what's the secret to our significant existence? That's quite the meta question. That was a very meta question. Oh, my God. We're going to put a pin in that. I don't know. I'm just a podcaster. I'm just a baby. But it does sound like a theme will be talking about the meaning of life, like ether being spirit, everything but nothing, the abstract. I am telling you, my ether research is going to pay off here. I will laugh so hard if we get to next book and there's like no information on ether. And that's just it's just Kaila is the fuck boy and that's it. I will laugh so. Serah would never actually. I don't know. I do not know. I don't know. But I believe in the complexities of this story. Oh, my God. I'm just so freaking excited for what else will learn about this book of void and the language of ether and Kailas. Like, I really do think that it's going to be this bridge that connects so many of these puzzle pieces that we can't even fathom yet. All right, back to the scene right here. We have to get this bangle from the velvet Trog that lives at the bottom of the trash chute. What is a velvet Trog? You ask, here's the TLDR. A velvet Trog is a large, lanky creature that likes to hoard and feast on trash. This particular one has a den beneath the undercity in Gore. If you listen to our episode three coverage, this next part is going to be familiar to you, but we have to talk about the song of the backstory about the velvet Trog. A jolly wee drifter who had some stinky thriving fingers went to the bog dragon hatching grounds in the fade to get themselves a dragon. But when she stole the egg, it was already bumping, thumping, and then breathed fire on the jolly wee drifter. So the drifter jumped into a molten bog to escape the molten maw's fire, but it emerged as a velvet Trog. This Trog here under Gore is three times the size of Veja with velvety blue skin, four arms, numerous black eyes, and a lipless mouth. She eats the trash that is thrown down the chutes, but more specifically, the memories and emotions attached to the objects that are discarded. From these memories, the Trog is able to secrete a slimy, glowing, thread-like substance that it uses to decorate its den. The stronger the memory, the emotional tie, the more substance it can create. In the velvet Trog's layer, Veja has some good news and bad news. Good news, she found her bangle pretty fast, which is a big congratulations, Veja. The bad news is that it's on top of the velvet Trog's head. It's wearing it as a crown and the velvet Trog has been saving it for a special occasion. Like that special bottle of wine that you save and save and save and save for a special occasion. Yes. I'm so guilty of that. Oh my God, big saying. Veja's bangle is not only a rich memory and it has that rich memory associated with it, but apparently it also has secrets that the velvet Trog offers to tell Veja. And you know what she does? Denies. I am convinced that the bracelet's memory, its emotions, its secrets, it has to be whatever happened during those missing 30 cycles. And that's why Veja is like, no, no, no, I'm good. I don't want to know. Exactly. So Veja knew that the velvet Trog would be a little hesitant to get rid of such a precious item of trash. So in exchange for her bracelet, Veja trades the velvet Trog, her ma's Malmer, which she stole from her father, Austern's bedroom when she was 17 and he did not notice she stole it. There's all the info you need to know about how this man felt towards his wife. It breaks my heart how Veja is like, at least if he noticed that she stole it, then he would have had a reason to hate her. She acted out to give her father a reason to feel the way he did towards her, to justify it for herself. Veja, you are so loved and supported and please get out of the shade safely so you can stay one of my favorite characters alive. I'm so concerned for her. The Trog accepts this trade with the addition of the chain of the Bengal, because it's between that and the Malmer. It is threaded with items, memories that barely, just barely outweigh the Bengal itself on its own. Memories, mind you, that the velvet Trog offered to share with Veja like we just said, and she said no, Veja always asks for the memories. I mean, I know she like willingly got this erase from her mind and she's like, I don't want to know anything, but like, girl, you're thinking like rave right now. They're so similar. I was just going to say, considering she's going on a very dangerous mission to help Elwin slash rave retrieve her memories. There's a lesson here. In fact, when she's like, you know, Veja, you're marvelous, but this was not one of your better ideas. Again, I totally understand that she does not want to know this because there is something very painful associated with it. And you're literally on a mission searching for more answers. She just really doesn't