LINKDING

<blockquote>Allpa received the magic sword from his grandmother, as she lay dying. “I’m afraid I don’t really need a sword, grandma,” he said. “No, nor do you deserve it,” she snapped at him. She was a fierce old woman with a nose like a hawk’s beak and skin falling away in folds from her cheekbones. “You’re a farmer, not a warrior. They’ll help you.” “They?” said Allpa. He cradled the sword awkwardly in his arms, as if it were an infant. Normal people did not have swords. Swords weren’t even a normal weapon. Barbarians carried them. Civilized people did not. His grandmother had never been very good at being normal. “The spirits in the sword. Great warriors. A barbarian priest bound them to the sword long, long ago. Draw the sword and they’ll fight for you.” She scowled, and the deep lines around her nose grew deeper. “They’ll teach you to fight. I should have done, but I’m dying.” “You’re not dying, grandma,” he said automatically, even though they both knew she was.</blockquote> ➤ okay so are we supposed to be shipping Moon/Allpa? because I defs am

<blockquote>My mother had daughters year after year, and one by one, my father devoured us. There were only three names allowed in the family, and only three children. There was the oldest, who was always Ruth, and the middle child, who was always Susan. The youngest was “the baby” or simply Baby. When a new daughter was born, she became the baby. The former baby became Susan, and Susan became Ruth—and Ruth vanished. Telling the story like this, it sounds as if we knew what was happening. We did not. I am telling you this so that it will not be a shock to you, the way that it was to me.</blockquote> ➤ gosh. wow. this is really good.

<blockquote>There was a witch who lived up in the mountains, and I never heard but that she was a good one.</blockquote> ➤ apparently it's based on a folk story called "Raw Head and Bloody Bones" which I'd never heard of before! ➤ This is the story of a witch and her razorback hog familiar, and what happens after an unscrupulous man kills her hog. It's really good!

<blockquote>The carving was going badly. Sarah examined the duck decoy before her and sighed. The bill was shaped entirely wrong. It was supposed to be a mallard, but she hadn’t taken enough off before she began shaping and now the bill was half again as long as it should be.</blockquote> ➤ It's weird and I'm not entirely sure what to think of it but also it's very good and very Ursula Vernon and I had feelings