Un: TerribleTinkerer | Text

[badnewsandshitlist]

Assuming the Fae of Auriel share the same aversion to iron as those of the Feywild from where I am from, I am offering to craft temporary weapons and tools from non-iron materials for anyone preparing for the mission. My trade lies in metalwork, with modest skill in wood and leather. Brass, bronze, bone, horn, or seasoned wood are all suitable.

Time before departure is limited, so I can only take a few commissions.

Separately, I am pursuing a personal project involving spell storage and glyphcraft. If anyone has experience in such work, I would appreciate a private exchange of ideas.

Comments

[betenoir]

Then speak to that person and perhaps we might indulge in business. I require a number of gallery frames for displaying artwork. There are special pieces in my collection that deserve finer protection than the basic frames available here.

[He will never display paintings of his family in basic-ass frames.]

[badnewsandshitlist]

That is a far more pleasant request than I am used to hearing. I can certainly craft frames, though I will need the size, weight, and material of each piece to do them justice. If protection is your concern, I can reinforce the borders with treated wood or fine metal to guard against humidity and warping.

I will speak with Vex about it. She has the better head between us and a sense for beauty that borders on terrifying precision. Truthfully, she keeps my work from becoming a catastrophe of overengineering, and I am wise enough to be married to her for exactly that reason. The results are always better when she is involved.

[betenoir]

She sounds like a moderating influence on the chaos that is your process and work. Regardless, you speak like yours is more than a marriage of convenience.

[Wife guy knows a wife guy when he sees one.]

In any case, I will acquire the measurements you desire and be in touch once this mission is over.

[badnewsandshitlist]

You read that correctly. She keeps the chaos from burning down the house and me along with it. I bring the ideas, she brings the discipline, and between the two of us something presentable usually survives. Hardly a marriage of convenience, more an act of divine mercy on her part.

I learned early on that knowing one's station in life saves no end of trouble, and mine is very happily beneath hers.

[betenoir]

Divine mercy. Rescue. There is often no distinction between one and the other, and people rarely acknowledge nor understand the reasons for such levels of devotion. I can only say perhaps more people would find happiness accepting their position in life and the lives of others.

[badnewsandshitlist]

Then we are of similar mind. Pride has its place, but it makes a poor companion. I learned long ago that the secret to a peaceful marriage is knowing when to yield and doing so with enough enthusiasm that she believes it was your idea in the first place.

Tell me, am I speaking to another man wise enough to have reached that revelation, or are you still in the dangerous phase where you think you can win an argument?

[betenoir]

Oh, I'm unfortunately caught in a web of such dangerous ideas. But she enjoys my obstinancy. So you might claim I challenge her on purpose for her entertainment.

[badnewsandshitlist]

Then you have my respect. A brave man walks willingly into the lion’s den and calls it affection. I understand the impulse, though.

There’s a certain satisfaction in giving her something to roll her eyes at before she proves you wrong. It keeps the spark alive and the ego properly singed.

[betenoir]

Perhaps. But there is equal satisfaction in her knowing how to kindle the flame, no?

[badnewsandshitlist]

Entirely. The art lies in that balance. She can start the fire, stoke it, and somehow make me thank her for the burn. There is no finer education than being outmatched by someone you adore.

[betenoir]

The fountains mingle with the river and the rivers with the ocean. The winds of heaven mix for ever with a sweet emotion. Nothing in the world is single; all things by a law divine. In one spirit meet and mingle. Why not I with thine?

Education comes in all forms. But one must not be afraid to share words that are at cherished and challenged in equal measure.

[Yes, it's his favourite poem about love. Why does he remember it at all? It's complicated.]

[badnewsandshitlist]

I cannot tell you who wrote those lines. Poetry was never my field. I grew up with measurements and metallurgy, the sort of education that concerns itself with what can be built and what can explode, not with verse that lingers in the blood. However, I understand the sentiment behind what you quoted. You do not need a library to recognise it.

What you offered speaks of joining, of gravity, of the way two lives can fold toward one another as naturally as rivers meeting. That is not a sentiment someone chooses at random. It carries weight. It carries experience.

I came to that understanding much later than most. I learned the mechanics of the world long before I learned anything about its softer parts, and even those made sense to me only after they had already rearranged my life in ways I could not chart with ink and diagrams.

So no, I cannot match your poem with another, and I certainly cannot pretend it is familiar to me. But I can appreciate the sentiment in it. Some truths do not require names or authors. They announce themselves plainly enough.

[betenoir]

Indeed. Though I confess I prefer to paint my emotions onto a canvas rather than spin them into words. You learned to see the world through mechanics and I the emotions the world makes me feel.

[Or not. But that, too, is complicated.]

Both can become a burden through which to see the world; a blessing as much as a curse. But then at least we can say we have lived.