want to know whatever she and Ray were with that single. And the way that the velvet Trog is gleeful about these secrets. I am so scared for what they're about. And also how winning a magic bangle played into it and why it was painful but necessary. And this velvet Trog says that Veja is a naughty little morsel. Again, I think they did something bad. OK, so here's a question. Can a mind weft make her do something? I don't know if they have that power because if so, the mind weft could make her do something and then make her forget it. Maybe I don't know if they have that power. I don't think so. I don't think so. OK, I think that's something she did willingly and regrets it. OK, so also notable is that this Malmour's memories are richer than whatever happened in the 30 cycles to Veja. I can imagine how sad and difficult Veja and Khan's Ma's life was being bound to their Pa, who was the definition of cruel. And if she had a Malmour, does that mean at least one of his parents were from the Baltanic Plains like in a clan like the Jakul? If that is the case, would that mean that the Burn King and the Shade King, both of whom are from those regions, could they have known each other like before they were the kings? And that's one of the reasons they like they hated each other. Maybe remember when he came down to the shade and the King of the shade was like, no, you can't marry you can't marry. He didn't like him. Yeah. Yeah. Oh my God. That's so good. I'm going to go with yes. I'm going to go with I think so. Again, we don't know exactly if the Malmour is something like of the Burn or specifically of the Baltanic Plains, but I kind of got the feeling that it is like a grand thing. And if Veja's mother had one, then that means her father would have had to give it to her. Yeah. Yeah. Oh gosh. Now this bangle was a priceless treasure and the velvet chalk decided it was worth it based on the memories. So what could that mean? Okay. So I used my power and I signaled to Sarah and I wanted to ask her what she knew she wouldn't answer, but I wanted to ask what secrets does the velvet chalk taste from this bracelet chain that Veja passes on knowing? And this is what Sarah said. Quote, this is something you will have answers to within the first 15 chapters of Ballad. I can tell you, Veja had good instincts to pass on that here. Those secrets are a painful revelation. Okay. What do you, what if you had to make a bet? What would it be that she did? I still think it's something around, like you're saying with the Ellowan's death, but I don't think it was with Tyrof necessarily or Catech. I could also see it something with Catech and something horrific happening with her brother. I just don't know. But we'll find out soon. We'll find out soon. Yeah, baby. All right. Now, Veja has made the trade. She is good to leave with Bengal in tow. This is a big deal because it is common knowledge that if you enter the Trogs layer, you're probably not leaving it. While uncommon, a fake can make a trade with the Trog to get an item back before it's been devoured like Veja did. With this Trog, at least, you can strike a bargain with her and she will not eat you when you leave, how very kind of her. Counting Veja, this velvet Trog has struck six Faye bargains, which makes us wonder, have we met the other five? I can't help but think one is Rave. In chapter four, she mentions this exact velvet Trog who lives below the under city and again in chapter 10 and again in chapter 19, where Rave reflects that it'd be trading a death in the cell for another. And she mentions this velvet Trog again in chapter 32. So I definitely think one of these people that the velvet Trog struck a bargain with was Rave. That's way too many mentions about the same velvet Trog for it not to mean something. Here, I was just thinking the velvet Trog is known as the Trash Gremlin of Gore. I mean, that too, yes. OK, we have a lot of mentions, all I'm saying. We have access to the author. So we asked Sarah. Do we, though? If we've met the other five people and here's what she said, quote, my lips are sealed with the crying. Right. I'm taking that as a yes. I I think that Rave was one of those others. I could definitely see that. I could definitely see that. I did also ask Sarah and this is a question she did answered. Is there more than one velvet Trog out there in the world? And she said, yes, they're peppered around. That's wonderful. A little concerning. OK, so as we wrap this part up here, there's the question. Do we think the bangle will come back into the story again after Veja? Hopefully she's not out of there yet, gets out of the south and back to the burn. Because I definitely think so. Having a magic bangle that can take on the appearance of other people is a very, very nifty, and I hope maybe she'll do it to help the Fade Queen sneak into the burn or something. I also hope she does that. And yet I can't help but think about that. It'll help you twice, right? So it's like, is it gone? Like, does it expire? Does it blow into mist? I don't think so. I think that's going to be a book three thing. I don't think she's going to use it again after this. But what about the other painful but necessary? What if this is this is the pain? This is the painful but necessary. But it hasn't been painful yet. Oh, are you sure? Are you sure? She just learned how her best friend died and her brother has a child he doesn't know about. And that's exactly the kind of information that she was looking for, though. That's what she needed. But it's not great. It's not great. I don't think that act was the painful but necessary thing. I don't know what it would be. But we are this. There's no way. OK. The Veja's mission. This might have to be a clarification with Sarah. At the end of book one is the second painful use of the Bengal. Nicole says yes. Lexi says no. OK. Wow. This is shocking. Shocking. I do think that it could potentially be like something that happens like in book two that could be something that was painful but necessary. In that case, that is a direct result of this. But what she's already done, what happened at the end of book one is not the painful. It's if we're getting into that kind of nuances, we're passing that off to Sarah and she is going to figure out. We've learned our lesson. OK. No, you have learned your lesson. I've read the rules. I am sitting on so many beds that I have technically won but not technically won at the same time because I say no and they haven't happened. You're like, but it could have happened off page. And I'm like, no, that's not how it works. And now we've learned how to word our bets. It is time for us to shift to the diary entries. So let's go back in time about a few more than 123 phases ago. It's like 124 phases ago. Basically, yeah. Yeah, maybe 125 depends on when the year changes. And here we get Khan and Ellowen's love story. Have I mentioned how much I love them? How much of a comforting presence he is for her? I really appreciate that. Me too. This is a pivotal moment for the two of them, because after several months of the two of them, basically not really talking, only him playing while she eats. He plays guitar. She gets her keys. She goes to Slotra. Khan starts. Slow burn. Khan starts playing a song that her mom and Pa used to sing when she was sick. OK, my head cannon is that he's been like quietly learning songs off to the side from the shade to play her for months. Of course he would. Like, I know she's also teaching him some, but I do think that he's been learning on his own as well. And this song strikes something for Ellowen. Since Hadeon came back from Netheryn nine phases before her parents died, Ellowen has not cried. She has not let herself feel the weight of her emotions. That day changed something in her. She became wholly focused on Hadeon and Loom and helping them. And she shoved every single emotion and feeling aside. Sounds like grave. Even when her family died, she did not weep for them. Not because she didn't want to, but because she was so empty. What Khan has been doing these past few months has been slowly and quietly filling her back up. And now she finally has emotions again to let out. And this is not a soft cry. This is not a cute like cry. This is a storm lashing the windowpains cry. Oh, that's such beautiful writing. As she's crying, she didn't realize that Khan stops playing the song until he comes over and holds her close to his chest so tightly. She can't breathe. Quote, his strong body absorbing every one of my sobs. He's not saying she should be all right. No, he's saying I am here. I will hold you. I will shoulder this with you. You are not alone. Not unlike how rave feels everything from rain and the present day with Khan wrapping his arms around her and singing her her calming song while she cries and cries and cries, letting rave know she's not alone. Oh, this fundamentally changes something for Elowen, where she realizes that this is the same love and care that her paw showed her ma and it just makes her cry harder. Not entirely because of the thought of them, but although yes, that is definitely part of it, but also because she feels herself falling in love with this man. And he's not her fiance. Khan disappears for more than seven cycles after this scene they share. So was you. And Elowen, understandably, because I would feel the same way is like, well, damn, I got vulnerable and scared him off. Didn't I? I do love how she throws all of her energy into training and notes that Vaya says that she's improving. There's that strong independent woman. I also love how short that diary entry is where he's not around. It's almost like that frustration that Elowen has with herself and how she's she fell for a guy and then he left and she got vulnerable and blah, blah, blah, blah. It's showing how little patience she has about writing about him. He doesn't deserve page time. God. However, Khan would never ditch her like that. No, he comes back. He left to go to the northernmost part of the burn where the Saberscythe dragon's nest in the hottest part of the world and takes one of the great Silver Saberscythe scales like we were talking about earlier this episode. She almost kills him in the process where he gets a scar on his arm, but he needed this specific Silver Scale to make the Malmer. It is a braided piece of leather attached to a flat circular pendant. And in that pendant is the Silver Moon Plume carved the Silver Scale and the reddish black Saberscythe bound together. Any frustration she had towards him leaving or herself or falling for him. Immediately vanishes the moment she sees that Malmer. And though as he plays for her, the two of them staring at each other, it is Elwin who goes to him, pulls back her veil and plants a feather like kiss on his lips. I want to talk about this real quick before we go into part two of this, because it feels so important and necessary that it was Elwin's decision to make the first move. Khan has been so respectful and will continue to be so. He wanted her just to know that someone is here for her. But the moment she kisses him and decides that she's going to do something for herself for the first time in nine years, it breaks something in him too. Because as she goes to Slautress Hutch, Khan swings her around, rips off her veil and kisses her. This is so hot. Quote, it was a kiss of someone who wanted to give me everything. Take nothing. Yet I gave him my whole heart anyway. Realized it was rightfully his. Oh my God. Yay, Elwin and Khan. Yay. Who have had so much taken from them, fall in love and realize that they feel like they are literally soaring as a result of doing something for themselves. I will say, I think that their love story is so tragic, but it might be one of my favorite, like forbidden love stories. And I also just love how we get it in such a different way. It's not from it's like as diary entries mostly. And then of course, from Khan's POV too, and these flashbacks and all of that. And I just love getting glimpses of their love story and reading about it. And I just it just has such a special place in my heart. I think between this and one other on the podcast are my favorite neck and neck love stories for two very different reasons. Yes. There's just kind of one small problem with this one. Just a little teensy problem. Elements patrolled to his brother. That's that Tyros guy who's currently ruling the shade, aka her kingdom. And have we mentioned he's a bad guy? Lexi, he lost his wife tragically and everyone in Erythia. Yeah, because he killed her. He killed her. I'm convinced. If I lose that bet, I will be so fine with that. That is OK. By the way, I wonder if the person who did come running down the hall had their eye on them after all, because someone does tell King Auster in a few phases later. Again, this phase is so like years later, so it's a while later. But this person almost catching them is us. Oh, yeah, I guarantee you that person is somehow informing King Auster and what's going on. Oh, dear. That tiny little detail does not really matter to these two people, because it can all be summed up in this quote. I don't feel like Hadeon anymore. I feel like a loom wobbling along, being forged into something strong, despite my broken bits, perhaps I'll fly too. Oh, my God, that is so beautiful. It will take her another year before her and Khan actually act on this love that's building between the two of them after 10 phases. So since Hadeon and a loom came back from Netherland, Eloin is finally ready to do something that makes her happy. She's done living in the shadows in a place that took literally everything from her. She is ready to jump into the sky despite her internal wounds. And she knows that Khan will jump with her. I love them and their healing so much. And now Khan and Rave are healing together in their own different parallel way. Speaking of which, 123 phases ago, Khan or 24 phases ago, however many phases ago, Khan gifts Eloin this home that was a focus this episode that we were talking so much about. Eloin follows a parchment lark through the jungle and comes upon the home Khan created for her built into the cliff. This home is Eloin's gift, but he does not have to come with it. Khan, I love you so much. His first priority is her comfort, her safety, her sense of security and support. Anything else with him is entirely up to her. It's her choice. And boy, oh boy, does she choose him. I am melting. Obviously, Eloin kisses him before he can finish his sentence because, yeah, girl, get it. And then we get the iconic when the moon hatched quote. He's fire and brimstone. I'm shattered ice. Our collision is steam and destruction destined to dissipate. But I'll gladly burn beneath him until the world comes crumbling down. I know I've said it before, but I'll say it again. I love how the parallels are between Rave's present day story and Eloin's diary entries and experiencing her story unfold. Sharing the first kiss with Khan, embracing this home that Khan gifted her, knowing it as a safe haven, starting to forge into something strong, despite the broken bits, albeit in very different ways, experiencing a certain kind of freedom that neither Eloin or Rave have had before. Seeing how good of a leader Khan is, Eloin thinks how her pa would have respected Khan and that he rules with grace and fairness. We see him in a leadership role with the unfortunate ravaged dragon issue or the great flirt celebrations. And all of this to say it's both Eloin and Rave figuring out what kind of life do they want to live or even how do you live and take charge of your own life? Let's tap into our dragon site and turn our full attention to important foreshadowing moments for the rest of this book and speculations for book two, Ballad of Falling Dragons. This might be nothing, but it's worth noting that Lane, who we have not met yet, has the fastest saver size in the burn named N'Voot. Honestly, point this out in case our crew needs a quick escape. N'Voot to the rescue. I hadn't realized that muskines are used for upcoming events or predictions like the great flirt coming in 30 Aurora cycles. And yes, it's accurate. It does happen in 30 Aurora cycles. So this makes me wonder what else does the muskin predict? Could one of the twins see that Eloin is returned via muskin? Can a muskin predict if there's an upcoming moonfall or if there's a war coming? Like telling Khan that one or both twins will be at the burns doorstep or attack or find Rave or something like that. Here I was just thinking the muskines were the weather channel people. I because we kind of got it a little bit earlier on in the jail cell. And this time around, again, it was just one line, but it's like this feels like it could be very important to the story in the future, helping trigger something big. And I'm just very curious and wanted to point that out. We get more grime and veya foreshadowing. I barely know grime. I feel like we're scratching the surface with forget me not veya. I ship these two so hard. I can't wait to see what happens to them should grime not become Silver Saber size. Ciao. He won't be. He won't. I really hope not. I don't think so. There's no watch him get eaten by the slowest. No, both ways. No, he has to. He has too many secrets. His hair is no. I know. I also feel like there's more foreshadowing that Khan will have to tell Rave about what his father did to her family. However, step one, tell her that she is of the Devon bloodline, which, by the way, Karo in our discord pointed out that Navar means snow in Spanish. Remember what we were saying in episode five about Rave and snow? I just got that very interesting. That's you. Brilliant. Rave shares how she loves the wonky moon, Hayes Perch and Khan offers to tell her why she loves it. But just like she refused Essie offering to tell her the sad tale of this moon, Rave does not want to hear the story. This is going to be such a heartbreaking scene when this happens in ballad, assuming it will be in book two. I assume so. There's so much that has to happen in book two, so I'm sure some of it will save until book three. But I also do love how Rave does share that she lost someone that was big for her to admit and be vulnerable like that. Fallon's loss and out Essie's to haunt her and shape her. And she's also weighed down by repressed sorrow and pain too. From Elowin, Rave has so much healing to do. And I'm proud of her for opening up to Khan, even that little bit. Baby steps. I cannot wait to see the FMC journey that Rave goes on next book with learning this, dealing with it. And I don't expect her to immediately turn around and be like, I'm fine. Like, I think this is going to be a little bit of like one step forward, several steps back. But yes, oh my God, I'm so excited. It is time to infiltrate the Tri Council. They've got that book of void. We want to know what's going on in it. Where each episode. We don't know that. They have it. It's can't it, Lexie. Can't it. Lexie guides us through a world building topic like a book of void. To help us with our understanding of the world and its magic. Lexie, what is this week's topic? Today's infiltrating the Tri Council topic is the shade. This is the kingdom we know the least about. But if we're covering the fade and the burn, we can't leave the shade out. The shade is the southernmost third of the world. And it is forever cast in darkness with the only light beam from the aurora ribbons and the moon plume moons because there is no sun that's way north. It is blistering cold here all the time and it is always covered in snow. This is also the part of the world that's such as moon fell in. Slotches moon fell in the northern part of the shade. The rulers of the shade used to be King Audric and Queen Adora, Navan, parents of Hadeon and Elwin, Navan. They ruled until Elwin was 18 phases old. However, after Elwin's paw turned down, King Austrian Vagor's proposal to arrange a marriage between Tyroth and Elwin, Audric, Adora and Hadeon were poisoned in their sleep, aka Austrian orchestrated this murder. Elwin was then promised to Tyroth and eventually bound to him, even though she was already with child by Con Vagor. But back to Elwin's parents, we don't know much about her father's line besides the fact that he grew up in the burn in one of the warrior clans of the Botanic Plains. Her mother, on the other hand, is part of the family line that is tied to the Aether stone. The Aether stone is the magic object that holds the God of Aether and is passed down and guarded by this bloodline more recently, at least on the maternal side. The Aether stone makes it difficult for those who wear it to conceive. So when a child is born into this lineage, it is celebrated by all the land. The shade is now under King Tyroth Vagor's reign, who rules alone since his wife, Elwin, tragically died during childbirth, eye twitching going on here. Or at least that's the story the world is told. But Elwin's real cause of death is unknown, except a silver scar over her heart. Tyroth has a daughter named Kazari Vagor, but we secretly know that she's Con's daughter, not Tyroth's, not even Con knows this. Tyroth is twin to Cadok Vagor, who rules the Fade, and brother to Con Vagor, the Burns King, and his younger sister is Veya Vagor. Let's go through the different areas of the burn. So first we have the capital city of the shade, Eurythia. And then we have Netheryn, the nesting grounds of the Moon Plume dragons, the dragons of the shade. This is the most southern point of the world and is so cold that is basically inhospitable, the Moon Plume's nest on giant hexagon pillars of ice. Another important thing to note about the shade is that they do use bloodstone as their currency. In the shade, elemental beads are worn in hair, beard, or on clothing. Actually, how it is in the burn. But like the gnolls in the Fade, gnolls here are clipped. We don't get any other information about how gnolls are treated in the shade. But given the clips, I do think that it's safe to assume that it's more similar to their treatment in the Fade than in the burn. And this is a more recent development from Tyroth, because I never got that impression from Ellen's parents. And there we have it. That's all we know about the shade for now. All right, friends, let's close out this episode with shopping at the Curly Quill and discussing some of our favorite moments from this stretch of chapters. Veya packs two forks and doesn't know why, but her, quote, hyperactive, sleep deprived brain had its reasons. You cannot express how much I really do this as an anxious overpacker. Oh, this is exactly what I will be doing tonight as I prepare for our Seattle flight. I have a packing list. You want it? Yes. And I'm pretty sure I ask for it every single time. I'm happy to give it to you because I'm going to make it regardless. Please do. And please send it to me. And can you add like whatever I need? Because you've told me. No, you can do that yourself. You're a grown woman. No, I'm not. Just like Veya, I could really use the velvet truck to do wonders in my sleep suite, a.k.a. My closet that is so gosh, the I'm a messy person. Not dirty, but I'm messy. And I just need a velvet truck to sort my stuff, eat some things that I'm hesitant to let go of, but definitely should and get everything organized. I do love that the velvet truck is so well organized because it's something you would not expect, but it's a good reminder for even on our truckiest of days, our trash is well put together. I feel like that's just a nice symbolism. Speaking of relatable motivational quote there to go. Even on our truckiest days. Speaking of relatable, brave, mentioning how whenever you find a mug, you love it breaks. I feel this. I am hoarding my girl dinner, praying mantis, eating the other praying mantises ahead like the pool like this is my sharpest treasure right now. Well, so funny you say that because one of my favorite mugs, it was one that mom gave me on my wedding day. It's custom with us and a note from mom. Yes, you know exactly what I'm talking about. It broke and I was so sad and mom glued it back together and fix. She's she's great. Oh my gosh. It's mentioned that mama Vigor, speaking of moms, loved her dragon so much. And Jogo, the dragon, has calcified in the sky as soon as their mom died. I bet you anything this is one of the moons on cons back is. Yes, absolutely. Definitely. The way we learned a little about his mom and her dragon and how she nursed Jogo back to health after finding him as a hatchling kicked from a nest. We can gather from that story alone how kind and caring she was, how much the Cont'n'Be'ah take after their mother while the twins are hateful like their Paw was. I wonder if we'll learn more about her next book. I bet we will if we get more of the twins and especially more Cont'n' chapters. We're quickly. Do you mean that? No, she did die. But I mean like more when she died. Oh, she died. I believe it was when the. No, she died. It was childbirth. In childbirth. And then her dragon died five phases later. Do you think that we're going to see the twins next book? because I feel like we will at least tie-wroth. I think we're gonna see tie-wroth, but I don't think we're gonna, I don't know about Caddock. I think we're gonna see tie-wroth. He's so mysterious. I know, I'm so excited. I think we'll get him at the end. Caddock at the end or Tyrath at the end? I think Caddock at the end. I don't think we're getting Caddock at all. Okay, hold on, hold your horses there. All right, so I think that we will be introduced to Caddock on the page in book two. Caddock will be on the page in book two. Nicole thinks no. Next favorite moment, the fact that the flowers that Kahn's ma loved so much is what decorates him and Rave's old home is just really sweet. I love that. Rave planning on leaving the burn and then coming back with new towels, she would either love or hate Target. It's like the epitome, especially with her, like I'm crafty now, like my inner, release my inner crafty bitch. Like she would spend all of her bloodstone at Target. I know we already mentioned this, but I just love how she's living life, naked in the jungle, foraging and bathing in the waterfall. Like good for you girl. What a lovely life. And I really hope that she and Kahn in the story live in their best lives in this home of theirs. I hope that's how this story ends is not tragically. I don't feel a lot of confidence that we're gonna get a happily ever after in the story, but you disagree. Okay, have we read the same book? Have we read a book or a series that doesn't, I'm realizing I say this, I don't know how many complete series I've read. I don't think I've read a whole lot either. And maybe I'm like, I know all I can think of is grown up class right now. Like it's just hard for me to read complete series. Sarah Jane asks, is a happily ever after queen. I don't think Sarah A Parker gives me happily ever. She gives me Shakespearean tragedy ending vibes. I think it'll be a happily, I mean, maybe not, it'll be happily ever after in the way that Kahn and Rave end up together, but they will have a lot of trauma to work through. I don't know if I agree. And I don't know if I'm ready to make a bet on that yet, because we're only in book two. I will make a bet for you with book three. Fair enough. Rave saying to Pyrok loudly that she met a Woto while in prison for serial murder. Just kills me. And then everyone at the celebration is like, ah. Rave telling Kahn that she doesn't understand how he looks at her and he still wants her. And he says, quote, Rave, you could flame me down the middle and I'd still fucking love you. Dude, maybe have a little bit of a boundary, but still I love that so much for him. That's so sweet. I do also love his smack talk, because during Skripy, he says, quote, unless you were playing Skripy with Slotcher while you were balled up in the sky, I have at least an Eon on you. I do love that. And then she goes and wins too, because she, I can only imagine how much she's been playing in like the under city and like what she's gotten up to, or it's like, no, I have to win this or I die. There's another reason she doesn't get caught by Katalk is because she's chilling in the under city so much. The way that Khan describes Rave and how she sings, a blend of both rain and clothe with him completely wrapped in her song. I just love how lyrical and beautiful all of that descriptions were. Rave wonders if she raided a nest for an egg or if she inherited someone else's. Do we know if Slotcher had a previous writer? We don't know, no, but my guess is no. That's purely speculation, partly because the way that she was bonded and when Rave died, she went up and calcified as a moon, which would mean that her previous writer would have had to die and she stayed alive. And I just get this totally free spirit that she was in the South and was not expecting a child to come into her life the way she did, but she did. And now they were meant to be. All right, let's go through a few more rapid signal as Sarah's. So we asked her if she can confirm if the late King Austerine's dragon is dead, whether he is or not, what happens to him? And Sarah said, I can't confirm this, but I can tell you that you will have the answer upon reading ballad. I love that she's like, I'm not gonna tell you, but you will get the answer soon. I do, I do love that as well. This also tells me, I think that his dragon's still alive. Maybe he's who get the ticks. He gets ticked. That'd be bad. I'm gonna say no, okay, bet. I think that King Austerine's dragon is dead. I don't think such a confident that that just was, but you all know what I mean. Very confident. What happened? I never want a dragon to die, but if it was a bad dragon who was killing a lot of people, then there was, yeah. Next signal as Sarah, we asked her, what type of dragons do Tyroth and Catacav and what can you share about when slash how they bonded? She says, quote, another non-answer from me. You'll learn about Tyroth's dragon in book two, but you won't learn about Catac's until book three. Huh, it's almost like Catac's not gonna be on the page until book three. That does make me very worried about Tyroth and the shade and Veya. Yeah, that is worrisome. No, God. That is very worrisome. Okay, one more here to wrap up the episode. What type of ruined boots did Grime have? And she said that it is to protect his boots against the really hot ground in Godra. Absolutely makes total sense there. I feel like if you just wore normal boots, they just stick to the ground because they get all sticky. So that makes a lot of sense. You gotta go for good. All right, everyone, thank you so much for tuning into this episode six of our When the Moon Hatched Deep Dive, Nicole and I got feisty today. We did, this was fun. Next Monday, we are going through everything we need to know in prep for Ballad of Falling Dragons. We wanted to do this before the last episode, so we all had plenty of time to study up and get ready for this beautiful next installment. And then the following Monday will be our final episode, episode seven, where we are covering chapters 76 through the end. We'd love to give the biggest warm welcome, welcome, welcome to our newest deep diver. Thank you so much for being here. You get your own episode. Welcome, welcome, welcome, Grace W. Prr pr pr pr pr pr! Yay! And if you're like, Hey, I want my name shout out on the podcast and be shouted with all this love too. Join our fan club at fantasyfangirls.com slash fan club. Link is also in the show notes. Thank you as always to our mind weft, AKA our content researcher, Brooke. And of course our executive producer slash co-host of the fantasy fanfellows podcast slash sanity manager, Hayden. We are also very active on social media with so much content with guides and games and freakouts of new book news announcements. That's so, so much going on right now. So please be sure to follow us on Instagram and slash our TikTok at fantasyfangirls pod. And if you're watching this on YouTube or want to watch on YouTube pretty please hit that subscribe button to keep following along. While you're hitting buttons, don't forget to hit that five star button on whatever podcasting platform you are listening on. And if you want to give us a little extra love, write a little love note in the review section. It is so helpful for not only this podcast, but for any podcast that you listen to. And last, but certainly not least, share this episode with your fellow moonfall friends. If you and your friend have a bond where you know you would not let the other person be an asshole to a guy like Khan, this is a perfect episode to send to that bonded friend because they will know, they will understand. Yes. All right, everyone. Thank you so much. We'll see you next week. Bye-bye. Bye. The great flirt. I think the R is on the flirt, not the great. Fr. Fr. Got it. R and this, I know this is recorded right now. R producer, R- Hayden! Producer and sanity manager just confessed that he has not watched How to Train Your Dragon. Get off right now and go watch it. It's absolutely gonna be on and setting. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Hello, this is my mum's work phone. I've re-recorded her voicemail because I'm eight and I've never had a holiday where she hasn't been distracted by work. This hotel has two pools and three wood slides and she promised to take me shopping. So, before you leave her a message, maybe don't? Hmm. Take your holiday seriously. British Airways holidays. At all protected. I love a declutter. And it's a chance to do some good. By donating pre-loved and new items to your local Cancer Research UK shop. Nearly one in two people will get cancer in their lifetime. All of us can support the research to beat it. Donate your items today and help raise vital funds for life-saving research. To find out more about donating items to Cancer Research UK, visit cruk.org slash pre-loved.